Thank you Mr Speaker. I beg to move that leave be given to bring in a Bill to make provision for a statutory right to an employment retention assessment to determine entitlement to a period of rehabilitation leave for newly disabled people and people whose existing impairments change; and for connected purposes.
This is the fourth time I have brought this Bill before Parliament and the inevitable question I face is ‘why do so again?’. In answering this I want to begin by outlining the purpose of the Bill, something many members will already be familiar with. It’s fundamental aim is straightforward, namely to help people who become disabled or who have an impairment which changes, to stay in work and to enjoin and guide both them and their employer, in the process of retention.
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I move Amendment 65 that stands in my name.
- Mr Hood, if we are to place additional requirements on parents as part of these reforms – a question which amendment 40 addressed – we need to make sure there is adequate support for them before these conditions kick in. I recognise the need to get people into work, particularly in the current times and disagree with the premise of the last amendment because this has to be about an exchange and is not something for nothing.
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I move new clause 2 which stands in my name.
Mr Hood this clause is self explanatory and needs little introduction – but the clarity and familiarity of the issue should not obscure the justness of this case and the need to right a longstanding wrong.
The clause would amend the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act from 1992, so that a person who is blind can qualify for the higher rate mobility component of disability living allowance – something that Act excludes them from unless they are also physically unable to walk.
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I move new clause 9 which stands in my name.
The aim of this clause is to ensure that a person of working age does not face a pensions penalty in retirement, when they take on a significant caring role for a grandchild or someone else in need.
The organisation Grandparents plus which champions the vital role of grandparents and the wider family in children’s lives have been working on this amendment and they provide a welcome voice in this debate, for a section of the population who are not always heard.
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Speech on Dignity at work
John Robertson MP
16th December
Bullying in the workplace is an issue which is all too often ignored – by the individual who is being bullied, in the hope that it will go away and often the employers, who do not believe the issue exists in their workplace.
It is often easier to step back, to say it is really none of my business, or just to pretend it isn’t really doing any damage and anyway the person being bullied should be able to stand up for themselves. We all know this is not the case.
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Mr Deputy Speaker. I want to start by declaring an interest as Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Nuclear Energy. And I want to follow this up by declaring a lack of interest, having no nuclear industry employees in my constituency.
I am delighted to have the opportunity to promote discussion on the future energy needs of Scotland.
This is a much needed debate. We currently have a first minister constructing his own folly in Edinburgh and who is creating a whole new age of irresponsibility by gambling like the banks with Scotland’s future energy.
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Below is the transcript of the debate I had in the House of Commons on 4th June on regulating Internet content. I called for Internet Service Providers to be made responsible for certain content and Malcolm Wicks, the Energy Minister, responded.
John Robertson: I am pleased to have the chance to discuss internet content and internet service providers with my hon. Friend the Minister for Energy, not least because I have been trying to secure this debate for several months. I know that, like me, many of my colleagues regularly receive correspondence from constituents who are worried about internet content, and I have been especially keen to discuss those matters following the Byron review, but on several occasions I have been told by the Table Office that there is no Department appropriate to field such a debate. The strategy of representatives of each Department that we tried to assign it to has been to hold up its hands in affront and deny any responsibility for the matter.
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Debate in the House of Commons on the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee Report into Ticket Touting – 24th April 2008
As we have heard today one question the report poses is “What is ticket touting”. I think most people would be fairly clear that a tout buys tickets and exploits demand in order to sell them at a profit.
In my view, the Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport was absolutely right when he said that this “doesn’t add anything to the cultural life of the country, but instead leaches off it and denies access to those who are least able to afford tickets.”
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John Robertson (Glasgow, Anniesland): I am delighted to have secured this debate on a matter of great importance to Scotland’s economy, the jobs of Scottish people and our relations with the rest of the United Kingdom.
I will start by saying how Scotland is presently doing within the UK, and then move on to the important area of Scotland’s economic relations with England, Northern Ireland and Wales, taking more than a passing interest in Europe and the rest of the world.
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John Robertson (Glasgow, Anniesland): Thank you, Miss Begg. You have obviously saved the best until last, as I am arriving on the graveyard shift. Time is short and I want to hear my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary’s closing remarks, so I shall be the knockabout act.
The hon. Member for Perth (Annabelle Ewing) said that some of my colleagues should go out more and talk to people; if she came back to planet Earth, she might be able to get on with people better than she does on planet Zog. As for the Tories, the hon. Member for Galloway and Upper Nithsdale (Mr. Duncan) made an excellent contribution, but never answered my question about the Thatcher years. The Tories would abolish the new deal if they had the chance. As usual, the SNP has offered nothing in the way of policies or clear-cut initiatives. I had hoped that the hon. Member for Perth would develop some arguments in her speech, but she was obviously too concerned about people going out more.
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