One of the duties that I have in my role as Deputy Leader of the House of Commons is to represent the Government during what is known as the “pre-recess adjournment debate” – a debate which was held on the afternoon of Thursday, 30th March 2017.
At the end of every business day in Parliament, a 30-minute “adjournment debate” is held which can be on any subject and is determined in advance through an application process for which individual MPs apply. However, the very last debate before a significant recess is a long debate in which MPs can raise any issue they wish and I reply at the end as the Minister in charge.
It is customary that this debate is used by MPs to raise issues which they have not had the chance to during the parliamentary calendar, or perhaps wide-ranging issues or ones which are much more local in scope.
You can watch my closing speech by clicking on the following link:
http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/b8247994-d4e1-4f87-9005-2299b1d1801e?in=16:47:13&out=17:00:02.