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20th March 2001

MP Tables 1000th Question

Northavon MP Steve Webb has this week tabled his one thousandth parliamentary question to probe Government ministers. The one thousandth question was to Agriculture Minister Nick Brown asking if he will make it his policy to provide interest free loans to businesses suffering cash flow problems because of the Foot and Mouth crisis in order to help them survive. Over the years Steve Webb has asked questions about a wide range of subjects, including class sizes in local schools, funding for the local police, and the length of hospital waiting lists. Most of the questions have been in written form, receiving a written answer from ministers some days later, but a small number have been “oral” questions on the floor of the House of Commons. Only this week, Steve Webb will put an oral question to the Prime Minister about a key local issue. Only a handful of MPs have tabled more than 1,000 questions in this Parliament, and Steve Webb is widely known within Government for asking searching and sometimes awkward questions. Replies to parliamentary questions have allowed the MP to put pressure on the Government to change its policies and are a key way for backbench opposition MPs to scrutinise the Government.

Commenting, Steve Webb said:

“Tabling questions to ministers is a central part of what an MP should be doing. A key part of the job of any MP is keeping an eye on the Government, and a well-timed question in Parliament can often do this very effectively. I have been able to use Parliamentary Questions to put pressure on the Government on issues such as pensions, class sizes and Police numbers. They are a key part of finding out information and of getting things changed.”


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