Question
Like the Minister and Members across this House, my first priority is the staff of Poundland, including in the Hartlepool store at Middleton Grange shopping centre. Sadly, the same cannot be said for Gordon Brothers. Let us be clear that this organisation has form on this issue. Does the Minister not think it is time that we prevent these predatory capitalist vultures from making their profits off our people’s backs?
Answer
Keeping the business trading and protecting jobs are the key things, as my hon. Friend rightly says. We are therefore continuing to watch the situation closely, and the Secretary of State, the Prime Minister and I have made that clear. The company needs to account for why it has not accepted an offer to keep the company going and explain how it is acting in the best interests of the workforce. We will continue to have those conversations, and that engagement is important for us as a Department and for the Government.
Verdict: AMBER (30/100)
The reply addresses the specific company's conduct and says the government is monitoring the situation and will keep talking to it. It does not answer the central question of whether the Minister thinks it is time to take action against firms like Gordon Brothers, and it commits to no measure. Because the response is largely hedged, the person who asked would likely need to submit a follow-up to get a clear answer.
Verdict: AMBER (30/100)
The reply engages with the question about Gordon Brothers. It says the company has not accepted an offer to keep operating and that the government will keep talking to it, but it never says whether the Minister agrees the company should be stopped from profiting from the closures, and it describes no concrete way of doing so. The answer is hedged throughout, so the person who asked would likely need to submit a follow-up for a clear position.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether the Minister agrees that it is time to prevent Gordon Brothers from profiting from the closure of Poundland stores, including the Hartlepool store. | Partially Addressed | Hedged | The reply engages with Gordon Brothers' conduct, saying the company has not accepted an offer to keep it going, must account for that, and that the government will keep talking to it, but it never states whether the Minister agrees it is time to stop the company profiting from the closures or describes any means of doing so. The answer is therefore incomplete and avoids the core of the 'prevent profiting' question. |
| Whether the Minister thinks it is time to take action to prevent firms such as Gordon Brothers from making profits at the expense of workers. | Partially Addressed | Hedged | The reply responds only to the specific company's conduct (it should explain why it rejected the offer and how it is acting in the workforce's interests) and says the government is watching and will keep talking to it, but it never says whether the Minister thinks it is time to take action against firms like Gordon Brothers, and it commits to no measure, so the question's core is left unanswered. |