Engagements — House of Commons, 2018-10-10
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: I know that my right hon. Friend recognises how important it is for every child to have the opportunity of the best start in life. For the past three years, I have been campaigning to ensure that summer-born and premature children have that opportunity. The Department for Education’s recent report contains some statistical oddities and progress seems to have stalled. Would my right hon. Friend agree to meet me and parents to discuss this matter?; Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and head of the Financial Conduct Authority Andrew Bailey have joined the call by the all-party group on fair business banking for action against the bankers who cost the UK taxpayers trillions of pounds throughout the financial crisis, none of whom have been fined, banned or prosecuted, despite clear evidence of guilt of fraud and malpractice. Will my right hon. Friend do all she can to urge and enable regulators and crime agencies to hold those responsible to account?; Does the Prime Minister agree with her Work and Pensions Secretary that half of lone parents and around two thirds of working-age couples with children should lose the equivalent of £2,400 a year under universal credit? For us to believe the Prime Minister’s promise to end austerity, will she promise today to reverse the £3 billion of cuts that are built into the universal credit roll-out?; Last week, Access Community Trust, working in conjunction with other Lowestoft voluntary groups and Waveney District Council, launched the thin ice project, which will provide emergency accommodation for the homeless not just during the period of below zero night-time temperatures but for the whole winter period from 1 November to 28 February. On World Homeless Day, will the Prime Minister build on the rough-sleeping strategy and provide a long-term funding system so that charities such as Access Community Trust and St Mungo’s can put in place bespoke initiatives that prevent homelessness before anyone actually has to sleep rough?; Members of the Scottish Fishermen’s Association and the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations are jointly lobbying Parliament today. They ask for a very simple undertaking from the Prime Minister—namely, that in negotiating the Brexit deal she will not trade away their right to fish in UK waters. Will the Prime Minister give our fishermen that undertaking?; In 2005, the then Labour Government closed accident and emergency at Crawley Hospital. I am delighted that my right hon. Friend has committed to have additional resources for the national health service, including as part of the Brexit dividend. Can I get an assurance that the upcoming NHS plan will include a return for local services at its heart?; Modern slavery is a scourge on our society, affecting thousands of victims, including Ján, who lived in an attic in Oldham and was forced to work without any pay by his gangmasters for six years. Will the Prime Minister join me in congratulating businesses such as the Co-operative Group on their work, which includes offering paid work placements to help victims to rebuild their lives? Can she explain why it has taken the Government five months to get around to recruiting the anti-slavery commissioner?
Kenneth Clarke (Conservative, Centre-right): It is obvious that the biggest task facing the Prime Minister this winter is, first, to obtain a compromise agreement with the other 27 European Governments on the terms of our withdrawal, and then to win the approval of a majority in this House for that same agreement, or something like it, in a meaningful vote on the terms of our departure. Does she equally accept that the maths makes it obvious that that majority can only be obtained if the agreement retains the support of the pro-European Conservative Back Benchers in this House and wins the support of a significant number of Labour pro-European Back Benchers? That would reveal that the hard-line Eurosceptic views of the Bennites on the Labour Front Bench and the right-wing nationalists in our party are a minority in this Parliament. Will she therefore proceed courageously on that basis in the formidable task that lies ahead of her?