Engagements — House of Commons, 2018-11-14
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: Is the Prime Minister aware that if the media reports about the EU agreement are in any way accurate, you are not delivering the Brexit people voted for and that today you will lose the support of many Conservative MPs and millions of voters across the country?; Figures released yesterday show that for the first time ever, more than half of disabled people are now in work, including many military veterans, so will the Prime Minister join me in thanking those employers who have signed up to the Disability Confident scheme, which has allowed such great strides to be made in this area?; The Prime Minister’s likely Brexit agreement will “leave our country economically weakened”, mean that we take EU rules without any say, and will give “years of uncertainty for business”— not my words, but the words of her latest ministerial resignation, or at least the latest as far as we know. Does she agree, and is it not about time that she admitted that there is little to no support for her reckless plan in her Cabinet, and even less in Parliament?; In 2017, Ministers committed to providing visualisations of the rolling stock depot and viaducts proposed in my constituency by HS2 Ltd. After a whole year of delaying, HS2 Ltd is now refusing to deliver on this commitment and ignoring Ministers. Will the Prime Minister ensure that within the next week, my constituents get the visualisations of the viaducts and rolling stock depot that they were promised, so that they are able to comment on the draft environmental statement?; Post offices are closing in their hundreds as postmasters struggle to make a living under the contract introduced by this Government. Through its North Star initiative, the publicly owned Post Office is aiming for £100 million of profit by 2012, while postmasters’ pay has declined by £107 million since 2012. Will the Prime Minister take action now to save our post office network and intervene to ensure that postmasters get a fair rate?; Reductions in business rates will help thousands of small and medium-sized shops, restaurants and pubs in our town centres. Will the Prime Minister commit to continuing to work for fundamental reform of local business taxation so that local shops and businesses of all sorts can compete fairly with the online giants?; The brutal murder of a mother in my constituency, shot in the back with a crossbow in front of her family just four weeks before she was due to give birth to her baby, has shocked people up and down the country to the core. I know I speak for every Member in expressing our deepest condolences to the family and our best wishes to the baby for a speedy recovery. Given that weapons such as the crossbow used to kill my constituent are readily available for sale online, can I urge the Prime Minister to look urgently and seriously at expanding the ambit of the Offensive Weapons Bill so that we can toughen up the scope of the laws governing the sale, possession and use of these deadly weapons?; Does my right hon. Friend agree that while the Government have invested millions in our railways, when my constituents are still suffering from chronic overcrowding on carriages it is incumbent on Network Rail to deliver projects on time, so that new rolling stock can be quickly put in place to alleviate the overcrowding?; I am privileged to have two award-wining sixth-form colleges in my constituency, but with no increase in funding since 2010, Winstanley College has cut German A-level from the syllabus and St John Rigby has drastically reduced pastoral support. Does the Prime Minister believe, like the Chancellor, that these are just little extras, or does she agree that it is time to raise the funding rate?; Will the Prime Minister join me in paying tribute to my constituent Dennis Brock, who will celebrate his 100th birthday next week? Uniquely, he has been ringing the bells at St Mary’s church in Sunbury-on-Thames for 87 years, and we confidently believe that he is the oldest bell ringer in the world.; More than a third of the children in my great city are currently living in poverty. Our local food banks have seen a 42% increase in demand since universal credit was imposed on us in June. Most referrals come from the Tory-led city council, which is refusing to give them a penny. Is that compassionate conservatism?
Kenneth Clarke (Conservative, Centre-right): We are currently in the middle of a swirl of rumours about the proposed deal with the European Union, and a torrent of criticism from all the Government’s most ferocious critics. One of the rumours is that if the Cabinet agrees to the deal this afternoon, the Government propose to publish a White Paper setting out all the details later today Will the Prime Minister give an assurance that, if and when this deal is published, a statement will be made to this House of Commons when it is produced? It is this Parliament that will have to decide now what to do next, and we do not want Parliament to be consulted only after another 24 hours of rumours and criticism. We want to re-establish parliamentary sovereignty, and I wish the Prime Minister well in obtaining a majority for some course of action in future that is in the national interest.