Engagements — House of Commons, 2019-01-16
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: The Prime Minister will be aware of the Sirius Minerals project in my constituency, which is already employing about 1,000 people and is set to boost British exports by £2 billion. From her visits to China, where she met the company’s customers, she will know how important its polyhalite fertiliser product can be around the world. The company is currently seeking a Treasury guarantee to complete its financing. Does the Prime Minister agree with me that this is precisely the sort of project the Government should be supporting to show our commitment to the northern powerhouse and the industrial strategy?; On behalf of all the members of the all-party parliamentary group on Kenya, which I chair, and my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Derbyshire (Mrs Latham), the Prime Minister’s trade envoy to Kenya, may I express our sincere condolences and sympathy to the President and people of Kenya and encourage them in their fight against terrorism?My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and her Government have rightly committed very substantial extra money to the NHS, and the plan produced last week is very encouraging, but will she look at the difference between the money given to the clinical commissioning groups that receive the least per head and those that receive the most per head? We do not want funding to come down, but we do want a fairer formula for allocating money to the CCGs that receive the lowest funding.; The Prime Minister’s defeat yesterday was historic and titanic. Everything has changed, and she has to change, too. Yesterday, thousands of people descended on Parliament Square to demand their say. Nobody took to the streets to demand a Norway or Canada option. When she came to power, she promised that she would give people more power over their lives. If she is not going to give people the power to have a say over this deal, what was the point of that promise in the first place?; My right hon. Friend will remember from her visits to Copeland just how capable our nuclear community is and how proud we are of our nuclear heritage. Will she consider meeting me and a small delegation of Cumbrian nuclear workers to understand how important Moorside is to Copeland, and will she bear in mind the solutions that the Centre of Nuclear Excellence can provide to its challenges?; Last night in this House, after the biggest Government defeat in history, the Prime Minister said that the Government would approach meetings with parliamentarians “in a constructive spirit”, but it appears that holding cross-party talks means inviting people in to tell her why her deal is best or to see whether they have any ideas about how to get her deal through. Apparently now, No. 10’s resistance to a customs union with the European Union after Brexit was a principle, not a red line. Which is it? If she is genuinely seeking to work with Parliament and hear the will of the House, is she prepared to change any of her red lines and work to bring Parliament and the country together on how we move forward?; Does the Prime Minister agree with me that if we fail to deliver on Brexit, public perception of politicians in this country will be at an all-time low?; The Prime Minister may have created a Brexit crisis, but other crises are unfolding. Rates of chronic health conditions and obesity in the north- east are the highest of any English region, and people over 65 in Durham can expect only eight years of healthy living, compared with 14 in Windsor and Maidenhead, so why on earth is the Prime Minister planning to cut Durham’s public health budget by a massive 40%? That will not only worsen health outcomes for my constituents but ultimately cost the NHS more and further widen health inequalities.
Kenneth Clarke (Conservative, Centre-right): I sat through many hours on every day but one of the recent debate, listening carefully to the extraordinary range of views expressed throughout it by Members in all parts of the House. It seemed to me that the only clear majorities in this House on a cross-party basis are against leaving with no deal; in favour of extending article 50 to give us time to sort out what we now propose to do; and in favour of some form of customs union and sufficient regulatory alignment to keep all our borders between the United Kingdom and the European Union open after we leave. Will the Prime Minister not accept, just as I have had to accept that the majority in this House is committed to the UK leaving the European Union, that she must now modify her red lines, which she created for herself at Lancaster House, and find a cross-party majority, which will be along the lines that I have indicated?