Engagements — House of Commons, 2019-10-30
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: On behalf of those on the Conservative Benches, may I wish my right hon. Friend the best of good fortune in the 12 December general election? While we live in a period of some uncertainty, there are 426 people who have thalidomide and very much rely on the health grant to give them dignity, care and support. That grant comes to an end in a few years’ time. As chairman of the thalidomide APPG, and on behalf of those 426 recipients, I urge my right hon. Friend to end their uncertainty as soon as possible by signalling a renewal of that grant. That would give them the peace of mind that, I hope the whole House agrees, they most certainly deserve.; For more than 30 years, the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore was promised a rebuild. Under a Conservative Government, we have the first phase of those medical facilities, to match the world-class treatment provided by the medical team there. However, there are two problems. The first is that the next phase is caught up in NHS bureaucracy, and the second is that two eminent non-executive directors have sadly been dismissed from the board. Can my right hon. Friend sweep away this NHS bureaucracy so that we can provide the medical facilities required, and also order an investigation into why the non-executive directors have been removed from the board by NHS London?;   Mr Speaker, as your former Deputy Speaker, I want to say that nobody who has sat in that Chair has done more to defend and promote the rights of LGBTI people in this country and throughout the world. When so many people live in fear of being born the way they are, I salute you. Thank you.The Guardian reported last week that the largest number of happy people live in the Ribble valley, and I believe that the Prime Minister has the capacity to make them happier. Will he ensure that Ribble Valley gets its fair share of the 153 extra police who are coming to Lancashire, that we get our fair share of rural funding for health services such as the Slaidburn health centre and that we get equal funding per pupil in our schools? Finally, for the 57% who voted Brexit and for the almost 100% who believe in democracy, will he ensure that after the general election, when he is Prime Minister, he will deliver the Brexit people voted for?; Mr Speaker, I have never known this place without you here, and it is going to be different. It is a delight to see your children here watching today, because I know that, while you have a responsibility to Parliament, you also take your responsibilities as a parent incredibly seriously. And now to the Prime Minister.[Interruption.] Today is my son Danny’s 11th birthday. Thanks to the years of cuts voted for by the Prime Minister, my son Danny and hundreds of children in Birmingham, Yardley are in super-sized classes and are only being educated four and a half days a week. I do not want to hear his fancy stock answers about Brexit or Russia that he has been giving from his little folder or about how he is going to give more—[Interruption.]; In Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP are letting down our wonderful NHS staff and the patients they look after. Waiting time targets have been missed, capital investment has been slashed and there is a £1 billion maintenance backlog. Does the Prime Minister agree with me that, rather than obsessing about independence referendums, Nicola Sturgeon should end her neglect of Scotland’s NHS?; Fireworks in politics can be entertaining. Unfortunately, fireworks of explosive types can cause great distress to sensitive people, pets and livestock. The SNP Scottish Government ran a 14-week consultation and received over 16,000 responses: 94% of respondents said that they would welcome increased controls on the sale of fireworks. The relevant legislation covers consumer protection on explosives, environmental law and animal welfare law. Has the Prime Minister ever considered banning the sale of fireworks to the general public, and in the short time left to him, will he?;   Thousands of British people in Wycombe have family and friends on one or both sides of the line of control in Kashmir. With so many serious allegations of human rights abuses being made, do the Government accept that this is not merely some foreign policy issue to be dealt with by others, but that it is an issue of the most immediate and profound concern in Wycombe and in towns across the UK?;   In my constituency, the squeeze on Government spending has meant that we have a third fewer police than we had in 2010, we have lost half our children’s centres and the state of disrepair at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, is so acute that, last week, the out-patients department was closed because of leaking sewage. How, then, can the Prime Minister justify squandering £2 billion of public money on no-deal Brexit preparations following his feeble pledge to exit the EU tomorrow, do or die?; I welcome the significant additional investment in Stockport schools, thanks to the Prime Minister’s work. Will my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister congratulate the excellent schools in my constituency and pledge further resources so that they can continue to deliver an excellent education for our young people?; Owing to health inequalities, men in my Stockton North constituency live on average 16 years less than those in the Prime Minister’s. Does he agree it is time that my area got the new hospital promised 10 years ago but axed by the Tory-Lib Dem coalition?
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): Indeed. As my right hon. and learned Friend knows, the advantage of the partnership we will build is that not only—[Interruption.] I am sure the talks will go well. We will have a zero-tariff, zero-quota arrangement with our European friends and partners. Under the current deal, which is a fantastic deal, we will also be able to do free trade deals around the world. There will be many ways in which we will stay very close to our European friends partners, but there will also be important ways in which we may seek to do things differently and better I have already mentioned animal welfare; I might mention tax breaks for new technology, I might mention cutting VAT on sanitary products, I might mention free ports. There are all sorts of ways to do this. I might mention different regulation on biotechnology or in many of the areas in which this country now leads the world. That is the opportunity for our country: to do a great free trade deal with our European friends and partners of a kind of which I am sure my right hon. and learned Friend would thoroughly approve, while also being a champion of free trade around the world. That is what we are going to do.