Engagements — House of Commons, 2015-09-16
Topic: Health
Questions: The Isle of Wight zoo is having difficulty importing a tiger. She was cruelly treated in a circus and has now been kept in isolation for nearly two years, despite Belgium being wholly free from rabies. Will my right hon. Friend assist in breaking through this bureaucratic logjam?; The Prime Minister has a lot to be pleased with Corby for—that is Corby, not Corbyn. Not only did Corby help him back into No. 10, but it gave to him and the world the DVD case, which was designed and first produced in the town. This week, we continue that entrepreneurial spirit, with our bid for a new enterprise zone being submitted. Does he agree that areas that are taking significant housing growth should also benefit from new jobs and new infrastructure?; Public sector workers like nurses, health workers, local government workers, teachers and public service workers have not had a pay rise for five years, and they are being told by the Chancellor that they are going to get 1% for the next five years. What is it with these hard-working, good tax-paying people that means this Tory Government will not give them a decent rise?; Following the Prime Minister’s visit to Yorkshire last week, peace, love and harmony has broken out right across the county. Members on both sides of the House have expressed their support for a “Greater Yorkshire” bid, encompassing north, east and west Yorkshire and Hull. Will he agree to meet me and other Members to discuss the merits of the bid, and the central role we believe it can play in the northern powerhouse and our economic security?; My constituent Enola Halleron-Clarke, who is 11 years old, suffers from Morquio syndrome. This distressing disease stunts her growth and leads to abnormal development of the bones, and at the moment there is no cure. Enola would like to be able to use the drug Vimizim to help alleviate her condition, but the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has yet to decide whether the drug should be available on the NHS. Will the Prime Minister do all he can to encourage NICE to come to a speedy decision for Enola and people like her?; At the general election, the Prime Minister promised an extra £8 billion a year for the national health service. This week, the chief executive of one of our leading hospitals in the country, Addenbrooke’s hospital, which serves my constituents in Cambridge, resigned, not least because of the financial crisis that is engulfing our health service, as indicated by the King’s Fund yesterday. How much more damage has to be done to the NHS before the Prime Minister coughs up?
David William Donald Cameron (Conservative, Centre-right): With the danger of introducing too much politics into this answer, I have to say that at the general election our party stood on the proposal of £8 billion more for the NHS—effectively, it was £10 billion more for the NHS—and we have set out where every penny piece of that is coming from. At that election, the Labour party did not support an extra £8 billion for the NHS; it did not back the Stephens plan. The truth is if we want proper reform for a seven-day NHS and the resources that go with a successful NHS, it is the Conservative party that will deliver.