Engagements — House of Commons, 2018-07-04
Topic: Education
Questions: After last night, I am sure that there is one question I do not need to ask the Prime Minister, which is whether she believes that football is coming home. I will ask her, though, whether she agrees that another great victory for our United Kingdom is the BAE contract. What does she think that means for jobs up and down the country in the manufacturing supply chain after we leave the EU?; You wait for a bus question and seven come along at once; there is another one coming now. This morning, my office manager walked from Delabole to Sir James Smith’s School. This is a route that Cornwall Council has deemed to be safe and within Government guidance, and parents have been refused free public transport for their kids. At three miles there and three miles back, the road has no pavements and no street lighting. In winter months, the children will be asked to walk to and from school in the dark on a single track road alongside cars, tractors and lorries. There are similar stories all around Cornwall. Will the Prime Minister look at this guidance and talk to Cornwall Council about what can be done?; Domestic abuse is an act of brutality often hidden in plain sight, and it affects one in four women and one in six men across this country. Last week saw the launch of the Employers’ Initiative on Domestic Abuse, and 170 companies and some MPs have signed up to train their employees to spot the tell-tale signs and to help provide much-needed support. Will the Prime Minister support this initiative and also encourage more MPs and businesses across the country to sign up?; President Trump has recently locked up children in cages, instigated a ban on Muslims, stalled action on climate change and started trade wars, and he is now threatening women’s reproductive rights. Should the Prime Minister not be challenging his divisive and damaging policies, instead of inviting him for tea and cakes at No. 10?; I look forward to welcoming Heather Steven, the practice manager at Loftus’s GP surgery, to my right hon. Friend’s Downing Street reception for the NHS later. Can my right hon. Friend assure the House that as part of this Government’s record investment in the NHS, she will ensure that primary care services receive all the support they need?; This morning, the head of the National Audit Office took the unprecedented step of writing an open letter to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, setting out how the right hon. Lady has misled Parliament in three respective statements she has made on universal credit. The ministerial code is very clear that:“It is of paramount importance that Ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity. Ministers who knowingly mislead Parliament will be expected to offer their resignation to the Prime Minister”.Has she?; On Saturday in Llandudno, the Prime Minister received a warm welcome as the nation paid tribute to our brilliant armed forces. It is great news that valiant Salisbury will host the event next year, and we are absolutely delighted that Britain’s premier resort, Scarborough, will be the location of the national Armed Forces Day event in 2020. Is the Prime Minister looking forward to coming to Scarborough as much as we are looking forward to welcoming her on 27 June 2020? Does she suspect, like me, that the Leader of the Opposition will already have put the date in his diary, as no doubt he will be planning to wash his hair again that day?; The nursery at Basford Hall is well used and well rated and helps parents access further education. Despite that, Nottingham College is planning to close it. Our campaign to stop that is backed by 1,800 local residents and our local councillors. Does the Prime Minister agree with them that we must remove all barriers to accessing further education, and will she support our call for the college to revisit that decision?
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I have not seen the details of the particular issue at the college that the hon. Gentleman has mentioned. On the general point, I think it is important that we make sure that education—further education, higher education—is available to people and is available to people whatever their background, whatever their circumstances and, as I say, whatever their particular circumstances. I want to see a country where how far people go in life is about them, their talents and their willingness to work hard, not where they have come from and not what their circumstances are.