Engagements — House of Commons, 2018-05-16
Topic: Government Operations
Questions: Yesterday we had the fantastic news that real wages are rising, which, combined with the threshold where people now begin to pay tax, will mean people in North Warwickshire and Bedworth keep more of the money they earn and have more money in their pockets. Will the Prime Minister join me in welcoming this good news, and does she agree that we need to keep backing our workers and great local businesses to deliver even more well-paid jobs?; The 12 in-bed provision at Rothbury Community Hospital in my constituency was removed without adequate consultation back in September 2016. The Save Rothbury Hospital campaign and I have worked closely together to get transparency on that decision and return the in-bed provision for our vast and sparsely populated Coquet valley. Does the Prime Minister agree that the NHS should be investing in community hospitals, which can provide that low-level nursing for convalescence and palliative care for my constituents and others, and will she support our campaign to get it back?; Derby- shire’s Labour police and crime commissioner is advertising for two new members of staff at a combined cost of more than £90,000 while also increasing his council tax precept. Given that this will take the commissioner’s office staff numbers up to 19, excluding the commissioner and his deputy—which is actually more than the number of police officers in Erewash—does my right hon. Friend agree that Labour is again prioritising jobs for the boys over brave boots on the ground?; Figures released by the OECD on 27 April show that inward investment into the UK in 2017 slumped by 90% in comparison with 2016, which is one of the largest one-year drops in foreign direct investment ever recorded in any country. It is crystal clear that if this downward trend continues, it will have a catastrophic impact on steel and the other manufacturing and service industries that are the lifeblood of our economy in Aberavon, in Wales and in the UK. In order to reverse the profound market uncertainty that has caused FDI to plummet in this way, will the Prime Minister now confirm that she is prepared to keep an open mind on our country rejoining EFTA—the European Free Trade Association—and remaining in the European economic area? Will she also recognise the fact that there is a strong cross-party consensus for—[Interruption.]; As we approach the first anniversary of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, I am sure that the thoughts of the whole House are with the victims and their families. Very sadly, far too few of the survivors have a permanent home to call their own. In advance of Dame Judith Hackitt’s long-promised review of building regulations, will my right hon. Friend update the House on the work that the Government have done to ensure that buildings across the UK that are of similar design to Grenfell Tower are safe, so that we do not have a repetition of that terrible tragedy?; I join hon. Members in paying tribute to Tessa Jowell—an amazing woman, politician and friend. Some remember the Olympic games as Tessa’s crowning achievement, but those of us who were closest to her know that they were not what she was most of proud of. As a true memorial, and in the week in which the Government can find £50 million for grammar schools, will the Prime Minister commit to funding Tessa’s proudest achievement: Sure Start?; This afternoon, 1,000 handwritten letters will arrive at Downing Street asking the Prime Minister to intervene personally in the stalemate between NHS England and the drug company Vertex to get the cystic fibrosis drug Orkambi issued to patients in the UK without delay. One of those letters is from seven-year-old Luis, who says:“Dear Mrs May,Please can you give Orkambi to me so I will feel much better and won’t have to spend so much time in hospital.”What is the Prime Minister’s response? Will she?; I welcome the fact that the Health Secretary is in listening mode and has referred the plans for downgrading Huddersfield Royal Infirmary back to the trust. Now, here is the challenge. Nationally, how will the Government fill the 34,000 nursing vacancies, recruit the 47% of vacancies in GP surgeries, increase funding for community NHS services, fix Kirklees Council’s social care funding gap of £9 million a year and protect our NHS so it is free at the point of use in its 70th year?; Erasmus+ is the EU programme that, for 30 years, has given 600,000 people from the UK—apprentices, students, businesses and workers—the chance to train, study or volunteer abroad. The Government have said that Erasmus+ is safe until 2020 but have made no commitments to keep it thereafter. Erasmus+ is being forgotten about. Keeping all those benefits, especially for younger people, many in Blackpool, is one thing that unites both leave and remain. Will the Prime Minister make sure that Erasmus+ is now a top-line item for her Ministers and give us this pledge today?; In February 2015, after the publication of the Casey report on child sexual exploitation in Rotherham, the Prime Minister, in her previous role, said that if resources were needed, they must be provided. However, the Fusion bid has received only just over 30% of the funding requested. This funding is desperately needed to support survivors of CSE and to pursue convictions against the perpetrators. Will she ask the Home Secretary and the Justice Secretary to authorise the rest of the funding as a matter of urgency?; I have been working with a group of parents who have adult children who were seeking long-term accommodation. They were advised and encouraged to use the support for mortgage interest scheme. The Government have since abolished the scheme and replaced it with a loan, which has caused a great deal of hurt, concern and confusion. Mencap has asked for this group of adult children to be exempted from the changes. Will the Prime Minister meet me, Mencap and a small representative group of parents to see how we can put right the hurt that has been caused and make sure that these people have the proper accommodation available for them?; We must continue to have the closest possible relationship with the single market if we are to avoid taking a major hit on our economy, but time is rapidly running out for us to negotiate a bespoke new deal. What possible reason can there be for the Prime Minister not giving Members of Parliament the earliest possible opportunity to vote in this place on the European economic area?; My constituent, Jan Steyn, is an incredibly hard-working Church of Scotland minister, who has made North East Fife his home over the past seven years. He has been denied leave to remain because he temporarily served the Scots Kirk in Paris. Will the Prime Minister meet me and the Church of Scotland to discuss that issue?
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): No, no. No further point is required. I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman Let me say to the House this: I have been advised by the Secretary of State for Transport, who beetled up to the Chair to catch a word with me during Prime Minister’s questions, that the statement is commercially sensitive. I have no reason to seek to gainsay the right hon. Gentleman. I do not know whether it is, but no doubt it has such an element. It is regrettable if there is not very substantial notice for the Opposition. [Interruption.] Order. I am dealing with the matter. I do not need any help from the Secretary of State. I am advised that the Opposition did in the end have approximately half an hour’s notice of this statement, and I am happy to hear from the Secretary of State if he wants to respond to the point of order On the point about the making of Government statements on Opposition days, this is by no means unprecedented, including under previous Governments. However, if I may say so—and I will—it is highly undesirable for there to be statements on very substantial public policy matters, in which the House will doubtless be interested, on an Opposition day. One looks to people traditionally with responsibility for safeguarding the rights of the House, of whom the Chair is one, but not the only one, to take these matters very seriously. This is an undesirable state of affairs, and if it were to happen on further occasions, a great many hon. and right hon. Members, not to mention interested parties in the Opposition day debates outside the Chamber, would view it, frankly, as an abuse. I hope that that message is heard loudly and clearly on the Government Front Bench, at the highest level, by the people in particular by whom it needs to be heard. If I have to make the point again on future occasions, and to use the powers of the Chair to facilitate the rights of this House in other ways, no matter what flak emanates from the Executive, I will do so in the future, as I have always done over the past nine years, and no one and nothing will stop me doing my duty by the House of Commons If the Secretary of State wants to respond to the point of order, he is very welcome to do so.