Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Andrew Jones

Wednesday 11th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

First, I commend the hon. Gentleman for the work that he does in fighting anti-Semitism. I know that he takes a very prominent role, both inside and outside the House, with the work that he does. It is vital to reassure Jewish communities at this time, particularly after the heightened tensions because of what happened in Paris and other issues. I have met with the Jewish Leadership Council; I regularly discuss the issues with it. We make support available, and I have made sure that the police have contacted all the relevant organisations to try and work with them, but I am very happy, as ever, to sit down with Members of Parliament and hear their views, too.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

Q7. Local enterprise partnerships covering Harrogate district have awarded 14 grants from the business growth fund totalling over £1.7 million. This has led to the creation of 158 jobs, many in manufacturing—part of the 60% fall in unemployment that we have seen locally. Will the Prime Minister commit to further investment in northern manufacturing, as it is key to rebalancing our economy?

[The Prime Minister]

I am very glad that my hon. Friend sees a manufacturing revival taking place in Britain. We have seen manufacturing investment and manufacturing output increase. That is happening in all the regions of our country, which is worth while. We will be playing our part by investing £10 million in the development of the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in south Yorkshire. These and other catapults can make a real difference by backing the revival of manufacturing in our country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Andrew Jones

Wednesday 28th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

Q14. New figures show that, as a result of the focus on earlier diagnosis, increased access to treatments and the latest medicines, 12,000 more patients every year are now predicted to survive their cancer than just five years ago. Does the Prime Minister agree that while this is very encouraging, there is a long way to go and we have to maintain our focus on fighting cancer?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. What we see in our country is a 50% increase in cancer referrals, which means we are identifying cancers earlier and treating them better, and we also have the Cancer Drugs Fund, which has helped 60,000 patients. We need to go on with these improvements, but we will only be able to do that if we have a strong economy backing our strong NHS.

G20

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Andrew Jones

Monday 17th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Where I would seek common cause with the hon. Gentleman is on the idea that poorer countries are often unable to take part in the tax exchange because they do not have the capacity to process the information and use it to raise funds. That is why initiatives such as tax inspectors without borders and putting resources into these countries to help with their tax regimes are important. I do not agree that what we have done to attract foreign companies is irresponsible. We charge our taxes properly, and it is good that some practices that were—let me put it this way—questionable, such as the so-called double Irish scheme, have been taken away. Low tax rates and the proper application of those tax rates are the prize we should be looking for.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

The easiest way for people to travel to or from our country to participate in terrorism is obviously by plane, so will my right hon. Friend explain what penalties airlines would face if they failed to comply with our measures, such as no-fly lists, which play a key role in keeping our country safe?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. The main penalty that airlines will face if they do not comply with no-fly lists, or with the screening and security measures that we insist on, is not being able to fly to the UK. It is not a series of fines that we are looking at, but a prohibition on their flights unless they meet these tougher criteria.

European Council

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Andrew Jones

Monday 27th October 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is entirely right. Not only was that money given away in terms of the rebate, but we saw EU budgets go up and up year after year because of a failure to control spending. That is the lesson that we must learn. We have to be very tough on these things in Europe, which Labour consistently failed to be.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

Does the Prime Minister agree that if we are to keep Britain secure from the threat of Ebola at home, we need to contain it abroad? Should we not recognise the hundreds of people in our national health service who have volunteered to go out to west Africa, and congratulate them on their work in keeping us secure?

[The Prime Minister]

I think it quite extraordinary that 650 people in our country have already volunteered to go. As I said in my statement, we are sending out troops to help with the logistics and the planning. We must ensure that the medevac proposals are really robust, so that if any people do get into trouble, they can either be given excellent treatment in one of our facilities in the country, or be brought home.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Andrew Jones

Wednesday 16th July 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I completely disagree with the hon. Gentleman. For year after year, Royal Mail lost money and the taxpayer had to back it up. This Government have achieved what no previous Government have achieved, which is a successful privatisation of Royal Mail. The taxpayer has received money from that sale and we now receive the tax on the profits of Royal Mail, rather than the losses and the mismanagement of the Labour years.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

Q6. Later this year, North Yorkshire will become the best connected county in terms of superfast broadband, which is hugely helpful for our growing hospitality and tourism industry, which already provides thousands of jobs in my Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency and received a wonderful boost from the recent visit of the Tour de France. Does my right hon. Friend agree that rolling out superfast broadband is a great boost for jobs in all sectors, not just hospitality, and will help to build upon the wonderful economic legacy of the Tour de France?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for the warm welcome that he and people in Harrogate gave me during the stage of the Tour de France, marred only by Mark Cavendish’s tragic accident. It was an extraordinary event and showed his constituency and the whole of Yorkshire in their best light. He is quite right about the importance of superfast broadband. We are putting £790 million into superfast broadband access. We have half a million UK premises connected already and around 400,000 new premises are being upgraded every week. Everyone in the House has a duty to get out there to help to advertise what is happening with broadband and to encourage take-up rates.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Andrew Jones

Wednesday 11th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

This Government have ensured that public health budgets are properly ring-fenced and that money has been delivered, according to need, to the various areas of the country. I think the only part of the country in which Labour policy is put in place is Wales, which has not hit a health target since about 1989. It is also where experts say people are dying because of the length of time they spend on waiting lists, so if the hon. Lady is concerned about Labour health policy, Cardiff would be a good place to start.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

Q15. Youth unemployment in Harrogate and Knaresborough today stands at 50— that is not a percentage, but the total, and it is down 83% since 2010. That clearly reflects the 2 million new private sector jobs created since then. Will my right hon. Friend be building on that success by providing more opportunities and skills for the young people in our area through more traineeships and apprenticeships?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that even though 50 is a small number of young people to be unemployed in Harrogate, it is still 50 too many. Our ambition in the next Parliament should be to ensure that everybody has the chance either to go to university or to take on an apprenticeship and that we leave absolutely no one behind as they leave school and look for the stability and security that a future in work provides.

Commonwealth Meeting and the Philippines

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Andrew Jones

Monday 18th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I would be interested to hear about that idea. As my hon. Friend knows, we have emergency capabilities that can be sent out of the country very rapidly, but there is always room to see whether we can improve such an issue, either at a British level or by doing things with partners.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

Amnesty International has welcomed the Prime Minister’s call for

“genuine freedom of expression and…an end to the intimidation of journalists”.

Does my right hon. Friend think that it would have been as easy to speak up for the freedom of the Sri Lankan press had he stayed in London?

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for what he says. Being able to take journalists to the north of the country, particularly to the Uthayan newspaper, so many of whose journalists have been injured or killed in the course of their work, was a very powerful way of drawing attention to the importance of a free press and of freedom from intimidation.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Andrew Jones

Wednesday 30th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Fuel poverty went up under Labour. This Government have maintained the winter fuel payments; we have increased the cold weather payments; and we have increased the benefits that the poorest families get in our country. That is the action that we have taken, and we can afford to do that only because we have taken tough and sensible decisions on the economy.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

A few days ago, I launched the business case for the electrification of the Harrogate and Knaresborough rail line, which will mean more trains, faster services and better rolling stock. As the previous Government electrified just 9 miles in 13 years, will my right hon. Friend continue to prioritise rail electrification?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. The previous Government did just 9 miles of electrification in 13 years, an absolutely pathetic record, whereas we are putting £1 billion into modernising railways in the north of England. Let us look again at HS2: we all know we need cross-party agreement to make that important infrastructure scheme go ahead. What a pathetic spectacle we have seen this week. One minute the Opposition are for it, then they are against it, and the Leader of the Opposition is too weak to make a decision.

EU Council and Woolwich

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Andrew Jones

Monday 3rd June 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

At the European Council for Heads of State and Government, which I attended, there was not a long discussion about the Syrian arms embargo. The work was done by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary. There was strong support, though, from the French Government and there was some support from the Italian Government. Some of those countries that have newly joined the EU from the Balkans recognise the arguments that I was making about the mistakes that the west made with respect to Bosnia, so it is important to listen to them as well. The point about the EU arms embargo—this may be a point that colleagues on the Government Benches will particularly recognise—is that we decide our foreign policy as a nation state. In Europe, if we can agree something unanimously, we can have a combined position, but in the end this is something that we decide as an independent nation state.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his comments on the single market in energy. Does he agree that it is important to prioritise the safe exploitation of shale gas, as the opportunity for a cut in energy costs would be significant, especially for the manufacturing industry? That would bring a disproportionate benefit to communities in the north, which have a proud tradition of manufacturing.

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The figures are striking if we look at what happened with shale gas exploration in the US and at how much of their energy it is now supplying and the effect it has had on their gas prices. Their gas prices are now half the level of those in the UK, so this is an important industry for consumers and for our competitiveness.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Andrew Jones

Wednesday 27th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The right hon. Gentleman says that the New Statesman is scraping the barrel, but it was the only newspaper that endorsed his leadership. In this Oscar week, perhaps the best we can say is that Daniel Day-Lewis was utterly convincing as Abraham Lincoln, and the right hon. Gentleman is utterly convincing as Gordon Brown: more borrowing, more spending, more debt.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

In the 10 years for which they have run Harrogate borough council, the Conservatives have cleared the £19.6 million of debt left by the Liberal Democrats and, in doing so, have delivered a four-year council tax freeze. Does the Prime Minister agree that that shows the wisdom of tackling debt, and that any urges to borrow more and more like the Labour party constitute the road to ruin?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. It is worth recognising that when it comes to finding efficiencies and finding value for money, local government has an excellent record. We really should say that in this place. Local government has a good record of paying down debt, dealing with deficits, and being efficient. One of the benefits of that is that it reduces debt interest charges, which is something on which we must focus in this Government and in this country.

Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust (Inquiry)

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Andrew Jones

Wednesday 6th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. What Francis says is:

“A failure to appreciate until recently the risk of disruptive loss of corporate memory and focus resulting from repeated, multi-level reorganisation.”

He also says, though, that he thinks the changes required

“can largely be implemented within the system that has now been created by the new reforms”,

so I hope we can allow the changes that Francis is talking about to be made within the proposed structure. Everyone—all parties, all Governments—should learn from this report. I hope we can then allow the structure to bed down and to deliver the changes that everybody wants.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend’s statement was hard listening for those of us who care about the NHS and respect and value the work of the vast majority of those within it. Changing a culture of targets and a focus on process is an enormous task. Does he agree that one of the ways to improve care is to unlock the innate compassion of those who work in our NHS and our caring professions?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I remember going to the Royal College of Nursing conference at Harrogate in his constituency. Ministers are not saying this to nurses; nurses are saying to Ministers that, as they told me, they want to have this sense of compassion and vocation at the heart of their training. Nurses themselves think that some of the training systems have got too far into the classroom and too far away from the hospital ward, and they are the ones asking us to get that right. It is good to see Health Ministers nodding in agreement as I say that.

European Council

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Andrew Jones

Monday 17th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

Does the Prime Minister agree that a banking union should never be able to ride roughshod over those outside the eurozone?

[The Prime Minister]

I do agree with my hon. Friend. A banking union is necessary for the countries of the single currency. As I have said, we have a single currency in the pound and there is a banking union between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The countries with the single currency need a banking union, but it should not ride roughshod over others. That is why it is important not only that we are outside the banking union, but that we have secured the voting rules so that the “outs” have a say over things that could affect them.

Patrick Finucane Report

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Andrew Jones

Wednesday 12th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I have great respect for the hon. Gentleman, the campaign he has fought and the points he has made. He and his predecessors in the SDLP were right about what went wrong, and this report shows that they were right. It shows the extent to which we are prepared to open up and be clear about what happened. As for the organisations he mentions, the FRU has gone, and the RUC Special Branch has gone, so the question now is whether there is anything else to discover that this report has not discovered but a public inquiry would, and I do not believe there is.

In answer to the hon. Gentleman’s specific question about how high this went, Sir Desmond de Silva is absolutely clear that Ministers were misled and briefings were given that should not have been given, but he does not find that there was a ministerial conspiracy or ministerial order for the murder of Pat Finucane. That is very important. We now have a true picture and it is for others, including the police and the prosecuting authorities, to work out whether there is anything more that can be done.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend’s statement was full of shocking and shameful revelations. Notwithstanding the dignity and good work of the vast majority of our security services in the past, can he confirm that the oversight, scrutiny and accountability of our intelligence services today is completely different?

[The Prime Minister]

I am happy to give that assurance. I would not stand here and say it is perfect in every way. There are always improvements that we can make to the arrangements, which is why we have an Intelligence and Security Committee that scrutinises what is done and an Intelligence Services Commissioner who looks into the work that is done, but the situation has been transformed. When we read this report and think about what happened and what these agents were doing, it appears that that was a completely different world, where there does not seem to have been rules, processes, the rule of law, consideration of human rights or ministerial oversight. There were not those things that there are now.

European Council

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Andrew Jones

Monday 26th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I can certainly give my hon. Friend the assurance that we do not support new EU taxes. One of the ways in which particularly the left in Europe has endlessly tried to argue for higher budgets for more spending is by altering the so-called “own resources” and coming up with new taxes. We oppose a financial transactions tax. Some countries may well go ahead and introduce it in any case. If they do, as far as I am concerned, that is their own decision and we will not take part in it.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

The current multi-annual financial framework has a commitment of €994 billion; the van Rompuy proposal cuts that to €973 billion. Does my right hon. Friend agree that this is progress, but still not good enough?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is entirely right. The Commission initially came up with a proposal that was over a trillion euros. One problem has been the need to argue against a proposal that is clearly wrong and wrong-headed and bring it back to some sort of sanity before it becomes possible to argue about getting a proper outcome for the budget. It is not often that we hear politicians say this, but what is lacking in some cases is a Treasury approach of going through these budgets rather than having people like the permanent staff all sitting around in the Commission and in the Council protecting their own budgets rather than looking at the savings that should be made.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Andrew Jones

Wednesday 25th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Bedfordshire (Nadine Dorries) about many, many things.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

Over the past two years, UK exports have grown by 23%, and even faster to the BRIC. Will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating the 151 winners of the Queen’s award for enterprise this week on their success in international trade, particularly GSPK Circuits in Knaresborough and Boroughbridge in my constituency?

[The Prime Minister]

I certainly join my hon. Friend in congratulating that business on its export performance. When we look at some of the fastest-growing markets in the world—whether India, China or some of the south-east Asian markets I visited a few days ago—we see that our export performance in some of those markets, compared with 2009, is up by as much as 60%. As well as those markets, however, we also have to remember our old friends, as it were, and the fact that we still export more to the Republic of Ireland than to Brazil, Russia, India and China combined. So we need to expand our existing markets, but it is far harder work to get into the fast-growing markets of the world.

European Council

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Andrew Jones

Monday 5th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

That is essential. Syria is not a signatory to the International Criminal Court, but that does not mean that we should not collect the evidence and hold these people to account for their crimes, and Britain and others are doing that work right now.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

What measures were agreed by the Council to make progress towards the completion of the single market? I am thinking in particular about the digital services and energy sectors, as businesses in Yorkshire—my area—will be well placed to take advantage of opportunities that may arise in them.

[The Prime Minister]

The key point was that in paragraph 15 we are setting dates for the completion of these markets, which I hope gives my hon. Friend’s businesses and constituents confidence. But what we have to do now is make sure that individual steps are taken to make that happen and that where countries are holding things up, we support the Commission in making sure that infraction proceedings are taken against them.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Andrew Jones

Wednesday 11th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The position is very straightforward. We did not sign the treaty because we did not get the safeguards that we wanted to receive. That situation is not going to change. What coalition partners want to put in their manifestos at the next election is entirely up to them.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

Q9. Does the Prime Minister agree that people should pay their taxes, keep their businesses onshore and not live as tax exiles in Switzerland, leaving pensioners high and dry? What is he doing to stamp out such predatory business practices?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes an interesting point. For all the lectures about predatory capitalism and taxing different businesses in different ways, the one person the Leader of the Opposition has chosen to advise him on this issue has based all his companies in the British Virgin Islands.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Andrew Jones

Wednesday 2nd March 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Everyone in the House appreciates that our armed forces are among the most brave and professional anywhere in the world, and we can be incredibly proud of what they do. In terms of making sure that we look after them, the Government have introduced a doubling of the operational allowance for all those serving in Afghanistan; we are the first Government in history to introduce a pupil premium so that the children of service personnel get extra money when they go to school; we are making sure that rest and recuperation leave is properly formed; and we are writing out the military covenant and properly referencing it in law. The most important thing of all is to have a defence review and to make sure that our forces are fit for the future.

To all those who express concern, I make this point: at the end of that defence review, we will have the fourth largest military budget in the world; some of the most capable weapons that any air force in the world could have; the new Type 45 destroyers; our nuclear deterrent; and a superbly professional Army. That is what we want in this country, and that is what this Government will support.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

Q8. Will the Prime Minister join me in encouraging schools in my constituency and right across the country to get involved in the Tenner Tycoon school business competition, which encourages enterprise and is running this month?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, it sounds like an excellent scheme. There is a lot that we should do to encourage business and enterprise to go into our schools to encourage young people to think about a career in starting up a business, in small business and in enterprise. That is a very important part of a rounded education.