Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Tom Greatrex

Wednesday 5th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister (Mr David Cameron)]

With Remembrance day next week, I am sure that the whole House will join me in remembering all those who sacrificed their lives defending our country and the freedoms we hold dear. This time of year once again reminds us of the incredible job that our armed forces do to ensure our safety and security. With combat troops coming home from Afghanistan, we will all want to pay particular tribute to the 453 soldiers who lost their lives and all those who were injured during that long campaign. Their sacrifice will never be forgotten.

This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others and, in addition to my duties in this House, I shall have further such meetings later today.

[Tom Greatrex]

May I first associate myself with the Prime Minister’s comments about Remembrance weekend, when we remember the contribution that so many have made, from all parts of the UK, in our armed forces?

Two weeks ago the Prime Minister said that concerned steelworkers at Clydebridge in my constituency and at sites across the UK should judge Klesch Group by its actions. With its record of asset stripping in France and Holland and the news overnight of the failure to purchase Milford Haven, does he believe that it is in the public and national interest for the strategically important UK foundation steel industry to be sold to Klesch Group?

[The Prime Minister]

First, I agree with the hon. Gentleman that what has happened at Milford Haven is very disappointing. We will continue to work with the company concerned and try to find employment opportunities for all those who work there. With regard to Tata Steel, Clydebridge employs around 90 people and, as he knows, is an integral part of the Long Products division. We took action in the Budget to support heavy industry, and we are working with Klesch Group and with the Scottish Government. It says that it is taking this on as a going concern and that due diligence has started. I think that the right thing to do is to work with the Klesch Group to try to ensure that its plans are to maintain that company. What we need overall is a situation in this country in which the steel industry continues to grow, as it has been doing under this Government.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Tom Greatrex

Wednesday 20th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. Jaguar Land Rover has been a massive success story for our country, and I would praise all of those who have invested money in that business, all those who work in it and all the apprentices who are being trained in it. It is part of a recovery of our automotive sector, which has, for the first time in 30 years, seen a surplus in the number of cars that we export overseas, and it is part of a picture where Nissan, Toyota, Honda and other automotive businesses in the sector are doing well, and we support them.

[Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Prime Minister will be aware that this week marks the bicentenary of the birth of Dr David Livingstone—born in Blantyre in my constituency, buried in Westminster abbey—which was marked by a service attended by President Joyce Banda last night in the abbey. He will know that one of Livingstone’s proudest achievements was the drive to abolish slavery in east Africa. Given the bicentenary, does the Prime Minister agree that it is now time for his Government to take the lead to end the scandal of the 2.5 million people in modern-day slavery or prostitution as a result of people trafficking?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point, and he gives me the opportunity to praise President Banda for what she is doing to lift people out of poverty in Malawi, and to thank her for visiting Britain and Scotland this week. The hon. Gentleman makes an important point about slavery, because there is still modern-day slavery and we still need to take action to combat it at European level, at national level and at local level with the police. This Government will continue to take that action.

Algeria

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Tom Greatrex

Friday 18th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I believe that I am. The reaction from all Governments across Europe, north Africa and the wider world has been completely condemnatory of this terrorist attack. It is very important that we speak with a united voice in saying that this sort of terrorism is never justified, and, frankly, it has to be defeated. All of that cannot be done through a political process—a very important robust security response is required.

[Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Prime Minister has referred a couple of times to the fact that the oil and gas industry is an international industry and that there is a considerable amount of mobility of labour with British nationals working abroad and liaison with British-based companies. Can he say a little more about the assessment that has been made of the number of British nationals working in this industry, not necessarily for British-based or even western companies, who are working directly, or as subcontractors, in that region? What advice and guidance will be supplied to them?

[The Prime Minister]

First, as I said in my statement, we are working with all the oil companies and talking to them about the importance of greater security. Obviously, all the countries in which they operate will want to provide greater security. It is in the interests of the Algerians, for instance, given that a large percentage of their economy is provided by oil and gas, that those companies should be able to operate properly there. From my experience of this episode, I think that there is perhaps more we need to do to ensure that the companies have a really good, up-to-date record of all the people who work for them and who work for any subcontractors, so that if anything goes wrong, we can have the swiftest possible information about who is involved and who is safe. On this occasion, there were some issues and difficulties around that.

Hillsborough

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Tom Greatrex

Wednesday 12th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. When we talk about trying to deregulate and take small businesses out of health and safety, it is not to say that we do not need higher standards of safety when there are important issues such as large crowds in big public gatherings. However, in recent years, we have had too much form over substance. What really matters in health and safety is the substance and looking at real risks rather than thinking that some micro-business that has nothing to do with health and safety needs the same sort of regulation as a football ground.

[Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Lab/Co-op)]

I welcome the important statements from the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition this afternoon. Notwithstanding the point that the Prime Minister made about the process, may I reiterate to him the inadequacy of the inquest? Up to 59 of those 96 people could have had a different outcome, judging by the statement he has made today. The people who have been affected will not feel a sense of justice being begun to be done while that flawed, inadequate and shoddy inquest remains on the record.

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. There is an entire chapter in the report—chapter 8—on the coroner’s inquiry. There is also an additional entire chapter on the 3.15 cut-off—which is an important point that hon. Members will want to look at carefully—and it seems, from a preliminary reading, to be extremely powerful.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Tom Greatrex

Wednesday 21st March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Lab/Co-op)]

Q13. The Prime Minister may recall that at the time of the strategic defence and security review, he described it as a mistake and an error to use the short take-off vertical landing variant of the Joint Strike Fighter. As the Ministry of Defence is about to perform a U-turn on the decision to rescind the original decision, does he now accept and understand that the real mistake and error has been a defence review that has been inadequate and is fast unravelling?

[The Prime Minister]

The real mistake and error was inheriting a £38 billion black hole in the defence budget. To pay tribute to my right hon. Friend, what he wants as Defence Secretary is to be the first—in a generation, frankly—to announce a balanced and funded budget for defence, for this year and for many years to come. That is what we are discussing. We will look at all the evidence and all the costings. As the hon. Gentleman will know, costings change in defence, but I make this pledge: if costs and facts change, we—unlike previous Governments—will not just plough on regardless and make the wrong decisions for political reasons.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Tom Greatrex

Wednesday 23rd November 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am sure that everyone in the House will agree with the tribute that my hon. Friend paid to her colleague from the Select Committee and to the very good work that he did on that Committee.

My hon. Friend makes a good point about the strikes next week. Frankly, the strikes are going to go ahead and everybody should be very clear about where the responsibility lies: it lies with the union leaders and with the Labour party, which is taking their side and backing the strike. She makes the important point that when it is safe for people to take their children to work, organisations should allow them to do so.

[Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Lab/Co-op)]

Q9. The Prime Minister is probably aware that up to 20,000 individuals across the United Kingdom have lost considerable sums of money, often their pension savings, through the collapse of the Arch Cru investment fund. That fund was advertised and marketed as being cautious, and turned out to be anything but. Will he heed the calls from all parts of the House for the Government to use the powers of section 14 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 to institute an immediate inquiry so that this never happens again?

[The Prime Minister]

Like the hon. Gentleman, I have been contacted by constituents who have lost money because of that fund and who are very concerned about what is happening. There has been a Westminster Hall debate on this issue, where the Financial Secretary to the Treasury set out the position and the responsibility of the Financial Services Authority. I will look carefully at what the hon. Gentleman says and see whether we can do more.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Tom Greatrex

Wednesday 19th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

One of the things we are doing is insisting that the big six have to make more of their energy available in a pooling arrangement so that new businesses can come into the industry. The reason we have to do this is that the last Government abolished the pooling arrangements, creating the situation with the big six—and we do not need to ask who the Energy Secretary was during that Government as we are looking at him.

[Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Lab/Co-op)]

Q5. Given the importance of carbon capture and storage both as a way of helping to reduce our carbon emissions and as an exportable technology to help rebalance the economy, will the Prime Minister put his words into action and step in to ensure that the Longannet demonstration project goes ahead?

[The Prime Minister]

What I can say is that the funding we set aside for carbon capture and storage is still there and will be made available. Clearly, the Longannet scheme is not working in the way that was intended, but the money and support from the Government for this vital technology is there.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Tom Greatrex

Wednesday 12th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s question. I looked carefully at the time of the announcement at exactly what was proposed for the coastguard. There are proposals to try to put more people on the front line by sharing back-office services and through the way in which the coastguard is co-ordinated. I know that there are very strong local feelings, and I will arrange for her to meet the Transport Secretary to discuss the matter. What is essential is that we have really good coastguard coverage for all of our country.

[Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Lab/Co-op)]

Q2. The Prime Minister has just confirmed to everybody listening that he is not taking any action on bankers’ bonuses, yet at the very same time his Government are removing the mobility element of disability living allowance for thousands of people who live in residential care. Is that the influence of the Liberal Democrats, or the unfinished business of the son of Thatcher?

[The Prime Minister]

First, I actually said no such thing. The hon. Gentleman obviously was not listening to our interesting exchanges. Let us be clear: we want a settlement in which the banks’ taxes go up, their lending goes up and their bonuses come down. Instead of posturing and posing, we are actually doing something about it. Disability living allowance is an important issue, and our intention is very clear: there should be a similar approach for people who are in hospital and for people who are in residential care homes. That is what we intend to do, and I will make sure that it happens.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Tom Greatrex

Wednesday 15th September 2010 Commons Chamber

[Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Lab/Co-op)]

Q4. Given the strategic defence importance of the aircraft carriers, on which work has already started, will the Prime Minister undertake to meet urgently with me, other parliamentary colleagues and workplace representatives so that they can put to him their concerns about reports that the aircraft carriers will be cancelled, before it is too late?

[The Prime Minister]

I am sure my right hon. Friend the Defence Secretary and his Ministers are happy to meet anyone who wants to discuss the state of the defence budget and the appalling legacy that we have been left. Of all the budgets that I have looked at, that is the one where we were left the biggest mess—£38 billion over-committed, and decisions taken that made very little sense at all. But the hon. Gentleman will be seeing a strategic defence review in which we properly review how we can make sure that we have forces that are right for our country, right for our interests and ensure that we protect our interests around the world.—[Interruption.]

Saville Inquiry

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Tom Greatrex

Tuesday 15th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman makes a very good point. It has been a difficult day for the families; it has been a difficult 38 years for them. We thought very carefully about this, and we wanted to build on the arrangements that were put in place by the right hon. Member for St Helens South and Whiston (Mr Woodward) when he was Northern Ireland Secretary to ensure that the families could see the report some hours in advance of its publication today, and in a way in which all their needs would properly be met, because this is an incredibly stressful document for them to read. I pay tribute to the former Northern Ireland Secretary for what he did to put those arrangements in place, and to my right hon. Friend the current Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for what he has done to build on them, as well as for meeting the families, as he has done, and for offering to meet them again in the future, which he will also do.

[Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Lab/Co-op)]

I welcome the Prime Minister’s statement and, particularly, his commitment to a day’s debate on the report in the autumn. May I urge him and his Cabinet colleagues, between now and the autumn, to encourage everyone to consider the report, and the issues that it raises for all communities, reflectively and with maturity, so that we can get the benefit of all the efforts that have gone into producing it?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, I can do that. The hon. Gentleman makes a good point, which is that people will want to study the report in detail. The scale of it is enormous. I have brought in only one of the eight or ten volumes—