Article 50

Lucy Frazer Excerpts

Wednesday 29th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As I indicated in response to my hon. Friend the Member for Ribble Valley (Mr Evans), the question of the status of EU citizens living here, and of UK citizens living in EU member states, is one that we hope to be able to address at an early stage of the negotiations so that we can give people security and an assurance for the future. Of course I recognise that there will be a degree of uncertainty for businesses until the future arrangements have been concluded and they know what they will be. I hope that we will be able to give businesses the certainty of implementation periods so that there will not be a cliff edge for them, but they can be assured that we will try to ensure that we get the most comprehensive free trade deal that is possible.

[Lucy Frazer (South East Cambridgeshire) (Con)]

Many people voted to leave the EU because they felt disengaged with politics and that the institutions did not work for them. Over the next 18 months, will the Prime Minister therefore not only work to ensure that we retain a place in the world, but deliver on our domestic agenda to ensure that people feel our Government are working for them?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. and learned Friend makes the important point that although there will be complex negotiations in relation to Brexit, it is important that the Government continue to put in place our plan for Britain and our domestic agenda for a stronger economy, a fairer society and a global outlook for the United Kingdom. Our work on trade with other nations around the world will be an important part of that.

European Council

Lucy Frazer Excerpts

Tuesday 14th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

There was a referendum in Scotland in September 2014 in which the people of Scotland voted to remain part of the United Kingdom. Sitting next to the hon. Gentleman is the right hon. Member for Gordon (Alex Salmond), who said at the time that it would be a once-in-a-generation vote.

[Lucy Frazer (South East Cambridgeshire) (Con)]

The right hon. Member for Moray (Angus Robertson) quite rightly started his questions by emphasising the importance of jobs and the economy. Given the circumstances, with Scotland’s trade with the UK being worth £50 billion—four times less than its trade with the EU—does the Prime Minister think there is a good economic case for Scotland to remain in the UK and to ensure that together we work for the best deal with Europe?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. and learned Friend is absolutely right, and the figures are very clear: the single market that is most important to Scotland is the single market with the United Kingdom. [Interruption.] The right hon. Member for Gordon shouts “frictionless borders” at me; of course, Scotland has a frictionless border with the rest of the United Kingdom, which is the most important single market it is a member of.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lucy Frazer Excerpts

Wednesday 14th December 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I say to the hon. Lady that I am keen to ensure that we can protect the rights of EU citizens living here, but I am also keen that the rights of UK citizens who are living in the EU are protected as well. The Home Secretary, I think, is aware of the proposals that have been put forward and is looking at them very carefully.

[Lucy Frazer (South East Cambridgeshire) (Con)]

In October, hundreds of people from across Europe attended a neo-Nazi rally in Haddenham, a small village in my rural constituency. What steps is the Prime Minister taking to tackle racial hatred?

[The Prime Minister]

First of all, can we once again, from this House, send a very clear message that there is no place for racial hatred in our society? This is so important. The Home Office has done a lot of work on racial hatred and hate crime. It has published a hate crime action plan, which shows what we are going to be doing during the lifetime of this Government. Of course, earlier this week, my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary proscribed the right-wing organisation National Action, which means that being a member of, or inviting support for, that organisation will be a criminal offence. It is important that we take every step we can to stop racial hatred in this country, and I was pleased to announce on Monday that Britain will be the first country in Europe to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism.

European Council

Lucy Frazer Excerpts

Monday 24th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I understand that although the discussions on the Canadian deal have stalled, attempts are still being made to ensure that that deal can go ahead, and we would encourage it to go ahead. On the wider point the hon. Lady makes, I am sorry but I am going to repeat what I have said previously: people put this purely in terms of some variation of access to or membership of the single market, but what matters is what the trading relationship is. If we make ourselves hidebound, saying that it has to be in this particular form at this stage, it will not be open to us to negotiate the best possible deal. What matters is that we have the maximum possible ability to trade with and operate within the single European market, and to do that across both goods and services. That is what we are aiming for.

[Lucy Frazer (South East Cambridgeshire) (Con)]

Does the Prime Minister agree that when negotiating for Brexit it is important not only to negotiate collectively with the member states, through the European Council, but, equally if not more importantly, to have conversations individually with each member state, as has been shown by the experience of negotiation on the Canadian trade deal?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. and learned Friend makes a very important point. That is precisely why both I and other Ministers are not just interacting with the European Union in its various forms—the Council and so forth; I have made a number of trips to meet my opposite numbers in various members states of the European Union. We will continue those discussions with those countries bilaterally because we want a good, strong relationship with them bilaterally when we leave the European Union, as well as having a good relationship with the EU.

Prime Minister

Lucy Frazer Excerpts

Wednesday 14th September 2016 Commons Chamber

The Prime Minister

- Hansard - - Excerpts

Of course, the House of Commons voted for that reduction in the number of Members of Parliament—I think people wanted to see that. I would gently remind him that, when he refers to the House of Lords and changes in the House of Lords, it is actually this Government who have introduced the retirement procedures for the House of Lords that have seen a reduction in the number of Members of the House of Lords.

Lucy Frazer (South East Cambridgeshire) (Con)

- Hansard -

Q9. The NHS “Five Year Forward View” states that, in future, we will see more care delivered locally. Does the Prime Minister think that, in line with that, the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough clinical commissioning group ought to consider the importance of local care when assessing the future of the Princess of Wales minor injuries unit in Ely? (906347)

The Prime Minister

- Hansard - - Excerpts

My hon. Friend is right: the five-year plan does include that proposal for more local input in care at a local level. It is absolutely right that in looking at, for example, the future of minor injuries units, local people are considered and local concerns taken into account. I understand that there is due to be a meeting in Ely later this month to consider this. I hope that she and her constituents will be able to make their views known at that meeting.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lucy Frazer Excerpts

Wednesday 7th September 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Well, it is very good to see him sitting in his place. Let us just look at the contrast in what has been done over this summer. The Conservative Government have been working tirelessly to support everyone in this country: £250 million of loans to small businesses, the introduction of the racial disparity audit looking at public services and how they treat people, and of course setting the groundwork for new trade deals around the world. What a contrast with the Labour party, divided among themselves and incapable of uniting our country. What we do know is that there is only one party that is going to provide a country, a Government, an economy, a society that works for everyone, and that is the Conservative party.

[Lucy Frazer (South East Cambridgeshire) (Con)]

Q4. Last week the Children’s Society published a report which showed that 10% of children feel their lives have little meaning or purpose. I know that the Prime Minister understands the importance of tackling mental health because she raised it in her Downing Street speech. What further action does she propose to increase mental health support in our schools?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. and learned Friend raises an important point, and there has, I think, been a collective concern about the way in which mental health is dealt with. That is why we have put a record £1.4 billion into transforming the dedicated mental health support that is available to young people across the country. That includes £150 million for services to support children and young people with eating disorders. There are various other things, too: we are publishing a blueprint for school counselling services, because my hon. and learned Friend is right that the role that schools play is very important, and I know that my right hon. Friend the Education Secretary will be looking very closely at the “Good Childhood Report” to see what more we can do.

European Council

Lucy Frazer Excerpts

Monday 21st March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Mr MacNeil, I have told you before that you are an exceptionally excitable fellow. You have aspirations to statesmanship and must comport yourself accordingly. Now, we will have an altogether more subdued tone.

[Lucy Frazer (South East Cambridgeshire) (Con)]

It is often said that the EU is undemocratic and that laws are imposed on us. Is not the decision that the Prime Minister reports today on VAT an example of how Britain can mould and shape those rules and regulations?

[The Prime Minister]

I agree with my hon. Friend. This supports the argument that if we get stuck in, we can change these things. It is frustrating, and those of us on either side of the argument should accept the frustrations referred to by the other side. VAT has been frustrating—frustrating for the last Government, and frustrating for us. Restrictions were put there so that we could have reasonable trade and so that we would not have cross-border shopping issues and tax competition issues, but they are too inflexible and this change is worth while.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lucy Frazer Excerpts

Wednesday 27th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[John Penrose]

It is not quite that simple, but I sympathise with the hon. Lady, in that several new approaches that are being trialled in universities throughout the country are extremely promising. We want to pursue those, so perhaps the hon. Lady and I can discuss that further at our meeting later today.

[Lucy Frazer (South East Cambridgeshire) (Con)]

2. What steps the Government are taking to increase social mobility in the civil service.

[The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General (Matthew Hancock)]

Social mobility is mission critical to our plan to ensure that the civil service is fully representative of the nation that it serves and benefits from talent in every part of Britain.

[Lucy Frazer]

I welcome that answer. May I ask the Minister to give the House an update on research by the Bridge Group on social mobility in the fast stream?

EU Council

Lucy Frazer Excerpts

Tuesday 5th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We are all democracies, so we accept the results in each other’s elections. I am happy to say that here, a Government who took difficult decisions over the economy and the deficit actually achieved a higher share of the vote at the election than they did at the previous one; there are benefits from spelling these things out. I am committed to working with the new Portuguese Prime Minister. We will see what emerges in Spain. I work very closely with Prime Minister Rajoy, who did a very good job for his country in difficult circumstances. These election results show how we need reform in Europe. We need the competitiveness, we need the jobs, and we need the ability to compete against the rest of the world so that we can create jobs and wealth as we are doing here in Britain.

[Lucy Frazer (South East Cambridgeshire) (Con)]

Does the Prime Minister agree that it is neither unfair nor inappropriately discriminatory to place restrictions on those who come here from other member states? This is evidenced by the fact that the original EEC treaty granted a right to residence but only to those who came to pursue an economic activity.

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. and learned Friend is absolutely right. One of the problems that has emerged is that the legal changes that have been made have defined free movement in a more and more generous way. It used to be the case that it was free movement to go and take a job for which you had applied, whereas today, I think I am right in saying, 60% of those who come to Britain are job applicants—they do not have a job when they come. This is another reason we need to address the welfare issue, because those people will be particularly affected by changes to in-work welfare, and we will not have that unnatural draw to Britain. Many people who come to Britain work hard and contribute and all the rest of it, but we need to make sure that our arrangements reduce the unnatural pull of migration to Britain, as my hon. and learned Friend set out.

Syria

Lucy Frazer Excerpts

Thursday 26th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

That is very much what I meant. I think we should be stepping up what is happening in Syria, but given our accuracy, I would expect that, all things being equal, we would be taking the place in some instances of others and therefore the point the hon. Gentleman makes is valid.

[Lucy Frazer (South East Cambridgeshire) (Con)]

If each of our allies independently said, “Well, others are involved and therefore we don’t need to get involved”, how would we ever defeat ISIS?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. and learned Friend asks a very good question, which goes to this moral point: is it really a moral stance to say, “Our allies are taking the action that protects us, so therefore we don’t need to act”? Without getting too deep into moral philosophy, if we take the Kantian imperative, we should be following them rather than standing away from them, because otherwise no one would take the action.