Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mary Robinson

Wednesday 13th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

What is actually happening in this country is that we are using the fiscal firepower that we have built up to cut taxes for working people and cut taxes for those on low incomes—we saw that last week with an average tax cut on national insurance of £330. We are increasing support for those vulnerable households, with another £326 going in from tomorrow. It is thanks to our Union that we were able to deliver the furlough scheme, which helped the entire country, and to make the massive transfers that boost the whole of the UK economy. The last thing that the people of Scotland need now is more constitutional wrangling when we need to fix the economy.

[Mary Robinson (Cheadle) (Con)]

Q5.   After securing almost £14 million in my towns fund bid for Cheadle, I was delighted last week to get the green light for our new Cheadle rail station and £4 million for our state of the art eco-business park. I have had tremendous support from the Cheadle towns fund board and local community, who understand how important it is to have connected towns and villages, bringing investment and high-tech jobs to our area. I am ambitious for Cheadle and I want to secure the redoubling of the Mid-Cheshire line and the extension of Metrolink through my constituency. Will my right hon. Friend join me in thanking the towns fund board and station working group for their support and agree with me that improving connectivity is key to economic growth and the future of our levelling-up agenda?

[The Prime Minister]

It is thanks to the massive exertions of this Government in levelling up, with the £650 billion investment in infrastructure, that we have a new railway station in Cheadle. I know that the bids that my hon. Friend has just mentioned are now being actively studied by those at the Department for Transport, and she should feed in more to them.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mary Robinson

Wednesday 5th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

What we are doing is investing hundreds of millions to make sure that we have a dynamic vaccine industry. Clearly the Government need to work hand in glove with the private sector, as we have done. No matter how deep the abhorrence of the private sector on the Opposition Benches, it was private-sector private capital that produced the vaccine success.

[Mary Robinson (Cheadle) (Con)]

At the beginning of 2020, Stepping Hill Hospital in my constituency was under such severe winter pressures that it was reaching critical OPEL, or operations pressure escalation level, 4. Since then, doctors, nurses and staff have worked tirelessly during the course of the pandemic, but covid is now taking its toll, particularly the omicron virus, and it is one of 17 hospitals that have said they will be taking a pause on non-urgent surgery. Will my right hon. Friend and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care work with the Greater Manchester hospital trusts to ensure that they get all the support they need through this critical time?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mary Robinson

Wednesday 20th October 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Lady for raising this anniversary. She is right to commemorate the victims of the Clarkston disaster. Our thoughts and our condolences continue to be with the families of those who lost loved ones. Of course, we must do everything in our power to make sure that no such tragedy is repeated.

[Mary Robinson (Cheadle) (Con)]

Q9. The failings of Greater Manchester police, which have led to it being placed in special measures, are well documented, including the failure to record 80,000 crimes, including domestic violence and sexual offences, in a single year. It is particularly important that the force addresses what the recent Manchester Evening News investigation called its “culture of denial…and secrecy”. After the horrific murder of Sarah Everard, it is crucial that we tackle the cover-up culture. Will my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister therefore join me in calling for Greater Manchester police to urgently review its internal culture? Will he also consider reforming the law on whistleblowing, so that people in Greater Manchester police and other organisations can speak up against wrongdoing in confidence?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes. It is vital that people should have the confidence to speak up against wrongdoing wherever they find it, particularly, of course, in the police. I believe that the people of Greater Manchester deserve better. I support and agree with what my hon. Friend says.

I will just say one thing. It is the responsibility of the Mayor of Greater Manchester to ensure that the police force acts—not a point that will be taken up on the Labour Benches—swiftly and decisively to address the failures that his constituents are currently finding.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mary Robinson

Wednesday 19th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I think in fairness this House is very united and will remain united, and of course we do support the CST.

[Mary Robinson (Cheadle) (Con)]

My second AstraZeneca jab reinforced my confidence not only in normal life resuming but in the future of our life sciences industry. In Cheadle and across south Manchester and the Cheshire life sciences corridor, investment in R&D and innovation will bring high-skilled, well-paid jobs. Will the Prime Minister join me in recognising and endorsing the work of our northern universities, NHS trusts and life sciences sector, who, together with the Northern Health Science Alliance, are piloting health tech initiatives that will take us forward from jabs to jobs?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, and I thank my hon. Friend, who is a great advocate for the people of Cheadle. As part of our plan to move from jabs, jabs, jabs to jobs, jobs, jobs, I am delighted to say that over £1 billion-worth of Government-funded science and innovation projects are currently taking place across the north-west, thanks largely, or at least in part, to her advocacy.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mary Robinson

Wednesday 4th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am very interested in what the hon. Lady says because, as she knows, this Government are investing massively in 5,000 low-carbon buses. I would be interested to know what type of coaches she is talking about and the details of the company that she rightly represents. That company should be eligible for bounce back loans and for all sorts of support. She is shaking her head, so I invite her to write to me with details of that company’s needs, and I will do my best to oblige her.

[Mary Robinson (Cheadle) (Con)]

Northern communities, including my Cheadle constituents, have already been subject to restrictions for months, which has meant a disproportionate effect on northern livelihoods. The importance of the Prime Minister’s levelling-up agenda has never been starker, so today I ask him to fast-track infrastructure spending in the north, including Northern Powerhouse Rail and a new train station in Cheadle. Will the Government, with northern MPs and business leaders, formulate a northern economic recovery plan, to ensure that our region comes out of the pandemic stronger than ever?

[The Prime Minister]

I can certainly confirm that we are going ahead with Northern Powerhouse Rail. In addition, I can tell my hon. Friend that Cheadle will receive at least £500,000 from the towns fund to support the local high street and the local community.

Covid-19: Strategy

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mary Robinson

Monday 11th May 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

No. 19 withdrawn, so we go to Mary Robinson in Cheadle.

[Mary Robinson (Cheadle) (Con) [V]]

In Greater Manchester, while the curve is flattening, it is not clearly on a downward path, with an R rate that could be as high as 0.9. In view of that, what message would my right hon. Friend give to my constituents in terms of their alertness on the five-tier scale and does he agree that, for city regions such as Greater Manchester, a significant increase in testing and contact tracing is vital in controlling this virus as we begin to ease the restrictions?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is entirely right. That is why we are recruiting 18,000 trackers/tracers by the 18th of this month. They will conduct a huge operation to trace anybody who has been in contact with somebody who tests positive for the virus, which is, of course, why it is so vital, as she rightly says, to have a massive testing operation. That is being hugely scaled up, as I have told the House. Yesterday, we achieved 100,000 tests. We are going to go up to 200,000 by the end of the month. Testing, tracking and tracing will be absolutely integral to our ability finally to defeat this virus.

Transport Infrastructure

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mary Robinson

Tuesday 11th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I remind the hon. Lady that bus ridership has fallen catastrophically under the current Labour Mayor because of his mismanagement of the system. Crime has risen precipitately. We will ensure not only that we drive down crime, in spite of what the current Labour Mayor is doing, but that we have fantastic, cheaper, greener, cleaner buses across the country.

[Mary Robinson (Cheadle) (Con)]

I welcome this statement, particularly the decision to start treating the local rail improvements under HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail as one integrated masterplan—High Speed North. As the design stage is brought forward, how are we going to ensure that local business leaders and communities are included in deciding what is best for their area locally in terms of this high-speed rail project?

[The Prime Minister]

We will make sure that businesses and communities are fully involved in the preparations for High Speed North.

Priorities for Government

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mary Robinson

Thursday 25th July 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has made me aware of the issue to which the right hon. Gentleman refers. I will make sure that we write to him about what we are doing to address it. As he knows, I have a long-standing commitment to supporting the freedom of people of talent to come to this country. If he looks at my political record, I do not think, genuinely, that he will find anybody who has done more to champion the rights of immigrants to this city or to this country.

[Mary Robinson (Cheadle) (Con)]

I welcome the Prime Minister’s commitment to infrastructure. In addition to his support for Northern Powerhouse Rail, will he consider looking at ways that HS3 can be constructed from the north, thus maximising the jobs in our region?

[The Prime Minister]

I have asked Doug Oakervee, the former chairman of Crossrail, to conduct a brief six-week study of profiling of the spend on HS2, to discover whether such a proposal might have merit, and I will ensure that I revert to my hon. Friend as fast as possible on its conclusion.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mary Robinson

Tuesday 26th June 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mary Robinson (Cheadle) (Con)]

18. Thank you, Mr Speaker; it most certainly is.My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary will be aware that the Australia-United States free trade agreement was negotiated within 13 months. Can he outline what preparations his Department is making, so that when we leave the EU we can begin to negotiate speedy free trade arrangements with our Commonwealth counterparts? In the spirit of Commonwealth friendship, while he is on his feet, would he mind wishing the Socceroos every success in their game tonight?

[Boris Johnson]

I have just been warned by the Minister for Asia and the Pacific that the Socceroos are playing Peru tonight. I have just been to Peru and I would not want to forfeit any friendship I may have acquired on that mission. We wish both sides well in that encounter. Not just the FCO, but the Department for International Trade is waiting, straining in the slips—unlike the Labour party—to do the free trade deals that my hon. Friend rightly refers to.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mary Robinson

Tuesday 15th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mary Robinson (Cheadle) (Con)]

T9. Last year I visited St Lucia as part of a Commonwealth Parliamentary Association delegation, meeting representatives from St Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago. Britain’s vision post Brexit and its implications for the Commonwealth family of nations was a topic of discussion. Can my right hon. Friend give us an assurance that following the successful Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting, we will make every effort to strengthen our economic and diplomatic ties with those island nations?

[Boris Johnson]

I certainly can, and I can tell my hon. Friend that at the Commonwealth summit I was able, as she may recall, to announce the opening of 10 new UK delegations, many of them in the Caribbean or the Pacific.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mary Robinson

Tuesday 21st November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I would have called the hon. Member for Cheadle (Mary Robinson) if she had been standing, but she was not, so I did not, but now she is, so I will.

[Mary Robinson (Cheadle) (Con)]

17. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Since the outbreak of the recent shocking violence in Rakhine more than 600,000 Rohingya refugees have crossed the border into neighbouring Bangladesh, where there is an urgent need for additional land for shelters to provide life-saving services and aid. In the light of the desperate situation, what support are the Government offering to the Bangladeshi Government so that refugees can have access to the basic essentials of existence, such as clean water, medicine and shelter?

[Boris Johnson]

My hon. Friend is entirely right. The UK is one of the biggest participants, having been either the biggest or second biggest donor to the humanitarian crisis in Bangladesh. We should all congratulate the Government of Bangladesh on the forbearance and energy they have put into coping with this appalling crisis. The UK is contributing £47 million, which has helped to provide for 174,000 people. We have provided safe water and sanitation for more than 138,000, and emergency shelter for 130,000; we have provided aid, counselling and psychological support that will reach more than 10,000 women suffering from trauma and 2,000 survivors of sexual violence; and we have provided medical help for more than 50,000 pregnant women to give birth safely. That is a record of help and support for the crisis of which the whole House can be proud.