Transport Infrastructure

Debate between Boris Johnson and Rachel Maclean

Tuesday 11th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The right hon. Gentleman’s characteristic optimism is in marked contrast to the negativity that we heard from the Leader of the Opposition. Of course there will be opportunities for procurement in Northern Ireland and, indeed, elsewhere. Buses spring to mind.

[Rachel Maclean (Redditch) (Con)]

Redditch is only a short hop away from the HS2 terminus in Birmingham, so I welcome today’s announcement. Does the Prime Minister agree that, because my constituency has the highest rate of people going to work by bus, Redditch is the perfect candidate for Britain’s first all-electric bus town?

Debate on the Address

Debate between Boris Johnson and Rachel Maclean

Monday 14th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Maclean (Redditch) (Con)]

One of the things my constituents care deeply about is social care, so I welcome the proposals set out in the Queen’s Speech. Does my right hon. Friend agree we must get Brexit done so that we can focus on the needs of the most vulnerable people in society?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is completely right, and the entire country is yearning for this House to come together and to work together to get Brexit done. If we can get a deal, I think it would be the will of the people of this country for us to move that deal forward, because that is the way to get on with the priorities of the British people—not just controlling immigration, but ensuring that we look after the interests of young people growing up in this country and give them the skills and investment they need to match their talent.

Prime Minister's Update

Debate between Boris Johnson and Rachel Maclean

Wednesday 25th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I wonder whether the hon. Lady has ever conducted a negotiation in which she has agreed at the outset that it must in any event conclude in favour of the other side. I think she will understand what her side of the argument tried to do with the surrender, capitulation and humiliation Bill, or whatever we want to call it. We will not be bowed or daunted by this. We will get on and try to get the best deal possible none the less, as I think she is advocating.

[Rachel Maclean (Redditch) (Con)]

More than 70 Opposition Members have brought us back to this House today, supposedly to talk about and scrutinise Brexit, when we have had three years to talk about Brexit in this House, and I have not heard a single original point made by any Opposition Member today. Has the Prime Minister heard any new arguments? Does he think that the people in this country are interested in what is being said by Opposition Members, or are they interested in the priorities he would want to put forward in a Queen’s Speech?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend. What the people of this country want to hear is not just that we are going to get Brexit done on 31 October, which we will, but that we are going to come forward with a one-nation Conservative agenda to take this whole United Kingdom forward, and that is what we are going to do. I have been listening to Opposition Members and watching the expressions on their faces very carefully, and I think there is more support on the Opposition Benches for a deal than they might currently level. I hope they will nurture that feeling, because that is the right way forward for our country.

G7 Summit

Debate between Boris Johnson and Rachel Maclean

Tuesday 3rd September 2019 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Maclean (Redditch) (Con)]

I warmly welcome my right hon. Friend’s commitment to getting us out of the EU on 31 October, for which 62% of my constituents in Redditch voted. Does he agree that the greatest damage to our democracy, in the eyes of the silent majority of our constituents out in the country, is to fail to honour that promise?

[The Prime Minister]

I could not have put it better myself. I am very grateful to my hon. Friend.

Priorities for Government

Debate between Boris Johnson and Rachel Maclean

Thursday 25th July 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I wonder how many referendums we would have to have before the Liberal Democrats respected the result.

[Rachel Maclean (Redditch) (Con)]

I have been here quite a while now, and the Prime Minister definitely has not reached his quota of 20 hospitals for upgrade, so does he agree that the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch and the Worcestershire Royal Hospital must be Nos. 1 and 2?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for that very cunningly posed question. I think she may be fortunate, because I am given to understand that one of the hospitals in question serves the Chancellor’s constituency as well.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Rachel Maclean

Tuesday 27th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Maclean (Redditch) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend not agree that, contrary to what some Opposition Members have just suggested, despite Brexit we will have strong foreign policy relations around the world?

[Boris Johnson]

I am delighted that my hon. Friend has said that, because I think that the events of the past few days have vindicated that very point. The contrast is very striking between the rather tepid response to the assassination of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 and the overwhelming global response we have seen in the past few days.

--- Later in debate ---

[Rachel Maclean (Redditch) (Con)]

Last night, I and many colleagues across the House attended a huge demonstration to say “enough is enough” to anti-Semitism. What more can my right hon. Friend’s Department do to strongly send out the message to the Jewish community around the world that Britain is determined to stamp out this ancient hatred?

[Boris Johnson]

It is absolutely vital for everybody in this House to send out a very clear message that anti-Semitism anywhere is intolerable. I look to people on both sides of the Chamber to do that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Rachel Maclean

Tuesday 20th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Maclean (Redditch) (Con)]

T9. In the light of the recent Vote 100 celebrations in this House and the launch of our Equalitea party in Redditch, supported by women and girls of all ages, will my right hon. Friend assure me that his international agendas are also supporting women and girls?

[Boris Johnson]

We are totally aligned with what is taking place in Redditch in the sense that, as my hon. Friend the Minister for Africa said earlier, our ambition for there to be 12 years of quality education for every girl in the world, which I believe is the universal spanner that will help to unlock so many other global problems, is at the heart of our Commonwealth summit—

Counter-Daesh Update

Debate between Boris Johnson and Rachel Maclean

Tuesday 7th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Boris Johnson]

I have dealt with that point abundantly.

[Rachel Maclean (Redditch) (Con)]

May I welcome the UK Government’s leadership in the fight against Daesh and thank the Foreign Secretary for updating the House? Just as we show leadership in this area, is it not right therefore that we bring forward more leadership in the areas of cyber-security and online radicalisation? Will he update the House with more detail of the measures that are being taken to tackle this scourge that affects our young people’s minds?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Rachel Maclean

Tuesday 11th July 2017 Commons Chamber

[Boris Johnson]

As the hon. Gentleman knows, the Government have a commitment to an all-out ban on the sale of ivory in this country, and that is what we intend to pursue.

[Rachel Maclean (Redditch) (Con)]

2. What steps his Department is taking to help support and deliver an effective departure for the UK from the EU.

[Sir Edward Leigh (Gainsborough) (Con)]

14. What steps his Department is taking to help support and deliver an effective departure for the UK from the EU.

[The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Boris Johnson)]

My Department continues to support EU exit negotiations, and the Government work to strengthen our relations with partners worldwide. As a champion of free trade, we will continue to seize the opportunities afforded by Brexit and guarantee our long-term global prosperity.

[Rachel Maclean]

Businesses in my constituency are seeking to make the most of the opportunities that Brexit provides for them, but can my right hon. Friend assure me that he will work closely with the Department for International Trade and the Department for Exiting the European Union to ensure that businesses that are already trading with the single market are helped to build new export markets for their goods and services around the world, to secure their continued prosperity?

[Boris Johnson]

Absolutely. I congratulate my hon. Friend on what I believe is her first question—I think it is a very good one. She can reassure her constituents that not only will the excellent companies in her constituency be able to continue to enjoy free trade with the rest of the European Union—with the EU27—but they will, of course, have the additional opportunity afforded by the new free trade deals that we will be able to strike with countries around the world. I am pleased to say that they were queuing up to make that point to the Prime Minister at the G20 in Hamburg.