Oral Answers to Questions

John Bercow Excerpts

Wednesday 13th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)]

This morning, right hon. and hon. Members and I were serving on a statutory instrument Committee. Along the Committee corridor, there are SI Committees almost every day, preparing not only for a deal-Brexit but for a no-deal Brexit. Can I tell my right hon. Friend that we are prepared, in my view?

[Mr Speaker]

Aren’t we? I think that is where the question mark comes.

[Brandon Lewis]

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. As the Government have said consistently over the past couple of years, we are working so that we are prepared, whatever the outcome. The legislative default for this Parliament is to leave without a deal, if we do not agree a deal.

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[Oliver Dowden]

The hon. Lady says that we have no idea of the level of attacks. I am happy to set out the number for her. We have already managed more than 1,100 major incidents through the National Cyber Security Centre. The national cyber security strategy is delivering, for example, the removal of more than 4.5 million malicious emails every month, and the taking down of 140,000 fraudulent phishing sites. This strategy is bringing together the commercial side and the Government side and it is delivering.

[Mr Speaker]

We are out of time, but we must hear the question of the right hon. Member for Loughborough (Nicky Morgan).

[Nicky Morgan (Loughborough) (Con)]

8. What assessment he has made of trends in the level of intimidation of people in public life.

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[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Mr Speaker]

One sentence, Tom Brake.

[Tom Brake (Carshalton and Wallington) (LD)]

10. Will the Minister commit to conducting a Mueller-style public inquiry into the alleged electoral fraud that has been committed in electronic campaigning by, for example, the leave campaign and potentially Arron Banks, who is being investigated by the National Crime Agency?

[Mr Speaker]

The right hon. Gentleman is of course concerned about the implications for intimidation, to which I am sure the question relates.

[Chloe Smith]

The right hon. Gentleman should know that the Government cannot have such an inquiry because the agencies investigating are independent, and rightly so. I can reassure the House that we have seen no evidence of successful interference in UK democratic processes, and that is as we would wish it to be.

Topical Questions

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[The Prime Minister]

The right hon. Gentleman talks about not wanting no deal yet repeatedly votes in a way that brings no deal closer. The deal that he is proposing has been rejected several times by this House. I may not have my own voice, but I do understand the voice of the country. They want—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The House must calm itself. I want to hear what the Prime Minister has to say and what everybody has to say, and it should not be necessary for voices to be raised for a Member to be heard.

[The Prime Minister]

And that is that people want to leave the EU, they want to end free movement, they want us to have our own trade policy, and they want to ensure laws are made in this country and judged in our courts. That is what the deal delivers, and that is what I continue to work to deliver. The right hon. Gentleman used to believe that too. Why is he just trying to frustrate it?

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[The Prime Minister]

I will ensure that Ministers in the Department for Education have heard the hon. Lady’s request, but let me just remind her and Members of the House that the schools budget this year is £42 billion, which is the highest it has ever been—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The hon. Member for Birmingham, Yardley (Jess Phillips) usually advocates good and respectful behaviour, which she must now herself exemplify, notwithstanding her passion or insistence upon her point of view, in which she in not exceptional.

[The Prime Minister]

The schools budget is the highest ever this year, and we have given every local authority more money for every pupil in every school this year.

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[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I understand that the hon. Member for Bexhill and Battle (Huw Merriman) is about to namecheck his mother, an admirable woman—a former teacher and, in my view very importantly, my constituent.

[Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

Q14. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I think she loves you more than me these days, because she is also a Labour supporter—albeit that you are of course independent.On behalf of me and my lovely mum, I point out that there are parts of the country, from Sheffield to Staffordshire and Sussex, where pupils receive less money per head than pupils in other parts of the country. I know the Prime Minister values a good education—she went to the same school as my mother, who became a teacher. Therefore, for me and my lovely mum, we want three things: first, more funding for our schools; secondly, on special educational needs, we need more focus and priority on stopping academies excluding pupils unnecessarily because of their targets; and thirdly, the lowest-funded areas should be funded first when we get this right.

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[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Mr Speaker]

I call Mr David Duguid. No? He previously signalled an interest, and I was trying to accommodate him, but never mind.

[David Tredinnick (Bosworth) (Con)]

If my right hon. Friend had been elected leader of the Labour party, would she be allowing a free vote this evening?