Oral Answers to Questions
David Mowat Excerpts(8 years, 1 month ago)
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Mrs Villiers
The Government are certainly doing all they can to ensure that the UK, including Northern Ireland, is one of the most competitive places in the world to do business, which is one reason why we have reduced corporation tax. We are bearing down on unnecessary regulation. I will certainly look into the matters the hon. Gentleman raises in relation to the industry.
David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)
6. What assessment her Department has made of the role of the voluntary sector in dealing with the legacy of the past.
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mrs Theresa Villiers)
In working to build consensus for the Stormont House agreement institutions on the past, I have held a number of very constructive meetings with voluntary groups who support and represent victims, as well as with victims themselves.
David Mowat
The Secretary of State will be aware of the reconciliation work performed by the Peace Centre, which is based in Warrington. Support is given to those on both sides of the Irish sea affected by terrorism, although the majority of the funding is provided by the Irish, not the UK, Government. Will the Secretary of State agree to meet me and members of the Foundation for Peace to discuss whether we can do more on this issue?
Mrs Villiers
I would be very happy to do that. I enjoyed my visit to the Peace Centre, and I have the highest regard for the work done by the centre and its various programmes to support the victims of Northern Ireland terrorism and other victims.
Oral Answers to Questions
David Mowat Excerpts(8 years, 2 months ago)
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The Prime Minister
The right hon. Gentleman has to look at the facts, rather than talking down the people who are working so hard to teach children in our schools. The facts are these: our teachers are better qualified than ever, with a record 96.6% of teachers in state-funded schools now having a degree or higher qualification. Those are the facts. On those going into teaching, Teach First is the most popular destination for Oxbridge graduates—something that never happened under a Labour Government. If you want to encourage people to go into teaching, you have to know that you have a good school system with more academies, more free schools and higher qualifications, and make sure that we have rigour and discipline in our classrooms, all of which has improved. All of that is possible only if you have a strong and growing economy to fund the schools that our children need.
David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)
Q3. Fiddlers Ferry in my constituency is one of several UK power stations announcing closure this year. However, Germany and Holland, both of whose carbon emissions are higher than ours, are building brand new mega-coal power stations from which we will be importing coal. It is hard for me to explain the logic of this to my constituents. Could the Prime Minister review the pace of our closure programme, particularly in the context of next year’s energy crunch?
The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend raises a very important question and he is right to say that there is big change in this industry. We want to see an increase in gas capacity and in renewables capacity, and of course the restarting of our nuclear programme, which I hope to be discussing with the French President this week. My hon. Friend is also right to say that security of supply must be our No. 1 priority, and that is why we have announced that we are going to bring forward the capacity market to provide an extra boost to existing stations, and this could indeed help Fiddlers Ferry itself. I would say to him and to everyone across the House that all these decisions we take about energy have consequences for people’s bills. He mentioned Germany, but German electricity prices are 40% higher than those of the UK; the level of subsidy makes up about 30% of German bills. Ours is less than half that level, and I think we have to think through these decisions and their consequences for energy consumers.
Oral Answers to Questions
David Mowat Excerpts(9 years, 3 months ago)
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David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)
3. What assessment her Department has made of the role of the voluntary sector in dealing with the legacy of the past.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Dr Andrew Murrison)
Voluntary sector organisations provide invaluable support for those whose lives have been changed for ever as a result of Northern Ireland’s troubled past. I have visited some of them and I pay tribute to their work, which I know from my dealings with victims and their families is deeply appreciated by many in Northern Ireland and beyond.
David Mowat
The recent Stormont House agreement acknowledged that victims of the troubles from outside Northern Ireland should also be formally recognised, and the oral history archive that is to be set up is a mechanism for doing that. Will my hon. Friend support a role for the Warrington-based Foundation for Peace in co-ordinating input to the archive for such victims?
Dr Murrison
Yes, and I pay tribute once again to my hon. Friend’s contribution to this and his support for the Warrington peace centre and its important work. It is explicit in the Stormont House agreement that the oral history archive will be established for the whole of the United Kingdom, and it will be keen to hear the accounts of the troubles of people in Warrington and throughout the United Kingdom. I look forward to that forming a part of the oral history archive in due course.
Oral Answers to Questions
David Mowat Excerpts(9 years, 10 months ago)
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David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)
1. What assessment she has made of the value for money of the Saville inquiry.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Dr Andrew Murrison)
When the previous Government set up the tribunal in 1998 to investigate the tragic events of 30 January 1972, no one could have anticipated that it would take 12 years to complete and cost more than £191 million. The inquiry produced the definitive account of the tragic events of that day, the value of which is very clear.
David Mowat
I thank the Minister for that answer. One hundred and ninety-one million pounds would have paid for 10,000 nurses for a year or, indeed, transformed a large part of the economy of Northern Ireland. It is clear that the Government completely failed to control the costs. Can the Minister confirm that never again will an inquiry be set up with no attempt whatever to control costs and that the relevant civil servants understand that as well?
Dr Murrison
Notwithstanding my remarks about the value of the inquiry, the Government have been clear that although each case will be considered on its merits, we should indeed resist further costly, open-ended inquiries. I note that the Inquiries Act 2005 will help in that regard.
Oral Answers to Questions
David Mowat Excerpts(10 years, 7 months ago)
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David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)
1. What assessment her Department has made of the role of the voluntary sector in dealing with the legacy of the past.
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mrs Theresa Villiers)
I begin, Mr Speaker, by offering my apologies for the absence of the Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for South Leicestershire (Mr Robathan). He is recovering from an operation and looks forward to returning to the House soon.
The voluntary sector plays an important role in supporting those whose lives have been affected by the legacy of Northern Ireland’s past. I pay tribute to organisations such as Wave and the Warrington Peace Centre, which do such valuable work.
David Mowat
The Secretary of State will be aware that nearly 20% of the victims of the troubles reside on the UK mainland, whereas funding is restricted largely to the island of Ireland. For example, the Peace Centre, based in Warrington, has no access either to EU PEACE III funding or UK funding. Are there any plans to review the criteria by which this works?
Mrs Villiers
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his question. I very much enjoyed my visit to the Warrington Peace Centre, which does a fantastic job. I have heard directly from it about its concerns regarding its inability to access the funding that supports victims in Northern Ireland. I know that is a concern for it, but it is for the Northern Ireland Executive to decide whether they open up those funds to any organisations in Great Britain and outside Northern Ireland. However, I welcome the work that the Warrington Peace Centre does for the UK Government on the Home Office’s Prevent scheme to counter radicalisation.
Oral Answers to Questions
David Mowat Excerpts(11 years, 6 months ago)
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The Prime Minister
I hate to disappoint the hon. Gentleman but it was this Government who set up the Leveson inquiry, and have co-operated with it and given it all the information it has asked for.
David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)
Q13. In March, my constituent Emma Hickman was informed that her fiancé, Private Daniel Wade of 3rd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment, had died in Afghanistan. Three months later, she gave birth to Daniel’s baby, Lexie-Mai. The Army will not accept paternity without evidence; nor will it release the DNA without a court order. As a consequence, Lexie-Mai receives nothing. Will the Prime Minister help to expedite this case? Will he also require that the Army routinely holds DNA, as happens in other countries, such as the United States?