Oral Answers to Questions

David Nuttall Excerpts

Wednesday 27th April 2016 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock]

I am an enormous supporter of the work of charities, but I find it extraordinary that the hon. Gentleman seems to be a supporter of lobbyists using money only when it comes from taxpayers. I think that taxpayers’ money should be put to better use.

[Mr David Nuttall (Bury North) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that when our constituents give money to charity, they expect it to be used directly to help those disadvantaged people whom the charity claims to help, and that if they wanted it to be used for political lobbying, they would have made a donation to a political party?

[Matthew Hancock]

I could not have put it better myself.

Panama Papers

David Nuttall Excerpts

Monday 11th April 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr David Nuttall (Bury North) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that any course of action designed to reduce tax that does not constitute tax evasion must, by definition, be legal, even if some may regard it as aggressive tax avoidance? It is up to this Parliament to legislate to make such courses of action illegal.

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Where there is aggressive avoidance taking place that is clearly against the spirit of the law, Parliament should act. As I have said many times, that is what the Chancellor has done, and that is what HMRC advises us about. I think that sometimes there are occasions when the tax avoidance is so aggressive that it is right to warn those taking part in it that legislation will follow, and therefore they should not take part in the scheme in the first place. That often happens.

House of Commons Members’ Fund (No. 2) Bill

David Nuttall Excerpts

Friday 4th March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr David Nuttall (Bury North) (Con)]

I, too, want to congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Mole Valley (Sir Paul Beresford) on bringing the Bill before the House. Conscious as I am of the fact that driving instructors all over the country will be waiting for us to move on to the next business, I just want to make one short point that I am sure will be entirely pun-free.

It occurs to me that the setting up and establishment of the fund was an early example of what may be described in modern parlance as the big society: people taking care of their own without being forced to do so. Members have the privilege of being able to pass legislation, but it was essentially a voluntary act by Members to look after their own. As has been said, the fund has been taken over by events. With the advent of parliamentary pensions, it has largely fallen into disuse. Nevertheless, I am sure Members on both sides of the House will be glad of the extra £24 a year and I am sure the Chancellor of the Exchequer will be glad of the extra couple of million pounds being returned to the Treasury coffers.

I wish the Bill well this morning and in the other place.

Question put and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read the Third time and passed.

UK-EU Renegotiation

David Nuttall Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd February 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his comments. Clearly, if agreed, this will be a legally binding arrangement, for the reasons I have given, but we are aiming in it for treaty change—on those things that need to change—the next time the treaties are altered. He makes a good point though: the more we can bring this together in one place and explain what it is about, the better the British people will see the force of the arguments.

[Mr David Nuttall (Bury North) (Con)]

Does the Prime Minister accept that if the UK left the EU, we could regain our seat at the World Trade Organisation, thereby regaining our voice and influence on this crucial body for global trade, which we lost when we became a member of the EU?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that, outside the EU, one option would be to take our seat at the WTO. The only problem is that the WTO has not signed many trade agreements in recent years. Those have tended to be bilateral agreements, such as the EU agreement with Canada, which we hope is about to come in, and that with Korea. Of course, Britain could, independently, sign trade agreements, but we have to weigh up how much influence Britain has as a member of the EU—a market of 500 million people—when negotiating the biggest and best trade deals with the fastest-growing countries in the world.

EU Council

David Nuttall Excerpts

Tuesday 5th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman is right to make the point that there are many victims of terrorism and families who have lost loved ones to terrorism in our own country. Even today there is still a terrorist campaign in part of our United Kingdom, and we should take a moment to pay tribute to the police and the security services who work round the clock to try to stop that happening. With reference to his question, it is important that whatever our borders are or wherever they are, we are able to police them effectively to stop criminals and terrorists crossing them.

[Mr David Nuttall (Bury North) (Con)]

The Conservative party manifesto said:

“We will insist that EU migrants who want to claim tax credits and child benefit must live here and contribute to our country for a minimum of four years.”

Although I am clear that in the referendum I will vote to leave the European Union, many of my constituents are waiting to see the outcome of the renegotiation. I would be grateful if my right hon. Friend could explain whether we are still insisting on that idea, or is it now simply a basis for negotiation?

[The Prime Minister]

No. I very much stand by what we put in our manifesto. The four issues that we are renegotiating were clearly set out there and we need to deliver in each of those four areas.

National Security and Defence

David Nuttall Excerpts

Monday 23rd November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr David Nuttall (Bury North) (Con)]

Following on from that question, does my right hon. Friend think that our membership of NATO is more important to our national security than our membership of the EU?

[The Prime Minister]

In my view, NATO is the organisation that has kept us safe since the second world war. It has been a very successful alliance. If we can secure a reform of the European Union we will not have to choose between belonging to NATO and belonging to a reformed European Union; we will be able to belong to both. I can see the advantages of that because we will increasingly see—as we see off the coast of Libya—British ships involved in trying to deal with potential threats to our country as part of European Union work that is also at the same time sanctioned by NATO.

G20 and Paris Attacks

David Nuttall Excerpts

Tuesday 17th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. If we were to take action, it would be to save the lives of Syrian civilians. Of course, we all support no-bombing zones in terms of Assad stopping the practice of raining down barrel bombs, sometimes with chemical weapons, on his own people. That is why, while we should be very focused on ISIL, we cannot forget that President Assad has been one of the recruiting sergeants for ISIL and that his brutality keeps providing fresh recruits. The idea that you can just take sides and team up with Assad against ISIL is an entirely false prospectus.

[Mr David Nuttall (Bury North) (Con)]

May I thank the Prime Minister for his statement? In the light of the terrorist attacks in Paris, I believe our police and security services urgently need the new powers set out in the draft Investigatory Powers Bill now. May I therefore urge him to consider speeding up the pre-legislative scrutiny procedure and bring forward the date when this vital Bill will reach the statute book?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. We are looking at this issue, but I would reassure him that most of what the IP Bill does is to put on to an even clearer statutory footing practices currently carried out by our security and intelligence services. There is one particularly important element that is new, relating to internet connection records, which is probably the most controversial part of the Bill, and I do not want to jeopardise the Bill by rushing it. I hope he is reassured that we will look at the timing, but most of the Bill is about putting powers on a clearer legal basis.

Oral Answers to Questions

David Nuttall Excerpts

Wednesday 4th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

The changes to Standing Orders do not make any difference to the estimates process. When my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House challenged hon. Members to provide examples of where there would be difficulties, no examples could be provided.

[Mr David Nuttall (Bury North) (Con)]

As the Procedure Committee is planning to hold an inquiry into the manner in which the House deals with estimates, may I urge the Minister to defer holding discussions with his Cabinet colleagues until that report is to hand?

[Mr Gauke]

The Government will look carefully at what the Procedure Committee has to say about reforms to the estimates process, which is ultimately a matter for the House.

European Council

David Nuttall Excerpts

Monday 19th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I can put the hon. Gentleman out of his misery. I put the “dot, dot, dots” into my statement because sometimes I have a bit of trouble reading what I have written down. It is purely stylistic and has nothing to do with the content, but I think he knows that.

[Mr David Nuttall (Bury North) (Con)]

Which outcome does the Prime Minister think would be most helpful after he writes to the President of the European Council setting out his list of demands next month? He will either get everything on the list, in which case he will be accused of not asking for enough, or not get everything on the list, in which case he will be accused of having failed in the renegotiations. I should add that as I believe that the United Kingdom would be better off leaving the European Union, I will be equally satisfied whatever the outcome.

[The Prime Minister]

I will make my hon. Friend happy whatever I do. I often read the fairy story of Goldilocks and the three bears and, obviously, we want the porridge to be at just the right temperature.

Tunisia, and European Council

David Nuttall Excerpts

Monday 29th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady raises an important point. My understanding is that the companies have offered travel back to the United Kingdom. A lot of planes have been laid on. We believe that system is working. Where it is not working, we are getting on to the company concerned and trying to make sure the problem is fixed. On the issue of where people have been injured or returning the bodies of those who tragically have been killed, we are stepping in directly with transport via the RAF to try to help.

[Mr David Nuttall (Bury North) (Con)]

Will the Prime Minister please pass on my thanks to his fellow European Union leaders? Every time one of them refuses to agree to one of his very modest requests in the renegotiation process, they make the task of those of us who argue this country would be better off outside the EU just that very little bit easier.

[The Prime Minister]

I do not want to disappoint my hon. Friend too much, but actually the reception I have had from my fellow European Prime Ministers and Presidents has been rather more positive than he suggests.