Oral Answers to Questions

Karen Lumley Excerpts

Wednesday 9th October 2013 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

1. What recent assessment he has made of the effects of the Government’s economic policies on Wales.

[The Secretary of State for Wales (Mr David Jones)]

Our economic strategy is designed to equip Wales and the United Kingdom with the tools they need to succeed in the global race, and to secure a stronger economy and a fairer society.

[Karen Lumley]

With the deficit down by a third and employment at record levels, does the Secretary of State agree that it is time for the Labour party to admit that our economic policy is working, not only in Redditch, but in Wales?

[Mr Jones]

Indeed, it is working in Wales and in Redditch. There are clear signs that the economy is turning the corner. I am sure that all Members were pleased with yesterday’s forecast by the International Monetary Fund, which revised UK growth for next year up from 1.5% to 1.9%.

Oral Answers to Questions

Karen Lumley Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Laura Sandys (South Thanet) (Con)]

2. What recent assessment he has made of the role and importance of the aviation sector in Wales.

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

8. What recent assessment he has made of the role and importance of the aviation sector in Wales.

[Stephen Mosley (City of Chester) (Con)]

10. What recent assessment he has made of the role and importance of the aviation sector in Wales.

--- Later in debate ---

[Karen Lumley]

Does my right hon. Friend think it is a good use of taxpayers’ money to buy Cardiff International airport?

[Mr Jones]

That is entirely a matter for the Welsh Assembly Government, who have purchased it at a cost of £52 million. Clearly Cardiff does need an international airport, and I very much hope it will develop under the Welsh Government’s tutelage.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Prime Minister]

The right hon. Gentleman goes up and down the country speaking for Len McCluskey. No wonder the former Home Secretary calls them “the party of the graveyard”. I have the press release here: “How Unite plans to change the Labour Party”. [Interruption.] I know you are paid to shout by Unite, but calm down a bit. This is what it says: “We give millions of pounds to the party—the relationship has to change” and

“We want a firmly class-based and left-wing general election campaign”.

That is what this week shows: too weak to sack his Health Secretary, too weak to stand up for free schools, too weak to stand up to the Unite union, too weak to run Labour, and certainly too weak to run the country.

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

Q2. New rules mean that my constituents in Redditch have to register individually if they want to vote to stop electoral fraud. Does my right hon. Friend think the same rules should apply to joining a political party?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Individual voter registration is a major step forward, but, frankly, we have a situation with one of this country’s political parties whereby it has become apparent that votes are being bought and people signed up without consent—all done by the man, Len McCluskey, who gave the right hon. Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband) his job.

Oral Answers to Questions

Karen Lumley Excerpts

Wednesday 15th May 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jones]

Well, have I got news for my hon. Friend! The Silk commission has not yet completed its work; it will report in the spring of next year. The title “National Assembly” is used by the primary legislatures of countries such as France and South Africa, and also by the regional legislature of Quebec. The issue is what the legislature does, rather than what it is called.

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

12. What assessment he has made of the potential effects in Wales of the reduction in the rate of corporation tax to 20%.

[The Secretary of State for Wales (Mr David Jones)]

In total, the main rate of tax is set to fall by 8 percentage points under this Government. The United Kingdom will have the lowest rate in the G20, lower than most of our main competitors.

[Karen Lumley]

As well as reducing corporation tax, what else can the Government do to help small businesses in Wales?

[Mr Jones]

The reduction in corporation tax will be of immense benefit to Welsh small businesses. The Budget did, of course, announce that the national insurance employment allowance will benefit 35,000 businesses in Wales, with 20,000 of them taken out of paying national insurance contributions altogether.

Oral Answers to Questions

Karen Lumley Excerpts

Wednesday 20th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Maude]

It would have been nice to hear the hon. Gentleman celebrating the rise in employment and the fact that since the election 1.25 million new jobs have been created in the private sector. It would be very good if he and his colleagues would occasionally support that.

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

T2. Will my right hon. Friend assure me that the residents of Redditch will not suffer too much today from the strike action by the Public and Commercial Services Union?

[Mr Maude]

I am happy to be able to tell my hon. Friend that the latest numbers suggest that fewer than 95,000 civil servants went on strike today. The leadership of the PCS, who are not serving their hard-working members at all well, claimed this morning that 250,000 civil servants were on strike. That was simply untrue—it is fewer than 95,000.

Oral Answers to Questions

Karen Lumley Excerpts

Tuesday 12th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

They are Labour cuts in Newcastle, which if I read the newspapers this morning, I see that the right hon. and learned Member for Camberwell and Peckham (Ms Harman) is intervening to stop in a shameless act of political opportunism and cynicism. The Labour party in Newcastle is closing every single arts and cultural institution, which other non-Labour councils are not doing, and simply pointing the finger of blame at the coalition Government. When is the Labour party going to start taking responsibility for the mess that it created in the first place?

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

T6. Will the Deputy Prime Minister tell me why he thinks that a vote in Wrexham is worth more than a vote in Redditch?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I do not. That is why we have not repealed the legislation on boundaries. For all the reasons that the hon. Lady is familiar with, we will not be proceeding with that change during the course of this Parliament.

Algeria

Karen Lumley Excerpts

Monday 21st January 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. I think that Saudi Arabia realised what a problem it had with Islamic extremism. It is now a leader in deradicalisation programmes, and I strongly encourage it to share its thinking and approach with other countries. We need to build an alliance of Islamic countries to make sure that we all back deradicalisation and condemn utterly the perverse interpretation of Islam that says that somehow it is right to carry out terrorist attacks and murder innocent people.

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

A few years ago, it could have been me waiting for news from Algeria, as my husband used to work in the oil industry out there and in many other African countries. Following many conversations that we have had over the weekend, will the Prime Minister assure me that he and his colleagues will talk to major oil companies to ensure that they tighten up their security procedures?

[The Prime Minister]

I can certainly give my hon. Friend that assurance. I have had several conversations with Bob Dudley, the head of BP, in recent days and, as I just said, it is very important that companies recognise their responsibilities, look at all the modern levels of threat and work out what they need to do for themselves and with the countries in which they are located.

Oral Answers to Questions

Karen Lumley Excerpts

Wednesday 17th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Crabb]

I am concerned to hear that from the hon. Lady. I note that she has written to the relevant Minister, but if she would like to write to me as well, I will certainly look into the matter and see that she gets all her questions answered.

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

5. What steps his Department is taking to increase the level of inward investment into Wales.

[The Secretary of State for Wales (Mr David Jones)]

I am working with UK Trade and Investment, ministerial colleagues and the Welsh Government to improve levels of inward investment into Wales. In fact, I am meeting the chief executive of UKTI later today.

[Karen Lumley]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the scrapping of the Welsh Development Agency has had a negative effect on inward investment into Wales, as highlighted recently by the Welsh Affairs Committee?

[Mr Jones]

It is true that under the Welsh Development Agency, Wales was regularly the most important destination for inward investment, but I support both Governments working closely together to continue to attract inward investment into Wales.

Oral Answers to Questions

Karen Lumley Excerpts

Tuesday 20th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

My own view is that the tax proposal that I have championed for many years—that everyone who earns in this country should earn the first £10,000 entirely free of income tax—is one of the most radical tax policies to have been promoted in British politics for many, many years and would make a dramatic difference for people on middle and low incomes, who were abandoned by the Labour party and its punitive approach to tax. As I have said, from next month, with the steps that we have already announced, we will already be taking more than 1 million people on low pay out of paying any income tax whatever.

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

T9. In 2010-11 the average public spending purse per person in Wales was £9,947, and for the west midlands it was only £8,679. In the light of the fact that Welsh MPs can vote on matters that affect my constituents, how can I justify that discrepancy to the people of Redditch?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I know that this is a sensitive issue, but I do not think that at a time like this, when we are seeking to fill the black hole in the public finances, reopening the mind-numbingly complex issue of the Barnett formula should be our No. 1 priority. That does not mean that we cannot make progress on how fiscal devolution could proceed in the United Kingdom, which is why the Silk commission has been established to look, for instance, at the new fiscal powers that could possibly be devolved to Wales in the future.