Oral Answers to Questions

Lilian Greenwood Excerpts

Wednesday 8th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)]

T5. The movement of many thousands of refugees from Burundi into neighbouring countries is of real concern, but I understand that there are even larger internal movements away from Bujumbura and growing anxiety about the prospect of food and health crises in the months ahead. What discussions has the Secretary of State had with NGOs working in Burundi about action to tackle this worrying situation?

[Justine Greening]

We have been discussing with civil society what steps we can take to help the situation in Burundi. As the hon. Lady knows, many countries in Africa routinely face refugee flows within and across their borders, which is why we are right to be doing the work we are on the ground.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lilian Greenwood Excerpts

Wednesday 18th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Swayne]

I am aware that, like me, the Opposition Front-Bench spokesman, the hon. Member for Luton South (Gavin Shuker), was recently admitted to Gaza. Such visits do involve bureaucratic obfuscation, and we will continue to make representations in that regard.

[Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)]

3. What steps her Department is taking to improve working conditions in developing countries

[The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Mr Desmond Swayne)]

We are improving working conditions through our country programmes and through global standards. For example, in Bangladesh, we are providing £7 million to improve working conditions and safety in 1,800 factories, and we support labour practices globally through the ethical trading initiative.

[Lilian Greenwood]

I am sure that the Minister agrees that decent work is central to people’s well-being, as it provides income, paves the way for broader social and economic advancement, and strengthens individuals, their families and communities. Given the International Labour Organisation’s vital action on that agenda for almost 100 years, why have this Government withdrawn their funding?

[Mr Swayne]

We have not withdrawn funding. After the 2011 multilateral review, we withdrew core funding because we had reservations about value for money and we wanted to shift our focus to fragile states. We continue to work with the International Labour Organisation. We have a £7.4 million project with the ILO in Bangladesh, and, together, we are pursuing the Work in Freedom project. We will review that work with the International Labour Organisation at the next multilateral aid review, as the Secretary of State has already said.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lilian Greenwood Excerpts

Wednesday 5th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I agree with my right hon. Friend on every front. What has happened at Bassingbourn in Cambridgeshire is completely unacceptable. These are criminal actions, and I have asked the Chief of the Defence Staff for a report into that. A decision was taken at the National Security Council, which I chaired on 28 October, to end the training altogether. The trainees will be returning to Libya in the coming days and, in the meantime, all unescorted visits from the camp have been stopped altogether.

[Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)]

Q9. Which does the Prime Minister believe is more immoral—raising VAT to 20%, or concealing the intention to do so?

[The Prime Minister]

I will tell the hon. Lady what is immoral, and that is racking up debts for our children that we are not prepared to pay ourselves. That is what we inherited. We inherited the biggest budget deficit of any country anywhere in the world. That is the moral—or rather immoral—inheritance that we received from the Labour party.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lilian Greenwood Excerpts

Wednesday 11th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. I have been very struck by what the President-elect has said about how he wants to govern on behalf of everyone in Egypt and how he wants to respect religious and other freedoms. I very much hope that the current tension can be resolved, but I think that people have to respect the democratic will of the Egyptian people as they expressed it.

[Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)]

Q9. At the last election, the Prime Minister promised that pensioners’ bus passes were safe. Will he today reject calls from the Liberal Democrats and now from his close ally the hon. Member for Grantham and Stamford (Nick Boles), and categorically rule out the means-testing of bus passes, including in his manifesto for the next general election?

[The Prime Minister]

As the hon. Lady will know, at the last election I made very clear promises about bus passes, about television licences and about winter fuel payments. We are keeping all those promises.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lilian Greenwood Excerpts

Wednesday 7th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)]

Q6. The Prime Minister once said that he wanted to lead the most family-friendly Government ever, so is it not a disgrace that of nearly £19 billion of cuts that his Government have announced so far, more than £13 billion have fallen on women?

[The Prime Minister]

What I say to the hon. Lady is that it was this Government who introduced 15 hours of free nursery care for three and four-year-olds—something that the Labour party never managed to do in government —and despite the appalling mess that we were left, in this autumn statement we put in an extra £380 million to double the number of disadvantaged two-year-olds whose parents will get free nursery care. That is real progress and real help for families—something Labour never delivered.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lilian Greenwood Excerpts

Wednesday 8th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Andrew Mitchell]

The stabilisation response team is working flat out, together with our international allies in Benghazi, to work out what action should be taken when the conflict is over and early recovery is taking place. That work is going well, and I hope that we will have a plan within the next 10 days. It will of course be owned by the Libyan people under the umbrella of the United Nations, and it will involve all the relevant organisations in helping the Libyans to implement it.

[Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)]

T8. More than 1,000 supporters of international development charities, including some of my constituents, are coming to Westminster tomorrow to show their support for protection of the aid budget and for further action to tackle global poverty. Given that poor countries lose more money to tax-dodging each year than they receive in aid, what action is the Secretary of State taking to address that issue?

[Mr Mitchell]

I am very glad that the hon. Lady’s constituents are coming tomorrow, and Members of all parties will want to support that important lobby. The issue that she raises, which was discussed in earlier questions, is very important, and I expect that we will make progress on it in the coming years, not least because of the emphasis that has been put on it in the G8 and the European Council.