St Patrick’s Day

Neil Parish Excerpts

Tuesday 17th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Jim Shannon]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention, but every day is St Patrick’s Day for us and we are very pleased to celebrate it on St David’s Day.

[Neil Parish (Tiverton and Honiton) (Con)]

It is great for me to be celebrating St Patrick’s Day in this Chamber, in his Adjournment debate, because I have an Irish grandmother. I just want to congratulate the hon. Gentleman on probably being the Member who has intervened the most in Adjournment debates in this House.

[Jim Shannon]

Well—

Oral Answers to Questions

Neil Parish Excerpts

Wednesday 20th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The right hon. Gentleman started in a serious place but then seriously wandered off. It is in our interest that we back the legitimate Government of Yemen, and it is right to do that. We have some of the most stringent arms control measures of any country anywhere in the world. Just to be absolutely clear about our role, we are not a member of a Saudi-led coalition. British military personnel are not directly involved in the Saudi-led coalition’s operations. Personnel are not involved in carrying out strikes, directing or conducting operations in Yemen, or selecting targets; and we are not involved in the Saudi targeting decision-making process; but do we provide training and advice and help in order to make sure that countries actually obey the norms of humanitarian law? Yes, we do.

[Neil Parish (Tiverton and Honiton) (Con)]

Q7. The recent floods in the north of England have caused untold misery to people, to householders, to farmers, and to livestock. What we need is a long-term strategy for floods. I know that the Prime Minister has done a lot of work in Somerset and across the country. Some rivers need to be dredged and some need to be slowed down, and we need to manage our floodwaters in a better way. Along with our long-term economic plan, can we have a long-term plan on floods?

[The Prime Minister]

We absolutely can and we do. That is exactly what my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is doing. We have got an unprecedented six-year commitment of £2.3 billion, but as important as the money is making sure that we have an absolutely joined-up approach, as my hon. Friend says, to dredging in some places, to building flood barriers in others, and to managing the water in our landscape, including through farming practices, in a holistic way so that we are using all the resources we have to reduce the likelihood of floods.