Replacement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer

Nick Smith Excerpts

Monday 17th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that insightful question. I repeat that the Prime Minister would normally be here, but that there is a good reason why she is not.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

Is it true that the right hon. Member for Spelthorne (Kwasi Kwarteng) first found out that he was sacked on Twitter, rather than being told to his face?

[Penny Mordaunt]

Hon. and right hon. Members of this House obviously want to ask all kinds of questions, but what the public are worried about are cost of living issues, the stability of the markets, and the energy package that we will be putting through later today to help them with the cost of living. I urge all colleagues to remember the context in which we are meeting this afternoon.

Business of the House

Nick Smith Excerpts

Thursday 22nd September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I am aware that the hon. Lady has made a formal request for the planning application to be called in for consideration by the Secretary of State, and that may limit some of the conversations she might be able to have with him. I will write to him seeking guidance from his Department about the most appropriate way for the hon. Lady to engage with this matter. Further to the comments I made earlier to my right hon. Friend the Member for New Forest East (Dr Lewis), she should also raise the matter with the Department for Education.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister’s chief of staff has been interviewed by the FBI in connection with electoral bribery in Puerto Rico. May we have a Government statement on that to consider whether any UK laws may have been broken, whether the FBI interview has affected the chief of staff’s security status, and whether the Prime Minister was informed of the FBI interview before her chief of staff’s appointment was confirmed?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I refer the hon. Gentleman to statements that have been issued on this matter. I do not think it an issue that should be debated at length on the Floor of this House. I assure him that everything he would expect to be done is being done, but it is not a matter for debate here.

Business of the House

Nick Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 7th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I will make a further business statement tomorrow in the usual way. I ask Members to recognise that we are in very volatile times economically. We will need to do things swiftly. Members have been asking for things to happen swiftly on these matters and we will do that. I will make a business statement tomorrow in the usual way and I will answer the very understandable questions that hon. Members wish to raise.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

This is not good enough; the country deserves better. The Government’s energy plan is said to involve £100 billion-plus of expenditure. That will involve very complex arrangements. A general debate is good, but when will we see the economic event that the Government have been promising for a while? The country really needs to get a grip of the Government’s energy plans now.

[Penny Mordaunt]

As I said, a lot of work has been going on throughout the summer not only in Whitehall, but with energy companies and other stakeholders. Proposals are very advanced. Those will be brought to the House tomorrow, as we would expect, but we feel that it is very important to give all Members of the House the ability and the time to raise issues that their constituents have raised with them. However, that will not be the only moment for the House to scrutinise policies that are being introduced on the specific issues of the cost of living and business costs as well as the wider programme related to growth.

Business of the House

Nick Smith Excerpts

Thursday 14th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mark Spencer]

I hope the hon. Lady is aware that the Secretary of State for Transport has done a lot of work with the airlines to try to resolve the challenges that the industry faces this summer. There has been an amnesty on slots, which means that airlines can give an early indication that they may not be able to make their slots so that airports can inform passengers at a very early stage if their flight will not be taking off, allowing them to find an alternative route. We are making progress. I hope that, by the time we get to the summer, those people who have booked holidays will be able to get on those planes and enjoy the summer.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

President Putin said in 2004 that there is

“no such thing as a former KGB man”.

Was the then Foreign Secretary Johnson aware of that when he met the KGB’s Alexander Lebedev without officials or security in 2018, which only became clear last week? Can we please have a statement on that, because it is a high security risk for our country?

[Mark Spencer]

The hon. Gentleman will be aware that there was an urgent question on this matter last Thursday. The particular incident to which he refers was thoroughly debated at that time. We are blessed in this country with some of the finest security services, which keep us safe on a regular basis. I know that all Ministers will want to make sure that their own security and that of the nation is paramount in their minds.

Restoration and Renewal of the Palace of Westminster

Nick Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 12th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

I will be quick, Madam Deputy Speaker. My contribution tonight is born of seven years of frustration at making so little progress with this project. In 2018, I voted for the decant, as I thought it was the simplest thing to do. I also thought we would go to Richmond House, because that was the safest place for us to stay in and it was close to the Departments of State in Whitehall. I really thought it was very straightforward and I hoped we would make good progress.

Tonight, I support amendments (a) and (b). I support amendment (a) not because I think in policy the Government have stopped progress on this, but because Ministers have stymied progress on this important project. I support amendment (b) because we need new machinery and new energy to take this forward. I also support it because, although we need occasional reviews and challenge for experts, most of all we should provide the way forward through this.

Like my right hon. Friend the Member for Alyn and Deeside (Mark Tami), I think we need full transparency on cost. We need to go into this with our eyes open, but see it as an investment in our country’s history and in this great place. Most of all, I want to crack on, as we have delayed progress for far too long.

Business of the House

Nick Smith Excerpts

Thursday 21st April 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Can I just help Members? We are going to finish this at 11.30. I do not think we will get everyone in, but we can help each other by speeding up. I call Nick Smith.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

Last year, Ministers said they would

“reset the dial on women’s health”,

but we still have no date for the hormone replacement therapy prescription changes in England. May we have a statement on HRT changes, to show that the Government are taking women’s health seriously?

[Mark Spencer]

This is absolutely an important issue that the Government recognise and that the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is currently looking at. It has been debated a number of times in the House, but I certainly recognise the challenges in respect of HRT provision and supply for many ladies up and down the country and the issue is worthy of further debate.

Business of the House

Nick Smith Excerpts

Thursday 31st March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mark Spencer]

My right hon. Friend will be aware that the Secretary of State made a statement yesterday on this matter. I pay tribute not only to my right hon. Friend but to my hon. Friend the Member for Telford (Lucy Allan) and my right hon. Friend the Member for Ludlow (Philip Dunne), who have been vociferous in their pursuit of this matter. Some of the report’s findings were frankly shocking. The good news is that things have now moved forward at the Shrewsbury hospital within the trust, and people can have confidence in maternity services across England. That is why we have announced a further £127 million of funding for maternity services, so that people can have confidence in those services.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

I welcome the Financial Conduct Authority’s redress scheme proposed this morning. It goes a fair way towards putting things right for the thousands of British Steel workers who were ripped off by pension sharks in 2017. The average loss was £60,000. However, can we have a Government statement from the Treasury on why it has taken the FCA five years to grip this scandal properly?

[Mark Spencer]

I pay tribute to the hon. Gentleman for pursuing that issue on behalf of his constituents. There are also Members on the Conservative Benches who have been vociferous in pursuing the rights of employees in the steel industry. I know that he will continue to pursue the Chancellor of the Exchequer to ensure that he gets answers for his constituents, and I shall write to the Chancellor on his behalf to ensure he gets answers to his questions.

Business of the House

Nick Smith Excerpts

Thursday 10th February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mark Spencer]

As I said earlier, the Great British Railways transition team is running a competition, and I wish my hon. Friend every success as I do my hon. Friend the Member for North West Cambridgeshire (Shailesh Vara), who also hopes to bid. I remind the House that the Government have a plan to deliver a wide range of change on our railways. I congratulate him on being a huge campaigner and great advocate for Barrow—he is a true champion for the town—and wish him well.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

The Brexit dividend was supposed to reduce paperwork and red tape, so how come next week 50 questionnaires will be sent to Downing Street?

[Mark Spencer]

Of course, we have a new Minister in place who will deliver the Brexit dividend. There are huge opportunities coming forward for the United Kingdom. I encourage the hon. Gentleman to get behind Brexit and to celebrate all that is Brexit. In the words of the movie “Frozen”—I do not know whether he has seen it—he should “let it go”. We have got to move forward and celebrate Brexit.

Business of the House

Nick Smith Excerpts

Thursday 27th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I would simply say that the Government are making an application to appeal the case and that the disabled strategy is a fundamentally important strategy brought forward by the Government to ensure the best possible support for disabled people. That is exactly what the Government are doing. The Government lost on a technicality, as I said earlier; that does not undermine our fundamental drive to help disabled people.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

Today’s papers are full of briefings blaming the staff at No. 10 for the Prime Minister’s predicament. Is passing the buck to staff not the most irresponsible of defences?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

We are waiting for the report from Sue Gray. The Opposition still seem obsessed with these issues; I am still surprised that they are not using business questions to ask more about the really serious issues of the day, such as Ukraine and the build-up of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border. As far as I can tell, they are interested in cake rather than in Russia.

Business of the House

Nick Smith Excerpts

Thursday 20th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

The Government share the public’s concern, which is why the UK was the first major economy to legislate for net zero emissions through the Climate Change Act 2008. Her Majesty’s Government have continued to deliver on that commitment through the Prime Minister’s 10-point plan for a green industrial revolution, making our energy system more diverse and secure, while creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs. It is also important that any new technology ensures that energy is affordable. Between 1990 and 2019, our economy grew by 78%, while emissions decreased by 44%. That is the fastest reduction in the G7. The fundamental point is that we need our economy to grow and we need to be richer, and that will allow us to afford to be greener at the same time.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

In October, I was pleased to support my hon. Friend the Member for Swansea East (Carolyn Harris) when she brought forward her private Member’s Bill on the menopause. In response, the Government said they would look at combining the two hormone replacement therapy treatments into one prescription to make it more affordable. Can we please have a Government statement on when this important women’s health measure will be implemented?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

Whenever the name of the hon. Member for Swansea East is mentioned in relation to a campaign, I always have a sneaking suspicion that it will be successful. I will take up what the hon. Gentleman has asked for. I know it is something that the Government are planning to do; it is merely a matter of timing. I hope we can find out a precise time for him and his hon. Friend.