Oral Answers to Questions

Nickie Aiken Excerpts

Wednesday 1st July 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I beseech the right hon. Gentleman just to think that he may be mistaken. The UK Government are absolutely dedicated to supporting people of all incomes across the country. That is why we have actually increased spending on benefits by £7 billion with universal credit, and we stand ready to do more, but I can tell him that there will be plenty of wonderful things that we want to do, working with him and with the Scottish Administration, to improve transport and other infrastructure across the whole of the United Kingdom, including Scotland. I really hope he will co-operate.

[Nickie Aiken (Cities of London and Westminster) (Con) [V]]

My constituency sits at the heart of our great metropolis. Cities of London and Westminster is the home of the west end, whose theatres and cultural venues, such as the Royal Albert Hall, the London Palladium and the Barbican Centre, attract visitors from across the globe and will help power our economic recovery. Does my right hon. Friend share my aspiration to see these venues open as soon as it is safe to do so, ensuring that the show must go on?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, the show must go on. I know the power of the theatres of London’s west end and the entire cultural industry in London, not just as a magnet for our country, but for the sheer revenues they deliver. We want that to get going as fast as we possibly can, and we want life for theatres and theatregoers to get back to normal as fast as we possibly can, but to do that we have to defeat the disease, and that is what this Government are engaged in.