Iran-Israel Update

Debate between Robert Halfon and Rishi Sunak

Monday 15th April 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Whatever may have happened a few weeks ago, it is absolutely no justification for launching more than 300 drones and missiles from one sovereign state towards Israel—it is as simple as that. In the hon. Gentleman’s question, not once did he condemn that action or, indeed, the actions of Hamas in the region. There is no equivalence between these things whatever, and to suggest otherwise is simply wrong.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his strong support for the state of Israel. Last year, as Israel and Saudi Arabia were about to strike a transformational agreement, Iran-backed Hamas carried out its massacre on 7 October with the aim of torpedoing the chance of peace between Israel and the Arab nations. Last Saturday’s drone attack by Iran being thwarted by Israel and her allies, including Jordan, demonstrates that our countries can work alongside Israel after this new period of contention. Does my right hon. Friend agree that this represents a new opportunity for Israel and the Arab nations to rebuild relations in the aftermath of 7 October and bring the hostages home?

[The Prime Minister]

I agree with my right hon. Friend. It is significant that other regional partners helped to prevent a much worse attack over the weekend. It reminds us how important the attempts are to normalise relations between Israel and its neighbours. It holds out precious hope for the region. It is exactly that hope that Iran and its proxies are trying to snuff out, and we should work hard to combat that.

Tackling Short-term and Long-term Cost of Living Increases

Debate between Robert Halfon and Rishi Sunak

Tuesday 17th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[Rishi Sunak]

Because we want to make sure that we get support to everyone in a way that suits them. What we did do—and we heard this from the right hon. Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband) when he gave a case study on universal credit—is cut the universal credit taper by the biggest amount ever. That was the biggest tax cut that we have seen for people on low incomes, which is in contrast to the cherrypicked example that we heard from right hon. Gentleman. What does that mean for a single mother on universal credit, working on the national living wage, renting, and with two children? It means that that mum will be £1,600 a year better off this year. That is what this Government are doing. Help is there, and anyone seeking to pretend otherwise is simply causing more worry and more anxiety.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

There is no recognition from Labour Members of the £22 billion that the Government put in to help with the cost of living, particularly the 5p cut in fuel duty. However, I do have one ask of my right hon. Friend. The oil companies are not passing the cuts to the pumps. They take ages to reduce the prices when the international oil price falls, but oil bosses are earning multi-million pound salaries and getting multi-million pound bonuses. They are, in essence, the new oligarchs. I urge him to consider both a windfall tax on the oil companies, which we can then use to cut taxes for the lower paid or to cut energy bills, and a pump-watch monitor to make sure that there is fair competition and that consumers get a fair deal at the pumps. None the less, I genuinely recognise all the work that he has done thus far to cut the cost of living.

[Rishi Sunak]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his advice and support, and I will come on to both of his points momentarily. He is right to remind the House that so far we have provided £22 billion of direct support. That is not a trivial figure; it is £22 billion of support to help families up and down our country at a time of challenge. We have taken action, as we heard, to cut people’s bills, starting with fuel duty—I commend him for his campaigns on that. It has been cut by 5p a litre, which is worth £100 this year together with the freeze, and council tax, cut by £150.

What the right hon. Member for Doncaster North did not mention was that that £150 of support, which, as we heard from my right hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon), has made a huge difference to families, came faster than any support the Labour party was offering in its proposal, and it went to a far broader group of people than their proposal, because we wanted to support those on middle incomes as well.

Financial Statement

Debate between Robert Halfon and Rishi Sunak

Wednesday 23rd March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Rishi Sunak]

The feedback that I receive from colleagues suggests that it has been effective, and I trust councils to know who are the people in their areas who most need our help. I used to be a local government Minister, and, as the right hon. Gentleman knows, I have enormous respect and regard for local authorities. However, we did not just do that: in the autumn Budget, we gave a £2 billion cut through the tax rate on universal credit to nearly 2 million people on the lowest incomes.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend heartily for the cut in fuel duty, and for waiving the national insurance threshold. I hope I can now retire from campaigning on that issue; it would make my life a lot easier! My right hon. Friend has stood up for workers and for people on low incomes, and we should not forget that. As he said, it is this party that is the true workers’ party of the United Kingdom.

When my right hon. Friend considers a reform of the apprenticeship levy, will he ensure that at its heart is a focus on enabling more disadvantaged young people to take up apprenticeships, including degree apprenticeships?

[Rishi Sunak]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his support, and I can give him that reassurance. Apprenticeships are fantastic and we want to ensure that they are continually supported, but we will look at all aspects of this to ensure that we also provide incentives for the training that we want to see. My right hon. Friend is right to emphasise that this is the party of the workers, and that is in no small part thanks to his campaigning. I congratulate him on making the case so well.

Economic Update

Debate between Robert Halfon and Rishi Sunak

Thursday 3rd February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Rishi Sunak]

The hon. Lady talks about universal credit; this Government provided the extra support for people when they needed it during the crisis. All the data and evidence show that throughout the worst of the depths of this pandemic the Government’s actions helped those on the lowest incomes the most. That is a record of which I am enormously proud.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

I realise that to the champagne socialists on the Opposition Benches £350 is not a lot of money, but my right hon. Friend knows that I care deeply about this issue. My constituents are just about managing but this is a cost of living package for white van men and women throughout the country, including in my Harlow constituency. Will he continue to do everything he can to focus on the just-about-managing group of people who make up my constituents, and make sure that the Government continue to cut the cost of living for hard-working families?

[Rishi Sunak]

I am grateful for my right hon. Friend’s support. He rightly champions those people who are just about managing and who work incredibly hard to build a better life for themselves and their families. They should know that this Government are on their side. I thank him very much for his support and we will continue to champion those people.

Economic Update

Debate between Robert Halfon and Rishi Sunak

Monday 11th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Rishi Sunak]

I am sorry to hear about some of the examples that the right hon. Gentleman raised. I know that goods in aggregate continue to move smoothly between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and I am not aware of any significant queuing. Individual issues are being addressed by UK authorities. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is talking with colleagues across the House to make sure that we are kept abreast of any particular issues, so that we can look to resolve them as we can.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con) [V]]

The Chancellor will know that I have worked hard and lobbied for financial support for Harlow’s small businesses, and I really welcome the financial package for our town, worth well over £160 million so far. However, I have been contacted by many businesses in my constituency that have yet to receive much of the grant funding they have been allocated, such as Carol Bush, the wonderful landlord of the Golden Swift pub, because Harlow Council is yet to distribute it. What steps can he take to ensure that councils across the country distribute these grants from the Government immediately, as they should have already done, to help our hard-pressed businesses?

[Rishi Sunak]

My right hon. Friend is right that this cash should get to businesses as quickly as possible. I can confirm that the guidance will be published this week, and cash from central Government should be with local authorities by the end of this week, at which point it will be up to them to distribute it as quickly as possible. I know that they have been focused on this in the past several months, so hopefully this process can be as quick as we all need it to be.

Economic Update

Debate between Robert Halfon and Rishi Sunak

Wednesday 8th July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Rishi Sunak]

I sympathise with the hon. Member and agree that the best thing we can do to help these sectors is to get them to reopen. I know this is something that the Prime Minister and the Health Secretary are looking at as we speak. Hopefully, in the weeks to come, as we progress our fight against this virus, we can continue to reopen all the closed parts of our economy and progressively loosen some of the restrictions that currently we all face.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con) [V]]

I am over the moon with the Chancellor’s statement. He is rebuilding our apprenticeships and skills nation and ensuring that young people can climb the important ladder of opportunity—so thank you. He knows that the public sector target for apprenticeships is 2.3%. Will he consider raising the target by 5%, which would create 4,000 new apprenticeships in 2020-21, based on hiring 50,000 new members of staff in the public sector? Will he also change procurement rules to ensure that any big company bidding for a public sector contract must have at least 5% of its workforce employed as apprentices?

[Rishi Sunak]

My right hon. Friend knows this subject particularly well, so I am grateful to him for his comments. He makes two very interesting suggestions and I look forward to discussing them with him further.