European Council

Rushanara Ali Excerpts

Monday 24th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As I said in response to an earlier question, it is important that the leaders of the remaining 27 think about what the nature of the EU going forward should be. But I have also been clear with them that from the UK’s point of view the vote was not an attempt to break up the whole of the EU. We have an interest in seeing a strong EU and in working with it, with the UK continuing to be a strong and dependable partner. But I do think other leaders inside the EU should consider the message given by the British people when they voted on 23 June.

[Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)]

The head of the British Bankers Association, a former adviser to the current Foreign Secretary, has warned that many of Britain’s biggest banks are preparing to relocate in early 2017, putting at risk some 70,000 jobs, many of which are in my constituency. Will the Prime Minister tell us how the Government plan to ensure that the UK-based banking sector retains passporting rights to operate freely elsewhere within the European Union after Britain leaves?

[The Prime Minister]

I have been clear in a number of responses this afternoon about the importance we place on being able not just to trade with but to operate within the European market—for goods and for services. I say that precisely because I am aware of the importance of financial services to the United Kingdom, to our economy as a whole and, obviously, to particular constituencies regarding individuals and their employment. Being able to operate within the European Union is important to other parts of our professional services, such as legal services. We are in discussions with the financial sector on the issues that it believes are the priorities for the future so that we can ensure that we are able to get the best possible deal in the negotiations.

Oral Answers to Questions

Rushanara Ali Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)]

Q12. The former Work and Pensions Secretary described the cuts to personal independence payments for the disabled as divisive, unfair and against the national interest. The Chancellor’s U-turn suggests that he now agrees. Can the Prime Minister explain how on earth he allowed this to happen in the first place?

[The Prime Minister]

It is good to have an intervention from someone who, I think, is “neutral but not hostile”. If the hon. Lady keeps going, she could join “core group plus”, with the rest of us. She would be very welcome in “core group plus.” Let me tell her what this Government have done: they have increased spending on disability benefits, and seen 293,000 more disabled people into work in the past two years and 2.4 million more people in work. That is bringing the country together, because we have a growing economy that is delivering a fairer society.

Tunisia, and European Council

Rushanara Ali Excerpts

Monday 29th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I also pay tribute to Sue and Scott, as my hon. Friend has done. He is right to commend the local Tunisians, whether doctors and nurses, people who turned those sun loungers into stretchers, or people who confronted the terrorist. They are a credit to themselves and a credit to their nation.

[Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)]

Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. This appalling act of terror against defenceless holidaymakers highlights the need for us to fight extremism both at home and abroad. These terrorists seek to drive a wedge between the majority of the world’s Muslims, who have no truck with what they represent, and everyone else. We must all work harder to make sure that they do not succeed. What steps will the Prime Minister take to make sure that any international response includes action to help stabilise and rebuild post-conflict states such as Libya and others to prevent them from continuing to be a breeding ground for, and exporters, of violent extremism? Will he reconsider my call earlier this year for an inquiry?

[The Prime Minister]

I very much agree with the hon. Lady, particularly on rebuilding broken states affected by conflict. As the Secretary-General of the United Nations has said, a missile can kill a terrorist, but it is good government and governance that kill terrorism.

G20

Rushanara Ali Excerpts

Monday 17th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We made some very clear promises in our manifesto that we would lift our aid budget to reach the long-term target of 0.7% of gross national income. We made that promise, and I think that breaking our promise to the poorest people in the world would not be the right thing to do. When I think about some of the problems we face here in our country—whether it be the pressure of asylum seekers or the pressure of immigration —I realise that our aid budget is, if not the answer, part of the answer. If we can solve some of the underlying problems of instability in some of these countries—sometimes instability can be caused by the effects of climate change, making it harder for some countries to feed their people—I think we are doing the right thing.

[Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)]

The Save Remittance Giving Campaign, which is supported by MPs, 120,000 British people and Olympic gold medallist Mo Farah, called for a reduction in remittance costs. I very much welcome the G20 commitment to reduce it from 10% to 5% because remittance makes a big contribution to development, including economic development. Can the Prime Minister update us on when the money transfer service scheme will be implemented because countries such as Somalia are suffering, as there are no banking systems and no effective ways of getting money in if banks stop facilities as has happened, so we need urgent action?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right that remittances are a critical source of income for poor people in the poorest countries and they really do help with the reduction of poverty. Action by the G20 has been a success, resulting in the decrease of the G20 average cost from around 10% to 7.5%, but more needs to be done. Of course the problem she highlights, where remittances are particularly difficult for some countries such as Somalia, relates to the issues I dealt with in the previous question about the need to build capacity in these countries, including through honest banks and honest Governments, so that people can get the remittances they deserve.

Ukraine (Flight MH17) and Gaza

Rushanara Ali Excerpts

Monday 21st July 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. Sanctions are not soft if they are well targeted—they can hit an economy quite hard. The danger of trying to find a coalition of the willing rather than working including through the institutions of the European Union is that some of these areas are governed by European Union procedures and we need to get the agreement of everyone in order to make these sanctions count.

[Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)]

Does the Prime Minister stand by his words of 2010 that the blockaded Gaza

“must not be allowed to remain a prison camp”?

Does he believe that the killing of 500 people and the displacing of 83,000 people is a proportionate response to the attacks he has mentioned? May I appeal to him to show courage and international leadership and to act as an honest broker to help bring an end to this conflict and humanitarian catastrophe?

[The Prime Minister]

The point the hon. Lady makes by reading out the remarks that I made is that I have a consistent record, yes, of defending Israel’s right to defend itself, but also of speaking out when I think that wrong things are being done. I am doing everything I can to help bring this conflict to an end. The most important thing, as I said, is for Hamas to accept the ceasefires that Israel has been prepared to accept.

National Citizen Service

Rushanara Ali Excerpts

Wednesday 16th July 2014 Westminster Hall

[Mr Newmark]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. From a standing start, the programme of national citizenship now engages 10% of young people in the relevant age bracket. As someone who has five children between the ages of 16 and 25, I know that engaging young people for three weeks of their summer is a challenge. Most have the attention span of what they see on their iPhones or whatever digital devices they play with. The fact that the Government are now engaging 10% of our young people every summer represents a huge success.

I saw at first hand the value of bringing together young people from different backgrounds and supporting them in giving back to their communities. Each and every one of us sees many examples in our constituencies of youth organisations that bring together groups of young kids from different backgrounds to work together. It is vital that we encourage all our young people to participate. That is why His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales was right to create the “Step Up to Serve” campaign, which is supported by all three main party leaders, with the ambition of increasing the proportion of young people taking part in social action in our country to 50% by the end of the decade. That is a tremendous ambition, and as Minister I am committed to working as hard as I can with community groups to try to engage our young boys and girls. It is right that the National Citizen Service, which is delivered by the independent NCS Trust, should be part of that vital cross-party campaign.

The NCS grew out of the recognition of a need to equip our young people with the skills and confidence they require to transition into adulthood, to re-engage them into a cohesive society and to utilise their energy and passion to improve their local communities. NCS is delivering against each of those needs. The 2012 independent evaluation of the programme found that 92% of participants thought that NCS gave them the chance to develop skills that would be useful in the future, and 95% said that NCS gave them a chance to get to know people with whom they would not normally mix. Two or three Government Members made that point.

NCS participants so far have given some 2 million hours to serving their communities, taken part in more than 50,000 social action projects and raised almost £750,000 for charities around the country. That is a tremendous achievement for the initiative from a standing start. Since 2011, nearly 80,000 young people have benefited from their involvement in NCS, and the programme is on track to have its 100,000th graduate this summer. The NCS started in England and spread to Northern Ireland, and I am delighted that it will soon be launched in Wales as well.

NCS is a special opportunity for our young people at a critical point in their lives, but social action is a habit that evolves over a lifetime. Across our country, there are many fantastic examples of organisations helping our young people to give something back. The Government have granted up to £11 million through two youth social action funds to encourage more young people to take part in social action and support high-quality programmes across England. A further £3 million will be granted through the vulnerable and disengaged young people fund for social action programmes working with vulnerable young people, including those in care and young offenders. As a result of our support and the efforts of charities and community groups across the country, 2012-13 saw the highest levels of informal and formal volunteering in England among 16 to 25-year-olds since 2008-09.

[Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)]

I welcome the Minister to his new position. I know that some work has been done on this, but is he aware of any further work on progression routes for those who graduate from the NCS? That is an area that could benefit from his attention in his new brief.

[Mr Newmark]

I thank the hon. Lady for her welcome. She is exactly right, and I have been talking about precisely that topic this morning. How can we engage local businesses? If someone gets a certificate to state that they have graduated from the NCS, will local businesses in our communities recognise the certificate and say, “I will give this person a job opportunity,” whether that be a summer job, a temporary job or a full-time job? The hon. Lady makes an excellent point.

Oral Answers to Questions

Rushanara Ali Excerpts

Wednesday 12th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

In this next stage of the recovery, an increase in business investment is what we need to see. I think there are positive signs from the last GDP numbers. My hon. Friend talks about there being more jobs than forecast. It is worth remembering that the Leader of the Opposition told the CBI in October 2010:

“They have a programme which will lead to the disappearance of a million…jobs.”

Since he made that statement, we have seen 1.6 million new private sector jobs and 1.3 million more people in work—more forecasts like that please.

[Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)]

Q10. With almost 1 million young people unemployed and the Work programme, in the Chancellor’s own words, underperforming, will the Prime Minister think again and introduce Labour’s youth jobs guarantee?

G8

Rushanara Ali Excerpts

Wednesday 19th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I will not forget my visit to Hope Technology in Barnoldswick, because it was impressive to see a manufacturing business making cycle accessories, parts and bicycles here in the UK, when so often people think that all this sort of manufacturing has gone offshore. No, it has not: some of the highest-quality production is right here. Obviously these trade deals make a difference for manufacturing industries, but we also need to do everything else, including keeping our tax rates low, which is what this Government are doing.

[Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)]

Now that the Prime Minister has had some time to reflect on his earlier remarks about the Labour party and the Assad regime, will he consider withdrawing his remarks and apologising? Everyone in this House is united in being opposed to the Assad regime and the brutal killings of thousands of people, but we have genuine questions about his stance on arming the Syrian rebels. The first question is—

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dawn Primarolo)]

Order. Just one question.

[Rushanara Ali]

Sorry. Can the Prime Minister give a guarantee that humanitarian access will not get worse, and can he explain—

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

Order.

Oral Answers to Questions

Rushanara Ali Excerpts

Wednesday 19th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes an important point, and he is quite right to have stood up for his constituents in the way that he did. I would like to convene a meeting with MOD Ministers so that I can get back to him with the very best answer about the action we can take to stop these problems happening in the future.

[Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)]

The number of homeless families living in temporary accommodation rose by 5,000 in the last year. Will the Prime Minister explain why?

[The Prime Minister]

We need to build more houses in our country, and that is exactly what the Government are doing. We are building more social houses and more private houses, and we are reforming housing benefit so that we can better use the money. The question now is for the Opposition. They spent weeks and weeks complaining about the removal of the spare room subsidy. I do not know whether anyone else has noticed: they do not ask questions about it any more. Could that possibly be because they have not got a clue about whether they would restore it?

EU Council and Woolwich

Rushanara Ali Excerpts

Monday 3rd June 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right in the way he puts it. It is not enough to target and go after violent extremists after they have become violent. We have to drain the swamp which they inhabit. That means looking at the process of radicalisation on our campuses. It means looking at Islamic centres that have been taken over by extremists and gone wrong. It means looking at those mosques that are struggling to throw out the extremists and helping them in the work that they are doing. It means going through all the elements of the conveyor belt to radicalisation and ensuring that we deal with them. That is what is important. That is the work that needs to be done.

[Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)]

I join the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in relaying on behalf of my constituents, a sizeable proportion of whom are from the British Muslim community, our deepest condolences to the family of Drummer Lee Rigby after his appalling murder.

As part of the Prevent strategy and the new Prevent programme, will the Prime Minister look at the impact of the rising level of attacks on Muslim communities, including mosques, and the role of the English Defence League? Will the new taskforce look at proscribing such groups if the evidence suggests that their violent intentions will reinforce conflict in our country?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Lady for what she says about the strength of feeling in the communities that she represents. Yes, I can confirm that the taskforce will look at all forms of extremism, and we should be looking at all the best ways of condemning the hate-filled people who are part of the English Defence League. In terms of proscribing organisations, we have to follow the law and what the law itself sets out before taking action.