Business of the House

Wera Hobhouse Excerpts

Wednesday 30th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I hope we are in the last furlong of the furlough scheme, which was perhaps what my hon. Friend was getting at, with “furlong” and “furlough” all coming together. Yes, we must have lots of debates on the opportunities that face us, and I am sure that we will and that when we are back that will set us off to a good start. We will get the Trade Bill back from the House of Lords, and there will no doubt be Lords amendments to consider, and we will have an exciting legislative programme as well. He is absolutely right: double down and level up. That is a wonderful mixed metaphor and it is mathematically extremely complex, but, none the less, it is what we should be doing.

[Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD) [V]]

Before I ask my question, Madam Deputy Speaker, may I take the opportunity to wish you, the Leader of the House, fellow MPs and members of staff a happy new year? May I also take the opportunity to educate the Leader of the House on a great German composer, as “da-da-da-dah, da-da-da-dah” is Beethoven’s fifth symphony, whereas “Ode to Joy” is the ninth? But hey-ho.

When the fisheries Minister, the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the hon. Member for Banbury (Victoria Prentis), held the call for MPs on Christmas eve, the answer she had for most questions was “I don’t yet know.” Since then, we have worked out some details for ourselves. Fishermen now want to know how they have ended up with a small increase in some quotas but will in fact be able to catch less fish than before. May we have an early statement from the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, so that he can explain to the fishing communities what has actually been done to deliver the sea of opportunities that he has promised?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I am so sorry I was not clear; I thought that everybody knew that “da-da-da-dah, da-da-da-dah” was the fifth symphony. It was, of course, used as the signature tune of the BBC during the second world war to indicate that freedom was coming to Europe. As regards fishermen, the deal delivers for our fishermen. It recognises UK sovereignty over our fishing waters and puts us in a position to rebuild our fishing fleet and increase quotas in the next few years. There will be a rapid increase in quota—an uplift of up to 25%—by the end of five and a half years, beginning at 15%, before annual negotiations mean we can steadily increase beyond that point. In addition, £100 million will be spent in a programme to modernise the fishing fleet and the fish processing industry, so this is a great new opportunity for fishing. As the Prime Minister said in his speech earlier, it is putting right the wrongs of the common fisheries policy. May I finish by wishing my neighbour in Somerset a very happy new year? I am sorry that both Bath and North East Somerset are going into tier 3 from midnight tonight, or one minute past midnight tomorrow morning, but at least we will be able to have happy celebrations among ourselves.