House of Commons
Prayers
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Oral Answers to Questions
(4 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Andy Carter (Warrington South) (Con)
Dr Caroline Johnson (Sleaford and North Hykeham) (Con)
Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)
Craig Whittaker (Calder Valley) (Con)
Charlotte Nichols (Warrington North) (Lab)
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and First Secretary of State (Dominic Raab)
The Prime Minister spoke to his G7 counterparts yesterday about the international effort to take a global and effective response in tackling covid-19.
Andy Carter
In the light of the rapidly developing coronavirus pandemic, will my right hon. Friend update the House on how the Government, and specifically the Foreign Office, are providing support to British nationals who are currently in other countries?
Dominic Raab
We are working with £241 million of aid funding and investing £65 million in research to support vulnerable countries’ capacity to tackle this. The Foreign Office is regularly reviewing our travel advice, and consular staff are working with British nationals right across the world to give them the support and advice that they need. I will be making a further statement after oral questions.
Dr Caroline Johnson
What discussions is my right hon. Friend having with his counterparts in countries such as the United States, Australia and Israel, which are working actively on a vaccine for covid-19, so that we can share information from our research and develop a vaccine more quickly together?
Dominic Raab
I thank my hon. Friend for that question —I know how expert she is in this field. We are, of course, emphasising the importance of vaccine research and encouraging the scientific community to co-ordinate. In particular, we want to prioritise collaboration on vaccine research, including with financing and co-ordination through the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations fund.
Michael Fabricant
SARS—severe acute respiratory syndrome—swine flu and now coronavirus are all thought to have emanated from unsanitary wet butcheries in east Asia and China. What can my right hon. Friend do to co-ordinate an effort—perhaps after all this is over— to prevent any such disease from ever starting in such places again?
Dominic Raab
My hon. Friend is absolutely right that addressing the root causes of covid-19 and similar potential pandemics will require close co-operation with the international community, including China and other south-east-Asian partners. With that in mind, we welcome the Chinese Government’s decision on 24 February to make permanent the temporary ban on the trade and consumption of live wild animals.
Craig Whittaker
Many constituents are finding that unless Government travel advice advises against travel to a specific country or area, insurance companies do not pay out. Australia currently requires a two-week self-isolation period, but we are still not advising people not to travel there. What discussions is my right hon. Friend having with the insurance industry to make sure that constituents are covered in such situations?
Dominic Raab
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The situation is moving very rapidly—to give him a sense of that, I should say that the Foreign Office made more than 200 changes to our travel advice over the last weekend alone. We have also published a checklist to help British travellers to think through the challenges of international travel and the questions they should ask about it. We are in contact with the airlines for the insurance reasons that my hon. Friend explained. As I mentioned, I will make a further statement after oral questions.
Charlotte Nichols
Over the coming weeks and months, as more and more airlines, travel operators and insurance firms go bust, more and more British nationals will find themselves stranded abroad without accommodation or flight options. Will the Secretary of State reassure us that the Foreign Office is gearing up for that challenge and will be there to provide whatever support is required?
Dominic Raab
The hon. Lady is absolutely right. On the one hand, we do not want to take precipitate measures, but on the other we do want to take measures to prevent more and more UK nationals—particularly vulnerable ones—from being stranded overseas. It is a difficult risk-balancing exercise, and I will say more about that in the oral statement to follow.
Emily Thornberry (Islington South and Finsbury) (Lab)
Happy St Patrick’s day, Mr Speaker.
The lack of global co-ordination in tackling the covid-19 outbreak has been truly shocking, but is that any wonder, given that last week, according to the German Government, the so-called leader of the free world offered CureVac “large sums of money” to make sure that the vaccine it is developing would be available only for those from the United States? Does the Foreign Secretary agree that Donald Trump’s response to this outbreak has been nothing but a disgrace?
Dominic Raab
I certainly agree with the right hon. Lady that we need a co-ordinated international response, and we need to get better internationally at that—the Prime Minister made that point during yesterday’s G7 conversation. I do not think that just bashing the Americans or the President of the US is a substitute for the sensible, practical measures that we need to take to bring British nationals, and also our European partners, home on the repatriation flights that we have organised, to deal with research and the vaccine mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Dr Johnson), and to increase the resilience and capacity of those vulnerable countries that are trying to deal with an even greater challenge. We are addressing all those issues. The Foreign Office is working with the Department for International Development, the Department of Health and Social Care, and the Ministry of Defence, and we are talking to all our partners right around the world.
Emily Thornberry
The truth is that Donald Trump’s lack of international leadership has been quite extraordinary. He started by calling the outbreaks a hoax, comparing coronavirus to winter flu and dismissing health advice, but he now calls it the “foreign virus”, blaming Europe for its spread and today blaming China, and says that he takes no responsibility at all. Does the Secretary of State agree that it is shameful that such behaviour is what we have come to expect from the current American President, even at this time of global crisis?
Dominic Raab
I have to say to the right hon. Lady that I think we have done quite a good job in this House of trying to adopt a bipartisan approach. Whether domestically or internationally, finger-pointing just does not help in any shape or form. We are going to work with all our partners—the US, the Europeans, those in South America and those in Asia, as I have already mentioned—to try to forge the most effective response. That is what all our constituents expect and deserve.
Neil Coyle (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) (Lab)
Aman Nasir and Laura Bartley, two of my constituents, are among 100 Brits trapped in Lima, Peru. They say that they cannot get through to our embassy in that country, so how are the Government ensuring that all Brits trapped elsewhere can access embassies and missions that are resourced to answer their queries and to get them home as soon as possible?
Dominic Raab
We understand the concern of any constituent who finds themselves in a vulnerable position and also, of course, that of MPs who are trying to do their best. We have beefed up the support we are providing. There is a parliamentary hotline for MPs, and I will make sure that Ministers give the hon. Gentleman all the details so that he can provide the most support and up-to-date advice to his constituents.
Tom Tugendhat (Tonbridge and Malling) (Con)
I very much welcome my right hon. Friend’s response today, but does he remember from the Ebola crisis only a few years ago the woeful and very slow approach of the World Health Organisation? Does he not feel that we are seeing a similar response from the WHO today? Can he assure me that he is working with international partners to ensure that there is a proper, co-ordinated response despite the WHO, and that that will be the foundation for building a new international co-operative response?
Dominic Raab
I thank my hon. Friend, the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee. We are doing our level best as the UK to forge the strongest consensus possible. We have a total aid envelope of £241 million of funding. We are providing up to £150 million of that to the International Monetary Fund, £10 million to the WHO, £5 million to the Red Cross and £5 million to UNICEF. It is important that we work as collaboratively as possible with all our international partners—the WHO, but also those working in the voluntary sector, who often have particularly good expertise and access on the ground where it is needed most.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and First Secretary of State (Dominic Raab)
We welcome the ceasefire in Idlib agreed by Turkey and Russia on 5 March, and we call on all parties to respect it and make it permanent.
Jim Shannon
First, may I wish you, Mr Speaker, and all right hon. and hon. Members a happy St Patrick’s day from everyone in Northern Ireland?
The crisis in Syria means that Lebanon is in the middle of an economic crisis, and its infrastructure was already straining to support an influx of more than 1 million Syrian refugees, who now make up 20% of the country’s population. Those refugees are also facing coronavirus. What steps is the Minister taking to ensure that Syrian refugees, particularly those from more vulnerable groups, are adequately supported?
Dominic Raab
I thank the hon. Gentleman. Let me say at the outset that I totally agree with him about the need to stem the flow of refugees. He mentions Lebanon; of course, Turkey has also taken 4 million refugees. The first thing to say is that we must hold the Syrian regime and the Russian Government to account for the brutality of the fighting, which is causing the refugee flows. We must do everything within our power to firm up the ceasefire and make it nationwide, and then also, of course, provide humanitarian support. The Department for International Development announced £89 million in new aid for Idlib this month. On 11 March, the RAF delivered 37 tonnes of UK aid. I was recently in Turkey talking with the Foreign Minister and President Erdoğan about the measures that we need to take to bring that terrible conflict to an end.
Anthony Mangnall (Totnes) (Con)
The Minister for Asia (Nigel Adams)
The preventing sexual violence in conflict initiative remains a top Government priority. The UK is recognised as a global leader on the issue. We have committed over £46 million across 29 countries since 2012 and deployed the UK PSVI team of experts over 90 times. We are currently reassessing potential dates for the PSVI international conference in the light of developments on coronavirus, but we are committed to progressing conference ambitions of strengthening justice for survivors and holding the perpetrators of these horrific crimes to account.
Anthony Mangnall
I thank the Minister for his response. In 2019, 14 million women were subject to gender-based violence. We know that this figure rises during conflicts and crises. Will the ministerial team work with international groups and make representations at the UN later this year—presuming that the conference goes ahead—on preventing sexual violence in conflict and ensuring that we keep a firm eye on gender-based violence?
Nigel Adams
I thank my hon. Friend for his question. I know that he takes a keen interest in this area, given his previous work for Lord Hague, the former Foreign Secretary.
This is a big year for gender equality, as it includes the 25th anniversary of the Beijing declaration and platform for action, and the 20th anniversary of UN Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. The UK is proud to be a global leader in efforts to eradicate gender-based violence, and this year we will launch a new £67.5 million multi-country programme to prevent gender-based violence. We have expressed a strong interest in leading the Generation Equality action coalition on ending gender-based violence, and we will announce plans for the proposed UN General Assembly summit in due course.
Fabian Hamilton (Leeds North East) (Lab)
The aforementioned Lord Hague—the architect of the preventing sexual violence initiative—recently said that if the UK was not prepared to take effective action in this area,
“it would be better to let another country take the lead”.
Does the Minister agree, or will he listen to Lord Hague and give this vital initiative the funding and political leadership it deserves?
Nigel Adams
We are wholly committed as a nation to ensuring that all efforts to tackle conflict-related sexual violence are survivor-centred, in line with UN Security Council resolution 2467, and that this policy and practice avoids the re-traumatisation of survivors.
Theresa Villiers (Chipping Barnet) (Con)
Some appalling incidents of gender-based violence occurred during the Sri Lankan civil war. Will the Foreign Office do everything in its power to persuade the Sri Lankan Government to live up to the commitments they made in sponsoring resolution 30/1 in the UN Human Rights Council?
Nigel Adams
We certainly will. My right hon. Friend raises an important point. We are in regular contact and will ensure that, through our network and all channels, we discuss this with our Sri Lankan friends.
Dame Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)
Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and First Secretary of State (Dominic Raab)
I travelled to Riyadh on 4 March to 5 March and met senior Saudis, including His Majesty King Salman and the Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal. We discussed a whole range of bilateral issues, and I raised human rights, including detained women’s rights defenders.
Dame Diana Johnson
I am pleased to hear that the Foreign Secretary raised with the Saudi Arabian Government the women’s human rights defenders. Did he mention Loujain al-Hathloul, who is facing an unfair trial, arbitrary detention, and sexual abuse and mistreatment in custody for carrying out lawful and peaceful campaigning activities? If her case goes to trial, will the British Government observe that trial, and did the Foreign Secretary call for her release?
Dominic Raab
I pay tribute to the hon. Lady for her championing of this very important issue. I raised a whole range of cases before the Saudi courts in relation to women’s rights defenders, and also the fact that, having lifted the ban on women driving and taken other measures, that was particularly anomalous. Her concerns have been raised, and we will continue to raise those issues with the Saudi Government.
Wera Hobhouse
I appreciate that my question is not about what is currently uppermost in people’s minds, but human rights abuses continue to be committed, even while covid-19 is spreading. What active steps are the Government taking to help to secure the unconditional release of human rights activists?
Dominic Raab
I thank the hon. Lady for her question. I was not quite clear whether she was talking specifically about Saudi Arabia, but we raise these issues. Obviously the Government and the jurisdictions are very sensitive about their cases, but we raise these issues because that is what international law requires. We have made the points that she and the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North (Dame Diana Johnson) have raised, and we will continue to do so.
There has been an incremental and modest improvement in Saudi Arabia’s human rights situation. In the World Bank’s “Women, Business and the Law 2020” report, Saudi Arabia was ranked as the most improved economy for women’s economic opportunities. We want to encourage that positivity, and also, where there are abuses of human rights—whether in relation to the Khashoggi case, Raif Badawi, which was another case I raised, or the women’s rights defenders—to make sure that that is a part of our bilateral relations. We will keep raising these important issues.
Fabian Hamilton (Leeds North East) (Lab)
This week will mark five years since the start of the war in Yemen. That war has seen the Saudi Government bomb Yemeni civilians in their thousands and starve them in their millions, with callous indifference and complete impunity. After five years, when will the Secretary of State finally bring forward a resolution demanding a full independent UN-led investigation of these appalling war crimes?
Dominic Raab
We are focused on bringing that terrible conflict—I agree with the hon. Gentleman about that—to an end. We want pressure to be put on the Houthis, and also a positive dynamic. Probably the single biggest issue that I raised with my Saudi counterparts was an end to the conflict in Yemen, which will require all the relevant actors to come together. There is a political dialogue through the UN. We want confidence-building measures that will lead to a proper political dialogue, and to get that issue and the conflict resolved. There is a window of opportunity in 2020 to achieve that, and we will be working very hard with all the relevant actors to secure it.
Fabian Hamilton
While we are trying to get somewhere on war crimes in Yemen, may I ask the Secretary of State about another imminent anniversary? It is 18 months since Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in Istanbul. At the time we were promised, from the Government Dispatch Box, a credible investigation to find out who ordered his murder, with serious consequences to follow as a result. Almost a year and a half on, can the Secretary of State explain why we are still waiting?
Dominic Raab
I think that the hon. Gentleman will know that there is a certain limit to what we can actually force Saudi Arabia to do. There has been a trial. There have been criticisms and concerns about that, but some have been held to account. We continue to raise the issue. I raised it when I was in Riyadh on 4 and 5 March. We do not shy away from it or, most importantly, from getting the reassurance—as well as the accountability that he wishes—that something like this will never happen again.
Alyn Smith (Stirling) (SNP)
I warmly endorse the sentiments of the question asked by the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North (Dame Diana Johnson), and I do think the United Kingdom could do more to promote human rights in Saudi Arabia. I am conscious that we also need to deal with the interlocutors we are dealt. On that point, I would be grateful for the FCO’s assessment of the stability of the regime in Riyadh, given very worrying reports of arrests and incarcerations of key members of it. Was that part of the discussions when the Foreign Secretary was last in the capital?
Dominic Raab
The hon. Gentleman is right to raise human rights issues. I have explained all the issues—from Raif Badawi to the women’s rights defenders and Khashoggi—which we will always raise with our Saudi interlocutors. Equally, they are an important partner with us for all sorts of reasons, but particularly in relation to forging peace and trying to secure peace in Yemen. The regime looks entirely stable to me but, of course, given everything else that is going on with coronavirus and with oil production, there is tremendous economic pressure on the whole region. We want to try to reduce that pressure and, particularly on Yemen, to work with all partners in the region to end that terrible conflict.
Alyn Smith
I am grateful for the answer, and I was struck by the Foreign Secretary’s earlier point that we can only force the Saudis to do so much. However, we could stop selling them guns, tanks and bombs, and we could actually put some ethics into our foreign policy and prioritise the rights of the people in Yemen and the children who are currently suffering so badly as a result of the conflict. I am struck that the Saudis are indeed a partner in that war in terms of promoting the peace, but they are also a partner in that war full stop. I think that the UK could be rather more muscular in our discussions regarding that point.
Dominic Raab
The hon. Gentleman will of course know about the efforts—in particular with the UN envoy, Martin Griffiths—to bring an end to that conflict, and we have been tireless in supporting, pursuing and supplementing them. Of course a lot of the diplomacy will go on behind the scenes.
The hon. Gentleman mentions arms exports. We have one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world. We have carefully considered the implications of the Court of Appeal’s judgment, for example, and we will make sure that we are always compliant. However, the reality is that our focus has been on, as the hon. Gentleman mentioned, raising human rights issues when necessary, and also on trying to bring all the parties, including the Houthi rebels, to the table to have a proper political dialogue that can end the conflict in the interests of all the people in Yemen.
Scott Benton (Blackpool South) (Con)
Does my right hon. Friend agree that only through constructive dialogue with Saudi Arabia can we hasten progress on issues of human rights and the ongoing conflict in Yemen?
Dominic Raab
My hon. Friend is right, and we are listened to more because we engage and try to exert positive influence. Equally, however, we will not be shy or retiring in raising those issues. We raised them in the Human Rights Council statement in March 2019, and in other UN forums. As I said, when I was in Riyadh recently, we raised those issues bilaterally with all senior interlocutors.
Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)
What is the Government’s latest assessment of the role of Saudi Arabia in promoting radical Islamist doctrines beyond its borders?
Dominic Raab
I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend’s expertise in this area. We have raised that issue. There has been a step change and a reduction in the Government promoting that kind of extremism, and we want to ensure that other private sector or charitable bodies are also compliant. We have raised those issues, and I will continue to do so.
Gerald Jones (Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney) (Lab)
Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)
The Minister for Asia (Nigel Adams)
The UK is committed to the promotion and protection of human rights worldwide. We are one of the longest standing members of the Human Rights Council, and we are committed to maintaining that record when we stand for re-election this year. The UK’s autonomous global human rights Magnitsky-style sanctions regime is due to come into force in the coming months. That will allow us to impose sanctions in response to serious human rights violations or abuses around the world.
Gerald Jones
Since June 2019, when the UK became co-chair of the Equal Rights Coalition to defend LGBT communities around the world, no additional Commonwealth countries have joined. Even now, there are no Commonwealth members from Africa, Asia or the Caribbean. What can the Minister do to improve that dire situation?
Nigel Adams
We must tackle all human rights issues through multilateral organisations wherever possible. The UK Government will continue to make that case through our networks and ministerial team, and the hon. Gentleman raises a serious point.
Lilian Greenwood
University professor Chan Kin-man said about the 2014 Umbrella protest in Hong Kong:
“The reason we had this protest is that China did not honour a promise to Hong Kong to let it have democracy.”
He now faces seven years in jail for leading that protest. Will the Government stand up for him, or was Chris Patten right to describe their policy towards China as simply “craven”?
Nigel Adams
I met the Chinese ambassador in the past 10 days, and raised the issue of Hong Kong. We remain concerned about the political situation in Hong Kong, and believe that the underlying causes of the protests have not been addressed. We welcome the peaceful manner in which so many Hong Kong people have expressed their views, and we will continue to call for a robust, credible, and independent investigation into the events in Hong Kong between June 2019 and last January.
Emily Thornberry (Islington South and Finsbury) (Lab)
I was interested to hear what the Minister said about multilateral institutions, because the European convention on human rights was the brainchild of Winston Churchill. It was drawn up by British lawyers, and the UK was the first country to ratify it in 1951. Instead of being proud of that achievement, why do the Government now want to stand alone with Belarus, Europe’s last remaining dictatorship, in refusing to support the convention?
Nigel Adams
We continue to work with regional organisations, including the European Union, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, and the Commonwealth, to strengthen their democracy work. Most recently we have offered support for election monitoring in North Macedonia and Serbia, and we are supportive of the work that human rights defenders do across the world by promoting and protecting democratic values as well as human rights.
Matt Western (Warwick and Leamington) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Wendy Morton)
Climate change is the greatest threat facing the Arctic, and it is driving other changes there too. The reduction in summer sea ice cover in the Arctic has the potential to increase international shipping activity in the Arctic; however, hostile conditions and the lack of infrastructure will make commercial operations difficult for a considerable time. The UK cross-Government Arctic network met in January and discussed issues related to shipping and environmental protection in the Arctic ocean.
Matt Western
There are huge economic advantages, particularly for the far east, in these lanes opening up, but that will come at huge environmental cost. Will the Minister explain what discussions have been had through the United Nations about how we ensure the protection and preservation of such an important pristine natural environment?
Wendy Morton
The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. It is vital that the world comes together to take renewed action to limit global warming to 1.5°. There are 70-plus UK institutions engaged in Arctic research. The UK’s research station at Svalbard in Norway celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2020. We are doing a huge amount of work in this area.
Jonathan Gullis (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Con)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Wendy Morton)
As the Foreign Secretary has said on previous occasions, we will establish an autonomous UK global human rights Magnitsky sanctions regime shortly. That will reinforce our role as a global leader in the promotion and protection of human rights. We will do that through secondary legislation under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018. That sanctions regime will allow us to impose sanctions in response to serious human rights violations or abuses anywhere in the world.
Jonathan Gullis
Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the benefits of leaving the European Union is that our new sanctions regime will allow us to go faster and further in holding the worst human rights abusers to account?
Wendy Morton
The sanctions Act allows the UK to implement our own sanctions regimes, and we intend to use those powers in line with UK interests and values to reinforce the UK’s role as a force for good. We will continue to co-operate with international partners on sanctions, including on human rights, because sanctions are most effective when delivered collectively.
Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)
The Foreign Secretary was one of the loudest in clamouring for these Magnitsky sanctions to be brought forward, yet they have been on the statute book for two years and we still do not have the statutory instruments. One Minister has said we will have them “in the coming months”; another has said we will have them “soon”. If the Foreign Secretary were sitting on the Back Benches, he would be saying, “Do them now!”
Wendy Morton
And we absolutely are. We are working really hard; the hon. Gentleman just needs to wait a little longer. [Interruption.] If the right hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry) will allow me to speak, I will reinforce my answer. The hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) just needs to wait a little longer. The regime will be coming forward. We are taking the time to get it right, which is absolutely the right thing to do. Just wait a little longer.
Alicia Kearns (Rutland and Melton) (Con)
When we bring forward the Magnitsky regime, will we also bring forward sanctions against individuals who profit through corruption and human rights abuses?
Wendy Morton
It is important that we recognise that the sanctions regime is intended to target not individual countries but those who commit serious human rights violations. As I said, we are working really hard to ensure that what comes forward is right; just wait a little longer and we will see that come forward. It is no good speculating in advance about who may be designated, because that may reduce the impact of sanctions.
Florence Eshalomi (Vauxhall) (Lab/Co-op)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (James Duddridge)
The UK condemns all attacks by terrorist groups in north-east Nigeria, including those against Christians, but communities of all faiths have suffered; in fact, the majority of victims are Muslims. The Prime Minister discussed our concerns and UK support with President Buhari in January. My hon. Friend the Member for Gillingham and Rainham (Rehman Chishti), the Prime Minister’s excellent special envoy for freedom of religion or belief, who is in his place, also discussed the violence recently with President Buhari’s chief of staff and has had a number of other meetings, including briefing the full ministerial team last week.
Florence Eshalomi
I thank the Minister for his response. Given that recommendation 2 of the Truro review states that the UK should:
“Articulate an aspiration to be the global leader in championing FoRB”—
freedom of religion or belief—and that the UK Government have committed to all its recommendations, what more does the Minister think the Government can do to assert pressure on the Nigerian Government? Will he also be considering the claims of asylum seekers from the Nigerian community?
James Duddridge
As the hon. Lady says, we accept in full the Truro recommendations. I am meeting the Prime Minister’s envoy again to discuss progress—I think we are about halfway through. The point I gently make is that the situation is quite complicated. Religious belief is central to the identity of many in Nigeria, but the underlying drivers of conflict go beyond to ethnic rivalries, criminal banditry, competition over land and water, and the settled community and the nomadic Fulani community. There is a lot of complexity to work through, but I will continue to do that with the Prime Minister’s envoy. I am more than happy to work with the all-party group on Nigeria, of which I was once secretary, as well as the hon. Lady and other interested parties.
Rehman Chishti (Gillingham and Rainham) (Con)
I thank the Minister for that answer. On the question posed earlier about the United Kingdom being a leader and champion on freedom of religion or belief, will the Minister clarify that the UK, not just bilaterally but through other forums such as the International Religious Freedom Alliance and the International Contact Group in Geneva last week, has raised the issue of Nigeria? As the Prime Minister’s envoy, I can say that the UK is taking forward with ministerial colleagues the issue of Nigeria at every level. Recommendations 12 and 13 of the Truro review, as well as recommendation 2, cover the work we do on Nigeria with non-governmental organisations, both in the UK and with our counterparts around the world.
James Duddridge
My hon. Friend demonstrates his excellence in this area and makes the very valid point that it is about not just bilateral activity, but multilateral activity and the leadership role we have, particularly now as the chair of the Commonwealth and in handing over the baton in Kigali to the Rwandans. We will continue to raise these issues, which we do not see in isolation. These are thematic issues that we raise consistently, both bilaterally and multilaterally.
Mr Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) (DUP)
During the recent discussions, did the Nigerian authorities hold out any hope or prospect that Christian groups and other faith-based groups can look forward to the immediate prospect of a cessation of violence, and some safety and security for the future?
James Duddridge
All parties are looking for a greater degree of safety and security, particularly in the north-east. It is a complicated situation that does keep coming back. As one suppresses some problems, others come out. We are working very closely with our Nigerian and international partners in the north-east and across the whole of Nigeria. Nigeria is one of our biggest partners on these and a number of other issues. I will raise them with our high commissioner again. I met our high commissioner last week and will continue to work on these issues, and I look forward to going back to Nigeria to visit friends and colleagues.
Jo Gideon (Stoke-on-Trent Central) (Con)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Wendy Morton)
Climate change is one of the most urgent and pressing international challenges we face today and no country alone can solve this problem. As COP presidents, in partnership with Italy, we are driving forward the historic agreement secured in Paris. The year 2020 is crucial for international co-operation on climate, which is why this is a cross-Government priority. The Prime Minister and other Ministers are working hard to make COP26 a success.
Wendy Morton
Absolutely. This is something the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and all my colleagues on the Front Bench take very seriously. We use every opportunity to raise this issue in bilateral meetings and in relation to business. It is vital that the world comes together and takes renewed action to limit global warming to 1.5°. We urge every country to come forward in 2020 with ambitious new nationally determined contributions that will help us to meet the commitments set out under the 2015 Paris agreement.
Deidre Brock (Edinburgh North and Leith) (SNP)
Department for International Development contributions to the international climate fund between 2011 and 2017 were matched almost pound for pound by Department for International Trade funding for fossil fuel projects. Is it not the Secretary of State’s job to ensure that the UK engages consistently with international partners? What steps is he taking to make that happen?
Wendy Morton
The Government have a good record in that field. As I said, the Foreign Secretary, the Prime Minister and all our Ministers are taking huge steps to encourage the world to come together to take renewed action and to use COP26 to deliver the climate change agenda.
Chris Clarkson (Heywood and Middleton) (Con)
Dr Jamie Wallis (Bridgend) (Con)
The Minister for Asia (Nigel Adams)
Our consistent top-table ranking in numerous soft power indices makes the UK’s strengths clear, from our diplomatic network to cultural institutions and leading scientific research. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office enhances the UK’s soft power overseas by investing in international future leaders through the Chevening and Marshall scholarship programmes, supporting the BBC World Service in its biggest expansion in 70 years and, this year, showcasing our creativity alongside the British Council as part of the UK-Japan season of culture, as well as taking a leading role on climate ahead of COP26. Through our actions, we continue to have a positive influence in the world.
Chris Clarkson
I recently visited Union Papertech in my constituency with Britain’s high commissioner to Pakistan to see how its innovations in paper technology are leading the way in booming consumer and green economies in the subcontinent. Does the Minister agree that some of global Britain’s best advocates and ambassadors open our markets for our values as well as our products?
Nigel Adams
My hon. Friend is spot on. I agree that British innovation is a key soft power asset. We recognise the importance of innovation and technology for global Britain, which is why the Prime Minister has committed to the UK being a global science superpower by increasing investment in R&D. My hon. Friend’s example of the high commissioner’s visit to Heywood and Middleton shows that our diplomats are committed to supporting innovative British products, as they do throughout our global network.
Nigel Adams
My hon. Friend is right to raise that issue. I have had the pleasure of visiting studios in Wales. I agree that our creative industries are at the forefront of the innovation I have mentioned. They put the UK’s skills and expertise on a global stage, about which we can all be proud. People who work in those areas, including in Bridgend, are an asset to our influence around the world.
Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green) (Lab)
The British Council is an important institution. My constituent, who remains its employee, is still in Evin prison in Iran. What assessment has the Foreign and Commonwealth Office made of this morning’s announcement that some prisoners have been released? Is Aras Amiri, or indeed Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, among them?
Nigel Adams
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary raised that issue with his Iranian counterpart yesterday. We are deeply concerned about both the individuals the hon. Lady mentions. We are liaising constantly with the Iranian authorities whenever possible and keeping in touch with family members to ensure that they are let out as soon as possible.
Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)
In what way is continuing to disregard the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice and the resolution of the UN General Assembly on the future sovereignty of the Chagos Islands a diligent exercise of the UK’s soft power?
Nigel Adams
We are confident in our position on the issue the hon. Gentleman mentions. We are more than happy to talk to him following the session so we can discuss it further one to one.
Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)
The Minister for Asia (Nigel Adams)
The events in Delhi in February were very concerning, and the British high commission in New Delhi is monitoring the situation closely. The death of one protester is one too many. India’s strength, like that of the UK, is in its diversity. We trust the Indian Government to address the concerns of people of all religions. Where we have concerns, we raise them directly with the Indian Government. Most recently, my colleague Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon raised concerns about the impact of recent judicial and legislative measures on minorities with a senior official from India’s Ministry of External Affairs on 25 February.
Bob Blackman
The violent riots that took place in Delhi have resulted in 1,638 arrests, 14 damaged mosques and 10 damaged Hindu temples, and more than 50 Hindus and Muslims have been killed. After 330 community meetings, however, places of worship are being repaired and business is being restored. Can my hon. Friend confirm that business is returning to normal in India, with peaceful protests allowed but not violent ones?
Nigel Adams
I know that my hon. Friend takes a keen interest in this issue. We welcome the fact that there have been no new reports of rioting since February, although we are sure that tensions remain. Now, as ever, we support Prime Minister Modi’s call for peace and harmony. India’s strength, like that of the UK, is in its diversity, and we trust that the Indian Government will address the concerns of people of all religions.
Gareth Thomas (Harrow West) (Lab/Co-op)
The Minister for Asia (Nigel Adams)
On 25 February the Minister for South Asia and the Commonwealth, my noble Friend Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, met the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister in Geneva to express the UK’s serious concerns about the new Sri Lankan Government’s announcement that they no longer support UNHRC resolution 31 and subsequent resolutions. Lord Ahmad urged the Foreign Minister to reconsider.
Gareth Thomas
Human Rights Watch has this month chronicled Sri Lankan security agencies stepping up surveillance, harassment and threats against human rights activists and journalists. Great as it is that Lord Ahmad is raising concerns, as his ministerial colleague has just set out, is it not about time that Britain got a little more robust with the Sri Lankan authorities?
Nigel Adams
The hon. Gentleman is right to raise this matter. In a statement on 27 February we raised our serious concerns about those reports of surveillance and harassment of human rights defenders. We have raised those concerns directly at senior level with the Government in Colombo, and I can assure him that we will continue to urge the Sir Lankan Government to fulfil commitments made in the resolution; to deliver truth, accountability and meaningful reconciliation; and above all, to ensure the protection of human rights for everyone in Sri Lanka.
Dr Jamie Wallis (Bridgend) (Con)
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and First Secretary of State (Dominic Raab)
In February I visited Australia, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore, and this month I have visited Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Oman. Both regions are of growing importance as we deliver on our vision of global Britain. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s immediate priority, of course, is to do everything we can to ensure that our citizens are safe, at home and abroad, as part of our international response to covid-19.
Dr Wallis
My constituent Stephen Lewis has been incarcerated in France for several months without charge or trial, and the judge is citing Brexit as one of the reasons why he will not be released. Will my right hon. Friend help me and Stephen’s family in our efforts to secure his release as soon as possible?
Dominic Raab
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for his efforts to represent his constituent. He will know that FCO staff in Bordeaux have been following the case closely and have spoken to his constituent’s lawyer. The examining magistrate is currently reviewing the case. We cannot provide more than consular support because, as my hon. Friend will know, we cannot intervene politically in individual judicial proceedings, but we will follow the case very carefully.
Mr Toby Perkins (Chesterfield) (Lab)
Dominic Raab
I am not sure that that sole measure would release the change in behaviour that we need in Tehran, but I accept the hon. Gentleman’s diagnosis of the problem. We have seen it in relation to the issue of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and in relation to its destabilising activities in the middle east, from Iraq through Syria to Yemen. As other Members have mentioned, we have also seen it in relation to dual nationals. When I spoke to the Iranian Foreign Minister yesterday, I made very clear that on all these fronts we will continue to hold Iran to account, and that if it wants to improve the situation both for the Government and, most importantly, for the people of Iran, the Iranian Government must take steps to build confidence and return to compliance with international law.
Mrs Sheryll Murray (South East Cornwall) (Con)
Dominic Raab
As my hon. Friend will know, Iran is already subject to a wide range of sanctions. She rightly raised the issue of systemic non-compliance with the JCPOA, and I have been working on that with my French and German counterparts. We triggered the dispute resolution mechanism, we will hold Iran to account, and, above all, we will make sure that it can never acquire a nuclear weapon. I made all those points very clearly to Foreign Minister Zarif yesterday.
Anne McLaughlin (Glasgow North East) (SNP)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (James Duddridge)
I thank the hon. Lady for her interest in Gambia. We were very optimistic about it when it rejoined the Commonwealth. I have visited the country outside my ministerial roles, and I look forward to talking to our high commissioner within the week. I will raise these issues again and will update the hon. Lady, but we expect all Commonwealth members to uphold the best of standards.
Anthony Mangnall (Totnes) (Con)
The Minister for Asia (Nigel Adams)
I know that my hon. Friend has been working very hard, because I have been in contact with him over the weekend on behalf of his constituents who have been affected by the outbreak. I can assure him that our consular staff in London and worldwide are working around the clock to ensure that British nationals affected by the epidemic, including those in hospital, quarantine or isolation, are safe and have access to healthcare whenever necessary. As Members know, in some cases that has included repatriation, although it remains a last resort.
Wes Streeting (Ilford North) (Lab)
David Miliband and David Cameron demonstrated the importance of leadership from the top in the context of human rights in Sri Lanka. In that spirit, would the Foreign Secretary be prepared to meet me, and other members of the all-party parliamentary group for Tamils, on a cross-party basis to discuss the leadership that we now need from him in the light of the events and developments at the United Nations Human Rights Council?
Nigel Adams
We are extremely concerned about the issues in Sri Lanka, to which I referred earlier in response to the question asked by the hon. Member for Harrow West (Gareth Thomas). As the Minister responsible for that region, I should be more than happy to meet the hon. Gentleman to discuss those issues further.
Alicia Kearns (Rutland and Melton) (Con)
James Duddridge
We are opening two new embassies in Niger and Chad. Last month I attended meetings of the G5 and the Sahel Alliance, where I was able to reassure the five countries of the Sahel and the French Foreign Minister of our support for the security and military efforts in the region, including the deployment of UK troops in Mali. I was also able to raise the issue of 12 years of quality girls’ education, which, in the long term, helps both prosperity and security.
Ian Murray (Edinburgh South) (Lab)
We all have constituents who are stranded overseas because of the lack of flights. I have five nurses who are stuck in the Philippines, and the consular advice from the embassy has been for them to get on a flight as quickly as possible. First, there are no flights back to the United Kingdom. Secondly, there is no way for them to get to the airport. What help is the Foreign Office giving UK nationals across the world who are stuck despite being advised to get home?
Nigel Adams
The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to raise the issue that his constituents face in the Philippines. Travel advice is changing hourly—we have made over 100 changes in the past 24 hours. I would urge him to wait for the Foreign Secretary’s statement on the issue, which will come after this session.
Stephen Hammond (Wimbledon) (Con)
Dominic Raab
I thank my hon. Friend, who will have to wait only a short while to get an answer to that very question.
David Linden (Glasgow East) (SNP)
Last month saw the second anniversary of the capture of Leah Sharibu, a young Nigerian schoolgirl. Can the Government tell us, and provide an update, what representations they are making to the Nigerian Government to secure Leah’s release from captivity?
James Duddridge
I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising the case. I have reviewed a number of these cases as historical cases. Unfortunately, kidnapping is all too common. Various Ministers have met families and representatives, but I am more than happy to take up that specific case, discuss it with him today and take it forward in the normal way.
Jerome Mayhew (Broadland) (Con)
Nigel Adams
My hon. Friend is right to raise this issue. The UK and Ireland are in regular contact at the highest levels to discuss our respective responses to covid-19, and we will continue to work closely together. On Saturday, at a meeting of the North South Ministerial Council in Armagh, the First Minister, the Deputy First Minister and Northern Ireland’s Minister for Health met the Taoiseach, the Irish Health Minister and the Irish chief medical officer to discuss the issue. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is also in regular contact with his counterpart. Obviously, health is devolved in Northern Ireland, but my hon. Friend can rest assured that we are in regular contact with our Irish friends.
Munira Wilson (Twickenham) (LD)
I have four constituents stuck in Vietnam after discovering that they were on flights with somebody who had coronavirus. Two of my constituents are young women who are stuck in an overcrowded hostel, which is filthy and has limited running water. They are fit and healthy, but they might not be for much longer. What support are the Government providing in terms of Government-sponsored flights home? Will the Minister meet with me to discuss these cases and how we can help those women get home, please?
Nigel Adams
The hon. Lady is absolutely right to raise this issue. I know of the particular problem. I have spoken to other hon. Members about constituents who are probably in the same accommodation. I spoke this morning with the Vietnamese ambassador, with a request that the British nationals are moved urgently into hygienic conditions, so we are working on that and I will have an answer from the ambassador. Rest assured, we are doing our best to improve the treatment for those individuals.
Richard Graham (Gloucester) (Con)
Although the immediate focus of our interests in south-east Asia rightly has to be the safety of British citizens and how we can get them back home, which no doubt will emerge shortly in the statement, I know that the Secretary of State shares my huge enthusiasm for the potential in south-east Asia for greater trade, investment and, indeed, much wider partnerships. Will he say today whether the idea of having an Association of Southeast Asian Nations investment forum, which would be as good and possibly even better than the Africa investment forum, is one that he supports?
Dominic Raab
I thank my hon. Friend, who is playing to all my prejudices with his question. We are absolutely committed to ratification of CPTPP, the comprehensive and progressive agreement for trans-Pacific partnership. We are also committed to joining ASEAN formally with dialogue partner status. In the context of that, he raises an interesting idea. It is obviously difficult to host conferences at the moment, but that is certainly something we should keep under review.
Gavin Newlands (Paisley and Renfrewshire North) (SNP)
On Saturday morning, I was advising constituents, on the basis of Foreign and Commonwealth Office advice, that they had until midnight to leave Poland. Later that day, Jet2 advised them that their flights for the following two days would be going ahead and leaving Poland. Will the Minister therefore tell me why the advice was incomplete and what they are to do if any travel insurance claim they make is now invalid?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Wendy Morton)
I am more than happy to speak to the hon. Gentleman after these questions. The travel advice remains in place, and I know that the Foreign Secretary will be updating the House more broadly.
Mary Robinson (Cheadle) (Con)
Two of my constituents are currently aboard the MS Marina, en route to Miami. The cruise liner was refused entry at the ports of Lima and Panama yesterday, and will reach Miami by tomorrow afternoon, but they are concerned that they may be refused entry to the USA when they reach their destination. Both have underlying health problems and are, understandably, worried. What discussions has the Department had with counterparts in the USA about the repatriation of some of our constituents who are in this position?
Wendy Morton
My hon. Friend is another example of a Member who treats constituency casework with great seriousness and she is right to raise it here, alongside others. Foreign Office staff are working flat out, as are my colleagues and I, to tackle this. We are aware of a number of cruise liners in the region, and I will ensure that she has the right information. I am more than happy to talk to her after these questions.
Covid-19
(4 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and First Secretary of State (Dominic Raab)
As the Prime Minister has said, the coronavirus pandemic
“is the worst public health crisis for a generation”.
It is unsettling for families up and down the country, in all of our constituencies, so we need a united effort to tackle covid-19 effectively and come through this challenge, as I am confident we can and will. Following on from, and consistent with, the domestic measures announced by the Prime Minister yesterday, and based on the fast- changing international circumstances, today I am announcing changes to Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel advice. UK travellers abroad now face wide- spread international border restrictions, and lockdowns in various countries. The FCO always considers the safety and security of British nationals, so, with immediate effect, I have taken the decision to advise British nationals against non-essential travel globally, for an initial period of 30 days, and, of course, subject to ongoing review.
I should emphasise that this decision has been taken based on the domestic measures introduced here in the UK, alongside the changes to border and a range of other restrictions that are now being taken by countries right around the world. The speed and range of those measures across other countries is unprecedented, and some of those decisions are being made without notice. In some cases, even in countries or particular areas where there have not yet been any reported cases of covid-19, local authorities are none the less imposing restrictions on movement, and, again, doing so with little or sometimes no notice whatsoever. In the light of those circumstances, we want to reduce the risk of leaving vulnerable British tourists and visitors stranded overseas. We will, of course, keep this advice under review and amend it as soon as the situation responsibly allows.
The Government are, of course, keenly aware that international freight services, such as shipping and haulage, are vital for ensuring the continuity of the supply of essential food, goods and material to the UK. So we regard that kind of travel as essential, and we will work with industry to issue detailed advice that maintains the flow of goods, while protecting the wellbeing of staff working on those routes. The Department for Transport will be leading that work with the freight sector, with the objective of minimising disruption to those routes as far as is possible. At the same time, FCO consular teams are working around the clock to provide the best and most up-to-date information that we can possibly provide to UK nationals. By way of context, let me say that in the past week alone we made more than 430 changes to FCO travel advice, and we will continue to keep it under close and constant review.
We are providing support to British nationals who have been impacted by coronavirus while travelling. During the initial outbreak, or containment phase, we arranged the repatriation of more than 200 vulnerable British nationals from China between 31 January and 9 February. We took that particular action to support British nationals and control the return of those possibly exposed to covid-19 at the earliest point in the crisis, when it appeared that the virus might be—might be—contained in China.
In other cases, such as that of the British nationals affected by a covid-19 infection in a hotel in Tenerife, we worked with travel companies and airlines to ensure that those concerned were safely brought home. We also changed our travel advice to advise people over 70, or with underlying health conditions, against travelling on cruises, to protect those most at risk from coronavirus. We have arranged repatriation from cruise ships, including most recently the 131 UK nationals who returned from the Grand Princess, which was docked in California. They arrived home last Wednesday.
Also on the issue of cruises, we have been working intensively with the Cuban authorities and Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines to ensure that all British nationals are able to return quickly and safely to the UK. That is of course in relation to the Braemar cruise liner. We are doing all we can to ensure that they return to the UK on flights from José Martí international airport in Havana within the next 48 hours. I spoke to the Cuban Foreign Minister twice over the weekend, and we are very grateful to the Cuban Government for swiftly enabling this operation and for their close co-operation to make sure that it could be successful.
As well as those repatriations, UK consular teams are working with those who are affected by difficult quarantine conditions; by the closure of tourist resorts in, for example, Europe and North Africa; or, indeed, when new regulations are introduced in countries where UK nationals are visiting. We will do everything in our power to get those British nationals affected the care, support and practical advice that they need.
We also need to be clear about our capacity to repatriate people from abroad, given the scale of the numbers. We have taken action where necessary, but no one should be under any illusions: it is costly and complicated to co-ordinate, so Government-supported repatriations have been undertaken only in exceptional circumstances. Ultimately, the primary responsibility for managing outbreaks of covid-19 and quarantine measures must rest with the country in which the outbreak has occurred. FCO teams around the world are working urgently to ensure that Governments have sensible plans to enable the return of British and other travellers, and, crucially, to keep borders open for a sufficient period to enable returns to take place on commercial flights, wherever that is possible.
Following today’s change in travel advice, British nationals who decide that they still need to travel abroad should do so fully aware of the increased risks of doing so. That obviously includes the risk that they may not be able to get home if travel restrictions are subsequently put in place that they had not anticipated. So, we urge anyone still considering travel to be realistic about the level of disruption they are willing and able to endure, and to make decisions in the light of the unprecedented conditions that we face.
Today’s travel guidance follows the domestic measures announced yesterday. It forms part of our national effort to meet the international challenge presented by coronavirus —a challenge that we will rise to as a Government and as a country. I commend this statement to the House.
Emily Thornberry (Islington South and Finsbury) (Lab)
I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of his statement. We hear what he says on freight, but could he give us any guidance on what is “essential travel” when it comes to people? Does it include people coming home? This is a time of immense concern for tens of thousands of British nationals stranded abroad; they are not just dealing with the stress of trying to get accurate information and make their way home, but doing so facing the ever-present fear of infection.
I was contacted yesterday by Tom, one of the 65 British nationals in Cusco, Peru, which has announced a 15-day state of emergency, with its borders closed and the army enforcing a quarantine. Tom’s flight to Britain today has been cancelled and his calls to our embassy in Lima have not been answered. Why is that? Because the embassy itself has decided to close down for 15 days, just when its services were needed most. The Secretary of State said in his statement that our
“consular teams are working around the clock to provide the best…information available to UK nationals”;
well, I am afraid that that simply is not the case in Tom’s experience. He says:
“We have received no advice or assistance…we are all extremely concerned at being stranded here.”
Across the world, there are tens of thousands of British nationals in the same position as Thomas, and all have the same message for the British Government: “Help bring us home”. As far as they are concerned, their travel is essential and it is no use telling them to rely on advice from the Governments in the countries from which they are travelling when, inevitably, they will be the least of those countries’ concerns. Nor is it any use telling them to rely on the instructions of their travel operators, which, all too often in recent weeks, have been at odds with the official FCO travel advice and are driven by the fear of insurance claims and bankruptcy, not by the needs of our citizens.
The Government cannot keep passing the buck to others, especially when it comes to repatriation. Yes, it is difficult, and yes, it is expensive, but that is the nature of the crisis that we face. In his response, can the Secretary of State directly address Tom and his compatriots in Peru and all the other British nationals around the world currently in the same position, and tell them what he is doing to help bring them home?
Will the Secretary of State reassure us today that the Foreign Office will learn the lessons from this fiasco by asking itself some very basic questions? First, why were there no clear protocols in place for evacuation and repatriation in the event of an outbreak such as this? If those protocols were in place, why were they not followed? Secondly, why has official travel advice from the FCO been so slow to match what is happening on the ground? This weekend, we had tour operators going door to door in French ski resorts, telling British families to leave immediately, while the Foreign Office website said that there were no restrictions on travel. Thirdly and most basically, as Tom’s case in Peru illustrates, will the Foreign Secretary determine why the levels of consular support have been so out of step with the levels of global demand?
When the dust settles on this crisis, as we all hope it eventually will, we will reflect on what has been a chronic failure of global leadership and co-ordination in which our own Government has sadly been a part. Instead of every country working together to agree best practice and apply common standards on testing, tracking, travel restrictions, quarantines, self-isolation and social distancing, we have instead seen a global free- for-all, with every country going it alone. Instead of the international community coming together to pool its experience and work together to develop a vaccine and a cure, we have again seen individual companies and countries working in silos. We have also seen a shameful attempt by Donald Trump to buy the German company that is in the lead when it comes to discovering a vaccine, not just to steal the glory of the vaccine for himself, but to hoard it for the Americans alone. The challenges posed by the coronavirus are fearful enough for the world without our leaders compounding them through their incompetence or their inaction. That is exactly what we have seen when it comes to this Government’s approach to repatriation, but it is part of a pattern that goes far beyond that one issue and far beyond our one country.
Will the Secretary of State undertake today that, as well as fixing the immediate issues that we face with the coronavirus, not least around repatriations, Britain will lead the way in ensuring that these outbreaks will be better managed in future?
Dominic Raab
I thank the right hon. Lady for her response, at least in relation to recognising the scale of the challenge. She asked a number of questions, and I will give her as much of a substantive response as I can. She asked what essential and non-essential travel means. Ultimately, the Foreign Office gives travel advice, but the decision on whether to travel remains an individual one. Travellers may have urgent or particularly exceptional business—family, commercial or otherwise—and circumstances may differ, but what we are doing is strongly advising against global travel. That is, in part, a reflection of the domestic measures that were announced yesterday around social distancing. We also want to limit the number of people, particularly vulnerable people, who find themselves in the plight of not being able to get home because of some of the issues that she has raised.
The right hon. Lady mentioned the team in the Philippines—
Dominic Raab
In Peru, yes. That team is working as best it can under very difficult conditions. I am very happy to take a look at the case to which she has referred. We have a whole range of practical advice for hon. Members to give to their constituents. Our FCO travel advice is available online. Hon. Members and their constituents can sign up to receive email updates, so they get it in real time. My officials also run a specific hotline for hon. Members to contact. I have also shared details with hon. Members in a “Dear colleague” letter, which will go out shortly today. We are doing everything that we can to give hon. Members on both sides of the House the practical information that they need in what is a fast-moving and fluid situation.
The right hon. Lady asked what we were doing more generally in relation to helping people to get back home. The first thing to say is to avoid travel if you might find yourself in a situation, either because of current or future measures, in which you are unable to get back home. We are liaising with the tour operators and the airlines to make sure that even when restrictions are in place there is a window of opportunity to get out with commercial flights. We do not have precise numbers, but given the volume of British nationals who are abroad—not necessarily permanently or living abroad, but travelling abroad—to expect that the Government can repatriate them all is unrealistic. What we do is make sure that we are in a position to protect the most vulnerable.
The right hon. Lady asked why our consular teams were stretched. She ought to have a look at the scale of the international challenge that this country and everyone are facing with covid-19. Teams across Government, including consular teams in the Foreign Office, are doing an exceptional job in very difficult circumstances. She is right to point to different measures that have been taken around the world. The UK approach is to follow the best scientific advice that we have, and to take measures, both domestically and internationally, in line with trying to reduce the peak of coronavirus in the UK and the number of infections, and making sure that we maximise the capacity of the NHS to deal with that. Finally, the right hon. Lady did her usual routine of sniping at the US President. That is no substitute for a serious question on the substance, let alone a serious policy answer.
Sir Peter Bottomley (Worthing West) (Con)
As the honorary president of the British International Freight Association, I thank the Foreign Secretary for his words about the freight forwarders and their job in keeping goods moving in and out of the country. May I raise two issues with him briefly? First, will he encourage the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and tour operators and airlines to have easily accessibly websites so that tourists who may be stuck in the Dominican Republic and elsewhere can get information on what is likely to happen to them? Finally, there are some countries where people have to apply for a business visa to go to a business meeting—it costs up to £600 for India—so if they suddenly decide they are not issuing visas, will he encourage high commissioners and Governments to make it possible to transfer that to a future arrangement, rather than just take the money and forget about it?
Dominic Raab
I thank my hon. Friend, who makes a number of important points. We are liaising with tour operators, insurance companies and, of course, airlines, and we will convey the message that he proposed about making sure that their advice is as transparent as possible. That needs to be done in real time, and I shall certainly consider further the flexibility that he suggested in relation to visas.
Alyn Smith (Stirling) (SNP)
Now is a time in which we should be seen to work together and, indeed, work together. I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of the statement. Now is the time for us to eschew party political point scoring.
We on these Benches support the changes, and we support the statement. I should also like to record our appreciation of and solidarity with the hard-working FCO staff worldwide, who are doing a very tough job in very tough times. They themselves have families and, indeed, some of them have respiratory conditions. We give them our support.
We support the statement as far as it goes, but I urge the Foreign Secretary—perhaps this is a discussion that he needs to have with the Chancellor, and I am conscious that there is a statement later about that—to go further. His statement did not deal with the point about insurance at all. For Scots and Brits abroad who are stuck and want to get back, and are looking to find a way to do so, the biggest practical help that we can offer right now is to speak to insurance companies, because their insurance is uppermost in their mind. Colleagues will be aware of the statement this morning from Sir Charles Bean of the Office for Budget Responsibility:
“You need the state to be there as the insurer of last resort against what is effectively an act of God. The state surely has a role. Big early action is surely better than half-hearted action that is late.”
We could not agree more. The Chancellor is making a statement later, but insurance is the biggest priority for our nationals who are overseas and want to get back. I urge the Secretary of State to have a full discussion with the Chancellor on that point. The state needs to step in to get our people home.
Dominic Raab
I particularly welcome the bipartisan tone that the hon. Gentleman has taken. I thank him for welcoming the statement and particularly for recognising and paying tribute to the consular staff and wider FCO teams who, in very difficult circumstances—not least given the advice that we in Government have given—are doing a tremendous job.
The hon. Gentleman asked about insurance companies. Obviously, they take their lead, at least to some degree, from the travel advice changes. One of the important things for the FCO to do is to give clear and decisive travel advice. That is one of the benefits of the statement that we have made today.
I certainly take on board the hon. Gentleman’s comments about working with the Secretary of State for Transport and the Chancellor to make sure that we provide support to the airline sector, which is not only important for jobs—we also need it to help get UK nationals home. For the reasons I gave in my statement, we want to allow them to do that through normal commercial means.
Tom Tugendhat (Tonbridge and Malling) (Con)
This crisis is causing us to tear apart many aspects of the global system that we have grown used to in the past 20 or 30 years. The threat that it could pose to future scientific co-operation and future defence against not only pandemics such as this, but the poverty that has blighted so much of the world over recent generations, is enormous.
Will the Foreign Secretary assure me that, as he is planning with his Foreign Office partners and staff to rescue and save so many people around the world, he is also looking to co-operate with others to make sure that the international community works together to build a proper future, based on a shared and prosperous globe?
Dominic Raab
I thank my hon. Friend the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee. He is absolutely right about the consular measures that we are taking to support UK nationals who feel vulnerable or stranded overseas. I also agree with him about the need for an international approach to pandemics such as this; we have not seen anything like this before. That is why we are providing support to build up the capacity in some of the most vulnerable countries. We are doing that with a total envelope of up to £241 million of aid funding and we are working through the World Health Organisation, the Red Cross, UNICEF and other organisations.
More generally, the Prime Minister spoke to his counterparts in the G7 yesterday. They agreed on the importance of a stronger co-ordinated international approach, and that will include everything from economic measures to research and development to make sure that there is the collaboration that will prevent further pandemics from happening.
Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)
Our consular staff are doing an amazing job and many of them around the world are volunteers—they are not paid for their work. I hope that the Foreign Secretary will pass on our gratitude on behalf of all our constituents.
May I tease out the issue of people returning home? As I understand the Foreign Secretary’s advice, it is that if somebody is thinking about travelling abroad now, they should bear in mind that they may not be able to get back. But at the same time he is saying that people should not necessarily come back now. That seems to be inconsistent.
Dominic Raab
I thank the hon. Gentleman for what he said about consular staff; we will pass that on. It does matter that we have cross-party support for the essential work that all our public services are doing.
The hon. Gentleman asked about travel advice. Obviously, we are advising against all but essential travel globally. It is up to individuals to make the individual judgment calls, which will depend on their personal circumstances and on the availability of commercial flights. In the last resort, we have been able to provide repatriation flights, but that is getting more difficult. We will continue to provide support and advice, but ultimately some of those judgment calls will remain a decision for the individual.
Bob Seely (Isle of Wight) (Con)
I would like to follow up what the Secretary of State was saying about ferries and the Department for Transport in relation to the UK. I have two questions. Will the Government please relax competition law today to allow discussion between the three cross-Solent ferry operators to build a resilience plan? They will be in breach of the law if they do not, and lives could depend on this if our ferry services fall over.
Secondly, will the Government support today the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to allow people to sit in cars during ferry journeys in the UK, to protect at-risk groups and for social distancing purposes?
Dominic Raab
As ever, my hon. Friend raises important and excellent practical points. They are mainly for the Secretary of State for Transport, but I reassure him that the Secretary of State is talking to the ferry operators as well as the airliners and working together to make sure that we get not just the clearest but the most practical advice, so that our constituents and people travelling to or from the UK can make the decisions that they need to make.
Mr Speaker
To help the House, I should say that I am expecting to run this until around 2 o’clock.
Mr Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland) (LD)
The Foreign Secretary is absolutely right: repatriation is a complex and costly business. But that is surely exactly why it should not just be left to individuals and why there must be a leading role for Government.
Like many MPs, I have had representations this morning from constituents. Some of mine are on holiday in Morocco and now find themselves stranded. The ambassador’s Twitter account is telling them just to go to the airport with their passports and tickets and see what they can fix up when they get there. We realise that the consular services are under stress, but surely at this moment they have to have every possible resource to provide the best possible information for our constituents.
Dominic Raab
I totally agree with the right hon. Gentleman. We are providing the very best support, care and advice. When it comes to repatriations, at the outset we secured 200, I think, who came back from China. We are also working to secure the return of people on the Braemar cruise ship via Havana; it has been the most intense diplomacy I have had with my Cuban opposite number—and hugely welcome, because the Cuban Government have been very co-operative. We will do everything we can.
The situation is very fluid. The decisions being made on the ground in countries such as the one that the right hon. Gentleman mentioned often happen rapidly. The challenge for airlines, the FCO and the consular advice and support that we provide is to make sure that we can respond—not just as quickly as possible, but as effectively as possible.
Alicia Kearns (Rutland and Melton) (Con)
We talk about the different approach being taken by different countries, but the UK has to focus on what is right for our country at the right time. Uniquely, we are using behavioural science; many are not doing so. We need the right response for our culture and the way our people behave—not one transported from another country.
Dominic Raab
My hon. Friend makes a really important point. I take the point, raised in the Chamber, that we need to try to get better and more effective international co-ordination. That is what the Prime Minister was pressing for when he spoke to his opposite numbers in the G7 by phone and what I have been pressing for at the Foreign Office. At the same time, in the last analysis we will take the right measures. Every country is a bit different depending on where it is on the curve. Crucially, we will take the right and most effective decisions at the right time. That is why we have changed our travel advice today and why the Prime Minister announced new measures yesterday.
Hilary Benn (Leeds Central) (Lab)
The Foreign Secretary rightly said that the Government do not want British nationals to be stranded overseas, but has referred to the practical difficulties of getting them all home. What are the exceptional circumstances in which the Government would be prepared to act to bring British nationals home? That will help inform decisions that individuals make about any travel plans they have.
Dominic Raab
Constituents reading the FCO travel advice ought to take it on its own terms, not on the basis of any potential, last-resort contingency measures that may be taken down the line. Obviously, we are very mindful of the vulnerability of all our constituents, such as those on the Braemar cruise ship, which has struggled to find a place to dock so that we can repatriate the substantial number of UK nationals back to the UK.
The decision will have to be taken on an individual basis by all our constituents and people up and down the country. What we do is provide the clearest guidance. Unless there is a very good reason—an essential reason—to travel, we are saying, “Don’t take the risk now, because you are at a heightened risk of being stranded in the future.”
Dr Andrew Murrison (South West Wiltshire) (Con)
The Iranian Foreign Minister has been issuing plaintive appeals on social media for medical supplies to assist in his sanctions-hit country. Setting aside Javad Zarif’s accompanying rant against America, what does my right hon. Friend think can be done to assist the people of Iran at this difficult time, particularly around sanctions, the joint comprehensive plan of action and the International Military Services debt?
Dominic Raab
I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend for his excellent tenure as Minister. I thoroughly enjoyed working with him and of course he is an expert in this field. Let us be very clear about it: ultimate responsibility for the predicament that Iran faces lies with the Government in Iran and the decisions and choices they have made. We have supported Iran in relation to coronavirus with aid funding because we recognise that this is an exceptional time and an exceptional period, but, fundamentally, beyond the humanitarian assistance and other aid funding that we would provide in those circumstances, the decisions that Iran takes will be the ones that will get it out of the hole or cul-de-sac that it is in. In particular, right now, as I made clear to the Foreign Minister on the phone yesterday, we expect UK dual nationals in detention in Iran to be released as soon as possible, not least given the heightened risk from covid-19 in those prisons.
Janet Daby (Lewisham East) (Lab)
I thank the Foreign Secretary for updating the House on coronavirus and people overseas. I have constituents in Morocco as well and one family are with a four-month-old baby. Are there any plans to bring people back from Morocco? Would such exceptional circumstances contribute to any of the decisions that the Government will make?
Dominic Raab
Anyone in those circumstances will feel anxious and distressed. We will certainly see if we can provide as much support as possible, consular and otherwise, to the hon. Lady’s constituents. If she would like to contact me afterwards, or any of the ministerial team, we will take up that case directly. More generally, it will always depend on the restrictions being imposed, partly by the Governments themselves, including in Morocco, and on the availability of commercial airlines coming out.
What we want to do and what I have been working with the Transport Secretary to achieve is to give clear advice to our constituents as consumers of travel services, but also to make sure that we are leaving the window open for commercial airlines to operate, because that is the surest means of getting people back from difficult or vulnerable positions. That is the only way we are going to be able to achieve it, so we need to keep those commercial lines operating.
Mrs Heather Wheeler (South Derbyshire) (Con)
My right hon. Friend and all the team are working so hard, as are our consular services, but unfortunately we are hearing about certain embassies being shut. The embassy in Kiev is shut and it is £1.80 a minute to phone the FCO hotline and there is a 58-minute delay. Is there anything else that my hon. Friends can do to help my constituent who is stuck in Kiev?
Dominic Raab
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for her work at the FCO, where she was a doughty Foreign Minister. There is a whole range of practical details about how we can support our constituents who find themselves in difficult positions. I can certainly ask the Minister covering the wider European neighbourhood to see what further can be done in her case. There is travel advice online and a specific hotline for parliamentarians. I do not know whether she has had a chance to access that yet. If any further support can be given, I am very happy to ensure that I and the ministerial team provide it.
Carolyn Harris (Swansea East) (Lab)
I add my thanks to the FCO staff, who are working under really difficult circumstances. Can the Foreign Secretary advise my constituents, Tony and Jill Low, who are currently stuck in Cyprus? Their flights are cancelled and their hotel room needs vacating. Their insurance is about to expire and the insurance company is only offering to pay retrospective costs when they return to the UK.
Dominic Raab
We will look at all of these cases and, in particular, where there is a groundswell of UK nationals and constituents being stranded. As I have already informed the House, we are trying to make sure that the reasons why those flights are not running in and out can be addressed. Domestic measures have been announced, and the EU announced measures yesterday that exempt the United Kingdom, so that is welcome. We will continue to work with those local authorities, but also with the airlines to make sure that there are as many flights as possible to relieve constituents such as those of the hon. Lady.
Richard Drax (South Dorset) (Con)
May I congratulate my right hon. Friend on the calm way he is dealing with a historic situation? May I raise a point about insurance that was also raised by those on the SNP Benches? Headteachers across the land have organised trips along with parents, who put in a lot of money. A school in my constituency has spent £140,000 getting children out skiing. The insurance companies are referring them to the travel companies, and the travel companies are saying that there is no chance of getting the money back unless the FCO specifically restricts travel to that location. Could my right hon. Friend clarify to all schools across the land, not just those in my constituency, what the situation is and what chance they have of getting their money back?
Dominic Raab
I thank my hon. Friend for the way in which he has raised his question. The insurance industry makes its decisions in a commercial way, and obviously we and the Transport Secretary are liaising very closely with it, but certainly the call has been made to the Foreign Office to give as clear advice as possible. So we are advising, not least with the Easter holidays coming up, against all but essential travel globally. We are not going to make decisions for individual people, families or schools, but it seems to me that those are the kinds of trips that would now have to be looked at, and we would expect the insurance and the airline industries to follow, based on that very clear advice that we have now given.
Dr Philippa Whitford (Central Ayrshire) (SNP)
The Foreign Secretary mentioned that the Government have been consulting with the G7, but they have not been consulting with European Governments through the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. May I ask: apart from ideological reasons, why not? It is very concerned that the focus here has been on behavioural science and not on epidemiology.
Dominic Raab
The hon. Lady asks a perfectly reasonable question. May I reassure her that we are taking the best scientific advice that we have got in the UK? The circumstances in different countries will change. Part of that is about the timing and the peak within which coronavirus hits an individual country. She talked about co-operation with EU partners. I am consistently on the phone talking to all our European partners about all these issues, whether that is the multilateral drive to tackle coronavirus with support for vulnerable countries, research and development, or the particular logistical issues with getting constituents home. The diplomacy with our European friends has never been more intense.
Caroline Nokes (Romsey and Southampton North) (Con)
My constituent Jamie Harris is stranded on MS Ocean Endeavour off the coast of Argentina. She is travelling independently, so has no recourse to a tour operator and flights from Argentina to Europe have been stopped. Will my right hon. Friend consider working with flight companies such as British Airways—there are many others—to look at ways that we can bring constituents home when there simply is no other alternative for them?
Dominic Raab
My right hon. Friend makes a good point. For those in South America more generally, there has been a range of concerns in different countries. Fundamentally, we want to encourage, as I have explained, commercial operators to keep running because that is the way of easily repatriating people at scale. But of course we will look and liaise with the airline operators—the Transport Secretary is already doing that—to make sure that, where there are gaps, we can always provide as much support as possible for vulnerable or stranded constituents.
Mr David Lammy (Tottenham) (Lab)
My constituent Sarah Goodman is stuck in Morocco. She travelled with friends just on Saturday and is now subject to a ban. I have also heard from students on years abroad who are stranded. Can the Secretary of State work on his website to update British nationals who find themselves stranded abroad? Can there be a global strategy because there must be people from abroad stuck in our own country who would like to return home?
Dominic Raab
The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. Another Member has raised the issue of Morocco. The Africa Minister will look at those cases and I am sure will be happy, able and willing to look at the case that the right hon. Gentleman raises. He makes a good point about communication. We are constantly looking to ensure, through the helpline and the online advice, that people can get advice in real time. Constituents and Members can sign up to receive email updates so that they get them all. They can also follow on Twitter and Facebook. There is an inherent challenge, which is the pace at which some of these changes are being made, but we are doing everything we can to ensure that we give updated FCO advice in real time.
Andrew Bowie (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (Con)
I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement. Have there been any discussions with the oil and gas sector or individual oil and gas companies, given the huge number of British nationals and their families—many of whom come from north-east Scotland—working and living overseas?
Dominic Raab
My hon. Friend rightly raises the issue of employees in that sector. We are engaging closely with the big employers around the world. Those individuals are in—I say this carefully—in a relatively more comfortable position than others who are travelling for a short period or temporarily, so the priority has been the most vulnerable or those who might find themselves at risk of being stranded. That is why we have given this advice today, but my hon. Friend is right, and we are engaging with substantial employers overseas to see how we can work together to provide the best support for our constituents.
Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth) (Lab/Co-op)
I pay tribute to FCO staff, including the one who took my call at midnight last night to deal with my constituent’s son, who is trapped in Guatemala City, where the British embassy appears to be closed and no commercial flights are operating. I urge the Foreign Secretary to change one thing that came out of that call. The FCO does not appear to be taking details of British citizens who are trapped abroad, including whether they have any special needs, medical needs or conditions. Without that information, we will not be able to triage for emergency repatriation flights, emergency assistance and so on. Will he ensure that the FCO starts taking that information, to build up a database, so that we know exactly how many British citizens are trapped and where, and what their conditions are?
Dominic Raab
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his warm words about the FCO’s efforts and the practical advice he has given us; we will certainly take that back. One point I will mention is that we are not talking about tens of thousands—we are talking about hundreds of thousands abroad. We need to work up as granular a picture of the vulnerabilities as possible, but we also—this is a contributing factor to the change in the travel advice—need to give a clear message, given the scale of the challenge and the unprecedented nature of covid-19, that people need to be realistic about what we can do.
Jeremy Hunt (South West Surrey) (Con)
Following the Foreign Secretary’s comments about Iran, does he know whether Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is among the political prisoners whom Iran has released today? Does not the ability of a highly dangerous disease to spread through a prison highlight the immorality of detaining people who are wholly innocent?
Dominic Raab
My right hon. Friend did an incredible job as Foreign Secretary, in particular in pressing for the release of not just Nazanin, but all our dual nationals suffering in Tehran. I spoke to the Iranian Foreign Minister yesterday. I have made it clear, not least as Iran considers releasing prisoners on a pretty large scale, that there is no excuse for not releasing all the UK dual nationals on furlough. We are waiting for confirmation regarding individual cases, and I want to be careful and to wait until I have confirmation, but I assure my right hon. Friend that this is a high priority for the Government. As I said, I raised it with Foreign Minister Zarif yesterday.
Ms Angela Eagle (Wallasey) (Lab)
I compliment the Foreign Secretary on making it clear that essential travel includes the freight services that will keep our supermarkets stocked with food. While I recognise that the Department for Transport will be dealing with this, can he reassure those who undertake long-haul freight travel through Europe to get our food supplies to us that they will not be stranded?
Dominic Raab
I thank the hon. Lady for the way in which she asked her question and for complimenting the FCO consular advice. She is right—I talked about this with the Transport Secretary and the Prime Minister this morning—about the importance of not only keeping freight flowing, but ensuring that we safeguard the workers who are doing that. I want to give some reassurance in relation to the recommendations announced by the President of the European Commission yesterday, which will be considered by the European Council today, in relation to the 30-day travel ban for all but essential travel: medical staff and transporters of goods would be exempt, as well as UK nationals.
Kevin Hollinrake (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)
My constituent, Kate Jackson, is currently aboard the Silversea cruise liner that has been refused entry to a number of ports. It is now headed to Darwin, Australia, where it is expected to be able to dock, but there are no available flights back to the UK. Will my right hon. Friend do all that he can to repatriate Kate Jackson and her fellow British citizens?
Dominic Raab
I am aware of that case and we are working actively on it. As with all the cruise ships, the challenge has been to find a place for them to dock and then, not least given the international component of these cruise ships, to get international commercial flights home. We are very much focused on it, and I hope to be able to say more about that particular cruise ship shortly.
Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)
The last thing that our country and economy need on top of coronavirus is the further shock of a hard or no-deal Brexit at the end of this year. Will the Foreign Secretary and his EU colleagues urgently agree an extension to the current Brexit transition period so that the Government and business can focus 100% on the emergency in front of us?
Dominic Raab
If anything, this shows—not least in our collaboration with the Cuban Government which, at the level of intensity it has shown in recent days, does not happen very often with our close European partners—the case for intensive diplomacy to get this deal done, move on and take the relationship to the next step.
Karen Bradley (Staffordshire Moorlands) (Con)
I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement. Can he give reassurances to my constituent, Tracy Wood, who contacted me last night regarding her son? He is a Manchester University placement student, currently in Panama. There are no flights in and out of Panama. He is running out of money, and the embassy has advised him to travel via another country. He simply does not know where to go, because he does not know which border will close next. Could the Foreign Secretary provide Mrs Wood with reassurance?
Dominic Raab
It is very difficult in those circumstances, particularly travelling to less accessible places. We will work closely with all the airliners and our network of embassies to provide support and advice as soon as possible. I am happy to look at that specific case, and if my right hon. Friend gives me the details, we will take that forward with the ministerial team.
Wayne David (Caerphilly) (Lab)
Three of my constituents from Bargoed are stranded in Krakow, and because Poland has closed its international borders, they do not know how long they will be in that country. Will the Secretary of State put together a comprehensive database of all British citizens who are affected in that way and ensure that basic communication is sent to all those individuals in the not-too-distant future?
Dominic Raab
We already have a means of doing that: people can sign up for real-time updates, and hon. Members can do that. I appreciate the difficult situation in Poland. As I have said, we are working with all our European colleagues to ensure that UK nationals or other nationals who are here can get home when they need to.
Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con)
I praise the Foreign Secretary for his statesmanlike approach, and I thank the SNP spokesman, the hon. Member for Stirling (Alyn Smith), for his constructive approach. It is good to see Opposition politicians rising to the occasion, just as our constituents want us to during this crisis.
I have constituents stranded in Morocco and Vietnam. Can we ensure that helplines in consulates and embassies are manned 24 hours a day to help our constituents? I also have constituents who are in a motorhome in Portugal and looking to get home. Can we ensure that provisions are made for crossing borders for those wanting to come home?
Dominic Raab
I agree with my hon. Friend about the importance of having, within the confines of a democratic institution such as this, a constructive approach, because that will make the process more effective. We will look carefully at all the issues that he raised. He mentioned Vietnam as one of the difficult areas. As Ministers have made clear, we are aware of a number of British nationals in quarantine—some in hotels; some in other quarantine facilities. We are in close contact with the Vietnamese authorities. We are providing assistance to all those affected, and we hope to see them moved to improved and better facilities as soon as possible. That is just one illustration, in pretty challenging conditions, of where we are working hard to ensure that his constituents and many others get the care, advice and support they need.
Kirsten Oswald (East Renfrewshire) (SNP)
After listening to contributions from Members on both sides of the House, it is very clear that citizens are stuck in many and varied countries far across the world. What plans does the Secretary of State have to work with European partners specifically to bring people in far-flung places back as part of a partnership approach?
Dominic Raab
The hon. Member makes an excellent point; we do need to work in partnership. We did that in relation to the flights from Wuhan at the outset of the crisis, if I can put it that way, and we have done it in relation to the Braemar cruise ship. In fact, my instinctive reflex, and the instinctive reaction of this Government, wherever UK nationals are stranded and we have more airline capacity to get them home, is to make sure that the nationals of our European and Five Eyes partners can get on them as well. We have good collaborative arrangements—it has been a two-way relationship—and all that will continue.
Peter Aldous (Waveney) (Con)
I am most grateful to the Foreign Secretary for his very comprehensive and thorough statement. I appreciate that this might be an issue for other Departments, but will he clarify the position regarding private planes—whether commercial or leisure—flying in to local airfields?
Dominic Raab
I think that that is probably one for the Department for Transport. I was not clear whether my hon. Friend was asking about the use of private planes for repatriation, or about whether the restrictions are being extended to them. In any event, I probably ought to pass that on to the experts—the Department for Transport.
Neil Coyle (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) (Lab)
The Foreign Secretary is stating quite openly that the Government will not bring everyone home, so how is he working with operators such as TUI to ensure that they act responsibly and do not leave people stranded abroad without communications, like my constituent Michelle Choi in Morocco?
Dominic Raab
It is not so much that we will not; it is just a pure question of capacity, given the potential range of hundreds of thousands of UK nationals travelling temporarily abroad. We will liaise very closely with the country—I think the hon. Gentleman was raising the issue of Morocco—and look carefully at what more can be done. The Africa Minister is nodding earnestly, and I know we will take that up. We are also, of course—the hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to nail this point—trying to work with airlines to make sure, as these travel restrictions come into place, that there is a window in which the commercial airlines can come in and get as many as possible of the people who want to come out and back to the UK.
Mark Pritchard (The Wrekin) (Con)
I agree with the Foreign Secretary that we cannot repatriate everybody; it is just physically impossible. Following on from the very good question asked by the right hon. Member for Leeds Central (Hilary Benn) about exceptional circumstances, may I ask about those who are most vulnerable? Given that we have been told by our own Prime Minister that we are at war with an invisible enemy—the covid-19 virus—what discussions has the Foreign Secretary had with the Ministry of Defence about deploying the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy, and even about using bases around the world as staging posts if need be, when the international airlines further restrict flights, to repatriate the most vulnerable—not everybody, but the most vulnerable?
Dominic Raab
Obviously I have engaged very closely with the Defence Secretary on this, but something like that would be a last resort. We do not rule anything out at this stage, but our focus—I think this is the point that the hon. Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark (Neil Coyle) and others have made—has been on making sure that we are working very closely with not just the international airlines, but other countries. This is happening with some of the cruise shops we are dealing with from which we have not yet repatriated, because we can work together as an international team to try to get UK nationals back. That partnership will definitely involve Governments around the world, and also airlines around the world.
Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab)
One of my female constituents is currently stuck in Istanbul. All flights from the UK to Turkey have been cancelled till mid-April. The airline, Pegasus, is not being helpful, and she has been told that she has only a 25% chance of getting home. The Secretary of State’s hotline has advised that she keeps in touch with the airline but, as I have said, it is not being helpful—nor has the consular support in Istanbul—and she does not have any insurance. What support can the Government give her?
Dominic Raab
I thank the hon. Lady. It is very distressing, and as MPs we obviously want to do everything we can. I am very happy to look at that case, and I will ask the Minister for Europe to take a close look. We will, of course, continue to liaise with the Turkish authorities and with as many as possible of the airlines that go to Istanbul, or indeed to Ankara, to try to make sure that people do not find themselves in that vulnerable position.
Theresa Villiers (Chipping Barnet) (Con)
A constituent of mine has been in touch about his grandparents, Alan and Beatrice. Beatrice is 86 and Alan is 89, and they are trapped on board the Silver Shadow cruise ship, which is quarantined off Recife in Brazil. May I appeal to the Foreign Secretary for his help to get Alan and Beatrice home?
Dominic Raab
We have been following the course of the Silver Shadow very carefully. I can tell my right hon. Friend that there are 300 passengers on board, of whom about 120 are British nationals—that goes to my earlier point about the need for an international team effort. Royal Caribbean, the parent company of the ship, has indicated that it will offer at least three charter flights to get passengers home—one to the UK, one to the US and one to Canada, and possibly also one to Australia. That gives my right hon. Friend a sense of not just the challenge we face, but how we are straining every sinew to deal with constituents such as her own.
Layla Moran (Oxford West and Abingdon) (LD)
I would like to add my voice to those thanking FCO workers, who I am sure are working around the clock. I am sure that they are wanting to get home, but they are staying to help others. I have been listening very carefully to what the Secretary of State has been saying about repatriation, and I understand his arguments about the airlines, but we have to accept that the reason why the airlines are not running flights is that they cannot afford to, and they are worried about coming out of this at the other end. Would he consider providing a subsidy for the airlines to enable them to run these flights, particularly from areas where flights have been cancelled or shut down completely?
Dominic Raab
The hon. Lady raises a really important point. On the one hand, we do want commercial airlines to fly, but they are clearly under severe financial pressure, given the domestic restrictions being placed on them, and indeed other Governments, including our own, changing their travel advice. We will work with the airlines to see what support we can provide, and our priority continues to be to make sure that commercial flights can access as many areas as possible to get people back in the kind of scale and volume that is necessary to address the challenge we face.
Craig Whittaker (Calder Valley) (Con)
It is good to know that we now have clarity on global travel over the next 30 days. To put constituents’ minds at rest, can my right hon. Friend confirm that travel agents and airlines should be issuing refunds to those cancelling travel arrangements over the next 30 days, not particularly the insurance companies?
Dominic Raab
I will not give legal advice or commercial advice to either the operators or the insurers, but I can tell my hon. Friend that the Transport Secretary has engaged very closely with all the different sectors to make sure that we protect the consumers—passengers—who find themselves at risk. Indeed, the Transport Secretary is nodding earnestly on that very point.
Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)
Quite rightly, hon. Members have mentioned the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in Iran, but may I ask the Foreign Office not to lose sight of people such as Luke Symons, my constituent, who is held captive by the Houthis in Yemen at this time? Can any pressure be brought through the channel of discussions with the Iranian authorities? I welcome the new Middle East Minister to his post, and I hope that he will get into the detail of this case, as his predecessor did.
Dominic Raab
The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. Just to be clear, when we speak to any of our Iranian interlocutors, we raise every case of dual nationals—or, indeed, the British Council employee—who have been detained. Of course, that applies consistently across the board, and I know the Middle East Minister will be very happy to meet the hon. Gentleman to discuss the specific case. I will always be willing to raise it, and to try to secure the release of all our nationals and dual nationals in such terrible conditions across the world.
Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)
I have two separate cases of constituents stranded in Peru, one of whom is a young woman travelling on her own. I understand the stress that our consular service is under at the moment, but those people cannot get through to the embassy, nor to the emergency hotline. Will my right hon. Friend look at their cases urgently and do all that he can to get them home?
Dominic Raab
I thank my hon. Friend, and of course we will look at those cases. In areas where we do not have a large or substantial consular presence, we are obviously going to have to innovate and still provide practical advice and consular support as best we can. I know that the relevant Minister will be very happy to meet her and take forward those cases, and I am very happy to raise them with my interlocutors.
Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)
What discussions is the Foreign Secretary having with the Home Secretary about foreign nationals in this country who find themselves in a similar situation? I have a constituent who is self-isolating in line with the guidance, yet she is being told that her visa will be over-stayed and that she needs to leave the country. What thought are the Government giving to these kinds of situations, especially if, when such people get to the end of their quarantine, there are no flights home?
Dominic Raab
Of course, we have foreign nationals here who are in very similar positions to the ones that UK nationals themselves are in around the world. We will of course look at those cases as sympathetically and constructively as possible. We know what it is like, from all the cases that we have coming through to the FCO and through to our consular services. I have already raised this issue with the Home Office and the Home Secretary, but we will reaffirm it based on what the hon. Gentleman said today.
Stephen Hammond (Wimbledon) (Con)
The Foreign Secretary spoke earlier about hundreds of thousands of UK nationals abroad, many of whom are travelling home, which might be taking longer than they expected. Can the Foreign Office be clear about any reciprocal medical arrangements in place in those areas? Many of those cases are UK citizens living in EU states, with which we were formerly partnered. Given that this morning the Chief Medical Officer said that this situation might last for 18 months, will the Foreign Secretary ask former EU partners to consider an elongation of our current reciprocal arrangements?
Dominic Raab
I thank my hon. Friend for the dual way in which he asked an excellent question, and also managed subtly to leverage in the whole question of Brexit phase 2 negotiations. He will know that reciprocal arrangements are in place until the end of the transition period, and any continuation beyond that is for the negotiators to consider. We will always ensure that we provide as much support as possible for UK nationals on the continent, as well as for EU nationals here.
Nick Thomas-Symonds (Torfaen) (Lab)
Many constituents have contacted me about the differing approaches in other countries, not least to the issue of testing. I appreciate that different countries are at different stages of the outbreak, but can the Foreign Secretary reassure me that expertise and experience from all round the world will be fed into our approach on a daily basis?
Dominic Raab
The hon. Gentleman is right to note that different countries are acting in different ways, and as he says, some of that is because they are at different stages of the peak and trough of dealing with coronavirus. Based on my attendance at Cobra meetings, I reassure him that not only are we following the best UK scientific evidence available, but that that in itself taps into the widest possible research base, and the widest range of experts, regarding how to effectively stop the spread of the disease.
Ben Everitt (Milton Keynes North) (Con)
Members of the House, and journalists outside it, are perfectly at liberty to ask what lessons we have learned from our European partners, but it is worth reminding the House that the Chief Medical Officer who is leading the response to this crisis is a professor of epidemiology. He is literally the right man in the right job at the right time. The Foreign Secretary updated the House on his conversations with our European partners, but will he also update it on his conversations with other international partners such as the US, and other global institutions?
Dominic Raab
My hon. Friend is right to pay tribute to Professor Whitty, and along with Sir Patrick Vallance we have some of the finest expert evidence in the world coming to us. On the broader point, yes, we are talking to our European partners, and UK nationals are in European countries—particularly Spain and France, but also other countries—in large numbers. I reassure my hon. Friend that I am talking to my opposite numbers around the world, from central America to Asia-Pacific and North America, both Canada and the United States, and we will continue to do that.
Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith) (Lab)
Those of us who represent large numbers of EU citizens are hearing concerning accounts of what is happening in their home countries. There are towns in northern Italy, of a similar size to many of our constituencies, that have seen thousands of cases of the virus, and hundreds of deaths. I assume the Foreign Secretary is getting similar responses from our embassies around the world. Are those being used to inform the UK response, even if it involves a worst-case scenario?
Dominic Raab
The hon. Gentleman is right to say that we must learn from and try to understand more about covid-19 and what its impact will be in the UK, based on the experience that we are seeing in real time across the world, and that is being fed in via scientists and the Department of Health and Social Care. We are ensuring that we have practical advice at the end of that pipeline, which is why we have taken the decision on travel advice today.
James Sunderland (Bracknell) (Con)
Will the Secretary of State please reassure the House that appropriate medical support is readily available for British Government and military personnel overseas, and that specialist medical evacuation will be available for them in extremis?
Dominic Raab
We take very seriously the security and protection of all UK personnel in the Foreign Office, the Ministry of Defence, and the Department for International Development, both in the UK and across the network. We will do everything we can to ensure that they are able do the heroic job that they are doing right now in safe and secure conditions.
Gavin Newlands (Paisley and Renfrewshire North) (SNP)
This measure is entirely commensurate with the situation we face, and I support it. However, as the Member of Parliament for Glasgow airport, and the thousands of jobs that it supports, may I ask what assessment the Government have made of the impact of covid-19 measures on the industry, by which I mean airlines, airports, baggage handlers and so on—the list could go on? What will the Government do to support that industry?
Dominic Raab
The Government are very conscious of the challenge facing the airline industry and its related sectors, and the Foreign Office must ensure that it takes what I think the hon. Gentleman described as a commensurate policy approach, given the knock-on effects that that will have. As well as speaking with the Prime Minister, I talk regularly, as I did this morning, with the Secretary of State for Transport, and he liaises directly with airports and airlines. We are ensuring that we take the most proportionate approach possible. Ultimately, we must ensure that we protect UK nationals based abroad, but also that we protect the industry that will help them get home.
Rob Butler (Aylesbury) (Con)
I echo the compliments from across the House for UK consular staff overseas. I recognise that they have limited resources, but will my right hon. Friend consider whether there is any scope for them to offer at least a basic service at weekends?
Dominic Raab
I reassure my hon. Friend that Foreign Office staff are working round the clock and around weekends, but in some of those countries there is an issue about their own personal safety. We are giving advice here. It is important that Ministers and officials follow that advice, but we must also look after and protect their safety. Notwithstanding that, there is certainly not a nine-to-five or Monday-to-Friday approach—far from it. This is round the clock and right through the weekend, and we are straining every sinew to ensure that constituents, however far flung the place in which they find themselves, are getting the most support, the clearest guidance, and the best practical help that we can provide.
Stephen Kinnock (Aberavon) (Lab)
To follow the question from my right hon. Friend the Member for Exeter (Mr Bradshaw), may I press the Foreign Secretary on the talks on the future relationship with the European Union? Those incredibly complex and multi-faceted talks are absorbing a tremendous amount of Government time and attention. Rather than trying to fight a war on two fronts, and stretching Government bandwidth to breaking point, surely the time is coming to request an extension to the transition period. It is better to do that than to put ideology ahead of the health and safety of the British people.
Dominic Raab
I am sure the hon. Gentleman would never put his ideological desire to stay in the EU ahead of the practical diplomacy that we face in the months ahead. I understand why he has asked that question. As far as I am aware, negotiations can still proceed, given all the logistical arrangements we have in place. We are confident that we can get this done, and I do not think that delaying Brexit negotiations would give anyone on either side of the channel the certainty they need.
Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)
I echo the concerns of other colleagues about the situation for British nationals in Peru, where I have a constituent with a serious underlying health condition who is stranded. As we have heard, not only is the British embassy apparently closed, but the phone number that people have been told to use to obtain information is apparently not being answered. In addition to information about how they can be assisted to leave the country, people need assistance and information while they remain there, including on access to health care. Will the Foreign Secretary take a careful look at the situation in Peru?
Dominic Raab
I thank the hon. Lady for the constructive and detailed way in which she raised the case of her constituent, and I am happy to look at such cases. The Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Wendy Morton) has already indicated that she will take up some of the other cases in Peru, and we will do everything we can to provide that support and advice, and to provide those who need to return with the means to do so.
Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD)
I have written to the right hon. Gentleman about my constituent, Eddie, who is 19 and stranded in Morocco, and I hope he will intervene to bring him, and others, home. Travel is also vital for the nation’s supplies, and 45% of the food that Britain eats comes from overseas and is imported. Will the Government do two things? First, will they make a statement, very soon, to say how they will protect those supply lines to give the nation confidence in its food supplies? Secondly, will they do everything they can to back Britain’s farmers so that they can increase production to keep us all well fed?
Dominic Raab
I will of course look at the case of the hon. Gentleman’s constituent very carefully—a number of other Moroccan cases have been raised—and get back to him with as clear a steer as possible. He is right to raise all those issues about supply chains; again, that was one of the issues I discussed with the Transport Secretary. The hon. Gentleman will have heard that the changes I announced to the travel advice will not apply to freight. We are very mindful in everything we do about keeping supply chains open, and we will continue to look at that. He also makes an important point about food supply and, frankly, the opportunities for UK-based suppliers to rise to meet some of the demand as supply is curtailed as a result of covid-19.
Navendu Mishra (Stockport) (Lab)
I have written to the Secretary of State regarding a constituent stranded in Austria. I am told that there is a lack of testing kits and there are issues with travelling back. There is already chaos with repatriation, even before the majority of countries move into emergency lockdown phases or close their tourist venues. Can the Secretary of State confirm that the Foreign Office has all the resources it needs to provide extra consular support, and that it is very likely that UK nationals will be caught up in these fast-moving situations?
Dominic Raab
We will of course look very carefully at any case. The hon. Gentleman has written to me all about constituents in Austria. There is no doubt that the Foreign Office, as with the rest of the Government—most obviously the NHS—will come under pressure. The key thing is that we have the means and the agility to prioritise, to ensure that dealing with covid-19 is the top priority as we go through this challenge. I am very clear that the Foreign Office will do everything we can to protect our constituents—UK nationals abroad—and ensure that we work with our international partners to rise to this challenge, get through it and then move on, so we can get back to some semblance of normality.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
I thank the Secretary of State for his commitment and for his and his staff’s sterling efforts on our behalf. We are encouraged by what he has said today. On the island of Ireland, both north and south, people travel to attend churches—people from Northern Ireland travel southwards, for example—in order to preach and participate in meetings. Can the Secretary of State give us some direction about what should happen? People across Northern Ireland wish to know whether they should attend their churches, or whether their churches should be suspended or closed. What should we do? I believe that the people of this great nation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, should pray to their God for help at this time. This is a time for prayer. Will the Secretary of State join me and others in supporting that call?
Dominic Raab
I totally understand the point the hon. Gentleman makes. The obvious thing is to keep following the Government’s medical advice and, in relation to devolved matters, the advice given by the Northern Ireland Executive. I can also give him reassurance in relation to the latest announcement by the Irish Government that all persons entering Ireland from overseas will be asked to self-quarantine for 14 days. That will not apply to Northern Ireland, by virtue of the land border. The Irish believe that, as a result of the land border, they can maintain social distancing. I hope that that gives his constituents and, indeed, the people of Northern Ireland a measure of reassurance.
Mr Clive Betts (Sheffield South East) (Lab)
I appreciate that the Foreign Secretary may have to raise this issue with colleagues, but people are naturally drawing comparisons between actions in this country—the advice against going to pubs, restaurants and places of entertainment, for example—with the position in France and other countries, where such visits are banned completely. Does he appreciate that that causes confusion for people, and that businesses in this country are more likely to be at risk of failure because of the less rigorous position we are taking?
Dominic Raab
I understand the point the hon. Gentleman raises. It is a fair question, but we have taken that position, first, because we are following the scientific advice that applies to the UK, and secondly, because covid-19 is affecting different countries at different paces and some of them are at a different place on the curve in terms of the spread of coronavirus. We will make the right decisions at the right time, in the best interests of people in this country, including our businesses, and we will do so based on the scientific advice, which carefully takes into account the different approaches and the different pace at which countries are trying to deal with coronavirus in Europe and across the world.
Ms Karen Buck (Westminster North) (Lab)
Although I am hugely appreciative of the pressure that consular staff are under, for everybody who has a loved one—particularly a vulnerable loved one—trapped in this situation, it is the end of the world. I have a constituent on the Silver Spirit cruise ship outside Darwin who is 78 years old and in extremely poor health. We are told that there are issues with the financial viability of the cruise line and the safety of supplies. I have a constituent in Peru who has multiple problems and whose mother is desperate. I had a case in from Morocco this morning; they are coming in every few hours. Can the Minister help with those cases, and can he assure us that capacity is being reviewed so we can urgently upscale it, at least for the coming weeks?
Dominic Raab
I reassure the hon. Lady that, in both the cases she referred to, we are actively looking at the solutions we can provide for UK nationals. She is right to raise the issue of scalable support. I am making sure that all the resource available will be focused on coronavirus in the weeks ahead, so of course there is an element of scalability. We have the resilience to get through this crisis, and I am confident that we will.
Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)
Another case of people stuck in Morocco was raised with me today—that of a family with three young children. I understand they were due to fly back on 24 March, but flights have been suspended. May I have clarity on when they can come home to Glasgow? They are stockpiling food and just do not know when they will be able to get back. What advice can the Secretary of State offer?
Dominic Raab
The Africa Minister has already made it clear that he will follow up on all those cases, so we will certainly look at the case of the hon. Lady’s constituents. I am writing to all hon. Members with practical advice about how they can stay up to date by following the real-time advice. We will continue to give the hon. Lady and all other hon. Members as much advice as swiftly as possible to provide for the safety but also the return of their constituents.
Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)
Many constituents up and down the country are doing the right and inevitable thing and cancelling Easter holidays, but far too many are doing the hokey-cokey between travel agents, the FCO advice and insurance companies. What more can the Secretary of State do to give people a nudge in the right direction?
Dominic Raab
I think the clarity of the advice we have given today will provide the nudge, to use the hon. Gentleman’s expression. The most important thing we can do for our constituents, the airline industry and, indeed, the insurers is to give clear advice. We have done that. We advise against all but essential global travel, and I am confident that the airline industry and the insurers will take the responsible approach in response.
Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)
I agree with the advice that non-essential passenger travel should be halted. The Foreign Secretary said that air freight channels should remain. The thing about air freight is that so much of it goes on passenger-carrying planes, so the empty seats have to be paid for by either the industry or the Government. What work have the Government done to identify critical routes, critical airlines and the support packages required to keep freight channels and the airlines going?
Dominic Raab
I can assure the hon. Gentleman that I have discussed that issue with the Transport Secretary, who is in conversation with the airlines. The hon. Gentleman is right that there is not a clear division between freight and passenger travel; they often go on the same aircraft. We are very conscious of that, and we will work with the industry to ensure that we can chart as sustainable a path ahead as possible, but we have to take—
Dominic Raab
Of course time is critical. We are in daily touch with all the relevant interlocutors, including the airlines and airports, but it is important that we take this measure now, not least given some of the comments that have been made in the House about travel arrangements over the Easter period.
Claudia Webbe (Leicester East) (Lab)
Like many of my constituents, I have a family member stuck abroad—in my case, an older aunt stuck in the US. I certainly look forward to her healthy return, along with that of the rest of my constituents’ family members, once a global strategy is in place. My right hon. Friend the Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry) was right to highlight the global leadership and global response that is required. In that regard, is not one of the lessons we must learn from covid-19 the need for a joint mechanism to guide co-ordinated global efforts on the development, testing and roll-out of potential cures and vaccines, potentially with the establishment of a dedicated body responsible for that work? Will the Foreign Secretary undertake to look into that proposal?
Dominic Raab
I thank the hon. Lady for the emphasis she puts on international co-ordination. There are multilateral efforts to make sure we deal with everything from research and development of vaccines to capacity building for the most vulnerable countries. I am certainly happy to look at the details of any proposals if she wants to write to me. The challenge has been with different approaches, driven partly by different assessments of the risk, but also the pace at which coronavirus has spread and geography.
Deidre Brock (Edinburgh North and Leith) (SNP)
The Secretary of State mentioned the Irish Government’s announcement of a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine period. The Australian Prime Minister recently announced the same thing for passengers arriving in Australia from abroad. Is that an option the UK Government are actively considering?
Dominic Raab
That is, ultimately, the responsibility of the Home Secretary. What I can say to the hon. Lady is that, given the changes we are making to travel advice, it would not seem to be necessary and nor does the scientific advice we are getting suggest that that is a measure we should take at this time.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)
I thank the Foreign Secretary. Thank you very much.
Company Transparency (Carbon in Supply Chains)
Tuesday 17th March 2020
(4 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Company Transparency (Carbon in Supply Chains) Bill 2019-21 View all Company Transparency (Carbon in Supply Chains) Bill 2019-21 Debates Read Hansard Text
A Ten Minute Rule Bill is a First Reading of a Private Members Bill, but with the sponsor permitted to make a ten minute speech outlining the reasons for the proposed legislation.
There is little chance of the Bill proceeding further unless there is unanimous consent for the Bill or the Government elects to support the Bill directly.
For more information see: Ten Minute Bills
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Karen Bradley (Staffordshire Moorlands) (Con)
I beg to move,
That leave be given to bring in a Bill to require companies to prepare an annual statement on carbon in their supply chains; and for connected purposes.
It may seem odd that, on a day when we are focusing on an immediate crisis facing the world, covid-19, we should also look at other issues facing the world, but there is no doubt that climate change is an immediate crisis. It will still be here when the immediate crisis we face over covid-19 is more manageable and under control, so it is right that we should not stop looking at global matters at a time when we have an immediate health emergency. I think that hon. Members would agree that this is probably the most significant long-term threat to our health, wealth and happiness, and that, like covid-19, it is an issue that affects the whole world.
Climate change, like covid-19, is an issue that requires global action. It cannot be tackled by any one country taking unilateral measures. It requires global leadership, which we in the UK have a duty to provide. We have done so already. We are the first developed country to legislate to be net zero by 2050 and I am extremely proud to have been a part of the Government who brought in that legislation. We are taking other significant measures at home, which are welcome. I also welcome the opportunity provided by hosting COP26 in the UK this autumn. This is a real opportunity to showcase the measures we are bringing in at home and to demonstrate our global leadership. At a point when the world has seen what a global pandemic can do, it is also an opportunity for the UK to shine. I want to put on record my thanks to former Member Claire Perry-O’Neill, who spotted the opportunity to make sure that COP26 would be brought to this country. My only regret, as the former Northern Ireland Secretary, is that I was not able to secure it for Belfast—or indeed Stoke-on-Trent. They were my two first choices.
We can always do more. When the UK is responsible for less than 1% of global emissions, and China responsible for 25% of global emissions, it is important to consider the actions we can take in the UK to ensure global action. The action we take here will come to nothing if it is not replicated globally or if businesses try to get around our rules by moving production overseas, using third-party suppliers who are not as clean and green as our industries. I particularly want to reflect on energy-intensive industries such as ceramics—I declare my interest as a north Staffordshire MP—where more and more ceramics production takes place overseas to deal with such issues as the energy trading scheme and other matters. It is quite right that we have measures in place to ensure our industries are as clean as possible, but we cannot allow business to move overseas, affecting our highly skilled and excellent businesses in the UK, just to get around carbon emissions.
I considered what it was possible for us to do and looked back to something I had done previously as a Minister, which was in the Modern Slavery Act 2015. As co-chair of the all-party group on human trafficking and modern slavery, I look at that issue on a regular basis. As with climate change, modern slavery and human trafficking is a global issue, and it can only be tackled globally. As a Minister, I was incredibly proud to take the Modern Slavery Act 2015 through Parliament. I thank my fellow Ministers who took it through with me: my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), and Lord Bates and Baroness Garden in the other place. It was a world-leading Act, introducing new measures that had never been seen before in a developed country.
There were, however, challenges. One was how to deal with extraterritoriality—not least trying to say extraterritoriality when I had a horrible cold—and we looked at what we could do to ensure that businesses did not just offshore and outsource modern slavery. One measure championed by former Members Frank Field and Fiona Mactaggart, as well as by my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Mrs Miller), Baroness Butler-Sloss, Lord Randall and our very old friend Anthony Steen, was the transparency of supply chains. Many others also campaigned on this matter, but they were the real leaders. We wanted to shine a light on supply chains. We wanted visibility on what businesses were doing to identify and eradicate human trafficking and modern slavery in supply chains. Businesses wanted that, too. Businesses wanted legalisation, because ethical, well-behaved businesses wanted to cross the line together. They wanted the Government to help them to make sure that when they took the right steps to eradicate modern slavery in their supply chains others would do the same.
Section 54 of the 2015 Act is a light-touch regulation under which businesses have to declare on their website every year the steps they are taking to identify and eliminate human trafficking and modern slavery in their global supply chains. They can say, and be completely in line with the law, that they are taking no steps to identify human trafficking and modern slavery in their supply chains. It is entirely legal for them to do that, but I think the public will see that and they will want action to be taken. The all-party group wants to look more at how that provision is working in practice. I think we should look at how we can replicate it elsewhere.
An important part of the provision is that it elevates the issue to board level. A director has to sign off the statement, so members of the board have to look at the action that is being taken. By giving the public that information and letting them see what action businesses are taking, they can make informed and educated decisions about whether they want to work with those businesses. I propose that we adopt a similar approach to carbon emissions. It is really important that we ensure businesses take seriously the level of carbon emissions in their supply chains. I was contacted yesterday by my former college, Imperial College London, which is doing an awful lot of work on how to identify and decarbonise supply chains. We know that this work is going on, and we know that businesses and others are interested in it.
I say to the Government that this is an opportunity to show global Britain at its best. It is an opportunity to show us on the world stage taking steps above and beyond those taken by other countries. It would ensure that we say to the businesses that want to operate and sell to consumers in this country that they have to act ethically with regard to carbon emissions. I urge the Government to seize the initiative, so that by the time of COP26 we have taken steps that are extraterritorial and can make a real difference. If we do that and show that leadership, we can make a real difference.
I commend the Bill to the House.
Question put and agreed to.
Ordered,
That Alex Norris, Mr Laurence Robertson, Mark Garnier, David Mundell, Mark Logan, Mike Kane, Mr Alistair Carmichael, Christine Jardine, Dame Diana Johnson, Mrs Maria Miller, Darren Jones and Karen Bradley present the Bill.
Karen Bradley accordingly presented the Bill.
Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 15 May, and to be printed (Bill 113).
Ways and Means
Budget Resolutions
Income tax (charge)
(4 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)
I inform the House that Mr Speaker has not selected the amendment in the name of the Leader of the Opposition.
The Secretary of State for Transport (Grant Shapps)
Last week’s Budget was a blueprint for a more connected, more prosperous and more equal Britain—a nation where we deliver on our promises, where investors want to do business and where stable employment, decent housing, reliable transport, excellent healthcare and education, and the same opportunities extend to everyone in society, no matter where they live. Today’s Budget debate comes against a background of a global health emergency, however, so we must come together as a country to face the unprecedented threat posed by the coronavirus outbreak.
I pay tribute to and thank my opposite number, the hon. Member for Middlesbrough (Andy McDonald), for his truly constructive support through this crisis. For several years, the country has looked on the House and its behaviour and seen it divided, in particular over the vexed issue of Brexit, so the way that this matter is being approached by the official Opposition and others is truly welcome. People will look at the House and see that, when it comes to rising to the occasion, we can to work together in the country’s interests.
This crisis requires radical action and support for our incredible health service, for businesses, for the self-employed, and, of course, for the elderly, sick and vulnerable members of our society. We made a start on that last week in the Budget where the Chancellor set out a £12 billion package of measures designed to counteract the immediate impact of the virus.
Several hon. Members rose—
Grant Shapps
I will not give way yet; I want to make some progress.
That package was part of a wider £30 billion stimulus to offset the economic impacts. However, we understand that this is effectively a war. The enemy is a virus, but we must none the less approach it in the same way as a war.
Several hon. Members rose—
Grant Shapps
Again, I want to make a bit of progress, because I am aware that many hon. Members want to speak in the debate.
We have been clear about how we will fight the war. The first principle is to follow scientific advice at every step. It is all too easy to be distracted by the demands of round-the-clock media coverage, by the clamour on social media or by means and measures that sound good at the time, but are not based on irrefutable scientific logic. We will continue to base our decisions on what the experts believe is in the best interests of this country.
Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)
I wholly support following the evidence and scientific advice, but the Government’s advice yesterday to avoid pubs and restaurants has caused a genuine outcry across the whole hospitality industry, because people are terrified that their businesses will be closing forever in two to three weeks’ time. They cannot manage their overheads, they desperately need support and they cannot even claim for insurance because the Government will not formally close them. Why will the Government not make that decision now?
Grant Shapps
The hon. Member speaks for the concerns of many across the House and across the country. I do not think there can be any denying it, because that is the severity of the enemy in this war. I reassure him, and many other hon. Members who plan to make interventions, by saying that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer will say more on that later today.
At no point will we stop listening to the advice or reacting to events, because as the progress of the virus changes, so will the response. The nature of this crisis and the circumstances are changing all the time, so our response will evolve to meet the threat until the virus poses no threat to the country or to our citizens.
Gareth Thomas (Harrow West) (Lab/Co-op)
The Secretary of State will know that other countries have pledged to support every business so that it does not go bankrupt during the worst period of coronavirus infection, that they are supporting laid-off workers to the tune of 75% of their income, and that serious support is being given to the self-employed, many of whom will now not have any work. When will the Government take similar measures in this country?
Grant Shapps
As I said in pre-empting the hon. Gentleman’s intervention, the Chancellor will say more about all that shortly. I recognise the concerns raised by the hon. Gentleman and other hon. Members.
My own sector, transport, is massively affected, so we are working to support the whole industry under these extreme circumstances. We are looking at a range of options to help the rail, aviation and bus sectors. We have already taken action to prevent the empty ghost flights that were flying because of the 80/20 rule, which meant that they had to make pointless journeys even if they did not have anybody on board. I took action by writing to Airport Coordination Limited, the slots co-ordinator in this country, and the European Commission on a couple of occasions. They have provided relief, which means that we no longer have to have those flights in the skies, but it will not lead to airlines necessarily losing their slots.
Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth) (Lab/Co-op)
Clearly we all await the Chancellor’s announcement tonight with interest. I hope that it surpasses the response to the 2008 financial crisis. Regrettably, we need a fiscal response and a level of Government intervention on that scale. We do not want to see that, but it is what we need for people’s lives and for strategic industries.
Specifically on transport, the Secretary of State talks about support for airlines and the rail and bus industries. Does he accept that we may have to put some of those into national ownership, even if for a temporary period? Will he consider relaxing the rules on bail-outs for municipal bus companies and others? In Cardiff, Cardiff Bus will really struggle. We need the rules to be relaxed so that we can give it the right support, so it can survive and pay its workers.
Grant Shapps
The hon. Gentleman is right to say that the principle should be that, as far as we can make it work, people—individuals and companies—are in the same position when we come out of this situation. I feel that we will be in a somewhat changed world and changed environment on the other side of it, but good organisations should not be going bust. It will be hugely challenging. We will require a lot of different responses and mechanisms to get there, including, on occasion, organisations being run by the public sector, which we have already seen in the case of trains for a completely different reason.
Turning to trains, it makes no sense for us to run empty trains. As fewer people will be travelling following last night’s advice and guidance from the Government and the Prime Minister, timetables may be altered in the short to medium term to ensure that we do not effectively run ghost trains. We are also determined to ensure that companies are left in as strong a position as possible so that they can continue to operate afterwards. Despite the immensely challenging situation in which we find ourselves, we will work in partnership with the transport industry to keep essential services running for the public and for those who need to get to work, who have essential business and who will therefore still be travelling.
Yvette Cooper (Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford) (Lab)
On the proposal to reduce the number of trains, buses and tubes that are running, given that so many of them are so crowded at the moment, would it not make sense to keep many more of them running so that those essential workers who still have to get to work have more space?
Grant Shapps
The right hon. Lady makes an excellent point, as ever. The reality is that, because of social distancing, it might well be desirable to have more space between people so that they can keep some distance. Yes, that absolutely needs to be taken into account as we consider the timetabling.
We will get through this crisis together as a nation. Working in this great national effort, we will ensure that we come through on the other side and provide hope for all our citizens. The Budget shows that we are serious about the pledges we have made and about the trust that the electorate put in us only three months ago. We intend to deliver on those infrastructure pledges.
The Department for Transport has already been working hard to deliver on those pledges. For example, in recent weeks we have taken decisive action to improve journeys for millions of Northern rail commuters by putting the franchise into the operator of last resort. We have announced plans to extend discounted train travel to more than 830,000 veterans. The Minister of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Daventry (Chris Heaton-Harris), has kickstarted work on reversing the Beeching cuts, which have so blighted the nation in decades past and prevented people from being interconnected. In January we announced the preferred route for the east-west rail link that will connect Oxford and Cambridge, which will increase access to jobs and make it easier and cheaper to travel, creating a region that has been dubbed the UK’s silicon valley. We are not only making journeys more efficient and easier; we are also making them cleaner. We are consulting on bringing forward the end of fossil fuel cars and vans to 2035, or earlier if practical. We are taking enormous steps forward.
The Chancellor has delivered a Budget that includes some of the most ambitious infrastructure programmes seen since the 1950s. It will help to level up this country. Infrastructure that is unreliable, overcrowded and no longer fit for purpose acts as a drag anchor on our entire economy. When it is efficient and gets people where they need to be, it can turn around the fortunes of our towns and cities. With interest rates at an historic low, now is the time to get Britain building.
Bob Seely (Isle of Wight) (Con)
As my right hon. Friend knows, I am pressing for a better deal for the Isle of Wight. What are the criteria for the levelling up agenda? The Island is part of the wealthy south-east, but our economy has more in common with the north, or indeed with parts of east Devon and Cornwall, so what does levelling up look like for us? Is it part of the funding settlement or is it infrastructure projects?
Grant Shapps
My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. As many Members across the House will know, people often think that just because a constituency is in a certain part of the country—the south-east in his case—it must be enormously prosperous. Many of us represent enormously deprived communities, perhaps just an individual ward, within an otherwise prosperous area, so it is very important that the criteria for levelling up take that all into account. That is why the Green Book is being rewritten as a result of last week’s Budget. We look forward to hearing more about that in due course.
With interest rates at an historic low, it is time to get Britain building. That is why the Chancellor set out plans to inject £640 billion by 2024-25 into roads, railways, hospitals, broadband, housing and research, to modernise the fabric of our country, turbo-charge our economy—perhaps to electrically charge our economy —and get every single region of the UK growing, not matter where it is.
Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)
Strategic investment in infrastructure is very welcome, but another Budget measure that the Chancellor announced was the removal of the red diesel rebate for the construction industry, which means the cost of diesel for construction will double. That is predicted in the Red Book to bring in £5 billion over two years. How much of that £640 billion investment will be written off by paying costs for diesel?
Grant Shapps
The hon. Gentleman, who has questioned me passionately many times about greening the economy, will appreciate that red diesel contributes tremendously to the problems he often cites. There will be a consultation, so he will have an opportunity to put his concerns on the record, as he has done partially today.
The Government will provide more details on our investment priorities when we publish our national infrastructure strategy in the spring and the comprehensive spending review later this year. That will include taking forward Northern Powerhouse Rail, having already committed to the section between Manchester and Leeds, and reversing many of the Beeching cuts, as I have mentioned. I am grateful to Members across the House for bringing forward an extraordinary number of potential Beeching reversals, which the Minister of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Daventry, is now in the process of assessing, working with colleagues across the House. We are also delivering High Speed 2, to transform rail connections between our major cities while releasing capacity on our existing railways, particularly for freight.
We will present an integrated rail plan for the north and for the midlands, examining how HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail can best work together, along with wider investment in transport across the regions. We have the largest ever investment in English strategic roads. We have £27 billion to tackle congestion and increase capacity. We have £2.5 billion to fill potholes and ensure that more do not develop. We have £5 billion for the roll-out of broadband, particularly in rural areas, to ensure that our four nations are fully linked together. We have record funding of £5.2 billion for flood defences—we have seen recently how important it is to have that cash going in. We have £4.2 billion for urban transport through long-term settlements with eight mayoral combined authorities. We have £22 billion for science, innovation and technology by 2024-25, to help us develop new products and services to sell around the world.
Of course, we also have a massive housing programme. We have made significant progress towards building more affordable, high-quality homes in recent years— far more than when I was Housing Minister—and the housing supply is now at its highest level for 32 years, which is quite an achievement. However, we still have a long way to go. The Budget mentioned remedying some of that shortfall, first by extending the affordable homes programme with a multi-year £12 billion settlement, and secondly by helping local authorities to invest while such low interest rates are available.
Kevin Hollinrake (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)
I very much welcome the investment that my right hon. Friend has announced. However, if we do not get our businesses through the crisis of the next few months, much of that investment will not bear fruit as it should. He has quite rightly said that he wants businesses to be in the same place in the future that they are in today, but lots of the income they will lose over the next few months will never come back. Does he agree that we must put in place a package of financial support based on grants, not merely business loans?
Grant Shapps
I do not want to pre-empt what the Chancellor might say later, but I am grateful to my hon. Friend for making that point. I will repeat what I said at the beginning of my speech and then wrap up my remarks, to allow other Members to contribute. The situation is clearly approaching what we would otherwise, in different times, thing of as a war that this country needs to fight. As in a war, we need to deploy every possible weapon, and of course that will involve a variety of financial and other tools to do precisely that. Nothing must be off our radar when we consider the possible responses.
Levelling up will not be achieved through a single fiscal event such as the Budget, but it will be part of an integrated plan over the next five years, and I have mentioned already some of the other fiscal events. One of the most powerful agents for change will be the infrastructure programme that I have outlined today to get Britain building. The process will be triggered by an historic investment, through the national infrastructure strategy, the spending review and an autumn Budget later this year. We know that there are big challenges ahead—the most immediate, as hon. Members across the House have said, is dealing with the coronavirus outbreak.
This Budget is designed to build a strong foundation to make us fairer and more equal as a country, where we harness the potential of every region, and where people’s ambitions can be achieved. But we also recognise that we are doing so in the immediate short term against the backdrop of tackling what is perhaps the greatest health emergency that the country has seen since the Spanish flu. I know that we can do this as a country. I know that we can do this by showing the same spirit that this House has demonstrated in the past few weeks; by working together, finding the right solutions and getting the job done. That is our vision, and that is what we will deliver.
Several hon. Members rose—
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)
Order. Before I call the shadow Secretary of State, let me say that it will be obvious to the House that a great many people wish to speak this afternoon. We have a lot of time for this important debate, and I am hoping to manage it without a formal time limit because that makes for better debates. We will manage it if everyone behaves with courtesy and speaks for between seven and eight minutes, which is quite a long time. At least, it is quite a long time for everyone who is listening. [Laughter.] So if Members speak for about seven to eight minutes we will manage without a time limit, but if that does not happen I shall have to impose one.
Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough) (Lab)
Clearly these are extraordinary times, and everything that we say and do is said and done through the prism of the response to the coronavirus emergency. I thank the Secretary of State for his kind remarks, and also for his courtesy and candour in keeping me briefed as these events unfold. I hope that that conversation continues, and I recommit myself and my party to working with the Government to counter this national and international emergency. I send my sincere sympathies to those who have lost loved ones, and my sincerest thanks to our NHS and public service workers for their incredible work to date and what they will do in the future in response to what is the greatest peacetime challenge to face our country for more than 100 years.
While these are indeed abnormal times, I will endeavour to turn my attention and that of the House to a time when our focus will hopefully return to other matters which we would normally address. Before I do so, however, may I raise with the Secretary of State some points that have arisen overnight and in recent times? As my right hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband) rightly said yesterday, it is no fault of the Chancellor, but his Budget is clearly out of date, and, sadly, a major reappraisal is already necessary. Accordingly, I very much welcome the news that he is to make a statement to the House later today about the additional measures that he intends to take.
Yesterday, at a press conference, the Prime Minister advised people to avoid pubs, restaurants and theatres, but despite that advice, which will result in many businesses being unable to operate and will cause job losses or loss of income, there was no sufficient accompanying support. Will the Secretary of State implore the Prime Minister, and others, to ensure that the right support is made available? I trust that, in addition, the Government will ensure that insurers do not plead force majeure and avoid their liabilities.
The Government are also asking people to self-isolate, but are not providing the financial assistance that those people need. It is not only unfair to ask people to enact social distancing and to self-isolate if necessary without giving them adequate support; it is dangerous and counterproductive, because it risks discouraging people from taking necessary action. In France, after the announcement of similar but more stringent measures, the French Government announced that electricity, gas and rental bills would be suspended. Why has the United Kingdom not announced similar measures?
It is being reported that private train companies are already requesting bail-outs or renegotiations of their contracts. Social distancing will hit fares revenue hard, making franchises unprofitable for some train operating companies, and with demand for travel down, there may be a temptation to run services at a different frequency from what is specified in the franchise agreements. However, along with my right hon. Friend the Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper), I ask the Secretary of State to consider the possibility that contagion will be reduced by the presence of fewer passengers with the same level of service. No doubt the medical officers and others will advise.
Stephen Doughty
My hon. Friend is making some important and constructive points. I do not know whether he is aware that the First Minister of Wales has just sent a letter to the Chancellor, in which he makes clear that we will have to intervene in an unprecedented way. Does my hon. Friend approve of the measures that he has suggested, such as tax holidays, loan guarantees to help productive capacity, underwriting the wages of employees who are affected, and, if necessary, the temporary nationalisation of key transport infrastructure?
Andy McDonald
Those are indeed the sorts of responses that we hope to see emerge from the Government Dispatch Box later today. I entirely agree with the approach taken by the Welsh Government.
As I was saying—and my hon. Friend has echoed my view—the state should not bail out the private train companies. Indeed, the fact that those companies are already wanting to be bailed out demonstrates why it is irresponsible for public services to be run in the private sector. Rather than offering a bailout, the Government should offer to take back the keys and return the services to public ownership.
The aviation sector has been hit incredibly hard by the outbreak of coronavirus. We have already seen the collapse of Flybe with 2,000 job losses, not to mention the impact that that will have on jobs at regional airports and across the supply chain. Of course, many thousands of UK citizens are still overseas and will want to return, so the Secretary of State has my full support for his efforts to sustain services to facilitate such repatriation.
Indeed, it is not only a question of passengers: many vital goods and medicines are transported in the belly holds of aircraft. Can the Secretary of State tell us what specific measures are being taken to ensure that those supplies are maintained?
Clearly many people are going to extraordinary lengths to assist their neighbours and their communities, and I know that businesses will bend over backwards to help their loyal workforces at this time. That being so, will the Secretary of State send a message to major employers asking them to do what they can to sustain their employees’ incomes, and will he give an assurance that workers will also be supported by the underwriting of the majority of their wages by the Government should temporary cessations of trading be necessary?
Paula Barker (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab)
Does my hon. Friend agree that those with the broadest shoulders should bear the biggest burden in seeing our country through this crisis? If so, does he think it right that Richard Branson, the billionaire boss of Virgin, is asking his workers to take eight weeks’ unpaid leave?
Andy McDonald
My hon. Friend must have read my speech in advance. I was about to ask the Secretary of State to prevail on the very same Richard Branson to look to his own considerable reserves, built on the wealth created by his Virgin airline workforce, and withdraw his proposal that they should suffer eight weeks of unpaid leave. I note that he is asking for a Government bailout, but I trust that the Government may expect him to use his own considerable resources before that happens—perhaps when he is down to his last billion. He might be able to live without two months of income, but his workers cannot.
The Secretary of State’s decision—made in lockstep with the European Union—to end ghost flights involving empty aircraft flying simply to retain slots is clearly right, but can he advise us of the consequences for airline staff and ground crew and the support that they will receive, given that their risk of losing their jobs has undoubtedly increased significantly?
In that context, as my right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition told the Prime Minister yesterday, the Government must now make commitments to extending full sick pay and lost earnings protection to all workers from day one, including insecure, low-paid and self-employed workers, during self-isolation and illness; raising statutory sick pay in line with amounts in other European countries; introducing rent and mortgage payment deferment options, and banning evictions of tenants affected by the outbreak; removing the requirement for people to present themselves for universal credit, suspending sanctions, and reducing the waiting time for the first payment from five weeks; and supporting local authorities working with food banks in the purchase and distribution of food stocks.
The road haulage industry is founded on an army of small businesses, and if they are to be sustained, it is essential for the cross-channel freight routes to be maintained. What assurance can the Secretary of State give in that regard? Northern Ireland should also have special consideration, given that it is of course dependent on goods coming from Great Britain—as, indeed, is the Republic of Ireland. What steps are being taken to ensure continuity of supply across the English channel and the Irish sea?
Over the past few days, it has been self-evident that the Government must commit themselves more fully to communicating truthfully and effectively with the public about the developments of the virus and their response to it. It should not be the case that we have Ministers giving anonymous briefings to select members of the press about facts known to the Government. Ministers must acknowledge that this poor communication has increased public concerns, and I reiterate what my right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition requested of the Prime Minister when they met yesterday evening: I ask that the Government provide much greater transparency in their approach to tackling the outbreak. We must follow the advice of the World Health Organisation and see an increase in testing, along with provision of vital equipment such as ventilators and acute beds.
Sadly, because of this Government’s decade of crippling austerity, we have seen a slashing of over 17,000 NHS hospital beds since 2010, which has led to the disgrace of a private healthcare firm charging the NHS £300 a bed for coronavirus patients. Indeed, the outbreak of the coronavirus has illuminated what has been done to public services in this country over the last 10 years, and I fear that in the coming weeks it will become clear that the situation created by years of underfunding will become unsustainable.
The Budget announced last week showed that the austerity project has failed, even on the Conservative party’s own terms. We now know, once and for all, that austerity was never an economic necessity, but a political choice—a political choice that has left millions of working people across this country paying the price for the recklessness of the financial services industry, when it crashed the economy in 2008.
Today’s debate is focused on the “levelling up” of the economy, but far from levelling up, the Government have presided over huge inequalities on regional investment. In 2018-19, transport spending per head in the north-east, north-west, and Yorkshire and the Humber was £486, £412 and £276 respectively. In comparison, London received £903 per head in the same year. The OECD recently argued that
“addressing the regional productivity divide—between high-productivity areas like London and Southern England and low-productivity regions in the North—can be a key channel for fostering long-term growth and sharing prosperity across the country”,
recommending regionally focused investment in transportation as part of an industrial strategy to boost productivity. But this Budget fails to include such policies.
At the general election, Labour pledged to close gaps in regional transport investment by delivering projects including Crossrail for the north and HS2 to Scotland, and upgrading the rail network in the south-west, as well as providing transformational levels of investment for local public and sustainable transport. This Budget fails to even reverse Conservative cuts to the rail network, leaving in place the cuts to electrification in the south-west, the north and the midlands.
The Government have repeatedly talked up their commitment to Northern Powerhouse Rail, but they have not committed to the full £39 billion project, as Labour has done. Instead, they will commit money only to improvements between Manchester and Leeds. Critically, there is no commitment to resolve bottlenecks such as the Castlefield corridor, or indeed any of the selected flyover and electrification programmes described in the excellent Channel 4 “Dispatches” programme last night. I can see the commitment to the infrastructure works in my own constituency at Middlesbrough station, which are critical to the running of the entire northern network, but sadly, I have no grounds to believe that the necessary funds will be made available until 2023 at the very earliest.
Similarly, the Government are promising to reverse the Beeching cuts, yet have only made £500 million available, which is small beer in real terms and would be lucky to open a very small section of track.
I note the Government’s interest in buses. I have been banging on about buses for years, and it was good to see the BBC devote attention to buses in another documentary last night, but can I gently try to persuade the Secretary of State to look carefully at Labour’s proposals to bring back and expand routes, increase ridership, decarbonise the fleet and provide free travel for all under the age of 25 within a re-regulated bus network that is wholly integrated with other modes? Were he to do that, he would come to the inevitable conclusion that the only way to achieve all that was within a public transport system that was genuinely public in ownership and control.
When the coronavirus crisis is eventually over—we all hope and pray that will be sooner rather than later—we will still face the climate crisis, and sadly, this Budget does little to address it. Greenpeace commented that
“the Chancellor has completely missed the opportunity to address the climate emergency... he’s driving in the opposite direction.”
Friends of the Earth agreed, saying:
“This Budget contains a massive road-building programme which completely destroys any pretence of UK government leadership ahead of this year’s crucial climate summit.
Funding for cleaner cars, EV charging, action on plastics and more trees are just a few green sprinklings on a truly awful budget.”
The UK is way off track to meet its own climate change targets and is further still from meeting its commitments under the Paris climate agreement. This failure is being driven by a rising trend in emissions caused largely by increased traffic growth, which has left transport as the UK’s single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and the worst-performing sector when it comes to reducing carbon emissions. This failure is the result of deliberate Government policy encouraging traffic growth through an ever-expanding multibillion-pound programme of road building.
This Budget is destined to make the problem worse by pledging over £27 billion for new road building, which will increase car use, worsen congestion and increase air pollution and climate emissions, with little benefit for the economy and at the expense of concreting over large areas of the country. A huge part of the problem is that public transport fares have risen at more than twice the rate of wages since 2010 while fuel duty has remained frozen, meaning the cost of public transport has risen above the cost of motoring, discouraging more sustainable transport and worsening congestion and pollution. Yet the fuel duty freeze continues and there are no measures to reduce the cost of public transport, compounding the failure of recent years.
The contrast between what will be spent on new road building alone and what is pledged for cycling and walking and for public transport illustrates the Government’s priorities, with the investment in roads five times that in sustainable transport. The funding for local transport that the Government announced with significant fanfare simply will not cut it. Labour pledged £6.5 billion over the same period to reverse more than 3,000 bus route cuts in England and to invest in new services. It could cost around £3 billion to reverse the cuts made to bus services alone, yet the £5 billion pledged in the Budget is meant to fund bus services, build new cycle lanes and purchase around 4,000 zero-emission buses. This fund has been over-promised and will not deliver the investment in local transport needed to address the climate crisis and support local economies.
On electric vehicles, it is good that the Chancellor decided to continue the grants. It would have been highly damaging for the plug-in car grant to be scrapped, as subsidies for EVs are required until the up-front cost of EVs reaches price parity with internal combustion engine vehicles. But it should be pointed out that the grants had previously been cut from £5,000 to £3,500—a move condemned by industry. If the UK is to reduce transport emissions in line with climate targets, the cuts to grants should be reversed. By contrast, Labour had pledged to introduce 2.5 million interest-free loans, worth an additional £1,500, for the purchase of EVs so as to allow low-income households, those living in rural areas, and independent contractors and small and medium-sized enterprises to save on new electric cars.
Again, the £500 million investment in EV charging infrastructure is better than nothing, but £400 million of this fund is a reannouncement from the 2017 autumn Budget. This money should have already been invested and should have been supplemented by a further announcement in this Budget so as to provide an adequate charging network. By contrast, to jump-start the transition to electric cars and tackle the climate emergency, Labour pledged to invest £3.6 billion in a mammoth expansion of the UK’s EV charging network. A rapid roll-out of charging stations would eliminate concerns over driving range and lack of electric car charging infrastructure by providing enough electrical charge points for 21.5 million electric cars—65% of the UK’s fleet—by 2030.
On the greatest crisis facing humanity, the climate crisis, this Budget is going in the wrong direction. On the most immediate crisis facing us, the coronavirus, the Budget fails to provide the country and its workers with the safety and security they require. On the Budget’s central promise to level up the country, it is an abject failure, failing to reverse the austerity cuts of the past decade and to invest in infrastructure across the country. The coronavirus pandemic is a dreadful and most immediate crisis, but one day it will be behind us. When we are past this, the same problems of social and regional inequalities and the climate crisis will still be there. I worry that, on the evidence of this Budget, the Government do not have the vision or the ambition to tackle them. When we are through this, we should take the opportunity to reset our economy, so that it works for our people, as it always should.
Several hon. Members rose—
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)
It gives me great pleasure to call Gagan Mohindra to make his maiden speech.
Mr Gagan Mohindra (South West Hertfordshire) (Con)
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for allowing me the opportunity to make my maiden speech as the Member of Parliament for South West Hertfordshire, and it is a real pleasure to have you in the Chair during it. I know I am among the last of my intake to address this House. I have had the pleasure of listening to many moving and memorable speeches from my friends over the last few months. I am not ashamed to say that I get goosebumps in this place; as I sit on these green Benches, I feel the weight of history and the legacy of my political heroes all about me. But I hope that, like Trigger’s broom, I will prove to be a worthy replacement for my forebears, whether I am the head or the handle! And I do not intend to ever take the trust of my constituents to represent them in this place for granted. The weight of our responsibility as public servants weighs on us all more now than ever. But everything has its place, and in my maiden speech. I know you want to hear about the best constituency in our country and I intend not to disappoint.
However, I would like to start by paying tribute to my predecessor, the right hon. David Gauke. During his 14 and a half years of public service, David was a dedicated Member of Parliament, and he was highly respected by his constituents and colleagues alike. He was fiercely intelligent and famously cool under pressure. However, during the 2019 general election, the public got to know another side of David: his wicked sense of humour, which was already well known to his friends in this House. As I fought the election, I found I had to overcome the appeal of not one Gauke, but two, as Gauke senior, Jim, went viral in David’s videos. David ran one of the most engaging campaigns to be found during the general election, and I commend his enthusiasm and passion. Despite the difficult circumstances of his fighting against his former party, it was a civilised battle and I thank him for that.
As to David’s political career, he was a heavyweight of the Conservative Government over the last decade. He held many senior roles, including Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and, finally, Secretary of State for Justice. As I have said before, in different times we may well have been colleagues, and I would have been proud to work alongside him. I thank David for his commitment to the residents of South West Hertfordshire, and wish him, Rachel and the rest of his family well in their future endeavours.
Moving on to my stunning constituency, South West Hertfordshire is shaped rather like a couture boot. Picture, if you will, scenic Tring on the thigh, bustling Berkhamsted—Berko to the locals—sitting on the knee, the pretty trio of Flaunden, Bovingdon and Chipperfield making up the calf, striking Sarratt sitting behind the shin and charming Chorleywood on the ankle. Vibrant Rickmansworth, or Ricky, where I live, sits on the heel, and the military base of Northwood headquarters sits on the toe. That is to name but a few of the collection of magnificent communities that make up my constituency, each unique and beautiful in its own way. The arresting natural and man-made beauty of my constituency, top to bottom, is certainly best experienced on foot!
My constituency offers an embarrassment of riches, from its historical market towns, such as Tring, to the Chiltern hills, which are rightly classed as areas of outstanding natural beauty. Further south lies the Colne Valley Regional Park, which is known as the first taste of countryside west of London and comprises some 60 lakes, among woodland, canals and farmland. You can pass many a peaceful afternoon walking here, or visiting the famous aquadrome, where you can water-ski, canoe or sail to your heart’s content.
Behind the thriving Berkhamsted High Street are found the ruins of Berkhamsted castle. It was in Berkhamsted that William the Conqueror received the surrender of the Crown of England in 1066. The castle was then built to assert control over the key supply route through the Chiltern hills from London to the midlands. It is a constituency heaped with history, some of which cannot be retold, like the activities of Northwood HQ. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our armed services for continuing to keep us safe.
The visual beauty of my constituency is only outdone by the warmth and good nature of my constituents. Nowhere in the country better represents the open-minded, tolerant, progressive nature of the United Kingdom than South West Hertfordshire, and I am so grateful that I have been so warmly welcomed. Of course, there are also a number of local concerns and issues to which I will devote my energies. For our commuters, the issues of unreliable rail and underground transport are a repeated source of frustration. There is a lack of access to affordable housing, a concern that has to be balanced against the desire to protect the green belt and character of the area. There are pockets of poverty in a mostly affluent area, resulting in associated social issues, including crime. Of course, we also have many excellent schools in my constituency, including Merchant Taylors’ School and Berkhamsted School, but we need to ensure that good education is accessible for all, not only the affluent.
In the interests of my constituents and the rest of the country, I proudly stand with my Government, who are dedicated to levelling up. This is not only about the north; it is about everyone who is not born with advantage having access to excellent education, public services and visible role models, so that their aspirations and ambitions are not stunted by circumstance. As we know in our hearts, talent does not discriminate and I, like many in my Government, am committed to ensuring that opportunity does not, either. I welcomed the measures announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor specifically targeted at levelling up our country, including public sector relocations and more transport capital investment outside London. I welcome the breaking of the old, tired assumptions of what it means to be a modem Conservative and whom we represent. I stand here, proud to be a British Asian and to inhabit the most diverse Parliament we have ever had. But diversity encompasses all manner of considerations, not just diversity of ethnicity or of gender, although I welcome both and am delighted that 34% of this place is now occupied by women—I look forward to that number being higher.
When we speak of diversity and inclusiveness, we must mean engaging the widest diversity of perspective, formed by bringing together individuals with all manner of differences, including those of upbringing and background. It is about destigmatising all forms of physical and mental health issues, and that starts with us in this House. I am dyslexic, so I understand the frustrations posed by learning difficulties, but I must acknowledge that I have also had the benefit of many advantages. I understand that, like many of us in this place, I have been blessed with the good fortune to have self-belief and ambition nurtured in me, both in the home and in the wider environment, from my earliest days. Many in our society are not afforded this most essential of luxuries, and the impact, compounded of course, by other inequalities, is far-reaching. I am passionate about our commitments, as a Government, to do our part to ensure that aspiration and self-belief are not luxury items. That, to me, is the true meaning of levelling up. I look forward to seeing more and more faces in this House who represent our great country in all its guises.
I have a final brief word on the situation in which we find ourselves, responding to the outbreak of coronavirus across the globe. I am encouraged to already bear witness to many open-hearted and civic-minded examples of individuals coming together to help the more vulnerable and needy in our society during a testing time. I also commend the careful response of Government, based on scientific evidence, and the Budget measures announced last week—and those possibly to be announced later today—designed to protect vulnerable individuals and small businesses, who will most need our assistance to navigate the coming months. Of course, I, alongside my colleagues, will be continuously monitoring how to best assist in our national efforts. Working alongside my constituents, every arm of the Government, and people from every walk of life and every corner of the United Kingdom, we will do what we have always done—we will overcome adversity together. It is the greatest honour to serve my country in a time of need. Like those in my position, here in this place, I will do everything I can. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for indulging me during this debate.
Stephen Flynn (Aberdeen South) (SNP)
I congratulate the hon. Member for South West Hertfordshire (Mr Mohindra) on his tremendous maiden speech—although it is a good few months since we were both elected, so where have you been, man? You should have been in this Chamber a long time ago. Some of us have obviously been shying away from our duties.
Let me turn to more serious matters. It is important for me to place on record my sincere gratitude to each and every member of our health and social care service at this time. The work that they do the best of times cannot be overstated, but in this unique circumstance we must all commend them. I know from first-hand experience—from my friends and direct close family who work in the care of others—that they do their work selflessly and with pride. I want them to know that we on these Benches are proud of their work.
It is less than a week since the Chancellor came to the Dispatch Box and gave his first Budget, but the reality is that the landscape in the United Kingdom is now much different. It seems almost inconsequential to be debating many of the finer details of the Budget given the ramifications of the ongoing coronavirus situation across these isles, particularly when we bear in mind the fact that the Office for Budget Responsibility estimates did not take into account the initial Government expending in relation to dealing with the coronavirus, let alone what I expect to see come forward later today, but we can and must debate the Budget in full, because we still have the opportunity to encourage the Government to do so much more.
On the topic of doing so much more, let me turn to an item—we heard about it from the hon. Member for Middlesbrough (Andy McDonald), too—on which the Government must act: statutory sick pay. As my right hon. Friend the Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber (Ian Blackford) stated last week, statutory sick pay is currently £94.25. It pales into insignificance in comparison to what is on offer in other European countries and world partners. In fact, I am a little frustrated at the fact that, almost a week since the Budget was announced, we are still debating whether statutory sick pay needs to be increased. I was appalled by some of the comments I saw online from the Conservative hon. Member for Mid Derbyshire (Mrs Latham), who, in response to concerns expressed by individuals about the £94.25 figure, stated that they should “Get a life”. Such comments are deeply unbecoming of any Member at this moment in time, and I expect a much better tone from the Government later today.
If the Government are and continue to be unwilling to increase the level of statutory sick pay, there is an alternative, which is to follow the suggestion of that bastion of socialism in the United States of America, Mitt Romney, and look into the introduction of a universal basic income. He wants each and every adult in the United States to be given the equivalent of in excess of £200 each and every week while this crisis is ongoing. Conservative Members might not agree with me in this regard, but hopefully they will agree with one of their own. If it is good enough for the United States of America, why is it not good enough for the United Kingdom?
If the answer is no to statutory sick pay and no to universal basic income, why not look across the channel at the measures that have been put in place in France by President Macron in relation to the suspension of gas, electricity, water and rent bills? Or why not look further afield to New Zealand, where we have seen the doubling of the winter energy payment? If we are going to be asking individuals, particularly elderly and vulnerable individuals, to spend a prolonged time in their homes in isolation, that is going to cost them, and many of them cannot afford to pay the price. We have to be willing—we should be willing—to support them. That is particularly the case in my part of the world, the north-east of Scotland, where it is currently still Baltic. We cannot ask people to stay in their houses without offering them adequate support. In 2008, the UK Government bailed out the banks; my plea to the current UK Government is for them to bail out the public on this occasion. It is their moral duty to do so.
The public sphere extends beyond individual citizens; it encapsulates businesses, too. We have heard from Members from all parties about how we have all been inundated with concerns from businesses relating to the Prime Minister’s words yesterday advising individuals not to visit many of the hospitality venues on offer throughout this United Kingdom. The reality is that words need to be met with action. We need the Government to come forward today with real, clear action, and for them to state that those businesses have to be closed, so that companies and individuals can access the insurance that they require.
We may even need to go further than that. As it stands, the business rates relief that is on offer simply will not cut it. As we have heard from other Members—indeed, my hon. Friend the Member for Stirling (Alyn Smith) mentioned it in a contribution earlier today—we need to look seriously at the possibility of the Government becoming the insurer of last resort to protect all businesses throughout this United Kingdom, to ensure that no business fails on our watch, either at this time or in the current months.
There is, of course, an opportunity for the Government to go one step further. The hon. Member for Middlesbrough said that, when it comes to multibillion-pound bail-outs, many of which have been proposed by those in the private sector in recent days, we should in all seriousness be looking at not necessarily bailing companies out but taking back the keys. That would not only give short-term protection but provide a long-term benefit for this country. There is so much that can be done for the business community, and the Government need to think seriously in that regard.
I am conscious of the time, so I want to finish by talking about the north-east of Scotland. We are not just facing the coronavirus outbreak; we are also facing the harsh reality that at 9 o’clock this morning the price of Brent crude oil was below $30 a barrel. That is completely unsustainable for the industry. In the Chancellor’s Budget last week, there was not a peep in relation to oil and gas—not a single mention—despite the fact that the price has been plummeting for a number of weeks. There is a double whammy there and that industry in the north-east of Scotland needs to be protected.
When the Government make their statement later today, we need and must see protections put in place for the public, and we need and must see protections put in place for businesses. We must all come together to ensure that the future prosperity of everyone on these islands is protected.
Sir Robert Syms (Poole) (Con)
I rise to support my right hon. Friend the Chancellor’s Budget. We are facing an unprecedented and very difficult situation, but we are better able to deal with it because of how the Conservative party—including in our earlier coalition with the Liberal Democrats—has managed the economy. We need to give credit to George Osborne and Philip Hammond. Philip has taken a lot of criticism because of his views on Europe, but he was a fiscally conservative Chancellor. The fact that, even with the ONS adjustments, the budget deficit will be under 2% this year gives us at least some room for manoeuvre to deal with what is going to be very difficult crisis.
I welcome the increase in investment in the Chancellor’s Budget. I have always felt that we ought to be a bit more French about big projects, because around some of those big projects, private enterprise can grow. Sometimes railways, ports and airports are necessary for an economy to grow. I also welcome the investment in roads—apparently buses as well as cars travel on roads. One of the quickest ways to get an boost to the economy is to take the road network and to add value to it. We have invested billions in roads—in bypasses, extensions and so on. In some areas, resurfacing can make our roads a bit quieter. Those are quite useful things for the Government to be doing, and they will provide a quicker hit than HS2 and other projects, which are far more long term.
In speaking in this debate, I am particularly pleased to follow my hon. Friend the Member for South West Hertfordshire (Mr Mohindra), who made a wonderful start in addressing this Chamber. He said that he was dyslexic. There are at least two Tory Cabinet Ministers who have been dyslexic, so he should take that as a sign of hope for his future career after his fine start.
I have been in this Chamber a while, and can say that there have been a number of occasions when one has been debating a subject with the full knowledge that, at 7 o’clock in the evening, somebody else will make a statement that will totally change the terms of the debate. I welcome the fact that the Chancellor will be here at 7 o’clock, and I think that we all expect other measures to be announced.
Most economic downturns happen steadily and gradually over a number of quarters. Businesses can manage the change, but what has happened recently—sometimes overnight—is that the business model has been destroyed. What we need to do, certainly for the next three months, is keep all those businesses in a situation from which they can recover and prosper. That will require a lot of money and a lot of creative effort, but I am sure that the Government are up to it. I look forward to hearing what the Chancellor is going to say at 7 pm.
As I have said, we are in a much better position because of some of the things that we have done in the past. We had a big debate over austerity in 2010, and, you know what, we won it and we won the general election. We had a debate in 2015, and, you know what, we won it. We had a debate in 2017, and we just about won it, and we had a debate in 2019 and we won it again. I am perfectly content for the Labour party to argue with us on these terms, because it is 4-0 so far and, from what I can see, it will certainly be 5-0 if Labour does not accept that the British people understand that, sometimes, the books have to be balanced.
I hope that we use the economic scope that we have to provide the firepower to get the businesses through the next two or three months. I am confident that the Government are doing the right thing in terms of what is a very difficult wicket. I am confident that the fundamentals of our economy are sound, but what we must not do is let good sound businesses be knocked down because of a short-term difficulty.
Yvette Cooper (Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford) (Lab)
We have seen nothing like this in our lifetimes. We are in a situation where six days after hearing the Budget, it is already out of date. We are at a time when, across the world, aeroplanes are being grounded, borders are being closed, people are staying at home, health services are gearing up, and workplaces are being frozen down. Just two months ago, we had barely heard of covid-19, and since then 6,500 people across the world have died from it.
In China, hundreds of millions of children are being educated at home—some online. In Italy, people are building makeshift hospitals, even tents, to treat the sick. France has imposed a two-week lockdown, and Ireland has closed all its schools. The scale of the action that countries are having to take to deal with this global crisis feels overwhelming, and we are just at the start. Nothing will be normal for very many months, and all of us will have to face up to that in our communities, in our workplaces, and in families across the country. That means that, right now, many people are feeling very worried. Parents are worried about whether to send their kids to school. Pensioners are worried about whether they should be going to the shops. Their sons and daughters are worried about whether they should be visiting them. Cinema and pub staff are just worried about whether they are about to lose their jobs, and many will be facing exactly that fear this week. Self-employed contractors are at a loss because their business is drying up and small businesses fear that their life’s work and savings are about to be lost. Commuters are worried about travelling by bus, train or tube. Doctors, nurses and NHS staff and social care staff are in distress about the life-and-death decisions they know they may have to make on our behalf.
The immediate challenge for Government in the face of this is to provide some urgent answers, urgent interventions, and urgent reassurances so that we can stop the anxiety, the panic and the hardship growing, and so that we can stop a national crisis becoming millions of separate family crises across the country. We can rise to that challenge, but we need to do so now. That means answering some very practical questions. For example, people have contacted me following the advice that was given yesterday, asking, “What should people do if someone in the family has serious health conditions, but they are doing a job that cannot be done from home?” Those jobs may be in distribution, in retail, in education, or working in schools. They may be in policing, or they may be doing countless important jobs across the country. Should they go to work? Should they send their kids to school?
I have been contacted by one mum who is suffering from cancer and who wants to be able to keep her daughter at home. She and others need support and advice. What are the plans to deliver care, food and supplies for those who are going to be at home? Crucially, we will need urgent assurances that no one will lose their home, and that everyone will be able to pay their bills to feed their kids and to keep their families going. We look forward to the response from the Chancellor later today so that we can know that, whatever the changes in our lives that are going to be needed, we can strain every sinew to keep important services going. That means getting some immediate commitments for substantial financial support for families. We all know that the current system of universal credit, of statutory sick pay or of any of those tinkering measures just will not cut it. If the Government try to use them, all they will do is expose even further the weaknesses and failings in our welfare system and our social insurance system that are already causing huge hardship. Quite simply, those systems will not be able to take the strain. There needs to be substantial, unconditional support, so that people can pay their rents, their mortgages and their bills, because food banks will not be able to fill those gaps.
Those urgent assurances and interventions are essential if we are to address people’s anxieties and concerns, particularly in relation to family finances and family health. There is a much bigger task, which is to shift our shared mindset from anxiety to action to ensure that we are not just all overwhelmed by alarm when we have practical tasks ahead of us, and when we need to focus on the practical things that can be done and must be done to come through this together. There is little time for any of us to absorb or assimilate the scale of the changes that will be made in all of our lives this year, so that we can get through this, but we have to get on with it.
Incredible work is already under way. People have already paid tribute to NHS staff who are preparing for the task ahead. We should also pay tribute to emergency planners in our local councils, in social care services, in businesses, in food distribution systems and in voluntary groups across the country. They are already preparing and planning for the challenges that we face and those huge changes that we will need to make. It will need calm leadership, clear communication, frankness about how difficult some things are going to be, but firmness about our ability to come through this, about our resilience and strength, and about our ability to work together in extraordinary ways. In the end, we may be grateful that we are also the generation that now communicates so much online, and that has different ways to hold our families together, to communicate and to work. Some of those new technologies will make it easier to address new challenges than perhaps would have been the case 10 or 20 years ago. It also means that the Government must address the scale of the task, and it does not feel as if they are doing so yet. I do not blame Ministers for struggling to keep up with this, because in the early stages of the financial crisis it took time—often precious time—to realise the magnitude of what was happening and the scale of previously unthinkable things that had to be done to turn it round. We do not have that time now.
It is good that the Government seem to have shifted strategy in the light of evidence from Imperial College, which confirms what the WHO, epidemiologists and public health experts from other countries have been saying for some time, and which shows that the objective should be suppression of the virus, because the number of lives that would be lost by pursuing a mitigation or herd immunity strategy would be far too great. Again, it feels as if the Government still have to do more to shift to that new strategy in practice. For example, we are still only being advised to go to the pub—advised not to go to the pub. [Interruption.] If only! It feels as if we are only being advised, and it feels as if Ministers are being a little too squeamish to tell us what they need us to do, and to tell the pubs what they need to do. My message to Ministers is, frankly, “Get over it,” because there are an awful lot more things that they are going to have to tell us to do before the crisis is over.
It does not feel as if there is a proper strategy for testing yet—a proper plan massively to gear up the number of tests that we need. The chief scientific adviser has said that that is what he wants to see, but we need the same kind of national effort for which the Prime Minister has rightly called to produce ventilators across the country. We need a massive scaling up of testing. The World Health Organisation has said, “test, test, test” and
“You cannot fight a fire blindfolded”.
That is what we need. I have heard from consultants who say that in some hospitals three quarters of elderly care consultants are self-isolating and cannot gain access to tests to find out whether in fact they are fine and can get back to work, where they are urgently needed. If we rely on the information from hospitals to tell us what is happening on the scale of the spread we will be two weeks behind the curve. We cannot afford to do that. We need to learn from what South Korea did, with a massive mobilisation effort.
If the spread is accelerating, keeping schools running as normal is going to become impossible and seriously unwise. Given the reports from London hospitals about rising numbers of covid-19 cases coming in through A&E, and reports that we are three weeks behind Italy, we should ask ourselves what would Italy have done three weeks ago if it had known? That is what we have to face, and it means that we need urgent plans to be in place now on how to close or scale down schools while keeping parents and vital services in work; while stopping grandparents being drawn into childcare and being exposed to the virus; and while supporting families who depend on free school meals as well as those who have safeguarding risks. This is urgent.
The Budget was designed around the old strategy of mitigate and manage, or tinkering with sick pay and staff absence. We are way past that point. Entire sectors such as travel, leisure and hospitality cannot function at a social distance. There are 1.9 million jobs in catering, restaurants, pubs and coffee shops. There are more than half a million jobs in hotels and holiday accommodation. Those sectors are not sustainable, given the way in which we are going to have to operate and live our lives for at least the next few months. How we support those sectors and people who work in them is crucial.
Other sectors such as social care and food distribution need to grow and change to meet community needs. Communities will have to support one another, but we cannot just stand back and hope that the free market will solve the systemic challenges that we face. Emergency planning will be needed, as well as intervention and funding on a scale that the Government would never normally contemplate. I hope that as well as talking more about emergency funding for the NHS, the Chancellor will announce a big injection of emergency investment for local authorities so that they can support public health, emergency planning, housing, family support, social care and children’s services, which are now our crucial community actors, and which urgently need to take on more staff to deliver the changes needed. We need sectoral plans, to make sure that we still have something as simple as community pubs, which can open again when the crisis is over.
This will be a challenge. We all know and fear that those who are on the lowest incomes will be hardest hit, which will be a challenge for all of us. But we can do this, and we have the strength, resilience, ingenuity and ideas. We will have to pull everyone together, not push people apart. We will have to do things in new ways, including doing politics in different ways—pulling people together and facing up to the sheer scale of what needs to change. Politics has to stop being the art of the possible and become the art of the apparently impossible, so that we can come through this together.
Several hon. Members rose—
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)
I am very pleased to call, to make his maiden speech, Ian Levy.
Ian Levy (Blyth Valley) (Con)
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I give my sincere sympathy to anyone affected by the coronavirus.
It is with immense pride that I take my place in the Chamber and make my maiden speech as the first Conservative Member of Parliament for Blyth Valley since the seat was created in 1950. I pay tribute to my predecessor, Ronnie Campbell, who began serving Blyth Valley in Parliament in 1987. While we had many political differences, he sought to represent the people of Blyth well, and I am honoured to take over that role. It is a remarkable area and I will do all that I can to ensure that its people and their concerns and aspirations are heard here in Westminster.
Blyth is, of course, the main town, which gives its name to the constituency. My family have farmed the land there for generations, and Blyth is part of my DNA. It is a town steeped in history, but one that is dynamic and forward looking. It was a submarine port during both world wars; the place where the world’s first purpose-built aircraft carrier, the Ark Royal, was launched in 1915; and, not forgetting, the home of Blyth Spartans football club. I am so proud to wear their tie today. Built on coalmining and shipbuilding, Blyth is now at the forefront of developing renewable energy technologies. The port of Blyth will continue to play an important role in trade after Brexit.
Cramlington, also in my constituency, is the former home of the No. 36 Defence Squadron, which protected the north of England during the first world war, and one of the new towns that were built across the UK in the 1960s. This comparatively young town has a fantastic community spirit and residents have made their mark in so many areas, including sports, the arts and industry. I particularly enjoyed a visit to the Blagdon amateur dramatic society panto earlier this year—hon. Members are supposed to say, “Oh no you didn’t!” I was very impressed by the talents of that group of young people.
A number of villages, including Holywell, New Hartley, Seghill, Seaton Sluice and Seaton Delaval are also found in the area, which is more generally known as Seaton valley. With its beautiful coastal scenes and stunning countryside, Seaton valley illustrates why Northumberland is one of the most beautiful places in the north not just to live but to visit. Home to Arrighi’s café since 1925—without doubt, it sells the best ice cream in the UK, at least according to my wife, who visits regularly on Sundays—it is also the birthplace of Captain William Smith, who discovered Antarctica on a worldwide voyage on his Blyth-built ship, The Williams.
I started my working life in Blyth market when I was 13. Leaving school at 16, I worked for the council as a gravedigger. Back then, we had to dig the graves by hand; there were no machines to do the job. When I was 21, the family suffered a major setback: my dad was knocked off his motorbike by a hit-and-run driver, and never walked again. He became severely disabled. With my brother and sister both away from home, I provided support to both my parents at this relatively young age. That made me acutely aware of the need to support carers and of the challenges faced by both carers and the disabled people they look after. I eventually became a mental health nursing assistant and worked for the NHS—a role I had and loved for over 20 years.
My political journey began in 2016, when I became fed up with the state of my home town and some of the long-running problems that he area faced. After many months of my complaining, my long-suffering wife Maureen told me, “Ian—shut up or do something about it!” Recognising that I needed to act if I wanted to improve things, I wrote to the then Prime Minister David Cameron, joined the Conservative party and started working for what I believed would be a better future for Blyth Valley. Looking back at my journey now, I am honoured and proud—as well as mildly surprised—to find myself representing the area I call home down here in Westminster.
I give my sincerest thanks to all those who helped and supported me—from my agent Richard Wearmouth, my family, my friends and my NHS colleagues at Willow View, where I worked for many years, to the people who helped both during my campaign and since. I believe that my election proves that the Conservative party is one of real opportunity: it does not matter if you are the Eton-educated son of an earl, a council gravedigger or a nursing assistant with the NHS—if you have a passion for improving things for people, then you are welcomed with both arms.
The people of Blyth Valley voted for change in December 2019. They share my ambition to energise the town centre through the future high streets fund and a Blyth town deal and to connect our towns and communities with a new rail link and an improved road network. They want to support our industries and ensure that our children in Blyth Valley have the skills to secure employment in a thriving local business and they want to see a revolution in green technology. The people of Blyth Valley will rise to the challenges and opportunities that our departure from the EU—and that is what they voted for—will bring. For those reasons, I am proud to support this Budget: a Budget that recognises our country’s priorities and gives communities such as Blyth Valley the opportunity to thrive as we strive to make our way as world leaders of the future.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)
It is a pleasure to call Ian Byrne to make his maiden speech.
Ian Byrne (Liverpool, West Derby) (Lab)
It is an immense privilege to stand in the House today as the Member of Parliament for Liverpool, West Derby—the community that made me. With the coronavirus pandemic sweeping across the globe, this is a worrying time for the people we represent across this House. In light of that, the speech I deliver today will be very different from the one I wrote three weeks ago.
I would like to start by thanking my predecessor, Stephen Twigg, for the service he gave to West Derby constituency during his time in this House. I have heard from many people first hand what a good constituency MP and excellent parliamentarian Stephen was, and I am sure the House will join me in wishing him every success in his post-parliamentary career.
The constituency of Liverpool, West Derby has many notable sons and daughters, including Bessie Braddock, the formidable former Labour MP, who lived with her husband Jack on Zig Zag Road in West Derby in 1942. West Derby is home to The Casbah coffee club—a legendary venue that played a huge role in the formation of the world’s greatest band: the Beatles.
Continuing the theme of world class, as an avid Liverpool fan it would be remiss of me not to mention our legendary former manager and great socialist, Bill Shankly, who lived in West Derby opposite Liverpool’s Melwood training ground. The constituency is also the birthplace of currently the best right-back in the world: Trent Alexander-Arnold. We have, in our current manager Jurgen Klopp, a man who is showing more leadership and wisdom off the pitch during this crisis than some of our world leaders.
I grew up in West Derby in the ’70s, against a backdrop of de-industrialisation and Thatcher’s Government. Labelled “the hardest nut to crack” by the Tories and earmarked for “managed decline”, the Liverpool I grew up in knew the despair of joblessness and economic deprivation. It was a city on the brink—but one that dared to fight back. I am proud that, 35 years on, Liverpool’s red wall stands firm. People in our city know that Liverpool City Council has £436 million less to spend per year now than it did in 2010—that same council will be straining every sinew to keep its people’s heads above water, despite being hollowed out by cuts.
On 15 April 1989, at 17 years of age, I was in Leppings Lane at the FA cup semi-final at Hillsborough. What happened that day, the aftermath and the smears against the families, survivors and the people of our city have profoundly shaped my life and my politics. The 30-year fight for truth and justice serves as a reminder that when we pull together the power of the people is greater than the people in power. However, it should not have taken that fight to prove it. Our justice system still denies bereaved families a level playing field when they are taking on public authorities or the state. That is why we need the Hillsborough law to ensure that working-class people have access to the same tools that are available to the powerful.
We now know that austerity was a political choice. I know the human cost all too well. In 2015, I teamed up with my Evertonian mates Dave and Robbie to co-found Fans Supporting Foodbanks, a grassroots initiative that puts football fans at the heart of the fight against food poverty. What started with three fans standing with a wheelie bin collecting tins of food outside the pub on match days now supplies 30% of all donations to North Liverpool Foodbank and has become an operation that stretches from Glasgow to London to Dublin. We have united people of different backgrounds, different faiths and even people who wear different colours at the game, because our problems were not caused by other working-class people, but by a rigged system propped up by the born-to-rule elite who only represent the interests of the 1%—a system that means 1.6 million people need help from a food bank in one of the richest countries on earth. I am here in Parliament to challenge that system.
In West Derby, we are also immensely proud of our two world-class hospitals, Broadgreen Hospital and Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. I am proud to have organised workers in both hospitals for better pay and conditions as a trade union organiser for Unite the union. Now, as we face the coronavirus pandemic, I would like to express my unreserved gratitude to all our NHS staff for their dedication and courage. This pandemic clearly demonstrates how free health and social care is not a cost, but a precious and crucial asset when fate comes calling. The Government must rise to this challenge. We must act now to support those who need us. In the immediate term, we need a rescue package for working-class people and communities with the same scale and urgency as the bail-out of the banks.
The first duty of any Government is to protect their people, so the Government must adopt clear commitments to prioritise human need—that no one will lose their home, no one will be plunged into hardship, and no one will go hungry as a result of a virus that is not their fault. I say to the Government that now is not the time for half-measures. They should guarantee decent sick pay for all workers, suspend rent, mortgage and utility bills, make private healthcare facilities available for our NHS rent-free, ban evictions, end sanctions, scrap the five-week wait for universal credit and consider rolling out a basic income.
We cannot leave it to the whims and the warped priorities of the market. Only bold state intervention will see us through this crisis, if only we had the political will to act. Our demand must be an end to the broken political and economic model of the last 40 years. The reversal of the Thatcher doctrine will never be more critical than in the coming weeks, because there is such thing as society, and we must shape that society to place the health and needs of its people above the interests of profit. That is what socialism is. That is what humanity is, and without that we are nothing.
Several hon. Members rose—
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)
It is a pleasure to call Mark Logan to make his maiden speech.
Mark Logan (Bolton North East) (Con)
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for calling me to speak in this most important of debates on the Budget, especially as it regards levelling up. I congratulate the hon. Member for Liverpool, West Derby (Ian Byrne) on his maiden speech.
Quite a few of us on the Government Benches stand up and, before opening our mouths, have great visions of sounding thoroughly Churchillian. But with as strong a Boltonian accent as mine, I will not be trying too hard to imitate Churchill today. [Laughter.] This is the greenest of days: St Patrick’s Day. For many an evening, I looked out on to the falling sun on Mount Slemish in my birthplace of Ballymena, the home of St Patrick.
Indeed, these Benches are green, a colour evoking camouflage—a colour that is restful, harmonious and self-effacing, and a colour of modesty and humility. I got that from Parliament’s intranet, in the hope of sounding cultured. You see, Madam Deputy Speaker, the people of Bolton North East are a self-effacing and very humble people who none the less have a proud history, producing some of the greats like Bolton-educated Sir Ian McKellen, and home to the magnificent Hall i’ th’ Wood Museum and the historic St Maxentius church in Bradshaw.
My predecessor, Sir David Crausby, was elected in 1997, and he has many admirers in both Bolton and Westminster. Sir David led on many campaigns, including to help save Bolton’s fire stations and, over many years, being a voice for improving railway services for the town. I know that the House will join me in wishing Sir David and his family all the best.
Despite being thrown into a global crisis at the beginning of 2020, I believe that, as a nation, we must aspire to pull through together. It was aspiration in the midst of the post-world war crisis that led the United Kingdom to found the NHS—an aspiration that we have the breadth of shoulders to shoulder every one of our fellow countrymen in time of need. This virus is causing a global crisis, yet I can feel that aspiration in every one of my fellow Members, irrespective of which side of the House they sit on. I, you, we represent our 66 million people’s united aspiration for security, prosperity, quality of life and a dynamic, exciting future. For that is why we are here. This is why Parliament exists.
When I think of aspiration, I recall the aspiration of the young lad at Eden Boys’ School in Halliwell to become head boy and lead his fellow students into a new digital age. I think of the aspiration of a group of early-20s fellas, yearning for more from a society that they felt had let them down and branded them as useless—yet few more stimulating conversations was I part of during the winter campaign. You, the young people in Tonge with the Haulgh, can help build our future.
I have been deeply impressed by the aspiration of Sharples School in Astley Bridge, which goes by the motto “Learn, dream, achieve”, and St Catherine’s Academy in Breightmet, who impressed on me, “We aren’t just teaching kids; we are bettering our local community.”
The collective aspiration of the people of Bolton North East is manifested in our ambitious town regeneration vision—not so much a project, but a blueprint for the future of the UK’s largest town. It is spearheaded by the leader of Bolton Council, who represents Bromley Cross and who I personally thank, along with my local association, for taking a punt on me. I was glad to enjoy the luck of St Patrick in winning the election by an almighty 378 votes! I aspire to work hard to make our vision of a regenerated, prosperous town, and the required Metrolink from Bolton to Manchester, a reality.
You see, Madam Deputy Speaker, Bolton North East was once the epicentre of the textile revolution. Samuel Crompton was born in what is known today as Crompton ward. As the British inventor of the spinning mule, which permitted large-scale manufacture of high-quality thread and yarn, he had a decisive impact on the British—and, by extension, the world—economy. Where, might you ask, is my connection to the land of the spinning mule? Well, I was at one time the spinning mule of the Foreign Office in east China, serving as chief spokesman at the British consulate in Shanghai, and spinning the yarns of the coalition Government to help build relationships with an emerging superpower. For an extended period of time, I had a front row seat in the story of the 21st century: the re-emergence of China and of the Asian region more broadly, or in Chinese—if I am permitted—wo cengjing qinyan kandao zhongguo de jueqi.
I encourage ambition, entrepreneurship and innovation in my own country. I believe in Britain, and I believe we can benefit from the rise of Asia through trade and partnerships. Bolton’s fortunes, much like the ebbs and flows of international relations, experienced one of their first highs with the advent of the spinning mule, but once we get through this current ebb, another high point is beckoning.
This Government are committed to levelling up, and Bolton is once again the epicentre of this. You see, Madam Deputy Speaker, we are a creative people, curious and always finding new ways of overcoming old problems. For example, the Radic8 company in my constituency is using innovative technology designed specifically for protecting people with weak or compromised immune systems against airborne viruses.
Often, Bolton North East’s businesses have a special feature: you pay a few pounds, and then you add a few pounds to your waistline. There is Shahi Bakers on Blackburn Road, an area of much diversity, where I almost ate myself into oblivion on Friday past—it was that good—or like the week before, when I nibbled on a pizza flavour traditional pie at Empieor. Both of these small businesses are brand-new in Bolton, and even though I did not spend a single pound in either—the freebies of being an MP—the owner of the pie shop was ecstatic that the Chancellor spent a few quid in last week’s Budget.
It would be remiss of me to skip arguably Bolton North East’s most successful export, Warburtons bakery, which once featured Sylvester Stallone in an advert. I never thought I would be quoting Rocky Balboa and “Eye of the Tiger” in Parliament today:
“Don’t lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive”.
Metaphorically, we must fight to keep our Union alive—our united aspiration.
Our institutions have taken a bit of a battering of late, yet it has also been in times of adversity that our most integral of institutions, the Union of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, has shone. You see, Madam Deputy Speaker, I spoke earlier of looking out on to St Patrick’s Slemish mountain, but only a few miles east over the glens of Antrim, I looked in awe, many a time, across the Irish sea at western Scotland towards the mull of Kintyre. At our closest point, it is only 12 miles away, and I say build that bridge! I say that in the spirit of aspiration, similar to my belief that we can lead the world in science, and I welcome the Chancellor’s increased spending for science and innovation in the Budget equalling £22 billion. We can continue to be a real success story that others look to with admiration and a desire to emulate.
I am incredibly honoured and excited to represent the hard-working people of Bolton North East. Even though I am not necessarily Bolton-born, you could say I am “Bolton bread”—and that at the very least, for the future of Bolton North East and our Union of united aspiration, it is time for me to earn more than just my mere crust.
Stephen Kinnock (Aberavon) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Bolton North East (Mark Logan), and I particularly congratulate him on that bit in Mandarin, which was blatant showing off. Nevertheless, it was quite impressive.
As the country struggles to deal with a global health pandemic, the very structure and foundations of our economy are coming into focus. Today’s debate is an important opportunity not just to talk about how we deal with the immediate impact of the virus, but to consider the foundations and structure of our economy. We must build resilience. We know that this shock will not be the last that our economy faces, and we need to build an economy that is able to absorb and bounce back from future shocks.
The introduction of the Government’s so-called levelling up agenda reflects what many economists, politicians and commentators have recognised for many years: the gross inequalities that exist in the UK economy are, in no small part, down to where someone is born. Tackling regional inequality must be central to any strategy to create a fairer Britain.
In London, Britain plays home to the richest area in the whole of northern Europe, but the UK is also home to the five poorest regions in northern Europe, with west Wales and the valleys the poorest of all. In 2016, average incomes in London were 77% higher than the UK average, which is as staggering as it is unsustainable. We need a commitment from Government that they will bridge the widening gap between our cities and our towns.
The economic story of the past 40 years has been one of a job market that has shifted from manufacturing to services, boosting metropolitan cities, but leaving industrial towns bereft of opportunity, wealth, power, investment, and a sense of security. Workplaces have changed beyond recognition, with productive and meaningful industrial work evaporating, and high streets being ripped up due to rapid technological change. A winner-takes-all post-18 education system has whisked certain young people off to university, but delivered nothing for the individuals and communities left behind. All that has been compounded by a decade of self-defeating Tory austerity—a party that responded to seismic shifts in the global economy by treating industrial areas with a toxic mix of indifference and incompetence.
Now, for electoral reasons, the Conservatives have put levelling up front and centre of their agenda. They know that their success in keeping hold of leave voters in the north, the midlands and parts of Wales will be largely dependent on how they manage to transfer wealth and opportunity in those directions. That aim is worthy in itself, but will the strategy succeed when the motives are skin deep?
Let us look at the baby steps that the Conservatives made with this Budget. Commitments on improving infrastructure and devolving power to city Mayors are central to the Chancellor’s promises, but we get the sense that this Budget is really a continuation of the city-centric model on which the British economy is based, and which has failed our economy and country for far too long. There is plenty to say about Leeds; not that much about Leigh. Policies for Birmingham; pittance for Bassetlaw. As a country we must be far more ambitious in tackling regional equality, as well as the gaping chasm that exists between our towns and our cities.
The likes of economist Paul Collier, the Institute for Public Policy Research and the Industrial Communities Alliance have each identified important levers for the levelling up agenda. Across the board there is recognition of the need to focus on local political autonomy. Whitehall simply cannot plan the economy of a distant area; it must devolve more power everywhere, not just via piecemeal city devolution deals. We also need a locally based finance industry. It was a huge mistake for the Bank of England to force the merger of regional banks, because local knowledge is essential in knowing where to lend. We need locally organised business communities that work closely in lockstep with locally based college education. Local youth should be trained in pertinent skills, which in turn will help the surrounding firms. For example, German tertiary education has much stronger links with local business.
For a decade, the Conservatives have failed those who do not go to university. Far from reviving vocational education, the Government have poured money into universities which, as well as failing to defend free speech, have loaded students with debt, and too often failed to provide them with any significant return on their investment. That cycle must be broken and must change.
The Government must also support the clusters of industries emerging around the UK—steel and clean energy in south Wales, tech in Cambridge, chemicals in Hull and metals in Yorkshire, for instance. We need a comprehensive and integrated policy agenda. Investing in transport is important, but it will not suffice. A continuation of the city-centric model will lead to more social damage and increasing travel congestion, and will do nothing to green our economy.
The most critical part of rebalancing our economy has to be a commitment to a modern manufacturing renaissance. UK manufacturing has been in decline for decades, dropping from 30% of GDP in the 1970s to a meagre 9% today. That is very much a political choice; it is not an act of God. Germany’s manufacturing base has remained strong, at more than 20% of GDP, thanks to proactive Government support and a proactive industrial strategy. Its economy is more resilient as a result.
Of course, any UK manufacturing renaissance must be underpinned by a thriving UK steel industry. Steel is the backbone of the British economy. It is not a sunset industry but a 21st century industry that continues to underpin our entire manufacturing base, from defence to aerospace, and our everyday lives, from the houses we live in to the offices we work in and the trains, buses and cars we travel in—including the electric vehicles of the future. Steel jobs are well-paid manufacturing jobs, offering people in so-called left-behind communities real opportunities in life, yet the Chancellor’s Budget did nothing to address the sky-high energy costs that are crippling the steel industry—UK steelmakers pay 80% more for their energy than their French counterparts —or to tackle the extortionate business rates that are crippling our industry.
If the UK Government are serious about levelling up, steel simply must be front and centre of that strategy. Without its steel backbone, the British economy will not be able to stand up, let alone level up. There is still no word on the UK shared prosperity fund, which will replace EU development funding from 2021. The clock is ticking, but there is still no sign of the consultation on that fund, which the Government promised at the end of 2018.
Levelling up cannot just be a buzzword. Getting Brexit done is already starting to come unstuck, with the Prime Minister’s “oven-ready deal” seemingly stuck at the back of the frozen food section. The levelling up agenda must not be left to thaw, and neither must it come out of the oven half-baked. We need a whole-nation industrial strategy that actually reaches places such as Aberavon—one that goes beyond the city-centric model laid out in the Budget and begins to reunite our deeply divided country.
Several hon. Members rose—
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)
It is a pleasure to call Sarah Dines to make her maiden speech.
Miss Sarah Dines (Derbyshire Dales) (Con)
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for the opportunity to make this speech today. It is an important day in our history.
I am told that one of the few pleasures—perhaps the only pleasure—in making a maiden speech is that it affords you the opportunity to thank your predecessor. It is none the less daunting for someone who has sat in this House for only a number of weeks to attempt to review the long career of Sir Patrick McLoughlin, who spent 33 years in this place, 30 of them on the Front Benches. Sir Patrick is much loved in the constituency. He assiduously balanced working hard on his constituents’ behalf with serving as a constant figure nationally. I am very grateful to him personally both for going out of his way to help me settle into the constituency and for coming out on the campaign with me so often during the general election. He left big shoes—or, in the case of Derbyshire and the rain of December, big wellington boots—to fill.
In the course of my research, I had the chance to read “Chance Witness”, the memoirs of another of my distinguished predecessors, Matthew Parris. I strongly recommend it to all Members of this House, particularly new Members. He made several observations about the place. The book provides salient lessons for a life in politics, not the least of which is about the dangers of assumption. While a Member, Matthew Parris courageously argued for the reform of sexual offences legislation, calling, for example, for the abolition of the penalty of imprisonment for the crime of prostitution. As part of his campaign, he invited a coachload of prostitutes to address a relevant Select Committee. At the appointed time, he entered Central Lobby to meet his guests. He cast his eye over those present and went up to a promising group of women and asked, “Are you the prostitutes from Birmingham?” There followed, as he described, “an awful silence”. “No,” came back the response. They were, in fact, a west midlands Catholic women’s group. [Laughter.]
It is a very great privilege to be standing here as the hon. Member for the Derbyshire Dales and the constituency’s first woman Member to boot. It is a large constituency of outstanding beauty: 377 square miles in size, most of which stands within the Peak District national park. It is bigger than several vocal European countries. The four main towns are Ashbourne, Bakewell, Matlock and Wirksworth and it includes over 100 villages. In large part, it is made up of rolling landscapes, green valleys and ragged moorland, and it is inhabited by fierce, independent and proud Derbyshire men and women, the backbone of this country. Bakewell and Ashbourne are established agricultural market towns, whereas Wirksworth, Bonsall, Monyash and Tideswell were centres of lead-mining. The population lies mainly along the River Derwent.
I am proud to state that there is a very clear connection between my constituency and this place. It is said that Henry Yevele, from the village of Yeaveley in the south of the Derbyshire Dales, did for English architecture what Chaucer did for English literature. He built the Jewel Tower across the road from this place and helped to remodel, reface and reroof Westminster Hall, as well as much of Westminster Abbey and Canterbury Cathedral. He used Derbyshire stone in his projects—this is of national significance—just as it was used several hundred years later when Birchover gritstone was used as load-bearing columns in the construction of Portcullis House. The flagstones for Trafalgar Square, Hyde Park Corner and the Thames Embankment also came from the Derbyshire Dales.
My constituency can also lay claim to be the home of the vigorous contact sport similar to the game of British bulldog so beloved of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister. The Royal Shrovetide football match is a game played annually on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday in the town of Ashbourne since the 1600s. It is played with a hand-sewn leather ball throughout the entire town, in its streets, fields and waterways, with sometimes more than 5,000 people divided into two teams made up of those born north of Henmore Brook, the Up’Ards, and those born south of it, the proud Down’Ards. The game is played over eight hours and the goals are three miles apart. It can be best described as a huge moving scrum with very few rules, the first and earliest of which is “no murder”. I know that the Prime Minister is not averse to a rough and tumble, and I cordially invite him to come and possibly participate, incognito, should he wish to come next Shrovetide.
Speaking of Ashbourne, I give notice to my friends on the Front Bench that they will be hearing a lot about the Ashbourne bypass, which we desperately need. It is a project of tremendous national strategic interest, because it services the quarries that provide minerals that are mined only in this particular constituency. We are fortunate to have many buildings of national significance in the constituency, including Chatsworth, Haddon, Sudbury and Kedleston, as well as Tissington, said by some to be the prettiest village in Derbyshire. In the words of that famous Chief Whip, Francis Urquhart, I could not possibly comment.
Derbyshire Dales has long been noted for economic innovation. We must not forget our historic traditional roots as we stand in these difficult times. It was the Silicon Valley of the 18th century. Richard Arkwright built the first water-powered cotton-spinning mill at Cromford in 1771, using waterpower provided by the fast-flowing streams. Inspired by the factory system pioneered by Arkwright, John Smedley, the knitwear company, was founded in 1784 by John Smedley at Lea Mills in Matlock. This factory, at over 230 years, is the world’s oldest continuous manufacturing factory in the country. It inspires generations of local families with its good practices of employer-employee relationships.
Derbyshire Dales was also the home of Florence Nightingale, the godmother of nursing in Britain and internationally. I do not forget agriculture, tourism, quarrying and mining. These are all vital aspects and activities of the district. I will do everything I can to support those communities and the farming communities, which are the backbone of the economy.
Derbyshire Dales is mineral rich. It has a long history of mining and quarrying. It shaped the landscape that built Britain over centuries. The Longcliffe quarries in the constituency provide key materials that we need nationally for all sorts of manufacturing and capital projects.
Also in the Derbyshire Dales are a variety of other world-class businesses ranging from family firms to artisan businesses and creative entrepreneurs. As a new candidate, I was duty bound to sample the world-famous Bakewell pudding, Derbyshire oatcakes and outstanding English cheeses, such as Dovedale Blue, Hartington Stilton and Peakland White, all washed down by a variety of local beers, including Chatsworth Gold and Bakewell Best. Some had to be sampled several times, I am afraid. Another example of the bespoke businesses in the Derbyshire Dales is the exquisite jewellery made by the world-class creative designer Jane Orton, an example of which I am immensely proud to be wearing today.
Moving swiftly on, I was honoured to attend a large Remembrance Day parade of those proud people in Derbyshire Dales, just two days after I was selected. In so doing, we honoured the men and women of the armed services, many from Derbyshire, who lost their lives in the service of our country. It falls on us to protect their reputation in the face of opportunistic and vexatious prosecutions.
The security of this great country is not only entrusted to our gallant armed forces. We are also protected by our intelligence and security services, which are often the unsung heroes of battles fought in the twilight and dark, and in the cold. One hero in that field was Sir Maurice Oldfield, the seventh director of the Secret Intelligence Service back in the days when it did not officially exist. I took some time off during my election campaign to visit his birthplace in my constituency, the village of Youlgrave, as well as Over Haddon, the village where he grew up and where he was buried in St Anne’s churchyard.
A tenant farmer’s son, Maurice Oldfield was one of the country’s most distinguished intelligence officers. He served at the height of the cold war and was described by the arch Soviet agent Kim Philby as formidable. He returned to Over Haddon for weekends as often as he could. He was noted for Derbyshire common sense. It is that sort of common sense that we need to embrace for the security and defence of the country in today’s world.
As for myself, I am a Conservative by both nature and nurture. I was born into this tribe. My first association, back in what was then the nuclear-free Labour heartland of Basildon, was a family enterprise run by my mother from the kitchen table in our council house. She canvassed with me in the pram. At the age of eight, I delivered my first Conservative party leaflet. At the age of 17, I was part of the selection committee that launched the distinguished parliamentary career of my hon. Friend the Member for Southend West (Sir David Amess), who I am delighted to see here today.
Like so many on our side of the Chamber, I am a living embodiment of Conservative policies. I am a working-class, council-reared, comprehensive school-educated Conservative—a product of Margaret Thatcher’s blueprint for change. Her vision socially and economically enfranchised millions of individuals across our country, presenting them with opportunities unavailable to previous generations. I am one of those people. This country needs to continue to level up.
For example, vocational guidance at my comprehensive school scoffed at my stated ambition to become a barrister, suggesting hairdressing instead. I pushed back at that arbitrary ceiling for girls and women then, just as I now push for the levelling up at the heart of the Prime Minister’s vision for our country. I believe in the free markets, free trade, rule of law and meritocracy that made this country the greatest nation in the world.
I am humbled to stand here today in this Chamber, which has echoed with the speeches of many great people, including my hero Margaret Thatcher, and the largely unsung heroes, such as Airey Neave, Ian Gow— both tragically assassinated—and others, who paved her way.
My politics are simple: I am instinctively cautious of the encroachment of the state into the lives of everyday people. I believe that George Washington—an Englishman born in America, of course—got it right when he observed that government, like fire, is both a fearful master and a dangerous servant. It is our duty as legislators to act as an ever-vigilant fire brigade keeping government in check and dampening down its innately incendiary tendencies.
The Prime Minister has spoken of the importance of levelling up and I, for one, could not agree more. In so doing, the Conservative party would rightly claim the mantle of other historic movements, such as the Levellers of the 1640s and 1650s—the blue collar Conservatives of their day—whose free-market and social radicalism indelibly shaped so much of the parliamentary system and rights that we have today. Their vision might have been too much for the Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell, but their time may well have come under this Prime Minister.
I thank you for your patience, Madam Deputy Speaker, and other right hon. and hon. Members for theirs. It was a privilege to speak today and I am very proud to represent the people of the Derbyshire Dales in this House. I hope that I might be able to catch your eye from time to time.
Several hon. Members rose—
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)
Order. I remind the House that if Members do not stick to seven minutes, I will have to impose a time limit, which might be even shorter.
Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)
It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Derbyshire Dales (Miss Dines). I congratulate her on delivering her maiden speech, and indeed on becoming the first female MP to represent her constituency, and wish her well for the future. She said that she embodies working-class values and that Margaret Thatcher is her hero—that is a concept that I have yet to get my head around, to be honest, but I wish her well.
Having been a civil engineer before coming to this place, I am instinctively in favour of investment in infrastructure, so I welcome the Government’s pledge to increase infrastructure investment. It can be truly transformational. The Scottish National party has argued for years that, instead of austerity, targeted investment can help improve the economy, especially with borrowing rates at an extended all-time low. It is good to see that this Government are finally listening. However, infra- structure investment should also fit a strategic picture and be part of long-term planning. It therefore does not make sense that the Budget and its headline announcements pre-date the Government’s long-overdue response to the National Infrastructure Commission’s national infrastructure assessment, which was published in July 2018.
A strategic approach also means avoiding a cavalier approach and glib announcements, such as proposals for a “Union bridge” between Scotland and Northern Ireland. The hon. Member for Bolton North East (Mark Logan) also made a fine maiden speech, but in the last couple of minutes it went badly south. He might be demanding the construction of a Union bridge, but the Secretary of State for Scotland has said that it is just a euphemism for a tunnel. If the Government cannot agree on whether they are going to build a tunnel or a bridge, surely they should instead allocate the money to the Scottish Government, who will use it much more wisely.
“Levelling up” is another Government catchphrase, but at least it acknowledges the neglect of some of the regions and nations of the UK over the years. That is particularly true in Scotland, where the lack of infrastructure investment by Westminster is an historic disgrace. Hansard is littered with broken promises of particular road schemes—projects that were subsequently delivered by the SNP Scottish Government. It took an SNP Government to construct a full-length motorway between Edinburgh and Glasgow, and it took an SNP Government to construct the missing M74 linkages. It was the SNP Government who build the M80. It is the SNP Government who are dualling the A9 and making it an electric highway. It is the SNP Government who had to complete the upgrading of what was the last single-track trunk road in Great Britain, the Road to the Isles between Fort William and Mallaig. To date it is the SNP Government and the Scottish Parliament, not Westminster, who have been doing the levelling up for Scotland.
Anyone driving around the highlands or across the Western Isles will see many road upgrades and causeways built by the Scottish Government with the help of EU funds. That was another way of having to make up for Westminster letting Scotland down. How will Scotland get its full share of the UK prosperity fund, given that access to the EU structural funds is no longer available?
We can talk about levelling up, but, as the Prime Minister said himself in the build-up to the Scottish referendum,
“A pound spent in Croydon is of far more value to the country than a pound spent in Strathclyde.”
Given that he has never apologised for that, it is hard to believe that he is taking the “levelling up” agenda seriously.
Another contradiction in the Budget and the big infrastructure projects proposed by the UK Government is the fact that they also propose to remove the red diesel rebate for construction plant. That would double the cost of fuel for plant hire companies, which would be passed on to clients. Have the Government considered the cashflow implications? Have they actually thought through the measure in total? The Red Book shows an income of an extra £5 billion over two years. That is £5 billion, more or less, added on to construction projects, so the Government are robbing Peter to pay Paul. Because of Scottish devolution, the Scottish Government and local authorities need to pay more for construction projects, and that money goes back to the Treasury, so we will be subsidising the Treasury yet again.
Another transport project that was supposed to level up connectivity between the regions and nations is the third runway at Heathrow. However, the UK Government lost in the court because they did not allow for aviation emissions to be aligned with the Paris agreement. They will now turn round and say that it does not matter because it is private investment, and it is up to Heathrow to sort it out. Well, it is not up to Heathrow to sort it out; it is up to the UK Government to do that, because climate change is their responsibility. They should follow the Scottish Government’s lead, and include aviation emissions in their net zero target. Moreover, if they are clear about levelling up, where are the public service obligations to protect the extra slots if the Heathrow third runway goes ahead? That is another vital aspect of connectivity.
There is also the issue of HS2. Where is the levelling up there? The route starts in London. The first phase is between London and Birmingham, and the London-Crewe section will follow. Trains will travel more slowly between Crewe and Scotland, because they cannot travel as fast on the existing main line. How can it be levelling up for us to have a poorer service once the high-speed trains are up and running—and where is our share of the Barnett consequentials? Roughly £750 million is due to us to date. If we are given that money, we can get on with our own infrastructure projects.
The Government have a big job to do if they are to hit their net zero carbon target by 2050. It will mean further strategic infrastructure investment, which will need to be done correctly to achieve this levelling up. That means investment in energy infrastructure. Again, we await the Government’s White Paper. When will it come, and when will we have a coherent energy policy that makes energy efficiency measures part of a national infrastructure project? The National Infrastructure Commission has long called for that, as has the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee. The Scottish Government have led the way, spending four times as much as the UK Government per capita.
We need proposals for carbon capture and strategy—the current Budget proposals are too vague—and we need to end the nuclear obsession. It is completely illogical to pay £92.50 per MWh for Hinkley for 35 years, compared to just £40 per MWh for offshore wind and a 15-year concession. We need to invest in renewable energy.
We need a levelling up of broadband and mobile coverage. The proposed infill still leaves Scotland behind. The UK Government are contributing only £21 million to the £600 million R101 programme. The size of Scotland’s land mass is roughly 60% of the size of England’s, yet we will get only 18% as much funding as England from the UK Government. That is not levelling up.
If Westminster were serious about levelling up, it would make up for those deficiencies—and if it is not willing to level up, let Scotland become an independent country and we will level up on our own terms.
John Stevenson (Carlisle) (Con)
The backdrop to the debate is very much one of a serious crisis with huge implications for us individually and collectively, for our country and for our economy. Before I touch upon the Budget itself and the subject of today’s debate, I want to make one observation. The overwhelming majority of the people of this country are employed by small and medium-sized businesses; people’s mortgage, lifestyle and standard of living depend on them. Indeed, the wealth of this country very much depends on small and medium-sized businesses. Therefore, looking at this crisis, I hope that when the Chancellor makes his statement this evening he concentrates on the lifeblood and the success of those businesses. Otherwise, the crisis will be detrimental to the long-term health and success of this country.
Specifically on the Budget, I want to make three comments. The first is one of support and encouragement to the Government. The second is one of hope. The third is a word of caution from somebody who is a strong supporter of the Government.
I very much support and congratulate the Government on the serious amount of capital investment that they propose for the regions, and not just for the north. It is widely recognised that that is badly needed, and indeed, many people would suggest that it is long overdue. The important thing is that this must not be a splurge. We must not see a surge of money going into investment and then a famine in a few years’ time. We need consistent and maintained investment for many years—indeed, beyond this Parliament. We should almost be suggesting that this is a cross-party initiative, because it might well go beyond the Conservative Government. If we are to see real change in our regions and in the north, in our roads, rail and airports, and in digital and skills we need a sustained period of investment.
Through that investment, what we ultimately want to do is create an environment for business to thrive. In many respects, the success of this investment will not be the new roads, new rail and so on. It will be whether there is private sector investment following Government and taxpayer investment. We want to see private sector jobs and wealth creation in the north. Indeed, I want people wanting not to come to London for their career, but to go to other parts of the country. I also give a word of warning: we should always remember that Governments do not create wealth; it is business and the private sector that do so.
I also support the Government’s review of the Green Book, which again is long overdue and extremely welcome. That will create a real opportunity to see investment going to places that have wrongly missed out in the past.
My second point is about hope—a hope that the Government’s is a real ambition to change our public services and our complicated tax system; a hope that we have the ambition to reform social care and to look at how we can reform other public services, improve their performance and develop them for the future; a hope that we have true reform of local government and real devolution to the regions, so that they can make their own decisions and investments, and have some self-governance in a way that we have not seen in our regions for many years; and a hope that we see some reform of the taxation system to make it efficient and fair, and making a real contribution to the economy—less tinkering, more simplicity.
To give one specific example, I suggest looking at reform of inheritance tax—a tax that is disliked by many people, by those who are going to pay it and those who are not, and indeed by future generations, who think their parents might pay it or that they themselves might have to pay it. It is not a tax that raises a huge amount of income for the Treasury, but, through some simplicity and with some changes, it could be fairer and at the same time generate more money.
Thirdly, I have a word of caution. I appreciate that we have a serious crisis going on, and I recognise that the Government will be looking to supply a great deal of funding and support for businesses, individuals and organisations up and down the country, but I am a fiscal conservative and I do, in the long run, believe that we must live within our means and that we must have balanced budgets. We cannot borrow forever. Looking around the world at other economies, we see that those that are debt laden do not function as well. Looking back to the 2008 crisis, the borrowing was £40 billion a year. That was after 16 years of economic growth, yet the Government at that time were still borrowing instead of repaying debt.
We have had 10 years of growth, yet we still have a substantial budget deficit. The danger for us is that if at some point in the future there is a rise in interest payments, that will have a very detrimental effect on the state of our nation’s finances. Rates might well rise at some point, and unexpectedly, in the way that other things can hit an economy out of the blue.
I therefore suggest to Government that while they plan for future annual growth in the economy, we must always remember that recessions will happen. Indeed, given the present crisis, a recession might already be under way, so we must be prudent in the long run to ensure that the nation’s finances stack up and that we have the firepower to deal with downturns when they come. A final point: prudence is a virtue, and it is one that I believe the Government should follow.
Gerald Jones (Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney) (Lab)
Although the investment that this Budget provides in our public services is welcome, it does not go far enough, and it does not bring our public services and local authorities back to a level we saw before this decade of austerity began in 2010. Our councils and public services are suffering and they need some genuine hope that austerity really has ended.
The Government’s new commitment to borrowing to invest, set out in this Budget, shows that the past decade of austerity was a failed experiment and that, ultimately, our communities and public services endured a long decade of hardship and immense pressure for a political choice. As we know, the budget for the Welsh Government has been cut by £4 billion since 2010, and this new investment does not come close to delivering the support our local authorities and our communities desperately need now. The additional £360 million of funding promised for Wales is welcome, but much more is needed, especially given that the UK Government clawed back £200 million from Wales on a recalculation only earlier this year. We all know that this welcome money does not come close to dealing with the cost of repairs and recovery following last month’s floods, let alone to supporting the Welsh NHS and all our other public services, which continue to suffer and operate under continued pressure from austerity, particularly as they prepare for dealing with the virus. We have been told time and time again that austerity is ending or has ended, and this Budget was a missed opportunity to give us all some hope that that is now truly the case. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has since confirmed what we all already knew: that this Budget does not end austerity or truly reverse the decade of cuts our communities have suffered.
On the virus, although the extra package of support announced by the Treasury to help the Welsh Government deal with the outbreak in Wales is welcome, we need clarity on exactly what will be provided and when, so that Wales can be prepared for the next stages of the spread; especially as the Welsh NHS is already under significant pressure from operating on budgets that we have endured since 2010. We have concerns about the impact on the training-based apprenticeships and on training providers, trainees and apprentices. Obviously, a lot of that is a devolved area, but we need much more support from the UK Government to ensure that Wales is able to meet its responsibilities in these areas.
Due to the unprecedented nature of the spread of this virus and its devastating impact on businesses, communities and, crucially, families, I urge the Chancellor to bring forward emergency measures to support jobs, small businesses, including pubs and restaurants, and the most vulnerable in our society, as we all attempt to weather this increasingly serious and constantly changing situation.
Chris Elmore (Ogmore) (Lab)
Does my hon. Friend agree that we need support for not just small businesses, but one-person businesses? I have been inundated by constituents contacting me because they run a business by themselves and do not qualify for much of this support. I hope that the Chancellor will make an announcement on that, because many people are desperate for that help in the future.
Gerald Jones
I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend on that. Indeed, only yesterday, I received an email from a constituent who was having similar problems. Such support is appropriate and we hope that the Chancellor will bring forward some measures later today or in the very near future.
I welcome the Welsh Labour Government’s response to the outbreak, which has seen a £200 million emergency package provided to support retail, leisure and hospitality businesses across Wales suffering due to the outbreak. We must also support our food banks in the coming months, because we know they will be needed much more than ever.
It was shocking that the Chancellor made no mention of Wales when talking about the damage from last month’s flooding. Communities in Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, and across Wales, were some of the hardest hit by last month’s storms, and the funding we desperately need to recover must now be forthcoming, as it has been promised—by the Prime Minister indeed. The cost of the initial repairs is estimated to be more than £15 million in my constituency alone, and we need assurances that Wales will not lose out and will get the funding it needs for our communities and businesses to recover.
As my hon. Friend the Member for Aberavon (Stephen Kinnock) mentioned earlier, it was alarming not to hear anything in the Budget statement about progress on how EU development funding will be replaced at the end of the year. There are just nine months to go until the EU development funding programmes end and we have still not had any information or clarity from the Government on how the funding streams will be replaced, or any clarity on the proposed shared prosperity fund. For months, Members from all parties have called for clarity on the fund. The people of Wales need answers. There is a gap of well over £300 million in EU funds for the Government to fill. They cannot hide or kick the issue into the long grass any longer. Our public services, local authorities and businesses need assurance and must be given time to prepare for the transition. I urge the Minister to give us clarity and confirm that it will be “not a penny less, not a power lost,” as we have been promised time and again.
I welcome the measures introduced so far to help our communities and businesses to cope with the current situation with covid-19. I praise the Welsh Government in particular, and local authorities and community organisations in Wales and throughout the UK, for how they have responded to the virus and sought to protect the most vulnerable among us. I also praise the incredible acts of kindness and compassion that we have seen from so many residents—I know that all Members are seeing the same in their communities—as well as the community initiatives we have seen as we endeavour to help those who need it most. We will unfortunately need much more of that in the coming months.
Finally, I urge the Chancellor and the Government to take the decisive action required to protect those who will be hit hardest by the virus outbreak and who do not have the means to support themselves. It would be a good start to remove the five-week wait for universal credit and to support self-employed workers with a realistic statutory sick pay. I hope the Minister will show that this message and the calls from other Members have been heard, and that the Government will now do what is necessary in this increasingly severe and fast-moving situation.
Suzanne Webb (Stourbridge) (Con)
It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to speak in this debate as part of a Government who understand their fiscal responsibility and have produced a Budget that delivers on its promises to the British people and lays the foundation of prosperity for tomorrow. I am grateful for the firm economic foundations as the economy and the Budget are currently overshadowed by coronavirus.
I pay tribute to the support workers, nurses, doctors, volunteers and residents in my constituency. I am immensely proud of them all. The community has come into its own during this incomparable crisis with a sense of true British “Keep calm and carry on” spirit, helping those most vulnerable and in need. I would expect nothing else from my brilliant constituents.
Last night, when I thought about speaking in this debate, I thought at first that my heart would not be in it because of the pressing crisis, but instead that crisis has highlighted to me the importance of the Budget, which is about levelling up and getting Britain building, and whose foundations will see us through this crisis. Levelling up has been compared by some in the media to the verbal equivalent of Polyfilla or mere political jargon, but levelling up has been taking place for the past three years in the urban west midlands, with not an ounce of Polyfilla in sight. For this debate, I will specifically focus on the urban west midlands.
After decades of losing out and falling behind after successive Labour councils across the region failed to work effectively together, the urban west midlands is starting to catch up. It is without doubt that that is because in 2017 the West Midlands elected its first Mayor, who of course was Andy Street, a Mayor who recognised the need to level up because the people in the west midlands had fallen behind London, Manchester and other cities. His approach has secured £2.3 billion of extra funding from central Government; brought jobs and investment to the west midlands; secured investment from overseas companies; and brought together the team to secure investment from the Government to ensure that the Commonwealth games will be hosted in Birmingham. His approach has seen the urban west midlands on the cusp of economic renaissance.
I wish to take a few minutes to correct politely a few comments made by the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill (Liam Byrne) last week. He asked for some evidence of Andy Street’s influence, and I am happy to oblige: £350 million for building homes on brownfield sites; £210 million for expanding the metro; £150 million for apprenticeships and skills; £30 million for new bus routes; £10 million to tackle rough sleeping; and £250 million for improving our high streets.
There is more. The right hon. Gentleman mentioned unemployment, which has fallen in the west midlands by nearly 50% since 2010. In the years during which Andy Street has been Mayor, some 97,000 new jobs have been created and there are nearly 7,000 new businesses. Nearly 50,000 people have started apprenticeships, too.
The right hon. Member mentioned housing. More than 31,000 homes have been built across the west midlands since Andy became mayor. That is a 42% rise, and, as I said last week, he smashed his own target of 25,000. Rough sleeping is down by a third because of his Housing First scheme.
This Budget gave us £160 million for the metro and for buses and a share of £4.2 billion for more rail and metro improvements. Construction has begun on the £449 million metro to Dudley and Brierley Hill. Please, Andy, if you are listening, do not forget to add a few extra tracks of the metro stretches to Stourbridge. This Government are also levelling up on the railways, developing the west midlands rail hub
The west midlands has been levelling up for the past three years, and, thanks to this Government, it will continue to do so in the future. That is the same levelling up that this Government are bringing to the whole country to provide opportunity and to share prosperity across the UK. The Government’s commitment to levelling up and getting Britain building will see impressive feats of engineering not just in the west midlands, but across the country. My one request to this Government is to do it sustainably and sympathetically to our natural environment. Whatever we are investing in for the future, we must respect the environment that they will share.
I welcome the announcement last week to reform our planning system and to bring forward a White Paper by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government. I hope that this planning reform will make the most of disused and neglected land. I welcome the Government’s announcement that they will launch a register of brownfield sites, which is backed by £400 million across the mayoral combined authorities to bring mostly unused land back to use. I hope the White Paper will have the confidence to follow the brownfield first example, which was set in the urban west midlands.
In conclusion, I welcome this Budget and the opportunity to level up and get Britain building. The only way to drive economic growth, as the urban west midlands has shown, is to boost productivity. Thankfully, it is this Government who will see us through this medical crisis—a Government who have a sense of fiscal responsibility and who recognise that levelling up will ensure the future prosperity of every town and city in this great and United Kingdom. It is a Budget that delivers on its promises to the British people to get things done, while also understanding that additional support in light of covid-19 will now have to be considered.
Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)
The Budget that the Chancellor introduced six days ago is already out of date. While I appreciate that we are in untested times, I urge the Government to get ahead of the curve, as opposed to behind it.
I welcome the shift in policy yesterday away from the assumption that most people would get infected with covid-19 to stopping the spread in its tracks. I must say that I was a little surprised that, after seeing what happened in other countries, we thought that it would be different in Britain and that perhaps the virus would spread differently.
China is ahead of us and is therefore at least a model of what is likely to happen here. In China, there has been a 20% drop in economic activity. Something similar will happen in the UK, so we need a plan and we need urgent and decisive action. A significant drop in economic activity already means redundancies and people being laid off, especially the millions in the gig economy or on zero-hours contracts. There will be no alternative for them but to sign on. The current benefits system, with its six-week delay, is not fit for purpose. We need a system that can act fast. There must be no delays in payment and processing—no delays at all.
Secondly, we will have millions of people in the UK who—hopefully temporarily—will have less money coming in. Hundreds of thousands of those who are just about managing will not be able to manage without extra support. We must not allow this sudden loss of income turn into a housing crisis, so my second ask of Government is to protect renters and to make it temporarily illegal to evict tenants for non-payment of rent because of the covid-19 crisis.
My third ask of Government is to support businesses through the next few months. That is particularly important to my constituents in Bath, many of whom are in the leisure and hospitality industry. It makes no sense for these businesses to go under because of a temporary loss of customers. The Government need to make it easy and quick to access bridging loans, as announced in the Budget last week. Currently, there is no detail of how that access and the process are working, and we need that information fast. We need a serious commitment from Government that none of those businesses in the leisure and hospitality sector will go under because of the coronavirus.
Turning to the Budget response to the climate emergency, the Budget should have been an opportunity for Government to match their rhetoric on tackling the climate emergency with real action—now, more than ever, as Parliament voted to commit to a net zero target and as the UK is hosting COP26 later this year. The UK should show leadership on tackling the climate emergency, but the Budget falls short in many ways. While there were encouraging announcements on electric vehicles and charging points, they were negated by the Government’s continued support for road building and petrol and diesel vehicles. The fuel duty freeze in the past 10 years has not resulted in an increase in people taking public transport but in an increase in cars on the road and fewer people using public transport. That should not be the direction pursued by a Government who are genuinely committed to taking all petrol and diesel vehicles off the road in 12 years’ time.
Where are the plans for the complete electrification of rail travel? The electrification of the line to Bath has been halted. When will it be completed? Most worryingly, there was no mention of any Government plan to tackle the UK’s greatest source of carbon emissions—our homes. The challenge is twofold: first, to ensure that any home that is a new build is fit for a net zero future and, secondly, to upgrade our current housing stock to make it energy-efficient.
There is no real ambition on that—the Government have only committed to require the future homes standard from 2025. They should legislate now, so that the thousands of new homes that will be built over the next five years will be net zero straightaway. The greater challenge is to retrofit the current housing stock so that it is energy efficient. That will be challenging and expensive, but is crucial, both in reducing the emissions from our houses and for alleviating fuel poverty. It is therefore frustrating that there was no mention of any action on that in the Budget. It is not enough simply to hope that people will upgrade their home’s energy efficiency. People living in homes with the worst energy efficiency ratings are often the poorest and most vulnerable in society.
The Government, who cancelled the Liberal Democrat green new deal scheme without a replacement, need to take the climate emergency seriously, and replace words with action. That means ensuring that we have just measures so that the burden of the net zero transition does not fall on those who can least afford it. The Chancellor should use the Government’s new-found affection for spending to provide support for upgrading all houses and building to energy efficiency grade C or higher. Rather than building roads, we should invest a lot more in public transport.
The coronavirus crisis is uppermost in our minds, but it has not simply replaced the climate crisis, which continues to be the most pressing issue of our generation. Not responding adequately will result in catastrophic cost to human life. The Government must step up.
Aaron Bell (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Con)
It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse). I offer congratulations, too, to my hon. Friends the Members for South West Hertfordshire (Mr Mohindra), for Blyth Valley (Ian Levy), for Bolton North East (Mark Logan) and for Derbyshire Dales (Miss Dines), as well as the hon. Member for Liverpool, West Derby (Ian Byrne), on their maiden speeches. It is a real honour to serve in Parliament. I am proud to be part of the 2019 intake of MPs across the Chamber, and we are all profoundly humbled by the circumstances and responsibilities that are on our shoulders.
The Budget was delivered in truly exceptional circumstances that have grown ever more so in less than a week. This is a challenging economic environment for us as a nation as we face the global coronavirus outbreak, and I hope that colleagues across the House will recognise the Chancellor’s willingness, first of all, to give the NHS whatever help it needs to get through this unprecedented challenge. To describe this as a baptism of fire for the Chancellor and, of course, for the new Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, whose appointment I welcome, would be significantly to understate things.
Our new Chancellor was extremely impressive last week, as he set out the measures that we are taking to protect, as best as we can, our economy, our workforce and indeed our entire population from the damaging financial effects of coronavirus, and I look forward to his making a statement later today in the same vein but with significantly more firepower. I must especially speak up for the small business owners of pubs, bars and restaurants and all their employees, many of whom have been in contact with me today. This is a hugely worrying time for these firms, which are pillars of their communities as well as of their local economies.
I turn to the substance of the Budget. The first point that I want to make is that it has delivered on the promises in our manifesto—promises that the British people voted for last December and that won us our majority. We are delivering the largest cash boost for the NHS in history, as we promised. The announcement of funding for 40 new hospital projects and the protected capital investment budget, to ensure that estate refurbishment and maintenance across NHS buildings goes ahead, is another manifesto pledge delivered.
I am particularly pleased by the announcement of £17.6 million of capital investment for the Royal Stoke University Hospital to build three new modern wards to increase capacity there. This Budget was also the first part of our long-term plan for levelling up the British economy—something that my constituents in Newcastle-under-Lyme will hugely welcome. North Staffordshire has historically not had the best deal, so I am delighted to see concrete plans in the Budget to ensure that everyone across our country has the opportunity to succeed, especially in Newcastle-under-Lyme and north Staffordshire more widely.
I am also pleased at the announcement that the Department for Transport has included improvements to the notorious M6 junction 15 in the second road investment strategy. I promised Newcastle-under-Lyme residents that I would call on the Government to act and am delighted that my concerns and those of my colleague and neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent South (Jack Brereton), who has also been campaigning on this issue in his time in the House, have been heard. Work must now be done to see what a new junction 15 could look like and how quickly that much needed improvement can be brought forward. That will have important benefits for my constituents, particularly those in the southern suburbs of Clayton, the Westlands and Westbury Park.
I hugely welcome the Government’s commitment to put 0.8% of GDP into research and development; it is particularly welcome that that would place us above countries such as the US, China and Japan as a proportion of GDP. I especially welcome the commitment that more R&D funding will go to universities outside London, the east and the south-east of England. World-class science is happening right across the country. For example, fantastic, innovative projects are taking place at Keele University science park in my constituency, such as the smart energy network demonstrator and the hydrogen project HyDeploy, which should provide greener energy from our gas network. We also have a number of world-class firms in our science park, such as the vaccine manufacturer Cobra Biologics and Pharmaceutical Services, whose skills and capacity will, I hope, be tested sooner rather than later.
I hope that Keele will benefit from the increase in R&D funding, along with many other institutions across our country. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s announcement about investing £800 million into a model based on the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency is also very welcome and relevant at the moment. I know colleagues across the House will be particularly interested in seeing how that money is going to be used. Alongside my colleagues on the Science and Technology Committee, I will be looking at how it is best spent to ensure that we are investing in ideas and pushing our country forward.
I turn to a couple of campaigns. I am glad the Chancellor responded to the lobbying on the issue of the fuel duty freeze from me and other MPs in the Blue Collar Conservatism group. We promised during the general election that we would be on the side of hard-working families if we got into government, and that is why I am so delighted that he confirmed that fuel prices will not be going up in this Budget. The fuel duty freeze will make a huge difference to hard-working people in Newcastle-under-Lyme who rely on their cars—the cumulative effect is now about £1,200 more for the average driver. I also repeat my previous pleas in the House for investment in public transport provision across north Staffordshire, starting with a super-bus network.
I am delighted that the Chancellor has announced he will axe the reading tax on digital books, newspapers and academic journals from 1 December 2020. That was another campaign I had supported ahead of the Budget, and the announcement is fantastic news. The decision will make a huge difference to people with disabilities who struggle to read or handle printed books, and remove a barrier to literacy for children and young people, 45% of whom now prefer to read on a digital device.
In conclusion, I welcome the Budget and I expect to welcome the additional measures the Chancellor will be taking later today. These are unprecedented times, and he and the rest of the Government will have my full support in dealing with the challenge that we must now face.
Ruth Jones (Newport West) (Lab)
I start by paying tribute to all the staff of our national health and social care services, who are working around the clock at the moment in difficult and unpredictable circumstances. They are doing an amazing job. They are resilient and hard-working, and I want to thank them all. I also thank all the staff in both Houses and on this estate for persevering and coming into work at this worrying time.
My message to the people of Newport West, and people right across our country, is that they must follow the medical advice published by the devolved Governments and the Government here in Westminster, to stay as safe as possible. I pay tribute to the well-established and enduring community spirit of the many people in Newport West who have got organised and are looking out for their neighbours and ensuring that all those in need get the support they deserve. They are a credit to their communities and I thank them for their public-spirited nature.
I welcome the measures in the Budget that will be directed to efforts to combat covid-19. I agree that this is a time for calm heads and wise decisions. We meet today in unique and uncharted territory. I recognise that this is a time for respectful and sensible co-operation among the parties in this House. I know that we, the Opposition, will play our part, but one specific request I must make on behalf of small businesses, including the pubs, clubs and bars of Newport West, is for the Minister to please ask the Chancellor to bring to the House special measures to help people who are so worried for the future of their businesses and their staff.
The background to this Budget is a climate emergency, a global pandemic and a Tory Government who have finally found the magic money tree after a long 10-year love affair with austerity. Four Chancellors, three Prime Ministers and a decade of under-investment have forced the Government to launch a levelling up agenda. I think it is less about levelling up and more about making up for lost time and the wrong decisions. From my weekly surgeries and talking to people right across Newport West, I know that our social security system has lost its way. We need to rebuild it from the principles on which it was founded: supporting people rather than policing them, and alleviating poverty rather than forcing people into it. The first missed opportunity of this Budget was to scrap universal credit once and for all. It has caused severe hardship for many people because of the major flaws in its design and the way it has been rolled out.
The second missed opportunity in the Budget was keeping our communities safe. Since 2010, the Tories and their allies—the Lib Dems and the Democratic Unionist party—have cut the police, police community support officers and police civilian staff, and that has been made far worse by the fact that the prosecution rates for all crimes has hit a new low. The other side of this important issue is the fact that the prison system in England and Wales has been pushed to breaking point through under-resourcing, with widespread violence and evidence of radicalisation in prison. That has been made worse by the fact that legal aid and the courts have been decimated by cuts, undermining access to justice. That proves that the Tories cannot be trusted to keep our country safe.
Another issue I am increasingly concerned about is the fact that free access to cash is reducing at an alarming rate. That is hugely impacting on the most vulnerable people and communities in all parts of the UK. The Government must take the strongest and most effective action to maintain free access to cash in our communities, and I particularly welcome the campaigning work done by the magazine Which? on that important issue.
In the recent debate on the Queen’s Speech, I noted that in my constituency of Newport West the average household wage in Marshfield is double the average household wage in Pillgwenlly. Those two communities are separated by just a few short miles. I hope the Government will focus on levelling up wages and creating a more equal society by deeds and not just words. I am pleased that the Government have listened to Members on all sides of the House and abandoned their plans to hike tax on motorhomes by 705%. That is a welcome step for those who own a motorhome, and it shows that campaigning by MPs of all colours can work.
Lastly, I want to say a word about our country. This United Kingdom is meant to be a Union of equals, but the lack of investment in and respect for Wales is nothing short of disgraceful. I caution the new Tory MPs in north Wales to not think that the Chancellor is their friend if this Budget is anything to go by. Just weeks ago, the Welsh Government were forced to return £200 million to the UK Treasury. That was just a couple of weeks before the people and communities of Wales saw millions of pounds-worth of damage caused by the recent flooding, which hit Wales and its communities very hard indeed. The Government allocated funds for flood resilience, but they need a fully funded and long- term plan, and they need it now. The Government talk about levelling up, but they now need to start thinking up and talking up our communities, too, in deeds as well as words.
I am proud to serve the people of Newport West, the people of Wales and the people of our United Kingdom, so I will keep working to scrutinise the Government and hold them to account to ensure that we can all be part of the building up—whenever it happens—and not just the favoured few.
Mr Richard Holden (North West Durham) (Con)
I would like to echo many of the words of my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Aaron Bell) about the coronavirus outbreak. While there were measures in the Budget to provide increased and potentially unlimited funding for the NHS if required, we look forward to hearing more from the Chancellor today for our small and medium-sized businesses, charities, employees and employers, businesses of all types and schools and colleges—particularly in areas such as mine, where people often do not have the option of working from home, including those in the manufacturing sector and the tourism and leisure sector. This is also massively affecting our high streets, and I hope that specific measures will be brought forward to look after them. I urge Members and their communities to sign up to become Red Cross community reserve volunteers, which is a very effective way of getting involved in the local community, particularly if the coronavirus spreads as rapidly as one expects it to over the next few weeks.
Turning to the substance of the Budget, I echo the words of the hon. Member for Newport West (Ruth Jones) on the motorhome tax. She and I have both been campaigning on that and I am glad to see the Government move swiftly to reverse that measure, which would have done great damage to both our communities.
More broadly, I very much welcome the extra funding for 4G roll-out and high-speed broadband in constituencies such as mine with large rural communities. That will help us to compete in this new era, especially when so many of our homes and businesses are so far away from telephone exchanges. Full-fibre broadband will help them move into the 21st century.
I welcome the news on buses. Through the national bus strategy, I hope that some of my rural communities—those in Crook, Willington, Tow Law and Weardale—will be able to benefit from increased services, particularly later in the evening and at weekends, when many people struggle to get out and about if they do not have a car. I also welcome the extra cash for high streets and the reopening of the towns fund. My constituency did not get any of that money in recent years and the town of Consett and the villages in the south of my constituency are looking forward to working with Durham County Council to bid for that money.
Research and development is immensely important to my constituency, which lies just outside the university town of Durham. We are looking forward to getting cash in this area, particularly as some of the university’s facilities brush the edge of my constituency. We would like that extra money to help us to upskill the economy. I welcome the hon. Member for Aberavon (Stephen Kinnock) saying that steel is not a sunset industry. We can certainly see that in north-east England, with the Mayor of Tees Valley, Ben Houchen, bringing back steelmaking to the region.
The more than £100 billion of investment in transport infrastructure, out of a total £640 billion on infrastructure over the next few years, is most welcome. We need to see our region tied into the major transport hubs across the north-east, and I hope that Consett and the surrounding area will get their connection over the next few years into Newcastle, so that we can be part of that growing and thriving city.
Before I finish, I want to pay tribute to some of the maiden speeches today. On election night, the victory of my hon. Friend the Member for Blyth Valley (Ian Levy) gave me the first indication that it was possible that I might be entering this place. I pay tribute to him and his wife Maureen for the welcome they have given me since I joined the House. I also pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for South West Hertfordshire (Mr Mohindra), who has joined me on the Public Accounts Committee. I look forward to working with him on investigations into how we spend taxpayers’ money.
The hon. Member for Liverpool, West Derby (Ian Byrne) said that it is important that individuals and community groups are able to take on public authorities and the state when they feel that they have been threatened, such as in the Hillsborough situation. I commend those words and support him in that. My hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Miss Dines) spoke of the Prime Minister’s rough and tumble approach to politics. I am sure that she will be more than capable of dealing with the rough and tumble of this place.
Kirsten Oswald (East Renfrewshire) (SNP)
I am always keen to start speeches with a note of consensus where that is possible and I am sure there is much consensus today. We are dealing with a very serious situation. It is an unprecedented crisis and it brings unprecedented challenges for individuals and businesses. As we are all sitting here in this ivory tower, we need to be really focused on doing the very best that we can to acknowledge what is needed and to do what we can to make sure that that happens, while there are people outside this place keeping essential services running and doing the hard shifts for all of us.
In that consensual vein, I am pleased to add my congratulations to the Chancellor on his presentation of the Budget at this very difficult time. His speech was upbeat. It was positive. It was almost convincing. He sounded as if he believed the Budget he was delivering was as good as the circumstances, which were certainly very difficult, would allow. The circumstances have certainly changed, and changed markedly for the worse. However, as reflection on the Budget itself has shown, it was not as good as it sounded. It was not as good as it could have been and it was not as good as it should have been. For example, COP26 is taking place in Glasgow later this year, we hope—coronavirus permitting—but his Budget did nothing to deliver net zero by 2050. Going into the Budget, we heard repeatedly about this promise of levelling up for people and for places across these islands, but on both fronts the Budget failed to deliver.
All these issues and difficulties are so much more pressing now because of the huge additional challenges we are facing. If we think back to the 2015 Budget—a key event in the austerity agenda—chasing welfare savings and the disastrous roll-out of universal credit have caused misery to countless thousands of the most vulnerable people in our communities—and they are all the more vulnerable just now. So we need to hear significantly from the Chancellor how we are going to stop people falling through the welfare gaps that we know already exist and are going to get so much more significant. This is hugely pressing and it is going to become increasingly so.
The Chancellor needs to tell us what he is going to do to deal with the magnitude of need, and the urgency with which he deals with that will be absolutely vital for our ability to support people, businesses and communities. That is the more pressing because of the unprecedented crisis we are dealing with at the moment. The Chancellor was right that the focus of his Budget was coronavirus and how we deal with that. It dominated everything he said. As he acknowledged, Government action or inaction can influence the spread of coronavirus. Exhorting people to wash their hands, to use handkerchiefs and to self-isolate—these things are really important and we do need everyone to follow the advice that is being given. However, we in this House also need to help people to make the right decisions, even if these decisions will impact on them financially. In that respect, what the Chancellor said fell very far short of what is needed. The measures he announced failed to extend statutory sick pay to roughly 2 million low-paid workers. They have been left to rely on universal credit. Members all across the House will be familiar with the huge number of difficulties that universal credit causes for people, day in and day out, when they fall foul of the delays and the chaos that are essentially built into the system itself. That is not good enough in the situation we are in: it was not good enough before and it certainly is not good enough now.
Following the Cobra meeting yesterday, the approach has been significantly ramped up. The Prime Minister has told people to stay away from many of the services that people who are self-employed, who are on zero-hours contracts and who work in the gig economy are employed to provide. So it is really important that the support available to people in these situations is stepped up. We need to hear more about this—much more—as a matter of considerable urgency.
The Secretary of State for Health also said yesterday in this Chamber:
“We should steer clear of pubs, clubs, cinemas and restaurants.”—[Official Report, 16 March 2020; Vol. 673, c. 697.]
But he did not say anything—he declined to comment—when he was asked whether he actually wanted these businesses to close. That is not okay; it is not good enough. The Government have to formalise their position on business closures. Only then might affected businesses be able to trigger business interruption cover, if that is available and applicable to them. If it is not, the Government need to bite the bullet, to step in and to be the insurer of last resort. They need to do this and to confirm that they are going to do this quickly, because the current lack of clarity spells the death knell for many businesses all across these islands. We need action now. The Government need to take action to stop that from happening.
The Chancellor’s announcement of temporary extensions to statutory sick pay has focused attention on the weekly amount of £94.25, which is the equivalent of someone working fewer than 12 hours a week on the national minimum wage. Surely the Chancellor does not believe that that will encourage people to act early and responsibly if they think they might have coronavirus. It is not good enough and we need much further action.
The Health Secretary said that the Government will give the NHS whatever it needs and do whatever it takes to tackle coronavirus. We can all agree with those sentiments. It is now time for the Government to match their deeds to their rhetoric and they need to do that now.
Jack Brereton (Stoke-on-Trent South) (Con)
I was pleased to be here this afternoon to listen to a number of maiden speeches from colleagues. Before I talk about the need for infrastructure to level up opportunities, I want to address the immediate challenge of coronavirus. I applaud the exceptional dedication of our health service workers and medical experts in delivering a professional response to an international emergency. We all need to play our part, heeding medical advice, but also supporting those who are most vulnerable in our communities, whether it be neighbours or relatives.
I am pleased to see measures in the Budget to support smaller businesses and high streets in the difficult times ahead but I hope that we will be able to go further. It is vital to support employers most affected by this situation and all necessary steps must be taken to preserve jobs for people to go back to. Disruption to transport and travel is particularly acute, and I welcome the measures being undertaken by the Government and by operators. Once the situation is resolved, it will be vital to get the country back on track and refocus on the investment in infrastructure that was promised as part of the Budget.
We in north Staffordshire are well connected to the national infrastructure. The M6, A50, A500 and west coast main line all serve Stoke-on-Trent and, in future, there will be High Speed 2 connectivity. But local transport in Stoke-on-Trent and north Staffordshire is very poor, with chronic congestion on our roads. The A500/A50 currently operates at 110% capacity and often resembles a car park. Incredibly, there is a great dependency on cars, despite 30% of the city’s population having no access to one.
Everyone struggles to get around the conurbation, which limits access to employment, education and leisure opportunities. It also has a dramatic impact on local air quality. The city is currently under ministerial direction to improve dangerous levels of air pollution. It is time to level up. Road congestion and poor connectivity are a major barrier to employment for one of the most disadvantaged parts of the country; it already struggles to access better opportunities. Improved local public transport would support wider developments in the area, unlocking sites that are currently unviable for housing and economic regeneration.
The decline of bus use across the Potteries has been at some of the highest levels in the country, with more than 1 million fewer bus journeys in Stoke-on-Trent in the last year alone. The main reason for that, according to operators, is a lack of reliability and delays caused by road congestion. Perversely, that has led operators to run fewer services at rush hour than during off-peak times.
I am encouraged by the Transforming Cities fund commitment to delivering a multi-modal transport hub at Stoke station, but it is essential that Stoke-on-Trent gets the full ask from that fund. I will be pressing Ministers, and the Secretary of State, on that point. A multi-modal hub at Stoke station is needed, but it also needs to be well connected to local communities across the whole area. It is vital that we see improvements to bus services across the city as well as to smaller local stations. I hope the Government will also give serious consideration to our superbus bid, which would focus on restoring routes, increasing frequency and capping fares, creating more bus priority measures and reintroducing cross-city routes.
In my constituency, I am campaigning to get a station restored at Meir on the existing north Staffordshire line, as well as to reopen the mothballed Leek to Stoke line, with a station at Fenton Manor. With HS2 serving Stoke-on-Trent via the promised Handsacre link, it is imperative that local feeder lines and local feeder stations are opened to spread the benefits of HS2 connectivity across the whole of north Staffordshire. I hope we receive support for our bids to the reopening of railways and stations fund.
On roads, I am grateful that my stream of letters to Transport Ministers and Highways England about M6 junction 15 has not gone unnoticed. As my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Aaron Bell) mentioned, we are delighted that the second road investment strategy—RIS 2—will work up a scheme for junction 15 so it can enter its development stages in the RIS 3 pipeline. The Government are delivering the largest ever investment in strategic roads, and I will work with local partners to build the case for much needed local improvements.
I must also mention potholes. I am glad that Stoke-on-Trent has been promised more money to address the decades of under-investment in road maintenance by previous Labour councils. The council is now putting more in, and extra help from the Government means we can replicate elsewhere schemes that have been delivered in New Inn Lane, Anchor Road and Times Square in my constituency over the last 12 months.
I know that the Government are determined to deliver for Stoke-on-Trent, which, as the Prime Minister himself put it to me last week, is
“the crucible in which the future of this country will be forged”.—[Official Report, 11 March 2020; Vol. 673, c. 274.]
I am delighted that we are in the running for transport investment from the Government, and I hope they will give us their full backing to truly level up opportunity in Stoke-on-Trent.
Rachel Hopkins (Luton South) (Lab)
This is my first Budget as a Member of Parliament. When I registered to speak in the debate more than a week ago, I chose to speak about the topic of levelling up and getting Britain building, because after 10 years of austerity hitting hard in my constituency, it is about time we saw some investment. Although the coronavirus crisis overshadows everything, I am still here to speak up on behalf of my constituents, who have been affected by a decade of decline. As my hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough (Andy McDonald) said from the Front Bench, we will get through this crisis, but it highlights the fragility of many of my constituents’ lived experience.
Terminology such as “levelling up” allows the Government to create a picture of improving living standards and opportunities, but it is a fairy tale. Instead, the Budget focuses on levelling up the market at the expense of the social infrastructure that serves people across the country. As working people continue to struggle to make ends meet in insecure employment, the benefit system continues to punish the most vulnerable in society and public services are squeezed, the Budget ensures that fat cats in the City of London and big business continue to profit.
To consider whether the Budget can deliver the levelling up it so boldly claims to, we must judge it in the context of a decade of decline and consider whether it will directly improve the lives of our constituents. The political choice of austerity and cuts in public spending over the past 10 years has contributed to a severe housing crisis, and the distinction between the haves and have-nots is stark.
Inequality has rocketed as young people cannot get on the housing ladder, renters are stuck in unfit homes, families in need cannot get a council house, leaseholders are exploited by the system, and homelessness has reached a disgraceful record high. The Conservatives’ reliance on a deregulated free-market ideology has also allowed weak housing standards, as we see from the many poor homes created under permitted development rights, and emboldened commercial property developers. There must be greater investment in good-quality council housing.
According to Shelter, in 2018-19 only 6,287 new council houses were delivered in England, despite 1.15 million households being on housing waiting lists. In the same year, 24,000 social rented homes were lost through sales and demolitions. Since 2010, the number of new Government-funded social homes being built has dropped by 90%. Instead of building council houses or genuinely affordable homes, the Conservative Government have tried to obscure their cuts by labelling more homes “affordable”—even when they are priced for sale at up to £450,000, which would require someone to be lent a mortgage worth nearly 15 times the average UK salary, or to rent at up to 80% of the market rate. Both are completely unaffordable for most families in Luton.
I know the Government will point to the commitment in the Budget to develop brownfield sites and to lower interest rates by 1% when councils borrow for social house building. However, neither commitment will sufficiently address the crisis. Brownfield land, because of quantity, location and remediation costs, will never come close to meeting housing need on its own. The 1% reduction in borrowing costs comes only one year after the Public Works Loan Board increased borrowing rates by 1%. This is smoke and mirrors. To level up and to end the housing crisis, the Government need to be driving a national, publicly funded housebuilding programme alongside councils and housing associations, not simply leaving it to the market.
Similar disappointment is replicated in the Government’s much anticipated and much needed transport infrastructure investment plan. We have a climate emergency and emergencies require urgent action, so public transport must be at the heart of the climate strategy. Instead of investing in a sustainable integrated public transport system, however, the Government announced a £27 billion investment in roadbuilding and a fuel duty freeze. That is more than the investment for all other modes of transport combined. This is ill-thought-through policy- making, when we consider that over 60% of the UK’s rail routes have yet to be electrified and that many train stations, such as Luton station, are in desperate need of remediation.
The underfunding of public transport is not restricted to rail. A decade of austerity has led to buses suffering a real-terms funding cut of £645 million per year, the withdrawal of 3,300 routes, fares soaring at two and a half times the rate of wages, and bus usage in England outside of London falling by 11.9%. Buses are vital to the economic prosperity and social wellbeing of our communities, but the cuts and restrictions imposed on local councils have led to a franchising system which is run to deliver profit to shareholders, not an excellent service for passengers. The creation of an integrated publicly owned transport system would provide a brilliant opportunity to level up our country by addressing regional inequality. Regionally focused investment in transportation is an important part of an effective industrial strategy to boost productivity.
The Budget, however, does nothing to address regional investment inequality and accepts the outdated status quo of London receiving £410 more investment per passenger than the east of England. Rather than using taxpayer’s money to invest in green affordable public transport to promote regional growth, the Government have subsidised failed rail franchises, which, after their collapse or even now in the wake of the crisis, has exposed the limitations of a profit-driven privatised railway and funded the profits of bus operators. Virgin Trains East Coast, Arriva Northern Rail and the loss of bus routes in my constituency demonstrate the failure of a market-driven transport system.
Bringing transport into public ownership is not radical. We have German, Italian and Dutch state-owned companies running our railways and buses, and the profits are used to subsidise European transport. By pursuing a publicly owned, integrated transport system, we could ensure that every penny invested is focused on improving the standard of the service and working to tackle the climate emergency.
This Budget is not about levelling up the country, but a series of policy proposals designed to distract from the damage inflicted over the past 10 years. Our social infrastructure is crumbling. We have a housing crisis. Our transport system is broken. Regional inequality is growing. The Budget is an extension of austerity and a reminder that it is a political choice. It is political opportunism to protect the financial sector and burden our communities with a decade of cuts. It reaffirms what we already knew: the Conservative Government will time and time again choose to put profit over people.
Miriam Cates (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Con)
I am grateful to have the opportunity to speak in this debate. It has been a real honour to hear so many excellent maiden speeches. Like my hon. Friend the Member for North West Durham (Mr Holden), the moment the Blyth Valley result was declared was the moment I thought I had a chance of entering this place. I will never forget the look on the face of my hon. Friend the Member for Blyth Valley (Ian Levy) when he stood on the podium to make his acceptance speech and started with the words, “Thank you, Boris.” It was a memorable moment.
The progression of coronavirus over the past few days, and our response to it, has overshadowed the Budget. It is right that we focus every attention and effort on this significant challenge to our health, economy and way of life. Although it may take some time, we will overcome this challenge. I want to reflect on last week’s Budget statement and how my right hon. Friend the Chancellor signalled the most significant change to our national economic direction in my lifetime.
For the last few decades, our economy has followed a path of centralisation. As a result, money, investment and opportunity have been concentrated in London and the south-east. Cities have prospered while our towns and villages have been left behind. Business in our capital city has boomed, but if someone wants to start a business in one of our northern towns, such as Penistone, Stocksbridge or Chapeltown, they will be lucky to find a bank that will help them with a start-up loan. In fact, they will be lucky to find a bank at all. If someone wants to travel from Croydon to central London to work, they can choose from more than 20 services an hour with a journey time of about 20 minutes. If someone wants to get from Sheffield to Penistone, which is a similar distance, they can expect a journey time of 45 minutes and just one train an hour.
As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said, talent is spread evenly across our country, but opportunity is not. Last Wednesday, the Chancellor delivered a Budget that begins to spread opportunity across every part of the UK. During the election campaign, our manifesto commitment to level up our transport infrastructure and public services struck a chord with voters in my constituency. When I was knocking on doors in Burncross, Midhopestones and Dodworth, people talked frequently about poor or non-existent bus and train services. They spoke of a lack of opportunity for young people and frustration about always losing out to the big cities. Our promises to invest heavily in public transport, hospitals, GPs and schools encouraged people to lend their votes to the Conservatives. We know what happened next.
The Budget was about delivering on those promises and demonstrating to people across the UK, but especially in the north and in left-behind towns, that we meant what we said. We have heard important announcements on infrastructure, such as the commitment to Northern Powerhouse Rail and a £4.5 billion transforming cities fund that will revolutionise the way that northern towns and cities connect, and give access to jobs, training and opportunities.
The hon. Member for Middlesbrough (Andy McDonald) mentioned the £500 million Restoring Your Railway Fund. He was right that that will not open many miles of track, but he has misunderstood what the fund is for, which is to fund business cases for new lines or for existing lines to be reopened, such as the Stocksbridge to Sheffield line in my constituency. Along with the Sheffield city region, we have completed the next stage in our bid to the Department for Transport to hopefully get some of that money to make a clear business case for that service, which will connect residents with jobs, training, leisure and healthcare, and allow cyclists and tourists to visit our fantastic area.
A £5 billion fund for buses and cycle routes shows that the Government recognise how important those local journeys are to our communities. I am holding out for a new number 26 bus between Penistone and Fox Valley. Of course, the £33.9 billion for the NHS and the additional relief measures will make sure that our most valuable national service continues to be the envy of the world.
The Budget sets out a path to future prosperity, in a future where opportunity and growth can be spread evenly and fairly across our country. The key to our success in improving productivity will be helping people in areas such as Penistone and Stocksbridge to start their own businesses that employ people, grow and create wealth. The Budget was unequivocally pro-business. It increased employment allowance, cut rates and made provision for start-up and scale-up loans.
We have a major hurdle to overcome that will require Government intervention, individual effort and national unity. We face economic disruption, but the Government are doing everything they can to make sure that the disruption is temporary, so that when it has passed, we can take hold of our one-nation mission to level up our economy and spread prosperity and opportunity to every corner of the United Kingdom.
Yasmin Qureshi (Bolton South East) (Lab)
While I welcome the Government’s delayed decision finally to ramp up some measures yesterday, I am not alone in feeling that far too many major questions have been left unanswered and that not enough is being done. Today’s Financial Times reported that our mortality rate tracker shows that we have more deaths at this stage of the break- out than anywhere except Spain.
A number of questions need to be addressed. Parents with serious health conditions have not been told whether they should send their children to school or keep them at home. What plans do the Government have in place to deal with those families and what is the timeline? If they are supposed to self-isolate with their children, what steps should schools take to ensure that those children are not held back at school? What about cases where a school closes and parents cannot work? How will they get paid?
I want to ask the Government to consider seriously the question of closing schools. I have just received an email from a constituent who says that her son, who is at Salford University, has been sent home for five weeks, but her other son, who is disabled, is still having to attend his primary school. Such inconsistencies need to be addressed.
We are also told that frontline staff are not being tested for coronavirus. Can the Minister confirm whether that is true? If so, what is the Government’s reasoning behind it? We need to know more about NHS capacity. What steps are being taken to move beds from the private sector, and what is the timeline? Will the Government consider following Spain’s example by nationalising all private hospitals?
What about ventilators? To date, 69 people have died, and everyone knows that those who fall seriously ill as a result of coronavirus will need ventilators—they will be our saving grace, and the one thing that will help prevent deaths. However, it seems that we might not have enough ventilators. Germany and Italy are ramping up production of medical ventilators, which cost about $17,000 each. In Italy the army is now involved in the production lines. Can the Minister confirm whether the reports are true that the UK has one small manufacturer of ventilators that has a 40% market share? Will the Government consider giving Ministers specific responsibility for ensuring that UK production is increased urgently by following what Italy has done?
We also have to deal with older people who are vulnerable in our communities. Many of my constituents are coming together to help out, and it is great to see that community spirit, but there are people who are homeless and food banks are reporting shortages. What provision is being given to help local authorities and voluntary bodies meet the needs of vulnerable groups? Again, we need to know what will be given and what the timeline is.
Insecure workers and those on low pay must be protected and supported through this crisis. Many people in Bolton are self-employed or on zero-hours contracts. Now that whole households are being advised to quarantine together, many families will lose all their income unless the Government step in. We will all be in danger if those with symptoms feel unable to stay at home. If they are not going to have any money, they might take the risk of going to work even though they should be self-isolating. That is why full sick pay is needed to cover the entire period for which someone is in self-isolation, and of course if they are then diagnosed with the virus. That has been done successfully elsewhere in Europe. It is a responsibility that we cannot avoid.
Furthermore, some people will be unable to pay their bills, so what is the Government’s plan in relation to mortgage payments, rent, council tax, utility bills, VAT and business rates? Are they thinking of cancelling the debt, or saying that people can defer payment? Rent and mortgage payment deferment options should be made available so that landlords cannot evict tenants and mortgage companies cannot take action against people in these circumstances. The Government need to work with the banks and mortgage lenders to offer mortgage payments.
The same questions about paying staff and bills will apply to businesses that have seen demand plummet, and some are facing bankruptcy. How do the Government propose to help them? How will their policies help those who run out of cash, which is a particular problem for small companies? Of course, other businesses will also be affected.
At the moment, I am not entirely confident that the Government will move quickly to give workers the support that they will need in the coming months. So far, many of their announcements have not been full enough and have not dealt with all those different issues.
Another industry that will be hit is, of course, the hospitality industry. A banqueting suite in my constituency is already preparing for cancellations. It will probably go out of business. Pubs, cafés and other such places will be closing down. They may well go out of business, and all their staff will be laid off. Because the Government have not introduced a compulsory lockdown, those businesses cannot even claim insurance. I know that this question has already been asked, but I do want to know what the answer is. If it is to stop insurance companies having to make a big payment, then the Government can reach an agreement with them. They can subrogate their losses for what they pay out, which is a traditional way of dealing with some of these matters.
Full sick pay and lost earning protection are needed from day one for all our workers, including insecure workers, low-paid workers, and the self-employed who are self-isolating. The Government must give quick consideration to the issue of compensation, and to how much it should be. There will be a great many job losses. That is why there should be urgent action and a rethink on universal credit, which started some time ago. The five-week waiting time should be cut immediately, and the process of making a claim should be simplified. Will Ministers reconsider the requirement to be present for universal credit interviews, immediately suspend sanctions and claimant agreements, and reduce the waiting time for the first payment? What about all the people who have to go to jobcentres to sign on regularly? Have the jobcentres been told to say that those people do not have to go out for the next few months? That would obviously reduce the number of contacts.
I understand that the Government say that their strategy is being led by scientific advisers when it comes to closures of schools or other places, but over the weekend 200 scientists wrote that that was not a good enough policy, and that the Government should be considering closures to ensure that there were the fewest possible contacts in the UK.
That is linked with the question of airports. What are we doing about them? It has already been said that some airlines will be cancelling flights. Of course there are British citizens who are abroad, and who need to come back. What will be done about them? I know that this was raised during Foreign Office questions earlier today, but I think that the Government need to come up with a proper plan for all those people, some of whom live here and work here, and some of whom are not British nationals but work here.
As a famous political scientist once said, the first responsibility of the state is the protection of its citizens, and at this time the citizens of the United Kingdom need their health, and their economic health, to be looked after. In 2008, the Labour Government invested a substantial amount to bail us out of the economic disasters. I know that people have made this a party political issue, but virtually all economists, all world banks and central banks agreed that Labour’s 2008 bail-out package saved our economy. We need that level of intervention now to save our economy. We need to ensure that our people who might be losing their jobs do not lose them, and that companies will be kept afloat. We require the Government to intervene—not in a few weeks’ time, but today.
Jonathan Gullis (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Con)
I am delighted to speak in this debate about levelling up, especially in relation to the Budget. Following the comments of my esteemed hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent South (Jack Brereton), I could not think of a better place for the levelling up agenda to take place. We in Stoke-on-Trent are at the heart of the midlands engine. We are on the cusp of the northern powerhouse. We have the M6, the A50 corridor, the A500, the Handsacre HS2 link is coming to our fine city, and we have four international airports within 60 minutes of us. I could not think of a better place, and I am delighted that the Chief Secretary is in his place. I remember when he came with me to Stoke-on-Trent North to visit some of the amazing businesses that we saw on display. He was excited and impressed, and I am sure, having had my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent South as his Parliamentary Private Secretary in his previous role, that he has heard about Stoke-on Trent more times than he cares to imagine. I know that the Treasury will be looking to ensure that this fine city, and obviously Kidsgrove and Talke, are delivered for as well. [Interruption.] I say to the hon. Member for Aberdeen South (Stephen Flynn): I will say Stoke-on-Trent much more, believe me, my friend!
I welcome the business-friendly measures set out in the Budget by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor, especially the effective abolition of business rates for businesses in properties valued at £51,000 or less as we fight coronavirus for the next financial year. This is excellent news for the high street across my patch, and an opportunity for regeneration as we rebuild after coronavirus, so that we can review business rates to make them fairer and not a burden to our beloved high streets.
I welcome the town deal in Kidsgrove and the opportunity that that will bring to economically regenerate a much-forgotten town, but I also wish to urge that we see an opportunity to improve the high streets within the city of Stoke-on-Trent. Many Members might be aware that, while we are a city under the Office for National Statistics definition, we are the six towns. Sadly, under the future high streets criteria, we are unable to access that type of funding. I hope that when that scheme is rolled out again, towns such as Burslem and Tunstall, but also ones such as Fenton and Longton in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent South, will get an opportunity to bid. Burslem, tragically, already has the most closed high street shops in the UK. With this terrible coronavirus, which is going to ravage our economy, the high street will only suffer more.
That is why I urge the Government to continue what they did in Burslem by match funding us to allow £10 million for the Royal Doulton site, so we can redevelop and repurpose the use of some of the land and buildings that we have. Sadly, in Stoke-on-Trent, Kidsgrove and Talke, property is so cheap that there is no financial incentive for developers to go in, regenerate those high streets and turn buildings into purpose-built flats. I would be most grateful for any help from the Government in that regard. As we learn to adapt to the consumer changes brought about by the digital revolution, it is absolutely right and correct for the Government to step in and take action to protect the hearts of our towns and cities.
In addition to the supportive measures for business announced in the Budget, I was delighted, as I know many of my constituents will be, to see the national insurance contribution thresholds increase, saving the average employee £104 per year from April. In Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove and Talke, changes to national insurance mean that people can keep more of their hard-earned cash, and with the increase in the national living wage, those hard-working people will also see a pay rise.
I can hardly go any further without mentioning education. I have a vision of prosperity for Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove and Talke. That vision can materialise only through investment in education. With the Government investing vast sums in further education, silicon Stoke is very much a real possibility. I want to see Stoke on Trent College partnering with Staffordshire University and Keele University to become an institute of technology and a beacon of the technological revolution. That is even more possible with the money invested prior to this Budget in the redevelopment of Burslem campus, which has included a new, innovative £10.5 million technology hub.
My ambition is to bring free schools to my constituency. I want schools with high standards and high expectations, both at primary and secondary level, which could therefore drive outcomes. That could lead into the ambition of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor for one of 11 16-to-19 specialist maths schools to be opened in Stoke-on-Trent, Kidsgrove and Talke, with support, I hope, from local entrepreneurs such as Denise Coates of Bet365, Carol Shanahan of Synetics Solutions and Ian Donaldson of Autonet.
Added to that is the £14 billion going into schools to level up per-pupil funding. That means my constituents in Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove and Talke can be provided with more opportunity to unlock their potential. It is fantastic to see investments also announced in apprenticeships and sports.
On a similar note, the Government announced a whopping £5 billion of investment in ensuring that gigabit-capable broadband—that is full fibre, 5G and so on—can reach every UK home by the end of 2025. I have held meetings with the excellent Swedish firm, VX Fiber, operating in Stoke-on-Trent, which informed me that the UK is around 15 years behind Sweden in this technology. This money is enormously welcomed, not only to bring silicon Stoke ever closer, after the Government have already invested £9.2 million to support gigabit into every home in Stoke-on-Trent, but to increase entrepreneurial endeavours, boost the housing market and increase provisions for flexible working. I have been working with my Staffordshire colleagues to bring the very best connections to Stoke-on-Trent, Kidsgrove and Talke, so much so that silicon Stoke is slowly morphing into silicon Staffs.
We have a plan, with the backing of our local enterprise partnership, businesses such as JCB and Bet365, and local universities, for a Staffordshire 5G-connected regional growth deal. That would make Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent the first region in the UK to develop a publicly owned digital infrastructure, underpinned by fibre, 4G and 5G, and would make us the first region in the UK to provide 100% gigabit coverage, as this Budget demands. Such a development would create both an at-scale commercial 5G network and a regional 5G demonstrator for future roll-out across the UK. That could potentially unlock billions into a region that, for too long, has seen very little investment.
In one of the first debates I took part in, I advocated a freeze in beer duty and championed the great British pub, so I am over the moon to see duty rates frozen on beer, cider and spirits. I know that Titanic Brewery, a first-class brewing company that I have mentioned before in this House, will be relieved and will be celebrating appropriately.
I applaud my right hon. Friend the Chancellor and the Treasury team for their hard work on finding a way to freeze fuel duty for another year. That is an essential measure to ease the cost of living for many across the country and help people and businesses reliant upon vehicles. I do believe we should set our sights to the longer term when considering greener transportation and more public transportation, and this Budget’s record investment in infrastructure will certainly help to deliver that. However, in the meantime, I believe securing access to be extremely important, and I am proud to be a part of a Parliament that is taking ordinary people’s lives and concerns seriously.
I would like to take this moment to unreservedly welcome Stoke-on- Trent’s shout-out in the Red Book as a potential multi-modal transport hub, under the transforming cities fund. Such a hub would change the landscape of travel across Stoke-on-Trent. A revamped travel map for Stoke could improve connections, with Longport receiving a park and ride, if we are given, as we must be, the full ask in the transforming cities fund bid, and finally deliver accessibility for all at Kidsgrove. Back in 2015, under my predecessor’s predecessor, £5.5 million of public money was given to Network Rail for this, but it is yet to deliver those important Access for All upgrades—that is an abomination.
We could also realise the huge potential for improved cycle and pedestrian routes, especially alongside the Trent and Mersey canal to Stoke station, and pave the way for improved bus services. We hope that that would be through the excellent superbus pilot, which I know my colleagues from north Staffordshire have been anxiously bidding on in order to secure it, especially for Stoke-on-Trent, Kidsgrove and Talke. To parrot the words of my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent South again, we have seen 1 million fewer passengers on our buses in the past 12 months and 5.4 million fewer over the past decade. That is a shocking thing to hear and it is certainly not going to help us to reach our net zero target, so that superbus pilot, with the transforming cities fund, would fundamentally revolutionise public transport across Stoke-on-Trent.
This vision stands strong enough on its own, but let us imagine the connective capabilities when the Handsacre link of HS2 is delivered to the area. The transforming cities fund and the opportunities it unleashes for my constituency cannot be understated. This hyper-connectivity could set the foundation for further expansion, such as reopening the Stoke to Leek line, bringing back Milton station and having a station at Chatterley to serve Tunstall. It will also be central to delivering on our campaign promise of levelling up, and regenerating post-industrial towns and cities, while remaining conscious of the environmental framework to reduce emissions and improve air quality. I understand that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor has an awful lot on his plate, and of course our response to coronavirus must take precedence over all other things, but I would like to raise some issues that remain prominent to my constituents.
Chatterley Whitfield is an incredible example of a heritage site that has huge historical significance and huge potential. Would the Minister be willing to meet me to discuss regeneration projects for sites such as Chatterley Whitfield and how we can create financial incentives for former coalfield sites and communities, as we have seen in the industrial Ruhr, in Germany?
Kidsgrove sports centre is another key local campaign of mine, and its closure, under the then Labour-controlled Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, was a blow to the local community. Is my right hon. Friend the Chancellor making all provisions necessary to ensure that, public health allowing, core community hubs, especially those focused on encouraging a healthy lifestyle, are supported to remain open and active?
I wish to finish by putting on record my thanks to all those in our NHS, social care, schools and other public services, and hope that every one of them is as safe as possible. I know that that feeling is shared among Members from all parties. Like them, I will work tirelessly to ensure that people, businesses and voluntary sector groups are protected as much as possible during these unprecedented times. Never in my lifetime have I ever known such a situation.
In my short time as the Member of Parliament for Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove and Talke, I have met some remarkable people such as June Cartwright, and organisations such as Middleport Matters Community Trust. I know that they will work tirelessly to ensure that we level up Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove and Talke and unlock its potential. I know that my community is stronger than any adversity.
Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)
I congratulate the Whip on duty, the hon. Member for Walsall North (Eddie Hughes), on having resisted any temptation to say yes to any request in that speech in the Minister’s absence.
Janet Daby (Lewisham East) (Lab)
This Budget has been presented at a time of national and global crisis relating to coronavirus. Indeed, that crisis dominates people’s minds and thinking throughout the country. It is right that one of the main features of the Budget is the measures on coronavirus, and it is those measures that I shall address first.
The Government committed in the Budget to have an open purse for the NHS to combat covid-19. That is exactly the correct approach, but it is wrong to ignore the current state of our NHS and public health service. There have been years of cuts under this Government—cuts to community health provision, the closure of hospital departments and understaffed medical professionals in our hospitals. The list goes on. All those aspects lead to longer waiting lists, delayed appointments and cancelled operations, and cause increased pain, discomfort and burdens for our constituents.
On that note, I thank all the campaigners who some years ago campaigned, with the local authority, to save Lewisham Hospital’s A&E service. I pay special tribute to my predecessor, Heidi Alexander, for the role that she played. That campaign demonstrated what we can do and achieve when we come together as a society, which is exactly what we need to do now.
Years of cuts have meant a reduction in the number of hospital beds and in the number of acute beds in intensive care units. According to figures from the OECD, the UK has just 6.6 ICU beds per 100,000 people, compared with 29.2 in Germany, 12.5 in Italy and 9.7 in France. Sir Simon Stevens, head of NHS England, was arguing that the NHS needed an extra 10,000 acute hospital beds even before coronavirus was spoken about.
We are behind our European friends. I am sorry to say that we are not leading the way on this—not under this Government—and nor are we leading the way on the climate crisis. Out of the G7 countries, the UK’s health spending per person is the second lowest, behind France and Germany. We do not want to be a country that is behind others; we want to be a country at the forefront—at the cutting edge. Our current position is a consequence of a decade of NHS underfunding, wrapped around the auspices of austerity.
Although the Government are picking up the pieces of their own failure by now investing in hospitals and resources to combat coronavirus, I do believe that they are doing so with a level of sincerity. It is not quick enough, though, and there is not enough openness and transparency. We do not need dither and delay. We need more coronavirus testing for public health staff, NHS staff and the public. No one can expect staff to carry on as usual without first being tested. We owe it to the public, and to ourselves, to be able to see a clear picture of how the virus is spreading, who has it and how to manage it.
The people of this country are behaving responsibly. I applaud the British public for beginning to stay at home and for acting sensibly, as well as for working at home, but I encourage them not to panic buy, so that there is enough for all. For example, we all need toilet paper, so will people please consider their neighbours at this time? The legislation that is coming out later this week will seek to address the financial aid that is needed to prevent our society from diving further into unnecessary poverty.
I turn now to pressing issues in my constituency which the Budget did not address: education and social care. This April, 83% of schools will be worse off than in 2015. The National Education Union has claimed that the Budget does not support a long-term plan for the millions of young people being educated within a chronically underfunded system. The Government know that a lack of funding is putting schools and colleges under greater pressure: class sizes are rising; subjects are being dropped; SEN support is disappearing; and inadequate pay is making the staff crisis worse. Furthermore, on the issue of SEN spend and support, from next month, councils will no longer be able to reduce education budget deficits by taking money out of other spending. That will almost certainly squeeze funding for early years and for special educational needs—two areas already financially stricken—and force even more parents towards legal action to get the necessary support for their child’s education.
The Prime Minister gave a commitment in his first speech in Downing Street to fix the crisis in social care with a “clear plan”. That has not happened and is not happening. There is no legislation in the Government agenda on social care and no reform. The Prime Minister needs to keep his promise. He needs to stand by his word to deliver long-term reform, which is needed to increase access to social care; to help the 1.5 million people who are currently going without the support they need; and to support people with dementia to ensure that they receive the additional support that they need. Carers are also part of this as they play a vital role in our society. They are often under-appreciated and underpaid. Standards need to be raised by ending the use of zero-hour contracts, ensuring that carers are paid a real living wage, ending the 15-minute care visits and improving access to training and development for care staff. I wait for the Prime Minister to keep his promise to our country, to fix the crisis in social care and to have a plan.
Finally, I welcome the upgrade to two stations in my constituency and I wish to thank all NHS staff for all they are doing to support our country and to support patients and people affected by coronavirus. I appreciate and thank the medics, the porters, the cleaners, the ambulance drivers and all people who are working for our NHS.
Neil Parish (Tiverton and Honiton) (Con)
It is a great pleasure to speak in this Budget debate. It is also a great pleasure to speak after some very excellent maiden speeches from my hon. Friend the Member for Blyth Valley (Ian Levy), the hon. Member for Liverpool, West Derby (Ian Byrne), and my hon. Friends the Members for Bolton North East (Mark Logan) and for Derbyshire Dales (Miss Dines).
I was particularly intrigued by my hon. Friend the Member for Blyth Valley who told us that his wife, Maureen, had said, “If you feel strongly about something get out and do it.” That is why he became an MP. His wife Maureen has much in common with my own wife, Sue. Whenever I complain about something, she will say, “You are a Member of Parliament, do something about it.” So I endeavour to do so immediately, as you can imagine, Mr Deputy Speaker.
We plan to level up the whole country, and we are starting very well with this Budget. As we go north, let us also goes south, west and east. Let us do it all while we are at it. We have excellent new Members of Parliament on these Conservative Benches, plus those of us who have been here a little while, to help get this policy delivered, because it is right that we do that.
I welcome the Chancellor’s first Budget. He came into the hot seat and delivered an excellent Budget, but the coronavirus has meant that the six days from the time that he delivered the Budget to now is a long time, so I look forward to his statement this evening.
Stephen Flynn
It is my understanding that the Chancellor has just made an announcement in relation to support for businesses. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will agree with me that, when the Minister sums up, he should provide clarity in and around the terms of the loans that are being proposed for business. Although the overall sum is welcome, we do need some clarity on the loans.
Neil Parish
The hon. Member has very much made his point, and I suspect that our Ministers and the Secretary of State have listened to what he said, and I suspect that there will be complete clarity from the Government, as I would expect nothing else.
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Steve Barclay)
My hon. Friend knows me well.
Neil Parish
And, of course, I know the Chief Secretary very well.
I am encouraged by the tireless efforts of NHS staff, and I very much pay tribute to what the hon. Member for Lewisham East (Janet Daby) said: we need to thank medical staff throughout the NHS for all the excellent work that they are doing to tackle coronavirus because it is unprecedented, though we can make all sorts of predictions. We need to be out there and sort it out. That is why the Government have introduced clear measures that will help.
We are going to come under greater pressure over the coming weeks and months, so I welcome the £5 billion emergency response outlined in the Budget. The funding will ensure that the NHS will receive the support that it needs. Even with that large sum of money, we will probably need to keep it under review. I welcome, too, the Government’s commitment to support local councils—the £500 million hardship fund will help local authorities to protect the most vulnerable members of our community. The Government, however, must ensure that that funding is readily available and distributed quickly. We must cut bureaucracy to ensure that individuals and businesses get the support that they need. Very often, we are laudable in this place—Governments of all colours always want to take action—but we must make sure that we take action quickly.
Many local businesses have contacted me rightly to express concern about how covid-19 will affect them. Government measures to suspend business rates and refund sick-pay payments for smaller firms are welcome, but the Government need to be ready to provide more emergency payments to support those businesses. My fear, especially for smaller and, indeed, all types of businesses, is that if they cannot pay their bills the knock-on effect on all other businesses and employees will be huge. This is unprecedented, and we need to take action.
The scientific knowledge and understanding of the virus are constantly changing. We need to ensure that the Government have the flexibility to adapt as the situation unfolds. Across Devon, we have seen an outpouring of offers of support for all those affected. I wish all charities and organisations well across the country, especially in my constituency, so that they come together and keep communities together, because we will very much need to do so through this very, very challenging time. As many Members have said in the House, it is probably the most challenging time that anyone has experienced in living memory, especially because the virus has the potential to lay the whole economy low.
In the Budget, we predicted that the economy would grow by 1.1% this year. It will be interesting to see the effect of coronavirus on that. I would say to the Opposition, who will naturally pour a little doubt on the economy, that in both the coalition and Conservative Governments we have turned the country round with the hard work of the British people. We have turned the economy round, so that we can go forward and spend this money on infrastructure in particular. At the moment, interest rates are low, and we have the ability, according to the Chancellor, to take up loans over 15 years, so we can set reasonably low interest rates for them, all being well, over that period. We need to upgrade our rail and road infrastructure, and deliver broadband across the country, and now is the time to do it. I have said in three or four elections that I am going to deliver broadband to the whole constituency, but I think my constituents are still waiting. I do not want to have to go to them in another election and say about the promise of broadband, “It’s coming—it’s still definitely coming!” Seriously, we have to make sure that we deliver that, as the issue has a huge effect on our economy and businesses as well as on our ability to deliver good business opportunities in the countryside. With the right broadband infrastructure and a very good broadband connection, many businesses can be run anywhere in the countryside.
Naturally, I am delighted that the Chancellor maintained the availability of red diesel for farmers in particular, but also for commercial ferries and fishing boats. It is absolutely vital that we maintain that at this particular moment. Agriculture has seen one of the wettest, if not the wettest, winter of all time, and there are huge challenges. That brings me neatly to the doubling of the money for flood defences to £5.2 billion over the next five years. We have to work out what we are going to do about flood protection. The Environment Agency needs to be absolutely clear about what it is and is not going to defend. We may have long periods of dry weather, but when we have rain it comes quickly and we get a lot of flooding. I look forward to putting the money to good use, but we must be clear about where we are going to spend it.
I am happy to see that £2.5 billion will be made available to fix potholes. Perhaps not at the moment, given the coronavirus, but in normal times, believe it or not, one gets as many letters about potholes as anything else. There are as many roads in Devon as in the whole of Belgium, so imagine the number of potholes. One or two constituents have lost wheels and various other parts of their cars going over them, so it becomes a major issue.
I was very keen to see the money for the A303 and the tunnel under Stonehenge. If my hon. Friend the Member for Salisbury (John Glen) were here, he would be delighted. Edward du Cann talked about the A303 in 1958, and it has still not been dualled. We now have the opportunity to build the tunnel and the rest of the dualling from Andover right the way down to Ilminster. I would then like the last piece from Ilminster to Honiton to be done, but I will wait for that to happen. We must get the diggers actually digging the road and delivering. It is important that not only do we put these roads and rail in our Budgets but that we actually deliver them. That is what people want.
I welcome the £1.5 billion in capital spending on further education colleges. There are FE colleges in Axminster, Honiton, Cullompton and Tiverton, and they provide a very good education, including for those who left school young and perhaps did not know exactly what they wanted to do with their lives. They go to further education colleges later in life and do good things for themselves, their families and the country.
Jonathan Gullis
On further education, does my hon. Friend agree that it is so important that we continue with level 2 courses? They may be at a lower level, but for the people my hon. Friend is describing they are an access route to higher level apprenticeships further on.
Neil Parish
I could not agree with my hon. Friend more on level 2 schemes. Going back to nursing and all those types of occupations, it is so necessary and there is a pool of people out there who will be wanting to do that work, so long as they can build their skills and so long as we have the necessary education there. I very much welcome that suggestion, but again we have to deliver it to our colleges.
I also very much welcome the £500 million over the next few years for electric vehicles and charging infra- structure, because we will need many more electric cars. I do not think building roads and bypasses is wrong for air quality and air pollution. Actually, Mr Speaker— Mr Deputy Speaker, I beg your pardon; I have elevated you—I think that when we build a bypass or a dual carriageway and we stop that congestion, we lower the pollution that comes from our vehicles. It is therefore not only good for getting people through. Looking at the A303 and the motorways into the west country—it is a very big holiday area and very good for the economy—it is good for air quality if we can keep those cars moving. If we can make sure that in the future the majority of cars and eventually all cars are electric, then we solve many problems. We would also still have a great ability to have the family car, which I think so many people want.
Bob Stewart (Beckenham) (Con)
Can I remind my hon. Friend that I think hydrogen cars will be making a big entry into the market very shortly? I am waiting for the hydrogen car, so I do not have to plug it in every night.
Neil Parish
My hon. Friend may have to wait a little while for the hydrogen car. I think that there will be some hydrogen cars, but what there will be many more of before that are hydrogen lorries. There is no doubt that the one vehicle where we have a problem is the lorry. It needs huge power for towing loads and the diesel engine, whether we like it or not, has that capability. We actually need a hydrogen lorry, rather than an electric lorry, because at the moment an electric lorry would have to carry most of the weight that it can carry in batteries in order to deliver the power. I can therefore see hydrogen lorries being very effective in the long term.
Stephen Flynn
On that topic, I invite the hon. Gentleman to Aberdeen, where we have hydrogen lorries, hydrogen cars and hydrogen refuelling stations.
Neil Parish
Putting my hat on as the Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, and having done a lot in previous inquiries on air quality, I should come and see exactly what Aberdeen is doing, because hydrogen has huge capabilities.
Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)
Forgive my ignorance, but does a hydrogen-propelled vehicle work on the same principle generally as the internal combustion engine, in that there is an explosion that creates a vacuum that turns a crank?
Neil Parish
I do not have the detail to give an exact answer to my right hon. Friend, but I do know that hydrogen is mainly produced from water with electricity, so the actual fuel itself is so much cleaner and so much less polluting. I cannot give him all the details of exactly how the engine itself runs, but it uses a clean fuel and gives that support.
Overall, I believe that this Budget is very good for the future of this country and the people of this country. I look forward, as I have said, to the statement later this evening from the Chancellor, because I think that the thing that is worrying all our populations and all our constituents at the moment is coronavirus. We need to get through this. We need people to have enough income to pay their rent or their mortgage and keep their families running, as well as their businesses, so that we do not have a knock-on effect of business failure bringing other businesses down with it. I look forward to the statement, and I very much welcome this Budget.
Kevin Hollinrake (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)
It is always a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Neil Parish), who has such knowledge of rural matters. It is also a pleasure to follow so many fine maiden speeches from my hon. Friends the Members for South West Hertfordshire (Mr Mohindra), for Blyth Valley (Ian Levy), for Bolton North East (Mark Logan) and for Derbyshire Dales (Miss Dines) and the hon. Member for Liverpool, West Derby (Ian Byrne)—they were all fantastic speeches.
I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I would like to talk primarily about the impact of the current situation on business, but I will touch briefly on levelling up, which was going to dominate my speech. I have always been a huge advocate of levelling up—we used to call it “a fairer deal for the north”—so the investment spending is welcome. However, I have made the point before in the Chamber that simply public sector spending will not do.
It is said that if all the economists in the world were laid end to end, they still would not reach a conclusion. I will mention two economists who have different views on this subject. Andy Haldane, chief economist at the Bank of England, said that connectivity is crucial to prosperity. At the other end of the scale, Mark Littlewood of the Institute of Economic Affairs points to places like Doncaster, which are very well connected, yet their economy is not in great shape. The arbiter on this is another economist, David Smith, who writes in The Sunday Times. He says that public sector spending without private sector investment is a waste of money, so we need to ensure that we encourage and incentivise the private sector to invest.
One way of doing that is through super enterprise zones. We could look at the devolved regions. The Tees Valley is a very good example in my neighbourhood. There are nine devolved regions, each with an elected Mayor, and of all those regions, the Tees Valley comes bottom in terms of average wages and GDP. We could, for example, make the bottom three combined authorities super enterprise zones for their entire area, with enhanced capital allowances and no business rates.
Jonathan Gullis
I could not agree more with my hon. Friend. In Stoke-on-Trent we have the ceramic valley enterprise zone, which is thriving. Does he agree that, especially in the time of coronavirus, such zones should be expanded to give those businesses every opportunity to survive?
Kevin Hollinrake
Yes, definitely. That will level up in the process, but we have to get private sector involvement. It is the private sector that creates jobs, not the public sector. That is a means to an end in terms of transport spending. We have to get the private sector to move into these areas, start up and scale up or expand their businesses.
I primarily want to talk about covid-19. We are talking about levelling up. If we are not careful with this, there will be levelling down, because the coronavirus will have a huge impact. We cannot even contemplate the size of the impact that this could have on our economy and business sector. This could be an existential crisis for hundreds of thousands of businesses. It is huge.
The situation is so fluid, but we need to give people confidence—and we are getting there—that we will support them through this crisis. I was heartened by the Chancellor talking at the Dispatch Box about what he has done so far and what he will do in future if that is not enough. He has spoken this afternoon about a massively enhanced package, and that is exactly what we need, because the scale of this is huge. Capital Economics does not give the rosiest outlook in its forecast of the economic situation in the UK. It predicts that there could be a 15% drop in gross domestic product within a three-month period. If we compare that with the great financial crash, we saw a 6% reduction in GDP over a few years from 2008.
We need to say to businesses and consumers—and if we do not, it will cost us the amount anyway—what the German Finance Minister said a week ago: that, as far as possible, no company should get into existential trouble and no job should be lost as a result of this crisis. That is the message we need to get out. Macron has said the same thing, with a €300 billion guarantee that no firm will go bust due to social distancing.
Sir Desmond Swayne
That is an admirable ambition to have and I do hope that the Government accept that ambition, but be in no doubt that we have, in effect, closed down the hospitality industry and public entertainment, and that will require the Government to pay those wages.
Kevin Hollinrake
My right hon. Friend makes a very good point. One of the difficulties with the announcement last night was that it was not brought forward with a package of remediation or mitigation. I think that has come today, and clarity of that is very welcome.
We are going to need to pump hundreds of billions of pounds—not the odd billion, £5 billion or £10 billion—into the economy. I think the Chancellor has announced today £330 billion-worth of loans for the business sector, which is absolutely right, with £25,000 for businesses that are not insured for losses from business interruption, plus business rates holidays and three-month mortgage holidays, which is also absolutely right. If we talk about this in terms of hundreds of billions of pounds, the natural question is: where are we going to get that money from? This is a time when we have to set aside the fiscal rules. We will be paying for this anyway, in lost jobs and businesses, redundancy payments and reductions in tax receipts, if we do not put a huge fiscal stimulus into the system right now, so I welcome the measures from the Chancellor.
We need a few things in addition. We saw in 2008 that banks did not support businesses through that financial crisis—there is no doubt about it; in fact, quite the opposite. We need a commitment from the banks, UK Finance and the Treasury that they will continue to cash-flow businesses for as much as they need until they get through this period. To make sure that they do that, we should introduce emergency legislation to bring SME loans and financing commercial loans within the regulatory perimeter. That would mean that banks would have to have the oversight of the Financial Conduct Authority, and indeed of Members in this place, if they did not do the right thing through that period.
Neil Parish
We need to urge the banks to make sure that they offer commercial loans at very competitive rates. We do not want to see the banks trying to profit from the misery for all the businesses out there.
Kevin Hollinrake
I absolutely agree with that, and we must have oversight of that. We also have to make sure that all banks are included in these emergency loan schemes, such as business interruption loans. At the moment, some of the major banks, such as OakNorth, are not in that scheme, because they are not overseen by the British Business Bank. We need to see a widening of the scope of the scheme. We need to do a lot more for micro-businesses, the self-employed and sole traders. I have not seen a lot of support for those people at the moment.
The big thing I want to say is about how the support is provided. The £330 billion of support is great, but businesses will never again see the income lost, so in my view support cannot purely be through loans. We have combine loans—soft loans, interest-free loans or whatever—with putting grants into these businesses, otherwise we are just kicking the can down the road. We cannot simply say that businesses will have to pay, which is what we are saying if they are loans. We are going to have to go further, and that will put up the national debt by a significant degree: £100 billion, £200 billion or probably £300 billion. I am sure we will get the Opposition’s support for that. We have to see businesses through this time, because we will pay for it whatever happens.
I really welcome the measures from the Chancellor so far, and there are great measures again today. We must get through this. We have to give businesses confidence and to say to consumers: “You won’t lose your job. You won’t lose your business. We will get you through this.” That is what we have to say, and that way we will avoid the worst possible side of recession, we will save jobs and we will save businesses. It is the right thing to say, and I am absolutely confident that the Chancellor will do it.
Peter Aldous (Waveney) (Con)
I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate. Last week’s Budget focused on two issues: the UK’s co-ordinated initial response to the serious threat posed by coronavirus to the UK economic outlook, and a significant increase in public spending to raise productivity, promote growth, and spread its proceeds to all corners of the UK—a process that has been dubbed “levelling up”. That is particularly important in my constituency of Waveney, which is the most easterly constituency in the UK. I shall be focusing on the second issue, but such is the gravity of the first—it is increasingly apparent that this will not be a short-term blip—that the two issues are increasingly becoming intertwined.
It is right to increase public spending in this way, although it is not without risk. It is right because as we leave the EU, we need the economy to be firing on all cylinders, not spluttering along in third gear. Our productivity remains stubbornly low, and in many places our infrastructure is crumbling. We have a host of challenges to address, such as climate change and promoting the green economy, the crisis on the high street, and the urgent need to improve social mobility, so that young people, wherever they live and whatever their circumstances, have the opportunity to realise their full potential. Added to that cocktail, we must now support people and businesses to get through the enormous challenge of coronavirus.
It is important to emphasise the political case for this about-turn. The Brexit vote, which in many respects was repeated last December, was a cry for change. The UK economy as a whole has performed well over the past 40 years, but the proceeds of growth have not been evenly distributed, but rather concentrated in London and the south-east. For so many people, and so many communities, the improvement in our national economic performance has passed them by. They voted for a different way of doing things, and we must now deliver for them.
That different course is not without risk, and it is important that the Government provide reassurance that in the long-term, the UK is still committed to the sustainable and responsible management of our finances. When it comes to infrastructure, the right schemes must be chosen—not vanity projects, but productive and growth-enhancing schemes that are a catalyst for private sector investment. We must ensure that we have the capacity to deliver those projects: the right skills, enough engineers, project managers and planners, and a ready supply of steel, concrete and tarmac. If we do not do that, prices will escalate and schemes will not be delivered on time.
Alex Sobel (Leeds North West) (Lab/Co-op)
The hon. Gentleman is making an excellent speech, and although we differed on the question of Brexit, I agree with many of his points. Does this current crisis reinforce the fact that we must also ramp up UK production and UK ownership of production, and have more British-owned firms? In times of crisis such as this, production overseas and overseas ownership create difficulties. Although we obviously need inward investment, we must balance that with UK ownership.
Peter Aldous
I agree with the hon. Gentleman to a large extent, and we need more companies to be investing in, and based in, the UK. It is important to have UK companies, but I am also proud when companies from around the world invest in the UK. That is something we should be pleased about.
Let me return to infrastructure projects and the need to have the right skills and supply of materials. In 2014, funding was provided for six schemes on the A47 from Lowestoft through Norfolk to Peterborough. Six years later, five of those schemes have yet to see any work starting on the ground. We must ensure that planning and legal frameworks are fit for purpose. The third crossing project in Lowestoft will bring about great positive change to the town. It is an oven-ready scheme—we are ready to go, yet we still await a planning decision that should have been made more than three months ago.
I wish to highlight three aspects of levelling up. First, coastal communities have been left behind in recent decades, but they have so much to offer to UK plc. In Lowestoft, there is a compelling case for investment in the port, which occupies a strategic location. It lies in close proximity to one of the UK’s most productive fishing grounds, from which, as we leave the EU, we have a great opportunity to land more fish and to revive the local industry.
Neil Parish
There is a huge opportunity as we leave the European Union; we will gain much more fish for our fishermen. We must ensure that we not only land those fish but process them. We also need a great marketing ploy across the country to encourage people to eat many more different types of fish, so we do not have to export quite as much and we eat more of our own fish.
Peter Aldous
My hon. Friend is spot on. To make the most of this opportunity, we need to invest in infra- structure—in port infrastructure, markets and processing factories. That would be so much help to coastal communities that have been left behind.
In Lowestoft, we are close to the main cluster of offshore wind farms in UK coastal waters. We are also an area of the southern North sea UK continental shelf, which has an important role to play in the transition to the low-carbon economy, and where there will be an enormous amount of work in the decommissioning of gas and oil facilities over the next decade.
The Budget places much emphasis on free ports. It is good news that the Government recognise the important role that ports play, but it is vital that free ports add to the UK’s trade, making our ports more attractive than their international competitors, rather than diverting business from one UK port to another.
Coastal communities along the East Anglian coast face a significant challenge from coastal erosion and storm surges. The sea does not just damage homes and businesses; ultimately, it destroys them. The Lowestoft flood defence scheme will remove that threat. At present, it is only part funded, so it is good news that the Budget recognises the threat of coastal erosion, provides an additional £5.2 billion for flood defences and includes an undertaking to carry out a review of the Green Book.
Sir John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) (Con)
I wonder whether my hon. Friend might add to his thinking on this subject support for the internal drainage boards, which do such great work in the fens in particular, including in his constituency. Will he implore the Government to ensure that the Environment Agency works with the drainage boards rather than against them, as I am afraid it sometimes does?
Peter Aldous
I thank my right hon. Friend for that intervention. I have internal drainage boards in my constituency, although I sense they may not be such big players as those in the fens in his constituency. From what I see of them, however, they are the ones who know the local area best and are best placed to come up with tailored, bespoke solutions.
Kevin Hollinrake
My hon. Friend briefly mentioned the Green Book. One of the reasons the A64 in my constituency has not been dualled is that, according to Highways England, it was competing with the Oxford to Cambridge corridor and the lower Thames crossing. How ludicrous is that? How easy would he feel explaining to his constituents that such an iniquitous situation is baked into the system for deciding where money is invested?
Peter Aldous
I thank my hon. Friend for raising that issue. The Green Book is long overdue a complete overhaul. It has held back communities all around the country—those we are looking to help with their issues—for far too long. It is right that we are now getting on with giving it a complete, radical overhaul.
My second request to the Government is not to forget the east. Our region is a net contributor to the Treasury, notwithstanding that at present we get poor local government, education and transport funding settlements. With the right investment, we could deliver so much more. The New Anglia local enterprise partnership recently published its report “Delivering an infrastructure revolution in Norfolk and Suffolk”, which outlines 12 connectivity infrastructure improvements that will boost productivity and make us global leaders in clean growth. I will not list the “clean dozen”, but I urge the Government to study these compelling schemes closely and to respond positively.
The third aspect of levelling up is to highlight the threat to our towns and their high streets, which are the heart of local economies all around the UK. There is an urgent need for towns to reinvent themselves. With the towns fund, the Government have recognised that, and Lowestoft is one of 101 towns eligible to bid for money that can be used to promote change and attract inward investment. That needs to be accompanied by a comprehensive reform of, and quite probably a replacement for, business rates. It is good news that the Government are committed to a fundamental review, although we have been talking about that for a long time and we now need to get on with it.
Investment in bricks and mortar and in concrete and steel is very important, but it is investment in people that matters most. The fact that the Government recognise the importance of further education in achieving levelling up is extremely good news. The additional £1.5 billion for capital investment in further education colleges and the £5 billion national skills fund to improve adult technical skills are welcome, and it is very good news for colleges like East Coast College, which last week achieved a good Ofsted rating. Those announcements follow on from the increase in revenue funding for 16 to 18 education that was announced last autumn, although there is still some way to go to get that day-to-day funding up to a sustainable level that will enable colleges to provide the full education, training and support needed to properly prepare young people for the workplace.
In conclusion, I welcome the Budget and I support its ambitions. I believe we are pursuing the right course. That said, there are hazards, obstacles and pitfalls lying immediately in front of us. It is important that the Government are flexible, and prepared to adapt and vary policy to meet challenges that will suddenly present themselves.
Ben Everitt (Milton Keynes North) (Con)
It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Waveney (Peter Aldous), who spoke passionately about coastal communities. My beautiful constituency of Milton Keynes North is not famously coastal, although we apparently have more miles of shoreline than Jersey; the definition of shoreline is stretched somewhat to include the many beautiful lakes that Milton Keynes has.
Neil Parish
Milton Keynes may not have much coastline, but it does have a lot of people. My hon. Friend could promote the great fish we catch all around our coast. I urge him to go out and feed his constituents with our great British fish.
Ben Everitt
That is an excellent point and it is well made. The nutrition of the people of Milton Keynes is well served by the Chairman of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee.
We find ourselves in a strange situation in this Budget debate. It is almost as if the rules have changed. As I stand to speak, we are digesting the words of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who has launched a £330 billion fiscal bazooka at the coronavirus to support our businesses, many of which are in my beautiful constituency. In that context, it feels odd to be talking about last week’s Budget. It was going to be the levelling-up Budget. It was going to be the got-Brexit-done Budget. It was going to be the Budget of infrastructure. Of course, it was the first-swing-at-corona Budget. As we look at it now, it was last week’s Budget. These are indeed strange times. However, I am sure that many Members on the Conservative Benches, and possibly some others, were struck by the optimism, hope and positive spirit of the Budget. It was enthusiastic about our future. While we deal with the sheer scale of the coronavirus outbreak, we should take some joy from the fact that this is a Government who are looking forward beyond the coronavirus and into a world where we have levelled up and we will have a more equal, more productive and more aspirant, tolerant society. It is a Budget of hope and positivity.
Sir Desmond Swayne
Does my hon. Friend recall a poster from the 2010 election campaign? It had a picture of a baby and the slogan, “He’s got his mother’s eyes, his father’s hair and Gordon Brown’s debt”. Does he think that future generations will applaud us for the action that we are taking, or curse us?
Ben Everitt
My right hon. Friend refers to the bail-out of the banks over a decade ago, which cost our economy in the region of £860 billion. It proved 10 long years before we could get over its effects, during which the British people worked incredibly hard and everybody came together, putting us in a position now where we are dealing with the next crisis. Will we be left with a burden of debt? Undoubtedly. Is it the right thing to do? Given the context, it probably is.
Last week’s Budget was excellent for families, not just in my constituency, but across the country. As set out by the Chancellor of fiscal bazooka fame, it will level up the economy, raise our regions, increase investment and encourage growth across the country. On transport, I particularly welcome not the big flashy transport projects, but the smaller, almost overlooked projects that engage our transport networks on a more local level.
David Simmonds (Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner) (Con)
Like my hon. Friend, I welcome the wide range of investments, particularly in local transport, contained in the Budget. My constituency cannot boast an extensive coastal area, any more than Milton Keynes, although the outstanding natural beauty of the Ruislip lido, London’s only beach, is one of its most prominent features. I certainly urge all those with an interest in the coastal aspects of London to take an interest in that site.
To pick up on a point that several hon. Members have made, even London, which remains a buoyant part of the United Kingdom from the perspective of economic growth, high levels of employment and high levels of productivity, seems at risk of being overlooked in one key respect. It greatly concerns me that my in-laws, who live in the Chancellor’s constituency, are set to benefit significantly from the pothole fund. My parents in south Wales will also gain because of the Barnett consequentials. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is a shame, though, that there is no plan for London to benefit from the pothole fund, as is a reasonable expectation?
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)
Order. For future reference, we are not desperately stuck for time, and therefore I have allowed the hon. Member, who is new to this House, to make his intervention, but lest anyone be misled, it was far too long.
Ben Everitt
The intervention may have been long, but it was well put and I appreciate it. In broad terms, my hon. Friend’s point was that we must not forget the other traditionally more productive parts of our economy. Interestingly, Milton Keynes is part of the south-east and people overlook the fact that we sit as almost the gateway to the north. A journalist from The Economist telephoned me last week and told me that Milton Keynes was the most productive part of the UK. I said, “Do you mean not including London?” and he said, “No. When you look at the OECD measures, they take in the whole of London, which includes the suburbs in Greater London, and actually, Milton Keynes comes out as more productive.” I therefore welcome any intervention that draws attention to the fact that we should be investing in the productive parts of our economy as well as levelling up the slightly less productive parts.
I warmly welcome the £500 million to roll out a fast charging network for electric vehicles over the next five years, ensuring that drivers will never be more than 30 miles from a rapid charging station. During the general election I was privileged to have a visit from the Secretary of State for Transport. We visited a charging point so that he could charge his electric car—he is very on brand, is our Transport Secretary. After a photo-op, he said, “Show me some transport infrastructure that needs a bit of investment.” I took him to junction 14 of the M1, which really does need an upgrade. We stood there, watching the traffic go past, and then we went to an island in the middle to make a little video, saying how much it needed an upgrade. Then, like life imitating art, we having stood there saying that the transport infrastructure needed an upgrade, suddenly all the world’s traffic came off the M1 and zoomed up junction 14. We were marooned on that island in the middle of an M1 slip road.
Now, our Transport Secretary, being an energetic fellow, cannot be held down for long. After a few moments he set off down the slip road, running—in fact, our Transport Secretary does not run; he scampers. Fortunately, my social media adviser was there to film the entire thing. He pulled out his camera just as our right hon. Friend was sprinting down the road, merging with the traffic in order to cross it. The video is available for parties, for a small fee.
Sir John Hayes
As a Member who lacks a social media adviser, and as the pioneer of the Government’s electric car policy, I am delighted that my hon. Friend has welcomed the additional charging points, for which I take the lion’s share of the credit.
The point that my hon. Friend is making about productivity is critical. The Government’s commitment to skills and to research and development, through the Budget, will allow us to tackle the prevailing macro-economic challenge facing this country and most of the west: the productivity gap.
Ben Everitt
I thank my right hon. Friend for that intervention. Of course, the productivity gap is core to levelling up.
Speaking of gaps, I have to declare an interest before moving on to the next important section of my speech: I am a councillor. The next section includes the perennial election-winning issue of potholes. The Chancellor has announced additional funding—£2.5 billion over the next five years—to fill millions of potholes across the country, which will make a huge difference for the many people who spend hours each week travelling on poorly maintained roads. That will speed up journey times, reduce vehicle damage and make our roads safer.
The Government are investing record amounts in improving and expanding our transport infrastructure—triple the average of the past 60 years. The Chancellor has announced £640 billion of capital investment in roads, railways, communications, schools, hospitals and power networks over this Parliament. I know that many of my colleagues will join me in welcoming this investment not just for the large national infrastructure projects, but for local roads, regional railways and urban transport. We will be increasing bus journeys. We will be reducing the cost of transport for young people, workers and those in retirement. We will have a modern and well-maintained road network.
I am a big fan of this Budget, as Members have probably noticed, but there is one piece that I was surprised to see in there. It is my single criticism of the Budget, so please bear with me. The small print of the supporting documents for the Budget contained an allocation of £94.6 million for a housing infrastructure bid to build 5,000 homes east of the M1 in Milton Keynes. That housing infrastructure bid is an indicative commitment to fund, subject to continuing local commitment, which is how the bidding process works for housing infrastructure fund bids. “A continuing local commitment” is news to me. Anyone who looked at my postbag and my inbox would not find a continuing local commitment; they would find quite the opposite.
That is not to say that people in my constituency are anti-growth. Far from it: Milton Keynes is a growing place. It is growing because it is a great place in which to live and work, in which to grow a family and grow a business. However, we must have the right houses in the right place at the right time. There is a balance to be struck. We need to get this right. We have a choice between growing local jobs and becoming a dormitory. If we get the right houses in the right place at the right time, we will incentivise pure economic growth—local, productive growth—but if we get it wrong and build too many houses, Milton Keynes will be cursed by the very benefit of being only 32 minutes away from London on the train. If we build too many houses too quickly we will become a dormitory for jobs elsewhere, and that is not what we need.
Jonathan Gullis
Does my hon. Friend agree that we need a good-quality mixture of housing, from one and two-bedroom homes to city centre living, and also the four and five-bedroom homes that the executives are seeking?
Ben Everitt
Absolutely. The point is well made, but I will not dwell on it, because, finally, I want to say this. We must also have the benefit of a university in our town, and I am proud to support a £100 million bid to make Milton Keynes a university town. The benefits will be fantastic.
With that I will sit down, having had a very good Budget, apart from that very small thing.
Peter Dowd (Bootle) (Lab)
Let me begin by welcoming the Chief Secretary to his position. As the former Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, he may be spending a bit more time with his family now. I am sure that he is happy about that. I am not sure that his family are happy about it, but that is a different kettle of fish.
I do not have time to recap on what Members on both sides of the House have said today—except to say that we heard fantastic maiden speeches from the hon. Member for South West Hertfordshire (Mr Mohindra), who made a generous tribute to David Gauke, and the hon. Member for Blyth Valley (Ian Levy), who talked about the building of the Ark Royal in his constituency. I have a fantastic picture of the Ark Royal in my office, and if he is ever in Bootle, he can come and have a look at it. I will secure a secure passage out of Bootle for him.
My hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, West Derby (Ian Byrne) was doing well until he mentioned Liverpool football club. He brought things back by mentioning that great socialist Bill Shanklin, and went on to talk about justice for Hillsborough. The hon. Member for Bolton North East (Mark Logan) made an interesting speech. A teacher once said, “We are not just teaching kids, we are backing Bolton”, and I think that that sums it up. It was an excellent comment. Finally, the hon. Member for Derbyshire Dales (Miss Dines) described very well the beautiful landscape and historic architecture of her constituency.
The substance of the announcements made by the Chancellor last week has had a very short life. In the light of the coronavirus emergency, I am glad that the Government have had a serious rethink about their economic and financial support response to the challenges facing the country. I will take advice on this, but they appear to be getting their act together, and we welcome that. However, at the time—last week—the package of measures did not go far enough. For example, while President Macron has announced €547 billion of support for French businesses, we have got £330 billion, apparently, although I am pleased that the Chancellor has followed the suit of the French President.
The Financial Times reported that Peter Altmaier, Germany’s Economy Minister—
Kevin Hollinrake (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Peter Dowd
Just a moment. I will come back to the hon. Gentleman.
The Financial Times reported:
“The German budget currently guarantees KfW”—
that is the credit institute for reconstruction—
“a financial framework of €460bn, but officials said this could now be raised by €93bn, giving the bank more than €550bn in available firepower.”
Mr Altmaier said:
“And that is just the start”.
I am glad that the Chancellor has followed the line—the model—that the Germans are taking as well.
In the meantime, notwithstanding the Government’s apparent announcement, significant parts of the economy are in freefall, as well as, more immediately, places, organisations, agencies within the hospitality sector both large and small, the travel industry and retail. So, okay, a bit late, but, nevertheless, moving in the right direction. But what this does not indicate yet, as far as we are concerned, is what support will be given to employees—the people working in those industries. The industries themselves might get support, but we have to be clear about what actually is happening. People in here will have constituents losing their jobs.
Peter Dowd
In a moment.
It has to be said that the Government simply underestimated the challenge facing the country, but better late than never. However, many millions of people still have no financial certainty from the Government. People are worried about their livelihoods. The Government are responsible for our decaying social and physical infrastructure. They bear a huge responsibility for the parlous state of our public realm. While we will support measures to aid our economy, we will not settle for half measures, so we will look carefully at the Chancellor’s statement and at what he says later on.
The Government’s mantra of “levelling up” also completely misjudged the serious issues facing the country. The Government are not a new Government. They have been in power for 10 years. The 12 December election was not the start of year zero. They have spent 10 years systematically and consciously levelling down the country. For example, one of the Government’s fiscal rules identified 3% of GDP as an appropriate level of public sector net investment, but, Madam Deputy Speaker, if you were to look back at the last 10 years, the Government have underspent on infrastructure—far less than 3% of GDP—every single year. That was alluded to by Conservative Members.
The gap between what the Government spent and the 3% level over 10 years in office is £192 billion. That is the size of the hole the Government have spent 10 years digging, and if you were to sift through the hype, Madam Deputy Speaker, and note the fact that the Government’s headline figures on infrastructure double-count existing spending—one estimate has put the Government’s new capital spending at £143 billion, excluding depreciation—you would see that what the Government announced last week would not even fill the big hole they dug in the first place. Now, they appear to want to be congratulated on a pathetic attempt to rebuild what they spent 10 years destroying and dismantling.
The Resolution Foundation has pointed out that the UK has a very low level of Government capital stock at about 46% of GDP. That is three quarters of the advanced economy average of 63%, so the Government are levelling up from a very low base—a low base of their own creation.
Another problem with the Government’s levelling up agenda is that there is a series of one-off announcements without any coherent plan. For a start, the Government postponed their national infrastructure strategy. Again, they have cut skills funding in recent years. By the end of the last decade, spending on apprenticeships and work-based learning had fallen by a quarter since 2009-10 in real terms. That is according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
The Budget was disappointing in relation to climate action. The environmental justice commission set up by the Institute for Public Policy Research said that £33 billion of green investment was needed a year to get to the Government’s weak target of net zero emissions by 2050. But there is £27 billion for road building, although nothing for renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. We have heard excuses over the years that they inherited a poor economy, but they have been in power for 10 years and the responsibility for the poor performance of our economy in the past 10 years lies squarely at the Government’s door. They did not believe that public investment could boost the economy. In a speech in 2009, George Osborne said that
“fiscal policy is more or less powerless to affect output”.
He was wrong about that. Let us consider the statement that a
“large planned increase in public investment should boost potential output”.—[Official Report, 11 March 2020; Vol. 673, c. 282.]
Who said those words? It was the Chancellor, when citing the Office for Budget Responsibility. Other countries took a different approach from us and did invest, and they have recovered more quickly. We have had the slowest recovery for a century in this country, and we have had the Bank of England’s chief economist Andy Haldane describing a pay “disaster”.
On that point, let me deal with the issue of the so-called “jobs miracle”, so beloved of Conservative Members. What they fail to mention is that low pay, zero-hours contracts and insecure working conditions bankroll that act of God, meaning that 8 million people in working households are living in poverty. According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s annual poverty report, seven in 10 children in poverty are now in a working family. I am not sure that God would like his name associated with that outcome.
The Office for National Statistics is reporting falling manufacturing output and zero growth in the three months to January because of “widespread weakness”—and that was before the outbreak of the coronavirus. The Government could have started in the Budget to invest in our public services, as well as our infrastructure, but they chose not to do so. As the IFS said last week, after this Budget spending on day-to-day services will still be well below what it was in 2010-11 per head—so much for levelling up. What we have is the Government putting off tackling areas in our economy where bold decisions are needed. The economic crisis facing the country as a result of the coronavirus simply proves their lack of foresight and planning. They have left our public services so depleted of capacity that many fear they will struggle to cope.
We have before us the so-called “Get it done” Chancellor, but he is more like the put-it-off Chancellor. He even put off his announcement today. What about social care—is he getting that done? No, he is having another review. He has put it off. What about the Green Book—is he getting that done? No, he is having another review. He is putting that off. What about the fiscal rules framework—is he getting it done? No, he is having another review. He is putting it off. What about the national investment plan—is he getting it done? No, he is having another review. He is putting it off. He cannot even decide when he is going to have a comprehensive spending review. In a footnote on page 30 of the Red Book, which I know all Conservative Members will have assiduously read, he says that he will
“keep the timing of the CSR under review”.
I hope you will bear with me here, Madam Deputy Speaker. In other words, he is even putting off the timing of the review of the review of the comprehensive review. So much for getting things done.
There is a great deal of not getting things done going on in No. 10 at the moment, contrary to the belief of the backslappers opposite. The word “review” is mentioned no fewer than 117 times in the Red Book, which has only 120 pages in it, including the blank ones. The Chancellor reminds me of the character in one of the less well-known Monty Python sketches: the self-satisfied president of the royal society for putting things on top of other things; we have a meaningless body of men gathered together for no good reason—that is the Cabinet. No wonder we have the lowest productivity levels of our G7 partners, and this is getting worse because the man in charge of getting things done is far too busy putting things off.
Let me give the Chancellor a word of advice. [Interruption.]
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)
Order. The House is being unfair to the hon. Gentleman. There is too much noise going on, and we must hear him.
Peter Dowd
Well, they are Tories.
Let me give the Chancellor a word of advice: I suggest that, for the sake of the country, he stops putting things off and gets things done by pulling his finger out.
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Steve Barclay)
I thank the hon. Member for Bootle (Peter Dowd) for his warm welcome to me in my new role. I join him in paying tribute to the number of excellent maiden speeches that we have heard today. The first was by my hon. Friend the Member for South West Hertfordshire (Mr Mohindra). It was fitting that he paid tribute to his predecessor David Gauke, who was not only respected across the House but very much liked and respected within the Treasury as an institution.
In an excellent speech, my hon. Friend the Member for Blyth Valley (Ian Levy) spoke about his personal experience of working for two decades in our NHS. He must be particularly proud of everything that the NHS is now doing as we face the challenges ahead.
The hon. Member for Liverpool, West Derby (Ian Byrne) gave a strong speech about the need for bold action on covid-19. I assure him that the Chancellor will be true to his word when he says that we will do everything needed in response to the situation. The hon. Gentleman’s speech shows that he will be a valuable colleague representing Liverpool, together with his Front-Bench colleagues.
In a first-class speech, my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton North East (Mark Logan) said that this great House exists exactly for times like these. I could not agree with him more. He will be a fantastic addition to the House, and in particular his experience from his time in the Foreign Office will be valuable in the weeks and months ahead.
My hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Miss Dines) pointed out that she is the first woman to represent her constituency, just as you, Madam Deputy Speaker, were the first woman to chair a Budget. My hon. Friend invited my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to join in with the Shrovetide football next year. I appreciate that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has quite a lot on, but knowing my hon. Friend the Member for Chatham and Aylesford (Tracey Crouch) as I do, I am sure that there will be colleagues in the House keen to partake of any football with my hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales.
The hon. Member for Luton South (Rachel Hopkins) gave an excellent speech about her commitment to her constituency and highlighted issues such as housing, railway electrification, bus routes and the climate emergency. It is clear from the range of contributions from new Members that they will all contribute considerably to the House in the weeks and months ahead.
It is no surprise to me, in closing the debate on the Budget, that many of the contributions from Members from all parties have focused less on the text from last week and more on the national challenge of our economic response to coronavirus. Both my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport and the shadow Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Middlesbrough (Andy McDonald), struck a constructive tone in their opening remarks, recognising their collaboration in meeting the challenge. Many other Secretaries of State have been similarly collaborating with their counterparts. On behalf of the Government, I should say that their approach has been much appreciated.
I very much agree with the hon. Member for Middlesbrough that our focus today is, as he said, primarily on the challenge, nationally and internationally, of fighting the virus. He was also right to recognise that it is no fault of the Chancellor that much has happened since last week and that since the Budget we have needed to move further. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor will update the House shortly and will respond to the legitimate point that the hon. Gentleman raised in his opening remarks.
At the Budget, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor said that he would do
“everything we can to keep this country, and our people, healthy and financially secure.”—[Official Report, 11 March 2020; Vol. 673, c. 278.]
At that time, less than a week ago, that involved a £12 billion temporary and targeted set of measures to respond to coronavirus, supporting public services, individuals and businesses. My right hon. Friend will shortly update the House on the further measures required to provide a comprehensive, co-ordinated and coherent response to the serious and evolving situation that we face.
As my right hon. Friend has said, we will do whatever it takes to give the British people the tools to get through this challenge. I can also announce that the Government are postponing the reforms to the off-payroll working rules IR35 from April 2020 to 6 April 2021. The Government will therefore not move the original resolution tonight, but will shortly table an additional resolution confirming that we will reintroduce the off-payroll working rules provisions by amending the Bill, with a commencement date of the 6 April 2021. This is a deferral in response to the ongoing spread of covid-19 to help businesses and individuals. This is a deferral, not a cancellation, and the Government remain committed to reintroducing this policy to ensure that people who are working like employees, but through their own limited company, pay broadly the same tax as those employed directly.
Let me turn in the remaining time to a number of key measures within the Budget, which, for understandable reasons, have perhaps received less focus in the course of the debate in light of recent events. [Interruption.] In particular, infrastructure links people to jobs, delivers products to markets and underpins supply chains and, indeed, supports domestic and international trade. Better roads, better rail and better internet connections enable businesses and individuals to work more quickly, cheaply and efficiently. While more quality infrastructure boosts social well-being, it means less time stuck on motorways—[Interruption.]
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)
Order. The House is too noisy. As I said with regard to Mr Dowd, the House must listen to the Minister.
Steve Barclay
Infrastructure is an issue that concerns all Members of the House. We are committed in this Budget to boosting productivity and to levelling up opportunity across all regions within our United Kingdom. Indeed, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor set out half a trillion pounds of investment in our public sector, and the Government will bring those plans together in the forthcoming national infrastructure strategy. We already know a lot of the details. For example, there is the commitment to the Northern Powerhouse Rail to enable faster more frequent services between northern cities. In February, the Prime Minister announced that we will proceed with High Speed 2, and last Wednesday, the Chancellor confirmed a £27 billion investment in strategic roads and motorways, the UK’s biggest ever outlay.
At the same time, we are investing £5 billion to support the roll-out of gigabit-capable broadband, starting with rural communities that have felt excluded up to now, binding all parts of the country closer together in the virtual realm and connecting global Britain to the global marketplace.
Alongside the big ticket eye-catching projects, the Budget also focused on meeting the most pressing local needs, whether that is the £2.5 billion for potholes, the £1.2 billion to support local transport infrastructures or, indeed, the funding for bus routes, trunk roads, cycle paths, trams, and park-and-ride schemes that all have the potential to make a transformative difference at a local level. Together it represents an infrastructure transformation that brings faster speeds and greater capacity and that would breathe new life into communities across our United Kingdom.
This transformation is not only about making every town and city more productive, but about recognising their uniqueness of character. Each place in this country has its own quirks and curiosities, traditions and traits that people depend on and draw strength from. Levelling up is about respecting and retaining those brilliant characteristics and making sure that each town keeps hold of its civic soul, while helping every region and nation of the United Kingdom make of its best. The Government know that civic pride and regional identity matter, and we want to bring about a strong and vibrant connected community where people choose to live and work. It is for that reason that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor set out in the Budget the largest affordable homes programme in a decade, with £12 billion in additional funding to support home ownership. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government has already laid out our proposals to bring Britain’s planning system into the 21st century.
Although this is the end of the Budget debate from last week, many of the speeches have looked forward to the challenges ahead posed by covid-19 and its impact on our health, our businesses and our resolve. Much has changed over the past week and people are worried and their livelihoods are at risk. That is why my right hon. Friend the Chancellor will update the House shortly on the further measures that we intend to take. I commend this Budget to the House.
Question put and agreed to.
Resolved,
That income tax is charged for the tax year 2020-21.
And it is declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution should have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968.
The Deputy Speaker put forthwith the Questions necessary to dispose of the motions made in the name of the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Standing Order No. 51(3))
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)
I must inform the House that for the purposes of Standing Order 83U and on the basis of material put before him, Mr Speaker has certified that in his opinion motion No. 2 on income tax main rates relates to England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and is within devolved legislative competence. If the House should decide to divide on this motion, it will be subject to double majority voting. “Car Appropriate percentage Car with CO2 emissions figure of 0 0% Car with CO2 emissions figure of 1 - 50 Car with electric range figure of 130 or more Car with electric range figure of 70 - 129 Car with electric range figure of 40 - 69 Car with electric range figure of 30 - 39 Car with electric range figure of less than 30 0% 3% 6% 10% 12% Car with CO2 emissions figure of 51 - 54 13% Car with CO2 emissions figure of 55 - 59 14% Car with CO2 emissions figure of 60 - 64 15% Car with CO2 emissions figure of 65 - 69 16% Car with CO2 emissions figure of 70 - 74 17%” “Disability assistance for children and young people SS(S)A 2018 Sections 24 and 31” “Job start ETA 1973 Section 2”. “Scottish child payment SS(S)A 2018 Section 79”. 1 Cigarettes An amount equal to the higher of— (a) 16.5% of the retail price plus £237.34 per thousand cigarettes, or (b) £305.23 per thousand cigarettes. 2 Cigars £296.04 per kilogram 3 Hand-rolling tobacco £253.33 per kilogram 4 Other smoking tobacco and chewing tobacco £130.16 per kilogram 5 Tobacco for heating £243.95 per kilogram” “CO2 emissions figure Rate (1) (2) (3) (4) Exceeding Not exceeding Reduced rate Standard rate g/km g/km £ £ 100 110 10 20 110 120 20 30 120 130 115 125 130 140 140 150 140 150 155 165 150 165 195 205 165 175 230 240 175 185 255 265 185 200 295 305 200 225 320 330 225 255 555 565 255 — 570 580”. “CO2 emissions figure Rate (1) (2) (3) (4) Exceeding Not exceeding Reduced rate Standard rate g/km g/km £ £ 0 50 0 10 50 75 15 25 75 90 100 110 90 100 125 135 100 110 145 155 110 130 165 175 130 150 205 215 150 170 530 540 170 190 860 870 190 225 1295 1305 225 255 1840 1850 255 — 2165 2175”. “CO2emissions figure Rate (1) (2) (3) Exceeding Not exceeding Rate g/km g/km £ 0 50 25 50 75 110 75 90 135 90 100 155 100 110 175 110 130 215 130 150 540 150 170 870 170 190 1305 190 225 1850 225 255 2175 255 — 2175”. Taxable commodity supplied Rate at which levy payable if supply is not a reduced-rate supply Electricity £0.00811 per kilowatt hour Gas supplied by a gas utility or any gas supplied in a gaseous state that is of a kind supplied by a gas utility £0.00406 per kilowatt hour Any petroleum gas, or other gaseous hydrocarbon, supplied in a liquid state £0.02175 per kilogram Any other taxable commodity £0.03174 per kilogram”.
2. Income tax (main rates)
Resolved,
That for the tax year 2020-21 the main rates of income tax are as follows—
(a) the basic rate is 20%,
(b) the higher rate is 40%, and
(c) the additional rate is 45%.
And it is declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution should have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968.
3. Income tax (default and savings rates)
Resolved,
That—
(1) For the tax year 2020-21 the default rates of income tax are as follows—
(a) the default basic rate is 20%,
(b) the default higher rate is 40%, and
(c) the default additional rate is 45%.
(2) For the tax year 2020-21 the savings rates of income tax are as follows—
(a) the savings basic rate is 20%,
(b) the savings higher rate is 40%, and
(c) the savings additional rate is 45%.
And it is declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution should have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968.
4. Income tax (starting rate limit for savings)
Resolved,
That section 21 of the Income Tax Act 2007 (indexation) does not apply in relation to the starting rate limit for savings for the tax year 2020-21 (so that the starting rate limit for savings remains at £5,000 for that tax year).
And it is declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution should have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968.
5. Main rate of corporation tax for financial year 2020
Resolved,
That—
(1) For the financial year 2020 the main rate of corporation tax is 19%.
(2) Accordingly, omit section 7(2) of the Finance (No.2) Act 2015 (which is superseded by the provision made by paragraph (1) of this Resolution).
And it is declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution should have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968.
6. Corporation tax (charge and main rate for financial year 2021)
Resolved,
That (notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the practice of the House relating to the matters that may be included in Finance Bills) provision may be made—
(a) for corporation tax to be charged for the financial year 2021, and
(b) for the main rate of corporation tax for that year to be 19%.
8. Taxable benefits (appropriate percentage for a car: tax year 2020-21 onwards)
Resolved,
That—
(1) Chapter 6 of Part 3 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (taxable benefits: cars etc) is amended as follows.
(2) In section 136 (car with a CO2 emissions figure: post- September 1999 registration)—
(a) in subsection (2A)—
(i) after “figure” insert “in a case where the car is first registered before 6 April 2020”,
(ii) for “light-duty” substitute “light”, and
(iii) for “an EC certificate of conformity” substitute “the EC certificate of conformity or UK approval certificate”, and
(b) after subsection (2A) insert—
“(2B) For the purpose of determining the car’s CO2 emissions figure in a case where the car is first registered on or after 6 April 2020, ignore any values specified in the EC certificate of conformity or UK approval certificate that are not WLTP (worldwide harmonised light vehicle test procedures) values.”
(3) In section 137 (car with a CO2 emissions figure: bi-fuel cars)—
(a) in subsection (2A)—
(i) after “figure” insert “in a case where the car is first registered before 6 April 2020”,
(ii) for “light-duty” substitute “light”, and
(iii) for “an EC certificate of conformity” substitute “the EC certificate of conformity or UK approval certificate”, and
(b) after subsection (2A) insert—
“(2B) For the purpose of determining the car’s CO2 emissions figure in a case where the car is first registered on or after 6 April 2020, ignore any values specified in the EC certificate of conformity or UK approval certificate that are not WLTP (worldwide harmonised light vehicle test procedures) values.”
(4) In section 139 (car with a CO2 emissions figure)—
(a) for subsection (2) substitute—
“(2) For the purposes of subsection (1) and the table—
(a) if a CO2 emissions figure is not a whole number, round it down to the nearest whole number, and
(b) if an electric range figure is not a whole number, round it up to the nearest whole number.”, and
(b) after subsection (5) insert—
“(5A) For the purpose of determining the electric range figure for a car first registered before 6 April 2020, ignore any WLTP (worldwide harmonised light vehicle test procedures) values specified in an EC certificate of conformity, an EC type approval certificate or a UK approval certificate.
(5B) For the purpose of determining the electric range figure for a car first registered on or after 6 April 2020, ignore any values specified in an EC certificate of conformity, an EC type approval certificate or a UK approval certificate that are not WLTP (worldwide harmonised light vehicle test procedures) values.”
(5) The amendments made by this Resolution have effect for the tax year 2020-21 and subsequent tax years.
And it is declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution should have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968.
9. Taxable benefits (appropriate percentage for a car: tax year 2020-21 only)
Resolved,
That—
(1) For the tax year 2020-21, Chapter 6 of Part 3 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (taxable benefits: cars etc) has effect with the following modifications.
(2) In section 139 (car with a CO2 emissions figure: the appropriate percentage)—
(a) in the table in subsection (1), in the second column of the entry for a car with a CO2 emissions figure of 0, for “2%” substitute “0%”, and (b) in subsection (7) before paragraph (a) insert—
“(za) section 139A (recently registered cars),”.
(3) After section 139 insert—
“139A Section 139: recently registered car with CO2 emissions figure
In its application in relation to a car that is first registered on or after 6 April 2020, section 139 has effect as if—
for the table in subsection (1) there were substituted—
(b) in subsection (3)(a) for “20%” there were substituted “18%”.”
(4) In section 140 (car without a CO2 emissions figure: the appropriate percentage) in subsection (3)(a) for “2%” substitute “0%”.
And it is declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution should have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968.
10. Taxable benefits (cars)
Resolved,
That (notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the practice of the House relating to the matters that may be included in Finance Bills) provision taking effect in a future year may be made amending the provisions of Chapter 6 of Part 3 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 that concern the determination of the appropriate percentage for a car.
11. Income tax (apprenticeship bursaries paid to persons leaving local authority care)
Resolved,
That provision may be made providing that no liability to income tax arises on certain bursaries paid to persons leaving care and starting an apprenticeship.
12. Income tax (certain Scottish social security benefits)
Resolved,
That—
(1) Table B in section 677(1) of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (UK social security benefits wholly exempt from income tax) is amended as follows.
(2) In Part 1 (benefits payable under primary legislation etc), insert each of the following at the appropriate place—
(3) In Part 2 (benefits payable under regulations), insert the following at the appropriate place—
(4) The amendments made by this Resolution have effect for the tax year 2020-21 and subsequent tax years.
And it is declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution should have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968.
13. Income tax (social security benefits)
Resolved,
That provision may be made conferring power on the Treasury to exempt certain social security benefits from income tax.
14. Income tax (payments in respect of expenses of voluntary office-holders)
Resolved,
That—
(1) After section 299A of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 insert—
“299B Voluntary office-holders: payments in respect of expenses
(1) No liability to income tax arises in respect of a payment to a person who holds a voluntary office if the payment is in respect of reasonable expenses incurred in carrying out the duties of that office.
(2) It does not matter whether—
(a) the payment is an advance payment or a reimbursement;
(b) the person who makes the payment is the person with whom the office is held.
(3) Subsections (2) and (3) of section 299A apply for the purposes of subsection (1) of this section as they apply for the purposes of subsection (1) of that section.”
(2) In section 299A(3)(a) of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (voluntary office-holders: compensation for lost employment income) after “payment” insert “(whether an advance payment or a reimbursement)”.
(3) The amendments made by this Resolution have effect for the tax year 2020-21 and subsequent tax years.
And it is declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution should have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968.
15. Loan charge
Resolved,
That provision may be made—
(a) substituting a reference to 9 December 2010 for the reference to 6 April 1999 in paragraph 1(1)(b) of Schedule 11 to the Finance (No.2) Act 2017 and in paragraph 1(2)(a)(i) of Schedule 12 to that Act,
(b) enabling a person to elect for the tax consequences of Schedules 11 and 12 to the Finance (No.2) Act 2017 to be split over three tax years,
(c) eliminating or reducing the tax consequences for a person of Schedules 11 and 12 to the Finance (No.2) Act 2017 in certain cases where the person was chargeable to income tax for the tax year 2015-16 or an earlier tax year on an amount that was referable to a loan or quasi-loan,
(d) providing relief from late payment interest for a person who is chargeable to income tax on an amount by reason of Schedule 11 or 12 to the Finance (No.2) Act 2017 or who would be so chargeable but for the provision mentioned in paragraph (a) or (c),
(e) substituting a reference to 1 October 2020 for the reference to 1 October 2019 in paragraph 35C(2)(b) of Schedule 11 to the Finance (No.2) Act 2017 and in paragraph 22(2)(b) of Schedule 12 to that Act, and
(f) enabling the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs to repay, or waive the payment of, certain amounts that—
(i) have been paid to them, have been treated as paid to them, or are due to be paid to them under certain agreements made with them in a specified period commencing no earlier than 16 March 2016 and ending no later than 10 March 2020, and
(ii) are referable to certain loans or quasi-loans made on or after 6 April 1999 and before 6 April 2016.
16. Pensions annual allowance charge (tapered reduction of allowance)
Resolved,
That provision may be made about the reduction of the annual allowance in the case of high-income individuals.
17. Capital gains tax (entrepreneurs’ relief)
Resolved,
That provision may be made about relief under Chapter 3 of Part 5 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992.
18. Capital gains tax (relief on disposal of private residence)
Resolved,
That—
(1) The Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 is amended as follows.
(2) In section 222 (relief on disposal of private residence)—
(a) after subsection (5) insert—
“(5A) But a notice or further notice under subsection (5)(a) determining which of 2 or more residences is an individual’s main residence for any period may be given more than 2 years from the beginning of the period if during the period the individual has not held an interest of more than a negligible market value in more than one of the residences.”,
(b) in subsection (7) (a) (disposal of dwelling-house to a spouse or civil partner)—
(i) for “the dwelling-house” substitute “a dwelling-house”, and
(ii) omit “which is their only or main residence”,
(c) in subsection (8A) (when living accommodation is job-related for a person) after paragraph (b) insert “; or
(c) an armed forces accommodation allowance for or towards costs of the accommodation is paid to, or in respect of, the person or the person’s spouse or civil partner”, and
(d) in subsection (8D) (interpretation) after paragraph (b) insert “; and
(c) “armed forces accommodation allowance” means an allowance which is exempt from income tax by reason of section 297D of ITEPA 2003.”
(3) In section 223 (amount of relief)—
(a) in subsections (1) and (2)(a) for “18 months” substitute “9 months”, and
(b) omit subsection (4).
(4) After section 223 insert—
“223ZA Amount of relief: individual’s residency delayed by certain events
(1) Subsection (4) below applies where—
(a) a gain to which section 222 applies accrues to an individual on the disposal of, or of an interest in, a dwelling-house or part of a dwelling-house,
(b) the time at which the dwelling-house or the part of the dwelling-house first became the individual’s only or main residence (“the moving-in time”) was within the first 24 months of the individual’s period of ownership,
(c) at no time during the period beginning with the individual’s period of ownership and ending with the moving-in time was the dwelling-house or the part of the dwelling-house another person’s residence, and
(d) during the period beginning with the individual’s period of ownership and ending with the moving-in time a qualifying event occurred.
(2) The following are qualifying events—
(a) the completion of the construction, renovation, redecoration or alteration of the dwelling-house or the part of the dwelling house mentioned in subsection (1);
(b) the disposal by the individual of, or of an interest in, any other dwelling-house or part of a dwelling-house that immediately before the disposal was the individual’s only or main residence.
(3) In determining whether and, if so, when a qualifying event within subsection (2)(b) occurred, ignore section 28 (time of disposal where asset disposed of under contract).
(4) For the purposes of subsections (1) and (2) of section 223, as they have effect in relation to the gain, the dwelling-house or the part of the dwelling-house mentioned in subsection (1) above is to be treated as having been the individual’s only or main residence from the beginning of the individual’s period of ownership until the moving-in time.”
(5) After section 223A insert—
“223B Additional relief: part of private residence let as accommodation
(1) Where—
(a) a gain to which section 222 applies accrues to an individual on the disposal of, or of an interest in, a dwelling-house or part of a dwelling-house, and
(b) at any time in the individual’s period of ownership the condition in subsection (2) is met in respect of the dwelling house, the part of the gain that is within subsection (3) is a chargeable gain only to the extent, if any, to which it exceeds the amount in subsection (4).
(2) The condition is that—
(a) part of the dwelling-house is the individual’s only or main residence, and
(b) another part of the dwelling-house is being let by the individual as residential accommodation.
(3) The part of the gain that is within this subsection is the part that (but for subsection (1)) would be a chargeable gain by reason of the fact that, at the times in the individual’s period of ownership when the condition in subsection (2) is met, the individual’s only or main residence does not include the part of the dwelling-house that is being let as residential accommodation.
(4) The amount is whichever is the lesser of—
(a) the amount of the gain that is not a chargeable gain by virtue of section 223, and
(b) £40,000.
(5) Where by reason of section 222(7)(a) the individual’s period of ownership mentioned in subsection (1) begins with the beginning of the period of ownership of another person, any question whether the condition in subsection (2) is met at a time that is within both those periods of ownership is to be determined as if the references in subsection (2) to the individual were to that other person.”
(6) In section 224 (amount of relief: further provisions)—
(a) in the heading for “Amount of relief” substitute “Relief under sections 223 and 223B”,
(b) in subsection (1)—
(i) for “the gain”, in the first place those words occur, substitute “a gain to which section 222 applies”,
(ii) for “section 223” substitute “sections 223 and 223B”,
(c) in subsection (2) for “section 223” substitute “sections 223 and 223B”, and
(d) in subsection (3) for “Section 223” substitute “Sections 223 and 223B”.
(7) In section 225E (disposals by disabled persons or persons in care homes etc) in subsection (4) for “18 months” substitute “9 months”.
(8) In section 248E(6) (relief on disposal of joint interests in private residence) for “and 223” substitute “, 223 and 223B”.
(9) The amendment made by paragraph (2)(a) of this Resolution has effect in relation to a notice given on or after 6 April 2020.
(10) The amendments made by paragraph (2)(b) of this Resolution have effect in a case where the disposal or death mentioned in subsection (7)(a) of section 222 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 is made or occurs on or after 6 April 2020.
(11) The amendments made by paragraphs (3) to (8) of this Resolution have effect in relation to disposals made on or after 6 April 2020.
And it is declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution should have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968.
19. Corporate capital losses
Resolved,
That provision (including provision having retrospective effect) may be made relating to capital losses made by companies.
20. Corporation tax (instalment payments)
Resolved,
That provision may be made amending regulation 3 of the Corporation Tax (Instalment Payments) Regulations 1998.
21. Relief from capital gains tax for loans to traders
Resolved,
That provision may be made restricting the operation of section 253(1)(b) of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 to loans made before 24 January 2019.
22. Corporation tax (research and development expenditure credit)
Resolved,
That (notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the practice of the House relating to the matters that may be included in Finance Bills) provision may be made increasing the percentage in section 104M(3) of the Corporation Tax Act 2009 to 13%.
23. Capital allowances (structures and buildings allowances)
Resolved,
That provision (including provision having retrospective effect) may be made in relation to allowances under Part 2A of the Capital Allowances Act 2001.
24. Intangible fixed assets (pre-FA 2002 assets etc)
Resolved,
That provision may be made—
(a) amending Chapter 16 of Part 8 of the Corporation Tax Act 2009, and
(b) restricting the debits to be brought into account by a company for tax purposes in respect of certain intangible fixed assets acquired on or after 1 July 2020.
25. UK property businesses etc carried on by non-UK resident companies
Resolved,
That provision (including provision having retrospective effect) may be made, in consequence of Schedule 1 or 5 to the Finance Act 2019, in relation to non-UK resident companies that carry on UK property businesses or have other income relating to land in the United Kingdom.
26. Surcharge on banking companies (transferred-in losses)
Resolved,
That provision may be made about the treatment of losses transferred to a banking company from a non-banking company in calculating the surcharge profits of the banking company under Chapter 4 of Part 7A of the Corporation Tax Act 2010.
27. Corporation tax (payment of tax on certain transactions with EEA residents)
Resolved,
That provision (including provision having retrospective effect) may be made for the deferral of the payment of corporation tax arising in connection with certain transactions involving companies resident in an EEA state.
28. Changes to accounting standards affecting leases
Resolved,
That provision (including provision having retrospective effect) may be made amending paragraphs 13(1) and 14 of Schedule 14 to the Finance Act 2019.
29. Enterprise investment scheme (approved investment fund as nominee)
Resolved,
That provision may be made amending section 251 of the Income Tax Act 2007.
30. Gains from contracts for life insurance etc (top slicing relief)
Resolved,
That provision (including provision having retrospective effect) may be made amending sections 535 to 537 of the Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005.
31. Losses on disposals of shares
Resolved,
That provision (including provision having retrospective effect) may be made repealing section 134(5) of the Income Tax Act 2007 and section 78(5) of the Corporation Tax Act 2010.
32. Digital services tax
Resolved,
That provision may be made imposing a tax on revenues arising in connection with the provision of a social media service, internet search engine, online marketplace or associated online advertising service.
33. Inheritance tax (property comprised in settlements)
Resolved,
That provision may be made amending the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 in relation to cases where property becomes comprised in a settlement.
34. Inheritance tax (payments to victims of persecution during Second World War)
Resolved,
That provision (including provision having retrospective effect) may be made about inheritance tax relief in respect of payments to victims of persecution during the Second World War era.
35. Stamp duty (unlisted securities and connected persons)
Resolved,
That provision may be made for the purposes of stamp duty in relation to transfers of unlisted securities involving connected persons.
36. Stamp duty reserve tax (unlisted securities and connected persons)
Resolved,
That provision may be made about the application of sections 87, 93 and 96 of the Finance Act 1986 in relation to transfers of unlisted securities involving connected persons.
37. Stamp duty (acquisition of target company’s share capital)
Resolved,
That provision may be made amending section 77A of the Finance Act 1986.
38. Value added tax (call-off stock arrangements)
Resolved,
That—
(1) The Value Added Tax Act 1994 is amended as follows.
(2) After section 14 insert—
“Goods supplied between the UK and member States under call-off stock arrangements
14A Call-off stock arrangements
Schedule 4B (call-off stock arrangements) has effect.”
(3) In section 69 (breaches of regulatory provisions)—
(a) in subsection (1)(a) for “or paragraph 5 of Schedule 3A” substitute “, paragraph 5 of Schedule 3A or paragraph 9(1) or (2)(a) of Schedule 4B”, and
(b) in subsection (2) after “under” insert “paragraph 8 or 9(2)(b) of Schedule 4B or”.
(4) In Schedule 4 (matters to be treated as a supply of goods or services) in
paragraph 6, after sub-paragraph (2) insert—
“(3) Sub-paragraph (1) above is subject to paragraph 2 of Schedule 4B (calloff
stock arrangements).”
(5) After Schedule 4A insert—
“SCHEDULE 4B
Section 14A
CALL-OFF STOCK ARRANGEMENTS
Where this Schedule applies
1 (1) This Schedule applies where—
(a) on or after 1 January 2020 goods forming part of the assets of any business are removed—
(i) from the United Kingdom for the purpose of being taken to a place in a member State, or
(ii) from a member State for the purpose of being taken to a place in the United Kingdom,
(b) the goods are removed in the course or furtherance of that business by or under the directions of the person carrying on that business (“the supplier”),
(c) the goods are removed with a view to their being supplied in the destination State, at a later stage and after their arrival there, to another person (“the customer”),
(d) at the time of the removal the customer is entitled to take ownership of the goods in accordance with an agreement existing between the customer and the supplier,
(e) at the time of the removal the supplier does not have a business establishment or other fixed establishment in the destination State,
(f) at the time of the removal the customer is identified for the purposes of VAT in accordance with the law of the destination State and both the identity of the customer and the number assigned to the customer for the purposes of VAT by the destination State are known to the supplier,
(g) as soon as reasonably practicable after the removal the supplier records the removal in the register provided for in Article 243(3) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28
November 2006 on the common system of value added tax, and
(h) the supplier includes the number mentioned in paragraph (f) in the recapitulative statement provided for in Article 262(2) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC.
(2) In this Schedule—
“the destination State” means—
(a) in a case within paragraph (i) of sub-paragraph (1)(a), the member State concerned, and
(b) in a case within paragraph (ii) of sub-paragraph (1) (a), the United Kingdom, and
“the origin State” means—
(a) in a case within paragraph (i) of sub-paragraph (1) (a), the United Kingdom, and
(b) in a case within paragraph (ii) of sub-paragraph (1 )(a), the member State concerned.
Removal of the goods not to be treated as a supply
2 The removal of the goods from the origin State is not to be treated by reason of paragraph 6(1) of Schedule 4 as a supply of goods by the supplier.
Goods supplied to the customer within 12 months of arrival
3 (1) The rules in sub-paragraph (2) apply if—
(a) during the period of 12 months beginning with the day the goods arrive in the destination State the supplier transfers the whole property in the goods to the customer, and
(b) during the period beginning with the day the goods arrive in the destination State and ending immediately before the time of that transfer no relevant event occurs.
(2) The rules are that—
(a) a supply of the goods in the origin State is deemed to be made by the supplier,
(b) the deemed supply is deemed to involve the removal of the goods from the origin State at the time of the transfer mentioned in sub-paragraph (1),
(c) the consideration given by the customer for the transfer mentioned in sub-paragraph (1) is deemed to have been given for the deemed supply, and
(d) an acquisition of the goods by the customer in pursuance of the deemed supply is deemed to take place in the destination State.
(3) For the meaning of a “relevant event”, see paragraph 7.
Relevant event occurs within 12 months of arrival
4 (1) The rules in sub-paragraph (2) apply (subject to paragraph 6) if—
(a) during the period of 12 months beginning with the day the goods arrive in the destination State a relevant event occurs, and
(b) during the period beginning with the day the goods arrive in the destination State and ending immediately before the time that relevant event occurs the supplier does not transfer the whole property in the goods to the customer.
(2) The rules are that—
(a) a supply of the goods in the origin State is deemed to be made by the supplier,
(b) that deemed supply is deemed to involve the removal of the goods from the origin State at the time the relevant event occurs, and
(c) an acquisition of the goods by the supplier in pursuance of that deemed supply is deemed to take place in the destination State.
(3) For the meaning of a “relevant event”, see paragraph 7.
Goods not supplied and no relevant event occurs within 12 months of arrival
5 (1) The rules in sub-paragraph (2) apply (subject to paragraph 6) if during the period of 12 months beginning with the day the goods arrive in the destination State the supplier does not transfer the whole property in the goods to the customer and no relevant event occurs.
(2) The rules are that—
(a) a supply of the goods in the origin State is deemed to be made by the supplier,
(b) the deemed supply is deemed to involve the removal of the goods from the origin State at the beginning of the day following the expiry of the period of 12 months mentioned in sub-paragraph (1), and
(c) an acquisition of the goods by the supplier in pursuance of the deemed supply is deemed to take place in the destination State.
(3) For the meaning of a “relevant event”, see paragraph 7.
Exception to paragraphs 4 and 5: goods returned to origin State
6 The rules in paragraphs 4(2) and 5(2) do not apply if during the period of 12 months beginning with the day the goods arrive in the destination State—
(a) the goods are returned to the origin State by or under the direction of the supplier, and
(b) the supplier records the return of the goods in the register provided for in Article 243 (3) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC.
Meaning of “relevant event”
7 (1) For the purposes of this Schedule each of the following events is a relevant event—
(a) the supplier forms an intention not to supply the goods to the customer (but see sub-paragraph (2)),
(b) the supplier forms an intention to supply the goods to the customer otherwise than in the destination State,
(c) the supplier establishes a business establishment or other fixed establishment in the destination State,
(d) the customer ceases to be identified for the purposes of VAT in accordance with the law of the destination State,
(e) the goods are removed from the destination State by or under the directions of the supplier otherwise than for the purpose of being returned to the origin State, or
(f) the goods are destroyed, lost or stolen.
(2) But the event mentioned in paragraph (a) of sub-paragraph (1) is not a relevant event for the purposes of this Schedule if—
(a) at the time that the event occurs the supplier forms an intention to supply the goods to another person (“the substitute customer”),
(b) at that time the substitute customer is identified for the purposes of VAT in accordance with the law of the destination State,
(c) the supplier includes the number assigned to the substitute customer for the purposes of VAT by the destination State in the recapitulative statement provided for in Article 262 (2) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC, and
(d) as soon as reasonably practicable after forming the intention to supply the goods to the substitute customer the supplier records that intention in the register provided for in Article 243 (3) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC.
(3) In a case where sub-paragraph (2) applies, references in this Schedule to the customer are to be then read as references to the substitute customer.
(4) In a case where the goods are destroyed, lost or stolen but it is not possible to determine the date on which that occurred, the goods are to be treated for the purposes of this Schedule as having been destroyed, lost or stolen on the date on which they were found to be destroyed or missing.
Record keeping by the supplier
8 In a case where the origin State is the United Kingdom, any record made by the supplier in pursuance of paragraph 1(1)(g), 6(b) or 7(2)(d) must be preserved for such period not exceeding 6 years as the Commissioners may specify in writing.
Record keeping by the customer
9 (1) In a case where the destination State is the United Kingdom, the customer must as soon as is reasonably practicable make a record of the information relating to the goods that is specified in Article 54A(2) of Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 282/2011 of 15 March 2011 laying down implementing measures for Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of value added tax.
(2) A record made under this paragraph must—
(a) be made in a register kept by the customer for the purposes of this paragraph, and
(b) be preserved for such period not exceeding 6 years as the Commissioners may specify in writing.”
(6) In Schedule 6 (valuation of supplies: special cases) in paragraph 6(1) in paragraph (c) after “that Schedule” insert “; or
(d) paragraph 4(2)(a) or 5(2)(a) of Schedule 4B”.
(7) The Value Added Tax Regulations 1995 (S.I. 1995/2518) are amended as follows.
(8) In regulation 21 (interpretation of Part 4)—
(a) the existing text becomes paragraph (1), and
(b) after that paragraph insert—
“(2) For the purposes of this Part—
(a) goods are removed from the United Kingdom under call-off stock arrangements if they are removed from the United Kingdom in circumstances where the conditions in paragraphs (a) to (g) of paragraph 1 (1) of Schedule 4B to the Act are met,
(b) references to “the customer” or “the destination State”, in relation to goods removed from the United Kingdom under call-off stock arrangements, are to be construed in accordance with paragraph 1 of Schedule 4B to the Act, and
(c) “call-off stock goods”, in relation to a taxable person, means goods that have been removed from the United Kingdom under call-off stock arrangements by or under the directions of the taxable person.”
(9) After regulation 22 insert—
“22ZA(1) A taxable person must submit a statement to the Commissioners if any of the following events occurs—
(a) goods are removed from the United Kingdom under call-off stock arrangements by or under the directions of the taxable person;
(b) call-off stock goods are returned to the United Kingdom by or under the directions of the taxable person at any time during the period of 12 months beginning with their arrival in the destination State;
(c) the taxable person forms an intention to supply call-off stock goods to a person (“the substitute”) other than the customer in circumstances where—
(i) the taxable person forms that intention during the period of 12 months beginning with the arrival of the goods in the destination State, and
(ii) the substitute is identified for VAT purposes in accordance with the law of the destination State.
(2) The statement must—
(a) be made in the form specified in a notice published by the Commissioners,
(b) contain, in respect of each event mentioned in paragraph (1) which has occurred within the period in respect of which the statement is made, such information as may from time to time be specified in a notice published by the Commissioners, and
(c) contain a declaration that the information provided in the statement is true and complete.
(3) Paragraphs (3), (4) and (6) of regulation 22 have effect for the purpose of determining the period in respect of which the statement must be made, but as if—
(a) in paragraph (3)(a) of regulation 22, for “paragraphs (4) to (6)” there were substituted “paragraphs (4) and (6)”,
(b) in paragraph (3)(a) of regulation 22, for “the EU supply of goods is made” there were substituted “the event occurs”,
(c) in paragraph (4)(a) of regulation 22, for “the supply is made” there were substituted “the event occurs”, and
(d) in paragraph (6) of regulation 22, the reference to paragraph (1) of that regulation were a reference to paragraph (1) of this regulation.
(4) In determining the period in respect of which the statement must be made, the time at which an event mentioned in paragraph (1) (a) of this regulation is to be taken to occur is the time the goods concerned are removed from the United Kingdom (rather than the time the condition mentioned in paragraph (g) of paragraph 1 (1) to Schedule 4B to the Act is met in respect of the removal).”
(10) In regulation 22B (EC sales statements: supplementary)—
(a) in paragraph (1) for the words from “statements”, in the first place it occurs, to “and” substitute “more than one statement is to be submitted under regulations 22 to”,
(b) in paragraph (2) after “22” insert “, 22ZA”, and
(c) in paragraph (3), in the words before paragraph (a), after “22” insert “, 22ZA”.
(11) Regulation 22ZA of the Value Added Tax Regulations 1995 (as inserted by paragraph (9) of this Resolution) is to be treated for the purposes of sections 65 and 66 of the Value Added Tax Act 1994 as having been made under paragraph 2(3) of Schedule 11 to that Act.
And it is declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution should have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968.
39. Post-duty point dilution of wine or made-wine
Resolved,
That—
(1) After section 55 of the Alcoholic Liquor Duties Act 1979 insert—
“55ZA Post-duty point dilution of wine or made-wine
(1) This section applies if—
(a) wine or made-wine is imported into the United Kingdom or produced in the United Kingdom for sale,
(b) excise duty is chargeable on the wine or made-wine as a result of section 54 or 55,
(c) after the excise duty point in relation to that charge, a person mixes or otherwise adds, at any place in the United Kingdom, water or any other substance to the wine or made-wine in a case where what results (“the new product”) is intended for sale, and
(d) if the addition had taken place immediately before that duty point, the amount of the excise duty would have been greater than the amount actually payable.
(2) The addition attracts a penalty under section 9 of the Finance Act 1994 (civil penalties), and the new product is liable to forfeiture.
(3) This section has effect, despite section 8 of the Isle of Man Act 1979, as if a removal of wine or made-wine to the United Kingdom from the Isle of Man constituted its importation into the United Kingdom (and references to the charge to excise duty as a result of section 54 or 55 and to the excise duty point are to be read accordingly).”
(2) The amendment made by this Resolution has effect in relation to any addition of water or any other substance on or after 1 April 2020.
And it is declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution should have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968.
40. Rates of tobacco products duty
That—
(1) In Schedule 1 to the Tobacco Products Duty Act 1979 (table of rates of tobacco products duty), for the Table substitute—
“TABLE
(2) The amendment made by this Resolution comes into force at 6pm on 11 March 2020.
And it is declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution should have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968.
41. Vehicle excise duty (rates)
That—
(1) Schedule 1 to the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 (annual rates of vehicle excise duty) is amended as follows.
(2) In paragraph 1 (general rate)—
(a) in sub-paragraph (2) (vehicle not covered elsewhere in Schedule with engine cylinder capacity exceeding 1,549cc), for “£265” substitute “£270”, and
(b) in sub-paragraph (2A) (vehicle not covered elsewhere in Schedule with engine cylinder capacity not exceeding 1,549cc), for “£160” substitute “£165”.
(3) In paragraph 1B (graduated rates for light passenger vehicles registered before 1 April 2017), for the Table substitute—
(4) In the sentence immediately following the Table in that paragraph, for paragraphs (a) and (b) substitute—
“(a) in column (3), in the last two rows, “320” were substituted for “555” and “570”, and
(b) in column (4), in the last two rows, “330” were substituted for “565” and “580”.”
(5) In paragraph 1GC (graduated rates for first licence for light passenger vehicles registered on or after 1 April 2017), for Table 1 (vehicles other than higher rate diesel vehicles) substitute—
(6) In that paragraph, for Table 2 (higher rate diesel vehicles) substitute—
(7) In paragraph 1GD(1) (rates for any other licence for light passenger vehicles registered on or after 1 April 2017)—
(a) in paragraph (a) (reduced rate), for “£135” substitute “£140”, and
(b) in paragraph (b) (standard rate), for “£145” substitute “£150”.
(8) In paragraph 1GE(2) (rates for light passenger vehicles registered on or after 1 April 2017 with a price exceeding £40,000)—
(a) in paragraph (a), for “£440” substitute “£465”, and
(b) in paragraph (b), for “£450” substitute “£475”.
(9) In paragraph 1J(a) (rates for light goods vehicles that are not pre-2007 or post-2008 lower emission vans), for “£260” substitute “£265”.
(10) In paragraph 2(1) (rates for motorcycles)—
(a) in paragraph (b) (motorbicycles with engine cylinder capacity exceeding 150cc but not exceeding 400cc), for “£43” substitute “£44”,
(b) in paragraph (c) (motorbicycles with engine cylinder capacity exceeding 400cc but not exceeding 600cc), for “£66” substitute “£67”, and
(c) in paragraph (d) (other cases), for “£91” substitute “£93”.
(11) The amendments made by this Resolution have effect in relation to licences taken out on or after 1 April 2020.
And it is declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution should have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968.
42. Vehicle excise duty (applicable CO2 emissions figure)
Resolved,
That—
(1) In Schedule 1 to the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 (annual rates of duty) in paragraph 1GA(5) (meaning of “the applicable CO2 emissions figure”)—
(a) omit “and” at the end of paragraph (a),
(b) in paragraph (b)—
(i) after “figure” insert “of a vehicle first registered before 1 April 2020”,
(ii) for “light-duty” substitute “light”, and
(iii) after “EU certificate of conformity” insert “or UK approval certificate”, and
(c) at the end of paragraph (b) insert “, and
(c) for the purpose of determining the applicable CO2 emissions figure of a vehicle first registered on or after 1 April 2020, ignore any values specified in an EU certificate of conformity or UK approval certificate that are not WLTP (worldwide harmonised light vehicle test procedures) values”.
(2) The amendments made by this Resolution have effect in relation to licences taken out on or after 1 April 2020.
And it is declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution should have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968.
43. Vehicle excise duty (electric vehicles: extension of exemption)
Resolved,
That—
(1) The Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 is amended as follows.
(2) In paragraph 25 of Schedule 2 (exempt vehicles: light passenger vehicles with low CO2 emissions) omit sub-paragraphs (5) and (6) (no exemption if vehicle price exceeds £40,000 etc).
(3) As a consequence, Part 1AA of Schedule 1 (annual rates of duty: light passenger vehicles registered on or after 1 April 2017) is amended as follows.
(4) In paragraph 1GB (exemption from paying duty on first vehicle licence for certain vehicles)—
(a) in sub-paragraph (1) omit “(2) or”, and
(b) omit sub-paragraph (2).
(5) In paragraph 1GD (rates of duty payable on any other vehicle licence for vehicle), in sub-paragraph (2) omit “or (4)”.
(6) In paragraph 1GE (higher rates of duty: vehicles with a price exceeding £40,000)—
(a) omit sub-paragraphs (3) and (4), and
(b) in sub-paragraph (5) for “sub-paragraphs (2) and (4) do” substitute “Sub-paragraph (2) does”.
(7) In paragraph 1GF (calculating the price of a vehicle), in sub-paragraph (1) omit “and (3)(a)”.
(8) The amendments made by this Resolution come into force on 1 April 2020 but do not apply in relation to licences in force immediately before that date.
And it is declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution should have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968.
44. Vehicle excise duty (motor caravans)
Resolved,
That—
(1) In the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994, in Part 1AA of Schedule 1 (annual rates of duty: light passenger vehicles registered on or after 1 April 2017), paragraph 1GA is amended as follows.
(2) After sub-paragraph (1) insert—
“(1A) But this Part of this Schedule does not apply to a motor caravan which is first registered, under this Act or under the law of a country or territory outside the United Kingdom, on or after 12 March 2020.”
(3) After sub-paragraph (2) insert—
“(2A) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1A) a vehicle is a “motor caravan” if the certificate mentioned in sub-paragraph (1) (b) identifies the vehicle as a motor caravan within the meaning of Annex II to Directive 2007/46/EC.”
And it is declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution should have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968.
45. Vehicle excise duty (exemption in respect of medical courier vehicles)
Resolved,
That—
(1) Schedule 2 to the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 (exempt vehicles) is amended as follows.
(2) In the heading before paragraph 6, after “Ambulances” insert “, medical courier vehicles”.
(3) After paragraph 6 insert—
“6A (1) A vehicle is an exempt vehicle if—
(a) it is used primarily for the transportation of medical items,
(b) it is readily identifiable as a vehicle used for the transportation of medical items by being marked “Blood” on both sides, and
(c) it is registered under this Act in the name of a charity whose main purpose is to provide services for the transportation of medical items.
(2) In this paragraph—
“charity” means a charity as defined by paragraph 1 of Schedule 6 to the Finance Act 2010;
“medical items” means items intended for use for medical purposes, including in particular—
(a) blood;
(b) medicines and other medical supplies;
(c) items relating to people who are undergoing medical treatment;
“item” includes any substance.”
(4) The amendments made by this Resolution come into force on 1 April 2020.
And it is declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution should have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968.
46. Hydrocarbon oil duties (private pleasure craft)
Resolved,
That provision may be made as regards the use of rebated fuels in private pleasure craft.
47. Rates of air passenger duty
Resolved,
That (notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the practice of the House relating to the matters that may be included in Finance Bills) provision may be made taking effect in a future year increasing the rates of air passenger duty.
48. Amounts of gross gaming yield charged to gaming duty
Resolved,
That provision may be made increasing the amounts of gross gaming yield specified in the table in section 11(2) of the Finance Act 1997.
49. Rates of climate change levy from April 2020
Resolved,
That—
(1) Paragraph 42 of Schedule 6 to the Finance Act 2000 (climate change levy: amount payable by way of levy) is amended as follows.
(2) In sub-paragraph (1), for the table substitute—
“TABLE
(3) In sub-paragraph (1)—
(a) in paragraph (ba) (reduced-rate supplies of electricity), for “7” substitute “8”,
(b) after that paragraph insert—
“(bb) if the supply is a reduced-rate of supply of any petroleum gas, or other gaseous hydrocarbon, supplied in a liquid state, 23 per cent of the amount that would be payable if the supply were a supply to which paragraph (a) applies;”, and
(c) in paragraph (c) (other reduced-rate supplies), for “22” substitute “19”.
(4) In consequence of the amendment made by paragraph (3) of this Resolution, in the Notes to paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 to the Climate Change Levy (General) Regulations 2001, for the definition of “r” substitute—
“r= 0.92 in the case of electricity; 0.77 in the case of any petroleum gas, or other gaseous hydrocarbon, supplied in a liquid state; and 0.81 in any other case.”
(5) The amendments made by this Resolution have effect in relation to supplies treated as taking place on or after 1 April 2020.
And it is declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution should have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968.
50. Rates of climate change levy (future years)
Resolved,
That (notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the practice of the House relating to the matters that may be included in Finance Bills) provision may be made taking effect in a future year amending the rates of climate change levy.
51. Rates of landfill tax
Resolved,
That—
(1) Section 42 of the Finance Act 1996 (amount of landfill tax) is amended as follows.
(2) In subsection (1)(a) (standard rate), for “£91.35” substitute “£94.15”.
(3) In subsection (2) (reduced rate for certain disposals), in the words after paragraph (b)—
(a) for “£91.35” substitute “£94.15”, and
(b) for “£2.90” substitute “£3”.
(4) The amendments made by this Resolution have effect in relation to disposals made (or treated as made) on or after 1 April 2020.
And it is declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution should have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968.
52. Carbon emissions tax
Resolved,
That provision may be made about carbon emissions tax.
53. Greenhouse gas emissions trading schemes
Resolved,
That provision may be made for the imposition of charges by the allocation, in return for payment, of allowances under paragraph 5 of Schedule 2 to the Climate Change Act 2008.
54. Import duty (international trade disputes)
Resolved,
That provision may be made amending section 15(1)(b) of the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018.
55. Priority of certain HMRC debts on insolvency
Resolved,
That provision may be made conferring, on the insolvency of a person, a priority as regards an amount owed by the person to the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs in respect of—
(a) value added tax, or
(b) certain deductions that the person is required to make from a payment made to another person.
56. Joint and several liability of individuals for tax liabilities of companies etc
Resolved,
That provision may be made for individuals to be jointly and severally liable, in certain circumstances involving insolvency or potential insolvency, for amounts payable to the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs by bodies corporate or unincorporate.
57. Operation of the general anti-abuse rule
Resolved,
That provision may be made—
(a) about the procedural requirements and time limits for the making of adjustments by virtue of section 209 of the Finance Act 2013, and
(b) amending paragraph 5 of Schedule 43C to that Act.
58. Tax relief for scheme payments etc
Resolved,
That provision (including provision having retrospective effect) may be made for tax relief in respect of—
(a) payments made under or otherwise referable to the Windrush Compensation Scheme,
(b) payments under the Troubles Permanent Disablement Payment Scheme, and
(c) other compensation payments made by or on behalf of a government, public authority or local authority.
59. HMRC exercise of officer functions
Resolved,
That provision (including provision having retrospective effect) may be made about things done by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs in the exercise of functions conferred by or under enactments relating to taxation on officers of Revenue and Customs.
60. Tax returns (limited liability partnerships)
Resolved,
That provision (including provision having retrospective effect) may be made about tax returns in relation to limited liability partnerships that are not carrying on a trade, profession or business with a view to profit.
61. Preparatory expenditure on plastics tax
Resolved,
That provision may be made about preparations by the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs for the introduction of a new tax to be charged in respect of certain plastic packaging.
62. Limits on local loans
Resolved,
That (notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the practice of the House relating to the matters that may be included in Finance Bills) provision may be made increasing to £115 billion, with power to increase by order to £135 billion, the limit imposed by section 4 of the National Loans Act 1968 in relation to loans made in pursuance of section 3 of that Act.
63. Incidental provision etc
Resolved,
That it is expedient to authorise—
(a) any incidental or consequential charges to any duty or tax (including charges having retrospective effect) that may arise from provisions designed in general to afford relief from taxation, and
(b) any incidental or consequential provision (including provision having retrospective effect) relating to provision authorised by any other resolution.
Finance (Money)
Queen’s recommendation signified
Resolved,
That, for the purposes of any Act of the present Session relating to finance, it is expedient to authorise—
(a) the payment out of money provided by Parliament of sums incurred by the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs which is attributable to the increase in the percentage in section 104M(3) of the Corporation Tax Act 2009, and
(b) any increase in the sums payable out of or into the National Loans Fund which is attributable to increasing to £115 billion, with power to increase by order to £135 billion, the limit imposed by section 4 of the National Loans Act 1968 in relation to loans made in pursuance of section 3 of that Act.
Ordered,
That a Bill be brought in upon the foregoing Resolutions;
That the Chairman of Ways and Means, the Prime Minister, Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, Secretary Matt Hancock, Secretary Alok Sharma, Secretary Grant Shapps, Steve Barclay, John Glen, Kemi Badenoch and Jesse Norman bring in the Bill.
Finance Bill
Jesse Norman accordingly presented a Bill to grant certain duties, to alter other duties and to amend the law relating to the National Debt and the Public Revenue, and to make further provision in connection with finance.
Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time tomorrow, and to be printed (Bill 114).
Business without Debate
Liaison Membership
Delegated Legislation
Publication of Content of Ministerial Statements
Mr Speaker
Before I call the Chancellor of the Exchequer to make his statement, I wish to make a few remarks. Ministers have the right to make statements immediately after questions and urgent questions in the normal way, but ministerial statements at other times require my permission. The Government asked my permission for the Chancellor to make a statement today at 7 pm. I agreed to that, but I made it clear that I did so only on the basis that the House would be the first to hear from him and that he would not first appear before the media. I turned down requests for urgent questions to the Chancellor that I would otherwise have granted. I wanted to ensure that elected Members had the first opportunity to question the Chancellor.
I am deeply disappointed that what I understood to be a commitment has not been honoured. These are difficult and sobering times. I do not want to pick a quarrel with any Member. I do, though, want to make it crystal clear that my view is that Ministers have a duty to report first to this House when major policy changes are announced. The Chancellor has the chance to do the right thing in the future. I call upon him now to give the House an assurance that any future statements will be made to the House first, which is consistent with section 9.1 of the ministerial code.
Economic Update
(4 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Rishi Sunak)
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I am grateful to you for allowing me to make this statement. Let me wholeheartedly apologise that I was not able to set out these measures to the House first. I can provide the reassurance that you requested and I hope that hon. and right hon. Members across the House understand that these are extraordinary circumstances.
I want to take the opportunity today to set out for the House the next stage of our economic plan in response to the coronavirus. The coronavirus pandemic is a public health emergency, but it is also an economic emergency. We have never, in peacetime, faced a fight of an economic nature like this. I know that people are deeply worried. I know that people’s anxiety about the disease itself is matched only by their anxiety about their livelihoods.
In the Budget last week, I set out the first stage of our economic response with a £30 billion package to support people and businesses. I promised to do whatever it takes to support our economy through this crisis and that, if the situation changed, I would not hesitate to take further action. As the Prime Minister set out yesterday, we are now approaching the fast-growth part of the upwards curve. He has set out the next stage of our public health response; I want to update the House on the next stage of our economic response.
Let me begin by setting out for the House our overarching economic strategy. People should know that the objective of our economic policy remains clear and our resolve remains firm: we will do whatever it takes to protect households and businesses to get through this, and to make sure that the effects do not become permanent. As we develop our strategy, not just today but over the coming days and weeks, we will be guided by three principles. First, our response must be comprehensive. This national effort will be underpinned by Government interventions in the economy on a scale unimaginable only a few weeks ago. This is not a time for ideology and orthodoxy. This is a time to be bold—a time for courage.
I want to reassure every British citizen that this Government will give you the tools you need to get through this. We will support jobs, we will support incomes, we will support businesses, and we will help protect your loved ones. We will do whatever it takes.
Secondly, our response must be co-ordinated. We in Government are working hand in glove with the wider economic authorities. Domestically, that includes the Bank of England, the regulators, and the health response. And internationally, I continue to engage with my G7 and G20 counterparts to agree and facilitate a global response.
Thirdly, our response must be coherent. It would be easy, at a time like this, to rush into a response and measures that we found out later had been ill-considered. The single most important test we in this House must set ourselves is to make sure that the actions we take will, in the lives of ordinary people and businesses, make a difference. To apply those principles in practice, we will use fiscal action to support public services, households and businesses. The Budget last week set out the first stage, including our commitment to provide the NHS with whatever it needs. In the coming days, I will take further steps, with a particular focus on supporting people and individuals.
In response to the updated medical advice yesterday, I can take three immediate steps today. First, the Government will stand behind businesses small and large. I can announce today an unprecedented package of Government-backed and guaranteed loans to support businesses to get through this. Today, I am making available an initial £330 billion of guarantees, equivalent to 15% of our GDP. That means any business that needs to access cash to pay its rent, salaries or suppliers will be able to access a Government-backed loan on attractive terms. If demand is greater than the initial £330 billion I am making available today, I will go further and provide as much capacity as required. I said whatever it takes, and I mean it.
That support will be delivered through two main schemes. To support liquidity among larger firms, I have today agreed a new lending facility with the Governor of the Bank of England to provide low-cost commercial paper. To support lending to small and medium-sized businesses, I am extending the new business interruption loan scheme I announced at the Budget last week so that rather than loans of up to £1.2 million, it will now provide loans of up to £5 million, with no interest due for the first six months. Both of those schemes will be up and running by the start of next week. I am also taking a new legal power in the covid Bill to offer whatever further financial support I decide is necessary.
Some sectors are facing particularly acute challenges. In the coming days, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport and I will discuss a specific potential support package for airlines and airports. Yesterday, I asked my Cabinet colleagues to urgently convene meetings over the coming days with business leaders and representatives in the most affected sectors to identify other specific opportunities to support them, including possible regulatory forbearance. I repeat: we will do whatever it takes.
Secondly, as well as access to finance, businesses need support with their cash flow and fixed costs. Following the changed medical advice yesterday, there are genuine concerns about the impact on pubs, clubs, theatres and other hospitality, leisure and retail venues. Let me confirm today that for those businesses that do have a policy that covers pandemics, the Government’s action is sufficient and will allow them to make an insurance claim against their policy. But many businesses do not have insurance, so we need to go further. I announced last week that businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors with a rateable value of less than £51,000 will pay no business rates this year. Today, I can go further and provide those businesses with an additional cash grant of up to £25,000 per business to help bridge through this period.
Additionally, I am extending this business rates holiday to all businesses in those sectors, irrespective of their rateable value. That means that every single shop, pub, theatre, music venue and restaurant, and any other business in the retail, hospitality or leisure sector, will pay no business rates whatsoever for 12 months, and if they have a rateable value of less than £51,000, they will now get a cash grant as well. I also announced last week that we would be providing £3,000 grants to 700,000 of our smallest businesses. To support their cash flow in these exceptional circumstances, today I can increase those cash grants to £10,000.
Taken together, on top of the unlimited lending capacity I have already announced, that is a package of tax cuts and grants in this financial year to directly support businesses worth more than £20 billion. That comes on top of the existing multibillion-pound package I set out at Budget, which included reimbursing small and medium-sized companies for the cost of statutory sick pay. Local authorities in England will be fully compensated for the costs of these measures, and the devolved Administrations will receive at least £3.5 billion in additional funding as a result, to provide support to businesses in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. I repeat again: we will do whatever it takes.
Thirdly, I will strengthen our support for peoples and individuals. At Budget last week, I committed £1 billion to support the financial security of vulnerable people through a half-a-billion-pound boost to the welfare system and a half-a-billion-pound hardship fund for local authorities. Following discussions with industry, I can announce today that, for those in difficulty due to coronavirus, mortgage lenders will now offer a three-month mortgage holiday, so that people will not have to pay a penny towards their mortgage while they get back on their feet. In the coming days, I will go much further to support people’s financial security. In particular, I will work with trade unions and businesses to urgently develop new forms of employment support to help protect people’s jobs and incomes through this period.
Let no one doubt our resolve. When I said in the Budget last week that we will do everything we can to keep this country and our people healthy and financially secure, I meant it. The measures that I have announced today are part of a comprehensive, co-ordinated and coherent response to a serious and evolving economic situation. These are only the first steps, and I will set out the next stage of our response in the coming days. We have never faced an economic fight like this one, but we are well prepared. We will get through this, and we will do whatever it takes. I commend this statement to the House.
John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington) (Lab)
There was an element of déjà vu about that statement. I thank the Chancellor of the Exchequer for providing us with an earlier copy of it. Of course, we recognise the immense threat that this virus poses to our country and the globe, and we want to work with him to ensure that we do everything we can to protect our economy and our people. But today, in some of our constituencies, people were being laid off—they were losing their jobs and their incomes, and their livelihoods are being threatened. People are worried, and I am disappointed that today’s package of measures does not really appreciate the urgency or the gravity of the situation for those individuals and their families.
Let us establish a principle throughout our discussions. To protect our people, the underlying principle must be that, wherever a person is sick, self-isolating or laid off from their employment, we will protect their income and give them security. I want to raise a number of questions about issues that the Chancellor failed to address and that I hope will be addressed urgently.
On those people who are sick, there is an urgent need for statutory sick pay to be available for everybody from day 1, and that means extending it to people on low pay, in part-time work and on zero-hours contracts, who at the moment do not qualify. Will the Chancellor now consider abolishing completely the lower earnings limit with regard to statutory sick pay, as called for by the CBI? May I also ask him to heed the call of the TUC and other groups to lift the overall level of statutory sick pay? The TUC has proposed that it should be raised to the level of the real living wage, and I think we should support that. Other countries are providing 100% protection of wages.
Other questions with regard to individuals remain unanswered. Will those workers who have been asked or required to self-isolate—teachers, health workers, nurses, carers and other essential public servants—be protected on full pay to ensure that essential services continue? Will the Government assure people of a right to work from home?
Other pressures felt by individuals relate to rents, mortgages and evictions. I really regret—I ask the Chancellor to consider this urgently this evening—that there was nothing in the statement to protect renters. It affects all our constituents. Will the Chancellor bring forward urgently now measures to protect renters, prevent evictions and enable rent holidays for those people unable to meet their costs? Will he put powers in the legislation now to follow the example of some other countries that have frozen or suspended utility bill payments and put that on a statutory footing because this is an emergency?
For those who have already lost their jobs, let us be clear: the level of and access to universal credit are unacceptable. The Chancellor has said that those receiving universal credit can receive an advance as a loan. This is pushing people into debt, some of them the poorest in our society. The Child Poverty Action Group has asked whether we can make that loan non-repayable as a grant. Can I urge him to consider that?
The Chancellor has said, and I welcome it, that he is going to bring the trade unions together to look at a more sustainable package. We need to do that within days, not weeks, and we will work with him to ensure that happens. I would cite other examples. In Denmark, the Government cover 75% of wages and companies cover 25%. It is true that workers give up some holidays in exchange, but there is a job guarantee for those workers.
We want financial support, but we want guarantees that these people, when this crisis is over, will have a job to go back to, particularly in those companies where there have been significant lay-offs. Unfortunately, we are now facing significant job losses, and a real sense of uncertainty for workers and businesses alike. I have to say that that uncertainty was made worse last night by statements with regard to the hospitality sector. I do not believe that the Chancellor’s statement today gives the clarity that is needed. Will he make it clear to the insurance companies that those in the hospitality sector—the pubs, the clubs, the theatres, the festivals—are closing on the instruction of the Government? In that way, most of them, even if they do not have “pandemic” in their insurance policies, will be covered.
I welcome today’s announcement of loan guarantees to businesses, but I notice in the small print—can the Chancellor clarify this?—that this is interest free for a period of six months only. I am not sure whether that gives the sufficient support and guarantee for the long term that many will want. I welcome the grants, but may I say to him that the response so far from a number of businesses has been that the scale of the grants needs reviewing? They are too small, and they do not relate to the costs that people are involved in at the moment.
I welcome what the Government have said about the business rates relief holiday, but last week the statement seemed to exclude nurseries and childcare. Can the Chancellor just clarify that that has been remedied now, because childcare and nurseries will be desperately needed in the coming period? A bit of concern has been expressed about the British Business Bank being asked last week to deliver the business interruption loan scheme. As of very recently there is little public evidence that the scheme has been established or developed.
I will turn quickly to individual sectors. On the aviation sector and other key transport sectors, I accept that there is a need now for support. I say gently, however, that I resent Mr Branson urging his workers to take eight weeks of unpaid leave, when he makes such a fortune, often by tax avoidance as well. If we are to give grants, loans and assistance to some of these sectors, we should consider whether to take an equity stake for the long term. That also relates to the rail sector. If any franchise fails, is there any planning to bring it under public ownership and management?
Another sector that has been mentioned—this is deeply worrying—is the fishing industry. It has been hit hard, particularly because of its inability to export. We have been told about the lack of insurance cover for boat mortgages. Can we look at that rapidly now to develop some form of legislative protection? Agriculture is now moving into the planting season. The sector was already facing a significant shortage of workers, but it now faces even bigger challenges. Will the Chancellor reassure the House that there will be support for agriculture throughout, because food supplies will be essential during this coming period, especially domestic food supplies?
I must also raise the issue of public services, which the Chancellor did not mention in any depth. The Opposition received well the commitment that whatever the NHS needs it will get, but can we be clear about the allocation of funding to enable testing to take place at scale? The £5 billion response fund did not earmark any particular funding for the NHS, let alone for testing. Clearly, the public now want reassurance that testing will be developed, and we need the funding. Also on the NHS, can the Government point to stronger steps that need to be taken to manufacture essential ventilators and provide personal protective equipment for frontline NHS workers? If we are harvesting our resources, Labour Members do not believe that we should be paying for private hospital beds at this time. Indeed, many of us believe that they should be requisitioned for the use of the whole community.
The overall system of caring for our population relies not just on the NHS but on social care. Will the Chancellor be absolutely clear now about the scale of funding that has so far been directed to social care, as there is uncertainty about that at the moment? What does he think is the best estimate for the level of funding that will be needed, given that we have already inherited 120,000 vacancies, and staff numbers may well dwindle because of the impact of the virus? In recent years, we have seen evidence that some care companies face threats to their financial viability. What plans have the Government developed to intervene if necessary in that sector? There is also pressure on family carers, who are relied on to support our social care system. We need proposals to support them financially as well.
One area of change that has been mooted is the possible closure of our schools. It is crucial that childcare support is provided in the event that any closures occur. We will work with the Chancellor on that issue and with local authorities, but it is crucial that children who depend on free school dinners receive support if the schools are closed. We cannot allow them to go hungry. School staff may be off for long periods and we would like an assurance that their incomes will be guaranteed. Pupils and students are being advised to study from home and most will require access to high-speed broadband. What will be done to ensure access to broadband for students? May I suggest to the Chancellor that it could be free? We all rely in our communities on the voluntary sector as well and it is being hit hard because of the temporary downturn in donations and staffing levels. What consideration has been given to grants to ensure that the voluntary sector can continue to carry out its important functions?
We need more clarity on the Barnett consequentials, and very quickly, because there is uncertainty about the scale of support that will be given to the devolved countries and regions.
With regard to international interventions, whatever people thought about Gordon Brown’s individual policies, in 2007 and 2008 he showed international leadership to tackle that crisis. I have expressed previously my disappointment that the Government did not act sooner in bringing countries together. I urge the Chancellor to follow up the teleconference with the G7 on Monday with engagement through the G20, the World Bank, the World Health Organisation and the UN, and to bring forward a global plan with his colleagues to ensure that we can give assurance not just to the markets but to those, particularly in the global south, who may well be hit hardest by this virus.
Rishi Sunak
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for the constructive attitude with which he approaches some of these issues. I very much welcome his desire to work with me to try to solve some of the pressing issues that face our nation.
I will try to answer as many of the right hon. Gentleman’s specific questions as possible, starting with financial security for our most vulnerable people. I wholeheartedly agree that this is a priority and should be a priority, which is why, in the Budget, we made significant changes to the operation of statutory sick pay, universal credit, and employment and support allowance to ensure that people had quicker and more generous access to a support system for them and their families. We have already invested £1 billion to provide that extra security, but of course we keep all these things under review. As I said, the next step of our plan is to focus on providing support to people, their incomes and their jobs over the coming days.
The right hon. Gentleman asked about insurance for the leisure sector. I can confirm that, after extensive meetings today between my hon. Friend the Economic Secretary to the Treasury and the insurance industry, the insurance industry will honour insurance contracts that would have been triggered if the advice had been to ban certain things, rather than it being advisory not to do them. That has been agreed and negotiated by my hon. Friend. I thank him for those efforts, and I thank the insurance industry for doing the right thing.
The shadow Chancellor asked, rightly, about renters. Of course, I announced measures today on mortgages. He is absolutely right that the biggest fixed cost that many families face will be their rent payment, and it is right that we have regard to that. I can tell him that my right hon. Friend the Housing Secretary will, in the coming days, make a statement with further measures to protect renters through these difficult times.
The shadow Chancellor asked about other countries and their experience, and about global leadership. He mentioned some specific examples of schemes. I can assure him that I am in touch with my counterparts across the G7 and the G20 to understand how schemes in other countries work. He mentioned, for example, employment support schemes in both Germany and Denmark. I say to him and to the House that, whatever package or scheme we come up with that we believe will provide the appropriate support, it is important that we can operationalise that at speed. The difference between our system and that of many other countries is that they have these systems already in place, so it is far easier for them to step them up quickly. We need to make sure we come up with a solution that can be delivered so that it makes a difference to people quickly, which is why I am happy to work closely with unions and business groups to see what will make the most sense.
On international leadership, I say to the right hon. Gentleman that it was widely noticed by other countries that last week, in this country, we saw both monetary and fiscal policy—the Government and the Bank of England working independently but in a co-ordinated fashion to provide significant support and confidence to the economy. That was acknowledged by people, including the International Monetary Fund, which noticed what happened here and pointed at it as an example for others to follow.
On the scale of our response, I ask the right hon. Gentleman to look at the analysis comparing the scale of the fiscal support that various different countries are providing. Again, I think he will find that the package of measures announced both last week and today shows that we have one of the strongest responses of anybody in the G7 as a percentage of GDP to the significant challenge that we face.
The right hon. Gentleman asked about the delivery of the loan scheme and it is right to focus on how it will be delivered. We have been working at pace over the past week to make sure that the loans can be delivered not by the British Business Bank, but by individual retail banks on high streets up and down the country. Again, because of the work of the Economic Secretary, that will happen by early next week: businesses will be able to walk into their local branches and request a business interruption loan that has been backed by the Government on these attractive terms. Again, we have to work with the systems that we have. We cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good because we want to be able to deliver these schemes as quickly as possible to businesses up and down the country.
The right hon. Gentleman asked about support for a variety of sectors. I can tell him that I have urgently asked my Cabinet colleagues to convene roundtables and engagement with their particular industries to understand if there are specific measures we should be looking at, on top of the measures for airlines and airports that we can look to address in the coming days. All the sectors he mentioned will be covered by that.
I agree with the right hon. Gentleman: when it comes to providing support to larger companies, if the taxpayer is going to be put at risk in supporting those companies, it is right that the taxpayer is rewarded on the other side. That is a principle with which we also wholeheartedly agree. He can rest assured that, as we negotiate those situations, we will always protect the interests of taxpayers.
The right hon. Gentleman rightly asked about public services. Our No. 1 priority is to ensure that the NHS has everything it needs to get through this period. I made that commitment last week. I re-echo that commitment today.
On the Barnett consequentials, the right hon. Gentleman will have seen this week that we released the full amount of the Barnett consequentials resulting from the Budget package in advance to all devolved authorities. Today, I announced the overall quantum. Again, we will quickly release those, in advance of those payments being released in England, to the devolved authorities, so they can plan appropriately.
The right hon. Gentleman can rest assured that all the specific public service issues he mentioned, whether school meals, schools and social care, are under active and urgent consideration.
I will end on this point. Our public servants, in particular those working hardest in our NHS right now, deserve nothing but our support at this difficult time. I want them to know, and I want the country to know, that we will do whatever it takes to get through this.
Mel Stride (Central Devon) (Con)
These are truly shocking times and a great weight lies upon the shoulders of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor. I hope it is felt right across the House that we wish him every success in his endeavours to steer us through this crisis. He has come forward with a huge response to the current situation, which I know will, in many quarters and businesses up and down the country, provide some reassurance. There are, however, inevitably some areas on which there is still work to come, not least in terms of the employment support package. I note the fact that he will shortly be engaging closely with trade unions and businesses to flesh that out. May I urge him to do so as quickly and promptly as possible? Does he know at this stage when the conclusions of that exercise may be reached, so that we can provide vital reassurance to employers and employees who fear for their jobs up and down our country? This is a time in our history where not just days, but hours matter.
Rishi Sunak
I thank my right hon. Friend for his thoughtful support. I can tell him that we are working on those proposals urgently and plan to have answers for both him and the House in the coming days, ideally next week, with an early thought of what we can do. As I said, designing these schemes will take an appropriate amount of diligence and care. That is what we are focused on urgently as we speak. He is right: this is about hours, not days and weeks.
Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)
I thank the Chancellor for the action and the extra money that he has announced this evening. I put on record my thanks to health staff, volunteers and everybody working at the forefront of this crisis. I also mark my sadness at the second death that was recorded in Scotland today.
We want to work across the economy and across society, because fundamentally this is about people’s lives. The Chancellor is right that nothing should be spared when it comes to that. Can he tell me precisely what the Barnett consequentials will be from today’s announcement? He says that the Scottish Government knew in advance. I do not make the point to be party political, but my understanding is that the Scottish Government were only notified by letter at 5.30 pm yesterday of the previous set of Barnett consequentials from last week’s Budget. [Interruption.] I hear hon. Members saying that that has been the same for Wales.
The Scottish Government want to act swiftly. They must not be behind the curve of what England is doing. The Chancellor must pick up the phone to Kate Forbes, the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Finance, to let her know exactly what is coming, so that she can take action for Scotland’s businesses and individuals across the country.
The Chancellor mentioned that the loans will be on attractive terms. Can he tell us more details? Businesses will be nervous about taking on more debt at this time, and interest free for six months is perhaps not good enough for businesses that are struggling and questioning their very future. His flexibility on the next steps is also welcome, but we expect those measures to come before the House if at all possible.
Will the Chancellor take a stake in the airlines to guarantee that money for the future? In any intervention for airlines, will he make sure that staff are protected first, including support staff in airports and in the supply chain, not just airline staff directly? They are all worried about their jobs.
Cash grants for small businesses are welcome, but I gently suggest that the £3,000 announced last week was not enough. Today’s announcement of £10,000 shows how short that was. The hospitality sector in particular needs urgent clarity about what is going to happen for events, for pubs and right across the sector. The Government need to be absolutely clear: if people are to stay away from pubs, pubs need to know that and have the Government’s backing if they close. That applies across the hospitality sector, including for hotels and lots of small businesses in the supply chain.
The Association of British Insurers has suggested that many businesses will not have a policy that covers pandemic. Will the UK Government stand as an insurer of last resort, as Professor Sir Charles Bean suggested at the Treasury Committee today, saying,
“Big early action is better than half-hearted action that’s late”?
I urge the Chancellor to think on that. Can the insurers cope if they are asked to pay out on all those policies? Will the Government stand behind the insurers if need be?
What protection has been given to pregnant women around maternity entitlement? Lots of women have been asked to take their maternity leave early, which will affect how long they can stay off at the end. They need to know that the Government will back them on that and that they will not lose out on their maternity leave because of the coronavirus.
The Chancellor made no mention of private renters, particularly young people who are more likely to be in insecure employment. He is giving a break to those paying mortgages, lots of which are buy-to-rent mortgages where people rent the accommodation. If the mortgage holders are getting a break, that must be guaranteed for renters as well. It must be passed on, and passed on quickly. If the Chancellor looks at Twitter, he will see that people around the country are losing their tenancies and do not know whether they can get a new one.
There has been talk in the US of $1,000 being given to Americans, and in Italy €500 being given to the self-employed. Will the Chancellor consider such direct schemes for individuals who may be struggling to cope? Will he also look at the situation for asylum seekers and those with no recourse to public funds who cannot claim benefits and are particularly vulnerable? The services, food banks and voluntary action that they rely on will disappear. They need direct payments as well if they are to live through this crisis.
I note that France is moving to the direct payment of bills. Will the Chancellor look at that measure? That is a different mechanism that stops money being taken out of people’s pockets, rather than putting money into them. Has he spoken to the energy companies about that?
Turning to the vulnerability of people in the economy just now, the Fraser of Allander Institute has said that only one in four under-25s has enough savings to cover one month of income. The under-25s are incredibly vulnerable, so will the Chancellor consider specific measures to tackle issues for those young people? Only 42% of households in the bottom income decile have enough savings to cover one month. People will not get through this crisis with the money they have in the bank, because a lot of them have no money in the bank. He needs to consider how he will ensure that people can put food on the table. That need is particularly pressing for families, because if the schools do close and parents cannot work, there will be no money coming in. He needs to think about how those families will put food on the table for those children during this extended period.
I agree with everyone who has said that statutory sick pay is woefully inadequate to deal with this crisis. The Government have suggested that people should apply for universal credit, but they seem to be forgetting that for many people universal credit is far less generous even than statutory sick pay, so will the Chancellor urgently increase the amount that people can get through the universal credit system? Will he uprate that so that people can get enough money to survive the crisis? Will he consider extending the period for universal credit advances, or ideally get rid of the advances and pay people straight away? Will he ensure that the Department for Work and Pensions looks carefully at the implications of people claiming universal credit for their entitlement to legacy benefits, because people might lose out on their legacy benefits if they jump into universal credit just now? Will the Department protect that for all claimants so that they do not lose out in the long term?
This is a crisis. I welcome all action that the UK Government will take on this, but the questions this evening will be legion, and people will have so many questions in the days ahead. I ask the Government to listen and to react as quickly as possible to all the questions that honourable colleagues will raise this evening, and in the weeks and months ahead.
Rishi Sunak
I thank the hon. Member for her comments. I can reassure her that I am listening. I welcome all the suggestions that she has made, and indeed all those that other hon. Members will make. We are listening intently to hon. Members, and to businesses and others, to ensure that we provide the support required.
Let me answer the hon. Member’s specific questions. The Barnett consequentials resulting from today’s package will be about £3.5 billion. I understand that my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury will be speaking to the Scottish Finance Secretary tomorrow to explain in more detail how that will work. Earlier this week we released the Barnett consequentials to the devolved authorities before the money has been drawn down in England, as would be typical, in order to provide advance on the Barnett consequentials to all devolved authorities in recognition of the circumstances that everyone is grappling with, so that they can plan appropriately. I hope that will be welcomed.
Obviously, it would not be appropriate for me to comment on specific interventions in any particular company, whether an airline or anything else, but I agree with the hon. Member that in general we are interested in protecting people’s jobs. When I stand here and talk about supporting businesses, I am keen to support businesses because that is the best way to protect jobs, and ultimately that is the best way to protect people.
The hon. Member asked about cash grants. In thinking about the scale of the grants and how significant they might be, let us take the £10,000 grant available for anyone currently in receipt of small business rate relief. The typical rateable value on one of those properties would be approximately £7,000. That is a good proxy for a year’s worth of rent. A £10,000 cash grant is therefore reasonably significant in covering what is probably a business’s biggest fixed cost. When we look at what the average income of one of those smaller businesses might be, again we see that it will be significant.
The hon. Member talked about pubs and the leisure sector. Not only will there be a business rates holiday for the sector for the next 12 months, but for all businesses in the sector, regardless of their rateable value, there will be a £25,000 cash grant for businesses up to £51,000.
The hon. Member asked about insurance. The statement is welcome on insurance. With regard to retrospectively changing insurance policies, she rightly identified that that would most likely cause solvency issues with insurance companies, so it is perhaps not the most appropriate course of action, which is why we have several other measures for providing support directly to businesses in those circumstances. She will probably be aware that very few businesses actually have the requisite insurance in any case, so although the steps set out today are welcome, it is important that we think more broadly about direct support.
I welcome the hon. Member’s question on maternity pay, which I will discuss with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and reflect on. With regard to renters, as I said in my earlier answer, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government will shortly announce further measures to protect renters.
The hon. Lady talked about other countries, and about fiscal responses and individual measures. Every country is doing this slightly differently, but, broadly, are trying to do the same things through different means. I think that the best way to judge us is by the total scale of our fiscal response, and on that metric, as a percentage of GDP benchmarked to nearly all developed countries, we have what is to date one of the most comprehensive and significant packages of scale—which, as I have said, underlies our commitment to doing what it takes to get the country through this.
Mr David Davis (Haltemprice and Howden) (Con)
I strongly welcome the Chancellor’s enormous loan and guarantee package, but he himself recognised that he is supporting the liquidity of businesses rather than their long-term viability. We want to see employment protected, so may I ask him to fund business not just in ways that enable the maintenance of employment, but in ways that actively incentivise it? It is not the same thing. Block grants will not do it. May I also ask him, when he does that, to do more than just taking the route of sectoral support packages? If he takes that route, tens of thousands of small businesses will fall through the cracks.
That, unfortunately, means an incredibly tailored system. The Chancellor will have to design rather intricate mechanisms to ensure that we pay people properly, which may involve small claims courts, the insurance business and British chambers of commerce and the like. I ask him to consider doing that, however. What he has done today is important in terms of maintaining liquidity, but his main aim must be to maintain the viability of the British economy.
Rishi Sunak
My right hon. Friend has made a good point. I believe that providing liquidity now ensures sustainability for the future, but he is right to identify the further steps that are needed to provide support on fixed costs such as employment, and preserving and incentivising that employment. This is work that we are undertaking as a matter of urgency.
Rachel Reeves (Leeds West) (Lab)
For those who are currently off work on statutory sick pay or are self-isolating for public health reasons, who are laid off because there is no work or who are self-employed or low-paid, there is nothing at all in the Chancellor’s package of measures. The Chancellor says that these matters are under review. As a matter of urgency, will he at least increase statutory sick pay to the level of the national living wage, and come back to the House with a package of support that ensures that workers will not be financially penalised for doing the right thing, and will not be unable to pay their bills and rent and put food on the table?
Rishi Sunak
We have put £1 billion into the welfare system to provide extra financial security for those people, to speed up both access and the generosity of all those benefits.
Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)
I thank the Chancellor and his team for all that has been announced today. I know that those in the retail hospitality sector in my constituency will be very pleased to hear about it.
There is a sector of the retail market that is doing incredibly well, and that is the supermarkets. Many of my constituents are worried because they rely on home deliveries from supermarkets. Can the Chancellor update us on what talks he and his colleagues are having with the supermarket industry about increasing capacity for home delivery?
Rishi Sunak
That is an excellent point. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is engaged in urgent talks with supermarkets to ensure the security of our food supply and to improve accessibility, particularly for those who may now be at home.
Jess Phillips (Birmingham, Yardley) (Lab)
I simply want to ask the Chancellor whether he could live on £94.25 per week. It is a simple question: has he ever lived on that, and could he live on that, because that is what most of my constituents are currently having to live on?
Rishi Sunak
We believe in a strong safety net during a short period so that people can get through this, which is why we have strengthened that safety net with £1 billion of extra investment to increase generosity and accessibility.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith (Chingford and Woodford Green) (Con)
I commend my right hon. Friend the Chancellor for his bold measures today, which will encourage many small businesses to believe that the Government are on their side. There is more to do, I know. Can I also encourage him, though, in his statement to come, on further employment measures to bear it in mind that the most important thing we can do is to do everything we can to keep people in employment? That will help to deliver growth.
One area I want to raise with my right hon. Friend, which has not really been touched on, although I think the shadow Chancellor raised it, is the voluntary sector. The Centre for Social Justice has done some quick work on this and come to the conclusion that the smallest elements of the voluntary sector, which have no reserves, are going to lose about £400 million during this next few months, and they are going to be the ones that are called upon most for support in the community for those who suffer. Can I please ask him to look at this very carefully and see what we can do to give them that cash aid?
Rishi Sunak
My right hon. Friend knows better than most the value of making sure that people have the security of a good job, and I commend him for all his work in that regard. I agree with him wholeheartedly. My right hon. Friend the Communities Secretary is talking already to the voluntary sector and we stand ready to provide the support that may be required.
Edward Miliband (Doncaster North) (Lab)
I recognise, as I am sure the whole House does, the Chancellor’s wish to get any employment support scheme right, but he will recognise, as the shadow Chancellor said from the Front Bench, that people are facing redundancy right now. May I suggest two things that he can say tonight to help ward off those redundancies? The first is that he accepts the principle that Government should cover a substantial proportion of people’s wages, because it is in their interests and those of the economy and their businesses. The second is that he undertakes to come back not next week but by Friday of this week with a clear plan developed with unions and businesses.
Rishi Sunak
I say to the right hon. Gentleman that it is more important that we get this right than rush to things that will not work, but he can rest assured that we agree wholeheartedly with the ambitions of what he says, but delivering them and getting it right are vital and that is what we are working on doing.
George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)
I congratulate and thank the Chancellor on behalf of the people in Mid Norfolk for a coherent and comprehensive package, in particular the support on rates and mortgages. In my rural and quite fragile economy, it is the pubs, the high streets, the small businesses, tourism and farming, and food processing that are the backbone of the economy. May I press him on the insurance point? The policies of many of my local employers simply do not cover liability for epidemics. Would it not be sensible to look at reinforcing the insurance industry, which has the wherewithal to deliver the support, so that those that have made money in the good years can help companies that really need it in tough times?
Rishi Sunak
I appreciate the point my hon. Friend is making. The steps today on insurance are welcome, but he is right to identify that retrospectively changing the situation that insurers would have reserved against could have a very significant impact on their solvency, which would send a ripple effect throughout the insurance market. That is not something that any of us would want to see.
Ms Angela Eagle (Wallasey) (Lab)
The Chancellor must surely recognise that those on statutory sick pay are being asked to protect the rest of us, but take only £96 a week in income and live on that, and that those on universal credit, if they can access the system at all, will be asked to live on £74 a week. Millions of people are simply not eligible for either of those deeply flawed structures. He has to do something fast. He has to do it quickly. Instead of talking about the £1 billion he has already put in, will he now realise that he has to move fast to reassure people that if they do the right thing they will not suffer and that they will be able to put food on the table and maintain their housing and their children’s meals?
Rishi Sunak
We have provided half a billion pounds specifically to local authorities to provide extra support, particularly to help people with housing costs, notably council tax. That will make an enormous difference to people on the ground.
Mark Eastwood (Dewsbury) (Con)
Many mortgage payers in my constituency will welcome the three-month holiday announced today. However, can the Chancellor confirm whether this will be implemented automatically by the banks and mortgage lenders, or will borrowers need to apply?
Rishi Sunak
Borrowers can speak to their mortgage provider and, owing to the work of my right hon. Friend today, they should receive a three-month mortgage holiday, depending on their circumstance as explained, but it should be reasonably automatic thereafter.
Several hon. Members rose—
Sir Edward Davey (Kingston and Surbiton) (LD)
Our economy is suffering a heart attack, one deeper and bigger than in 2008, so the Chancellor has a serious responsibility and he deserves constructive engagement from everyone in this House, including my party. His main task is to ensure that there is confidence among the business community and the British people. I have to tell him that although he has made a good start, this is still very much a work in progress. His package for the business sector was large, but may I urge him to say far more about the loan terms he is putting forward? Many small businesses will be very worried about taking on this debt. May I also urge him to go much faster to give confidence to the ordinary people who are suffering in our constituencies?
Rishi Sunak
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his constructive attitude, and I look forward to working with him. The loan terms will be interest-free for six months. Because of the liquidity that has been provided by the Bank of England, they will be incredibly cheap, and they will be available on a rolling basis for commercial paper, so they will be loans that are accessible and very valuable to businesses. They will be ready from next week.
John Redwood (Wokingham) (Con)
I am delighted that the Chancellor recognises the need for burden-sharing on employment costs in badly affected sectors such as tourism, travel and hospitality, but will he also make sure that there is a package for the self-employed, because some of those people are losing a large amount of their business, too?
Rishi Sunak
My right hon. Friend has written about the importance of employment support, and I look forward to getting his thoughts on those measures.
Ms Karen Buck (Westminster North) (Lab)
Half of my constituents rent privately—that is the highest proportion in the country. A quarter of all Londoners rent privately, and 13 million people across the country rent privately, with a third having no savings whatsoever. Will the Chancellor assure me that when we have the statement from the Housing Minister, there will, in addition to any legislative change to protect renters, be money on the table to help people on low incomes and in insecure employment to pay their rent, so that this crisis does not mean that they also get into debt and risk losing their homes?
Rishi Sunak
We very much recognise that rent is a significant portion of most household bills, which is why the Housing Secretary will shortly be outlining measures in this regard.
Paul Holmes (Eastleigh) (Con)
The measures announced by the Chancellor should be welcomed, but many of my constituents who are self-employed are worried because their cash flow has stopped now. When can we expect further announcements on how we are going to help these people? Will he consider extending the loans he has made available to businesses to cover this category of people?
Rishi Sunak
I can confirm to my hon. Friend that the loans available already will be available to those who are self-employed and that many of them, those who do have small properties, will benefit from the business rate reliefs and grants too.
Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) (DUP)
My party also wishes to work with the Government on ensuring that we get through this crisis as easily as we can. Redundancies are already starting across a range of industries in Northern Ireland. It is important that if the Chancellor is coming with the next step, it addresses the issue of how we keep people in employment and how firms are supported. I understand that he wants to get this right, but he also has to get it done.
Rishi Sunak
I can tell the right hon. Gentleman that we will get it done, we will do it at pace and we very much agree that it is important to protect people’s jobs. That is the security we want to provide.
Rehman Chishti (Gillingham and Rainham) (Con)
I very much welcome the Chancellor’s statement and all that the Government are doing to support individuals and businesses in my constituency. I have a specific point for him that has been raised with me by the chairman of Gillingham football club. They are in league 1, but this also covers clubs in league 2. A lot of the matches for those clubs have been postponed. They rely on matchday income to support them. What will be done to work with those smaller football clubs and organisations to ensure that their Her Majesty’s Customs and Revenue payments are dealt with adequately and that they are given soft loans over a certain period to ensure that they can get through these challenging, difficult circumstances?
Rishi Sunak
My hon. Friend’s football club, like many others, will be eligible for the business rates relief measures and grants that I have announced today. On HMRC, we activated Time to Pay last week, and there are now 2,000 specific, dedicated HMRC officers ready to take the calls of businesses such as Gillingham football club, in order to provide exactly what he suggested: a deferral for their tax payments and an agreed schedule for paying them back.
Mr Kevan Jones (North Durham) (Lab)
Yesterday, the Government announced measures for the hospitality industry. Businesses are laying off people today, throughout the country and certainly in County Durham, where I have spoken to businesses this afternoon. It is clear that the Chancellor does not have a clue how ordinary people live. They do not have access to savings and they do not have access to trust funds or independent wealth; they rely on what comes in each week. I urge him very strongly either to ensure that benefits are paid from day one, or to bring in some system that allows the Government to subsidise wages directly for some small businesses.
Rishi Sunak
It is because we care deeply about the financial security of all people that we want to work hardest to protect their jobs. That is the way to help working people in this country. We have strengthened the welfare system, and the measures that we have taken today will increase the likelihood that we can preserve those jobs. We know that there is more to do.
Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)
I very much welcome the package of measures that the Chancellor announced this evening, but when does he expect to be able to give some more detail on support for the aviation industry? Virgin Atlantic, easyJet, British Airways and Gatwick airport in my constituency are suffering deeply.
Rishi Sunak
I know that my hon. Friend knows those businesses well. He should rest assured that we are already in contact with them, through both the Treasury and the Department for Transport. As I said, we will work with them as quickly as possible to put in place what measures are necessary.
Brendan O'Hara (Argyll and Bute) (SNP)
This afternoon, Lochfyne Langoustines, which employs 20 people in the village of Tarbert, told me that it did not have a single UK or export sale today. Soon, the company’s boats will be tied up, processers will be laid off, and the business could close. The far east markets are beginning to reopen and there is a glimmer of hope, so will the UK Government work with the Scottish Government to help to arrange cargo flights to get into the reopening markets as soon as possible?
Rishi Sunak
I am happy to ask my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for International Trade and the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to have a look at that.
Alun Cairns (Vale of Glamorgan) (Con)
I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend for the scale of the package that he has announced, and I recognise the significance of the Barnett consequentials that will come from it. Does he agree that simplicity and commonality are key features? It was only late yesterday that the Welsh Government matched the business rate package, which left—[Interruption.] It left many businesspeople in my constituency anxious before the support was made available. Does my right hon. Friend recognise that commonality will be an important theme?
Rishi Sunak
My right hon. Friend makes an excellent point: a simple, common message across our Union would make an enormous difference to people everywhere.
Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth) (Lab/Co-op)
I am disappointed to hear the tone from the right hon. Member for Vale of Glamorgan (Alun Cairns). I do not doubt what the Chancellor and the Chief Secretary have said about the devolved Administrations and what they are trying to do to give them information, but I must tell the Chancellor that it is not coherent and it is not working. He knows that getting cash to the frontline—to businesses and individuals—is absolutely mission-critical and time-critical at the moment, so will he work with the Administrations so that they can make future announcements together, so that businesses are not confused, people are not scared and we do not have further chaos? That has not happened today. The Welsh Finance Minister has made it clear that she would do that, but the Welsh Government did not have the information. Can we sort that out please, as a matter of urgency?
Rishi Sunak
I thank the hon. Member for his comments. As I said, the Chief Secretary will talk with all his counterparts in the devolved Administrations to ensure as co-ordinated an approach as we can achieve.
Robert Courts (Witney) (Con)
I warmly welcome the package that has been announced today, but my constituency is home to one of the largest concentrations of self-employed people in the country. Will the Chancellor please commit to looking at what further help might be given for them? Will he also please look at A2 properties, which do not currently receive business rates relief, and see whether some of those businesses—such as estate agents on the high streets—can be helped?
Rishi Sunak
I know that my hon. Friend is a champion of the self-employed. Some of the measures announced last week at the Budget will benefit them, as will, indeed, some of the loan and other grant measures announced today, depending on their circumstances, but my hon. Friend is right and we will of course keep an eye on that issue as we develop these packages.
Mr Pat McFadden (Wolverhampton South East) (Lab)
The difference with this crisis is the profound effect it is having on human behaviour. The Chancellor has acknowledged that the big missing piece from the package announced tonight is direct financial support for workers who are laid off as a result of the advice that the Government have given to the country, so will he commit now—in principle if he cannot give the number—to bringing forward a package of support for a significant proportion of the wages of those who have been laid off as a result of this crisis?
Rishi Sunak
I have already committed to that urgent piece of work that we are undertaking. We have already improved the financial security available to people who find themselves either ill or off work, as a result of the £1 billion invested last week in these measures.
Mrs Natalie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)
At a time of national emergency and national need, Dover once again stands ready to do its duty. The Port of Dover, the hauliers and the ferry companies will be moving the goods, medicines and resources that are needed to keep our country safe and fed. Will my right hon. Friend assure the House that the port, transport, ferry companies, Border Force and all the hard-working local workers in my constituency will be given the necessary financial and practical assistance so that they can do their duty for our country?
Rishi Sunak
My hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight the vital importance of our ports, particularly Dover. They are conduits for trade and everything else that our country needs at this critical time, and, of course, we stand ready to listen and hear what they need.
Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)
Last night, a constituent in the hospitality trade contacted me to express concern at the Prime Minister’s measures and to ask what could be done about them. Today, she emailed me to say that she had been made redundant and to ask how she could pay her rent. The Chancellor does not seem to grasp the scale of the fear, the uncertainty and the desperation in the country now. Will he guarantee to me now that every renter will have the means to pay their rent, and every small business the means to pay their staff?
Rishi Sunak
It is because of what was announced yesterday and the particular impact on the hospitality sector that today we have announced a series of steps of considerable support for that sector. As I have already said, when it comes to renting, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government will shortly be announcing measures to protect renters in these circumstances, and we have strengthened the safety net, the security, for people to fall back on.
Sir John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) (Con)
In amplifying the point made by my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith), will the Chancellor specifically say whether the charitable sector will be eligible for both the rate holiday and the grant funding? It is critical that we help those whose aim, purpose and mission is to help others.
Rishi Sunak
Most charities are already eligible for 80% charitable rate relief, but they will benefit from the new enhanced retail rate relief at 100%.
Catherine McKinnell (Newcastle upon Tyne North) (Lab)
The Chancellor has talked about courage, but I will tell him what takes courage: fighting this pandemic on the frontline without adequate protective clothing. Will he commit right now to doing whatever it takes to ensure that every single frontline healthcare worker has the protective clothing they need if they are working exposed to this virus?
Rishi Sunak
My right hon. Friend the Health Secretary is working around the clock to support our healthcare workers to have everything they need to do the vital job that they are doing for us. They will get whatever support that they require.
Mr Mark Harper (Forest of Dean) (Con)
I welcome the scale of what the Chancellor has announced. It is up to the mark. Some of his specific measures will be welcomed by constituents who have contacted me, but may I press him a little on the employment support package? I recognise the importance of coming up with a package that is deliverable, but I fear that if he is unable to say anything more urgently, he needs to give businesses the confidence to keep those employees employed, because some of them will be facing massive reductions in cash flow immediately. Will he look at what he can say quicker than next week to give them the confidence that they will be supported in due course?
Rishi Sunak
I very much appreciate the strains that business cash flows are under, which is why, today, we have already taken steps with the announcement of new cash grants of £10,000, £25,000 and an extension of the business rate holiday to thousands more businesses.
Yvette Cooper (Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford) (Lab)
The health action that is being put in place is essential to save lives, but does the Chancellor accept that that also means that some of the jobs that are going this week and the redundancies that are being made will not come back in a hurry, because many hospitality, leisure and tourism jobs simply cannot be done at a social distance? Does he accept that there is a gap between the employment support package that he is rightly working on, I hope, as fast as possible and the welfare support that is simply not adequate for the huge numbers of people who are going to be urgently losing their jobs and who will be terrified of losing their homes as well?
Rishi Sunak
We have strengthened the security and the safety net for those in that situation, but the right hon. Lady is right that we are urgently working on measures to do more.
Aaron Bell (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Con)
I asked for more firepower at half-past 4 this afternoon, and it is fair to say that the Chancellor has delivered. However, a number of businesses whose entire model has been undermined, such as village pubs and restaurants, are facing a very uncertain year. On that note, may I ask him what he proposes that they should do? Does he welcome the announcement by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government that such businesses can now operate as takeaways, which will help to solve some of the problems of self-isolation as well?
Rishi Sunak
My hon. Friend makes an excellent point about the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government and what he has done. I think that it will make an enormous difference, as will the cash support that we have provided today to pubs and restaurants in his constituency and elsewhere across the country.
Liz Saville Roberts (Dwyfor Meirionnydd) (PC)
This is a welcome step in the right direction—there is much to welcome in the Chancellor’s announcement—but the family reliant on a zero-hours-contract hospitality worker’s salary or the self-employed tradesman whose cash flow has dried up want to know how this money will reach their bank account. What prevents the Chancellor from introducing a coronavirus universal basic income in his package of new measures which, in itself, would give confidence to thousands of Welsh workers and beyond?
Rishi Sunak
We have already taken steps to strengthen the safety net that the right hon. Lady has mentioned in particular. They will be eligible for those enhanced packages, and beyond that, we are looking to do more, as she knows, in the employment support field.
Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham) (Con)
These measures are indeed bold, and will provide practical support. I particularly look forward to further information about renters and measures for the childcare and nursery sector, which was generally omitted from the Budget last week and is in a fragile state. The hospitality industry, which the Chancellor rightly singled out—it is our third largest industry—is laying off people, and the number of customers has absolutely collapsed. I am told that they are approaching banks and being told, “We may be able to get something for you in April.” Can he instil a sense of urgency in the banks and make sure that the grants from central Government are immediate so that people do not have to wait for them, which could make the difference to their being there in a few weeks’ time or not?
Rishi Sunak
I can tell my hon. Friend that the grant schemes are being delivered in the coming weeks. Businesses will receive a letter from local authorities. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government is doing that work at pace. With regard to the loan schemes, that will not take until April—they will be ready to access for business from the start of next week.
Beth Winter (Cynon Valley) (Lab)
The Chancellor says that we have to do whatever it takes, and I completely agree with him, but that must apply to everyone in the UK. I cannot believe that every step of the way we, the fifth richest nation in the world, have to battle for the poorest and those who are struggling the most in our communities, including in my constituency—homeless people, those who do not qualify for statutory sick pay, private renters and families on low incomes. When will we stop debating and start the action that is desperately needed?
Rishi Sunak
I refer the hon. Lady to the measures in the Budget last week, particularly on homelessness and rough sleeping. We announced £640 million to build 6,000 more units and to provide support for substance abuse support services, once people are off the streets, to help them tackle their long-term addictions. That money will make an enormous difference and build on the good work of the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Greg Clark (Tunbridge Wells) (Con)
It was not possible for ordinary businesses and working people to anticipate the scale of the most severe public health crisis for 100 years, so does the Chancellor accept that for many businesses the nation has to act, not so much as a lender of last resort, but as a collective insurer of last resort, meeting their unmet operating costs if they are to keep people employed and inoculate against economic contagion?
Rishi Sunak
My right hon. Friend is right to highlight the need to provide support for businesses with their fixed costs, rather than their variable ones. That is what we need to help bridge through—the cash grants today related to rateable value, with reference directly to rent payments—but he is right that other fixed costs are people, which is why we are working up measures in that area.
Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)
The measures in the Red Book are nowhere near enough. For families in need, can statutory sick payments be available from day one, for all workers when they are sick, and can it be set at the level of the national minimum wage?
Rishi Sunak
As a result of the actions of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, SSP is available for those who are eligible for it from day one. Regulations are being laid to that effect, and employment and support allowance will also be available from day one, rather than day eight.
Damian Green (Ashford) (Con)
The measures announced by my right hon. Friend are extremely welcome, and he should be congratulated on them. For many people, including freelancers and those working in the gig economy, the most vital thing over the next few weeks will be some kind of guarantee of continuing income, so they can know that they can continue to pay their bills. Will those measures and the ones that he says are to come over the next few days guarantee that vital help?
Rishi Sunak
Many of the workers in the gig economy will benefit from statutory sick pay, depending on their exact contractual relationship with their employers, but the measures that we undertook last week in the Budget will provide direct support to those people.
Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green) (Lab)
What contingency will be put aside by the Treasury to assist in recruiting more social care workers, who are desperately needed to look after people in their homes as they fall ill?
Rishi Sunak
As I reiterated last week, we will provide whatever is required to public services. My right hon. Friend the Health Secretary is working with the Local Government Secretary to understand exactly what is required in social care.
Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)
I welcome the package that the Chancellor has laid out and all the work that he has been doing. He said that he will look at other things over the coming days. May I please ask him to consider pre-schools and nurseries? They pay business rates, so will not receive the £10,000, but they are not within the category of hospitality, retail and leisure. Mine have been in to see me today and they are very worried. It would be awful for the very people that rely on them—the parents. Will my right hon. Friend consider that ask?
Rishi Sunak
I thank my hon. Friend for his comments and am happy to look at what he is saying.
Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)
Many of my constituents are freelancers. One wrote to me unable to pay his rent or bills in the next couple of weeks. That is how urgent the situation is. Can the Chancellor give any comfort tonight for people who are very worried? They have been laid off today, have no ability to pay the bills and their freelance work has dried up. We are told that we have to wait for an answer from the Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary. The Government have known that this was coming. Where is the planning? What answer does the Chancellor have now?
Rishi Sunak
For those people, the measures that we took last week will already start to help from day one. The Work and Pensions Secretary has already put in place support to make sure that access to the security that they need is both faster and more generous than it was.
Caroline Nokes (Romsey and Southampton North) (Con)
The events industry is not only highly seasonal but full of people working on a self-employed basis. Given that this season has pretty much been wiped out, what reassurance can my right hon. Friend give the industry that he is looking to its needs?
Rishi Sunak
I am happy to look specifically at the issue that my right hon. Friend has raised, but the measures that we took last week will provide immediate support to many of her constituents in that situation.
Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)
I was contacted today by a constituent who is self-isolating and has underlying health conditions. She was trying to get a food delivery, which she vitally needs. Tesco could only do it within 10 days, while other suppliers would take three weeks. There is clearly a massive issue, probably a combination of stock levels and delivery logistics. Will the Chancellor do whatever it takes to work with the supermarkets and logistics companies? There are opportunities to get other people into short-term employment if this is done right and quickly, so that people get the supplies that they need.
Rishi Sunak
The hon. Gentleman is right that the security of our food supply and deliveries is critical. My right hon. Friend the Environment Secretary is already having those conversations and has already taken steps on delivery curfews to ensure that deliveries can continue and to maintain the security of those supply chains.
Steve Brine (Winchester) (Con)
Today is a very good part 1; the Chancellor would be the first to admit that it is part 1—he obviously has a lot of other ongoing workstreams. I do not know what he has done with the mortgage lenders, but so many of my constituents and people across the country will be incredibly pleased about the three-month holiday.
The second biggest outgoing for thousands of my constituents is probably their train season tickets. Right now, they are paying for a service that they are not getting—some would argue that they have been barely getting it for a long time. They are currently paying for a service they are not getting at all and are not able to use at all. Will my right hon. Friend use whatever influence he did with the mortgage lenders to lean on the train companies to show some humanity to their customers right now? Frankly, those companies are not in their customers’ best books already.
Rishi Sunak
My hon. Friend is always a champion of his commuting constituents. I am happy to have that conversation with the Transport Secretary to see what we can do to encourage companies—whether mortgage companies or others—to help people through this difficult time.
Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)
For somebody who is self-employed, self-isolation will often mean giving up their income. The advice is to claim benefit, but all someone gets with universal credit in the first five weeks, as has been pointed out, is a loan. People are not going to give up their incomes for that. Will the Chancellor replace those advances with non-repayable grants for those who lose their income because of this crisis?
Rishi Sunak
Depending on the particular circumstances of the person who is self-employed, they may well qualify for ESA, which is also available from day one now, rather than day eight.
David Mundell (Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale) (Con)
I was very pleased this evening when Nicola Sturgeon confirmed to me promptly that every penny of the likely £1.9 billion that the Scottish Government will receive as a result of today’s announcement will go directly to businesses and individuals. It is very important that we have that common approach across the United Kingdom from Governments, but it is also important that we have a common approach from banks. The Chancellor has referenced the banks in relation to his loan and grant schemes, but many businesses have existing loan arrangements with the banks. What confirmation does he have from the banks that they will not seek to change those arrangements or to take advantage of the situation where people may be able to get Government money to repay those loans?
Rishi Sunak
I can tell my right hon. Friend that we have had extensive discussions with the banks just this week, and they have outlined their forbearance measures. I very much expect them to honour those commitments. He is absolutely right with his point that we will get through this as one United Kingdom.
Zarah Sultana (Coventry South) (Lab)
Today the Government have announced a mortgage holiday for homeowners, and that is welcome, but they have made the political choice not to give a rent suspension to millions of tenants. The average rent is £220 a week. Statutory sick pay is £94.25 a week. Before people are forced on to the streets because this virus will stop them from working, I, like many other Members in this House, call on the Government to follow the example of other countries and suspend rents and ban evictions today.
Rishi Sunak
The hon. Lady talks about other countries. If she looks at the overall scale of the fiscal interventions that we have outlined last week and this week, she will see they are more significant than almost every other country.
Sarah Atherton (Wrexham) (Con)
The Welsh Labour Government stand to gain £1.6 billion as a consequence of coronavirus. Will my right hon. Friend comment on how the UK Government can encourage the Welsh Labour Government to spend that money timely and appropriately, because business and people need help now?
Rishi Sunak
As I said before, we will get through this as one United Kingdom. We have provided Barnett consequentials early and in advance to devolved authorities, and I very much hope that we can take a joint approach to supporting businesses, public services and individuals through this difficult time.
Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)
The notes that have been handed out from the Vote Office tonight say “Statement to the Press”, not to the House of Commons. I do not think there is any difference between what the Chancellor has said to the House and what was said to the press earlier on, and that should not happen again.
Are businesses that are strapped for cash flow likely to take out a loan rather than lay staff off? Is it not assistance with paying wages that they do not have to pay back later that those businesses need? They do not need more debt from the Government; they need help with paying wages.
Rishi Sunak
As we have already outlined, in addition to the extensive loan guarantee scheme, we have also announced significant cash grants to business to provide immediate cash flow relief to them. With regard to employment support, as I have said, that is our next urgent priority.
Andrew Griffith (Arundel and South Downs) (Con)
Difficult times require bold measures, and I commend my right hon. Friend for twice in the space of a week coming to this House and demonstrating that he will do whatever it takes. I support the comments on employment support, but may I ask him also to extend hospitality and leisure benefits to the equally hard-pressed exhibition sector?
Rishi Sunak
I thank my hon. Friend for his support. With regard to the exhibition sector, those that have physical properties and business rates will be eligible for the scheme that we announced today and the cash grant. I am happy to have further conversations with him as well.
Sam Tarry (Ilford South) (Lab)
The RSA recently pointed out that 32% of workers in this country live on less than £500 a month in terms of savings, and 41% have less than £1,000 in the bank. That means there could be as many as 20 million people living from one pay cheque to the next. From what I have heard tonight, renters, freelancers, gig economy workers and zero-hours contract workers will not be feeling reassured. Will the Chancellor be able to look them in the eye and tell them honestly that he has truly done enough, or are they going to be collateral damage on the scrapheap, like so many with the Government’s already failing strategy over herd immunity?
Rishi Sunak
We already took extensive measures last week to strengthen our safety net for vulnerable people. I firmly believe that the best way to help all people through this is to protect their jobs, and that is why the actions we have taken today to support business cash flows provide the best means of doing exactly that.
Steve Double (St Austell and Newquay) (Con)
I warmly welcome the bold and decisive steps that the Chancellor has taken today, which will be welcomed by many businesses in mid-Cornwall, particularly those in the hospitality sector.
I want to raise something that many Members have already raised—the self-employed and small businesses that do not own premises and therefore will not benefit from the measures on business rates and grants. Many people such as taxi drivers, window cleaners, electricians and plumbers have overheads that are not rent, because they are keeping vehicles on the roads. Will he urgently look at what he can do to get cash to those people, so that they can keep their businesses going?
Rishi Sunak
I am happy to look at all the measures that my hon. Friend suggested. The steps we took last week will provide immediate support for those people, and the further measures that are coming will provide a degree of relief for those who have property and small businesses. Of course, they will be able to access the loans that we have talked about, but he is right to highlight the importance of those who are self-employed. They deserve our support, and indeed, last week and this week they are getting it.
Chris Elmore (Ogmore) (Lab)
Following the previous question, I want to press the Chancellor on sole traders. There are measures on taxation that he could introduce quickly to support sole traders. Many in my constituency are very worried that they will not benefit from any of the Chancellor’s proposals laid out last week or today. Will the Chancellor look at that specific area with Treasury officials, the devolved Governments and anybody else who could support sole traders?
Rishi Sunak
I am happy to hear those suggestions from the hon. Gentleman. He will have noted the comments made by the Chief Secretary earlier in relation to IR35, and HMRC has activated its time to pay service, but if he sends me the details, I will happily look at that.
Richard Drax (South Dorset) (Con)
I commend my hon. Friend for this raft of packages, although Members on both sides of the House clearly feel that there is still a lot more to do. I shudder at the administrative task ahead of him to ensure that all this money gets to the right people at the right time. Should we not bring back the small bank branches that have closed over the years, particularly in rural communities that simply do not have access to them?
Rishi Sunak
My hon. Friend is right to highlight the importance of rural communities. My right hon. Friend the Economic Secretary to the Treasury has done a sterling job of preserving access to cash for those communities, and we have said that we will legislate to do more, but in the short term, we will keep that under review.
Stuart C. McDonald (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) (SNP)
May I ask the Chancellor again whether he will work with the Home Office to revisit its rules on no recourse to public funds? If it does not revisit those rules, thousands of the most vulnerable people in this country will not have access even to the most basic support to see them through this crisis.
Rishi Sunak
My right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary is talking to all Departments about the resources that they require to get through these challenging few months.
Kevin Hollinrake (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)
I warmly welcome this package of support for small businesses, which has been warmly welcomed by a number of businesspeople who have already contacted me. The business interruption loan scheme is a key part of this, but some lenders cannot access that scheme because they are not registered with the British Business Bank, and it would take months for them to do so. Will the Chancellor act now to ensure that all lenders can access that scheme?
Rishi Sunak
I thank my hon. Friend for his comments. He is right: we want this scheme to be available through as many branches and outlets as possible. We are urgently working with the Prudential Regulation Authority to see whether we can onboard new providers at pace. He will understand that there are regulatory requirements, but we are seeing what we can do to speed that up.
Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)
I welcome the increase in the small business grant to £10,000, and I understand that those grants will be distributed by local authorities. What assessment has the Chancellor made of the capacity of local councils to deliver that help, and when will businesses actually receive the money?
Rishi Sunak
As a former local government Minister, I have amazing faith in the capacity of our local authorities to deliver for us in this regard. They are being provided with extra resources to help deal with the administration of this money, and my right hon. Friend the Communities Secretary is already working at pace to ensure that the rebilling and processing of these grants happens in a matter of days and weeks.
Stephen Hammond (Wimbledon) (Con)
I warmly commend my right hon. Friend for this package. The support for the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors is welcome, but he could make it even more effective if he extended the same package to those who are in the supply chain of those industries and the businesses that disproportionately supply customers for those industries, such as English language schools.
Rishi Sunak
My hon. Friend makes an interesting point, and that is why all Secretaries of State have been tasked by me to engage with their affected industries to see whether there are further specific measures of support that are worth our exploring.
Naz Shah (Bradford West) (Lab)
I welcome the Chancellor’s measures for small businesses, and especially in my constituency lots of people have been in touch with us about them, but they will only be effective if they are timely, so when will the cash grants be available to small businesses in real terms? Will he also consider the idea that, when landlords get mortgage breaks, they pass them on to their renters, and how will we ensure that actually happens?
Rishi Sunak
On the processing of the cash grants, as I have said, my right hon. Friend the Communities Secretary is working on this at pace. It will require local authorities to write to the recipients of small business rate relief to collect their bank details, which they do not hold centrally, so that they can then provide the cash payment, but I can assure the hon. Member that that work is happening at pace.
Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)
Businesses in the hospitality sector will appreciate the relief the Chancellor has given on business rates and the cash grants, but can I raise the question of suppliers to the sector, many of which have seen their sales fall off a cliff? In particular, there are those with short-dated products, such as Wood Farm micro-brewery in my constituency, which produces an excellent product but has £20,000 of short-dated stock with four weeks’ life left on it, and stands to bear a pretty substantial loss as a consequence. Is there something that can be done to support businesses such as these?
Rishi Sunak
I thank my hon. Friend for raising that particular case, and I am happy to have a look at it.
Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck (South Shields) (Lab)
The Prime Minister’s public health advice to avoid pubs, restaurants and theatres was not coupled with immediate economic protections, causing panic and upset for the small businesses, the self-employed and those on zero-hours contracts who form the backbone of coastal constituencies such as mine. The measures announced today do not address their concerns. They struggle with high rents and high bills, and my friends have lost their jobs today. Today, the grafters should have been a priority. When will they be?
Rishi Sunak
The package of measures today does specifically provide cash support to those in that sector to help with things like rent, but I make no apology for our being led by the public health response. This is first and foremost a public health emergency, and we will be led by responding to that. Of course, the economy is foremost in our minds, and I will always respond quickly and rapidly to any changes in the public health advice.
Mr John Baron (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)
I commend the Chancellor for this package of measures as far as they go, and we understand that it is a moving narrative, but I particularly urge him to focus on the importance of cash flow when it comes to smaller businesses and the self-employed. However, can I raise with him a group of people who so far have not been mentioned, which is the elderly and the vulnerable who live alone? There is a real risk in a situation such as this that they get inadvertently overlooked, and we need to reach out to them. Would the Chancellor consider providing appropriate support for local authorities to do just that—to identify them, locate them and make contact, because no one should be left behind?
Rishi Sunak
I can tell my hon. Friend that he is absolutely right, and the Communities and Local Government Secretary has already been engaging on this particular issue, working together with the Health Secretary with regard to social care, to make sure that, in our local communities, we can identify and protect the elderly and most vulnerable, and make sure that they get the support that they need.
Wendy Chamberlain (North East Fife) (LD)
A constituent of mine in the Howe of Fife, who is self-employed, has contacted me today because she is worried about her future employment and how she will pay her mortgage and support her family. Although I welcome the Chancellor’s moves in relation to mortgages, the fact is that mortgage products often have payment holidays as part of them. Given that these are the first steps, may I ask the Chancellor, first, is this going to be for people who are directly impacted by coronavirus, or is it potentially for people who are self-isolating as they are at risk of getting an infection; and secondly, is he considering other measures to support my constituent, such as statutory sick pay for the self-employed or, indeed, council tax relief?
Rishi Sunak
I say to the hon. Lady that I think the measures today on mortgage forbearance are significant and welcome, and banks will show flexibility in providing that. In regard to council tax support, we did provide £500 million of hardship funding to local authorities specifically to use and deploy through their local council tax or support systems that already exist to provide extra support to people with their council tax bills.
Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)
I welcome the Chancellor’s package, but he will recognise that many of our constituents remain anxious and we look forward to further measures. He rightly mentioned the aviation sector, which could lose many thousands of jobs. At a more local level, bus and coach operators will suffer as a result of people staying home. They provide a vital service to get NHS workers, for example, to and from work. Could he have a word with his colleague in the Department for Transport and ensure that bus operators are looked after?
Rishi Sunak
My hon. Friend makes a good point and I will certainly take that up with the Transport Secretary.
Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)
If Denmark can step in and offer 70% subsidies as a transitional arrangement, why can’t the Chancellor? Step up. Step up!
Rishi Sunak
I have already mentioned looking at the Denmark scheme and indeed the German scheme. The point is what we are able to deliver at pace. Other countries have had schemes in place beforehand, which makes it easier for them to do things, and we need to work with what we have got. But the principle of providing support is one that I fully acknowledge, which is why we are working on that at pace. Again, when considering individual measures, it is worth looking at fiscal interventions between this week and last week in the round, which, in the context of any global response, are extremely significant.
Bob Seely (Isle of Wight) (Con)
I welcome the Chancellor’s statement and have two questions. First, charities and social enterprises, such as Age UK on the Isle of Wight and the West Wight Sports and Community Centre, face significant income cuts and I fear that rate relief will not be enough. Can more be done to support social enterprises? Secondly, my chamber of commerce is concerned about the ability of small businesses, especially tourism businesses, to access the grants and it fears that
“businesses will be closing, and on mass, before money becomes available”.
So can we act as swiftly, quickly and generously as possible?
Rishi Sunak
As I said, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government will have already been in touch with my hon. Friend’s local council through MHCLG. They will be the ones processing these grants. There is no reason why that cannot happen as swiftly as a council is able to act.
Alex Davies-Jones (Pontypridd) (Lab)
In the past few weeks, businesses in my constituency, and across Rhondda Cynon Taf, have been devastated by unprecedented flooding and are still trying to recover. Many are faced with the bureaucracy of insurers and are trying to rebuild their livelihoods. They are now faced with the prospect of closing for good because of the loss of business due to coronavirus. What conversations is the Chancellor having with the Welsh Government to secure financial relief for all these businesses in the UK?
Rishi Sunak
The hon. Lady asked about flooding. In last week’s Budget we outlined a variety of packages to help the communities affected by that. First and foremost, there was £120 million to rebuild flood defences that have just been destroyed, as well as £200 million of new resilience funding for communities that are repeatedly flooded and £5.2 billion, which represents a doubling of the amount that we spend every year to build new flood defences. That will protect 300,000 people and it comes on top of the work by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government in activating the Bellwin scheme and providing immediate relief for communities that have been impacted by local flooding.
Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con)
I welcome the Chancellor’s pledge to do whatever it takes to support businesses, families and individuals, but when will we get the details of support for renters, for the self-employed and for freelancers, and when will businesses that are losing customers day by day get those cash grants in their bank accounts, so that they can pay their staff, keep them employed and pay their rents?
Rishi Sunak
Measures to help those who are self-employed and in the gig economy are already taking effect as a result of the measures taken last week. The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government is working at pace to deliver these cash grants to businesses in the coming days and weeks.
David Linden (Glasgow East) (SNP)
Sole traders in my constituency work as driving instructors and personal trainers. They are watching their bookings evaporate before their eyes. What support is the Chancellor providing for sole traders?
Rishi Sunak
Again, the measures that we took last week to strengthen our security net will benefit those who are self-employed and sole traders. Those with properties that qualify for business rate relief will benefit from that and cash grants will also flow to those people.
Felicity Buchan (Kensington) (Con)
This morning in the Treasury Committee, we asked the Chancellor to throw the kitchen sink at the economy and I thank him because he has certainly done that. However, small businesses in my constituency of Kensington have an issue, because most of the business rate relief is funnelled only if the rateable value is under £51,000. But they are suffering in the same way as other businesses. Will the Chancellor look into that?
Rishi Sunak
I am pleased to tell my hon. Friend that, as a result of the measures I have taken today, any business in the retail, hospitality and leisure sector, regardless of its rateable value, will now qualify for 100% business rates relief for these next 12 months.
Alex Norris (Nottingham North) (Lab/Co-op)
Like colleagues, I spent today talking to businesses in my community. They wanted to know that, when they follow health advice to the letter, and if they keep all their staff on payroll, as they desperately want to, their business will be safe. As a result of the package the Chancellor announced tonight, can I give them that categoric assurance first thing in the morning?
Rishi Sunak
I very much hope that the businesses that are looking at the range of measures outlined today will see that there is significant financial support for them, whether that is business rate holidays, direct cash grants or access to incredibly low-cost and accessible financing. The combination of all those measures, on top of the compensation we will pay to small and medium-sized businesses for statutory sick pay, is a significant direct fiscal support for businesses up and down our country to protect people’s jobs.
Derek Thomas (St Ives) (Con)
Life and the economy on the Isles of Scilly are particularly fragile. To give a quick example, a passenger boat operator who needs to provide a service for the whole of the islands but relies on tourism tells me that he has five weeks left in business. What can the Chancellor do to help businesses and the community on the Isles of Scilly?
Rishi Sunak
My hon. Friend is right to highlight the particular issues that his remote communities face. I believe the measures announced today, whether on business rates or direct cash grants, will make an enormous difference to local businesses in his constituency.
Gavin Robinson (Belfast East) (DUP)
I am grateful to the Chancellor for the effort he is putting into these measures. One question that has been raised is about the facility that is being made available for business interruption payments. Can the Chancellor outline what criteria will apply to that facility? Will there be complete access, should it be required, or will businesses have to fulfil criteria that will be assessed? If so, what will be the basis of that assessment—books this week, last week or before any interruption?
Rishi Sunak
The hon. Gentleman makes an excellent point. Our ambition is for the criteria to be as flexible and generous as possible. The basic point will be to ensure that a business was sensible and well-traded before coming into the crisis that it now faces. As long as that is the case, the loans should be able to be provided through the banks on the ground, with our guarantee standing behind that.
Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)
Should payment quarterly and in advance be tolerated for commercial lets?
Rishi Sunak
As always, my right hon. Friend makes a pithy point. He is right to highlight the importance of prompt payment, especially during this time. That is why the Government are taking every step we can to be prompt in our payments and urging all other businesses that can do so to do exactly the same.
Dame Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)
Given the exceptional circumstances, why exactly can statutory sick pay not be paid at the real living wage rate?
Rishi Sunak
We have an extensive security and support network, which extends beyond statutory sick pay to an NHS that is free at the point of use. Our welfare and security support system works well, and we buttressed it with an extra £1 billion investment last week.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (The Cotswolds) (Con)
Although I congratulate my right hon. Friend on the package he has worked very hard on, sadly, I received a phone call today from one of my employers, whose contract had been cancelled forthwith. He has had to lay off 1,000 people. There will be a lot of very anxious people tonight. Although they are probably entitled to employment and support allowance and universal credit, they will suffer a considerable drop in their wages. I urge the Chancellor to come up with an employment support package as soon as possible.
Rishi Sunak
I thank my hon. Friend for his support. I have sympathy with his constituents in that situation. That is why we strengthened our security and safety net last week, but the best thing we can do is help employers get through this and ensure that those jobs are ready for people to go back to as soon as practically possible.
Wes Streeting (Ilford North) (Lab)
The reality is that universal credit and statutory sick pay were not generous enough in the best of times, and they certainly are not enough to live on in these worst of times. When the Chancellor comes forward again, will he announce immediate plans to provide income protection for people who suffer loss of earnings, and will he give a tax holiday to freelancers and contractors facing tax bills in July for work that will never materialise in these circumstances?
Rishi Sunak
We have taken steps to strengthen the safety net. On deferring tax payments, that is something that is able to happen through Time To Pay. I urge people to contact Time To Pay. The details are available online. HMRC has 2,000 people standing by to talk to individuals. If tax deferrals are needed, it stands ready to negotiate and agree those.
Virginia Crosbie (Ynys Môn) (Con)
On behalf of my constituents, I welcome the significant package of financial measures the Government have made available today. Businesses in Ynys Môn, such as Seawake, Gwynedd Shipping and the restaurant Catch 22, have contacted me today, desperate for the Government to take action. Will the Chancellor join me in urging the Welsh Government to make this additional funding available as quickly as possible to small businesses across Wales so they can survive?
Rishi Sunak
My hon. Friend is right to highlight the importance of speed in Wales and everywhere else. That is why we have taken steps to make Barnett consequentials available in advance as quickly as we can, so that all devolved authorities can plan and execute their plans expeditiously.
Mr Toby Perkins (Chesterfield) (Lab)
Businesses face collapsing revenues and the biggest part of the Chancellor’s response is to invite them to take on substantially more debt. That will not save people’s jobs. For the Chancellor to compare that £330 billion, which is a guarantee he is making that he may never have to spend, with the package President Macron put together in France is absolutely absurd.
Rishi Sunak
Far from being absurd, President Macron yesterday announced exactly €300 billion in loan guarantee schemes.
Robert Largan (High Peak) (Con)
I represent the Peak District, where hotels, restaurants, pubs and the tourism industry in general are absolutely central to the local economy. I therefore welcome the economic measures announced, but people and businesses are struggling right now. So may I urge the Chancellor to make certain that loans and grants are paid and put into people’s bank accounts as soon as possible?
Rishi Sunak
My hon. Friend is exactly right. That is why the steps we are taking are designed to work at pace. Loan schemes will be available from early next week and the Communities Secretary is ensuring that the grant payments are processed as quickly as possible through local authorities in the coming days and weeks.
Abena Oppong-Asare (Erith and Thamesmead) (Lab)
I have been contacted by my constituent Andy, from Erith and Thamesmead. Businesses like Andy’s collapsed this week. The scrapping of business rates does not help small businesses like Andy’s. Loans of £300 billion do not help small businesses like Andy’s. Will the Chancellor clearly set out how he will help small businesses? Will he personally promise me that he will help my constituent Andy and do whatever it takes to make sure he is properly supported?
Rishi Sunak
We have outlined a package of measures to support small businesses specifically. Indeed, 700,000 of our smallest businesses will now be receiving a £10,000 grant. I suggest that the hon. Lady’s constituent Andy contacts his local authority for further support, either on business rates or local council tax support, where we are injecting an extra half a billion pounds into the system.
Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)
I declare my interest as a member of Kettering Borough Council. I commend the Chancellor for coming up with a £350 billion business support package in record time. That will be welcomed by many small businesses in Kettering. Billing authorities such as Kettering Borough Council are already at their busiest time of year, sending out council tax bills. Can the Chancellor explain what role they will play in getting business support to local businesses and what extra support they will get to enable that to happen?
Rishi Sunak
My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. He is right to highlight the capacity of local authorities to execute this plan. The Communities Secretary is working closely with them and they will be provided with extra resource funding to deal with the extra administration they will now have to undertake on our behalf. But I know and have confidence that they will do that job extremely well.
Stephen Farry (North Down) (Alliance)
Members on both sides of the House are demonstrating that there are gaps in terms of not only the provision that has been announced but the urgency required to address the issue. May I therefore return to the issue of a universal basic income, or a series of flat payments to people? Would that not be a much more efficient and effective way of helping people in the immediate term, with the proviso that money can be clawed back through the tax system in due course?
Rishi Sunak
I believe our approach represents a sensible, coherent, co-ordinated and comprehensive way to tackle the problem. We have a range of targeted measures, each of which will make a significant difference to those on the ground, but as I said, we stand ready to do more and are indeed actively doing extra things.
Greg Smith (Buckingham) (Con)
I warmly welcome the enormous package of measures outlined by the Chancellor. This morning, I spoke to Energy Generator Hire in Kimble Wick in my constituency, which has lost most of its order book and is uncertain about the future. Can he confirm whether event hire companies are included in the envelope of leisure and hospitality?
Rishi Sunak
Those that have business properties will be eligible both for the relief and the grant, which will cover a significant number of events companies that have premises. Obviously, if they do not have premises, they will not qualify for business rates relief, but should be eligible for some of the other measures that I have outlined today.[Official Report, 29 September 2020, Vol. 681, c. 4MC.]
Helen Hayes (Dulwich and West Norwood) (Lab)
The failure of the Chancellor to mention private renters in his statement was a grave error, because many of those private renters are the same precarious workers in hospitality, the arts and culture and other industries who are being laid off today. Will he guarantee that no one will lose their home as a consequence of coronavirus?
Rishi Sunak
The Housing Secretary will urgently and soon bring forward measures to protect renters. The hon. Lady is right to highlight the importance of that, and that is why we will be acting in short order.
Peter Aldous (Waveney) (Con)
I commend the Chancellor for coming forward with such a comprehensive range of support. If he is to use the benefits system to support those ineligible for sick pay, I urge him to take on board the concerns raised by the right hon. Member for East Ham (Stephen Timms) about the fundamental flaw with universal credit. I also highlight the vital work that food banks, citizens advice and local churches will be doing in the coming weeks. He should ensure that they get the right support for that.
Rishi Sunak
I wholeheartedly agree with my hon. Friend about the importance of our voluntary sector, particularly at this time, and the vital role that it will play. It is right that it gets our support. The Communities Secretary is actively engaging with it and I stand ready to do more as needed.
Charlotte Nichols (Warrington North) (Lab)
What measures will the Government take to ensure that landlords who benefit from mortgage holidays do not profit from the crisis by having their pockets lined by tenants still expected to pay their rent?
Rishi Sunak
As I said, the Housing Secretary will shortly outline our measures to protect renters. We understand well the point that the hon. Lady makes.
Richard Graham (Gloucester) (Con)
This is a huge step to support jobs. Speed is of the essence, so will the Chancellor confirm when the business interruption loans will be available and how quickly applications will be processed? Will he also confirm that the Communities Secretary’s package will cover renters, the self-employed, nurseries, community groups, kindergartens and charities so that all the people in those sectors will be reassured as well?
Rishi Sunak
My hon. Friend is right that speed is of the essence. The loan programme will be available from early next week. My right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury is doing an excellent job working with the banks to make sure that those applications will be processed at speed, so businesses that need that support will get it quickly.
Bill Esterson (Sefton Central) (Lab)
The amount of money announced for the loan guarantee scheme is a massive sum, but will businesses want to be saddled with debt when they have no income and no means of paying it back? Previous loan schemes were poorly taken up because the banks ignored the guarantee part of the scheme, so how will the Chancellor make sure that the loan guarantee scheme is delivered by the banks at the scale and speed needed?
Rishi Sunak
I thank the hon. Member for the thoughtful question. He is right to ask about that particular point. He will be pleased to know that, compared with previous loan guarantee schemes, the generosity of the Government guarantees is significantly increased to provide a strong incentive for the banks to provide that lending. We have spoken to all the banks individually specifically on this measure and have their assurance that they will work at pace to deliver it. As a result of our entreaties, they have also unilaterally unlocked £21 billion of their own extra lending capacity to provide to the sector, so I am confident that they will deliver as required.
Danny Kruger (Devizes) (Con)
Many businesses depend on not the public or other businesses, but the state itself, through contracts with different parts of the public sector. Many such contracts are on a payment-by-results basis, so they are paid according to outcomes that might no longer be possible, given the situation. Will the Chancellor work with other parts of Government to ensure that the state’s contracts, particularly with social enterprises, charities and social businesses, can be flexed to ensure that those important businesses stay afloat?
Rishi Sunak
My hon. Friend makes an excellent point, which I will be sure to raise with the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)
Can the Chancellor clarify whether community interest companies will be treated in the same way as other small companies when it comes to being able to apply for the £10,000 grants?
Rishi Sunak
If the hon. Lady will forgive me, I do not have a precise answer for her at this moment, but I will look into the matter as soon as I am done and write to her.
Mike Wood (Dudley South) (Con)
A firm in the hospitality sector has written to me to say that tomorrow it must lay off 200 workers and halve the pay of 100 more, because bookings are close to zero and it cannot cover the wage bill. How much longer should it hold off?
Rishi Sunak
Hopefully it will benefit today from the significant measures that have been put in place to provide forward business rate relief and immediate cash support through grants. That should provide the business with some reassurance that help is on its way to enable it to protect jobs, with more to come.
Seema Malhotra (Feltham and Heston) (Lab/Co-op)
Yesterday a constituent of mine was laid off from his employment, along with 50 colleagues. He described how he watched the company’s owners trying to hold back tears as they let go people who have worked for them for decades. Why will the Chancellor not cut off this problem at the root by providing to British businesses the same reassurance that President Macron has provided to French businesses: that no business will go bankrupt?
Rishi Sunak
As I have already said, the French Government announced €300 billion of loan guarantees yesterday. We have gone a step further with £330 of loan guarantees, equivalent to 15% of our GDP, to provide the same level of support. Beyond that, the fiscal measures that we have taken between last week and today are comparable in scale to those undertaken by any major economy.
Owen Thompson (Midlothian) (SNP)
The introduction and increase of grants is a welcome step in the right direction, but a number of food and drink producers in my constituency have seen the outlet for their produce dry up, so what additional support can be offered to help keep such companies afloat?
Rishi Sunak
The measures announced today, whether the loan or other guarantee schemes, will be of significant support to those businesses, and the measures we announced last week will also help the employees. As I have said previously, we are looking at more measures in all areas, and I will update the House at things develop.
Gerald Jones (Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney) (Lab)
All our constituents will require realistic statutory sick pay if they are required to self-isolate. Will the Chancellor do whatever it takes to ensure that happens, and will he include the self-employed and those on zero-hours contracts in his measures?
Rishi Sunak
As previously discussed, depending on people’s particular employment circumstances, they might well be eligible for statutory sick pay even though they are self-employed or in the gig economy. We have already taken measures to ensure that they are eligible for those benefits and for employment and support allowance from day one, rather than day four and day eight respectively, and we have further strengthened the safety net with an investment of £1 billion.
Mike Kane (Wythenshawe and Sale East) (Lab)
Hundreds upon hundreds of aviation workers in my constituency were sent home today. Coronavirus has devastated the airline industry. Because they had less than three years’ experience, 21 days’ pay is all they get, with no prospect of a job going forward. Can the Chancellor give us more information on the aviation package that he has announced tonight?
Rishi Sunak
We are in active dialogue with the key companies in the sector, both airlines and airports, to discuss what specific support might be required. In the circumstances, it would not be appropriate for me to comment on the measures that individual companies might want to engage with us on, but the hon. Gentleman can rest assured that we are working hard for the industry.
Claudia Webbe (Leicester East) (Lab)
Given the acceleration of the virus and the collapse of the aviation industry, which means that there is no prospect of any deportation charter flights leaving the UK, and given that there is no testing, it seems inhumane and unjustified to continue to raid the homes of my constituents, especially those who have underlying health conditions or are self-isolating, and put them into detention centres indefinitely, at great expense and in poorly sanitised conditions. That puts the lives of my constituents in danger and violates their human rights. Detentions and deportations by charter flight are barbaric and costly. The outbreak of covid-19 further underlines their cruelty and expense. Will the Chancellor urge the Home Secretary to end them immediately?
Rishi Sunak
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary is doing an excellent job, making sure that our borders are secure and that we enforce our laws as required, but in a way that is humane and compatible with all human rights. I am sure that she will do exactly that as we go through the challenging next few months.
Matt Western (Warwick and Leamington) (Lab)
The Chancellor will be aware that in certain business sectors, the loss of just one or two people in specialised roles from an organisation can bring down a business. France and Italy are reviving the approach adopted in a global financial crash of supporting workers with a proportion of their wages. Will the Chancellor do the same here?
Rishi Sunak
As I have said, we are considering employment support packages and what can be designed and implemented at pace. As for other countries, let me again put it on record that the fiscal interventions we have undertaken are comparable in size with those of any other major developed economy.
Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)
There is huge fear, and also confusion, among my constituents this evening about a range of issues: whether measures will apply to start-ups, what will happen to VAT on advance sales, the position of businesses in the hospital supply chain, and what will happen if a freelancer cannot work because he or she must look after a family member who has been sent home. May I suggest to the Chancellor that local authorities will not have the capacity to deal with all those queries while they are doing many other things, including delivering vital services? It would be very helpful if a dedicated MP hotline could be set up to deal with such questions, so that we could go to one Government location to help our constituents.
Rishi Sunak
I shall be happy to look at that suggestion. The hon. Lady also asked a specific question about VAT on postponed accounting. I am actively considering that, in terms of when we are scheduled to introduce it and whether it could be improved.
Darren Henry (Broxtowe) (Con)
Small businesses in my constituency will welcome their eligibility for grants of £10,000, up from £3,000 last week. How will they receive information on how to gain access to those funds, if, indeed, they qualify?
Rishi Sunak
If those businesses are already receiving small business rate relief, that will be known to the local authorities, which will shortly be writing to them to request their financial details so that they can process the grant payments. If businesses have not heard in short order, they can get in touch with their local authorities.
Janet Daby (Lewisham East) (Lab)
Food banks are used by 1.6 million people, 250,000 more than the number indicated by the previous year’s data, and the demand will increase. Food banks rely on the surplus from supermarkets, and on people’s food donations. What is the Chancellor’s contingency plan to address this very serious issue?
Rishi Sunak
My right hon. Friend the Environment Secretary is engaging actively with supermarkets to make sure that all aspects of our food supply are secure, including deliveries and ensuring that everyone receives the food that they need during this time.
Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)
The Chancellor needs to be more than a desiccated calculating machine. When he answers questions, we need to hear talk about people, not just packages. Will he look at early-day motion 302, which I tabled and which advocates a universal basic income—particularly for freelancers and the self-employed—as a temporary measure during this crisis, and will he pledge to return to the House, rather than just making an announcement through the press, to tell us what he is going to do about these employment measures?
Rishi Sunak
The hon. Gentleman talks about packages to support business. They are not divorced from people’s circumstances; they are directly helping people’s circumstances. The way to help people is to secure their employment, now and in the future, and that is what these packages are designed to do, which is why they will make a real difference to people on the ground.
Gavin Newlands (Paisley and Renfrewshire North) (SNP)
The Chancellor is already late with support for aviation. Airlines, airports, and support services such as baggage handlers have already announced, or are strongly considering announcing, significant job cuts. Can the Chancellor reassure them that they do not need to do that, and that he will follow other Governments such as that of New Zealand, which announced £35 billion worth of direct wage subsidies to keep not just those jobs but all jobs safe?
Rishi Sunak
We have announced our own range of fiscal measures to help businesses to protect jobs, with particular reference to the airline industry. As I have said, my right hon. Friend the Transport Secretary and I are actively engaging with the companies and the airports in that sector to establish what support is required.
Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab)
A lot of my constituents work in the events and leisure industry; many are self-employed freelancers. I spoke to one today, who told me that she earns a large proportion of her annual income during the summer event and festival season. She is going to lose that this year. Given that it could be another year before she is able to get back on her feet, can I urge the Chancellor to come back with a package of support for people like her—ideally grant support, a long-term package for individuals in that sector?
Rishi Sunak
Those in the leisure and hospitality and the retail sectors are of course particularly impacted by what we are experiencing, which is why the package of measures announced today builds on what was announced last week and goes to the heart of that industry to provide direct cash support and business rate relief. The measures we announced last week also provide support to those who are self-employed.
Apsana Begum (Poplar and Limehouse) (Lab)
I, like many others in this House, have been contacted by constituents who are extremely anxious and worried about the uncertainty and disruption in the months ahead. This includes constituents who are self-isolating, especially those who are expected to self-isolate for extended periods, who may face loneliness and other mental health challenges. Is the Chancellor planning to allocate any funding to address this?
Rishi Sunak
I very much appreciate people’s anxiety at this difficult time. With regard to those who are self-isolating, we have already made changes to our welfare system to ensure that those people qualify for the support that they deserve. With regard to public services support, as I have said, the Communities Secretary and the Health Secretary are actively engaging with those sectors to understand whether there is extra support that is required.
Alex Sobel (Leeds North West) (Lab/Co-op)
The reality is that for businesses and workers this crisis is going to last for many months. Has the Chancellor considered a much more interventionist microeconomic policy? For instance, has he thought about repurposing the businesses shutting now—hotels, restaurants, music venues, theatres—as infection rates rapidly rise?
Rishi Sunak
That would be a question for my right hon. Friend the Health Secretary, who is actively engaged in making sure that we can increase the capacity of our health service to cope with the next few months and is considering a range of measures, but we will do whatever it takes to make sure that we have the capacity we need to help those who fall sick at this time.
Chris Stephens (Glasgow South West) (SNP)
The Government effectively discouraged UK citizens from entering sectors of the economy that traditionally offer low-paid and precarious employment. Is it the Chancellor’s intention, when he talks to trade unions and business over the next few days, to enter into those discussions with the principle that the wages of those who jobs are under threat, whose shifts have been cancelled and whose hours have been cut will be protected?
Rishi Sunak
The Government telling people not to visit those places, or to hold back from them, was based on the advice of scientists and medical experts to ensure that our health as a country is protected. The measures we announced today directly go to help those in those industries to protect those jobs. As I said, we will work urgently with the unions and businesses to see what further measures can be put in place.
Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith) (Lab)
Many decisions the Government have taken on isolation, at-risk groups and testing limit the ability of NHS staff to go to work. It is easy to say, “Whatever it takes,” but how can we be sure that our hospitals in particular have the resources to save every life that can be saved?
Rishi Sunak
Of course, we take the advice of the chief medical officer in this regard and we will continue to do so. We have been absolutely clear that the NHS will get whatever support financially it needs from the Government to help get us through what will be a very challenging time. We are considering all measures to increase the capacity of the NHS to respond to this, and indeed provide the support to those on the frontline who are going to deal with a very difficult few months.
Sarah Olney (Richmond Park) (LD)
I obviously welcome the Chancellor’s commitment to making sure that jobs are saved and that people can stay in work, but I wonder whether he agrees that by structuring his package around loans rather than grants, he actually loses some control over what the money is spent on. Therefore, he cannot be certain that the money is going to be spent most effectively in pursuit of this objective.
Rishi Sunak
It is not just loans; it is loans and grants and tax relief on business rates, as well as deferral of tax payments through time to pay and reimbursement for statutory sick pay. Across the piece, it is a series of different interventions, all of which will be effective at doing one fundamental thing: improving the cash flow in the short term of businesses to help them bridge through what will be a temporary dislocation, so that they can emerge on the other side and we do not lose for the long term that productive capacity and lose those jobs.
Daniel Zeichner (Cambridge) (Lab)
Making announcements is one thing, but, to use the Chancellor’s words, operationalising at speed is quite another, so can he be more precise about the resources available for the civil service and local councils? A simple example—a Canadian nurse phoned my office today so frustrated that she cannot help the NHS because we cannot sort out the equivalent qualifications. It will be the same for many others, particularly Bangladeshi nurses working in the care sector.
Rishi Sunak
I am happy to take on board the suggestion from the hon. Gentleman. I will raise it with the Health Secretary, who I know is actively looking at ways to bring extra people into the NHS to help respond to this crisis. There is a range of options and flexibilities we should consider. I will make sure that I raise that one with him as well.
St Patrick’s Day
(4 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Speaker
Before I begin the debate, may I suggest to all Members that this is their opportunity to intervene on Jim Shannon?
Mr Campbell
I just couldn’t resist it, Mr Speaker. I have waited years and years to do that. My hon. Friend has an Adjournment debate on St Patrick’s Day. We have had events, parades and all sorts of functions on St Patrick’s Day cancelled, in Brazil, Washington, New York, Belfast, Dublin and London, but the indefatigable nature of my hon. Friend has meant that his Adjournment debate continues.
Jim Shannon
It is a pleasure to be here to speak in this debate. May I wish you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and all right hon. and hon. Members, a very happy St Patrick’s Day?
Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)
Will the hon. Gentleman give way on that point?
Kevin Brennan
The hon. Gentleman will know that I am very proud to have an Irish father and a Welsh mother, and I recently attended the champ reception at the House of Lords, as I believe he did. The Irish ambassador explained that St Patrick’s Day is becoming a festival that lasts over many, many weeks, and that the first function he had attended this year was on 1 March, at which point I pointed out that that is St David’s Day. Can we put a stop to having St Patrick’s Day celebrations on the day of the Welsh patron saint, St David?
Jim Shannon
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention, but every day is St Patrick’s Day for us and we are very pleased to celebrate it on St David’s Day.
Neil Parish (Tiverton and Honiton) (Con)
It is great for me to be celebrating St Patrick’s Day in this Chamber, in his Adjournment debate, because I have an Irish grandmother. I just want to congratulate the hon. Gentleman on probably being the Member who has intervened the most in Adjournment debates in this House.
Stephen Farry
For the sake of balance and inclusivity, it is worth reminding the House that St Patrick was, of course, Welsh.
Jim Shannon
He certainly was. This is my first Adjournment debate for many, many years, but I have intervened in a great many Adjournment debates held by other Members and I have been pleased to do so.
Mike Wood (Dudley South) (Con)
I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this debate. I was born on St Patrick’s Day, so I fully support the extension of celebrations of 17 March by at least a couple of weeks either way. Will he join me in extending best wishes for St Patrick’s Day to those in all our constituencies who hail from Ireland, from whichever side of the border they originate?
Jim Shannon
I certainly will, and I will be saying that if I ever get the chance to do so.
Richard Graham (Gloucester) (Con)
The hon. Gentleman is being extremely generous in taking interventions this evening. He said that every day is St Patrick’s Day for an Irishman, from whichever side of the border. He will therefore be delighted to hear that Gloucester celebrated St Patrick’s Day on Saturday evening in the Irish club, with an acting mayor, Councillor Collette Finnegan, who was born in Dublin. She is the first ever Irish-born mayor of Gloucester and the first to have worked in the NHS for 30 years. Will he join me in congratulating her and the Irish club?
Jim Shannon
I certainly will, and I am pleased to do that. It is wonderful that whenever St Patrick’s Day comes around, deep down we are all supporters of St Patrick’s Day and perhaps a wee bit Irish as well. I am speaking as British person, of course, and someone who has a passport that says that.
We all have saints, and I recall that on my first day at Westminster in 2010, I came through the doors and marvelled at the wondrous Lobby just outside these doors, where each nation’s patron saint is depicted. We have St George for England, St David for Wales, St Andrew for Scotland and of course the incomparable St Patrick for Ireland.
Gavin Robinson (Belfast East) (DUP)
Of course, the mosaic of St Patrick depicts the unity on our island, because to his right is St Brigid, from Kildare in the south, and on his left is St Columba, to represent Ulster and the north. In the spirit of that unity, may I express on behalf of our colleagues, Mr Deputy Speaker, our pleasure that the ecclesiastical history of Ireland is being repeated yet again with my hon. Friend, who not only champions freedom of religion and religious belief in this House, but has been appointed by Mr Speaker to his Ecclesiastical Committee?
Jim Shannon
That is very kind, and I am pleased to have accepted that position, as are others in the House.
I am happy to claim St Patrick as my patron saint—let us be honest: how could I do otherwise? I am blessed to live in the most wonderful constituency of Strangford, in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the fingerprints of St Patrick can be seen throughout and all over it.
St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was born Maewyn Succat to a Christian family in Wales, in Roman Britain, in the late fourth century AD. Shortly before he was 16, Patrick was captured from the villa of his father, Calpurnius, by a group of Irish raiders who took him to Ireland and forced him into slavery. Six years later, he escaped home to Britain, his religious faith strengthened during his time in slavery. Believing he had been called by God to Christianise Ireland, he later returned to Ireland as a missionary.
How wonderful it is to see the beauty of the Union at work within St Patrick’s life—a British man who fell in love with the people, but more importantly whose love for God made him return to the bosom of those who had mistreated him. We all love the story of the little man coming good, and that is the story of St Patrick, a former slave who absolutely changed a nation for God and for good. As my hon. Friend the Member for Belfast East (Gavin Robinson) said, out there in Central Lobby, where the four nations come together as one nation—the four regions as one—that is our strength. Our strength is in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
St Patrick was a man who made it easy to understand the divine with simple illustrations and who simply wanted people to know more of God and his redemptive plan for us all through Christ Jesus. His dedication to his Lord and his love for the people of this land are something that I hope to attain, too, in the time I am here.
Some may be surprised to see me, an Orangeman, celebrating what has been turned into a green event. That is not my view. I celebrate the story of a man who changed the course of our history. He was neither orange nor green—I agree with what the hon. Member for Gloucester (Richard Graham) said—but used all means to point to Christ and the hope offered to every man by him. How I wish there were more like Patrick today.
Mike Kane (Wythenshawe and Sale East) (Lab)
I am delighted to intervene on the hon. Member. St Patrick’s lorica—the poem upon his breastplate—refers to a “shield in the strife”. Is St Patrick’s message relevant to today’s world and the debate we have been having tonight?
Jim Shannon
I believe it is. When I asked for this Adjournment debate—Mr Speaker kindly agreed—I felt there was a need to tell the history of St Patrick and how St Patrick’s Day came about, because his message is the simple message of the gospel, to all mankind, wherever they may be, of all political aspirations and of all regions of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. His message is simple but it is a true message and we all need to hear it. That is why I wanted to have this debate. There are two parts to the story, of course; I will tell the first, about the gospel message, but I also want to tell the second story about what he does and can do.
Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)
As one of the Patricks in the Chamber today, I think it is right that the hon. Gentleman is acknowledging this. The hon. Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East (Mike Kane) spoke of St Patrick’s breastplate, and it was fitting, and worth getting on the record, that our new Chaplain led us in that prayer at the start of business today. It was a fitting thing to do, especially in these times, given what the prayer invokes.
Jim Shannon
Yes, I noticed that today. Indeed, I said to my hon. Friend the Member for East Londonderry (Mr Campbell)—who intervened as soon as I got three words into my contribution—that it was interesting that the Speaker’s Chaplain used St Patrick’s prayer this morning. It was really nice. I want to finish my comments with that prayer, and it is important to do so.
Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)
As people might be able to guess, I too have an Irish father. It is obviously a difficult time to celebrate St Patrick’s Day, and the celebrations are very muted. Last year, I joined St Patrick’s church in east Bristol to take part in the celebrations. Does the hon. Gentleman think that, given the situation we are in, churches like St Patrick’s have a role to play in the voluntary relief effort and reaching out to the vulnerable and isolated, particularly at this time?
Jim Shannon
I certainly do, and I thank the hon. Lady for her question. It is very important that we recognise that point. There cannot be a Member in this House who does not have the same opinion. The Church has a key role to play in this. We can think of all the bad things that are happening, such as the coronavirus, but we should also think of all the people who do good things—and do those things without anyone ever knowing. That is what she is referring to. In that group, there are people with strong beliefs who want to reach out and help.
The huge parades that take place across American cities have their roots in the New York parade of 1762, when Irish soldiers in the British Army marched to St Patrick’s Day celebrations with their band playing—we do love the bands—and their regimental colours flying. I salute the work that is carried out to this day by the Irish Guards. The second largest branch of the Irish Guards Association is in my constituency of Strangford and in my town of Newtownards. The largest association is in Liverpool. I want to put on record my thanks to the Irish Guards for being great ambassadors of this great nation. I thank all of those who gave their lives for Queen and country over many, many years. The celebrations continue to this day in New York, Washington, Chicago and throughout the world and are testament to the attractiveness of St Patrick.
Richard Graham
As a declaration of interest, my brother-in-law was a colonel of the Irish Guards. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that history has not always been easy for the Irish Guards in the whole of the island of Ireland, but that things are now much better and the role that they and their individuals played in the two world wars is now much better recognised on both sides of the border?
Jim Shannon
The hon. Gentleman is right. The Irish Guards have drawn their numbers from the north and the south, and they have done so over many years. The colonel of the Irish Guards is Simon Nichols, who, at the minute, is serving in Belize. He is a very good friend of mine and also happens to be one of my constituents. He and his wife and family are in Belize for a three-year sojourn. I am very pleased to highlight the good work of the Irish Guards.
Sir Jeffrey M. Donaldson (Lagan Valley) (DUP)
I welcome my hon. Friend’s speech and the debate. Does he agree that Her Majesty the Queen has played a very important role in recent years in promoting reconciliation between the British and Irish people? There is a former order known as the Order of St Patrick, which was once awarded in recognition of the contribution that men and women make to relationships within our islands. Would it not be appropriate for Her Majesty to consider reinstating that order?
Jim Shannon
My right hon. Friend and colleague has suggested something that perhaps the Minister of State could respond to in a positive fashion. I know that he will do so if he gets the opportunity. [Laughter.] I am sorry—I will give him the opportunity! I think that I may have been misinterpreted.
I have had the opportunity to attend, with the Friends of St Patrick, Irish Fest in Milwaukee over the years. There has been a really determined attempt to ensure that there are balanced and respectful accounts, and I welcome that.
Having spoken about the religious aspect of St Patrick, which is really important to me and to many others in this Chamber, it is also important to look at the tourism aspect, and I want to speak about that if I can.
Wendy Chamberlain (North East Fife) (LD)
I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way. I am sure that the parliamentary app on Twitter is loving this debate tonight. In relation to celebrations, I think that, as a Scot, it is fair to say that the Irish are also known in their celebrations of St Patrick’s Day for drink. As a former Diageo employee, it would be remiss of me not to call out a Guinness and other alcoholic beverages that are used to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. Does he agree that we should be celebrating those, too?
Jim Shannon
I am very happy to let people celebrate in whatever way they wish, and I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention. It is all about moderation, so let us celebrate in moderation.
Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)
I thank the hon. Gentleman for allowing me to intervene on him. In a different kind of celebration, because the people involved are younger, St Patrick’s Primary School in my constituency has also been celebrating St Patrick’s Day today. It is located next to St Patrick’s Church in Anderston. Would he like to extend his congratulations to the young people at the school who have been celebrating today, despite the coronavirus?
Jim Shannon
I am very pleased to do so. It is good to know that, across all four regions today, young and old are celebrating the story of St Patrick.
Jonathan Gullis (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Con)
I declared on the Register of Members’ Financial Interests that my stepmother is Janet Harbison, leader of the Irish Harp Orchestra, from the Republic, who did a great deal of work in Belfast to bring peace together. We have heard about drink, and we have heard about celebrations in schools. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that music is a superb way to help to bridge the divide with the cultural spirit?
Jim Shannon
I am happy to support the use of music. I love music; I love all sorts of music. I love Elvis Presley, who was an Ulster Scot, as we all know. He brought hillbilly music to the society that we have today. I love music on 12 July, which is one of our special days, and we hope to have the special day this year if we have the opportunity. There is lots of music, including ecclesiastical music. There are the hymns that we all love, and those things all come from St Patrick, and we are pleased to have them.
Belfast City Council said that 23,500 people attended the 2017 St. Patrick’s day event: 60% from Greater Belfast, 20% from the rest of Northern Ireland and a further 20% from outside Northern Ireland. The economic impact was worth £758,000, independent research showed. The fact that the St Patrick’s Centre in neighbouring Down Council can attract 130,000 visitors every year tells us that the appetite is there. The question we must ask ourselves is how we can exploit that. I am aware of tremendous council initiatives such as the St Patrick’s trail. The Discover NI website says:
“Follow the Saint Patrick’s Trail through a host of Christian sites at Bangor, the Ards Peninsula”—
in my constituency—
“ Downpatrick, Newry and Armagh to uncover just how strong Northern Ireland’s links are with this patron saint. The 92 mile linear driving route links 15 key sites, all identified as having some connection to his life, legacy or landscape”.
I believe that we need greater funding—I know that the Minister will respond to that, as we had a chat before the debate—and emphasis on that to attract overnight visitors and not just day-trippers. For example, if people followed the Christian heritage trail down the Ards peninsula in my constituency, where I live, they would find the abbey at Greyabbey, which is open thanks to the generosity of the Mongomerys of Rosemount estate—I take this opportunity to thank them in Hansard. To get to that historic Abbey, they would have to drive through Newtownards, with our unique Scrabo tower, open at certain times; the old priory dating to 1244; and one of the UK’s oldest market crosses, which has been renovated and refurbished to bring back some of its glory. With many a coffee shop along the way and Northern Ireland’s winning high street of the year—it is always good to mention that fact—they could shop in boutiques and enjoy at least half a day in the historically and culturally rich Newtownards. They could take in some of the most beautiful scenery in the world as they made their way to the abbey at Greyabbey.
Those people would drive past world-renowned Mount Stewart estate and gardens—officially one of the top 10 gardens of the world, which is in my constituency of Strangford. That is only half a day of the itinerary. They would travel slightly inland to see Ballycopeland mill—the only remaining working windmill in East Down, which allows people to grind their own flour—then nip across to the folk and transport museum, in the constituency of my right hon. Friend the Member for Lagan Valley (Sir Jeffrey M. Donaldson), where they can learn to bake bread with the flour they milled at Ballycopeland. There goes another half day at least, and the need for an overnight stay in a hotel or Airbnb accommodation along the beautiful Strangford lough. That is before they have even made it to the Abbey.
Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)
I congratulate the hon. Member on his description of his constituency. He is making it sound not just like Mount Stewart gardens but like the garden of Eden, but may I remind him that that is where original sin was invented?
Jim Shannon
We are all sinners, and I am one of them.
People could enjoy the antique shops in Greyabbey, and some of the best home-made scones at Harrisons of Greyabbey, with its unrivalled view and service. They could carry on down the peninsula to Portavogie and see the only working fishing village in Northern Ireland. They could then go then down to the Exploris aquarium at Portaferry for a bite to eat and an interesting afternoon sightseeing, ending at the great Portaferry Narrows hotel, with its warm hospitality and great food. It is owned by Cathal Arthur, who is doing tremendous work during the coronavirus crisis by helping the elderly and disabled, delivering necessities to them in the bounds of Portaferry. Many people, as the hon. Member for Bristol East (Kerry McCarthy) said, are doing great work in their community.
Jonathan Gullis
I cannot listen to this amazing description of the hon. Gentleman’s constituency and not think that once the coronavirus crisis is over he must lead a delegation of all MPs to his constituency, ideally on St Patrick’s day. I would certainly like the opportunity to do that, and I hope that he will offer and extend that invitation to us.
Jim Shannon
We will try to do it over three days. The immigration Minister, the hon. Member for Torbay (Kevin Foster), had hoped to come to my constituency, although that will probably not happen because of the coronavirus, but we look forward to getting him down there eventually; it will be a special time.
Apart from me—I have lived there all my life—and other Strangford residents, who knows that we have such world-class golf and spa facilities and playing facilities for children? We must do better at offering what we have, and St Patrick’s day celebrations are a way of doing just that. Will the Minister outline how he believes that that can be achieved and whether some joined-up thinking with local councils and ensuring a Northern Ireland-focused tourism drive can help? Will he confirm the Barnett consequentials of today’s announcement by the Chancellor so that the Northern Ireland Assembly can support businesses? It is important to have that on the record. I am pretty sure that it will be good news, so it would be good to have it in Hansard as a positive response.
It will be apt for me to end with the prayer of St Patrick, which I hope I can in some way replicate throughout my life, knowing that if I emulate St Patrick in loving God and showing his goodness, I will do good and leave my family, friends and countrymen the better for it. The Speaker’s Chaplain recited it this morning, and I want to finish with it:
“Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.”
What better way to finish this debate? I thank the Minister in advance for his comments, and right hon. and hon. Members for their interventions—it would not be an Adjournment debate if we did not have interventions.
Jim Shannon
You have got your intervention into Hansard, Mr Deputy Speaker—thank you.
The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Mr Robin Walker)
I thank and warmly congratulate the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon)—who, let us face it, is no stranger to either Adjournment debates or interventions—on his excellent speech on the importance of St Patrick’s day and its support across communities, both within Northern Ireland and across the world. I am grateful for his giving me this opportunity to shine a light on Northern Ireland as a uniquely placed region in the United Kingdom.
The hon. Gentleman was absolutely right to point out the splendid depiction of St Patrick in the Lobby just a few metres from where we stand, with his peers from England, Scotland and Wales. As he said, St Patrick became the patron saint of Ireland but was born and raised in Britain—he was probably a Welshman. He is a strong reflection of the links between our islands, going back centuries.
I am pleased that the hon. Gentleman has brought this debate to the House and I thank Mr Speaker for allowing it on St Patrick’s day. People across the world take part in St Patrick’s day celebrations, although they are muted this year due to the coronavirus outbreak. I am struck by the efforts across the UK and in all the devolved Administrations to tackle the virus in the most efficient way possible, and I want to touch on that in a little more detail as well as on its subsequent impact on national and local economies.
I understand that the Economy Minister Diane Dodds has been in close contact with local industry leaders and that the Executive are working on a stimulus package tailored to Northern Ireland’s unique needs and pressures. Despite those concerted efforts, it is a shame that the annual Belfast St Patrick’s day parade has had to be cancelled; the hon. Gentleman has previously set out its benefits to the local economy.
St Patrick’s day is hugely important for people throughout Northern Ireland as they celebrate the man historically associated with bringing Christianity to the island of Ireland and transcending traditional divides. St Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland were historically responsible for influencing so much of the learning, writing and arts for which Ireland and Northern Ireland have become so famous. As the hon. Gentleman pointed out, this legendary saint is a significant tourism draw to Northern Ireland.
The hon. Gentleman spoke about the St Patrick’s trail driving route and mentioned the St Patrick centre—a modern complex in Downpatrick Country Down, with an exhibition dedicated to telling St Patrick’s story. In the townland of Saul, a replica of an early church and round tower stand on the spot of his first reputed sermon. When he visited Armagh, St Patrick called it his “sweet hill”, founding his first large stone church in 445 AD. Believed to have died on 17 March in the 5th century, his influence and impact continue to resonate to this day, never more so than with Armagh’s two cathedrals that bear his name: St Patrick’s Church of Ireland cathedral on Sally Hill and the twin-spired Catholic St Patrick’s cathedral on the opposite hill. Both are illuminated in preparation for the feast of St Patrick. Those cathedrals are an embodiment of the rich cultural experience and one of the highlights of the heartland of St Patrick.
While the story of St Patrick is well known and celebrated across the world and is a crucial element of the tourism industry of Northern Ireland, that tourism industry is much more multifaceted and has so much to offer. Northern Ireland’s local tourism sector has been going from strength to strength over recent years, with an increasing number of visitors who stay longer and spend more than ever before, but the hon. Gentleman is right to point out the need to drive forward that dynamic.
We now find ourselves in a dynamic and concerning situation with regard to covid-19. Notwithstanding the great tourism assets and warm hospitality of Northern Ireland, the need for increased social distancing and reduced international travel will make this a difficult time for the tourism and hospitality industries. The Government will continue to do whatever we can, and the Chancellor announced in the Budget last week £30 billion of fiscal stimulus to support the economy in response to the covid-19 outbreak. Northern Ireland will benefit from that package, resulting in a further £260 million for the Northern Ireland Executive on top of the more than £210 million of Barnett consequentials announced on Budget day. Today the Chancellor made a further significant announcement of additional measures to mitigate the impact of covid-19, which will result in further funding for the Executive. Taken together, the Executive will be receiving £900 million of Barnett funding from the Chancellor’s announcements on covid-19.
Northern Ireland will also benefit from the UK-wide measures in the Budget, including new funding for investment and the increased national insurance threshold. I know that the Executive will now be taking steps to build on that additional financial support to do what it can to address the specific needs of the Northern Ireland economy.
The hon. Gentleman mentioned his own connections and conversations with groups celebrating St Patrick’s day in the United States, and I have to say that he taught me something that I did not know before, which is that Elvis was an Ulsterman.
Mr Walker
Indeed. Countries such as the United States, with whom we share a special relationship, maintain a huge interest in Northern Ireland, and the US derives that interest partly from its own historical and cultural relationship with Ireland, as well as its instrumental role in supporting the Belfast agreement negotiations. As everyone knows, Ireland’s long-standing historical connections with the US meant that Irish and Ulster Scots immigrants were fundamental in the early years of the United States. As the hon. Gentleman mentioned in his opening remarks, that bond is an important link between Northern Ireland and the rest of the world, creating further potential for attracting visitors to Northern Ireland’s shores.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland was in Washington last week for the annual St Patrick’s day celebrations—an annual event that has endured for more than 25 years. He met a wide range of key stakeholders from across Irish America, including the new special envoy for Northern Ireland, Mick Mulvaney. They discussed the diplomatic break- throughs represented by the “New Decade, New Approach” agreement and the restoration of the Northern Ireland Executive—further milestones that will help to secure Northern Ireland’s social and economic success.
The hon. Gentleman highlighted the connections that Northern Ireland’s people enjoy across the world, as well as their justified local pride. I should point out that Northern Ireland’s tourist attractions can, and often do, speak for themselves. How could visitors to Northern Ireland not be enticed by the promises of wide open spaces and fresh air? Indeed, anyone on a wellness pilgrimage should look no further. Boasting many miles of stunning coastline, unforgettable experiences and exceptional food and drink, local tourism is a dynamic and rapidly expanding sector, making a substantial contribution to growth, employment and prosperity in Northern Ireland. I have been fortunate over the last few weeks to visit a number of the key attractions and sample some of the outstanding hospitality for myself, but I can hardly compete with the hon. Gentleman’s travelogue in selling the benefits of his constituency.
Jim Shannon
May I invite the Minister to visit my constituency of Strangford? We would be more than happy to have him there, and I could give him a guided tour, so that he can see some of the beauties of my constituency.
Mr Walker
The hon. Gentleman is extremely kind, and I would be delighted to take him up on that offer. I think he will find—as we have heard in the debate, including from my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent North (Jonathan Gullis)—that he has many friends across the House who will be keen to join him in his constituency.
In conclusion, the hon. Gentleman has done the House a great service by bringing today’s celebration of St Patrick’s day to the Chamber, celebrating all that Northern Ireland and his constituency have to offer. The UK Government will continue to work hand in hand with the Northern Ireland Executive in supporting the tourism industry and Northern Ireland’s economy and ensuring that future St Patrick’s days can be celebrated with great success.