London Attack

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Thursday 23rd March 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We should not be making any attempt to demonise individual communities. We should recognise that it is individuals who are terrorists, that they are adhering to a warped ideology—a warped ideology of evil—and that that is true whatever the origin of the terrorism, because there are different ideologies. This House has been struck before, as we know, and has felt terrorism of a different sort hitting a Member of this House. We must ensure that we do not demonise communities, but work with them to identify and to isolate those who wish to do us harm.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

In the wake of yesterday’s evil, tragic, but unfortunately not wholly unexpected attack on this place, there will be a review, as the Prime Minister has said, of the response of our excellent police and security services. Does my right hon. Friend agree that in an open and free democracy such as ours there will always be a balance between our security, and public access to and the transparency of our democracy, and that if that balance is not maintained, unfortunately, the terrorists will have won?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that it is a balance. We live in an open and free democracy. We want members of the public to have access to their representatives and to this place, and for Members of this place to have easy access to it. That is part of how we operate. It is important, as we look ahead and ask whether anything more needs to be done, to recognise that we should not in any way destroy the values that underpin our democracy, because if we do that, as he says, the terrorists will have won.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Wednesday 1st March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Jane Ellison]

It is for the Scottish Government to account to the Scottish people for their plans. These points might be interesting ones to bring to Westminster and knock about in this Chamber, but real people are looking at the impact of those plans on their family income and the Scottish Government will have to account to them for those plans. It is far more than just a debating point.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

13. Does the Minister agree that the Scottish Government’s decision to make Scotland the most highly taxed part of the United Kingdom will reduce the country’s competitiveness and ultimately make Scotland a less attractive place in which to live, work or do business?

[Jane Ellison]

These are all very important points. It is for the Scottish Government to use the powers that have been devolved to them and to account to their people for using them, but there is no doubt that people look at the competitiveness of tax regimes, whether personal or business, and that those regimes are important in the key decisions that people make about competitiveness and other things.

--- Later in debate ---

The Prime Minister was asked—

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Q1. If she will list her official engagements for Wednesday 1 March.

[The Prime Minister (Mrs Theresa May)]

I am sure that the whole House will want to join me in wishing people in the UK, and across the world, a happy St David’s day. I am also sure that the whole House will want to join me in paying tribute to our former colleague, Sir Gerald Kaufman, who died over the weekend. He was an outstanding parliamentarian and a committed MP who dedicated his life to the service of his constituents. As Father of the House, his wisdom and experience will be very much missed right across this House. I am sure that our thoughts are with his friends and family.

This morning, I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in this House, I shall have further such meetings later today.

[Andrew Bridgen]

I associate myself with the Prime Minister’s remarks, and assure the many relatives and friends of our former colleague that they are very much in our thoughts and prayers at this difficult time.

Does my right hon. Friend believe that last week’s historic by-election victory in Copeland was an endorsement of her Government’s plans to maintain a strong economy, bring our society together and ensure that we make a huge success of leaving the European Union?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. First, I wish to congratulate my hon. Friend, the new Member for Copeland, and look forward to welcoming her to this House very shortly. My hon. Friend the Member for North West Leicestershire (Andrew Bridgen) is absolutely right that last week’s historic result in Copeland was an endorsement of our plans to keep the economy strong and to ensure that places such as Copeland share in the economic success after years of Labour neglect. It was also an endorsement of our plans to unite communities where Labour seeks to sow division and of offering strong, competent leadership in the face of Labour’s chaos.

European Council

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 24th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As I have said, people talk about being members of the single market or having access to the single market, but what matters is the relationship we have with the European Union that will enable the maximum possibility to trade with and operate within that single European market. We will be negotiating on behalf of the financial sector across the whole of the United Kingdom.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Being in the European Union has been compared with being in the back of a crowded taxi that is heading in the wrong direction. Does my right hon. Friend agree that, if we remain in the single market when we leave the EU, we will no longer be in the taxi but tied up in the boot?

Panama Papers

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 11th April 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The reason why a lot of unit trusts register in different countries—a number of them have been named; right now, many of them are registering in Dublin—is that they want to be able to market their services not simply to UK residents, who pay UK taxes, but to other people. That is why, if we look at the Inland Revenue and the way it arranges this, it actually wants to make sure that UK fund managers can be involved and pay their taxes in the UK, and we can build the investment industry that this country can rightly be proud of.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

May I thank my right hon. Friend for his open and frank statement today? In the mind of any reasonable person, he has completely exonerated himself. Will he confirm that, under HMRC rules, all supporting documentation for a tax return should be retained for seven years? Since the Leader of the Opposition was late supplying his tax return, should he be fined?

[The Prime Minister]

There is obviously no fine for the fact that the right hon. Gentleman did not come to the House having already published it, although it was disappointing that we got it at 3.35 pm, when I was on my feet. Obviously, the matter of fines for late production of tax returns is a matter for HMRC.

EU Referendum: Civil Service Guidance

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 29th February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock]

There will be a campaign to leave, as well, and I hope that this debate continues so that by 23 June everybody feels fully informed.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Will the Minister tell the House how the guidance rules would have affected the advice given to the Prime Minister by Sir Lynton Crosby when he said that the renegotiations were not good enough, that they should be rejected at the European Council and that proper renegotiations should be carried out and the referendum delayed until 2017? Clearly, in that situation, the adviser was not supporting the Government line at all.

[Matthew Hancock]

Sir Lynton Crosby is many things, but he is not a civil servant.

UK-EU Renegotiation

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd February 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is right in what he says. Obviously, it is a great advance that the European Commission has said that Britain qualifies for this brake, and if it existed now it would be brought in straightaway. As for the advice I have about the position of the European Parliament, I mentioned earlier that the head of the largest group in the European Parliament thinks this could be sorted out in a matter of months and is supportive of the approach.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

The German captain of the ship that is the European Union has deliberately steered it into a migration iceberg with all the watertight doors open. Rather than just rearranging the deckchairs, would it not be better to direct the British people to the available lifeboat while the band is still playing and before the inevitable happens?

[The Prime Minister]

The analogy was getting quite complicated, but I do not agree with that. If we were not outside Schengen, my hon. Friend would have a very fair point, but we are in a situation where we are able to have the best of both worlds. Let us keep our borders and let us not let in foreign nationals who do not have a right to be here—that is strengthened by this agreement—but let us keep the free movement, so that British people can live and work in other European countries. That is the best of both worlds.

EU Council

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Tuesday 5th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am not aware of that report. I will look into the matter and perhaps write to the hon. Gentleman.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the controversial decision to grant asylum to Abdul Rahman Haroun, the man who infamously broke into and ran through the channel tunnel, sends completely the wrong signal, and risks seriously undermining public confidence in the EU and our own border controls?

[The Prime Minister]

Such decisions are made independently, according to the asylum rules. However, let us be absolutely clear about the fact that we should do everything we can to secure the tunnel and make sure that it is not possible for people to access our country by breaking into it.

ISIL in Syria

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd December 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I have had those conversations with President Putin on many occasions, most recently at the G20 summit in Antalya, and President Obama had a meeting with him at the climate change conference in Paris. As I have said before in this House, there was an enormous gap between Britain, America, France and, indeed, Saudi Arabia on the one hand and Russia on the other hand; we wanted Assad to go instantly and they wanted him to stay, potentially forever. That gap has narrowed, and I think that it will narrow further as the vital talks in Vienna get under way.

Let me make a point about the Vienna talks, because I think that some people worry that it is a process without an end. The clear ambition in the talks is to see a transitional Government within six months, and a new constitution and fresh elections within 18 months, so there is real momentum behind them.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Will the Prime Minister confirm that, alongside any military intervention in Syria that the House might authorise tonight, he remains completely committed to the Government’s huge humanitarian effort, which has kept so many people alive in the region?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. I can certainly confirm that. We are the second largest bilateral donor in the world, after America, and we will keep that up, not least with the vital conference that we are co-chairing in London next year, when we will bring together the whole world to ensure that we fill the gap in the funding that is available.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Wednesday 4th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

The Government will look carefully at what the Procedure Committee has to say about reforms to the estimates process, which is ultimately a matter for the House.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

6. What steps the Government are taking to facilitate the sharing of best practice with the Scottish Government on public spending on health.

[The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Mr David Gauke)]

Health spending is a devolved matter and the Scottish Government are responsible for the NHS in Scotland. It is up to the Scottish Government to decide how best to use their funding and deliver health services in Scotland. The UK Government are happy to share good practice with the Scottish Government to help ensure that people living in Scotland receive high-quality healthcare. Discussions between UK Health Ministers take place where necessary.

[Andrew Bridgen]

Has the Minister seen the recent Audit Scotland report which shows that the Scottish Government have completely failed to pass on health spending increases instigated by the United Kingdom Government, and that that has resulted in a 0.7% real-terms reduction in health spending in Scotland between 2008-09 and 2014-15?

[Mr Gauke]

I have seen that report, and my hon. Friend is right to bring it to the House’s attention. The fact is that a Conservative Government have shown more commitment to public spending on the NHS—[Interruption]—in England than an SNP-led Government have shown in Scotland.

Syria: Refugees and Counter-terrorism

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 7th September 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We are getting on with it now, and in the letter that the First Minister of Scotland wrote to me, she said that Scotland would be willing to take 1,000 refugees. She will have to reassess that, because now that we are taking 20,000 as a country I will be able to write back and say that Scotland will be able to do more.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

By announcing that their borders are open to all the migrants who can get to them, Germany and Sweden have inadvertently increased the demand for migration across a continent and increased the human misery. Will the Prime Minister assure the House that the UK will not make that mistake and that we will not do the wrong thing, even if it is for the right reasons?

[The Prime Minister]

As I have said, we must act with head and heart, and that is why we think it is right to take people from the refugee camps.