Oral Answers to Questions

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Wednesday 10th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mike Penning]

I respect the hon. Gentleman’s views, but he has just explained exactly why the Bill of Rights has taken 15 years and there is a lot of work still to come on it.

[Ms Margaret Ritchie (South Down) (SDLP)]

14. Given that an Ipsos MORI poll showed that 80% of the supporters of the main political parties in Northern Ireland were in favour of the introduction of the Bill of Rights, will the Minister outline how the Government will use that level of consensus to bring forward a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland to reflect all the protections that are needed and the need for the full implementation of the Good Friday agreement?

[Mike Penning]

Eighty per cent. is not a consensus, and it leaves 20% of the population of Northern Ireland that are not yet in agreement. If they can get together and form an agreement, we can move on.

G8

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Wednesday 19th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I commend the Belfast Telegraph on the fact that it has not joined the mass of the cynical and hard-bitten, and has actually said, “Hold on, this is an important breakthrough on the issues that people really care about.” We must now hold all those countries to their commitment and ensure that everybody delivers on the action plans for beneficial ownership, so that we can see who owns what company. We must ensure that the international exchange of tax information can involve every country in the world. In that way we can get fairer taxes and help the developing world at the same time. We need follow-up on all these issues.

[Ms Margaret Ritchie (South Down) (SDLP)]

Will the Prime Minister assure the House that there will be no unilateral military intervention, including the supply of weapons and other arsenals to the rebels in Syria, and that Britain’s role will be confined to an international peace plan? I was, of course, pleased that the G8 came to Northern Ireland.

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Lady for praising the decision to hold the summit in Northern Ireland, and let me say again how well I think the authorities did in making it work. On Syria, the Government have clearly stated their approach. We want an international peace conference and a transitional Government, and we want a peace settlement. We believe, however, that we should be helping the Syrian national opposition. We have recognised—not just us, but America and countries across the European Union—that the opposition are legitimate spokespeople for the Syrian people. We should decry Assad—frankly, I hope the Labour party and all its allies in the Social Democratic and Labour party and elsewhere will decry Assad—[Interruption.] and continue to do so. We should also decry the use of chemical weapons. It cannot be said often enough what a brutal dictator this man is.

Oral Answers to Questions

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Tuesday 4th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

As my hon. Friend knows, the coalition Government are introducing the biggest devolution of control over business rate revenues in a generation. Of course we cannot completely devolve it because that would mean that those areas that had the wealth locally to sustain themselves would be fine, and those that did not would not, so we need some kind of mechanism to make sure there is fairness in the system. However, the reforms, particularly of business rate revenues, that we have presided over are the biggest act of fiscal devolution in a very long time.

[Ms Margaret Ritchie (South Down) (SDLP)]

Beyond discussions on corporation tax, what conversations has the Deputy Prime Minister had with the Northern Ireland Executive regarding the devolution to it of further powers, including on telecommunications, broadcasting, motor taxation and other economic levers?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I have not personally been involved in detailed discussions on those issues, but my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is in continuous dialogue with the authorities in Northern Ireland about them.

Radioactive Waste

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Wednesday 17th April 2013 Ministerial Corrections

[Ms Ritchie]

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the selection of a site for the storage of radioactive waste from existing and former nuclear sites; and if he will make a statement.

[Official Report, 26 March 2013, Vol. 560, c. 1063W.]

Letter of correction from John Hayes:

An error has been identified in the written answer given to the hon. Member for South Down (Ms Ritchie) on 26 March 2013.

The full answer given was as follows:

[Mr Hayes]

The UK's higher activity radioactive waste is currently held in safe and secure storage facilities at various nuclear sites around the country. Government set out its approach to implementing a geological disposal facility (GDF) to dispose of the UK's higher activity radioactive waste in the 2008 White Paper “Managing Radioactive Waste Safely: A Framework for Implementing Geological Disposal”.

The Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS) process is based on the principles of voluntarism and partnership. It is a staged process, one in which potential host communities 'decide to participate' (without commitment) in site identification and assessment for a potential GDF. To date, no sites have been selected. The Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS) programme is a very long-term one, and Government remains confident that a suitable site for a GDF will be found.

The current invitation remains open for volunteer communities to express an interest, without commitment, in the MRWS process. At the same time, Government has been working to learn the lessons of the recent experience gained in west Cumbria—as the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change affirmed in his written ministerial statement earlier today, will launch in May a public call for evidence on the site selection process of the MRWS programme. The evidence provided in response to this call will inform a public consultation later this year on how this process might be improved.

With regards to the recent experience in west Cumbria, both Copeland and Allerdale borough councils decided to proceed to site identification and assessment, however, Cumbria county council did not. Since Government had given a specific commitment in west Cumbria that there should be agreement at both borough and county level before progressing to the next stage, this decision brought the existing site selection process to an end in west Cumbria.

The correct answer should have been:

Oral Answers to Questions

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Wednesday 20th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I can give my hon. Friend that assurance. I know that the Transport Secretary will shortly be visiting her constituency. Investment is going into the whole of the line that serves her constituency, including major investment that will shortly be completed at Reading station, which will help capacity all down the line.

[Ms Margaret Ritchie (South Down) (SDLP)]

Q3. The Prime Minister will be aware of the growing disquiet across the UK regarding his Government’s welfare reform proposals—great disquiet, because the proposals are deeply unfair and will, I predict, lead to administrative chaos. Does the Prime Minister agree with me that, in terms of his legacy, welfare reform will be his poll tax?

[The Prime Minister]

I do not agree with the hon. Lady at all. I find that there is strong support for the housing benefit cap, so that we no longer fund homes in the capital of our country by up to £100,000 a year. There is strong support for the welfare cap, and, indeed, there is strong support for universal credit, which will make sure that in every case people are better off in work and better off when they choose to work extra hours. That is what we want: a welfare system that supports enterprise, work and aspiration.

Oral Answers to Questions

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Wednesday 16th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise this question. I am well aware of how bad the flooding was and I went to Buckfastleigh to see how badly the town had been flooded for myself. I know that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport has discussed the recent flooding with Network Rail’s chair and chief executive, and he will visit the area soon to look at this. We are working with Network Rail to improve the resilience of the overall network and we will do everything we can to ensure that these important services are maintained, even when they are challenged by floods such as those we saw last year.

[Ms Margaret Ritchie (South Down) (SDLP)]

Does the Prime Minister accept that a statement on Europe designed to be populist runs the risk of polarising this House, undermining key UK relations with America, confusing and alienating our friends and partners in Europe and, disastrously, starting a process that sleepwalks the UK out of Europe?

[The Prime Minister]

I think the most dangerous thing for this country would be to bury our head in the sand and pretend there is not a debate about Britain’s future in Europe. The most dangerous thing for this country would be to see the changes taking place in Europe because of the single currency and to stand back and say that we are going to do nothing about them. What Britain should be doing is getting in there and fighting for the changes we want so that we can ask for the consent of the British people to settle this issue once and for all.

Patrick Finucane Report

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Wednesday 12th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I would not describe this simply as a “paper review”; Desmond de Silva did meet some people and conducted interviews. The hon. Lady should also remember that it was a review based on the fact that there had been the largest criminal investigation in British history, which had interviewed everybody and had the documentation. Alongside that—all the access to the Stevens material—Desmond de Silva also had access to all the intelligence and other material in Whitehall. On that basis, I think it is a very complete piece of work.

[Ms Margaret Ritchie (South Down) (SDLP)]

I thank the Prime Minister for his statement. I stand solidly and squarely with Geraldine Finucane, her two sons and daughter, and the wider Finucane family. I recognise that many people and many families, not least Members of this House, from Northern Ireland have also suffered as a result of more than 30 years of the troubles. Does the Prime Minister not now consider, in view of de Silva’s report, which indicated very high levels of state collusion, that there is a need for an international public inquiry that will address issues of collusion and complicity? We in the Social Democratic and Labour party—our current three Members and our predecessors—always recognised and acknowledged the deep levels of collusion in Northern Ireland that resulted in murders right across the community, whether on the loyalist or on the republican side. For that reason, we now need an international public inquiry, to investigate not only Pat Finucane’s murder but all the other murders that were a result of state collusion and state complicity.

Oral Answers to Questions

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Tuesday 20th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

Clearly, the priority for all of us is to repair, rescue and reform the damaged British economy—the legacy left to us by Labour—but I have always been of the view that that does not mean that the Government cannot do more than two things at once. Those things could include mayoral elections, police and crime commissioner elections—which I know are close to the heart of the hon. Gentleman’s party—or other political reform enthusiasms shared by my party. Those are all things that we have tried to advance over the past two and a half years.

[Ms Margaret Ritchie (South Down) (SDLP)]

In the light of the Prime Minister’s visit to Northern Ireland today in advance of negotiations in Brussels and other possible announcements, and of the recent report on tax arrangements in Wales, will the Deputy Prime Minister tell us what discussions have taken place, or will take place, with the Northern Ireland Executive on the further devolution of powers to the Executive?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

As the hon. Lady knows, the proposals in Wales have been put forward on the back of the report published by the Silk commission this week, which advocates further tax devolution to Wales. We have said that we will look closely at those proposals. She will also be well aware that there is a long-standing debate in Northern Ireland about the freedom to set corporation tax rates, which would involve an arrangement different from the one that we have now. We have undertaken to look at that very carefully indeed, and there has been a succession of discussions and ministerial meetings on the matter. We will arrive at a definitive conclusion soon enough.

Oral Answers to Questions

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Wednesday 7th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Letwin]

We are totally in favour of apprenticeships and of promoting them. My right hon. Friend the Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps) was saying —my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General has repeated this—that we need to ensure that we get value for taxpayers’ money and do not create a set of rules that militate against that. Within that, we encourage and support those Departments that promote apprenticeships that are consistent with the provision of value for money. That is why in my response to my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon) I pointed out that we support and encourage schemes such as that promoted by the DWP.

[Ms Margaret Ritchie (South Down) (SDLP)]

4. What recent progress he has made on delivering funding for big society projects.

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Mr Nick Hurd)]

I am delighted to say that of the £470 million Office for Civil Society budget, we have managed to find some funding to support a pilot in Northern Ireland of the hugely popular National Citizen Service programme, which I hope the hon. Lady supports. As I have said on many occasions, it is very important to us that the Big Society Capital opportunity is UK-wide, and it is categorically open for business in respect of Northern Ireland.

[Ms Ritchie]

I thank the Minister for his answer, but could he point to any exemplar big society projects that could provide good learning for other regions, apart from the one to which he referred, for which I am grateful?

[Mr Hurd]

There is plenty of good practice to point to. However, this area is effectively a devolved matter. In the case of the National Citizen Service, we came to the Administration with an offer, saying that we think this is a valuable experience for young people and we would like to make it available to young people in Northern Ireland. To their credit, the Administration said yes.

Oral Answers to Questions

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Tuesday 16th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

As the hon. Gentleman knows, there is a time limit of 15 years. Various member states and other countries around the world have time limits on how long expatriates can vote in the nation they come from, whereas others do not. So far, although we keep the rules under review, we have not come to the conclusion that we will seek to change them in any significant way.

[Ms Margaret Ritchie (South Down) (SDLP)]

Given the public response to electoral reform and the right hon. Gentleman’s disappointment over Lords reform, and given that the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland today published its revised proposals for further consultation, can he confirm the Government’s stated position on reducing the number of parliamentary seats?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

As the hon. Lady knows, yes, the boundary commissions have published their latest revisions. Equally, I have made it clear that because of a failure to deliver the wider package of reforms that we had agreed within the coalition Government, including House of Lords reform, when it comes to a vote the Liberal Democrats will not support these changes ahead of the election in 2015.