Tributes to Her Late Majesty the Queen

Craig Tracey Excerpts

Saturday 10th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Craig Tracey (North Warwickshire) (Con)]

It is with great sadness and some pride that I rise today to pay tribute to Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on behalf of my family and my constituents across North Warwickshire and Bedworth, and to send our condolences to the royal family.

Thursday was the day we always knew, at the back of our mind, was inevitable. Most wished it would never arrive, but I think that few of us considered the impact its coming would have on us all. I am sure I was not alone in waking on Friday morning with the most profound sense of grief that I really could not rationalise. Like many people, I had not met the late Queen, but I still felt I knew her. She had been part of our daily life forever, not just here in Parliament. Her image was seen nearly everywhere. She was in our wallets, on our letters, in our shops and on our walls. We shared our troubled times with her and we shared our successes; we even shared our Christmas day together. She loved our country and it loved her. That was never more evident than during the recent jubilee celebrations across our constituencies.

Although the late Queen Elizabeth II was of royal blood, she had an amazing ability to connect with people, and we felt that she was “one of us”. But I think what is most incredible is that, unlike us here in this place, she did not ask for her role—to be our Head of State. Rather, it was imposed on her, which makes it even more incredible that she kept the promise that she made as a 21-year-old princess right up until the very end of her days: that she would devote her life to service. For that, we should be eternally grateful.

No other person has had such a profound impact on so many lives over such a long period of time. The word “icon” is often bandied around to describe various people, but never has it been more appropriate than for our Queen Elizabeth. She defined our nation and represented it unfailingly for 70 years. It now seems very strange to be contemplating a future without Her late Majesty in it. In an uncertain and dynamic world, she was a reassuring constant, and her death is not just a tragedy for the royal family, but a dreadful loss for us all. However, we should remember that it was a life lived with true purpose, and on behalf of my constituents and myself, I would like to say, “Thank you, Your Majesty, for your dedication and service to our country. May you now rest in peace, and God save the King.”

Oral Answers to Questions

Craig Tracey Excerpts

Wednesday 15th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I think the figures speak for themselves. The UK has record numbers of people in payroll employment. That is an astounding thing, when we consider where we were during the pandemic. That was because of the UK working well together, as the right hon. Gentleman will remember, on the vaccine roll-out and on the testing, on which Scotland and the rest of the country co-operated brilliantly.

The right hon. Gentleman talks about a trade war. What could be more foolish than a project that actually envisages trade barriers within parts of the United Kingdom? That is what we are trying to break down.

[Craig Tracey (North Warwickshire) (Con)]

Q4. I was honoured to share part of the jubilee celebrations with Cohort 4, an inspirational mentoring and support group that provides life-changing support to a wide range of women, such as those who have, tragically, been victims of domestic violence or sexual abuse, or who suffer from mental health difficulties. Sadly, as a result of the pandemic, the need for those services has only grown, so will the Prime Minister join me in thanking Beverley and her team for the incredible work that they do at Cohort 4? Will he also set out what more the Government can do to support these organisations so that they can continue to deliver this vital care to vulnerable men and women across all our constituencies?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend, and I want to extend my thanks also to Beverley and everybody in Cohort 4 for what they are doing. The extra support that we are giving includes £140 million of funding for victims’ services and £47 million ring-fenced particularly for organisations such as Cohort 4. I say thank you to Cohort 4 and similar organisations for everything they do.

Oral Answers to Questions

Craig Tracey Excerpts

Thursday 27th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[Sally-Ann Hart (Hastings and Rye) (Con)]

What steps the Government are taking to increase opportunities for small businesses to bid for Government contracts.

[Craig Tracey (North Warwickshire) (Con)]

What steps the Government are taking to increase opportunities for small businesses to bid for Government contracts.

[The Minister without Portfolio (Amanda Milling)]

Small and medium-sized businesses are the backbone of our UK economy. That is why it is vital that we are ensuring that the power of Government spending supports that vital sector, as part of both the economic recovery from covid-19 and our levelling-up agenda. We are increasing opportunities for SMEs in a variety of ways, and our measures are working. Those measures include breaking up contracts into smaller chunks, transparently publishing contract pipelines and removing complexity from the bidding process. Additionally, our new social value model explicitly allows greater weight to be given to those bids that help drive post-covid recovery.

[Amanda Milling]

I agree that SMEs play a vital role in our levelling-up agenda. We want to see a greater variety of companies delivering Government contracts from every corner of our country. I am sure that our new social value approach will mean more opportunities for SMEs and social enterprises to win Government contracts by demonstrating the full extent of the value that they will generate, not just economically but taking into account the additional social benefits that can be achieved from the delivery of contracts.

[Craig Tracey]

In its last report, the women and enterprise all-party parliamentary group found that women-owned businesses added £115 billion to the UK economy, despite securing only about 5% of Government and public sector contracts. What more can the Government do to encourage more female-owned small businesses to come forward to apply for contracts and have the confidence that they will have an equal chance in the procurement process?

[Amanda Milling]

I thank my hon. Friend for everything that he does as chair of the APPG on women and enterprise. I share his concern that SME owners of all backgrounds should be benefiting from the investment that Government contracts bring. We are doing more than ever to encourage all SMEs, including those owned by women, into public procurement. Government spending with SMEs continues to rise, with 26.7% of the £58 billion spent by the Government in 2019-20 going to SMEs.

Covid-19: Road Map

Craig Tracey Excerpts

Monday 22nd February 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We have provided about £15 billion for the self-employed and will continue to look after them in any way we can.

[Craig Tracey (North Warwickshire) (Con) [V]]

I welcome the Prime Minister setting out the road map as promised, and it is great that schools will be returning, including, importantly, with their sporting activities. However, with that in mind, 8 March would also have been the optimal time to reintroduce for every one non-contact sports such as golf, which it is scientifically proven can to participated in safely during the pandemic. Will the Prime Minister set out why it has not been possible to reintroduce those sports at this stage, given that that will leave millions of people having to wait for another five weeks before they can return to their favourite form of exercise?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is quite right to vent his frustration. I share his frustration; as somebody who yearns to go out and play sport myself, I understand completely how he feels. We must face the fact that, by comparison with any period last year, the virus remains very prevalent in our country, and we have to continue to keep it under control. What we are trying to do is a cautious but irreversible approach, and he only has to wait for another three weeks beyond 8 March to be able to hit a golf ball with a friend.

Covid-19 Update

Craig Tracey Excerpts

Wednesday 27th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman, and indeed for the work of his Committee. I know that those conclusions, along with many others, will be studied with care. I know that you want brief answers, Madam Deputy Speaker, so I direct him to the answers that I have already given on that point to his right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition and to many others throughout the day. Of course we will learn the lessons, but at the height of the pandemic we would have to concentrate a huge amount of official and health sector time to an inquiry, when we need to get on with beating the virus.

[Craig Tracey (North Warwickshire) (Con) [V]]

The roll-out of the vaccine has been an undoubted success for the Government, but it brings us to a point where people want to understand the path ahead to give them something to aim towards. I welcome the clarity that the Prime Minister has given on schools, but in the coming days can he give a clear route map that sets out the potential for further easing of restrictions, such as when outdoor exercise facilities such as golf courses can resume, hospitality events can restart and our high streets can reopen, to reassure people that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and that they will shortly realise some of the benefits of the incredible sacrifices that they have had to make over recent months?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is entirely right in what he asks for, and I will supply, I hope, exactly that. He will recall how last year we set out a series of dates by which we hoped to do certain things at the earliest—4 July for opening hospitality, and so on and so forth. I hope that in the course of the next few weeks we will be able to populate the diary ahead with some more milestones and assumptions about what we may be able to do, which I hope will give reassurance to him, to businesses in his constituency, and to us all.

Oral Answers to Questions

Craig Tracey Excerpts

Wednesday 17th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Paul Scully]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her question. It is important that we manage to supply childcare. That is why women should be able to go to their local authority. They may not get their first choice of childcare provisions, but their local authority will be able to guide them. None the less, it remains the case that there should be flexible working: if people can work from home, they should be able to work from home, and employers need to be mindful of that.

[Craig Tracey (North Warwickshire) (Con)]

What assessment she has made of the potential effect on the economy of increased levels of female entrepreneurship after the covid-19 outbreak.

[The Minister for Women and Equalities (Elizabeth Truss)]

The Government’s Rose review into female entrepreneurship found that £250 billion of new value could be added to the UK economy if women started and scaled businesses at the same rate as men. We must take the opportunity, as we recover from the covid crisis, to help make this happen.

[Craig Tracey]

I recently highlighted to my right hon. Friend that very point about the £250 billion, and, as part of that solution, I have been working to try to deliver a set of women’s business hubs across the UK, which I know the British Library is also working on. What other steps can she take to ensure that part of the covid recovery benefits women across the UK and encourages more female entrepreneurs?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on his work for the all-party group on women and enterprise. He is absolutely right: we need to make sure that, as part of our levelling-up agenda, this is a cross-UK phenomenon. We have growth hubs across the country. We are also working on mentoring schemes and on trying to ensure that investment is available right through the UK to help those start-up businesses get going.

UK-EU Negotiations

Craig Tracey Excerpts

Tuesday 16th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I did not mention the colour of passports in my statement, but I am grateful to the hon. Lady for reminding the House that this is one of the many new freedoms we will enjoy outside the EU. I pledged, as did the Prime Minister, always to report back to this House on the progress of negotiations, which is why I am here. On the substantive question, the question of equivalence is one the EU will grant on the basis of an objective rules-based process; it is not a matter for negotiations. Equivalence on both financial services and data adequacy flows as a result of the EU’s internal processes, rather than an external negotiation.

[Craig Tracey (North Warwickshire) (Con)]

I welcome the statement. From speaking to businesses in my constituency, it is clear that they have gone through an unprecedented time of uncertainty with not only the current pandemic, but the prolonged Brexit saga. What we need to do now is give them clarity, so does my right hon. Friend agree that by rejecting calls to extend the transition period, we will give businesses right across the UK the certainty that they need to successfully plan for life outside the EU and get themselves ready for the many opportunities as part of a more globalised economy?

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend makes a very, very good point. He echoes the words of Carolyn Fairbairn of the Confederation of British Industry, who said:

“We have left the EU politically. We do now need to leave the EU economically. Business does not have any interest in delaying that because that is uncertainty magnified”—

I agree.

Oral Answers to Questions

Craig Tracey Excerpts

Wednesday 15th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We will go ahead and, as I said yesterday, I think that a good balance has been struck, in getting Stormont going again, between those who need truth and those who need certainty in the protection of our armed services. I want to reassure the House that nothing in the agreement will stop us going ahead with legislation to ensure that no one who has served in our armed forces suffers vexatious or unfair prosecution for cases that happened many years ago when no new evidence has been provided. We will legislate to ensure that that cannot happen.

[Craig Tracey (North Warwickshire) (Con)]

Q10. Staff at my local hospital, the George Eliot, have been praised by their bosses for the superhuman effort that they put in during the Christmas period, which was not only their busiest on record but the fourth busiest across the whole of the west midlands. Will the Prime Minister join me in thanking them for the amazing work that they do? Will he also update the House on the progress of the NHS workforce plan, which will be key to ensuring that hospitals such as the George Eliot are able to attract and retain the inspirational people we all rely on to deliver our healthcare services?

[The Prime Minister]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on everything that he is doing to campaign for the George Eliot Hospital in his constituency, and I thank the staff there for everything that they do. The people plan will be coming forward in the spring, but I fancy that he already knows some of the details: 50,000 more nurses, 6,000 more doctors in general practice and 6,000 more primary care professionals in general practice. Today, as he knows, the House is legislating to ensure that we guarantee record multi-year funding for our NHS.