Heart and Circulatory Diseases: Premature Deaths
Debate between Baroness Laing of Elderslie and Andrew Bridgen(10 months ago)
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Madam Deputy Speaker
Order. It will be obvious to the House that we have very little time this afternoon, so I hope that Members will limit their remarks to around five minutes.
Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Ind)
Five minutes?
Madam Deputy Speaker
Would the hon. Gentleman like to find some way to make the House sit longer?
Andrew Bridgen
No, Madam Deputy Speaker. I am just rather surprised. We often have three hours for Backbench Business debates, but we have ended up with an hour.
Madam Deputy Speaker
I appreciate the point that the hon. Gentleman is making, but there is nothing I can do about it now. Don’t we all sometimes wish that we could turn back the clock? I do not have that power.
Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Ind)
I thank the hon. Member for Watford (Dean Russell) for securing this important debate, and for sharing his personal experience of suffering a heart attack. I am delighted to see that he has made such a strong recovery that he can be here in the Chamber today. I am sure that many Members have been affected by cardiac disease, or know people close to them who have been deeply affected by this appalling and shocking killer.
The Library briefing pack for this debate contains a startling statistic. Almost casually, it mentions that cardiovascular deaths per 100,000 population have risen by 10% since 2019, after falling steadily for decades.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)
Order. I apologise for interrupting the hon. Gentleman, but I have taken what he has just said to heart. I have done my best to squeeze out more time, and he can have around seven minutes.
Post Office Management Culture
Debate between Baroness Laing of Elderslie and Andrew Bridgen(10 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Ind)
The hon. Lady is giving an excellent speech about a sad chapter in the Post Office’s life. As someone involved from the beginning, back in 2012, Ron Warmington’s first investigation into the Post Office Horizon scandal concluded that the Post Office always tended to promote from within, which led to an incestuous management style and the keeping of secrets. Does the hon. Lady think that may be part of the problem?
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)
Order. Before the hon. Lady answers the intervention, I have allowed the hon. Gentleman to intervene because the House is quiet, but was he in the Chamber at the beginning of the hon. Lady’s speech?
Madam Deputy Speaker
If the hon. Gentleman was not in the Chamber at the beginning of the hon. Lady’s speech, it is not in order for him to make an intervention in her speech. I have allowed it because the House is quiet this afternoon, but the rules are there for a good reason and they have to be observed. It is perfectly in order for the hon. Gentleman to intervene in another speech, later, after he has been in the Chamber for a while. I have to make that point because if I do not make an example of the hon. Gentleman now, on a quiet day, we will totally lose control on busy days, when lots of people want to do that, and it is not right. There are very few people here this afternoon and there is plenty of time, so in these circumstances I have allowed the hon. Gentleman to make his point and I will allow the hon. Lady to answer it.
Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation
Debate between Baroness Laing of Elderslie and Andrew Bridgen(1 year, 9 months ago)
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Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Ind)
I remind the Chamber of my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. For 22 years before coming to this place, I was the managing director and chairman of a food processing company. I am also a qualified transport manager, and I remain the equal largest shareholder in that company.
First, I want to highlight an aspect of the Budget that is of particular interest to my constituency of North West Leicestershire, which is fuel duty. The level of fuel duty is of immense importance to my constituents, given two facts: the first is that public transport is extremely limited—in fact, my constituency does not have access to any main line railway station, or any railway station at all. The second is that, since North West Leicestershire is the centre of the population of the UK, with good communication links with the M42 and the M1, a third of all jobs in North West Leicestershire are in distribution or are logistics-related. As such, the freeze on fuel duty that was first put in place in 2011 has been extremely significant to the huge economic growth we have seen in North West Leicestershire.
To think tanks such as the Social Market Foundation that complain that the Treasury has forgone money to benefit the rich, I say, “Why do you think we should penalise my constituents who have to use a car to get to work?” The fuel duty freeze is the right thing to do to maintain economic growth, and my constituents will certainly support it—and not just my constituents. We already have 1.2 jobs for everyone of working age in North West Leicestershire, so a lot of people have to travel in from surrounding constituencies to work in my constituency. I am sure those people will be very grateful for the tax freeze as well.
With regard to the lack of a railway station, I cannot help but give a push for the reopening of the Ivanhoe line, which Network Rail said would be the most beneficial reopening of a railway line that it currently has on the books. That line would link the great town of Burton upon Trent with Leicester, and would pass through North West Leicestershire and South Derbyshire, benefiting all of our constituents. It has cross-party support, including from the Members from Leicester.
Turning to energy and science, I would like to mention an energy source that I have been promoting for some time, which is small modular nuclear reactors. Only in November last year, I said to the Secretary of State that renewables cannot be relied on to provide all our energy needs, due to their intermittent nature. It is clear that we need to add more reliable baseload capacity, and nuclear is the favourite for that. Hundreds of my constituents work at Rolls-Royce, and many of them work on the development of small modular reactors. Therefore, I very much welcome the announcement in the Budget of a competition through Great British Nuclear to build small modular reactors in the UK, and the inclusion of nuclear energy in the green zero carbon taxonomy. I am sure that my skilled worker constituents at Rolls-Royce in Derby will step up to the mark, and that we will see reliable baseload energy produced from that source sooner, rather than later.
Next, I turn to investment zones, and I note that the Treasury has identified the proposed east midlands mayoral combined county authority to deliver that policy. I feel that I have to point out that the ongoing issue we have in Leicestershire, and indeed in Leicester, is the veto being exercised by the current Mayor of Leicester, which is preventing Leicester and Leicestershire from joining that authority and creating that critical mass in the east midlands. That has particular relevance to the topic of the debate, as Leicester is home to the National Space Centre and has many space and science-related companies around it. Indeed, my own constituency of North West Leicestershire is home to a space company in the form of Zeeko, which makes ultra-precision polishing solutions for the optics for satellite cameras. Quite honestly, it would be an outrage if our county and the city of Leicester were to miss out on an opportunity to be involved in this situation because of the intransigence of the city Mayor. I wish all those in the city seeking to abolish the mayoralty very well in the May elections.
Energy security and scientific innovation are key to the future of the UK’s economy and stimulating economic growth. There are many measures in this Budget that will help us to maintain and improve our place in the world when it comes to science, and this Government have demonstrated their commitment to that goal. In the area of energy and security, this Government are being realistic, and it is clear that nuclear has a significant part to play in achieving that goal in the future. Picking up on some points that have been made by the Opposition, I would add that the relationship between business and our excellent research establishments—our universities—has certainly improved, but more progress needs to be made. If we could harness all the innovations in research that we have at our great universities, we would be really accelerating our economic growth. We must work towards that endlessly.
School Funding Model
Debate between Baroness Laing of Elderslie and Andrew Bridgen
Madam Deputy Speaker (Mrs Eleanor Laing)
I call Mr Christopher Chope. [Interruption.] Now that is very unusual: Mr Christopher Chope is not present.
Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)
I rise to present a petition on behalf of my constituents in North West Leicestershire asking for fairer school funding. Leicestershire has for many years been the second-lowest funded of all areas in the UK, receiving some £500 per pupil less than pupils in Leicester and an amazing £1,000 per year per pupil less than pupils in Birmingham. The petition is signed by 664 of my constituents and is in the same terms as that presented by my hon. Friend the Member for Beverley and Holderness.
The Petition of the residents of North West Leicestershire.
[P001575]
Petitions
Debate between Baroness Laing of Elderslie and Andrew Bridgen
Madam Deputy Speaker (Mrs Eleanor Laing)
I call Mr Christopher Chope. [Interruption.] Now that is very unusual: Mr Christopher Chope is not present.
Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)
I rise to present a petition on behalf of my constituents in North West Leicestershire asking for fairer school funding. Leicestershire has for many years been the second-lowest funded of all areas in the UK, receiving some £500 per pupil less than pupils in Leicester and an amazing £1,000 per year per pupil less than pupils in Birmingham. The petition is signed by 664 of my constituents and is in the same terms as that presented by my hon. Friend the Member for Beverley and Holderness.
The Petition of the residents of North West Leicestershire.
[P001575]
UNHCR Syrian Refugees Programme
Debate between Baroness Laing of Elderslie and Andrew Bridgen(10 years, 10 months ago)
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Madam Deputy Speaker (Mrs Eleanor Laing)
Order. We have very little time remaining. Members who have not been here for the whole debate have sought to intervene, and the time given to each Member who speaks is increased with each intervention, so those who have waited all afternoon to speak will not have a chance to do so. The hon. Gentleman may make his intervention, but the hon. Lady will not get extra time because of it.
Andrew Bridgen
I will be brief, Madam Deputy Speaker.
Given that the UK Government have already committed £600 million in humanitarian aid for the Syrian refugees, which is 12 times more than France has donated, and indeed more than the rest of the European Union put together, does the hon. Lady agree that what we really want is for more countries to make the commitment to the Syrian refugees that the UK has made?