Future Relationship with the EU: Negotiations

Fay Jones Excerpts

Tuesday 19th May 2020 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

The hon. Gentleman is a consistent and strong voice for UK manufacturing, and I agree with him that we need to ensure that supply chains are protected. They have taken a battering because of covid-19, but it is instructive that some automobile manufacturers are talking about reshoring production into the UK because of the advantages of so doing.

[Fay Jones (Brecon and Radnorshire) (Con) [V]]

The rural economy in Brecon and Radnorshire has been hit hard by covid-19 and the resulting lockdown. Does my right hon. Friend agree that any extension to the transition period would not only cause more uncertainty for rural businesses but hold the UK economy back further at a time when vital recovery is needed?

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend is a brilliant advocate for our farmers in the beautiful part of Wales that she is so lucky to represent, and she is absolutely right that the uncertainty over whether or not we will leave on 31 December is deeply damaging. I am afraid that the uncertainty generated by the Labour party is a problem, because they cannot have their date and eat it.

Covid-19: Strategy

Fay Jones Excerpts

Monday 11th May 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We will of course be issuing our guidance on covid-secure workplaces, as I have said several times already. We are also working with Transport for London, a body that the hon. Gentleman and I know well, to ensure that people on TfL are kept safe and that we have social distancing on the tube. Of course, people will instinctively say, “That’s going to be very, very difficult.” Yes, it is going to be very difficult. It will mean very substantial reductions in capacity, but we must do it to make it work—to make sure that the hon. Gentleman’s constituents can get safely to work.

[Fay Jones (Brecon and Radnorshire) (Con) [V]]

I am grateful that the Prime Minister is working closely with the Welsh Government to design a four-nations approach to ending the coronavirus lockdown. This is so important for my constituents in Brecon and Radnorshire, who share a border with England. Does he agree that, while the R number continues to vary across the country, restrictions in Wales remain the same, and the changes he announced last night are not a green light for tourism or for people to travel to their second homes in Wales?

[The Prime Minister]

Absolutely, and I am grateful. This is why it is so important that we should try to get as much clarity as possible. I hope that the House does understand that when you are making changes of this complexity, the messaging is crucial, but it is also difficult, and my hon. Friend is completely right. We do not want to see people—let me repeat: we do not want to see people —travelling to another home for a holiday or to a second home. That is not what this is about; this is about allowing people the pleasure and the exercise of going to places—parks, national parks, places of outstanding beauty—and taking advantage of the open air.

Oral Answers to Questions

Fay Jones Excerpts

Wednesday 11th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman raises an important point. He will have seen what the Governor of the Bank of England has done today to the cost of borrowing overall. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor will be meeting the banks continually to ensure that they look after the interests of all our people.

[Fay Jones (Brecon and Radnorshire) (Con)]

Rural areas such as my constituency are at the bottom of the pile when it comes to broadband connectivity and mobile phone signal. Will my right hon. Friend confirm that this Government’s £1 billion deal with mobile phone providers will boost 4G right across the country, and especially in mid-Wales?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes indeed, and my hon. Friend will hear something to her advantage in just a few minutes.

Oral Answers to Questions

Fay Jones Excerpts

Wednesday 29th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

4. What steps his Department is taking to protect (a) forestry and (b) biodiversity in developing countries.

[Fay Jones (Brecon and Radnorshire) (Con)]

5. What steps his Department is taking to protect (a) forestry and (b) biodiversity in developing countries.

[Craig Whittaker (Calder Valley) (Con)]

8. What steps his Department is taking to protect (a) forestry and (b) biodiversity in developing countries.

--- Later in debate ---

[Andrew Stephenson]

I am delighted to tell my hon. Friend that the Secretary of State and I visited CDC on Monday. CDC has a number of investments in sustainable forestry across Africa and is actively exploring opportunities to do more. For example, it is supporting Miro Forestry, a sustainable timber business operating in Sierra Leone and Ghana. CDC’s investment is helping Miro to support the natural environment by replanting severely degraded land, thereby protecting the indigenous forest. To date, the investment has supported the planting of roughly 5.4 million trees.

[Fay Jones]

It is shameful that the Amazon rainforest is being destroyed to provide pasture for cattle grazing. This is devastating for that important global natural resource, and it is also undercutting British beef production. Does the Minister agree that efforts to prevent deforestation are essential for global biodiversity as well as for supporting British beef farmers such as those in my constituency?

[Andrew Stephenson]

The Department for International Development is supporting programmes on reforestation and promoting sustainable beef production. The UK’s Partnerships for Forests programme works in South America to support sustainable businesses that grow crops and rear cattle without causing deforestation. This includes support for a responsible beef partnership, which works to eliminate purchases of beef from producers engaged in illegal deforestation.