Overseas Aid (Private Sector Contracts)

Debate between Lord Brennan of Canton and Justine Greening

Monday 11th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

Yes, I would. DFID has supported the Trademark East Africa initiative, and my hon. Friend will be aware that African Union leaders want to create a free trade area by 2017. It is an ambitious plan, but one that we should support.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

Last Friday, I received a group of constituents from the IF campaign, Enough Food for Everyone, who asked me to seek assurances from the Government and the Secretary of State that the commitment to the 0.7% gross national income figure remains as strong as ever, and that she will resist any attempts to overturn it. What words of assurance can she give to my constituents?

UK Aid (Uganda and Rwanda)

Debate between Lord Brennan of Canton and Justine Greening

Monday 19th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

I am going through that process right now, so that I can assure myself of that, but it is worth pointing out that in the case of Uganda we suspended donations and aid to the office of the Prime Minister when fraud and corruption issues were seen by other donors, not in relation to our budget, so we have always taken a precautionary approach wherever we can.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

I raised the issue of reinstating aid to Rwanda with the Prime Minister on 17 October at Prime Minister’s questions, because of the Rwandan Government’s support for the M23 rebels, who are murdering, maiming and raping in eastern Congo. The Prime Minister said he had spoken personally to President Kagame about it, but it obviously did not make much difference. Why is the Secretary of State not acting now to ensure that we are in no way supporting the Rwandan Government, who are supporting the M23 rebels?

[Justine Greening]

The hon. Gentleman is making some statements of fact; the reality is that we have a leaked report from the UN group of experts which makes some assertions about what may be happening on the ground. That is going through the UN sanctions committee. Bearing in mind the implications that the report may have on the aid programme in Rwanda, the right thing for us to do is to wait for the UN sanctions committee and, indeed, the UN Security Council to go through that full process and not jump the gun.

Rail Investment

Debate between Lord Brennan of Canton and Justine Greening

Monday 16th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

I can confirm those journey-time improvements for my hon. Friend’s constituents, who will welcome that, as I do. On the particular aspect of the curves, I will make sure that I write to him so that I get my facts right, but I hope and believe that there will be a positive response on that, too.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

I am glad that the Secretary of State was able to work positively with the Welsh Government over the electrification of the valley lines and the extension to Swansea. Has any financial contribution from the Welsh Government been involved?

[Justine Greening]

The hon. Gentleman is right to say that we worked closely not only with the Secretary of State for Wales but the Welsh Assembly Government. I met Carl Sergeant a few times to discuss these proposals. As regards how the financing will work, the basic scheme for the valleys is £300 million. That is funded through track access charges that franchise operators will pay. It pays them to do this, because they save money through electrification, which reduces their operating costs. Once the valleys electrification has been completed, that, in essence, will electrify the line to Bridgend, which means that the final piece to Swansea becomes worth doing. It also simplifies our rolling stock procurement. The final piece of the Bridgend to Swansea electrification is being funded by the UK Government to the tune of £50 million. All in all, it is a good deal for Wales.

High-speed Rail

Debate between Lord Brennan of Canton and Justine Greening

Tuesday 10th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

The principal benefit will be not just the high-speed link between London and Birmingham but the fact that it could connect to the west coast main line, which means that people will benefit from shorter journey times that persist as they continue their journey further north. That is really good news for people in that area.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

Did I hear the Secretary of State aright? Did she say that the Chilterns tunnel would cost £250 million to £300 million less than the cost would be without it? That raises the question why, if it is cheaper to tunnel, she is not burying the entire line. Will she please give us the true figure for building the tunnel?

[Justine Greening]

It will cost £250 million to £300 million less. The hon. Gentleman asked why we cannot tunnel the whole way under the Chilterns. Of course that is predominantly an engineering question concerning the amounts of spoil and the geographical nature of the land that we are going through. It is quite a complex question but the brief answer is yes, it really is more cost-effective.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Brennan of Canton and Justine Greening

Tuesday 13th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

15. In what sectors of the economy he expects the export growth forecast contained in the June 2010 Budget to be achieved.

[The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Justine Greening)]

The export growth forecast produced by the Office for Budget Responsibility did not break it down by sector. However, we know that in 2009 manufacturing accounted for just over half of our exports, so there is a big opportunity here. We currently export more to Ireland than to Brazil, India, China and Russia combined. That is why the Prime Minister met the Indian Commerce Minister earlier this month to talk about economic opportunities for us over there. Later this month, he will lead a taskforce of UK business men to India to investigate export opportunities.

[Kevin Brennan]

I am afraid that the Minister has not seen this morning’s report from Cambridge Econometrics, which examines the effect of the Budget on manufacturing, and predicts a decline in manufacturing share and an expansion in the financial sector to its highest share ever. Is that what the Minister means by rebalancing the economy?

[Justine Greening]

Many people would consider that a bit rich coming from a member of the last Government, given that manufacturing declined at a steeper rate under them than under the previous Conservative Government. We aim to support manufacturing and, indeed, companies throughout our country through a robust and ambitious corporation tax package, through progress on national insurance, and through largely getting rid of the jobs tax that the last Government would have introduced. What we would like to hear from the Opposition is more constructive discussion about how to improve our exports.