Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Emma Lewell-Buck

Wednesday 15th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, I do. That is why we took so much action in the last Parliament to cut net migration from outside the European Union. Obviously, inside the European Union there is the freedom to go and work in another European country. One reason we are focusing so much on the welfare issue is that of the people who come from Europe to the United Kingdom, 60% are jobseekers, not people who already have a job. Our proposals that people will not get benefits for the first six months of being here, that if they do not have a job after six months they will have to go home, and that they will have to pay into the system before they get anything out of the system will make a real difference.

[Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck (South Shields) (Lab)]

Q11. My constituent, Kylie Strasenburgh, is a home carer who is on call six days a week. She works every hour God sends, but needs working tax credits to help make ends meet. Will the Prime Minister be honest with Kylie and admit that even with a higher minimum wage, the cuts to tax credits will make her worse off?

[The Prime Minister]

Careworkers up and down the country who are currently on the minimum wage and who get no more than that will benefit, not least from the 50p increase from the national minimum wage to the national living wage, which will happen straight away next year. We are only able to do that because we are cutting taxes for working people, cutting taxes for business, making welfare affordable and introducing the national living wage. Let the whole House focus on this: last night the Labour party voted against the national living wage. Put that on your leaflets!

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Emma Lewell-Buck

Wednesday 15th October 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Of course, I look forward to the day when Britain will recognise the state of Palestine, but it should be part of the negotiations that bring about a two-state solution. That is what we all want to see—a state of Israel living happily and peacefully alongside a state of Palestine—and that is when we should do the recognition.

[Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck (South Shields) (Lab)]

Q8. South Tyneside hospital in my constituency is facing an extra 30,000 visits a year because of the closure of the walk-in centre in nearby Jarrow. Is that acceptable?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Emma Lewell-Buck

Wednesday 16th July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck (South Shields) (Lab)]

Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 16 July.

[The Prime Minister (Mr David Cameron)]

This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall have further such meetings later today.

[Mrs Lewell-Buck]

Given the Prime Minister’s commitment to equality, will he explain why 75% of his Cabinet are still men?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady is being a little bit churlish. The Government before mine had four women Cabinet Ministers and three additional women attending Cabinet. We now have five full members of Cabinet and an additional three attending, so more women are attending. I am of course leading a coalition Government, and when it comes to Conservatives sitting around the Cabinet table, I am proud to say that a third of them are now women.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Emma Lewell-Buck

Wednesday 11th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Absolutely I will. My hon. Friend makes a good point; we are seeing a rebalancing of our economy. Just this week we have seen a growth in manufacturing and all the elements of GDP, such as construction and manufacturing, growing. We want to see a recovery that is broadly based across the different sectors and in every part of the country. When it comes to today’s figures, we can see that pay levels in industries such as manufacturing and services, rather than financial services, are on the rise.

[Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck (South Shields) (Lab)]

Q8. Last week, the Minister without Portfolio, the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke), said that people in the UK had“not yet felt any sense of recovery.”The Office for National Statistics has confirmed today that full-time workers in the north-east are £36 a week worse off than they were last year. Does the Prime Minister agree with his Cabinet colleague?

[The Prime Minister]

The point I make to the hon. Lady is that, as I have just said, there are 47,000 more people in work in the north-east than there were a year ago. The best route out of poverty is work, and what that needs to be followed by are the tax reductions this Government are bringing in to make sure that people are in work and better off in work—that is going to make a difference.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Emma Lewell-Buck

Wednesday 7th May 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I certainly join my hon. Friend, who is a patron of the Victoria Cross Trust, for the hard work that is being done. The Sun did a good job in highlighting the importance of this issue. As my hon. Friend mentioned, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government has announced £100,000 of funding for the Victoria Cross Trust. This should go to restoring the graves of Victoria Cross recipients.

We also have a programme for letting local authorities put down paving stones for people who won Victoria Crosses in their area, and we are looking at many other ways to commemorate this absolutely vital anniversary. The most important thing we are doing is the huge multimillion pound investment going to the Imperial War museum, which is opening this summer and to which I take my children. It brings the first world war to life in an extraordinary way, and that is at the heart of our important commemorations.

[Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck (South Shields) (Lab)]

Q15. My constituent Darren Lugg’s disability means that he needs a specially adapted bed. He therefore cannot share a room with his wife, but still they are hit by the bedroom tax. Can the Prime Minister explain why this Government are punishing him for his disability?

[The Prime Minister]

As the hon. Lady knows, we have discretionary housing payments for exactly this sort of case, and the money has been topped up, so there is no reason for people to be disadvantaged in the way she suggests.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Emma Lewell-Buck

Wednesday 9th April 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Over the cornflakes this morning I saw a very attractive picture of my hon. Friend in his shorts and the shadow Chancellor in a curious pair of black leggings. I bow down to the bravery of colleagues who are taking part—26 miles is a very long way, and I certainly could not manage it. I am full of admiration for them and for the money that they will raise for excellent causes. I pay tribute to all hon. Members on both sides of the House who are taking part.

[Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck (South Shields) (Lab)]

Q10. My constituent, Sue Martin, suffers from myalgic encephalomyelitis and has been waiting more than nine months for her personal independence claim to be processed. She now has to borrow from her 84-year-old mother just to get by. Why does the Prime Minister think that is acceptable?

[The Prime Minister]

All delays in these sorts of payments are not acceptable: we have to make sure that benefits are paid on time. What we are trying to do with the personal independence payment is to introduce it gradually so that we ensure that the quality of decision making is good.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Emma Lewell-Buck

Wednesday 17th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

There is too much shouting on both sides of the House, not just on one side. That is the reality.

[Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck (South Shields) (Lab)]

How many of the Conservative party’s millionaire donors asked the Prime Minister to cut the 50p top rate of tax?

[The Prime Minister]

That was definitely a Whip’s handout—there is no doubt about that one. Let me explain to the hon. Lady an important distinction—[Interruption.]