G7

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Kate Green

Wednesday 10th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We did have discussions about that. There is obviously very good information sharing between Britain and America, and there is increasingly better sharing of information among European countries, with the progress on the passenger name record. Where we need even more co-operation is clearly between countries such as Britain and Turkey, which can sometimes act as a gateway for people joining ISIL. That is where we need to focus our efforts.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

I welcome the Prime Minister’s announcement on investment to tackle pandemics, but does he agree that vaccines and drugs will be effective only if countries have domestic healthcare systems that can distribute them through their populations? Was that discussed at the G7, and what conclusions were drawn?

EU Council, Security and Middle East

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Kate Green

Monday 1st September 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Let me take, for instance, the case of the Yazidi people, where there was military action by the Kurds, supported by us, and, indeed, some military action contemplated by the Americans that would have been supported, and potentially facilitated, by us. Of course, the role we were prepared to play was to take part in a humanitarian evacuation. That would have involved British transport planes and helicopters and, indeed, British troops in the Kurdish areas of Iraq to support, maintain and look after those helicopters. So I do not accept that we will not intervene where there is a potential humanitarian crisis; we would, we will, we have in the past, but we should, as I say, ask ourselves the question, “What is in our national interest, what is the best way to proceed?”

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

The suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza, not just in this most recent conflict but over many years, continues to be a source of great distress and concern in my constituency, and this latest land grab will of course have further infected the situation. What recent—very recent—discussions has the Prime Minister had with the Americans in relation to this matter, since it is widely perceived that any lasting solution will depend on their influence with Israel and there is real concern that, with so many other international conflicts, their eye, and our eye, may be taken off the ball in Gaza as we deal with other threats?

[The Prime Minister]

I did discuss this issue with President Obama when we spoke during August, and to be fair to him he has taken a tough line over the need for a ceasefire and was very clear with the Israeli Prime Minister, as was I, about the need for a ceasefire and about the frankly unacceptable level of civilian casualties. Now we have the ceasefire, it should be about trying to get Gaza up and running again. That means the Palestinian Authority taking control, the rockets being taken out and the important restrictions being lifted so that that place can function properly.

Ukraine (Flight MH17) and Gaza

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Kate Green

Monday 21st July 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. We demonstrated with the G8 that if countries want to belong to organisations that have at their heart a belief in democracy and the fundamental values that we share, they have to act accordingly.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

I thank the Prime Minister for making a statement this afternoon on two such terrible disasters—tragedies that are of deep concern to my constituents. On Friday, 10 mosque leaders in my constituency came to me to ask me to ask the Prime Minister to use his good offices and his influence with Israel to ask it to de-escalate this terrible conflict, and to use his good offices and his influence with the United States to ask it to use its authority to persuade Israel to do likewise.

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Lady for her question. The message that President Obama and I have delivered to Prime Minister Netanyahu is very similar, stressing the importance of restraint, avoiding civilian casualties and ending the conflict.

European Council

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Kate Green

Monday 30th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend is entirely right. The socialist grouping first, followed by the EPP and others, decided to take that approach, which I do not believe is in line with the European treaties.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

Businesses in my constituency—multinationals such as Kellogg’s; European companies such as ESBI, SAICA and Lucchini; and British-owned companies that seek to export to Europe, such as Northern Drives & Controls—all say that it is crucial to their business to stay in the European Union. How does the Prime Minister expect to have the authority to negotiate a better deal for Europe to enable them to do so?

[The Prime Minister]

I have listened a lot to the voices of British businesses large and small. They, too, want European reform. They are frustrated by the bureaucracy and the red tape, and by the failure to complete the single market. They do not want Britain to be part of a European superstate; they want co-operation and trade between nations. That is what we want. Although the task has undoubtedly become more difficult, I see no reason why we cannot achieve it if we stick to our guns.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Kate Green

Wednesday 9th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

First, may I say what pleasure it gives me to refer to the hon. Gentleman as my right hon. Friend—an honour he fully deserves? I welcome the effect of the Scrap Metal Dealers Act, which has helped to bring revenue into the Treasury. It is also helping to deal with this scourge, which is a crime that we have seen grow in recent years, particularly because of the growth in the price of metals. The lead off the Witney church roof was stolen recently, and I know that the Act will help to make sure that that does not happen again.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

Q14. Eighty-three per cent. of the beneficiaries of the Government’s proposed marriage tax break will be men; just 17% will be women. Why does the Prime Minister have such a blind spot when it comes to women?

[The Prime Minister]

I think that it is worth supporting marriage through the income tax system. Let me make this challenge to the Labour party: in government it gave a married tax break through the inheritance tax system; it gave a married tax break to the rich. I want to give a married tax break to everybody.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Kate Green

Wednesday 17th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

Q15. Did the Prime Minister ask Lynton Crosby who his big business clients were before he employed him?

[The Prime Minister]

We can run through this one again; let me have another go at explaining. Right, it works like this: the Conservative party gives Lynton Crosby money and he helps us to attack the Labour party, right? The trade unions give money to the Labour party—the other way around—and for that they buy your candidates, they buy your MPs, they buy your policies and they even give you this completely hopeless leader.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Kate Green

Wednesday 18th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend, who dropped off a full copy of the report to my office this morning. She raises an important subject. As a parent and as a politician, I am keen that we should help to protect people from such material. I have got together some of the technology and telephony companies to look at offering a choice of blocking all adult and age-restricted content on their home internet. If we start to work with the companies to deliver such changes, I think that we can protect more young people.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

Q15. The Government have said that they want to simplify the tax system, so why are they introducing changes to child benefit that the Treasury Committee today said will create further uncertainty?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Kate Green

Wednesday 30th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I think it is time. I do not think full-time trade unionists working in the public sector on trade union business rather than serving the public is right, and we will put that to an end. That is absolutely the case, and the evidence today makes that case even stronger.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

Q4. Why are the Government freezing working tax credit, which helps the lowest paid workers, including those whose wages are too low for them even to pay tax, to make work pay?

[The Prime Minister]

As the hon. Lady knows, what we are doing with tax credits is that there will be a £255 increase this year, which is the largest ever increase in child tax credit, and there will be a further £135 increase next year—a 5.2% increase. I think that is the right increase in child tax credit. Helping those families, genuinely helping people to get out and stay out of poverty, helping on nursery education and helping to get low paid people out of tax is even more valuable.

Public Disorder

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Kate Green

Thursday 11th August 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The Home Secretary is going to have meetings with some of those organisations, but even before that they should recognise their own social responsibilities and stop broadcasting the images if they are inappropriate.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

Like many others, I was shocked by the extreme youth of some of those perpetrating the criminal activity earlier this week, but children who are engaged in criminal activity are also children in need. Can the Prime Minister confirm that our youth offending services will be properly equipped and supported to provide the multi-agency interventions that are needed to redirect those young people from a future of crime?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, I can. We are making changes to the youth justice system, but that is really to incorporate it within the Ministry of Justice, where I think we will be able to make it more efficient and work better.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Kate Green

Wednesday 30th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question and pay tribute to him as a member of our Territorial Army reserve. He is himself a bomb disposal expert who has served in Afghanistan. What the bomb disposal and IED teams do is beyond brave. I saw for myself in Camp Bastion their training and instruction. They do a really extraordinary thing for our soldiers and our country. We announced an extra £67 million to give proper protection; £40 million of that is for more protected vehicles. We will also be doubling the number of teams. All the time, we have to keep up with the technology that our enemy is using.

My hon. Friend mentioned people coming home having lost one limb or two. These are young people, who do not just want to have a new limb and a quiet life—they want to run marathons and to climb Everest. They want to have fulfilled lives. We have to make sure that the support and the very best prosthetic limbs are there for them so that they can lead those lives.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

Q7. In light of the earlier exchanges about employment and job losses, does not the Prime Minister think that the announcement this week of a further 4,000 full-time-equivalent staff being cut from Jobcentre Plus by next March amounts to a false economy?

[The Prime Minister]

First, I welcome the hon. Lady to the House. Not everyone will know that she was head of the Child Poverty Action Group, which has done incredible work in our country over many years. I pay tribute to her for that.

Let me just repeat: the forecasts show employment rising—that is the key—and employment is the best way of tackling poverty. Of course there are going to be public sector job losses, and of course there are going to be cuts in some programmes—that would have been true under a Labour Government, and it is true under our Government. The key, though, is gripping this problem so that we start to get confidence and growth in our economy and so we start to get the recovery. I say to Labour Members that they have got to engage in this debate rather than play this pathetic game of pretending there would not have been cuts under Labour. There would have been—they announced them, they just never told anyone what they were.