EU Council

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Steve McCabe

Tuesday 5th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We did not go into that level of detail, but clearly the aim now is to have far greater collaboration and co-operation on airport security. One of the things that the Sharm el-Sheikh airline attack demonstrated is that, while we all believe we have made big advances in airport security, we cannot rest on our laurels. We have to keep asking: how could a terrorist get within the confines of an airport and do harm? The work is being carried out on that basis.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

The Polish Foreign Minister is reported as saying that Poland will support the Prime Minister on in-work welfare benefits if he will back its demands for a NATO base. Has the Prime Minister or any of his officials had discussions on this with their Polish counterparts?

[The Prime Minister]

I do not think a NATO base has been discussed. Certainly, we support the idea that more NATO forces should be properly deployed in eastern European and Baltic countries in order to demonstrate that NATO absolutely stands by its obligations. As President Obama put it, when the Russians look over various borders or into other European countries, he wants them to see not just Latvian, Lithuanian or Polish soldiers but French, British and German soldiers as well.

Syria

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Steve McCabe

Thursday 26th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I say to the hon. Gentleman that all those elements are in place: there is a co-ordination mechanism for troops on the ground; there is a plan to reconstruct this country after the war is over; and there is a plan for the transition to take place. Yes, it is complicated and it will take a long time, but that does not mean that there is not a plan, or that it is not the right one.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

I admire the sincerity and conviction of the Prime Minister, but if after months of intensive bombing the Free Syrian Army cannot take Raqqa and has become mired in atrocities it is committing, and there is limited progress on a wider settlement, what will he then ask this House to do?

[The Prime Minister]

I will come back to the House regularly and update it on the progress made. In Iraq, we have made progress: we have seen a reduction of 30% in ISIL’s territory, and it is definitely less capable in Iraq than it was. I believe we can have a similar effect in Syria, and I will report back regularly. As I say, we are not dealing with perfection here; we are dealing with the action that I believe we can take that will help to keep us safe, and that will progressively work to degrade and destroy this so-called caliphate; that is what we are discussing, and I will give regular progress reports.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Steve McCabe

Wednesday 8th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I welcome my hon. Friend. It is important that we get this right. We saw a big increase in adoption during the last Parliament because of the changes that we made, and what we are putting on the table in this Parliament is not only extra money but the proposal to create regional adoption agencies so that counties and other adoption agencies can come together. What matters above all is finding a loving family and home for the child, rather than ensuring that it is in the precise geographical area where that child is in care.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

Q9. I am told that the Prime Minister may be planning a vote shortly using EVEL to repeal our hunting laws. Will this be a case of English hunting for English foxes?

[The Prime Minister]

No, it will be an opportunity for the House of Commons to debate an issue and then have a vote, as we were discussing earlier. I do not know what everyone else came here for, but I think that that is quite a good idea.

G20

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Steve McCabe

Monday 17th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise that matter. There is a problem with some organisations using their charitable status to support extremism or the extremist narrative. There are two things we need to do here, which we have been looking at through the extremist taskforce: one is to help organisations that might need to take on lawyers or legal advice to throw extremists out of their organisations; and the second is to ensure that the Charity Commission has the resources and the teeth that it needs, including possibly new legal powers, to take action, too.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

If there is another global downturn, will the Prime Minister’s experience lead him to conclude that a fresh round of spending cuts is the best way forward?

[The Prime Minister]

One part of responding to these very difficult events is to ensure that one has a clear and sound fiscal policy, and that has involved making reductions in public spending. I think we should make it clear to members of the public that after the next election there will be further reductions in spending and that they need to happen as part of a long-term economic plan. We have started to set out the steps we are going to take, and it is important that we do so because the alternative of simply putting up taxes would destroy the recovery that is now gathering pace.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Steve McCabe

Wednesday 9th July 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As I said at the meeting with the LEP, I think that the growth deal is a very big step forward for Birmingham and the west midlands. It will result in more jobs, more investment and more houses. It will see new railway stations and transport links built. I think that we need to be more ambitious about the money we can find in central Government to support these schemes, but I also hope that local councils, including Birmingham city council, will look at every piece of unused brownfield land and every extra bit of development they can put on the table so that these growth deals get ever more ambitious.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

As bribes go, is offering that huge region less than £10 per head just 37 days before the general election not too little, too late?

[The Prime Minister]

I think that we can probably tell the difference between a ray of sunshine and the hon. Gentleman on this issue, as on so many others. This is an excellent deal for Birmingham and the west midlands. If he does not think so, he might want to explain why Sir Albert Bore, the Labour leader of Birmingham city council, said:

“This is good news for Birmingham. A number of major projects will now be accelerated. Transport routes across the city will be much improved… And other money will go into site development that will provide much needed jobs in the city.”

I think that the hon. Gentleman needs to spend a little more time with Sir Albert Bore.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Steve McCabe

Wednesday 19th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I say to my hon. Friend, first, that we are able to have these sorts of discussions and considerations only because we have sorted out the defence budget and got rid of the enormous deficit in it, and we have a successful and growing economy. In terms of maritime patrol, we are currently using the airborne warning and control system aircraft, and of course the Sea King, Merlin and Lynx helicopters, as well as Royal Navy ships and submarines. We work in very close partnership with our NATO allies, but I am sure the Ministry of Defence will be listening to my hon. Friend’s representations for the forthcoming SDSR.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

Are the 24 Tory tax rises evidence of the Prime Minister’s tax-cutting instincts?

[The Prime Minister]

This is a great Labour campaign—I spotted it this morning. They have enumerated a number of tax increases that we had to put in place in order to deal with the deficit. Just to remind people, we said it was right to deal with the deficit with 80% spending reductions and 20% tax increases. There is a problem, though, with this Labour campaign. When the spokesman was asked, “Would you change any of these tax increases?” the answer was no. I am not the world’s biggest expert in campaigns, but I would say that was a bit of a turkey.

European Council

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Steve McCabe

Monday 10th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The point I would make, and indeed have made, to President Putin is that a proper, independent, prosperous Ukraine will want to emphasise its links and relationship with Russia as much as its links and relationship with the EU. Clearly, there were pre-existing agreements in place for the Russians to have their Black sea port in Crimea and there is no reason why those things should not continue. What we need to get back to, as I have said, is a diplomatic track where Ukraine and Russia can have sensible conversations about the future.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

Further to the question of my hon. Friend the Member for West Dunbartonshire (Gemma Doyle), does the Prime Minister not think it might be more reassuring for the British public if he were completely to rule out any sharing of military and technical information with the Russians for the foreseeable future?

[The Prime Minister]

I think I have given a fairly clear answer, which is that we are reviewing all the military relations and contacts between Britain and Russia. I have said that export licences for anything that could be used in Ukraine would obviously be very difficult to justify and that we should continue with the military co-operation where it is about, for instance, inspections mandated under international treaties. I have also said that we should take this area of military co-operation and, with our European Union partners, try to agree on a set of principles that would follow as part of either phase 2 or phase 3, as I set out.

G20

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Steve McCabe

Monday 9th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

When I was at the G20 I was not aware that Britain’s leading trade unions were dodging their taxes, as well as all the other things that they do, and I got home from the G20 to read that in the Sunday newspapers. I am sure that when the Leader of the Opposition goes to address the brothers in Bournemouth —he always seems to have some problems with brothers—he will sort it all out.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

Given the Prime Minister’s very encouraging interpretation of the St Petersburg action plan, what does he think the senior official who briefed Reuters could have meant when he said that there was no agreement on post-2016 targets, and that numbers merely reflected the best guess for future budgets?

[The Prime Minister]

If the hon. Gentleman looks at what the G20 agreed in terms of 2016 targets, the target it set was that of no new protectionist measures until 2016. That was a success for the G20.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Steve McCabe

Wednesday 10th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Investing particularly in some of the branch lines which have been single-track lines, such as the ones that serve my constituency, and turning them into double-track lines really makes the service far better and far more reliable; we can also get more people out of their cars and on to trains, and use the service like that.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

Has Lynton Crosby advised the Prime Minister to model himself on Senator McCarthy?

[The Prime Minister]

What I say to the hon. Gentleman is that he needs to examine again this relationship between the unions and the Labour party—that is the problem. [Interruption.] Yes, they do this: they give you the money, they buy the votes, they buy the leader. That is how it works.

G8

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Steve McCabe

Wednesday 19th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for his point. The process, going through chapter by chapter trying to open up areas to greater trade and competition, will be good for Europe as a whole. There are always those countries that fear this process. We tend to be in the vanguard of thinking that it is a good thing, so I hope this engagement will have the effect that he says it will.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

Were the reports before the summit that the Prime Minister had committed his Government to making public registries of beneficial ownership wrong? Is his commitment only to holding a consultation?

[The Prime Minister]

Our commitment is what we said it is, which is to have a central register of beneficial ownership and to have a consultation about whether it should be public. As I said, I think there are strong arguments for public registers of beneficial ownership all over the world. Let us be clear about the end point: every country having a register of beneficial ownership so that we can see who owns every single company. That is the goal. The question is: how can we accelerate progress towards it? I think we have really put the foot on the gas for this declaration. We now need to work out how to use our next steps to increase the leverage on others.

European Council

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Steve McCabe

Monday 11th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for her support. This is just one of many steps that we need to take to reform the European Union, all of which should be good for other countries in Europe, as well as for Britain.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

I congratulate the Prime Minister. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear!”] Is it still his understanding that the €36.8 billion described as outside the multiannual financial framework will lead to additional British payments, as he has previously warned, and what estimate has he made of the cost to the UK of those additional payments?

[The Prime Minister]

There has always been off-EU budget spending and it is important that we control that as well. The Germans have been particularly focused on this agenda and have made some very good proposals for savings there, too.

Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust (Inquiry)

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Steve McCabe

Wednesday 6th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

There is everything that Francis says in his report about the importance of quality and a culture change. Under the new dispensation in the NHS and with GPs having a more leading role, I hope they will be very inquiring about the standards of care that their patients get when they go to hospital. In the past there was too much division between primary and secondary care. I hope that we are bringing them closer together.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

I thank the Prime Minister for his statement. Reports received by trust directors, governors and others are packed full of data, but in order for people to make sense of that information so that aggregate data in big organisations do not serve to mask problems, rather than shed light on them, do not trusts also have a duty to help people analyse those data?

Ministerial Code (Culture Secretary)

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Steve McCabe

Monday 30th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. We could not even guarantee that the independent adviser would be quicker, but as I tried to explain earlier there would be a danger of a duplicative fact-finding process that would cut across what Lord Justice Leveson is doing. But let me repeat again: I am not in any way denying that I am responsible for the ministerial code. If breaches occur, I must act, or ask the advice of Alex Allan in order to do so. I could not be clearer about it.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister told Andrew Marr yesterday that he did discuss the BSkyB bid with James Murdoch at the Rebekah Brooks dinner. I wonder why, since there is nothing to hide, the Prime Minister felt unable to admit that last July, when it was put to him eight times by Members of this House.

[The Prime Minister]

What I have always said is that I have not had any inappropriate conversation about this issue—and, indeed, I have not. But clearly it is very important, in the context of this inquiry, to recall everything possible, and what I recall is that, because of the frankly rather embarrassing situation that we were in, whereby a Minister had said that he was trying to “destroy” a media company, it was perfectly appropriate for me to say that that was not correct or appropriate and that these things would be dealt with properly in future. That is a thoroughly responsible and sensible thing to say.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Steve McCabe

Wednesday 8th February 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is entirely right. One of the most important investments that we can make in the future industrial base of this country and in helping young people is in apprenticeships. The number of apprenticeships has increased by a staggering 60% over the past year, and 457,000 people are starting apprenticeships. In apprenticeship week, it is important to stress what we are doing to get over the objections that people have had in the past, and to ensure that apprenticeships are more easily taken up by small businesses through the payment of a simple fee. We must ensure that we have more higher-level apprenticeships to show that apprenticeships are every bit as good as having a university degree, and often involve a university degree. We must also cut bureaucracy by allowing big businesses to run apprenticeship schemes themselves, rather than doing it via a training provider. All those things will make a big difference.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

Q7. Why have the Government not lodged an appeal against the Abu Qatada judgment? Aren’t you being dangerously complacent, Prime Minister?

[The Prime Minister]

We are doing everything we can to get this man out of the country. The absolutely key thing is to get an agreement with Jordan about the way he will be treated, because the European Court of Human Rights has made a very clear judgment. I happen to think it is the wrong judgment, and I regret that judgment. This guy should have been deported years ago. Nevertheless, if we can get that agreement with Jordan, he can be on his way.

G20

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Steve McCabe

Monday 7th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I would not underestimate the huge pressure that the eurozone leaders are under to come up with a solution to the crisis in the eurozone. Clearly some of them have huge ideological difficulties with seeing a greater role for eurozone institutions. I do not think it is completely out of the question that other countries—China, or Saudi Arabia—might at some stage want to contribute to a eurozone fund, not least because the risk would be taken with the eurozone money and not with the Chinese or other money. In the end, however, there is no substitute for the eurozone acting first to sort out its difficulties.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

Which were the countries persuaded by the Prime Minister that they had space to borrow for what he calls “further discretionary measures”?

[The Prime Minister]

A list in the action plan for growth and jobs specifically states that countries such as Canada, China and others could borrow more. They are set out in the communiqué, a copy of which is in the House of Commons Library.

European Council

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Steve McCabe

Monday 24th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I did not say that there are no lessons to learn; I think there are lessons to learn. The Government are carrying out a lessons learned process and will be announcing the key results from it. The point my hon. Friend makes about what you are able to do and how you build alliances to do what you want to do is absolutely vital—and was vital in this case. What I was trying to say—perhaps I did not put it across properly—is that we have to be careful not to say that because Libya was successful in this way, we can read that across to every single other proposed intervention. We cannot do that. As a liberal Conservative, I believe that a bit of scepticism should be brought to these schemes before we embark on them.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

For the sake of absolute clarity, is it now this Prime Minister’s position that he could accept substantial German-led changes to the Lisbon treaty without it requiring the referendum he promised the British people?

[The Prime Minister]

The key point is this. If there is a proposal for moving powers from this House of Commons to Brussels, there is a referendum guarantee. It is absolutely vital that people understand that; it is the promise that we make. We do not yet know whether treaty change will definitely be proposed; we do not yet know what it will consist of or how big it will be. The pledge I can make is that we will use that opportunity to further the national interest—something that did not happen under 13 years of a Labour Government.

Libya

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Steve McCabe

Monday 5th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is quite right to draw attention to the risks involved in moving from a situation in which Gaddafi is in command to one in which he is on the run and the NTC is taking over. There are all sorts of risks, and we should not be complacent or over-confident about what will follow. All I would say is that those who warned that Libya was a country riven with tribal loyalties, divided between Benghazi and Tripoli and prone to extreme Islam have so far not been proven correct. This revolution was not about extreme Islamism; al-Qaeda played no part in it. It was about people yearning for a voice and job, and it is our duty to get behind them and help them to build that new country.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

As the Prime Minister has suggested, some of the rebels have an al-Qaeda past. We all want good relations with the new Libya, but does he agree that it is important that the House has as much information as possible about the history of those who are now assuming positions of power, so that we know exactly who we are dealing with?

[The Prime Minister]

Of course that information is valuable and, as I have said, we should not be naive and think we are dealing with just one type of people; we are dealing with all sorts of different people. Encouraging people who have a strong belief in the Muslim faith into a democratic role, rather than a violent role, is the right approach. Obviously, there are concerns about where that can lead, but when we look at a country such as Turkey, whose Government have some pedigree out of Muslim politics, we see that that can be compatible with a very successful democracy.

Public Confidence in the Media and Police

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Steve McCabe

Wednesday 20th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is right. The Opposition came here with a choice. They could have risen to the scale of events, helped to deal with the problem and responded to what our constituents care about, but instead we have heard a litany of rather pathetic conspiracy theories to try to win a political game, and that has been a complete and utter failure.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

Have Sir Paul Stephenson and John Yates had to pay too high a price for Andy Coulson’s second chance?

[The Prime Minister]

If you look at the evidence of Sir Paul Stephenson, whom I respect enormously and who did some very good things at the Met—and John Yates—he said very clearly yesterday that the circumstances surrounding his resignation were completely different from the circumstances in No. 10 Downing street. The responsibility that I had for hiring Andy Coulson, the work that he did at No. 10, the fact that he is not there any more—we have discussed this a lot today—are, I would argue, completely different from the issues at the Met about a failed police investigation, allegations of police corruption, very serious problems in that organisation and all the reasons that Paul Stephenson set out yesterday, I respect what he did, but he himself said that the situations are different.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Steve McCabe

Wednesday 16th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady makes a very important point. Every world leader has said that Gaddafi should go and that his regime is illegitimate. If at the end of this he is left in place, that will send a terrible message—not only to people in Libya, but, as she says, to others across the region who want to see greater democracy and greater openness in their societies. That is why it is right for Britain to play this leading role at the UN and elsewhere. I am not arguing that a no-fly zone is a simple solution to this problem—of course it is not—but I do think that it is one of the steps we need to take to isolate and pressurise that regime, and to say that we stand with people in Libya, who want to have greater democracy and greater freedom, such as we take for granted in this country.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

Q6. Does the Prime Minister have any sense of the current mood of bewilderment and betrayal felt by rank and file police officers?

[The Prime Minister]

I strongly support the British police. They are the finest force in the world. What the police and other public servants know is that we were left a deep Budget deficit that we have to deal with. If we want to keep police officers on the streets, it is necessary to have the pay freeze that we are talking about. It is necessary to look, as Tom Winsor has done, at the allowances that they receive and to work out how we can make sure that we have well-paid, well-motivated police officers doing a great job in our country. Again, if the Labour party is just going to stand against every reform, every change and every improvement and say there is nothing we can do about any one of these problems, not only will it be irrelevant, but the British public will work out that it is irrelevant.

Japan and the Middle East

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Steve McCabe

Monday 14th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend speaks with great passion about these issues. The point I would make about the lessons of Iraq, which a lot of people mention, is that no one here is talking about, and the Libyan opposition are not asking for, ground troops, invasions or anything like that; they are asking for a no-fly zone. But I think there is a lesson from Iraq, and it is this: if you talk to a lot of people in the Gulf, they will say, “If you don’t actually show your support for the Libyan people and for democracy at this time, in a way you’re saying you will intervene when it is only about your security, but you won’t help when it is about our democracy,” We need to bear that in mind in drawing the lessons, as people say, from Iraq.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

Was there any discussion at the European Council about the desirability of EU nations now recognising the opposition as a legitimate power in Libya?

[The Prime Minister]

There was a discussion about that, and the Council’s conclusions talk about the Benghazi council being a legitimate political interlocutor, which is important. The French have obviously formally recognised that organisation. As for Britain’s position, as I am sure the hon. Gentleman knows, we recognise countries rather than Governments, but we want a dialogue and to have contact with the Libyan opposition, so we will be going ahead with that. We do, however, have a different legal position of recognising countries, not Governments.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Steve McCabe

Wednesday 3rd November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

Q12. Following the previous question, how does the Prime Minister view the prospect of prisoners electing the new police and crime commissioners?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman raises yet another reason—[Interruption.]