Sue Gray Report

Debate between Mark Jenkinson and Boris Johnson

Monday 31st January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I stick by what I said to the hon. Lady, and if she cares about democracy and due process, she should wait until the inquiry has been concluded.

[Mark Jenkinson (Workington) (Con)]

As a non-drinker who long ago realised that sobriety delivers everything that alcohol promised, I have noted with interest that a drinking culture exists in Downing Street and that it predates my right hon. Friend’s tenure by some decades. Does he, like me, welcome Sue Gray’s report, and will he commit to fixing that culture?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes. I thank my hon. Friend very much, and we are certainly going to take up the relevant parts of the recommendations and see that they are properly enforced within the civil service and the spad—special adviser—code.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Mark Jenkinson and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 19th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

“Vote Conservative,” obviously. “But get boosted now”—that is what I would say.

[Mark Jenkinson (Workington) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for standing firm immediately before Christmas in the face of much pressure from the Opposition for further restrictions to effectively cancel Christmas. It is due to his instincts that we are the freest country in the western world and leading the way in showing the rest of the world how to live with covid. Throughout the pandemic we have had masks in schools in Cumbria, even when the guidance did not recommend them, to no effect on case rates when kids started mixing again, as proven by the Leader of the Opposition, the right hon. and learned Member for Holborn and St Pancras (Keir Starmer), who has been struck by covid a number of times, despite allegedly wearing his mask. Can my right hon. Friend confirm that the guidance will go further by removing the option of masks for schools completely?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend, who is a fantastic campaigner for Workington and for liberty. He is absolutely right in what he says about masks in education. I am delighted they are going. We need to work together to ensure we have a way of living with covid that ensures they never, ever come back.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mark Jenkinson and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 12th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We will do everything we can to support people throughout the recovery from the pandemic, we will support disabled people and we will continue to increase our support for families up and down the country. The hon. Lady requests that we publish the research, and we will do so as soon as we can.

[Mark Jenkinson (Workington) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his continued support for new nuclear. Following the Third Reading of our landmark Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill this week, will he put his weight behind my efforts and those of my Cumbrian colleagues to bring large and small new nuclear to Cumbria?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is right that one of the disasters of the Labour Administration was that, over 13 years, they allowed a total collapse in our nuclear power, which is one of the reasons why we have a shortage of energy. That is why we are now investing in small modular reactors, as well as investing in the big projects.

G20 and COP26 World Leaders Summit

Debate between Mark Jenkinson and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 3rd November 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

What we are doing is putting hard cash into supporting countries around the world. The right hon. Gentleman makes a good point about the SDRs. We are looking at that as well, but we are prioritising cash up front.

[Mark Jenkinson (Workington) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend knows that I am a fervent supporter of his efforts for the UK to lead the world in decarbonisation, and I know that he would not wish to impoverish anyone here or abroad on the way. No country has yet leapfrogged our path to prosperity from wood, coal and gas to nuclear. In asking developing countries to consign coal power to history, my concern is that we risk sustaining their poverty if we do not provide an alternative. Does he agree that, with his historic climate finance agreements and our existing development aid, we have a huge opportunity to export UK small modular reactor technology around the world to hasten their path to prosperity instead?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for an exceedingly thoughtful question. He is absolutely right in the logic of what he says. We must help the developing world to leapfrog. All sorts of technologies are very attractive, including the one that he suggests. The opportunity there is to generate fantastic British jobs as well.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mark Jenkinson and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 26th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As I have said repeatedly in this House, I take full responsibility for everything that the Government did and will continue to do so, and one of the reasons why we have set up an independent public inquiry is that I believe the people of this country deserve to have daylight shone on all the issues the right hon. Gentleman raised. I must say that I do not recognise the events that he describes, but I do think that we acted throughout with the intention of saving life, of protecting the NHS and of taking the country through the worst pandemic for 100 years, and I think it is also true that we are in a much more fortunate position now thanks to the efforts of the British people and the fastest vaccine roll-out in Europe, and I am grateful for that as well.

[Mark Jenkinson (Workington) (Con)]

I spent Monday morning at the Fitz country house in Cockermouth with an alpaca called Boris. Cumbria sees significant numbers of tourists in any normal year, but Cumbria is not just lakes: we have some real gems in my constituency of Workington outside the national park. With a real opportunity for the UK hospitality industry this year as people choose to holiday here, will my right hon. Friend consider taking a short break in my constituency, where I might facilitate an introduction to Boris?

[The Prime Minister]

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend and would love to come and meet the alpaca called Boris, but, more importantly, we want to support tourism in his constituency, which is why we have so far provided over £25 billion of support, including £1.5 million to support projects such as the Carnegie Theatre Trust—and since this week is English Tourism Week I encourage everyone to make the most of the tourism on their doorstep.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mark Jenkinson and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 3rd February 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I appreciate the desire of the hon. Lady to find a solution. I am aware of the problem she refers to and the flooding in the tunnels. We will certainly work with Lancashire County Council to mitigate the problem—to sort it out. To repeat: we have the funds available and will make sure that it is done.

[Mark Jenkinson (Workington) (Con)]

We were delighted to hear that Maryport, in my constituency of Workington, was successful in our bid for the future high streets fund, one of my right hon. Friend’s 50 additional towns announced last August—a bid that I led when I was deputy leader of Allerdale Borough Council. We are hoping, too, for a positive outcome to our towns fund bid for Workington. May I take the opportunity to thank my right hon. Friend for all he is doing for my constituents and in levelling up across the United Kingdom, and invite him, as soon as he is able, to visit my constituency to see for himself its potential?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend, who is a fantastic advocate for the people of Workington and never fails to put their interests before me. I will do everything I can to help him and will check my diary commitments to see when I can get there. I hope it will be as soon as possible.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mark Jenkinson and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 9th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The Government of this country have done everything we can to support business and support lives and livelihoods throughout this pandemic, with now, I think, more than £260 billion of support, and that remains the case. The hon. Gentleman mentions France and Germany. He should know that unemployment, in spite of all the difficulties this country has faced, remains lower in this country than in France, Italy, Spain and the United States. Yes, it is tough, but we are going to get through it and we are going to get through it together.

[Mark Jenkinson (Workington) (Con)]

Can I commend my right hon. Friend’s bold 10-point plan for a clean, green industrial revolution and ask for his support to help me deliver a 26-hectare renewable energy manufacturing hub at Oldside in the port of Workington, continuing to deliver on our promises of 12 months ago when I turned Workington blue?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend and congratulate him on his achievement and on his anniversary. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is looking very seriously at the project that he mentions. I know that the Department is going to be assessing that application very carefully and will keep him informed.

Public Health

Debate between Mark Jenkinson and Boris Johnson

Tuesday 1st December 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Indeed, and I will come in just a moment to what more we hope to do for pubs, restaurants and everybody in the hospitality sector, whose anguish and difficulties everybody in this Chamber understands and appreciates.

I hope the House is clear what I am not asking for today. This is not another lockdown, nor is this the renewal of existing measures in England. The tiers that I am proposing would mean that from tomorrow, everyone in England, including those in tier 3, will be free to leave their homes for any reason. When they do, they will find the shops open for Christmas, the hairdressers open, the nail bars open, and gyms, leisure centres and swimming pools open.

[Mark Jenkinson (Workington) (Con)]

My constituency sits entirely within the Borough of Allerdale, where our rates have declined to just over 70 per 100,000, and we are due to enter tier 2 restrictions. Will the Prime Minister commit to a more local tiering system, so that the hard work of my constituents is rewarded?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, indeed. This is a point that many of my hon. and right hon. Friends have made to me and to the Government with great force and eloquence over the past few days. We want to be as granular as possible as we go forward to reflect the reality and the human geography of the epidemic, and we shall be so. What I can say is that, from tomorrow, across the whole country, not just gyms, leisure centres and swimming pools will be open, but churches, synagogues, mosques and temples will reopen for communal worship, organised outdoor sport will resume and, in every tier, people will be able to meet others in parks and in public gardens, subject to the rule of six. Every one of those things has been, by necessity, restricted until today. Every one of them will be allowed again tomorrow. Of course, I accept that this is not a return to normality—I wish it were so—but it is a bit closer to normality than the present restrictions. What we cannot do is to lift all the restrictions at once or to move too quickly in such a way that the virus would begin to spread rapidly again. That would be the surest way of endangering our NHS and forcing us into a new year lockdown with all the costs that that would impose.