Business of the House

Patricia Gibson Excerpts

Thursday 1st December 2022 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that important point. I urge all those Liberal Democrat councillors to take a look down the road at Portsmouth—particularly North End in my constituency—where the Liberal Democrat council did exactly what they propose to do to his local high street. It devastated North End and the council had to reverse the policy. That was deeply embarrassing and the Lib Dems lost control of the council. They might like to start thinking about small businesses as we approach Small Business Saturday, and about the services that high streets provide and their contribution to the economy and to quality of life.

[Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)]

As the Leader of the House well knows, the Supreme Court has ruled that the Scottish Parliament was established without powers to hold an independence referendum, under the powers of the Scotland Act 1998. In the wake of the UK Government’s intransigent and inflexible response to that ruling, she may be interested to know that support for independence—[Interruption.] Conservative Members can laugh if they like. Support for independence has soared in Scotland, with a majority in every single age group—save for the over-65s—in favour of Scottish independence. Will she make a statement setting out why she thinks that is?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I say to the hon. Lady that the Government’s position on the Supreme Court ruling is exactly the same as the SNP’s, which is that we accept it. What she and her colleagues have been saying with regard to the ability to hold a referendum is not true. The proof is that we had one on those terms. The difficulty that SNP Members have is that they do not wish to honour the result.

Business of the House

Patricia Gibson Excerpts

Thursday 24th November 2022 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

My hon. Friend has asked a very timely question, as this week is Family Business Week. I have warm feelings towards Penny Hydraulics. It sounds like a great firm. There are currently 5 million family-owned businesses in the UK. They enable 4 million people to have a pay cheque and contribute about £575 billion to the UK economy. I am also pleased to say that the number of small businesses in the UK is up by 1 million since 2010.

[Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)]

Following on from that question about the importance of business, the right hon. Lady will of course be mindful of the fact that energy support for businesses is due to end on 31 March, leaving many struggling to survive, from those in hospitality and corner shops to community post offices. Will the Leader of the House make a statement setting out an understanding of the need to extend this vital energy support beyond the end of March and also the need to provide more certainty to business, which is a fundamental part of our economic and social infrastructure?

[Penny Mordaunt]

We do want to provide support for business, and that is what we have done. We have done it throughout the pandemic and with the energy packages. We have announced our intention to continue to support businesses and households with what they need to get through challenging times, and I refer the hon. Lady to the recent statement that the Chancellor made.

Business of the House

Patricia Gibson Excerpts

Thursday 3rd November 2022 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman and other hon. Members for raising these issues. I know that people are concerned about a system under great pressure. They will want to ensure that refugees are being treated with dignity and that the provision that is needed for those people is in place. He will know that the system is under great pressure. He will also know that the Government and the people of this country are incredibly compassionate and have a fantastic track record of supporting refugees, as in the work we did together on extracting high-needs lone children from camps in Syria and elsewhere, and on the recent scheme for Ukrainian refugees, whom many hon. Members and their constituents are supporting in their homes. We know what good looks like. The situation is that the system is under immense pressure, and we have to find solutions. The Government will bring forward some solutions and I hope that all hon. Members will consider and support those motions.

[Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)]

In a week when BP saw its quarterly profits rise to £7.1 billion, it is long past time to extend the windfall tax and reinstate the cap on bankers’ bonuses while we are at it. Meanwhile, households continue to struggle and pensioners genuinely fear freezing this winter—a fear that has been exacerbated by the fact that the triple lock commitment has been abandoned. Will the Leader of the House make a statement to set out her concerns about a UK that is increasingly unequal? It is already the most unequal state in Europe.

[Penny Mordaunt]

On the issues that the hon. Lady mentions, I ask her to wait until 17 November when the Chancellor will bring forward his statement. We want to ensure continued stability and make sure that we are balancing the books and protecting the people who need it through what will be a very difficult winter. The Chancellor will do all those things.

Business of the House

Patricia Gibson Excerpts

Thursday 27th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that matter. Clearly, for a fairly modest sum of £350 a month, a sizeable group of people are being taken care of. If those people had not stepped up and done that, pressures on housing stock and others would be severe and it would be much more expensive to the public purse. I thank him for enabling us to say thank you to all those individuals who have stepped up. He is right that it is the most cost-effective and nicest way of caring for those individuals and showing our support to the people of Ukraine if we keep that scheme going.

[Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)]

As well as reaching the dizzying heights of the highest office, the current Prime Minister has in common with the right hon. Members for South West Norfolk (Elizabeth Truss), for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson) and for Maidenhead (Mrs May) and the former Member for Witney having no mandate in Scotland. Will the Leader of the House make a statement, advising the new Prime Minister not to follow the example of his erstwhile predecessors in seeking to deny Scotland’s right to choose its own future, or did democracy die in Scotland in 2014?

[Penny Mordaunt]

Again, the way that democracy works has not really been fully understood by SNP Members. My hon. Friend the Member for Gloucester (Richard Graham), who asked a question just before the hon. Lady, is intimately familiar with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, which promotes and explains the importance of democracy in all places around the world. Hon. Members should get in touch with him and learn what democracy actually means.

Replacement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer

Patricia Gibson Excerpts

Monday 17th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

Later this week we will have Prime Minister’s questions, and hon. Members have an opportunity every week to put questions to the Prime Minister.

[Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)]

The pound has fallen off a cliff, interest rates are soaring, inflation is rocketing and pensions have been on the verge of collapse. We have a new Chancellor who is the de facto Prime Minister and a Prime Minister who has been reduced to a spectator as her own MPs plot her removal. The Leader of the House has defended the Prime Minister today, but does she think that, had she won the leadership contest, she would have been a better Prime Minister?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I support the Prime Minister. This Prime Minister has shown great courage and duty over the last few days and she has my admiration and respect for that. The hon. Lady has various criticisms of the Prime Minister, but I would stand our Prime Minister against her First Minister any day of the week.

Business of the House

Patricia Gibson Excerpts

Thursday 22nd September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

My hon. Friend may have more information than I do about why PayPal has cancelled those accounts and removed that facility from the organisations he mentioned. From what I understand, the Free Speech Union and other organisations are still in the dark about exactly why they have had those services removed, despite making great efforts to find out. That is a common theme in the casework of many Members of the House, whether that is cancelling contracts or trying to get an error resolved with firms, and it is difficult for people to speak directly to someone to try to get a situation resolved, or to reorganise how they will make those payments. That is a good topic for debate, and I encourage hon. Members who are concerned about customer services in some of these organisations to bring the issue forward and ask for a debate in the usual way.

[Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)]

Some 6.7 million households across the UK already live in fuel poverty, with a current cap price of £1,971. Will the Leader of the House make a statement to set out whether she believes that the energy cap rising by another £600 will help householders such as those in my constituency who already cannot afford to pay their energy bills, as well as those who will shortly find themselves adding to the soaring numbers of those in fuel poverty as a direct result of the new increase in the price cap?

[Penny Mordaunt]

The hon. Lady will know that we have acted swiftly to bring forward measures to help households and businesses with the rising cost of energy. The Government will also address the underlying issues that are exacerbating the problem. One of those has been announced today, and the Business Secretary has answered an urgent question on that. I urge all Members of the House to concentrate on issues that will help us to increase supply of energy, as well as controlling the costs.

Business of the House

Patricia Gibson Excerpts

Thursday 8th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

My hon. Friend is an assiduous campaigner on these matters, and he continues to raise his concerns but also concerns shared by many Members of the House. I know that the new Home Secretary will be looking at these issues and asking other Government Departments to grip them. I would be happy to raise this issue on his behalf, and I will certainly encourage the Home Office, as I have mentioned, to be as helpful to Members of this House as possible in resolving these cases.

[Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)]

Marie Curie’s Dying In Poverty campaign is calling for urgent action from the UK to safeguard terminally ill people and their families against poverty at the end of their lives. Will the Leader of the House make a statement setting out her support for that campaign, and will she use her good offices to urge her Cabinet colleagues to do likewise, and put an end to the shameful indictment of our society where people die in poverty?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank the hon. Lady for raising that issue. She will know that as part of today’s business, Members will be able to make some progress on that. I know it is connected to a whole raft of things, and I will be happy to point the new Secretary of State towards the hon. Lady’s concerns.

Business of the House

Patricia Gibson Excerpts

Thursday 21st July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mark Spencer]

I am truly sorry to hear about the plight of the hon. Gentleman’s constituent. Of course I will write on his behalf directly to the Home Secretary. There will be Home Office questions in the first week back, but I think this case requires more urgent action, so I will write on his behalf.

[Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)]

Driving licence renewals, driving tests, passports and visas are just some of the essential services in which my constituents in North Ayrshire and Arran face severe delays. Civil service workers in those sectors are doing their best, but the reality is that this Government have failed to plan for a post-lockdown spike in demand. As a result, staff shortages are causing misery for those using and working in those sectors. Will the Leader of the House do two things? First of all, will he apologise for his Government’s incompetence? Secondly, will he make a statement setting out how the misery of backlog Britain will be urgently addressed?

[Mark Spencer]

Of course there are challenges coming out of a global pandemic. There is a huge amount of pressure on Government services. That is why we are addressing those challenges by recruiting more staff and putting more efficient measures in place to drive those departments forward, and huge progress is being made.

Business of the House

Patricia Gibson Excerpts

Thursday 14th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mark Spencer]

There are huge global challenges that face the United Kingdom at this moment in time. We have seen huge spikes in energy and food prices, which are, of course, bringing challenges to people up and down the country. That is why the Government are investing such a lot of money—£37 billion—in supporting people with the cost of living challenges. There is more that we can do to try to invest in those communities through levelling-up bids, and that is what the Government are focused on doing.

[Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)]

UK Government proposals to reduce compensation levels for delayed, cancelled or over-booked domestic flights are in place at a time when passengers across the UK face unprecedented disruption. This cutting of compensation can only be bad news for consumers. Compensation levels have been set to deter airlines from running late services. Reducing them opens the door to poorer standards, which will adversely impact travellers. Will the Leader of the House make a statement setting out his concerns about this wrong policy at the worst possible time?

[Mark Spencer]

I hope the hon. Lady is aware that the Secretary of State for Transport has done a lot of work with the airlines to try to resolve the challenges that the industry faces this summer. There has been an amnesty on slots, which means that airlines can give an early indication that they may not be able to make their slots so that airports can inform passengers at a very early stage if their flight will not be taking off, allowing them to find an alternative route. We are making progress. I hope that, by the time we get to the summer, those people who have booked holidays will be able to get on those planes and enjoy the summer.

Business of the House

Patricia Gibson Excerpts

Thursday 7th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mark Spencer]

I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman is aware, but my right hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells (Greg Clark) has been appointed to that Secretary of State role. I shall pass on the hon. Gentleman’s comments directly to my right hon. Friend and make sure that we can arrange a meeting for him with the Department as soon as possible.

[Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)]

If the Prime Minister is permitted to remain in post until October following a leadership election, the Government of the UK will be in a state of paralysis until that time, with more than 25 ministerial vacancies and important Bill Committees cancelled across the House today. It seems that the Prime Minister is still only supported by political giants such as the right hon. Members for Mid Bedfordshire (Ms Dorries) and for Dumfries and Galloway (Mr Jack). No wonder the people of Scotland are deciding in increasing numbers that they are better off taking their future into their own hands. Will the Leader of the House make a statement setting out the importance of a Prime Minister who has lost the support of his own MPs and is now unable to govern resigning immediately so that an interim Prime Minister can be appointed?

[Mark Spencer]

I understand that the Prime Minister will make a statement later, and we await that statement with anticipation to see what is said, but I can assure the hon. Lady that the Government will continue to work away. She says that a number of Committees have been cancelled. In fact, some of them have just been rearranged and will continue in the usual way.