Oral Answers to Questions

Philip Dunne Excerpts

Wednesday 15th May 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I point out to the hon. Gentleman that, unlike the US, the UK Government do not directly sell arms to Israel, and neither do the UK Government offer any military lethal aid packages to Israel, as the US does. He should not conflate these issues.

As part of the Government’s robust arms control regime, we regularly review advice to ensure compliance with international law, and Ministers act in accordance with that advice. As the hon. Gentleman knows, our position with regard to export licences is unchanged following the most recent assessment, and it is, indeed, in line with other partners, including the United States.

[Philip Dunne (Ludlow) (Con)]

Q7. As a member of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, I am delighted that the Prime Minister found time yesterday to ignite the light of liberation at the start of its journey to Normandy to commemorate the sacrifices made for the liberation of Europe. In this War Graves Week, will my right hon. Friend join me in confirming that standing up to tyrants who bring about war in Europe is as much in our national interest today as it was 80 years ago?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his work as a commissioner on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. He raises an important point about authoritarian states with different values from ours becoming increasingly assertive. It is right that we build our security in uncertain times to defend and protect our country, our values and our interests. That is why we made the generational decision to increase our defence spending. It is crystal clear that only the Conservative party can be trusted with our nation’s security.

Iran-Israel Update

Philip Dunne Excerpts

Monday 15th April 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I refer the hon. Lady to my previous answer. I do not think it is right to say that we are behind other countries. We are in active dialogue with other countries on the approach to UNRWA. We recognise the operational and logistical role it plays on the ground while recognising the very shocking concerns that we all had about what happened previously. It is right that we take the time to get our future approach to UNRWA right.

[Philip Dunne (Ludlow) (Con)]

I welcome the Prime Minister’s focus on calling for restraint and de-escalation, which I imagine will be on his agenda when he speaks to the Israeli Prime Minister this afternoon. I also welcome his highlighting of the greater threats to this country. Recognising all he has said today about the future defence budget, could he undertake an immediate review of the resources and resilience of the British armed forces in the immediate term?

[The Prime Minister]

I am happy to tell my right hon. Friend that we keep these things under constant review to make sure that we have the capabilities we need to protect our country and to stand up for our values and interests around the world.

The conflict in Ukraine has shown how technology is changing warfare, which is why we our increased focus on autonomous vehicles and building our UK industrial supply chain is so welcome. We need to focus on these things, and I am delighted that the Defence Secretary has prioritised those areas.

Oral Answers to Questions

Philip Dunne Excerpts

Wednesday 28th February 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As I outlined previously, it is not right to call for an immediate ceasefire that would collapse instantly into more fighting and not do anything to get more aid into Gaza to alleviate the suffering that people are experiencing, or to make sure that we can safely remove hostages, including British hostages. That has been our consistent position. We have been calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire which will provide the conditions for a lasting and sustainable peace, but just calling for something that will collapse back into fighting is not in anyone’s interests. All our diplomatic efforts, at the United Nations and elsewhere, are targeted at bringing that about. I am pleased that in recent days progress has been made. We should keep pressure on all parties to come to a resolution.

[Philip Dunne (Ludlow) (Con)]

Q5. Does my right hon. Friend share my enthusiasm about Monday’s announcement of 27 new potential bathing water sites across the country, including three in Shropshire: two on the River Severn at Ironbridge and Shrewsbury, and one on the River Teme at Ludlow? How will those very welcome designations improve the quality of rivers in Shropshire and in the other areas under consideration?

[The Prime Minister]

On Monday we launched a consultation on the largest ever roll-out of new bathing water sites: 27 potential new bathing waters in England, including an extra one on the River Teme in Ludlow in my right hon. Friend’s constituency. He is right that substantial improvements have been made in recent years. Almost 90% of designated bathing waters in England now meet the higher standards of good or excellent, up from just 76% in 2010; all part of our plan for water which, alongside those on the Conservative Benches voting for the strictest storm overflow targets and plans for unlimited penalties for polluting water companies, was opposed by the Labour party.

Oral Answers to Questions

Philip Dunne Excerpts

Wednesday 18th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Philip Dunne (Ludlow) (Con)]

Q3. On Monday, the independent net zero review was published by my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingswood (Chris Skidmore). Does my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister join me in welcoming many of its recommendations, particularly to provide clarity and continuity to all those working to decarbonise our economy, especially those supporting the South Shropshire Climate Action group in my constituency?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingswood (Chris Skidmore) for his review, and also pay tribute to my right hon. Friend the Member for Ludlow (Philip Dunne) for his work in this area. I am pleased that the report recognised the UK’s leadership in tackling climate change and catalysing a global transformation in how other countries are dealing with it. We have, as the report acknowledged, exceeded expectations to decarbonise, and we will respond to the full range of the review’s requests and recommendations in the coming year.

Counsellors of State Bill [Lords]

Philip Dunne Excerpts

2nd reading
Thursday 1st December 2022 Commons Chamber

[Philip Dunne (Ludlow) (Con)]

I rise briefly to add my support to the Bill, and to congratulate the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on his new role. The Bill has been brought in promptly, following a request from His Majesty the King in the royal message, and entirely appropriately, given that it is within a few weeks of his accession to the throne. It is therefore appropriate to ensure that sufficient Counsellors of State are available as may be required during the course of his reign. It is also entirely appropriate that the Government should put forward His Majesty’s brother and sister, both of whom, as was said earlier, have undertaken this role earlier in their lives. His Royal Highness the Earl of Wessex and Forfar was a Counsellor of State for 20 years from his 21st birthday, and Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal was Counsellor of State for 32 years, from her 21st birthday. They are both experienced in this role, and they clearly have the full confidence of His Majesty.

The important point for this House, which has been referenced by all speakers, is that His Majesty needs a sufficient pool of experienced individuals who are working members of the royal family. There is no doubt whatsoever about the extent to which both their Royal Highnesses are committed to the royal family. They have spent their entire working lives in public service, and towards the tail end of last year—a year affected by the covid pandemic —the Princess Royal undertook more royal engagements than any other member of the royal family, and I think two more than His Majesty, then Prince of Wales. The Earl of Wessex undertook more than 200 engagements during the course of that year. There is no doubt that they are entirely suited for the role, or that there is considerable public respect for both their Royal Highnesses, and I commend the Bill to the House.

COP27

Philip Dunne Excerpts

Wednesday 9th November 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am pleased that it was the UK that established a new Glasgow dialogue on loss and damage to discuss arrangements for funding activities to avert, minimise and address loss and damage, and those conversations are ongoing. With regard to our international climate finance pledges, as I say, we remain committed to the £11.6 billion, and it is our intention to deliver it over the timeframe that was originally envisaged. With regard to targets, again, it should be a source of enormous pride for everyone in this House that we have decarbonised in this country faster than any other G7 country. Our targets are among the most ambitious in the world and we have a credible plan to get on and deliver them.

[Philip Dunne (Ludlow) (Con)]

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on his crystal clear commitment both in Sharm el-Sheikh and in this Chamber here today to delivering net zero Britain. There is no doubt about that under his prime ministership. Now we no longer have the presidency of COP, which has been acting as a forcing mechanism across Government, can he clarify how he intends that his Government will deliver our ambitious nationally determined contribution to reduce emissions across the disparate strands of Government Departments?

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend makes an excellent point. I can assure him that, although we are no longer formally the president of COP, our leadership on this issue internationally will not waver, and he has my commitment on that. I personally will drive this through Government—in conjunction with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and with our climate change Minister—but this is something that pervades all aspects of Government now, and we have to change our thinking on this. It is not the work of any one Department or any one Minister; if we are going to make this commitment work, we are all going to have to play our part.

Oral Answers to Questions

Philip Dunne Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd November 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee.

[Philip Dunne (Ludlow) (Con)]

As the Prime Minister will no longer be chairing the Climate Action Strategy Committee, what structures working across Government Departments does the Minister expect the Prime Minister to use to drive delivery of the nationally determined contributions to the COP programme and net zero Britain?

[Graham Stuart]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his excellent question. As he will doubtless be aware, we are working across Government—as represented here today; people can see just how cross-Government our efforts are. The Climate Action Implementation Committee, which met only a couple of weeks ago and on which I and multiple Ministers sit, is very much driving forward reviewing our carbon budgets and ensuring that we have the policies to stay on track.

Tributes to Her Late Majesty The Queen

Philip Dunne Excerpts

Friday 9th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Philip Dunne (Ludlow) (Con)]

Today marks the end of an era, the modern Elizabethan era. The Queen was the only monarch that I, almost everyone in this Chamber and most of our nation had ever known. I join Members on both sides of the House who have spoken so movingly in mourning the death of our longest-serving sovereign, Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and I pass on my condolences and those of my constituents in south Shropshire to members of the royal family who grieve her loss.

We reflect today with great sadness and sense of loss, but we also remember with great joy the inspiration she gave in devoting her life to the service of others. Her first of 15 Prime Ministers heralded her accession to the throne as launching “a golden age” and as

“the signal for…a brightening salvation of the human scene.”—[Official Report, 11 February 1952; Vol. 495, c. 962.]

And so it proved in so many areas of human endeavour and achievement by her and her subjects over these past 70 years.

As others have mentioned, we will all probably remember where we were when we heard the news of Her Majesty’s death yesterday. Although she was 96, it still came as a lightning bolt of shock in the midst of the thunderstorms raging across her kingdom yesterday. I was with members of the Environmental Audit Committee at a half-full reservoir in Cornwall surrounded by trees. That seems strangely fitting, as I wish to touch very briefly on the commitment Her Majesty showed to the environment.

Through her love of nature and animals, which others have mentioned, she and her devoted husband Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh, undoubtedly planted the seed of their family’s enthusiasm for championing nature and leading the crusade to combat climate change, decades before it became fashionable. Only last November, in her message to international leaders and delegates attending COP26, she said:

“The time for words has now moved to the time for action.”

We saw her love of nature whenever she was walking or riding in the countryside around Balmoral or Sandringham. Her love of animals was legendary, and it was one of the characteristics that connected her to her people. Her particular love of horses has been mentioned, and it was no accident that the Royal Windsor horse show was the event she enjoyed the most each year.

We all knew, even if we could not always comprehend it, her particular love of corgis, but her love of trees will leave a lasting physical legacy. I suspect she planted more trees than anyone else in public life, anywhere around the globe. The platinum jubilee Queen’s green canopy has seen a million trees planted in her honour this year alone, and it will be a lasting reminder of her for decades, if not hundreds of years, to come.

Her only visit to the Ludlow constituency was in the year after her golden jubilee, when she came by royal train to Telford and visited Much Wenlock with Prince Philip to take in the Wenlock Olympian games, an early precursor to her role at London 2012. She showed that her priorities lay with her people by having lunch at the discovery centre in Craven Arms rather than at the gourmet delights of Ludlow. She went on to do a walkabout in the market square in Ludlow, where thousands turned out to welcome the first visit by a reigning monarch in more than 300 years. Most visits by her predecessors had been at the head of an army.

While tributes have been made today to his mother and matriarch to the nation, His Majesty King Charles III has been doing a walkabout among well-wishers outside Buckingham Palace. The Queen’s example of engaging with us all is already being carried on by her successor. God rest Her Majesty. God save the King.

Oral Answers to Questions

Philip Dunne Excerpts

Wednesday 20th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Alok Sharma]

Let me say first that the Prime Minister has been totally resolute in pursuing the net zero agenda, which is about delivering not just an environmental benefit but jobs and economic growth across the country. The hon. Gentleman referred to the Conservative party leadership; certainly from what I have seen and heard, all three of the remaining contenders are fully committed to that agenda.

[Philip Dunne (Ludlow) (Con)]

Will my right hon. Friend comment on the ability of the current structure of government to achieve the ambitious target of the nationally determined contribution, namely a 68% reduction in emissions compared with 1990 levels by 2030?

[Alok Sharma]

My right hon. Friend has raised this issue with me before. It will of course be up to the new Prime Minister to see how he or she wants to strengthen the structures of government, but the key aim is for us to deliver on the commitments that we have made , and that is what we will be judged on at the next election.

Extreme Heat Preparedness

Philip Dunne Excerpts

Monday 18th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Kit Malthouse]

One of the critical things we need to bear in mind is that this period of hot weather will be short. It will be 36 hours long. The kinds of effects that the hon. Lady mentions have generally been over longer periods. For example, in 2003 in France, I think it was, there were eight days of 40-plus and, critically, the temperature at night did not drop below 20°. In those circumstances, we need to look at vulnerable groups. I hope she will be promoting the message, through all her very sophisticated and well-followed social media channels, that we should do the neighbourly thing and knock on the door of older people who may be living alone, just to make sure they are okay for the moment, while, as I said earlier, we do our best to lead the world on making the changes we need to address climate change.

[Philip Dunne (Ludlow) (Con)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas) on securing this urgent question. It is important that we discuss this issue when almost all the Members in the Chamber will have constituents who are suffering in one way or another through the heatwave. I commend to the Minister the report on heatwaves that the Environmental Audit Committee did four years ago, when the hon. Lady and I were serving on it, together with some other Members in the Chamber. We took evidence from the NHS and education officers in the relevant departments. There are elements of our recommendations that the Government chose not to endorse at the time, but the Minister may like to refresh the memories of his officials about those and consider whether that would be an appropriate thing to look at now.

[Kit Malthouse]

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for his constructive contribution and I will certainly take a look at that document. The Cabinet Office does not lead on this issue, but nevertheless, given that we are coping with this contingency and that we need to learn lessons, perhaps that is one lesson that we need to revisit.