Oral Answers to Questions
Lord Jackson of Peterborough Excerpts(12 years, 3 months ago)
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The Prime Minister
We promised to increase spending on the NHS and we are boosting spending on the NHS. We promised the cancer drugs fund, and 10,000 people have got extra drugs through that fund. We promised that the number of doctors would grow faster than the number of bureaucrats and, since the election, the number of doctors has gone up by 4,000 and the number of bureaucrats has gone down by 5,000. That is what coalition policy is doing for our health service.
Mr Stewart Jackson (Peterborough) (Con)
When will the Prime Minister close the loophole for multinational companies that allows the migrant cap to be flouted using intra-company transfers, or is that another tough immigration policy that will fall victim to the “curse of Clegg”?
The Prime Minister
On this one, my hon. Friend is being unfair. We have a tough migrant cap for migrant workers, and business said how important it was to have intra-company transfers, but only at relatively high salary levels. That is what we put in place and it demonstrates that over time we will be able both to control immigration and to do so in a way that does not damage business.
Oral Answers to Questions
Lord Jackson of Peterborough Excerpts(12 years, 6 months ago)
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The Prime Minister
What I support is local authorities that provide good services and keep their council taxes down. I think that the hon. Gentleman’s part of the world has had the advantage of a bit of change and some common-sense conservatism.
Mr Stewart Jackson (Peterborough) (Con)
Some 1,600 people are employed by Thomas Cook at its headquarters in Peterborough. They are rightly concerned about the media coverage over the last two days of the company’s difficulties. Will my right hon. Friend join me in supporting this great British institution, which has been providing travel to British people for 170 years? People can support the company by booking their holidays through Thomas Cook, safe in the knowledge that it is part of the ATOL scheme, and they will have an excellent holiday to boot.
The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend speaks up for an iconic and important British business that has given people a lot of pleasure over the years. I have asked the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to give me a report on what is happening at Thomas Cook, because it is important to ensure that it is in a good, healthy state.
Oral Answers to Questions
Lord Jackson of Peterborough Excerpts(13 years, 5 months ago)
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The Prime Minister
If I turned up, I probably would not get “This Charming Man”. If I went with the Foreign Secretary, it would probably be, “William, It Was Really Nothing”.
Mr Stewart Jackson (Peterborough) (Con)
Does my right hon. Friend agree—[Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. There is simply too much noise. It is very unfair. I want to hear Mr Stewart Jackson.
Mr Jackson
Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is a badge of shame, for which the Labour party should apologise to taxpayers, parents and pupils, that having doubled education spending during their term in office, they managed to drive down educational attainment standards to the bottom of the international league, according to the OECD?
The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend makes a good point. The tables published today make depressing reading. We are falling behind countries such as Poland and Estonia, which we should be well ahead of. Frankly, this comes down to the choice we have to make. We made the choice of putting an extra £3 billion into the schools budget during this Parliament, because we want more done in early years and primary education so that we get the social mobility about which the Leader of the Opposition was posing earlier.