Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Griffiths Excerpts

Wednesday 25th May 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

Our thoughts are, of course, with the steelmakers and their families at this very difficult time. [Interruption.] If we take a step back, we can all acknowledge that there is a global crisis in the steel industry, with tens of thousands of jobs lost across Europe alone and many tens of thousands beyond that. We are taking specific action today to help Tata, Port Talbot and related works across the country. My right hon. Friend the Business Secretary has been to India with the First Minister of Wales in a cross-party effort. Nationally, we have taken action to reduce energy charges on energy-intensive industries; we have taken action to ensure that there is more flexibility with emission regulations; we are doing everything we can to help this industry at a very difficult time, including making sure that there are tough tariffs on Chinese dumping. As a result of the tariffs introduced on rebar steel, those imports are down by over 90%.

[Andrew Griffiths (Burton) (Con)]

Q12. Will the Chancellor confirm reports in the press today that former Labour Minister, Lord Sugar has joined the Government as our new enterprise tsar? Does he agree that this is a sign of people abandoning Labour for the prosperity, security and jobs offered by this Government? Will the Chancellor finally confirm that he has no new plans for a sugar tax?

[Mr Osborne]

I can confirm that we have hired Lord Sugar to advise on enterprise. He will bring his knowledge and expertise to that task. Apparently, Lord Sugar has told the Labour party, “You’re fired.”

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Griffiths Excerpts

Wednesday 13th April 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady makes an important point, which is that we need to make sure that all the evidence coming out of Panama is properly investigated. That is why we have set up a special cross-agency team—including the National Crime Agency, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and other relevant bodies—to make sure we get to the bottom of what happened. But she is right to reference the fact that these organisations are operationally independent. It would be quite wrong for a Minister or a Prime Minister to order an investigator into a particular building in a particular way. That is not a Rubicon we want to cross in this House. Let us empower the National Crime Agency, empower HMRC, give them the resources and let them get on with the job.

[Andrew Griffiths (Burton) (Con)]

May I draw the Prime Minister’s attention to the tragic death of Ayeeshia Jane Smith in my constituency? Ayeeshia was 21 months old when she was stamped on by her mother so violently that it punctured her heart. The pathologist said her body resembled a “car crash victim”. Yet Ayeeshia had been known to social services since the day she was born. They knew about the violent boyfriends; they knew about the domestic violence; they saw the doors kicked in; they smelt the cannabis; they saw the bruises; they saw the cuts; they saw the fingerprints on her little thighs—and they did nothing.

The Prime Minister will understand that people in Burton want to know how this could have happened. They are concerned to know that the serious case review has on its panel people who are directly involved in the organisations being investigated. Will the Prime Minister look at what we can do to make this and other serious case reviews more independent, so that we can make sure that no other child suffers the life and the death of Ayeeshia Jane Smith?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise this. In the work that we all do, we get to hear about some hideous and horrific incidents, but for anyone watching television that night, and seeing the description of what happened to Ayeeshia, it simply took your breath away that people could behave in such a despicable and disgusting way towards their own children. In my view, no punishment in the world fits that sort of crime carried out by the child’s own parent. As my hon. Friend said, there will be a serious case review. I will look carefully at his suggestions, and I know that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of Education will do so as well. There are criticisms of the way in which these cases are conducted, but in this case, to start with, we must get on with the serious case review because we have got to get to the bottom of what went wrong.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Griffiths Excerpts

Wednesday 13th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

For the simple reason that we want to see more nurses in training and more nurses in our NHS. We believe there will be an additional 10,000 nurses because of this change. The facts are that two out of three people who want to become nurses today cannot do so because they are constrained by the bursary scheme. Moving to the new system, those who want to become nurses will be able to become nurses.

[Andrew Griffiths (Burton) (Con)]

Q2. The No. 1 responsibility of any Government is the protection of their people. Does the Prime Minister agree that Britain’s nuclear deterrent and our membership of NATO are key to our defences and that any moves that would put that at risk would jeopardise our national security?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It has been common ground on both sides of this House that the cornerstone of our defence policy is our membership of NATO and our commitment to an independent nuclear deterrent, which must be replaced and updated. They are necessary to keep us safe, and at a time when we see North Korea testing nuclear weapons and with the instability in the world today we recommit ourselves to NATO and to our independent nuclear deterrent. I think the Labour party has some very serious questions to answer.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Griffiths Excerpts

Wednesday 18th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Alun Cairns]

Estate reform of the Courts Service must continue, but that is allied to the digital transformation that the Government are bringing about. A total of £69 million has been invested in broadband services in Wales, in addition to European aid and Welsh Government money. We have also announced a consultation on a minimum service requirement for broadband distribution, and I hope that the hon. Gentleman will welcome that.

[Andrew Griffiths (Burton) (Con)]

3. What assessment he has made of trends in the level of inward investment in Wales.

[The Secretary of State for Wales (Stephen Crabb)]

Almost exactly one year on from the UK investment summit in Newport, inward investment figures for Wales show the best performance for a quarter of a century. This is no coincidence. With the support and assistance of UK Trade & Investment and the UK Government, Wales continues to provide a world-class offer for foreign investors.

[Andrew Griffiths]

Will the Secretary of State join me in congratulating all the workers in Wales who make it such a brilliant place in which to invest? Does he agree that this record investment shows that the Government’s long-term economic plan is working?

[Stephen Crabb]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend. The economy in Wales is getting stronger, thanks partly to new inward investment. Just a few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of welcoming Israeli investors to south Wales, where they announced £3 million of new investment, creating almost 100 new jobs. We should all be encouraged by the fact that inward investment in Wales is back to the level of the days of the Welsh Development Agency before the Welsh Labour Government abolished it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Griffiths Excerpts

Wednesday 16th September 2015 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Griffiths (Burton) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker.

[Mr Speaker]

We have a statement. It is always a pleasure to listen to the hon. Gentleman. We will save him up and keep his point of order until a little later. The statement comes first.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Griffiths Excerpts

Wednesday 4th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I have been very clear. I have said, “Get on with the debates before the election campaign,” and I think we should start now.

[Andrew Griffiths (Burton) (Con)]

I bring the House good news. For the first time in 10 years British beer sales are up. The Campaign for Real Ale said the Chancellor’s scrapping of Labour’s hated beer duty escalator and two cuts in beer duty have saved 1,050 pubs. The Sun newspaper, which champions Britain’s beer drinkers, says today that the Chancellor is poised to repeat the cuts. Will the Prime Minister join me in assuring beer drinkers that this Government are on the side of publicans and on the side of British brewers, and will he urge the Chancellor to have a third cut?

[The Prime Minister]

I praise my hon. Friend for the work he has done to support the beer industry, to support Britain’s pubs and to stand up for our local communities where the pub is so often the hub of the village and the community. This Government have been a good friend of Britain’s pubs and the beer industry. I am delighted with the figures my hon. Friend read out. It always goes to show that life’s better under the Conservatives.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Griffiths Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd October 2014 Commons Chamber

The Prime Minister was asked—

[Andrew Griffiths (Burton) (Con)]

Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 22 October.

[The Prime Minister (Mr David Cameron)]

This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others, and in addition to my duties in this House I shall have further such meetings later today.

[Andrew Griffiths]

We must never accept the kind of mistreatment that was suffered by some of my constituents at Stafford hospital. This week we have seen laid bare the extent of the culture of mistreatment in the NHS in Wales. Does the Prime Minister agree that it is time not only for a full independent inquiry into the NHS in Wales, but also for an apology from the Leader of the Opposition for his party’s record?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. In the NHS in Wales, doctors, nurses and hospital staff are working round the clock to deliver good care, but they have been let down by the Welsh politicians in Cardiff who have cut the NHS. That is why the British Medical Association and Labour Members of Parliament have been calling for a public inquiry in Wales. Even before that, the OECD wants to carry out a comparative study looking at the English NHS and the Welsh NHS. I support that—does the right hon. Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband)?

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Griffiths Excerpts

Wednesday 25th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

First, I think Alex Salmond can answer for himself. Secondly, this is another issue for the Leveson inquiry—properly set up, properly established—which is going to interview all the politicians, including all sorts of people who cosied up to News International over the years. I think on all sides of the House there is a bit of a need to say, hand on heart, that we all did too much cosying up to Rupert Murdoch—I think we would agree. On that basis, I am sure that Lord Leveson will make some important recommendations.

[Andrew Griffiths (Burton) (Con)]

Q9. Has the Prime Minister seen the research published today by the TaxPayers Alliance, which shows that there are 3,097 town hall employees earning more than £100,000 and 52 earning more than £250,000? My constituents in Burton cannot understand such exorbitant salaries. What can we do about it?

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Griffiths Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Gillan]

I am ashamed that the shadow Secretary of State for Wales has wasted his two questions and resorted to trivia. Unlike him, I take this matter very seriously. The letter that I received from his wife actually made more sense than his questions at the Dispatch Box today.

[Andrew Griffiths (Burton) (Con)]

2. What discussions she has had with the Welsh Assembly Government and other stakeholders on steps to attract inward investment into Wales.

[The Secretary of State for Wales (Mrs Cheryl Gillan)]

I have had various discussions with the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister on attracting inward investment to Wales. I have also discussed the matter with ministerial colleagues, including the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Government’s trade adviser, my right hon. Friend Lord Brittan. This afternoon, I shall facilitate a meeting between the First Minister, the Deputy First Minister and my hon. Friend Lord Green, the Trade Minister, on the same issue.

[Andrew Griffiths]

The Secretary of State will know that Wales is heavily reliant on a small number of very large companies: 1.8% of the companies in Wales account for 69% of turnover, and the number of new businesses established between 2004 and 2009 fell by 28%. What meetings is she having with the Welsh Assembly Government on support for small and medium-sized enterprises in Wales?

[Mrs Gillan]

My hon. Friend is quite right about the figures on the private sector in Wales. Indeed, the shadow Secretary of State has often said that he thought the private sector in Wales was too small, but he failed to address that issue while he was in government. I have continual meetings with the Welsh Assembly Government on these matters, and we are particularly committed to encouraging business confidence through the measures that we are taking for small businesses and others. I know, from meeting businesses in Wales, that the cancellation of the job tax proposed by Labour went down particularly well with the business community.