Oral Answers to Questions

Ben Howlett Excerpts

Wednesday 27th April 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I will certainly have a look at that case. If the hon. Gentleman lets me know the names involved and the nature of the issues, I will make sure that the Home Office looks into it urgently.

[Ben Howlett (Bath) (Con)]

Q4. As the Prime Minister will know from getting stuck on his way into Bath just before the general election last year, my constituency is plagued by high air pollution levels and by congestion. Given the Government’s commitment to investing billions of pounds in infrastructure—something that the Labour Government failed to do in 13 years—will he consider committing himself to looking at the construction of the long overdue and much-needed missing A36/A46 link road to the east of my constituency?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. Some people think that if we care about air quality there is no room for any road building, but, of course, stationary traffic pollutes much more than moving traffic. We must make sure that the arteries that serve all our constituencies are open, and I will look carefully at what my hon. Friend has said. However, we should also recognise that air quality is improving. Nitrogen oxide levels have fallen by 17% over the last four years, and we want to do more by introducing the clean air programme.

Panama Papers

Ben Howlett Excerpts

Monday 11th April 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The point is that we now have rules in the House for the declaration of Members’ interests; we have a policeman, as it were, in terms of making sure that they are properly carried out; and we do have punishments, including expulsion, for misdeclarations and misbehaviour. I am not as familiar with the situation in the House of Lords, but I think it has been moving in the same direction and that is all to the good.

[Ben Howlett (Bath) (Con)]

While the conversations about Panama are no doubt interesting to Opposition Front Benchers, one reality check is that most of my constituents who are struggling to get on to the property ladder actually benefit from inheritance as a result of a lot of the tax changes that happened during the previous Parliament. Does my right hon. Friend agree that now is the time to reform inheritance tax further to help more people, mainly those of my age, to get on to the property ladder?

[The Prime Minister]

There is a role for making sure that people can pass on the family home exempt from inheritance tax. That is why we have set out steps during this Parliament to make sure that can happen, completing what was set out in our manifesto.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ben Howlett Excerpts

Wednesday 9th March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Wilson]

If the hon. Lady is saying that we have a lot more work to do, I absolutely agree with her. Almost one in three people in Britain today are in working-class occupations, compared with a mere 4.4% of those who receive offers to fast stream, making the civil service significantly less socio-economically diverse than the University of Oxford. We know there is a lot more to do, but we are taking the necessary action.

[Ben Howlett (Bath) (Con)]

3. What progress the Government has made on its plans for digital government.

[The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General (Matthew Hancock)]

Good morning, Mr Speaker. Our plan is to make people’s lives easier by reforming digital technology across government. We have now published over 24,000 open datasets, and are transforming more and more public services.

[Ben Howlett]

I thank the Minister for that response. Effective and secure data sharing is critical for 21st century government. Charities and research bodies have struggled for decades to access and evaluate data effectively, which has often slowed down world leading research. Does the Minister agree that the consultation on better use of data in government could lead to long-term complications around information governance in government being resolved?

[Matthew Hancock]

I do. The better use of data consultation is about maximising opportunities for proportionate, secure and well-governed data sharing, including allowing world-leading research and statistics greater access to datasets as part of a wider programme to modernise and simplify the UK’s data landscape.

European Council

Ben Howlett Excerpts

Monday 22nd February 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Some people have very long-standing views about wanting to leave the EU. The point I was making about starting divorce proceedings on the basis of renewing the wedding vows is that that is what some people seem to be suggesting, not just the Mayor of London but others—that somehow starting the process of leaving will mean being offered a better deal to stay. I think that is just not the case. We could think about it like this: divorcing not just one person but 27 potentially unhappy partners. While I yield to no one in my belief that I can bring people back, I have seen multiple weddings take place but I have never seen multiple divorce negotiations resulting in a multiple wedding—that would be something!

[Ben Howlett (Bath) (Con)]

May I join other Members in congratulating the Prime Minister and the Minister for Europe on their sterling work in Brussels last week? I agree that this reform produces a fundamental change in British-EU relations, at least in my living memory. Speaking as someone who started out on my career in 2008, at the beginning of the great recession, the possibility of entering into new turmoil within the economy fills an awful lot of young people with dread. That is why I will be joining the Prime Minister on the in campaign. Does he agree that it is absolutely vital for Britain’s economic security that we remain inside the European Union?

[The Prime Minister]

I very much hope that young people will have a very strong voice in this campaign, because, as my hon. Friend says, we have been through difficult economic times, and at a time of uncertainty, why add extra risk?

UK-EU Renegotiation

Ben Howlett Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd February 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

First, I can give the hon. Lady that reassurance in terms of those guarantees and also the action we have taken domestically on things like shared parental leave, which I am very proud of and makes Britain a more family-friendly country. The tampon tax issue is difficult because of the VAT rules in Europe so I have nothing to add to what I have said before about that, but I totally agree about the desirability of trying to get it fixed.

[Ben Howlett (Bath) (Con)]

May I join other colleagues in thanking the Prime Minister for all his work in negotiating a better deal for Britain in the EU? I agree with him that these reforms are a substantial and fundamental change to our relationship with the EU, but what assessment has he made of the impact of these reforms on the car manufacturing worker or the student who is looking at their Erasmus placement next year, as well as those who share similar concerns to those of a pensioner constituent of mine who contacted me yesterday and said, “What is the impact on my grandchild if we leave the EU?”

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Inevitably these negotiations focus on important ideas and concepts of sovereignty and non-discrimination and deregulation and the rest, but we have to make sure this is a debate that is about consumers and how we are affected in terms of freedom to travel, freedom to study, the price of flights, the availability of roaming charges, and how we are affected, as my hon. Friend said, as pensioners and car workers and young people looking for university places. Hopefully, all the debate will engage with, and bring out, those issues.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ben Howlett Excerpts

Wednesday 6th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

First, let me join the hon. Lady in once again recognising that Paris was a very big step forward. Previous agreements, such as at Kyoto, did not include action by China or America. Now we have all the big countries and big emitters as part of the deal. We argued that the EU should go further. We achieved, I think, a very aggressive package for the EU, but that was the best we could do in the circumstances. I think the EU agreement helped to bring about the general agreement. No one should be in any doubt that Britain is playing a very major role in bringing that about. Let me give the House one statistic. I know there is a great deal of interest in the House about solar panels. The other day I asked what percentage of solar panels had been installed in Britain since this Government took office in 2010. I expected the answer to be 50% or 60%; the answer is 98%.

[Ben Howlett (Bath) (Con)]

Yesterday, it was announced that the Foxhill housing zone in Bath would receive £313,000 of Government funding to help to kick-start work to build thousands of new homes in the city. Does the Prime Minister agree that that funding will help to reverse the lack of housebuilding under the Labour party and enable struggling families to get on to the property ladder?

[The Prime Minister]

I am delighted to hear about the development in my hon. Friend’s constituency. The fact is that we have built 700,000 houses since the Government came to office in 2010, but a lot more needs to be done. Sometimes it is specific bits of transport infrastructure, specific planning permissions or disagreements between district councils and county councils that need to be sorted out. We should not forget the fact, however, that the developers and housebuilders will go ahead with housebuilding only if they believe that there is a benign economic environment with a strong and growing economy and stable interest rates, and all the things we need. That is the key to the success in housing.

ISIL in Syria

Ben Howlett Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd December 2015 Commons Chamber

[Ben Howlett (Bath) (Con)]

It has been an absolute privilege to be a parliamentarian today, and to listen to fantastic contributions from across the entire House. Only a few weeks ago, one of Britain’s key allies was attacked by an unprecedented enemy. For centuries, Britain has taken a lead in helping to fight tyranny and promote democracy and freedom around the world, and we have a responsibility to support our allies. Daesh is the antithesis of everything we hold dear, and it must be stopped. Now is the time to stand firm against our enemies; we cannot delay any further, or we risk people being killed in our streets. I feel that those people who have contacted me to say that our streets will be safer if we stay out of the conflict have heard only part of the explanation. Daesh will not think twice about slaughtering our citizens in the UK, as it believes our culture, our society and everything we believe in should be crushed. Even though we have no military intervention in Syria at the moment, Daesh will still threaten attacks on our country every single day.

Having followed this debate and listened to contributions from across this House, I am absolutely reassured about the need for airstrikes in Syria, especially as we have precision technology that will reduce the number of civilian casualties. Obviously, we cannot talk about the particular intelligence we have, but it is clear that Daesh’s headquarters in Raqqa are tweeting tens of thousands of messages a day, in dozens of different languages, and we absolutely need to stop that. When I am asked whether or not this proposed action will encourage Daesh to attack us, I say that it is absolutely clear that we need to take out its recruitment operations, which are promoting jihad around the world.

One of my key concerns was that we cut off the head of the ISIL snake, only for it to grow up elsewhere. To prevent that from happening, we need to grow a very strong ground strategy. That cannot be rushed, but it also cannot be delayed. Daesh is looking at targets all the time, and the atrocities in Paris could just as easily have been in London. Daesh is dangerous, and we should start taking the fight to it.

I conclude, as I started, by saying that when one of our key allies has been attacked, our freedoms, liberties and beliefs are at risk. When women are raped, children killed, gay people thrown off roofs and Christians decapitated, can we seriously stand by and watch this atrocity happen from afar? We absolutely have to act now. We have a decent diplomatic solution and a strong international aid plan, and the opposition forces desperately need some respite from being attacked on two fronts. As I have clearly said, I will not shy away from calls for a stronger ground strategy, but that should be created while there is an aerial campaign in Syria. We cannot afford to risk our security as we wait, which is why I will vote in favour of military action this evening.

[Several hon. Members rose—]