Northern Ireland Protocol

Ben Spencer Excerpts

Monday 27th February 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The UK Government are also exploring mechanisms for a carbon border adjustment mechanism—it is something the Treasury started consulting on last year. That is one of the dialogues that we have with the European Union, and other countries are considering such mechanisms to ensure that they can work in a complementary fashion. The work for all these things is at a relatively early stage, so there is lots of development work to be done to make sure we implement them.

[Dr Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge) (Con)]

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on securing this historic deal, ensuring that our ongoing relationship with the EU works for all parts of our United Kingdom. Does he agree that Brexit is the beginning of our new relationship, not the end, and that with so many challenges facing us, we will continue to work with all our international partners so that all our agreements, current and yet to be finalised, work to benefit us all?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend and wholeheartedly agree with him. This framework provides a positive basis to move forward. It ensures that we respect the balance of all communities, and I look forward to working with him and other colleagues to ensure that we realise the full potential of what we have achieved today.

Illegal Immigration

Ben Spencer Excerpts

Tuesday 13th December 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is right. We do have new powers, particularly on the enforcement side. We are very keen to use them to strengthen the deterrent impact, but as he knows, we need to go further, and that is what our new legislation will do.

[Dr Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge) (Con)]

I very warmly welcome my right hon. Friend’s announcement today, and he is absolutely right. People living in Runnymede and Weybridge want to see fairness in the system, which this announcement will deliver. I particularly welcome the new returns agreement with Albania. Does he agree that what will cut the Gordian knot is having multiple returns agreements with multiple countries, so that when people’s applications are processed and found wanting, they can be returned swiftly?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. As a matter of priority, we are looking at those countries with which we already have returns agreements, but where we are not sufficiently able to send people back. We will renew our diplomatic efforts to make that a priority, but also use visa penalties, where appropriate, to get the outcomes that we need.

COP27

Ben Spencer Excerpts

Wednesday 9th November 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I think the Labour party’s plans on climate change were called “incredible” and “unrealistic” at the last election. Our plans are practical and credible and they are the most ambitious in the developed world. I feel very good about them, but we need to do this in a realistic way that actually brings people along with us. That is what our targets do.

[Dr Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement. Today, Just Stop Oil protesters have been on the M25 causing disruption and misery to my constituents; that includes causing problems with access to my local hospital. Does he agree that rather than engaging in illegal stunts and endangering lives, those protesters should look at our record of delivery on net zero—from renewables to the Glasgow climate pact—and work with us constructively to deliver on our environmental ambitions?

[The Prime Minister]

I completely agree, and I sympathise with my hon. Friend’s hard-working constituents who are having to deal with that kind of disruption. That is why we are moving ahead with legislation to give the police the powers that they need to stop that type of extremist protesting disrupting the lives of working people. I very much hope that the Labour party joins us in supporting those changes.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ben Spencer Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd November 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Dr Thérèse Coffey)]

As I just said to the hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich (Matthew Pennycook), I will have to get the detail and write to him. I will share the same letter.

[Dr Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge) (Con)]

T5. This year, I have met pupils at Sayes Court and Manorcroft primary schools who wrote to me about the environment. Does my right hon. Friend agree that alongside the big—the Glasgow pact—the small such as local environmental activism is critical to protecting our environment and join me in being proud of the pupils we have in Runnymede and Weybridge?

[Dr Coffey]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to commend the children at Sayes Court and Manorcroft schools. It is the children who are genuinely the future, and leading by example in what they do is an element in reducing waste. Nature-based solutions are fundamental to tackling climate change and, as we embrace them through programmes such as Eco-Schools, they must be the way forward for his schoolchildren and indeed our country.

Health and Social Care Update

Ben Spencer Excerpts

Thursday 22nd September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Dr Coffey]

I hear what the hon. Lady says, but I will not go specifically into more data. I have set out the approach we will take—particularly looking at the local NHS with local councils—to make sure we discharge more effectively.

[Dr Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge) (Con)]

I welcome my right hon. Friend’s announcement today. Healthcare providers in Runnymede and Weybridge tell me that the biggest challenge they face is recruitment and retention. Driving that is the fact that staff are being poached by London. London can offer London weighting, but we face equal, if not sometimes higher, living costs. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the NHS needs more flexibility when setting staff remuneration, and will that form part of the measures she will announce in the upcoming plan on expanding the workforce?

[Dr Coffey]

I am conscious that there is London weighting, but it is up to the local NHS, including NHS trusts, to make decisions about how they reward people and encourage them to work in their hospitals.

Tributes to Her Late Majesty The Queen

Ben Spencer Excerpts

Friday 9th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Dr Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge) (Con)]

I rise to speak on behalf of my constituents in Runnymede and Weybridge as we and the nation mourn. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was an inspirational figure who embodied selfless service. She provided stability, support and succour in challenging times.

Runnymede and Weybridge has the privilege of being a neighbour to her home in Windsor, and my constituency is adorned with plaques inscribed with her name. We have a statue of Her Majesty at the Runnymede pleasure grounds, unveiled at the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, which shows just how far we have come in Runnymede since 1215. Her first public visit following lockdown in March 2021 was to Runnymede and Weybridge, where she attended the centenary of the Royal Australian Air Force at the Air Forces Memorial, which she had opened in 1953. That is a fitting example of her commitment to duty and service throughout her reign.

I saw at the recent jubilee what the Queen meant to my constituents; there were all the celebrations, garden and street parties, and the lighting of the Chertsey beacon. One of the highlights of the jubilee for me was my school visits, on which I saw countless portraits of the Queen created by local schoolchildren. They were mostly da Vincis; there were some Picassos. Every one of them represented Her late Majesty. As we mourn her passing, the scale of the impact on all of us, the UK and the Commonwealth is clear.

If we all aspired to have even a fraction of the compassion, integrity and dedication that the Queen displayed for the world, we would be in a much better place. I hope that part of her legacy will be that each and every one of us uses this time to reflect on her example and what it can teach us. In the long tradition of the monarchy, her attributes will live on in the reign of our new king, Charles III. Runnymede and Weybridge sends its love, thoughts and prayers to His Majesty the King and all the royal family. If our grief is raw, I cannot imagine the pain that the Queen’s family are feeling. Our Queen was loved throughout the world; her legacy lives on. God save the King.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ben Spencer Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd March 2022 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Dr Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge) (Con)]

1. What steps his Department is taking to support an investigation into potential war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine.

[Damien Moore (Southport) (Con)]

7. What steps his Department is taking to support an investigation into potential war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine.

--- Later in debate ---

[Dr Spencer]

I associate myself with my right hon. Friend’s remarks regarding PC Palmer. What steps has he taken to ensure that the mechanisms are in place so that the evidence of war crimes can be confidently collected by the International Criminal Court?

[Dominic Raab]

We are doing two things in particular. First, I have convened a cross-Whitehall group, which we have done in the past, to ensure that we can provide whatever support may be needed for everything from witness protection services to the gathering of evidence and information co-operation. Secondly, I have been to The Hague and I will be going back this week. I am working with a coalition of countries that also have unique expertise in that area to provide the support that the Court needs.

Covid-19 Update

Ben Spencer Excerpts

Wednesday 5th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I agree completely with the hon. Lady about GPs: they have been particular heroes of the vaccine rollout. We have 1,300 more GPs this year than last year. We need to do more—that is why we have put £250 million into supporting GPs now.

[Dr Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for holding firm on plan B and for rolling back travel restrictions, which will relieve many of my constituents. I also welcome the increased use of lateral flow tests for diagnostic testing. For clarity, is it the case at the moment that that is only for asymptomatic testing—for people who do not have symptoms—and that if people have symptoms, they will still be required to get a PCR test? If so, can I urge him to look further into using lateral flow tests for that purpose, because if people with symptoms have to trundle over to a PCR testing centre, wait 24 hours to get the results and self-isolate until negative, we will not be living with the virus?

[The Prime Minister]

That is right. We will encourage people to do so, but it will not be compulsory.

COP26

Ben Spencer Excerpts

Monday 15th November 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Because we have not. What we are doing is continuing—[Interruption.] Opposition Members must really retract this, because what we are doing is not only committing £11.6 billion, which I announced and which was a doubling of the previous commitment, but adding, as soon as we can, as soon as the numbers will allow us, another £1 billion, taking it to £12.6 billion. That is one of the biggest commitments to tackling climate change around the world of any country in the world and the hon. Member should be proud of it.

[Dr Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge) (Con)]

I congratulate the Prime Minister and the COP President on the incredible achievements at the COP summit. Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is science, technology, research and development that will get us through this mess, but that that is going to need a huge workforce skilled in STEM? Could he update the House on the work the Government are doing not only to improve and enhance careers and training in STEM, but to break down barriers for women and people from marginalised backgrounds to taking on those careers?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is making a very important point. We have not only to train more people up in STEM—and we are investing hugely in skills— but to make sure that people with existing skills in hydrocarbon-intensive means of propulsion are trained to work with EVs and other low-carbon technologies. That is what we are doing as well.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ben Spencer Excerpts

Wednesday 16th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We have not lost opportunities to Europe’s markets through Brexit.

[Dr Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge) (Con)]

In 2014, Runnymede and Weybridge was hit by devastating floods, and my constituents live under the fear of flooding. Last week, the Government signed off the outline business case for the River Thames flooding alleviation scheme, which will allow the detailed design and planning for this scheme to begin in earnest. It is fantastic news and a monumental milestone, and it will massively improve our protection from flooding. Will the Prime Minister join me in celebrating and thanking everyone who has got us to where we are, and does he agree that we need to keep the momentum going?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is completely right. The £1 million River Thames scheme will reduce the flood risk for 11,000 homes and 16,000 businesses, and I thank him for raising it with me today.