Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Anthony Browne

Wednesday 25th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[Anthony Browne (South Cambridgeshire) (Con)]

Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 25 May.

[The Prime Minister (Boris Johnson)]

Mr Speaker, I want to begin by echoing what you have just said about the reports of the fatal shooting in a Texan primary school. Our thoughts are with all those affected by this horrific attack.

Yesterday, I welcomed the Emir of Qatar to Downing Street. It is excellent news that Qatar announced that it will invest up to £10 billion in the UK through our new strategic investment partnership. Not only will that boost local economies and support jobs; it will support our green economy and decarbonisation.

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

[Anthony Browne]

Cambridge is one of the most expensive places in the country to live, but unlike many cheaper places, NHS workers in the city get no high cost of living supplement. NHS workers in Cambridge pay higher rents than NHS workers in outer-London boroughs, such as Redbridge, Croydon, Bexley and Barking, and yet they get paid 15% less. That makes it very difficult for the NHS in Cambridge, including Addenbrooke’s Hospital, to retain and recruit staff. Will my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister work with me to make sure that NHS workers in South Cambridgeshire and Cambridge get paid fairly?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is a fantastic champion for his constituents and for Addenbrooke’s. We are very proud of our NHS, which is why we are putting in record investment. I hope that the independent NHS Pay Review Body will listen carefully to what he has just said.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Anthony Browne

Wednesday 27th April 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Of course sexual harassment is intolerable, and it is quite right that Members should now have a procedure whereby they can bring it to the attention of the House authorities. I think that that is a good thing, and of course sexual harassment is grounds for dismissal.

[Anthony Browne (South Cambridgeshire) (Con)]

7. Financial scams have increased dramatically in recent years and are now the most common form of crime, harming millions of families every year. Most of them are made possible by online platforms such as Facebook and Google, which make vast profits from advertising fraudsters. Does my right hon. Friend agree that companies that profit from promoting fraud should help to pay the costs of fraud, and online platforms should compensate the victims whom they have helped to create, and will he work with me to achieve that end?

[The Prime Minister]

I have known my hon. Friend for many years, and this is typical of his creativity. We will be looking at exactly how we could make that kind of measure work. I think it is important for us to proceed with care and get it right, and I will ensure that my hon. Friend has a meeting with the relevant Minister in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport as soon as possible.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Anthony Browne

Wednesday 26th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

It is vital that we tackle child poverty, and that is why we are levelling up across the country with the biggest programme of investment for a generation, if not more. We are also seeing fewer households now with children in poverty than 10 years ago, but I perfectly accept that there is more to be done.

[Anthony Browne (South Cambridgeshire) (Con)]

I very much welcome the fact that the Government are investing heavily in upgrading rail networks across the country, including opening lines that have previously been closed. As a Conservative Government, we have a particular responsibility to the taxpayer to ensure value for money. The business case for East West Rail in my constituency is largely based on commuting, but the pandemic means we are in the middle of a workplace revolution. If in future people work from home on average two days a week, that will mean a 40% reduction in commuting. Will my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister commit to doing a review of East West Rail’s business case to ensure it remains value for money and to take into account the long-term impact of the pandemic?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is a great campaigner for Cambridgeshire and the rights of the people of Cambridgeshire. However, my strong feeling is that it would be a mistake now to go slow on investment in infrastructure purely on the basis that we think people will start working from home. My long experience of this is that people need to travel and they will travel. The commuter bustle will come back, and it needs to come back.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Anthony Browne

Wednesday 16th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am afraid that the hon. Gentleman is quite wrong. What the NIC is saying is that there are other things we can do as well, including massively improving the midland main line—I think everybody would want to do that—but the ambition to do the eastern leg, as I have said in the House before, remains absolutely unchanged.

[Anthony Browne (South Cambridgeshire) (Con)]

Like schools and teachers across the country, those in South Cambridgeshire have been working miracles to continue providing education throughout the pandemic. They are grateful for the support they have had from the Government, they welcome the new exams regime and they also very much welcome the new testing regime for coronavirus. But schools in Cambridgeshire started with some of the lowest funding of any in the country, and many have been left with deficits that they cannot fill. Will my right hon. Friend work with me to make sure that schools in Cambridgeshire get the resources they need? Will the Prime Minister be Santa for Cambridgeshire’s schoolkids?

[Mr Speaker]

Father Christmas?

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Boris Johnson and Anthony Browne

Monday 12th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I wholly share the hon. Lady’s feelings about the vital importance of allowing women to have a birth partner with them during labour. As she rightly says, we have changed the guidelines to make that possible, but if she has particular cases in mind where this is not happening, I would be grateful if she would write to me with the details.

[Anthony Browne (South Cambridgeshire) (Con)]

The Government have quite rightly focused on protecting the NHS, but we also need to keep the NHS serving patients in South Cambridgeshire, which, like other parts of the country, has relatively low levels of covid, but plenty of people with other medical conditions that need planned and emergency care. As the second wave strikes, can the Prime Minister tell me what steps the Government are taking to ensure that all patients, whatever their condition, can carry on getting the treatment that they need?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Anthony Browne

Wednesday 23rd September 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

What I can certainly tell the hon. Gentleman is that I am not an enthusiast for encouraging the spread of gambling in this country.

[Anthony Browne (South Cambridgeshire) (Con)]

Like the vast majority of the British public, I support the new restrictions. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said we will get through this, but long term, there are only three routes out of this pandemic: one, eradicate the virus; two, gain herd immunity; or three, suppress the virus and reduce deaths until a vaccine or highly effective treatment arrives, such as the ones that the brilliant researchers of South Cambridgeshire are working on. Will my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister tell me which of these three routes are the Government taking?

[The Prime Minister]

Number three, Mr Speaker.