Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Gareth Bacon

Wednesday 23rd February 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I repeat what I told the hon. Lady ages ago—if I have got her right. I have seen absolutely no evidence of successful Russian interference in any electoral event.

[Gareth Bacon (Orpington) (Con)]

7. I welcome the steps that the Government are taking this year to help hard-working families in Orpington with their energy bills. The majority of people receive at least £350 of support. Can my right hon. Friend confirm that even those not eligible for the council tax rebate will still receive additional support thanks to discretionary funding set aside for local authorities?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I can tell him that the people of Orpington and elsewhere will receive support if they do not qualify for the council tax rebate from the £144 million fund that he rightly mentions.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Gareth Bacon

Wednesday 9th February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Gareth Bacon (Orpington) (Con)]

Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 9 February.

[The Prime Minister (Boris Johnson)]

I can tell the House today that it is my intention to return on the first day after the half-term recess to present our strategy for living with covid. Provided that the current encouraging trends in the data continue, it is my expectation that we will be able to end the last domestic restrictions, including the legal requirement to self-isolate following a positive test, a full month early.

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.

[Gareth Bacon]

The Northern Ireland protocol frustrates business, undermines the Belfast agreement, and restricts the free movement of goods and people within our United Kingdom. What action will my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Union take to reunite the UK and uphold the interests of all its residents, including those living in Northern Ireland?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is quite right. The protocol does not require, contrary to how it is being applied by our friends, all foods, all medicines and all plants to be systematically checked in the way that they are. We must fix it, and with good will and common sense I believe we can. However, if our friends do not show the requisite common sense, we will of course trigger article 60.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Gareth Bacon

Wednesday 3rd November 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

What we have done with universal credit is abolish the old system, which unfairly taxed people on universal credit, and help people with a £1 billion tax cut. What we on this side of the House believe in is rewarding work. That is what the people of this country want to see. That is why we have put the tax cut on those who are on universal credit and that is why we are lifting the living wage. What is the Opposition’s policy on universal credit? It is not nothing; they want to abolish universal credit.

[Gareth Bacon (Orpington) (Con)]

The Mayor of London is refusing to rule out the so-called outer London charge, which would apply to all vehicles registered outside Greater London that cross the Greater London boundary. That would have terrible consequences for my Orpington constituents and those who live in the neighbouring constituency of Old Bexley and Sidcup. Louie French, the excellent local candidate for the by-election, has pledged to fight that appalling proposal. Will my right hon. Friend join me in wishing Louie French luck with that and ensure that this silly move from the Mayor of London is stopped in its tracks?

[The Prime Minister]

I certainly do agree with my hon. Friend, who is an old friend of mine; I have worked closely with him on London issues for many years. I know where Labour’s instincts are. It always wants to put taxes up, particularly on motorists, and I think a checkpoint Chigwell would hit working families. What the Labour Mayor of London needs to do is get a grip on TfL’s finances and stop whacking up the taxes on ordinary people in the capital city.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Gareth Bacon

Wednesday 18th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his excellent proposal. He is right that mass testing of that kind is a very powerful weapon in the fight against covid. We will certainly be talking to the Northern Ireland Executive about how to proceed.

[Gareth Bacon (Orpington) (Con)]

I have been contacted by many constituents who are owners of leasehold flats in buildings under 18 metres in height that are covered in cladding, and the freeholder has not replaced that cladding or produced an EWS1 form. Some of these residents are desperate to move but cannot because their flats are effectively valueless without the form. Will the Prime Minister update the House on what progress is being made by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the National Fire Chiefs Council to develop the urgently needed risk prioritisation matrix, so that my constituents can move on with their lives?

[The Prime Minister]

I have deep sympathies with people who face this problem. It is not right or fair because if your building is under 18 metres you do not need one of these EWS1 forms, and you would hope that lenders would understand that. But we are working as fast as we can to make sure that all the buildings in question are identified and that we remove cladding wherever it is necessary and give assurance and security wherever that is necessary too.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Gareth Bacon

Wednesday 23rd September 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady simply cannot be unaware that the campaign to get the world’s leaders to sign up to a leaders’ declaration on biodiversity has been led over the past few weeks by this Government. [Interruption.] She knows that, Mr Speaker. It is this Government who devised the charter. It is this Government who are leading the world in protecting biodiversity across the planet, and we will put in the funding. We pioneered the 30% idea, and we will certainly put in all the funding required.

[Gareth Bacon (Orpington) (Con)]

  There is growing concern in my constituency, and across the country, about the rising number of illegal crossings across the channel. To stop those dangerous journeys, save lives and protect our borders, the UK must deter people from making those crossings. The law in this area is complex. Will my right hon. Friend assure my constituents and the country that, at the very latest, a comprehensive Bill to deal with this problem will be brought before the House following the next Queen’s Speech?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend, and he is completely right that the legal position is currently very difficult because of the inflexible and rigid Dublin regulation on returns. What is happening now is that people think there is a way in that is legally very difficult to resist, and it is tragic for those who are coming across in rubber dinghies or children’s paddling pools and who are being cheated by gangs, as they are. We must find a better way of doing this. Once we are out of the EU and able to make our own return arrangements and settle our own laws on this matter, I have no doubt that we will find a way forward.

Global Britain

Debate between Boris Johnson and Gareth Bacon

Tuesday 16th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Gareth Bacon (Orpington) (Con)]

Does the Prime Minister agree that global Britain is not just about pursuing an ambitious independent trade policy, but that at its heart it is about championing values? Does he further agree that to make that a reality we must strengthen our voice on the world stage and be unafraid to call out countries that threaten those values and the rules-based international order?

[The Prime Minister]

I believe that this will be a profoundly beneficial change for both the FCO and DFID. It will infuse the whole of our foreign policy with the missionary zeal and sense of idealism that characterises the very best of our aid experts. They are the best in the world, and they will now be at the absolute heart of UK foreign policy. That is the right place for them to be.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Gareth Bacon

Wednesday 18th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Member is absolutely right to raise this matter, and that is why I said what I did to the Leader of the Opposition. We will indeed be bringing forward legislation to address this point.

[Gareth Bacon (Orpington) (Con)]

Q14. In my constituency, we have enlisted voluntary sector providers to join the council in providing support to the most vulnerable residents in combating the coronavirus. Can the Prime Minister confirm that local authorities such as mine in Bromley, which are at the forefront of this, will be given clear guidance in respect of safeguarding and Disclosure and Barring Service checks for volunteers, as that will allow us to deploy more volunteers when and if the need arises?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and that is why we are speeding up DBS checks, so that they can be done in 24 hours. I want to thank and congratulate all the boroughs throughout this country for the way they are harnessing those volunteers.