Easter Recess: Government Update

Debate between Boris Johnson and Geoffrey Clifton-Brown

Tuesday 19th April 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Gentleman very much. I will study his proposal on mercenaries. He has been right for a long time on Russia, and he has been vindicated.

[Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (The Cotswolds) (Con)]

I have heard the fulsome apology by the Prime Minister, but he is taking a lead in Ukraine and I suggest he needs to keep giving Ukraine defensive weapons so that we can eventually drag President Putin and the Russian Federation to a peace agreement. Will he then lead the world in gaining reparations so that the great country of Ukraine can be rebuilt?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for his staunch position on Ukraine. He is completely right. I am afraid there is now no easy way to find a diplomatic or negotiated solution; I know the House would have preferred that, but it will be difficult to construct an off-ramp for Vladimir Putin. We are now in a logic where we must simply do everything we can collectively to ensure that Vladimir Putin fails, and fails comprehensively, in Ukraine.

Ukraine

Debate between Boris Johnson and Geoffrey Clifton-Brown

Thursday 24th February 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman is quite right, because people throughout the country will be thinking about the effect on us all of the increase in the price of oil and gas as a result of a war in Ukraine. We will continue to do everything we can to help people to abate the cost and to support people through councils and all the funds we are providing, such as for the reduction in council tax, but the best thing we can do is to ensure people are in good, well-paying jobs, and in that we are certainly succeeding. In the medium and long term, we have to have more self-reliance in this country on our own energy supplies. That is what this Government are also committed to building.

[Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (The Cotswolds) (Con)]

One of the most important economic sanctions we can take against Russia is to freeze its sovereign debt. Will my right hon. Friend confirm that the Bill proposed on Monday on economic crime will include powers to do so?

[The Prime Minister]

We are taking the most powerful measures against Russia and the Russian economy that have ever been taken—probably the most powerful ever taken by any country—and Russia will no longer be able to raise any sovereign debt on UK markets.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Geoffrey Clifton-Brown

Wednesday 9th February 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, I agree completely that there must be a solution that commands cross-community support. At the moment, there is no doubt that the balance of the Good Friday agreement is being upset by the way that the protocol is being operated, and we need to fix that. That is what we will do, and, if our friends will not agree, we will, as I said earlier, implement article 16.

[Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (The Cotswolds) (Con)]

11. Rather than a compulsory windfall tax so favoured by the Opposition, will my right hon. Friend take an alternative view: summon a high-level meeting with the oil and gas companies with the aim of a voluntary agreement to bring more oil and gas on to the wholesale market to reduce oil and gas prices to help hard-pressed people deal with the cost of living problems?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Geoffrey Clifton-Brown

Wednesday 27th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Of course we will, and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government will be bringing forward a plan very shortly. It is also important that mortgage companies do not unreasonably refuse mortgages on properties that are perfectly safe.

[Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (The Cotswolds) (Con) [V]]

This has been an extraordinarily difficult year for both the Prime Minister and the people of this country, since the coronavirus was first detected, and their fortitude is being severely tested. People need to know when they can get their children back to school and businesses can start to reopen. Will my right hon. Friend assure the House that when he announces his comprehensive plan in mid-February, it will deal with how we lift every area out of its tier, and with the long- term problems with covid with which we will have to live? Furthermore, can we try to avoid making changes in future with 24 hours’ notice, so that at long last the people of this country can start to plan their daily lives?

[The Prime Minister]

In a few moments, later this afternoon, I will set out in more detail what my hon. Friend would like to know about our approach to schools, and in the course of the next few weeks, assuming that the vaccine roll-out continues well, and assuming that we do not find new variants of concern or have to change our calculations, I will be setting out a broader roadmap for a way forward for the whole country, of a kind that I think my hon. Friend and his constituents would appreciate.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Boris Johnson and Geoffrey Clifton-Brown

Monday 2nd November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

That is an important point, but we will be deciding which tier regions need to go back into, if any, as we come towards 2 December—in the week before 2 December. We will be announcing that then, and we will also be announcing the financial package at that time.

[Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (The Cotswolds) (Con)]

Would my right hon. Friend be very kind and explain to my constituents, who contacted me in their hundreds over the weekend worried about their mental health, their jobs and businesses, why in Gloucestershire, which had only one hospitalised death last week, it makes any sense to lock down all those people?

[The Prime Minister]

That is exactly why we wanted to pursue the local approach for so long, and that is why I think it was always right to try to avoid a national lockdown for as long as we could. The difficulty is that the overall rate across the whole country is now speeding up and the virus is doubling across the entire country. I would be happy to publish all the data, as my hon. Friend knows.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Geoffrey Clifton-Brown

Wednesday 8th July 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I note the paradox that the hon. Gentleman wants a freeport in Londonderry/Derry, which is something that can only be achieved by Brexit, by the way. I am more than happy to study the plans he proposes. We will see what we can do to take them forward.

[Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (The Cotswolds) (Con)]

The coronavirus has hit young people in work and those about to enter the jobs market particularly hard. Will my right hon. Friend continue to build on his excellent package of announcements so far, so that young people have hope, encouragement and the very best prospects for the start of their working life?

[The Prime Minister]

Absolutely. We want young people to have the self-confidence brought by the experience of work, to keep learning on the job and to get the jobs that they need. If my hon. Friend waits just a few minutes, he will hear rather more from my right hon. Friend the Chancellor about that very matter.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Geoffrey Clifton-Brown

Wednesday 17th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (The Cotswolds) (Con)]

I am sure everybody will be delighted that my right hon. Friend is back in this House in such robust form. He will be pleased to know that almost 50% of the children in Gloucestershire who qualify are back at school now, but their education has suffered over the past few months. Will he consider therefore doing two things? First, will he ask all teachers to set all their children and pupils a catch-up plan before the summer? Secondly, will he ask all headteachers to get a recovery plan so that everybody can go back in September?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, indeed; it is absolutely crucial that we do that. There is a big catch-up plan that my right hon. Friend the Education Secretary is going to be announcing very shortly. It is vital that kids catch up on the education that they have lost, but even more vital, as I think I may have mentioned to the House already this morning, that the kids who can go to school should go to school. Would it not be a fine thing, Mr Speaker, if we heard from all parts of the House that schools are safe to go to, rather than the wibble-wobble we have heard from the Opposition this morning?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Geoffrey Clifton-Brown

Wednesday 15th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Lady, and I can assure her that the Government are indeed embarking on a plan to do everything we can to make sure steel made in this country has all the competitive advantages we need. She makes some excellent points. In the particular case of Liberty Steel, I understand that whatever happens —it is a commercial decision for that company—all those affected will be offered an opportunity to remain within the GFG Alliance by joining a new company.

[Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (The Cotswolds) (Con)]

Q2. The Conservative manifesto promises in relation to the roll-out of broadband and mobile phone signal are incredibly welcome, but does my right hon. Friend agree that rural constituencies like mine, wherever they are in the United Kingdom, should not be left behind? Does he agree that these vital technologies should be rolled out, and will he set a firm timetable for their roll-out?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, the Cotswolds needs broadband and the Cotswolds is going to get gigabit broadband. That is why we are putting £5 billion into the roll-out of gigabit broadband. My hon. Friend asks for a deadline and he will get it—2025.

Grenfell Tower Inquiry

Debate between Boris Johnson and Geoffrey Clifton-Brown

Wednesday 30th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Grahame Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

rose—

[Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (The Cotswolds) (Con)]

rose—

[The Prime Minister]

If I may, I will continue, as it will be important for the House to hear the whole context in which these criticisms and points are being made.

The so-called “stay put” policy is the bedrock on which all plans for fighting fires in tall residential buildings are based. Building regulations are supposed to mean that fires cannot spread beyond individual flats, because they are compartmented. When that is the case, it is indeed safest for most residents to stay in their homes until the fire is extinguished, but at Grenfell that was not the case. The fire spread widely and rapidly, up, down and across the tower.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman is making an important point, as the whole House knows. As I said at the outset, that is among the issues that will be addressed in the second part of Sir Martin’s report, but I will say a little bit about it later on. The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to raise that issue.

While brave firefighters led many people to safety from inside the tower, Sir Martin concludes that the chaos and confusion meant that some calls for help were not responded to until it was too late.

[Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown]

I have visited Grenfell Tower twice to sympathise with the relatives, but I have also been able to see at first hand how firefighters in these complex situations risk their lives. I had a meeting only yesterday at the Fire Service College in my constituency, which provides worldwide training for every type of fire officer. Does my right hon. Friend agree that we owe it to our firefighters up and down this country to enable them to have the very best training?

Brexit Negotiations

Debate between Boris Johnson and Geoffrey Clifton-Brown

Thursday 3rd October 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As the right hon. Lady knows, there is a unique situation in Northern Ireland under the Good Friday agreement, and what we are proposing today gives this country the opportunity to develop and intensify that, but I am willing to listen to her pleas for the Senedd and I will consider them closely.

[Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (The Cotswolds) (Con)]

I believe that this represents a significant step towards breaking the deadlock, which businesses and the vast majority of the people want to see. Can my right hon. Friend confirm that, in the spirit of goodwill now generated on both sides of the channel, he will negotiate 24 hours a day exhibiting every flexibility to get a deal?

[The Prime Minister]

I will strain every sinew, Mr Speaker. In fact, it was only my desire to appear before you and the House today that restrained me from going off to other European capitals and selling this project.

Priorities for Government

Debate between Boris Johnson and Geoffrey Clifton-Brown

Thursday 25th July 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I will indeed commit to that approach, because I think that is the right way forward. If I may say so, Nissan in Sunderland is the most efficient plant in the world, and what a fantastic thing that is. Just in the past few weeks, as the hon. Lady will have noticed, BMW has announced a huge investment to build electric Minis at Cowley and Jaguar Land Rover has put £1 billion into electric vehicles in Birmingham. That, by the way, is how we will tackle the climate change issue—not with the hair shirt-ism of the Greens but with wonderful new technology made in this country.

[Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (The Cotswolds) (Con)]

May I warmly congratulate my right hon. Friend on lifting the mood of the nation? Will he look at the record amount of funds going into education, to address not only the funding going to further education but the distribution among the highest-funded and lowest-funded education authorities?

[The Prime Minister]

That is of course what we are doing. That is the nature of the pledge and the undertaking that we are making with the £4.6 billion that we have announced. The objective, as I think Members will know by now, is to lift per capita per pupil funding to a minimum everywhere of £4,000 for primary school pupils and £5,000 for secondary school pupils.