Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Greg Smith

Wednesday 8th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I redirect the hon. Gentleman to what I said to my friend the leader of the SNP, the right hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber (Ian Blackford). The more SNP Members campaign, in the current circumstances, for breaking up our United Kingdom—with all its strength and all its merits—the more damage they do to their own case.

[Greg Smith (Buckingham) (Con)]

Q11. Last week, the Princes Centre in Princes Risborough, which supports adults with a variety of mental health challenges, learning disabilities and conditions such as dementia, celebrated 10 years as an independent daycare provider. It was clear to me from my recent visit what a happy, welcoming and supportive atmosphere had been created for all service users. Will my right hon. Friend join me in thanking and congratulating the manager, Kim Challoner, and her whole team of staff, volunteers and trustees on delivering this first-class service, and as Chequers is but a hop, skip and a jump from Princes Risborough, will he deliver those congratulations in person?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend, who, among his many other distinctions, is my Member of Parliament, and I join him in thanking the entire team at the Princes Centre for everything that they do. I will certainly keep his kind invitation in mind.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Greg Smith

Wednesday 30th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Scotland’s renewables sector is leading the world. I am grateful to the Scottish Government for all the help and support they are giving in developing that incredible resource in the North sea. By the way, I think there is also a role for hydrocarbons as we transition. We need to ensure that we have a grid that enables us to take that electricity onshore and transmit it around the country, and that is what I will be setting out in the British energy security strategy—the long-term investment that this country needs and that the parties opposite completely fail to address.

[Greg Smith (Buckingham) (Con)]

Last week, following a huge resident and parish council-led campaign, the planning application for a new mega-prison in my constituency was refused. Does my right hon. Friend agree that with the proposals for that site being close to where HS2 and East West Rail cross, it is a matter of fairness that communities already suffering at the hands of the construction of big state infrastructure should not be asked to take more? Will he instruct the Ministry of Justice not to appeal that planning decision?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is a doughty campaigner for his constituency. He has made an important point about a planning matter about which I do not think I should really comment, but I am sure that the relevant Ministers will have heard him loud and clear.

Living with Covid-19

Debate between Boris Johnson and Greg Smith

Monday 21st February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

The prize for patience and perseverance goes to Greg Smith.

[Greg Smith (Buckingham) (Con)]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I warmly welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement this afternoon. He is making the right call. Freedom works. Indeed, we should always cherish freedom, but as we have seen in the past when restrictions have been lifted, some bodies, particularly those with a union hand hovering over them, have continued with restrictions regardless. So, as we rightly lift these restrictions and allow others to lapse, can my right hon. Friend give a clear message that the turn towards personal responsibility is not a licence for those bodies to carry on with the restrictions regardless?

[The Prime Minister]

If I understand my hon. Friend correctly, he is referring to devolved Administrations—[Interruption.] I think that is what he was saying. The instinct for liberty burns just as brightly in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and I think the people of the whole United Kingdom will understand that we want a sensible, balanced and proportionate approach that moves away from legal compulsion—something that has been quite extraordinary for these times—and in favour of people being considerate towards others and taking personal responsibility.

Sue Gray Report

Debate between Boris Johnson and Greg Smith

Monday 31st January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The answer is no, because I am going to wait for the conclusions of the inquiry before any of the assertions that the hon. Lady has made can be established.

[Greg Smith (Buckingham) (Con)]

I thank the Prime Minister for his statement, particularly the acknowledge- ment of the enormous sacrifice that many British people went through. As somebody who was unable to say goodbye to their grandparents this time last year, I welcome his sincere apology. As we wait for the Metropolitan police’s findings, can he give me a categoric assurance that it will be full speed ahead on fixing the Northern Ireland protocol, standing up for our friends in Ukraine and fixing the cost of living crisis?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes. That is exactly what the Government are going to do and we will not be distracted for one minute.

G7 and NATO Summits

Debate between Boris Johnson and Greg Smith

Wednesday 16th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I will repeat the point I have made to many Opposition Members. This is an opportunity for UK farming and indeed for Welsh farmers. The right hon. Lady speaks with apprehension about 35,000 tonnes of Australian beef. We already import about 300,000 tonnes of EU beef. Australian farmers observe very, very high animal welfare standards, and they will only get completely tariff-free access after 15 years. After 15 years, we are going to give people in Australia the same rights of access as we give the 27 other EU countries.

[Greg Smith (Buckingham) (Con)]

The recent agreements on cyber defence policy and technological co-operation announced at the NATO summit in Brussels will mean that the alliance remains as strong as ever when faced with new threats. Will my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister confirm that he remains utterly committed to NATO as the foundation of our collective security?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes. NATO has protected the world, and particularly the European continent, for 72 years, and it was clear from the conversation around the table that it will continue to do so for decades to come.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Boris Johnson and Greg Smith

Wednesday 27th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Lady very much. I think it was Simon Stevens, the chief executive of NHS England, who put it best yesterday when he talked about the best thing that we can do for our NHS staff. She is absolutely right in what she says about the stress and the pressure that the NHS has been operating under in these past few weeks. The best thing that we can do is to keep this infection rate going down, to roll out the vaccination programme and, indeed, to make sure that all NHS staff are vaccinated. As she knows, they are in the JCVI 1 to 4 group and are our priority for 15 February.

[Greg Smith (Buckingham) (Con)]

The roll-out of the vaccine has been a truly heroic effort by absolutely everybody involved, not least to remain on track to get the top four priority groups their first dose by the middle of February. Every vaccine brings hope, but there is also an incredible amount of anxiety in the country, not least among business owners unable to trade, and families juggling home learning with holding down jobs. I urge my right hon. Friend, as he looks at rightly lifting the restrictions, to be really clear with all our constituents precisely what “when the data permits” means, so that there can be absolute clarity on what needs to happen to lift each tier of restrictions.

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I will of course set all this out in the course of the next few weeks. What I can tell the House are some obvious things that the House can see for itself. We need to be sure that the vaccine roll-out continues to go at the pace, and with the success, that it currently is. We need to ensure that we are targeting all those groups, reducing the overall level of vulnerability in the population.

We need to ensure, clearly, that the vaccine is working—or the vaccines are working, because there are at least two now—in the sense that they are driving down the mortality rate in those elderly and vulnerable groups. We need to start to see that. There are promising signs from Israel. In this country, we have not yet seen the data that would help us to be absolutely confident of that point.

Then, of course, there are the pressures on the NHS and other important considerations—to say nothing of the very important economic considerations that my hon. Friend raises. I assure him that we will set out much more in the course of the next weeks to give reassurance and certainty, as far as we can, to all our constituents.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Greg Smith

Wednesday 25th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Of course we are not going to extend the transition period, but we want to make practical arrangements to help businesses in Northern Ireland. We have agreed, for instance, a one-year adjustment period so there is no disruption to the flow of medicines, and we have already launched a £200 million trader support service to help agrifood businesses and others. More details will be announced shortly.

[Greg Smith (Buckingham) (Con)]

Flood risk from new development is a key concern for many of my constituents, as highlighted by a case in Ickford, where developers promised that flood risk would be a once-in- 100-year eventuality, yet the village has flooded three times this year alone. With that in mind, will my right hon. Friend commit to seriously beefing up the way flood risk is assessed and treated as part of the planning process?

[The Prime Minister]

I have deep sympathy for Ickford in my hon. Friend’s constituency and the flooding it has suffered; I know Ickford. It is very important that local authorities follow the rules in making their planning decisions, as I am sure he would agree, and we are making a huge investment—£5.2 billion—in flood defences to protect the 300,000 homes at risk across the country.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Boris Johnson and Greg Smith

Monday 2nd November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As I have said several times today, Scotland has, at the moment, a slightly different approach. It retains a tiered approach, but furlough remains a UK scheme and available across the whole country.

[Greg Smith (Buckingham) (Con)]

Professor Karol Sikora of the University of Buckingham Medical School concluded about the first lockdown:

“Many seriously ill people stayed at home, they protected the NHS, but it didn’t save their lives.”

This week, with Macmillan reporting up to 50,000 people with undiagnosed cancer due to covid restrictions, what reassurances can my right hon. Friend give me that, if this House does vote for a second lockdown on Wednesday, the Government will do absolutely everything necessary to avoid a repeat of Professor Sikora’s devastating conclusion from the first lockdown?

[The Prime Minister]

I understand the point that Professor Sikora makes, and I also understand the concerns of everybody who has cancer or who has a family member who suffers from cancer or any other life-threatening disease. It is precisely to protect those non-covid patients and to give them access to the NHS that we cannot allow our health service to be overwhelmed, as it would be on the current projections. That is why we must take the action that we are taking now. I hope that he sees the point and why it is precisely because we want to help cancer patients that we need to take this action now.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Greg Smith

Wednesday 1st July 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I passionately support the objective of making sure that there is IT fairness and that all kids have access to the technology that they need. We have rolled out huge numbers of laptops across the country to pupils on free school meals. But the most important thing that I think should happen now is that all pupils in year 6 should now be back in school, and it is still very disappointing that we have not had an unequivocal declaration of support for the safety of schools from the Labour party.

[Greg Smith (Buckingham) (Con)]

Enterprise zone status at Silverstone Park and Westcott in my constituency has been critical in bringing high-tech innovators to Buckinghamshire across 5G, rocketry, automotive and motorsport. Will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating those wealth creators, innovators and entrepreneurs, and commit to extending their enterprise zone status and business rates relief period from 2021 to 2024 to ensure that they continue to be an engine of economic growth?

[The Prime Minister]

I will certainly look at the proposal that my hon. Friend makes, and I am sure my right hon. Friend the Chancellor will want to study it, but I also congratulate everybody involved with the Aylesbury Vale enterprise zone on the cutting-edge technology that exemplifies the very best of this country and shows the way to our future.

Transport Infrastructure

Debate between Boris Johnson and Greg Smith

Tuesday 11th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

These will be the cleanest, greenest buses that the country has ever seen, but we will certainly make use of the clean bus fund.

[Greg Smith (Buckingham) (Con)]

May I urge my right hon. Friend and, indeed, anyone who seeks to celebrate the HS2 decision to keep central in their mind the blight that it will bring to communities up and down the route, not just on the landscape but on people’s lives? Throughout the enabling works so far, people have been left in severe financial hardship. Can we have an independent body with real power to scrutinise every decision that HS2 Ltd makes?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is entirely right in what he says. I speak as an MP for a seat on the route. As in his constituency, thousands of people have faced confusion and uncertainty about HS2, and it is vital that they are treated properly, which is why the construction commission will look at making sure that everyone is treated fairly.