Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mark Fletcher

Wednesday 30th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Just for the record, it is the Scottish national party.

[Mark Fletcher (Bolsover) (Con)]

Q7. Following on from the publication of the schools White Paper, one of my most important campaigns is to secure provision of quality post-16 education within the Bolsover constituency, where there is currently none. Young people in my constituency have to travel long distances at considerable cost to access their education. Will my right hon. Friend meet me to discuss how we can right this wrong for the young people of the Bolsover constituency and give them the education that they deserve?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend, who is a great champion for Bolsover and for his constituents. Free and subsidised travel is provided to Bolsover students travelling, so far, to two of the three excellent colleges that are going to be offering T-levels from 2023, but I will make sure that he gets a meeting with my right hon. Friend the Education Secretary to discuss further what we can do.

AUKUS

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mark Fletcher

Thursday 16th September 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, it certainly is. That is why I think the UK can be very proud of the massive commitments that we make—£10 billion this year alone in official development assistance spending. The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right that this enhanced defence agreement between the UK, Australia and the US is founded on shared values.

[Mark Fletcher (Bolsover) (Con)]

Does the Prime Minister agree that this new partnership with Australia, which builds on the recently announced trade deal that will boost jobs and businesses across the country, including the east midlands, shows the huge opportunities available to global Britain as we look beyond our friends and allies in Europe to become a truly global power on the world stage?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, I think is the short answer to that superb question. [Laughter.] I really do not think I could have put it better myself.

Afghanistan

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mark Fletcher

Thursday 8th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I associate myself completely with the hon. Gentleman’s views. I can tell him that that is why we are providing, through the FCDO, almost £95 million more to the BBC World Service this year.

[Mark Fletcher (Bolsover) (Con)]

I place on the record the same thanks as others have for the service and sacrifice of our armed forces who have served in Afghanistan.

As my right hon. Friend said in his statement, we owe the translators and locally employed staff in Afghanistan an enormous debt of gratitude for all the work that they have done in supporting UK armed forces personnel. Does he agree that it is right that we repay those people and help them to begin new lives here, in recognition of everything that they have done in support of our country?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is completely right, and I know that his views are echoed in every corner of this House. We owe those people a huge debt for their bravery, their sacrifice and the risks they have run not just to their own lives, but to the lives of their families. That is why the Afghan relocations and assistance policy addresses those risks and I am proud that, already, 1,500 have been allowed to come safely to this country. I thank everybody involved for the speed and efficiency with which they have been handling those cases.

Covid-19: Road Map

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mark Fletcher

Monday 22nd February 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I sympathise deeply with students who have had a time at university that no other generation has put up with. I sympathise deeply with their sense of unfairness, with the experiences they have had. They have been heroic, by the way, in the in which they have been able to bring the disease down in some university towns by obeying the guidance. We will do whatever we can to support them, working with the university sector, to make up for the experiences they have been through and to make sure, insofar as we can, that we help them to get compensation.

[Mark Fletcher (Bolsover) (Con)]

I very much welcome the Prime Minister’s statement today and the sustainable way out of this situation. It is absolutely right that we prioritise the reopening of schools and getting all children back into the classroom. Does the Prime Minister agree that it is now essential we work with parents, teachers and schools to develop a long-term plan for pupils to catch up on the education they have missed out on, particularly in areas like Bolsover?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and that is why Sir Kevan Collins has been appointed as the education recovery commissioner. We will be setting out plans that are intended not just to remediate the loss that kids have suffered during the pandemic, but to take our educational system forward and to do things that we possibly would not have done before to find new ways of teaching and learning that will make up the difference for those kids and more.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mark Fletcher

Wednesday 9th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I really must respectfully disagree with the hon. Gentleman. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has set out very clear criteria for the groups, starting with those over 80, care home workers, NHS workers and those in care homes, and he knows the criteria very well. Birmingham, of course, will be among them, and of course that is right. I am afraid that I simply cannot accept the premise of his question.

[Mark Fletcher (Bolsover) (Con)]

Conservative colleagues across Derbyshire have been working very hard on our bid for community testing to help us tackle covid. Will my right hon. Friend ensure that the bid from Derbyshire County Council receives the resources and attention we need to help us in our fight to get out of tier 3?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, and just this morning I was discussing Derbyshire’s bid for a big community testing programme. We will obviously do everything we can to support them, and I thank my hon. Friend and local leaders for what they are doing to promote community testing.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mark Fletcher

Wednesday 3rd June 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

What I can tell the House is that everybody knows that no recourse to public funds is a long-standing condition that applies to people here with temporary immigration status, but it is a term of art; it does not mean that they are necessarily excluded from all public funds. For instance, they may be eligible for coronavirus job retention scheme funds or self-employed income support scheme funds. Indeed, if they have paid into the benefit system, they may be eligible also for certain benefits.

[Mark Fletcher (Bolsover) (Con)]

Q7. As we come out of lockdown, it is vital that we get our economy firing on all cylinders. In Bolsover, to level up we need more skilled jobs, so will my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister meet me to discuss my proposal for Bolsover to lead the country with a green enterprise zone so that we can bring low-carbon manufacturing and research to our region?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend has exactly the right vision for Bolsover. Indeed, it is the vision that I have for the whole country. The green recovery will be essential to this country’s success in the next few years. I am happy to meet him to discuss it.