Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mark Pawsey

Wednesday 13th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As I understand it, the people of the SNP are currently deciding what to do with the right hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber (Ian Blackford). Heaven forfend that they should change their minds.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

Q14. Forty years ago, 10 young people from Rugby’s West Indian community travelled to a house in New Cross Road, London for a birthday celebration for former Rugby resident Yvonne Ruddock. Tragically, there was a fire at the house where the party was held, and two of the group never returned home; others were traumatised. The fire cost 13 people their lives and has been the subject of two inquests, both of which were inconclusive. Those who survived, and the families of the bereaved, are calling for a further investigation. Does the Prime Minister agree that the appointment of the new Metropolitan Police Commissioner provides an opportunity to re-examine the events of that time?

[The Prime Minister]

I know from my own experience of running the city the anguish that that particular tragedy caused and the deep feeling that surrounds it, and I thank my hon. Friend for raising it. Whatever my own views, this is a matter for the independent Metropolitan Police Service, and I am sure that the new commissioner will consider what he has just said.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mark Pawsey

Wednesday 19th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

Q3. Following on from the excellent news on the economy and jobs, the Prime Minister will remember my question to him last June about the proposals for a gigafactory in Coventry. Last week, local councils granted outline planning permission to create 6,000 new skilled jobs and secure many thousands of others, to inject £2.5 billion into our local economy and to level up across our region. With fast-rising demand for greener and cleaner electric cars, may I ask him for his support to ensure the swift delivery of this vital project?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for campaigning for this wonderful project. We are supporting the electric vehicle industry. We made another £350 million available through the automotive transformation fund, on top of the commitment of half a billion pounds we have already made in a 10-point plan. I know that the campaign for Coventry airport is an excellent one, and I look forward to seeing how it develops.

G20 and COP26 World Leaders Summit

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mark Pawsey

Wednesday 3rd November 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady is completely right about the imperative to help the small island states. I must say that, at COP and in the last few months, they have been incredibly valuable in getting the world to focus—the Maldives, the Seychelles, Bangladesh, where people face catastrophic flooding, Mauritius and Barbados, which was brilliant the other day. They are helping to focus minds on the issue and attract massive sums of investment.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

The UK can be very proud of the commitments that we have already made, but some of our actions are in danger of making our manufacturing and particularly our heavy industry uncompetitive. May I ask the Prime Minister once again whether there is any significance in the absence from COP26 of leaders of our industrial competitors such as China and Russia? Is he confident that they can be persuaded to do more after the conference to provide a more level playing field?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for the point that he makes, and I understand why he should be anxious, but I talked to both President Xi and President Putin and it was clear: they said that the pandemic precluded them from coming. I understand the situation that they are in. They have very senior negotiators in Glasgow as we speak—Xie is a very senior operative in the Chinese system—and we have to hope for results. In the end, the change is going to be driven not just by the feelings of people in the western democracies, but by the political pressure and the pressure from business that is already being felt in China, and in Russia as well.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mark Pawsey

Wednesday 23rd June 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I cannot think of a better use of public funds than making sure that the whole of the UK fights the covid pandemic together, and that is what we are doing. Thanks to the UK Treasury, we were able to spend £407 billion supporting jobs and families in Scotland. We were able to use the British Army to send vaccines throughout the whole of the UK. I believe that the story of this last two years has shown the incalculable value of our Union and the strength of our Union, and that we are better together.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

  The Prime Minister’s groundbreaking 10-point plan for a green industrial revolution has ambitious targets for a switch to zero-emission electric vehicles, and the UK’s automotive manufacturers are ready to deliver, with vehicle manufacture taking place close to where batteries are made, because of the high proportion of an electric vehicle’s cost and weight being made up by the battery. Coventry is the historic home of the car industry and the headquarters of Jaguar Land Rover, who made the car in which the Prime Minister travelled to Parliament today, so will he give his support to the proposal to build a gigafactory at Coventry airport?

[The Prime Minister]

I have fond memories of visiting my hon. Friend’s constituency and using an electric taxi. They thought that was impossible 15 years ago, but we got it done and we will make sure that his constituency and constituencies across the country are in the lead in building new electric vehicles for this country and for the world.

G7 and NATO Summits

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mark Pawsey

Wednesday 16th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, I think it is important that everybody understands that, although the media accounts of what took place differ very much from what actually happened at the summit where this was not really much of a topic of discussion. None the less, I think people do understand that Northern Ireland is an integral part of the United Kingdom for economic and all other purposes.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

I applaud the Prime Minister for the time that he has spent at the Dispatch Box this afternoon in which he has spoken of the importance of increasing vaccine coverage around the world. I very much welcome the 100 million doses of covid vaccine that he has committed to countries with less-developed healthcare systems than our own. Supporting the poorest in this way does needs finance from both us and our partners, so may I ask him once again to look at our budget for this most valuable of causes?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that overseas spending should be one of the great focuses of UK spending in the next few years. I repeat what I said earlier about the 70 million doses next year. That will not come out of the existing ODA budget, but clearly funding vaccine technology around the world is one of those things in which this country excels and we will be doing a lot more of it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mark Pawsey

Wednesday 18th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

This is a global pandemic and one in which the UK has, as the hon. Gentleman rightly says, been badly affected, and we mourn every life that has been lost. Of course we are supporting businesses with all the firepower of the UK economy. But I have absolutely no doubt that we will get through this strongly by next spring, as the scientific advisers and the medical officers have said. We have the tools to do it and we have the scientific weaponry to do it. That is why we are engaged in the current restrictions to get the R down to suppress the virus now and to try to get the economy moving in a way that I am sure he would like.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

Most of our fabulous independent retailers in Rugby are currently closed due to covid restrictions. While they appreciate the very welcome financial support provided by the Government, they are concerned that supermarkets and multiple retailers continue to sell the same products as them, such as homeware and clothing, enabling them to generate substantial profits while at the same time having had a holiday on the payment of business rates. Does the Prime Minister agree that there should be fairness between retailers, and that with the Government spending £200 billion to support businesses and people in these very tough times, it would be a welcome gesture from multiples who continue to trade to volunteer to pay those retailers’ businesses rates?

[The Prime Minister]

I understand the point that my hon. Friend makes and the feeling of unfairness that he describes. What we are trying to do with the business rates holiday and all the other measures we have announced is to help all retailers. The best thing we can do is to get through this tough period as well as we possibly can and allow all retailers to reopen and give them our support with our custom. That is what we are aiming for.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mark Pawsey

Wednesday 4th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I do indeed congratulate all the voluntary organisations that have stepped up, and I am proud that this Government have also helped to fund them to the tune of billions of pounds—not just the £9 billion increase in universal credit, but of course an extra £1.1 billion going to help councils. This Government will ensure that no child goes hungry this Christmas— this winter—thanks to any inattention or inactivity by Government. Never forget that it was a Conservative Government that instituted free school meals for five, six and seven-year-olds after all the years Labour was in power.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

  The Prime Minister will remember watching the new electric London taxi being made in my constituency. He will be pleased to hear that the company has this week started production of a van, but this year has been tough for the automotive sector, with manufacturing output at its lowest level for 25 years. It would benefit massively from the certainty of knowing that components and vehicles will be able to move free of tariffs between the UK and countries of the European Union from the new year. Can the Prime Minister provide good news about concluding a deal with the EU to the sector, its workers and their families?

[The Prime Minister]

I do indeed believe that such a deal would be massively in the interests of our EU friends and partners, as well as anybody else, but that is of course up to them. What I can tell my hon. Friend is that we are supporting green technology of all kinds, particularly hybrid and battery vehicles, and we have just put another £49 million into grants for exactly the kind of vehicles that he and I have inspected and driven together so that this country can bounce back greener.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mark Pawsey

Monday 2nd November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Member is completely correct in what she says about the recovery; it will be on the backs of small and medium-sized businesses up and down the land. As she knows, that is why we have extended a massive package of support including £25,000 grants, bounce back loans and all the investments that have been made—a total package worth £200 billion. For those now forced to close by these restrictions, there are grants of £3,000. There are also grants of £2,100 for those that may not be legally forced to close, but which are adversely affected. As she knows, we have also put in place cuts to VAT and deferred business rates until next year.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

I am pleased that, in his answer to the hon. Member for Edinburgh North and Leith (Deidre Brock), the Prime Minister acknowledged the burden on businesses. After a difficult year, independent traders and hospitality venues in Rugby and Bulkington were looking forward to their peak sales period in the run-up to Christmas. Is the Prime Minister confident that the cost to businesses through the loss of turnover and jobs is a price worth paying? Can he reassure them that, after this short-term pain, it will be back to business on 2 December? Why can pubs not sell takeaway beer to go with their takeaway food?

[The Prime Minister]

Again, there is a budget of measures that we need to bring together to get the R down, and alas, when we start unpicking one bit, logically, a lot of the rest of it comes out. My hon. Friend’s fundamental question is the right one. I think that the people of this country want to put human life first, and they want to save as many lives as possible. That must be our overriding aim, and it is our overriding aim. We think that if we enforce these measures properly, if people self-isolate and if they are contacted in the way that they should be, we can get the R down below 1 in the way that I have described, and we can have businesses able to open up again and do Christmas business in so far as they possibly can.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mark Pawsey

Monday 12th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, indeed. That is why my right hon. Friend the Chancellor announced grants of up to £3,000 and why we have the job support system, which is designed to help people in exactly the circumstances the hon. Lady describes.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

I welcome the introduction of three tiers, which will give more certainty to everyone, but while hospitality outlets in Rugby have worked hard to make their premises safe and have been supported by police, community wardens, business improvement district rangers and street pastors, the 10 o’clock curfew has led to many leaving the pub to go to a shop to stock up with booze, often with their friends, to drink at home. If it is necessary to keep 10 o’clock closing, should off-licences be treated equally?

[The Prime Minister]

I understand my hon. Friend’s point about people’s behaviour after leaving the pub. That is why it is vital that everybody shows common sense and follows the guidance.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mark Pawsey

Wednesday 8th July 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hospital car parks are free for NHS staff for this pandemic—they are free now—and we are going to get on with our manifesto commitment to make them free for patients who need them as well. The House will know that that was never the case under the Labour Government—neither for staff nor for patients. May I respectfully suggest that the right hon. and learned Gentleman takes his latest bandwagon and parks it free somewhere else? One week he is backing us; the next week he is not. One week he is in favour of a tax on wealth and tax on homes; the next week he tries to tiptoe away from it. We know how it works: he takes one brief one week, one brief the next. He is consistent only in his opportunism, whereas we get on with our agenda: build, build, build for jobs, jobs, jobs. The House will hear more about that shortly.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

My well-known and much loved constituent Alan Young died of cancer last year, having been cared for at Myton Hospice in Warwick. I am sure the Prime Minister will remember the very moving letter that he received from Alan’s brave nine-year-old son Tommy—which Tommy read out on local radio—praising Myton for looking after his dad and asking for the hospice to receive support. The Government are providing £200 million per quarter for hospices during the current emergency, so it is very clear that the Prime Minister appreciates their work. Will he join me, Tommy, his brother Shay and his mum Kelly in thanking Myton and all hospices throughout the country for the invaluable care that they provide to people like Alan?

[The Prime Minister]

I do indeed remember that letter, and I know that the thoughts and sympathies of the whole House will be with Alan and his family. I would like to join Tommy, Shay, Kelly and indeed my hon. Friend in thanking all hospices for the incredible work that they do.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mark Pawsey

Tuesday 23rd June 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

First, may I apologise to the right hon. Gentleman for last week mistakenly believing him to be someone who wanted to break up our United Kingdom? I unreservedly withdraw that aspersion. I know that he and I want to keep our Union together. On the quarantine issue, however, I must say to him that I think it is very sensible for this country to have measures in place to protect our population from vectors of disease coming back into the UK from abroad. That is the right thing to do.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

I assure the Prime Minister that there will be a warm welcome for his measures today in Rugby, not only from the pubs and restaurants but in particular from the town centre traders. To accommodate 2-metre social distancing, there are works under way to provide an unwelcome one-way system and the removal of on-street parking. The welcome move to 1 metre on 4 July means that those measures will no longer be necessary and that it will be easier for customers to get into our town centre and spend money with our fantastic local retailers.

[The Prime Minister]

I certainly encourage customers to go to the fantastic local retailers in Rugby, and I am delighted that these measures obviate the need for the cursed one-way system that my hon. Friend describes.

Global Britain

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mark Pawsey

Tuesday 16th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend. He and I have discussed these matters many times and I think he is basically right that we do need to have an integrated strategy; we do need to have an integrated approach, and that is why this Government inaugurated the biggest, most fundamental integrated review of our foreign, security and defence policy since the cold war.

We are having this discussion now because we need to get going. Yes, it is absolutely right that we face a crisis now, but we also face a post-covid world, when the UK will need to be able to speak with one, powerful voice on the international stage, in which our idealistic ambitions for development are wholly integrated with our views on foreign policy. The UK will speak therefore all the more powerfully for that. This is the position adopted by the vast majority of countries in the OECD, as I say—I think all but one of 29 pursue this approach. It is the right reform at the right time; I believe the House should support it.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

Here in Britain we have companies with great brands and great products, and there has never been a more important time to promote them overseas and in emerging markets. So can the Prime Minister ensure that the new Department will maintain the same level of global political and economic influence that was developed under DFID, while maximising opportunities for UK exporters?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, I will, and I think it is only fair that UK exporters and UK companies should get a proper hearing from this Department. I do not know about hon. Members around the House, but many a time I have been asked why on earth such-and-such a water sanitising product, or whatever it happened to be, did not get a proper hearing—did not get a chance for support from the UK ODA budget. Now, we want to have entirely fair procurement. We do not wish to see taxpayers’ money wasted, but it is also vital that where the UK can do great things around the world, whether in clean technology, zero-carbon energy generation or whatever, the UK producers should get a fair crack of the whip.

Transport Infrastructure

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mark Pawsey

Tuesday 11th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady makes an excellent point, and we are indeed upgrading the digital signalling on the east coast main line.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

The Prime Minister spoke about the “spine” of our rail network, which is currently provided by the west coast main line. The upgrade of that line a few years ago led to many businesses being attracted to Rugby. What reassurance can he provide to them that, with HS2 bypassing Rugby, we will retain fast services on a well-maintained railway?

[The Prime Minister]

I have looked at that issue, and I am convinced that the existing capacity will continue to be extremely important and drive jobs and investment in Rugby, where my hon. Friend and I opened a fantastic electric taxi factory.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mark Pawsey

Tuesday 21st February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

13. What steps his Department is taking to promote the Global Britain campaign.

[The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Boris Johnson)]

Global Britain is a programme to help to explain to the world, but also to the people of this country, what I think they do not often suspect, which is the full range of Britain’s military, cultural, commercial and diplomatic influence in the world. It is important to do that now, particularly as we make our Brexit—or Bre-entry into the world, as we should perhaps call it—to help people to understand that a more global Britain will be a more prosperous Britain.

[Boris Johnson]

I am delighted to tell my hon. Friend that over the next 10 years we will, for instance, be spending £178 billion on defence—we are one of the few countries in NATO to contribute 2% of our GDP to defence. As a result, there will be more funds available, for instance, to support companies in Yeovil, such as the helicopter company Leonardo MW, which, as far as I know, builds Wildcat submarine-hunting helicopters, among other vital bits of kit.

[Mark Pawsey]

Does the Secretary of State agree that, in addition to defence spending, soft power—including the effective use of aid and increasing levels of trade and investment, which are helping businesses to find the most suitable partners—remains an essential part of the UK’s approach to boosting security in some of the more dangerous parts of the world?

[Boris Johnson]

I quite agree. Perhaps I can just give Members one stunning fact, which should seldom be off their lips when selling UK universities, for instance, to the world: of the Kings, Queens, Presidents and Prime Ministers in the world today, one in seven was educated in this country, and London has more international students than any other city in the world.