Easter Recess: Government Update

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mike Amesbury

Tuesday 19th April 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Lady very much and repeat the apology that I have given.

[Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister has broken the law—guilty as charged—that many people up and down our shores abided by. They never had the opportunity to say goodbye to loved ones. The Prime Minister also misled the House over and over again and misled the public over and over again. Does he believe in the ministerial code? Is it worth the paper it is written on?

[The Prime Minister]

Let me repeat my apologies for what I got wrong and what went wrong in Downing Street and also my explanation for why I have spoken as I have in this House.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mike Amesbury

Wednesday 17th November 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend very much, and she has much relevant experience from her work for Save the Children in Greece. Our only credible way of fixing this is with our new plan for immigration. That will be made possible with our new Nationality and Borders Bill, which will make it possible for us to distinguish at last between those who come here legally and those who come here illegally. I hope very much that it will command the support of the whole House.

[Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)]

In May, part of Northwich station in my constituency collapsed. I have asked the Transport Secretary to intervene and build back better and fairer to allow access for people with disabilities. He has declined my kind offer, so I ask the Prime Minister to intervene: no bluster, substance, build back better and fairer Northwich station—it is in the north of England.

[The Prime Minister]

I am tempted to invite the hon. Gentleman to wait and see what we do for rail funding tomorrow, but I will certainly look at what he had to say about Northwich station with keen interest.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mike Amesbury

Monday 2nd November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for the ingenious suggestions that she makes. We will take them away and study them both carefully—both points are valid—but I must repeat to her, regretfully, the point I have made many times this afternoon about the overall budget of risk that we carry, the need to get the R down and the need to stop the spread of the disease, which is now paramount. Golf and everything else will be able to resume, I devoutly hope, on 2 December.

[Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)]

Beyond this belated national lockdown—let us say on 2 December —will northern workers in tier 3 areas be worth 80% of furlough or 67%? Which will it be?

[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.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mike Amesbury

Monday 12th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I understand completely the frustrations of the people of Mansfield. I am afraid that further restrictions are necessary across the country in the way that we have outlined today, but of course they will be reviewed very regularly.

[Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)]

The Halton part of my constituency in Merseyside has been placed in tier 3. The Cheshire West and Chester part is in tier 2. In the Cheshire West and Chester part, we have the nonsense of the 10 pm curfew, which does not follow the evidence and needs to be reviewed and changed. In the Halton part, we have people who are now required to live on 67% of the minimum wage, which is nowhere near sufficient. Look at this again, Prime Minister. Step up and look at this again.

[The Prime Minister]

I am afraid I must reject what the hon. Gentleman says in the sense that I think he is being inconsistent or trying to have it both ways. Most people, I think, in this country want to see restrictions that get the virus down, and that is what we are bringing forward and supporting. I think most people in this country also want to see support for people who are put out of business through no fault of their own, and that is what we are also providing.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mike Amesbury

Wednesday 6th May 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for his excellent question and for all his campaigning for the oil and gas industry. The whole House will have heard the fervour and learning with which he speaks on that issue, and I can assure him that our right hon. colleague the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is actively engaged right now in pursuing this with the sector trade association. I am sure he will want to take up progress with him.

[Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab) [V]]

I welcome the Prime Minister back to his place, on my birthday. Halton and Cheshire West and Chester councils, covering my constituency, have stepped up to the national challenge, providing essential services to vulnerable residents and businesses during this crisis. The Government promised to do whatever it takes to fully compensate those councils, and councils across the country, yet both are millions of pounds short of the costs so far—billions nationally. How will the Prime Minister fulfil that funding promise and not return to the dark days of austerity?

[The Prime Minister]

I can certainly tell the hon. Gentleman that the Government have absolutely no intention of returning to the A-word, which I will not quote. That is not going to be our approach. We do not think that will be necessary. What I can tell him is that we have already put another £3.2 billion, as he knows, into supporting local authorities and supporting some of the most vulnerable throughout this difficult time. We will continue to make sure that funding gets through to those who need it, but the crucial thing, as colleagues across the House will understand, is that the more effectively we can suppress this virus and the faster we can restart our economy, the better our chances, as everybody knows, of getting the funding that we all need to the poorest and neediest in our society. That is the course that this Government is going to follow.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mike Amesbury

Wednesday 29th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes. I think most people would agree that Sir Martin Moore-Bick was pretty unflinching in the first section of his report, and I have no doubt that he will be equally unsparing in the next.

[Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)]

Q12. Prime Minister, is the BBC a mortal enemy of the Conservative party, or a cherished British institution that will be funded by the licence fee?

[The Prime Minister]

I can certainly say that it is a cherished British institution, and not a mortal enemy of the Conservative party.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mike Amesbury

Wednesday 23rd October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)]

Q13. Eight consultations on, and millions of people are still caught by the leasehold scandal. At what stage are the Prime Minister and his Government going to get a grip and end this feudal system once and for all?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Gentleman, because he raises something that is of great importance to all our constituents. We are delivering a strong package of reforms. We will legislate to ban new leasehold houses, reduce future ground rents to zero in all but exceptional circumstances and close the legal loopholes that currently subject leaseholders to unacceptable costs. He raises a very important issue, and believe me, we are on it right now.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mike Amesbury

Tuesday 21st November 2017 Commons Chamber

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

The Government published a paper on 12 September which sets out our vision for a future partnership with the EU on foreign policy, defence and development. I am pleased to say that in my discussions with our EU friends since then, that paper has had a very good reception.

[Mike Amesbury]

The so-called future partnership paper on foreign and security policy published by the Brexit Department in September had plenty of positive things to say about the value of EU-UK co-operation. Will the Secretary of State therefore update the House on what progress, beyond the mighty fine warm words, has been made on the Brexit negotiations?

[Boris Johnson]

If, by that, the hon. Gentleman means progress on the foreign policy and defence policy side, I must remind the House that that is not at the absolute centre of the negotiations, but it is widely understood that the UK, contributing as we do 20% of European defence spending and 25% of European aid spending, will be there in a supportive way whatever the outcome of the negotiations. As the Prime Minister has rightly said, our commitment to the defence and the security of Europe is—I think this is the word that was particularly warmly received by our friends and partners—unconditional, as it always has been and always will be.