Oral Answers to Questions

Caroline Dinenage Excerpts

Wednesday 5th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

Last week a judge sentenced a Gosport man to nine years in prison for causing the death by dangerous driving of two teenage girls. Given that that amounts effectively to four years per life, does the Prime Minister agree that it is high time we looked again at the maximum sentence for causing death by dangerous driving?

[The Prime Minister]

May I first of all congratulate my hon. Friend on her happy news at the weekend? I am sure that Members across the House will want to join me in that. The issue of death by dangerous driving was raised at Prime Minister’s questions last week, and as I said then, I think it is important that the Lord Chancellor and his Department look carefully at what more we can do to make sure we send the clearest possible message about the unacceptability of this crime.

Oral Answers to Questions

Caroline Dinenage Excerpts

Wednesday 1st February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Tony Lloyd (Manchester Central) (Lab)]

2. What assessment he has made of the (a) financial situation and (b) capacity to fund existing programmes of the UN Relief and Works Agency in 2011-12.

[Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

5. What estimate he has made of the financial situation of the UN Relief and Works Agency in the occupied Palestinian territories in 2011-12.

[The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Mr Alan Duncan)]

In 2011 DFID gave just over £30 million to UNRWA, and we are in the process of setting our budgets for the next few years. We will work with all donors and host Governments to help UNRWA’s long-term financial position so that it can continue to deliver its programmes to meet the needs of Palestinians and Palestinian refugees.

[Mr Duncan]

Yes, we have repeatedly made clear to the Israelis our serious concern at last year’s 40% increase, as recorded by the UN, in the number of demolitions of Palestinian properties in the west bank and East Jerusalem. We view such demolitions and evictions as causing unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians and as harmful to the peace process. In all but the most limited circumstances, they are contrary to international humanitarian law, and we condemn them.

[Caroline Dinenage]

Given that UNRWA is responsible for the refugee camps outside the occupied territories, will the Minister please update the House on what his Department is doing to support these camps?

[Mr Duncan]

My hon. Friend is right to point out that UNRWA’s remit extends beyond the Palestinian territories themselves. Conditions in refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan remain fragile, and DFID funds UNRWA to provide essential services to all these refugees across the region. In 2011 our support helped to provide maternal health care to 263,000 women, education for 45,000 children, and food and income support for 29,000 refugees. We are in close contact with UNRWA as it strives to maintain services in Syria.

Oral Answers to Questions

Caroline Dinenage Excerpts

Wednesday 30th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

As the Minister will understand, I know his feelings very well.

[Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

8. What plans he has for future levels of development aid to India.

[The Secretary of State for International Development (Mr Andrew Mitchell)]

I have frozen the India programme at current levels until 2015. Working closely with the Government of India, we will target our support on three of the poorest states. Our programme will change to reflect the importance of the role of the private sector.

[Caroline Dinenage]

Despite the undoubted poverty in India, the Indian Government have nuclear weapons, a space programme and their own programme for foreign aid. What can we do to encourage the Indian Government to spend more money on the things that they should spend money on, rather than on the things that they want?

[Mr Mitchell]

My hon. Friend is right to ask whether India has reached the point where we should end our development programme. Our judgment is that we are not there yet. As she said, India has more poor people than the whole of sub-Saharan Africa. It also has the biggest Government-led pro-poor, anti-poverty programme anywhere in the world, and through our programme, we are strongly encouraging more of the same.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Prime Minister]

What I can tell the hon. Lady is that it was very much something based on my own experience of having repeated assessments when you are trying to get help, benefits and social work, and in the special educational needs Green Paper that precise idea is rapidly becoming Government policy.

[Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

Q10. Despite some unhelpful local party political mischief-making about the future of our valuable Sure Start services, will the Prime Minister join me in welcoming Hampshire county council’s proposals to protect front-line Sure Start services while saving public money by cutting back-office costs?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The key thing is that the head of Sure Start services has herself said that there is money available in the Budget to keep Sure Start open. That money is not being reduced.

UN Women

Caroline Dinenage Excerpts

Thursday 10th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Rehman Chishti]

My hon. Friend makes an absolutely vital point. We must ensure that there is security and justice. Those elements are enshrined in agreements such as the universal declaration of human rights and the UN conventions on civil and political rights; the problem is that they are not implemented. It is great that countries sign up to conventions, but unless we put them into practice, nothing will change. It is important that they are implemented.

With more women in boardrooms, greater equality in legislative rights, and an increased critical mass through women’s visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life, one might think that women had gained true equality. The unfortunate fact is that women are still not paid equally compared with their male counterparts. Women are still not present in equal numbers in business or politics. Globally, women’s education and health are worse than that of men, and there is greater violence against them.

I very much welcome the fact that international women’s day has been marked as an official holiday in 27 countries, such as Afghanistan, China, Moldova, Mongolia and Cuba. I hope in due course that we can move to that position as well.

[Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

My hon. Friend mentioned women’s education. Does he agree that it is the key to everything we are discussing? Unless women are educated, they will never become political leaders, surgeons or lawyers and be all that we want them to be. It pains me to think that there could be women who have the potential to cure diseases or to solve world problems, yet that will not happen because those women will never be educated.

[Rehman Chishti]

I thank my hon. Friend for that point. She is right. If we want to empower people, we have to give them skills, and the basic skill is education. That is why under DFID’s commitment to developing countries, a large part of the money is going to education. My hon. Friend is right; without education, people cannot be master of their own destiny.

Gender equality is not simply a basic human right; its achievement has enormous socio-economic ramifications. Empowering women fuels thriving economies, spurring productivity and growth.

I conclude with a quote from Martin Luther King:

“The time is always right to do the right thing.”

It is always the right time to fight for women’s rights and equality.

Oral Answers to Questions

Caroline Dinenage Excerpts

Wednesday 16th February 2011 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

1. What recent assessment he has made of the humanitarian situation in Haiti.

[The Secretary of State for International Development (Mr Andrew Mitchell)]

Although the number of people in camps in Haiti has fallen by half to 800,000 since last July, Haiti continues to face serious humanitarian challenges.

[Caroline Dinenage]

The President of Haiti famously said that it would take a thousand trucks a thousand days to clear the devastation, but the people do not have a thousand days, because they are suffering disease and crime, and they do not have a thousand trucks. What more can the international community do to tackle the problem?

[Mr Mitchell]

My hon. Friend is right to identify the scale of the damage and of what is required to put it right. We are working directly on tackling the threat of cholera, and working through the UN and the World Bank on some of the more serious aspects of what needs to happen to bring the relief that is required .

Oral Answers to Questions

Caroline Dinenage Excerpts

Wednesday 12th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The point about EMA is that we will be replacing it, and we want to look carefully at how best to do so, but there are two very important facts that we have to bear in mind. The first is that researchers found that 90% of recipients of EMA would be staying on at school in any event, and the second is that, again with all-party support, we are raising the participation age in education to 18. For those two reasons, I think it is right to look for a replacement that is more tailored and more targeted and that will help to ensure that those children who really need it get that extra money to stay on at school.

[Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

Q5. I know that the Prime Minister understands that there is a huge amount of support for the Arctic convoy veterans of world war two to receive a medal, but does he appreciate that in order for the remaining representatives of that incredibly brave group of men to receive that recognition in their lifetime, the time to act is now?

[The Prime Minister]

I do; I have considerable sympathy with what my hon. Friend says, and I have put a number of questions to the Ministry of Defence and will go on doing that. [Interruption.] Yes, we govern by consent. We have to have proper rules, but it seems to me that the important fact is that people on the Arctic convoys served under incredibly harsh conditions and were not allowed to serve for very long periods, so there is a case for saying that they have missed out. Many of them are coming to the end of their lives, and it would be good if we could do something more to recognise what they have done.