Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Charlie Elphicke and Sajid Javid

Tuesday 1st October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

The figure of £39 billion is based on a deal. If we end up leaving with no deal, that £39 billion number is no longer relevant.

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Ind)]

Is the Chancellor aware that the chief executive of the port of Dover has said that we are 100% ready to leave the EU, and will he help that readiness by bringing forward plans to dual the A2 to the port of Dover?

[Sajid Javid]

I thank my hon. Friend for drawing the House’s attention to this issue. I am aware of that. I know, for example, that the investment the Government have made through Border Force, including the extra officers, is helping, and I am confident that in all circumstances we can keep trade flowing.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Charlie Elphicke and Sajid Javid

Monday 21st January 2019 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

The right hon. Lady will know that paragraph 87 of the political declaration talks about how the UK and our EU partners will work together to consider continuing arrangements for missing and wanted persons, and on other issues, such as criminal information exchange. Today we are lucky to live in a very safe country. Under our assessment, I am confident that, whether we have a deal or no deal, we will continue to be a very safe country.

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

The arrival of 39 suspected migrants via crossings in just the last two days is a considerable concern to my constituents in Dover and Deal. When will the Home Secretary next meet his French counterpart to discuss this matter? Will the Home Office carry out round-the-clock aerial surveillance urgently? Can he confirm the date on which the two cutters in the Mediterranean will return to be on station to secure our border?

[Sajid Javid]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise this issue. We have started to deploy aerial surveillance of the English channel since I declared a major incident. While we await the arrival of the two cutters in early February, we have increased the presence of vessels, including with help from the Royal Navy. I will be meeting my French counterpart, Minister Castaner, this week.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Charlie Elphicke and Sajid Javid

Monday 27th February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

11. If he will assess the accuracy of the business rates revaluation for Dover district; and if he will make a statement.

[The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Sajid Javid)]

Business rates are based on valuations carried out independently of Ministers by the Valuation Office Agency. My hon. Friend may be reassured to know that the change in average business rates in Dover is largely a consequence of the significant increase in the rateable value of the English side of the channel tunnel.

[Charlie Elphicke]

I thank my right hon. Friend for that very helpful answer. Can he confirm that leaving aside the channel tunnel, which has done very well in recent years and has gone up an awful lot in value, business rates across the Dover district as a whole are down 8%? Will he also look at the case of small businesses and transitional relief as they leave business rate relief?

[Sajid Javid]

I can tell my hon. Friend that as a result of the recent revaluation, the English side of the channel tunnel has seen its rateable value more than double to £35 million, which accounts for roughly a third of the local ratings list. If this were excluded, average rateable values in my hon. Friend’s local authority would fall in line with those in the rest of Kent.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Charlie Elphicke and Sajid Javid

Thursday 3rd July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

5. If his Department will commission research on methods of improving mobile telephone coverage; and if he will make a statement.

[The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Sajid Javid)]

We need to improve mobile coverage in the UK, and I have been discussing with Ofcom and the mobile network operators what more can be done. The mobile infrastructure project will extend coverage to remote and rural areas that currently have no coverage.

[Charlie Elphicke]

Many visitors from the European Union travel by ferry to my constituency of Dover and, because of international roaming, those from France get better mobile coverage than my own constituents. How can this be?

[Sajid Javid]

As usual, my hon. Friend makes a very good point. It is true that French nationals who visit the UK get better coverage than his constituents because of international roaming. I encourage operators in the UK to go further and I am discussing the issue with mobile operators and Ofcom. No firm decisions have been taken at this point, but it is a very important issue.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Charlie Elphicke and Sajid Javid

Thursday 1st May 2014 Commons Chamber

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

T6. Many private sector companies are big supporters of the arts in Britain. Will the Secretary of State tell the House how important he believes that support to be?

[Sajid Javid]

As usual, my hon. Friend raises an important point. Support from the corporate sector for the cultural sector is very important. It amounted to around £110 million last year, almost a fifth of total investment. In the past couple of weeks, I have been to the Globe, which is supported by Deutsche Bank, and the Matisse exhibition at Tate Modern, which is supported and sponsored by Bank of America. Just yesterday I went to the Vikings exhibition at the British Museum, which is supported by BP. It was held in a new exhibition hall, which received the majority of its funding from the Sainsbury family.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Charlie Elphicke and Sajid Javid

Tuesday 11th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

When the last Government were in office, unemployment among young people rose by 45%, so we are not going to listen to any ideas that Labour Members may have about it. The best way of cutting unemployment, whether long-term or otherwise, is to establish a growing economy that creates jobs. In the last four years, our economy has seen 1.3 million jobs created, and more people employed than at any other time in history.

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

Youth unemployment in Dover and Deal has fallen by 25% in the last year, having increased by 50% in the last Parliament. Does that not show that it is important for us not just to have a long-term economic plan that is working but to do more to repair the damage done by the last Labour Government?

[Sajid Javid]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We need to stick to our long-term plan to ensure that we have a growing economy that creates jobs and gives people the financial stability that they need, and the biggest risk to that plan would be our adoption of Labour’s policies of more borrowing, more spending and more debt.

Cost of Living

Debate between Charlie Elphicke and Sajid Javid

Wednesday 27th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. He reminds the House that the previous Government began running a deficit from 2001, way before any financial crisis. They ran a structural deficit from 2006 onwards. Hon. Members will remember that the shadow Chancellor, the right hon. Member for Morley and Outwood (Ed Balls), tried to deny that until he was corrected by the International Monetary Fund.

Without a credible economic plan, we cannot have a plan for helping families with living standards challenges. Anyone, including the Labour party, can come up with a list of interventions, but they are completely meaningless and unsustainable if there is no long-term economic plan to back them up. Labour’s only plan is for more spending, more borrowing and more debt, which is exactly what got us into this mess in the first place.

[Charlie Elphicke]

I have a deep concern that many hard-working people lost earnings when interest was suspended on Co-op bonds in March. I am concerned that, 11 days later, it lent substantial amounts of money to the Labour party. Will the inquiry cover the bank’s relationship with the Co-operative party and whether the bank was unduly influenced by the national executive committee?

[Sajid Javid]

My hon. Friend raises a good point, but he will know that I am not in the best position to answer his question in detail. Perhaps the shadow Chief Secretary will rise to his feet to do so. I understand that he is a Labour and Co-operative Member and receives money from the Co-op. I am happy to give way if he would like to answer the question.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Charlie Elphicke and Sajid Javid

Tuesday 25th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

What I see is jobs being created in the private sector at a record rate in this country—1.3 million jobs in the past three years; a faster rate of job creation than any other G7 country last year. If the hon. Gentleman really cared about his constituents, he would welcome that.

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

What has the effect been of Government policies not just on petrol but on keeping interest rates low, freezing council tax, cutting income tax and helping pensioners?

[Sajid Javid]

My hon. Friend has raised the issue of interest rates. If we had not had a credible policy to deal with the record budget deficit that the previous Government left behind, interest rates would be a lot higher. In fact, in the last Budget delivered by them, interest payments on Government debt would have been £30 billion higher in this Parliament. If interest rates were just 1% higher, mortgages would rise by almost £1,000 a year for the average household.

Royal Bank of Scotland

Debate between Charlie Elphicke and Sajid Javid

Thursday 13th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

The hon. Gentleman raises a good point. That was a problem at the previous regulator, the FSA. When the PRA was set up, its head, Andrew Bailey, prioritised the issue, making sure that he hires the best people and that they are rewarded accordingly, to make sure they can do a good job in looking after the interests of the taxpayer.

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

Given that the taxpayer had to buy the bank and, shamefully, was forced to overpay by £12 billion, may I urge the Minister not only to privatise it as soon as possible, but to consider people’s shares, so that the taxpayers who paid for it have something to show for it?

[Sajid Javid]

I remind my hon. Friend of something I said earlier, which is that we are looking at future plans for the state-owned banking sector but think it prudent to wait for the report from the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards; however, I will take his representation on board.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Charlie Elphicke and Sajid Javid

Tuesday 12th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

Would it ever be a credible policy to borrow more in order to borrow less, or would it simply increase our debt, damage our credit rating and ensure that the country would be in even greater difficulties than it already is thanks to the Labour party?

[Sajid Javid]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. If the country were now following the Labour party’s plans, independent assessments show that the country would be borrowing £200 billion more: more debt, more deficit. As we bring the deficit under control we will be able to invest in things such as broadband plans in Swansea and help growth in this country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Charlie Elphicke and Sajid Javid

Tuesday 11th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

The right hon. Gentleman was a senior member of the previous Government, who, over 13 years, presided over an increase in the number of workless households to a record 3.9 million. In his constituency, in the last Labour term, the number of youth jobseeker’s allowance claimants increased by 148%. I hope that he will join me in welcoming the fact that such claims are down by 19% under this Government.

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

May I ask the Minister to confirm that the previous Government’s child poverty targets were missed by 600,000, that according to the latest figures child poverty fell last year by 300,000 and that universal credit will reduce child poverty further, by up to 350,000?

[Sajid Javid]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The Government are relentlessly focused on eradicating poverty and the measures he has talked about, such as universal credit, increase work incentives and help people back into work.

Fuel Duty

Debate between Charlie Elphicke and Sajid Javid

Monday 12th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right.

[Charlie Elphicke]

There is opportunism not only on fuel duty but on tax avoidance. Under the previous Government, income tax paid by hard-working families in the working nation rose by 81%, but Labour Members let business off the hook, with corporation tax receipts going up by only 6%, because they were so obsessed with the prawn cocktail circuit.

[Sajid Javid]

My hon. Friend has done a lot of work in this area and speaks with great knowledge. He is absolutely right to point out Labour’s inaction.

Fuel Prices and the Cost of Living

Debate between Charlie Elphicke and Sajid Javid

Wednesday 16th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Charlie Elphicke]

rose—

[Sajid Javid (Bromsgrove) (Con)]

rose—

--- Later in debate ---

[Charlie Elphicke]

rose—

[Sajid Javid]

rose—