Oral Answers to Questions

Chris Kelly Excerpts

Wednesday 18th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The fact is that the hon. Gentleman cannot hide from the statistics that show that inequality is down, poverty is down, 3 million of the poorest people have been taken out of income tax altogether, and, most importantly, we have created jobs for tens of thousands of our fellow countrymen and women. Today, we see the unemployment statistics with a record number of people in work. In his constituency—I would have thought he would want to welcome this—the claimant count has fallen by 49% since the election. That is what has happened; that is how we are beating poverty.

[Chris Kelly (Dudley South) (Con)]

Q15. When this Government took office, metal theft was rife, especially in the black country. This Government listened to the all-party group on combating metal theft, banned cash payments, and passed the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013. Once my right hon. Friend has been returned for another term as Prime Minister, what more will he do to ensure that instances of this abhorrent crime reduce still further so that no more church roofs get horrendously damaged and no more trains get stopped in their tracks as a result of sheer greed?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. This is an important line of crime that has been increasing, not least because of the value of this scrap metal. The roof on Witney church in my constituency has been stolen. We have made sure that scrap metal dealers are required to hold licences and councils can revoke a licence at any time. We have banned cash payments to purchase scrap metal, and we have provided £6 million of additional funding for a dedicated national metal theft taskforce. What I will do, if re-elected, is make sure the police continue to have the powers and the ability to crack down on this abhorrent crime.