UK Internal Market
Debate between Clive Jones and Rupa Huq(4 days, 3 hours ago)
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Clive Jones
I only have a few minutes, so I will not. Recent findings from the Federation of Small Businesses have highlighted severe challenges: despite Tory promises of “no more red tape”, many small businesses are finding trading between Great Britain and Northern Ireland laborious and costly. The Chartered Institute of Export and International Trade found that, between 2021 and 2023, since the Brexit deal, 2 billion additional pieces of paperwork had to be completed by exporters. That is nearly enough paperwork to wrap around the Earth 14.7 times.
The FSB report also makes it clear that businesses are not aware of the benefits of the dual market access. It is the Government’s job to add some clarity here. According to the FSB, only 14% of Northern Ireland-based businesses responding to its survey said that they understand and are benefiting from dual market access. The rest either lack sufficient understanding to benefit from it or have not been able to leverage it. Some 51% of respondents believe this opportunity is not being adequately explained or promoted by Government authorities. We have to ask why.
Does the Minister not agree that further clarity, communication and support from the Government would benefit businesses across the whole of the UK, and trade with Northern Ireland? We are right to ask why the Northern Irish Government is not doing more to help local businesses, especially small and medium-sized businesses. It is clear that Labour must take a more pragmatic approach with the EU and foster a closer relationship for the benefit of Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England.
A closer relationship with the EU will also help solve the UK’s skills shortages, especially in Northern Ireland. According to a report by Ulster University’s economic policy centre, Northern Ireland needs more than 5,000 additional workers to grow its economy. Does the Minister not agree that a closer relationship with the EU and introducing a youth mobility scheme would be the perfect way to help solve that issue?
Not only would a closer relationship with the EU benefit Northern Irish jobs and its economy, but a new trade deal would boost the entire UK economy and provide revenue for our public services. A customs union with the EU would add up to £25 billion to the Government coffers. Labour say it wants growth, yet the Government shy away from a new deal with the EU that would cut the costly red tape that is holding so many small businesses back.
I am running out of time, so I will move to the end of my speech. Growth is possible for the UK, and, whether that is through a new deal with the EU or a fairer deal for our SMEs and industries, Northern Ireland deserves economic prosperity after years of economic neglect. The Good Friday agreement brought peace, but it did not bring prosperity, and the Conservatives’ Brexit deal has clearly not brought prosperity either.
Dr Rupa Huq (in the Chair)
I call the shadow Minister in His Majesty’s loyal Opposition, Andrew Griffith.
Prostate Cancer Treatment
Debate between Clive Jones and Rupa Huq(1 month, 1 week ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)
Joe Biden’s recent diagnosis has to some extent put prostate cancer in the spotlight of late, but it is not just him—there is Stephen Fry, Jools Holland and Robert De Niro. More than 50,000 men in the UK and 1.4 million men worldwide are diagnosed with prostate cancer yearly, which is projected to double by 2040. With one in eight men diagnosed during their life, it is the most common male cancer. More than half of those men are pre-retirement age, such as the cyclist Sir Chris Hoy, who was diagnosed at 48, but 70-plus is the most common age.
My late dad was 69 when he was diagnosed. He left this earth just shy of his 79th birthday in August 2014, so he had 10 years. It is often said that men die with prostate cancer, not of it. With my dad, it spread to bone cancer, but pneumonia was actually the cause of death on the certificate. I miss him every day.
Treatment for prostate cancer has improved dramatically since then. One crucial breakthrough is the development of the drug abiraterone, a Great British success story discovered and initially developed in London at the Institute of Cancer Research. It is a shining example of British science leading the world and revolutionising advanced prostate cancer care.
Clive Jones (Wokingham) (LD)
Will the hon. Member reiterate a question that I have for the Minister? Specifically, given that abiraterone is already approved for use in Scotland and Wales, what action is the Minister taking to ensure that men in England are not disadvantaged in accessing lifesaving cancer treatments?
Dr Huq
The hon. Member reads my mind about the postcode lottery, which I will come to in my list of questions. I know that my hon. Friend the Minister is very sympathetic and on the right side.
Abiraterone is now a global drug. Half a million men around the world have had transformed outcomes, improved quality of life and extra years spent with loved ones.