Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Cabinet Office

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Mackinlay of Richborough Excerpts
Wednesday 12th July 2023

(1 year, 5 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Oliver Dowden Portrait The Deputy Prime Minister
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We of course will continue to invest in renewables, but I say to the Scottish National party that we should also invest in our energy independence, and that means investing in the North sea. If we fail to invest in the North sea, we will be more reliant on foreign producers and we will have higher carbon emissions as we import from elsewhere.

Lord Mackinlay of Richborough Portrait Craig Mackinlay (South Thanet) (Con)
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Q2.   If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 12 July.

Oliver Dowden Portrait The Deputy Prime Minister
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My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister is in Vilnius, attending the NATO summit. It is an opportunity to build on the work we have done over the past year, strengthening NATO and supporting Ukraine. In addition to my meetings in this House, I shall have further such meetings later today.

Lord Mackinlay of Richborough Portrait Craig Mackinlay
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New Labour’s old mantra was “Education, education, education.” Its new one seems to be “Tax education, tax education, tax education.” Does the Deputy Prime Minister share my disgust at Labour’s plans to tax education of choice, which could lead to 40,000 pupils being sent into the state sector, with a cost to the taxpayer? A number of English language schools in my constituency are concerned that this will also apply to them, as well as to out-of-hours tuition and sports training. Does the Deputy Prime Minister object to those measures as strongly as I do?

Oliver Dowden Portrait The Deputy Prime Minister
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Once again, we have seen the Labour party putting the politics of envy above the interests of children in this country. As my hon. Friend rightly highlights, recent analysis shows that it could lead to over 40,000 pupils leaving the schools they are in, placing further burdens on existing schools and costing £300 million.