Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Mackinlay of Richborough and Oliver Dowden

Wednesday 12th July 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

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.

[Craig Mackinlay (South Thanet) (Con)]

Q2.   If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 12 July.

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

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.

[Craig Mackinlay]

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?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

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.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Mackinlay of Richborough and Oliver Dowden

Wednesday 17th May 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I can absolutely assure the hon. Lady that we remain fully committed to those 40 hospitals from our manifesto. Indeed, we have already provided £3.9 billion-worth of initial capital.

[Craig Mackinlay (South Thanet) (Con)]

Q2. I have a serious matter affecting every constituency to bring to my right hon. Friend’s attention. Amazon has been facilitating the sale of counterfeit postage stamps from China, which are virtually perfect except for the barcode. I have contacted the National Crime Agency and National Trading Standards, and I am afraid that I have received woeful responses. I have now sent my concerns to the Serious Fraud Office and the City of London police’s economic crime unit. Amazon is patently facilitating remittances of illegally gotten cash, and I believe this is in contravention of the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981. Will he assist me in taking this further?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

May I pay tribute to my hon. Friend? I know how hard he has been campaigning on this important issue. The Home Secretary will have heard his remarks. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill will put duties on those platforms. Ultimately, if fraud is being perpetrated, the police should take action.