Oral Answers to Questions

Craig Whittaker Excerpts

Wednesday 24th April 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I think the whole House will have heard, despite all the bluster from the right hon. Lady, not a single word on whether she would actually back our plans to invest in our armed forces. No plans, in a dangerous world. Of course, as ever, the deputy Labour leader is always looking to attack others’ failures, but never one to take responsibility for her own. She once said, “You shouldn’t be waiting for the police to bang on your door. If you did it, then you shouldn’t be doing your job.” The right hon. landlady should forget her tax advice and follow her own advice.

[Craig Whittaker (Calder Valley) (Con)]

Q4. Levelling up, which my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent North (Jonathan Gullis) mentioned earlier, is absolutely on fire in the Calder Valley, with £196.5 million for hospital reconfiguration, £150 million for flood defences, no fewer than 11 schools being remodelled or rebuilt as we speak, £45 million for the regeneration of three town centres and Elland getting a new railway station. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the naysayers around levelling up need look no further than the Calder Valley to see the great achievements of this Government?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend is right; it is not just in the Calder Valley, but in communities up and down the country. The Government are investing billions in infrastructure across the United Kingdom, creating jobs and opportunities in every region. I know that he has been a staunch advocate for the Calder Valley, which is a fantastic example of that in action.