Oral Answers to Questions

Daniel Kawczynski Excerpts

Wednesday 17th May 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I certainly do believe that. Let me say to those on the SNP Benches that it is only because of the strength of our United Kingdom that we are able to afford interventions to deal with, for instance, the cost of living, providing more than £3,300 for every single family in our United Kingdom which was paid for by a 75% windfall tax on oil and gas companies. That is a United Kingdom delivering on the cost of living.

[Daniel Kawczynski (Shrewsbury and Atcham) (Con)]

Q12.   In 2016 we secured more than £300 million for the modernisation of accident and emergency services in Shropshire, but six years on, the money has still not been spent and construction has not started. The fact that this decision has not been taken leads me to feel real concern about the quality of managers in our local NHS trust. What can my right hon. Friend do to help us in Shropshire to ensure that, finally, this £312 million is spent and A&E services are modernised? There is nothing more important than the safety of constituents who go into A&E units.

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for raising this issue. I know that his constituents are anxious for the building work to get under way as soon as possible, but I also know that the Department of Health and Social Care is working closely with NHS England and the trust to support the development of the scheme. The trust is due to submit plans to the Department in the coming months, and the Department will work apace to review those plans.

Oral Answers to Questions

Daniel Kawczynski Excerpts

Wednesday 26th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Obviously we will be looking at all the ways we can increase the funding available for high-speed rail because, as the hon. Gentleman says, it is very important not only that we achieve high-speed rail between London and Birmingham, but that we build the next stages as well.

[Daniel Kawczynski (Shrewsbury and Atcham) (Con)]

The Prime Minister knows how hard the Shropshire MPs have worked to get a direct train service from London to Shrewsbury. Virgin wants to implement that direct service in December, but unfortunately Network Rail is trying to prevent that from happening. We are the only county town in England without a direct rail service to London. Will he use his good offices to ensure that that blockage is resolved?

[The Prime Minister]

I am happy to tell my hon. Friend that the Transport Secretary will be meeting him next week to discuss the issue. In terms of the answer I just gave on high-speed rail, I think that we have to recognise that there is a lot of congestion on our existing main lines and that high-speed rail will help free up services so that we can have more direct connections, particularly to important towns such as Shrewsbury.

Oral Answers to Questions

Daniel Kawczynski Excerpts

Wednesday 1st December 2010 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right to raise that. Although Cancun will not achieve the binding global agreement that we want, it can make important steps towards that, so we can stay on track. On climate finance, first, we will stick to what was set out previously on the limit in the aid budget for money used for climate change purposes, although there are very real connections between climate change and poverty; and secondly, there is a commitment, which we will keep to, of £2.9 billion for climate change finance. Britain is a leader on that, but as she said, we must look at innovative ways of levering in more money from other parts of the world, including—frankly—from some fast-growing areas which, when Kyoto was first thought of, were very underdeveloped and are now fast-developing countries. We need to help them, but the finance should not flow only from us.

[Daniel Kawczynski (Shrewsbury and Atcham) (Con)]

Will the Prime Minister have urgent talks with the Leader of the House and the Business Secretary on introducing legislation for a national regulator or ombudsman for supermarkets before more suppliers are decimated by their conduct?

[The Prime Minister]

We have new arrangements in terms of ensuring that supermarkets treat farmers fairly. All of us as constituency MPs have heard stories about supermarkets behaving very aggressively towards farmers, and it is right that there is a proper way of trying to police that independently, so that our farmers get a fair deal for the food that they produce.