Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Jones and Philip Hollobone

Thursday 9th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

19. What the UK’s total net financial contribution has been to the EU since the UK joined the European Economic Community.

[The Minister of State, Department for Exiting the European Union (Mr David Jones)]

Neither the United Kingdom, nor the European Union, publishes an aggregate audited figure representing the total net financial contribution since the UK joined the EEC, but details of annual UK public sector contributions to the EU are published in a document entitled “European Union Finances”, the latest edition of which was published in February in 2016.

[Mr Hollobone]

A one-word answer with a figure would have been more helpful than the answer the Minister has given me. I suspect that the answer is that a massive amount of money is being handed over by British taxpayers to the European Union. As in any good divorce, that will entitle us to a huge share of the EU’s assets or to massive financial compensation if we do not get that.

[Mr Jones]

My hon. Friend is right—it is rather a lot; but the issue is to what extent the United Kingdom is liable for payment of anything, and if so, how much. The point is this: the United Kingdom has always adhered to its international treaty obligations, and it will continue to do so. It will adhere to those obligations, but, similarly, it will insist on the rights it has pursuant to those treaties, and that is the basis on which it will approach these negotiations.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Jones and Philip Hollobone

Thursday 26th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jones]

The hon. Gentleman is entirely right. Manufacturing industries are frequently highly integrated across the European Union, and the Prime Minister has made it clear that she seeks customs arrangements that will cater for that. We must bear in mind, however, that when we have left the European Union, the United Kingdom will be the biggest export market for the continuing EU, and it is therefore in our mutual interest to have proper customs arrangements.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

Can my right hon. Friend confirm to manufacturers in Kettering that their prospects for future exports are far brighter outside the European Union because while we are a member, we are forbidden from entering international trade agreements of our own?

[Mr Jones]

My hon. Friend is right to point that out. Once we have left the European Union, we will be in a position to strike free trade agreements around the world, which is precisely what the Department for International Trade is doing right now.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Jones and Philip Hollobone

Thursday 1st December 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jones]

As the hon. Gentleman will know, these matters are currently being litigated in the Supreme Court, which will consider them later this month. The judgment should be delivered before the end of next month.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

Will my right hon. Friend point out to those who are moaning about the potential loss of EU funding that it is our money in the first place, and that for every £1 we get from the European Union, we have to pay £2 to achieve it?

[Mr Jones]

My hon. Friend makes his point precisely; that is exactly the case. There will be substantial savings following our departure from the European Union, with more to invest in the local economies around our country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Jones and Philip Hollobone

Wednesday 9th July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

1. What assessment he has made of the effects on the economy in Wales of fiscal measures taken by the Chancellor of the Exchequer since May 2010.

[The Secretary of State for Wales (Mr David Jones)]

We have announced significant measures to boost growth and support hard-working families. We have cut corporation tax, abolished national insurance contributions for the under-21s and by next April 155,000 people in Wales will have been taken out of income tax altogether.

[Mr Hollobone]

Given that the Chancellor’s decision to cut Britain’s corporation tax rate to the lowest in the G7 is one of the major reasons for Britain’s economic recovery, will my right hon. Friend reject the advice from the shadow Secretary of State that

“reducing headline corporation tax rates does not work”?

[Mr Jones]

My hon. Friend is entirely right. Government analyses have shown that high corporate taxes have a negative impact on investment, jobs and growth, and that is why we are reducing the rate to 20% from next April, the joint lowest rate in the G20. The hon. Member for Pontypridd (Owen Smith) would appear to be at odds with the shadow Chancellor, who has committed himself to low rates of corporate taxation.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Jones and Philip Hollobone

Wednesday 14th May 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jones]

What I recognise fully is that the Labour party is reluctant—in fact, it is refusing—to give the British people a vote on this important issue. So far as business is concerned, the hon. Gentleman ought to understand that 72% of companies interviewed in north America for the Ernst and Young attractiveness survey thought that reduced integration in the EU would make the UK more attractive as a foreign direct investment location. He does not understand that; we do, which is why we can and we will give the people of Wales and Britain a vote on their future in Europe.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

With 300,000 people in Wales being paid less than the living wage, what impact does the Secretary of State consider uncontrolled immigration from the EU is having on wage levels in Wales?

[Mr Jones]

These matters will of course have to form part of the negotiation that we propose. We believe that by and large our membership of the EU has been beneficial for Britain, but clearly the form that we have at the moment needs renegotiation.

Commission on Devolution in Wales

Debate between David Jones and Philip Hollobone

Monday 18th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jones]

I am afraid that I cannot speak on behalf of the users of the Porth or the Treherbert libraries. Those are matters for the hon. Gentleman’s colleagues in the Welsh Assembly Government. None the less, those are important matters. The recommendations have been widely welcomed by all parts of the political spectrum, except of course by the hon. Gentleman.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

I have the greatest respect for the high office of state that my right hon. Friend holds and fills with such distinction. Wales has a Secretary of State and England does not. I fully support his efforts to devolve income tax rates to Wales and to create a competitive tax economy in Wales, but will he ensure that the administrative costs of the Wales Office are met entirely by Welsh taxpayers?

[Mr Jones]

We shall consider that interesting suggestion.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Jones and Philip Hollobone

Wednesday 15th May 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

4. What discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on the effects on the economy in Wales of the Government’s fiscal policies.

[The Secretary of State for Wales (Mr David Jones)]

I have regular discussions with the Welsh Government on economic issues. Action taken by the Government to deal with the deficit has helped keep interest rates at near record lows, helping families and businesses across Wales.

[Mr Hollobone]

How many people in Wales have seen their personal tax-free income tax allowances increase since May 2010, and how many small businesses in Wales are set to benefit from the new £2,000 national insurance employment allowance being introduced next April?

[Mr Jones]

The increase in the personal allowance announced by the Government will benefit 1.1 million taxpayers and remove 130 individuals from paying income tax altogether. More than 35,000 businesses in Wales will benefit from the national insurance employment allowance, with 20,000 of them being taken out of national insurance altogether.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Jones and Philip Hollobone

Wednesday 28th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

9. What departmental savings he plans to make in 2013-14.

[The Secretary of State for Wales (Mr David Jones)]

The Wales Office will be making savings of around £550,000 in 2013-14, which amounts to a 10% saving in its administration budget.

[Mr Hollobone]

With Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland now having Assemblies or Parliaments of their own, many of us would like to see the three territorial Departments rolled into one to save taxpayer funds. Given that that is not part of the coalition’s programme, will my right hon. Friend at least look at more joint working and shared services between the three Departments so as to save money for the taxpayer?

[Mr Jones]

I am pleased to say that that joint working already takes place. In fact, the Wales Office is working actively with the other territorial offices to identify shared working arrangements and we also have a shared parliamentary team. I must take issue with my hon. Friend: I think that Wales benefits immensely from having a Wales Office here at Westminster and I would not want to see it submerged in a quasi-colonial office.

Elections (National Assembly for Wales)

Debate between David Jones and Philip Hollobone

Tuesday 3rd July 2012 Westminster Hall

[Mr Jones]

No, I will not, because I have been left very little time by the hon. Member for Pontypridd.

Under the settlement, the Assembly’s electoral arrangements are not a devolved issue, so constitutionally it is entirely proper for Parliament to consider the question. The issue of the First Minister’s conversation with the Prime Minister has been raised. Let me make the position clear for the record: the Prime Minister’s recollection is that, when he met the First Minister at the Broughton aircraft factory, he told him that the Assembly should be fully engaged in the process. He did not say that the matter was to be decided by the Assembly itself. Frankly, it would have been extraordinary if he had done so, because that is not an option under the devolution settlement. As I have said, the notes from the meeting do not reflect the First Minister’s recollection of what was said.

I repeat that this debate is about a Green Paper, in which the Government are asking important questions about the future conduct of Assembly elections and the make-up of the Assembly itself. It is, as my hon. Friend the Member for Aberconwy (Guto Bebb) has pointed out, a consultative document, and the Assembly, the Assembly Government, Opposition Members—in fact, everybody—are not only free but positively encouraged to play into that process. I have no doubt that the right hon. Member for Torfaen will himself play into it and make submissions to the consultation, which will continue until 13 August.

The Government are seeking to establish whether people think that the Assembly constituency boundaries should reflect the 30 proposed new parliamentary boundaries in Wales, or whether there should remain 40 constituencies, which would have to be of equal, or nearly equal, size. I find it extraordinary when Opposition Members criticise the principle of equality of vote, because it was my understanding that the Labour party—we have been reminded of this by several Opposition Members, most notably the hon. Member for Ynys Môn (Albert Owen)—considers democracy to be important. It is wrong, according to the values of any democracy, that a vote in the constituency of Cardiff South and Penarth should be worth almost twice the value of a vote in Arfon. What is sauce for the parliamentary goose is sauce for the Assembly gander, and that is precisely what we seek to achieve—fairness and equality within the voting system.

We have made it clear, as the hon. Member for Caerphilly (Wayne David) has pointed out, that we favour a move to 30 constituencies that are coterminous with parliamentary constituencies, because that would be cleaner and clearer for the people of Wales. Under such a system, they would know which constituency they were casting their vote in, whether it was at a Westminster or an Assembly election. I do not believe that there is anything controversial about that.

This has been an extraordinary debate, because it should have taken place yesterday in Grand Committee, and it should have lasted for three and a half hours, rather than an hour and a half. I must say that it is because of the ineptitude of the shadow Secretary of State in opposing the motion for a Grand Committee when it was made on the Floor of the House that we did not have the debate yesterday. I do not believe that his party’s Back Benchers are idle or cowardly, but that the hon. Gentleman has completely mishandled the process.

It is also extraordinary that Opposition Members appear to be clamouring for a debate on the Floor of the House about a consultation paper. When the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill was progressing through the House, they clamoured for a Grand Committee on the issue, yet when they were offered a Grand Committee on the Green Paper, they refused it because they wanted a debate on the Floor of the House. This is a question of utter, shambolic inconsistency on the part of Opposition Members in general and the hon. Member for Pontypridd specifically. I realise that he is very new to the job and that he is inexperienced, but it would have been more beneficial to him if he had sought the counsel of the right hon. Members for Torfaen and for Neath (Mr Hain) before he decided, in such a cack-handed manner, to refuse the offer of a debate in Grand Committee.

The Green Paper is an important document. I hope that Opposition Members will play into the process and that the hon. Member for Pontypridd will learn from this experience and exercise a little more caution before shouting, “Object”, on the Floor of the House.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (in the Chair)]

Order. As Members who have just arrived to take part in the next debate will note, we have had a very interesting and lively debate on the electoral arrangements for the National Assembly for Wales. We are now going to have an equally interesting and fascinating debate about East Anglia rail. It gives me great pleasure to call the hon. Member for Suffolk Coastal (Dr Coffey).

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Jones and Philip Hollobone

Wednesday 11th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

3. What mechanisms her Department has used to identify efficiency savings since May 2010.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Mr David Jones)]

Since taking office, we have explored a number of ways to find efficiency savings and we have achieved significant savings, particularly on rail travel and hotel accommodation.

[Mr Hollobone]

Is it the Minister’s intention that the Wales Office should be the most efficient Department in Whitehall? If so, how confident is he that that can be achieved?

[Mr Jones]

We are certainly moving in that direction. Since taking office, we have introduced a rule that no Minister or official should travel first class. That has saved us nearly £92,000 and more than halved our rail costs this year. We have achieved 36% savings under a new Government contract for booking hotel accommodation, and we have halved the number of ministerial cars. From this month, we will no longer have the Jaguar in Wales that the Secretary of State’s predecessor ordered.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Jones and Philip Hollobone

Wednesday 16th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jones]

The line to which the hon. Lady refers is in every economic impact assessment that has been prepared in connection with the current process. That consultation will not be finished until Friday, and all options remain open.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

12. What recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on electrification of the rail network in south Wales.