Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Linden and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 17th November 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

—but I will look at it very carefully. I am sure there is an excellent case in there somewhere.

[David Linden (Glasgow East) (SNP)]

Q13. Every year, 100,000 babies are born premature or sick in the UK and admitted to neonatal intensive care units. The Prime Minister will be aware that today is World Prematurity Day. There is cross-party agreement in the House to bring forward neonatal leave and pay. Rather than wait for a complex and controversial employment Bill, will the Prime Minister bring forward a standalone Bill to legislate for that, so that next World Prematurity Day the 100,000 babies and their parents do not have to choose between spending time in the hospital or unpaid leave from work?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman is a passionate campaigner in this area. One way or another—I will get back to him on the exact way—we will legislate to allow parents of children in neonatal care to take extended leave, giving them more time during the most vulnerable and stressful days of their lives.

G20 and COP26 World Leaders Summit

Debate between David Linden and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 3rd November 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for the point that he makes, and I understand why he should be anxious, but I talked to both President Xi and President Putin and it was clear: they said that the pandemic precluded them from coming. I understand the situation that they are in. They have very senior negotiators in Glasgow as we speak—Xie is a very senior operative in the Chinese system—and we have to hope for results. In the end, the change is going to be driven not just by the feelings of people in the western democracies, but by the political pressure and the pressure from business that is already being felt in China, and in Russia as well.

[David Linden (Glasgow East) (SNP)]

I was pleased to see reference in the Prime Minister’s statement to action on trees. He will be aware that in Scotland we produce 80% of woodland planting across these islands, not least because of small groups such as the one at Mount Vernon community hall, which has made a real effort on biodiversity. What more can the Prime Minister do elsewhere in the UK to try to get action on tree planting and follow the lead of Scotland, and indeed of Mount Vernon?

[The Prime Minister]

I congratulate Scottish tree-planting groups on the initiatives that they have taken. The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right that huge numbers of trees are planted in Scotland. We want to see the rest of the UK catch up and do better; I am afraid that the rates did decline a bit during the pandemic. We have to accelerate. What my hon. Friend the Member for Colne Valley (Jason McCartney) said just now about “Plant a tree for the jubilee” is absolutely right.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Linden and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 19th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes. That is why we are investing, for instance, £3.6 million from the getting building fund for the development of Pioneer Place, and Burnley will also benefit from our high streets taskforce, but what Burnley and towns across the country need more than anything else is passionate leadership, such as my hon. Friend shows, in championing their localities and getting the right investment in.

[David Linden (Glasgow East) (SNP)]

The Prime Minister will be aware of Pladis’s proposal to close the McVitie’s factory in Glasgow’s east end, placing at risk 470 jobs. So will he join me in engaging with Pladis’s global CEO, Salman Amin, and call upon him to rethink his plans, which would definitely unleash economic armageddon on a very fragile part of the local economy?

[The Prime Minister]

McVitie’s has been a proud part of the Scottish economy since 1800, and I know that people at the Tollcross factory and their relatives will be very concerned about what is happening. I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising it. I know that conversations are now going on to see what we can do. I think it is the Turkish company that now owns McVitie’s, and I know that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland is meeting the hon. Gentleman to discuss the situation.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between David Linden and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 12th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes a very good point about the rates of infection of the B.1.617.2 variant, as we should probably call it. At the moment the cases look as though they are about 860 or so, but there may be more. It may be more transmissible—it may be considerably more transmissible. We are looking at all the potential solutions for the surges we are seeing in Bolton and elsewhere, including the one that he describes, though that is not top of the list at the moment.

[David Linden (Glasgow East) (SNP)]

The Prime Minister said in his statement that the public inquiry, which I certainly welcome,

“will place the state’s actions under the microscope.”

The Prime Minister is, of course, First Lord of the Treasury, and he has said many times before that this Government have put their arms around people financially. Can he tell us why, therefore, people on legacy benefits did not get the £20 uplift that people on universal credit got?

[The Prime Minister]

This country has done everything it can to support people throughout the pandemic, with the increasing of universal credit, with a furlough scheme, and with loans, credits and grants, which I think most people around the world would consider among the most generous, if not the single most generous regime that any country put in place. I think that was the right thing to do, and we will continue to support people for as long as the pandemic endures.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Linden and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 10th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

That is absolutely true. It is Conservative Governments who invest in Eastleigh; it is Conservative Governments putting £640 billion into an infrastructure revolution. I congratulate Jerry Hall on what he is doing to resurface the road and to make it quieter, and I hope that he will be duly elected in May.

[David Linden (Glasgow East) (SNP)]

In extending the £20 uplift to universal credit, which we welcomed at the beginning of the pandemic, the Prime Minister was clearly conceding that social security support in the UK is inadequate, so while I welcome the fact that it has been extended for six months, I would like to see it being made permanent. But can he tell the House why, if it was so inadequate, it was not extended to those on legacy benefits, such as disabled people?

[The Prime Minister]

Throughout the pandemic we have done whatever we can to look after people throughout the country, whether those on benefits or those who have lost their jobs, sadly, because of the pandemic. I am very proud of what universal credit has been able to achieve, and I think that the hon. Gentleman should perhaps take it up with his friends in the Labour party who actually want to abolish universal credit.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Linden and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 10th February 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I must say that I reject entirely what the right hon. Gentleman has just said. I do not believe that any Government could have done more to help the people of this country throughout this pandemic, and we will continue to do so. Yes, of course we bitterly lament and reject the poverty that some families unquestionably suffer. It is tragic that too many families have had a very tough time during the pandemic, but we will continue to support them in all the ways that we have set out. I may say to the right hon. Gentleman that there is a profound philosophical difference between him and me; the Scottish nationalist party is morphing into an ever more left-wing party that believes—

[David Linden (Glasgow East) (SNP)]

Hear, hear!

European Union (Future Relationship) Bill

Debate between David Linden and Boris Johnson

2nd reading & 2nd reading: House of Commons
Wednesday 30th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

That is absolutely right, and the voice of Brixham should be heard up and down the country because that point is entirely correct and might be registered with advantage by the right hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber (Ian Blackford).

I have always recognised that this was going to be a difficult period for our European friends and partners, because they have been fishing in these waters for decades, if not centuries. At first, as the House will know, they sought an adjustment period of 14 years, but our negotiators whittled that down to five and a half years, during which the UK’s share—[Interruption.] In that five and a half years, the UK’s share of our fish in our waters will rise from over half today, to around two-thirds. Of course we would like to have done that more quickly, but it is also true that once the adjustment period comes to an end there will be no limit, other than limits that are placed by the needs of science and conservation, on our ability to make use of our marine wealth.

Fifteen per cent. of the EU’s historic catch from our waters will be returned to this country next year alone. To prepare our fishing communities for that moment, we will invest £100 million in a programme to modernise their fleets and the fish processing industry—[Interruption.] The hon. Member for Glasgow East (David Linden) should listen to this, because we will be restoring a great British industry to the eminence that it deserves, levelling up communities across the UK, particularly and including Scotland where, in my view, those interests have been neglected for too long.

I find it extraordinary that on the eve of this great opportunity, the declared position of the Scottish National national/nationalist party—with a small “n”—is to hand control of the very waters we have just reclaimed straight back to the EU. That is its policy. It plans to ensnare Scotland’s fishing fleet in the dragnets of the common fisheries policy all over again. In the meantime, guess what SNP Members will do today, Mr Speaker. They are going to vote today for a no-deal Brexit! [Interruption.] Perhaps the hon. Member for Glasgow East will tell me that he is going to vote for the deal.

[David Linden (Glasgow East) (SNP)]

I am immensely grateful to the Prime Minister for briefly pausing that monologue that was designed for the European Research Group. On fish, he is waxing lyrical about how amazing this deal is, but I would like to read him a quote from Andrew Locker, chair of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, who says:

“I am angry, disappointed and betrayed. Boris Johnson promised us the rights to all the fish that swim in our exclusive economic zone and we have got a fraction of that.”

Is he wrong?

[The Prime Minister]

I am afraid that yes, he is. We will take back control not only by becoming an independent coastal state from 1 January, but in five and a half years’ time, we will be able to fish every single fish in our waters, if we so choose. That is the reality. In the meantime, as I say, and the hon. Gentleman did not deny it—I don’t think I heard him deny it—the Scottish National party is going to vote against the deal. It is effectively going to vote for no deal, which it campaigned against and denounced, proving once and for all, that the interests of Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland are best served by a one-nation party serving one United Kingdom.

This deal was negotiated—the hon. Gentleman should know this—by a big team from every part of our United Kingdom, and it serves the whole of the UK, not least by protecting the integrity of the United Kingdom single internal market, and Northern Ireland’s place within it. Our points-based immigration system will end free movement and give us full control over who enters the country. By the way, on that point I want to thank my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster for all he did to protect the interests of Northern Ireland.

At the same time, the deal provides certainty for airlines and hauliers who have suffered grievously during this pandemic. It guarantees the freedom of British citizens to travel to and from the EU and retain access to healthcare. It provides certainty for our police, our border forces, and our security agencies to work alongside our European friends to keep our people safe, and the SNP are going to vote against that, Mr Speaker. The deal provides certainty for our partnerships on scientific research, because we want our country to be a science superpower, but also a collaborative science superpower. It provides certainty for business, from financial services to our world-leading manufacturers, including our car industry, safeguarding highly skilled jobs and investment across our country. As for the Leader of the Opposition, I am delighted that he has found yet another position on Brexit, and, having plunged down every blind alley and exhausted every possible alternative, he has come to the right conclusion—namely, to vote for this agreement, which this Government have secured.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Linden and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 9th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Indeed; I was astounded to see that 42 Opposition Members wrote to the Home Secretary opposing the deportation of foreign national criminals, while the leader of the Labour party maintained his characteristic delphic silence on the matter.

[David Linden (Glasgow East) (SNP)]

Why does the Prime Minister think we have now seen 15 consecutive polls showing majority support for Scottish independence?

Covid-19: Winter Plan

Debate between David Linden and Boris Johnson

Monday 23rd November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, indeed; we will share all the relevant scientific evidence with my right hon. Friend and the House.

[David Linden (Glasgow East) (SNP)]

Showpeople who run our fairs and showgrounds have been adhering to lockdown rules since March, but because they do not have fixed premises, they are not eligible for rates relief or many other aspects of financial support. Will the Prime Minister agree to meet me and the Showmen’s Guild to look at how we can support people who run our fairs and showgrounds?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman will have to forgive me; I think that was a request to meet him. I am very happy to ensure that his request is taken up at the appropriate ministerial level. I think his question was about support for those who have suffered during lockdown. I am more than happy to do what I can to help.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between David Linden and Boris Johnson

Monday 12th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I understand my hon. Friend’s anxieties and the anxieties of the people of Rushcliffe, and we will keep all restrictions under constant review in order to remove them as soon as we possibly can.

[David Linden (Glasgow East) (SNP)]

It is quite clear, as we move into further restrictions and with the virus increasing, that we are not going to go back to live music anytime soon. My Belvidere constituent, Craig Johnston, came to see me at my surgery on Friday, and he is concerned by the lack of support for people in the live music industry. What is the Prime Minister going to do for Craig?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman is right to raise that issue, and that is why we put £1.57 billion into supporting the arts. That funding also covers freelancers and people who are involved in the live music industry, but the best thing for them is to get those types of events back up and running as fast as possible.

Covid-19

Debate between David Linden and Boris Johnson

Tuesday 22nd September 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for the way he represents Blyth Valley. I can tell him that we will continue to listen to people and to respond to their concerns in any way that we can.

[David Linden (Glasgow East) (SNP)]

With 2.4 million households in the UK facing fuel poverty this winter, a figure that will only be exacerbated by the pandemic, will the Prime Minister consider introducing a one-off covid-19 winter fuel payment to every household at risk?

[The Prime Minister]

We will consider all sorts of measures to alleviate poverty and suffering in the months ahead. The best thing we can do is to follow this package of measures scrupulously, drive down the virus and keep the economy moving.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Linden and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 9th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I understand that the council concerned has acknowledged the failures and the improvements that are needed. For our part, we are reviewing the oversight of special educational needs schools and will be commissioning a new round of inspections by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission. I am happy to write to my hon. Friend further about that issue.

[David Linden (Glasgow East) (SNP)]

The Prime Minister is aware of the tragic case of Mercy Baguma, who three weeks ago was found dead in her Glasgow flat with her starving one-year-old son, Adriel, lying next to her. Thankfully, little Adriel has made a recovery, and he was running around my constituency office on Friday when his father Eric came to meet me. Adriel has been through more than any one-year-old should ever have to go through, and his future hangs in limbo while the Home Office prolongs his father’s asylum application. Will the Prime Minister agree to organise a meeting between me and the Home Secretary to look at Eric’s case and make sure that the family can go forward with certainty after such a difficult time?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Gentleman, and I know that the whole House will join me in sending our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Mercy Baguma. We take very seriously the wellbeing of all who are in the asylum system, and I can assure him that the relevant Minister will take up that particular case with him.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Linden and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 13th May 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As ever, I hear what my hon. Friend says about the Electoral Commission. What I can say is that, for the people who were investigated, I hope that all those who spent so much time, energy and effort drawing attention to their supposed guilt will now spend as much time and energy and ink and air time drawing attention to their genuine innocence.

[David Linden (Glasgow East) (SNP) [V]]

As we moved into lockdown, some of Glasgow’s vulnerable asylum seekers were moved from safe accommodation into city hotels where social distancing is harder to enforce. It is clear that the Home Office is not currently doing enough to protect and look after those who seek refuge in our city. Will the Prime Minister urgently trigger a full Home Office review into the support being provided to asylum seekers and ensure that they work with key partners in the council so that they are not left destitute once the lockdown is lifted?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman draws attention to a very important issue. We will make sure that nobody in this country, let alone asylum seekers, is ill-treated. I shall certainly be investigating the matter to which he refers, but am happy to write to him.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Linden and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 6th May 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend and congratulate him on the way he represents his constituents in Barrow. He is exactly right. That is why, among other things, we are ensuring that there are extra computers and laptops for disadvantaged communities, while making sure that we supply them with more 4G routers, which are invaluable at this particularly difficult time. There will be more to come, because this Government will pursue our agenda of uniting and levelling up across the whole UK.

[David Linden (Glasgow East) (SNP) [V]]

Since the Government lowered their benefit cap threshold in 2015, it has been frozen, which essentially means a real-terms cut every year for those affected. The Child Poverty Action Group, the Resolution Foundation and the Institute for Fiscal Studies are just some of the voices calling on the Government to remove the cap as part of their response to coronavirus. We know that 93% of households affected by the cap have children, and that ultimately it is those children who are losing out as a result of this policy, so will the Prime Minister do the right thing and scrap the cap?

[The Prime Minister]

I think the hon. Gentleman is asking for the cap on benefits to be lifted. As I have just told the House, already a total of £7 billion extra has gone into universal credit alone.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Linden and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 26th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Be careful what you wish for! I will look at what I can do to be there in person and support what sounds like an excellent scheme.

[David Linden (Glasgow East) (SNP)]

Q14. As we have seen today, religious intolerance in India is on the rise—whether through the anti-Muslim citizenship laws, or Christians whose prayer meetings are disturbed and who are then subjected to brutal beatings. Will the Prime Minister agree to meet me and representatives from Christian Solidarity Worldwide to look more closely at the issue and ensure that India upholds freedom of religion or belief?

European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill

Debate between David Linden and Boris Johnson

2nd reading: House of Commons & Programme motion: House of Commons
Tuesday 22nd October 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

No, I won’t give way.

[David Linden (Glasgow East) (SNP)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker.

Prime Minister's Update

Debate between David Linden and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 25th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I can certainly give the hon. Gentleman that assurance. I am not aware of any such muzzling, except, of course, the muzzling of the Leader of the Opposition, who has been tragically forbidden by his colleagues from going for a general election.

[David Linden (Glasgow East) (SNP)]

We know that when the Prime Minister was a student in the Bullingdon club, he used to go round smashing up restaurants and vandalising places, but he now seems intent on doing that to our institutions, whether it be the judiciary, the constitution or Parliament. When will he realise that he is no longer in the Bullingdon club, but that he is the Prime Minister of our country and start behaving like it?

[The Prime Minister]

The best thing we can all do for the institutions of our country and the respect in which they are held is to deliver on the mandate of the people and get Brexit done. [Interruption.] If the right hon. Member for Islington North does not like the policy that I am embarked on, he is at liberty, even at this late hour, even at 9 o’clock, to go for a general election.

Early Parliamentary General Election (No. 2)

Debate between David Linden and Boris Johnson

Monday 9th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Thank you, Mr Speaker, for your characteristically impartial judgment.

The Leader of the Opposition: there he sits. His party is paid £10 million by the taxpayer and he himself is entitled to more than £140,000 of taxpayers’ money, yet today we see the extraordinary spectacle of the entire Opposition collectively deciding to abrogate their most fundamental responsibility. They have their job. They know what they should be doing. In this era of creative litigation, are there not grounds for legal challenge to compel them to do it? [Interruption.] Hon. Members can have their say in a minute. I am concluding my remarks.

Sometimes the Leader of the Opposition says that we should leave the EU; sometimes he says that we should have another referendum; sometimes he says that we should negotiate a new deal; sometimes he says that he would accept whatever Brussels offers. Over the past few days, the Labour party has said that it wants to delay Brexit, then negotiate a new deal, then have another referendum, then campaign against its own deal in that referendum. Perhaps its next policy will be to have a referendum on whether to have a referendum.

The Leader of the Opposition cannot lead. He cannot make a decision. He cannot work out whether he is for Brexit or against it—for a referendum or against it. The only options that he likes are dither and delay. I say to Opposition Members—[Interruption.]

[David Linden (Glasgow East) (SNP)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Linden and Boris Johnson

Tuesday 9th January 2018 Commons Chamber

[Boris Johnson]

I have every confidence in our Border Force and its ability to police the traffic of illegal items such as ivory. It should be evident, I hope, to everybody coming from another country with such an illegal item in their possession that they face the risk not only of prosecution, but of jail.

[David Linden (Glasgow East) (SNP)]

According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, rhino poaching in South Africa increased by 7,700% between 2007 and 2013. People in Broomhouse want to know what support the Secretary of State has offered his South African counterpart to help global campaigning to end this trade once and for all.

[Boris Johnson]

I can tell the hon. Gentleman that the Minister for Africa has raised that very matter with the South African Government only recently.

Zimbabwe

Debate between David Linden and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 15th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Boris Johnson]

To the best of my knowledge, I do not think that we are engaged in that way in Zimbabwe for historical reasons that I am sure my hon. Friend will understand. If we can achieve the reform that we want and if Zimbabwe goes down the path that is now potentially open to it, that is not to say that the UK could not in the future be engaged in exactly that kind of assistance.

[David Linden (Glasgow East) (SNP)]

I am grateful to my colleague from the all-party parliamentary group on Zimbabwe for securing this urgent question. I share the view that Zimbabwe cannot move from having a despot in charge to having a bampot in charge, and I hope that we can see early free and fair elections.

What discussions has the Foreign Secretary had with the Home Secretary regarding Zimbabwean nationals who may be due for return to Zimbabwe? There is clearly a volatile environment in Zimbabwe at the moment, so it is important that he has that conversation with the Home Secretary.

[Boris Johnson]

As constituency MPs, I am sure that many of us have met Zimbabweans who are in exactly that situation. If the hon. Gentleman has any particular cases that he wants to raise, I would be happy to pass them on.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Linden and Boris Johnson

Tuesday 17th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[David Linden (Glasgow East) (SNP)]

1. What recent discussions he has had with representatives from other UN Security Council member states on the protection of civilians in Libya.

[The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Boris Johnson)]

I have regular discussions with our P3 partners—the French and the Americans—and with Italy, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates on how we can bring together the international community in support of the United Nations plan for Libya, which in our view offers by far the best hope for that country and the best prospect of security for all its people.

[David Linden]

The Foreign Secretary has been widely deplored for stating that Sirte could be the new Dubai if

“they…clear the dead bodies away.”

This is just the latest gaffe from the Foreign Secretary. Will he do the right thing and apologise, or will he resign?

[Boris Johnson]

We must all be aware of the reality in Libya, and indeed in Sirte: there is a tragic absence of security and the problems of that city have yet to be resolved. But when they are resolved—they will be addressed, and are being, with the help of this country—the people of Libya will indeed have fantastic economic prospects, and that is the objective of this Government.