Oral Answers to Questions

David Rutley Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd February 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

First of all, let me tell the hon. Lady what we have done so far. Obviously, she knows about the 20,000 relocation scheme, under which we got 1,000 people in by Christmas, including many vulnerable children. That is going well. Fewer people are aware of the fact that, through our normal asylum processes, we took around 2,500 unaccompanied children last year. Kent social services are looking after about 1,000 children and facing great pressures. Another point that people do not always recognise is that if unaccompanied children in Europe claim asylum in the country they are in, and if they have direct family in Britain, under the Dublin regulations they can come to Britain. We think that is the right approach—taking some more people from the region, but being very cautious because all the evidence shows that even an orphan child may well have some broader family that they are connected to and it is better to keep the child with them.

[David Rutley (Macclesfield) (Con)]

Q12. Given the security threats faced by this country, whose policies are most dangerous—those in Scotland who want to scrap our nuclear deterrent completely, or those in the Labour party who want to keep Trident submarines without nuclear missiles?

[The Prime Minister]

It is hard to choose between the wrong or the bizarre. You can take your pick. Labour’s latest plan is to use Trident submarines to transport military personnel around the world. It is the most expensive Uber service that anyone has ever thought of. You do wonder what on earth they will think of next.

Humanitarian Crisis in the Mediterranean and Europe

David Rutley Excerpts

Wednesday 9th September 2015 Commons Chamber

[Victoria Atkins]

I will come on to the hon. Lady’s point in terms of what can be managed locally, but if I may, I will continue to talk about the text of the motion, which I hope will develop my argument and counter her point.

The text refers to refugees in Europe being absorbed as part of the humanitarian response. Given what the mayor of Calais said yesterday, how do we choose who to take out of the 3,500 people currently in Calais? How do we say to someone, “No, we’re not going to resettle you or give you a home because you are from Eritrea rather than from Syria”?

We must also take into account the very practical problems on the ground in Calais, such as the deliberate destruction of paperwork. When people are trafficked, the criminal gangs tell them, “Destroy your paperwork—then they can’t tell where you come from and send you back.” Although I understand the call to accept refugees who are already in Europe, how on earth can that be accomplished realistically, given such practicalities? Is not the much better approach to take people who we know are Syrian refugees in refugee camps in that area? They are in desperate need, because they are the most vulnerable and are often unable to make the journeys that some people in Europe have made.

[David Rutley (Macclesfield) (Con)]

My hon. Friend is making a very important and impassioned speech. She has made the important point that this is not just about Europe, but is wider than that. Does she share my pleasure that the Prime Minister said in his remarks on Monday that, as well as Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, he would encourage other Arab nations, such as Saudi Arabia, to take on further responsibilities to ensure that not only countries in Europe but those in the region take greater responsibility for this very important task?

[Victoria Atkins]

Indeed. As I have said, this is a worldwide humanitarian crisis and it demands a worldwide response. We would hope that other nations in the middle east, who are closer than we are to Syria, could begin to play their part.

We must not ignore the role that criminal gangs play in this incredibly important and emotive issue. They are profiting from this situation. In my previous life, I prosecuted serious organised crime. A couple of years ago, I worked on a case in which we prosecuted the biggest gang trafficking people from Iraq. At that time, although it may since have changed, the going rate for each person trying to get from Iraq to the UK was £15,000. Let us not do anything to help these criminals, but make it as difficult as possible for them to operate and to ply their trade. That is why I believe it is so important to focus on refugee camps, rather than on people who are already in Europe. By focusing on the camps, we can help to prevent people from making such treacherous journeys across from Syria to European soil.

What should our approach be in the UK? We must ensure that every offer of help from our local councils and charities is part of a clear-headed and realistic approach to accommodating such people and giving them the care that they need not just now, but in the years ahead. We must listen to our local areas to ensure that they are asked to help only in ways that they can manage. Frankly, some areas will be able to help more than others, because of the availability of housing stock and so on.

I am very pleased to have had many conversations with the leader of my council, East Lindsey District Council, to see what we can realistically do in the years ahead. There have been lots of conversations in the House about how we can help locally. One idea I may propose is for my council to set up a fund to which local people can donate money so that it can be used to help Syrian refugees. I would be interested to hear the ideas of other hon. Members.

Any help given locally must be manageable, not just now but in the longer term. Sadly, this issue is not going to go away. The issue of humanitarian and refugee needs will remain with us for as long as there is conflict in the world. A measured, reasoned and principled approach is therefore vital. That is why I am so pleased by the measures announced by the Prime Minister this week and the action we have taken in the past two years.

Oral Answers to Questions

David Rutley Excerpts

Wednesday 18th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary is working hard, as part of her work on combating extremism, to ensure that those sorts of messages are disrupted so that young people in our country understand the huge risks they would face were they to break the law and go over to Syria to do jihad.

[David Rutley (Macclesfield) (Con)]

6. What progress her Department has made on its work to end aid dependency.

[The Secretary of State for International Development (Justine Greening)]

The route to ending aid dependency is through inclusive growth, creating jobs, raising incomes and increasing tax revenue. We have set out priorities in a strategic framework for economic development and will more than double our spending on economic development to £1.8 billion in 2015-16.

[David Rutley]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is vital not only to target aid at those who need it most, but to establish new models—business and social models—to help with health and hygiene as well as livelihoods in the communities that need it most?

[Justine Greening]

My hon. Friend is right to point out that our work on livelihoods can have far broader effects—for example, work with private sector companies such as Unilever can not only help to raise incomes and prosperity, but be a route by which employees can, in that example, improve health and hygiene measures.

Oral Answers to Questions

David Rutley Excerpts

Wednesday 9th April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

We have had a chance this week to remember the terrible tragedy of the events that took place in Rwanda back in 1994. When we look at progress against the millennium development goals, we know that hardly any has been made in the sort of countries to which the right hon. Gentleman refers, because conflict holds back development. That is why we will continue to focus our efforts on those states to help their people.

[David Rutley (Macclesfield) (Con)]

T2. What progress is the Government’s International Citizens Service entrepreneur programme making in helping entrepreneurs and small businesses in developing economies?

[Justine Greening]

At the end of March, I launched the International Citizens Service entrepreneur scheme. This builds on the successful ICS programme that this Government have introduced. It is about matching young people with businesses and entrepreneurs in developing countries, and it focuses on economic development. The programme has had a fantastic response, and the first volunteers will be on their placements this summer. [Interruption.]

Oral Answers to Questions

David Rutley Excerpts

Wednesday 12th December 2012 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[David Rutley (Macclesfield) (Con)]

1. What recent assessment she has made of her Department’s relationship with the Indian Government.

[Mr Mark Spencer (Sherwood) (Con)]

7. What recent assessment she has made of her Department’s relationship with the Indian Government.

[The Secretary of State for International Development (Justine Greening)]

I held constructive meetings with senior politicians and officials in India last month. We agreed the move to a new relationship based on technical assistance rather than financial aid grants. I announced this in my written ministerial statement of 9 November.

[David Rutley]

Does my right hon. Friend agree with the Indian Foreign Minister, Salman Khurshid, who has spoken of the need to move from an era of aid to an era of trade?

[Justine Greening]

That is precisely the transition that I believe we are walking towards with India. Our trade with India has grown in recent years, with exports to India growing by more than 20% in 2010. Our development relationship needs to match the changing and successful India we see today, and that is precisely what we are doing.

Oral Answers to Questions

David Rutley Excerpts

Wednesday 11th July 2012 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[David Rutley (Macclesfield) (Con)]

1. What progress his Department has made on its objectives for water and sanitation set out in the bilateral aid review.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development (Mr Stephen O'Brien)]

As is made transparent in the Department for International Development’s annual report, since 2010 the United Kingdom has given 2 million people access to clean drinking water, 2 million people improved access to sanitation and 7.4 million people improved hygiene services. The right hon. Member for Leeds Central (Hilary Benn) was candid in 2007 when he admitted that the Labour Government had taken their “eye off the ball” in relation to water and sanitation. I assure my hon. Friend that the coalition will not make the same mistake. In April, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced our intention to double our results by reaching 60 million people.

[David Rutley]

I welcome the fact that under this Government, 7.4 million people have seen improvements in their hygiene conditions over the past two years. That is testimony to the Government’s strength of commitment. What assessment has my hon. Friend made of the disparity in sanitation between rural and urban dwellings?

[Mr O'Brien]

My hon. Friend makes an extremely important point. The Government see providing adequate sanitation for poor people in the world’s growing cities as crucial. We keep a record of the proportion of our results that are achieved in rural and urban areas. We have six bilateral water, sanitation and hygiene—or WASH—programmes in urban areas, including a programme to improve WASH service delivery in 31 slums in Freetown, including in Kroo bay. I volunteered there two years ago and went back last week to see the progress that has been made.

Oral Answers to Questions

David Rutley Excerpts

Wednesday 26th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Duncan]

We strongly support objectives of that sort. There are many towns across the country that have secured fair trade status. The Department and I—and, I hope, all of us—are enthusiastic supporters of fair trade, which is not just a notion but a sensible and practical approach to supply chains that ensures that some of the poorest people in the world can benefit from their hard work.

[David Rutley (Macclesfield) (Con)]

10. What his most recent assessment is of the humanitarian situation in Somalia.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development (Mr Stephen O’Brien)]

Somalia remains in desperate crisis, with 4 million people affected and 750,000 at risk of starvation. Life-saving aid is getting through, but insecurity, access constraints and displacement are undermining effective delivery. The scale of need means that continued support is required through 2012.

[David Rutley]

Sadly, many people in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya are suffering from a terrible drought, although an official declaration of famine has been avoided. Will my hon. Friend tell the House what lessons can be learned from this about the importance of long-term investment in food security?

[Mr O’Brien]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. In addition to relieving the humanitarian crisis in Somalia, we must also recognise that resilience and the efforts to address food security as a strategic priority in the medium to long term underpin all our efforts, even in the humanitarian response, in Kenya and Uganda, where famine has not been declared. We have just heard from the Secretary of State about the efforts being made in Uganda.

Oral Answers to Questions

David Rutley Excerpts

Wednesday 8th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We are grateful to the Minister.

[David Rutley (Macclesfield) (Con)]

T5. Can my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State tell the House what progress is being made on encouraging other Arab nations to provide much-needed humanitarian aid in Libya?

[Mr Andrew Mitchell]

In the last two weeks, the humanitarian position in Libya has eased, particularly on the border, which some 950,000 migrant workers have left. Today, under 6,000 people are stuck on the border, so a humanitarian crisis has been avoided.

In general, we encourage all countries to play their roles in providing humanitarian support and to put their taxpayers’ money into those funds. Progress on that is good.