Oral Answers to Questions

David Rutley Excerpts

Wednesday 14th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I will try to find time to see those parents today. I was looking at this issue last night and there was a child, who was about the same age as my son, pictured with his local football team, just as my son was. It made me think how vital it is to get these drugs through as quickly as we can. I know that there has been a debate on whether these drugs should be licensed quickly and on all the issues and problems. I will meet those parents, look at their petition and see what can be done.

[David Rutley (Macclesfield) (Con)]

Q14. Will my right hon. Friend tell the House what is worse: to deny the deficit, forget that it exists or have no plan to bring it back into balance?

[The Prime Minister]

I think that in the three stages of man—or at least the three stages of Miliband—we are now at the final part. Labour Members have, I think, finally accepted that there is a deficit. They have now voted for £30 billion of adjustment, but they cannot manage to tell us how much they will raise in taxes and what they will do with spending. They have had four and a half years to come up with an economic policy and they have absolutely no plan for our country.

Oral Answers to Questions

David Rutley Excerpts

Wednesday 7th May 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As the hon. Lady knows, we have discretionary housing payments for exactly this sort of case, and the money has been topped up, so there is no reason for people to be disadvantaged in the way she suggests.

[David Rutley (Macclesfield) (Con)]

Q7. AstraZeneca is Macclesfield’s largest employer with 2,000 employees, so I share constituents’ concerns about Pfizer’s proposed bid. I welcome the steps taken by the Government to secure initial commitments from the company if it succeeds. Can the Prime Minister tell the House what further steps are being taken to strengthen those commitments and to safeguard highly skilled manufacturing jobs in Macclesfield?

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s remarks. There are 2,000 people employed by AstraZeneca in his constituency, and he is quite right to speak up for them. Our entire approach is based on trying to secure the best possible deal in terms of jobs, investment and science, and that is why I believe it was absolutely right to ask the Cabinet Secretary to engage with Pfizer, just as we are engaging with AstraZeneca. I find it extraordinary that we have been criticised for this. Of course, there is no offer on the table, but the commitments that have been made so far are encouraging in terms of completing the Cambridge campus and making sure that 20% of the combined companies’ total research and development work force is in the UK going forward—and they specifically mention substantial commercial manufacturing facilities in Macclesfield. The company also goes on to say that because of the patent box that we have introduced, it would look at manufacturing more in the UK. But let me absolutely clear: I am not satisfied; I want more, but the way to get more is to engage, not to stand up and play party politics.

Referendum (Scotland)

David Rutley Excerpts

Monday 15th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[David Mundell]

The Scottish Government will propose the wording of a question in its referendum Bill. It will then be open to anyone, including the leaders of other political parties in Scotland, who have engaged in an extensive exercise, to allow the Electoral Commission to conduct the sort of scrutiny it has conducted in the past in relation to, for example, the alternative vote UK referendum. I remain confident that the people of Scotland will not simply be duped into breaking Britain up because of trickery or other such behaviour by any party in the debate. It is for anybody who suspects such behaviour or who is dissatisfied with a Scottish Parliament rejection of the Electoral Commission report, which I still consider unlikely, to make that case within the political arena.

[David Rutley (Macclesfield) (Con)]

I welcome a fair referendum and share my right hon. Friend’s view that the continuation of the Union is an important priority. Does he agree that the Union should continue on a basis that is fair to all the parties involved in it?

[David Mundell]

I absolutely agree, but I think that the first and overriding consideration is to resolve whether Scotland wishes to remain part of the United Kingdom and put that issue to bed. No doubt in future years there will continue to be a debate about the governance of the whole of the United Kingdom, in which we in this Parliament and those in the Scottish Parliament will be able to play a part.

Oral Answers to Questions

David Rutley Excerpts

Wednesday 14th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

What I can confirm is that that payment will be exactly as set out by Labour in their March Budget, a Budget that the hon. Gentleman supported. At the same time, the increase in cold weather payments will actually be maintained throughout this Parliament.

[David Rutley (Macclesfield) (Con)]

Q10. Small and medium-sized enterprises are vital engines of economic growth in Macclesfield and across the country. Sadly, the cost of new regulations put on businesses under the previous Government amounts to a staggering £90 billion a year. Will my right hon. Friend tell the House what this Government are doing to tackle that unacceptable burden on British businesses?

[The Prime Minister]

There is an unacceptable burden in terms of regulation, so the Government, specifically in relation to the retail sector, have already removed 257 regulations. We have the new one-in, one-out rule, so any Minister who comes to me wanting to introduce a regulation has to abolish one first. Also, the red tape challenge means that all regulations are being put up on a website for businesses and individuals to challenge to see what is still necessary and what we can get rid of.

Oral Answers to Questions

David Rutley Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Alun Cairns (Vale of Glamorgan) (Con)]

4. What steps the Government plan to take to ensure a stable economic environment for businesses in Scotland.

[David Rutley (Macclesfield) (Con)]

12. What steps the Government plan to take to ensure a stable economic environment for businesses in Scotland.

[The Secretary of State for Scotland (Michael Moore)]

“The Plan for Growth” published in the March Budget set out a programme of reforms to create the right conditions for private sector-led growth. This month the Government launched the next stage of the growth review with the central purpose of creating the right conditions for businesses to be established, to invest, to grow and to create jobs.

[Michael Moore]

There is no question but that uncertainty over the nature, number and timing of the questions that will be asked about independence will be no good for the Scottish economy.

[David Rutley]

In Scotland and across the United Kingdom, small and medium-sized companies are vital engines of growth and job creation, for which improving access to funding is a vital priority. Will my right hon. Friend tell the House what steps he is taking to address the challenge and whether those steps include working with organisations such as the Federation of Small Businesses in Scotland?

[Michael Moore]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight the critical issue of access to finance. Unless we get enough lending to small and medium-sized businesses, among others, we will not get the economy growing again. That is why creating the conditions in which businesses start, grow and invest appropriately is central to “The Plan for Growth”, and it is why Project Merlin sets out very tough targets for lending to businesses across the UK.

Oral Answers to Questions

David Rutley Excerpts

Wednesday 27th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am very happy to ask my colleagues to work with the right hon. Gentleman because we all want to see saving encouraged, but I am afraid that when it came to the child trust fund we had to take a difficult decision, which was that that was £500 million we needed to save. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor and I sat on the Committee considering the Bill that introduced child trust funds, but we have to take some difficult decisions on spending, and that was one of them. Can we look at alternative ways of encouraging saving? Yes, we can. We are happy to work with the right hon. Gentleman.

[David Rutley (Macclesfield) (Con)]

Q7. I know the Prime Minister is aware that last week’s decision to cancel the Nimrod programme will lead to the early closure of the BAE Systems Woodford site near Macclesfield. Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is now an important priority for the Ministry of Defence to work closely with BAE to ensure that the dedicated and highly skilled staff get the best possible support for both retraining and redeployment?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is entirely right. The MOD should work closely with BAE and with his constituents, who have worked extremely hard over many years to produce that equipment, to make sure there is a strong future. We have had to make difficult decisions in the defence review, and we have made the difficult decision about Nimrod, but in terms of BAE as a whole, we will be spending £17 billion with that company between now and 2015 on a range of projects, including the A400M. But my hon. Friend is right—we should make sure that we help those people to find new jobs.