Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dennis Skinner and James Brokenshire

Monday 5th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)]

Further to the Secretary of State’s answer to my hon. Friend the Member for High Peak (Ruth George) about Derbyshire County Council’s cuts, the cuts in question are worth more than £200 million, and they were made not by the Labour Government, as he stated, but by the Tory Government in alliance with the Liberal Democrats. To refresh his memory further, I should remind him that we also trebled the amount of money going into the hospital. Now a Tory county council at Matlock has decided to close 20 libraries in the county. That’s politics.

[James Brokenshire]

I will take no lectures from the hon. Gentleman about the steps the Government have had to take to put the public finances back on an even keel as a consequence of the Labour party’s actions, and he should well know our commitment to investing in the health service in a way the Labour party would not have done.

Northern Ireland: Political Situation

Debate between Dennis Skinner and James Brokenshire

Monday 3rd July 2017 Commons Chamber

[James Brokenshire]

The funds that were announced last week should provide a sense of opportunity and potential for issues that are clearly of relevance to Northern Ireland, such as the lack of transport infrastructure compared with other parts of the United Kingdom and the digital and broadband issue, which has lagged behind other parts of the United Kingdom. The funds should give a sense of incentive and opportunity for an Executive to deliver and get on with so many of the things they want to see.

[Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)]

Is the Minister aware that this impasse in Northern Ireland has been complicated by the fact that the result of the general election has meant the Government getting involved in a protection money racketing system of about £1 billion? As a suggestion, may I say that the only way to get rid of that is for the Prime Minister to call another general election? We know that she is frightened to death of doing it, because she knows that the Labour party would win. We would form a Government and get rid of this almighty mess. There would be no protection racket money, and we would have a decent Labour Government that would get rid of austerity. Get on with it!

[James Brokenshire]

It sounds as though the hon. Gentleman has still not recognised the result of the last election. The House will be interested in his comments, but I do not think that they will make a difference to solving the real problems that we are wrestling with in Northern Ireland.

EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers

Debate between Dennis Skinner and James Brokenshire

Thursday 12th May 2016 Commons Chamber

[James Brokenshire]

We remain focused on reducing net migration to those sustainable levels, and my right hon. Friend well knows that the renegotiation to which I referred brought about the welfare brake and indeed improved competitiveness across the UK by dealing with unnecessary bureaucracy. If we look at the differences between economies across the EU, we can see how that reformist agenda that the Prime Minister has championed is essential. As I have said, we are taking steps within the UK to ensure that we have the right skills for the UK workforce as well.

[Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)]

There is nothing new in an influx of east Europeans. The displaced persons system that operated immediately after the end of the second world war helped millions of people from around Europe who were without jobs and without states. I worked with many east Europeans in the pits on the basis that they were members of our union, the National Union of Mineworkers, and got paid the same money as we did. They did not undermine other workers in the traditional industries and some of them were very involved in the trade union movement. Today, however, thousands and millions of people are on the move, but the Government cannot see the possibility of doing what we did in the late ’40s by insisting on union recognition, the same pay for everybody and no undermining of workers’ rights. The net result would be no problem at all, and UK Independence party’s rise would disappear like snowflakes on an oven.

[James Brokenshire]

The hon. Gentleman has made his point in his customary colourful way, but the facts that we see before us show that national insurance numbers—which, after all, are what the urgent question was about—are not a good measure when it comes to the long-term issue of migration. The hon. Gentleman may be more interested in talking about snowflakes and union recognition, but I think that those are matters for another debate.

Child Refugee Resettlement

Debate between Dennis Skinner and James Brokenshire

Tuesday 10th May 2016 Commons Chamber

[James Brokenshire]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for the commitment he gives on behalf of Colchester. We will follow up on all offers of support from local authorities. As I indicated, we have already contacted the Local Government Association, and we will be making contacts through strategic migration partnerships and with local authorities directly. We will be getting on with this.

[Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)]

The Government seem to give the impression that for people coming to Britain there is a very fast track and a very slow track, which is exemplified today with vulnerable children. People in my constituency believe the fast track is when Mike Ashley of Sports Direct sends for 500 agency workers to work on zero-hours contracts and they are here in the flash of an eye. My right hon. Friend the Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper) has been at the forefront of the campaign to try to get these vulnerable children in. Let us have a little bit more energy on the slow track!

[James Brokenshire]

I fear the hon. Gentleman may have strayed into the wrong debate. We have shown our commitment clearly through our work on the vulnerable person resettlement scheme and by taking firm action so that children and vulnerable adults come to this country quickly, while dealing with safeguarding and the best interests of the child. I will take no lectures from the hon. Gentleman.