Oral Answers to Questions

Douglas Carswell Excerpts
Wednesday 16th November 2016

(7 years, 11 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Baroness May of Maidenhead Portrait The Prime Minister
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I absolutely join my hon. Friend, who raises a very important issue, in commending such events. It true that the DOH, Public Health England and the NHS are doing vital work to decrease infection rates. We have already seen some very good results—a 57% reduction in MRSA bloodstream infections since 2010 and a 47% reduction in C. diff infections—but of course there is more to do, which is why we are setting bold objectives to halve gram-negative blood infections by 2020, and why last week we announced a new national infection lead to champion and oversee this effort. This is an important issue and I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising it.

Douglas Carswell Portrait Mr Douglas Carswell (Clacton) (UKIP)
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Q3. Free trade is vital to our future prosperity, and Brexit does not mean rejecting globalisation. Will the Prime Minister ensure that any new trade deals with the wider world after Brexit are based on the mutual recognition of standards, not on the kind of over-elaborate, prescriptive, top-down regulatory regime that underpins the European single market?

Baroness May of Maidenhead Portrait The Prime Minister
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I welcome the hon. Gentleman’s support for free trade. He is absolutely right that as we leave the EU we will be looking for opportunities to develop flexible trading relationships around the world that suit the United Kingdom. Given the strength of our economy, I believe that we can go out there and be a global leader in free trade, and I welcome his support for that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Douglas Carswell Excerpts
Wednesday 29th June 2016

(8 years, 4 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton Portrait The Prime Minister
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Fortunately for my answer, neither of the people my right hon. Friend is talking about is a candidate in the election—an election that I will stay firmly out of. I was given lots of advice on becoming Prime Minister, and one was not to go to a party with Silvio Berlusconi. That is one piece of advice I took and stuck to.

Douglas Carswell Portrait Mr Douglas Carswell (Clacton) (UKIP)
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Q5. I thank the Prime Minister for giving us last week’s great exercise in democracy—[Interruption.]

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. The hon. Gentleman will be heard. It is about us and this place, and he will be heard.

Douglas Carswell Portrait Mr Carswell
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We on the leave side should recognise that although we won, it was a narrow mandate and plenty of decent, patriotic people voted for remain. Does the Prime Minister agree that both sides now need to come together to achieve a new post-EU national consensus, whereby we have close links with our friends and allies in Europe and beyond, while reclaiming our sovereignty?

Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton Portrait The Prime Minister
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Let me thank the hon. Gentleman for making the point that there were people with a deep sense of patriotism on both sides of the argument. I also agree that it is time for people and our country to come together. What is more, he is right that we now have to work very hard on the alternatives. Of course, they were discussed and debated in the referendum campaign, but they were hypothetical alternatives; they are now real alternatives, and one of the roles for the Government in the next few months is to set out the different blueprints—the Canada blueprint, the Swiss blueprint, the Norway blueprint and any other blueprints—and to look at the costs and benefits. That way, people can make a reasoned assessment, now that this is a real choice, rather than a hypothetical one.

Oral Answers to Questions

Douglas Carswell Excerpts
Wednesday 4th May 2016

(8 years, 6 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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The Secretary of State was asked—
Douglas Carswell Portrait Mr Douglas Carswell (Clacton) (UKIP)
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1. How many countries have had aid suspended for corruption or failure to implement good governance under the terms of the Cotonou agreement in the last five years.

Justine Greening Portrait The Secretary of State for International Development (Justine Greening)
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Six countries have faced action: Guinea-Bissau, Zimbabwe, Fiji, Madagascar, Guinea and Burundi.

Douglas Carswell Portrait Mr Carswell
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Does UK overseas aid still include revenue support, and does the Secretary of State not agree that such direct Government-to-Government aid often inhibits good governance? Far from encouraging democracy, it actually encourages kleptocracy.

Justine Greening Portrait Justine Greening
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The hon. Gentleman will be pleased to hear that we have curbed general budget support, which has been reduced by nearly 90% since 2010. There is now one remaining programme of general budget support, which will finish shortly.

I disagree that it is wrong to work with Governments. In the end, one way in which we can tackle corruption is by strengthening public finance management and tax revenue authorities. We need to find a balance and provide earmarked support that actually achieves an impact.

Oral Answers to Questions

Douglas Carswell Excerpts
Wednesday 16th December 2015

(8 years, 10 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton Portrait The Prime Minister
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I very much agree with my hon. Friend. Britain is doing its moral duty in terms of funding the refugees and the refugee camps. We are going to hold a conference in February, bringing the world together to make sure there is more funding in future. That is going to be absolutely vital. In terms of the number of refugees that we have resettled, I made a promise that we would resettle 1,000 by Christmas and I can confirm today that we have met that commitment. The charter flights that arrived yesterday at Stansted and Belfast mean that over 1,000 have been settled. Another charter flight is coming today. The Government have provided funding so that all those refugees get housing, healthcare and education.

I thank all the local authorities and all those who have worked so hard, including the Under-Secretary of State for Refugees, my hon. Friend the Member for Watford (Richard Harrington), who has led the process so ably. I said that Britain would do its duty, and with those 1,000 we have made a very good start.

Douglas Carswell Portrait Mr Douglas Carswell (Clacton) (UKIP)
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Q9. Three years ago, the Prime Minister could not have been any clearer: his EU renegotiation would mean returning control over social and employment law. Is he still seeking that?

Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton Portrait The Prime Minister
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I always find it hard to satisfy the hon. Gentleman: he joined the Conservative party when we were not committed to a referendum and he left the Conservative party after we committed to a referendum, so I am not surprised that he is giving his new boss as much trouble as he used to give me. With that, I wish them both a very festive Christmas.

Oral Answers to Questions

Douglas Carswell Excerpts
Wednesday 4th February 2015

(9 years, 9 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Justine Greening Portrait Justine Greening
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My hon. Friend is right to point out the importance of economic development. In respect of our bilateral programme, we work on three key areas, and one of those, of course, is indeed wealth creation. We are promoting private sector development that can contribute to state and peace building by increasing fiscal sustainability and reducing unemployment and poverty.

Douglas Carswell Portrait Douglas Carswell (Clacton) (UKIP)
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T4. In the light of the problems with the Private Infrastructure Development Group, does the Secretary of State believe we get good value for money from the £12 billion a year overseas aid budget?

Justine Greening Portrait Justine Greening
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Yes, I do. We have been more clear-cut about the outcomes we are trying to achieve. As for the facility the hon. Gentleman mentions, it has pulled in £6.8 billion-worth of investment in infrastructure in some of the poorest countries in the world, which will help them steadily to make their way out of poverty. Surely creating the markets of the future is one of the smartest things we can do if we want to stay prosperous ourselves.

Oral Answers to Questions

Douglas Carswell Excerpts
Wednesday 17th December 2014

(9 years, 10 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton Portrait The Prime Minister
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I very much agree with my right hon. Friend. I have not spent as much time studying Karl Marx as he has, or perhaps even as the Leader of the Opposition has—I do not know what goes on in Camden these days.

In this respect, Karl Marx was right that the interests of the United Kingdom and democracy go together. We should stand up very firmly against the Russian aggression that has taken place, and we led the way in Europe in making sure that there were sanctions. What the combination of the lower oil price and the sanctions is showing is that it is not possible for Russia to be part of the international financial system but try to opt out of the rules-based international legal system. That is what is being demonstrated, and we should keep up the pressure.

Douglas Carswell Portrait Douglas Carswell (Clacton) (UKIP)
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Q10. The levy control framework—the total cost added to energy bills and taxation by green targets—will rise from £2.3 billion in 2012 to £9.8 billion in 2020, at a time when many households are struggling to heat their homes. Does my hon. Friend think that is fair?

Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton Portrait The Prime Minister
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The levy control framework has been fixed, and it sets the overall amount of investment that can go into renewable energy schemes, many of which are providing jobs for constituencies up and down the country—often particularly those on the east coast of our country, not least in Hull, where an enormous amount of investment is going in. I welcome that investment, and I am not sure what the hon. Gentleman’s view is.

Oral Answers to Questions

Douglas Carswell Excerpts
Wednesday 14th March 2012

(12 years, 7 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Nick Clegg Portrait The Deputy Prime Minister
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As the hon. Gentleman knows, we accompanied the restraint on the housing benefit budget—there was a commitment in the Labour party manifesto to bring that part of the benefits system under control—with a major fund to deal with hard cases. We have also unveiled a number of measures that should lead to a significant increase in the building of affordable homes. The lack of supply of affordable homes is the underlying problem in London and elsewhere in the country.

Douglas Carswell Portrait Mr Douglas Carswell (Clacton) (Con)
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Q9. Changes to child benefit will mean that a single-income family earning £43,000 a year, with one parent staying at home to care for the children, will subsidise a couple earning more than £80,000. Does the Deputy Prime Minister think that that is fair?

Nick Clegg Portrait The Deputy Prime Minister
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I think it is fair that someone who is earning far, far beyond the average should not be subsidised by, and receiving child benefit from, people on much lower incomes. The hon. Gentleman raises a perfectly valid point, which is that the cut-off point can create those anomalies and cliff edges—as he said, one earner on £43,000 will have their child benefit removed while two earners earning £80,000 will not. We have all said that we will look at a pragmatic way of implementing this in a sensitive manner.

Oral Answers to Questions

Douglas Carswell Excerpts
Wednesday 26th October 2011

(13 years ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I call Mr Barry Sheerman. He is not here.

Douglas Carswell Portrait Mr Douglas Carswell (Clacton) (Con)
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4. What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of budget support aid provided to Uganda.

Andrew Mitchell Portrait The Secretary of State for International Development (Mr Andrew Mitchell)
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There is a narrow role for general budget support in Uganda, but I am reducing its level by 80% over the next four years.

Douglas Carswell Portrait Mr Carswell
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Is there not a danger that budget support paid to the Ugandan Government helps to make them accountable to British officials, when we should be trying to make them more accountable to their own people?

Andrew Mitchell Portrait Mr Mitchell
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My hon. Friend, who knows a good deal about Uganda, is correct to say that that is a danger, which is why the Government have made it clear that wherever we use general budget support, we will always ensure that up to 5% of the money is spent on enabling civil society to hold its own Government and Executive to account.

Oral Answers to Questions

Douglas Carswell Excerpts
Wednesday 2nd June 2010

(14 years, 5 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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The Prime Minister was asked—
Douglas Carswell Portrait Mr Douglas Carswell (Clacton) (Con)
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Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 2 June.

Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton Portrait The Prime Minister (Mr David Cameron)
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I am sure that the whole House will wish to join me in paying tribute to the soldiers who have died in Afghanistan in the last week: from 40 Commando Royal Marines, Corporal Stephen Curley and Marine Scott Taylor; and from the 4th Regiment Royal Artillery, Gunner Zak Cusack. These were men of outstanding courage, skill and selflessness. We must never forget their sacrifice.

The House will also be alarmed and shocked by the events unfolding in Cumbria today. Police were called to Whitehaven at 10.35 this morning after shots were fired by a man, and I regret to report that a number of people have been shot and at least five people have died. I can confirm that the body of a gunman has been found by the police. The chief constable of Cumbria is working closely with other forces and other emergency services to ensure a co-ordinated response to these rapidly moving events. The Government will do everything that they possibly can to help the local community and those affected, and to keep the House informed. A full statement will be made to Parliament tomorrow. When lives and communities are suddenly shattered in this way, our thoughts should be with all those caught up in these tragic events, especially the families and friends of those killed or injured.

Douglas Carswell Portrait Mr Carswell
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All parties in this House will welcome the coalition’s proposals to eliminate quangos and shift power away from unelected functionaries to elected representatives. The biggest quango of the lot is, of course—[Hon. Members: “The House of Lords.”] It is the other place, a legislative Chamber largely appointed by the Executive. Will my right hon. Friend confirm that he will bring forward proposals in the next 12 months to make all our law-makers accountable through the ballot box?

Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton Portrait The Prime Minister
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I am grateful to my hon. Friend for asking that question. I do not always give him answers that make him happy, but this time I can. There will be a draft motion, by December, which the House can vote on. I have always supported a predominantly elected House of Lords, and I am delighted that agreement has been reached on the coalition programme. [Interruption.] I can already hear what a challenge around the House it is going to be to achieve the consensus that we need, but I hope that after all the promises of reform, this time we can move towards a predominantly elected second Chamber.