Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Duncan Baker Excerpts

Monday 8th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Duncan Baker (North Norfolk) (Con) [V]]

This was a Budget that had a clear direction. Whether we like it or not, if we do not continue to protect the jobs and livelihoods of the country, particularly in the private sector, we will not have an economy to return to that does any of the things that we take for granted, such as providing stability, growth or the tax receipts to fund the public sector. The Chancellor focused on that No. 1 priority. That is of the moment, and I commend him for it.

I have listened to the speeches by Opposition Members over the last few days bemoaning what was not in the Budget rather than acknowledging the sheer depth of support that this Conservative Government continue to offer. It is astonishing. Wake up! The answer to the biggest economic shock in history is not like a vaccine. We cannot fix where we are overnight; this situation will take years and years to recover from. It is a question of priorities—and where do we even begin to start? We do what this Government have done since the start of the pandemic—we protect people. We protect people’s jobs and livelihoods with support that is still needed now.

We heard it when the Chancellor said that the OBR now expects the UK economy to recover to its pre-crisis level six months earlier than originally thought. Unemployment is now expected to peak at 6.5%, instead of nearly 12% as feared last summer; 1.8 million fewer people are expected to be out of work than first forecast. That is not a bit of luck; that is a Government that have produced one of the best financial responses in the entire world to support their citizens.

We cannot fix the public finances in a single Budget when we are in the midst of spending £407 billion in total fiscal support, with our national debt reaching its highest level since the ’60s. The recovery from this economic shock will be long and prolonged, but like our exit from lockdown, the Chancellor’s plan is the right step. My right hon. Friend was honest: the steps will be steady, moving in the right direction and priority-driven. That is responsibility.

For my constituents in North Norfolk, the message has been heard. Tourism, leisure and hospitality, the dominant sectors for many rural areas, are on their knees, but we welcome the extension of the VAT rate cut and of business rates relief, and the restart grants to get our businesses back on their feet. No one, but no one, can question the commitment that the Government have given to this sector, and I am confident that we will see another year of safe domestic tourism into North Norfolk.

Covid-19: Cultural and Entertainment Sectors

Duncan Baker Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Duncan Baker (North Norfolk) (Con)]

Beginner’s luck refers to the supposed phenomenon of novices experiencing disproportionate success. You can therefore imagine my delight, Mr Deputy Speaker, when my first lobbying letter signed by Norfolk and Suffolk MPs asking for money for the arts and culture sector resulted in £1.57 billion coming forward. I have consoled myself that that was rather a good bit of timing, but there is a serious message here. In Norfolk, arts and culture are embedded in our communities, with a thriving network of venues, from small community art spaces to large world-renowned venues. The closures due to covid-19 have had a devastating impact on those cultural venues, and while social distancing remains in place, their inability to reopen properly will continue to stunt their recovery. We know this, and that is why the Government’s vaccination programme, recovery road map and sector support have been so welcome.

I only have to look at my constituency, North Norfolk, to see how the culture recovery fund has been a lifeline and supported many of my flagship attractions. Hundreds of thousands of people visit one of the finest heritage railways in the country and I am proud to have the much-loved North Norfolk railway running its steam trains between Sheringham and Holt. It benefited from £360,000, as did the equally culturally rich attractions of Wells Maltings, the Sheringham Little Theatre and our wonderful independent Regal Movieplex cinema in Cromer. I need do no more, Mr Deputy Speaker, than merely suggest that, when you come to North Norfolk for your summer hols—and you are most welcome—you take a trip on the North Norfolk steam railway, and as you return to Sheringham, do enjoy our Little Theatre. But don’t forget that you are spoilt for choice, with the productions in Wells and the movies in Cromer. I may even join you.

My picture postcard of North Norfolk has to end here, because where there are winners, there are always those who have painfully missed out. We read that the Chancellor has reserved another £400 million for the arts, and I urge him to earmark some of that to the undeniably important and culturally rich sector that provides so much invaluable learning for our children: the outdoor education sector, which is on its knees. There are many outdoor learning centres in my constituency, and no one can deny that they contribute to culturally enriching children in outdoor learning. Whether it be teaching about local geography or history, they should be eligible as mainstream attractions. For a year now, they have been unable to take bookings: not legally closed, but their customer base forced to not come. The simple inclusion of all outdoor learning centres in the culture recovery fund would start to give them what they desperately need.

Digital Infrastructure, Connectivity and Accessibility

Duncan Baker Excerpts

Thursday 3rd December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Duncan Baker (North Norfolk) (Con)]

It is a real pleasure to speak in this debate and I really thank the right hon. Member for Tatton (Esther McVey) for bringing it to us. I cannot quite remember the pizza wheel of doom, but it is probably that I have not heard that expression since I last used Yahoo.

If I go onto doorsteps in North Norfolk, I can guarantee that one of the most common issues that my residents want to talk about is broadband or their mobile phone reception—or lack of it. In the 21st century, it is rather surprising that we continually talk about this issue; we do so time and again. It should be an absolute given than people are entitled to a decent mobile phone reception and decent broadband speed wherever they live. I fully recognise that the Government are making great strides to ensure that no area of the country is left behind to suffer from poor speeds, but in May, the Ofcom report revealed that the average home broadband speed was just 64 Mbps. In my constituency of North Norfolk, the average speed was just 35.7 Mbps, making it one of the slowest areas in the country. That is just about half the national average, which is just not good enough.

I regularly try to help my constituents with the universal service obligation offering. The problem is not that the coverage is lacking per se—actually it is pretty good. Around 95% of people get a connection in my constituency, but the last 5%, which we hear about so many times in this place, just seems not to be able to be helped at a reasonable cost. I regularly get costs coming back at around £50,000, which, as we know, our vouchers do not quite stretch to. I welcome the fact that the Minister is aware of this problem and is trying to solve it. If I can make a small ask, can some of that £5 billion—like the vaccine that I asked for the other week—come to North Norfolk?

Good broadband and mobile signal is fundamental in our post-covid recovery and we have heard that many times today. There are many people who want to move out of the cities and come to live in beautiful locations such as where I am from. What holds them back time and again is wanting to be able to run their business from home, get that speed and perhaps a service business and they need that reliable broadband. What is even more of a potential issue is a decent mobile reception. I would like to get a decent mobile reception before we even get 4G or 5G in North Norfolk please. As we have heard before, the shared rural network is absolutely imperative. We have got to have that. If we get it right, what that has the capacity to do is to supersede any fixed line broadband scenario.

If I had a top ask of the Minister, it would be just how do we get that very last 5% covered across all parts of the country, and particularly to rural areas such as mine, that need that adequate broadband connection. How do we make it cost-effective? For everybody back in my patch, I say, yes, we want 4G and 5G but we also want a reliable mobile signal that spans the entire area, and, certainly, we must bring forward the shared rural network as fast as we can in the next few years.

Tourism: Covid-19

Duncan Baker Excerpts

Thursday 10th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Huddleston]

I would be delighted to do so when I visit the north-east in the near future.

At the start of the year, the prospects for the tourism industry, and for all its important sectors—inbound, domestic and outbound—looked very positive. As I took on this role, I was looking forward to yet another bumper year. Some 41 million visitors travelled to the UK from overseas in 2019, and it looked like we were going to have 100 million domestic visitors for the first time. The outbound sector, which is a really important part of this economy, was also doing well. But covid had other plans.

The virus is undoubtedly the biggest crisis that the global tourism industry has faced since the second world war. It has had a far greater impact than foot and mouth, 9/11, the financial crisis and the 7/7 bombings. But the Government did act quickly. Many hon. Members have mentioned the interventionist measures that we have constructed, such as the jobs retention scheme, business rates relief, grants, a variety of loan schemes and many other measures, including support for destination marketing organisations, which are a really important sector that many hon. Member have mentioned today.

[Duncan Baker (North Norfolk) (Con)]

May I place on the record my thanks for everything that you have done for me and for my constituents? I know that you have already visited, but you are very welcome to come back for a Cromer crab sandwich in the near future. I did not get to speak today, but I know that you will take on board many of the initiatives that have been put forward. Can you also spare a thought for the impact that last night’s announcements will have on the tourism industry, particularly the effect of the six-person limit on larger holiday lets? Can I finally say—

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

Order. I think that the hon. Gentleman has had quite a good intervention. I really have to say to him that it is very important that Members remember to speak through the Chair, so he should not refer to the Minister as “you.”

UK Telecommunications

Duncan Baker Excerpts

Tuesday 14th July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Oliver Dowden]

We look at the security implications of whole supply chains, which is exactly what the National Cyber Security Centre has been doing—and that applies not just to Huawei but to the other vendors. The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to highlight this issue. Simply removing Huawei from 5G networks does not deal with all the security risks, which is why we need to bring forward the telecoms security Bill as part of our efforts to enhance security.

[Duncan Baker (North Norfolk) (Con)]

I welcome what the Secretary of State, the Prime Minister and the Government have done, putting national security in front of profit and telling the world that this sovereign nation will not be pushed around by any country. Will the Secretary of State reassure me that we will still be able to work at breakneck speed to roll-out a 5G network throughout the country with credible, trustworthy partners? We should also recognise that as technology moves on, a lot of this stuff will be done through software, not necessarily through hardware.

[Oliver Dowden]

My hon. Friend makes an important point about software versus hardware; indeed, that goes to some of the wider discussions around open RAN. We will of course always put national security first, which is what we have done with this statement today.

Arts, Culture and Heritage: Support Package

Duncan Baker Excerpts

Tuesday 7th July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Caroline Dinenage]

I think the hon. Gentleman is making a plug for a bit of entertainment in his local area. I am sure that many of our cultural institutions up and down the country will be very keen to get out there plying their trade and travelling around as much as they can, as soon as the covid situation allows them to do that.

[Duncan Baker (North Norfolk) (Con)]

This is wonderful news. Funding is fantastic, but can my hon. Friend tell me when venues such as the Sheringham little theatre and Wells Maltings in North Norfolk can have a route map and a plan so that they can suddenly throw open their doors again?

[Caroline Dinenage]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise his local organisations and venues that really want to get back up to speed. We hope to set out the road map of how that will happen, certainly in a socially distanced way, over the next few days.