Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Justin Madders

Wednesday 19th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

Q1. If she will list her official engagements for Wednesday 19 October.

[The Prime Minister (Elizabeth Truss)]

This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in this House, I shall have further such meetings later today.

[Justin Madders]

When the penny dropped for the Prime Minister on Monday and she realised that her Budget was responsible for crashing the economy, she should have come to this House to explain herself and to apologise to the millions of people who will now be paying hundreds of pounds extra a month on their mortgages because of her mistakes. Now that she is here, can she tell us, given the absolute chaos that her Government have created, why the previous Chancellor lost his job but she kept hers?

[The Prime Minister]

I have been very clear that I am sorry and that I have made mistakes, but the right thing to do in those circumstances is to make changes, which I have made, and to get on with the job and deliver for the British people. We have delivered the energy price guarantee, we have helped people this winter, and I will continue to do that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Justin Madders

Wednesday 12th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend did a fantastic job promoting the natural environment when she was at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. We are going to deliver economic growth in an environmentally friendly way. This is about improving the processes and delivering better outcomes for the environment while making sure we have a growing economy as well. Those two things go hand in hand.

[Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

Q11. The Prime Minister wants us to believe that fracking will reduce our energy bills, but it was not so long ago that her Chancellor said that those calling for fracking’s return “misunderstand the situation”, saying:“No amount of shale gas from hundreds of wells dotted across rural England would be enough to lower the European price any time soon.”I ask the Prime Minister: is the Chancellor wrong about that?

[The Prime Minister]

We are pulling every lever to improve our energy supply in Britain, whether that is the North sea and opening up more opportunity there, which those on the Opposition Front Bench are against, whether it is fracking, whether it is more renewables, which I am very supportive of, whether it is more solar panels in the right place or whether it is more nuclear power stations, which are opposed by the SNP. We are doing everything we can, because we can never again be in a situation where we are dependent on authoritarian regimes for our energy.

Sanctions

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Justin Madders

Monday 28th February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

My hon. Friend is right. The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is looking closely at the activities of social media companies.

[Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

I am pleased to hear that the Foreign Secretary will not be cowed by letters from oligarchs’ lawyers. She will know that, no matter how distasteful we might find it and how damaging it might be to those law firms’ reputations, even oligarchs are entitled to legal representation because that is part of what makes us a free and democratic society. Does she agree that the best way to deal with these issues is to ensure that the laws are watertight in the first place? Will she assure us that she has got the best, most expert lawyers available to ensure that no loopholes can be exploited?

[Elizabeth Truss]

The Foreign Office is currently full of lawyers working through precisely that point.

Public Sector Pay

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Justin Madders

Tuesday 24th July 2018 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

I have been very clear that the additional £500 million over two years will be coming from central DFE budgets. It will be allocated to schools. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education will be announcing exactly how that allocation will work in due course.

[Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

Last week I was speaking to headteachers in my constituency who were very frustrated that they were breaking up for the summer unable to finalise their budgets. Now that they are able to do so, can the Chief Secretary guarantee today—I think that she has dodged this question a little bit today—that they will not have to find a penny from their existing budgets to fund the pay award?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I think that many Opposition Members are missing the point that headteachers have significant flexibility in terms of paying their staff. Last year there was an average rise of 4.6%, including promotions. The point I am making is that above the 1% pay award that was already baked in, the DFE is providing extra funding to the tune of £500 million. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will be announcing the allocations in due course.