Esther McVey
Main Page: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)Department Debates - View all Esther McVey's debates with the Leader of the House
(3 years, 8 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Rees-Mogg
The Government have provided, I think, £1.5 billion to help the cultural sector, so they have provided a lot of taxpayers’ support. I am sorry to say, though, that, if people are on strike, they are, by definition, not hard-working.
Esther McVey (Tatton) (Con)
Can we have a debate on what further measures need to be taken to tackle the blight of Travellers destroying the local environment and driving a coach and horses through the planning laws? My local residents in Mobberley are currently facing that problem at the moment and they would welcome a debate in the House so that we can explore what needs to be done not just in Mobberley and across Cheshire, but across the whole country.
Mr Rees-Mogg
The majority of Travellers do obey the law, but we, as a Government, recognise that unauthorised encampments cause significant distress to local residents with antisocial and criminal behaviour. The Home Office recently consulted on measures to enable the police to tackle unauthorised encampments more effectively and we will publish a response to the consultation in due course. As the then Housing Minister, now Foreign Secretary, said when launching the consultation:
“We must promote a tolerant society,”
in which legal sites are available for travellers,
“but equally the rule of law must be applied to everyone.”