Oral Answers to Questions

Fleur Anderson Excerpts

Wednesday 6th September 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Let me welcome the shadow Minister.

[Fleur Anderson (Putney) (Lab)]

Early years services are vital for children to reach their potential, but they are underfunded and at risk in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK without a childcare strategy. According to the Department for Education, it was delayed again because early years faces potential significant budget reductions. When can hard-pressed families in Northern Ireland expect the childcare strategy? Will the Minister commit to early years services receiving the increased multi-year funding that is needed to invest in children?

[Mr Baker]

I am glad to welcome the hon. Lady to her place. As she knows, education is devolved in Northern Ireland and it is a matter for the Education Department there to take these decisions, but her point is well made, and I am confident that, when she makes her first visit to Northern Ireland, like me she will be engaging with all parties on just such issues.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend and the commission for carbon competitiveness for the report that he has worked on and highlighted, and the Government are absolutely committed to putting in place the necessary policies for UK industry to decarbonise successfully. As he will be aware, the Government recently consulted on addressing carbon leakage in particular, with a range of potential options. We are in the process of considering those responses, and will issue a formal response in due course.

[Fleur Anderson (Putney) (Lab)]

Q4. Every year, billions of wet wipes go out into our rivers and oceans, and clog up our sewers. I have been campaigning for years to ban plastic in wet wipes. The Government have finally promised to ban plastic in wet wipes, but that was five months ago and there has been nothing since then. Will the Prime Minister today finally give a date for when that ban will come into force and make a difference to our environment, or is this another broken promise from his zombie Government?

[The Prime Minister]

In the comprehensive “Plan for Water” that was published by the Environment Secretary in April, we confirmed our intention to ban wet wipes containing plastic, subject, as is legally proper, to a public consultation. That consultation will be launched in the coming months, in autumn this year, and I know Ministers will keep the House updated on progress.

Northern Ireland

Fleur Anderson Excerpts

Tuesday 13th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[Brandon Lewis]

My hon. Friend is correct. To be fair, the EU has recognised the mistake, acknowledged the mistake, apologised for it and stepped back from the brink, but that action definitely had an impact. That is something that representatives from civic society made clear to the vice-president. That is why it is important that our colleagues and friends in the EU take some time to really understand some of the nuances and complexities of the communities in Northern Ireland and in particular the sense of identity of the Unionist and loyalist community and why that action not just had an impact that night but has had a lasting effect on people’s sense of identity.

[Fleur Anderson (Putney) (Lab) [V]]

Given that the Government are committed to seeking an agreement with the EU on veterinary standards, which has been repeated by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, can the Secretary of State confirm that that is something that Ministers are pursuing in the Joint Committee? Does he support such an agreement, which would reduce checks and red tape and lower tension in the long term?

[Brandon Lewis]

The hon. Lady is right. The Joint Committee, Lord Frost, my colleague the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and other relevant Departments have, across Government, been working on the various issues, to iron out the challenges and some of the problems that we have seen with the outworking of the protocol in the first few months of this year. We must get those things resolved, and our intention, aim and focus is on doing so by agreement, and in agreement with our friends and partners in the EU.

Northern Ireland Protocol: UK Legal Obligations

Fleur Anderson Excerpts

Tuesday 8th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Brandon Lewis]

My hon. Friend succinctly makes an excellent point: this is about having a safety net and contingency planning. These measures will not prevent the Government from complying with our commitments. They will provide Ministers with the powers needed for the UK Government to comply with the Joint Committee’s agreed decisions. As he outlined, they will provide a safety net, so we avoid activating any harmful defaults, even inadvertently, that could jeopardise the peace process or create confusion, by giving certainty about the fact that we will deliver as we said we would on unfettered access and issues that protect Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom.

[Fleur Anderson (Putney) (Lab)]

With the UK at the foothills of a new era and a raft of trade negotiations ahead of us that will affect the lives of people in Putney and across the country, what message does the Secretary of State think it gives about our word that the UK is prepared to break international law at times, to override treaties and rewrite commitments that we signed up to only months ago?

[Brandon Lewis]

I am sure that the hon. Lady will appreciate that, as I said earlier, there are some precedents in very specific, technical circumstances. Countries around the world, including some of those that we will be looking to and are working to secure trade deals with, vary their position on international laws, as I have outlined that we will be doing in this situation. As our trade negotiations start and are ongoing, countries around the world will be looking at the UK as a country that is outward-looking and global, that believes in free trade and that wants to deliver that for the benefit of economies around the world and for the United Kingdom. I want to make sure that Northern Ireland benefits from that. The clauses that we put in the Bill tomorrow will ensure that, regardless of anything else, Northern Ireland will benefit from those kinds of trade deals.