European Council

Debate between Frank Roy and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Monday 23rd March 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I have been absolutely clear: I will not be Prime Minister in a Government that do not hold a referendum. I could not be more clear about it. My hon. Friend makes an important point. I remember Tony Blair standing at this Dispatch Box as Prime Minister —I was sitting somewhere on the Opposition Benches—and saying with respect to the European constitution, “Let battle be joined”, and making a great pledge. He could have held a referendum, but he did not. That is one of the things that has poisoned the well in this country and that makes a referendum even more important today.

[Mr Frank Roy (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab)]

During discussions on the middle east with his European counterparts, did the Prime Minister explain why the United Kingdom has allowed only 140 refugees from Syria to come into this country?

[The Prime Minister]

We have spent about £800 million helping refugees in Syria, which makes us the second largest bilateral donor to the programme. We have taken 140 people under the vulnerable persons relocation scheme, and it is right that we have done that, but we have to be frank with ourselves and with the public. In a refugee crisis of this scale, which runs into millions of people, the idea that even a small part of the solution is for our country to take in hundreds or thousands is completely wrong.

G20

Debate between Frank Roy and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Monday 17th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend knows these things well. President Putin is well aware that the NATO alliance has at its heart a clause on collective self-defence. That measure would be triggered if there were an attack on any NATO member. That is at the heart of our alliance, and it is obviously worth a huge amount to the Baltic states in terms of stability and security. This also shows how right we were to include those states in the NATO alliance.

[Mr Frank Roy (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab)]

Will the Prime Minister confirm that the Government will donate £650 million to the green climate fund?

[The Prime Minister]

We will make funds available in the right way following a pledging conference, but we want to ensure that other countries put down their money. All too often in the past, Britain has put its money in first and wondered why no one else has contributed. I am clear that we want to see other countries stepping up to the plate.

European Council

Debate between Frank Roy and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Monday 27th October 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Complicated calculations are carried out by the Office for National Statistics in the United Kingdom, by EUROSTAT throughout Europe and by the independent statistics organisations of every country. That is why the figures are estimates and why they have to be checked so carefully.

[Mr Frank Roy (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab)]

Did the Prime Minister raise with his European counterparts the need for a vibrant steel industry in the United Kingdom, and the need to ensure that companies in the United Kingdom are not threatened by asset strippers who are based in Europe?

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for asking that question because one reason for fighting for a climate change deal that focused on carbon emission reductions, rather than on other targets, was so that we could reduce carbon at the minimum cost not only to our businesses, but to households through the bills that they pay. As he knows, we are helping steel producers and other high energy users with a specific scheme that has been drawn up by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Frank Roy and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 22nd October 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I think Jim O’Neill has done an absolutely first-class job with this report. I shall be seeing him later today, and I want to congratulate him on what he has done. There is a real opportunity here—the Chancellor has spoken about it—to create a northern powerhouse by looking at how we can use high-speed rail and other infrastructure to link up our great northern cities so that we really have a proper rebalancing of our economy. That is what this is all about, and I think that Jim O’Neill’s work is all to the good.

[Mr Frank Roy (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab)]

Q9. The Prime Minister will be aware that Tata Steel intends to sell its long products division to the Klesch group, which could have an effect on 15,000 jobs. Given the significance of the British steel industry to the UK economy and in view of Klesch’s history of asset stripping and dumping companies across Europe, does the Prime Minister agree with me that Klesch is not a fit and proper company to own such an important part of our economy, and that the prospect of such a sale merits a direct intervention by this Government in the interests of those steelworkers and the British public?

[The Prime Minister]

I want to see a successful British steel industry as much as the hon. Gentleman does. We have seen some good steps in recent years, with what has happened at Port Talbot and, indeed, at Redcar. I think we should talk to Klesch, judge it by what it says and what it does and give every assistance we can to try to maintain these important businesses and jobs. That is exactly what we are doing. We are looking at all the flexibilities under things such as the emissions directives to see what more we can do. I am sure that the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and I will be looking into this personally, and will do everything we can to support this important industry.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Frank Roy and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 2nd April 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is right to raise this because, frankly, what is happening in our NHS in Wales is a scandal. It is a scandal that is entirely the responsibility of the Labour party running the Welsh Assembly Government, who made the decision to cut NHS spending by 8% in Wales. As a result, they have not met an A and E target since 2009. The last time—[Interruption.] I do not know why the Leader of the Opposition is laughing; the state of the NHS in Wales is not funny. If he had any gumption—any backbone—he would get hold of the First Minister in Wales and tell him to start investing in the NHS in Wales.

[Mr Frank Roy (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab)]

Twenty-five years ago yesterday, the hated poll tax was imposed on the people of Scotland. That ended with the Prime Minister being kicked out of office by her own party. Will the Prime Minister take this opportunity to apologise for that imposition?

[The Prime Minister]

I am sorry; I did not catch the beginning of the hon. Gentleman’s question. Would it be possible for him to ask it again, Mr Speaker? I do not know whether it was the same as the question about the Scottish National party.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Roy]

Twenty-five years ago yesterday, the hated poll tax was imposed on the people of Scotland. That ended with the Prime Minister being kicked out by her own party. Will the Prime Minister take this opportunity to apologise for that tax?

[The Prime Minister]

I have made clear my view about this issue many, many times over many, many years. I think the council tax is a much better replacement. The key now is to keep the levels of council tax down. That is why Government Members support a freeze.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Frank Roy and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 11th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Frank Roy (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab)]

In towns across the United Kingdom, there are parents in deep despair because they cannot afford a decent Christmas for their children. Why is that?

[The Prime Minister]

What is happening in our country is that we are recovering from the longest, deepest and most difficult recession in living memory. It takes time, but what we see is 1 million more people in work—that is a positive development. We see 400,000 more businesses operating in our country—that is a positive development. The growth rate in our country is now the second-highest of any major western economy. The job is not done yet; it is not halfway done yet. That is why we need a long-term economic plan, which is what we are dedicated to delivering. Frankly, we would get nowhere if the first thing we did was to increase spending, increase borrowing and increase taxes—all the things that got this country into the mess in the first place.

G20

Debate between Frank Roy and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Monday 9th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

From all my discussions with President Putin—not just at St Petersburg, but at Sochi, No. 10 Downing street and the G8 summit at Lough Erne —I believe that he wants to see a stable Syria and a stable middle east. He is very concerned about instability and terrorism. We have a profound disagreement about the role the opposition could play and, obviously, about what happened with the chemical weapons, but there is some long-term commonality of purpose: wanting a peaceful and stable Syria for the future. That is what we have to work with.

[Mr Frank Roy (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab)]

When the Prime Minister discussed the Syrian refugee camps, was there any agreement that all leaders should visit them to see for themselves the unfolding horrors?

[The Prime Minister]

There was not an agreement on that front, but certainly those of us who have been to the camps referred to them, and a number of other leaders made exactly that point too.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Frank Roy and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 30th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. During the last decade, net migration to the UK was running at more than 200,000 a year: 2 million over the decade as a whole. That is the equivalent of the population of two cities the size of Birmingham. It was too far, it was too high, and the last Government bear a huge responsibility for not making responsible decisions.

We have made responsible decisions. We are dealing with, for instance, bogus colleges and bogus students, and the level of net migration has fallen by a quarter. While we welcome people who want to come here from European Union countries and work, we obviously need to do more to ensure that we take a tough approach to prevent people from abusing our benefits system. My hon. Friend the Immigration Minister is working very hard on the issue, and I think it very important for him to do so.

[Mr Frank Roy (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab)]

Q9. Last week, the Prime Minister described blacklisting as “a completely unacceptable practice”.Why is he still blacklisting food banks this week, by refusing to have the decency to visit them, listen and speak—[Interruption.] Government Members may find it funny, but thousands of families do not. Will the Prime Minister visit a food bank, and actually speak to the people who use them?

[The Prime Minister]

Maybe we need to modernise the system, so that a Member can receive a question from a Whip on a tablet or an iPad and change it as Question Time proceeds.

Of course I look forward to having discussions with the people who operate food banks and those who use them, but as I have said, use of food banks increased 10 times under the last Labour Government. I think that, rather than attacking them, we should praise the people who give of their time to work in those organisations.

Algeria

Debate between Frank Roy and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Monday 21st January 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes an extremely intelligent point, and I will think about it carefully. Part of my response would be to say that in a country such as Somalia our aim should not be to contain the problems of terrorism in Somalia; it should be to work with the Somali Government to build up Somali security forces and to work with the Somalis to have a better political solution to political problems in that country, so that, over time, politically, militarily and diplomatically, through aid and everything else, we squeeze the terrorists out of the space. That is not containing; it is trying, over time, to overcome them completely. That is the ambition we should have, but it does not mean, to answer the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr Skinner), that we have to have some sort of “crusading zeal”; it means that we have to have real resolve, but bring an intelligent mix of answers to these very deep problems.

[Mr Frank Roy (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab)]

Sadly, the last few days have shown us that we must engage more with ordinary people in north African countries. Does the Prime Minister agree that we must do all we can to increase resources for projects such as the Arab Partnership, which brings together an understanding between the United Kingdom and the Arab people?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman makes a very good point; that partnership does have some £110 million in it, it has been an important initiative and we should continue to work on it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Frank Roy and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 27th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Frank Roy (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab)]

Twenty years ago this week, the giant Ravenscraig steelworks in my constituency was forced to close. Thousands of steelmaking jobs were lost, and sadly many of my former steelworking colleagues never found work again. Twenty years on, will the Prime Minister apologise for his party’s shameful role in the demise of the Scottish steel industry?

[The Prime Minister]

I am sorry for every job that has been lost in manufacturing industry over a very long period of time. I would say, though, that while manufacturing as a share of the economy almost halved under the previous Government, that share is now increasing. It is worth recognising that under this Government the steel industry has started up again on Teesside, and that is something that the whole House should applaud.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Frank Roy and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 30th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. Just in case anyone did not get it the first time, let me say it again:

“These strikes are wrong at a time when negotiations are…going on”.

Negotiations are going on, so the Leader of the Opposition should think the strikes are wrong. He does not think that they are wrong, because he is in the pocket of the trade union leaders.

[Mr Frank Roy (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab)]

In every city and village in the country, home helps, carers, nurses and teachers are on strike for the very first time in their lives. These hard-working people—

[Mr Roy]

Well, we hear laughter from the Government Benches, but this is no laughing matter to hard-working families. Are these hard-working people out-of-touch left-wing trade union militants, as demonised by the two parties on the Government Benches, or are they men and women who have said to the Government, “Enough is enough”?

[The Prime Minister]

I know that people feel strongly about this, but we have a responsibility to deliver an affordable public sector pension system. We have rejected the idea of levelling down public sector pensions. What we will deliver on public sector pensions is a generous and fair offer that will give public sector pensioners, unlike others in our country, a defined benefit system. That is why Lord Hutton says that this is an incredibly generous offer. What a pity it is that the Labour party has left reality and will not back that view.

Libya

Debate between Frank Roy and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Monday 5th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes a good point, and we have seen, particularly in Egypt, the importance of protecting Coptic Christians and others. I am heartened by what Chairman Jalil has said about respect for human rights and tolerance, and I am sure that he will want to follow those things through.

[Mr Frank Roy (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab)]

Has an estimation been made of when British oil workers will be allowed to return to their vital jobs in Libya?

[The Prime Minister]

I do not have an estimation, but it is in Libya’s interests that the production of oil gets back to normal as fast as possible. Some people say, though, that it could take up to three years to get back to full capacity. The encouraging thing is that a lot of the refineries and other oil installations, such as the ones in Ras Lanuf, Brega, Zawiyah and elsewhere, have not been badly damaged, so there is no reason this should not happen as rapidly as possible.

Afghanistan

Debate between Frank Roy and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 6th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. However, I think that there is an incentive to join a political process, because Taliban mid and high-level leaders are being killed in ever larger numbers. Actually, we are now seeing, in some cases, lowering morale among the Taliban within Afghanistan because their “brave” mid and high-level leaders are cowering over the border in Pakistan. That is what has happened, and we need to keep up that pressure. Of course we need to work with the Afghans so that they have the long-term capability to go on dealing with the insurgency, if it continues—even in a minor way—along the lines that he suggests. However, no one should think that the Taliban are not under pressure; they are under huge pressure because of the surge and the effectiveness of the operations in which we are also engaged.

[Mr Frank Roy (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab)]

Will the Prime Minister guarantee that as we draw down troops in Afghanistan, we will not draw down the number of people who provide security for the diplomatic teams that will be left in the country?

[The Prime Minister]

Obviously it is hugely important that we secure those who work in our embassy. I had the great good fortune of meeting many people who work in the Kabul embassy, which is now one of our biggest embassies. They have to make huge compromises to work in such a difficult location, and their security needs to be absolutely at the top of our agenda.

Libya and the Middle East

Debate between Frank Roy and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Monday 28th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I take issue with my hon. Friend, in a way. I think we should stop arguing about some of these points in the past and try to build a stronger argument about what our engagement with this region should be like. Where I agree with him is that what I call the rather naive, neo-con view that it is possible to impose democracy at the end of the barrel of a gun is not right, but it is also wrong to take a hardcore, realist approach of just saying, “We have to deal with what is there.” We should learn from our own history and recognise that it is about putting in place the building blocks of democracy and having elections, yes, but also the rule of law, an independent judiciary, a proper place for the military in society, free association and free speech, many of which are rights that we had years before the vote. That is what we should be focusing on in our relations with these countries, so that we can help to point them to a better future.

[Mr Frank Roy (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab)]

Throughout most of last week, hundreds of UK citizens in Libya felt in grave danger and, frankly, abandoned by this Government. Will the Prime Minister commission an independent inquiry into the shambolic way in which the Foreign Office undertook its duties in the early part of last week?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman is being slightly unfair. These are not easy things to get right, and we did well in the case of Egypt. Clearly, there are lessons to learn here, and I do not think it a complicated process. There are a number of steps, as I have said, regarding defence assets, redundancy and the use of scheduled flights, and I think we can learn those lessons relatively quickly. I think it a relatively straightforward and easy thing to do.

NATO Summit

Debate between Frank Roy and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Monday 22nd November 2010 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes an extremely good point. If we want to leave behind a secure and stable Afghanistan, relations with its neighbours are crucial. Many people make the point that NATO and ISAF are making a tremendous effort in Afghanistan and that many of the country’s neighbours will benefit from a stable Afghanistan, but are not making a contribution. I think it is up to them to contribute, but also up to us to try to bring the neighbours together to make sure they demonstrate the equity they have in a stable Afghanistan for the future.

[Mr Frank Roy (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab)]

Is it not apparent that the number of trainers for the Afghan police and army is woefully inadequate? Will the Prime Minister tell us what the timeline will be and what priority will be given to increasing the number of trainers by all the countries concerned?

[The Prime Minister]

We are making very good progress in training up the Afghan police and army. We are a little ahead of schedule. The key thing about this NATO summit was to get other countries to commit to adding to the training mission. There were some very welcome developments, such as the Canadians who, in pulling back on the combat forces front, committed to the training mission. As I said, Britain added another 320 trainers. I think we are on target to deliver the sort of Afghan national security forces we need to complete our drawdown by 2014.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Frank Roy and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 9th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes an extremely good point, which is that, if we do not take action to deal with the deficit, we will pay over £70 billion, not repaying the debt, but just on debt interest in five years’ time. Think about it like this: all the revenue gleaned from corporation tax—all the tax on every company making a profit in our country—does not even pay for half the debt interest bill. That is the mess that we have been left in, but this Government have the courage to deal with it.

[Mr Frank Roy (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab)]

Q9. The Prime Minister will agree that cross-border rail services are strategically important to the UK. Will he therefore honour the assurances given to me by the previous Government that east coast main line services will continue to stop at Motherwell and that there will be an increase in west coast main line services stopping at Motherwell?

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising that issue. I will certainly look at it. I cannot promise to arrange all the stops on the east coast main line. Sadly, that is a power I do not think I have, but I will do my best.