Business of the House

Geraint Davies Excerpts

Thursday 2nd March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

The hon. Gentleman knows that we will bring forward a Bill that will do precisely as he asks. I am glad that we have it on record that he will support the Government.

[Geraint Davies (Swansea West) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Leader of the House may be aware of an article in yesterday’s Financial Times about the funding cliff edge faced by universities across the United Kingdom at the end of structural funding in March, which will end 166 projects. In Swansea, we will be looking at a loss of 24 projects and 150 jobs, and she had promised to raise that issue with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, although there have been a couple of BEIS Secretaries since then. As that funding is desperately important for green growth—and shared prosperity funding goes to local authorities rather than to universities—will she urgently raise this matter with Cabinet colleagues, particularly those from the Treasury, ahead of the Budget, so that we can get the green growth research and development that we need to make Britain strong again?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I am sure that the hon. Gentleman has already raised that with the Chancellor but—belt and braces—I shall make sure that the Chancellor has heard him.

Business of the House

Geraint Davies Excerpts

Thursday 24th November 2022 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that important matter. I know that it is of huge concern to Members in all parties. Many events will be taking place in Parliament to ensure that the voices of the Iranian people can be heard and that we hear about what is going on there. The UK supported the special session at the UN to which he referred. I will write to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Foreign Secretary to make sure that they have heard his concerns today.

[Geraint Davies (Swansea West) (Lab/Co-op)]

In 2010, 26,000 people used food banks. Last year, the figure was 2.6 million—a hundredfold increase. This year, we have one in four households in food poverty. Has the Leader of the House looked at the evidence from the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, including that of FareShare and the Food Foundation? Indeed, the UN special rapporteur called for a right to food and also supported what the Welsh Government are doing in ruling on universal free breakfasts and lunches for our schoolchildren across the nation. We should do the same in England at a time of this desperate hunger among English children in English schools. Let us do it. Let us have that debate and make it work.

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising that important matter. One benefit of having debates is that we can also share good practice across the UK. Food banks are one particular type of support. The pantry and larder schemes, I know, are also expanding. I shall certainly write to the relevant Department to let it know about the hon. Gentleman’s question today and to ensure that those opportunities are taken up.

Business of the House

Geraint Davies Excerpts

Thursday 27th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this. We want to support all young people in their talents and ambitions. She has identified a barrier that stops people setting up their own businesses and starting to develop their ideas at a young age. I shall certainly write to the new Secretary of State and raise the matter with him.

[Geraint Davies (Swansea West) (Lab/Co-op)]

I know that the Leader of the House is a great supporter of green growth. She may know of the innovative work at Swansea University to create hydrogen from off-peak renewables and waste plastic. Is she aware that the university faces a cliff edge in EU funding that threatens 50 projects and 270 highly skilled jobs? Will she talk with her colleagues at Cabinet level and look to make time for a debate on this so that we have the investment in existing projects and jobs and the money to scale up market-ready innovation to generate jobs and exports?

[Penny Mordaunt]

We recently had Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy questions. I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman was able to raise the matter then. If not, I will be happy to do so on his behalf.

Replacement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer

Geraint Davies Excerpts

Monday 17th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

The Prime Minister, in her current and previous roles, has always acted in the national interest and will continue to do so. Her Government will continue to support her. This country needs some stability and some assurance now, and she always takes decisions in the national interest.

[Geraint Davies (Swansea West) (Lab/Co-op)]

As the new Chancellor has reversed all the economic promises made by the Prime Minister in her election campaign to become Prime Minister and as that very Chancellor had the fewest votes in that leadership election—he was thrown out with only 18—does that not show that the next Prime Minister should not be chosen by Conservative Members and their wider membership, but by the British people in a general election, as soon as possible, to get this country back on track?

[Penny Mordaunt]

There are serious questions that we as a Parliament should be examining today. I hope we will soon move on to the Chancellor’s statement, because that is what our constituents are concerned and worried about—not events within the Westminster bubble.

Business of the House

Geraint Davies Excerpts

Monday 21st February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mark Spencer]

What I said.

[Geraint Davies (Swansea West) (Lab/Co-op)]

If there is an invasion this week, what opportunities may there be to have further conversations about the issue and about what steps are being taken on the defence side to provide deterrent assets for the Ukrainian side?

[Mark Spencer]

I hope the hon. Gentleman took the opportunity to question the Secretary of State for Defence an hour ago. There will be another opportunity tomorrow to get those matters on the record and to question the Secretary of State at the Dispatch Box.

Business of the House

Geraint Davies Excerpts

Thursday 27th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

Mr Speaker, if I may, I think it is fair to say that there will be tributes to Jack Dromey on Wednesday, when I know that many Members from all sides of the House will want to pay a tribute to him.

On the economy, I think the hon. Gentleman is simply wrong. The policy adopted during the pandemic has saved the UK economy—that is why it has already got back to its pre-pandemic level. The £400 billion of taxpayer support for individuals and industry meant that people did not lose their jobs and that businesses survived the pandemic. If we had not provided what was probably the greatest level of support of any country in the world, we would have reduced the supply available when the economy came back, and that would have been inflationary. It would also have had the effect of putting many tens or hundreds of thousands—possibly even millions—into unemployment; in fact, we have the lowest youth unemployment on record. I think the attack on economic management is simply misplaced and that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and the Government got the big decisions right. That has been so fundamentally important during the whole of the covid pandemic.

[Geraint Davies (Swansea West) (Lab/Co-op)]

In Swansea, 62% of waste is recycled compared with about 30% in north London. In Wales, we have a moratorium on incineration, but the Government’s plan in England is to double incineration by 2030. Indeed, the latest incinerator in north London will generate 700,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Can we have an urgent debate on incineration and fiscal measures to reduce it so that we can have cleaner air locally, protected from the ultra-fine particulates that incinerators emit, and contain our climate change discharges in a sensible way?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I thought that the hon. Gentleman might make a pun about hot air and the ability of this House sometimes to produce it. Obviously, there are mixed ways of waste disposal, and producing energy from waste is not a bad thing to do. We need a mixed and diverse energy strategy. However, I am fascinated about the concern that the socialists always have for north London.

Business of the House

Geraint Davies Excerpts

Thursday 8th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

My hon. Friend is right about the uniting force of success. Football is the most popular game in this country—amazingly, it is more popular than cricket, which always surprises me, but nonetheless it is—and I did indeed watch the game last night, with any number of my children, some of whom were staying up rather later than is perhaps advisable for children of their young years, but never mind.

The fan-led review, an independent review led by our hon. Friend the Member for Chatham and Aylesford (Tracey Crouch), was announced by the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on 19 April 2021 and will explore ways of improving the governance, ownership and financial sustainability of clubs in English football, building on the strengths of the football pyramid. May I suggest that, rather than immediately having a debate, my hon. Friend seeks to speak to our hon. Friend the Member for Chatham and Aylesford, because that will be a good way to start the conversation and be involved in the process?

[Geraint Davies (Swansea West) (Lab/Co-op) [V]]

We all want to move safely out of lockdown, but we may now see the emergence of a new vaccine-resistant variant in people who have had one jab who are infected and, indeed, the level of infection from the delta variant may rise to 100,000 cases a day. Will the Government ensure that in the event that Parliament is recalled in the summer, hybrid online facilities for MP participation will continue so that all voters can be safely represented?

Business of the House

Geraint Davies Excerpts

Thursday 17th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I know what the question was, because my hon. Friend spoke to me about it yesterday, which is an advantage, given the weakness of the connection just then. I am aware of his concerns about the Committee on the Future Relationship with the European Union winding up in early January, but there is of course also the European Scrutiny Committee. It might be a very good step if the two Chairmen discussed with each other the issues that came out of any agreement that may be made. As there is a Committee, it may well be able to learn from the right hon. Member for Leeds Central (Hilary Benn). The Chairman of the future relationship Committee and my hon. Friend the Member for Stone (Sir William Cash) may have a lot of shared interests that they can exchange with each other.

[Geraint Davies (Swansea West) (Lab/Co-op) [V]]

Yesterday, an inquest found that air pollution was the cause of death for nine-year-old Ella Kissi-Debrah, who lived just 30 yards from the busy London south circular and was admitted to hospital 30 times in three years for air pollution-induced asthma attacks before she ultimately died. Therefore, for Ella’s sake and in the light of this verdict, will the Leader of the House urge the Government to ensure that legally binding World Health Organisation air quality limits are not just included in the Environment Bill but are enforced from 2021 and not delayed, so that tens of thousands more children are not put at unnecessary risk, but have the protection of the law? It could be called Ella’s law, following her tragic death and this historic verdict.

Business of the House

Geraint Davies Excerpts

Thursday 1st October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

We are now going to the place where I was educated by the hon. Member for Huddersfield (Mr Sheerman)—Swansea West.

[Geraint Davies (Swansea West) (Lab/Co-op)]

Mr Deputy Speaker, you will be familiar with hospitality venues across Swansea, including Wind Street. Across the UK, such venues are having their trade restricted for public health reasons. When will we have a debate on how, given that that is in the public interest, the public purse should pay the costs, rather than individual business owners? Will the Leader of the House ensure that such a debate includes all right hon. and hon. Members, in accordance with my Remote Participation in House of Commons Proceedings Bill, by allowing them to participate and speak remotely? That Bill, of course, was presented on my behalf by my hon. Friend the Member for Brent North (Barry Gardiner), because the Leader of the House would not allow me to speak. When will he lift restrictions and allow us to debate the important issue of ensuring that businesses do not have to pay the cost of public health restrictions?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

The House has made the decision, quite rightly, that debates require personal participation. Debates do not run properly when people are remote and interventions are not possible. The support given to Wales by taxpayers is a total of £4 billion, protecting 400,000 jobs under the furlough scheme and 110,000 jobs under the self-employed scheme. What has been done for Wales is very significant, and if the hon. Gentleman wants to come to the House to sing the praises of the Government for what they have managed to do, we will lay out the red carpet for him.

Business of the House

Geraint Davies Excerpts

Thursday 9th July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

My hon. Friend is getting into the bad pun territory that I thought was the preserve of the Leader of the House.

I understand the seriousness of this issue, and I sympathise with the point that he is making. It is very unpleasant to see this type of litter and he is right to understand the concerns that parents have. It is an offence to supply nitrous oxide if the vendor knows or is insufficiently aware of the fact that it would be used for psychoactive effect. Concerns about the supply of nitrous oxide for its psychoactive effects can be reported to the police and problems caused by the consumption of intoxicating substances in public places can and should be reported to local authorities. I am pleased to say that my hon. Friend will have the opportunity to put his views directly to Ministers during the Adjournment debate on tackling the misuse of nitrous oxide on Tuesday 21 July.

[Geraint Davies (Swansea West) (Lab/Co-op) [V]]

Today the Leader of the House will receive a letter from me and other MPs setting out why it was illegal to pass a rule that said that 250 MPs should be excluded from parliamentary debate, that Parliament is in fact not empowered to remove the source of its own legitimacy, and that the vote itself was illegal because it excluded those 250 MPs. Will he undertake to ensure that he responds to this letter within seven days, with a view to resuming hybrid operations in this Parliament, or else at least sets out in full the counter-arguments to these arguments? Will he make arrangements for a full debate on this matter that includes all those people who have been excluded, without personal risk, in order that we can all get back to full operational work in this place, using the technology available, and do not have to resort to the courts?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I have not yet received the hon. Gentleman’s letter, although I look forward to doing so with bated breath—the excitement that awaits me at the end of this session is almost overwhelming. However, this House made its decision. It made its decision in a legitimate vote. We have exclusive cognisance of our affairs. We made the right decision. We are back to work. We are legislating effectively. The Government are being held to account. It was absolutely the right thing to do, and the hon. Gentleman, when he feels that he is well enough to come back, will be enormously welcome. [Interruption.]