Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Graham P Jones and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 3rd December 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I can certainly make that commitment. I was one of a number of people who made their way to Stonehenge this week to see how important this tunnel will be. It will be at least 1.8 miles and is part of an overall plan to create that expressway all the way between the M3 and M5 and down into Cornwall, to ensure that we improve that vital road network. As for Stonehenge, the tunnel will ensure that this extraordinary monument has the setting and attention it deserves.

[Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

Q4. A Haslingden constituent, 20-year-old Sophie Lancaster, was brutally murdered in 2007, kicked to death in a park by a group of males simply for being part of a sub-culture—a goth. She was a victim of hate crime, and the implications of that tragedy continue today. Will the Prime Minister meet the Sophie Lancaster Foundation to see its excellent work, and do everything he can to ensure the clear message that there are no exceptions to hate crime?

[The Prime Minister]

I remember that tragic case and the appalling way that that girl was treated and beaten. I am happy to see what meeting I can arrange to ensure that the agenda of how we combat hate crime in all its forms is properly addressed in our country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Graham P Jones and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 19th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 19 November.

[The Prime Minister (Mr David Cameron)]

I am sure the whole House will join me in condemning the senseless attack in a synagogue in West Jerusalem this week, in which five people were killed. One of the victims was a dual Israeli-UK citizen, Rabbi Avraham Goldberg, and we send our deepest condolences to his family and friends, as well as to the families of the other victims. This was an appalling act of terror, and we condemn all acts of this kind.

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

[Graham Jones]

I think the whole House will echo the Prime Minister’s comments regarding the incident in Israel. It is a tragedy that we are all deeply concerned about.

How confident is the Prime Minister that he will not see further defections to UKIP?

[The Prime Minister]

There is only one way to secure an in/out referendum on Europe, and that is to back a Conservative victory at the next election.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Graham P Jones and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 15th October 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I agree with my hon. Friend that it is important that democracy involves real choices. I also think that we should be very clear about the importance we attach to the 1984 joint declaration, which makes it very clear that the current social and economic systems in Hong Kong will remain unchanged, including lifestyle. It talks about:

“Rights and freedoms, including those of the person, of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of travel, of movement, of correspondence”

and, indeed, “of strike”. Those are important freedoms jointly guaranteed through that joint declaration and it is that, most of all, that we should stand up for.

[Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

Q6. Proposed cuts to GP funding, the proposed closure of a walk-in centre in Accrington, proposed cuts to the GP practice in Accrington Victoria hospital, accident and emergency in special measures, the police taking constituents to A and E at Blackburn Royal hospital in police cars: the NHS in my constituency is in crisis. What can the Prime Minister ever do, considering the broken promises he has given, to assure my constituents that the NHS is safe?

[The Prime Minister]

We are not cutting spending on the NHS, which is what those on the hon. Gentleman’s Front Bench recommended at the beginning of this Parliament. We are spending £12.7 billion more on the NHS, and if we look at his own clinical commissioning group in East Lancashire, we can see that the funding this year of £490 million is going up by 2.14%. That is an increase of more than inflation. That is our policy and that is not the policy of the Labour party.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Graham P Jones and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 9th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The Post Office card account has been a great bonus for many people. I think it has really helped not only our post offices, but particularly elderly people who have access to those sorts of accounts, and I will look very carefully at what my hon. Friend says.

[Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

Q2. Why is market intervention by the state in mortgages okay, but market intervention in the energy market is not?

[The Prime Minister]

We are intervening in the mortgage market because banks are failing to provide mortgages so young people can get on to the housing ladder. We are also intervening by putting everyone on the lowest energy tariff, but what the Leader of the Opposition cannot control, although he would like to, is international gas prices. He needs a basic lesson in economics, and it sounds like the hon. Gentleman does, too.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Graham P Jones and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 12th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

On this one, the hon. Gentleman speaks for the whole House and the whole country in praising Britain’s carers. They do an amazing job. If they stopped caring, the cost to the taxpayer would be phenomenal, so we should do what we can to support our carers, and to ensure they get the proper respite breaks from caring that they need to be able to go on doing the wonderful work they do.

[Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

Q8. Why has the number of supply teachers in secondary schools in the past year increased by a staggering 17%?

[The Prime Minister]

I do not have the figures for that, but we have protected the amount of money that goes into schools per pupil so that schools have the money to employ the teachers they need.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Graham P Jones and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 27th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

Q15. The Prime Minister has run away from the question whether he will personally benefit from the millionaires’ tax cut. It is a simple question: when the top rate of tax is cut from 50p to 45p, will he personally benefit?

[The Prime Minister]

The top rate of tax under this Government will be higher than in any year under his party’s Government. That is the change that we are bringing about. When they introduced the 50p rate, they lost £7 billion in tax revenue. They are not only socialists but incompetent socialists to boot.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Graham P Jones and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 22nd February 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I think my hon. Friend speaks for many in this House and the overwhelming majority in this country who think that companies offering work experience schemes to those on unemployment benefit is a thoroughly good thing. Let us be clear: this is not a compulsory scheme, but one that young people ask to go on. The findings are that around half of them are actually getting work at the end of these schemes. That is a far better outcome than the future jobs fund had—and at about a 20th of the cost. I think we should encourage companies and young people to expand work experience because it gives people the chance to see work and all it involves, and gives them a better chance to get a job.

[Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

Prime Minister, thousands of BAE workers in every constituency right across Lancashire are concerned and angry about the Eurofighter Indian contract. Earlier this week, you held a meeting with Lancashire’s Tory MPs. When will you be arranging a meeting at 10 Downing street for all Lancashire MPs—or do you have something to hide?

Public Confidence in the Media and Police

Debate between Graham P Jones and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 20th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I would be a little careful about this. The police have to have a relationship with the media, both at the top level to communicate what the police are trying to do strategically, and at the operational level to work with the local press to help beat crime. There is therefore an appropriate relationship. We have to try to ensure that they do not have an inappropriate relationship.

[Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

Has the Prime Minister ever uttered the word “BSkyB” in the presence of Rebekah Brooks, Rupert Murdoch or James Murdoch?

[The Prime Minister]

You know—urgh!

Phone Hacking

Debate between Graham P Jones and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 13th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I think that is right. The point about the relationship between politicians and the press, and where that has gone wrong, is, as I said, that we have been courting support rather than confronting problems. That has been the case for Oppositions. I freely admit that as Leader of the Opposition, you spend quite a lot of time trying to persuade newspapers and others to support you, because you want to explain your policies, your vision and what you are doing for the country. That will not stop. We are not all going to go and live in a monastery and never talk to journalists ever again, wonderful though that might seem by moments. We must have a healthy relationship where we can have those meetings and discussions, but at the same time confront the difficulties that we have. That is what the commission will do.

[Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

I am not a legal expert, but I am deeply concerned about the suggestion that there is a non-disclosure agreement between News International and Glenn Mulcaire, the man at the centre of hacking. If a non-disclosure agreement exists, it must have been put in place between News International and him in 2005 or 2006, at the time that Andy Coulson was at the News of the World. I have a deep concern about who negotiated that and the implications. Will the Prime Minister look into the matter personally, and will it be part of the inquiry?

[The Prime Minister]

That needs to be part of the police inquiry, never mind the inquiry that is about to start under Judge Leveson. There is a police inquiry now into what went wrong at the News of the World, how much hacking took place, who was hacked and who knew. All those questions need to be answered by the police, and it is a full-on police inquiry, not the rather thin inquiry that happened before.

Afghanistan

Debate between Graham P Jones and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 6th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I had the great honour of meeting the Speaker of the Afghan Parliament. As I understand it, there will be good and strong relations between this Parliament and the Afghan Parliament, which is beginning to establish itself—but I will leave decisions on what Mr Speaker wants to do to Mr Speaker.

[Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

I welcome the Prime Minister’s comments about education in Afghanistan, but can he update the House on how much progress has been made from investing in schooling and education over the years, and on where that leaves us now?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman asks a good question. I shall write to him with the specific figures for the number of Afghans in school in Helmand province and elsewhere. I think that he will see very good progress, but I will write to him with the exact details.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Graham P Jones and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 30th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes a very good public spending application, and I am sure that the Treasury will have been listening carefully. He also makes a very good point: even in a difficult Budget, when reductions had to be made, we have boosted spending on FE colleges and increased the number of apprenticeships, after the shambles left by the last lot.

[Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

Q13. The Local Government Chronicle has listed my constituency as the one that has received the biggest cuts in Britain—nearly £3 million at district level. As the Prime Minister will be aware, it is an area of poor health, low incomes and some of the worst housing in Britain. In fact, at the weekend the Liberal Democrat leader of Burnley borough council, the neighbouring council, said:“The cuts announced by the Government are hitting deprived areas like Burnley much harder than the more affluent areas.”Does the Prime Minister agree with his colleague in the Liberal Democrats?

[The Prime Minister]

Of course there will be difficult decisions in the Budget and on public spending reductions. Everybody should know that and should be honest about it rather than pretending that they would not have happened if we had had a different Government. What we will do is help areas of need through the tax changes we are making and also through the regional development grant of £1 billion, for which areas such as Hyndburn are able to bid to ensure that they get an increased private sector, to try to get the motor of our economy going again. That is absolutely vital.