Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Harriet Cross and Lindsay Hoyle(5 days, 17 hours ago)
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Harriet Cross (Gordon and Buchan) (Con)
More than 38,000 people are employed on Welsh farms, the food and farming sector is worth £9 billion to the Welsh economy, and 90% of land is given over to farming, yet in 2025 alone, more than 400 farming businesses closed in Wales. Given the importance of farming to Wales, when did the Wales Office last make representations to the Cabinet about Welsh farmers, and what actions, not meetings, has the Minister personally taken to support farming in Wales?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Harriet Cross and Lindsay Hoyle(1 week, 6 days ago)
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Harriet Cross
Inverurie medical practice in my constituency saw its national insurance bill rise by £75,000 thanks to this Government. That has put huge pressure on the practice, which was already operating with one GP for 3,000 patients, which is three times higher than the British Medical Association recommends. When did the Secretary of State last meet the Chancellor to discuss the impact of the NICs rise on GP practices, and what are he and his Department doing about the pressure—
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Harriet Cross and Lindsay Hoyle(3 weeks, 6 days ago)
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Harriet Cross (Gordon and Buchan) (Con)
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
“Our Governments seem stricken, almost delusional, in the face of onrushing disaster,”
and we are seeing
“arguably the most destructive industrial calamity in our nation’s history”.
Those are the words of the GMB’s Scotland Secretary about the Government’s determination to tax and regulate the oil and gas sector out of business. Does the Minister agree with the words of his union friend?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Harriet Cross and Lindsay Hoyle(1 month, 2 weeks ago)
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Nick Thomas-Symonds
We are not returning to the common fisheries policy, and the hon. Lady is completely wrong in what she just said. The medium-term stability that we have delivered for our fishing industry will mean a £360 million investment in upgrading our fleet and in our coastal communities. If she opposes that money going into our fishing communities, she should say so. Secondly—[Interruption.]
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Harriet Cross and Lindsay Hoyle(1 month, 2 weeks ago)
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Harriet Cross (Gordon and Buchan) (Con)
Mid-Wales is beautiful, but plans for 200 metre tall wind turbines in Radnor forest—turbines twice the height of Big Ben—will blight the landscape, impact local communities and harm the area’s vital tourism sector, and we are seeing similar proposals across Brecon and Radnorshire. The concerns of local communities, businesses and councils must be properly considered in planning decisions for energy infrastructure, not simply overridden by Government Ministers in Cardiff Bay to meet their own agenda. Does the Secretary of State agree?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Harriet Cross and Lindsay Hoyle(2 months ago)
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Harriet Cross (Gordon and Buchan) (Con)
In the consultation paper on the future of the North sea, the Government defined windfall prices as $90 a barrel for oil and 90p a therm for gas. Can the Minister tell me the prices of oil and gas today?
Supporting High Streets
Debate between Harriet Cross and Lindsay Hoyle(4 months ago)
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Harriet Cross (Gordon and Buchan) (Con)
Family businesses are crucial to our high streets, including mine in Inverurie, Ellon, Turriff and Huntly. Indeed, they are the backbone of our high streets, yet this Government’s national insurance contributions changes and Employment Rights Bill, and their slashing of business property relief, will have a huge impact on them and employment in them. What does the shadow Minister think of that, and what can we do to help our high streets and, in particular, family businesses in them?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Harriet Cross and Lindsay Hoyle(9 months, 1 week ago)
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Harriet Cross (Gordon and Buchan) (Con)
New research shows that foreign nationals are claiming almost £1 billion in benefits each month. We now face the highest number of asylum claims ever recorded—up another 9% since Labour took office. Meanwhile, the 42,000 appeal backlog at the end of 2024 is projected to more than double to almost 100,000 by the end of this year. The Home Secretary herself has admitted to the media that her White Paper would cut immigration by just 50,000. This is utterly inadequate. Without real deterrence and stricter measures, the visa processing delays will only worsen, so will the Minister commit to two concrete measures: implementing the previous Conservative threshold of £38,000; and introducing a legally binding annual migration cap that actually delivers accountability?
Mr Speaker
Order. Can I just say to the shadow Minister that we have a lot of Members to get in—I want to get to Question 15 on the Order Paper—and I need her help to do so?
Business of the House
Debate between Harriet Cross and Lindsay Hoyle(1 year ago)
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Mr Speaker
Order. Many Members are here for the International Women�s Day debate, so I expect to run business questions until about midday.
Harriet Cross (Gordon and Buchan) (Con)
The Budget turned the world, or at least the future of family farms, upside down. Ever since then, we have seen mounting evidence of the impact that the changes to inheritance tax, business property relief and agricultural property relief will have on family farms. That evidence has come from the industry, from industry experts and from tax experts. There is also mounting concern among Government Back Benchers about the impact that the changes will have on farmers in their constituencies up and down the country, and that concern is reflected on our own Benches. Given the impact on family farms and the future of food security in the country, will the Leader of the House please consider granting a debate in the Chamber on the family farm tax and what we can do to mitigate its impacts?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Harriet Cross and Lindsay Hoyle(1 year, 2 months ago)
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Harriet Cross (Gordon and Buchan) (Con)
The Secretary of State, the Minister for Energy and the Minister for Consumers have all said in this House that the National Energy System Operator’s report shows that the Government’s 2030 target will lower energy bills. However, the report itself explicitly says that it does not do so, and the chief executive officer of the NESO told the Energy Security and Net Zero Select Committee last week that it “did not set out” to determine “what bills are for consumers.” Will the Minister explain those inconsistencies and take the opportunity to correct the record?