Britain’s Place in the World

Henry Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 15th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Alok Sharma]

We have record investment going into the NHS. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced investments in hospitals, and I say to the hon. Gentleman that whether for aid or the public services the only way we can find that money is to keep our economy strong—something that would not happen under the Labour party.

My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister met leaders at the G7 this summer in Biarritz; all those countries support the UK’s campaign to give every girl in the world 12 years of quality education.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

Britain can be proud of its global record of development. Will the Minister encourage some other European countries to step up and match Britain’s international aid commitment? Countries including France and many others only contribute about half the national wealth that this country does, and they can learn a lot from global Britain.

[Alok Sharma]

My hon. Friend makes a very important point, and of course we urge all developed nations to come forward and match us in our 0.7% target. I would add that there are certain areas such as the fight against the spread of Ebola where the UK has been leading, and it would be very helpful if some of our international partners came alongside us in such endeavours.

As I have said, all those countries in Biarritz supported the UK’s campaign to ensure that every girl in the world receives 12 years of quality education, and we know that educating girls is the tool that can address a whole host of the world’s economic and social problems. Educating girls prevents child marriage and early pregnancy, helps women into the workforce and boosts household incomes and economic growth. We announced new funding at the G7 to provide education for children in the developing world caught up in crises and conflict; girls, who are more than twice as likely to be out of school in conflict areas, stand to benefit most from this support.

Since 2015, the UK has supported almost 6 million girls to gain a decent education. At the UN in September, the Prime Minister announced measures that will help to get over 12 million more children into school. That will boost future economic growth and improve women’s rights in some of the poorest countries in the world.

Syria

Henry Smith Excerpts

Monday 30th April 2018 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

Yes, and my hon. Friend enables me to make a further point, which is that many of the refugees who are resident in these host countries are not there passively receiving aid, but are actively contributing to those societies. They are running businesses and engaging in economic activity. We need to ensure that people who have been there for many years and may remain for some time have the best possible future. It is right that we in the UK take in those who need additional protections and additional care and support.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

The Syrian civil war is obviously controversial, as is the UK’s international aid budget. What more can the Department do to promote the good aid work that the UK is doing in respect of the Syrian conflict? As the Secretary of State mentioned, we are the second largest bilateral donor, after the United States.

Oral Answers to Questions

Henry Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Rory Stewart]

The British Government currently provide support to Ukraine in two ways. First, we provide support directly to the Ukrainian Government and governance programmes. Secondly, through the International Committee of the Red Cross and People in Need, which is a Czech organisation, we provide humanitarian assistance. We must be clear that this conflict in Ukraine was caused and is sustained by Russian aggression.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.

[The Secretary of State for International Development (Priti Patel)]

This year the world faces numerous humanitarian crises, to which I have already referred. Parts of South Sudan are now in famine and there is a credible risk of famine in Yemen, north-east Nigeria and Somalia. That is why today I have announced new packages of support. The UK’s message to the world is clear: we need to act now to help innocent people who are starving to death.

[Henry Smith]

Can my right hon. Friend be more specific about measures her Department is taking to help to address the potential crisis that is developing in Somalia, South Sudan and other countries in the region?

[Priti Patel]

Specifically, our focus right now is on emergency food and water. That is where the need is. We are talking about more than 1 million people in both countries who need urgent support. They are the focus of our attention right now. Obviously, working with our partners, we will make assessments to see what additional support we will need to continue to put in.

Oral Answers to Questions

Henry Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 29th June 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Obviously, as we negotiate our way out of the EU, a whole range of decisions will have to be made. What a future Government must do is make sure that we help our universities, the sciences and disadvantaged parts of the country and continue to support farmers. There is going to be a challenge, but we will be able to judge for ourselves whether we will have more money to do this because we have left the EU or less money because of the impact on the economy. But that is something that we will all be able to judge for ourselves in the years ahead.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

Unfortunately, earlier this morning the Supreme Court ruled against a right of return for the Chagos islanders to their homeland. I know that my right hon. Friend will be pleased that I will not be pestering him much more on this issue, but may I suggest that a fine legacy of his premiership would be to allow these British citizens to return to their homeland?

[The Prime Minister]

The National Security Council has been considering the issue. We have looked at the options and the costs and benefits of the various things that we could do, and we will make an announcement in the coming months.

Humanitarian Crisis: Greece

Henry Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

As ever, we will continue to make sure that the support we give to all the countries affected by the crisis is at a level that we think is sensible. As I have set out, Britain has, frankly, done as much as any in helping refugees who are arriving in Europe. That is why a significant proportion of what we provide has been given to countries such as Greece where the refugees have arrived. I do not agree with the right hon. Gentleman’s second point about our approach to relocation. I think our approach is the sensible approach, one that is increasingly recognised across Europe as sensible and pragmatic.

My final point to the right hon. Gentleman is that the people we are able to relocate are the most vulnerable people from the region, those identified by agencies like the UNHCR as needing to be removed from the region in order to get back on with their lives and receive the support they need to do so. I think we are right to focus on the most vulnerable people affected by this crisis; that will continue to be our approach.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

I thank the Secretary of State and the Government for the leadership they have shown in making us the biggest donor of humanitarian support in region, after the United States. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the refugees from the middle east are the victims of terrorists and traffickers, so taking into the United Kingdom the refugees who have already reached the safety of Europe is simply playing into the hands of those evil traffickers who are exploiting people so appallingly?

[Justine Greening]

I think my hon. Friend is right. In the end, there is no getting away from the fact that overwhelmingly people want to stay in the region where they had their home and grew up—the area with which they are most familiar and where their closest family is likely to be based. I think the failure of the international community to do enough is what has led to the sorts of flows that we are now seeing. That is why the London conference a month ago was so important. It is also why we need to see more countries doing more in the region. We should not lose sight of the need for more international leadership, matching that of Britain, in the region so that refugees can be supported in countries such as Jordan and Lebanon. They have been generous, but they are saying that this is an extremely difficult situation for them to cope with. Let us not lose sight of that.

Syria Crisis: UK Response

Henry Smith Excerpts

Monday 8th February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

The No Lost Generation initiative was set up with UNICEF, which has done an amazing job in allowing us to scale up this work. Of course, it is now essentially owned by the Governments in Lebanon and Jordan. I have had the privilege to work alongside their Education Ministers to put together the plans that are enabling us to scale up this work to ensure that all children in those countries can get into school. The best suggestion I can make is that those NGOs get in touch with DFID to understand what role they can play in the plans that the Governments of Jordan and Lebanon have to get children back into school.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

I commend my right hon. Friend and the Government not only for convening the Syria donor conference but for the significant in-region humanitarian support we are providing. In recent times, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have contemplated military action in Syria. Will she say what those countries and similar countries in the region are doing with regard to humanitarian aid?

[Justine Greening]

One big step forward at the conference was the stepping up of the region to provide the resourcing for humanitarian supplies to get through to people. Of course, the last three donor conferences were in the region, in Kuwait. We chose to host the conference this year, but it had substantial and significant support from the region. That is one reason we were able to reach such a record-breaking pledge.

Oral Answers to Questions

Henry Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd September 2014 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

The hon. Gentleman is right to raise that issue. One of the challenges has been that many of the people displaced within Gaza went to schools that were empty because of the school holidays. I recently spoke to the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency about how we can ensure we create the homes and the refuges for people to leave the schools so that the children can get back to school. The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right; we need to make sure that they do not lose their education.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

T6. What are the British Government’s plans for development goals as part of the UN General Assembly later this month?

[Justine Greening]

We will be pushing our vision for a compelling new set of development goals in relation to post-2015, and in our August presidency of the UN Security Council, we have been focusing on conflict prevention.

Oral Answers to Questions

Henry Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 4th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

They are not a Government in waiting; they are not even an Opposition in waiting. It is 18 months before the next general election and we still have no clue from those six questions what the Labour party would actually do. Well, we know a few things: an energy con that would see prices go up rather than down; no apology for crashing the economy in the first place; and a total failure to stand up to trade union bosses. If they cannot manage to come up with some sensible polices and they cannot manage their own party, why should anyone think that they can manage our country?

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

Q2. This weekend is small business Saturday and I will be supporting local firms in my constituency. Companies welcome the reduction in corporation tax and national insurance contributions that this Government introduced, but what more can be done to reduce business rates?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I suggest to my hon. Friend that he waits until the Chancellor makes his autumn statement. Small business Saturday is a brilliant event to encourage everyone to support small businesses in the UK. Of course, the previous Government planned to end more generous small business rate relief. We reversed that decision, saving small businesses on average £2,000—yet another example of this side of the House standing up for small businesses that were let down by that side of the House.

Oral Answers to Questions

Henry Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd October 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Everyone in our country wants to see living standards increase, more people in work and for people to keep more take-home pay. That is why we have cut taxes for the typical working person—by £705 if we look at what will be in place next year. Let me make a point about zero-hours contracts. The proportion of people in employment on zero hours in 2012 was the same as it was in the year 2000. The number of people on zero hours increased by 75% between 2004 and 2009—when that lot were in government.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

Q13. Businesses in Crawley are creating hundreds of jobs, and as a result unemployment fell to 2.7% last month. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the way to raise living standards is to increase and continue the policies of economic growth rather than the Labour party’s discredited policies of debt?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. What we see in our country is business confidence rising and consumer confidence rising. Our exports are increasing, construction and manufacturing are up, and we are seeing a good growth in employment: there are a million more people in work in our country than when we came to office. Of course we want to do more to help people to feel better off by reducing their taxes, which is exactly what we are doing. All that would be put at risk if we gave up on reducing the deficit and having responsible economic policies. The Labour party would give us a double whammy of higher mortgage rates and higher taxes, and that is just what Britain’s hard-working families do not need.

UK’s Development Work (Girls and Women)

Henry Smith Excerpts

Thursday 7th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

Raising my daughter over the last 10 years has been one of the most important roles I will ever carry out. I seek assurances from my right hon. Friend that when it comes to DFID projects, fathers and responsible male role models are, wherever possible, made part of the upbringing of disadvantaged girls?

[Justine Greening]

I can give my hon. Friend those assurances. We are funding programmes in Nigeria, for example, which do just that. Part of the research that we are conducting on violence against girls and women and how it can be tackled relates to how we can change attitudes and involve boys and men in the eradication of such violence.