Oral Answers to Questions

Holly Mumby-Croft Excerpts

Thursday 2nd February 2023 Commons Chamber

[Oliver Dowden]

Ministers are required, under the ministerial code, to provide full declarations, so I dispute the hon. Gentleman’s claim in that regard. However, he raises an important point which I have discussed with the Leader of the House. We are taking steps to move to more rapid declarations of ministerial interests so that they align more closely with the declarations of Members of Parliament, and we are working through those processes with our private offices.

[Holly Mumby-Croft (Scunthorpe) (Con)]

Many Members will know of the work of Bryn Parry, who set up Help for Heroes. Will the Veterans Minister join me in wishing him well—I know he is not well at the moment—and paying tribute to him for the work that he has done?

[Johnny Mercer]

I know your appetite for short answers, Mr Speaker. As my hon. Friend says, Bryn Parry is not well at the moment. He founded Help for Heroes with his wife Emma back in the early days of the Afghanistan campaign, and his contribution to care for the veterans of this nation and what he has achieved over many, many years is unrivalled. He has changed hundreds of lives for the better, and he has a dear place in my heart and in the heart of the nation. I pay huge tribute to him and his work, and we are all thinking of him and his family at this difficult time.

Oral Answers to Questions

Holly Mumby-Croft Excerpts

Thursday 8th December 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for Veterans' Affairs (Johnny Mercer)]

I have regular conversations with Ministers in the DWP and MOD about the pensions issue. The hon. Lady knows full well the history of the issue where pensions are changed after agreements have been made. We are constantly looking at that and I am more than happy to meet her to discuss where we are.

[Holly Mumby-Croft (Scunthorpe) (Con)]

We are very much looking forward to the opening of our new armed forces hub in Scunthorpe in the new year. I am pleased that the census collected data on who and where our veterans are. Can the Minister say more about the plans of the Office for Veterans’ Affairs to use that data to further improve the services that we offer to veterans?

[Johnny Mercer]

For the first time since the second world war, when people started campaigning to have a question about veterans on the census, that appeared last year. That has given us a real granularity to the data around veterans, which we can use to formulate our policies and ensure that, wherever they are in the country, their acute needs are met by the third sector and by statutory provision as we make this the best country in the world to be a veteran.

Oral Answers to Questions

Holly Mumby-Croft Excerpts

Wednesday 20th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Actually, I think more people have got compensation. I renew my apologies to the Windrush generation for what they have suffered, but we have greatly increased the compensation available. We have paid out, I think, more than £51 million. We are working with voluntary groups to ensure that people get what they are entitled to. I may say that Labour has never apologised for its own part in the Windrush scandal.

[Holly Mumby-Croft (Scunthorpe) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister for all the work he has done for Scunthorpe, but I give particular thanks to him for the work that he has done for steel. He has shown his understanding both of the challenges that steel faces and of its importance to this nation. He has kept every promise he has made to me on steel, and I thank him very much for his work on that. Does he agree with me that the future of steel is always safest under a Conservative Government?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, and I thank my hon. Friend for everything she has done to champion UK steel, a vital national industry.

Easter Recess: Government Update

Holly Mumby-Croft Excerpts

Tuesday 19th April 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I repeat my apology and direct the hon. Gentleman to what I said earlier. The people of this country need us to focus on their issues and their priorities, and that is what the Government are going to do.

[Holly Mumby-Croft (Scunthorpe) (Con)]

I thank the Prime Minister for his update on the energy security strategy, in particular the support offered for steel. It is the latest in a long line of support that he has brought forward, and it also sets out plans for wind, solar and nuclear. Does he agree that the best possible place to make the steel needed for those projects is right here in the UK?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, my hon. Friend is completely right. That is why our energy security strategy is vital not just for consumers, but for British industry.

Oral Answers to Questions

Holly Mumby-Croft Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd March 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Gentleman very much. I am not going to comment on the travel arrangements for the particular match—[Interruption.] The deputy Leader of the Labour party shouts for me to secure her a train. I am sure the FA will have heard the message that the hon. Gentleman has given.

What I can say is that I do agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Chatham and Aylesford (Tracey Crouch), who has just conducted a review on the matter, that we should indeed have an independent regulator for football.

[Holly Mumby-Croft (Scunthorpe) (Con)]

Q12. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister is a great champion for steel, and we have just had brilliant news on the removal of the US steel tariffs. Will he reaffirm the commitment he made at the Dispatch Box on 31 January that the Chancellor will bring forward a package of measures on our steel energy costs? If the Chancellor is not able to make good on that commitment today, will he ensure that he does so as soon as he can?

[The Prime Minister]

I agree with my hon. Friend passionately, and I think that it is vital that we undo the damage done by the insane policies of the previous Labour Government, which whacked up the cost of energy for British industry, including steel. I will be bringing forward a British energy security strategy that will address the needs of British steel, British ceramics and the whole of British industry.

Oral Answers to Questions

Holly Mumby-Croft Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd March 2022 Commons Chamber

[John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (Con)]

11. What his priorities are for the COP26 presidency.

[Holly Mumby-Croft (Scunthorpe) (Con)]

12. What his priorities are for the COP26 presidency.

[The COP26 President (Alok Sharma)]

As I have already noted, we are working with Egypt, as the incoming holder of the presidency, and other partners to ensure that countries deliver on the commitments that they signed up to in the Glasgow climate pact. We want to ensure that there is progress on adaptation, finance and, of course, support for developing nations, and we need to ensure that all countries revisit their 2030 emission reduction targets.

--- Later in debate ---

[Alok Sharma]

My hon. Friend is right to link achieving net zero with jobs creation. Of course, as we build these new green industries, it will require equipping workers with the right skills. I congratulate him on the hard work that he did in ensuring an award from the UK Government of £380,000 to Borders College in his constituency to develop green courses in entrepreneurship and carbon literacy. I look forward to visiting the college with him next week.

[Holly Mumby-Croft]

My right hon. Friend has committed to getting the Santiago Network on loss and damage running to provide concrete solutions. Will he provide a further update on that?

[Alok Sharma]

Work on the Santiago Network is under way. Submissions are being requested from parties. As my hon. Friend knows, it is a two-year programme. We want to ensure that by the end of the year, and by COP27, we have operationalised the Santiago Network, and that there is funding available to provide technical support to countries that need it.

Living with Covid-19

Holly Mumby-Croft Excerpts

Monday 21st February 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We have already secured more antivirals and therapeutics per head than any other country in Europe. We need to ensure that the clinically extremely vulnerable have access to them, and 1.3 million of them have already been sent tests.

[Holly Mumby-Croft (Scunthorpe) (Con)]

While the threat from covid has changed—thanks in no small part to the outstanding vaccination efforts led by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister—he will know that the effects on local hospitals will last for years to come. Does he agree that now is the right time to invest in upgrades to hospitals such as Scunthorpe’s?

[The Prime Minister]

Now is exactly the right time to invest in hospitals such as Scunthorpe’s and across the country. I cannot commit to the particular project that my hon. Friend describes, but that is the kind of project, 48 of which we are progressing across the country.

Sue Gray Report

Holly Mumby-Croft Excerpts

Monday 31st January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

This is the Government who took this country out of the European Union—did what was necessary—and who are bringing the west together to stand up against Vladimir Putin. Those are the important considerations. As for the rest of what the hon. Gentleman said, it is nonsense but he should wait for the police inquiry.

[Holly Mumby-Croft (Scunthorpe) (Con)]

My constituents in Scunthorpe are very keen to see industrial energy prices fixed, so will the Prime Minister reassure me that he will not be distracted by any of this, and that he will get on with the job and come forward with a solution to that issue?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, my hon. Friend is completely right; we need to address not only consumer energy costs, but business and industrial energy costs, and I know that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor will be bringing forward a package of measures as soon as he can.

Covid-19 Update

Holly Mumby-Croft Excerpts

Wednesday 5th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, and that is why we have the NHS and social care fund. That is why we are putting that measure through. How unbelievable that you guys did not vote for it—not you, Mr Speaker.

[Holly Mumby-Croft (Scunthorpe) (Con)]

I was fortunate to visit our new vaccination hub in Scunthorpe and speak to the healthcare professionals and staff who are doing a tremendous job, not just of jabbing people in the arm very efficiently but of reassuring the small number of residents who are still nervous about joining the rest of us in having our vaccinations. Will my right hon. Friend thank the wonderful volunteers and staff across my constituency for the important work that they are doing and their contribution to the national effort that he is leading?

Oral Answers to Questions

Holly Mumby-Croft Excerpts

Wednesday 24th November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Holly Mumby-Croft (Scunthorpe) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister was bang on when he spoke on Monday about ending the unfairness of our high energy-intensive industries paying more than is paid overseas. We know that he is a friend to steel in Scunthorpe, so will he continue to do all he can to ensure that my world-class steelmakers are on a fair footing?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for everything she does for steel and for Scunthorpe. I can tell her that I do believe British steel has suffered, as a result of decisions taken years and years ago, from unfair energy costs—we need to fix it. This Government are getting on with making another of the long-term changes we are instituting: we are putting in the nuclear base-load that this country has long been deprived of.