Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Holly Mumby-Croft and Rishi Sunak

Wednesday 13th December 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We have a long-standing principle that anyone bringing dependants to the UK must be able to support them financially. We should not expect this to be done at the taxpayer’s expense. The threshold has not been raised in over a decade and it is right that we have now brought it in line with the median salary. The family immigration route does contain provision for exceptional circumstances, as the right hon. Gentleman knows, but more generally it is also right to look at transitional arrangements to ensure that they are fair, and I can tell him that the Home Office is actively looking at this and will set out further information shortly.

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

Q11. I make no apology for once again raising the issue of steel—[Hon. Members: “Hear, hear!”] We are now at serious risk of losing the ability to make virgin steel here in the UK. I know that the Government are working hard on this, but it is a matter of national security and we need the Prime Minister’s leadership on this issue. What is he doing to ensure that we are able to make our own virgin steel and that we do not lose it on his watch?

[The Prime Minister]

I praise my hon. Friend’s leadership in championing her local community and also the steel industry in the UK. She is right to do so, because it is an incredibly important part not just of our local communities but of our economy and security. She is right to put this issue on the agenda.

We are committed to working with the steel sector to secure a decarbonised future, supporting local economic growth and our levelling-up agenda. That includes our commitment to major support with energy costs and also access to hundreds of millions of pounds of grants to support energy efficiency and decarbonisation. I obviously cannot comment on conversations with individual companies, but my hon. Friend can see from our track record on working with either Celsa or Tata Steel that we have been able to support our fantastic steel industry, and we will always continue to do so.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Holly Mumby-Croft and Rishi Sunak

Wednesday 15th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I have been consistent from the start that while Israel has a right to defend itself, it is important that it complies with international law. It is a point I have made in every meeting or phone conversation I have had with Prime Minister Netanyahu. It was a privilege to meet the hon. Lady’s constituents and to hear of the pain they are going through, which I have enormous sympathy for. That is why we are doing everything we can to bring hostages home. We are engaged intensively in diplomatic activity in the region and working to get foreign nationals and British nationals home, and I am pleased to say that well over 200 have now left Gaza. We will continue to do everything we can to ensure that everyone can safely leave who needs to.

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

The Prime Minister knows that I stand unapologetically with my steelmakers in Scunthorpe. He knows that I believe, as many across this House do, that the UK must retain a virgin steelmaking capability, for strategic reasons if nothing else. Will he reassure the House that he is personally following developments at British Steel and doing all he can to retain what is a vital sovereign capability?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is a fantastic champion for her local steelworking community. I hope she is reassured by the action that this Government have already taken to support steelmaking in our country, reaching a landmark agreement with Tata Steel to safeguard thousands of jobs there, as well as during the pandemic. I agree that it is important for our industrial base, and we will continue to have constructive conversations with all those companies to ensure that we can support them in their transition to a cleaner, greener steelmaking future.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Holly Mumby-Croft and Rishi Sunak

Wednesday 22nd March 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We are also cutting NHS waiting lists by resolving pay disputes and by getting doctors back to work, and we are stopping the boats with a new Bill to tackle illegal migration. That is a Conservative Government delivering on the people’s priorities.

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

Q2. I thank my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister for the efforts he has made to support the UK’s steel industry. We remain very concerned about job losses at British Steel in Scunthorpe, so will he today reassure my constituents in north Lincolnshire that we will never see the end of UK steelmaking under his watch?

[The Prime Minister]

The UK steel industry can have no greater champion than my hon. Friend. I know this must be a concerning time for British Steel employees, and we stand ready to work with her to support them. She is right that industrial sectors, including steel, have been able to bid into competitive Government funds worth £1 billion to help support them to cut emissions and become more energy efficient, and the Government’s recently announced British industry supercharger fund can help boost competitiveness in the UK’s key energy-intensive industries. I look forward to working with her to ensure a thriving steel industry in our United Kingdom.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Holly Mumby-Croft and Rishi Sunak

Wednesday 11th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I do not think we need to talk about our predecessors, but I remember—[Interruption.] If I am not mistaken, it was one of the hon. Gentleman’s predecessors who worked for Russia Today.

The hon. Gentleman talks about priorities. Yesterday the SNP spent time talking yet more about independence at a time when we should be talking about delivering for people across the United Kingdom, focusing on their jobs and improving the NHS throughout the UK, in Scotland and, indeed, everywhere else. That is the kind of thing I want to talk to the Scottish Government about, and I hope the hon. Gentleman will work with me to do that.

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

Q10. Conservative Governments have a proud record of supporting the UK steel industry, and I thank my right hon. Friend for the work that he has already done for steel. He will know that steel is a vital strategic industry that is essential for everything we do, from defence to growth. Will he do everything he can to ensure that we are always able to make steel in this country, and does he agree that steel is always safest under a Conservative Government?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is a fantastic champion for the steel industry, and this Government remain committed to a thriving UK steel industry. That is why our support for steel includes nearly £800 million in relief for electricity costs and steel companies are eligible to bid for up to £1.5 billion in capital grant to speed their transition to net zero steel production.