Oral Answers to Questions

Jack Lopresti Excerpts

Wednesday 5th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We have demonstrated in this Parliament that if you manage the economy properly, it is possible to reduce spending, to reduce the deficit and to reduce taxes at the same time. That is exactly what we have done. During this Parliament, we have taken the personal allowance—the amount people can earn before paying income tax—from about £6,000 to £10,500. [Interruption.] I know the Labour party does not want to hear good news, but people are paying less income tax under this Government. We have taken 3 million people out of income tax altogether. If re-elected, we want to raise to £12,500 the amount of money that people can earn before they start paying income tax. Why do we want to do this? Because Government Members think people should have more of their own money to spend as they choose.

[Jack Lopresti (Filton and Bradley Stoke) (Con)]

Yesterday’s announcement by Rolls-Royce of significant job losses across the country will devastate people and homes, and could well damage our national engineering skills base. Will my right hon. Friend meet me and employee representatives from Rolls-Royce to see if we can try to minimise the effect of this by finding alternative engineering jobs and if we can try to preserve our vital engineering expertise? Will he reassure my constituents in Filton that he will continue to champion our world-renowned and world-class defence export manufacturing?

[The Prime Minister]

I can certainly assure my hon. Friend that I will do everything I can to champion companies such as Rolls-Royce, whether in civil aerospace or defence aerospace. I try to take it on as many of my trade missions as possible, because it is an absolutely world-class, world-beating company. Obviously, it is disappointing that it plans to reduce the number of people it employs. It is not yet clear how many of those job reductions will be here in the UK. Of course, Rolls-Royce employs over 25,000 people in the UK. If we look at what has happened to the aerospace industry over the past four years, we see that employment is up by 10%, exports are up by 48% and turnover is up by a fifth. This is a successful industry that is being backed by our modern industrial strategy, but we need to do everything we can to make sure this company, and others like it, continue to succeed in the years ahead.

Afghanistan

Jack Lopresti Excerpts

Thursday 17th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

I am sure that the Secretary of State for Defence will have heard that kind offer. The redeployment of equipment is driven by operational requirements predominantly and, then, an assessment of what is value for money. I can assure my hon. Friend that the first desire is to see equipment redeployed or, if not, sold, or otherwise gifted or destroyed.

[Jack Lopresti (Filton and Bradley Stoke) (Con)]

May I ask the Secretary of State how the repatriation of kit is going? Is the timing on schedule or are there any major problems? Given the choice of what we leave behind, I hope we are also being sensible and making the right choices, with a view to minimising the risk of kit perhaps being used against us in, heaven forbid, any future conflict.

[Justine Greening]

Perhaps I can take this opportunity to welcome my hon. Friend back to the House. It is great to see him in his place. To answer his point about progress on redeployment, we have got about a third of the way through so far, in terms of equipment such as motor vehicles and major equipment, but also some of the smaller matériel that we need to bring back from Afghanistan. We are on track to bring back all the equipment we want to between now and the end of 2014. As I have said, we will take a close look at value for money as we take those decisions.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jack Lopresti Excerpts

Wednesday 31st October 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I think that we should wait for the Leveson report to come out. A lot of work has been done. I want a robust regulatory system, and what matters most of all, as I said in the House last week, I think, is to ensure that newspapers can be fined if they get things wrong, that journalists can be properly investigated, and that there are proper prominent apologies. We know what a proper regulatory system should look like. We do not have one now; we need one for the future.

[Jack Lopresti (Filton and Bradley Stoke) (Con)]

First, I echo the Prime Minister’s tribute to our armed forces and fallen comrades. The country owes them, their families and their loved ones a huge debt of honour and gratitude.

Last week, we saw the sentencing of former staff of Winterbourne View hospital who were found guilty of ill treatment and neglect. I had hoped that those prosecutions would help to bring some closure, or at least a sense of justice served, to the victims and their families, but we learned this week that patients from Winterbourne View may have been subject to further abuse and neglect elsewhere. Does the Prime Minister agree with me and the right hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Burstow), the former Minister for care services, that care providers such as Castlebeck, which ran Winterbourne View, should be subject to prosecution for wilful corporate negligence?

International Development Committee Report (Afghanistan)

Jack Lopresti Excerpts

Thursday 25th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir Malcolm Bruce]

A number of NGOs have a strong commitment, and there are some powerful female voices in Afghan society that speak out for women. However, there is real fear that they will be pushed back after 2014, and they need continued support. There is also a recognition that international NGOs are sometimes compromised because they are seen to be interfering in a traditional culture. So it is important that we develop civil society in Afghanistan, and support those women in Afghanistan who can fight for themselves and ensure that they know that they have extra support outside. I take the view that not only in Afghanistan but across the world the key to development—the single most important thing—is the development of women’s rights. That is the most transformational thing that we can do.

[Jack Lopresti (Filton and Bradley Stoke) (Con)]

There is no question but that corruption is a real problem in relation to the international community’s efforts in Afghanistan and other places. Is my right hon. Friend satisfied that the UK has put in place enough safeguards to ensure that UK taxpayers’ money is being used for the purposes for which it was intended?

[Sir Malcolm Bruce]

The answer is no, it has not. There is no evidence that money has been misspent, but the Independent Commission for Aid Impact has said that the proactive mechanisms are not strong enough. The Department is taking strong action to deal with that, and rightly so. Afghanistan is an extremely difficult place in which to operate. As David Loyn of the BBC said in evidence, it is a rentier society, and where a lot of foreign money is swilling around, all kinds of people try to get in on the action, by whatever means they can. We have to be aware of that and be rigorous, but we also have to recognise that we can spend the money effectively. We can make a change, and the job of the Committee, the independent commission and the Department is to ensure that that is precisely what we do.