Energy Prices: Support for Business

Debate between Jacob Rees-Mogg and Emma Hardy

Thursday 22nd September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. Representing a rural constituency, I am well aware that there are areas of our countryside that suffer from fuel poverty. It is all a matter of proportionality; that is what we are striving to achieve, to get the balance right.

[Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab)]

A businessman recently contacted my office extremely distressed about the future of his business—he does engineering, and he was talking about closing his doors for good and laying off 50 people. I hope the Minister accepts that the delay in hearing something from the Government has not only caused emotional distress but had an impact on the local economy. Companies are not making decisions on future investment in their workforce or their business because they are not sure that they have a future. Bearing that in mind, will the Minister offer greater reassurance by giving businesses long-term support to improve their energy efficiency?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

A very significant package of support has been announced and brought forward as early as practicable. I mentioned that a review will take place, and the point of that review is to work out who will be in most need of that support.

Business of the House

Debate between Jacob Rees-Mogg and Emma Hardy

Thursday 22nd October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

My hon. Friend is right to raise the issue of support for town centres. There is the £3.6 billion town centres fund, which is making really important efforts to help rejuvenate town centres. Town centres are important as community centres as much as for the economic activity they provide, but their economic activity is crucial. I cannot provide a specific time for a debate, but I think it is a good issue for a Backbench Business debate.

[Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab)]

I am sure, Mr Speaker, that you do not need me to tell you that rugby league clubs are the lifeblood of cities such as Hull. Yesterday I spoke to the owner of Hull FC, who explained the serious short-term challenges the club faces. May we have a Government statement to scrutinise the evidence behind the decision to close all open-air stadiums and what support can be given to rugby league clubs if the ban remains until April 2021?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

As I have said before in the House, the Government are keen to look at ways of allowing spectators to go back in safely and will consider proposals as they are made. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport will be here to answer oral questions shortly after we are back, on 5 November, and that will be a good opportunity to raise this with him.

Business of the House

Debate between Jacob Rees-Mogg and Emma Hardy

Wednesday 20th May 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I am grateful for the points made by my hon. Friend from, I assume, his wonderful constituency, which I visited for a Conservative tea last year, when we were still able to move throughout the country. There is serious economic disruption as a result of coronavirus and, as the Office for Budget Responsibility has outlined, without the package of unprecedented measures, the impact would be much worse. Councils have been given £3.2 billion of extra money and there is a further £2.6 billion in deferred business rate payments coming from central Government, but I agree with my hon. Friend entirely that we have to think of ways in which to grow the economy of our whole nation. I encourage him to speak to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, but I add once again that once we are back normally there will be the opportunity to have these important debates.

[Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab) [V]]

Hull’s proud status as a maritime city is at risk of being tarnished because of the damaging actions by P&O Ferries, which appears to be using the covid-19 crisis to replace UK seafarers with exploited Filipino workers who are paid much less and forced to work much longer hours, putting at risk the safety of everybody aboard the ferry. My hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull East (Karl Turner) has raised this issue before, and the situation is now even more urgent. May we please have a statement in the House from the maritime Minister on how the Government are going to protect UK seafarers’ jobs?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

This issue has indeed been raised in the House before and is something that the Government are aware of. I will take it up with the Department for Transport so that a fuller answer can be prepared for the hon. Lady.

Business of the House

Debate between Jacob Rees-Mogg and Emma Hardy

Thursday 30th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

My hon. Friend will know that the Conservative manifesto committed to trying to set up a cross-party commission with the aim of establishing proposals for social care, and end-of-life care is an important part of that. I hope that when that commission is established, he will make representations to it to ensure that his concerns are fully reflected.

[Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab)]

In yesterday’s debate on homelessness, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government appeared to dismiss the statistics that I gave him, which were that the number of universal credit claimants in council properties who have fallen into rent arrears was 67.4%, and that universal credit claimants are more likely to be evicted by a ratio of 2.9:1. May we have a debate in Government time about the impact of universal credit on the number of evictions and how we can encourage Secretaries of State to stick to the facts?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I was not present for that exchange. We are lucky that in this House, we have a first-class Library service, which is phenomenally good at checking statistics. It may well be worth while asking the Library experts to dig into these statistics to see what the accurate figures are.

Business of the House

Debate between Jacob Rees-Mogg and Emma Hardy

Thursday 9th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I welcome back my hon. Friend, who made such a contribution to the former Government. It was a great pleasure for me to campaign for him when he stood in a by-election some years ago, and he was a great hero for winning it.

Broadband roll-out will involve a major effort by the Government and the £5 billion investment that my hon. Friend mentioned. I fear that I am slightly teaching my grandmother to suck eggs, because he knows all this perfectly well, but questions to the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport will take place next Thursday, and I think that they will present him with a good initial opportunity to put in his plea for Eddisbury.

[Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab)]

Every hour someone in England has a partial foot amputation, and every two hours someone loses an entire leg. Please may we have a debate in Government time on the growing crisis of vascular disease and the urgent steps that the Government need to take to address it?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I must confess that I was unaware of those figures, which are absolutely shocking. There will be an opportunity for the hon. Lady to raise the issue during the Queen’s Speech debate on health matters, and I hope that she will do so.