Business of the House

James Daly Excerpts

Thursday 7th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I start by noting that tomorrow is International Women’s Day. I point out that on most Thursdays, the primary players in this session are three women, and sometimes there is a fourth in the Speaker’s Chair. It is sometimes noted that women are often the last to speak in meetings. That may be true, but we are often the first to set the right tone and approach. Politics needs more of us, and I hope that the spirit of tomorrow will carry into this important political year.

I turn to what the hon. Lady said about a female colleague of ours, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology. The hon. Lady can no doubt obtain from the Department details of some of the issues that she raised. However, I remind the House, because the hon. Lady was really probing the character of the Secretary of State, that when the latter was entitled to a redundancy payment of £16,000 for having been a Secretary of State, she did not take it, but handed it back to the Department, because that was the right thing to do. That speaks volumes about my right hon. Friend’s character, and how much she values the fact that we are talking about taxpayers’ money.

I see that the hon. Lady is channelling Elmer Fudd this morning. Bugs may not have been in the Chancellor’s hat, but there was support for businesses large and small, help for households, tax cuts for working people, and help for single-earner families. Also, the price of fuel at the pump is being held down through another fuel duty freeze. We will ensure that the benefit of that is handed on to the consumer via Pumpwatch.

I will not take any lectures from the Labour party on stewardship of public services and getting growth into our economy. I will take no lectures on tax cutting from a Labour party that still has £28 billion of unfunded spending commitments, which can only be delivered through tax rises. It was the Labour party that left office with a £71 billion black hole in the defence budget and equipment programme. It was Labour that brought in the fuel duty escalator, and is clobbering the motorist in Wales and London. It is the Labour party in Wales that has cut the NHS budget, not once, but three times. That is in contrast to the increases that we have brought in, and the further £6 billion announced yesterday. Labour’s NHS budget cuts are one reason why a quarter of the population in Wales is on a waiting list.

I will not take any lectures from Labour on council tax, which rose by 104% under their Administration; again, in Wales, it has nearly tripled since Labour has been in power. We have reformed welfare to make work pay, doubled the personal allowance, cut national insurance and protected livelihoods and jobs through furlough, but Labour thinks it is a good use of taxpayers’ money to give asylum seekers £1,600 a month. I will not take any lectures on supporting those earning the least from a Labour party that brought in the 10p rate.

The hon. Lady’s rhetoric on growth and modernising our nation does not match her party’s agenda to unpick 40 years of trade union reform or tie businesses in red tape, and it does not sit well with its voting record on minimum service levels for the British public. I will not take any lectures from a party that did the square root of diddly squat for victims of infected blood and the Post Office. On that precise point, the hon. Lady clearly has not read the Red Book, which on page 24 commits us to paying full compensation to victims of the Horizon scandal. The estimates are in there, but it also says that amount will be increased if needed.

This is a tough shift, post-pandemic and mid-war. But thank God it is our shift. Our country has turned a corner and we will get back to our inflation target soon, as the new forecasts indicate. The plan is working and we will stay that course, as we must. Otherwise, we will end up back where Labour left us: compared with today, that is a million more workless households, 400,000 more children and 200,000 more pensioners in absolute poverty, 4 million fewer in work, youth unemployment at 45%, literacy rates trailing rather than leading the world, and a third less spending on the NHS. No thank you, shadow Leader of the House. We will stick with the Prime Minister. Further business will be announced in the usual way.

[James Daly (Bury North) (Con)]

The Mayor of Greater Manchester’s vanity project of a 493-square-mile clean air zone has cost the taxpayer nearly £100 million. It has been supported by all Labour councils in Greater Manchester and Bury. Will my right hon. Friend make time for a debate to ensure that the voices of Conservative MPs who have campaigned against this ridiculous project can be heard again, and that this tax on hard-working people never sees the light of day?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on leading the charge on this matter. There is a legal obligation to comply with emissions in the shortest possible time, but we are reviewing that. He will know that Greater Manchester authorities have changed their tune and are now proposing an entirely different approach, thanks to the campaign that he has run and the support that he has galvanised among his communities. I congratulate him and encourage him to hold them to account.

Business of the House

James Daly Excerpts

Thursday 23rd March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

The hon. Gentleman will know that many Departments across Whitehall are in negotiations with unions, with some considerable success in recent weeks. We want to ensure that people have fair pay, but that that fair pay does not exacerbate the inflation situation we face. The next Home Office questions are not until 22 May, so I will write on the hon. Gentleman’s behalf to ensure that the Home Secretary has heard what he has said today.

[James Daly (Bury North) (Con)]

I am the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on cricket. Will my right hon. Friend make time for a debate on the future of grassroots cricket? Village cricket is a force not only for sporting excellence but for social cohesion and social good. We have seen an alarming decline in the number of local clubs, especially in disadvantaged parts of the country. We need a debate to discuss how we can work in partnership to ensure that everyone in the country has access to a cricket club.

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question and for all the work he does as chair of the APPG on cricket. I agree entirely with his sentiments. He knows we are working closely with Sport England, UK Sport and national governing bodies to improve access and inclusion, from grassroots level up to elite level. The forthcoming sport strategy will set out further detail on how we can make sport more inclusive. We have a very exciting season ahead of us, and I thank all members of the APPG for the work they do to promote that important sport.

Business of the House

James Daly Excerpts

Thursday 2nd March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising this issue and for his kind remarks about my imminent birthday. He will know how to apply for a debate in the usual way, but I shall also make sure the Secretary of State has heard what he said.

[James Daly (Bury North) (Con)]

Following the question asked by my hon. Friend the Member for South Basildon and East Thurrock (Stephen Metcalfe), will the Leader of the House make time for a debate on clean air charging zones? Parliament must not allow regional Mayors in areas such as Greater Manchester to impose excessive, economically damaging taxation on hard-working people during a cost of living crisis. The clean air zone in Greater Manchester and the ULEZ in London are a tax on jobs and aspiration and clearly not fit for purpose.

Business of the House

James Daly Excerpts

Thursday 8th December 2022 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising the issue. He knows that the next Justice questions are on 10 January. I encourage him to raise the matter directly with the Lord Chancellor then.

[James Daly (Bury North) (Con)]

Will my right hon. Friend make time for a debate on the Justice Committee’s recent report, “IPP sentences”? Some 3,000 people are potentially trapped in prison indefinitely, even though their index offence did not warrant a live term and even though indeterminate sentences for public protection were abolished in 2012. Resentencing is the appropriate course, because we face the real potential risk that somebody with a two-year term could spend the rest of their life in prison.

[Penny Mordaunt]

That is an important point, and I thank my hon. Friend, who is a member of the Justice Committee, for raising it. The Government are considering the recommendations in the Committee’s recent report and will respond shortly. I expect Justice questions on 10 January to be extremely well attended.

Business of the House

James Daly Excerpts

Thursday 9th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mark Spencer]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his support in the tug of war team; he is certainly a huge part of that team. [Interruption.] As am I, I hasten to add. [Interruption.] The hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) says that he was sacked from the team, but other weighty individuals were available in his stead. As the hon. Member for Midlothian (Owen Thompson) said, it was important to support Macmillan Cancer Support. It was a cross-party event and it was great fun, as well as being for a very good cause.

The hon. Gentleman went on to talk about passports, which is another important issue. I understand that people are stressing about the summer holidays. They have a right to a summer holiday; we are coming out of covid and people want to get away. That is why we have employed 650 additional staff since April, with 550 more arriving by the summer. The good news is that the vast majority of passport applications—91.2%—are being processed within six weeks or less, but that does leave some people waiting. If he has individual cases that he needs me to highlight with the Home Office, of course I will do that.

The hon. Gentleman went on to mention that the Government have, I think he said, given some support to people with the cost of living challenge. I think £37 billion is some support, and I hope he would recognise that that is a huge package, brought forward by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to support people. We are in a global fight against inflation, following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and we will continue to wrap our arms around and support people through the challenges we face.

Finally, of course I join the hon. Gentleman in supporting his headteacher, Allyson Dobson. I pay tribute not only to her, but to teachers up and down the country who are doing great work to educate the next generation.

[James Daly (Bury North) (Con)]

Would my right hon. Friend make time for a debate to both celebrate and highlight the incredible work of community groups and the voluntary sector throughout the country? Individuals such as Gem, Sherridan and Liz of the Fishpool, Goshen, Redvales and Springs community hub are changing people’s lives every day. There is a debate to be had in this House about how the state can support individuals such as Gem, Sherridan and Liz, and many others in my constituency and throughout the country, to continue with their brilliant work.

[Mark Spencer]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question, and of course I join him in celebrating all that those in the voluntary sector do and his constituents who are assisting. I think a series of Governments have worked well with the voluntary sector. It does enormous amounts of work, and we should always take the opportunity to praise it whenever we can.

Business of the House

James Daly Excerpts

Thursday 24th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

We did not get stuck on the points, so I call James Daly.

[James Daly (Bury North) (Con)]

Many hon. Members have constituents who have travelled to the Polish-Ukraine border as part of the humanitarian efforts to support refugees fleeing Putin’s brutal illegal war. Those with whom I have had the opportunity to speak identified real concerns regarding the safeguarding processes in place to protect vulnerable refugees. I have been told of reports of women in particular being brutalised and attacked by criminals and, horrifyingly, being the victims of sex trafficking. Will my right hon. Friend make time for a debate to allow Members the opportunity to discuss how the international community can work together to find solutions to this horrifying problem?

[Mark Spencer]

I had not heard those reports myself, but what my hon. Friend has raised is extremely disturbing. I thank him for his question and I will bring this to the attention of the Home Secretary and raise it with her on his behalf.

Business of the House

James Daly Excerpts

Thursday 17th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mark Spencer]

Business will be announced in the usual way, and the Government are very keen to get on with the Building Safety Bill. I hope the hon. Gentleman will recognise that the Bill will help to support his constituents. It is heading our way very soon, but he will have to be patient and wait for business to be announced in the usual way from the Dispatch Box.

[James Daly (Bury North) (Con)]

On 28 July 2021, every Labour councillor in Bury voted to destroy large areas of green belt in my constituency. By supporting Andy Burnham’s “Places for Everyone” plan, local Labour politicians ignored the views of thousands of my constituents who wish to preserve areas of countryside at Walshaw, Tottington and Elton reservoir. Will my right hon. Friend make time for a debate on Places for Everyone and the devastating impact it will have on green-belt land in my area?

[Mark Spencer]

My hon. Friend is a tenacious campaigner on behalf of his constituents. This is not the first time he has drawn attention to the shortcomings of Mayor Burnham, and I know he will continue to do so by campaigning tirelessly for his constituents. He demonstrates once again today what a great representative he is for his constituents.

Business of the House

James Daly Excerpts

Thursday 27th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

The Government are committed to supporting high streets and have provided £2.4 billion of taxpayers’ money for 101 towns deals. It is obviously important that there is a variety of activity going on along high streets to ensure that people wish to go there and that commerce takes place. I am glad to tell the hon. Lady that a key part of the levelling up White Paper will be about how we encourage levelling up, which will inevitably boost high streets. The White Paper will be coming forward in due course.

[James Daly (Bury North) (Con)]

Approximately three years after submitting the Greater Manchester clean air plan outline business case, the Mayor of Greater Manchester has called for changes to his own plan. However, the only change needed is to scrap the scheme in its entirety. Based on flawed analysis and data, we are in the ludicrous position that the most up-to-date air monitoring data for the borough of Bury show no breaches of legal air quality limits anywhere, yet this draconian scheme is still scheduled to begin in May. Will my right hon. Friend make time for a debate to allow for much-needed scrutiny of this tax on jobs?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I am very concerned about the Labour Mayor’s tax on jobs, which my hon. Friend raised with me last week. As I said earlier, we could have a session every week discussing how the Labour party attacks local businesses and, particularly, wages war against the motorist. The motorist always seems to be in the crosshairs of the socialist, because they do not like the independence that motoring brings and the freedom and liberty that we get by being able to drive. My hon. Friend raises an important point and the Mayor of Manchester would be well advised to listen to him.

Business of the House

James Daly Excerpts

Thursday 20th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

The hon. Gentleman raises an important point about the delivery of vaccinations. The vaccination and booster programme has been a considerable success. It is striking that 90% of people in intensive care have not received the booster vaccination, so the importance of having one is great. I will certainly take up any specific cases he has in relation to individual constituents with the Department of Health and Social Care if he is not getting satisfactory answers. He raises an important issue, which is one of general concern, but getting back to normal is what we need to do. We need this country to get back to normal, we need people getting back into work and we need to learn to live with covid after the difficulties that we have had over the last two years and after the remarkable behaviour of this nation in getting through so difficult a circumstance and being the first country to be on the way to getting back to normality.

[James Daly (Bury North) (Con)]

The Labour party’s tax on business, otherwise known as the Greater Manchester clean air zone, is a disaster for my constituents. It is impacting taxi drivers, small businesses and many others over an area of 493 square miles. I ask my right hon. Friend to make time for a debate so that this House can tell the Mayor of Greater Manchester and all the Labour politicians, including the Labour leader of Bury Council, that that plan is not acceptable, that the voice of Parliament must be heard and that my constituents must not be penalised in that manner.

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend, who serves his constituents so nobly. Labour’s plan is essentially a tax on jobs, a tax on working people and an attack on the motorist. The Labour party hates the motorist because the socialist does not like the independence that motoring brings to people. Again and again, Labour wants to attack the motorist. Labour’s plan, Mr Burnham’s plan, the socialist plan, the left-wing plan for a tax on working people in Greater Manchester is something that my hon. Friend is right to campaign against.

Business of the House

James Daly Excerpts

Thursday 2nd December 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I am in considerable agreement with the hon. Lady. It is so important that children are in school. This is very often a question of the way we look at the figures. As I understand it, 88% of pupils are in school. I cannot absolutely swear to that figure, but I think I heard it on the wireless this morning. We want as many children as possible in school, and we want schools to get on with the business of teaching. We want to encourage them to carry on with normal activities. The advice from the Government is for teachers and pupils in secondary schools to wear masks in crowded communal spaces. It is so important that children are in school.

[James Daly (Bury North) (Con)]

The East Lancashire steam railway in my constituency has the oldest continuously-in-use locomotive shed in the world at Buckley Wells. The redevelopment of this truly historic site would create a mechanical engineering hub, but it requires between £10 million and £12 million of additional funding to achieve that transformative vision. Will my right hon. Friend make time for a debate on the positive contribution to the wider community of steam and heritage railways throughout the country and their potential to deliver a wide range of economic and social benefits?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

My hon. Friend is not the first to raise at business questions the importance of heritage steam to local history and culture. Over the summer I had the pleasure of being shown around the Etruria Industrial Museum in Stoke by my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Jo Gideon). It boasts the world’s only functional steam-powered flint mill, which is a great example of how innovation has played a part in our industrial history.

We were obviously, as a nation, a pioneer in the history of railways, from Brunel and Stephenson, to the modern day, with the enormous £96 billion railway programme announced recently by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport. Heritage railways are important and welcome, and I encourage people to enjoy their pleasures, possibly even in Midsomer Norton, which has a very nice heritage railway centre.