Business of the House

Debate between John Cooper and Lucy Powell

Thursday 27th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

I thank my hon. Friend for giving us a moment to remember Keith Palmer. Many of us were there that day, and we will never forget that he gave his life protecting those of us inside this place. My hon. Friend is absolutely right—it sounds like a really good idea to have an injury retirement medal for those who would otherwise have got a long service medal. I will ensure that the Home Secretary hears his call for that and that he gets a good reply.

[John Cooper (Dumfries and Galloway) (Con)]

The A77 and A75 roads are critical to the people of south-west Scotland, but they are also critical to the UK, because they service the exceptionally busy ferry port of Cairnryan, which links us with our friends in Northern Ireland. The difficulty with these roads is obvious if we ever travel them. There is another difficulty, however, which is that the Department for Transport here does not seem to think this has anything to do with it, and the Secretary of State for Scotland is too busy to meet me to discuss the issue. When the hon. Member for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock (Elaine Stewart), who is in her place on the Government Benches, and I wrote to the Transport Secretary in Scotland, we received a high-handed letter saying that it would be inappropriate to meet us. What is inappropriate is the way devolution does not appear to be working. Can we pluck from the logjam of Backbench Business Committee debate ideas one on devolution and how it is failing?

[Lucy Powell]

I certainly agree with the hon. Gentleman that I do not think government in Scotland is working effectively in the interests of his constituents and others. I am sorry to hear about the difficulties he has had in raising the issue of the A77 road in his constituency. I will certainly ask the Scottish Minister to meet him to discuss that, so that we can get to the bottom of who is responsible and he can speak to those who are.

Business of the House

Debate between John Cooper and Lucy Powell

Thursday 12th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this important matter. He is right to highlight the importance of grassroots sport, culture and others to our local communities and high streets. He will be aware that we have a curriculum review at the moment. We are also ensuring there is funding for grassroots sport in England, and he might want to note that the Government’s plans for devolution and supporting our high streets will be announced imminently to this House.

[John Cooper (Dumfries and Galloway) (Con)]

Both the Scotland Office and the Northern Ireland Office tell me that the Northern Ireland enhanced investment zone is still alive and still in play, and has not fallen into the fictitious £22 billion black hole. However, there is no indication of when it will actually be delivered. Given the multiple agencies involved, could we have some clarity on this? And can we address the policy of “devolve and forget” operated by this Government, which is so damaging to both Scotland and Northern Ireland?

[Lucy Powell]

The hon. Gentleman might want to raise this matter at Northern Ireland questions when we return. In the meantime, I will ensure that Ministers have heard his question.

Business of the House

Debate between John Cooper and Lucy Powell

Thursday 14th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The Government inherited a Post Office that was simply not fit for purpose, following a lot of disinterest from the previous Government. The Post Office does need serious culture change. I assure her that, as I understand it, no decision has been taken on the future of Crown post offices, but I know from my own constituency, where recently the Spring Gardens Crown post office in Manchester was closed, what a big issue this is for local communities. I encourage every constituency MP, like her, to raise these matters here and directly with Ministers.

[John Cooper (Dumfries and Galloway) (Con)]

The previous Government identified the A75 road as of crucial importance to the UK as a whole, so despite the fact that transport is a devolved matter, money was earmarked for improvements. I have been trying, without success, to find out what is happening to that money. I was astonished to find that a Labour MSP was able to tweet details about the road—he apparently knows more about it than anyone in this House. May we have a statement from the Government explaining what is happening with the A75 and the money that was clearly earmarked for it?

[Lucy Powell]

As the hon. Gentleman says, these issues are devolved and we allocate the money as part of other consequentials to the Scottish Government to consider those matters, but I will ensure that the issue he raises is noticed by the Minister. I will ask for a full reply about that road to be given to him.

Business of the House

Debate between John Cooper and Lucy Powell

Thursday 31st October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

I join my hon. Friend in congratulating the Cotgrave community garden in his constituency. As has been mentioned in business questions many times, including today, the role that community volunteers play in making our communities great places in which to live, work and raise a family is absolutely vital. The Chair of the Backbench Business Committee is still in his place; as I said earlier, this type of issue would make for a very good Backbench Business debate.

[John Cooper (Dumfries and Galloway) (Con)]

I am aghast to hear that it is scaremongering to talk about the damage being done to agriculture. I can tell the House that the howls of concern in Dumfries and Galloway are real. We really need to discuss this issue, because Britain cannot live by air-freighted mangetout alone. The Budget imperils food security in this country, and we must have action on that. It is incredible that the Environment Secretary seems so uncaring. As my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Buckinghamshire (Greg Smith) asked, can we please have the Secretary of State in the House for the Budget debate?

[Lucy Powell]

The Environment Secretary will be here for questions in a couple of weeks’ time, and he comes to the House regularly. I have to say, I find that some of the questions this morning are scaremongering. We have made it clear that three quarters of the farming businesses that are entitled to the full relief will still get it after this Budget. We are talking about the top 25%, and there is not a cliff edge in any case. We are fully committed to farmers, the farming community and food security in this country—I certainly do not buy imported mangetout, as the hon. Gentleman may occasionally—and that is why the settlement announced yesterday provides £5 billion over two years for farming and land management, and why we have prioritised the farming recovery fund.