Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John McNally and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 20th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend. There is a fair amount of wood on the Opposition Benches and I think that is why we will prevail at the next general election.

[John Mc Nally (Falkirk) (SNP)]

Q10.   Since 2014, the Tory party has had more Prime Ministers than we have had referendums. May I remind the PM of the Smith Commission report, which states:“It is agreed that nothing in this report prevents Scotland becoming an independent country”? Therefore, does the Prime Minister believe in democracy and will he respect the people of Scotland’s right to self-determination?

[The Prime Minister]

I think the people of Scotland do not, frankly, want to be talking about constitutional issues and another referendum when the issues before the country—the cost of living, the educational issues we discussed, drugs and crime—are far more pressing.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John McNally and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 26th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend the policing Minister has assured me that we will be introducing a new funding formula before the end of the Parliament, but I am pleased that Bedfordshire police have already recruited 100 additional officers as part of our uplift programme. That is part of the 11,000 more officers that this Government have put on the streets.

[John Mc Nally (Falkirk) (SNP)]

14. Twice in recent months, I have asked the Prime Minister about his and his Transport Secretary’s commitment to delivering the Prime Minister’s pledge to invest in UK-built ZEBs—zero-emission buses. I did not receive a clear answer. Worrying reports in the media of Treasury cuts to bus-buying plans highlight a conflict between the Prime Minister and his Chancellor. Is the current Chancellor denying the current Prime Minister the right to fulfil his pledge to buy 4,000 zero-emission buses?

[The Prime Minister]

There has never in the history of this country been such a bonanza for buses. I am personally a bus fanatic. We are putting £5 billion into buses and cycling during this Parliament, and there is £355 million of new funding for zero-emission buses—and yes of course we want to see the benefits of that funding spread right across the whole of the United Kingdom.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John McNally and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 8th December 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend is right to draw attention to the phenomenon of cyber-flashing. It is one of the issues being addressed by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary in the online harms Bill.

[John Mc Nally (Falkirk) (SNP)]

Q12. Last year, I asked the Prime Minister what progress had been made on delivering his pledge to buy 4,000 zero-emission buses by 2024. The Budget and the spending review confirmed that the UK Government’s planned investment will not reach that target. As vice-chair of the all-party parliamentary group for the bus and coach industry, I tell him that bus manufacturers have no orders from the ZEBRA—zero emission bus regional areas—scheme. Production lines in Falkirk, Ballymena and Scarborough are desperate to start orders and deserve better. Why are the Government failing to deliver those orders and that pledge?

[The Prime Minister]

We are absolutely committed to delivering 4,000 zero-emission buses and we are also committed to supporting UK bus manufacturing.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John McNally and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 7th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[John Mc Nally (Falkirk) (SNP)]

If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 7 July.

[The Prime Minister (Boris Johnson)]

Today marks the 16th anniversary of the 7/7 London bombings. We remember the 52 innocent people who lost their lives and those who were injured, and pay tribute to the city’s emergency services for their heroic response.

I am sure the whole House will wish to join me in sending condolences to the family and friends of Sislin Fay Allen, who died earlier this week. She was the UK’s first black female police officer, and she served in the Metropolitan police.

I am sure colleagues will also want to join me in wishing the England football team the best of luck for tonight’s semi-final against Denmark.

This morning, I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in this House, I shall have further such meetings later today.

[John Mc Nally]

Prime Minister, we hear a great deal in this place about the rule of law and injustice. Can the Prime Minister tell me what he is going to do about the injustice that my constituents in Falkirk, and indeed families up and down the UK, are facing every day because of the retrospective loan charge, which is fast turning into the next Post Office scandal? The hounding by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs—clearly out of control, accountable to no one—has managed to hoodwink and mislead his own Treasury Ministers and now, according to the head of HMRC, the retrospective loan charge appears to be without any legal basis or justification. Therefore, will the Prime Minister accept that this matter needs further and immediate investigation?

[The Prime Minister]

I am acutely aware, as I think all colleagues are around the House, of the pain suffered by those who entered into loan charge schemes. I think, alas, that they were misguided to do so, but I think that the line taken by the Treasury, I am afraid, is right on this.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John McNally and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 16th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[John Mc Nally (Falkirk) (SNP) [V]]

The Prime Minister promised to fund 4,000 zero-emission buses by 2024, but the spending review delivers just 800 such buses. Why has he put the handbrake on when it comes to supporting the bus building sector? With COP26 less than a year away, does he agree that it is time to put the pedal to the floor, get the low and zero-emission bus production lines in Falkirk, Yorkshire and Ballymena full, and support the bus building sector in full, as he promised?

[The Prime Minister]

I can confidently say that I do not believe that there is another Member of this House who has built as many buses, or caused as many buses to be built, as I have. We are absolutely committed to rolling out, as the hon. Gentleman rightly says, 4,000 zero- emission buses and the country’s first all electric bus town. He is right to lobby for the wonderful Alexander Dennis buses that are built in in Falkirk. We will certainly champion them, as well as buses built in Ballymena and elsewhere. He can take it from me that, in a zero-carbon way, we are putting the pedal to the floor until we get to 4,000.