Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Philip Hollobone

Thursday 7th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[Kemi Badenoch]

Just on the first point, if the hon. Member still wants to believe Canada before the UK, that is his business, but we on the Conservative Benches know who we are working for, and we are working for British businesses.

On the hon. Member’s second point, carbon leakage is a global problem facing all countries that are ambitious in tackling climate change, and we are working with international partners on how we tackle it together. We are following developments on the EU CBAM closely, and we are engaging with the European Commission to discuss technical considerations relevant to UK manufacturers. We share its concerns on carbon leakage, but we need to make sure that the UK response, whatever it is, is tailored to what the UK needs, not just a copying and pasting of what others are doing.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

T4. Kettering is the beating heart of the east midlands economy, so will the Secretary of State be kind enough to facilitate a visit from her ministerial team to Ball Corporation in Burton Latimer? It has the newest, largest and most modern aluminium can manufacturing plant in Europe and a fantastic example of the very best of successful foreign direct investment into the UK economy.

[Kemi Badenoch]

I commend the Ball Corporation in Burton Latimer for all it is doing. I also thank my hon. Friend for what he is doing to promote inward investment, which supported more than 2,800 jobs across the east midlands in 2023. He has spoken to me before about the importance of the Ball Corporation to Kettering, and I am happy to confirm that either myself or one of my Ministers would be delighted to visit when diaries allow.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Philip Hollobone

Thursday 25th January 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Kemi Badenoch)]

The Department for Business and Trade has done a lot to bring foreign direct investment into the UK. Just last November, we raised £30 billion at our global investment summit. Specifically for north Northamptonshire, my hon. Friend will be pleased to know that his constituents can take advantage of the DBT national and regional investment teams, which work with local partners to provide support for foreign investors who wish to invest and set up in the region.

[Mr Hollobone]

Recent inward investment into the Kettering constituency includes the Ball Corporation from the US building Europe’s largest and most modern aluminium drinks can manufacturing plant in Burton Latimer, creating 200 new jobs. Will my right hon. Friend congratulate and thank Ball for its confidence and investment in north Northamptonshire’s manufacturing economy, and encourage others to see Kettering—with its superb connectivity and motivated workforce—as an ideal location for further investment?

[Kemi Badenoch]

I am extremely pleased to be able to do so. I congratulate and thank Ball Corporation for placing its investment in Kettering. That is exactly the sort of investment that we want to see all around the UK: it is the levelling-up agenda writ large. I also thank all the officials in my Department, but especially my Ministers, who travel all around the world—including to the US—to promote the UK. We never talk this country down; we let people know that this is a great place to do business, and we are seeing the benefits of that strategy.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Philip Hollobone

Wednesday 13th December 2023 Commons Chamber

[Kemi Badenoch]

The hon. Gentleman will know that we disagree with the propositions that he has set out, and we have said so time and again at this Dispatch Box. We believe that the two-child policy is important. We know that there is a cost of living crisis caused by rising energy costs and the war in Ukraine, which was caused by Russia. The Government are doing everything we can to limit the impact on households.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

T2. A Museum of London report has bizarrely concluded that black people were more likely to die from medieval plague. Will the Minister for Women and Equalities ensure that such sensationalist research findings and woke archaeology have no impact at all on current health and pandemic policy?

[Kemi Badenoch]

I do agree. I am not even sure whether we can call it just sensationalist or woke. The research apparently was based on phrenology, which is a completely discredited type of science. I agree with my hon. Friend that this type of research is damaging to trust, to social cohesion and even to trust in health services. I have written to the director of the Museum of London to express my concern.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Philip Hollobone

Wednesday 25th October 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

T4. In its 2021 census, the Office for National Statistics estimated that there are 260,000 transgender people in the UK. Does the Minister agree with the separate Office for Statistics Regulation that, due to skewed methodology, this number is likely to have been a huge overestimate?

[Kemi Badenoch]

I share the concerns that the Office for Statistics Regulation has raised and, in February, I asked my officials to explore with the ONS whether because of a lack of understanding of the question the census had the number right. We need to be very careful about language. People do not often understand what we mean when we use terms such as transgender and gender identity. We have to make sure that they understand them. The ONS will be conducting and reporting on research to explore that issue, and it should publish the results by the end of the year and will monitor them going forward.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Philip Hollobone

Thursday 29th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Kemi Badenoch]

Far be it from me to stop our noble Friends in the other place from doing what they think is right. None the less, I do agree with the hon. Gentleman. My view is, let a thousand flowers bloom. Hydrogen is one of the viable ways of helping us to get to net zero, and the Government are looking at all possible options to make sure that we support the cutting-edge technology that will get us to our green transition.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

11. What the value of exports to the EU was in (a) 2016, (b) 2019 and (c) the last year for which data is available.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Philip Hollobone

Thursday 18th May 2023 Commons Chamber

[Kemi Badenoch]

I thank the shadow Minister for highlighting that we have had 100 days as the Department for Business and Trade, during which we have been able to launch the biggest free trade agreement that the UK has seen since we left the EU and since the trade and co-operation agreement. He also mentions a lot of systemic issues, which have been faced globally. He rightly talks about the US IRA and the EU green deal industrial plan, but it is good for me to mention that we are doing a lot in this space. For example, the issue that the automotive industries are talking about relates to rules of origin. This is something that the EU is also worried out, because the costs of the components have risen. This is not to do with Brexit; it is to do with supply chain issues following the pandemic and the war between Russia and Ukraine. I have had meetings with my EU trade counterpart; we are discussing these things and looking at how we can review them, especially as the TCA will be coming into review soon.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

What would have been the answer to Question 19? How many businesses were supported by grant funding in North Northamptonshire during the pandemic?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Philip Hollobone

Wednesday 26th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Kemi Badenoch]

That is something that we have committed to. Obviously, it is important to properly address the cost implications of implementation given everything that is happening, and we will do everything that we can to further this piece of work.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

5. If she will take steps with the Secretary of State for Education to help ensure that the proportion of white state school educated students obtaining a place in higher education is raised to the same proportion as mixed heritage, black, Asian and Chinese students.

Covid-19: Ethnic Minority Disparities

Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Philip Hollobone

Monday 1st March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Kemi Badenoch]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising that matter. It is important. A lot of what we do is focused on NHS England, but I can assure him that we work with partners across all the devolved Administrations. For example, I have been at Covid-O meetings at which we spoke to representatives of the Welsh Government who were aware of these issues. We share our information widely, but if there is anything specific that he would like to know he should write to me and I will make sure that I obtain the answer that may be most appropriate for his constituency.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

I warmly commend and support my hon. Friend for the work that she has done on covid disparities. She is right to say that we must go where the data tells us. Can she confirm that across all age groups and all ethnicities men are far more likely to be hospitalised and killed by the virus than women? In the 40 to 49 age group, men are twice as likely to suffer critical illness. Why is that, and what are the implications for the Government response to the pandemic?

[Kemi Badenoch]

My hon. Friend asks a very important question, and he is absolutely right. We know that the virus targets different groups differently, but we do not necessarily have all the answers. Some of the issues around the disproportionate impact on men are to do with occupational risk, which is not something we can control for very easily. That is why we are making sure that we address the pandemic holistically. We do not stigmatise any specific groups, but we make sure that we target information and assistance on those who are most vulnerable, particularly the elderly, who are 70 to 80 times more likely to contract the disease and die from it than other age groups.

Covid-19: Disparate Impact

Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Philip Hollobone

Thursday 22nd October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Kemi Badenoch]

That would be outside the terms of reference of the review that I am leading over the year. However, as a Treasury Minister, I can tell the hon. Gentleman that we have distributional analysis that comes out with all this information and influences all the policies that we put out in terms of economic interventions for specific groups.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

I commend my hon. Friend for her statement and for the report. Given the high level of concern about the impact of covid-19 on ethnic minorities, and given that a vaccine will be a very large part of the solution to the pandemic, why does she think there has been such a disproportionately low number of ethnic minority people coming forward to volunteer for the NHS vaccine registry?