Oral Answers to Questions

Luciana Berger Excerpts

Wednesday 18th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

What is happening in Worcester is welcome news. Across the country not only is unemployment down but vacancies are up, which is good news for the future. I think we have taken some important steps forward with the rate rebate of £1,000 announced in the autumn statement for businesses on the high street, and, of course, the £2,000 employment allowance, which means that businesses do not have to pay their first £2,000 of national insurance contributions. That means that businesses in Worcester and elsewhere will be able to take on more people.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

Q13. Further to the question from the hon. Member for St Albans (Mrs Main), four months have passed since serious allegations were made that the Northern Ireland Secretary broke the ministerial code during her time as Transport Minister. Will the Prime Minister ensure that the Cabinet Secretary responds before the House rises for the Christmas recess?

[The Prime Minister]

I have seen a copy of the Cabinet Secretary’s response, and I am confident it will be sent in the next few days.

Oral Answers to Questions

Luciana Berger Excerpts

Wednesday 20th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

The arrival of the torch in Southend is one of the highlights, the other being the fact that today it is passing through Richmond, Yorkshire—and I would have dearly loved to be there to see it. But that is one of the highlights, and my hon. Friend is quite right: the Olympics are an enormous opportunity for this country. We are looking, through the Olympic games, to secure more than £1 billion of inward investment, to attract an additional 4 million visitors, including to Southend, and to use the games to inspire more young people to take up sport. It is a great moment for Britain.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

Q15. We all know that the Prime Minister likes to “chillax” down the pub, but when it comes to Anglo-French relations should he not adopt a more sober approach?

[Mr Hague]

The Prime Minister always has excellent relations, in my experience, with any President of France, including with the new President of France. We should welcome and applaud the fact that the city in which we are sitting is the seventh largest for French people in the world, and they are of course welcome here in the United Kingdom whatever their Government are doing at home.

Oral Answers to Questions

Luciana Berger Excerpts

Wednesday 11th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

Q2. Over 80,000 pensioners in Liverpool will lose up to £100 this winter following the Government’s cut in winter fuel allowance. Will the Prime Minister adopt Labour’s policy of ensuring that energy companies automatically put elderly customers on the cheapest tariff for gas and electricity?

[The Prime Minister]

I am afraid that, as with the hon. Lady’s party leader, there seems to have been an outbreak of collective amnesia on the Labour Benches, because we have kept the previous Government’s policy on the winter fuel allowance and are meeting in full all the promises that she and her party made on the winter fuel allowance. We have gone one further, because they introduced higher cold weather payments only for election year, but we have made them permanent.

Oral Answers to Questions

Luciana Berger Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd June 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend and his work on this issue. It is vital that, as a country, we build a stronger national identity. Of course people can have all sorts of religious and cultural identities, but it is very important that we build a strong British identity. He is living proof of that.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

Q14. Tomorrow, the European Parliament will decide whether to increase the EU’s carbon reduction target to 30% by 2020. That was a commitment in the coalition agreement. According to reports, the vote will be very close, but it will not pass because just one Conservative MEP out of 25 will vote for the 30% target. Will the Prime Minister guarantee that all his MEPs will honour the coalition agreement and vote for the 30% target tomorrow?

[The Prime Minister]

Let me be absolutely clear that we are committed to the 30% target and nothing is going to change that. I will do a deal with the hon. Lady. I will work on my MEPs if she promises to work on hers, who in recent months have voted for a higher EU budget and new EU taxes, and against an opt-out on the working-time directive. They even voted against scrapping first-class air travel for MEPs. Perhaps she would like to fly over and give them a talking to.

Oral Answers to Questions

Luciana Berger Excerpts

Wednesday 27th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is entirely right. The MOD should work closely with BAE and with his constituents, who have worked extremely hard over many years to produce that equipment, to make sure there is a strong future. We have had to make difficult decisions in the defence review, and we have made the difficult decision about Nimrod, but in terms of BAE as a whole, we will be spending £17 billion with that company between now and 2015 on a range of projects, including the A400M. But my hon. Friend is right—we should make sure that we help those people to find new jobs.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/ Co-op)]

Q8. Video games development is a highly skilled, low-carbon creative industry that provides more than 600 jobs in my constituency and is important for the north-west as a whole. Before the election, all three main parties pledged to introduce a video games tax relief so that we can compete internationally on a level playing field. Why have the Government reneged on that promise?

[The Prime Minister]

We had to make difficult decisions about tax relief—[Interruption.] Opposition Members groan. Can we think of one thing they will support to get the deficit down? I cannot think of a single thing. We have to take difficult decisions, and I am afraid that that tax relief, which was not particularly successful or well targeted, must go. Those are the difficult decisions that we have to take.

Oral Answers to Questions

Luciana Berger Excerpts

Wednesday 16th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is entirely right. We have got to make sure that, in what we do, we help those who try to do the right thing, to save and to look after themselves and their families. The first thing that we have to do is keep control of inflation, keep the Bank of England independent and ensure that the Budget supports the tough approach on inflation, which is the worst thing for savers. The second thing that we can do is ensure that we do not discourage saving by having so many people reliant on a means test. That is why we are committed to linking the state pension back to earnings.

There are no easy ways of reducing the deficit. Some people believe that it can be got all from one area or all from another. I am afraid that it is going to be a difficult task. We will do everything we can to take the whole country with us. We will need to have a responsible debate about how we do it, but it has to be done for the good of our country.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/ Co-op)]

Q15. In the past week, I have been contacted by students and parents in my constituency who are devastated to have been told that geography and politics courses at Liverpool John Moores university have been cancelled from September, giving them less than three months to make alternative arrangements. What assurances can the Prime Minister give my constituents that cuts to higher education will not affect students?

[The Prime Minister]

I welcome the hon. Lady to her place. The assurance I can give her is that we are going to increase the number of university places by 10,000 in the coming year, because we want to see higher education expand. The other assurance I can give her is that we are committed to the Browne review that the previous Government set up, on an all-party basis, to look at how we can ensure that higher education is affordable both for the young people going into higher education and for our country as a whole.