Humanitarian Situation in Mosul

Lucy Powell Excerpts

Wednesday 12th July 2017 Commons Chamber

[Priti Patel]

We provide support for the vital de-mining and clearing up of improvised explosive devices. The British Government have provided specific resources, and we will use various Government funds and support the UN Mine Action Service. However, the task is not easy, and the level of destruction in Iraq is absolutely atrocious. Our work is cut out for us, but we will give all the necessary support to ensure that mines are cleared and that land is returned to its former use.

[Lucy Powell (Manchester Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

The liberation of Mosul is a significant step towards the defeat of this evil terror, but does the Secretary of State agree that the rebuilding and de-radicalisation of communities are just as important as that defeat?

[Priti Patel]

The hon. Lady is right that de-radicalisation must be a feature of the stabilisation and rebuilding. Divided and fractured communities need to be brought back together. Once again, Britain will lead the way on this, providing all the necessary support to the Iraqi Government and doing our bit to bring stability and peace to the country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lucy Powell Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Priti Patel]

I can assure my hon. Friend that the tailored review of ICAI will be carried out in accordance with the guidance that has been set very clearly for the reviews of non-departmental public bodies, including all the relevant and appropriate levels of independence.

[Lucy Powell (Manchester Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

T5. As we approach Fairtrade fortnight, what is the Secretary of State doing to ensure that fair trade is at the heart of our new trade deals?

Oral Answers to Questions

Lucy Powell Excerpts

Wednesday 16th November 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

That is a very interesting point. Perhaps my hon. Friend would like to come up and see me some time.

[Lucy Powell (Manchester Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

Q5. In its state of the nation report, the Government’s Social Mobility Commission today issued a damning verdict on progress: things are getting worse. The commission concluded that the key drivers of social mobility—quality in early education, narrowing the educational attainment gap, and access to work and housing—are all going backwards on the Prime Minister’s watch. When will she come forward with a real strategy for opportunity for all, instead of fixating on creating an even more elite education for those who are already elite?

[The Prime Minister]

I note that the Social Mobility Commission has recorded today that more working- class youngsters are benefiting from higher education than at any point in our history. The Government have invested record amounts in childcare and the early years, and the attainment gap, as the report acknowledges, has actually narrowed. The hon. Lady refers to the education system and the reintroduction of grammar schools, so I refer her to the report commissioned by a Labour council in Knowsley to look at how it could improve educational achievement there. That report said:

“Re-introducing grammar schools is potentially a transformative idea for working class areas”.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lucy Powell Excerpts

Wednesday 4th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

As my right hon. Friend knows and as the Chief Secretary to the Treasury will confirm shortly in greater detail, we have adjusted the strike prices for onshore wind and to solar panel installations, because we believe it is now viable to do so, and made more attractive further investment in the offshore wind industry, in which we are already a world leader. We must maintain that leadership for the benefit not only of areas such as the north-east, but for the country, all of which would be blighted by an economically illiterate energy policy.

[Lucy Powell (Manchester Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

Q6. Is the Deputy Prime Minister aware that on average women working full time have seen their earnings fall by nearly £2,500 since the election, and does he think that the married man’s tax allowance is the best way to help women, who are paying the price for his Government?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady knows the respective views in the coalition on the so-called married tax break, but I would point out that it is this Government who have ended the injustice under Labour of women being short-changed in the pension system; it is this Government who are raising the point at which people pay income tax, which disproportionately benefits women and will leave 1.5 million of them £700 or more better off; and it is this Government who are finally providing the affordable child care places that were not provided in 13 years under Labour.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lucy Powell Excerpts

Wednesday 13th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am happy to say to my hon. Friend that the National Security Council met recently to consider some of these border issues and has decided not to put visas on to Brazilian nationals. We want to work with the Brazilians and ensure that we enhance border security; but, in defence of the Home Office and the UKBA, there have been great improvements in the time spent processing visas and we are looking at a number of steps to ensure that we attract tourists from the fastest-growing markets, including China and elsewhere.

[Lucy Powell (Manchester Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

Q10. Does the Prime Minister accept that families face a triple whammy in meeting the costs of child care? Places are plummeting, costs are going up and the average family has lost more than £1,500 a year in support. Therefore, does he also accept that any measure he may announce next week to help with the costs of child care will be small remedy for a crisis of his own making?

[The Prime Minister]

I do not accept what the hon. Lady says, because it is this Government who extended the number of hours to three and four-year-olds and introduced, for the first time, child care payments for vulnerable two-year-olds. We have also lifted 2 million people out of tax altogether. Someone on a minimum wage working full time has seen their income tax bill cut in half. I know that the hon. Lady wants to try to put people off a very major step forward—when we will be helping people who work hard, who want to do the right thing and who want child care for their children—but that is what we will be announcing, and I think it will be welcome.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lucy Powell Excerpts

Wednesday 12th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am delighted to join my hon. Friend in congratulating the entrepreneurs in her constituency. I am looking forward to tasting some Cornish Gouda cheese, although I probably should not for the sake of my weight. She is making an important point, which is that the start-up rate of new businesses in this country is at a record high. Because we need a rebalancing between the public sector and the private sector, we need this entrepreneurship to continue.

[Lucy Powell (Manchester Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

In opposition, the right hon. Gentleman said that he wanted his Government to be the most family-friendly Government this country had ever seen, so why is he cutting maternity pay for working mothers?

[The Prime Minister]

First, may I welcome the hon. Lady to the House of Commons and congratulate her on her recent by-election success? We have had to take difficult decisions about welfare—both in-work welfare and out-of-work welfare—so we have put a cap of 1% on all the working benefits, including the one that she has mentioned. Above all, I think that the right thing to do is to cut the taxes of people who are in work, rather than taking more in taxes and then redistributing it through tax credits. We on this side want to cut taxes on those who work. That is what we are doing and there will be more of it to come.