Stellantis Luton

Mark Francois Excerpts

Wednesday 27th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Jonathan Reynolds]

I absolutely echo my hon. Friend’s sentiments about my hon. Friend the Member for Luton South and South Bedfordshire, and I very much agree with her statement about a UK industrial strategy. There have been and are policies relevant to the automotive sector, but what we have lacked for a long time, across a range of key sectors in the UK, are confidence and certainty that those plans will remain. People have talked during this statement about the actions of the previous Prime Minister in that intervention, but that is exactly the opposite of what is required for long-term policy. The advanced manufacturing sector is one of the eight sectors in our industrial strategy. It is a sector of tremendous strengths in the United Kingdom, and our intention is to build on that and grow it to deliver even more success in future, which is why it is such a fundamental part of our plans.

[Mr Mark Francois (Rayleigh and Wickford) (Con)]

I commiserate with the workers in Luton who will lose their jobs. If Vauxhall is synonymous with Luton, Ford is synonymous with Essex. The Secretary of State referred to 800 Ford job losses, including at its research centre at Dunton, where many of my Rayleigh and Wickford constituents work.

On electric vehicles specifically, I am a free trader by instinct, but what China is doing in that area is way beyond normal competitive practice. It is dumping electric vehicles very cheaply on world markets, a point highlighted by the Chairman of the Select Committee, the right hon. Member for Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North (Liam Byrne). What specifically do the Government intend to do about that to maintain fair competition and give British companies, including Ford and Vauxhall, a fair chance to compete?

[Jonathan Reynolds]

First, let me reiterate my words about the right hon. Member’s constituents and the situation at Ford. I have faced this accusation before, but if anyone thinks the Government are somehow only listening to one part of industry or are responding to special pleading, the announcement by Ford followed by what we have had from Stellantis this week is proof that we do need to move, to listen and to look at some of the policies we inherited and make sure they are working as they should.

I reiterate my earlier comments to the Chair of the Select Committee. We have not changed the Trade Remedies Authority and the system we inherited. If Ford or any other company wants to make a referral against unfair competitive practices, it can do that, but such a request has not come from any part of the industry to date. I would not for a second describe the Chinese economy as one that operates on the market principles with which we are familiar, but we have to be aware that the fundamental threat from China comes from its commitment to research and development, innovation, high-tech solutions and being able to manufacture at scale. We are kidding ourselves if we think the threat is just unfair competition. That economy has an incredible level of ambition for the future, which is why we have to raise our game as well.

Post Office Horizon Scandal

Mark Francois Excerpts

Wednesday 10th January 2024 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Hollinrake]

We hope to complete all the legal and administrative aspects of the compensation payments by August, while Sir Wyn Williams’s inquiry is due to conclude by the end of the year. We should see the conclusions of that inquiry very rapidly and hope to publish them as soon as possible, given that it is a statutory inquiry. Following that, the authorities may well decide that there are grounds for prosecution. We are certainly taking a keen interest in who else might pick up the cost of the compensation, which is significant and is currently being borne by the taxpayer. Where we can identify others who are responsible, we are keen for them to pay for their wrongdoing.

[Mr Mark Francois (Rayleigh and Wickford) (Con)]

I commend the Minister, the Justice Secretary and those who have advised them for having to exercise the judgment of Solomon but, none the less, coming up with a practical and, importantly, rapid solution.

Fujitsu is a multimillion-dollar company with numerous Government contracts, including a number with the Ministry of Defence. It has persistently, for years, been reluctant to admit to the weakness in its system. Does the Minister agree that Fujitsu now has a moral duty, if not a directly legal one, to put right that wrong? Should we not review all its Government contracts, and if it will not do the right thing—which it should—should we not consider suspending them?

[Kevin Hollinrake]

We do see this solution as being practical and rapid, as my right hon. Friend has described it. As for his point about Fujitsu, which he has often raised, he is right to say that it has significant Government contracts with, among others, the Ministry of Defence and, I believe, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. It is right that we let the process take its course, and that the inquiry looks at who was responsible for what between the Post Office and Fujitsu, and who told who to do what. It is therefore right to have a process whereby we set criteria and parameters for who can access Government contracts. We should have those conversations when we have identified exactly who was responsible. We will not be able to do that for some months, but we are keen to do it as soon as possible.

Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill

Mark Francois Excerpts

Thursday 11th May 2023 Commons Chamber

[Kemi Badenoch]

Again, I think Opposition Members are very confused about what this change is trying to do. [Interruption.] They are confused. The hon. Member for Stirling (Alyn Smith) talks about certainty, and this is the certainty for which people asked. He talks about a change and a betrayal, and I do not understand where that emotional language is coming from. No work has been wasted. It is the efforts of civil servants that have identified which bits of law need to be repealed and which need to be reformed. There is not enough parliamentary time, given that we have only one full Session, to carry out all the reforms we would like to carry out. If we are to do that, we need to truncate the process to make it about repeal and reform, not about preservation. The Bill, which was meant to be about reform, has turned into a preservation exercise. [Interruption.] I can see the hon. Member for Stirling squinting and looking confused, so I am happy to give him a private briefing. This process is technical and complex. I picked up this task in February, and I buried myself in the detail. This will deliver on the Prime Minister’s promises and make sure that we generate the benefits of Brexit.

[Mr Mark Francois (Rayleigh and Wickford) (Con)]

Well said earlier, Mr Speaker.

I have checked Hansard, and the Bill passed Second Reading in the Commons on 25 October 2022 with a Government majority of 56, and with not a single Tory MP voting against it.

[Sir Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

Four of us did not vote for it.

[Mr Francois]

No one voted against it, Bob. Not even you.

On 18 January 2023, the Bill passed Third Reading with a Government majority of 59, and again not a single Tory MP voted against it. The Bill unified the Conservative parliamentary party on an admittedly controversial issue. It left this House without a single Tory MP opposing it. Why, after it has gone to the House of Lords, have the Government performed a massive climbdown on their own Bill, despite having such strong support from their own Back Benchers? Secretary of State, what on earth are you playing at?

[Kemi Badenoch]

I have already explained the reasons why we have changed the approach and I am happy to repeat them for my right hon. Friend. He should know that I am not somebody who gets pushed around lightly. The fact is that I went in, looked at the detail and decided that this was the best way to deliver this. I stress again that this was not the Prime Minister’s decision. As a Secretary of State, I have to be responsible and look at what we can make sure is deliverable. This is the best way to get my right hon. Friend the Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mr Francois) what he wants. It may be different from what was put on the Floor of the House, but if he wants what I want, which is ending EU interpretative effects by the end of this year, ending the supremacy of EU law by the end of this year—[Interruption.] He is not in the room. He is very welcome to send me the list of things that he wants repealed, but this is the way to get it done.