Oral Answers to Questions

Mary Glindon Excerpts

Monday 8th February 2016 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Mary Glindon (North Tyneside) (Lab)]

1. What assessment he has made of the potential effect of planned reductions in social rents and housing benefit support on the provision of supported housing.

[Peter Dowd (Bootle) (Lab)]

18. What assessment he has made of the potential effect of planned reductions in social rents and housing benefit support on the provision of supported housing.

[The Minister for Housing and Planning (Brandon Lewis)]

I associate myself and my colleagues on the Government Benches with your comments, Mr Speaker. Harry Harpham was a very distinguished long-serving councillor and we will all miss him in the years ahead.

This Government have always been clear that the most vulnerable will be protected and supported through our welfare reforms. Following our review of supported housing, due to report this spring, we will work with the sector to ensure appropriate protections are in place.

[Mary Glindon]

I, too, associate myself with the sad sentiments that have been expressed about our dear colleague.

The Minister says that the review will report in spring. It was due to report at the end of last year. Meanwhile, the Secretary of State is still pressing ahead with cuts before the review comes out. Can the Minister say why that is?

[Brandon Lewis]

As the hon. Lady may have heard in the recent Opposition day debate, we have always been very clear that the most vulnerable in our society will be protected. We will also ensure a fair settlement for taxpayers.

Oral Answers to Questions

Mary Glindon Excerpts

Wednesday 8th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

The hon. Gentleman highlights a difficult area, and the issue of security and justice for a country such as Eritrea is one of the main drivers of people leaving that country. At the same time, our standards on human rights mean that we would not work with police forces, for example, if we thought that abuses were taking place while we were carrying out a programme. We try to strike the right balance and, as he mentions, tracking the results of that can be long term and not uncomplicated.

[Mary Glindon (North Tyneside) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State has argued that so few Syrian refugees have sought safety in Europe because of aid sent to the region, but how does she square that with the increasing number of Syrians risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean?

[Justine Greening]

As I said, that is a small proportion. The hon. Lady should be aware that the UN flash appeal, which is to encourage the international community to ensure the right level of support for refugees, is around 20% funded. We should not be surprised that the conditions that refugees end up living in are not good enough, and that they might want to seek a better life for themselves. We can be proud of the work that the UK is doing, but not enough other countries are joining us in that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Mary Glindon Excerpts

Wednesday 18th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend that we need to do more on that front. We have removed about 20,000 foreign national offenders since the Government came to office, but the number is still too high. I have allotted individual Ministers to individual territories that have the highest numbers of foreign offenders—countries such as Nigeria, Jamaica, Vietnam and China—to ensure that we make progress on returning those prisoners. We need to use the prisoner transfer agreement within the European Union, because that could lead to the return of a large number of prisoners, not least to Poland. We have to keep up the pressure on this issue. I believe that if we get a Conservative Government after the next election, we will have substantive reform of the Human Rights Act, which is not working properly for Britain.

[Mrs Mary Glindon (North Tyneside) (Lab)]

Q11. Last month, the national health service missed its cancer treatment target for the very first time. What does the Prime Minister have to say to the patients and their families who have had to put their lives on hold while they wait for vital treatment to start?

Oral Answers to Questions

Mary Glindon Excerpts

Wednesday 14th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

It is excellent news that there has been real progress in the few short months in which we have been in government—far more progress than was delivered in 13 years under Labour—to get more women on to our boards. I think that everybody now agrees with the consensus that having more women on boards is good for all companies. There has been a woefully unrepresentative mix on our boards. I very much hope that we will continue to apply the right kind of voluntary pressure to see the representation of women increase further.

[Mrs Mary Glindon (North Tyneside) (Lab)]

Q2. I sincerely hope that the Deputy Prime Minister enjoyed our famous north-east hospitality and the support of Northumbria police at his spring conference in Gateshead. Will he tell the House when the 3,000 extra police he promised at the general election will be in post?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

As the hon. Lady’s party acknowledges, the police need to make savings. The key thing is not what the total number is, but where the police—[Interruption.]

Oral Answers to Questions

Mary Glindon Excerpts

Wednesday 13th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is right that we have got to stay out of the eurozone. Being a member of the euro would take away the flexibility we currently have. We have to remember that 40% of our exports go to eurozone countries. We should therefore be making constructive suggestions about proper stress tests for their banks, backed up by recapitalisation; involving the private sector to make Greece’s debt burden more sustainable; and earning fiscal credibility through concrete action to reduce their excessive deficits. Basically, in my view eurozone countries have to recognise that they have to do more together and faster; they have to get ahead of the market rather than just respond to the next crisis.

[Mrs Mary Glindon (North Tyneside) (Lab)]

Q5. Lord Ashdown says that he warned No. 10 last year of the terrible damage that it would suffer if Andy Coulson was appointed. Can the Prime Minister say precisely how he reacted to that powerful warning?

[The Prime Minister]

I made this point some moments ago. Of course, the decision to employ a tabloid editor meant that there were a number of people who said that it was not a good idea, particularly when that tabloid editor had been at the News of the World when bad things had happened. The decision I made was to accept the assurances that he gave me. As I have said, those assurances were given to the police, a Select Committee and a court of law. If I was lied to and others were lied to, that would be a matter of deep regret. I could not be clearer about it than that. We must ensure that we judge people as innocent until proven guilty.