Eurotunnel: Payment
Debate between Matthew Offord and Matt Hancock(5 years, 9 months ago)
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Matt Hancock
No, the decision to settle this case in order to provide for the unhindered supply of medicines, which I am sure that, like me, the hon. Gentleman, agrees is important, was the correct judgment and the correct decision, because we need to make sure that we keep people safe.
Dr Matthew Offord (Hendon) (Con)
Although it can never be comfortable to give a settlement to any organisation, I have to agree with the Father of the House, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke), that it is better to draw a line under this and move on. [Interruption.] The hon. and learned Member for Edinburgh South West (Joanna Cherry) is chuntering. I shall have to defer to her knowledge of losing cases in the legal courts. Can the Secretary of State tell me whether it is correct that Eurotunnel has said it will use this money to provide increased resilience at the Dover port?
Matt Hancock
Yes, my hon. Friend is correct. He makes a broader point: people watching these proceedings, people who have serious illnesses, and people who rely on medicines every day to keep them alive will be amazed by those Members who will not vote for the deal and therefore make a no-deal exit more likely, and by those Members who just cause political noise rather than admitting that, in the circumstances, they too would have settled this case. We are hearing a lot of that from those on the Opposition Benches. On the Government Benches, however, we are hearing from Members who care deeply about making sure that people get the medicines that they need.
NHS Long-term Plan
Debate between Matthew Offord and Matt Hancock(5 years, 11 months ago)
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Matt Hancock
As I have said, after I became Secretary of State, we put £240 million extra into social care, and there will be £650 million next year.
Dr Matthew Offord (Hendon) (Con)
I congratulate the Secretary of State on this announcement and particularly on the increase in spending, which is more than the Labour party promised at the last general election. The vital point of today’s announcement is the publication of the plan, which has been decided by clinicians, so that they can tell politicians what is right for the NHS. Will he thank the clinicians for that work? We want to take party politics out of the NHS.
Matt Hancock
My hon. Friend is quite right: we must focus on the substance of what is needed to deliver an NHS that will be there for us all in our hour of greatest need. That is what we should be concentrating on. I have heard some Members say, “Whatever the Government promise, we will just promise more.” That is no way to have a discussion about the future of the country and our most valued institution. Instead, we should back the NHS’s plan, deliver on it and keep the economy strong so that we can keep putting in the money that the NHS needs.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Matthew Offord and Matt Hancock(9 years, 8 months ago)
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Dr Matthew Offord (Hendon) (Con)
Although the Department has created many opportunities for business, one of the biggest concerns in my constituency is late payments to small business. What steps have the Government taken to address that problem?
Matthew Hancock
We are taking unprecedented steps to tackle late payment, including in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill, which we hope will become an Act today. A change in culture is needed to make 30 days payment terms the norm and 60 days the maximum. We are changing the prompt payment code to reflect that and to say, “If you don’t sign up to that and practise what you preach, you’ll get kicked off the code, so we can change this culture for good.”
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Matthew Offord and Matt Hancock
Dr Matthew Offord (Hendon) (Con)
T4. Will the Minister confirm to the House that it is not the policy of this Government, or indeed the next Conservative Government, to freeze energy prices just as the wholesale market starts to reduce in price?
The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Matthew Hancock)
Absolutely. It is not the policy of the Government to freeze energy bills, not least at the level they were 18 months ago when we first received representations to do that. We have not chosen that path because we would end up with millions of consumers paying an average of £100 more for their electricity, and we would undermine investment, which is so critically needed, in the future of our energy system. It is a bad mistake and we will not do it.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Matthew Offord and Matt Hancock
Matthew Hancock
I am slightly disappointed by the hon. Gentleman’s tone because he has been supportive of the energy-intensive industries package that we secured at the Budget. It of course has to undergo state aid clearance, but it is pushing as far as is possible within EU rules. We need to ensure that we land that deal in Europe. At the same time, we have frozen the carbon price floor, so progress is being made.
Dr Matthew Offord (Hendon) (Con)
It is disappointing that there has not been a ministerial statement about Lima this week, particularly given the warning from the Union of Concerned Scientists that the negotiators have left too many contentious issues unresolved before the deadline in Paris. Will the Secretary of State advise us why the deal is so good?
UK Anti-corruption Plan
Debate between Matthew Offord and Matt HancockUrgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Matthew Hancock
The first and most important element of the plan that will have an impact is that it will bring together the domestic resources used to tackle such issues—instead of having them splintered among different agencies and departments—and its transparency measures will make sure that we can better tackle corruption through transparency and also disincentivise it, because people will know that it will be harder to hide. I hope that those two things will help reduce corruption. If we ever manage to stamp out corruption as a society, that would be great, but this is about reducing it as much as possible.
Dr Matthew Offord (Hendon) (Con)
Given that the UK maintains a responsibility to ensure good governance in the overseas territories, when will those countries actually be required to implement beneficial ownership rules themselves?
Matthew Hancock
We are working very closely with the overseas territories. Progress has been made. There is recognition among them that they need to act and conversations with them are ongoing.