Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Michael Gove and Alex Sobel

Monday 22nd April 2024 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right: we need change in Kirklees. The best way in which people can demonstrate their desire for change and the reconfiguration of Kirklees is by voting Conservative on 2 May.

[Alex Sobel (Leeds North West) (Lab/Co-op)]

Today is Earth Day. The Government introduced the zero carbon homes standard and the code for sustainable homes and then scrapped them. The future homes standard now has centralised support, but local authorities such as Leeds want to go above planning policy to reach higher standards. Why will the Secretary of State not allow Leeds to build even better zero carbon homes?

[Michael Gove]

We have a good relationship with Leeds City Council, and indeed with its leader and chief executive, so let me investigate.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Michael Gove and Alex Sobel

Monday 10th July 2023 Commons Chamber

[Alex Sobel (Leeds North West) (Lab/Co-op)]

1. What recent assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of levels of antisemitism in the last 12 months.

[The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Michael Gove)]

We have paid close attention to the concerning figures produced by the Home Office and the Community Security Trust, which have shown the continued prevalence of antisemitism in our society. We are considering Lord Mann’s recent reports on the subject, which we will respond to in due course, and we have increased the annual Jewish community protective security grant to £15 million in 2023-24.

[Alex Sobel]

Did the Secretary of State see the research from King’s College London, showing that those who believe in conspiracies are most likely to be antisemitic? Much of that antisemitism takes place online and is legal but harmful. What is he doing to tackle conspiracism, misinformation and fake news; why are the measures to tackle them in the Online Safety Bill so weak; and why have the Government removed the legal but harmful provision, which would protect so much of the Jewish community?

[Michael Gove]

The hon. Gentleman is right that there is a significant overlap between antisemitism and conspiracy theories, and many of the tropes that conspiracists use are drawn from the antisemitic library. However, with the Online Safety Bill it is important to balance the right to free speech with vigilance in dealing with hate, and this Government are absolutely committed to combating antisemitism wherever it rears its head.

Transport Emissions: Urban Areas

Debate between Michael Gove and Alex Sobel

Tuesday 22nd May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

We have been keen to make sure, certainly when it applies to buses and public transport, that we make money available to local authorities for appropriate retrofitting. Hauliers recognise that there will need to be a shift. One of the things we need to do—my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport is doing this—is to make sure that we can move to a more efficient method of haulage in the future.

[Alex Sobel (Leeds North West) (Lab/Co-op)]

I was pleased that the Secretary of State raised electric vehicles in his opening remarks, as I have been pursuing this issue since I came to this place. I have created a nine-point plan, which I raised with the Minister for Energy and Clean Growth and more recently with the roads Minister in a debate on electric vehicles in Westminster Hall. The ideas include matching Joint Air Quality Unit funding with Office for Low Emission Vehicles funding and getting three-phase electric points. Will the Secretary of State meet me to discuss all nine points of my plan?

[Michael Gove]

It will be a pleasure.