Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Clegg and Andy McDonald

Tuesday 24th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I certainly agree that in the same way as it would be very ill-advised to put the UK Independence party in charge of Europe, it would be very ill-advised to put the SNP in charge of a country it wishes to pull apart.

On property taxation, as the hon. Gentleman knows we have a property tax system, the council tax, which rather eccentrically ends at a certain level. My party therefore believes it is logical to extend the principle of banded taxation for properties higher up the value chain, both here in the south-east and elsewhere.

[Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough) (Lab)]

T3. Given the overwhelming dominance of London and the south-east in the unelected second Chamber, does the Deputy Prime Minister agree that an elected senate of the nations and regions would be a good way to give the regions of England a stronger say in how the country is run?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

Yes, that would be an excellent idea. I only wish the hon. Gentleman’s party had actually abided by his wisdom when we had the chance to vote for an elected second Chamber. For specious procedural reasons, the Labour party turned its back on its long-held traditional view in favour of democracy in the second Chamber. I agree that one of the virtues of an elected second Chamber is precisely that it would provide an accurate reflection of the regions and nations of the United Kingdom at the other end of the building.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Clegg and Andy McDonald

Tuesday 13th May 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I congratulate my hon. Friend, who is a great champion of the regional growth fund. I have visited a number of the projects that he mentioned. Rounds 1 to 5 of the regional growth fund have awarded Yorkshire and Humber £270 million across 52 projects and programmes, which is expected to generate 64,000 jobs and private investment of £1.7 billion. There are many examples, as he himself has cited. The next round—round 6—will open this summer, so local bidders will be able to make further bids for regional growth fund money at that point.

[Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough) (Lab)]

T9. At the last election, political parties spent 10 times what third parties spent, so why did the Government choose to clamp down on third parties, which will do very little to take the big money out of politics?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I will send the hon. Gentleman the statistics. The amount of expenditure by third parties at election time has increased dramatically. What all of us on both sides of the House want to avoid is an American-style situation in which more and more organisations effectively seek to influence the electoral contest in different areas and constituencies, but do not abide by the same levels of transparency as political parties. All we are doing is saying to people who want to influence the outcome of an election that they need to publish the same amount of information in the same transparent way as we do as representatives of our political parties.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Clegg and Andy McDonald

Tuesday 7th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

While my hon. Friend did not say so, I assume he is referring to the much- anticipated agreement on the Siemens investment in the area and other infrastructure projects. I can certainly reassure him that on the back of the Humber city deal, which was confirmed by the Minister of State, Cabinet Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells (Greg Clark) shortly before Christmas, we are working across all Departments to ensure that where there are steps that we can still take as a Government to ensure that these investment projects are finally given the go-ahead, that should be the case as quickly as possible.

[Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough) (Lab)]

T15. Given the geographical imbalance in the economy, does the Deputy Prime Minister share the analysis of the Business Secretary that the way forward for expansion of airport capacity is to make more use of provincial airports, such as Durham Tees Valley, rather than continuing to stretch capacity in the south-east?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I certainly agree with the hon. Gentleman—I am sure everyone will—that we all need to work together to try to ensure that the profound geographical imbalances that have existed in the British economy for a long time are overcome. That can be done in any number of ways. Proper infrastructure investment is clearly needed, which is why, in my view, High Speed 2 will play such a galvanising role in healing the north-south divide. We need to liberate local areas, such as with the Tees Valley city deal, so that they can make their own economic fortunes rather than constantly being at the beck and call of decisions made in Whitehall; and we need to celebrate the fact that, unlike previous recoveries, we are seeing a broadly based recovery, not least in manufacturing in the north, as well as in the service sector heavily located in the south.