Oral Answers to Questions

Nickie Aiken Excerpts

Wednesday 14th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[Alok Sharma]

I congratulate all local areas and local leaders who are doing their bit on climate action. As I said, today we are launching the local authorities and Mayors engagement pack, which I hope local authorities and Mayors will use to encourage climate action across their areas.

[Nickie Aiken (Cities of London and Westminster) (Con)]

Cleaning up our air, here and across the globe, is a major challenge for all of us. The conversations that I am having with local people and businesses in the Cities of London and Westminster make it clear that we have a key opportunity at COP26 for the UK to become a global leader in promoting cleaner, greener urban environments. With that in mind, will my right hon. Friend confirm that he will do all he can to accelerate action to tackle urban air pollution through collaboration between Governments, businesses and civil society?

[The Minister for Business, Energy and Clean Growth (Anne-Marie Trevelyan)]

The UK is already leading the way on tackling air pollution. The Government are backing a £3.8 billion plan to clean up transport and tackle air pollution, investing in green transport and working with local authorities just like the City of Westminster. My hon. Friend will be keen to read the transport decarbonisation plan, which will be published later today and will set out the world’s first “greenprint” for decarbonised transport and clean air.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Prime Minister]

My message—I am sorry, obviously, for the condition that Jacqui suffers, and I think that the Labour party obviously needs to work out whether it is in favour of going ahead with step 4 or not, because that is not at all clear from what the hon. Gentleman has said, or what the Leader of the Opposition has said. They do not have a clue. But what I can say to the hon. Gentleman, and to Jacqui, is that we expect and recommend everybody to wear a face covering in a confined space where they are meeting people they do not normally meet, and that is quite right.

[Nickie Aiken (Cities of London and Westminster) (Con)]

Last week I met with the Reading Agency, which is about to launch its annual summer reading challenge and hopes to reach 1 million primary school children this year. What a great excuse to go to one of our brilliant libraries and take part in the big covid education catch-up. With that in mind, will my right hon. Friend join me in encouraging every child across the nation to take part in the summer reading challenge? Pick up a book and read back better!

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend. She is quite right; there could not be a better campaign for the summer. We have put £1.9 million of support into the reading scheme that she mentions. But of course there is £200 million going into the holiday activities fund, and there could not be a better, more useful, happier way of occupying your time on holiday than reading a good book.

G7 and NATO Summits

Nickie Aiken Excerpts

Wednesday 16th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I repeat that countries around the world are in awe of this country’s continued contributions. They know that we are spending £10 billion during a very difficult time; they also know, because they have long memories, that we are spending more now than the Labour party ever did under Gordon Brown or Tony Blair.

[Nickie Aiken (Cities of London and Westminster) (Con)]

The G7 set out plans to lift women out of poverty and build back a more equal world by putting 40 million more girls into school in the next five years—another example of global Britain as a force for good. Does my right hon. Friend agree that investing in women, particularly girls’ education, is one of the most efficient ways to create economic growth in developing countries? Can he confirm that the UK will continue to lead the way on girls’ education moving forward?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is completely right. I think that investing in girls’ education—12 years of quality education for every girl—is probably the single best, most efficient policy that we can support around the world. That is why we are putting another £430 million into the Global Partnership for Education, with more to come in July.

European Union (Future Relationship) Bill

Nickie Aiken Excerpts

2nd reading & 2nd reading: House of Commons
Wednesday 30th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Nickie Aiken (Cities of London and Westminster) (Con) [V]]

On 23 June 2016, 72% of the electorate in the Cities of London and Westminster voted to remain in the European Union. I was one of them. Like so many, I felt unsure and worried by the referendum result, but the majority of the UK electorate had spoken with a clear message. They felt left behind, ignored and alienated by those in this House, but more so by the unelected EU bureaucrats who had so much influence over their daily lives.

I am a democrat and, although I did not welcome the Brexit referendum result, I accepted it. Last year’s general election was viewed as a second referendum on our EU membership, and voters in places including Ashfield, Sedgefield, Burnley and West Bromwich gave their verdict a second time. They have changed the look and feel of the Conservative party for the better. I am proud to call blue wall Conservatives my colleagues.

I am also proud of what this Government have achieved, securing the largest-ever trade deal with our closest partners within 12 months. To have achieved this while dealing with a global pandemic is frankly incredible. I pay tribute to all those involved on both sides, and I pay personal tribute to the Prime Minister, who never gave up and showed such personal determination to the very end.

Although financial services are not covered in this deal, I am pleased to report that the City of London Corporation welcomes the trade deal and the joint declaration on financial services regulatory co-operation. Let us hope that further progress can be secured between the EU and the UK on equivalence and in other areas, such as data sharing and mutual recognition of qualifications.

With the UK outside the EU, it is perhaps natural to feel a competitor. However, being competitors does not need to mean that we are opponents. Successful UK financial markets will benefit the EU and vice versa. Both the EU and the UK can thrive and continue to work together on areas of mutual concern, including the green agenda, the digitisation of the economy and the response to covid-19.

I appreciate that some of my constituents will never come to terms with the fact that the UK has finally left the EU, but most do wish to unite this country and to live and trade on friendly terms with our partners across Europe. I say to everyone: it is now time to put these last torrid years behind us and work together to rebuild our economy following the pandemic. Today, as we ratify this extraordinary trade deal, we close a painful chapter in our nation’s history. It is an ending, but also a beginning: a new dawn for this great country of ours. We are no longer remainers or Brexiteers; we are one nation. I support this Bill.

Public Health

Nickie Aiken Excerpts

Tuesday 1st December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Nickie Aiken (Cities of London and Westminster) (Con)]

Now is not the time to turn our backs on what we have achieved in this country. We have sacrificed far too much. We have lost too many lives. We have lost too many jobs and too many businesses to change track now. The Government’s objective has always been to save as many lives as possible and to protect the NHS, and there is now light at the end of a very, very dark tunnel. The vaccine is on its way. Testing is improving all the time. I personally, for one, believe that we cannot turn our backs on that strategy.

In a constituency like mine, Cities of London and Westminster, we have paid a huge economic price as well as the public health one. I fear for the future of many hospitality businesses, in particular, who have paid so much to make their premises covid-secure. If there is anything I would ask those on the Treasury Bench to do, moving forward as we look to these tiers, it is to consider allowing people from different households to eat inside with the rule of six, because restaurants have spent a fortune making their premises so safe, and it is so unfair to make them move outside like this.

The R rate is coming down. The second lockdown did work to bring the R rate down, but it just suppresses the virus. We are not beating it, and we will not until we get a vaccine. If you give this virus an inch, it takes a mile. We have seen this across Europe. We have seen it in France, which has just come out of a lockdown but its restaurants and bars are staying closed until January. It is the same in Germany. Spain and Italy are now looking at restrictions. South Korea, the exemplar of how to deal with a pandemic, is now bringing in new restrictions as the infection rate increases when it opens up its karaoke bars and nightclubs. So we cannot let go now: we have to keep on going. There is that light at the end of the tunnel.

I welcome the extra financial support for pubs that was announced today. I certainly welcome the 10 pm curfew ending. The Secretary of State knows my views on that. I welcome the fact that shops can now open for longer, but why not on a Sunday? Why is it just Monday to Saturday? People want to shop on a Sunday too. I have been supporting The Sun newspaper’s campaign on that, and I ask for further consideration on it.

We are almost there, and we just have to have that final push so that we can get our lives back to normal and send this virus packing.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nickie Aiken Excerpts

Wednesday 1st July 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I beseech the right hon. Gentleman just to think that he may be mistaken. The UK Government are absolutely dedicated to supporting people of all incomes across the country. That is why we have actually increased spending on benefits by £7 billion with universal credit, and we stand ready to do more, but I can tell him that there will be plenty of wonderful things that we want to do, working with him and with the Scottish Administration, to improve transport and other infrastructure across the whole of the United Kingdom, including Scotland. I really hope he will co-operate.

[Nickie Aiken (Cities of London and Westminster) (Con) [V]]

My constituency sits at the heart of our great metropolis. Cities of London and Westminster is the home of the west end, whose theatres and cultural venues, such as the Royal Albert Hall, the London Palladium and the Barbican Centre, attract visitors from across the globe and will help power our economic recovery. Does my right hon. Friend share my aspiration to see these venues open as soon as it is safe to do so, ensuring that the show must go on?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, the show must go on. I know the power of the theatres of London’s west end and the entire cultural industry in London, not just as a magnet for our country, but for the sheer revenues they deliver. We want that to get going as fast as we possibly can, and we want life for theatres and theatregoers to get back to normal as fast as we possibly can, but to do that we have to defeat the disease, and that is what this Government are engaged in.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nickie Aiken Excerpts

Wednesday 11th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I can reassure the hon. Member that there is absolutely no room for hatred or racism in this party—in our Conservative party—and I wish I could say the same of her own party.

[Nickie Aiken (Cities of London and Westminster) (Con)]

Q12. I congratulate my right hon. Friend on the news that he and Carrie are expecting their first child. All parents want the best start in life for their children. With the UK lagging behind the rest of the world in the number of diseases that we genetically test for—we test for only nine genetic conditions in this country—does he agree with and will he support my campaign calling for a review of the new-born baby screening programme?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend raises a very important point. I am glad that, starting this year, screening for babies with severe combined immunodeficiency will be evaluated for inclusion in the screening programme, but my right hon. Friend the Health Secretary says he is more than willing to meet her to discuss further how screening could be improved.