Oral Answers to Questions

Richard Holden Excerpts
Tuesday 17th May 2022

(2 years, 9 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lucy Frazer Portrait Lucy Frazer
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I do not want to foreshadow what the Foreign Secretary may or may not say in her statement, but I assure the hon. Gentleman that with regard to the protocol, the Government’s overriding priority has been and continues to be preserving peace and stability in Northern Ireland.

Richard Holden Portrait Mr Richard Holden (North West Durham) (Con)
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Can my right hon. Friend the Chancellor confirm that a worker working full time, or 40 hours a week, on the living wage is now £1,700 a year better off in real terms than they were in 2010 and that, after July, that will rise to almost £2,000, with everybody earning less than £36,000 a year better off under this Conservative Government this year?

Rishi Sunak Portrait Rishi Sunak
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My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I thank him for his support in championing policies that support his hard-working constituents. This Government will always be on the side of people on lower and middle incomes who are working hard to provide a better life for their families, and we will keep delivering for them.

Economic Update

Richard Holden Excerpts
Thursday 3rd February 2022

(3 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
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Nigel Evans Portrait Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)
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Finally, my former constituent, Mr Holden.

Richard Holden Portrait Mr Richard Holden (North West Durham) (Con)
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Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker; it is always a pleasure to see you in the Chair. Could my right hon. Friend confirm that all UK households will benefit from the £200 smoothing rebate, and that almost 95% of County Durham residents will benefit from the £150 council tax rebate, including those who are off-grid—a similar proportion to the constituency of the right hon. Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband), who I see has now scuttled away? That £150 is over 50% more than Labour’s VAT plan, which would have benefited the richest people most. Will the Chancellor continue to pursue a one-nation Conservative approach, not an inner London two-kitchen one?

Rishi Sunak Portrait Rishi Sunak
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There were so many excellent points in my hon. Friend’s question. The only thing on which I will correct him is that the energy rebate is Great Britain-wide, because the Northern Ireland energy market is devolved and we do not have the legal powers or the regulator to do it there. Everything else he said is spot on, and I can confirm that this Government will continue to be on the side of his hard-working constituents, whom he does a great job of championing. Today’s announcement will give them the reassurance they need that, at a time of rising prices, this Conservative Government are stepping in to help, as we have and always will.

Oral Answers to Questions

Richard Holden Excerpts
Tuesday 1st February 2022

(3 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
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Simon Clarke Portrait Mr Clarke
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I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his question. He knows the high regard that I have for him. I do, however, respectfully disagree with him on these points. There is no other responsible way for us to finance the 9 million more checks, scans and operations that the health and social care levy will unlock than through a broad-based tax increase, which is highly designed to ensure that we protect vulnerable families, so that the 6 million lowest-paid will pay no extra tax at all as a result of the levy.

When it comes to the green levies, it is worth noting that we have reduced our reliance on natural gas, as a country, by 26% since 2010. That is saving taxpayers now, in an era of ultra-high gas prices. It is also worth noting that clean technologies are now the cheapest form of new energy to procure—cheaper than new gas.

Richard Holden Portrait Mr Richard Holden (North West Durham) (Con)
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Lower-paid, and especially young part-time workers, do not currently benefit from tax relief or employers’ contributions towards pensions under the auto-enrolment scheme. Will the Minister speak to colleagues across Government to look at extending auto-enrolment to lower-paid workers, to ensure that they get the long-term benefits?

Simon Clarke Portrait Mr Clarke
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My hon. Friend has campaigned consistently on this theme. I would certainly be very happy to have further discussions with him about it. It is worth noting, and celebrating, the fact that the proportion of people who are in low-paid work is actually at its lowest since records began in 1997.

Household Energy Bills: VAT

Richard Holden Excerpts
Tuesday 11th January 2022

(3 years, 2 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Simon Clarke Portrait Mr Clarke
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I do not think anyone is saying that we are going through an easy time. We have just emerged from the teeth of an international pandemic, which is still causing major challenges. We have now got to a situation where, despite all the dire predictions, we are back at almost pre-crisis levels of economic activity, and unemployment is fully 2 million fewer than was forecast at the height of the crisis in 2020. That is thanks to the co-ordinated policy decisions of this Government and it is certainly why this situation has not been much, much worse in millions of homes across the country.

Richard Holden Portrait Mr Richard Holden (North West Durham) (Con)
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Does the Minister agree that it is really interesting to hear what is happening from the Opposition today? If we had followed what they wanted to do, we would still be in lockdown and would have millions more people out of work or not working, and incomes reduced because there would still be people sat at home not working. It is the Government who have taken the bold decisions necessary to get the country moving again, opposed at every step of the way by the Opposition.

Simon Clarke Portrait Mr Clarke
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My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I think one of the Prime Minister’s bravest decisions was in July last year, when he took the decision to move to step 4 of the roadmap. The right hon. and learned Member for Holborn and St Pancras (Keir Starmer) was all over the airwaves saying that that would lead to disaster, and of course it led to us being able to unlock our society and restore economic activity and our social life, which is obviously so important to people’s mental and physical health. These changes would not have been made without that very clear example of leadership, in the face of, frankly, a complete absence of it from the Opposition.

The activity that we have undertaken includes doubling free childcare, worth around £5,000 per child per year, introducing tax-free childcare, and helping working parents with 20% of childcare costs up to £10,000. These are practical interventions of the kind that make a real difference to working homes. They are the sort of thing that bears down on the cost of living and makes sure that many people are weathering the storm.

As a Government, we want to help people into work and to gain the skills they need. We are investing £900 million in each year of the spending review on work coaches, who will provide effective support to help jobseekers on universal credit move into work and, for the first time ever, help people progress once they are in work. We have also invested over £200 million in the JETS—job entry targeted support—scheme, for those unemployed for over three months. Applicants are supported with CV writing, interview skills and job search advice, worth £1,000 per person. We also know that young people were disproportionately affected by the pandemic, which is why we invested in kickstart to fully fund and create hundreds of thousands of jobs for young people. So far, over 112,000 young people have started a kickstart job. To help those affected by long-term unemployment, we launched the restart scheme, which provides up to 12 months of intensive, tailored employment support.

We are giving employers £3,000 for every apprentice of any age they hire before the 31st of this month. That is a significant 35% wage subsidy for an apprentice on the national living wage and is in addition to the Government paying 95% of the training costs for smaller employers, who do not pay the apprenticeship levy. These are the kinds of things that this Conservative Government are doing to boost work and jobs and keep the economy moving forward, and our plan for jobs is working spectacularly.

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Fay Jones Portrait Fay Jones (Brecon and Radnorshire) (Con)
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It is a pleasure to be called in this debate on household energy. I have a number of problems with today’s motion, which is not a rational debate on how to manage the spiralling cost of living while recovering from the pandemic and meeting our climate change goals. This motion is designed to do nothing more than construct a misleading trope for social media. The Opposition are bringing it forward this afternoon in an attempt to wrestle control of the Order Paper, which they have no business doing, in order to deliver a blunt instrument that will not benefit those on low incomes. They ignore their own role in the spiralling cost of living in Wales.

I notice that what is missing from the motion is anything about the rural cost of living—something that I am desperately concerned about. We understand that we pay a high price for the beautiful landscape in which we live, but that price is becoming unreasonable. Looking at energy, around 12.5% of those living in rural areas across the country are in fuel poverty. The Energy Saving Trust estimates that this is slightly higher than in urban areas. We invariably have antiquated heating systems and poor insulation, and around two thirds of my constituents live off the gas grid, myself included.

Richard Holden Portrait Mr Holden
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I have a similar situation in my North West Durham constituency. Does my hon. Friend agree that some of the other issues, particularly around the cost of transport, also need to be addressed? I take her point wholly that this debate today is very much about playing politics with the situation. Obviously the Government are thinking about important measures for the future, but that is not about handing everything over to the right hon. Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband) and his pals, who failed to win general elections themselves.

Fay Jones Portrait Fay Jones
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I agree with my hon. Friend, and I find it somewhat ironic that the last time the Opposition tried to take control of the Order Paper was during the Brexit debate. They had no mandate for that, and they have no mandate for this.

This also means that we in Brecon and Radnorshire will find it harder to play our part in the fight against climate change. Many of my constituents are deeply worried about how to replace their boilers at the end of their useful lives, so I was deeply reassured to hear the Business Secretary restate during Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy questions today that the UK Government are determined to support residents in Wales as well as those in the rest of the United Kingdom. BEIS is making £450 million available for upgrades, as well as £1.1 billion for lower income households. This is the type of action that my constituents very much welcome.

Having spoken to my right hon. Friend the Chancellor, I am reassured by the way in which he is focusing on the issue of rising household costs. He is approaching it in a sensible and measured way, not with social media clickbait but with targeted interventions that will make a meaningful difference to those who need it most. As a result of investment in the kickstart scheme of around £2 billion, peak unemployment is now forecast to be 2 million fewer than previously feared. Keeping to the energy price plan and increasing the warm home discount and the winter fuel payment are all steps that will curb the rising cost of living, and the increase in the universal credit taper is a tax cut for 2 million low-income families. I and many other colleagues on this side of the House will be meeting the Chancellor again later this evening to discuss this in greater detail. I am extremely grateful to the Treasury and BEIS teams for the listening mode that they are so clearly in.

There are many in this House and beyond who often mistake rural areas such as mine for extremely wealthy areas, but this is simply not the case. The cost of living is hitting hard in Brecon and Radnorshire, but that is on top of other pressures that are ignored by the Labour Government in Cardiff. We have next to no public transport, so we are forced to drive everywhere in cars powered by ever more expensive fuel. I commend my hon. Friend the Member for North West Durham (Mr Holden) for the work that he has done to draw attention to this. Our broadband is slow on a good day, because funding is targeted at densely populated and, curiously, Labour-voting areas. Our schools have to close and our council tax is higher because our local authority has been given one of the lowest budget allocations in Wales for the last 10 years. If only we could have the level of investment and support that has been directed at the cities and the south Wales valleys, household bills in rural areas such as Brecon and Radnorshire would be lower.

I will not support the Opposition motion today. I want the House to have a meaningful debate on household costs that is not motivated by knocking lumps out of the Government, but puts the rural poor at its centre. I commend the Government for their mature and grown-up efforts to tackle the cost-of-living crisis.

Finance (No. 2) Bill (Third sitting)

Richard Holden Excerpts
None Portrait The Chair
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I call Richard Thomson.

Richard Holden Portrait Mr Richard Holden (North West Durham) (Con)
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Thank you very much indeed, Dame Angela—

None Portrait The Chair
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Order. I will call the hon. Gentleman, but first I call Richard Thomson.

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Richard Thomson Portrait Richard Thomson
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I rise to speak in support of new clause 5, which is in the name of my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow Central. The Minister has run through why we are looking to have an assessment. I say to her as gently as I can that it is all fine and well to be proud of commitments that the Government have made, but it would be much better to rack up more quickly achievements that she could point to and be proud of on climate change, rather than just making statements of aspiration. This is one area where it is quite important to get some more chalk on the board.

As we have heard, the Bill sets a series of incremental changes to vehicle excise duty, and precisely because they are incremental, we might expect, at best, an equally incremental impact, or even an imperceptible one, on changing behaviour and on the resulting climate change impacts. We are all aware of the mandate to end the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles in a bid to encourage the take-up of alternatively fuelled vehicles, but I am of the same view as the hon. Member for Erith and Thamesmead: we will need some significant further incentivisation if we are to drive the change through that policy on the scale and at the pace that is required.

My party is very fond of drawing comparisons with Norway—another small country, like Scotland, of 5 million people—on the other side of the North sea. Sometimes those comparisons are about what might have been, but we also point to what could and perhaps what should be. Norway has been so successful in incentivising the take-up of electric vehicles that the Government are running out of hydrocarbon-fuelled vehicles to tax, which has resulted in a 19.2 billion kroner gap in their latest budget.

That is not a problem that the UK Government are likely to encounter any time soon, in view of the current take-up of electric vehicles, and that is why new clause 5 is so important. It would provide for an assessment of how effective or—as we suspect—ineffective these particular changes will be over the year, so that the UK Government had the necessary information base to set future policy as quickly as possible. I think the Minister knows that we need to do that at some point, and surely it is better to start sooner rather than later.

Richard Holden Portrait Mr Holden
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rose—

None Portrait The Chair
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I am waiting for the Whip. If the Whip wishes to move the adjournment, I will call Richard Holden first when we come back after the break.

Richard Holden Portrait Mr Holden
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I will be really quick.

None Portrait The Chair
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I intend to come back promptly at 6 o’clock. If you could be here very promptly, Richard Holden, I give you prior warning that I intend to call you on the dot.

Ordered, That the debate be now adjourned.—(Alan Mak.)

Working People’s Finances: Government Policy

Richard Holden Excerpts
Tuesday 21st September 2021

(3 years, 5 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Miriam Cates Portrait Miriam Cates
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What is far more significant is the way in which we tax individuals—potentially spreading people’s income tax allowance and things like that—rather than looking at household income; that would give families far more choice about how they spend their income and organise their lives, and make family life much more affordable.

Thirdly, we have to address the long-term affordability of our public spending commitments. The welfare state that we have today was designed 80 years ago, when life was very different. Demographics were different then. There was no paid-for childcare or paid-for social care. Most women did not work. There was a huge amount of free care and community living going on that we just do not have, or that there is not nearly as much of, today. Of course, people then also spent a far higher percentage of their life working, whereas now people spend much longer in education and much, much longer in retirement, which means that proportionally, over the course of someone’s life, they are spending far less time paying tax and paying for insurance—paying for the benefits that we all want to enjoy.

The Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts that public sector net debt could rise to 300% of GDP by 2070. We just cannot continue in the way that we are now. We need a reset. We need to redesign our public spending and welfare state for modern life and modern demographics. I think we have already established that we cannot tax our way out of this. Of course, we should be trying to grow our way out of it, but we also need a fundamental redesign of the welfare state and public spending.

We also need much more emphasis on community solutions and prevention. It has been an honour to be part of the early years review of my right hon. Friend the Member for South Northamptonshire (Dame Andrea Leadsom), whose start for life recommendations look at the importance of the first 1,001 days of a child’s life. If we get that period right, we can prevent so many problems that destroy people’s lives in the long term and which are incredibly expensive for public spending. We must spend more and invest in the early years and health prevention. About 40% of the NHS budget is spent on preventable and lifestyle diseases. We have to tackle those things if the state is going to be affordable in the long term. Of course we should innovate, use technology and look at what other countries are doing to address these issues.

We should be concerned about the cost of living. Families up and down the country are struggling, and there are families that are not able to take advantage of opportunities in jobs and higher wages. But this Government have taken action on jobs over the last 18 months, and that is bearing fruit. As our economy is reset, we now have an important opportunity to solve some of the structural issues that we face.

Richard Holden Portrait Mr Richard Holden (North West Durham) (Con)
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One thing that the Government could look at is the 2017 plan to extend pensions auto-enrolment to people who are 18-plus, rather than 22-plus, and to low-paid workers. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Government should take that forward at the earliest opportunity as part of a long-term solution?

Miriam Cates Portrait Miriam Cates
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I absolutely agree. In my speech on national insurance contributions a couple of weeks ago, I made the point that the auto-enrolment scheme was a fantastic invention and that we could extend it, as my hon. Friend says, but also that we could look at using it as a model to help contribute to social care, so that people pay into it now and reap the rewards later.

We have to address some of the structural issues that I have discussed. Now is an excellent time to do that, and I would welcome the opportunity to work with Ministers and colleagues across the House to look at innovative solutions to do that.

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Mims Davies Portrait Mims Davies
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I thank my hon. Friend, and she gives me the opportunity to speak about our unwavering support for the most vulnerable people in our society. Week in and week out, the doors of our jobcentres have remained open for the most vulnerable, but that particular jobcentre has been very difficult to get open safely. I am delighted it is opening imminently, and I know what an impact it has in her community and how much work she does to support that community.

To turn to the thoughtful contribution of my hon. Friend the Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge (Miriam Cates), she spoke about the hiring opportunities, the opportunities of rising wages and of course the challenges of raising a family, which we all know.

The hon. Member for Aberdeen North (Kirsty Blackman) rightly raised the cost of broadband. I am happy to say that at the DWP we have a social tariff available. We want to support people on low incomes who need specific help, and we have specific support through the benefits system and the flexible support fund. She should be reassured by that.

There is so much more I would like to say. There was the passionate contribution by my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Aaron Bell). There was the speech from the hon. Member for North East Fife (Wendy Chamberlain), who should please look at the strategy in the disability Green Paper and have a look at the impact of auto-enrolment, which I think will reassure her.

The hon. Member for Aberavon (Stephen Kinnock) mentioned the value of UC and how it had supported many people, and he asked about our plan. We have had a plan for jobs since last July, and I will go on to make further comments shortly.

We in this House engage weekly in our surgeries with constituents who are in times of need, and nobody could have foreseen how difficult the last 18 months or so were going to be for our society because of a global pandemic. Members have raised various challenges faced by their constituents in different sectors, and they are important matters, but it must be noted that many constituents on UC are working, which is exactly why we have a taper rate to support people. There is no cliff edge on UC—if you work hard, UC helps you to keep more of your money.

Through this pandemic the Government have recognised that people needed significant additional support and have stepped in to help pay the wages of millions of workers, investing over £400 billion in an unprecedented package of support, protecting jobs and safeguarding livelihoods, as we have heard throughout this afternoon. Our plan for jobs, which I have been delivering on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions, is wide-ranging. The package includes kickstart, restart, doubling the number of our work coaches, job entry targeted support, job finding support, sector-based work academy programmes, our enhanced youth offer and new DWP youth hubs, and a significant expansion of our jobcentre network, allowing us to assist our claimants, some for the first time in their lives, with not only benefit support and advice but opportunities to progress or transition to a different sector and harness their skills in a new way.

Richard Holden Portrait Mr Holden
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Does the Minister agree that the best way to help people, especially those changing jobs, is to do everything we can through jobcentres? I thank the Consett, Stanley and Crook jobcentres for attending my recent “jobs, jobs, jobs” fair at Derwentside College in North West Durham, which the Pensions Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Hexham (Guy Opperman), also kindly came along to. Does the Minister also agree that it is incumbent on all Members to do everything they can to help all their constituents get into new jobs given the record numbers of vacancies across the country?

Mims Davies Portrait Mims Davies
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Absolutely: jobs, jobs, jobs is the right message, but very little of that has been heard in the Chamber this afternoon from those on the Opposition Benches. On jobs fairs, it is vital that people come through our doors and see what is out there, because it is time once again to be, as this Government are being, forward-thinking, pragmatic and responsible as we push to build back better. The reality is that it is unsustainable to carry on spending the amount that we have been on welfare measures during this pandemic without ongoing increases in public expenditure, which Opposition Members have complained about. Inevitably, that would also affect working people’s taxes—which is what the debate is about.

The extra provision this Government have provided during the pandemic was temporary, to deal with the pandemic head on. Now that public health restrictions have been relaxed, it is right that these temporary support measures come to an end. Of course we also have our successful vaccine roll-out, and pleasingly—we must remember this—we are no longer in the same situation we were in at the turn of the year, and nor is our labour market. We have been able to reopen society, and our economy is recovering strongly. Growth is forecast by the OECD to be 7.2% this year, reflecting the bounce back we are already seeing right across the UK. So it is a time to be bold and empower people to harness their opportunities and help them progress on to their next stage—to give people both the hope and the skills and training they need to thrive in this changing economy.

Health and Social Care Levy Bill

Richard Holden Excerpts
Richard Burgon Portrait Richard Burgon (Leeds East) (Lab)
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I am speaking in support of new clause 3, which would require the Chancellor to look at different taxes to raise income. There are many other ways to raise this money and, in particular, I believe that we need to look at ways to tax wealth rather than taxing working people. Wealth in this country is concentrated among the top 1%, so instead of imposing a tax bombshell of £12 billion a year on working people, the Government could focus on the wealthy. They choose not to; instead, we have a tax system rigged in favour of those who already have wealth. They pay lower taxes than the millions who have to go out to work to make a living. The truth is that the Government’s proposal makes that situation even worse, and that is not right. The Government could reform capital gains tax, so that instead of lower taxes for wealthy people, that money could be used to fund social care, but they choose not to do so. They could raise many more billions of pounds by a direct wealth tax on the richest 1% with assets of more than £5 million, but they choose not to do so.

I am backing new clause 3, because there is always an alternative. That the Government refuse to back such alternatives speaks volumes. Aneurin Bevan once said that socialism was the language of priorities, but conservatism is the language of priorities too: the priority of safeguarding the wealth of the super-rich and sticking the boot into working people. This is the same old Tory party, attacking working people and defending the wealthy. We have heard a lot in this debate about so-called tough choices, but when politicians speak the language of tough choices, it usually means that they are taking the path they think is easiest. The truth is that the Government are taking the easy choice: not levelling up but kicking down and taking a hands-off approach to the wealth of the super-rich. There are alternatives, and that is why I am backing new clause 3.

Richard Holden Portrait Mr Richard Holden (North West Durham) (Con)
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I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way, and I would also like to welcome the hon. Member for Nottingham East (Nadia Whittome) back. It is great to see her back on the Opposition Benches. There is a similarity between what the hon. Gentleman is saying and what those on the Government Front Bench are saying; at least they are both putting forward proposals. He is putting forward a wealth tax and the hon. Member for Aberdeen South (Stephen Flynn) proposed the scrapping of Trident, but the Government are at least being honest in saying that people are going to have to pay more through national insurance: £907 a year for a Member of Parliament and £80 a year for somebody on the national minimum wage. Has the hon. Member for Leeds East (Richard Burgon) managed to convince those on his Front Bench to be as honest as he and the Government are in coming forward with an actual proposal for what they would do?

Health and Social Care Levy

Richard Holden Excerpts
1st reading
Wednesday 8th September 2021

(3 years, 6 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Alison Thewliss Portrait Alison Thewliss
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If Conservative Members will just calm down for a little minute, I will try to bring them in at some point. I want others to get in to make their speeches—gie’s peace.

It is not for the Prime Minister or anybody else in the UK Government to direct how devolved budgets are spent. The Ways and Means resolution ties the money to NHS Scotland, not to our democratically elected Scottish Parliament and Government—a further undermining of decision making, showing a lack of understanding of how services are provided in Scotland. We have had no assurance from the UK Tory Government about the extent of the Barnett consequentials that will be generated from the spending. I seek clarity on that today.

SNP Members cannot support measures that are so manifestly unfair to our constituents and whose financial consequences amount to a pig in a poke. The Resolution Foundation has pointed out that while health spending may go up, spending on other areas such as local government has gone down compared with pre-pandemic plans. [Interruption.] Local government, of course, provides a significant proportion of the social care that Tory Members, who would do better to wheesht and listen than to chat away in the corner, claim to care about.

Alison Thewliss Portrait Alison Thewliss
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

The hon. Gentleman has done more talking than listening in this place. It would be useful if he sat down.

The spending cuts will have an impact on Barnett consequentials. It would be just like this UK Tory Government to appear to give with one hand while picking Scotland’s pockets with the other. A new Tory poll tax that punishes those on the lowest incomes is being forced upon Scotland by a Government we did not vote for.

Oral Answers to Questions

Richard Holden Excerpts
Tuesday 22nd June 2021

(3 years, 8 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Rishi Sunak Portrait Rishi Sunak
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The hon. Lady talked about outcomes in the labour market. She will know that we have now had six consecutive months of more people in work, which is something to be celebrated. Vacancies are now running higher than they were at the start of the pandemic, which is a fantastic sign of things to come. The unemployment rate, as I highlighted earlier, is now half what was forecast: 2 million fewer people are forecast to lose their jobs, which is lower than most of our major competitor countries. She is right to highlight, as we have discussed previously, the plight of young people. Our interventions, such as the kickstart scheme and the apprenticeship incentive, will continue to provide opportunity for them up and down the country.

Richard Holden Portrait Mr Richard Holden (North West Durham) (Con)
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Elddis caravans and motorhomes—owned by Erwin Hymer—on Delves Lane, Consett, in my constituency, has benefited hugely from the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s removal of the EU’s motorhomes tax. It is now growing as a business and struggling to get candidates to meet job vacancies. Will the Chancellor visit Elddis with me to meet the workforce and management and to see the impact that his tax cut has had? Will he also look at what more support can be provided for that vital manufacturing firm in my constituency?

Jesse Norman Portrait Jesse Norman
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

I congratulate Elddis, and I congratulate my hon. Friend on giving Elddis profile, on fighting the campaign that he has, and on the outcome and its very successful results in this case. I have it on very good authority that the Chancellor would be delighted to visit Elddis, so I am in a position to make a binding commitment from the Government side, and I am sure that he looks forward to it very much.

Ministerial Code/Register of Ministers’ Interests

Richard Holden Excerpts
Tuesday 18th May 2021

(3 years, 9 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Urgent 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

Penny Mordaunt Portrait Penny Mordaunt
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Of course it still stands; it is the ministerial code. I am sorry to say that this is another question that does not make any substantial allegations or provide any facts or evidence; it is smear and innuendo, and it is not the way to behave.

Richard Holden Portrait Mr Richard Holden (North West Durham) (Con)
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The National Audit Office found no issues with the PPE contracts. The Labour-led Public Accounts Committee, on which I sit, commended the Government’s vaccine programme as world-leading. Does my right hon. Friend agree that this attempt from the right hon. Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Angela Rayner) has more to do with her bid for votes from the Labour membership than with any concern about public procurement?

Penny Mordaunt Portrait Penny Mordaunt
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I do agree with my hon. Friend. The right hon. Member for Ashton-under-Lyne will reflect on what she has done this afternoon, and if she does have ambitions in the leadership department, I would ask her to reflect on whether what she has done today is the hallmark of a leader.