Oral Answers to Questions

Ronnie Campbell Excerpts

Wednesday 30th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The Prime Minister said at the start that I had demonstrated that I was stretching time and I would not want to disappoint him. Two final contributions from colleagues who I know are leaving the House.

[Mr Ronnie Campbell (Blyth Valley) (Lab)]

Mr Speaker, I have been in Parliament for 32 years. I have seen many Speakers in the Chair and I must say you have been the best. As we say in the north-east—it’s not quite the language of the Welsh—you’re a canny laddie.

The WASPI women were given a bad deal on their pensions. Does the Prime Minister have any plans to put that wrong right?

Oral Answers to Questions

Ronnie Campbell Excerpts

Wednesday 10th April 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue, and for highlighting the fact that we are bidding to host COP26. The issue of incineration is crucial, particularly in certain local areas. We want to maximise the amount of waste that is sent to recycling rather than to incineration and landfill. Waste plants continue to play an important role in reducing the amount of rubbish that is sent to landfill, and we welcome the efforts to drive it down further. but if wider policies do not deliver our waste ambitions in the future—including those higher recycling rates—we will consider introducing a tax on the incineration of waste, which would operate in conjunction with the landfill tax and would take into account the possible impact on local authorities.

[Mr Ronnie Campbell (Blyth Valley) (Lab)]

Q2. Charlie Foster, one of my young constituents—aged seven—has cystic fibrosis. When he has an attack, he feels as if he is breathing through a straw. I have never tried the test, but I will when I get back to my constituency. Young people are suffering very badly because a drug called Orkambi has not been licensed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. It increases the lung capacity of these kids by 42%, and it stops them having to be sent straight to hospital when they have an attack. Will the Prime Minister try to get that drug across the line and give kids like Charlie Foster a better quality of life?

[The Prime Minister]

Let me say first that I am sure that the thoughts of the whole House are with Charlie and his family.

We recognise the significant concerns about access to this drug. On 11 March, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health held a meeting with the company Vertex, NHS England and NICE, and they discussed how best to reach a deal so that people with cystic fibrosis and their families could benefit as soon as possible. They met again later in March and they are continuing those discussions, but I will ensure that the case that the hon. Gentleman has raised and the importance of the issue, are once again brought to the attention of the Department of Health.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ronnie Campbell Excerpts

Wednesday 16th January 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I hope I can reassure my hon. Friend by saying that, as I have said previously, our primary concern is the safety and wellbeing of Asia Bibi and her family. Obviously, the UK’s high commissioner in Islamabad is keeping me and the Government up to date with developments. We have been in contact with international partners about our shared desire to see a swift and positive resolution in this case, and a number of countries are in discussions about a possible alternative destination for Asia Bibi once the legal process is complete. I will not comment on the details of that, however, because we do not want to compromise Asia Bibi’s long-term safety.

On the timing, I think the Foreign Minister of Pakistan has confirmed that Asia Bibi will remain under the protection of the Pakistani Government until the legal process has concluded, and the Prime Minister of Pakistan has supported the Supreme Court and promised to uphold the rule of law. What matters is providing for the safety and wellbeing of Asia Bibi and her family.

[Mr Ronnie Campbell (Blyth Valley) (Lab)]

Q9. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has said following a recent survey that 4 million in-work workers are living in poverty. Is that not a damning report on nine years of this Tory Government, and will she stop being so hard and fast and call a general election?

[The Prime Minister]

I referred earlier to figures on the number of people in absolute poverty, which have reached record lows under this Government, but the hon. Gentleman talks about people who are in work. The Government have taken a number of steps to help those people: we have cut taxes for 32 million people, increased the national living wage and frozen fuel duty. Unfortunately, however, in the case of so many of those measures, which we took to give financial help to people who are just about managing—the sort of people he is talking about—the Labour party opposed them.

Leaving the EU

Ronnie Campbell Excerpts

Monday 26th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I recognise the importance of the automotive industry in my right hon. Friend’s constituency and many others around the country. Indeed, the political declaration on the tariff issue expressly provides for no tariffs.

[Mr Ronnie Campbell (Blyth Valley) (Lab)]

Will the agreement that the Prime Minister has sought stop us joining a federal Europe, stop us joining the euro—never to join it—and stop the dictates and the stupid laws coming from Europe? The way I see it, we have got two feet in and one arm out.

[The Prime Minister]

I can give the hon. Gentleman comfort on all the points that he makes. The point is that we are coming out of the European Union, so if it chooses to push down to a more federal Europe, we will not be part of that; we are not a member of the euro and we are coming out of the European Union, so we will certainly not be in the euro; and we will be making our laws.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ronnie Campbell Excerpts

Wednesday 14th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend has campaigned on that issue with a passion because, as he says, the question of the maximum stake for FOBTs has an impact on vulnerable people as well as their families and loved ones. I recognise the strength of feeling on the issue. I know that gambling addiction can devastate lives, so our priority is making sure that this change delivers the results we all want to see. We are listening to concerns being raised by colleagues and, if he will have a little patience, I can tell him that the Culture Secretary will set out further details later today.

[Mr Ronnie Campbell (Blyth Valley) (Lab)]

Q12. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has indicated that, by 2021-22, child poverty will have risen from 30% to 37%. When a Government treat their people like that, they are not worth their salt, but I suppose this Government never had any salt anyway. Should not the Government be ashamed of themselves for allowing that situation to develop for children?

[The Prime Minister]

What we have seen under this Government is absolute poverty reducing to a record low. We have also seen, as I referenced earlier, a significant reduction in the number of children in workless households. When we look at the figures, we see that actually three quarters of children are taken out of poverty when their household moves from being a workless household to a household with work, which is why the changes that we are making, to ensure that our benefit and welfare system encourages people into work and makes sure that work pays, are the right changes.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ronnie Campbell Excerpts

Wednesday 10th October 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I understand that the issue of business rates and the bids to which my hon. Friend has referred, from Somerset and others, are currently being assessed. A decision will be announced alongside the local government finance settlement later this year. I can tell my hon. Friend that I have already received representations from a Somerset Member of Parliament on the issue, but I am sure that Ministers in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government will be willing to meet him and others to discuss it further. I am sure that they will be happy to sit down and discuss the details.

[Mr Ronnie Campbell (Blyth Valley) (Lab)]

Q8. In 2010, after the crisis of the banks, the national debt stood at £768 billion. Now that the Tories have been in for 10 years, albeit five of them with the wishy-washy Liberals, can the Prime Minister tell the House how much the debt is today?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman has raised the issue of debt, and it is an important issue to raise. What the Government are doing is seeing that we will actually—[Interruption.] The hon. Gentleman does not need to ask me the question if he has the figure already. What the Government are doing is ensuring that debt is going to fall, and, crucially, we have seen a reduction in our deficit of three quarters under this Conservative Government. The hon. Gentleman should not look quite so pleased with himself when he starts to think about what a Labour Government would do to our debt in the future, which is take us back.

European Council

Ronnie Campbell Excerpts

Monday 18th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Of course, the work on negotiating those trade deals—on looking to see what is possible—has already been started within the Department for International Trade by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and the Ministers there. Only earlier last week, I was discussing with the President of Mexico that country’s desire to have a trade deal negotiated with us. It is one of the first countries to say that it wanted that. The point of the trade deals is exactly as my hon. Friend says: it is about bringing jobs, bringing prosperity and improving people’s lives.

[Mr Ronnie Campbell (Blyth Valley) (Lab)]

Is the Prime Minister sure and confident that the EU negotiators will not put more obstacles in her way on the second agreement, because quite honestly I would not trust them as far as I can throw them?

[The Prime Minister]

I am very clear about what we want to achieve in our negotiations. We will be working with our European friends and allies to ensure that the result of that negotiation is indeed a good deal for the United Kingdom. [Interruption.] Well, I think they will, because a good deal for the UK is a good deal for the EU as well.

European Council

Ronnie Campbell Excerpts

Monday 23rd October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Mr Campbell, I heard you from your seat; let us hear you on your feet if you are still interested.

[Mr Ronnie Campbell (Blyth Valley) (Lab)]

And here’s me thinking you weren’t going to call me, Mr Speaker.

Seeing as we are not in the euro, will the Prime Minister guarantee that none of the money that the EU finally gets off us will be used to prop up the euro? That is a good question, like Mr Speaker said. We are not in the euro, so our money should not be used for it. The only problem the Prime Minister has is that some of her Cabinet Ministers are walking up the gangway towards the gallow.

[The Prime Minister]

My party has a track record of ensuring that we do not have to contribute to propping up the euro. That is exactly what my right hon. Friend the previous Prime Minister negotiated with the European Union.

Northern Ireland

Ronnie Campbell Excerpts

Monday 26th June 2017 Commons Chamber

[Damian Green]

I think that I thank my hon. Friend for that question. I am happy to agree with him that this is indeed a very good deal, not just for Northern Ireland but for the whole United Kingdom.

[Mr Ronnie Campbell (Blyth Valley) (Lab)]

The Minister will be aware that the north-east of England is one of the poorest areas in the United Kingdom. We have not got a Barnett formula and the Government have only four or five MPs there—at least the last time I counted—so obviously we are going to get nowt, but is he giving our money away? Will we get what we are getting or are we going to get nowt?

[Damian Green]

If the hon. Gentleman wants to come and talk to us about a deal, I am sure that he, and indeed his constituents, would be very welcome. I can absolutely assure him that this does not involve diverting money from any of the various programmes that we use. Indeed, the UK prosperity fund will be able to help some parts of his area. He is more than welcome to keep an eye on that. As he knows, there are many city deals across England, and I am sure that the metro Mayor in Teesside will also do great things for that area. We are committed to all parts of the United Kingdom, including the part that the hon. Gentleman represents with such distinction.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ronnie Campbell Excerpts

Wednesday 8th February 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I agree with my hon. Friend. When we negotiate as a United Kingdom, we will be negotiating for the whole of the United Kingdom and taking account of all parts of the United Kingdom. We have a real ambition to make the west midlands an engine for growth. That is about growing the region’s economy and more jobs. Money has been put into growth deal funding and, for example, the Birmingham rail hub. The west midlands will of course be getting a strong voice nationally with a directly elected Mayor in May. I believe Andy Street, with both local expertise and business experience, will be a very good Mayor for the west midlands.

[Mr Ronnie Campbell (Blyth Valley) (Lab)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

I welcome the hon. Gentleman back again to the Chamber.

[Mr Campbell]

I’m looking pretty slim as well, Mr Speaker!

I had five months of NHS treatment at the Newcastle Royal Victoria infirmary under the auspices of Professor Griffin, a marvellous surgeon. Seeing as I might have come out with palliative care, I think he has just about saved my life. That is the best side of the NHS. The service I received was absolutely wonderful, but there is a flip side. What we have today is what are called “corridor nurses”, who look after patients on trolleys in corridors. Quite honestly, Prime Minister, that is not the way we want the health service to be run. We want it to be run in the way it saved me. Get your purse open and give them the money they want.

[The Prime Minister]

As Mr Speaker said, I welcome the hon. Gentleman back to his place in the Chamber. I commend the surgeon and all those in the national health service who treated him and enabled him to be here today and continue his duties. There are, as we know, surgeons, doctors, nurses and other staff up and down the NHS day in, day out saving lives. We should commend them for all they do. The north-east is a very good example of some of the really good practice in the NHS. I want to see that good practice spread across the NHS in the whole country.