Oral Answers to Questions

Ruth George Excerpts

Wednesday 30th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Ruth George (High Peak) (Lab)]

10.   How many of the Government’s additional 20,000 police officers have been allocated to Northern Ireland, and what flexibility is there if the security situation deteriorates in the light of the deal?

[The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Julian Smith)]

The PSNI operates on a very flexible basis. My view is that it is well resourced—as I said, it got additional funding through the recent funding increase for the police—but I will keep monitoring that over the coming weeks.

Preparations for Leaving the European Union

Ruth George Excerpts

Monday 21st October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Ruth George (High Peak) (Lab)]

In one response, the right hon. Gentleman confirmed that there is, as yet, no agreement on reciprocal security arrangements for the data that we need to make sure that we can keep our borders safe. What is the Secretary of State doing to make sure that we will still be safe on 1 November?

[Michael Gove]

The first thing, of course, is promoting a deal. The second thing to say is that there are tried and tested alternatives that we can use to make sure that we keep people in this country safe. The third thing is that, once we leave the European Union, there are a number of things that we can do, which the Home Secretary has outlined, that will allow us to be even safer. There are steps that the Border Force can take, steps that we can take on the border to no longer recognise ID cards, and steps that we can take to increase the criminality threshold for entry.

Leaving the EU: Preparations

Ruth George Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd September 2019 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

That is a very important point. Steps have been taken, including working with the devolved Administrations, to make sure that we have strong maritime security and that the rights of our fishermen can be respected. We want to work in a co-operative way with other European countries, and indeed with countries outside the European Union such as Norway and the Faroes, to ensure that we can manage stocks sustainably and revive coastal communities.

[Ruth George (High Peak) (Lab)]

There have been reports in the newspapers that the reunification of families will cease if we leave the European Union without a deal. Will the Minister clarify the Government’s position on that and confirm that all children who are stranded without family in the UK will be able to apply as now, under the Dublin agreement, to be reunited with their families?

[Michael Gove]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for raising that question, and I am disturbed by reporting to that effect. The rights of EU citizens in this country, and of course their dependants, will be protected, but if she wants to furnish me with the report to which she refers, I will look closely into it and, of course, write to her.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ruth George Excerpts

Wednesday 19th June 2019 Commons Chamber

[David Mundell]

Thanks to this Government’s increases in the personal allowance, 135,000 Scots no longer have to pay any income tax at all. That is the record of this Conservative Government: cutting tax, as opposed to the SNP Scottish Government who are making Scotland the highest taxed part of the UK.

[Ruth George (High Peak) (Lab)]

14. Does the Secretary of State realise that people on universal credit automatically lose 63% of those tax benefits? That is contributing to the fact that more than 34,000 tenants on universal credit in Scotland now owe over £21 million in rent arrears, an average of £644. Will he look at the impact of universal credit on Scottish people, and particularly those in low-income households?

[David Mundell]

I am always willing to look at specifics. Of course, we are working with the Scottish Government to bring forward the variations in universal credit that they are seeking, and one of those variations relates to the payment of rent. Another point I have made many times at this Dispatch Box is that the Scottish Government also have wide-ranging powers to make additional payments to people in Scotland, if they choose.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ruth George Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd April 2019 Commons Chamber

[Alun Cairns]

I am happy to respond positively to the hon. Gentleman, who is a champion for Anglesey. Since our meeting about Wylfa Newydd, I met the chairman of Hitachi to press the importance of the case and to stress the support that comes from the local authority, the Assembly Member and the Member of Parliament, which demonstrates the co-ordinated approach.

[Ruth George (High Peak) (Lab)]

11. What recent assessment he has made of the effect of the roll-out of universal credit on low-income families in Wales.

[Marsha De Cordova (Battersea) (Lab)]

13. What recent assessment he has made of the effect of the roll-out of universal credit on low-income families in Wales.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Justin Tomlinson)]

Universal credit is available in every jobcentre in Wales. Our welfare reforms are incentivising work and supporting working families. In the past 12 months alone, the employment rate in Wales has increased by 3.4 percentage points, the largest increase in any area of the UK.

[Ruth George]

Considering that pensioner poverty is higher in Wales than in any other country of the United Kingdom, what assessment has the Minister made of the change in the rules for mixed-age couples, who will lose up to £7,000 in pension credit?

Oral Answers to Questions

Ruth George Excerpts

Wednesday 13th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Brandon Lewis]

The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. We are working with returning officers on this issue, and there is the wider issue of engaging with people with disabilities to address. All of us, in all political parties, can do more about that. We should be looking at what we can do to encourage people to get involved. That is why I am so proud of being part of the Conservative party whose Conservative Foundation does exactly that.

[Ruth George (High Peak) (Lab)]

4. What assessment he has made of the capacity of the civil service to manage its additional responsibilities as a result of the UK leaving the EU.

[The Minister without Portfolio (Brandon Lewis)]

The Government are equipping themselves with the right people and the right skills to deliver the UK’s exit from the European Union. We now have more than 14,500 people working specifically on EU exit-related policy and programmes across government. Workforce plans will continue to be reviewed to ensure that the civil service can always respond to emerging capacity and capability requirements.

[Ruth George]

What assessment has the Department made of the impact on other Departments, many of which have seen civil servants transferred into working on our strategy for exiting the EU?

[Brandon Lewis]

We have more than 400,000 civil servants across Departments and across the country, many of whom have areas that cross over with the work they are doing on the EU. We work with Departments to ensure that we are using the right skills in the right places to make sure that we are prepared to leave the EU in a good and orderly fashion.

European Council

Ruth George Excerpts

Monday 17th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As we continue to work on further assurances on the deal, the hon. Gentleman knows full well that the vote will come before the House. The House will have its vote, and thereafter if the deal is not supported, the Government will bring forward their proposals for the future steps we will be taking.

[Ruth George (High Peak) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister claims to know what leave voters voted for in 2016, but when I surveyed thousands of my constituents, over half of leave voters said that they wanted to stay in the single market and almost as many said they wanted to be in the customs union. Now that they have seen the shape of the deal on the table—these are leave voters—16% said they had changed their mind and wanted to remain in the European Union. How can the Prime Minister not listen to voters? I hope she will spend the time over the next few weeks actually listening to voters who voted and not to her own rebellious Back Benchers.

[The Prime Minister]

I assure the hon. Lady that I do listen to voters and I do talk to voters. The overwhelming view given to me by voters is that they want to ensure we get on with delivering the 2016 vote.

Exiting the European Union

Ruth George Excerpts

Monday 10th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We have triggered the article 50 process. I believe that we have a responsibility to deliver on the vote in the referendum. This Parliament put the exit date into legislation, and we will be leaving on 29 March next year.

[Ruth George (High Peak) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister says that she wants certainty and protection for jobs and prosperity, but seeing as she is about to try to ditch the only legally binding part of the future relationship and her party is seeking to ditch her and take us into a hard Brexit, what guarantee does her deal give to businesses and people in my constituency of the jobs and prosperity that they want?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady seems to have misunderstood what I said in my statement and appears to think that we are abandoning in total the legally binding aspect of the deal that has been agreed. She talks about protecting jobs, and that is exactly why we have negotiated and set out clearly the ambitious free trade agreement for the future and the free trade area that would enable us to protect jobs up and down the country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ruth George Excerpts

Wednesday 16th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

My Department supports consistent standards of devolution awareness across the civil service. The Cabinet Office runs a cross-Government learning campaign, in partnership with the devolved Administrations, to ensure that there is good practice throughout the United Kingdom.

[Ruth George (High Peak) (Lab)]

T7. Why did the Government continue to award contracts to Carillion after it had announced a profit warning and its shares had fallen by 75%, making it an obvious risk to the public purse?

[Mr Lidington]

As I set out in detail in my evidence to the Liaison Committee, three of the contracts were actually awarded before the profit warning. The two from HS2 Ltd were part of a joint venture. The other joint venture partners stepped forward, in line with their contracts, to ensure that the project continues with no additional cost to the public purse.

Leaving the EU: Customs

Ruth George Excerpts

Wednesday 16th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

I have already given way quite a few times, and I am conscious of the large number of right hon. and hon. Members on both sides of the House who have expressed a wish to participate in the debate.

Turning to the point made by my right hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Sir Patrick McLoughlin), the candour of everybody involved, whether Ministers or officials, would be affected if they thought that the content of their discussions would be disclosed prematurely. Frankly, if details of discussions were routinely made public—

[Ruth George (High Peak) (Lab)]

rose—

[Anna McMorrin (Cardiff North) (Lab)]

rose—

--- Later in debate ---

[Ruth George (High Peak) (Lab)]

This Parliament, this country, businesses and the rest of the world are looking on in horror as our Government fight like cats in a sack over two unworkable proposals. No one can believe that a democratic country could put itself in this situation, doing so much damage to our businesses, our jobs and our future prospects.

The Government are refusing to release information on the advice they are getting from all sides, just as they whipped their MPs to refuse an economic impact assessment on the deal itself before we in Parliament have to vote on that deal. Anyone would think that the Government have something to hide: that they have no plan, that they have no strategy for avoiding the economic disaster that their own papers say they are heading for. They are doing everything except listen. They are not listening to those on their own Benches and they are not listening to British business.

Those of us on the Opposition Benches who have spoken to businesses in our constituencies have heard it loud and clear: they all want to be part of a customs union. It will be absolutely disastrous for our businesses if they are not part of a system of tariff-free borders and if they do not have regulatory alignment. Businesses in my constituency are already having to move abroad and set up offices and transfer jobs abroad, because they are being undermined by competitors in the European Union that are undercutting them and going to contractors, saying that UK companies cannot guarantee that they will be part of the customs union, that they will not have tariffs and that they will not have regulatory alignment. That is why we are losing business. It is happening.

The Government should listen to the Confederation of British Industry and the EEF, which said that

“the need for a post-Brexit customs union reflects what EEF and UK manufacturing have long called for… free and frictionless trade can only be achieved by comparable customs rules to those”

we already enjoy. That is why businesses in my constituency told me loud and clear at a Brexit summit that I held that they all need to be part of a customs union to carry on trading and to enjoy the preferential deals with the rest of the world that they enjoy as part of the EU customs union. We cannot seek to match that. Australia has just 15 such deals, as does Canada, and they are worse than what we get as part of the EU. The Government need to do the decent thing by this Parliament, this country and by our businesses and make sure that we have transparency.