Simon Kirby
Main Page: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)Department Debates - View all Simon Kirby's debates with the Cabinet Office
(9 years, 8 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
The Prime Minister
Interestingly, the conference of the British Chambers of Commerce—probably the biggest business trade body in Britain—supported my approach of a renegotiation and referendum, and did not support the alternative of just meekly going along with whatever the European Union is doing today. Business is on the side of the changes I am putting forward.
Simon Kirby (Brighton, Kemptown) (Con)
I am a big fan of the public sector. Does my right hon. Friend agree that Greece teaches us a lesson that we can have a strong public sector only if we have a strong economy?
The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. If we look at what happened in Greece with the economic difficulties it has had, we see that it had to make sweeping cuts to its national health service because it was in so much economic trouble. That underlines the point that we will make every day from now and for the next 45 days, which is that if we want a strong NHS, schools and policing, we must have a strong economy.