Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Simon Wright and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 25th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Well, we have seen it all: absolutely no ability to answer a question. This is a country where unemployment is falling; the economy is growing; the deficit is coming down; in our NHS, the operations are going up; there are more good school places for our children; living standards are rising; inflation is at zero; and there are record numbers in work—all of this could be put at risk by Labour. That is the choice in 43 days’ time: competence and a long-term plan that is delivering, instead of the chaos of economic crisis from Labour.

[Simon Wright (Norwich South) (LD)]

Q3. Thirteen months ago, my constituent Leigh Smith tragically lost her three-month-old baby Beatrice due to a rare heart condition. In an effort to help other families avoid the grief and despair of losing a child, Mrs Smith wants all schools to install defibrillators and to teach life-saving skills. Will the Prime Minister offer his support to this vital cause?

[The Prime Minister]

First, let me say to my hon. Friend and his constituent that there is nothing more heartbreaking than losing a child and we should do everything we can to help with this. The Chancellor announced in his Budget £1 million for defibrillators, including putting defibrillators into schools. I want to see a situation where community buildings, schools, pubs, village halls—all of them—have defibrillators, because we can save lives in this way, and particularly when we are saving such young lives, as in my hon. Friend’s constituent’s case, we must do better.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Simon Wright and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 4th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I would say to the hon. Gentleman that a Government should be judged according to what happens to the people living in the country. We are now seeing 1.85 million more people with a job. That means that 1,000 people are getting a job for every day that the Government have been in office, and it means the security of a pay packet and the chance to provide for a family. [Interruption.] The hon. Gentleman shakes his head, but that is the reality of Britain today: more apprentices, more jobs, and more people able to provide for their families. I should have thought that the Labour party would welcome that.

[Simon Wright (Norwich South) (LD)]

The Department for Education has overruled Norfolk county council’s proposal for an interim executive board to resolve the future of The Hewett school in my constituency. Will the Prime Minister seek to establish why the DFE considers its own centrally imposed proposal to be preferable, given that it seems to go against the spirit of localism?

[The Prime Minister]

What we have done is ensure that when schools are not succeeding and when they are coasting, they are taken over and turned around, and I think it very important that we intervene on behalf of local parents to make sure that that happens. However, I will look into the specific case that the hon. Gentleman has mentioned.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Simon Wright and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 23rd October 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Let me give the right hon. Gentleman the figures. We need to look at spending power per dwelling, which is the combination of grant plus council tax. In the right hon. Gentleman’s area, the spending per dwelling is £3,122 whereas it is £1,872 in West Oxfordshire. I fully accept that the need is much greater in Knowsley than it is in West Oxfordshire, but I would argue that that provides a relatively fair balance between the two.

[Simon Wright (Norwich South) (LD)]

Q10. Following decades of underinvestment and hollow promises from previous Governments, the coalition’s early decision fully to dual the A11 is driving investor confidence in Norwich and East Anglia. May I urge the Prime Minister to continue to look east, as a powerhouse for economic growth, and to back the opportunities available for investment in the great eastern main line?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to stand up for Norwich and for Norwich’s economy. The £100 million we are investing in the A11 is an important part of that. It will be completed in 2014, and it will cut congestion on the route between Cambridge and Norwich. For once, I have said something that the shadow Chancellor agrees with, because I know that he wants to go and watch the Canaries. Now we will be able to get him there a little bit quicker. There is no end to my munificence in trying to help the shadow Chancellor.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Simon Wright and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 24th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

This Government have an excellent record in combating modern-day slavery, not least because we continue to commit, through our international aid programme, to tackle those countries where it still, so regrettably, exists. I will look very carefully at the Bill that the hon. Gentleman mentions and perhaps write to him about the issue.

[Simon Wright (Norwich South) (LD)]

A number of major employers in my constituency are calling for greater certainty for investors in one of the fastest-growing sectors of the economy, low-carbon energy. Will the Prime Minister respond to their calls—specifically for a 2030 carbon intensity target for the power sector?

[The Prime Minister]

I am looking very carefully at these issues, but I have to say that we have already taken the most important step, which is to set the renewables obligation certificates—the ROCs—out into the future, so that investors know that they can invest, for instance in offshore wind, knowing what the return is going to be. There will be more detail, of course, when we produce the Energy Bill later in this year.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Simon Wright and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 14th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Simon Wright (Norwich South) (LD)]

Does the Prime Minister share my concern about the impact of pocket-money priced alcohol on the state of our nation’s health and antisocial behaviour in our town centres, as well as about the damage it does to our community pubs?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman makes an extremely important point. There is no doubt in my mind that very low-cost alcohol is part of the problem in our town centres. One of the answers that the Government have already come up with is to ban the deeply discounted selling of alcohol, but we need to look at the broader question of low-cost alcohol. I have noted very carefully the letter in the papers this morning from a whole set of people with great expertise on this, and we are looking carefully at the issue.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Simon Wright and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 7th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Let us be clear: we are going ahead with the winter fuel payment set out by the previous Labour Government in their Budget. At the same time, we are increasing the cold weather payments on a permanent basis, so this Government are being more generous than the previous Government.

[Simon Wright (Norwich South) (LD)]

In seeking to address the economic recovery, is it better to help those who are taxed on incomes as little as £150 a week, or those who, after tax, take home around 10 times that amount?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. Let me just point out two things that we have done that are totally in line with that, one of which is to lift 1 million people out of income tax altogether—that is a coalition commitment that we have been delivering on. The second thing, when it comes to tax credits, is that we have increased, over two years, by £290 the tax credits that go to the poorest families in our country. That is why we have managed to take difficult decisions—everyone knows we have had to take difficult decisions—without an increase in child poverty. In better economic times, under the previous Government, child poverty actually went up.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Simon Wright and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 16th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We are looking at a Calman-like process for Wales; we think that is right, and we will make some announcements and proposals. Let me just say that because the spending reductions in Wales are less than the spending reductions in England, we will find at the end of this Parliament that the difference in spending per head in Wales will be even greater than it is today, so I do not accept the contention that somehow people in Wales are being unfairly targeted with cuts; they are not. They are getting a better deal than some other parts of the United Kingdom.

[Simon Wright (Norwich South) (LD)]

Q14. A report published today by the End Child Poverty campaign shows that when Labour left office, it left 30% of Norwich’s children living in poverty—the worst figure in the east of England. Does the Prime Minister agree that such a complex problem demands a cross-Government response to tackle the causes of poverty and deliver greater social mobility?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman is entirely right, and if we think of combating child poverty simply in terms of moving people a little bit above or below the line we will never deal with the underlying causes of child poverty, which are worklessness, family breakdown, and other problems linked to it. I am determined that we will try our hardest, with expertise from across the House of Commons—the hon. Member for Nottingham North (Mr Allen) is involved in this work, as is the right hon. Member for Birkenhead (Mr Field)—making sure that we really look at life chances, as well as poverty itself.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Simon Wright and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 2nd February 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am sure the right hon. Gentleman is right. From all the noises off, it is clear that people would prefer a bun fight, but sometimes it is sensible to have a serious conversation about the issues that we face. I know and he knows that when we visit our troops in Afghanistan they want us to discuss what they are doing—to discuss it sensibly and try to get it right. With reference to encouraging the political track, it is important that we engage not just with the Afghan Government, but with the Pakistan Government. It should be our aim to create an Afghanistan that is stable enough for us to take our troops home without it becoming a hotbed of terrorism. We will not be able to do that unless we engage with the Pakistanis. That is the key to solving the problem, and having a political track so that those who have been opposed to us recognise that there is a democratic path—a peaceful path—that they can follow, but they must give up violence and renounce al-Qaeda before that can happen.

[Simon Wright (Norwich South) (LD)]

Q2. East Anglia celebrated in October the announcement that the Government had put aside the funding required to complete the dualling of the A11, and the support of the Prime Minister then was very much welcomed. Will he join me and our coalition colleagues across the region in pressing for an early start date for the scheme so that the economic benefits can be delivered as soon as possible?

[The Prime Minister]

All of us who visited Norwich at the time of the by-election remember how important the A11 is to people in Norwich. We have guaranteed the funding in the spending review. We are spending over £30 billion on transport infrastructure over the next four years. Work on the A11 is an important project. The Highways Agency is preparing a programme for how it will be delivered, and construction work will start in the current spending review period.