Oral Answers to Questions

John Bercow Excerpts

Wednesday 29th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Several hon. Members]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I am rather surprised and disappointed by the slow progress today. We must speed up.

[Nia Griffith (Llanelli) (Lab)]

Given the Secretary of State’s discussions about enterprise zones with the First Minister and other Welsh Assembly Ministers, does she accept that whatever we do on the ground in Wales, and whatever stimulus the Welsh Assembly can provide, we still need a proper fiscal stimulus from her colleagues in the Cabinet here? What discussions has she had with her colleagues in the Treasury about ensuring that growth happens?

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[Owen Smith (Pontypridd) (Lab)]

Talking of trains, the Minister will be aware that the Secretary of State has offered to resign over high-speed rail going through her constituency. The people of Wales are grateful for the offer, but we wonder whether the Minister might ask her when the precise date will be to trigger it. As we are a generous people, we would very much like to give her a good send-off—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The hon. Gentleman’s question must relate to the subject matter on the Order Paper, not to a question that we have not reached—though we might—so I am sure that he will want to refer to the electrification of Great Western main line to Swansea and the Secretary of State’s stance on that matter.

[Owen Smith]

Will the Minister ask the Secretary of State whether she would be happy to resign over the failure to deliver the electrification of the railway to Swansea and the valleys, as she is happy to resign over matters in her constituency?

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[The Secretary of State for Wales (Mrs Cheryl Gillan)]

First, I welcome the hon. Lady’s interest in Wales and its economy. The economy is starting to return to growth, and I am pleased that we are beginning to see signs of improvement in employment levels in Wales. We have had to make difficult decisions in order to reduce the massive deficit that we inherited. Our policies are the right ones to restore business confidence and move people into the jobs that they need.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There are far too many private conversations taking place in the Chamber, including one that I have just concluded.

[Rosie Cooper]

I apologise, Mr Speaker; I could not hear. With 5.5 people chasing every job vacancy in Wales, does the Secretary of State consider job creation to be a priority? What, if anything, have she and her Government done about it?

[Mrs Gillan]

I am afraid that I did not catch the whole of the hon. Lady’s question. However, the Government recognise that the private sector will lead economic recovery in the UK. I am proud of our record of supporting businesses, and I am proud of what is happening in Wales, where the latest unemployment statistics reveal more people in work and fewer on the unemployment register.

[Mr Speaker]

Clearly, if the Secretary of State cannot hear questions, the noise is too loud, and it is impeding the process. Let us give a fair hearing to Mr Alun Cairns.

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[The Prime Minister]

I know that the right hon. Gentleman has this extraordinary vision of how the NHS is run, but it is not the Prime Minister who hires every person in every organisation in the NHS. The difference between this coalition Government and the Labour party is that we are investing in the NHS, putting resources into the NHS, reforming the NHS in a way that is supported by the Royal College of Surgeons, the Royal College of Physicians, Tony Blair, Lord Darzi and most people working in the NHS, but not by the Labour party. [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The decibel level is—[Interruption.] Order. The decibel level is far too high. The Prime Minister should not have to shout to make himself heard.

[Edward Miliband]

The whole country will have heard that the Prime Minister has admitted the Government are spending £852 million on making people redundant, and he cannot even promise that they will not be re-hired to do their old jobs. Is not this the truth? He promised no top-down reorganisation; he is doing it. He promised a bonfire of the quangos; he is creating more. He promised a better deal for patients and things are getting worse. What people are asking up and down this country is: what is he doing to our NHS?

[The Prime Minister]

What the whole country will have noticed is that at a time when people are worried about strikes, the right hon. Gentleman cannot ask about strikes because he is in the pocket of the unions. What the whole country will have noticed is that at a time when Greece is facing huge problems over its deficit, he cannot talk about Greece because his plan is to make Britain like Greece. What the whole country will have noticed is that at a time when the economy is the key issue, he cannot talk about the economy because of his ludicrous plan for tax cuts. That is what we see, week after week. He has to talk about the micro because he cannot talk about the macro.

[Mr Speaker]

We are very grateful. I call Guto Bebb. [Interruption.] Order. I appeal to the House to calm down and reflect on what the public think of this sort of behaviour.

[Guto Bebb (Aberconwy) (Con)]

Will the Prime Minister agree that Aneurin Bevan would be turning in his grave as he sees a Conservative Secretary of State increase spending on the health service in England while a Labour Government in Cardiff cut spending on the NHS?

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[The Prime Minister]

The first point I would make is that overall crime is falling; it is falling according to both the British crime survey and the police recorded crime statistics. We are doing a huge amount to help people right across the country, including in London, deal with crime: the publication of crime maps; the introduction of police commissioners; and making sure we have the proper and necessary powers.

Because the hon. Gentleman is a London MP, let me bring him up to date on Operation Target, which is currently running in the Metropolitan police: on average, 1,200 officers are deployed every day; there have been 4,000 different activities and 2,000 arrests; and it is early days, but there has been a drop in offences from week to week for the most serious offences such as violence with injury, knife crime, street robbery and residential burglary. [Interruption.] The fact is that Opposition Members do not like to hear an answer when it shows the police are doing their job.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Prime Minister’s questions is principally for Back Benchers. I call Mr Graham Evans.

[Graham Evans (Weaver Vale) (Con)]

On 8 June 1944, a relative of mine, Sergeant Jack Chadwick, was shot down while dropping much-needed supplies to the French resistance. Today he lies in a Normandy churchyard, together with the seven-man crew of his Halifax bomber. Does my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister agree that it is right and proper that this nation should remember the sacrifice of the 55,000 members of Bomber Command who gave their lives to rid Europe of Nazi tyranny?

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[The Prime Minister]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. Members of the House are public sector workers too, and we should be subject to exactly the same changes that we are asking others to take on. Therefore, the increase in contributions should apply to the MP system, even though we already pay in quite a lot. We are saying that right across the board, the increase in pension contributions is right to create a healthier long-term system.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I appeal to hon. and right hon. Members who are leaving the Chamber to do so quickly and quietly, so that we can hear the statement by the Foreign Secretary.