Oral Answers to Questions

John Bercow Excerpts

Thursday 6th June 2019 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Mr Speaker]

I call Vicky Ford—not here.

[Deidre Brock (Edinburgh North and Leith) (SNP)]

2. What steps his Department is taking to tackle climate change through trade policy.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

A notable Northamptonshire contest. I call Mr Peter Bone.

[Mr Bone]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Does the Secretary of State agree that the European Union is an inward-looking protectionist trading bloc that acts to the detriment of developing countries?

[Mr Bone]

So that’s a yes?

[Mr Speaker]

We’ll take it as a yes.

[Sir Edward Leigh (Gainsborough) (Con)]

7. What his priorities are for the upcoming G20 Trade Ministers meeting in Japan.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Oh, very well.

[Mr Hollobone]

Seventy per cent. of the world’s poorest people live not in the poorest countries but in the middle-income countries, and the G20 has a vital role to encourage these people to work their way out of poverty by free trade. Does the Secretary of State agree?

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[The Secretary of State for International Development (Rory Stewart)]

There should be no distinction at all between work that we do—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I believe the Secretary of State is going to group this question with question 3.

[Rory Stewart]

Indeed, Mr Speaker. Thank you very much.

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[Mr Hollobone]

We spend almost £1 billion a year on incarcerating more than 9,000 foreign national offenders in our prisons, many from developing countries to which we already give international assistance. Given that it is far cheaper to build a prison to requisite standards in those countries than here, does it not make sense to use our international aid budget to send these people home, using the funds from the Department for International Development?

[Mr Speaker]

I am advised that the Minister of State has just been elevated to the Privy Council. I congratulate him on that and wish him well, and I am sure the House will want to join me in congratulating the right hon. Gentleman.

[Dr Murrison]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. My hon. Friend the Member for Kettering (Mr Hollobone) knows very well that official development assistance is disbursable only in accordance with the rules set out by the OECD. There is a good argument for building prisons, in order to remove prisoners from the UK. However, ODA funds could not be used for such a purpose, since the primary intention of ODA funds is to render assistance. I would suggest very strongly that my hon. Friend speaks to our right hon. and hon. colleagues in the Home Office and the Department of Justice.

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[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We are running late. I will accommodate the remaining questioners on the condition that they confine themselves to a single-sentence question, without preamble. No dilation is required.

[Mr Philip Dunne (Ludlow) (Con)]

9. What steps he is taking to enable small charities in the UK to access funding from his Department.

[The Secretary of State for International Development (Rory Stewart)]

In the end, the Department for International Development is of course spending taxpayers’ money. To work out how to spend it in a way that resonates with the British people, we must get much better at focusing on the small charities that British citizens back. The way to do that is to learn, from examples such as the lottery fund, how to provide more support for small charities. We will push ahead with that work to make sure that small charities flourish.

[Mr Speaker]

The Secretary of State is an extraordinarily brilliant and cerebral fellow. He has not quite yet got the hang of the rather more prosaic matter of the announcement of the desire to group, but I shall do it for him. The Secretary of State wishes to group this question with Question 12. I know that these are comparatively footling matters, but in procedural terms, they are not footling. Footling is a very good word, I think.

[Mr Dunne]

Would it form part of a preamble, Mr Speaker?

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the support he already gives through his Department, but many Members will have charities in their constituencies, such as Signal in Shropshire, or will individually promote charities, such as the Hotcourses Foundation. What more can my right hon. Friend do to support British charities that do excellent work in Africa?