Business of the House

Debate between Stephen Crabb and Penny Mordaunt

Thursday 22nd June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Crabb (Preseli Pembrokeshire) (Con)]

I thank the Leader of the House for confirming the Second Reading debate next Wednesday on the Holocaust Memorial Bill, which will facilitate the holocaust memorial to be built in Victoria Tower Gardens. Does she agree that that is a good opportunity for Members from across the House to work together to deliver this memorial, which is a commitment of successive Governments and will be a fitting memorial to those remarkable survivors of the holocaust and those people who have given so much of their lives to holocaust education?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his kind remarks, and I agree entirely with his sentiments. Again, let me reassure him that we are doing all we can to make sure that this is brought forward in the swiftest possible time. The House of Commons has a working group to ensure that any work on restoration and renewal or other things is deconflicted with the work going on to produce this important memorial. It will also be very important to the ongoing work of education on those appalling events.

Replacement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer

Debate between Stephen Crabb and Penny Mordaunt

Monday 17th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I think it is incredibly important today that the Chancellor is allowed to set out the policy changes that he has made to provide answers to the House and the country, so we can restore some certainty to the growth programme. That is what will help stability, and I ask all hon. Members to consider, in their questioning to me, how those questions will help that scenario.

[Stephen Crabb (Preseli Pembrokeshire) (Con)]

Pragmatism and dealing with the world as it is are the traditional strengths of Conservatives in Government, and the fiscal changes being announced by the new Chancellor today are entirely correct. Does my right hon. Friend agree, though, that the very last thing that is needed right now—the last thing that mortgage holders, people struggling to get on the housing ladder and people who are worried about paying their fuel bills need—is further political instability upsetting markets?

[Penny Mordaunt]

My right hon. Friend is right. We also need to put through legislation to enact some of the measures that will help with the cost of living issues that people are facing. We need time on the Floor of the House to do that and we need to give the public some certainty about the future.

Future Relationship with the EU

Debate between Stephen Crabb and Penny Mordaunt

Tuesday 9th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Crabb (Preseli Pembrokeshire) (Con)]

The EU says repeatedly that it accepts the fact of Brexit, yet its entire negotiating strategy seems to be geared to keeping the UK squarely in the legal and regulatory orbit of the EU. Does my right hon. Friend agree that unlocking the deal will require flexibility and good will but also fundamentally requires the EU to be realistic and honest about the path that the UK has chosen?

[Penny Mordaunt]

My right hon. Friend makes very good points. The EU needs to recognise that we are now a sovereign equal and negotiate with us on that basis. There are massive opportunities from us coming to a deal. The EU will be aware of those opportunities, and I hope that we can get the focus that we need to resolve the remaining issues and get a move on for their Union and ours too.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Crabb and Penny Mordaunt

Wednesday 4th July 2018 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Crabb (Preseli Pembrokeshire) (Con)]

Key to boosting east African trade is continuing to break down non-tariff barriers between East African countries, reduce transportation costs and reduce import-export clearance times. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the TradeMark East Africa programme has an important continuing role in helping to boost trade even further?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I absolutely agree with my right hon. Friend. Frictionless trade is a good thing, and the corridor that TradeMark East Africa has provided has cut border times dramatically, as well as cutting corruption. We are funding the second leg of that trade corridor, and it has done amazing work for the region’s prosperity.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Crabb and Penny Mordaunt

Wednesday 29th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I will say it for the third time: there are genuine security concerns on the part of the Saudi-led coalition, but that is entirely separate from the issue of allowing aid and commercial supplies into ports. We think that they can address their security concerns, and we are prepared to assist them in some measure to do that, but there is no excuse, legitimate though their concerns are, for stopping food and supplies getting to the individuals who need them.

[Stephen Crabb (Preseli Pembrokeshire) (Con)]

T2. British non-governmental organisations are now the largest recipients of grant funding through the EU’s ECHO humanitarian programme, precisely because they are very good at what they do. Will the Secretary of State look at ways of continuing a relationship with ECHO once we leave the EU, so that our NGOs can have stable funding to continue to do their important work in fragile states?

[Penny Mordaunt]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right: our NGOs are second to none. If we are going to continue to make our funds deliver, provide value for money and have the impact required, British NGOs still need to be delivering that aid. All this will be part of the negotiations, but I concur exactly with my right hon. Friend’s sentiments.