Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Stephen Hammond and Virendra Sharma(4 years, 7 months ago)
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Mr Virendra Sharma (Ealing, Southall) (Lab)
Stephen Hammond (Wimbledon) (Con)
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Stephen Hammond and Virendra Sharma(4 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Stephen Hammond
The hon. Gentleman is right, which is why we have ensured that we are putting more money into the NHS and more money into primary care, with £4.5 billion in real terms on primary medical care and community health services. It is why we commissioned Baroness Dido Harding to produce the “Interim NHS People Plan”, which she has done, and why we are working on ensuring that we have the health service workers to provide excellent care for all people in the community.
Mr Virendra Sharma (Ealing, Southall) (Lab)
Sri Lanka (Human Rights)
Debate between Stephen Hammond and Virendra Sharma(12 years, 2 months ago)
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Mr Sharma
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow West (Mr Thomas) for his intervention. I am sure that the Minister has taken note of his question and will answer it. I will definitely be developing that issue later in my speech as well.
More than 160,000 people who were displaced at the end of the war and in the years before 2009 remain in camps or are living with host communities or in transit situations. Many live in tents and are without access to the most basic amenities, such as health care, sanitation, housing and education. Terrible human rights abuses are being perpetrated. Murder, assault, corruption, torture and sexual harassment are commonplace. Although wartime emergency laws have been rescinded, draconian powers of arrest and detention remain in effect. Thousands of suspected ex-combatants are still being detained without trial or access to legal representation.
Stephen Hammond (Wimbledon) (Con)
I am listening to the hon. Gentleman’s case, and I have spoken on behalf of the Tamil community a number of times, but he has just said that thousands of people are still being detained. At the end of the war, political prisoners—ex-Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam cadres—numbered 11,000; the Sri Lankan Government now say they still have 300 in detention. Will the hon. Gentleman explain exactly where he thinks the rest of those who are in detention are? We do this cause no good if we are not accurate.
Mr Sharma
If the hon. Gentleman reads the full report, he will find out that all the figures are there. I am not totally ignoring what the Sri Lankan Government are saying, but we can pick up the figures from the facts and reports that are coming through and from the people we meet through our constituency casework. I am sure the Minister will talk about this, but the exact figures are in the report, and if the hon. Gentleman reads it fully, he will find them.
UK-India Trade
Debate between Stephen Hammond and Virendra Sharma(12 years, 3 months ago)
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This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Stephen Hammond
I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. Indeed, I thank all the hon. Members who are intervening; they are helping me along with my speech. I was about to deal with inward investment. My hon. Friend is, of course, right. India may well be setting the pace at the forefront of the global economy. Indian companies’ entrepreneurship and management techniques are certainly influencing business practices across the world. However, let us be clear: the UK must not only welcome Indian investment into the UK, but be hungry for it and go out and seek it.
As my hon. Friend pointed out, there are huge advantages to investing in this country. They include the skilled work force and the certainty on law, politics and accountancy. Tata’s investment in steel production and car manufacturing is an example. Other Indian businesses have chosen to base themselves in London or elsewhere in the United Kingdom, partly because of the expertise and skills on offer. We must make certain that other Indian firms looking to invest know that Her Majesty’s Government stand ready to welcome Indian businesses. I hope that the Minister will echo the remarks of his colleague, Lord Green, who has said that
“those days of complacency on the British side are over.”
Britain is open for business.
Mr Virendra Sharma (Ealing, Southall) (Lab)
I congratulate the hon. Member for Wimbledon (Stephen Hammond) on obtaining this important debate. This issue is close to the heart of many members of the all-party group on India, as well as hon. Members more generally. Does the hon. Gentleman recognise the value of the state-based schemes to promote UK-India trade? I have worked closely with, for example, the UK Kerala Business Forum and the UK Telugu Association, both of which are making great progress in building links for investment going in both directions.
Stephen Hammond
The hon. Gentleman is, of course, right. I am sure that the Minister will want to refer to his remarks. As I said, it is the job of government to encourage and to provide the environment in which business can thrive. It is for business to grasp that opportunity. Dr Singh visits this country later this year. I hope that the tone and the tenor of the debate will ring out today and send the message that Britain is open for business and particularly for Indian business.