Oral Answers to Questions

Stephen Phillips Excerpts

Wednesday 18th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

To be fair to the right hon. Gentleman, he changes course every day; he is an expert at changing course. Labour’s shadow Chancellor said two days ago:

“My starting point is…we are going to have to keep all these cuts.”

Then Labour’s deputy leader said yesterday that

“we’re not accepting the Government’s…cuts, we are totally opposing them and we’re fighting them.”

The right hon. Gentleman is flip-flopping on a daily basis. It is no wonder that the founder of Labour’s business forum had this to say:

“At a time when the nation needs strong political leadership, Labour offers nothing…the pro-business, pragmatic approach to wealth and enterprise”

have all gone.

“Instead there is a vision and leadership vacuum.”

What total adequate testimony to what stands opposite!

[Stephen Phillips (Sleaford and North Hykeham) (Con)]

Q2. My right hon. Friend will be aware that I recently raised the case of my late constituent, Mr Martin Pratt, with the Armed Forces Minister. He will also be aware of the excellent “Fighting Fit” report, written by my hon. Friend the Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison), dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder among veterans. Owing to the stigma often attached to mental illness, many veterans wait years before seeking appropriate help, and I hope that my right hon. Friend can tell the House what plans the Government have in this area, so that those who need help can seek it at the appropriate moment.

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. and learned Friend is entirely right to raise this issue. The mental scars that people who serve this country often receive can be every bit as deep as the physical scars. It is not something that we have always accepted and understood properly, which is why the report, “Fighting Fit”, by my hon. Friend the Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison), is so important. He has real experience and understanding of this matter. We have accepted and implemented almost all its recommendations—we have launched the 24-hour combat stress support health line, we are introducing the advanced mental health assessments for service personnel and we hope to get the veterans information service up and running in April this year.

Oral Answers to Questions

Stephen Phillips Excerpts

Wednesday 16th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I would urge the hon. Gentleman to look very carefully at the Bill and at our plans, because what he will see is that we are putting the question of mobility into the reform of DLA, as we change that benefit and improve it. What we will do is avoid the double counting that has happened in the past, and sort out this issue, as I have said.

[Stephen Phillips (Sleaford and North Hykeham) (Con)]

Earlier in the week, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister received representations on the Government’s deficit reduction plans from, on the one hand, the credit rating agencies, and on the other hand, the Leader of the Opposition and others from the previous Administration who got us into this mess. Whose advice is the Prime Minister going to follow?

[The Prime Minister]

We should listen to the advice of Fitch, the credit rating agency, which this week reconfirmed our triple A credit rating status. I also think we should listen to the OECD, which is here today giving a presentation on the British economy and which strongly supports our deficit reduction plans. The point I would make is this: those people who think that there is some difference between deficit reduction and getting growth at the same time should look at the current interest rates in Ireland, in Greece and in Portugal. In Portugal, market interest rates are 7.5%. What is the genius plan of the Opposition? It is to halve the deficit in four years, which would get us in four years to where Portugal is today. What a brilliant plan!