Outcome of the EU Referendum

Debate between Stephen Timms and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Monday 27th June 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Let me try to reassure Members. The only reason I am saying “No immediate changes” is that I am just trying accurately to reflect the legal situation, which is this: for people who are free at the moment to come and live and work in the UK—let me repeat that if they come here and they cannot support themselves, we can ask them to leave; that is important and has been the case for some time—as long as we are members of the EU, that continues. At the point at which we go, a Government will have to make a decision about what to negotiate with the rest of Europe about the rights of Europeans to come and live and work here—whether there will be visas or work permits, or what have you—and then there will be consequences potentially for British citizens going to live and work in Europe. The House is going to be able to debate all these things, so Members will be able to contribute to all these discussions and conversations, but I must answer accurately from this Dispatch Box, and what I can say is that as long as we stay in the EU those rights are protected, and I have gone further than that and said that everything I have heard from those who were campaigning to leave is that those rights will be continued after we have left.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

Does the Prime Minister accept that maintaining very strong UK participation in Europe-wide scientific research collaboration needs to be an important strand of the work he has described going forward?

[The Prime Minister]

I very much agree with the right hon. Gentleman. This is an area where we have got more out of Europe than we have put in, and we will clearly want to safeguard that for the future.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Timms and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 13th April 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend raises an important point. The changes that we are making are going to save the steel industry more than £400 million by the end of this Parliament, and that is a good example of the steps that we can take. There was an excellent debate yesterday in the House about this issue. We need to work on everything we can do in terms of procurement. We need to make sure that we are taking action in the EU against dumping, and we are. We need to make sure that we reduce energy costs where we can. We stand by to work with any potential purchaser of the Port Talbot works, which will safeguard steel jobs in other parts of the country, to see how we can help on a commercial basis. I am absolutely satisfied that we are doing everything we possibly can. We cannot totally buck the global trend of this massive overcapacity in steel and massive decline in prices, but those are the key areas—in terms of power, in terms of plant and in terms of procurement—where we can help.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

Q4. Research by the Sutton Trust shows that turning schools into academies does not necessarily improve them. Parents at thousands of excellent primary schools want them to continue to be maintained by their local authorities. Why are Ministers planning to overrule parents and force all those schools to become academies?

[The Prime Minister]

All the evidence shows that academies work as part of our education reforms. Let me give the House the evidence. If we look at schools that converted into academies, we see that 88% of them are either outstanding or good schools. If we look at the sponsored academies, which were often failing schools, we see that there has been, on average, a 10% improvement over the first two years. All the evidence is that the results are better, the freedoms lead to improvements and, where there are problems, intervention happens far faster with academies. We have got 1.4 million more children in good or outstanding schools, and I say, “Let’s finish the job.”

UK-EU Renegotiation

Debate between Stephen Timms and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 3rd February 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We have heard from the former Attorney General and the former Solicitor General, who have great legal expertise. The point that they make is right: this agreement will be legally binding on member states as a matter of international law. First, of course, it has to be agreed, but once it has been agreed, my hon. and learned Friend is absolutely right that it would be irreversible because it could be amended or revoked only if all member states, Britain included, decided to reverse it. Therein lies its irreversibility.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

I want us to stay in the European Union, but the Prime Minister indicated that he would use the renegotiation to seek to address the unfairness in the European sugar market, which currently affects cane sugar refiners such as Tate & Lyle in my constituency. Has the right hon. Gentleman made any progress on that specific issue?

[The Prime Minister]

I will have to write to the right hon. Gentleman about that issue.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Timms and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 3rd June 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. One of the arguments going on in Europe is about trying to get people to accept what is already the case, which is that there are countries like Britain at the heart of the single market but not involved in the Schengen agreement or likely to join it, and not involved in the single currency, which, in my view, we should never join. We should accept that this sort of flexibility is here to stay. I think the challenge for Europe is to build a European community that is flexible enough for the single currency countries to be happy that their problems and issues can be sorted out, while also flexible enough for countries like Britain at the heart of the single market, but not wanting to be part of the ever closer union, to be comfortable with their membership, too. That is the aim of my renegotiation, and it will be followed by an in/out referendum.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

Q12. I welcome the Prime Minister’s confirmation that there will be no cuts in the rates of or eligibility conditions for child benefit, but will he also confirm the commitment he made during the election that there will be no cuts in the benefits paid to disabled people?

[The Prime Minister]

What we have actually done is to increase the benefits paid to disabled people by bringing in the personal independence payment, which is more generous to those who are most disabled. May I say how much I enjoyed meeting the right hon. Gentleman during the general election when we both addressed the Festival of Life in the ExCeL centre in his constituency? I do not know about him, but it is certainly the only time in my life that I have talked to 45,000 people at the same time, and I suspect the same goes for him.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Timms and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 21st January 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. and learned Friend makes a strong point in the stance he takes. I agree with him. I have not heard anything to say that anyone is trying artificially to delay the report. He is absolutely right about some of the things that have happened to the inquiry panel members, most notably to the most brilliant biographer of Churchill, Martin Gilbert. I am sure the best wishes of everyone in the House go to him. My right hon. and learned Friend makes the fair point that, as inquiries are set up, we should give more thought to trying to ensure they are completed in very good time.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

Q10. The Prime Minister said that his policies would eradicate the deficit in this Parliament. Unfortunately, he was mistaken—a very large deficit remains. What is the reason, in his view, why his economic plan has fallen so far short?

[The Prime Minister]

We inherited from Treasury Ministers, including the right hon. Gentleman, the biggest deficit of any country in the western world. As a share of GDP, we have cut that in half. We have done that through a combination of reducing public spending, making sure we have responsible tax policies and strong economic growth. That is what we have delivered. All the way through, the Labour party’s proposals have been for more spending, more borrowing and more debt. They have not even got to base camp of working out why the deficit matters.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Timms and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 3rd December 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I look forward to the opportunity of visiting Shrewsbury if I can.

Let me be clear: I meant to say ‘masochism’. I am sorry, Mr Speaker. Normally I say that the shadow Chancellor likes to dish it out but cannot take it, but after this quote I think he obviously quite likes taking it as well. So there we are. [Laughter.] We have learned a lot of interesting things today.

What is happening in Shrewsbury is magnificent. There have been improvements to 400 stations across the country, including Kings Cross.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

Q7. The Prime Minister said that his economic policy would eradicate the deficit in this Parliament. All he can claim today is that after four years it came down by a third, but in the past few months it has been going up. Will he accept that the big fall in real wages since the election is a large part of the explanation for why his economic policy has fallen so far short on its central objective?

[The Prime Minister]

After four years of never mentioning the deficit and opposing every single spending cut we have had to make, there seems to have been a Damascus-like conversion—Labour Members are all suddenly interested in the deficit. Let me give the right hon. Gentleman a bit of a lesson. Yes, we have had to make very difficult decisions, cutting some Government Departments and some by as much as 20%, but every single decision was opposed by the Labour party. In terms of what is happening on wages, as I have just said, the recent figures out show that people who have been in work for more than a year are seeing pay increases of 4%. We are helping everyone in work by cutting their taxes. In the end, the only way to raise living standards sustainably is to grow the economy, create jobs and cut taxes— three things we are doing; three things Labour would never do.

Ukraine (Flight MH17) and Gaza

Debate between Stephen Timms and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Monday 21st July 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend raises an important accusation that has been made by many. I do not have the expertise or information to be able to confirm exactly what Hamas’s tactics are, but certainly the accusation is made by many that it is indifferent to the loss of Palestinian life. I think that is demonstrated by its continuing to fire rockets even when ceasefires have been suggested or, indeed, implemented by the Israelis. That is the cruellest point of all. When the Israelis have adopted a ceasefire, why does not Hamas follow suit?

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

I agree with the Prime Minister about the need to stop the rockets from Gaza. However, does he not understand and, indeed, share the widespread revulsion at the apparent disregard for human life in the current military action in Gaza? Surely the Secretary-General of the United Nations is right that this action must now stop.

[The Prime Minister]

We all want the action to stop, and the best way for it to stop is for the rocket attacks to stop. For anyone watching this as a parent, you cannot help but feel huge, heartbreaking concern for the loss of life. But, as I just said, when there are ceasefires called by the Israelis, we have to ask ourselves, if Hamas cares about preventing civilian casualties, why does it not accept the ceasefire and act on it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Timms and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 12th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I completely understand my hon. Friend’s concern. Obviously the gap in rail provision created by the Dawlish disaster will take time to deal with. Above and beyond that, I know that what he and people in Plymouth want is a timetable for achieving a three-hour service to Plymouth and for more trains to arrive early in the morning. As I have said, we have a longer-term programme of looking at rail alternatives at the same time as restoring the Dawlish line.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

Q11. With economic growth delayed for three years after the election, we have been left—[Interruption.] We have been left with more young people out of work long term than at any time for 20 years. Surely we must do more so that we do not waste the potential of a generation.

[The Prime Minister]

I can only think that the right hon. Gentleman is suffering from a form of memory loss. He was a Treasury Minister when we lost 7% of our GDP, when youth unemployment doubled, and when people were being thrown out of work. Under this Government, 1.3 million more people are in work, young people are getting back to work and, while countries elsewhere are struggling, our economy is growing. That is partly because we took tough and difficult decisions to get the budget deficit, which he and his henchmen left us, under control.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Timms and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 22nd January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 22 January.

[The Prime Minister (Mr David Cameron)]

I am sure that the whole House would want to join me in paying tribute to Del Singh and to Simon Chase who were tragically killed in Kabul on Sunday in a cowardly terrorist attack. Both were there to support the Afghan Government and to improve the lives of the Afghan people. Del Singh was a friend to many in the House and had given so much time and dedication to troubled regions across the world. Our thoughts should be with their families and friends at this very difficult time. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear”]. This morning, I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others, and in addition to my duties in the House, I shall have further such meetings later today.

[Stephen Timms]

I would like to associate myself with the condolences that the Prime Minister expressed on behalf of the whole House.

The Trussell Trust co-ordinates the fast-growing network, now numbering some 400, of church-based food banks, which between them provided food for half a million people, just between April and December last year. Will the Prime Minister be willing to meet representatives of the Trussell Trust to discuss the big challenges with which they are grappling?

[The Prime Minister]

I would be happy to meet them. We have listened carefully to the Trussell Trust. One thing that it wanted to see done by this Government and the previous Government was to allow food banks to be promoted in jobcentres. We have allowed that to happen. That has increased the use of food banks, but it is important to do the right thing rather than something that might just seem politically convenient.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Timms and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 17th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I join my hon. Friend in paying tribute to the people in Enfield who have found work. Not only is the welfare cap right because it would be wrong for people who are out of work to be able to earn more than the typical family that is in work, but it is working because the figures show how many people, seeing that a welfare cap is coming down the road, are getting out there, looking for work and finding jobs. That is good news for them and good news for our economy.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

Q9. Would Mr Adrian Beecroft have been asked to provide a report for the Government on employment regulation if he had not been a major donor to the Conservative party?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Timms and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 3rd July 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Individual voter registration is a major step forward, but, frankly, we have a situation with one of this country’s political parties whereby it has become apparent that votes are being bought and people signed up without consent—all done by the man, Len McCluskey, who gave the right hon. Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband) his job.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

Q3. There was demand for food banks from 30,000 households in the year before the general election, but the figure was 350,000 households last year. Will the Prime Minister acknowledge, unlike his noble friend Lord Freud, that rocketing demand for food banks shows we have a problem?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Timms and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 5th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. In the past two years, Jaguar Land Rover has hired an extra 8,000 new workers. That is a massive success story for the west midlands and for a great British brand. It is also, let us say so, a big success story of massive inward investment from the Indian parent company. We should praise all those things and recognise that we have to do even more to make Britain a really business-friendly country, with low rates of regulation, low rates of tax and lots of support for apprenticeships and infrastructure. That is what we are delivering, and we will continue to do so.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

Q7. Hundreds of young people from outside Europe chose London Metropolitan university, confident in British higher education. The Prime Minister needs to tackle visa fraud, but will he lift the threat to deport students who have paid their fees and complied fully with all the rules? Why is he so damaging the standing of British universities around the world?

[The Prime Minister]

I know that the right hon. Gentleman speaks with considerable experience and wants to speak up on behalf of his constituency. Having looked at this case and at the action that the Border Agency has taken, it seems to me that there were some real abuses. I want Britain to be open to students. Let us be clear: anyone who can speak English and who has a university place is able to come here and study at our universities, but the Minister for Immigration has rightly been very hard in closing down bogus colleges and in ensuring that action is taken when good universities, like this one, are not meeting the rules. That must be right if we are to control immigration.

EU Council

Debate between Stephen Timms and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Monday 12th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for his support. What we do not know is what the Opposition’s approach is to this issue. Despite all the fury we have heard from those on the Opposition Benches, they cannot tell us whether they support the treaty proposal or not.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

Britain will continue to be subject to EU single market financial services regulation. Do we not now have a major problem in that we will be absent when many of those rules are drawn up?

[The Prime Minister]

That is absolutely not the case because this new organisation cannot draw up or pass proposals that cut across EU treaties or EU legislation. The right hon. Gentleman knows this well. It is the case that Britain has suffered from some of the regulation that has come out of Brussels on financial services, and that we need greater safeguards. If we cannot get those safeguards within a treaty, it is better that those countries are in a separate treaty. That is a better safeguard than the alternative, and that is the point that he needs to understand.

Public Confidence in the Media and Police

Debate between Stephen Timms and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 20th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am sure the judicial inquiry will do that. One of the issues that it is looking at is the relationship between politicians and the media, and the conduct of both.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

If the Prime Minister had known the new information about Andy Coulson given to his chief of staff by The Guardian, would he have gone ahead with the appointment? Surely he should have been passed that information.

Phone Hacking

Debate between Stephen Timms and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 13th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady makes a good point. I am sure the inquiry will look at that, but let me repeat something I said earlier: whatever regulatory system we have, we must still have people at the top of newspapers and media organisations who take responsibility and recognise that it is not right to reveal that someone is pregnant, for instance, when there is no certainty that they will keep that baby. These are important things that are about common sense and decency, and whatever regulatory system we come up with, we must ensure that we keep hold of that thought, too.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

Why did his chief of staff not pass on to him what he found out from The Guardian?

[The Prime Minister]

I think I have answered this question in some detail. The fact is that the information was not passed on but the lion’s share of it was included in a published article in The Guardian about which I gave a very extensive answer about an hour ago.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Timms and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 2nd March 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I think my hon. Friend speaks for the whole House and, I am sure, the whole country. It was absolutely shocking to hear the news this morning about that Minister, who was a Christian minister in Pakistan, being killed in that way—absolutely brutal and unacceptable. It shows what a huge problem we have in our world with intolerance, and what my hon. Friend says is absolutely right. I will send not only our condolences, but our clearest possible message to the Government and people of Pakistan that that is simply unacceptable.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

Q5. Two weeks ago, the Prime Minister gave the House some figures to criticise the flexible new deal. I thought they sounded a bit odd, so I asked the Library to check, and its response states: “This is a misleading interpretation of the statistics.”The Library points out that the Department for Work and Pensions website warns directly against interpreting the figures in the way the Prime Minister interpreted them. In future, can he get someone to check his figures before he gives them to the House?

[The Prime Minister]

I can assure the right hon. Gentleman that the figures were properly checked, and I shall write him a letter outlining not only the figures for the flexible new deal, which so many people know was just a revolving door for young people who needed employment, but the figures for the future jobs fund, which cost five times as much as many other programmes.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Timms and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 2nd February 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

He nods now, even though the Institute for Fiscal Studies could not be clearer that we had one of the biggest structural deficits of anywhere in the advanced world. I have to say, if you start in opposition from a position of complete deficit denial, you will never be taken seriously again.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

Q10. With youth unemployment at its highest level since records began, will the Prime Minister reconsider the decision to scrap the future jobs fund?

[The Prime Minister]

First, may I say how good it is to see the right hon. Gentleman back, well and in his place? As I said last week, youth unemployment is a problem that got worse during the boom years under the previous Government, then got even worse during the recession and is still, yes, a very big problem. I do not believe the future jobs fund is the answer, because it was five times more expensive than other schemes, and in some places such as Birmingham only 3% of the jobs were in the private sector. It was not a good scheme, and it is going to be replaced with better schemes, but everyone in this House needs to work together on how we tackle youth unemployment—a scourge that has got worse over the past 13 years.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Timms and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton

Wednesday 17th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. A lot of people on the Opposition Front Bench do not seem to understand that the taxpayer provides Short money and the amount that goes to Labour is going up by 21%. As other Departments are having to take such severe cuts—the cut in No. 10 Downing street, for instance, is 25%—I look forward to an offer from the Labour party.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

Q7. I welcome the commitment the Prime Minister made two weeks ago to a new silicon valley in east London, but will it be like the promise to the midwives? Can he tell us how many jobs he wants to see created in east London, and what specific steps he and the Government will be taking to make that happen?

[The Prime Minister]

First, I praise the people who put together the idea of “tech city” in east London, in terms of the number of businesses they have actually encouraged to commit to going there—Google, Intel and others. I do not think it is right for the Government to try to identify the precise number of jobs that will be created, but we have seen a huge level of enthusiasm, great commitment from Ministers, and a number of businesses committing to going to Shoreditch and the Olympic park, where there is a fantastic space for an incubator for new businesses. I hope the right hon. Gentleman will help us to get behind that and create what could be a silicon valley for the east end.