Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Steven Paterson and Baroness May of Maidenhead

Wednesday 26th April 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

May I first pay tribute to my right hon. Friend not just for his service to his constituents over the years, but for his service to the House when he took the Chair as Deputy Speaker? He has been a stalwart and a champion of the people of Saffron Walden over the years—for 40 years, as you said, Mr Speaker.

My right hon. Friend is right to raise issues of infrastructure spending. We included £40 million for the east of England in the Budget, but, as I think he implied in his question, such spending is only possible with the strong economy that comes from a strong and stable Government, and for Saffron Walden that will mean the election of a Conservative Government on 8 June.

[Steven Paterson (Stirling) (SNP)]

Q13. My constituent, Mr Buchanan, has suffered several serious strokes and requires extensive care. He was deemed to have missed his appointment for an Atos assessment when Atos arrived early for the appointment and his carers had not yet helped him to get up. As a result, his benefits were stopped. Why is the Government’s welfare regime punishing vulnerable people like my constituent?

[The Prime Minister]

We want to ensure that we have a system that properly assesses people who apply for benefits. As the hon. Gentleman has said, and as other Members will know, there have been issues relating to the way in which the system has operated. The Department for Work and Pensions has been looking very carefully at it to ensure that it makes proper assessments and delivers the right results for people.

Article 50

Debate between Steven Paterson and Baroness May of Maidenhead

Wednesday 29th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman is wrong in the premise of his question. He says that the Government are going for the hardest of hard Brexits; we are not. I have been very clear in my letter to President Tusk, in my statement today and in everything else that I have said in this Chamber that we are looking for a comprehensive free trade agreement with the European Union. We can achieve that and that is what we will be working for.

[Steven Paterson (Stirling) (SNP)]

When will Scotland receive the enhanced powers, including over immigration, that were promised during the EU referendum by the then Secretary of State for Justice?

[The Prime Minister]

On the powers that are being repatriated from Brussels to the United Kingdom, we have been very clear that we will be entering discussions with the devolved Administrations about how those powers should best be dealt with—whether they should remain within the UK framework or be further devolved. I am clear that significant decision-making powers will be coming down to the devolved Administrations.

Paris Terrorist Attacks

Debate between Steven Paterson and Baroness May of Maidenhead

Monday 16th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mrs May]

As I have said in reply to a number of Members on both sides of the House, the internal borders of Schengen are primarily a matter for the countries that are in Schengen, but the United Kingdom takes very seriously the question of the external borders of the European Union. We have been working to enhance the security of those external borders by, for example, encouraging the proper registration of migrants who are crossing them. We have also supplied resources to Greece in particular, but we have offered resources to Italy as well, to help those countries to deal with the numbers of people crossing the borders, as part of the process of strengthening the security at the external borders, which, as my hon. Friend said, is so important to us.

[Steven Paterson (Stirling) (SNP)]

The financing of terrorist organisations such as Daesh is essential to their capacity to carry out atrocities of the kind that we witnessed on Friday. What strategy is in place to combat the financing of such groups, both here in the United Kingdom and internationally?

[Mrs May]

Action is being taken at international level to deal with the financing of such organisations. Daesh took territory that enabled it to access oil supplies, and part of its financing has resulted from that. In the wider context of the funding of terrorism, we take very seriously the existence of links between organised crime, such as kidnappings, and terrorism finances, and we work on that problem not just as the UK but on an international basis.