Business of the House

Debate between Tom Blenkinsop and Lord Hague of Richmond

Thursday 16th October 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

It is a good time to remember what the Royal Air Force and others do on our behalf, and we debated that in this House at the end of September. The full merits of the specific proposal to introduce a national defence medal was considered at length by the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Declarations and Medals, which concluded that a strong enough case had not been made at this time for a national defence medal, but I have no doubt that my hon. Friend will continue to advocate it.

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

Going back to the urgent question of my hon. Friend the Member for Hartlepool (Mr Wright), the Minister’s response left a few doubts in my mind about his appreciation of the situation. He talked about Tata going forward with UK rail contracts, but that would not be the case if Klesch took ownership of the Scunthorpe works. That would affect contract workers not just in Skinningrove in my constituency but in Redcar and Beam Mill. They are very much concerned about their futures under the potential new ownership. Can we have further clarification from the Government that they will be talking to trade union representatives from all sites before they meet Klesch, because that is of the utmost importance?

[Mr Hague]

I do not think that I can expand on what my right hon. Friend the Minister said in half an hour in this House. He answered many questions, including from the hon. Gentleman. I cannot add to what he has said, but he did stress the importance that the Government attach to the matter and indeed to the future of steel production overall. He will continue to keep the House up to date, and I am sure that he will be touch with hon. Members whose constituencies are affected.

Business of the House

Debate between Tom Blenkinsop and Lord Hague of Richmond

Thursday 4th September 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

It is wonderful to hear my hon. Friend cite the coalition agreement as a key document and I look forward to his doing so on many other occasions. He is a strong and consistent advocate in this regard, which I respect very much, including in the ten-minute rule Bill motion to which he spoke. He won leave to introduce his Bill earlier this week, but this is a matter on which a great deal of detail would need to be sorted out and that is where there is a lack of consensus. There would have to be wide agreement across the House including with the Government on the detail of how that would operate and I do not think that consensus exists at the moment.

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

Sadly, this week ESCO in my constituency announced the closure of its foundry in Guisborough, with the loss of 65 employees. It is due to close in November and ESCO cited the current economic climate as the primary reason, and it has been operating at less than half capacity for a number of years. One statistic that is quite worrying is the fact that imported non-EU reinforced steel has risen from 4% in 2010 to 44% this year. That is a profound problem for the UK steel industry. Will the Leader of the House use his good offices to help me assist those 65 employees in finding new jobs in the future?

[Mr Hague]

The hon. Gentleman draws attention to an important issue in his constituency. He will have a further opportunity to put his questions to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills next Thursday in the House, so there are opportunities to raise these matters then. I am sure Ministers will be happy to discuss the issue with him. In general, we are witnessing a strong rise in employment across the economy as a whole; that is not to say that there is growth in every business and every sector at the same time. If the Opposition would only stir themselves to call for a wide debate on the economy in one of their Opposition day debates—if they would summon up the courage to do so—it would be possible for Members like him to raise these points in the course of that debate.

Business of the House

Debate between Tom Blenkinsop and Lord Hague of Richmond

Thursday 17th July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

These issues are discussed often in the House. It is clear that the demand to see a GP has gone up greatly. The Royal College of General Practitioners says that there are 40 million more GP appointments a year than there were five years ago. We are trying to ensure that our resources are focused on increasing the number of clinical staff. We are increasing the number of newly qualified doctors who go on to train to become a GP to 50% by 2020. A great deal is going on to improve these services, but the hon. Gentleman has made his point about his local situation.

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

I congratulate my constituency neighbour on his new position. Earlier, the right hon. Gentleman said that he will have to come to this place often and reflect the Government’s position to the House. With his new powers, will he give us a statement on whether he supports or opposes the Health Secretary’s confirmation of the decision to close maternity services in Friarage hospital?

[Mr Hague]

As the hon. Gentleman knows, that decision has been determined by the independent reconfiguration panel and the Secretary of State has accepted its advice. That is what it is for—it is independent. This is the end of a long battle on that particular issue and all of us who were involved have had to accept that. I think that in all such cases the Secretary of State takes its advice. It is very important that there is a strong future for Friarage hospital in Northallerton. We are getting into constituency matters here, but I would encourage the clinical commissioning group and South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to set out a very strong and ambitious future for that hospital.

Iraq and Ending Sexual Violence in Conflict

Debate between Tom Blenkinsop and Lord Hague of Richmond

Monday 16th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

My hon. Friend makes an extremely powerful point, and I hope that it will be well heeded far beyond this House.

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

The EU Enlargement Commissioner is scheduled to hold talks with the Turkish President and Foreign Minister. No doubt the capture of Turkish diplomats in Mosul last week will be raised. What discussions has the Foreign Secretary had with the more secular yet Sunni Turkish Government about the security situation in Iraq?

[Mr Hague]

I regularly discuss the situation in Iraq with the Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, most recently on Saturday, when I expressed our concern about the Turkish nationals who have now been taken hostage by ISIL. We of course hope for their safe return and are consulting closely with Turkey about the whole situation we have been discussing in the House today.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Tom Blenkinsop and Lord Hague of Richmond

Tuesday 21st January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

5. What recent discussions he has had with his Russian counterpart on LGBT rights in that country.

[The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr William Hague)]

I discussed the issue with Foreign Minister Lavrov at the UN General Assembly in September. The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport raised concerns about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights with Deputy Prime Minister Golodets in December and the Prime Minister made clear the strength of feeling about the new law to President Putin in September.

[Tom Blenkinsop]

Will the Foreign Secretary commend and applaud the message of equality and diversity implicit in President Obama’s decision to include two gay athletes in the USA’s official delegation to the winter Olympics in Sochi?

[Mr Hague]

Yes, I absolutely commend that. The United Kingdom will continue to make our views very clear about this issue, in Russia too, with Russian leaders, and worldwide. I hope there will be better reflection in Russia over time on this issue.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Tom Blenkinsop and Lord Hague of Richmond

Tuesday 4th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

My right hon. Friend’s question poses a number of questions. As we have discussed before, the motivations of the opposition in Syria are very complex. Yes, there is of course a lot of Sunni influence, but people of many different religious affiliations are involved in the opposition. They are not merely western-backed—they are particularly Arab-backed, so I would not want to define them as a western-backed opposition. It is in Russia’s interest to agree to a diplomatic solution for a transitional Government in Syria, and I hope the Russians will see the arguments for that at the meetings this week and subsequently.

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

16. What recent discussions he has had with the Government of Rwanda on violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Tom Blenkinsop and Lord Hague of Richmond

Tuesday 14th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

That is a good question. Sadly, the answer is no. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development discussed the matter directly with the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross a few days ago. One of the things that we have called on the Syrian Government to grant is humanitarian access, which remains a prime consideration in Syria. I will discuss tonight with the Turkish Foreign Minister what further work can be done with Turkey— Syria’s closest and, perhaps, most important neighbour in terms of diplomatic relationships—to try to persuade the Syrians to grant such access.

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

17. What recent assessment he has made of the state of bilateral relations with Japan; and if he will make a statement.