Covid-19 Update

Debate between Wayne David and Matt Hancock

Monday 21st September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

There absolutely will be a debate in this House on the measures that we have to use. We have to move very fast, and I am very happy to talk to my hon. Friend about SureScreen in her constituency.

[Wayne David (Caerphilly) (Lab)]

In south Wales, Caerphilly and Rhondda Cynon Taf are in local lockdown, and people in those boroughs cannot leave to go on holiday. Those areas will be joined by four others tomorrow evening. The Welsh Government have said that those would-be holidaymakers should have a full refund if they are prevented from going on holiday. Will the Secretary of State say emphatically that those people must have a full refund of the cost of their holidays, as a policy of central Government?

[Matt Hancock]

I am very happy to work with the hon. Gentleman and others to make sure people get the fair treatment they deserve.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Wayne David and Matt Hancock

Tuesday 8th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

I shall speak to my opposite number in the Welsh Government about that suggestion. I know that taking local action, whether in Caerphilly in Wales, in and around Glasgow and Aberdeen in Scotland, or, of course, in parts of England, which is my responsibility when it comes to local action, we only take this action with a heavy heart and when it is necessary.

[Wayne David (Caerphilly) (Lab)]

As the Secretary of State has just indicated, he is aware of the situation as it is developing in Caerphilly in my constituency, but will he give a commitment to work as closely as possible with the Welsh Government to ensure that they are effective in dealing with this situation?

[Matt Hancock]

Yes, I absolutely will. The UK Government and the Welsh Government working together is incredibly important. We have weekly calls, and Vaughan Gething and I speak and are in contact regularly. I support the action that he has had to take, as I say, with a heavy heart, but it is necessary action. My message to the people of Caerphilly, who are so ably represented in this House, is that this action and following the stricter local rules are absolutely critical to getting this virus under control locally, to protecting people themselves and to protecting their loved ones.

Coronavirus

Debate between Wayne David and Matt Hancock

Wednesday 11th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

This is a really important part of our work. We are rolling out personal protective equipment to all primary care settings and GPs by the end of this week—we are on track to do that—and making sure that everybody in community settings in the NHS gets support. This will be a tough time for people who work in the NHS. The demands on them will be significant. Nurses, doctors and all the staff in the NHS do an extraordinary job all the time, but they will be called to be the frontline of our response in a way that many have not seen before. I thank them in advance—I think the whole House would want to do so—for the service that they will give.

[Wayne David (Caerphilly) (Lab)]

I note what the Secretary of State said about different approaches in different countries, but I was recently approached by the professor of visual neuroscience at Cardiff University, Professor Jonathan Erichsen. He says that there is a great deal that we can learn from South Korea in particular. Will the Secretary of State give a commitment that he will keep an open mind on how we approach this problem, in the light of lessons from other countries?

[Matt Hancock]

Absolutely. We are looking daily at how every country in the world is responding, to try to find the very best response. That is part of the science. The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, the body that meets to bring that science together, is constantly reviewing that, simply because we want the very best response possible, and that is what we base judgments on.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Wayne David and Matt Hancock

Thursday 19th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock]

First, we got the Competition and Markets Authority to look into that matter, because it had not been investigated under the previous Government. The CMA’s initial conclusion was that we have a competitive market at that level, so the precise detail that the hon. Gentleman sets out is not the problem. The remaining problem in the UK’s energy market is that it needs to be more competitive in order to get a better deal for customers. The last thing anybody needs is for prices to be frozen at the high levels at which Labour proposed to freeze them.

[Wayne David (Caerphilly) (Lab)]

5. What steps he is taking to help households with their energy bills.

Coalfield Communities

Debate between Wayne David and Matt Hancock

Tuesday 28th October 2014 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock]

Of course I agree with that. It would benefit the House if Members understood that the process of becoming a modern economy, which was a difficult process, could have been achieved far better through partnership than through adversarial means. Indeed, that spirit of partnership is what we have now and it is starting to work.

It is a great pity that the motion focuses so heavily on reliving the battles of the past. It is a demonstration of the Labour party at its worst—totally uninterested in the future. I want to talk about the future.

[Wayne David (Caerphilly) (Lab)]

Will the Minister give way?

[Matthew Hancock]

I will give way in a second and perhaps the hon. Gentleman will say whether he supports what I am about to say.

Orgreave, which was the site of one of the biggest confrontations between miners and the police, is now home to Sheffield university’s advanced manufacturing research centre. I have been there. That partnership between businesses, universities and, no doubt, trade unions shows the sort of approach that this country could easily have taken to the difficult transition 30-odd years ago, but that was turned down through the political antics of Arthur Scargill and his friends.

[Wayne David]

To deal with the present, is the Minister pleased that wage levels are plummeting in former coal mining areas?

[Matthew Hancock]

We are doing everything we can to turn the economy around. The shadow Chancellor himself admitted that, after an economic calamity of the scale we saw, it is inevitable that people will be affected. Of course they will be. Of course, when national income falls—as happened in the great recession—that impacts on people; national income is only the sum of the incomes of people in that nation. Until the Labour party understands that our economic fortunes as a nation are tied to our economic policy, and that the calamity of Labour’s economic policy led to a calamity for family incomes, it will never be trusted with the economy again.

European Union (Amendment) Act 2008

Debate between Wayne David and Matt Hancock

Wednesday 16th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr David]

I thank the Minister for that clarification, but although there might be extensive post-decision debate, after the implementation of the Bill we will no longer be in a position effectively to give the Prime Minister a mandate. That is a step backwards and a negation of democracy.

[Matthew Hancock (West Suffolk) (Con)]

The hon. Gentleman has just said that he believes it is an error not to have a mandate, but did the previous Government have a mandate when they signed up to the EFSM after losing an election?

[Mr David]

I have already referred to that point. The former Chancellor and Government were facing exceptional circumstances, and my guess is that if the current Government had taken over the reins at that point, they would have done exactly the same thing.

--- Later in debate ---

[Matthew Hancock]

Is the hon. Gentleman therefore suggesting that the Labour party position is that the UK should be a part of the European stability mechanism, and therefore tied into bailing out eurozone countries, or does he agree with the Government’s proposal that the European stability mechanism should be for eurozone countries only?

[Mr David]

If the hon. Gentleman bears with me, I will tell him what I propose.

One sure way to prevent the single market from developing in a way that does not work to Britain’s advantage is for Britain to be involved in the current discussions. It is important for us to have an appropriate involvement in eurozone summits. I understand that countries such as Poland and Sweden, and even the Czech Republic, which has absolutely no intention of ever joining the single currency, have already indicated that they wish to be involved in those discussions. In contrast, Britain has made it clear—so I am told—that it does not want to be involved in any way whatever. I suggest that that is potentially harmful to Britain’s national interest, and therefore urge the Government not to close the door on our eurozone partners.

The second issue is another important and profound one. I have reservations about the economic and political assumptions that underpin this treaty change and the ESM. Let me be clear that the eurozone countries are correct in agreeing a permanent crisis mechanism. To that extent the treaty change is understandable, but my concern is that the ESM is part of a wider economic approach that is completely insufficient to address Europe’s deep-seated economic problems. Austerity, rapid economic retrenchment policies and fiscal consolidation will not of themselves create the kind of growth that the eurozone desperately needs. If all EU countries cut back at the same time, growth is likely to be sluggish at best. The hardest hit countries could find themselves facing stagnation, or even another recession. The risk is low economic growth and high long-term unemployment, with the poorest member states being hit hardest.

Of course, Europe has a 2020 strategy, which is supposed to be a 10-year strategy for jobs and

“smart, sustainable and inclusive growth”.

The stated aim of the strategy is to help Europe to deliver structural reforms and to recover from the crisis. However, although it is full of good intentions, the strategy plays second fiddle to Council and the Commission plans for deep economic retrenchment. It is clear that throughout most of Europe economic recovery is far from strong, and there is little evidence that private sector job growth will be fast enough to compensate for the huge number of jobs lost in the public sector. My concern is that the political and economic philosophy underpinning the treaty change and the ESM will make economic recovery in the eurozone both fragile and uncertain. As I said at the beginning of my speech, that is not in Britain’s best national interests.

These are important and serious reservations, and I hope that our concerns will be listened to carefully. Europe, including Britain, needs a coherent, well-thought-out growth strategy. Without that, the treaty change will fail to deliver the stability and prosperity that we all want.