UK’s Development Work (Girls and Women)

Debate between William Bain and Justine Greening

Thursday 7th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

I will write to my hon. Friend about the precise support that we are giving to the project, but I can say that some amazing work has been done by such organisations. In the UK, Emmeline Pankhurst was being arrested for fighting for votes for women 100 years ago. It is staggering that in so many other countries, women’s rights are still at such a basic level and still having to be fought for. I said this week that the issue of women’s rights remains one of the greatest unmet human challenges that the world faces, and it is incredibly important that we do anything we can to work with those organisations to raise the issue and do something about it.

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

Last April, members of the associate parliamentary group for the Republic of Sudan and South Sudan and I visited Lakes state in South Sudan and saw for ourselves the enormously empowering effect that smallholder agriculture projects can have on women’s economic rights in sub-Saharan Africa. Will the Secretary of State tell us what investment plans her Department has to support women’s economic development in that region during the remainder of this Parliament?

[Justine Greening]

I know that my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for International Development has looked at this area. Sudan and South Sudan are among the most challenging areas in which we carry out our work, and women’s economic empowerment in the region is incredibly important. In countries such as Kenya, women have access to only 1% of land titles, and without collateral, women cannot get a loan. Without a loan, they cannot develop their businesses. Much of our work is related to access to finance, as well as to allowing and helping women to grow the small businesses that they want to run, many of which involve agriculture and farming.

Syria (Humanitarian Response)

Debate between William Bain and Justine Greening

Monday 4th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

That is something that I have also considered, but it is clear that the UN process and logistics are well set up. The road block over recent weeks has been in funding. The channels and the people are there, but we have not been able to scale up support because the money has not been in place. The donor conference means that that money is now in place and the scale-up can take place. My hon. Friend is right to say that basic shelter is one of the key aids that we have given many of the refugees. It is freezing over there and they need to be protected from the cold.

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

The UNHCR estimates that there could be more than 430,000 refugees from Syria in Jordan by the end of this year. Will the Secretary of State tell the House how the money provided by this Government will help the condition of children who have had to flee appalling conditions in Syria?

[Justine Greening]

One of the key things that can now happen is that the Za’atari camp itself can grow in a more structured way. That includes the establishment of a school and the development of education for children in that refugee camp. I can therefore provide the hon. Gentleman with some assurance that there is now a structure plan in place to grow the camp in order to accommodate more refugees as they turn up. That is about providing not just shelter but other things that they will need, such as education for the children and medical support.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between William Bain and Justine Greening

Thursday 28th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

10. What recent progress she has made on transport infrastructure projects announced in the autumn statement.

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Justine Greening)]

The Government are not just fixing the disgraceful legacy of debt left to us by the Labour party but are also building for our country’s success in future—and that means investing in transport. At the autumn statement we announced £2.5 billion more in transport investment, building on the £30 billion set out in the spending review. An update on the progress made on the priority infrastructure investments identified in the 2011 national infrastructure plan was published alongside the Budget in March.

[Mr Bain]

The debt plan is not going very well, because borrowing has gone up £3.9 billion this year above what it was at the equivalent stage last year. Construction output fell in April by 13% and long-term unemployment is soaring, yet many of the infrastructure plans set out by the Chancellor do not begin until later in this Parliament. Will the Secretary of State tell us what representations she has made to the Chancellor to bring forward infrastructure spending into this financial year and whether she has had any more success with that than she had with her representations on fuel duty?

[Justine Greening]

I do not think this Government need to take any lectures about debt levels from the Labour party. The only problem Labour has with our debt levels is that they are not high enough. Labour Members want more debt to get us out of this debt problem, not less; no wonder they are sitting on the Opposition Benches rather than the Government Benches.

We are absolutely bringing forward transport projects. In fact, in the time that I have been in this role we have announced 42 major road schemes, many of which were sat on the stocks ready to go but had never been approved by Labour. We are getting on with them and bringing forward a number of projects, and we are cracking on with that right now.