27/04/2016 Prime Minister's Questions

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Yesterday marked a momentous day for the family and friends of the 96

victims of the Hillsborough disaster.

Over the last 27 years their search for justice has been met

with obfuscation and hostility instead of sympathy and answers.

As I said in 2012 about the Hillsborough independent panel's

report, it is wrong that the families had to wait

for so long and fight so hard to get to the truth.

I know the whole house will want to join me

in praising their courage, patience and resolve.

They have never faltered in the pursuit of the truth

and we owe them a great debt of gratitude.

This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues

and others and in addition to my duties in the house

I will have further meetings today.

I would very much like to associate myself with the Prime

Minister's important comment on the Hillsborough tragedy,

along with members on all sides of this house, and pay

tribute to the victims, their families and the resilience

of the campaigners who continue to strive for the truth

in the pursuit of justice.

In my constituency of Eastleigh, the service that GPs provide

is crucial to people's daily lives including one I met

with to highlight their local value.

Does the Prime Minister agree that the recent key announcement

of ?2.4 billion of funding for GPs is only possible because of a strong

Conservative majority Government?

My honourable friend is absolutely right.

We made a choice to put ?12 billion into the NHS in the last parliament,

more this Parliament, and we want to see

strengthened primary care.

Our vision is GPs coming together and having in their surgeries,

physiotherapists therapies, mental health practitioners

so people can get the health care they need and we take pressure off

hospitals and that will only happen with a Government that continues

to invest in our NHS.

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Yesterday, after 27 years, the 96 people who tragically

lost their lives at Hillsborough and their families finally

received the justice they were entitled to.

I welcome the fact the Prime Minister has

apologised for the actions of previous governments.

I join him in paying tribute to all those families

who campaigned with such dignity, steadfastness and determination

to get to the truth of what happened on that dreadful afternoon.

I also pay very warm tribute to my friends,

the members for Liverpool, Walton, Leigh, Halton,

Garston and Halewood, and other MPs who have relentlessly

campaigned with great difficulty over many years.

I hope the whole House will be united in demanding all those

involved in the lies, smears and cover-ups that bedevilled

this whole enquiry will be held to account.

Last week the Prime Minister told the House he was going to put rocket

boosters on his forced academisation proposals.

This weekend in light of widespread unease including amongst his own MPs

it seems the wheels are falling off the rocket boosters

and the Government is considering a U-turn.

Can the Prime Minister confirm whether the U-turn

is being prepared for or not?

Let me join the right honourable gentlemen in praising those

who campaigned so long to get justice for the victims

of Hillsborough.

The process took far too long but it is right and I pay tribute

to the right honourable member for Leigh, that we had that Jones

report, we responded to the Jones report.

And I also want to mention the former Attorney General who took

the case to the High Court for the Government himself to argue

for that vital second inquest.

Turning to academies, I have not yet met a rocket

booster with a wheel on it, but I'm sure rocket science is not

really my subject and apparently it is not his.

I repeat again, academies are raising standards in our schools

and I want the system where it is heads and teachers

running schools, not bureaucrats.

There was not much of an answer there.

Can the Prime Minister tell us whether he will...

If the members opposite would be patient enough, they might hear

the question I am putting to the Prime Minister,

which is another very simple one.

Could he tell us if he will bring forward legislation to force,

against the wishes of good and outstanding schools,

to become academies in the upcoming Queen's speech?

Yes or no?

I can't really pre-empt what is in the Queen's speech

but on this one example, I can help him out.

We will have academies for all and it will be

in the Queen's speech.

Mr Speaker, we look forward to that but there is still time

for the U-turn which I am sure is at the back

of the Prime Minister's mind.

It has been reported the Government is considering allowing good local

authorities to form multi-academy trusts which would give

local authorities more responsibility than they have now.

The Prime Minister has previously suggested local authorities

are holding schools back.

Why is this costly reorganisation of schools necessary

for schools that are already good or outstanding?

Why is he forcing this on them?

As I said last week - I like repeats on television

and it is good to have them in this House as well -

outstanding schools have nothing to fear from becoming

academies and a lot to gain.

Just because a school is outstanding or good does not mean it cannot have

further improvement.

Not least what we want to see if outstanding schools helping other

schools in that area, often by being part of an academy trust.

He raises the issue about local authorities.

Two questions so far, two clear answers.

Third question, third clear answer coming

so simmer down.

Simmer down.

Perhaps if you could deal with the anti-Semites

in your own party we would be be prepared to listen

to him a bit more.

Maybe we'll come onto that.

There are many ways schools can become academies.

They can convert, they can be sponsored by an outside

organisation, work with other schools in the area,

work with the local authority.

Those schools that want to go on using local authority services

are free to do so.

Academies are great and academies for all is a good policy.

What we're now seeing from Labour is I sense they are moving

in favour of academy schools.

Does he favour academies or not?

The Prime Minister will be aware that sometimes repeats on television

get more viewers than the first time round.

The chief executive of the largest academy chain in London,

the Harris Academy, has warned that a far more fundamental thing

that the Prime Minister should be worrying about,

whether school should become academies or not, it's

actually teacher shortages.

The academies don't want this, parents don't want it,

teachers don't want it, governors don't want it,

Conservative councils and MPs don't want it.

Who actually does want this top-down reorganisation?

Question four, answer four.

Here it comes.

He asks who wants this.

Let's start with the Chief Inspector of schools.

I think someone quite worthwhile listening to.

Academisation can lead to rapid improvements and I firmly believe

it is right to give more autonomy to the front line.

The OECD has been in the news today.

"I view the trend toward academies as a very promising development

in the UK, which used to have a prescriptive

education system".

So they support it.

What about endless academy trusts who support it?

He asked another question.

Very keen for full answers.

If you shout, you won't hear the answer.

He asked about teacher shortages.

The fact is there are more school places and more teachers under this

Government than under Labour.

Why?

Because we have a successful economy and we are putting it

into our schools and children's future.

There are of course still record numbers of children in oversized

classes and supersized classes and that is getting worse.

If he is looking for support for his academisation proposal

he might care to phone up his friends, the leaders

of Hampshire, West Sussex and his Oxfordshire County Council,

who are deeply concerned and opposed to it.

He might care to listen to the Conservative chair

of the county Councillors network, who says the change will lead

to a poorer education system.

Why is the pushing it through with so much opposition

and concern and so much of a waste of money when we should be investing

in teachers and schools, not top-down reorganisation?

I am glad he's quoting Conservative council leaders.

Because they keep council tax down and provide good services,

I hope we will see more of them in ten days' time.

On teacher supply, just to be clear, 13,000 more teachers than 2010,

to give a wholly accurate answer.

Again he asked about who else would support academies.

Let me quote Helena Mills of one academy trust.

She said, "I used to be sceptical and resistant to academy status,

but during the process of developing the academy I have been increasingly

convinced this is the way forward".

That is what more and more people are saying.

That is why 1.3 million more children in good

and outstanding schools.

That is why almost nine out of ten converter academies

are good or outstanding.

We are very clear on this side of the House, we back aspiration,

opportunity, investment in our schools, we want every child

to get the best but it is Labour who want to hold back opportunity

and have one size fits all.

There seems to be a pattern developing here.

It is quite simply this.

He has a Health Secretary imposing a contract on junior doctors

against the wishes of patients and the public and the rest

of the medical profession.

He has an Education Secretary imposing yet another Tory top-down

reorganisation that nobody wants.

When will his Government show some respect and listen to the public,

parents and patients and indeed professionals who have

given their lives to public service in education and health,

and change his ways, listen to them and trust other

people to run services rather than imposing things from above?

I will tell him the pattern that is developing, we can see

1.9 million more people being treated in our health service.

We can see 1.3 million more children in good or outstanding schools.

A strong economy investing into our public services.

The other pattern I have noticed is I am on my fifth Labour leader

and if it carries on like this I will soon be on my sixth.

Mr Speaker, the Government package to help potential buyers

of the Tata Steel site in Port Talbot is substantial

and befitting the tremendous bipartisan measures

the Government has taken

to save this industry.

It stands in stark contrast

with the distasteful, disrespectful comments

of Labour's policy advisor who said the steel crisis had been

good for Labour.

Could I ask the Prime Minister whether there is any

indication that the package

could help expedite the sale of the site, which could provide

the long-term viable future for Welsh steel

that we all hope for?

I want to thank my honourable friend for welcoming me to the Gower

yesterday and before coming to his constituency,

I visited Port Talbot

and I met with the management and with the trade unions.

I had a very constructive discussion and I did actually meet

the Conservative leader, Andrew RT Davies, who

does an excellent job in the Welsh Assembly.

If you want to be Speaker, you better stop interrupting everybody.

It's not going to get you any votes!

A little tip for you, there.

There is a serious point, which is the areas

where we can help.

We can help in power, in procurement,

and on the issue of pensions.

There is a very constructive conversation going on but I say

again from this dispatch box, while I want to do everything we can

to secure the future not only for Port Talbot but also

for Scunthorpe and steel-making in Britain, we are coping

with a massive oversupply, a collapse in prices from China,

so we must do all we can.

There is no guarantee of success but if we work hard,

get a proper sales process and get behind it on a bipartisan basis,

we can see success here.

Following the Hillsborough inquiry, we join in all of the comments that

have been said thus far in relation to the families and paying tribute

to all of the campaigners for justice.

Mr Speaker, last night the Government was defeated

for the second time in the House of Lords on the issue

of refugee children being given refuge in the UK.

There are many members of that House, as there are many

members of this House, in all parties, including

the Prime Minister's own side, who would wish us to do much, much

more in helping providing refuge for unaccompanied children in Europe

at the present time.

Will the Prime Minister please reconsider his opposition and stop

walking on by on the other side?

I don't think anyone could accuse this country

of walking on by, in terms of this refugee crisis.

Let's be very clear about what we've done.

First of all, taking the 20,000 refugees from outside of Europe,

which I think has all-party support.

Second of all, last week announcing the further 3,000 principally

unaccompanied children and children at risk from outside Europe

that we will be taking.

Third of all, in our normal refugee procedures, last year we took over

3,000 unaccompanied children.

But where I disagree, respectfully, with the Lordships' House,

is those people who are in European countries are in safe

European countries.

To compare somehow children or adults who are in France

or Germany or Italy or Spain or Portugal or Greece...

To compare that with children stuck in Nazi Germany I think is deeply

wrong and we'll continue with our approach, which includes,

by the way, being the second largest donor of any country anywhere

in the world into those refugee camps.

Just as in the 1930s, there are thousands...

There's no comparison, Mr Speaker.

Apparently, there's no comparison between thousands of children

needing refuge in the 1930s and thousands of children

in Europe at the present time.

Yes, yes...

Order, order! Order!

I'm not interested in somebody yelling out their opinion of

the honourable gentleman's question.

This is the home of free speech.

The honourable gentleman and every other member will be heard,

however long this session takes.

It's very clear. Mr Angus Robertson.

Europol estimates that 10,000 unaccompanied children

in Europe have disappeared.

This is an existential question about the safety of

vulnerable children.

The Prime Minister thinks it is not the responsibility of the United

Kingdom to help unaccompanied children in Europe, so I ask him,

who has the moral responsibility to feed them, to clothe them,

to educate them and give them refuge, if not us

and everybody in Europe?

Let me answer that very directly.

First of all, any unaccompanied child who has direct family

in Britain, on claiming asylum, under the Dublin regulations,

can come to Britain, and quite right, too.

But he asked the question, who is responsible for refugees?

The person responsible is the country in which they are in.

I want Britain to play a part but you have to ask yourself,

do we do better by taking a child

from a refugee camp or taking a child from

the Lebanon or taking a child

from Jordan than we do taking a child from France

or Italy or Germany?

And, as I said, to compare this to the 1930s is frankly

to insult those countries who are our neighbours and partners.

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

ATP Industries Group based in Cannock Wood

one of Europe's largest

independent manufacturers of automated transmissions

and vehicle electronics and were last week

awarded the Queen's Award for Innovation.

ATP export goods across the globe, with their international trade

increasing by over 50% last year.

Will my right honourable friend join me in congratulating ATP

and will he set out what the Government is doing

to support exporters to reach new markets?

I certainly join her in congratulating ATP.

It's very difficult to win at Queen's Award for export

so they do deserve praise.

What we need to see in our country is...

We currently have one in five SMEs that exports.

If we could make that one in four, we could wipe out our trade deficit.

We are encouraging that through the work of UKTI.

We are also encouraging it, as I saw yesterday in South Wales,

by encouraging reshoring,

by getting the supply and components industries, for instance,

for the automotive industry, to come back on shore

and invest in Britain.

In my constituency, the Zielsdorf family have lived

and raised their family

in the small village of Laggan for many years.

Despite full cooperation, they face an uphill and fruitless

battle with the Home Office, had their driving licences

revoked and are being forced out of a community they have served

and invested in by a technicality around their business,

the local shop.

Will the Prime Minister look into this grossly unfair situation

and work with me to achieve justice for this family?

I'll certainly have a look at the case that he mentions

if he lets me know

the names and the nature of the issues, and I'll make sure

the Home Office look at it urgently.

As the Prime Minister will know from getting stuck in traffic

on his way into Bath just before the general election last year,

my constituency is plagued by high air pollution and also congestion.

Given this Government's commitment to invest billions

of pounds in infrastructure, something that the previous Labour

government failed to do in 13 years, will Prime Minister look

at committing to look at the construction of the long

overdue and much-needed missing A36-46 link road to the east

of my constituency?

I'll certainly have a look at what he says.

He makes an important point because some

people think that if you care

about air quality, there is no room for any road building but,

of course, stationary traffic is much polluting than moving

traffic and we have to make sure the arteries that serve

all our constituencies are open, so I'll carefully at what he said

but at the same time, we should recognise that air

quality is improving, nitrogen oxides are down 17% over

the last four years and we want to do more by introducing

the clean air programme.

With the UK facing our most momentous decision for a generation

in eight weeks' time, does the Prime Minister think it makes

more sense for us to listen to all of our closest friends

and allies around the world or to a combination of French

fascists, Nigel Farage and Vladimir Putin?

Well, I'm glad he takes the English pronunciation of Farage,

rather than the rather poncey foreign-sounding one

that he seems to prefer.

I think that's a thoroughly good thing.

Obviously, I think we should listen to our friends and our allies

and as I look around the world, it's hard to find the leader

of a country that wishes us well that wants us to do anything other

than stay inside a reformed European Union.

Mr Speaker, the new ISAs that were announced in this

budget are very welcome.

They will help people save for homes and retirement.

But as my right honourable friend will have seen in this morning's

City AM, hidden fees can strip as much as a third of the gains

a pension could make over a lifetime.

Can he tell me what this Government is doing to make sure that firms

investing people's hard-earned savings reveal all the fees

they will be paying so that people can choose the investment

that is best for them?

He has fought a long campaign about this and quite rightly so.

One of the things that saps people's enthusiasm for investing in savings

products is the sense that they don't understand the fees

and charges and don't know how much they are going to get out of them.

What we've done is since last April is

trustees of defined contribution schemes

have to report charges levied on members.

And the Financial Conduct Authority are committed to

making regulations with us during this

Parliament requiring the publication of more costs and charges.

So we've given ourselves the legal duty to do so.

But I'm sure he will be pushing us all the way to make sure it happens.

The Prime Minister and his Government did next to nothing

to save the Scottish steel industry.

It was left to the Scottish Government to do that.

Now the UK Government is breaking the promises made by both Tories

and Labour to protect the Scottish shipbuilding industry.

Why does the Prime Minister think that Scottish jobs

are so expendable?

Frankly, the Scottish Government and the UK Government should work

together and one of the things we should work together on

is procurement.

And it is worth asking how much Scottish steel was in

the Forth Road Bridge?

Zero, none, absolutely nothing.

Yes, what a contrast with the warships that we're building.

Of course, we wouldn't be building them if we happen

independent Scotland.

So, we've backed the steel industry with actions

as well as words.

Order!

The House is excitable but it must simmer down.

We must hear the honourable lady.

Suella Fernandes.

Hatred and ignorance lie at the heart of anti-Semitism.

And when those in public life express such views,

they denigrate not only themselves but also the institutions

to which they belong.

Will my right honourable friend please reassure this House

of his commitment to fighting this vicious form of prejudice?

I think it is very simple.

Anti-Semitism is effectively racism and we should call it out and fight

it wherever we see it.

And the fact that, frankly, we've got a Labour MP

with the Labour whip, who made remarks about the transportation

of people from Israel to America, and talked about a solution,

and is still in receipt of the Labour whip,

is quite extraordinary.

Let me tell you what the Shadow Chancellor

said about these people.

"Out, Out, out.

"If people express these views, they are out.

"People might be able to reform their views

"and the rest of it.

"On this, I can't see it, I'm not having it.

"People might say, I change my views and will do something

"with a different organisation".

Frankly, there will be too many hours in the day before that happens

the MP in question.

My constiuent Joseph Brown-Lartey was killed at the age

of 25 by an 18-year-old

driving a hire car without a licence.

He was driving at 80 mph in a 30 mph zone.

The 18-year-old was convicted of causing death by dangerous

driving and received a sentence of just six years,

of which he will probably serve three.

Two weeks ago, myself along with Joseph's family,

delivered a 20,000 signature petition calling for tougher

sentences for causing death by dangerous driving.

Does the Prime Minister agree with me that sentences for these

crimes are too lenient, and when can we expect to get

a response to our petition and get justice for Joseph?

Well, I have every sympathy with the family in question.

I had an almost identical case in my constituency,

where a young girl was killed by a dangerous driver.

The maximum sentence is 14 years, so the courts do have the ability

to sentence more, but I know what this means to the families.

I'm making sure that the Minister for Roads is looking again at these

issues in terms of dangerous driving and I'll make sure

the case she mentioned is taken into account.

As the birthplace of the industrial revolutio, Dudley is proud

of its heritage, but we need economic stability to deliver

a prosperous future.

Will the Prime Minister come to launch the new enterprise

zone in Brierley Hill to look at how we can

attract more investment, create new jobs and develop

the highly-skilled workforce our community needs?

I will look very carefully at whether I'm able to do that

because we support the industrial regeneration of the Black Country.

The truth is, enterprise zones have been a success.

They created nearly 25,000 jobs, attracted over 630 companies

and secured 2.4 billion of private sector investment.

A lot of the delivery of enterprise zones has involved a lot

of hard work by local authorities and I pay tribute to them and I wish

him well in the Black Country.

Given the strategic and economic importance of the M62 corridor

to the northern powerhouse, can the Prime Minister give me

and the people of Bradford his commitment to the electrification

of the Calder Valley line, and lend his support

for the great city of Bradford to be a fundamental part

of the proposed Northern Powerhouse rail?

We have made commitments on electrification in terms of

north-south lines and east-west lines.

I'll have to look carefully at the proposal she makes

but we want everywhere, Bradford included,

to benefit from the Northern Powerhouse.

Nuclear matters in Cumbria.

We have the nuclear legacy at Sellafield,

defence work at Barrow and the prospect of serious

investment in a new nuclear plant at Moorside.

Given the apparent opposition to nuclear from the parties

opposite, can the Prime Minister confirm that the long-term decisions

for both nuclear power and defence will be made in a timely manner?

He is absolutely right that Cumbria does depend, to a large extent,

on jobs from the industries that he mentions.

Obviously, on Sellafield, we continue to invest

in reprocessing and in the procedures there.

We are also looking at redeveloping our commercial nuclear industries,

starting with the vital decisions at Hinkley Point, which could have

very great benefits for other areas that want to see

nuclear power stations.

And, of course, Barrow is home to the development of our nuclear

submarines and we will be holding a vote in this House to make sure

we renew our Trident in full.

The Prime Minister has just suggested that child refugees

alone in Europe are safe.

There are children's homes full in Italy and Greece and over 1,000

children will sleep rough in Greece alone tonight.

How are they safe?

10,000 children have disappeared in Europe.

How are they safe?

The agencies say that children are committing survival sex.

They are being abused, subject to prostitution and rape.

It is not insulting other European countries to offer to help.

They want us to help.

So will he reconsider his position on Alf Dubs' amendment before it

comes back to the vote and stop with his attitude to lone child

refugees, putting this House and this country to shame?

We are helping other European countries, and we're helping

other European countries, not least with the ?10 million

we recently announced.

But the crucial point is this.

How do we in Britain best help child refugees?

We think we help them by taking them from the refugee camps.

Taking from Lebanon, from Jordan, bringing them to this country.

That's what we're doing and we have a proud record.

Several small businesses I've met with in Tadcaster last week

are being treated appallingly by insurance companies.

Four months after the floods, claims have not been settled

and renewal premiums are being hiked to astronomical levels.

The Government has helped introduce the flood scheme to help

homeowners after flooding.

Does my right honourable friend agree with me that the same

protection should be given to small business owners, too?

First of all, I absolutely recognise the problem that he lays out.

When my constituency was badly flooded, some insurance companies

paid out very quickly, others were not so fast.

I understand when we look at what happened during the winter,

we've got 82% of claims that have been paid out but what I would say

to him and other colleagues is where you have specific examples,

the Secretary of State for Farming, Food and Rural Affairs will be very

interested to see them so we can get on top of the insurance industry.

On the issue of whether we need a flood restyle approach

to small businesses, we are looking specifically at that

to make sure the small businesses can get the insurance they need.

Three years ago, whilst on holiday in France,

my mother fell seriously ill.

Thanks to the French health service, she received excellent treatment,

was diagnosed with cancer, unfortunately, but she is doing well

today, thanks to our NHS as well.

Millions of Brits every year travel to other EU

countries and benefit, like my mum, from the European

Health Insurance card.

What would happen to that card should we vote to leave

on the 23rd of June?

First of all, on behalf of the whole House, can I wish her mother well

in her treatment and the treatment she is getting from the NHS.

She raises an important point, which is, this is one

of the benefits we have now.

Many of us will have used it ourselves or for our own children

and we think we can make the system even better as we are.

It is for those who want to leave the EU to explain,

if we were to leave, would we still be able to access

this and other such systems, which are very handy

for people going on holiday?

Whatever the outcome of the EU referendum,

does the Prime Minister agree that one thing that will never diminish

is the mutual affection and admiration between Britain

and our great ally France?

In that connection, will he pay tribute to the people who fought

and won the Normandy campaign, such as the late Captain Paul Cash,

who was killed fighting in Normandy at the age of 26,

having won the Military Cross.

He was the father of the honourable member,

my friend the honourable member for Stone, and Sergeant Peter Carne,

who, at 93, is at Westminster today, who built the bridges that enabled

the break-out from the Normandy beachhead and who will be receiving

the legion d'honneur in a typically cordial gesture

by our French allies.

I join him in paying tribute to all those who served,

particularly those who fell, in that heroic campaign.

One of the proudest things I've been able to do as Prime Minister

was to go to the 70th anniversary and go to that vigil,

where our gliders came in to prepare for those landings and to go

to Gold Beach and to see the incredible work that was done,

so we should remember what they did and we should remember

what it was that they gave their lives for,

which was to achieve peace on our continent.

My constituent Debra has HIV that she contracted

via a partner who received a contaminated blood transfusion.

My constituent Neil has hepatitis, again from a contaminated

transfusion and he now needs a second liver transplant.

Neither of them can hold down a full-time job

because of the catastrophic effects on their health of the conditions

so they absolutely rely on the support from the state

that the Government is applied to slash in half.

I asked the Prime Minister, why is the Government so willing

to attack people whose only mistake was to be unlucky?

First of all, what we said before the election was that we'd set aside

?25 million to help those who were infected with HIV

because of contaminated blood.

We raised that to over 100 million and we are currently consulting

with all the groups about how best to use that money.

We are going to be doing more than we said at election time

but it is very necessary because these people have suffered

through no fault of their own.

Order.