28/02/2018 Prime Minister's Questions

Griffiths with contacts through

Yemen will help the peace process

which is necessary to end the

conflict in Yemen both north and

south.

It's your lucky day.

This morning I had meetings with

ministerial colleagues and others. I

shall have further such meetings

later today.

Sheffield Young carers

as a group supporting inspirational

young people who balance all the

normal challenges of their young

lives with the demands of caring for

a parent or sibling often with acute

needs. People like John, who has

been caring for his mother with

fibromyalgia from the age of ten or

Phoebe, supporting her father with

mental health problems from age

eight. They have practical ideas

about what the Government can do to

make their lives easier. Will the

Prime Minister meet them and agreed

to hear their proposals? I think it

is absolutely right that he raises

this issue.

Many young people are

caring for their parents, sometimes

for siblings as well. All too often

they go unseen and unheard and

certainly one of the things we are

doing is a government is trying to

ensure that we do see more

opportunities and ability to

identify, to assess Young carers and

their families and to support them

and make the rights of young carers

clear and I know the Department of

Health and social care is intending

to publish a plan setting out our

targeted crosscurrents action on

this area but I would be happy to

meet with a group of young carers to

hear directly from them.

Mr

Speaker... I believe in the global

Britain and I want us to trade

freely with the world so can my

right honourable friend explain the

difference between a customs union

and a customs arrangement. There

seems to be some confusion.

Can I

say to my honourable friend that he

is absolutely right. We want to be

able to have good trading

relationships with the EU but we

also want to be able to negotiate

trade deals around the rest of the

world with an independent trade

policy and I was rather confused

because I heard a speech earlier in

the week which I believe was given

by the Labour leader on this

subject, where he said he wanted

Labour to negotiate a new

comprehensive customs union - that

would mean we couldn't do our own

trade deals - and it would betray

the vote of the British people. And

in about the next sentence he said

he wanted a customs arrangement,

meaning we could negotiate our new

trade deals. That is the

Government's position. So what does

he want to do - let down the country

or agree with the Government?

Jeremy

Corbyn.

Shouting mangrove Good

afternoon, Mr Speaker. I hope the

whole house will join me in passing

our deepest condolences to the

families of those injured and who

died in the explosion in Leicester

in the constituency of my friend the

member of the Leicester West. Could

we say thank you to all the

emergency services and hospital

staff who worked to save lives in

that terrible situation. The Prime

Minister emerged from her away day

at Chequers to promise a Brexit of

ambitious, managed divergences.

Could she tell the country what on

earth ambitious, managed divergences

will mean in practice?

Can I first

of all say to the right honourable

gentleman that I join him, and I'm

sure the whole house, in expressing

our condolences to the family and

friends of those who lost their

lives in the explosion in Leicester,

and I also agree with him that we

should commend the actions and the

work of the emergency services who

day in, day out, do so much for all

of us but in circumstances like that

really showed the great job that

they do in dealing with that issue.

Give them a pay rise!

He asked me

about the Government's position on

the EU. It is very simple. We want

to deliver a proposal to the British

people that will bring back control

of our laws, our borders and our

money. Of course that is in direct

contrast with the Labour Party's

position, who want to be in a

customs union, have free movement

and pay whatever it takes to the EU.

That would mean giving away control

of our laws, our borders and our

money and that would be a betrayal

of the British people. . I

understand the Prime Minister is

going to make a speech about this on

Friday but I hope she will address

the concerns of 94% of small and

medium-size businesses who say the

Government is ignoring their

concerns about how we leave the EU.

But who does she think might be

better at identifying the business

opportunities of the future - the

Confederation of British Industry,

the engineering employers Federation

and the Institute of Directors, or

the international trade secretary?

The right honourable gentleman talks

about the views of business and

talks about the views of small

business. Can I just refer him to

what the Federation of Small

Businesses has said about our

position? The UK small business

community sees the potential wins an

independent global trade policy. We

want trade kept as easy as possible

with the EU 27 - that is our

position. Small businesses are

pushing to export to new growth

areas, the US, English-speaking

nations in emerging economies and

the Commonwealth. A good trading

relationship with the EU and free

trade deals around the rest of the

world under an independent sovereign

nation.

The international trade

secretary says that business

organisations and the TUC have got

it all wrong, that they don't know

best how to prosper or grasp

opportunities. I just put it gently

to her, it might be they have more

of a clue than he has about the

interests of business, jobs and

living standards. Last week, the

Health Secretary - and it is

wonderful to see him here today. I

assume he was speaking on behalf of

the Government when he said there

will be areas and sectors of

industry where we agree to align our

regulations. He seems to know the

answer, so can the Prime Minister

and light and the rest of us as to

which sectors of the Government --

which sectors the Government wants

to remain aligned and which they

plan to divert?

First of all, The

right honourable gentleman himself

has said that I am going to be

making a speech on these issues

later this week, so he could... Just

calm down! I've already set out in

some detail the position that the

Government is taking. I will

elaborate on that further this week.

What we want to ensure it is across

a variety of sectors, the issues

like financial services, which are

such a crucial part of our economy,

that we get the relationship that

means we are able to ensure we can

see that trade going across the

borders between the UK and the

remaining EU 27 members, and that we

have no hard border between Northern

Ireland and Ireland and we are

committed to delivering on that. But

he talks about people not having a

clue. I'll tell you who hasn't got a

clue about business and jobs - that

is a Labour Party that wants to

borrow 500 billion and bankrupt

Britain.

The endless round of

after-dinner speeches by the Prime

Minister on Europe does not really

substitute for negotiations as to

what is actually going to result

from these negotiations altogether.

One of the sector already suffering

very badly is that of health and

social care. It is highly reliant,

Mr Speaker, on migrant workers. We

depend on them for our health and

the care of those that need it.

Isn't the Prime Minister just a

little bit concerned that European

Union workers with vital skills are

leaving Britain in unprecedented

numbers now?

As the right honourable

gentleman might have noticed from

the last set of immigration figures,

we actually still see more people

coming into the UK from the EU than

our going back to the European

Union. But we do have a care about

the number of nurses and GPs we have

in the NHS. That's why we have set

the highest levels of training,

numbers of people in training, for

both nurses and GPs. It is why we

have significantly increased the

opportunity is not just for people

coming from the EU to work in our

national health services but

actually for those people here in

this country who want to work in our

NHS to get those training places and

do the excellent job that we know

they will do for patients in our

National Health Service.

From a

government that has cut the nurse

training bursary, that does not seem

to understand it takes eight years

to train a doctor and completely

oblivious, apparently, to the fact

that there are 100,000 vacancies in

the NHS now, I suggest some members

get a life and go and visit a

hospital and see just how hard those

people work in order to cover for

the vacancies that are there. Surely

we need to give immediate, real

assurance to EU nationals that they

have a future in this country. Mr

Speaker, just three months ago the

Foreign Secretary told the House

with regard to Northern Ireland, and

I quote, "There can be no hard

border - that would be unthinkable".

That is what he said. Yet in a

leaked letter to the Prime Minister,

he wrote, "Even if a hard border is

reintroduced, we would expect to see

95 % plus of goods pass". He is

shouting at the moment and is

obviously big thing of the border

with the Camden/ Islington border.

LAUGHTER

so, Mr Speaker... Can the Prime

Minister confirm that she will not

renege on commitments made in phase

one to keep an open border in

Ireland?

Can I say to the right

honourable gentleman, he actually

raced through different issues in

that question so I'll address all of

them. He raised the issue of rights

for EU nationals and, of course, a

key part of the December joint

report that we agree with the

European Union was about the rights

of EU citizens living here in the UK

and the rights of United Kingdom

citizens living in the EU 27. That

was an important thing to have

agreed on an early stage in the

negotiations. We said we'd do it and

we did just that. He talks about the

number of nurses. There are now

13,900 more nurses on our wards than

they were under Labour and while he

is talking about the number of years

that it takes to train doctors... He

said it takes eight years to train a

doctor. Well, if he is worried about

the number of doctors there are now,

eight years ago it was the Labour

government deciding vote number of

doctors that were going to be

trained, so he could talk about

that. And then... And... And just

finally, because he referred to the

position on Northern Ireland, the

Foreign Secretary and I are

absolutely committed to ensuring

that we deliver on no hard border

between Northern Ireland and

Ireland. That is the position of the

UK Government, it is the position of

the parties in Northern Ireland, it

is the position of the Irish

Government and it was what we agreed

in the December agreement on that

drug reported talk we are all

committed to ensuring there is no

hard border between Northern Ireland

and Ireland.

If that is the case,

why is the private secretary in

private correspondence with the

Prime Minister, talking about doing

the opposite of that which was

agreed in phase one? This is a

government in disarray. Every time

the Cabinet meets, all we get is

even more bizarre sound bites.

Remember when we had Brexit means

Brexit? Then we had red, white and

blue Brexit, which presumably

appealed to the members opposite.

Then we had liberal Brexit and now

we have ambitious, managed

divergences. The Government is so

divided, the Prime Minister is

incapable of delivering a coherent

and decisive plan for Brexit. So,

when is she going to put the

country's interests before the

outsized egos of her own Cabinet?

Can I say to the right honourable

gentleman, my priorities are the

priorities of the British people.

Yes, we are going to get Brexit

write and deliver a good Brexit deal

for them but we are also delivering

the homes that the country needs so

people can on their own home. We are

raising standards in our schools so

our kids all get a good education.

We are protecting the environment

for future generations. That as a

Conservative Government delivering

on people's priorities and giving

them optimism and hope for the

future, as opposed to a Labour Party

that would bankrupt Britain,

betrayed voters and drag this

country down.

Thank you, Mr Speaker...

Mr Clarke,

you are getting overexcited. I was

calling Chris Davies, the honourable

gentleman behind you.

Thank you, Mr

Speaker. May I start by wishing you,

Mr Speaker, the Prime Minister and

indeed the whole house a very happy

St David's Day. Can I thank my right

honourable friend for taking

representatives of River Is Simple,

a leader in the field of hydrogen

powered automotive is and based in

Brecon and Radnorshire on her recent

successful trade visit to China.

What is the Government planning to

do to help regional SMEs to make the

most of potential trade

opportunities with emerging markets

once we leave the EU?

I can say to

him that I was very happy to take a

large business delegation with me on

a trip to China, including

representatives of that company. It

was a very good trip and very

positive in terms of the connections

and the deals that were agreed as a

result of that trip. I can assure

him that the Department for

International Trade is working hard

to support SM ease across the UK to

help exporters with buyers around

the world and, of course, companies

in the UK can access size -- access

our network and a programme of

international events and I would

commend the work of colleagues who

are trade envoys, including my

honourable friend the Member for

Gloucester who is the trade envoys

are China and who accompanied me on

that trip. I am pleased to say that

last year UK Export Finance provided

£3 billion in support, helping 221

UK companies to sell into 63

countries. 79% of those companies

were SMEs.

In 2012, the Prime

Minister talked about, and I quote,

"A future in which Scotland, Wales,

Northern Ireland and England

continued to flourish in side by

side as equal partners". Does the

Prime Minister still stand by this?

Of course I continue to stand by

wanting to ensure that all parts of

the UK continue to flourish. I think

the best way of doing that is

ensuring all parts of the UK remain

in the UK.

Of course, Mr Speaker,

the emphasis was on equal and we are

faced with a situation that there is

a power grab by Westminster and it

is no surprise that the Scottish and

Welsh governments are putting

forward continuity bills to stop the

power grab by Westminster. The

Foreign Secretary's leaked letter on

the Irish border shows he can't get

to grips with one of the most

fundamental issues of Brexit. The

Foreign Secretary compared crossing

the Irish border to going between

Camden and Westminster. Frankly, you

could not make this stuff up. This

is a UK Government that is prepared

to put in jeopardy the Good Friday

Agreement. Does the Prime Minister

agree with the bumbling Foreign

Secretary, who was making the UK a

laughing stock?

Can I say to the

right honourable gentleman, first of

all, this government is absolutely

committed to the Belfast agreement.

Indeed, we made sure that that

agreement was included in the joint

report that we agreed with the EU

last December, so that commitment to

the Belfast agreement stands and we

are committed to the Belfast

agreement and the institutions under

the Belfast agreement. He refers to

this issue of devolved powers which

are coming back from the EU. That

was his reference. We have also

given an absolute commitment to

amending clause 11 and that remains

unchanged. My right honourable

friend the Chancellor of the Duchy

of Lancaster hasn't recently met

with representatives of the vol dub

illustrations. He put forward a

further proposal for them which

ensured that more powers are

directly devolved and with the

Northern Ireland Executive and it

was acknowledged that that was a

significant step forward. I have to

say to the right honourable

gentleman, he talks about continuity

bills. The proposals being put

forward are necessary and would be

rather more helpful if he was to

concentrate on reaching an agreement

in relation to the withdrawal

agreement, because we want to ensure

more powers are devolved to the

administrations and that is what we

will deliver.

Back in the real world, last year

Network Rail paid out £181 million

in conversation to train operating

copies the cancellations and delays

yet only 74 million of that was

passed on to passengers. Why should

train operators benefit financially

from failure to deliver a decent

service when it's the passengers who

suffer the aggravation,

inconvenience and cost? What is she

planning to do to make sure the

money goes to the rightful place,

the passenger?

Can I say to my

honourable friend, that yes, she is

right, the rail opposite dot-macro

operators are compensated when there

is disruption on the tracks run by

Network Rail. Compensation has

happened not as a result of their

doing but as a result of something

Network Rail is doing. We do ensure

there is also compensation available

to those who suffer from the

disruption, to the passengers who

suffer from the destruction, and I'm

pleased to say that automatic

payments are available to many rail

operators but not everybody can be

automatically refunded. We are

operating a delay repay scheme which

means everyone regardless of the

ticket I can have access to the

compensation that they deserve. We

want to ensure that passengers do

get the compensation they deserve

when their journeys are disrupted.

I

would ask the Prime Minister to

reinforce her earlier comments.

Given the imminent publication from

the EU of draft rating from

December's joint report. Will the

Prime Minister confirmed that she

will never agree to any trade

borders between Northern Ireland and

the rest of the UK?

Well, can I say

that we continue to stand behind all

the commitments mean made in

December and my negotiating team

will work with the commission to

agree how they should be translated

into legal form in the withdrawal

agreement. But he is correct, the

draft would, if implement it,

undermine the UK Common Market and

threaten constitutional integrity of

the UK by creating a customs and

regulatory border down the Irish

Sea. And no UK Prime Minister could

ever agree to it. I will be making

it crystal clear to Jean-Claude

Juncker and others that we will

never do so. We are committed to

ensuring we see no hard border

between Northern Ireland and Ireland

but the December text also made

clear that there should continue to

be trade between Northern Ireland

and the rest of the United Kingdom,

as there is today.

Unemployment has

fallen faster in the north-east than

anywhere else in our country. The

next step is to put rocket boosters

under the economy in Tyneside would

be to create a free port at the

port. .

Can I say to my honourable

friend that when I visited Teesport,

this was one of the proposals that

they did put to me. I'm very happy

to join with him in welcoming the

fall in on climate we've seen in the

north-east and there are a number of

ways in which we are providing and

ensuring we see that economic growth

continuing in the north-east. That's

why we are investing £126 million

through the Tees Valley local growth

deal. I know that the Chancellor has

confirmed recently we do remain open

to ideas that could drive growth and

provide benefits to the UK and its

people and so we'll keep all these

options under consideration.

Agents

from the Shell gas company recently

posted a premium contract to my

closet, Alison Davies, asking her to

agree to a geological survey on her

farm. She rejected this request when

she was doorstep a few days earlier.

Does the Prime Minister know what it

feels like to get an unsolicited

letter from a group who won't take

no for an answer? And will she join

the Welsh and Scottish governments

by saying no to fracking in England?

Shale gas extraction could be a very

important part of ensuring energy

security in this country. I am sure

all his constituents and the

constituents of others represented

in this house will want to ensure

the government is doing everything

it can to ensure we maintain our

energy security. We don't see the

lights being turned off.

It's

obvious that there will be concerned

about the draft from the EU of the

withdrawal agreement. Can the Prime

Minister assure me that when she

responds she'll have utmost in her

mind the importance of both

preserving and also strengthening

the union of the UK of Great Britain

and Northern Ireland?

He raises an

important point first of all, if I

can reiterate the point that I made

in response to an earlier question,

we're very that we want to ensure

that we are able to see that

trading, that movement between all

parts of the UK, that common single

market within the UK, that all parts

of the UK benefit from. We are

committed to protecting and

enhancing our British union of

England, Scotland, Wales and

Northern Ireland. The devolved

administration should be fully

engaged in preparations for the UK's

exit. Discussions have been taken

from them and as I said also in

response to the leader of the SNP,

it's our intention that the vast

majority of powers returning from

Brussels will start off in

Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. Not

in Whitehall. We will continue to

talk to devolved administrations

because we also need to ensure we

maintain the single market of the

UK.

Last December's report, the

joint report, guaranteed continuing

unfettered access for Northern

Ireland businesses into the UK into

the market. Does the Prime Minister

agreed with me that the EU appears

now to be trying to cherry pick that

agreement by ignoring such critical

comments to our economy?

Can I say

to the honourable gentleman that it

is absolutely clear? First of all,

we stand by the commitments we made

in December and we are going to

work, the negotiating team will be

working to agree how we put that

into a withdrawal text. Part of that

agreement was of course that we will

see no hard border between Northern

Ireland and Ireland. Another part

was that there would be guaranteed

access for Northern Ireland business

to the UK market. As I said earlier

and I am happy to repeat a legal

text of the commission, if

implemented, would undermine the UK

Common Market and threaten the

constitutional integrity of the UK

by creating a customs and regulatory

border down the Irish Sea. No UK

Prime Minister could ever agree to

it and I will be making that

absolutely clear.

Can I welcome the

Prime Minister's very firm

reaffirmation of her commitment to

the Good Friday Agreement and the

open border, and to the December

agreement she made on the withdrawal

terms, which included, if necessary,

full regulatory convergence on both

sides of the border. Does she accept

that means, if necessary, that with

full regulatory convergence between

the UK and the European Union?

Can I

perhaps at this stage, prior to my

speech and Freddie, referred him --

on Friday, to the speech I made in

Florence last year which set out

that we recognise the rest areas we

will have the same objectives as the

U and we want to achieve those

objectives in the same way. There

will be other areas we want to

achieve objectives by different

means and there will be other areas

where our objectives will differ.

What matters is that it is this

United Kingdom that will be able to

take the decisions about the rules

it applies.

My constituency roads

are in a terrible state of repair.

In all my life I've never seen such

a mess. Small potholes are being

left by Lancashire County Council to

become big potholes. In several

cases, these emerge to become

trenches -- these are emerging. It

is dangerous for pedestrians,

cyclists take their life in their

hands, motorists damage their cars

or swerve to avoid them. Does the

Prime Minister agree with me that

this is an unacceptable state of

affairs and not least because of the

failure...

Order! Sit down. This is

very discourteous. The remainder of

the honourable lady's question will

be heard. It's as simple and

unarguable as that. The honourable

lady will be heard on her feet and

that's the end of the matter.

Thank

you. Does the Prime Minister agree

that this is an unacceptable state

of affairs, not least because the

failure to put one stitch in Time is

a leading to far more expensive

repairs?

Can I say... Can I say to

the honourable lady that we all

recognise the issue of potholes and

the important issue will stop it is

why my honourable friend the member

for Northampton North actually is

this a while back and we put more

money into the issue of dealing with

potholes as a government. She talks

about a stitch in time, I'm afraid I

won't take any of that from a Labour

Party that when in government failed

to mend the roof while the sun was

shining!

Next week we celebrate

International Women's Day.

Celebrating the achievements of

women globally. With a record of

action on the gender pay gap, with

more women in work, and more

childcare to help them, doesn't the

Prime Minister agree with me that

it's the Conservatives while in

government with two female prime

ministers that I really delivering

for women?

Can I say to my

honourable friend but she's

absolutely right? I'm happy to join

her in celebrating International

Women's Day because I want girls who

are growing up today to know that

they can achieve anything they want.

How far they go is about them and

their abilities and their

willingness to work hard. We do see

female employment at a joint record

high. There are 1.2 million women

led businesses now, the highest

since records began. The gender pay

gap is at a record low for full-time

employment. That is a Conservative

Party in government that is

delivering for women.

Will the Prime

Minister support the joint

endeavours of 18 Conservative and

Labour councils from Yorkshire, the

Yorkshire CBI, the Yorkshire

Institute of directors, the

Yorkshire TUC, is grazed the

Archbishop of York, in their efforts

to get an all Yorkshire devolution

settlement by 2020 with the first

directly elected mayor from God's

own county?

Can I say to the

honourable gentleman that we are

committed to devolving powers to

local areas where it will deliver at

local services and greater value for

money and clear accountability. I'm

pleased to say we've already agreed

an ambitious devolution deal with

Sheffield city region which will

bring around 1 billion of new

investment to the area. I hear the

enthusiasm he set forward for more

devolution in Yorkshire and I'm

pleased to say that I believe my

right honourable friend the housing

Secretary actually met with a group

of councillors from Yorkshire

yesterday to discuss these very

ideas.

Excellent to see the right

honourable gentleman of Bexley and

Sid got back in his place. James

Brokenshire!

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

It is very good to be back. Last

year I had the privilege to open the

guys Cancer Centre at Queen Mary 's

Hospital in Sidcup in my own

constituency. Not knowing then how

relevant that might be to me! I pay

tribute to the NHS and the

outstanding people who work within

it and my own treatment has been

absolutely outstanding. But I know

that early diagnosis and early

treatment is key. And therefore,

with this in mind, will my right

honourable friend see that the long

health check programme announced by

NHS England last November is

implemented -- the lung check

programme is intimated as speedily

as possible. Will she do all she can

to challenge the stigma attached to

lung cancer and some of the false

judgments that are made so that it

receives the attention it deserves

and those suffering with the disease

receive the care that they need?

Can

I say to my right honourable friend

that I am absolutely delighted to

see him back in his place in this

house? Can I also commend him for

the interviews that he gave over the

weekend and the way he spoke about

his own experience? He's absolutely

right about early diagnosis. I think

the message that my right honourable

friend gave from his experience

needs to be one that we all promote

around the country, which is, if

there is the slightest doubt was on,

if something happens that you think

is potentially problematic and the

sign of something, then please go to

the doctor and get it checked out.

There are many men particularly who

think, oh, no, it's better not to,

we'll just put up with it. Actually,

go and get it checked out because,

crucially, in cancer and in many

other areas, but in cancer, like

lung cancer, if that early diagnosis

and early action can be taken, it

means an enormous difference to the

patient. I can assure him that we

are looking very carefully and

monitoring the effectiveness

particularly of scanning of

high-risk groups, and we'll be

looking carefully at the results of

that. As he says, we need to ensure

we get rid of the stigma of lung

cancer and that anybody who has the

slightest suspicion of a problem

actually goes to the doctor, get

them self checked out and gets the

treatment they need.

For many young

people in the north-east, employment

is precarious and low paid. Since

the introduction of the

apprenticeship levy, youth

unemployment in Gateshead, my

constituency, has remained

stubbornly constant, while

apprenticeship recruitment has

declined by 35%. Having a plan to

develop a plan is not good enough.

What does the Prime Minister

actually want to do to resolve the

problem of youth unemployment in the

north-east of England?

As I heard

earlier from my honourable friend

for Middlesbrough, actually what we

have seen overall in the north-east

is unemployment overall in the

north-east has fallen faster than in

many other parts of the country and

that is something to be welcomed. We

do need to ensure we are seeing the

intended outcome of the

apprenticeship levy, more

opportunities for young people

actually been put into practice and

I'm sure that my honourable friend

who is responsible for the

apprenticeship issue will take up

the particular reference that he's

made to the apprenticeships in the

north-east.

Last Sunday, we

celebrated the achievements of

Chichester born astronaut Tim Peake

by honouring him with the freedom of

the city. Will the Prime Minister

join me in congratulating Tim and

give assurances that our significant

investment in the European Space

Agency, EU space programmes and

research, will continue as we leave

the European Union?

Can I say to my

honourable friend that this is an

important issue? I was very pleased,

one of the best receptions I hosted

when I became Prime Minister was Tim

Peake. And to see the enormous

enthusiasm he generated among young

people for space and science. The

joint report we agreed with the EU

in December made clear that through

the multi-annual financial

framework, we'll continue to

participate in programmes funded by

that and that includes space, but

will also discuss with the EU how we

can build on our successful

cooperation on space as negotiations

proceed. She will have seen some

important developments including

legislation in this house that will

enable us to take a real forward

position in relation to space in the

future.

The Prime Minister will be

aware that the huge new Midland

Metropolitan Hospital is currently

halted by the Karelian collapse.

It's already two thirds finished and

the longer the restart on work is

delayed the more the ultimate costs

will rise. Only this week, more

project management staff were laid

off. Will the Prime Minister commit

to getting this site back to work,

instruct her ministers, especially

in health of the Treasury, to get

the work rolling again next month

and complete this much needed

hospital?

I understand that over

8000 Karelian workers have had their

jobs safeguarded but of course that

is no comfort to those who have

found themselves redundant and the

families of those who have been made

redundant. He raised the issue about

the hospital. The department for

health and social care and NHS

improvement are working with the

trust and the PFI company so that

work can recommence as soon as

possible.

Will my right honourable

friend agreed that is behind the

smiling beard of the Leader of the

Opposition lies the real threat to

this economy? The Shadow Chancellor

and his hard-line Marxism as Mark

can you reassure the country and the

house that this country will put

jobs, prosperity and growth before

ideology?

Were not going to talk

about beards, we'll talk about

policy. We won't talk about the

honourable gentleman's beard either.

He is absolutely right that if we

want to build a strong economy with

high skill, high-paid jobs for the

future, the way to do that is not to

go out borrowing hundreds of

billions of pounds and bankrupting

our economy. The Labour Party will

be a real threat to the economy of

this country, but more than that

they'd be a threat to the jobs of

hard-working people up and down the

country.

This week is the seventh anniversary

of the 2011 referendum in Wales,

where the people of my country

overwhelmingly supported full

legislative solemn whoa sovereignty

of devolved Lizzie. Despite

concessions in this week's speech by

the de facto Deputy Prime Minister

the withdrawal bill will drive a

sledgehammer through the Welsh

constitution and it isn't it the

reality that under her plans for

Brexit Britannia Wales would be

ruled Togo, a vassal country? -- a

rule taker.

He is wrong about what

we're proposing in relation to the

devolved administrations. We will be

devolving far more powers to the

devolved administrations. This is

something the government has done

only recently. In the Wales that we

have seen new powers being devolved

to Welsh Government. We are

absolutely clear that we want to see

the vast majority of powers

returning from Brussels, starting

off in Edinburgh, Cardiff and

Belfast, not on Whitehall. But we

are also clear that where powers are

related to the UK as a whole, it

makes sense for us to ensure that

rules continue to apply across the

whole of the UK in the same way.

To

celebrate world Budai tomorrow,

would the Prime Minister join me in

helping share a story of child

literacy campaign to make reading

for ten minutes with a child as much

a part of a day as eating fruit and

veg?

I am very happy to join her in

welcoming that campaign and to mark

world but die which is the day to

enjoy and celebrate reading. As a

child I very much enjoyed reading

and this idea of trying to make sure

we see ten minutes of reading every

day with a child becoming a natural

habit for everybody is extremely

important and I would certainly

support that.

Sunday's explosion in

Leicester has been a terrible shock

to the local community. I know all

of our thoughts are with the

families and friends of those who

tragically lost their lives and

those that have been injured. I

thank the Prime Minister and the

Leader of the Opposition for

praising our incredible emergency

services, who are continuing to work

in extremely difficult

circumstances. Will the Prime

Minister also pay tribute to our

local residents, who have pulled

together to support one another,

showing great strength and courage,

and will she make sure we get all

the support we need to get to the

bottom of what's happened and to

help my constituents but their lives

back together again?

Can I say to

the honourable lady, but as both I

and the Leader of the Opposition

said earlier, we express our

condolences to the family and

friends of those who were sadly

killed in this tragedy but also we

recognise the impact it has all the

local community and I am very happy

to pay tribute to local residents

who have shown that, I think, the

real value of community in the way

they have come together on this and

I assure her everything will be done

to get to the bottom of why this

happened and to ensure, as far as

possible, depending on the cause,

but it would not happen to anybody

again.

Mr Speaker, last year I

attended a meeting the House of

Lords organised by wonderful

crossbench peer and human rights

campaigner Baroness Cox, in which

three very brave woman told us their

harrowing tales of how they have

been treated and discriminated

against by Sharia councils. It is

amazing how noisy feminists in this

place are so quiet about this issue

when women are being discriminated

against so blatantly in this

country. Isn't it time this

alternative discriminatory form of

justice was no longer tolerated in

this country?

Can I say to my

honourable friend that we are very

clear that there is one rule of law

in the United Kingdom and that is

British law. But he is right and I

myself have also heard stories from

individual women who have been

discriminated, felt they have been

discriminated and treated badly as a

result of decisions by Sharia

courts. That's why when I was Home

Secretary I set up the review into

sharia courts and that is a review

which I believe has recently

published its report and the Home

Secretary will be responding to that

shortly.

Victims... Sorry,

organisations working with the

victims of Modern Slavery Bill

report that tomorrow the

Government's cutting their miserable

daily living allowance. Will the

Prime Minister stop that cut?

Can I

say to the right honourable

gentleman... First of all can I

commend him for the interest and

work he has done in the interests of

Modern Slavery Bill human

trafficking and all our efforts to

stop this terrible, horrendous crime

that takes place. Our benefits

system is there to provide a safety

net for people. We have been putting

changes in place to make sure we

give more help to those who need it

most. In relation to the specific

issue he has raised, I'm not aware

of the details but I know my right

honourable friend the Secretary of

State for Work and Pensions will

want to look of the specific issue

he has raised.

A free independent

press is vital to our country. Does

she share my concerns about the

links Max Mosley has with Impress

and some of our leading politicians?

Can I say to my honourable friend, I

think some people will have been

surprised to learn of those links

with some leading politicians but

can I also say to her that I

absolutely, absolutely agree with

her that a free press is very

important. It underpins our

democracy and whatever they say

about us, whatever they write about

us, actually, it is important that

they are able to hold politicians,

the powerful, to account and they

are able to shine a light in some of

the darkest corners of our society.

And as far as I'm concerned, as

Prime Minister, while I am Prime

Minister, that will never change.

Edinburgh airport has recently

launched its noise abatement

consultation process but given that

aviation is a reserved matter, will

the Prime Minister undertake and

agree that her government will

undertake an investigation as to

whether the level of night flights

at Edinburgh airport has now reached

the same level as was reached at

Stansted when it was regulated?

Can

I say to the honourable lady that I

was not aware of the work that was

being done at Edinburgh airport but

I am very happy to as the Department

for Transport a look at the

particular issue she has raised.

I

am sure the whole house would agree

that the value of peace is

priceless. Can I ask my right

honourable friend to confirm her

support for and, indeed, the Good

Friday Agreement is safe in her

hands?

My honourable friend has

raised an important point and I

should recognise that, of course,

this April will mark the 20th

anniversary of the historic Belfast

agreement and that agreement has

been fundamental, together with its

successors, in helping Northern

Ireland move forward to from its

troubled past to a brighter future.

I can assure my honourable friend

that this government remains

absolutely committed to the Belfast