Stephen Morgan: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to give my maiden speech in today’s debate. It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Totnes (Dr Wollaston). Today’s debate on public sector pay is about the sort of people who ensure that this Fratton boy had the sort of opportunity and aspiration that I want every single young person in Portsmouth to have. Public sector workers and...
Stephen Morgan: I beg to move, That this House has considered armed forces pay. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr McCabe, and to have secured my first debate in Westminster Hall today, following my maiden speech in the main Chamber yesterday. Portsmouth has a proud military history. It is one of the most famous ports in the world and our association with the Royal Navy continues to go...
Stephen Morgan: I pay tribute to everyone who has spoken in this debate. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport (Luke Pollard) for his important comments on the contribution that armed forces personnel make to local economies, and on the shortages for engineering jobs. I understand that that is also the case with chefs, and it is certainly an issue in Portsmouth too. I also...
Stephen Morgan: What recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the adequacy of defence funding.
Stephen Morgan: Does the Secretary of State agree that the inadequacy of current funding and the uncertainty around long-term investments that that generates has had an impact on the security of jobs at BAE Systems, including in my constituency?
Stephen Morgan: Does the Minister recognise the frustration felt by the armed forces when they see rising costs in accommodation, but no real pay rise?
Stephen Morgan: What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of capital funding for schools.
Stephen Morgan: Recent research by the National Education Union and Tes found that 94% of teachers pay for essential classroom supplies, including at schools in my constituency where glue-sticks are being brought in by hard-working staff. With this in mind, does the Minister still maintain that Portsmouth’s schools have enough money and resources?
Stephen Morgan: I congratulate my hon. Friend on her eloquent speech. Does she agree that the national security and capability review has nothing to do with strategy or the role of our armed forces in the world? It is just a last-ditch attempt to get to grips with years of spending mistakes and indecision.
Stephen Morgan: What steps he is taking to support the defence industry.
Stephen Morgan: The defence industrial policy refresh was extremely disappointing, particularly in its failure to include a change to how the Ministry of Defence calculates value for money to include employment and economic impacts in cities such as Portsmouth, despite many defence companies urging the Ministry to make that change. Can the Secretary of State explain why?
Stephen Morgan: Following last December’s High Court ruling, can the Secretary of State tell me by what date all 1.6 million PIP claims will have been reviewed: will it take weeks, months or even years?
Stephen Morgan: GP services are in crisis. Practice after practice is closing, and more GPs leave the service every day. When will the Secretary of State finally listen to the chair of the BMA’s GP committee, who says that current GP funding is “nowhere near enough”?
Stephen Morgan: As we heard earlier, the Prime Minister continues to be in denial about rising crime and falling police numbers. Despite her repeated assurances, budgets have not been protected for my local police force, which has already lost £80 million and 1,000 police officers. Will she meet me and a delegation of Portsmouth small businesses, which do so much for my local economy yet have seen...
Stephen Morgan: How much of the centenary fund to celebrate women having the right to vote has been spent; and how much of that funding has been distributed to women’s organisations.
Stephen Morgan: Will the Minister confirm what level of support the Government or their contracted company are providing to smaller women’s groups to encourage them to take up this funding?
Stephen Morgan: There is a still a great deal of confusion and concern around the future basing arrangements for the Army Reserve. Could the Minister tell us when we might expect more information to be published on this important matter?
Stephen Morgan: The Government said in court that they considered it sufficient to take “a pragmatic, less formal approach” to areas of poor air quality. Portsmouth has consistently breached World Health Organisation guidelines, with 95 premature deaths each year attributed to air pollution. Does the Minister therefore consider it appropriate to take an informal approach to preventing deaths and...
Stephen Morgan: School cuts in Portsmouth under this Government will reach £3.3 million by 2019, meaning that classrooms are being starved of the resources that they need, including textbooks and basic stationery. At the same time, approximately 40,000 children in the south-east are relying on food banks. If the Prime Minister were a teacher who had been under a pay cut for eight years, what would she buy...
Stephen Morgan: What assessment she has made of trends in the numbers of in-work households living in poverty.