Pauline Latham MP Brexit Interview: “Brexit Means There Will Be More Money Available To Spend On The NHS And Schools”
MP for Mid-Derbyshire gives her views on Brexit, Derbyshire and future of the country after Brexit Day.
With just under a year to go until the UK officially leaves the European Union, Nailed speaks to Pauline Latham OBE about how it will affect the region.
Pauline Latham, MP for Mid-Derbyshire, is a staunch ‘leave’ campaigner and was a signatory on Jacob Rees-Mogg’s European Research Group’s hard Brexit letter to the PM back in February.
Will Brexit mean more jobs in Belper/Derbyshire?
I am delighted to say that industry is booming across the UK and the jobs market is rosy. Recent employment figures for Mid-Derbyshire showed that at present only 1.0% of the economically active population aged 16-64 are unemployed.
Every forecast of the post-referendum performance of the British economy has been proven wrong because employment in this country has grown to record levels today.
The Government will be seeking to ensure that that growth record is maintained.
The chancellor has indicated a Brexit hit to the economy once we leave and therefore less tax take. How will we avoid a black hole in government finances?
The Chancellor, Phillip Hammond, has committed an additional £23bn to a national productivity investment fund to improve our economic productivity.
With the EU being our most important export market for the automobile industry what will be the effect of Brexit on Derbyshire auto firms?
The Secretary of State for Business, Greg Clark, has insisted that the success of the automotive sector depends on integrated supply chains and says this is as good evidence of what type of trade agreement is needed.
Meanwhile, Phillip Hammond has said discussions with countries which have free trade agreements with the European Union suggest that there is a strong appetite for a quick and simple agreement with the UK so that, as we leave the European Union, we can immediately enter into a successor agreement with those countries – Korea, for example – that will allow us to continue trading with them on the same terms.
26% of doctors in the NHS are non-British. Overall, 11% of NHS staff are non-British so how will our health service cope following Brexit restrictions on immigration and foreigner status in the UK?
Following BREXIT the UK’s immigration system should be aligned with a modern industrial strategy.
There is consensus across the House on how valued EU staff are as a part of the NHS, and that will remain the case.
Two thirds of what we spend in the NHS is on staff costs, so it is absolutely essential that there is a clear message to NHS staff. That extends to the people who are trying to re-run the referendum debate and go back to past arguments, who ignore the fact that, according to the latest figures, which go up to September 2017, there are 3,200 more EU nationals working in the NHS than at the time of the referendum.
Theresa May has said that Brexit means there will be more money available to spend on the NHS and schools.
What effect will Brexit have on the environment?
All EU environmental laws, principles and any relevant enforcement mechanisms will continue to apply to the UK up until exit day. Article 50 negotiations are ongoing and the outcome of the wider negotiations may have an impact on the future of environmental policy and legislation in the UK.
The Government has confirmed that it intends to continue EU environmental rights on a UK legal basis and it intends to uphold its obligations under international environmental treaties. In relation to the rollover of EU environmental law.
The Government has said that it would use Brexit as an opportunity to develop a comprehensive approach to improving the environment “in a way that is fit for our specific needs”.
On 12 November 2017, the Government announced plans to consult on a new, independent statutory body that would hold Government to account for upholding environmental standards in England; and on the scope and content of a new policy statement to ensure environmental principles underpin policy making.
The Government published its 25-year plan for the environment on 11 January 2018 which details further how the Government intend to deliver a “Green Brexit”.
The Plan sets out the following 25-year goals which the Government aims to achieve on clean air, clean and plentiful water, thriving plants and wildlife, reducing risk of harm from environmental hazards such as drought and flooding, using resources from nature more sustainably and efficiently, enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment
The Government also commits to managing pressures on the environment by mitigating and adapting to climate change, minimising waste, managing exposure to chemicals, enhancing biosecurity.
Will Brexit improve the standard of living in the UK?
As Phillip Hammond stated: “We will do whatever it takes to maintain our competitiveness and protect our standard of living.”
It’s not the truth,she is optimistically guessing.Also it’s fine to talk about people working but we know that zero hours contracts,minimum wage and increases in rent mean working people are struggling.How do we know that, expansion or food banks and homelessness.Why doesn’t she face what is happening instead of talking about what she’d like to happen
What absolute drivel. Regurgitated party line statements per Teresa May staying very well ‘on message’. I’d like to hear that our MP just once had voted with her conscience on something in parliament rather than always following the party whip. Babington hospital ownership was transferred in 2013 to make a future sale easier, without any consultation. The listed building has been left, just like the Mill, without any real building maintenance for 5 years whilst it now costs half a million pounds to ‘rent’ each year. During this period Pauline Latham has repeatedly reassured us Babington won’t close and now she is fully supportiveof its closure; either no-one is telling her what is really happening behind the scenes or she’s not telling her Constituents what’s really happening behind the scenes. More money for the NHS? Let’s keep pur community hospitals so that care is not a commodity , there to be profiteered from with tax payers money!
…and Brexit will also result in the unification of South and North Korea, who would have thought that?
“there is a strong appetite for a quick and simple agreement with the UK so that, as we leave the European Union, we can immediately enter into a successor agreement with those countries – Korea, for example – that will allow us to continue trading with them on the same terms”.
She talks like everything is wonderful, why then, do we all feel so gloomy? Her biggest concerns have been about Big Ben being silenced! She lives in a different world.
Almost too ridiculous to comment on. Pauline is a career politician. She says what the party wants her to say, she votes how they want her to vote, and only changes her mind if there is ever a government u-turn. She is only in parliament because she was selected as a Conservative candidate in a gerrymandered Tory constituency. She’s there to do exactly as she is told – and she does. I’ve met her many times. She is pleasant and respectful – as are a lot of Tories ‘in the flesh’. It is very difficult to reconcile this with the way she votes on almost all issues – especially those that the environment and the most vulnerable people in our society.
*especially those that affect the environment and the most vulnerable people in our society.
I am glad that Nailed has asked our MP what she think of Brexit!
I was very curious to see what stance our MP had on Brexit a while back. Our MP has very rarely mentioned or commented on Brexit in her regular activity reports (newsletter, FB), even recently whilst important Brexit Battles where fought in Parliament, so wasn’t really sure what was her position. As a result, I was very surprised to see her name as signatory of the Hard Brexit letter!
I’ve got a feeling that it’s just a matter of following the Party line whilst being proactive in pushing for her more personal interest at heart and local issues. Maybe Brexit is seen as some king of background noise or disruption to the normal state of affairs? Anyway, she’ll have retired as a MP when all this will unravel and start to bite.
In our MP words:
“I am delighted to say that industry is booming across the UK and the jobs market is rosy. Recent employment figures for Mid-Derbyshire showed that at present only 1.0% of the economically active population aged 16-64 are unemployed” Seriously, If it ain’t broke, why trying to break it?
And I don’t really understand why if the UK is nearly in full employment, then why there’s no money to sort the NHS…?
Depriving the NHS, schools, councils, welfare etc of the funds needed to be brilliant services is a political choice and has nothing to do with the EU. But that is typical of the Tories – deprive a service of funding and blame anyone but themselves for failure. Austerity was a political choice brought on by the financial mess created by corrupt bankers and other mates of Osborne, Cameron etc but this lot would have us believe the root cause of everything bad is the EU, immigration, a profligate Labour Government – anything and anyone except themselves.
I don’t believe a word they say and next time you can’t get something done, can’t get the help you need or a barely scraping by just remember this Government chose to make it that way.
If, as Pauline Latham claims, the economy is in such a healthy state, why are food banks becoming a permanent part of our lives, why are libraries closing, why are teachers having to pay for essential materials from their own pockets, why are nurses having to “sofa surf”? The whole of our social infrastructure is being undermined by deliberate government policies. Meanwhile, the fantasies of the Brextreemists beggar belief. I know there is a lot wrong with the EU, but running away won’t solve anything – let’s stay and work for a better Europe.