David in Parliament

Debates & Oral Questions

Written Questions

Westminster Hall Debates

Select Committee Work

Expenses

 
National News

Northern Rail Hub (18 Jan 2012)

David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con): On the point about the difference in spend between the north and the south, the hon. Lady may have seen in the Transport Committee the report from the Institute for Public Policy Research, which evaluates the projects that the Government brought forward in the spending review in the autumn. Infrastructure spending amounted to £30 billion, and the spend per head was £2,700 in London, £134 in the north-west, £200 in Leeds and Humberside, and £5 in the north-east.

watch


Carbon Capture & Storage (17 Jan 2012)

David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con): Thank you for letting me speak, Sir Roger—I had not intended to do so. I want to make two points in relation to some of the comments I have heard: one in favour of CCS and one expressing some reservations. I will mention the latter one first, which relates to cost.

watch


Carbon Capture & Storage (17 Jan 2012)


David Mowat: I agree with the hon. Lady that gas is the default solution to energy where decisions have not been made. On gas from overseas, I think I am right in saying that the majority of our coal also comes from overseas at the moment, but we can rest assured that, from 2015, Europe is likely to be flooded with cheap shale gas from the US, so I think our concerns about that particular fuel source are misplaced.

watch


Carbon Capture & Storage (17 Jan 2012)

David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con): I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way. I have listened very careful to his arguments about coal and gas. It seems that this technology is a long way from being proven, and it would be a big win if we could get it to work for either gas or coal. I want to address the point about Longannet. The Government's most recent publication, "The Carbon Plan", which came out about a month ago, states that the first decision about an operational plant for CCS will be made in 2018. That is a long time after the current generation of coal is scheduled to be switched off, so there is an issue there if we expect this technology to save some of the coal stations that are planned to be switched off in the next five years.

watch


Pension Plan Charges (7 Dec 2011)

David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con): I, too, congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Great Yarmouth (Brandon Lewis) on leading the charge. During his remarks, he distinguished between the need for transparency and the absolute cost. I contend—I will talk a bit about the absolute cost—that there has been a market failure in the UK pensions industry over the past two decades....

watch


Electricity Market Reform (3 Nov 2011)

David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con): I have already spoken this afternoon, so I will be brief to let the hon. Member for Southampton, Test (Dr Whitehead) contribute to the debate. I liked the Rubik's cube analogy that we have just heard; I will not add to that although I want to raise a couple of points that have not yet been discussed. We have spoken a little about fuel poverty, but we have not specifically mentioned energy-intensive industries.

watch


Shale Gas (3 Nov 2011)

David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con): Thank you, Mr Gale, for calling me to speak. In several contributions, the term "balanced" has been used, both about the Select Committee's report and the tone of the speeches. My remarks might be a little less balanced, because I think that shale gas production is a very positive development and that we could be on the verge of something significant.

watch


Shale Gas (3 Nov 2011) 

David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con): I am listening carefully to the thrust of the hon. Gentleman's remarks. I think he will concede that there has been a significant price differential in the US on the Henry hub, for whatever reason. Gas prices have fallen by about 50%, and that has been attributed to shale. I have listened to the logic of his remarks, but I have not heard the specific reason why he does not think that that will happen, not in the UK—the UK is not where the issue is—but in Europe; that is where the issue is.

watch


High Speed Rail in the North (2 Nov 2011)

David Mowat: Does the hon. Gentleman agree that Shadow Front-Benchers have been ambivalent about this issue over the past 18 months? The Evening Standard recently stated that Labour had announced: "a root and branch review of…transport policy with nothing ruled in or out," including high-speed rail. Is that no longer the position?

watch


High Speed Rail in the North (2 Nov 2011)

David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con): I was not expecting to be called. I would have preferred to wait a little before making my speech. I will be fairly brief. I want to touch on the business case figure for high-speed rail, which is estimated at 2.6, including the wider economic benefits. That is considerably higher than the business case of Crossrail. I know that we can all doubt the Department's methodology, but nevertheless let us put that on the table first.

watch


High Speed Rail in the North (2 Nov 2011)

David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con): I, too, was struck by the Action Alliance analysis that when we improve connectivity, the stronger city benefits and the weaker city loses out. If we follow that logic through to the end, it means that we should close the M6, the M1 and the west coast main line, which is ridiculous.

watch


Regional Growth Fund (1 Nov 2011)

David Mowat: The point my hon. Friend is making extremely powerfully is that, in the last year of the previous Government, the north-south divide reached a peak for the previous three decades. That is extraordinary; it was brought about by the boom in the south-east and London, and it is a fact.

watch


Rural Broadband (Cheshire East) (19 Oct 2011)

David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con): I, too, congratulate my hon. Friend on leading the charge in this debate and on this subject. During her remarks, I think I have heard the word "rural" two dozen times. Does she accept, however, that it is also an urban issue? In parts of Warrington, urban development has massively outstripped broadband infrastructure capability, and the need there is as great as in some of the rural areas mentioned by her and others.

watch


Westminster Hall Debate - High Speed Rail (13 July 2011)

David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con): On the subject of benefits and the point about delay, it might be worth putting on the record that the business case for High Speed 2 puts the net benefit ratio of the project at 2.6, which is higher than Crossrail, Thameslink or HS1.

watch


Westminster Hall Debate - Employment (North West) (6th July 2011)

David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con): I, too, congratulate the hon. Member for Blackpool South (Mr Marsden) on securing the debate. It is a pleasure to take part in a debate with the phrase "north-west" in the title, because there is a bit of a structural issue in this place about the treatment of the English regions vis-à-vis other parts of the country. We hear a great deal about Scotland, and we have Scottish questions. We also have Welsh questions and Northern Irish questions. However, we hear little about the English regions, which is why I am pleased to take part in the debate...

watch


Westminster Hall Debate - Private Finance Initiative (23 Jun 2011)

David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con): I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North East Cambridgeshire (Stephen Barclay) for shortening his speech to let me in—I hope it was worth it. Along with other hon. Members, I commend the hon. Member for Hereford and South Herefordshire (Jesse Norman) for his important initiative.It seems to me that the PFI is a procurement technique that has been used over the past decade or so—perhaps for longer. Like any technique, it can be used wisely or poorly.....

watch


Westminster Hall Debate - HS2 (31 Mar 2011)

David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con): I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for South Northamptonshire (Andrea Leadsom) on securing this debate. I shall start by agreeing with her on a few points, but, unfortunately, our paths will then diverge. We should not do high-speed rail just because the rest of the world is doing it. Just because every other country in Europe is forging ahead with this does not mean that we should-I accept that argument. We should not do High Speed 2 just because the business case for High Speed 1, and the reason why it went to St Pancras, was that it could be linked to the north....

watch


Westminster Hall Debate - Rail Investment (17 Feb 2011)

David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con): No one would claim that high-speed rail on its own could solve the north-south divide. I do not think that anyone in the Chamber, including my right hon. Friend the Minister, would attempt to do that. However, will my hon. Friend admit that the creation of 40,000 jobs-that is KPMG's estimate-in the north-west, north-east and Yorkshire as a result of high-speed rail would contribute towards doing it? She said that other projects could be equally effective in helping to solve the north-south divide. Perhaps she will say which of those she would put her money on. Finally, three or four hon. Members have
made the point that incremental improvements in rail are very effective in the short term. That is correct, but we cannot just make incremental improvements for ever-

watch


Westminster Hall Debate - Arbroath and Forfar Driving Test Centres (18 Jan 2011)

David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con): The hon. Gentleman makes an extremely valuable point in relation to the impact on driving instructors whose centres are closed in that way, particularly in Forfar and Arbroath. When the driving test centre in Warrington was closed, there was a displacement of activity to driving instructors in St Helen's, which had a test centre, and that has resulted in a number of Warrington-based driving instructors going out of business. A secondary impact is that the pass rates for Warrington-based students have declined, presumably because they were less likely to be able to practise in those areas in which they would ultimately take the test.

watch


Westminster Hall Debate - Funding Formula (18 Jan 2011)

David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con): This has been an important debate, focusing more on Wales than on Scotland. There is a disparity in Wales-the figure of £300 million has been mentioned-but it is dwarfed by the Holtham estimate of the disparity in Scotland, which is £4.5 billion. Many English Members of Parliament, particularly those from the north, are being forced to go back to their constituencies and defend an austere budgetary environment. It is tough to do so when £4 billion a year over and above the needs-based amount is being sent to Scotland.

watch


Westminster Hall Debate - Funding Formula (18 Jan 2011)

David Mowat: I thank my hon. Friend for giving way. What he says about the time scale is important, particularly vis-à-vis Scotland. Next week the Scotland Bill is coming before the House. In my opinion, it will enshrine the current level of the Barnett settlement for ever, as it will link the Barnett amount that Scotland receives directly to the level of income tax paid in Scotland. As a consequence, future reforms will be difficult. I am not sure that time is on our side.

watch


Westminster Hall Debate - Royal Mail Privatisation (18 Jan 2011)

David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con): Does my hon. Friend agree that it is extraordinary that the Government on the one hand are giving much-needed subsidies to the network-£1.3 billion over four years; £50,000 per location per year-yet on the other hand are taking away some of the contracts? No other shareholder or business would act in that way. It just is not joined up.

watch


Westminster Hall Debate - Communities & Local Government (CSR) (13 Jan 2011)

David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con): My hon. Friend mentioned the Barnett formula, and Lord Barnett's view on it. He does actually have a view on it, which he made clear at the House of Lords Select Committee on the Barnett Formula. His view is that it should be replaced by a formula that is much more needs-based than the current one. The consequence of the current formula is revenue misallocation in the order of £4 billion per year. That is £4 billion that does not come to the English regions but goes to Scotland and enables it to pay for things that we cannot have.

watch


Westminster Hall Debate - Education (Warrington North) (23 Nov 2010)

David Mowat: I am interested in what the Minister is saying about social mobility. Does he recognise that in the past decade, we as a nation have slipped from fourth to 14th in science teaching and from eighth to 24th in mathematics teaching? The impact of that will have been felt in Warrington. Those statistics are a damning indictment of our ability to be socially mobile. Science, technology, engineering and maths, more than anything else, will provide jobs and skills for the future.

watch


Westminster Hall Debate - Education (Warrington North) (23 Nov 2010)

David Mowat: The Minister might be aware that the average cost of bidding for a BSF project was about £1 million, which is approximately the cost of a new primary school. Does that not say all that there is to be said about the waste implicit in the programme? Everybody wants more and better schools. Two schools in my constituency, Sir Thomas Boteler and Penketh high schools, desperately need refurbishment, but that must be done cost-effectively, not while frittering away money as BSF did.

watch


Westminster Hall Debate - Education (Warrington North) (23 Nov 2010)

David Mowat: Does the Minister agree that this week's announcement by Councillor Woodyatt, who has been mentioned extensively in this debate, of a new primary school in Warrington North, Oakwood avenue, is an example of the fact that capital spending is continuing? Not everything has been stopped by the hiatus in BSF.

watch


Westminster Hall Debate - High Speed 2 (23 Nov 2010)

David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con): I will describe the context as I see it for such infrastructure improvements. The right hon. Member for Holborn and St Pancras (Frank Dobson) spoke of economic forecasts. I start with the economic figure that the average gross value added per head in London is about £30,000, whereas in the English regions, it is about £17,000....

watch


Westminster Hall Debate - High Speed 2 (23 Nov 2010)

David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con): Does my hon. Friend accept that every infrastructure investment and transport initiative imaginable could, in the short term, be done more cost-effectively with the sort of incremental approach he has just mentioned? That does not take away the need to think strategically, and occasionally to do things that are more than just incremental.

watch


Westminster Hall Debate - Science Research (10 Nov 2010)

David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con): I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon Central (Gavin Barwell) for giving me the chance to speak. I am one of three hon. Members in the Chamber from Imperial College...

watch


Westminster Hall Debate - Rebalancing the UK Economy (3 Nov 2010)

David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con): The right answer to the question of how to rebalance the economy is not to shrink the financial services sector. However, the fact remains that we have the largest financial services sector in relation to the rest of the economy of any advanced economy....

watch


Westminster Hall Debate - Incinerators (26 Oct 2010)

David Mowat: I hear what the Minister says about the level of pollution from incinerators, which is correct and broadly in accordance with reports produced, inter alia, by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers on this subject. However, it is not true of landfill sites...

watch


Westminster Hall Debate - Incinerators (26 Oct 2010)

David Mowat: I do not want to go into the details of the incineration in Middlewich, but it is important to understand why we incinerate or combust. This country continues to put more waste into landfill than any other country in Europe, which is a disgrace. There is a large landfill tip in Warrington...

watch

Westminster Hall Debate - Banking in Scotland (14 Oct 2010
 
David Mowat: This discussion has always struck me as a bit odd, because banks need to lend to make money. I understand the things that the Government are doing-the two things that the Minister mentioned-but are there not two real issues here...

watch


Westminster Hall Debate - The North West Economy (20 Jul 2010)

David Mowat: I congratulate the right hon. Member for Salford and Eccles (Hazel Blears) on securing this important debate and on her speech, the first half of which I pretty much agreed with. It is important to put the size of the north-west economy into context. I shall talk about the regional development agency, but even in its heyday-before the cuts imposed about a year ago by Lord Mandelson, which had...

watch

Website Hosted by Carpe Diem - Design and Hosting in Warrington