Andy McDonald: ...is quite right that it is principally a Stagecoach company—will not fulfil the promises that it made in the franchise specification to introduce new services to places such as Scarborough and Middlesbrough. While it is not strictly within the ambit of our discussion, perhaps Mr Chope might take the opportunity to speak with the regulator to ensure that nothing will happen that will...
Andy McDonald: ...some small amount, but the figures are clear. In some communities, there is an asylum seeker for every 18 residents, and I hope the Minister will take that fact on board. I am terrifically proud of Middlesbrough’s long history of compassion and support. We have Justice First, the Churches—Methodist Action, the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church—and other faith groups, charities...
Andy McDonald: While my hon. Friend is acknowledging some of the work across the region, will he pay tribute to Middlesbrough College’s work on its remarkable new science, technology, engineering and maths centre? That was launched recently, very much with the involvement of local employers, the manufacturing base and the supply chain.
Andy McDonald: (Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department to make a statement on the revelation today about discriminatory treatment of asylum seekers in Middlesbrough.
Andy McDonald: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the benefits of retaining the existing HM Revenue and Customs' operation in Middlesbrough.
Andy McDonald: The management at James Cook university hospital in Middlesbrough is seeking to increase nurses’ current 30-minute meal break, which they struggle to take, to a compulsory unpaid 60-minute break that will result in nurses effectively working one shift a month unpaid. In their judgment that will do nothing to address the real issues of staff shortages and patient safety, but will merely...
Andy McDonald: ..., but important worldwide events obviously squeezed it out. I also congratulate the Government on having, in one fell swoop, cheesed off every region and nation of the UK. Some 300 workers in Middlesbrough and 400 in Stockton South, the constituency represented by the northern powerhouse Minister, will be affected by these closures. The Middlesbrough and Stockton offices will close in 2018...
Andy McDonald: ...nothing demonstrates that better than the magnificent victory at Old Trafford last night. We are top of the league on the electrification taskforce list for the connection between Northallerton and Middlesbrough. Can the Secretary of State indicate when we might expect progress on that important economic development?
Andy McDonald: I speak as somebody from Middlesbrough, and at the last time of counting, 33% of the workforce at Redcar hailed from my constituency. I have no reason to believe that the figures are much different today. We need an inquiry into the collapse of SSI. I echo the demand from my neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Redcar (Anna Turley), who has done a sterling job in her fight for her...
Andy McDonald: More than 20% of the people affected by this issue are from Middlesbrough, as they know only too well. Like me, they heard the Secretary of State say that he does not like industrial strategy. They know exactly what those words mean—[Interruption.] It is no good the Minister whingeing, because that is what the Secretary of State said, and this is how it impacts on people. The Minister hides...
Andy McDonald: ...Business Committee, and for leading it. I also congratulate the chair and vice-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on steel and metal related industries, my hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland (Tom Blenkinsop) and the hon. Member for Corby (Tom Pursglove). It is a privilege to follow such passionate speakers. This matter clearly affects the entire...
Andy McDonald: .... He has done us the courtesy of doing that and he has shown his commitment, so let us have none of that. Let us move on. Teesside steel is the reason many of us are here. There would be no town of Middlesbrough without steel. I am not going to give people a history lesson but, although Teesside might have the largest blast furnace in the UK, a few years ago we had 100 blast furnaces down...
Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of benefit sanctions in Middlesbrough were overturned following a mandatory reconsideration in the last 12 months.
Andy McDonald: ...consider all of the north. In doing so, it is imperative that the role of Tees Valley should be properly considered. I will concentrate in the main on rail infrastructure. It is telling that modern Middlesbrough came into being as a direct result of the creation of the railways and the founding of the Stockton and Darlington Railway Company to serve as the river access point for receiving...
Andy McDonald: ..., but putting that argument to one side for another day I am nevertheless pleased that on the awarding of the new franchise the business case has been won for the reintroduction of a direct Middlesbrough to London rail service, so I need not repeat it. Clearly, the economic growth that this will deliver is unarguable. The disappointment is that the service will come into being only in five...
Andy McDonald: Last week, a disabled passenger at Middlesbrough railway station was trapped on platform 2 because of the failure of the lift and had to travel to Saltburn at the end of the line to get to platform 1. Will the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, the hon. Member for Devizes (Claire Perry), encourage Network Rail to accelerate its programme of investment in Middlesbrough railway station,...
Andy McDonald: ...4 million jobseeker’s allowance sanctions have been imposed. My constituents are sanctioned more than any others in the north-east, with more than 1,000 sanctions applied against JSA claimants in Middlesbrough between April and June last year, 300 more than in any other constituency. Ministers would have us believe that each of those sanctions was a just act that punished workshy people...
Andy McDonald: I welcome Northumbrian Water’s WaterSure tariff initiative to help low-income families, and I applaud its work with the StepChange debt charity and the award winning Know Your Money in Middlesbrough, but only six water companies are currently offering a social tariff to struggling customers, helping just over 25,000 people in total. What steps is the Minister taking to reduce regional...
Andy McDonald: ...on them and, hopefully, it will establish practices and shopping behaviours. I am looking forward to Saturday. If last year’s was anything to go by, we have a lot to look forward to. Last year in Middlesbrough I met dozens of businesses over two days: we claimed Friday as well, making it a two-day celebration of the brilliance and endeavour of so many small businesses. There are some...
