(Corby) (Con): As a distinctly
average cricketer who is fully aware of his limitations, I grew up
dreaming of an England side lifting the cricket world cup in a
Lord’s final in front of a home crowd. How does my right hon.
Friend believe we can maximise the opportunity of Sunday’s
incredible success to encourage the next generation to get involved
and pick up a BAT and ball?
The Prime Minister: So many people around the country have been
engaged by and taken inspiration from the England cricket team’s
success. Crucially, a very significant number of children have
also been introduced to the basics of cricket through the work on
cricket in the streets. I want to cite a figure that I heard
yesterday, but I do so with care: I think something like 1
million children have now seen cricket and been introduced to
cricket as a result of the world cup tournament here in the UK.
We must build on that for the future.
(Erewash) (Con): This year,
the school sports premium is worth about half a million pounds to
primary schools across my constituency. It has been a key driver
in helping more children to establish healthier lifestyles, which
we hope they will continue into adulthood. Will my right hon.
Friend join me in encouraging the Government to look closely at
extending this funding beyond 2020 to help even more children to
become healthier for life and to inspire some of those young
people to become our world cup winners of the future?
The Prime Minister: My hon. Friend has raised an important issue.
We all recognise the importance of sport in schools, and the
sport action plan has an aspiration for every child to get 60
minutes of sport and activity a day. That is why on Monday we
published a cross-government school sport action plan, which will
be taken forward. This is an issue that Conservatives in
government have taken very seriously. We have put in the PE and
sport premium, which will continue in the 2019-20 academic year.
Future questions about spending will be for the spending review,
but I think she can take it that Conservatives in government will
continue their commitment to ensuring that young people in this
country have a healthy lifestyle.
