PMQs

Question

I echo the Prime Minister's thanks to all our staff for their hard work this last year. I very much welcome the Government's levelling-up agenda to ensure that opportunity and economic freedoms are enjoyed by every person across our four nations. Hastings and Rye is being held back, prevented from achieving its potential largely or partly due to a lack of transport infrastructure. Will my right hon. Friend promise to consider the business case for the HS1 extension from Ashford through to Hastings, Bexhill and Eastbourne, and commit to the funding necessary?

Question

Can I wish the Prime Minister—the Chequers one—well in his isolation? With half a million people self-isolating, I think we were all a bit surprised that the Prime Minister, the Chancellor and the Cabinet Office Minister were all randomly chosen for a “get out of isolation free” card, but it is good that the Prime Minister finally recused himself, even if it took a public outcry, for the Communities Secretary to be humiliated on live TV, and a trip to a country estate. If someone is pinged by the NHS app, as millions will be over coming weeks, should they isolate—yes or no?

Question

The Prime Minister says that everyone understands the Government's position as to what they should do if they are pinged by the NHS app. That is a very interesting answer, because the Government are all over the place on this. Yesterday, his Business Minister, Lord Grimstone, said that the app was an “advisory tool” only. Another Government Minister—I kid you not—said yesterday that the app is just to allow you to make informed decisions. What on earth does that mean? Of course, the Prime Minister and the Chancellor spent the weekend trying to dodge isolation altogether. The British people are trying to follow the rules, but how can they do so when his Ministers keep making them up as they go along?

Question

Everything may be calm from the Prime Minister's country retreat, but back here the truth is that we are heading for a summer of chaos. [Interruption.] There is a lot of noise, Mr Speaker; I hope they have all got their NHS app on. We are heading for a summer of chaos. One million children were out of school last week—1 million—and a huge number of businesses are closing because so many staff are self-isolating. Let me turn to the question of exemptions. Yesterday, the messages coming out of No. 10 about which businesses and workers might be exempt from isolation changed hour by hour. First, there was going to be a list, then there wasn't. Then the Prime Minister's spokesperson said: “We're not seeking to draw lines specifically around who or who is not exempt.” I have read that, and I have reread it several times, and I haven't a clue what it means. The Road Haulage Association hit the nail on the head when it said that the plan was thought up on the hoof without proper organisation or thought. I know that the Prime Minister likes to govern by three-word slogans, and I think “on the hoof” might work pretty well. This is the last chance before recess. [Interruption.] For millions of workers, this matters.

Question

I am concerned about the Prime Minister's inconsistent announcements regarding business planning. On Sunday morning, there was a significant U-turn and since then, unclear exemptions have been announced daily. How are businesses supposed to plan with such frequent changes?

Question

On May 26th, I questioned whether the Prime Minister used the words 'Covid is only killing 80-year-olds'. He did not deny it and now there is proof. The Prime Minister's text states, 'The median age of fatalities is 82... above life expectancy' followed by 'So get Covid and live longer.' More than 83,000 people aged 80 or older lost their lives to this virus. Will the Prime Minister apologise for using these words?

Question

Nobody believes what the Prime Minister says anymore. Promises of a plan for social care were broken; tax was raised despite previous assurances; Army and aid budgets were cut; Freedom Day declared then overturned due to new variants, high death tolls, and economic challenges. Last week a million kids missed school, businesses are closing, millions will self-isolate over summer. Isn't it clear that the Prime Minister needs to get a grip?

Question

Specifically, we would like to reopen the Montgomery canal—that is our levelling-up bid. Sadly, it was disconnected from the UK network some decades ago and it is being kept alive by a terrific team of volunteers. Will the Prime Minister use the weight of his office and, like the Secretary of State for Wales, jump on the boat, get this investment over the waterline and deliver this levelling-up bid in mid-Wales?

Question

I hope the Prime Minister will reflect on the judgment from the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman yesterday, which judged there was “maladministration” in dealing with the 1950s WASPI women. It is about time that the Government delivered justice for those involved. On 15 October 2020, 60,000 people had already died. How can anyone have put faith and trust in a Prime Minister who actually typed the words “get COVID and live longer”?

Question

Such a glib attitude towards human life is indefensible. The Prime Minister is simply not fit for office. Will he confirm that, in the interests of public health and confidence, the covid inquiry will begin immediately, and will he commit to appearing at the inquiry himself under oath before any general election is called?

Question

If we are to succeed at levelling up the UK, we must restore social mobility for working-class pupils right across the country. The fastest and most cost-effective way to do that is to re-engineer the classroom to capitalise on the benefits of modern technology, using artificial intelligence to provide lessons tailored to each child's ability. Will the Prime Minister undertake to use modern technologies to give every working-class child the opportunity to reach their full potential—opportunity based on their abilities, not where they grew up or how rich their parents were?

Question

In light of the judicial ruling in the High Court on the Northern Ireland protocol and its impact on the Act of Union, what does the Prime Minister intend to do to fully restore the Act of Union for Northern Ireland and remove the Irish sea border?

Question

Does my right hon. Friend agree that anyone who wants to give birth at Stafford's County Hospital should be able to do so, given that maternity was temporarily suspended at the hospital?

Question

Instead of cutting down, will the Prime Minister not follow his own policy, level up and leave the £20 a week in place?

Question

Does my right hon. Friend agree that if we do not move forward now, we risk opening up later in the autumn or winter when the NHS is under more pressure?

Question

Will the Prime Minister commit to a mandate that all new build schools and major refurbishments are installed with sprinklers?

Question

Will the Prime Minister clarify whether the UK Government intend to take any steps to ensure that lenders and others adhere to RICS guidance on EWS1 forms?

Question

Dame Vera Lynn did so much for our nation and now a fitting memorial is planned on the white cliffs of Dover to ensure that this national icon continues to be celebrated for decades to come. Does my right hon. Friend agree that Dame Vera was a great inspiration to women, showing the difference we can make and contributing throughout the whole of her life to our national life? Will he extend his support to this important Dame Vera Lynn national memorial project?

Question

Since July 2019, the Department for Work and Pensions has undertaken 124 internal process reviews following the deaths of 97 claimants and 27 where claimants suffered serious harm—a threefold increase since 2012. Not once was this mentioned in the health and disability Green Paper published last night. Many believe that this is just the tip of the iceberg and many also believe that the Government can no longer keep marking their own homework. We need to understand the true scale and causes of these deaths in an independent public inquiry, so will the Prime Minister meet me and the delegation of bereaved relatives to discuss this?

Question

Last week, I met one of Truro's daffodil farmers. There is real concern in the industry that they will not be able to have their daffodil pickers in the fields this January. I know that the DWP is working with the Duchy College and is hoping to run a local sector-based work academy, but this is a complex issue requiring a long-term solution. I wonder whether my right hon. Friend would meet me and other Cornish MPs to see how we could resolve this in the long term.

Question

Local residents in Lancaster are opposing the conversion of a popular local pub, the Britannia, into a 10-bedroom student let. The Housing Secretary says that the current planning system does not give people influence over local developments, but his party's developers' charter gags local residents and hands power to a Whitehall-appointed board of developers, resulting in low quality, unaffordable housing. Is it not the case that the Prime Minister is paying back his party of developer paymasters by selling out local communities?

Question

I am sure that my right hon. Friend is not surprised that people are keen to move to my North Devon constituency, but we, like much of the south-west, are experiencing severe housing shortages. Local government need urgent help and support now. Might he consider, as part of planning reforms, binding covenants being applied to a proportion of new-build housing, so it is used as a primary residence and not a holiday let or second home, and that existing homes must register for a change of use if they become a holiday let, to ensure vibrant coastal communities do not become winter ghost towns?

Question

The Prime Minister is having to self-isolate, as are hundreds of thousands of people across the country because of his reckless covid strategy. Unlike the Prime Minister, not everybody has been able to run off to a luxury country mansion with a heated swimming pool. Also, unlike the Prime Minister, so many people across our country are having to survive on just £96 sick pay per week. Could the Prime Minister survive on £96 sick pay per week? If he could not, why does he think that it is good enough for everyone else?

Question

Given the global pandemic, public criticism of my right hon. Friend's extraordinary leadership should be dismissed. He put the lives of my constituents first, and has had to adapt to the lessons that covid-19 has taught us. Sadly, the same cannot be said of the handing of tuberculosis by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Will he meet me to discuss the current TB strategy and how we can improve it?

Question

May I first pay tribute to all the teachers both in my constituency and across the country who have done incredible work in keeping learning going under such difficult circumstances? I was really pleased to be able to thank my daughter's schoolteacher in person yesterday. Can the Prime Minister confirm that the Government's approach to managing the pandemic will guarantee that all children will have an uninterrupted academic year when they return to school after the summer break?

Question

As chair of the all-party parliamentary group on missing children, I know that every year, 180,000 people are reported to the police as missing across our constituencies in the United Kingdom. I am sure that the Prime Minister and everyone in the House find that completely unacceptable. The Home Office's strategy on missing people has not been reviewed since 2011, so will the Prime Minister please urgently get the strategy reviewed and updated? Along with that, will he meet the Missing People charity, the Children's Society and me to look at this important issue affecting our society?

Question

As chair of the all-party parliamentary group for disability, I hosted a Disability Confident workshop for Members of Parliament, and I am delighted that we are now approaching 25% of cross- party MPs being accredited as disability confident employers. Will the Prime Minister become a disability confident employer himself, encourage colleagues to do so, and put his support behind improved representation and inclusion in Parliament for people with disabilities?