PMQs

Question

The national lottery operator Camelot is a significant employer and contributor to communities through local projects. Given their extensive work, I declare an interest in the recent decision not to renew Camelot's licence due to concerns about a joint venture with Gazprom. Does my right hon Friend find it appropriate that Allwyn, the next potential licensee, has ties to Gazprom?

Question

Welcoming positive steps towards releasing Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori from Iran, I ask for a review of the situation to prevent similar occurrences. The Deputy Prime Minister acknowledges that the Government has done everything possible, but will he commit to a review to understand what more could have been done by British officials?

Question

I ask for clarification on the change between security warnings and the grant of peerage to Lord Lebedev, given his Russian origin and close links with the Prime Minister. Can you confirm if there were changes in policy or direct advice from intelligence services that influenced this decision?

Question

On March 17, 2020, intelligence reportedly warned against granting a peerage to the Prime Minister's friend, Lord Lebedev. Two days later, the PM visited him in London and the appointment was announced in July. What changed between the security warning and the appointment?

Question

The central duty of any Government is to keep the British people safe. Widespread reports suggest intelligence warnings were ignored for Lord Lebedev, who has Russian ties and close links with the Prime Minister. Can the Deputy Prime Minister guarantee that no request was made to revise or withdraw security assessments regarding Lord Lebedev?

Question

There is a war in Europe. There is a fuel energy crisis in Britain. Democracy is at risk. We must support the courageous efforts of President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people. These uncertain times require leadership with integrity, a leader who works with the security services, can be trusted to say the right thing for British diplomacy, and provides security for the British people. Instead, we have this sorry excuse of a Government sat before us. They hike tax on 27 million working people, while the super-rich increase their wealth. They watch energy prices rise by over 50% while companies enjoy profits they did not even expect. They cavort with Russian oligarchs in luxury villas while neglecting the security of the British people. Remember, they partied while the country was in lockdown and unable to see their dying loved ones. Can the Deputy Prime Minister look the British people in the eye and really say that this Government are doing their best in their interests?

Question

It was very good to see my right hon. Friend visiting the International Criminal Court earlier this week, but it has enduring difficulties with funding. Last year, it had a $40 million shortfall in its budget because some participating states failed to meet their annual contribution. The International Criminal Court is only as good as the sum of its parts, so what steps can the Government take to secure contingency funding to ensure that one day Russian military commanders in Ukraine can expect to stand trial for war crimes that they have committed?

Question

May I welcome our four colleagues from the Parliament of Ukraine who are with us today? We all stand with them. I have spent much of the past week trying to help the Scottish charity Dnipro Kids, which was established by fans of Hibernian football club. It has evacuated 48 children from orphanages in Ukraine and is desperately attempting to provide them with temporary sanctuary in Scotland. There is a plane ready and waiting in Poland to bring these orphans to the UK on Friday, but that flight will leave empty without the necessary paperwork from the Home Office. The Polish authorities, Edinburgh City Council, the Scottish Government and the orphans' guardians are all working to bring these children to safety. I have worked with UK Government Ministers to try to make that happen—I commend Lord Harrington in particular for his efforts—but a week on, the Home Office is still proving to be the only obstacle in the way, and it risks leaving these children stranded. I am pleading with the Deputy Prime Minister to remove these obstructions before it is too late. Will he work with me and the Ukrainian authorities to guarantee that these 48 Ukrainian orphans will get on that plane this Friday?

Question

We need the Home Office to give us paperwork that will facilitate the urgent case involving nearly 50 vulnerable children from Ukraine. If even strong political pressure cannot make it happen, what hope is there for other refugee children? The UN estimates one child per second becoming a refugee due to the war in Ukraine.

Question

British servicemen and women have served in Ukraine for years under Operations Cabrit and Orbital, supporting the Ukrainian armed forces and NATO's eastern flank. Will you join me in putting on record the gratitude of the House? What recognition can we offer these individuals?

Question

The Government has decided on a 3.1% increase in universal credit and other benefits despite inflation being around 7%, leading to real-terms cuts in benefits. Given changing circumstances, will you reconsider this decision?

Question

British companies are responding positively by scaling down operations in Russia and offering support to Ukraine. Will the Government assist in connecting these offers of support with those in Ukraine's most urgent need?

Question

When it comes to judging a person, company they keep matters. The Prime Minister has been seen associating with individuals such as Lubov Chernukhin and Alexander Lebedev. What first attracted him to these billionaire Russian oligarchs?

Question

The eyes of the world are rightly focused on Putin's evil invasion of Ukraine, but there is still a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. I welcome the fact that, later this month, the UK Government are hosting a pledging conference for that crisis. Will my right hon. Friend ensure that we also keep education for those poor children on the agenda?

Question

Appeasing murderous despots will never be the route to security of energy supply. Would it not make more sense for the Prime Minister to be here talking to UK energy industries? Should he not be talking to renewable energy developers about what they can do to bring their product onstream quicker? Should he not also be speaking to our offshore oil and gas industry about what it can do in the here and now to improve security of supply and to assist in the journey towards net zero?

Question

North Norfolk is a rural constituency. Many residents rely on their car to get around, and they heat their homes with heating oil. The price of crude oil may have come down in the last few days, but the price at the petrol pumps is still going up. I have constituents who have been quoted £2 a litre for heating oil. This affects not only working families but pensioners in rural areas who are on a fixed income. Will the Deputy Prime Minister do everything he can to make sure we address these problems in the spring statement for very rural constituencies that are getting the double whammy of these crippling costs?

Question

The Prime Minister is visiting Saudi Arabia and, as usual, we are told there will be frank, private discussions on the Saudis' human rights record. In the light of the state murder of Jamal Khashoggi, and in the light of the brutal execution of 81 men at the weekend, why does the Deputy Prime Minister think the UK's representations on human rights are so ineffective? What more will we do to make the Saudis behave ethically?

Question

Rousseau once said, “You may swallow the Poles, but you will never digest them.” That powerful quote says so much for how the Polish people have stood up robustly and strongly against aggression over the years and about their steadfast support right now for their close and dear allies, the Ukrainian people. Three lorries have gone from Ipswich to Lviv in support of the Ukrainian people. Will the Deputy Prime Minister outline the steps the Government are taking to support our close ally, Poland, as it takes unprecedented numbers of refugees while, of course, it has its own security concerns in relation to Russia?

Question

On 28 April 2018, when he was Foreign Secretary, the Prime Minister is reported to have attended a party at a castle in Italy, where he met a former KGB officer. That was just weeks after the Salisbury poisonings and immediately after he attended a NATO summit on Russia. If that is not astonishing enough in itself, it is also reported that he travelled there without any security detail or officials present. So will there now be an investigation into what sounds like a complete failure of national security?

Question

In addition to having concerns for Ukraine, my constituents are also concerned about planning policy. I wrote to the Prime Minister in October 2019 about the threat to the Goring gap. It is against Government policy and against the public interest for every green field that is a strategic gap to be built on. An inspector has made a decision that would wipe away the planning powers of every local council in the country. May I ask whether the Prime Minister will see me and whether the Government will revoke this inspector's mistaken decision?

Question

Last year, 255 children and young people were admitted to Barnsley Hospital for self-harm—that is 15 times the national average. This is a public health crisis, so will the Deputy Prime Minister ask the Health Secretary to meet me and healthcare providers from Barnsley to immediately respond to this mental health crisis?

Question

Are any oligarchs with UK passports on our sanctions list?

Question

Three weeks ago, the chair of the UK Statistics Authority, Sir David Norgrove, wrote to the Prime Minister to point out that his repeated assertion that employment is now higher than it was before the pandemic is incorrect. Yesterday's employment statistics show 840,000 fewer self-employed people now than before the pandemic and that overall employment is 580,000 lower. Does the Deputy Prime Minister agree that truthfulness is vital to trust in our democracy? Does he accept the correction from Sir David Norgrove?

Question

We have now provided more than 3,000 anti-tank weapons, training and other military support to Ukraine, alongside crushing financial sanctions on Russia and more bilateral assistance, humanitarian assistance and aid than any other country. But can my right hon. Friend confirm that we will continue to deliver further military aid and support, and that we will supply the Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles necessary to destroy Russian jets?

Question

It is welcome that Ukrainians seeking asylum in Britain will have the right to work and access to public services; we should always offer sanctuary to those fleeing persecution. People who come to Britain to make it their home no matter where they are from or the colour of their skin make a hugely positive contribution to our society and economy if supported to do so. So how can the Government now justify not extending the same welcome and the same rights, including the right to work, to all people seeking asylum in Britain?

Question

As the brilliant Ukrainian people fight and die on a daily basis for their rights of freedom and democracy, it is important that we make something very clear and I ask my right hon. Friend to do so. They have asked for membership of NATO for a significant period of time, and NATO has chosen not to give it to them. My concern now is, no matter what they decide, it remains their absolute right as a free nation and a free people to make such an application in the future, and, noticing that Finland is talking about becoming a member, we treat them in exactly the same way we would an application from Finland.

Question

A constituent of mine is a popular parish priest in Glasgow. Originally from Nigeria, he became a British citizen last year and applied for his first British passport last summer. His naturalisation certificate, issued by the Home Secretary, includes his title, reverend father, under his name. This is causing the Passport Office unexplained difficulties and seven months on he is still waiting for his passport. Will the Deputy Prime Minister look at this case as a matter of urgency? His mother is extremely ill in Nigeria; he needs to get his passport to visit her.