Business of the House
John Hayes Excerpts(1 month ago)
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Lucy Powell
My hon. Friend is a long-standing and powerful advocate for mining communities in his constituency and beyond, and is absolutely right to say that we have a clear manifesto commitment to put this injustice right. I will ensure that the relevant Minister has heard his question and that he gets an appropriate response, and I am sure we will have further announcements in due course.
Sir John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) (Con)
It is a delight, Madam Deputy Speaker, to serve under your benevolent stewardship.
The House may know that I am not an advocate of unbridled, anarchic freedom. I know the harm men can do with unfettered free will. Nevertheless, the ability to speak freely is the mark of a civilised, open society, which is why the last Government introduced a higher education Bill in the light of woke tyranny. I am disappointed that the right hon. Lady, who I know is a diligent servant of this House, would allow such legislation to be rescinded, yet the Government have said that that is exactly what they will do. They are going to reverse the advance we made, so will she allow a debate on free speech? For George Orwell, as she may know, said:
“If liberty means anything at all it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”
Lucy Powell
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that question. This Government have been clear that, in support of our world-leading global university sector, we want to end the culture wars that have ensued against our fantastic universities. As the MP for two globally leading universities, I know that that message and change of tone have been widely welcomed in the sector. I am sure that, at Education questions next week, he may want to raise the issue of the Bill.
Business of the House
John Hayes Excerpts(2 months, 1 week ago)
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Lucy Powell
As we have just heard, this is an important issue for a number of colleagues across the House. We are extremely concerned about the dire state of the NHS estate. RAAC is at the top of the priorities of the Department of Health and Social Care. My hon. Friend will be aware that once the presence of RAAC is confirmed at a hospital site, it joins NHS England’s national RAAC programme, which has a considerable pot of money. I will ensure that she gets an update on her hospital and that this House is updated on RAAC in NHS hospitals in general.
Sir John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) (Con)
I welcome the Leader of the House to her place, and may I say initially that I am sure she is a very good mum, actually? When the Government abandoned the plan to process illegal migrants offshore, they offered no real practical alternative, as my right hon. Friend the shadow Leader of the House has said. I know that many of those arriving are genuine asylum seekers, and they need to be treated accordingly, but many are not. The British people are sick and tired of people arriving here illegally—not irregularly, but illegally—and not being dealt with appropriately. Will the Leader of the House tell us when the Government intend to act? What is their timescale? What are the numbers they intend to change? Enough is enough. The British people have had enough of their borders being breached with impunity.
Lucy Powell
My daughter, who is here today, might have a different view on whether I am a good or bad mum, but that is another point.
With great respect to the right hon. Gentleman, it is a bit rich for Conservative Members to ask us these questions today, given that they presided over the worst rise in illegal migration that this country has ever seen. We have already established the border security command, reallocated resources and made use of the plane to return to Vietnam those who are here illegally. He will know that more than £700 million was allocated to the Rwanda scheme, and all they managed to do with that amount of money was get four volunteers to Rwanda. We have a plan to tackle the criminal gangs and get these numbers down, and we are getting on with delivering that plan.