Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Mims Davies and Lindsay Hoyle(2 weeks, 2 days ago)
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Mims Davies (East Grinstead and Uckfield) (Con)
Does the Minister think it is acceptable for anyone in this country to say that people should “pray for victory” for Hamas over Israel, or for anyone to celebrate the 7 October attacks as a David-over-Goliath situation? If not, why did the Prime Minister invite Adam Kelwick, who has said such despicable things, to No. 10 just last week? Will the Minister apologise on behalf of the Prime Minister to the Jewish community, who need to know that this Government will stand with them against violence, hatred and division—and, in fact, with communities of all races and religions? All communities need to be supported.
Mims Davies (East Grinstead and Uckfield) (Con)
In January, the Labour Government committed to assisting five local inquiries, including one in Oldham. into grooming gangs and rape gangs. Two months on, we have had no update from the Government about the other locations. In which towns can women and girls now sleep safely in their beds? When and where will the other four inquiries take place, and what do the Government plan to do about the other 45 towns and cities across the country in which those gangs have reportedly operated?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Mims Davies and Lindsay Hoyle(3 weeks, 2 days ago)
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Mr Speaker
Let us go to the shadow Front Bench. I call the shadow Secretary of State for Wales.
Mims Davies (East Grinstead and Uckfield) (Con)
Who is the Secretary of State battling for, Kazakhstan or Wales? Labour’s political choices mean countless jobs in Wales are at risk due to the national insurance rise. The damaging impact that is having in the Minister’s back yard is clear, with more than 1,800 jobs reportedly at risk at Cardiff University—in one of the many sectors that are desperately trying to stay afloat due to the Welsh Government’s jobs tax and the Labour Government’s impact on the Welsh economy. With Cardiff University ploughing on with its Kazakhstan campus, can the right hon. Lady be happy with the offshoring of those roles in that sector and many others because of the continued fallout from the autumn Budget?
Mims Davies (East Grinstead and Uckfield) (Con)
The Government have said that they are concerned, as we all are, about our future security, so why is food security expendable in Wales and beyond? That is the message from farmer Stella Owen of the National Farmers Union Cymru, who has said that the Government’s actions are “destructive” and
“threaten the future of family farms”
across Wales. How many of those family farms is the Minister prepared to see go under before she and the Secretary of State step up and act in the interests of that key sector by helping the men and women who are livid, worried and fearing for their livelihoods?
Mims Davies (East Grinstead and Uckfield) (Con)
Sadly, there will be no more Easter family fun at Oakwood, which has made it clear that its final demise, after covid, is due to Labour’s looming tourism tax, the job tax and sky-high business rates from the Senedd, meaning that it is all over. How many more tourist and hospitality businesses need to tell the UK Government that their “closed” signs will be going up and staying up due to decisions made by the Treasury? Will the Secretary of State stand up for the businesses and jobs in Wales who know that they are being taken for the worst ride possible—frankly, even more vomit-inducing than Megafobia—by this Government of broken promises?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Mims Davies and Lindsay Hoyle(1 month, 4 weeks ago)
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Mims Davies (East Grinstead and Uckfield) (Con)
The call for evidence started last year by the Leader of the Opposition, when she was Minister for Women and Equalities, asked the public to share examples of bad guidance on single-sex spaces and services. This Labour Government initially shared just 42 responses—just 1% of the responses—with the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which is the body that gives advice to institutions on equality in the law. Why did the Government rule out 99% of the public responses? That is a massive betrayal of Labour’s manifesto commitment to protect single-sex spaces. The public rightly deserve to have every single one of over 3,000 submissions considered properly by the EHRC.
Mr Speaker
Order. These are topical questions—they need to be short and punchy, which this answer will be. Come on.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Mims Davies and Lindsay Hoyle(2 months ago)
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Mims Davies (East Grinstead and Uckfield) (Con)
An ITV Wales investigation last year discovered 28 prevention of future death reports over a 16-month period relating to the north Wales Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. The Welsh Secretary’s predecessor called for an inquiry into these tragedies. Meanwhile, answers are rightly being sought, as there is clear evidence of grooming gangs sexually exploiting young children in Wales. Will the Secretary of State commit to building on her predecessor’s actions, and push the Welsh Government to use the Inquiries Act 2005 to launch two vital Wales-wide inquiries, to give victims and their loved ones justice?
Mims Davies (East Grinstead and Uckfield) (Con)
Labour has been running the NHS badly in Wales since Tony Blair was Prime Minister, with waiting times constantly at record levels ever since. The Government cannot just devolve and forget—the people of Wales need to see and feel proactivity from the Wales Office.
Everybody knows somebody waiting in pain in Wales. Last week, on “Any Questions?”, the First Minister spoke without much detail of an injection of money that will bring down waiting lists. Can the Secretary of State explain if there is a plan, or if it is just another blank piece of paper?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Mims Davies and Lindsay Hoyle(3 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Mims Davies (East Grinstead and Uckfield) (Con)
Merry Christmas, Mr Speaker. Here’s to festive tipples in our locals, but it is certainly not a cheery Christmas for the Women Against State Pension Inequality, whom Labour has betrayed.
Hospitality is at the heart of our economy, with a diverse workforce: 17% of the sector’s workers are disabled under the Equality Act 2010; 20% are from ethnic minority groups; and over 54% are women. Will the Secretary of State tell the House what conversations have taken place between her and the Chancellor on the chilling effect on future earnings of the Labour Government’s jobs tax and higher business rates, underpinned by £3.4 billion of increased costs according to UKHospitality, which will drive down future earnings?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Mims Davies and Lindsay Hoyle(3 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Mims Davies (East Grinstead and Uckfield) (Con)
First, my sympathies go out to all residents and businesses impacted by the weekend’s storm. I also thank Andrew R. T. Davies for his leadership of our party in the Senedd, and I wish Darren Millar well.
The UK Labour Chancellor has plummeted business confidence through the floor with her Budget actions on the family farm tax and the new jobs tax, and by whacking the hospitality sector with an £8 billion bill, according to UK Hospitality. Will the Secretary of State confirm that there is no benefit for Wales, despite her figures, and that this is simply a money merry-go-round taking from Welsh businesses, destroying jobs in the meantime, and squashing growth, meaning poorer public services as the frontline remains squeezed?
Mims Davies (East Grinstead and Uckfield) (Con)
Tourism is vital to the Welsh economy. However, Labour’s new tourism tax has merely created attraction closures and strikes, from the zoo in Ynys Môn to the cliff railway in Aberystwyth. The Welsh Government proposal will put more jobs in jeopardy, leave hotel rooms empty and simply send Welsh families across the border on to flights for their trips, treats and holidays. Does the Secretary of State really agree with her colleagues in Cardiff Bay that the potential price of 700 tourism jobs and the loss of tourism to Wales, together with £40 million of revenue, is worth paying?
Mims Davies (East Grinstead and Uckfield) (Con)
The NHS in Wales is broken. Under Labour, waits continue and no family, it seems, is without somebody waiting in an ever-growing queue. It is the highest on record, with one in four of the Welsh population on a waiting list. In September, 801,000 people were in need of treatment. If someone has lost their winter fuel allowance, along with any hope of seeing a GP or consultant and getting social care, what does the Secretary of State really have to say and do to reassure older people that the Labour Government here and in the Senedd have the ability to tackle that disgrace of a backlog?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Mims Davies and Lindsay Hoyle(4 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Mims Davies (East Grinstead and Uckfield) (Con)
It is working women who will pay the price for Labour’s Budget of broken promises, with the increase to employers’ national insurance contributions making working people worse off and affecting childcare settings. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has said that single-parent families—80% of them are headed by women—will, on average, be £1,000 worse off by October 2029. Has the Minister assessed what additional negative impact there will be on the labour market of the hidden scrapping of the child benefit changes for single-parent households? This has been described by Martin Lewis as an “unfair” penalty to single-parent households.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Mims Davies and Lindsay Hoyle(4 months, 4 weeks ago)
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Mims Davies (East Grinstead and Uckfield) (Con)
Thank you, Mr Speaker. At the outset, as I come to the Dispatch Box for the first time in this role for Wales questions, may I please pay tribute to my former private secretary in the Wales Office, Debbie John, who was taken at a tender age due to pancreatic cancer? She and her family are in my thoughts today as I take up this role. She is much missed and very fondly remembered.
The right hon. Lady clearly needs to acknowledge to the House that the deal for Tata steel recently re-announced by her UK Government is identical to the one negotiated by my right hon. Friend the Member for North West Essex (Mrs Badenoch), who is now Leader of the Opposition.
Mims Davies (East Grinstead and Uckfield) (Con)
Will the Secretary of State express her regret about the impact of Labour’s Budget on Wales? It will undoubtedly make the people of Wales poorer. Pensioners have been left wondering whether they should turn on their heating this winter, and family farms will be destroyed. The Budget is affecting business confidence and employment across the nation.
Mr Speaker
Order. You cannot just keep asking questions, shadow Secretary of State. You are allowed only two, and that was your second.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Mims Davies and Lindsay Hoyle(5 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Mims Davies (East Grinstead and Uckfield) (Con)
I welcome the ministerial team to their places. The Conservative Government launched the £100 million violence against women and girls strategy in our determination to make our streets safer for women and girls. It involved creating a new 24/7 sexual assault helpline, transport safety champions and a £5 million safety of women at night fund. Why does this Labour Government feel that setting a target of merely halving violence against women and girls is a suitable ambition? Surely nothing but targeting the total eradication of this horrific criminality, whether in the home or on the streets, is enough.
Mims Davies (East Grinstead and Uckfield) (Con)
The Conservative Government introduced the hugely successful opt-out HIV and hepatitis testing programme for A&Es in London, Brighton, Blackpool and Manchester, with a £20 million commitment to expand the programme to 33 more, diagnosing more than 1,300 people with HIV in the first two years and tackling health inequalities. This has meant, crucially, that more LGBT+ people, women, people of black African ethnicity and older people have been diagnosed and supported. Will the Minister assure the House that the funding and commitment will remain?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Mims Davies and Lindsay Hoyle(5 months, 4 weeks ago)
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Mims Davies (East Grinstead and Uckfield) (Con)
The well-received and groundbreaking Buckland review of autism employment focused on the action needed to help to tackle the lack of opportunities and outdated recruitment practices that do not meet the employment needs of autistic people. How is the Minister—I welcome him to his place—going to use this review, which I seem to remember him welcoming, to tackle the lack of understanding and ongoing stereotypes to help to make real change via Access to Work and other DWP interventions?
Mims Davies (East Grinstead and Uckfield) (Con)
Jobcentres are extremely good, as we just heard from the hon. Member for Hackney South and Shoreditch (Dame Meg Hillier), who is leaving the Chamber. Yet the new Minister for Employment previously described jobcentres as places nobody wants to go, and claimed that they do not offer real help. Our jobcentres help to ensure that almost 4 million more people have work, compared with when her party left office in 2010. More than 2 million of those employed are women. Will the Minister and the DWP team who have made disparaging remarks apologise to work coaches and DWP staff, who she and they have rubbished but who now have to look up to them as the new ministerial team?
NHS: Independent Investigation
Debate between Mims Davies and Lindsay Hoyle(6 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Mr Speaker
How long has the hon. Member been here? Points of order come at the end—you cannot intervene in the middle of these proceedings.
I call the shadow Secretary of State.