Sue Gray Report

Debate between Aaron Bell and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 25th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I really do not think the Government can be blamed for the delay that the hon. Member complains of. It took a long time for the Met to do its work, which was exhaustive, and I do not believe that it sustains the conclusion he has drawn—not at all.

[Aaron Bell (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Con)]

When I asked the Prime Minister about Sue Gray’s interim findings on 31 January, he asked me to wait for the inquiry report—he asked many hon. Members that day to do the same. Subsequently, he has asked the media to wait for the findings of the inquiry report, and he knows that many Conservative colleagues have told their constituents that they are waiting for the inquiry report. So I was very surprised to read an intimation in The Times that he may have asked Sue Gray not to publish the report at all. Is there any truth to that suggestion?

[The Prime Minister]

What Sue Gray has published is entirely for Sue Gray. It is a wholly independent report.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Aaron Bell and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 27th April 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I believe the Home Office has already made a statement about it. If there is any further comment to make, it will make a statement.

[Aaron Bell (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Con)]

14. Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council has secured millions of pounds of Government investment for our high street, but we have a problem with persistent antisocial behaviour on the high street. Will my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister therefore welcome the recent appointment of a new chief constable for Staffordshire and a new borough commander for Newcastle, and the fact that Newcastle will get its own dedicated response unit? Will he also set out what further measures the Government are taking to combat crime and antisocial behaviour?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is an avid champion for his constituents. He might have missed what I said earlier, but there are now 13,576 more police on the streets of this country as a result of the actions taken by this Government. There are also tougher sentences, which were opposed by the party opposite. We are cracking down on drugs gangs, whereas the Labour party is soft on drugs. I think the Leader of the Opposition said he would decriminalise drugs and that he did not want people found with class A drugs to face prison sentences—I think I heard him say that.

Of course, we are also cracking down on cross-channel gangs that risk the lives of migrants in the English channel. We are cracking down on them and, as far as I know, the Labour party would scrap the economic and migration partnership with Rwanda. We have a plan; they do not.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Aaron Bell and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 20th April 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Good point, Mr Speaker, but we are responsible for cutting taxes for everybody, which is what we are actually doing.

[Aaron Bell (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Con)]

Newcastle-under-Lyme is receiving over £50 million of Government investment into our high street and the high street of Kidsgrove in the neighbouring constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent North (Jonathan Gullis), but it is all being overshadowed by the ongoing environmental disaster at Walleys Quarry. In January, the operator was hit with three category 1 breaches by the Environment Agency. My constituents are utterly sick of it, and it has been going on for far too long, Prime Minister. We need to see tougher enforcement and we need to see the permit taken away. What hope can he give my constituents? How can we stop the stink?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend has raised this issue before and I know how infuriating it is for his constituents. That is why the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has now ordered action against the site operator, and I can tell my hon. Friend that permanent capping will begin on site next month, which will improve things for thousands of residents in his constituency. If it is necessary to take further action to remove those malodorous vapours, we will do so.

Sue Gray Report

Debate between Aaron Bell and Boris Johnson

Monday 31st January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Not only have I accepted full responsibility throughout, but I have apologised repeatedly to the House for any misjudgments that I may have made myself, but, again, I must urge the hon. Lady to wait for the conclusion of the inquiry.

[Aaron Bell (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Con)]

It seems that a lot of people attended events in May 2020. The one I recall attending was my grandmother’s funeral. She was a wonderful woman. As well as her love for her family, she served her community as a councillor and she served Dartford Conservative Association loyally for many years. I drove for three hours from Staffordshire to Kent. There were only 10 people at the funeral; many people who loved her had to watch online. I did not hug my siblings. I did not hug my parents. I gave a eulogy and afterwards I did not even go into her house for a cup of tea; I drove back, for three hours, from Kent to Staffordshire. Does the Prime Minister think I am a fool?

[The Prime Minister]

No. I want to thank my hon. Friend and say how deeply I sympathise with him and his family for their loss. All I can say, again, is that I am very, very sorry for misjudgments that may have been made by me or anybody else in No.10 and the Cabinet Office. I can only ask him respectfully to look at what Sue Gray has said and to wait for the conclusion of the inquiry.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Aaron Bell and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 5th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I have a couple of points—I do not think the hon. Gentleman knows much about Disraeli, by the way. The Mayor of Greater Manchester actually just said that the Government are taking the right approach. To the hon. Gentleman’s point about fixing the problems of the social care sector, which is valid, it is this Government, after decades of failure by Labour to do it—[Interruption.] Absolutely true. We are fixing social care, and they would not even support it.

[Aaron Bell (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Con)]

Mr Speaker, I hope you had a good Christmas break—a better break than the shadow Health and Social Care Secretary, who, since we last met, has taken a number of positions. On 19 December, he said that the Government need to “act now” and Labour called for actions before Boxing day. On 20 December, he said that the British public know that “additional restrictions are inevitable”. On 21 December, he criticised the delay. On 27 December, he said that

“people will be relieved to see no new restrictions”.

We all want a responsible and constructive Opposition, but does the Prime Minister agree that that is not opposition, but opportunism?

[The Prime Minister]

That sums up all people need to know about the Labour party. It instinctively reaches for measures to lock down the UK economy and do huge damage. We are taking a balanced and proportionate approach. There are difficulties ahead, but we are taking the right approach. If the Opposition are now saying that they support it—[Interruption.] Are they saying they support it? I do not know. Let us wait for Captain Hindsight to come back.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Aaron Bell and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 14th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I think that the whole House will acknowledge the suffering of victims like Julie and their families. Of course, nothing I say or can do now can in any way mitigate her loss. That is clear. But it is also true that the people of Northern Ireland must, if we possibly can allow them to, move forwards now.

The right hon. and learned Gentleman will know that the proposals that are being introduced—the House will hear about them in more detail later from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland—are measured, balanced and have a wide degree of support, if I may say so, from former Labour Prime Ministers and former Labour leaders who are of considerably more distinction than the right hon. and learned Gentleman. He will recall that it was under a Labour Administration that many terrorists were unfortunately given, effectively, an amnesty. They were allowed to escape the full consequences of their crimes, as he knows very well. That is the reality.

This is of course no consolation to people like Julie, but the sad fact remains that there are many members of the armed services who continue to face the threat of vexatious prosecutions well into their 70s and 80s and later. We are finally bringing forward a solution to this problem to enable the Province of Northern Ireland to draw a line under the troubles and to enable the people of Northern Ireland to move forward. Someone with greater statesmanship and clarity of vision would have seen that and given the proposals a fair wind.

[Aaron Bell (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Con)]

The scandalous situation with the noxious gas emissions at Walleys Quarry landfill in my constituency continues. To date, there has been no apology from the operator, Red Industries, and no credible explanation for the odour that is blighting the lives and health of so many of my local residents. What assurances can the Prime Minister give me today that every effort will be made to speed up the works that have been mandated by the Environment Agency, that we will get a deadline for when we can expect the awful situation to be resolved, and that those responsible are held fully to account?

Covid-19: Winter Plan

Debate between Aaron Bell and Boris Johnson

Monday 23rd November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We will study the judgment and take appropriate action to protect workers.

[Aaron Bell (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Con)]

I thank the Prime Minister for his statement, and join my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent South (Jack Brereton) in praising all the staff at the Royal Stoke for the work they have been doing. It is the scientists that are giving us the most hope at the moment, particularly with the vaccines. I ask the Prime Minister to join me in congratulating Cobra Biologics in Newcastle-under-Lyme, who have been part of the Oxford project. Does he agree that the fact that the vaccines are so close now is a reason why we should redouble our efforts to observe the guidance and be responsible with the extra permissions we will get over December?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend completely sums up the strategy that we need now, just as we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Now is the moment when it is vital that we concentrate on the road ahead and do not veer off one way or the other, and do not allow ourselves to throw away the gains that we have made. It will be a tough few months, but the vaccines that he talks about have unquestionably changed the logic, and massively, massively improved our position, but it is too early—far, far too early—to be complacent about that. Obviously I thank the company in his constituency profoundly for what it has done.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Aaron Bell and Boris Johnson

Monday 12th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

It is thanks to the great expansion of NHS Test and Trace that we know where the virus is being transmitted in this country and where the incidence is rising, and contrary to what the hon. Lady says, we know it with increasing and granular detail. That enables us to take the local measures that we are taking, and I take it from what she said that she supports those measures in Newcastle and the north-east.

[Aaron Bell (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that we need a flexible local approach to tackle outbreaks? Does he also agree that, when looking at which tier an area moves into, the distinct nature of outbreaks at universities should be taken into account for authorities containing a university, such as Newcastle-under-Lyme, rather than relying on a single, catch-all case rate?

[The Prime Minister]

Indeed, but as I said earlier, I am reluctant to make a hard-and-fast distinction between students and other members of the population. They are heir to the same afflictions as the rest of us. By and large, students are doing a great job in following the guidance, and we encourage all of them to do that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Aaron Bell and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 24th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We have massively increased our spending on universal credit, but the hon. Lady raises an important point about access to benefits for terminally ill people, and I will undertake, if I may, Mr Speaker, to revert to her as soon as possible by writing.

[Aaron Bell (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Con)]

I have the honour of representing the market town of Newcastle-under-Lyme, and I am very pleased to inform the Prime Minister that our markets are now back. However, the town is also very proud of its hospitality sector. It has purple flag status, recognising the quality of its early-evening and night-time economy —the pubs, clubs, restaurants and cafés. I know that they will hugely welcome what the Prime Minister said yesterday, but he knows they will need further support in the months ahead. Can I ask him what the Government intend to do to support the hospitality sector?

[The Prime Minister]

I refer my hon. Friend to what I said to our hon. Friend the Member for Eastbourne (Caroline Ansell) just now. We will continue to support the hospitality sector in all the ways that I have described, but, of course, what could also happen is that people in Newcastle-under-Lyme could be encouraged to enjoy themselves sensibly, in a covid-secure way, and keep the purple flag flying above it.