Living with Covid-19

Debate between Alex Davies-Jones and Boris Johnson

Monday 21st February 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point, and that is why we are ensuring that schools are as covid-secure as possible. We are sending out 350,000 CO₂ monitors and 9,000 air cleaning units; those are among the steps that we are taking to protect schools. It is very important that we should get the message over to everybody that schools are safe—one of the many things that the Leader of the Opposition got wrong.

[Alex Davies-Jones (Pontypridd) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister, in outlining his reckless plan for living with covid, announced that he is relying on the British public to apply personal responsibility when it comes to the virus. Does this also apply to the Prime Minister?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Member says it is a “reckless” plan; that is exactly the word that the right hon. and learned Leader of the Opposition used to describe the 19 July openings. I wonder whether she still believes that.

AUKUS

Debate between Alex Davies-Jones and Boris Johnson

Thursday 16th September 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, we will continue to pursue that type of partnership with every other country where we think that it can be done without any threat to our critical national infrastructure. I think that is what the House would support.

[Alex Davies-Jones (Pontypridd) (Lab)]

I am pleased to hear the Prime Minister’s commitment to Welsh workers and that they will be eligible for these opportunities, because workers in Pontypridd have already lost their jobs at BA in Llantrisant and GE in Nantgarw. I urge the Prime Minister to meet the leaders of the devolved nations, because he clearly needs a constitutional lesson. Wales is not a principality; it is a country—a country that has been forgotten by this Westminster Government. Will he commit to meeting them to look at contract opportunities for Welsh workers?

[The Prime Minister]

There will be jobs and growth across the whole of the UK as a result of this partnership, but above all as a result of the policies that this Government have been pursuing, which are leading to higher wages and higher skills—a policy that I am afraid the Labour party continually opposes.

Covid-19

Debate between Alex Davies-Jones and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 6th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I do not think any power on Earth is going to prevent my hon. Friend from celebrating Brexit, but his iron logic is applied to the restrictions that we have been forced to bring in. All I can say is that, as I think most Members across the House understand, the whys and wherefores of each restriction are not necessarily susceptible to iron logic, but cumulatively, they are there to protect the public, and I believe the public understand that.

[Alex Davies-Jones (Pontypridd) (Lab) [V]]

The Prime Minister will be aware that the Welsh Labour Government have committed to providing the most generous financial package available to businesses across the UK. Sadly, in Pontypridd, even the very best support available has not been able to prevent mass redundancies and business closures. My constituents could have been helped if this Tory Government had stepped up to the plate sooner and committed to the Union when Wales went into an earlier lockdown. Can he explain why Wales continues to be an afterthought and what steps he will take to prevent people in Pontypridd from being excluded from any future support?

[The Prime Minister]

Wales is actually at the forefront of our thoughts and continues to be. We are anxious to continue to support the people of Wales in any way that we can. The salient point that I take from today is that there is £1 billion that the Welsh Labour Government have failed to spend in the way that they could, and I urge them to get on and do that, but the UK Government will continue to support Wales, as we support the people of the whole United Kingdom.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alex Davies-Jones and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 2nd December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Alex Davies-Jones (Pontypridd) (Lab)]

We all know that it will take a long time for many industries to recover from the impact of coronavirus. The aviation sector and its supply chain, which support almost a quarter of a million jobs, have been uniquely impacted. Many workers and their families at GE Aviation in Pontypridd have been financially ruined. Sadly, that is a familiar scenario for families up and down the country. The Prime Minister urgently needs to wake up to the situation. Will he therefore commit to a sector-specific support deal to save our aviation industry before it is too late?

[The Prime Minister]

We are doing a huge amount to support our aviation industry, but I appreciate the stress and difficulties that many families are in at the moment because of the threats to that sector, which are global, alas, because people are just not flying in the way that they were before the pandemic. I have every hope that it will bounce back very strongly, particularly in this country, which is a world leader in aviation, once we get the economy moving again, as I hope we can.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Alex Davies-Jones and Boris Johnson

Monday 2nd November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We are not bringing back shielding, as I mentioned earlier, although we do think that the elderly need to take special steps to protect themselves. In connection with Sweden, actually the Swedish example is not quite the slam-dunk that perhaps people think. Sweden does not, for instance, allow pupils over 15 to get back into school, whereas we prioritise keeping our schools open. That is the balance that we strike the whole time—a balance between keeping our economy moving as far as we can, keeping our schools open, and defeating the virus. That is what we are trying to do.

[Alex Davies-Jones (Pontypridd) (Lab)]

We are now halfway through our firebreak lockdown in Wales, and much of the north-west, the north-east and the west midlands has faced significant local restrictions for months now. When devolved Administrations and local government argued that the 67% furlough scheme was insufficient, the UK Government said that it was the best they could do. Yet when similar restrictions were extended to England, including large swathes of the south, they then changed their minds and have gone back to 80%. Why do this Government have one rule for the south of England and another one for the rest of the United Kingdom?

[The Prime Minister]

The answer is that we have a different package of support for different measures, and that is entirely what you would expect. There is now uniformity, and it is our view that furlough remains available throughout the UK.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alex Davies-Jones and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 11th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, and that is why my right hon. Friend the Health Secretary and I are determined to advance robot technology—artificial intelligence—in the NHS. We have put in another £200 million. In my hon. Friend’s area, the NHS East Lancashire is receiving over £500 million more—a cash increase of nearly 5% on last year.

[Alex Davies-Jones (Pontypridd) (Lab)]

Q3. A month ago, I asked the Prime Minister about his plans to tackle the crisis in recruiting overseas consultants to work in our overstretched NHS. The Prime Minister dodges the truth, claiming it is devolved, when visas are clearly an immigration issue for his UK Home Office. So, second time lucky: can the Prime Minister today confirm exactly what steps he is taking to ensure that overseas consultants will apply for NHS visas to work in all our hospitals?

[The Prime Minister]

I cannot remember whether I said this to the hon. Member last time, but that is why we have introduced a fast-track NHS visa.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alex Davies-Jones and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 5th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, we will of course do nothing either to endanger our critical national security infra- structure or to prejudice co-operation with Five Eyes partners, as my right hon. Friend has rightly suggested, and we will work to ensure that high-risk vendors cannot dominate our market.

[Alex Davies-Jones (Pontypridd) (Lab)]

Q10. The Prime Minister will know that under his Government there has been a mass shortage of consultants across the UK, leading to strain on our A&E services. How will he make sure, especially now we have left the EU, that consultants from overseas are encouraged to apply for NHS visas to work in hospitals across the UK?

[The Prime Minister]

We have instituted NHS visas in order to attract talent from around the world, but I remind the hon. Lady, who I think speaks for a Welsh seat, that that is a devolved matter for the Welsh Labour Government.