Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andy McDonald and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 25th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Is that the Labour council pulling out of its deal? I am not surprised. All I can say is that I congratulate my hon. Friend on his campaign for a national rugby league museum and I urge him to take it up with the Arts Council or other relevant bodies.

[Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough) (Lab)]

Q11. Under cover of the pandemic we have seen a massive shift in wealth from the poorest to the richest. A partying Prime Minister and a law-breaking rich list Chancellor have lined the pockets of their wealthy pals while upwards of 175,000 of our fellow citizens have died from covid, and they are now sitting on their hands and laughing in our faces as the cost of living crisis and fuel poverty could well leave thousands more to die of cold in their own homes. So when we saw pictures of the Prime Minister partying in the middle of the pandemic was he toasting his assault on the working class, and how on earth does he sleep at night with so much blood on his filthy, privileged hands?

[The Prime Minister]

From furlough onwards everything we have done since the pandemic began has been to get money into the pockets of the working people of this country; those are the people who time and again we have prioritised. I do not for a moment doubt that things are tough—I do not doubt it for a moment—but it is our intention to get this country through it, and we will get through it very well by putting our arms around people as we can, and as we will because of the fiscal firepower we have, but also by making sure that we continue with the high wage, high skill, high employment economy that we have. The best way to get money into people’s pockets is for them to have a job.

Easter Recess: Government Update

Debate between Andy McDonald and Boris Johnson

Tuesday 19th April 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am not going to comment on the investigation until it is complete.

[Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough) (Lab)]

Truth and honesty matter, and the Prime Minister has repeatedly told the House that all guidance and all rules were observed. That is not true. He also told the House that there were no parties; indeed, his Chancellor also said that he had not attended a party. Neither of those things are true. So, for once in his privileged, entitled life, will he do the decent thing, come to the Dispatch Box, and correct the record? There isn’t anybody who is fooled by this, but he continues to take the British people for fools, and they will not put up with it.

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Gentleman very much. I want to repeat what I have said about the event in question, for which I have received an FPN. I apologise heartily for that. It was my mistake entirely. I thought it was within the rules and it has turned out not to be the case. As for other events, I’m afraid I am going to have to stick by what I have said previously and await—I hope he will allow me—the conclusion of the investigation.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andy McDonald and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 5th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend has drawn attention to a very important consideration as we try to abate the increases in the costs of gas and of energy. For people in rural constituencies such as her own, it will be important that we have frozen fuel duty for the 12th year in a row, that the energy price cap itself remains in place, and that we are doing everything we can to help people with the energy efficiency of their homes. We are also taking all the other measures that I have explained to the House, but the most important thing that we can do to help people in her constituency and across the country is to have sustainable, clean, cheaper forms of energy, and that is what this Government are investing in now. We are taking the tough decisions necessary.

[Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough) (Lab)]

8. Statutory sick pay is worth £3 a week less in real terms compared with the start of the pandemic, and millions of workers are being forced to choose between isolating and putting food on their table. In Germany, 100% of workers’ salaries is covered by sick pay, whereas in the UK, the figure is a pitiful 19%. If the Prime Minister thought earning £250,000 from his second job was “chicken feed”, how on earth does he expect working people to survive on £96 a week when they get sick? If he agrees that many lives and livelihoods could be saved by increasing sick pay, will he commit here and now to raising it to the level of the real living wage?

[The Prime Minister]

Of course, as the hon. Gentleman knows, one of the first things we did when covid struck was make sure that statutory sick pay was payable from day one, so it is up to 75% more generous if a person needs to self-isolate. The current statutory sick pay is, of course, a minimum—more than half of employees get contractual sick pay from their employer—but the most important thing we can do is ensure that we continue to keep people in work and in higher-wage, higher-skilled jobs, and that is what we are doing.