Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Colleen Fletcher

Wednesday 22nd June 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We can all be proud of the way we have reduced CO₂ emissions in this country, but plainly it makes no sense to be importing coal, particularly for metallurgical purposes, when we have our own domestic resources.

[Colleen Fletcher (Coventry North East) (Lab)]

Q9.   The Prime Minister knows that we in Coventry and Warwickshire are proudly the UK’s leading centre for vehicle battery innovation; he knows because he visited the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre just last year. If this Government want this vital sector to survive for the future, the Prime Minister needs to confirm his support: will he give a concrete guarantee for the resources needed for the west midlands gigafactory project to go ahead, so we can deliver much-needed skilled jobs in Coventry for 2025?

[The Prime Minister]

That is probably the first sensible question from the Opposition Benches, and I can tell the hon. Lady that we do actively support gigafactories because I believe they can be a huge advantage for the UK economy. That is why I am proud to see one now in Blyth, and we are working with the authorities in the west midlands, in Coventry, to make sure we also get a successful result there.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Colleen Fletcher

Wednesday 1st December 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Step No. 1 is to vote out those dozy Labour councillors. I thank my hon. Friend for his excellent representation of Bassetlaw and can tell him that the second round of bidding for the levelling-up fund will open in spring next year.

[Colleen Fletcher (Coventry North East) (Lab)]

Q3. Between 2010 and 2019, West Midlands police lost 2,221 officers. The force should receive an additional 1,200 new recruits by 2023 via the police uplift programme, but that will still leave a shortfall of 1,000 officers. This lack of frontline police has left the force stretched and under significant pressure, with officers telling me that“there are simply insufficient resources to investigate every crime.”Will the Prime Minister commit to providing West Midlands police with a fairer funding deal to ensure that the force can return officer numbers to 2010 levels?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Colleen Fletcher

Wednesday 20th October 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is a passionate campaigner on this issue and he has done a lot of good things in this area. No one should be criminalised simply for having nowhere to live, and I think the time has come to reconsider the Vagrancy Act—and also to redouble our efforts to fight homelessness, as I think we have done successfully over the pandemic but must continue to do.

[Colleen Fletcher (Coventry North East) (Lab)]

Q8. University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust has dealt with more than 600 attacks on staff during the pandemic. To deter further attacks, staff in the hospital’s A&E department are now wearing body cameras. It simply is not right that doctors and nurses should have to go to such lengths just to feel safe at work. Will the Prime Minister join me in condemning those abhorrent attacks and say what immediate steps he will take to better protect our NHS heroes as they go about their work, treating patients and saving lives?

[The Prime Minister]

I join the hon. Lady absolutely in condemning attacks on all public servants and particularly on NHS staff, who are trying to save people and help people in their lives. What we are doing—what we have already done—is to toughen the sentences for those who assault or harass public servants.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Colleen Fletcher

Wednesday 8th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on getting elected, and welcome her, and indeed all new colleagues, to their first edition of Prime Minister’s Question Time. I thank my hon. Friend for raising her concerns with me; I have heard just now from the Health Secretary, passing the ball straight down the line, that he is indeed going to address the matter that she raises as fast as possible. As she knows, we are putting record sums into the NHS and it is our intention to help Bishop Auckland.

[Colleen Fletcher (Coventry North East) (Lab)]

Q11. As in much of the rest of the country, hospital A&E waiting times in Coventry have been under constant pressure, with the latest figures showing that almost a quarter of attendances are waiting four hours or more to be seen. I am aware that the Government have made commitments to invest in the NHS, so will the Prime Minister agree to meet a delegation from Coventry to discuss the prospect of opening a second walk-in centre in the city to alleviate some of the pressure on our overstretched A&E department?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Lady for raising that issue with me, and if I cannot do it I am sure the Health Secretary can.