Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Huw Merriman

Wednesday 23rd February 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The whole House would agree, I hope, that it is quite a thing to sanction parliamentarians, and that is what we are doing, and not only that—just in the past couple of days, we have put forward the biggest package of sanctions against Russia that this country has ever introduced, and we are coming forward with even more. They will have an impact not just on Duma Members and people who voted for the secession of the oblasts of Donetsk and Luhansk, but on the entire Putin regime, and I am glad that the Labour Opposition, at least for now, support the sanctions.

[Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

This is day six for thousands of households across East Sussex who have no power and no water. As we become more and more reliant on electricity, we must become more resilient. Can I ask the Prime Minister to ensure that the utility companies work together, that water companies have to have generators in place so that the water does not fail when the power does, and that local resilience forums are fit for purpose and communicate with their local communities? We need more help on this, Prime Minister—please help us.

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend very much for what he says about people in East Sussex. I know how tough it is for people who have been short of power for days on end, and it is no consolation to them for me to say that 97% of those who lost power have now been reconnected. We are working as fast as we can with local authorities and the electricity companies to ensure that they get their power back, but also to ensure that we build in more resilience for the future.

Living with Covid-19

Debate between Boris Johnson and Huw Merriman

Monday 21st February 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I should have thought that 10 days was quite a lot of notice.

[Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

I agree with the Prime Minister that now is the right time to make these changes, so may I ask him how retaining the passenger locator form can be justified, and may I ask him for a commitment to end it by Easter? That would give the travel industry a much-needed shot in the arm.

[The Prime Minister]

I hear my hon. Friend loud and clear. I have already heard several pleas on that matter today, and I repeat that we will be looking into it before Easter.

Health and Social Care

Debate between Boris Johnson and Huw Merriman

Tuesday 7th September 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am very sorry to hear about the suffering of the hon. Member’s mother. Dementia is a very cruel affliction, and it is because of the cruelty of that lottery about who gets it and who does not that we are putting in the measures that we are. But we are also funding extra research into dementia, and my right hon. Friend the Health Secretary is determined to ensure that we continue with the moonshot that I was referring to earlier.

[Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

May I ask the Prime Minister why he decided to reject other forms of insurance as a model? The Germans brought in an insurance model back in the 1980s, facing the same problems that we had, and it relies on the private insurance sector. The noble Lord Lilley from the other place has brought forward a Bill that would see the Government set up a state insurer. Those retired householders would then pay a premium, which would be fixed as a charge, and then that charge would only be paid upon the death of that individual. Do not those models do a little more to intergenerational fairness?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for his thoughtful question. We looked at all those models of course, Mr Speaker, as you can imagine. I think that the problem is that we need to go for an insurance system that works and has a genuine chance of being set up, and the only way of encouraging the financial services industry to come in and offer products, whether they are insurance or annuities or whatever, is to take away that risk of catastrophic cost. That is a very substantial risk for too many people and it means that the insurance market has not been able to develop. We believe that this is the best way forward for the country.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Boris Johnson and Huw Merriman

Wednesday 12th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Member is making an important point, but my strong view is that the best thing possible for all those sectors, including aviation, is to try, cautiously, to make sure that we get through the road map and allow their businesses to grow again. That is the single best long-term and medium-term solution.

[Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

I warmly welcome the Prime Minister’s statement and the inquiry. As our fantastic vaccination programme continues to be rolled out and our vaccination continues to be effective against all mutant strains, and as other countries catch up, will the Prime Minister look at widening the green list of countries to which travel is permitted? Will he ensure that the airports have the border control and digitisation resources to deal with more passengers? Can he also warmly encourage President Biden, when he sees him next month in Cornwall, that other Americans would like to come over to this great country and, indeed, we would like to go over to theirs?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes a good point about the United States of America. We are on that issue with our American friends, but people have to recognise that we are still at risk of importing new variants into this country. We have seen the arrival of B1.617.2 and we must be cautious. On that basis, the green list—as my hon. Friend knows, some counties are already on that list, and they are very attractive-looking destinations, as far as I can see—will be subject to review every three weeks.

Covid-19: Road Map

Debate between Boris Johnson and Huw Merriman

Monday 22nd February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

I welcome the Prime Minister’s statement. Those of us who represent constituencies where retail, hospitality and tourism are an absolute lifeblood will welcome the dates and the fact that domestic holidays in England are open as normal for the summer, but may I ask the Prime Minister to give a little more detail on the global travel taskforce, which reports by 12 April? Will it set out the requirements regarding testing, vaccination certificates, social distancing and face masks and, I hope, measures towards an end to quarantine?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, indeed. The travel taskforce will be looking at all those things—quarantine, destinations and so on and so forth. I think at the moment one consideration is that we need to make sure that there are countries that will be willing to accept British tourists in the way that we would like to see. Some of them have stepped forward and said that they will, but they are currently not very numerous.

Covid-19

Debate between Boris Johnson and Huw Merriman

Wednesday 6th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman has raised this with me before, and he is an ardent campaigner for aerospace. He is quite right: it is a vital industry for our country. As he knows, we have time to pay and other packages of support, but we will be ensuring that we do everything we can to get the aerospace industry in the UK back on its feet as fast as possible.

[Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

Every vaccination jab in the arm should be viewed as a pupil who can return to the classroom. It is vital that we view it through that equation.

I say to the Prime Minister that I have not always followed him through the Division Lobbies on the restrictions, but I will do so today because it clear to me that the vaccination changes the game and rids us of this pandemic. I ask him to ensure that the vaccination is available to rural areas, such as rural Rother which I represent, where we do not have a GP network or a hub in place as yet.

[The Prime Minister]

I am really grateful to my hon. Friend for his support and for what he has just said. We want to roll out the vaccine across the whole country as fast as possible. It is, I hope, common ground in the House today that we are right as a country to first put jabs into the arms of those who are most at risk of mortality. That is the way to reduce the death toll and, indeed, to get our country back on its feet as fast as possible.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Huw Merriman

Wednesday 16th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

  Mr Speaker, may I wish you and everyone in Parliament a merry Christmas, and thank you for keeping us in our place? I extend those best wishes to the Prime Minister as well; it has been a tumultuous 12 months, but he has shown great resolve and determination in leading our nation through it.This has been a wretched year due to covid, but the vaccination offers us a ray of hope in 2021. Does the Prime Minister agree that all those called upon to take the vaccine will not only be protecting their own health, but doing their civic duty in helping the health of others, keeping people in jobs and getting us back to our cherished way of life?

[The Prime Minister]

It is great to hear my hon. Friend, because he speaks such good sense on this matter; I hope that he is heard up and down the land. It is absolutely vital that people who are offered the vaccine do take steps to get it immediately. They will be protecting themselves and they will be protecting everyone else.

Covid-19: Winter Plan

Debate between Boris Johnson and Huw Merriman

Monday 23rd November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, Madam Deputy Speaker.

[Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

I welcome the change that will allow people in care homes to be visited by two members of their family, who will be tested twice a week. Can the Prime Minister ensure that care homes promote visiting and that there is a register that really calls out those care homes that do not allow it?

[The Prime Minister]

Care homes should follow their own instincts about the wellbeing of their residents. They should follow all the procedures that we have set out and make use of lateral flow testing and other types of protection to ensure that people can see their loved ones and hug them. That is what the people of this country want and that many families across this country want to see. That is what this Government are providing for.

Public Health

Debate between Boris Johnson and Huw Merriman

Wednesday 4th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman cannot take yes for an answer. Not only will I come to that point later, but my right hon. Friend the Chancellor will be saying more about the matter tomorrow, and the hon. Gentleman can interrogate him.

What I will say, on the point of uncertainty, is that I know there has been a debate about the statistics on how big the loss of life might be and on the precise point at which the NHS might be overwhelmed, but all the scientific experts I have talked to are unanimous on one point. As the chief medical officer has said, if we do not act now, the chances of the NHS being in extraordinary trouble in December would be very high.

Be in no doubt about what that means for our country and for our society. It means that the precious principle of care for everyone who needs it, whoever they are and whenever they need it, could be shattered for the first time in our experience. It means that those who are sick, suffering and in need of help could be turned away because there is no room in our hospitals—even in East Sussex.

[Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

All of us in this place will be concerned about saving lives. What evidence has my right hon. Friend received that we will save more lives by the lockdown he proposes than we will lose from public health, from a lack of jobs and from a mental health crisis? That is the evidence I seek from the Prime Minister today in order to cast my vote his way.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Huw Merriman

Wednesday 4th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

They are not going to. The furlough scheme, as the hon. Gentleman knows, was extended until the end of October. We are putting in measures now to support people across the whole UK throughout this period until 2 December, and that is the right thing to do. We are putting our arms round the people of this country to get them through the pandemic and beyond.

[Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

I understand that the Prime Minister will soon receive from the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Transport a recommendation that we enable quarantine periods to be cut for air passengers who have tested covid-negative. When is a decision likely to be made, and will he look favourably on this proposal, which will allow the aviation industry in this country to get back to its rightful place?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend. He is right to lobby for the aviation industry. This country has the third biggest aviation industry in the world. It is currently having a terrible, terrible time, and my sympathies are very much with all the employees involved. One of the benefits of getting polymerase chain reaction testing up to 500,000 a day is that we have new possibilities for testing of all kinds across the country. We will be bringing forward further measures and proposals as soon they are finalised.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Boris Johnson and Huw Merriman

Monday 2nd November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Of course, the whole of the country will get funds to protect the NHS, as it has throughout this pandemic. As I have said already this afternoon, there has been £7.2 billion already in Barnett consequentials just to tackle covid.

[Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

The Prime Minister has an unenviable set of decisions that he has to make, but will he recognise the frustration that residents in East Sussex feel? We have one of the lowest covid rates of any county across England—admissions for covid in East Sussex Healthcare Trust are currently 20 and not one placed in a high-dependency unit—so the residents have clearly done the right thing, but they are faced with a national lockdown. Can the Prime Minister demonstrate to me that the damage that will be caused to East Sussex by locking down—to our economy, our liberty, our lives and our livelihoods—would be a lot worse were we to do absolutely nothing?

[The Prime Minister]

Well, it is a very difficult balance to strike, as he rightly says, but I think that the medical data is, alas, overwhelming. The virus is doubling everywhere, including in East Sussex, and eventually the NHS would be overwhelmed even in East Sussex with, I am afraid, catastrophic consequences. We can prevent that by taking the action that we are, and that is why I hope he will support it.

Covid-19

Debate between Boris Johnson and Huw Merriman

Tuesday 22nd September 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The most important thing is that the students who are now back at university in large numbers should, like everybody else, follow the guidelines. It is also important that, where there are outbreaks in universities, students should not be going home to infect their older relatives.

[Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

The districts of Wealden and Rother, which comprise my constituency, have in the past week each recorded just four covid conditions per 100,000 of population. The Prime Minister said that palpable progress will need to be made if the new measures are not to last six months. Will he consider freeing areas with lower rates from the restrictions earlier, if progress is made across the nation?

[The Prime Minister]

Of course, and that is why we are putting our hopes and confidence in a local, regional approach, rather than a blanket, one-size-fits-all national approach. We hope that those areas that are complying with the rules—and the vast majority of people are complying with the rules—will be able to see the opportunities that my hon. Friend describes.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Boris Johnson and Huw Merriman

Tuesday 23rd June 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman makes a very powerful point, and I am sure that that kind of point will be echoed in multiple ways around the country today, as people look at apparent inconsistencies. All I can say is, we will work as fast as we can with him, with the gyms and swimming pools that he mentions, to try to get them into a state where they can open as fast as possible.

[Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

The 2 metre social distancing rule has meant that only 15% of tube passengers are able to travel. That figure will now rise to 25%, with the Prime Minister’s welcome reduction of the rule to 1 metre. In the event that demand exceeds that 25% supply, the R rate continues to fall, and PPE is used, will the Prime Minister look again at the distancing rules, to ensure that our economy and customers can move around?

[The Prime Minister]

Absolutely. The guidance remains that people should avoid public transport if they can, but if they must use it, they should wear a face covering. I think that is the right balance at the moment.

Transport Infrastructure

Debate between Boris Johnson and Huw Merriman

Tuesday 11th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thought the right hon. Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn) made a manful attempt to conceal his fundamental agreement with what we are doing. He raised some interesting points. We are actually doing a transport revolution across the whole of the south-west, not only by investing in the sea wall at Dawlish, on the railways, but by upgrading the roads, including the A303 through the south-west. We will be doing improvements in Wales, and I think that it is high time that the Brynglas tunnels were unblocked. We encourage the Labour Government in Wales to do that. Do not forget that HS2 brings 50 minutes off the journey time to Glasgow. It is for every part of this country.

As for fares, I remind the right hon. Gentleman that fares rose twice as fast under the Labour Government—[Interruption.] The hon. Member for Middlesbrough (Andy McDonald) is trying to interrupt me from a sedentary position, and I remind him that the whole point of putting in another 200,000 seats in capacity is that it thereby drives down prices for the consumer. It is about competition.

I thought that the right hon. Gentleman made a heroic attempt to cavil and disagree with what is fundamentally a wonderful project for this country. He even tried to dislike our bus plans, I do not know quite how—[Interruption.] No, no, he claimed them for himself. I will take that; the Leader of the Opposition, as far as I understand the position, actively supports the Government’s announcement today. I congratulate him on that.

[Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

The additional £5 billion for buses and cycle links is greatly welcome. Last year, the Select Committee on Transport called for additional funding for buses and a buses strategy, both of which are coming to fruition. How will the Prime Minister ensure that the money allocated to local authorities for these projects is spent by local authorities on these projects? Will it be ring-fenced? If not, how will we really ensure that we are levelling up our public transport system?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Huw Merriman

Wednesday 30th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I think the hon. Gentleman knows my answer to that, which is that there was a referendum in 2014, the result was very clear, people were promised that it would be a once-in-a-generation referendum, and I do not think we should break that promise.

[Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

It is a pleasure, Mr Speaker, to see you in your Arsenal tie, and for two reasons: I have worn mine as well, but I am sorry the Leader of the Opposition has not worn his.

Mr Speaker, before I go on to ask the Prime Minister a question, may I thank you not just for giving me a voice in this place but for giving representation to my family and those I grew up with in Buckingham whom you have served so well as their local MP? They have asked me to pass on the fact that you will be missed dearly by them.

Returning to the football/politics metaphor, does the Prime Minister agree that when it comes to both football and politics the owner of the No. 10 berth is key to success, so would he rather see a centre-right, dominant leader sweeping all before him domestically and in Europe, or should we look towards the left wing where we might see a misfiring striker more at home in the 1970s?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend, who does a superb job of representing his constituents. My own footballing skills are—[Interruption.] I can do it, Mr Speaker, and I enjoy it, but the most important thing is to have a team that is united and will deliver a great future for this country. That is what we offer, and I am afraid it is in sharp contradistinction from the Labour party, because last night more than 100 of them could not even be bothered to vote for a general election, which they are shortly about to contest. What kind of confidence is that in their leader?

Prime Minister's Update

Debate between Boris Johnson and Huw Merriman

Wednesday 25th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I have the utmost respect for the law and, indeed, for the judgment of the Supreme Court, but I think what the people of this country want us to do in this Parliament, as I have said several times already this evening, is to deliver on the mandate of the people, and that is what we are going to do.

[Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

A few weeks ago I asked the Prime Minister a question to which he responded that

“sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.”—[Official Report, 3 September 2019; Vol. 664, c. 43.]

I understand what that phrase means, but I have yet to meet a single constituent who does, so can I try again on their behalf? In the event that the Prime Minister gets a deal, which I will fully support him with, will he ensure that any Member on the Conservative Benches who does not vote for that deal will lose the Whip and lose the right to stand as a Conservative candidate in the general election?

[The Prime Minister]

I have said what I have said to my hon. Friend in the past. I see no reason to go over the point again because I think what we all want to do is get on and get the best deal possible that can be supported across this House, and that is the best way forward. Opposition Members say they are not going to vote for it under any circumstances, and that is because they want to stop Brexit—it is perfectly clear from what they are saying.

G7 Summit

Debate between Boris Johnson and Huw Merriman

Tuesday 3rd September 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We do not negotiate in public, but I think I have given the House quite a lot already about what we want and what we want to do. The one thing that will stop us achieving this is if our negotiating ability is neutralised by this House of Commons.

[Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

In order to get the leverage to get this great deal through that the Prime Minister is working on, he has said that any Member on these Benches who does not vote tonight in support of the Government will lose the Whip and indeed not be able to stand again as a Conservative MP. Working on that basis, in the event that a deal is reached, which I very much hope it will be, will that treatment apply to those MPs who do not vote for his great deal?

[The Prime Minister]

I think my hon. Friend can take it that what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.