Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and James Murray

Wednesday 20th April 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my right hon. Friend very much, and I think everybody will want to urge the Russian state to treat his constituent humanely and compassionately, because in my view, although we do not encourage people going to that theatre of conflict—in fact, we actively dissuade them from doing so—I understand that he had been serving in the Ukrainian forces for some time, and his situation is very different from that of a mercenary. I hope that he is treated with care and compassion. I thoroughly echo the sentiments that my right hon. Friend has expressed about those who broadcast propaganda messages.

[James Murray (Ealing North) (Lab/Co-op)]

Q6. This Conservative Government are raising taxes on working people in the middle of a cost of living crisis. May I press the Prime Minister on whether he agrees that it would add insult to injury if his Chancellor or any other Government Ministers were to benefit from overseas tax havens in their personal tax affairs?

[Mr Speaker]

Order. You are not responsible for that, Prime Minister.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and James Murray

Wednesday 23rd March 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Not only is Wrexham shortlisted for the city of culture, with all the distinctions my hon. Friend mentions, but it is the city of vaccines. Without the AstraZeneca vaccines bottled in Wrexham, we literally would not be where we are today.

[James Murray (Ealing North) (Lab/Co-op)]

Q11. Former Treasury Minister Lord Agnew has described the Chancellor’s failure on covid fraud as “one of the most colossal cock-ups in recent government management and taxpayers are paying for this”. We now know the Chancellor’s failure has cost the country £11.8 billion—almost exactly the same as the amount that national insurance on working people will increase in the coming year. Does the Prime Minister think it is fair to demand that working people pay the bill for the Chancellor’s failures?

[The Prime Minister]

I remember the hon. Gentleman when he was doing planning at Islington Council, and a complete cock-up he made of that. What I can tell him is that this Government made sure that we got the personal protective equipment and the supplies that were needed in record time. That was absolutely vital, at a time when the Opposition were calling on us to go further and faster. Never forget that under the last Labour Government, there was £23 billion lost in fraud every year.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Boris Johnson and James Murray

Wednesday 19th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is very wise and completely right. I know that many right hon. and hon. Members across the House totally get that this is not the moment when we roll out the bunting and say, “It’s all over.” We are not saying that, because we have to be cautious. We have to continue to recognise that the virus is not mild for everyone, and, as he rightly said, for people who are not vaccinated the consequences can be severe, so for heaven’s sake, get boosted.

[James Murray (Ealing North) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Prime Minister spoke about the importance of the vaccination programme, but the first dose, second dose and booster jab rates in my constituency are significantly behind the national average. Will he explain in detail what he is going to do to drive up vaccination rates in my constituency and elsewhere?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman makes a very important point. We need to drive up booster take-up, but a lot of people have not even had a first and second dose. Our launch of the booster drive had a beneficial effect on first and second dose take-up as well—I think there were 2 million more in December alone.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and James Murray

Wednesday 18th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for what he is doing to campaign for Grantham and Stamford and for Lincolnshire. I can tell him that we are putting another £125 million into Greater Lincolnshire through the growth deals and another £25 million through the Getting Building fund. We will be bringing forward further measures—I take his point on board very sincerely—to boost investment in UK infrastructure in due course.

[James Murray (Ealing North) (Lab/Co-op) [V]]

In March, the Government’s chief scientific officer said that keeping covid deaths below 20,000 would be a good outcome but still an enormous number of deaths. We have now passed 50,000 deaths and suffered the deepest recession of any G7 country, with GDP dropping by 10% in the past year. Why does the Prime Minister think the UK has had the deepest recession in the G7 and the highest number of covid deaths in Europe?

[The Prime Minister]

This is a global pandemic and one in which the UK has, as the hon. Gentleman rightly says, been badly affected, and we mourn every life that has been lost. Of course we are supporting businesses with all the firepower of the UK economy. But I have absolutely no doubt that we will get through this strongly by next spring, as the scientific advisers and the medical officers have said. We have the tools to do it and we have the scientific weaponry to do it. That is why we are engaged in the current restrictions to get the R down to suppress the virus now and to try to get the economy moving in a way that I am sure he would like.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and James Murray

Wednesday 11th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

All I can say is that the more intensively we together follow the rules and the more we follow the guidance in this tough period leading up to 2 December, the bigger the chance collectively we will have of as normal a Christmas as possible and getting things open in time for Christmas as well.

[James Murray (Ealing North) (Lab/Co-op) [V]]

On Sunday, a constituent emailed me about the track and trace system. Her family had received multiple calls asking for the same information and there was confusion, as the operative admitted that they were struggling with London postcodes and local school names. Last week, the former Health Secretary and Conservative Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, the right hon. Member for South West Surrey (Jeremy Hunt), said:“Centralised contact tracing is always going to be less effective than a” localised model. Will the Prime Minister now admit that the current outsourced model has been a waste of time and taxpayers’ money?

[The Prime Minister]

We are looking into the issue of repeat calls, but to say that the test and trace system has been a waste of time and money, which I think is what I heard the hon. Member say—I could not disagree more. It has enabled us to locate where the disease is surging, to take appropriate measures and to allow people in huge numbers to get tested. More people have been tested in this country than in any other country in Europe. The PCR tests that NHS Test and Trace is conducting are of real value in fighting the disease, and now we are rolling out the lateral flow rapid turnaround tests as well.

Covid-19: Strategy

Debate between Boris Johnson and James Murray

Monday 11th May 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my right hon. Friend for what he does to campaign for vulnerable children and for education generally. We are working with the Education Endowment Foundation and other partners to see what we can do to support the most disadvantaged and vulnerable children. He will know, of course, that under the existing measures, vulnerable children can now go to school. I thank all the teachers who are currently teaching them, as they are also teaching at least some of the children of key workers.

[James Murray (Ealing North) (Lab/Co-op) [V]]

Perivale, Greenford and Northolt tube stations in my constituency have twice the London average of construction workers living nearby. Although their employers may have been asked to consider staggering start and finish times to reduce pressure on public transport, the Business Minister confirmed to me that this is not mandated by Government guidance. To keep my constituents and others safe, will the Prime Minister now instruct site managers to stagger their operating times and have the Government take responsibility for making sure this happens?

[The Prime Minister]

We will of course be issuing our guidance on covid-secure workplaces, as I have said several times already. We are also working with Transport for London, a body that the hon. Gentleman and I know well, to ensure that people on TfL are kept safe and that we have social distancing on the tube. Of course, people will instinctively say, “That’s going to be very, very difficult.” Yes, it is going to be very difficult. It will mean very substantial reductions in capacity, but we must do it to make it work—to make sure that the hon. Gentleman’s constituents can get safely to work.