Easter Recess: Government Update

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mick Whitley

Tuesday 19th April 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

It is very important that the people in this country should understand that, although the country is faced with massive issues that we have to deal with, in the aftershocks of covid and the war in Ukraine, I in no way minimise the importance of the fine I have received and I apologise wholeheartedly.

[Mick Whitley (Birkenhead) (Lab)]

People across the House will agree that the situation in Ukraine is serious, and there is no doubt that we fully support what we are trying to do. However, setting that aside for a minute, the Prime Minister stands before us today as the first resident of No. 10 to be found guilty of breaking the law while serving in public office. While he has finally apologised today, it has been accompanied by the absurd caveat that the man who set the rules could not understand them. Will the Prime Minister concede that remaining in office deals a grievous blow to the rule of law in this country and, for the first time in his career, will he put the national interest before his personal ambition and resign?

[The Prime Minister]

I repeat my apology and direct the hon. Gentleman to what I said earlier. The people of this country need us to focus on their issues and their priorities, and that is what the Government are going to do.

Sue Gray Report

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mick Whitley

Monday 31st January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I direct the hon. Gentleman to what I have said earlier.

[Mick Whitley (Birkenhead) (Lab)]

No one has said in the House this afternoon that 155,000 people died of covid. That is why we introduced the rules. This is simply not the comprehensive report that the British public were promised for so long, but at least it is clear in its findings that there was

“a serious failure to observe not just the high standards expected of those working at the heart of Government but also of the standards expected of the entire British population”

at the height of the pandemic. Does the Prime Minister accept responsibility for his failure to live up to the standards that the rest of us were expected to uphold?

[The Prime Minister]

I take responsibility for everything that happened in No. 10 and that the Government did throughout the pandemic.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mick Whitley

Wednesday 19th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I agree with that. I think that across Whitehall we need to show a lead and make sure that we get back to work—that everybody gets back to work. It is safe to do so, provided everybody exercises the due caution that I have set out today. I entirely agree with my hon. Friend.

[Mick Whitley (Birkenhead) (Lab)]

We are, mercifully, in a much better position today than we were this time a year ago, and that is thanks to the heroic efforts of the NHS in the roll-out of vaccinations, but just 9% of people living in Africa have been vaccinated against covid-19 to date. Does the Prime Minister agree that the UK is failing to honour its humanitarian obligations to the poorest countries in the world, and will he commit this Government to support a waiver of intellectual property rights on covid-19 vaccines?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mick Whitley

Wednesday 8th September 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mick Whitley (Birkenhead) (Lab)]

Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 8 September.

[The Prime Minister (Boris Johnson)]

This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in this House, I shall have further such meetings later today.

[Mick Whitley]

In the run-up to the last election, the Prime Minister said that “clearly it is wrong” that hundreds of thousands of people are forced to rely on food banks to survive. Research released by the Trussell Trust today shows that one in six people fear that they will almost certainly have to use a food bank in just four weeks’ time as a result of the Government’s decision to axe the £20 uplift to universal credit. That is more than 500 families and 1,000 children being forced into food poverty in my constituency of Birkenhead alone. Will the Prime Minister concede that the cut to universal credit is wrong, and will he change course?

[The Prime Minister]

Of course I am very grateful to everybody who helps with food banks, and they do a fantastic job. What this Government have done throughout the pandemic is to put the most protection for those who need it most across society, and I am proud of what we have done by uplifting the living wage, and proud of the arm that we put around the whole of the British people.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Mick Whitley

Wednesday 30th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is completely right in his support for the midlands engine. That is why we are investing another £200 million from the getting building fund into the midlands engine region. I will be happy to write to him in the next few days about what we are doing for levelling up in the midlands.

[Mick Whitley (Birkenhead) (Lab)]

Last week, the Chancellor made the political choice to write off 1 million jobs as unviable. There are more than 1,000 jobs at risk in my constituency of Birkenhead, and 141,000 jobs at risk in the north-east. This would be unemployment on a scale even worse than under Thatcher. Why do the Prime Minister and the Chancellor think that that is a price worth paying?

[The Prime Minister]

That is completely to misrepresent what the Chancellor is trying to do. As I have just told the House, we have already put £190 billion into supporting livelihoods, people and families. We are going to continue to put our arms around the people of this country. The most important thing is to get the economy moving and get people into work, and, at the same time, to keep kids in school, but the only way we can do that is if we suppress the virus in the way that the Government have set out, with the local lockdown measures that we have announced and the national measures that, I hope, are the subject of cross-party support.