Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Nick Smith

Wednesday 8th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Member and I can tell him that what we are doing right now is helping 8 million households across the country with £1,200 of support, £300 for pensioners who are in receipt of the cold weather payment, plus £400 for every household in the country. That is the support we are giving right now to help people with the cost of energy. The only reason we can do it, as I have said before to the House, is because of the strength of the economy and the brave, tough calls we got right during the pandemic.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker.

Sue Gray Report

Debate between Boris Johnson and Nick Smith

Wednesday 25th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I refer the hon. Lady to what I have already said.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister’s credibility is like a tyre with a slow puncture. He reinflates it occasionally, but is it not the truth that his party needs a new front wheel?

[The Prime Minister]

I think Opposition Members really need to ask a new question.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Nick Smith

Wednesday 20th April 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. and learned Friend makes an incredibly important point. The savagery that the Russians are unleashing on Ukraine knows no limits and is clearly authorised from the very top. He asks what more we can do. What we need to do is make it clear to serving officers in the Russian forces that if we can proceed with the international criminal prosecutions that we want to see, they will eventually face justice in the way that those who participated in massacres in Bosnia faced justice in the past. I hope that that will have a chilling effect on their current appalling conduct.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

Q9. Every week, examples emerge of Government waste during covid, and last year the former Health Secretary told me that there had been no profiteering and no cronyism. Does the Prime Minister still agree with him?

[The Prime Minister]

I am sad to say that I think a lot of people made money out of covid in a way that perhaps they should not have done. We deplore that and we are trying to recoup as much as we possibly can, but I remind the hon. Gentleman of the constant clamour from the Opposition and from the country for us to equip our country with PPE and medicines as fast as possible, and that we did.

Easter Recess: Government Update

Debate between Boris Johnson and Nick Smith

Tuesday 19th April 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Lady very much for her kind invitation. I do not know whether Margot herself wants to extend the invitation, but I am afraid I will be busy doing what we are doing: getting on with delivering the priorities of the British people.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

Lord Denning said, “No matter how high you are, the law is above you.” Isn’t it time to go, Prime Minister?

[The Prime Minister]

I agree very much with Lord Denning, and that is why I apologise in the way that I do.

Ukraine

Debate between Boris Johnson and Nick Smith

Thursday 24th February 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

There are all sorts of reasons for the failure of the west to take sufficient account of the threat of Vladimir Putin since 2014, but the two biggest are oil and gas.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

With cyber-attacks and falsehoods, Russia is peddling lies today. Observers on the ground are crucial to relaying the truth. In recent weeks, the UK has withdrawn its team from the OSCE special monitoring mission because staff safety is key, but can the Prime Minister look again to support international efforts such as that to get to the facts and counter Russian disinformation?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the monitoring mission teams. They are wonderful. I have met them and they do a fantastic job. I am sorry that they have had to be withdrawn, for the duty of care reasons that the hon. Gentleman rightly alludes to. We will keep that under constant review.

Sue Gray Report

Debate between Boris Johnson and Nick Smith

Monday 31st January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

What the country needs now is the UK Government working with our friends and partners to stand up to Vladimir Putin and to make sure that we have a strong package of sanctions. That is what we are doing.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister sets the culture at No. 10. Why does he think staff members there felt unable to raise their concerns about the bad behaviours reported today?

[The Prime Minister]

That is one of the recommendations of the Sue Gray inquiry that we are going to take up to make sure that nobody should feel that in No. 10. That is why we are going to review the code to ensure that nobody feels that they have any inhibition on coming forward with any complaint that they may have.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Nick Smith

Wednesday 15th December 2021 Commons Chamber

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 15 December.

[The Prime Minister (Boris Johnson)]

I am sure the whole House will want to join me in wishing you, Mr Speaker, and all members of staff—and indeed all Members—a merry Christmas and a happy new year. Members from across the House will also want to join me in sending our warmest wishes to all our armed forces, all members of the emergency services and all health and care workers, especially those who will be working over Christmas, not least on our national mission to get boosted now.

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.

[Nick Smith]

I congratulate the Prime Minister and his wife on the birth of their baby daughter. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”] Last week was crime week. Was it a success for you, Prime Minister?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his kind words. Yes, it was, because last week we showed that we are not only the party that is putting in the resources to fight crime, with 10,000 more police already recruited, but the party that is finally getting tough on the drugs gangs that blight the lives of children and communities up and down this country. We will not tolerate middle-class drug use any more than any other kind of drug use.

AUKUS

Debate between Boris Johnson and Nick Smith

Thursday 16th September 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes. The whole Indo-Pacific tilt, of which this is a part, is a recognition of the fact that the CPTPP area my hon. Friend talks about is a £9 trillion trade area in which the UK has an increasing diplomatic and commercial presence.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

I welcome the statement. China’s assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region can be destabilising, particularly in the South China sea. What support will be given to Taiwan at this difficult time?

[The Prime Minister]

We vindicate international law. One of the reasons we have sent the carrier strike group to that part of the world is to make that point.

Integrated Review

Debate between Boris Johnson and Nick Smith

Tuesday 16th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes. Our commitment to Israeli security is unwavering, and we continue to work closely with our partners in the Kurdish region of Iraq.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

Will the Prime Minister level with the country and tell us exactly how he plans to reduce the armed forces by 10,000 in the years ahead?

[The Prime Minister]

I have already explained that this is the biggest investment in our armed forces since the cold war, and there will be no redundancies across the armed forces.