Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Tim Loughton

Wednesday 6th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I noticed that the right hon. Gentleman’s remark that the Labour party had given up on returning to the European Union was not greeted with rapture by the Opposition. That was because it is not true: they want to go back in, just as he does. I think that that is a terrible mistake. It would be undemocratic. As for the referendum that the right hon. Gentleman wants, we had one of them—as I have told him before—in 2014.

[Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham) (Con)]

6. Does the Prime Minister think there are any circumstances in which he should resign?

[The Prime Minister]

Clearly, if there were circumstances in which I felt it was impossible for the Government to go on and discharge the mandate that we have been given, or if I felt, for instance, that we were being frustrated in our desire to support the Ukrainian people, or over some major point, then I would. But frankly, Mr Speaker, the job of a Prime Minister in difficult circumstances, when he has been handed a colossal mandate, is to keep going, and that is what I am going to do.

Ukraine

Debate between Boris Johnson and Tim Loughton

Thursday 24th February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham) (Con)]

Tyrants and megalomaniacs invade countries because they think they can get away with it. The way to deal with bullies is to stand up to them. I am sure the Prime Minister will acknowledge that the way the west responds to this aggression will have repercussions not just for Russia and Ukraine but for other bullies such as China. Will he be mindful of the need to show support to Russia’s smaller southerly neighbours, especially Georgia and Armenia, which feel particularly vulnerable at this time?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, my hon. Friend is right, because the read-across—the knock-on—is obvious for Georgia and Armenia. What Putin proposes to create is a new sphere of influence—a new Yalta—in which those countries come behind his new iron curtain.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Tim Loughton

Wednesday 7th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I do not think that is an entirely fair characterisation of what the Government are doing. On the contrary, we have worked night and day to build up our domestic lateral flow capacity and continue to do so.

[Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham) (Con)]

Last week President Xi cheerily threatened that any foreigners attempting to influence China “will have their heads bashed…against the Great Wall of steel”. Of course, he is still in denial about human rights violations and the genocides in Xinjiang and Tibet, as recognised by this House, as a result of which five of us remain sanctioned. Will the Prime Minister therefore support our motion, to be debated in the House next Thursday, calling for a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 winter Olympics—incredibly awarded to Beijing—until and unless this dangerous regime abides by basic international standards of decency?

[The Prime Minister]

This country has led the world in condemning human rights abuses in Xinjiang, in putting sanctions on those responsible and in holding companies to account that import goods made with forced labour in Xinjiang. I will certainly consider the proposals debated, but I must say that I am instinctively, and always have been, against sporting boycotts.

Covid-19

Debate between Boris Johnson and Tim Loughton

Tuesday 22nd September 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We will consider all sorts of measures to alleviate poverty and suffering in the months ahead. The best thing we can do is to follow this package of measures scrupulously, drive down the virus and keep the economy moving.

[Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham) (Con)]

The last six months have been tough for our country, and it sounds as though the next six months will be too. It is vital that we take our constituents with us and that they have confidence in and understand what is being asked of them. At the beginning of the lockdown, the Prime Minister looked into the camera and said, “I need to level with you, folks,” and the nation sat up and listened. Can we have more of those “level with you” moments, where the Government give clear and consistent data, with clear explanations of how the regulations are working and why, rather than leaving the people at the mercy of covid deniers, so-called independent experts and professors of hindsight?

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. We will do everything we can to share the data with Parliament in real time and give colleagues the opportunity to debate and discuss the issues. I think the more that colleagues are able to look at the facts and study them, the more they will see that a balanced, proportionate approach such as the one we are taking today is the right one.