Easter Recess: Government Update

Debate between Brendan O'Hara and Boris Johnson

Tuesday 19th April 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

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

[Brendan O'Hara (Argyll and Bute) (SNP)]

Having read the Prime Minister’s apology, may I say on behalf of the people of Argyll and Bute, is that it? It is no wonder I have been inundated with emails from constituents who believe the Prime Minister has been treating them like fools. Typical of the emails I have received is one this morning from Cathy in Helensburgh, who described the Prime Minister as

“a self-serving, truth-twisting charlatan.”

Of course I would never use such language in this place, but Cathy’s assessment is absolutely correct. Does the Prime Minister recognise this to be a widely held view of his character?

[Brendan O’Hara]

Mr Speaker, with respect to you and the Chair, I withdraw the remarks I made.

[The Prime Minister]

In that case, I humbly remind the hon. Gentleman of the apology I have given.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Brendan O'Hara and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 9th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The whole House will want to join me in thanking Colin Bell and wishing him a very happy 101st birthday.

[Brendan O'Hara (Argyll and Bute) (SNP)]

Q10. People across these islands have displayed remarkable generosity, including in Argyll and Bute, where Oban Helps Ukraine has been overwhelmed by donations of money, clothes and offers of shelter. Sadly, the Government’s reluctance to allow fleeing women and children to come here lags far behind the desire of the people here to provide them with a roof and a bed. Does not the Prime Minister fear that, when this war is concluded, and despite whatever else they may have done, his Government will stand accused of lacking the one thing that the Ukrainian people needed most: basic humanity?

[The Prime Minister]

I really do not think that that question reflects the views of people around the world. Nor does it reflect reality because this Government have done more than any other European country to support people by way of direct bilateral humanitarian aid, and we have two very generous schemes for allowing people to come to this country. This is a Government who believe in welcoming people fleeing from zones of conflict.

[Brendan O'Hara]

indicated dissent.

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Member shakes his head. Look at our record. Look at what we have done just in the last two years. He should be proud of what we have done.

Living with Covid-19

Debate between Brendan O'Hara and Boris Johnson

Monday 21st February 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes. One of the things that the online harms Bill does is try to tackle that kind of pernicious online disinformation.

[Brendan O’Hara (Argyll and Bute) (SNP)]

Unless the Prime Minister publishes the full advice which says that this decision was science-led, it will confirm what we have long suspected: that he is prepared to sacrifice anything and anyone to save his own skin. He just claimed that he had been working closely with the devolved Governments on this issue, so why are the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government saying that the first they heard of this “plan” was his throwaway line during Prime Minister’s questions just 10 days ago?

[The Prime Minister]

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

Sue Gray Report

Debate between Brendan O'Hara and Boris Johnson

Monday 31st January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I really think the hon. Lady has got to let the Metropolitan police get on and do their job.

[Brendan O’Hara (Argyll and Bute) (SNP)]

Does the Prime Minister not recognise that the public are rapidly losing faith in the institutions that they must be able to trust if our democracy is to survive? It appears that there is no individual, no organisation, no group and no force whose reputation will not be sacrificed on the altar of saving this Prime Minister. Does he consider the erosion of public trust and the foundations of our democracy a price worth paying to ensure his personal survival?

[The Prime Minister]

I believe that among the foundations of our democracy are due process and the rule of law, and allowing the police to get on with their job, and that is what we are going to do.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Brendan O'Hara and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 8th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, indeed I will. I pay tribute, by the way, to my right hon. Friend the Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (Nick Gibb)—where is he?—who campaigned for so long for synthetic phonics, which has done such a huge amount to help kids to read in this country. This is the only country in the G7 where the reading performance of disadvantaged pupils has actually improved since 2009. We need to do more, and as my hon. Friend says, that is why we are investing more now—record sums—in education.

[Brendan O’Hara (Argyll and Bute) (SNP)]

Q6. Margaret Thatcher— Hurrah! Order. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Margaret Thatcher, John Major and the right hon. Gentleman’s immediate predecessor all accepted that the Union of the United Kingdom can only be maintained by consent. Yet despite winning three elections seeking to test that consent, the Prime Minister insists that the SNP Government do not have a mandate to hold another independence referendum, so could he tell me exactly what mechanism is available to the Scottish people to give their consent or otherwise for maintaining this Union, and how they should go about exercising that?

[The Prime Minister]

I can only repeat my point, which is that the Scottish people do have a mechanism. They used it in 2014: it is a referendum. It took place, and as I think SNP Members all confirmed, it was a once-in-a-generation event.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Brendan O'Hara and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 23rd October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Brendan O’Hara (Argyll and Bute) (SNP)]

Q3. In a dispute, diametrically opposed outcomes cannot be equally beneficial for both sides. If the Prime Minister’s great deal is so good for Northern Ireland’s seafood producers because it allows them access to the single market and customs union, how would he describe his deal for the shellfish producers of my Argyll and Bute constituency, who fish in the same waters for exactly the same catch but will not have access to the single market and customs union? One has a great deal; what does the other one have?

[The Prime Minister]

The fishing communities of Scotland will have a fantastic opportunity, by the end of next year, to take back control of their entire coastal waters—all 200 miles of them—and to manage their fisheries in the interests of Scotland and thereby drive an even better deal for even better access to European markets. That opportunity would be wantonly thrown away by the abject, servile policy of the SNP, which would hand back control of Scottish fishing to Brussels.

Brexit Negotiations

Debate between Brendan O'Hara and Boris Johnson

Thursday 3rd October 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend is entirely right. He has campaigned passionately on this subject and his own voice is important in this matter. I know how influential he can be in reaching out across the House and hope very much to work with him to do that.

[Brendan O’Hara (Argyll and Bute) (SNP)]

How will the Prime Minister sell this potentially ruinous proposal to the farmers and shellfish producers in my strongly remain Argyll and Bute constituency who will be able to see, just 12 miles across the water, their Northern Ireland counterparts being allowed free and unfettered access to the single market? If it is good enough for Northern Ireland, why is it not good enough for Scotland? Are my constituents simply expendable?

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Debate between Brendan O'Hara and Boris Johnson

Monday 13th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Boris Johnson]

I can certainly give my hon. Friend that assurance, and I can also tell him that our ambassador —our excellent ambassador—in Tehran is working on the case daily.

[Brendan O’Hara (Argyll and Bute) (SNP)]

The Foreign Secretary has said that he finally accepts that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was on holiday, and that the whole country is now behind her. Does he include the right hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), who just yesterday said that he did not know why she was in Iran, and has he told the right hon. Gentleman that his loose-lipped comments were unacceptable and damaging in equal measure?

[Boris Johnson]

My right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath actually made it very clear that he believed she was there on holiday—[Interruption.] He did say that: I watched the clip. He was very happy to accept that that was the case.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Brendan O'Hara and Boris Johnson

Tuesday 22nd November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Brendan O’Hara (Argyll and Bute) (SNP)]

3. What role he plans that the UK will play in providing diplomatic assistance to help rebuild communities in Iraq and Syria.

[The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Boris Johnson)]

We will continue to support the Government of Iraq to deliver the reforms and reconciliation needed to build public trust and unite all Iraq’s communities against extremism. In Syria, we continue to work in support of a lasting settlement based on transition away from Assad, and towards a stable and peaceful future for Syria.

[Brendan O’Hara]

I thank the Secretary of State for that answer, but in light of what happened in Libya, when a failure to plan for the future plunged the country and the region into absolute chaos, will he tell me what lessons the UK learned from that experience and what his Department is doing to ensure a very different outcome in Iraq and Syria?

[Boris Johnson]

As the hon. Gentleman can imagine, a huge amount of work is going on now, particularly with respect to Mosul as I told the House at the previous Foreign Office questions. We announced a commitment to invest £169 million in aid towards reconciliation and bringing communities together. The House must understand, however, that fundamentally it is up to the Government of Iraq to work in a way that brings communities together, and builds trust and confidence in the people of Mosul and other parts of the country.

Counter-Daesh Campaign: Iraq and Syria

Debate between Brendan O'Hara and Boris Johnson

Thursday 3rd November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Boris Johnson]

My hon. Friend will know that some of the training programmes over the past few years have not been entirely successful. As we step up our training efforts again and get on with vetting and security screening new candidates, that will be done outside theatre and outside Syria in order to get the best possible results.

[Brendan O’Hara (Argyll and Bute) (SNP)]

Today I have written to the Prime Minister asking her to pay specific attention to the plight of the estimated 2,000 Yazidi women and children who are still held in sexual slavery in Mosul, and who, once released from the evils of Daesh, will need specialist care. Will the Foreign Secretary encourage the Prime Minister and Cabinet colleagues to look at the great work being done by the Baden-Württemberg Government in Germany, who have a programme of specialist psychological care and emotional support for these victims of unimaginable horror, with a view to the United Kingdom following suit?

[Boris Johnson]

I think that the number of female Yazidi captives has been put even higher than the hon. Gentleman indicates—I have seen a figure of 3,500. Clearly their needs will be very important as Mosul is recaptured. As he will know, the UK Government attach particular importance to looking after the victims of sexual violence in conflict.