Sue Gray Report

Debate between Caroline Johnson and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 25th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Where I fell short and where we fell short, I apologise. I thank all colleagues who asked their constituents to follow the guidelines. Yes, the Government can be very proud of a lot of what we delivered during covid.

[Dr Caroline Johnson (Sleaford and North Hykeham) (Con)]

I have waited for the report and, having looked through it, it is clear to me that the Prime Minister did break the rules on one occasion, when he was surprised by a birthday greeting between meetings in the Cabinet Room. That was a clear rule breach, but one for which he has apologised, and I accept his apology. It is also clear from the report that there were other occasions on which the Prime Minister was not present and did not break the rules, but others did. Such events occurred repeatedly during the lockdown. What has the Prime Minister learned from the report? How will the changes he has put in place in No. 10 ensure that such behaviours, and the attitudes that allowed them to occur, do not persist?

Sue Gray Report

Debate between Caroline Johnson and Boris Johnson

Monday 31st January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Dr Caroline Johnson (Sleaford and North Hykeham) (Con)]

I have listened carefully to the statement, the questions and the answers, and indeed to my constituents, many of whom are devastated to hear that there may have been parties and some of whom have suffered great hardship. I am glad that the Prime Minister has come here to apologise and to take on board the recommendations, but I am concerned that this is taking time and attention from key issues. This statement alone has been going on for nearly two hours. The Prime Minister has achieved great things with Brexit and vaccines, but can he assure this House, me and my constituents that this ongoing investigation and the reorganisation of No. 10 will not take his laser-like focus away from the issues that matter to us?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, I can give my hon. Friend that absolute assurance.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Caroline Johnson and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 5th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I really think that the hon. Lady should listen to what is actually going on this country today. We are investing record sums in the NHS. There are 5,000 more doctors and 10,000 more nurses now than there were last year. There are record numbers of people in the NHS. That, in my experience, is what NHS staff want to see, in addition to the extra money we have put into pay rises. That has been made possible through the £36 billion that we have voted through and that she opposed. [Interruption.] Maybe she did not, but I think the record will show that she voted against it.

[Dr Caroline Johnson (Sleaford and North Hykeham) (Con)]

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust declared a critical incident on 1 January, not due to the number of omicron patients but due to pressures on staffing caused by omicron cases and isolation pressures. Local MPs have been reassured that acute services are safe and open. Will my right hon. Friend join me in thanking the staff of United Lincolnshire Hospitals for their work and dedication under extraordinary circumstances, and will he give me his assurance that he will do all he can for United Lincolnshire Hospitals, and that his Government will provide it with all the support that is necessary?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for her question. I know United Lincolnshire Hospitals: I remember going there with my right hon. Friend the Member for West Suffolk (Matt Hancock), the former Health Secretary—whose grandmother worked there, if I recall correctly—and I know what an incredible job its staff do. I know how difficult it has been for them, and as I said to the House and to the country, it will continue to be difficult in the course of the next few weeks, but we will get through it, and we will give the NHS all the support it needs.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Caroline Johnson and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 5th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

May I extend my deepest sympathies to the right hon. Lady? I am sure the whole House, and everybody who has listened, will have shared her feelings and will simply wish to extend their condolences in view of her mother’s condition. I know how her feelings must be exacerbated by the difficulties that so many people up and down the country are facing because of the restrictions that we are having to put on care homes, and I sympathise deeply. We do have to try to strike a balance and to keep home care residents safe and to do what we can to prevent the epidemic from taking hold in care homes. We continue to allow three nominated visitors to care homes, and there should be no limit to the duration of those visits. I understand the particular distress and anxiety that the right hon. Lady’s circumstances are causing. May I suggest that she has a meeting, as soon as it can be arranged, with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care?

[Dr Caroline Johnson (Sleaford and North Hykeham) (Con)]

5. Many of my constituents have contacted me with their concerns about rising utility bills and the high cost of fuel for their cars. People in rural constituencies such as Sleaford and North Hykeham are particularly affected by this, because rural areas are colder in the winter, many homes are not on the gas grid, rural people are much more reliant on their cars, and public services are very much further from home. I therefore ask my right hon. Friend what more he can do, particularly in rural communities, to ensure that my constituents have a reliable and affordable source of energy and fuel.

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend has drawn attention to a very important consideration as we try to abate the increases in the costs of gas and of energy. For people in rural constituencies such as her own, it will be important that we have frozen fuel duty for the 12th year in a row, that the energy price cap itself remains in place, and that we are doing everything we can to help people with the energy efficiency of their homes. We are also taking all the other measures that I have explained to the House, but the most important thing that we can do to help people in her constituency and across the country is to have sustainable, clean, cheaper forms of energy, and that is what this Government are investing in now. We are taking the tough decisions necessary.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Caroline Johnson and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 8th December 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

No, because we make all those points regularly to the Chinese. Indeed, I did to President Xi when I talked to him recently. As I have said before, we do not support sporting boycotts, but there are certainly no plans for Ministers to attend the winter Olympics.

[Dr Caroline Johnson (Sleaford and North Hykeham) (Con)]

Q9. Many of my constituents in Sleaford and North Hykeham are struggling to access an NHS dentist, leading to pain and suffering, in particular for children, military families and veterans. My right hon. Friend has invested a record amount of money in the NHS. Does he agree that some of this money must be used to level up dental care provision? Does he share my surprise that there is no dental school in the east midlands, and will he back my campaign for a dental school in Lincolnshire?

[The Prime Minister]

Health Education England is working extensively in Lincolnshire to improve the recruitment and retention of dentists. I understand that it agrees with her about the uneven distribution of dental schools throughout the country, and I am sure that as it considers its next steps, it will have heard her appeal.

Health and Social Care

Debate between Caroline Johnson and Boris Johnson

Tuesday 7th September 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The right hon. Gentleman is a formidable campaigner for his constituents, but I believe that these measures do serve them. This plan is progressive; the burden falls most heavily on those who can most afford to pay. It will, above all, help to deal with the current waiting lists in Northern Ireland, which are excessive and need to come down.

[Dr Caroline Johnson (Sleaford and North Hykeham) (Con)]

The NHS has been outstanding during the pandemic. However, as the Prime Minister has said, there is now a large waiting list of people needing treatment. As a hospital doctor, I am delighted to hear about the increased investment in the national health service that we are getting today, but as well as money we will need medical and nursing staff hours to reduce the waiting list. What are the Government doing to increase the numbers of those medical and nursing staff?

[The Prime Minister]

We are massively recruiting NHS staff. I think I am right in saying that, as I stand here today, there are 11,600 more nurses in the NHS than there were this time last year, and we will go on to deliver on our manifesto commitment to recruit 50,000 more nurses.

Covid-19

Debate between Caroline Johnson and Boris Johnson

Tuesday 22nd September 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I think everybody in this House wants to see the people of this country and help the people of this country to obey the law of the land and get the virus down. That is the objective of this Government.

[Dr Caroline Johnson (Sleaford and North Hykeham) (Con)]

Children are very unlikely to be harmed by this virus, and they are also less likely to spread it. In my role as a children’s doctor and as a member of the Select Committee on Education, however, I have seen examples of children being harmed by not being in school. Will my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister reassure the House that he will do everything in his power to keep schools open?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes. I thank my hon. Friend for what she does, and I thank the tens of millions of parents, teachers and pupils up and down the country who rose to the occasion at the beginning of the month and went back to school in overwhelming numbers. They are still at school in spite of the difficulties that they are currently facing. She is so right; it is vital for children and young people to be in school, and we will do everything in our power to ensure that that remains the case.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Caroline Johnson and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 30th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the right hon. Lady for her beautiful Welsh—although I could not get all of the Welsh—but I remind her that the most important point that she might bear in mind is that her constituents, the people of Wales, voted to leave the European Union. And that is what the people of this country voted for; that is what the majority of the constituents of those on the Benches opposite voted for, and it is high time that they honoured that promise.

[Dr Caroline Johnson (Sleaford and North Hykeham) (Con)]

My constituents in North Hykeham deal with some of the worst traffic congestion in the country, and they tell me that completing Lincoln’s bypass would make a huge difference to their lives. Can my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister confirm that his Government will support the building of this bypass?

[The Prime Minister]

Not only can I can confirm that, but I can thank both my hon. Friend and our candidate in Lincoln, Karl MᶜCartney, on everything they have done to campaign for that bypass.

Prime Minister's Update

Debate between Caroline Johnson and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 25th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The Government provided all the evidence that we were asked to provide. Let me tell the hon. Gentleman that I was Mayor of London for eight years, during which I went around everywhere on a bicycle with no protection whatever and I was very proud of it. Believe me: the best way to ensure that every parliamentarian is properly safe and to dial down the current anxiety in this country is to get Brexit done. I hope that he will support us.

[Dr Caroline Johnson (Sleaford and North Hykeham) (Con)]

Whether the Bill is referred to as the Burt-Benn Bill, the humiliation Act, the capitulation Act or the surrender Bill, does my right hon. Friend agree that it still has the same effect of ceding, giving up or yielding control of when we leave the EU to the Europeans, weakening his hand in being able to get a deal in the first place?

[The Prime Minister]

I am afraid that my hon. Friend is absolutely right. The best thing that all those who deprecate that description of the Bill could do is repeal it, get rid of its effect or—even better—support us in going for a better deal.

Priorities for Government

Debate between Caroline Johnson and Boris Johnson

Thursday 25th July 2019 Commons Chamber

[Dr Caroline Johnson (Sleaford and North Hykeham) (Con)]

I congratulate the Prime Minister and welcome him to his role. Some 19% of my constituents still do not have access to 10 megabytes of broadband, affecting their business, educational and leisure opportunities. Will my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister commit, as he has done during the campaign, to delivering broadband to every one of my constituents?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend. She may have noticed that in the course of the recent election campaign I made it absolutely clear that we will accelerate the programme of full fibre broadband by eight years, so that every household in this country gets full fibre broadband within the next five years.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Caroline Johnson and Boris Johnson

Tuesday 17th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Boris Johnson]

The hon. Gentleman is completely in error when he says that. In point of fact, both the French and the Dutch appealed to us at various times for help with their own needs, and, of course, we were very glad to supply that. We are now working with them and the Americans to make sure that we have a joined-up plan to react in the event of any future hurricanes.

[Dr Caroline Johnson (Sleaford and North Hykeham) (Con)]

19. I should like to recognise the significant effort that our servicemen and women and others are putting into the momentous task of the relief effort. After the emergency response is over, it is crucial that there is sustained support. What will the Secretary of State’s Department be doing to ensure that crucial infrastructure such as health and education get fully back up to speed?

[Boris Johnson]

As I have said, there is a long-term plan to restore those overseas territories to full economic health, and it will take a long-term commitment from this country. I want all those British nationals there to realise that this Government are absolutely determined to vindicate their rights and to give them the support that they need.