Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Charlotte Nichols and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 5th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend very much. I want to thank all the staff at Fountains care home for everything they have been doing to look after people throughout the pandemic. In particular, I want to join my hon. Friend in wishing the centenarian Edna a very happy 100th birthday.

[Charlotte Nichols (Warrington North) (Lab)]

Groundbreaking research published yesterday in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, from King’s College London in partnership with Compass Pathways, has now established that psilocybin can be safely administered and may have significant therapeutic benefit in treatment-resistant depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. As someone who knows first-hand how debilitating PTSD is, as well as hearing from many constituents who have developed the condition as a result of sexual assault or their experience serving in our armed forces, I ask the Prime Minister to commit today to a review of the regulatory regime that would allow further and more rapid research in this vital area of mental health support, for which current treatment options are sorely lacking.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Charlotte Nichols and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 17th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend perfectly sums up the balance that we are trying to strike between allowing people, in a reasonable way, to go about their daily lives and bringing in tougher sentences for child murderers, tougher punishments for sex offenders, and stopping the continuing practice of allowing people out early. I think that is what the people of this country want to see. That is what they voted for in 2019, and I hope the Opposition can bring themselves, one day, to support it.

[Charlotte Nichols (Warrington North) (Lab)]

With the Government’s end-to-end rape review remaining unpublished, two years after it was promised, rape conviction rates having fallen to their lowest point on record and almost 90% of sexual harassment complaints not even reported to the police, women are increasingly being left without legal recourse against sexual violence. I have parliamentary privilege and can name the men who have hurt me, but millions of women in this country do not have that. Women are stuck between a criminal justice system in which only 1.4% of reported offences result in charges being laid and too many survivors who speak out being pursued through the civil courts by their abusers to silence them. Can the Prime Minister advise how they are meant to get justice?

[The Prime Minister]

I am afraid that the hon. Lady is completely right, and I know that she speaks for many women up and down the country. We can do all the things we have talked about, two men arguing over the Dispatch Box. We can bring in more laws and tougher sentences, which I hope she will support. We can support independent domestic violence and sexual violence advisers. We can do all that kind of thing, but we have to address the fundamental issue of the casual everyday sexism and apathy that fail to address the concerns of women. That is the underlying issue.

Covid-19

Debate between Charlotte Nichols and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 6th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend; he is absolutely right about people’s feelings across the whole country. They want a sense of when things are going to get better, and I have tried to give that today. I really think that with the pace of the vaccine roll-out, if it can accelerate in the way that I think everybody would want, we will reach an important moment on 15 February. As I have said many times in this House, I do believe things will be much better by the spring.

[Charlotte Nichols (Warrington North) (Lab) [V]]

Special schools were not mentioned in the Prime Minister’s statement, but they will remain open over the course of lockdown. Will he please advise the House what advice and support they have received to stay open safely for the often vulnerable young people who need them, and whether special educational needs school staff, students and their parents will be given priority access to the vaccine to keep them safe?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank SEN schools, their staff, parents and pupils for everything that they are doing—and all the work that is being done, by the way, by teachers across the country to continue to look after the children of key workers and vulnerable kids. The point that the hon. Lady makes about vaccination is one that many colleagues across the House have made, bringing forward the case for this or that group. It is vital that we as politicians leave that to the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which is driven by a desire to stamp out the disease as fast as possible and to reduce mortality.

Covid-19: Winter Plan

Debate between Charlotte Nichols and Boris Johnson

Monday 23rd November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the vital importance of sport. I can tell him that even in my current confinement, I am taking whatever exercise I can—mainly on a treadmill, I am afraid. He is totally right. We will ensure that gyms, leisure centres and swimming pools are open in all tiers and that organised sport can resume.

[Charlotte Nichols (Warrington North) (Lab)]

As chair of the all-party parliamentary group on pubs, I have been contacted by pubs not only in my constituency of Warrington North, but from across the country. They are dismayed by the extension of the substantial meal requirement to tier 2, but also by the agonising wait to find out what tier their premises will be in as we come out of national lockdown. For those who will be allowed to reopen, in order to be able to do so, they need to be getting their orders in now with suppliers. Those who cannot will be losing out on one of the most profitable times of the year. As they have been absolutely battered by the restrictions, is it not time for a sector deal for pubs, which are the heart of our communities, and for their supply chain?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady makes an important point, and it is appalling that pubs, or any businesses, have had to face the restrictions that they have. Nobody has wanted to do this. The reason for the delay that she talks about until Thursday is that we need to look at the data and make sure that we get it right about which tiers various areas should be going into. Of course she is right that we have to have plans for our whole economy to bounce back, and indeed we do. She will be hearing from the Chancellor on Wednesday about that, but we must not forget that pubs and other businesses that have been forced to close remain entitled to furlough until March.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Charlotte Nichols and Boris Johnson

Monday 2nd November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am deeply sorry to hear about that loss of life—the suicide of my hon. Friend’s constituent, Dr Jagdip Sidhu. All I can say is that we are doing everything we can to support NHS care for its staff, their wellbeing and their mental health. I urge anybody in the NHS who is aware of a colleague who is struggling with their mental health to come forward and seek help.

[Charlotte Nichols (Warrington North) (Lab)]

Will the Prime Minister please tell the House how many people he estimates were laid off in anticipation of the furlough scheme ending before its last-minute extension, and whether he will make an apology to them?

[The Prime Minister]

I think most fair-minded people would think that this Government have done everything they can to support people throughout this crisis. We are not only extending the furlough scheme but massively increasing help for the self-employed. We have already put £200 billion into supporting people across the country and we will continue to do so.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Charlotte Nichols and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 4th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

That is precisely why my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary is working so hard to recruit 20,000 more police officers and to enhance stop-and-search powers. That is why we have set out plans to build more prisons and keep violent and sexual offenders in prison for longer. I am delighted that the west midlands, thanks partly to my hon. Friend’s lobbying, is receiving another 366 police officers.

[Charlotte Nichols (Warrington North) (Lab)]

Q3. I note that, in the interests of public safety, the Government have taken emergency measures to rush through legislation to ensure that those convicted of terrorist offences serve their full sentences. Given the far smaller conviction rate and far more substantial reoffending rate for those convicted of sexual offences, will the Prime Minister commit to a wider sentencing review, so that communities can rest assured that sex offenders who pose a threat to children and women are serving their full sentences, to ensure their rehabilitation?

[The Prime Minister]

I congratulate the hon. Lady on what she just said, which may have come as a bit of a bombshell to some of her colleagues—

[Charlotte Nichols]

indicated dissent.

[The Prime Minister]

Perhaps those on the shadow Front Bench, at any rate. The hon. Lady is entirely right, and that is what we are doing, as I said in my earlier answer.

Transport Infrastructure

Debate between Charlotte Nichols and Boris Johnson

Tuesday 11th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We can certainly ensure that we restore areas where there is environmental damage—and there will of course be effects on woodlands. We will be planting 7 million trees, which is many more than will be destroyed.

[Charlotte Nichols (Warrington North) (Lab)]

On balance, I welcome the news that HS2 has been given the go-ahead, for the capacity gains that will benefit the north-west region and for the construction and rail supply firms in my constituency, which I hope will receive a fair shot at winning contracts associated with the project. However, my constituents in Culcheth, Croft, Risley and Hollins Green in particular will be looking for assurances that the unnecessary Golborne spur will be removed from the proposed route. This is an issue that transcends party affiliations and on which local MPs are in agreement. Will the Prime Minister give us those assurances?

[The Prime Minister]

I have heard representations on the Golborne spur from many people in this House, and we will certainly be looking at the matter.