Oral Answers to Questions

Chi Onwurah Excerpts

Monday 8th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Priti Patel]

My hon. Friend is absolutely correct. We strongly support the right to protest peacefully, but that does not extend to the violent behaviour that we have witnessed across the country throughout the weekend. Any assault on our brave police is completely unacceptable. Any perpetrator should be in absolutely no doubt that they will be arrested and prosecuted. Assaults on emergency workers must be handled with the appropriate severity by the entire criminal justice system in a consistent way, and this Government will go even further, as we have committed to consult shortly on doubling the minimum sentence for those who assault emergency workers, in order to ensure that the sentence truly fits the crime.

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

The Government need a refresher course in their own policies: the Prime Minister does not know what “no recourse to public funds” means and the Equalities Minister and apparently the Home Secretary think it means that lots of help and support are available. In Newcastle today, “no recourse to public funds” means a mother unable to buy food or nappies for her baby, a British citizen, in the middle of a pandemic with no public help available. Does the Home Secretary know that? Does she care?

[Priti Patel]

The hon. Lady is completely wrong in her categorisation. First, public health measures are available right now, in addition to the fact that this is a public health emergency, so it is wrong to assert that in the way she has done. Also, I have outlined the funds. Working across Government, with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, vital funds and resources have been provided to local authorities to provide support to people who need that extra support. That is something the Government are committed to.