Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Glen

Thursday 25th April 2024 Commons Chamber

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

The Paymaster General told my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull North (Dame Diana Johnson) that he could not give a timeline with regard to the infected blood scandal compensation. This subject is raised on an almost daily basis in this House by Members on both sides, because our constituents just cannot understand why it is taking so long. Can he at least give an indication of when he thinks compensation might begin to be paid? It is especially important given that, as I understand it, one victim of the scandal dies every four days.

[John Glen]

The answer to this is to be found when we issue the comprehensive response to the inquiry, as soon as possible after 20 May. Legislation is going through the other place to make good on the amendment that was passed in this House by virtue of the advocacy and leadership of the right hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North (Dame Diana Johnson). We have announced that we will make some interim payments to the estates of those deceased infected who have not yet received any money, but the substantive response to translate 18 recommendations into meaningful and actionable responses for a wide community over 40 or 50 years obviously demands a lot of work to quantify and get the process right. We will update the House as quickly as possible after 20 May.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Glen

Tuesday 9th May 2023 Commons Chamber

[John Glen]

I am always happy to meet my hon. Friend. I congratulate him on his leadership of his council candidates last week and the excellent result that he secured. Of course, we have invested in many coastal communities across the country, and we are keen to discuss the specifics of how the Government can support him as he drives that local constituency and economy forward.

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

T4. Today, manufacturing body Make UK warned the Government that, to tackle regional inequalities and compete on a national stage, we need a national industrial strategy as a matter of urgency. Do Ministers recognise that the reason wages in the north-east are falling under the Tories is their lack of an industrial strategy and their failure to follow Labour’s example and commit to a modern industrial strategy that invests in the industries of the future and delivers good-quality jobs across our country?

[John Glen]

No, I do not recognise that characterisation. What I recognise is that the Government are determined to see the economy grow. I see investment in investment zones focused in the hon. Lady’s region, working with the excellent universities that she is familiar with. I see a Government who are putting £100 million into the foundation model taskforce, £900 million to invest in a supercomputer to fund AI, a quantum strategy that is generally seen as world leading, as well as £160 million of investment in the tech sector. So this is a Government who are committed to the growth industries of the future.

Covid-19: Government Support for Business

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Glen

Thursday 16th December 2021 Commons Chamber

[John Glen]

We will continue to engage with the sector. I just draw the hon. Lady’s attention to the £2 billion culture recovery fund; the emergency resources support fund, which gives up to £3 million of support to charities and £1 million to commercial entities in that sector; and the £800 million to the live events reinsurance scheme. However, we will continue to engage across different sectors of the economy.

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

Newcastle has a fantastic night-time economy and the Chancellor should visit, as it is a lot closer than California. Those businesses will be seeing a real reduction in footfall and trade, as will their suppliers directly, because of the omicron variant. What support is the Minister offering to them directly as a result of the omicron variant?

[John Glen]

As I mentioned, there is outstanding support from the local additional restrictions grant, which local authorities have available. I would be happy to hear from the hon. Lady where Newcastle’s local authority is on the disbursal of that grant. As I said, we are meeting representatives from across the economy this afternoon and we will look carefully at what can be done.

Coronavirus: Employment Support

Debate between Chi Onwurah and John Glen

Thursday 19th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[John Glen]

The Government are very aware of that particular category. We are looking very carefully at what we can do and an urgent announcement will be made with respect to that issue.

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

Can I say to the Minister as constructively as possible that his Government’s economic response is undermining the public health response? Job losses are contagious. Fear of economic hardship will spread the virus. The technical details can wait, but he needs to say now—today—that in principle he will guarantee the incomes of everyone at a level that provides security.

[John Glen]

We will do what it takes to support workers who are in distress. We have brought forward a package of measures, some of which will be imminently delivered, such as the unprecedented loan scheme. We have also added a number of grant schemes available through local authorities and reliefs from business rates, and additional measures will be coming imminently.