Oral Answers to Questions

Dawn Butler Excerpts

Wednesday 18th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the right hon. and learned Member for raising that, and I acknowledge the question he asked me last year. I pay tribute to him and to Kate for her campaign. It is vital that we look closely at the rare and tragic cases where things went wrong. We must not fail to do so, so that we maintain confidence in our health service—important in relation to covid, of course, but, as he rightly points out, important today as well. We are committed to looking at reforms to the vaccine damage payment scheme and engaging with those affected to ensure that it meets their needs. We expect the fourth module of the covid inquiry to report next month, which will look specifically at the issue he has raised. I can reassure him that we will look at other recommendations very closely.

[Dawn Butler (Brent East) (Lab)]

Q6.   At the international conference last week, it was clear that mobile phone theft is international organised crime. It drags in people as young as 14 years old. The Mayor of London and the Met commissioner have spent money on the latest tech to combat that crime, and it is working, but they need help. Manufacturers have the ability to deploy a kill switch to make stolen mobile phones worthless, but they do not do it—although Samsung takes it more seriously than Apple. If manufacturers do not do that, will the Government implement legislation to design out crime and keep our streets safe?

[The Prime Minister]

I welcome the Mayor of London’s crackdown. The Metropolitan police have made hundreds of arrests and recovered thousands of phones, and mobile phone theft has fallen. I agree with her that there is more to do, and we must work with the tech industry in order to do it. If we can reduce the value of stolen phones, it will help to break the business models that drive theft. We are committed to working with the industry, and are willing to consider any further necessary action to drive down that crime.