Oral Answers to Questions

Derek Thomas Excerpts

Wednesday 15th May 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As I said to the House last week, I understand the strong feelings across the Chamber about these matters and the desire for urgency in addressing them. Following the ombudsman’s multi-year investigation, it is imperative that we take the time to review the findings thoroughly; I am not entirely sure I agree with the hon. Lady’s characterisation of all of them so far. Broadly, we are committed to making sure that pensioners have the dignity and security that they deserve, including through the triple lock, which is increasing pensions by £900 this year. I welcome tomorrow’s debate on the ombudsman’s report and we will, of course, take all views into account as we identify and implement next steps.

[Derek Thomas (St Ives) (Con)]

Q13. I know that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister takes a personal interest in community pharmacy. Community pharmacists play an essential role in reducing pressure on urgent care services by helping people prevent ill health and manage long-term conditions. Pharmacy First is a good example of Government commitment to community pharmacy. However, community pharmacies are under extreme financial pressure and some are closing, including in St Ives. This year, 177 pharmacies have closed, which compares with a figure of 116 in the same period in 2023. Will he do everything he can to ensure that funds are directed toward community pharmacy, so that our pharmacy friends can help the Government to deliver NHS services where and when they are most needed?

[The Prime Minister]

As my hon. Friend knows, I care deeply about the future of our community pharmacies. There are over 10,500 community pharmacies across the country and they are working incredibly hard to serve their patients. I am pleased that about 80% of people live within a 20-minute walk of a pharmacy. That is why we are backing them with Pharmacy First, with £645 million of extra funding, whereby people can now go to see their pharmacist, rather than their GP, to get treatments for the seven most common ailments, such as ear infections and the like. Not only will that ensure that they can get treatments closer to home, but it will help to deliver our plan to cut waiting lists and get people the care they need more quickly.

Oral Answers to Questions

Derek Thomas Excerpts

Wednesday 17th April 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I express my sympathies to the families affected by the case that the hon. Lady raises. I believe the Ministry of Justice is urgently looking at the matter. I will ensure someone gets in touch with her as soon as possible.

[Derek Thomas (St Ives) (Con)]

Q11. Robotic surgery allows laparoscopic surgery to be performed with increased precision, flexibility and control. This can result in reduced patient complication rates, reduced lengths of stay in hospital and reduced hospital readmission. However, there is currently no robotic surgery provision in Cornwall. As a result, residents of Cornwall must travel to Devon for robotic procedures, a journey of more than 80 miles for those from west Cornwall and 120 miles for those from the Isles of Scilly. Will the Prime Minister commit to ringfence capital funding for Cornwall to establish a robotic surgery service, and address the health inequalities our constituents have lived with for far too long?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for highlighting the potential of this innovative technology for patient care. I am delighted that more generally Cornwall is benefiting from our new hospital programme, providing a new women and children’s hospital at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, in the centre of Cornwall, which he and I discussed when I was last with him. NHS England is actively exploring opportunities to expand robotic-assisted surgery. Any decisions on funding new allocations will factor in health inequalities, such as areas with less access to robots to date. I will ensure that the current access to robotic surgery in my hon. Friend’s local community is appropriately considered by the relevant health Minister.

Oral Answers to Questions

Derek Thomas Excerpts

Wednesday 7th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

There is nothing new about a Labour leader who is calling for more tax rises. It is the same old, same old tax and spend. What I am about is reducing taxes, getting our economy growing, getting investment and getting new jobs for people right across the country.

I am afraid to say that the right hon. and learned Gentleman does not understand aspiration. He does not understand opportunity. He does not understand that people want to keep more of their own money. That is what I will deliver as Prime Minister. I will take immediate action to help people with their energy bills but also secure our long-term energy supply. I will take immediate action to ensure that we have lower taxes and grow the economy. In that way, I will ensure that we have a positive future for our country and get Britain moving.

[Derek Thomas (St Ives) (Con)]

Q9. First, may I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on her successful campaign to become our party leader and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom? It is right and proper that the Government focus their attention on rising energy costs for households across the country, but, as we have heard, businesses big and small are exposed to horrific energy price increases with no restraint provided by the domestic energy price cap and no support so far from Government. For the sake of businesses in west Cornwall and on Scilly, the jobs that they provide and the economy as a whole, what can my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister do to ease the energy costs that our businesses face?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is right: we do need to address the issues that businesses face. The package that we will announce tomorrow will do just that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Derek Thomas Excerpts

Tuesday 24th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

I am very concerned about the endemic levels of mental health challenges and illness in prison. Interestingly enough, I have talked particularly to the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation about the link between autism and at-risk offenders. If the hon. Gentleman writes to me about the findings and learning that he has had, I will be happy to look at them carefully with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

[Derek Thomas (St Ives) (Con)]

T9. I had the great privilege of meeting A Band of Brothers, which is a voluntary organisation based around the UK, including in Cornwall. It works with and alongside men in the community who are in trouble with the law or at risk of getting in trouble with the law. Over 12 weeks, it helps those young men to get their lives back in order. The problem is that it works completely voluntarily. It has done great work to support the criminal justice system and safety in our communities. What more can be done to help it to grow and flourish and to upskill the great work it does?

[The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Victoria Atkins)]

Is that not a sign of a community as a whole taking action, not just to reduce crime but to try to ensure that the young men my hon. Friend describes get on the straight and narrow and start to build healthy and happy lives for themselves? I would be delighted to discuss that further with him. I know for a fact that he has a superb police and crime commissioner, who I am sure will be supporting A Band of Brothers helpfully and meaningfully.

Covid-19 Update

Derek Thomas Excerpts

Wednesday 19th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Gentleman very much and direct him to exactly what I said earlier, which I am sure he listened to.

[Derek Thomas (St Ives) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement, which is very welcome. I thank him also for the investment and care taken with vaccine-hesitant groups. Sadly, such groups exist within the NHS, and he is right to stress the need for healthcare workers to get the vaccine. However, may I ask him to consider carefully the consequences for our NHS in our constituencies if we cannot convince the remaining 5% of NHS staff who are yet to have the vaccine?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes. I want to reassure the House that this is a complex and difficult issue, but it is important that we give NHS staff the strongest possible encouragement to get vaccinated. That requires a lot of work and a lot of effort, but the risks of not being vaccinated are very real.

G20 and COP26 World Leaders Summit

Derek Thomas Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd November 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We are investing massively in rail in the way that I described at PMQs earlier, not just with HS2, but with Northern Powerhouse Rail and the integrated rail plan. The hon. Lady objects to domestic air travel, but the vision that she should support is the idea of moving away from using tonnes of kerosene to hurl planes into the air. We can do it with other approaches, and that is what we should be following.

[Derek Thomas (St Ives) (Con)]

I welcome the Prime Minister’s leadership around the world, particularly in getting the world’s biggest polluters to reduce their carbon footprint. My constituents are keen to move forward and transition to a decarbonised lifestyle. Does he agree that getting information to them is key? There are many times when all of us, as consumers, purchase things from China that may well be available here in the UK, but we do not understand their in-built carbon footprint. Does he agree that information about carbon on items that we purchase is important for consumers?

[The Prime Minister]

Schools in Cornwall that I have been talking to have a fantastic understanding of what Cornwall is doing to cut carbon. There are amazing projects in Cornwall, and we are also making sure that in education—in classes—kids understand the in-built carbon cost of the goods that they buy.

Oral Answers to Questions

Derek Thomas Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd September 2021 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

I do not think it quite right to say that the Government have not been supporting workers. We have paid the wages of nearly 12 million workers throughout the pandemic. Clearly that cannot continue indefinitely, but I reassure the hon. Lady specifically that the Government are investing in supporting gigafactories. We will be investing in the technologies of the future that will create the jobs of the future in her constituency and right across the UK.

[Derek Thomas (St Ives) (Con)]

All hon. Members enjoy the opportunity to eat British food, drink British drink and enjoy British flowers. I am joined by all of Cornwall’s MPs in pressing the Home Secretary to renew the seasonal agricultural workers scheme for next year—that is 30,000 people—and also to allow them to pick daffodils. Will the Deputy Prime Minister please speak to the Home Secretary, to remind her of the urgency of getting that scheme renewed?

[Dominic Raab]

My hon. Friend is a powerful champion for his constituency and the region. I will of course pass on his suggestion and advice to the Home Secretary. I believe that she has been lobbied from various other quarters. We are very mindful of the impact on seasonal workers, and we will make sure we get the right balance.

G7 and NATO Summits

Derek Thomas Excerpts

Wednesday 16th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

When we consider how much some of these countries are dependent on coal, I think it was groundbreaking for the summit to agree not to support any more overseas coal. The commitments on net zero and on making progress by 2030 are outstanding, and it can be done. The hon. Lady’s mood of gloom and pessimism is not shared by the people of this country. We know that in 2012, 40% of our power came from coal. Now, thanks to this Conservative Government and the actions we have taken to reduce dependence on coal, it is down to less than 2% and falling the whole time. The whole world knows that, and they are following the UK’s example.

[Derek Thomas (St Ives) (Con) [V]]

It is absolutely right that I congratulate the Prime Minister and all those involved in hosting the G7 summit in my constituency over the weekend. It was an absolutely fantastic event and we in Cornwall feel very proud of the part that we played. I also want to thank the police, who were quite incredible and who travelled from all over the country to help out. I also have an apology for the Prime Minister, because the truth is that we are very proud of the Carbis Bay declaration and I may well mention it once or twice in the years to come. We are proud of the declaration because of the commitments to covid vaccines, to the education of 40 million extra girls, to the global climate change response and to a fairer economic recovery and job creation. Will my friend the Prime Minister commit to further opportunities for Parliament to understand the details of the Carbis Bay declaration as they become available?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes. The Carbis Bay declaration is the foundation of the treaty that this country has been helping to prepare, and which we have been pioneering, against any future pandemic. The crucial elements are zoonotic research hubs, the pathogen surveillance network, and the undertaking to share data to prevent barriers between our countries in the export of personal protective equipment, medicines, vaccines and other things. It is the foundation to ensure that the time between a new variant arriving and a new vaccine should be kept down to 100 days, and to ensure that we spread know-how and manufacturing capacity around the world. This is the foundation of a new global approach to tackling pandemics. The UK has been absolutely instrumental in setting this up, to say nothing of the funding that we have put in, and I believe that the Carbis Bay declaration will be seen as a very important step towards the treaty later this year.

His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Derek Thomas Excerpts

Monday 12th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[Derek Thomas (St Ives) (Con) [V]]

I share with my constituents in west Cornwall and on the Isles of Scilly a tremendous sense of respect for and pride in the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh. It was deeply saddening to hear of the passing of Prince Philip, and I am grateful for the opportunity to pay tribute to a man who lived a life of service, and a life that touched many people around the world.

Of all the tributes to which I have listened over the weekend and today, the references to Prince Philip’s ability to draw people of faith together in response to conservation are what I wish to highlight this evening. Prince Philip could have chosen much easier themes, but he was right to recognise that world religions and people of faith should be natural partners for the conservation movement. People of faith grow up knowing that we have a responsibility to care for our natural environment and the world that we are privileged to occupy—that is certainly how I was raised. However, I believe that the Duke of Edinburgh expected more than an individual sense of responsibility. He demonstrated that in his leadership of the 1986 summit in which representatives of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism pledged to protect the environment. The summit took place only because of Prince Philip’s commitment and resolve. As a first-world leader, rallying faith groups in that way, he demonstrated a confidence and belief that religions were able and ready to protect our natural environment.

In the past few years, we have been reminded of how critical that issue is. Of all the things that will mark a life well lived and something by which to be remembered, Prince Philip’s call to action, in defence of our planet, will ensure that the future of people around the world will be better than what might have been. In closing, I extend my sincere condolences, and those of my constituents, to Her Majesty the Queen

Oral Answers to Questions

Derek Thomas Excerpts

Wednesday 24th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Until July, as the hon. Gentleman says. My right hon. Friend the Health Secretary is working to find a permanent solution and I have no doubt that he will be very happy to meet the hon. Gentleman.

[Derek Thomas (St Ives) (Con) [V]]

Given the past 12 months I, like many others, would not want the job of Prime Minister, even for all the tea in China. However, the job does give opportunities to directly improve the lives of people who are very, very sick. March is Brain Tumour Awareness Month and over 100,000 people have signed a Brain Tumour Research petition calling for the Government to match brain tumour research funding with that for other devastating cancers. We know from covid that properly funded research really can bring improved care, treatment and a cure. Will my friend the Prime Minister meet me to receive the petition, when it is safe to do so?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, indeed. I congratulate my hon. Friend on what he is doing to champion research into brain cancer. I know, from activists in my constituency, where Centre of Hope runs the Hillingdon brain tumour and injury group, how vital it is, because too often people do not appreciate the number of people who are the victims of brain tumours. We have put another £40 million into brain tumour research and we are certainly going to put more. I look forward to meeting my hon. Friend.