Oral Answers to Questions

Desmond Swayne Excerpts

Wednesday 16th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I send my deepest condolences to Eli’s friends and family. I join my hon. Friend in urging the new Reform council to think again and change its mind on damaging cuts that hit children and young families. My hon. Friend is doing a much better job than his predecessor, the Conservative party chairman under Liz Truss, who has now joined Reform. That proves once again that if people vote Tory they get Reform, and if they vote Reform they get the Tories. While both parties are cutting services at home, we support families with free school meals and free breakfast clubs, and by extending free childcare.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

Q2. Jack Straw told us that the Human Rights Act 1998 places on us no expectation that we will remedy a declaration of incompatibility issued by a court, so the Prime Minister is wrong to say that the legacy Act is struck down. His own proposals, which open the door to compensation to Gerry Adams and place in jeopardy our own servicemen, present enormous difficulty to those of us who have served—that is increasingly the case on the Prime Minister’s own Benches. Will he consider that?

[The Prime Minister]

The failed legacy Act was struck down by the courts in Northern Ireland, and that leaves veterans exposed. We are creating a secure, transparent system that protects veterans from unjustified persecution, but that also gives victims, families and survivors the confidence that they need in the process.

Oral Answers to Questions

Desmond Swayne Excerpts

Wednesday 18th October 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Weeks after I became Prime Minister, we announced a significant increase of almost £14 billion for the NHS and social care. We followed that up with the first long-term workforce plan in the NHS’s history, to ensure that we train the doctors and nurses we need for the future. That demonstrates our commitment to the NHS. We also, I am pleased to say, reached a settlement with over 1 million NHS workers, including our nurses, for a full, fair and affordable pay rise.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

Q11. Aid poured into Gaza in 2005 when Israel withdrew. Enlightened governance could have made a success of it. It is Hamas that has turned it into hell, is it not?

[The Prime Minister]

I know that this is a subject on which my right hon. Friend speaks with authority, and I thank him for his previous work in the area. With regard to our aid funding, as the Foreign Secretary will outline later, we have very stringent governance in place to make sure that it is spent on the humanitarian needs that we want to address. I also agree with him that there is one person and one person alone that is responsible for the atrocities that we are seeing, and that is Hamas.