Oral Answers to Questions

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Wednesday 19th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I will certainly do what I can to support it, although of course, as my hon. Friend knows, such memorials are a matter for local authorities. What the House and the Government can certainly do is ensure that memorials are not desecrated, as they have been across the country, and that we support legislation that penalises those who indulge in such desecration.

[Dame Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

Q6. When a Prime Minister is spending his time trying to convince the Great British public that he is actually stupid rather than dishonest, is it not time that he goes, now?

[The Prime Minister]

Mr Speaker, I think that was a question for you rather than me. Look, I have made my point. I think that the British public have responded to what the Government have had to say in the most eloquent way possible. They have beaten covid so far. They have helped to defeat covid so far with the steps that they have taken by getting vaccinated and implementing plan B, and I thank them.

Oral Answers to Questions

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Thursday 13th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Michael Ellis]

We have appointed a very senior figure from the judiciary—a recently retired lady justice of appeal from the Court of Appeal. The Prime Minister has confirmed that the inquiry’s detailed terms of reference will be set out in due course, and the bereaved families and other groups will be consulted before they are finalised. The process will be done carefully and properly and with consultation and consideration for all.

[Dame Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

Might the Paymaster General consider the approach that was adopted when the infected blood inquiry was set up, whereby those infected and affected have been at the heart of the consultation around the terms of reference? Sir Brian Langstaff made it his first priority to ensure that those people were at the very heart of the infected blood inquiry that he now so ably chairs.

[Michael Ellis]

May I take this opportunity to thank the right hon. Lady again for the support she has provided and the work she has done on the infected blood inquiry? It is no exaggeration to say that she has been instrumental in achieving what has been achieved so far—there is still a lot to do, of course. In answer to her question, of course it would be the wish of everyone concerned to involve the bereaved as much as possible. Baroness Hallett, a Cross-Bench peer, will have command and control of this matter, if I can put it that way, just as Sir Brian Langstaff does in the infected blood inquiry. I am sure that all concerned will have heard what the right hon. Lady has had to say.

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[Steve Barclay]

My hon. Friend raises an extremely important point that is a key issue for the illegal migration taskforce, which I chair. I will meet the Home Secretary later today, and I met the Foreign Secretary yesterday. He is right that our response is a whole of Government endeavour and I am sure that the Home Secretary will update the House further on our progress.

[Dame Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

T6. Does the Paymaster General, as a former Law Officer, agree that there is a fatal flaw in our system when the person who ultimately makes judgment on the ministerial code is a Prime Minister who is at the centre of allegations of breaking the law and misleading the House? Does it not go against all the rules of natural justice to be judge and jury in your own case?

[The Paymaster General (Michael Ellis)]

Well, natural justice also requires something on which to impose justice and as yet we do not have any result from the inquiry, so, if I may say so, the right hon. Member is putting the cart before the horse. I would say that the Prime Minister is a man of integrity, as I have said before, and the ministerial code has always been under the purview of the Prime Minister since it was created.

COP26

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Monday 15th November 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

One of the most important things is to ensure that we have enough baseload electricity, which is why we are investing in nuclear as well.

[Dame Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

In order to meet our commitments on net zero, the Humber energy estuary will play a vital role. So I am at a bit of a loss to understand why, in all the briefings over the weekend about the integrated rail review, we in the Humber will get nothing in terms of greener, faster connectivity. There will be no coast-to-coast Northern Powerhouse Rail, despite what the Prime Minister has promised in the past, and no benefit from HS2 to the east of Leeds. So, Prime Minister, I just wondered whether you could comment on the fact that the Humber is not getting much—

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

Order. The right hon. Lady must not say, “So, Prime Minister”. She must ask whether the right hon. Gentleman can comment.

[Dame Diana Johnson]

I understand and I apologise.

[The Prime Minister]

I congratulate the Humber and the whole region on what they are doing in green technology and carbon capture and storage. We will ensure that this country builds on their lead with clean, green technology around the whole country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Thursday 23rd September 2021 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

My hon. Friend raises a very legitimate point, and, in short, yes we will. To encourage the issue he highlights, we require public buyers to divide contracts into more accessible lots, or to explain why they cannot, so that tender requirements can be matched to smaller business specialisms. I know that he is a champion for Dudley South and that is exactly the sort of measure that will help businesses in his constituency.

[Dame Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

10. What recent assessment his Department has made of the progress of the infected blood inquiry.

[The Paymaster General (Michael Ellis)]

The Government remain committed to fully supporting the infected blood inquiry. The inquiry maintained pace throughout lockdown, I am pleased to say, and it is making good progress. The hearings restarted this week. The inquiry will continue to hear evidence about blood services and pharmaceutical companies until the end of this year. I take this opportunity to thank the right hon. Lady because I know that she has been doing sterling work in this area, and I wish to commend her for that. Please allow me also to commend my predecessor as Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth North (Penny Mordaunt), who also worked hard in this area.

[Dame Diana Johnson]

I welcome the Minister to his new post. May I also join him in thanking the previous Paymaster General, the right hon. Member for Portsmouth North (Penny Mordaunt), for all that she did to ensure that the cause of those infected and affected by the contaminated blood scandal was at the heart of the work she carried out?

As the Paymaster General said, we are three years into the NHS infected blood inquiry, and at the start of the new review into compensation for those infected and affected. Will he say something, though, about what is happening to the bereaved partner payments that were announced in March, and about whether he is willing to look at the inconsistencies that still apply to bereaved partners and their families?

[Michael Ellis]

I am grateful to the right hon. Lady for her remarks, particularly about my predecessor. The previous Paymaster General announced in March this year changes to the four national financial support schemes to bring them into broader parity. That means increasing annual payments and lump sums where necessary to bring them up to the highest existing levels. The right hon. Lady knows better than anyone that there is an independent statutory inquiry, chaired by former High Court judge Sir Brian Langstaff. The issue of compensation is being looked at by Sir Robert Francis QC. I look forward to correspondence with her and hope to be able to go into more detail on the matter in due course.

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[Nigel Adams]

I politely remind the hon. Gentleman that the Government have invested £400 billion in supporting the country, its businesses and public services through the pandemic. He is right to raise Birmingham, which has seen quite a transformation in recent years. I also remind him of the £4.8 billion levelling-up fund, the shared prosperity fund and the national skills fund. The Government are taking action on levelling up.

[Dame Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

[The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office (Steve Barclay)]

I pay tribute to my predecessor, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), for his leadership of the Cabinet Office over the last two years and wish him well in his new role. I also thank my officials at the Treasury for all their support during my time as Chief Secretary to the Treasury. I welcome the comments made by the Opposition Front-Bench team in respect of the new ministerial team and look forward to constructive engagement with them in the months ahead.

Mr Speaker, a theme this morning has been your recent G7 Speakers conference, and certainly for me, as someone born and bred in Lancashire, it is a particular honour to have the role of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. The Cabinet Office is the strategic headquarters for the Government, supporting the Prime Minister and the Cabinet in delivering for the British people. I look forward to working with colleagues to do so, supported by an excellent new ministerial team.

[Dame Diana Johnson]

I join in welcoming the right hon. Member to his new post.

Whereas the NHS infected blood scandal was the biggest treatment disaster in the history of the NHS, the covid pandemic has been the biggest public health disaster in a century. In March 2020, the chief scientific adviser said if the UK could keep covid deaths below 20,000 that would be a “good result”, and now of course there have been more than 135,000. If the covid public inquiry, which we understand will not start until next year, is to be a genuine attempt to look at the rights and wrongs of what happened, will frontline staff in the healthcare and social care sectors be involved in setting the terms of reference?

[Steve Barclay]

We have been clear that we will have an inquiry, and that will be next spring. Clearly, there will be consultations on shaping the leadership of that, its terms and how it will be conducted. The Prime Minister has been clear on his commitment to ensuring that we learn the lessons within the covid response not just in England, but across the United Kingdom. That applies in Wales, but in the other devolved Administrations as well. I think something we all share across the House is that the right lessons are drawn so that improvements can be made.

AUKUS

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Thursday 16th September 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

It is. I am sure that that will be on the agenda.

[Dame Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

Maintaining and strengthening our alliances is now more important than ever. I welcome today’s announcement, but can the Prime Minister answer the question posed by the Leader of the Opposition, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Holborn and St Pancras (Keir Starmer), which was how this trilateral agreement sits with our Five Eyes relationships, and whether it will strengthen them and not weaken them?

Afghanistan

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Wednesday 18th August 2021 Commons Chamber

[Dame Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

I have three issues that I want to raise today. First, as a member of the Intelligence and Security Committee, I am concerned about what events in Afghanistan will mean for UK national security. With President Biden forging ahead with President Trump’s deal with the Taliban, we risk Afghanistan returning to its pre-9/11 position and presenting a global terror threat, an ally for despots and a base for jihadi terrorists and crime networks, including the drug warlords who flood the streets of our country with heroin. President Biden, who told us very recently, “The USA is back!” says that

“there was never a good time to withdraw US forces”,

but I fear he may now learn the hard way that there is never a good time to allow an illegitimate terror regime to take power. A false binary choice has been made between full-on military engagement and a rushed, chaotic withdrawal. There were, and are, other options.

Worse still, our holidaying Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary allowed this catastrophe to unfold with barely a whisper. The UK currently heads the G7, we hold a permanent seat on the UN Security Council and we are founder members of NATO, but where is the international leadership from our Prime Minister? So much for global Britain, with our shrunken influence and reputation. The Prime Minister declares that Afghanistan must not become a “breeding ground” for terrorists, and I agree, but wishing these ends does not render the means to fulfil them. What is he going to do? We must now ask whether the assessment of our security needs in the integrated review, published only in March, needs an early update.

Secondly, we have sleepwalked into opening up a new front in the global refugee crisis, which our Home Office has already struggled to cope with. With our allies in the EU and Commonwealth, we must ensure that aid reaches those in need—and this is after the Government cut the UK contribution to the Afghanistan humanitarian response plan by 76%. We now have the added task of avoiding aid’s falling into the hands of the Taliban. I can only urge the Government that we must do our fair share in providing safe havens, sanctuary and support for all those left with nothing.

Thirdly, as the chair of the all-party parliamentary human rights group, I am appalled at the prospect of a new dark age descending on Afghans. As Hillary Clinton said,

“human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights”.

After all the sacrifices, 20 years of human rights progress for women and girls will be swept away with the return of a perverted, medieval theocracy. Women will be erased from public life, the right to education will be severely limited and violence, rape and forced child marriage will be routine weapons of oppression.

Brave female politicians, teachers, medics, scientists, journalists and judges will be targeted by the Taliban. Those who worked with the coalition forces are already being subjected to brutal reprisals from the Taliban, as are those dedicated to protecting fundamental human rights such as the right to education, healthcare, freedom of expression and freedom of association. Members of ethnic and religious minorities, not least Christians, are now at greater risk in Afghanistan.

Those now in mortal danger deserve more than vacuous slogans about solidarity. The Government’s integrated review also had a section on defending human rights, promoting gender equality and much else. That sounds utterly empty now.

Security of Ministers’ Offices and Communications

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Monday 28th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[Julia Lopez]

In so far as there are any questions raised in this entire episode about whether a matter was leaked, there will be questions to be answered in so far as they involve any civil servants, who are vetted when they do their jobs and have to adhere to certain codes themselves.

[Dame Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab) [V]]

May  I say to the Minister first of all that this House should take precedence in the priorities of the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, not travelling to Scotland?

When I was a Minister, neither parliamentary emails nor private emails were allowed to be used for Government business. Will the Minister therefore confirm whether using private email accounts to discuss sensitive Government business is in breach of the Freedom of Information Act, the Official Secrets Act, the Data Protection Act or the Public Records Act 1958, which place specific requirements on the use of Government information?

[Julia Lopez]

As I have said, Government guidance is that official devices, email accounts and communications applications should be used for communicating classified information, but other forms of electronic communication may be used in the course of conducting business, and official information that is held in private email accounts is subject to FOI. I hope that that provides the right hon. Lady with assurance.

G7 and NATO Summits

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Wednesday 16th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

May I wish my hon. Friend a happy birthday? I confirm that we see the education of girls and young women as one of the great achievements of the UK presence in Afghanistan over the last two decades. We do not want that to be jeopardised now, which is why we are working with our friends in the G7 and NATO to make sure that we leave a lasting legacy.

[Dame Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister talks proudly about our commitment to NATO. That, of course, depends on having a strong military in the United Kingdom. Does he regret his decision to break his election promise and cut the armed forces by 10,000?

[The Prime Minister]

We are investing another £24 billion in our defence, with the biggest increase in spending since the end of the cold war, and we are one of the few countries in NATO to contribute more than 2% of our GDP to NATO. We are the party that believes in our armed services. It was only recently that the Labour party was campaigning to put into office a man who wanted to abolish the armed forces.

Oral Answers to Questions

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Wednesday 26th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[Dame Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

What progress her Department has made on bringing forward legislative proposals to ban conversion therapies.

[The Minister for Women and Equalities (Elizabeth Truss)]

We set out in the Queen’s Speech our intention to ban conversion therapy, which is an abhorrent practice. We will consult in September and legislate as soon as possible. We are also putting in place support for victims.

--- Later in debate ---

[Elizabeth Truss]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. That is why we are proud that we are instituting the UK’s first ever international LGBT conference under the theme of “Safe To Be Me”, which is about protecting people from persecution worldwide. The conference will be led by Lord Herbert and will take place in June next year. I look forward to welcoming my hon. Friend to appear at it.

[Dame Diana Johnson [V]]

I am pleased that the consultation will be starting soon. Does the Secretary of State intend for the Cass review to be part of the consultation, and will the consultation address issues of sexual orientation and gender identity?

[Elizabeth Truss]

The consultation will address the issues of gender identity and sexual orientation. The Cass review is taking place separately; that is a matter for the Department of Health, but of course we want to ensure that the under-18s are protected from making irreversible decisions about their own future.

His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Monday 12th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[Dame Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab) [V]]

I am speaking on behalf of my Hull parliamentary neighbours, my hon. Friends the Members for Kingston upon Hull East (Karl Turner) and for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle (Emma Hardy), and for all our constituents, in expressing deep condolences to the Queen and the royal family at this very sad time.

It is right to note that the royal family are, first and foremost, a family grieving their loss. Sadly, they are like so many other families in the United Kingdom who have suffered loss and bereavement this past year and are grieving at this time too. But today we remember a long life so well lived and a man who devoted himself to public service. The Duke of Edinburgh had an active and inquiring mind, a sense of humour, the willingness to speak his mind, and a strong sense of duty to his Queen and country.

It is impossible in a few minutes to do justice to all the causes and interests to which the Duke gave so much for so long, including supporting our armed forces; establishing the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme, in which so many young people in Hull have participated; and pioneering wildlife and nature conservation. Hull is a maritime city, and I know the Duke of Edinburgh had a long association with Hull Trinity House and for some years would attend its Christmas luncheons.

I also remember very well when the Duke last visited the city of Hull, in 2009, with Her Majesty the Queen, but for a moment I want to focus on the fact that, along with Her Majesty the Queen, Prince Philip was a prominent member of what has become known as the greatest generation. He played his part in fighting for our country’s survival, the liberation of Europe from Nazi enslavement and its rebuilding after the war. I have the huge privilege of serving on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and I know that veterans from all over the Commonwealth will mourn the Duke’s passing. For me, some of the most moving footage shown over the weekend was of the Duke marching among the ranks of fellow war veterans, saluting his Queen.

There is a public debate on ideas for remembering the Duke, and whatever is agreed, I hope that it supports British skills and jobs and provides opportunities for our young people, but I have a suggestion too. The first ship on which Prince Philip, then only 18, served as a midshipman was HMS Ramillies. It was one of the historic Royal Navy ships that eventually took part in Operation Overlord, the D-day landings. One of its guns stands outside the Imperial War Museum today. There is a programme for new Royal Navy ships, and it seems fitting to me that, remembering Prince Philip, we should restore the name HMS Ramillies to one of our future ships.

Rest in peace.