Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dominic Raab and Gill Furniss

Wednesday 29th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right: this is the largest hospital building programme in a generation, and his constituents are going to benefit very directly. I can tell him that there will be a new integrated emergency care hospital scheme for University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust at the Derriford emergency care hospital. On tech, he is absolutely right: the facilities will be at the cutting edge of modern technology, and that will really help drive up the quality of patient care.

[Gill Furniss (Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough) (Lab)]

Q14.   The victims of black cab rapist John Worboys were able to challenge the police’s failure to investigate his appalling crimes only because of the Human Rights Act. They would not have been able to do so under the Deputy Prime Minister’s new so-called Bill of Rights. Why does he want to stop women like the victims of John Worboys from making sure that police protect them from rape and sexual assault, and getting the justice they deserve?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Lady for the opportunity to say that it was not the result of litigation that addressed the problems with the Worboys case. If she wants to look after victims in such cases, the Labour party should join us in supporting not just the Bill of Rights but our parole reforms, which will make sure that dangerous offenders are not released and that we protect the public.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dominic Raab and Gill Furniss

Tuesday 8th February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

I thank my hon. Friend for his support. He is right that across a whole suite of issues, including illegal migration, the proposals for a Bill of Rights with common-sense, sensible reforms will help us to address the problems. Once the consultation results come back, we will want to listen very carefully and proceed to legislation in the next Session.

[Gill Furniss (Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough) (Lab)]

T8.   When my constituent Neil was 27, they discovered that they were the product of rape. Although they had been adopted as a baby by a loving and supportive family, this left them feeling hollow, cut adrift, scared and alone. Thanks to Share Psychotherapy, a fantastic charity based in Sheffield, Neil got the support that they needed, but so many like them do not have such services available. Will the Secretary of State commit to recognising in law those conceived from rape as victims?

[Dominic Raab]

May I thank the hon. Lady and express my solidarity in the awful and harrowing case that she refers to? If she writes to me, I will be happy to look at her specific proposal.

The overall level of funding for victims this year is three times the level in 2010. Through the victims Bill consultation, we are ensuring that victims are at the very heart of the criminal justice system. Our local as well as national justice scorecards will help to monitor where there is best practice within the justice system and where we are falling short, right across the country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dominic Raab and Gill Furniss

Tuesday 13th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

That is a good example for all the other challenges we have; it is an area where we must work with China if we are going to shift the dial on climate change. China is the largest emitter, but also the largest investor in renewables. My right hon. Friend will have seen the welcome recent commitment by China to be carbon neutral by 2060. In that and other areas—including, for example, the recent UN General Assembly leaders’ pledge for nature on biodiversity, co-led by the UK—we want to work with China. We will not persuade others to step up to the plate unless we can shift the dial with China.

[Gill Furniss (Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough) (Lab)]

  Last month, the remote village of Washah in northern Yemen was hit by an airstrike carried out by the Saudi-led coalition, killing three women and six children. This is yet another breach of international human rights laws in that area. When will the Government step up to their international responsibilities and properly hold Saudi Arabia to account for its actions in Yemen, done in the name of the UK-supported coalition?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dominic Raab and Gill Furniss

Wednesday 2nd October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend for his time at the Foreign Office; he was a very effective Minister, and he continues to make the case from the Back Benches. We are concerned about the situation in North Korea and we regularly raise it with our international partners. There has been a series of missile tests by Pyongyang, which are deeply troubling. We continue to make it clear that it must show restraint and adhere to its legal commitments. Of course, there is some bluff and bluster in the lead-up to the talks with the US. We would like to see a de-escalation of tensions and a route to denuclearising North Korea.

[Gill Furniss (Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough) (Lab)]

Q10. This week I heard from my constituents Phil and Rachel Turner, whose five- year-old daughter Eliza has cystic fibrosis. They are planning to move to Scotland so she can receive the life-changing drug Orkambi on the NHS. Does the First Secretary of State agree that it is a tragedy that families should have to uproot their lives in that way? Can he confirm that funding will be found for children affected by this terrible disease so they can take up the treatment without delay? Furthermore, may I suggest that the Government should support Labour’s plan to set up a publicly owned generic drugs manufacturer that would supply medicines to the NHS at affordable rates?

[Dominic Raab]

I feel for any family and any children in the situation that the hon. Lady highlights. We are frustrated, as is everyone, that agreement has not yet been reached that would provide access to Orkambi. We have a system, with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and NHS England, where it is for clinicians, not politicians, to determine the fair price for medicines. I say gently that I think the proposals put forward by the Labour party would put that at risk, because they would repel investment and innovation. That is not the right way to get medicines to the people who need them.