Ukraine

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Toby Perkins

Monday 28th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

It is certainly true that the crisis is having an impact on energy costs and food costs in the United Kingdom. The Chancellor announced measures in his spring statement last week to help to address some of those costs, but we have to be clear that the cost of doing nothing is huge. This is about European security and the future of freedom and democracy, and we know that the people of Ukraine are paying an incredibly high cost at the moment.

The other point that I want to make is that this is not just about the western world; there are real issues about global food security. One of the things that we are working on as part of our new international development strategy is making sure that we support people across the world. There will be increased demand for food. There are concerns about food supply. We are working very closely with our allies on how we ameliorate those effects, which if we do not get this right could have not just food security and humanitarian consequences, but global security consequences.

[Mr Toby Perkins (Chesterfield) (Lab)]

The Ukrainian army, with its skill and bravery, is showing that the Russian war machine can be stopped in its tracks. The Secretary of State said that we will learn lessons, one of which surely has to be about the British Army. Over 12 years we have seen a systematic reduction in the size of the British Army and there is a sense that the Government do not really have an idea of what they want the British Army to do. Can we expect a statement from the Government on stopping current plans for further reducing the size of the British Army and instead having a strategic approach which recognises that, alongside the cyber and terrorist threats, we need to be ready to face major state threats? That cannot be done overnight, because a huge amount of skill and experience has already been lost from the British Army. We need that investment and a strategic plan from the Government. Will there be a statement to say that we will get that?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I point out to the hon. Gentleman that Operation Orbital, which was led by the United Kingdom and has trained up 20,000 Ukrainian troops, has been a very important part of the success of the Ukrainian forces in being able to resist. I pay huge tribute to the bravery of the Ukrainian forces. The UK has led on supplying that sort of support and training.

Of course we need a comprehensive offer. That is what we are doing: we are modernising our armed forces under the leadership of the Defence Secretary, but we are also supplying more direct support into the eastern flank of NATO to make sure that we are protecting European security at this vital time.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Toby Perkins

Tuesday 11th September 2018 Commons Chamber

[Toby Perkins (Chesterfield) (Lab)]

T4. Anyone who attended the Unison briefing this morning will know how worried local authority workers are about the impact of austerity on the services that they provide. Can the Chancellor reassure them that they will see in his next Budget a level of money that means we do not see many more authorities facing the catastrophe that Northamptonshire has had and that we have all witnessed this year?

[Elizabeth Truss]

When the Conservatives came into government in 2010, the vast majority of money spent locally was raised centrally, damaging accountability. We have now switched that around, and more money—the vast majority of it—is being raised locally. Of course, we have recently given councils more power to raise council tax, to meet growing demand in areas such as social care and children’s services, and we will continue to look at that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Toby Perkins

Tuesday 7th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Toby Perkins (Chesterfield) (Lab)]

T6. The Government sensibly introduced section 67 of the Serious Crime Act 2015 to allow the police to arrest paedophiles for sending sexual communications to children, rather than waiting until they actually meet. However, the power cannot be used until the commencement order is passed. It is two years since the Act became law. Will the Secretary of State say how much longer the police will have to wait until they can keep our children safe?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I am looking at this to get on with it imminently.

Prisons

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Toby Perkins

Wednesday 25th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend. I am absolutely determined to turn around our prisons. Unless our prisons are places of safety, they cannot be purposeful places where offenders can reform. That is why we have taken immediate action, as my hon. Friend says, to stabilise security in our prisons and to tackle the scourge of drugs, drones and phones. It is why we have secured additional funding of £100 million annually to recruit an extra 2,500 prison officers to strengthen our frontline and invest in wider justice reforms.

[Toby Perkins]

It is good news that there is some additional money and that some more prison officers are coming into the service, but the Secretary of State is right to say that the scale of violence in our prisons is terrible. She and the Government must take responsibility for the lower number of prison officers that we now have. Will she tell the House how many prison officers are currently off work sick as a result of assaults received at work?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I have been clear that we need extra staff on the frontline. A number of issues have resulted in the situation that we now face, including the rise in the numbers of psychoactive substances, drones and phones. I have been clear that we need to address the issue of staffing, and we are determined to do so. We monitor the level of sickness in our prisons specifically to address that issue.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Toby Perkins

Monday 29th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Elizabeth Truss)]

The Government have already committed to a funding condition for students who do not achieve a C at GCSE to continue to study maths until 18 either in or not in employment. I am also concerned about the cohort who achieve a GCSE grade C in maths but who do not want to go on and study A level. We need to make it clear that there are qualifications for them, too.

[Toby Perkins (Chesterfield) (Lab)]

I am interested in the logic of the Secretary of State’s position. If he believes it is right that academies and free schools should be able to take on whoever they like on the strength of the opinion of the head teacher, why is that not right for local authority schools? And if he believes it is right that we make the teachers’ training qualification more difficult, why is it right that academies can opt out of that?