Oral Answers to Questions

Emma Hardy Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd May 2024 Commons Chamber

[Julia Lopez]

My hon. Friend has probably been one of the strongest and toughest broadband champions in this House. I think of her and my hon. Friend the Member for Banff and Buchan (David Duguid) always when I have meetings with Building Digital UK. Let me reassure her that we are making very good progress on type C. We have named a preferred supplier for that contract and we hope to have a lot more news on that soon, which will be of interest to people across the country, particularly those in her constituency.

[Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab)]

Hull already has high superfast broadband, and although we welcome competition, we do not welcome broadband poles being put up all across the constituency. What can the Minister do to force companies to share their infrastructure and stop the blight of ever-increasing numbers of poles appearing up and down our streets?

[Julia Lopez]

I have met the hon. Lady about this issue, and I have made representations to KCOM and Connexin, the companies involved in her neck of the woods. I believe that productive talks are under way between them, overseen by Ofcom. We hope that a lot more progress will be made, and that network roll-outs will be paused when there seems to be overbuild.

Oral Answers to Questions

Emma Hardy Excerpts

Wednesday 17th April 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Sadiq Khan is failing London. While burglary is down across England, it is up in London. Violent crime is down across England, but up in London. The Labour Mayor is the only one of 43 police and crime commissioners to have missed his police recruitment target. Londoners will have the chance to speak when they cast their votes on 2 May. I hope that they kick him out because we all know they will be safer with Susan Hall.

[Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab)]

My local community is reeling from the discovery of 35 bodies and unidentifiable cremated ashes at a local funeral home. The pain was made worse when people realised that the funeral plans they had used their life savings for were fake. Does the Prime Minister agree that in these unique and limited circumstances banks should offer discretion when deciding if chargeback applies to payment refunds?

[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.

Iran-Israel Update

Emma Hardy Excerpts

Monday 15th April 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I refer the hon. Lady to any of my previous answers on both those topics.

[Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab)]

In response to my hon. Friend the Member for Feltham and Heston (Seema Malhotra), the Prime Minister said that he would take the time to set the right future approach to UNRWA. As the famine continues, I wonder how much time the Prime Minister needs before he makes up his mind to restore funding and get aid to the people who need it.

[The Prime Minister]

What the hon. Lady failed to mention was the shocking allegations of people involved in UNRWA also being involved in the massacre on 7 October. It is right that those allegations are properly investigated and new procedures are put in place to ensure that that could never happen again. The final reports, which have been commissioned, are due at the end of April. We are already in dialogue with our partners; once we review those reports, we will set out our future approach, but that is not to say that we are not already doing an enormous amount to bring more aid into the region. We have tripled our commitment, and right now are delivering aid by land, sea and air. We are taking a leading role, and everyone in this House should be incredibly proud of what the UK is bringing to the table.

Action Against Houthi Maritime Attacks

Emma Hardy Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd January 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The position of this Government is the same as that of previous Governments and is long-standing: we will recognise a Palestinian state at a time that best serves the peace process.

[Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab)]

There are 21 million people starving and in desperate need of food and aid in Yemen. How will the Prime Minister ensure that the military action taken by the British Government does not impede that desperately needed humanitarian support?

[The Prime Minister]

I refer the hon. Lady to my previous answer. In fact, the Houthis’ disruption of Red sea shipping is harming the Yemeni people, who are relying on those corridors to bring aid in. As I said, we are the fourth or fifth largest donor to the UN appeal this year, we have contributed £1 billion since the conflict began in 2014, and we are currently helping to feed 100,000 people in Yemen every month.

Defending the UK and Allies

Emma Hardy Excerpts

Monday 15th January 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As I have pointed out, 14 countries signed a statement earlier this year calling on the Houthis to desist from what they were doing and saying that there would be consequences, and we have had a UN Security Council resolution condemning Houthi activity and noting the right of states to act in self-defence. That is what we did: we acted in a proportionate and necessary way following the direct threat to UK vessels and therefore to the UK itself.

[Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab)]

Many people are deeply worried about the escalation of hostilities and the growing instability across the region. There must be an accelerated determination to bring about an urgently needed ceasefire in Gaza and hostage release. If the bombing does not deter the awful actions of the Houthi rebels, what is the Prime Minister’s plan B?

[The Prime Minister]

As I have said, in all cases there is a risk of inaction in the face of attacks on civilian lives and British interests, and it would have been wrong to do nothing. There has been extensive diplomatic activity and this military action was limited, proportionate, necessary and in self-defence. I believe that that was the right course of action, and to do nothing would have been wrong.

Oral Answers to Questions

Emma Hardy Excerpts

Wednesday 25th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Kemi Badenoch]

I would ask the hon. Lady to read the women’s health strategy, in which she will see that the menopause is a priority area. The Select Committee has made recommendations, which we have considered carefully, but there is no point in the Government having a strategy if they are simply going to accept recommendations from elsewhere that do not conform to it. The best thing for her to do would be to work with the Government and look at the good work we are doing on tackling issues around the menopause.

[Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab)]

2. If she will hold discussions with her Cabinet colleagues on NHS waiting lists for gynaecological care.

[The Minister for Women (Maria Caulfield)]

Tackling NHS waiting lists, including for gynaecology, is a priority for the Government, which is why we are spending £8 billion on clearing our backlog. For gynae procedures specifically, we have opened 90 surgical hubs, 90 community diagnostic centres and women’s health hubs, which will all help to tackle gynaecology backlogs.

[Emma Hardy]

Some vaginal mesh-injured women have been left waiting four years for mesh removal, and I have already highlighted women’s concerns that the surgeons they go to for mesh removal are trained only in implanting the mesh and not in removing it. These women fear that, once again, they are being used as test subjects. When will mesh-injured women get the redress that was recommended in Baroness Cumberlege’s review, “First Do No Harm”?

[Maria Caulfield]

I thank the hon. Lady for her work in this space. I recognise that while we have set up nine specialist mesh centres to tackle mesh removal and seen a number of women come forward and receive their surgery, there are still a number on the waiting list. I am meeting some of the campaigners on mesh removal next week. We were at the Health and Social Care Committee hearing just a few weeks ago, and I heard some of their concerns then. I recognise that there is still progress to be made in this space.

Oral Answers to Questions

Emma Hardy Excerpts

Wednesday 26th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Katherine Fletcher]

My hon. Friend is a fantastic champion for motorsport, and, as he knows, I am more than a little bit of a petrolhead myself. I approach motorsport with an enormous amount of enthusiasm and almost no talent, which is probably the problem. I also add my congratulations to Jamie Chadwick. I did watch the championships and she did a phenomenal drive. It is disappointing that the season was cut short, and we want women’s sports to thrive. The Government are unable to intervene directly, but the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is working with the wider support sector on the commerciality of women’s sport and how it can be promoted.

[Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab)]

One way to encourage more women into motorsport and, indeed, into every job and every industry is to make workplaces endometriosis-friendly. One in 10 women have endometriosis, and it has a huge impact on the workplace. What encouragement can the Minister give to companies to adopt the Endometriosis UK strategy to make all workplaces endometriosis-friendly?

[Katherine Fletcher]

I could not agree more with the hon. Lady. Women’s health issues are coming to the fore in the workplace. Although I do not have the level of detail to commit exact policy, I will get the Department of Health and Social Care to write to her about the matter.

Tributes to Her Late Majesty The Queen

Emma Hardy Excerpts

Friday 9th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab)]

It is an honour to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth on my behalf and that of the constituents of Hull West and Hessle. It is with deep sadness that I make my contribution, because I could see how loved the Queen was in Hull West and Hessle, particularly on the day of the jubilee celebrations, when everyone was out celebrating the reign of the Queen, from our very youngest people—babies in prams and their mums, enjoying themselves—right the way up to our older residents.

On the way down on the train today, I spoke to my mum, who said that she was feeling really unsettled and had been a bit upset. My mum never met the Queen—to be honest, neither did I—but the fact that she was feeling unsettled by the Queen’s death illustrates what a constant she has been in each and all of our lives, and how she has been relied on. My mum said, “Emma, I was one and a half when the Queen came in. It’s all I’ve ever known.” Through everything that my mum has lived through, there has always been the Queen. My mum said, “I almost felt that she’d always be there.” We know now, of course, that no one can always be there.

The Queen’s passing has touched us all in Hull West and Hessle, across the United Kingdom, in the Commonwealth and—I am pleased to see—internationally as well. I truly believe that having the Queen as our Head of State has enhanced our reputation as a country. Just look at those front covers around world; look at the tributes coming in from world leaders. What other world leader would have the number of tributes and the real adoration that our Queen has had? We could rely on her. We knew that if we sent the Queen to meet dignitaries around the world, it was going to go well and would make our country look good, and that gives a sense of real pride. That came from her and what she did.

She was our Queen but, as many others have said, she was also the royal family’s mum, their grandma and their great-grandma. God bless the Queen as she is reunited with her beloved husband, and God bless King Charles III.

Referral of Prime Minister to Committee of Privileges

Emma Hardy Excerpts

Thursday 21st April 2022 Commons Chamber

[Ian Blackford]

We have had the usual deflection from the Prime Minister over the past few days. To see the Archbishop of Canterbury, the leader of the established Church of their nation, being traduced in the way he was by the Prime Minister, my goodness. How utterly shameful.

[Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab)]

I wonder whether it is worth pointing out to the House that, before we can have Christian forgiveness, we must first have confession and contrition, neither of which we have seen from the Prime Minister.

[Ian Blackford]

How we get confession from a Prime Minister who denies everything, I just do not know.

Mr Speaker, I know you will understand that I cannot let this moment pass without a special word for the spineless Scottish Tories. In fairness, the Scottish Tory leader is probably the only person in the Conservative party who finds himself in a deeper hole than the Prime Minister. In fact, he is so far down a political hole that he obviously found it impossible to dig his way out and make it down to London to vote his boss out tonight. I understand that plenty of people back home are looking forward to the Scottish Tories being given a straight red in the council elections in a few weeks. [Interruption.] There we go again. I hope people in Scotland are watching, because what we see is the Conservatives trying to shout down parliamentarians in this House. That is what is happening.

For most people, it is very understandable—[Interruption.] There is Scotland’s answer from the Tories: “Let’s shout Scotland down.” That is what they are doing this afternoon. [Interruption.]

Ukraine

Emma Hardy Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd February 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I know that my hon. Friend shares my concern about beneficial ownership of properties in London, which we will now be exposing. I am grateful for her support for that. When it comes to children, maybe I am not quite there. The sins of the fathers—or indeed the mothers—should not be visited on their children, in my view.

[Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab)]

There is increasing nervousness about the risk of cyber-attacks from hostile states, particularly on our vital public services. Can the Prime Minister outline any additional protections the Government will put in place to ensure that our public services do not fall victim to Russian aggression?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady is completely right. One of the things that this House will have to consider in the weeks ahead, as we continue to lead the world in our support for Ukraine, is the blowback for this country. We must be absolutely frank that there will be cyber-attacks. We must understand that and be prepared for it, which is why we are investing massively in cyber-preparedness, with another £2.6 billion to help fortify our defences. As the House knows, there are many vulnerable parts of our system, and we must protect them.