Oral Answers to Questions

Fred Thomas Excerpts

Thursday 25th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Georgia Gould]

As you say, whistleblowing is critical. We have had a discussion today about fraud and about the problems that emerge when we do not have protections in place. We are absolutely committed to supporting whistleblowers, and we are looking into the statistics that you mentioned and what is causing those problems. We will continue to do that, because it is very high on our agenda.

[Fred Thomas (Plymouth Moor View) (Lab)]

20. What recent progress his Department has made on strengthening national resilience.

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Ms Abena Oppong-Asare)]

This Government recognise the importance of long-term, sustainable resilience, which is why the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster will chair a dedicated Cabinet Committee on the subject. In response to the “UK Covid-19 Inquiry: Resilience and preparedness (Module 1)” report, the Government committed themselves to considering all its findings and recommendations, and announced that we would carefully review our strategic approach to improving resilience and preparation across central Government, local authorities, communities such as my hon. Friend’s, and the emergency services.

[Fred Thomas]

I warmly welcome the Minister to her position. I also thank all the key workers in the NHS who have kept us safe during covid. When it comes to national resilience, they are the people we should be thinking of, and I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley (Sonia Kumar) for what she has done in that regard.

Staff at Derriford hospital in Plymouth faced extremely difficult circumstances during the covid crisis, and the covid inquiry has found that this country was not adequately prepared. What steps will the Minister take to ensure that if we have another pandemic in this country, key workers in places such as Plymouth are not put under that stress again?

[Ms Oppong-Asare]

I welcome my hon. Friend to his place, and thank him for his earlier public service in the Royal Marines. I agree with the points that he has raised, and I, too, thank the key workers for all that they did to support and protect us during the pandemic.

The Government will certainly ensure that lessons are learned from the inquiry and the response to the pandemic, and we will take the necessary time to consider the inquiry’s report and assess our resilience in respect of the full range of risks that the United Kingdom faces. Last week the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster announced that he would chair a committee for resilience, which will improve our health sector, increasing public trust in the Government and kick-starting our economic growth, as well as improving resilience across the UK.

NATO and European Political Community Meetings

Fred Thomas Excerpts

Monday 22nd July 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful for that question. This came up in the discussions last Thursday, as would have been expected, with a joint resolve to provide the support and framework needed for peace and security across the entire region. Again, there is a shared intent with our allies to work together on this because it is of such importance. I thank the right hon. Gentleman for raising it.

[Fred Thomas (Plymouth Moor View) (Lab)]

I am one of 12 newly elected Members on this side of the House who have served in the armed forces, and in Plymouth so many of my friends and neighbours have served as well. All of us are deeply concerned by the ongoing illegal invasion and inhumane, increasingly barbaric, tactics Russia is using. Will the Prime Minister agree with me that in an uncertain world one thing we can be sure of is that Ukraine has no firmer friend than the UK?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, I can confirm that and emphasise just how important it is. We had the honour of hosting President Zelensky at Downing Street on Friday, where I was able to make that clear, and again to take the opportunity to say that we are building on the work of the previous Government, not departing from that work. I think the support of the UK in particular to Ukraine has been leading, important and provided at difficult times, which has often led to others moving in accordance with the moves we have made as a country. President Zelensky is grateful for the role we have played in the past and that we continue to play now.