Oral Answers to Questions

Gregory Stafford Excerpts

Wednesday 19th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Gregory Stafford (Farnham and Bordon) (Con)]

As a former NHS employee, I was shocked to hear that the Community Security Trust has found that the number of complaints of antisemitism in the NHS tripled in the 17 months after 7 October 2023. What steps are the Government taking to crack down on antisemitism in the NHS?

[Seema Malhotra]

The hon. Gentleman will agree that antisemitism has no place in our society or in our workplaces. This is an extremely important issue, and he will know that the Home Secretary and the whole Government take it very seriously.

Oral Answers to Questions

Gregory Stafford Excerpts

Thursday 6th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Gregory Stafford (Farnham and Bordon) (Con)]

15. Whether the Cabinet Secretary has issued guidance on ministerial appointments.

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Georgia Gould)]

The Cabinet Secretary may be asked by the Prime Minister to advise on any matter supporting the smooth running of government, including ministerial appointments. There is no written or published guidance on such matters.

[Gregory Stafford]

Since July, three Ministers have had to resign for everything from fraud through to unwise entanglements in foreign affairs. What steps will the Minister take to strengthen the ministerial code so that the public can have confidence in the Ministers that this Prime Minister appoints?

[Georgia Gould]

We have strengthened the ministerial code, but we do not need to take any advice from the Conservatives. What we have seen from this Prime Minister is decisive action to uphold ministerial standards. Compare that with the record of the previous Government where the shadow Foreign Secretary, the right hon. Member for Witham (Priti Patel), was found guilty of bullying but was allowed to keep her post; where the Government whipped their MPs to block the suspension of former Minister Owen Paterson, who broke lobbying rules; and where the former Prime Minister Boris Johnson lied about being told of allegations of sexual misconduct by his Deputy Chief Whip.

Defence and Security

Gregory Stafford Excerpts

Tuesday 25th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for his commitment to international development. He is absolutely right about that, and we will of course work across the House on alternative and innovative ways in which to support development around the world.

[Gregory Stafford (Farnham and Bordon) (Con)]

I welcome the Prime Minister’s announcements wholeheartedly, and encourage him to get to 3% as soon as possible. However, we do not just need a monetary value; we need to know how and where the money will be spent, and that will be done through the strategic defence review, which gives assurance to our allies, deterrence to our enemies and, most important, confidence in our troops. Will the Prime Minister confirm that the SDR will be published in the spring—in a couple of weeks’ time—or will it be delayed until June, as the statement seemed to suggest?

Oral Answers to Questions

Gregory Stafford Excerpts

Wednesday 18th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Hon. Members]

Hear, hear!

[Gregory Stafford (Farnham and Bordon) (Con)]

T3. It is always nice to get a cheer, Mr Speaker.As a former treasurer of the Oxford Union, I was disgusted that three weeks ago a debate descended into a mess of antisemitism, when a majority of the students voted that they would not have reported Hamas’s plans if they had known of them prior to the 7 October attacks. Will the Minister write to the Oxford Union and say that antisemitism has no place in our society, especially not in our universities?

[The Minister for Women and Equalities (Anneliese Dodds)]

The Government could not have been clearer about our position on antisemitism: there is no place for antisemitism in our society, nor for any form of racism. That applies whether it is in educational settings or in any other part of our society, and that has been made very clear indeed.

Reporting Ministerial Gifts and Hospitality

Gregory Stafford Excerpts

Monday 14th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Gregory Stafford (Farnham and Bordon) (Con)]

Does the Minister not agree that this is about not just transparency but hypocrisy? When my constituents, because of Labour’s scrapping of the winter fuel payments, have to choose between heating their homes and clothing themselves, they can see the hypocrisy of the Prime Minister in getting tens of thousands of pounds for clothing and glasses. When they have to decide whether to send their children to an independent school for special educational needs and disabilities because the Labour party is going to add VAT to school fees, while the Prime Minister can rent out a flat costing tens of thousands of pounds for his children, they smell hypocrisy. When will the Prime Minister come and apologise for that and when will he return all of that money?

[Ellie Reeves]

Let me say something about hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is when people in Downing Street, including the former Prime Minister, were partying during lockdown as my constituents and people up and down the country were making the greatest sacrifices, with fathers not being at the birth of their children and people not being able to say goodbye to their loved ones. I will not take lectures on hypocrisy from the Conservatives.