Oral Answers to Questions

Jake Berry Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd July 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

If the right hon. Gentleman cannot do better than that, even on the NHS, he really is in trouble. Under this Government, millions more patients have been treated. There is a cancer drugs fund for the first time ever. Our health service is ranked officially the best in the world. We know what he would do, because we have heard from the director of policy, who said that no interesting ideas will emerge from Labour’s policy review—that is official—and his guru, Lord Glasman, has come out and said that he has “no vision.” Yesterday he misquoted statistics and got them completely wrong, and the managing director of the factory he was speaking in said that Labour’s policy would be a “bureaucratic nightmare”. I say to the people looking glum behind him, cheer up, folks—it’s only Wednesday.

[Jake Berry (Rossendale and Darwen) (Con)]

It is good to be back, Mr Speaker.

Cherylee Shennan, a 40-year-old mother, was murdered in Rossendale on 17 March by Paul O’Hara, who was out on licence after having murdered his former partner in 1998. The introduction of Clare’s law or the right to know whether one’s partner has a history of violence—Cherylee did know of her partner’s history of violence—must be backed up by support from the police and the probation service, so that people in such situations know of the dangers that they face and so that we do not see another tragedy like the death of Cherylee.

[The Prime Minister]

It is good to see my hon. Friend back in his place. He makes an important point. The introduction of Clare’s law has made a difference because it gives people the right to any information about the potential dangers from a partner. I am pleased that that has been rolled out across the country. He is absolutely right that we need to do more with the police, the probation service and the Prison Service to ensure that more warnings are given in more cases.