Oral Answers to Questions

Janet Daby Excerpts

Wednesday 20th May 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, I will do both those things, and I thank the hon. Lady for raising her own experience here to highlight the issue. The thoughts of the whole House will be with the family and friends of the young person who died. I thank all the public health specialists working in Reading to ensure that those affected are receiving appropriate treatment. The hon. Lady’s question reminds us that vaccines do save lives, and we must do everything we can in relation to that.

[Janet Daby (Lewisham East) (Lab)]

Q12.  Littering and fly-tipping are a blight on our communities. This is not just an issue for Lewisham, but an issue for towns and cities across our country and, indeed, in rural areas. No one wants to see a dirty mattress, or cans or bottles, left beside roads or against gates. It is awful. I welcome the Government’s strategy and the plans to give councils more powers to manage fly-tipping, but I strongly believe that more needs to be done. Does the Prime Minister agree that it is time for a national conversation about how we manage and deal with littering?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue, because the Government are cracking down on disgraceful waste criminals through, for instance, tougher penalties for fly-tippers—including service in clean-up squads, and the potential loss of their driving licences—more powers and funding for the Environment Agency, and stronger checks across the industry to tackle fly-tipping at its source.

Security Vetting

Janet Daby Excerpts

Monday 20th April 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I say again that Sir Olly Robbins has had a distinguished career, and I have worked with him over a number of years. None the less, he could and should have shared this crucially relevant information with me before Peter Mandelson took up his post, and he should have done at various points after that. It was because of that that I lost confidence in him. That does not mean he has not got a distinguished career; he does have a distinguished career.

[Janet Daby (Lewisham East) (Lab)]

I thank the Prime Minister for his statement. I know he is aware that public confidence in politicians needs to drastically improve to retain the public’s trust. With that in mind, Reform has been accepting donations from millionaires in cryptocurrency, making it difficult to trace who actually funds it. Does the Prime Minister agree that Reform relying on millionaires’ dodgy cryptocurrency is a security risk?

Hatzola Ambulance Attack

Janet Daby Excerpts

Monday 23rd March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dan Jarvis]

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman, who made important points about social cohesion and, more widely, about the importance of activity that takes place in academia and education. I referenced the £7 million that the Government have previously invested, and I know that the Union of Jewish Students attended the meeting with the Prime Minister earlier today.

I would to like to take this opportunity to commend the extraordinary work of the Holocaust Education Trust—an organisation that many hon. Members will know and will have worked closely with. Let me further reflect on the right hon. Gentleman’s important points.

[Janet Daby (Lewisham East) (Lab)]

Alongside many inside the House and outside it, I condemn the attack on the Jewish-run ambulance service in Golders Green. The attack was clearly antisemitic, and it is right that the authorities treat it as such. My constituency is a diverse and inclusive place where many people of all ages and faiths live side by side peacefully. The Minister has spoken about community cohesion, but will he outline what immediate steps are being taken to reassure communities like mine?

[Dan Jarvis]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his important points. Immediate steps are being taken by the Metropolitan police, because it is vital that there is that presence, reassurance and engagement at community level. Having spoken earlier to the assistant commissioner, who I have previously worked with closely, I know how seriously the Metropolitan police are taking this issue, and I know that work is under way as we speak. I can therefore give my hon. Friend the reassurances she seeks, but we can never be complacent about these things. While there is clearly a focus on this activity today, we need to ensure that that continues tomorrow and for as long as is necessary.

Lord Mandelson: Response to Humble Address

Janet Daby Excerpts

Monday 16th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Darren Jones]

Documents owned by the Government that are within the scope of the Humble Address have been published, as I have set out.

[Janet Daby (Lewisham East) (Lab)]

Peter Mandelson’s behaviour was disgraceful, and his continued relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is difficult to comprehend. It is an insult to the victims and survivors of Epstein’s horrific crimes. Clearly, the Government are putting in place standards and tightening their appointments and vetting process, but could the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister tell the House what work Baroness Anderson will undertake in the Cabinet Office and when we can expect a further update on her progress?

[Darren Jones]

I know that Baroness Anderson in the other place will be listening with great intent to my hon. Friend’s question. I was pleased to get the Prime Minister’s support to appoint Baroness Anderson as an additional Minister in the Cabinet Office to take on this additional work, given the seriousness with which we take the need for modernisation and reform. I look forward to the proposals that she will bring forward in due course.

Lord Mandelson: Government Response to Humble Address

Janet Daby Excerpts

Monday 23rd February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Darren Jones]

In relation to investigations and inquiries, the House will know that the criminal investigation being led by the Metropolitan police takes primacy. Neither the House nor the Government would want to interfere inadvertently with that process. The Government agree with the hon. Member that it is important that people are held to account for their actions, and that the victims receive justice.

The hon. Member invites me to comment on some suggested reforms. As I have said to the House before, I am very happy to consider them—particularly the Liberal Democrat proposals on whistleblowing, which either he or his colleagues are to write to me about in due course. As far as I can tell, the ministerial code is working. A very effective independent adviser advises the Prime Minister, and when there is a breach, Ministers are removed from office. I am not entirely sure what value a statutory footing would add, as we have given independence to the ethics adviser, and the code seems to be applied effectively.

[Janet Daby (Lewisham East) (Lab)]

I share the sentiments expressed by many Members, and my thoughts are with the hundreds of survivors—most of them children—of that horrific sexual abuse. The public rightly expect holders of high office to maintain a high standard of conduct, and the Prime Minister rightly called for the removal of peerages from disgraced peers. Will the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister confirm that the Government are providing the police with the support that they need to progress the criminal investigation?

[Darren Jones]

I can confirm that the Government are complying, and will continue to comply, fully with the requests from the Metropolitan police, as well as from Parliament in relation to the Humble Address. My hon. Friend is right to say that it is important that we do so to bring transparency and accountability to these most egregious actions.

China and Japan

Janet Daby Excerpts

Monday 2nd February 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

That issue was raised in both China and Japan, because it is obviously a cause of concern. Regional instability matters not just in the region but globally, so I discussed it in both China and Japan.

[Janet Daby (Lewisham East) (Lab)]

I thank the Prime Minister for his statement, but will he tell the House what steps the Government are taking to protect parliamentarians and others in public life against foreign influence?

[The Prime Minister]

We have taken a number of measures, including the further powers and tools we have given to our security and intelligence services.

Oral Answers to Questions

Janet Daby Excerpts

Wednesday 14th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Here is the difference: I changed my party, and that is why we stand here with a majority Labour Government. The Leader of the Opposition sits there with her party that lost two thirds of its MPs at the last election, and she is losing more every week. They are queuing up to join the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage) and his laundry service for disgraced Tory politicians. Meanwhile, inflation is down, wages are up and waiting lists are down. Labour is turning the corner and changing this country for the better.

[Janet Daby (Lewisham East) (Lab)]

Q4. Mr Speaker, I am sure that you, and I hope others across the Chamber, will agree that we need to recognise and celebrate achievements. I say that because across the country knife crime offences are going down. Of course, more needs to be done, and more should be done, but this week’s figures have shown that London has had its safest year ever under the London Mayor, Sadiq Khan. In fact, the homicide rate in London is at its lowest since records began. Reform and the Conservatives repeatedly talk down our capital city. Will the Prime Minister join me in saying that they are wrong? Will he applaud those achievements?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend draws attention to the important work of the Mayor of London. Nobody should be talking our country down or talking London down. She is right to say that since we came into office the number of knife crime offences is down, but there is more to do. We are introducing new powers to seize knives and increasing the penalty for selling knives to under-18s. [Interruption.] What did the Conservatives—they are chuntering—do? They voted against those provisions. What is obvious about London and Reform is that it has got a candidate for mayor who does not like London, a new ex-Tory recruit who struggled to pay his taxes in this country and a leader who spends more time in France than in his constituency.

Oral Answers to Questions

Janet Daby Excerpts

Wednesday 29th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Our small business plan was widely welcomed by small businesses across the country, not least because of their input into it. The hon. Lady complains about the measures we had to take at the last Budget, including national insurance—[Interruption.] The Conservative Front Benchers are saying that we chose to take them, but they still cannot say whether they would reverse them. They know nothing about the damage they did to our economy.

[Janet Daby (Lewisham East) (Lab)]

I am wearing all black today to demonstrate my sorrow over a fatal stabbing that took place in my constituency yesterday. We all know that one death is one death too many, but I have had two deaths in my constituency in the last few weeks. My community needs reassurance. Knife crime must end. Will the Prime Minister say what more his Government are doing to tackle knife crime?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising these tragic cases, which have a huge impact on families, friends and communities. I know that she is a passionate and dedicated campaigner on this issue. Every single life lost to knife crime devastates communities. That is why we banned zombie knives and ninja swords and are strengthening controls on online knife sales. We are also giving stronger powers to the police in our Crime and Policing Bill, which both the Conservatives and Reform voted against.

Oral Answers to Questions

Janet Daby Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd May 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I commend my right hon. Friend for his commitment to his constituents. I know that he and my right hon. Friend the Member for Witham (Priti Patel) met both the Minister for Health and Secondary Care and the Minister for Social Care recently to discuss this issue. I understand that the ICB has extended its consultation by three weeks to ensure that more consideration can be given and voices can be heard, but I will ensure that the relevant Minister keeps my right hon. Friends updated on the progress of this.

[Janet Daby (Lewisham East) (Lab)]

Q8. My constituent has recently applied to move from her council home because she can no longer walk up the stairs and is in constant pain. She has been waiting for an knee operation for more than two years and has become progressively worse. She feels forgotten and neglected. Does the Prime Minister agree that his Government are failing and that this country is waiting for a Labour Government to bring down NHS waiting lists?

[The Prime Minister]

Of course I am sorry to hear about the experience of the hon. Lady’s constituent. We are putting in more money and rolling out more elective surgical hubs to bring the waiting lists down. She talks about the difference that the Labour party would make to the NHS. Her constituents can just look to Wales to see what is happening when it comes the NHS: a quarter of the Welsh population on a waiting list, the worst emergency care performance in Great Britain, people on long waiting lists five times more than they are in England and, on average, people waiting 40% longer for treatment. That is the reality of Labour and the NHS—failing.

Iran-Israel Update

Janet Daby Excerpts

Monday 15th April 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

That is something that we continually push for. In the meantime, we also focus on building up the technical and administrative capability of the Palestinian Authority, so that they are in a position to provide effective and strong governance for the west bank and Gaza when the moment that that is possible arrives, and we are working very hard to bring that about.

[Janet Daby (Lewisham East) (Lab)]

Yesterday, the United Nations Secretary-General said:

“The Middle East is on the brink. The people of the region are confronting a real danger of a devastating full-scale conflict. Now is the time to defuse and de-escalate”.

Does the Prime Minister agree with the Secretary-General, and if so, what is the Government’s strategy to achieve this, as the Prime Minister works with our international allies?

[The Prime Minister]

Of course we want to avoid further escalation and bloodshed, which would be deeply destabilising for the region and risk more lives. That is a message that all Government Ministers will be taking to their counterparts across the region.