Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Janet Daby and Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday 19th December 2023 Commons Chamber

[Janet Daby (Lewisham East) (Lab)]

T5.   Mr Speaker, I wish you, your staff and everyone across the House a very happy Christmas. It has been reported that the Prime Minister instructed a £40 million VIP helicopter service that had been earmarked for closure to continue to provide him with flights. Will the Treasury publish a cost-benefit analysis of that decision for taxpayers to see?

[Jeremy Hunt]

I do not know the details of the issue raised by the hon. Lady, but I assure her that the Treasury is ferocious in its determination to ensure that every penny of the public’s money is spent wisely.

Autumn Statement

Debate between Janet Daby and Jeremy Hunt

Thursday 17th November 2022 Commons Chamber

[Jeremy Hunt]

It feels as though the hon. Lady might have written that question before she heard the statement and not changed it. We talked about a £4.7 billion increase in the social care budget, which is targeted at ending the bed-blocking that the paramedics she talked to were so worried about. That is the biggest increase in social care funding in history. As I said, sadly, we were not able to do that when we were in coalition with her party.

[Janet Daby (Lewisham East) (Lab)]

Does the Chancellor not have a responsibility to set out all major tax cuts? He seems to have slipped out a tax cut for the banks. Will he confirm that he is cutting the bank surcharge from 8% to 3%?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Janet Daby and Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday 25th June 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

That is a very interesting suggestion, and I defer to my right hon. Friend’s great knowledge on these topics. I would like to wait for the Bishop of Truro’s recommendations, which we are expecting next month, before I consider that idea in the round, but it is certainly worthy of consideration.

[Janet Daby (Lewisham East) (Lab)]

I was incredibly moved to meet Richard Ratcliffe last week. A similar question has been asked today, but I do not feel that it was answered as well as it could have been. His wife is enduring an unjust incarceration in Iran, and I would like to know what the Government are doing specifically to provide us with an update on the steps they are taking to bring her home.

[Mr Hunt]

We have left no stone unturned. I went to Teheran on 19 November, and I have given Nazanin diplomatic protection. I have changed the travel advice to try to prevent this from happening to other dual nationals, and my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Middle East raised the matter in Teheran at the end of last week. We are doing absolutely everything we can, because this is an appalling injustice.

Counter-Daesh Update

Debate between Janet Daby and Jeremy Hunt

Monday 11th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. We are helping to train the Peshmerga at the moment. My right hon. Friend the Minister for the Middle East and North Africa was in Baghdad and Erbil just two weeks ago, and he met President Salih and Prime Minister Mahdi to talk about that important reconciliation and inclusion of the Kurds in the reconciliation process.

[Janet Daby (Lewisham East) (Lab)]

Due to this conflict, approximately 5.5 million Syrian people have become refugees and undergone experiences that are very difficult for us to imagine. Half of those people are children. In the borough of Lewisham, we have made a commitment to be a sanctuary borough for Syrian refugees. How many refugees have we received in the UK, and what is our target?

[Mr Hunt]

I believe that over 14,000 Syrian refugees have come to the UK. We should also pay tribute to neighbouring countries such as Iraq, which has 250,000 Syrian refugees. That is an important reason why we as a country must have a humane policy when it comes to asylum seekers.