Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Kevin Brennan

Tuesday 26th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

We think that that £200 million will mean that 3.7 million people get access to food they would not have otherwise had and 2 million get access to sanitation and fresh water. This will make a significant difference, but the most important thing of all would be to stop the fighting in Hodeidah to allow the Red sea mills to be opened up and food to be transported to the capital, Sana’a.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

My constituent Luke Symons has been held for some considerable time as a captive in Sana’a, and his family feel that the Foreign Office is not doing enough. Will the Minister undertake to give priority to this case, so that Luke can get out of Yemen with his family and back to the UK?

[Mr Hunt]

We continue to have contact with Luke’s family. This is a very distressing case. We are not able to offer consular assistance in Yemen. We appreciate that he was in Yemen before the conflict broke out and we will continue to exert every effort we can to try to find a way to get him home.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Kevin Brennan

Tuesday 22nd January 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

This House has shown recently its high ability to have votes on anything and everything it wishes to, so I am sure that there are plenty of opportunities to have votes on that. However, to answer directly in response to the point that the hon. Lady is making, breaking off support for the Saudi-Emirati coalition would reduce our influence with those two countries. At the moment, the ceasefire is broadly holding because those two countries are playing ball, and we would not want to change that.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

I thank the Foreign Secretary for what he said before Christmas about my constituent Jackie Morgan’s daughter, Safia, who was kidnapped from Cardiff and taken to Yemen in the ’80s. I am glad to report to the House that she, her family and her husband, who are now in Cairo, have been granted the visas to travel to the UK, I hope tomorrow. Will the Foreign Secretary pass on my thanks to the Minister for the Middle East for the efforts that he has made to help in this case?

[Mr Hunt]

I am happy to do that. I thank my right hon. Friend the Minister and all the Foreign Office staff involved in that work.

Yemen

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Kevin Brennan

Wednesday 19th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

The Foreign Secretary said—I am sure, with sincerity—that, “behind these stark, impersonal numbers lie real people”. He will know, because I have raised this matter in correspondence, in meetings with Ministers and on the Floor of this House, about the case of my constituent Jackie Morgan’s daughter, Safia, who was kidnapped from Cardiff in 1986, brought up in Yemen and has children who are also British citizens. She wants to leave Yemen and travel back to the UK, but she needs to get a British passport. She now apparently has the funds to travel to Cairo to apply for that passport. Will the Foreign Secretary please make sure that his officials and Ministers work with the Home Office to give special attention to this case? These are British citizens and they deserve special attention, given the tragic history of the case.

[Mr Hunt]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for championing this very sad case; we know about it extremely well, thanks to the representations that he has made. We are in contact with the Home Office about this matter. Until now, our difficulty has been that we have not had consular representation in Yemen. Obviously, that is something that we hope will change, but we will do everything we can to support his constituent and their family in the way that he wants.

Yemen

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Kevin Brennan

Wednesday 21st November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

The Minister of State is aware of two of my constituency cases: one involving a constituent who is being held in Sana’a; and another involving the daughters of Jackie Morgan, who were kidnapped from Cardiff in 1986 by their father and have been in Yemen ever since. Jackie Morgan’s daughter Safia is a British citizen, as are the grandchildren. Both families feel that the Government have not been doing enough up until now to help them with their cases. I commend the Minister of State for the efforts he has made, but will the Foreign Secretary personally look at these cases, now that there may be a window to do more, to see if he can do more, with his Minister of State, to help these families?

[Mr Hunt]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for championing his constituents’ cases. I want to reassure him that the lack of progress we have been able to make is not through a lack of effort or desire on the part of the FCO; it is simply a function of the fact that we cannot get consular staff into Yemen. Our ambassador is based in Riyadh. I met him when I was there last week. As soon as we are able to offer more assistance, we will.

Ebola

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Kevin Brennan

Monday 13th October 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right to say that we have fantastic research on the spread of infectious diseases at a number of institutions in this country, including in Liverpool, and we are not only using that research in the battle that we are leading in Sierra Leone, but making it available to partner countries leading the battle in other parts of west Africa. The advice that I get from my experts, from Public Health England and from the chief medical officer takes full account of the research done in places such as Liverpool.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

In his statement, the Secretary of State said that the screening measures would reach 89% of passengers from the three affected countries; it is therefore hoped that one in 10 will self-identify. Will he tell the House the numbers that the estimate is based on, not just the percentage, so that we have an idea of how many people will be involved in these screening measures?

[Mr Hunt]

For the month that we looked at, September, we are talking about around 1,000 people arriving from the directly affected countries, which is about 0.03% of all Heathrow travellers for that month. It is important to say that the vast majority of those will be low-risk passengers, but those are the people with whom, initially, we would want to have a conversation, so that we could understand whether they had been in contact with Ebola patients or had been in the areas particularly affected by Ebola, and so that we could decide whether we needed to put in place tracking procedures to allow us to contact them quickly, should they develop symptoms.

Urgent and Emergency Care Review

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Kevin Brennan

Tuesday 12th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

Because it is going to save the lives of the hon. Gentleman’s constituents; it will mean that 800 more people are employed in out-of-hospital care; it will mean three brand-new hospitals for the benefit of his constituents; it will mean seven-day working; and it will mean seven-day opening of GP surgeries. That is why.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

On reflection, does the Secretary of State regret the fact that he described people who felt ill enough to have to go to A and E on a number of occasions as “frequent flyers”? And would he like to apologise?

[Mr Hunt]

I am sorry, that is a completely ridiculous thing to say. I was using the phrase to talk about people who have to go back to the NHS time and again. The whole purpose of the reforms is to make sure that we give a better service to people who regularly use the NHS, and he should understand perfectly well what I was talking about.

Immigrants (NHS Treatment)

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Kevin Brennan

Monday 25th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

In answer to the hon. Member for Rossendale and Darwen (Jake Berry), the Secretary of State said that when someone does not have the funds, treatment will not be refused if it is a life-and-death situation. For clarity, will he will us what the threshold will be? For example, if someone has a broken leg, or if someone needs another treatment that requires hospital admission, and they do not have the funds, will treatment be refused under his scheme?

[Mr Hunt]

The hon. Gentleman will be relieved to know that that will be a matter for clinicians, not politicians.

NHS Commissioning Board (Mandate)

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Kevin Brennan

Tuesday 13th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

The mandate sets some very high ambitions in challenging times, but those ambitions can help to reduce costs and make the NHS more sustainable. Embracing the technology revolution should mean that we give people better care, as should allowing clinicians more time to spend with patients and allowing nurses to spend more time with the people they are responsible for, but those things should also save the system money. There is not an either/or, but I accept the hon. Gentleman’s point that this is very ambitious.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

Does the Secretary of State’s commitment to parity of esteem for mental health services include a promise that under his watch spending on mental health services will not decline in proportion to spending on physical health services?

[Mr Hunt]

The hon. Gentleman will understand that the purpose of such a mandate is not to set specific financial objectives but to set outcomes for patients, and then to let local professionals on the ground—doctors and nurses—decide how best to deliver them. The mandate is clear, however, that we want parity of esteem for mental health and to improve equality of access, which at the moment is much better for physical health than for mental health.

Leveson Inquiry

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Kevin Brennan

Wednesday 25th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I can confirm that the permanent secretary was closely involved in this very important decision at every stage of the process. In particular, he gave me strong advice about how to ensure that the process was handled objectively and fairly and was seen to be handled objectively and fairly.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

May I remind the Secretary of State that on 20 January 2011 I, as a former Minister with responsibility for competition policy, advised him in this House to hand over the decision to somebody else because of his own previous role with BSkyB and the Murdochs? Are not the facts that he did not do that then and that he used Adam Smith as his invisible hand two monumental errors of judgment?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Kevin Brennan

Thursday 3rd March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I have great pleasure in wishing my hon. Friend and her constituents a happy St Piran’s day. I was in South East Cornwall on holiday the weekend before last, and the highlight of that weekend was an absolutely delicious Cornish pasty.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

Is the real reason the Secretary of State is not delivering the statement on BSkyB until the unusually late hour of 3 o’clock that Rupert Murdoch has not written it yet?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Kevin Brennan

Thursday 20th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

14. When he expects to reach a decision on whether to refer to the Competition Commission the News Corporation bid for BSkyB.

[The Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (Mr Jeremy Hunt)]

I will take as much time as necessary to come to a considered decision on this very important issue.

[Kevin Brennan]

As a former Minister with responsibility for competition in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, I know that the Secretary of State will want seriously to consider the evidence and not to prejudge what should be done in this case—unlike his predecessor. However, does he agree that given his own very high-profile comments about Rupert Murdoch and BSkyB, it might be sensible in this case, in which justice needs to be seen to be done as well as to be done, for him to hand over the decision to someone who will be seen to be more impartial, if not actually more impartial?

[Mr Hunt]

This is not a decision about Rupert Murdoch or his business; it is a decision about whether a specific transaction will affect plurality. I am approaching that decision with total impartiality and following strict due process.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Kevin Brennan

Monday 26th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

8. What his plans are for the future level of the television licence fee; and if he will make a statement.

[The Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (Mr Jeremy Hunt)]

We have had absolutely no discussions with the BBC about the level of the licence fee under the next settlement.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend will know that we are committed to a strong BBC that focuses on producing great TV and high-quality news. He is absolutely right. There has been a trickle of stories about BBC pay and expenses, particularly BBC management pay; lots of people at the BBC do not have high salaries. The BBC must look at what happened to Parliament when we lost the trust of the public because we did not handle our own expenses correctly, and it must be careful not to make the same mistakes.

[Kevin Brennan]

Licence fee payers will have found last night’s broadcast of “Sherlock”, produced by BBC Wales and written by the excellent Steven Moffat, first class and great value for money. Earlier, the Secretary of State took pains to name the chairman of the BBC Trust and his former political affiliations, along with the chairman of Ofcom. By doing that, was he trying to call into question their impartiality in the work that they do, and if not, why did he bother to say it?

[Mr Hunt]

I, too, watched “Sherlock” last night and thought that Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch did a brilliant job. It was a very good example of the BBC at its best, investing in new programming.

I am not in any way calling into question the impartiality of the two gentlemen I mentioned earlier, but the Opposition should not preach lessons on impartiality when they were so careful to put people of their own political affiliation in charge of so many Government quangos.