Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Ranil Jayawardena

Tuesday 14th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Jeremy Hunt]

I will not pre-empt what I am going to say next week, but I will say to the hon. Lady that, as a former Health Secretary, I am well aware of the pressures on NHS dentistry and its importance to all our constituents.

[Mr Ranil Jayawardena (North East Hampshire) (Con)]

Given that inheritance tax is the least popular of all taxes at every income decile and that scrapping it would not be inflationary, will my right hon. Friend consider doing so?

[Jeremy Hunt]

That was a very nice try, but my hon. Friend will have to wait for a week.

Sri Lanka

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Ranil Jayawardena

Tuesday 23rd April 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

The right hon. Lady understands this area very well, from her former role as shadow Home Secretary, and is absolutely right. We in this country are lucky to have superb intelligence services and strong intelligence relationships all over the world, which we need to keep each other secure, and I can absolutely give her the assurance that, even though these things happen under the surface, they are a very important part of our counter- terrorism effort.

[Mr Ranil Jayawardena (North East Hampshire) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement.

This is so sad for Sri Lanka. It takes us back to the dark old days of which my right hon. Friend has spoken. Such cold, calculated attacks make us all think about the character and the thought processes of those involved—or, dare I say, the lack of any thought at all. As has already been said, to attack Christians on Easter Sunday was nothing short of barbaric.

I am grateful for my right hon. Friend’s assurance that Britain will never just stand by and has already committed resources to support the Sri Lankan Government, but will he go further, and say that Britain will support not only Sri Lanka but others in tackling this global threat? It appears that ISIS has influenced and integrated into domestic organisations in Sri Lanka without which these organisations would not have been able to cause such devastation.

Will my right hon. Friend also confirm that this event has strengthened his resolve—I know that this is a personal mission of his—to ensure that we tackle the persecution of Christians around the world, which too often goes unreported?

[Mr Hunt]

I am happy to give my hon. Friend a personal commitment that I want to do more on this front, and also to tell him that the United Kingdom is a world leader in countering extremist disinformation online. We have developed particular expertise over the past five years or so, and we share our information widely.

My hon. Friend is right to say how coldly calculated this attack was. To co-ordinate six explosions to take place at virtually the same moment required an enormous degree of planning. Those people knew exactly what they were doing. They spent a long time planning the attacks and finding the recruits to carry them out. We have to think hard about the kind of people who would do such a thing, and I hope that will mean that we redouble our efforts to ensure that it does not happen again.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Ranil Jayawardena

Tuesday 30th October 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I completely share the hon. Gentleman’s concern. As I said to the House at the last oral questions, the issue with the ICC referral is that it has to go through the Security Council, where we think it would be vetoed by Russia or China. We are looking at alternative solutions. We are absolutely clear that there has to be accountability, because without accountability, the Rohingyas will not feel safe to go home.

[Mr Ranil Jayawardena (North East Hampshire) (Con)]

Further to the question asked by my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Sir Hugo Swire), will the Foreign Secretary confirm that Britain’s position will be to back the rule of law as a guiding principle in Sri Lanka and elsewhere?

[Mr Hunt]

I am absolutely happy to confirm that—and, indeed, upholding the constitution in Sri Lanka.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Ranil Jayawardena

Tuesday 20th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

Really, the hon. Gentleman can do better than that. The truth is that the NHS has had its most difficult winter in living memory, which is why last year, in preparation, we invested £1 billion in the social care system; invested £100 million in A&E capital; and gave the flu jab to 1 million more people. He still has not explained why, for every additional pound that we have put in per patient in the NHS in England, the Labour Government in Wales put in only 57p; that is underfunding.

[Mr Ranil Jayawardena (North East Hamp- shire) (Con)]

T5. Although my younger daughter, being at the discerning age of one, is a particularly fussy eater, childhood obesity is becoming one of the most quickly rising and important issues of our time. Does my right hon. Friend recognise that it is something that we really need to tackle, and quickly?