Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jessica Morden and Wendy Morton

Thursday 30th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Jessica Morden (Newport East) (Lab)]

T6.   During recent Transport questions, Ministers agreed to meet me and campaigners for Magor rail station, but, like my hon. Friend the Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant), despite chasing them, we have heard nothing. Please could we have that meeting? It would allow us to urge the UK Government to work with the Welsh Government to deliver financial investment for cross-border rail, which the Burns review, the Union connectivity review and the western gateway partnership deem essential.

[Wendy Morton]

I assure the hon. Lady that my office has been endeavouring to set up that meeting. I will chase them and make sure that it happens.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jessica Morden and Wendy Morton

Thursday 19th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[Jessica Morden (Newport East) (Lab)]

6. What steps he is taking to improve cross-border rail services between south Wales and south-west England.

[The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Wendy Morton)]

We are always looking for ways to boost connectivity between south Wales and south-west England, and have most recently introduced through services between Cardiff and Penzance as part of the December 2021 timetable.

[Jessica Morden]

The Union connectivity review and the Welsh Government’s Burns commission have both highlighted the need for new stations such as Magor on the south Wales main line to improve our cross-border rail services. Will the Minister commit to delivering funding for the long-awaited relief line upgrades, and will she meet me and campaigners to discuss the bid for a new station for Magor?

[Wendy Morton]

On the Union connectivity report, as I am sure the hon. Lady is aware, in response to Sir Peter Hendy’s review which was published last year, we have set aside development funding for projects to improve UK-wide connectivity. We are engaging with the Welsh Government and other stakeholders before issuing a formal response to that review. I am more than happy to meet her.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jessica Morden and Wendy Morton

Wednesday 29th April 2020 Commons Chamber

[Wendy Morton]

Good hygiene is the single most effective action an individual can take to prevent covid-19 transmission; that is absolutely an important point. Water sanitation and hygiene are a key part of DFID’s work and vital in humanitarian crises. DFID funds the provision of safe water and sanitation in disaster areas across the globe. Since 2015, DFID has helped over 51 million poor people in Africa and Asia get access to a drinking water supply or toilet for the first time. But we recognise there is still more to do.

[Jessica Morden (Newport East) (Lab)]

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that nutrition programmes are integrated into the global response to the covid-19 pandemic.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development (Wendy Morton)]

The UK has long been a world leader when it comes to nutrition, which is why I am looking forward to supporting the Nutrition for Growth summit later this year. We are working hard to stop poor diets making people in developing countries more vulnerable to coronavirus, and we will not allow malnutrition to exacerbate the crisis. For example, we are working through UNICEF to get life-saving supplies to treat acute malnutrition in children across the Sahel, Somalia, Nigeria and Yemen.

[Jessica Morden [V]]

As the Minister said, malnourished people are clearly at a greater risk of serious health problems due to coronavirus than healthy people. How is DFID specifically supporting its partners to adapt their nutritional programmes in the light of covid-19 and working to minimise disruption to supply chains so that we do not see a surge in malnutrition cases?

[Wendy Morton]

This is an important point. We know that for every percentage point contraction in global GDP from covid-19 we would expect to see as a result, sadly, up to an additional 4 million stunted children, and acute malnutrition is likely to increase. Between 2015 and March 2019, DFID reached 50.6 million women, adolescent girls and young children with nutrition services in 25 countries, and this includes life-saving treatment for acute malnutrition.