Sue Gray Report

Debate between Karin Smyth and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 25th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I think there is a criticism of the Metropolitan police contained in what the hon. Lady just said, which I do not agree with.

[Karin Smyth (Bristol South) (Lab)]

The problem with the report is that the dates that are outlined so clearly reopen many of our wounds. I am going to ask the Prime Minister the question that the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Aaron Bell) asked earlier but the Prime Minister did not answer: when he met with Sue Gray recently, did he ask her not to publish the report?

[The Prime Minister]

No. What I can tell the hon. Lady is that the report is wholly independent and the judgments contained in it are a matter for Sue Gray. I am grateful to her for what she has done, and her interim report was extremely useful to the Government in making the changes that we have made.

Living with Covid-19

Debate between Karin Smyth and Boris Johnson

Monday 21st February 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, my hon. Friend is absolutely right. We will ensure that those people get not just the antivirals but the tests that they need.

[Karin Smyth (Bristol South) (Lab)]

That is the point on which I would like clarification from the Prime Minister. We learned today that 7 million carers will not get tests, and that money for tests for NHS and care staff will have to be found from within existing budgets, which makes waiting lists even more precarious. Will he confirm that those eligible for antivirals—for which they will have to pay—are those who are over 12, at high risk, and have symptoms or test positive for covid-19? I see the Health Secretary helping him out. Clarification on that would be really helpful.

[The Prime Minister]

If the hon. Lady waits a little longer, she will get a breakdown of how we propose to support the most vulnerable. We will support them, as we have done throughout the pandemic.

Sue Gray Report

Debate between Karin Smyth and Boris Johnson

Monday 31st January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend very much, and I think he is completely right. He might have added that we have the fastest economic growth in the G7, thanks to the steps that this Government have been taking.

[Karin Smyth (Bristol South) (Lab)]

We have established that there were parties, so we are just arguing about who is responsible. As the hon. Member for Thurrock (Jackie Doyle-Price) said, that is a Minister. If it is not the Prime Minister, is it the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, the right hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), who should be facing the sack?

[The Prime Minister]

I remind the hon. Lady of what Sue Gray says in paragraph 12, that no such conclusion can be drawn so far. The hon. Lady must wait for the conclusion of the inquiry.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Karin Smyth and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 24th November 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As my right hon. Friend knows, there are some very interesting and potentially very lucrative sources of minerals such as lithium in this country, whose exploration, discovery and reuse we are encouraging. As for the tax point that he rightly raised, we will ensure that we support freeports as hubs for the processing of those critical minerals here in the UK.

[Karin Smyth (Bristol South) (Lab)]

In 2014, my constituent’s three-year-old son Freddie Hussey was killed by an unsafe trailer. Every year, 30% of people who take the B+E test fail it, and now the Government are abolishing it, thus unleashing thousands of untrained, untested, unsafe drivers on to our roads. Why are the Government breaking their promise to grieving families to make towing and our roads safer?

COP26

Debate between Karin Smyth and Boris Johnson

Monday 15th November 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Member is talking total rubbish. We have doubled—[Interruption.] No, Opposition Members literally do not know what they are talking about. We have doubled climate finance for developing countries. The reason why the vulnerable countries accepted the deal, finally, was because we have got a commitment to $100 billion. Yes, I would have liked it faster, but it is there in black and white. Maybe she has not read it.

[Karin Smyth (Bristol South) (Lab)]

Bristol was the first local authority in the country to declare a climate and ecological emergency. We have set out a city-wide strategy to make Bristol carbon neutral, climate resilient and wildlife rich by 2030—the nuts and bolts, if you like—but Bristol and other cities need investment, and the Government’s funding model currently makes us compete with other cities. The UK Government cannot reach their targets using that funding model, so will they look at it again and help us with the private investment that we need to make a massive contribution to the Government’s own national targets?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank Bristol for what it is doing. We are committed to regional plans for net zero. It should be possible within the funding envelope that Bristol has, but we will certainly look at it.

Health and Social Care

Debate between Karin Smyth and Boris Johnson

Tuesday 7th September 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I can certainly confirm that Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will be getting an increment. There will be a Union dividend in the way that I described, but clearly it is up to those parts of the country to ensure that that money is spent on the people’s priorities, and I believe that the people’s priorities are health and social care.

[Karin Smyth (Bristol South) (Lab)]

As well as the 30,000 beds that the Prime Minister talked about, we know there has been a 36% increase in people dying at home through the pandemic in circumstances that we know not much about. The mental, physical and financial torture and cost born by families is unknown and will shock many of us when we hear from our constituents. He may be flying a kite today, but I do think he is breaching a dam, and that is something that we all need to grasp. Targeted help is not a long-term solution. My right hon. Friend the Member for Exeter (Mr Bradshaw) highlights what that solution could be, but there is some certainty offered today. Can the Prime Minister clarify whether he is going to bring forward a White Paper? Will he bring forward different forms of legislation? How are we going to understand the impact?

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Karin Smyth and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 12th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I totally share my hon. Friend’s disgust at attacks on retail workers and anybody doing their job. It is very important that we work with the retail sector to drive down this type of crime, show zero tolerance for it, and, in the case of serious violence and assault, have appropriate penalties.

[Karin Smyth (Bristol South) (Lab)]

My father-in-law died at the beginning of the pandemic. Our children were not able to go to their grandfather’s funeral. Our grief remains raw. Let me welcome the commitment to the families and a memorial.

May I draw the Prime Minister’s attention to the scope of the inquiry? We know, do we not, that the fracturing of social care, running the NHS at 90% capacity, and the lessons from the 2014 flu pandemic strategy and from Exercise Cygnus all forewarned of much of what has happened? Those of us who have worked in emergency planning were shocked by the initial responses. Can the Prime Minister assure us that the scope of the inquiry will go beyond the 14 months that I think he alluded to in one of his previous statements?

[The Prime Minister]

I am so sorry to hear about the hon. Member’s own loss. I assure her that, of course, I cannot imagine that there will be any chair of the inquiry or any terms of reference that we could devise that would not include looking back at the state of preparedness before covid struck this country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Karin Smyth and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 10th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, I am certainly very happy to discuss that with my hon. Friend, or to make sure she gets access to the relevant ministerial authority. What we are doing, in addition to the £13.3 billion I spoke of, is supporting mental health charities throughout the pandemic, and in particular focusing on the mental health needs of children and young people. That is why I appointed Dr Alex George to be our youth mental health ambassador.

[Karin Smyth (Bristol South) (Lab)]

This Government are failing young people. Before the pandemic, apprenticeship starts were down by 28% for under-19s and £330 million of unspent levy went back to the Treasury, falling short by 81% in creating the promised 100,000 new apprenticeships. This month, I will be holding my fifth apprenticeships and jobs fair in Bristol South. Will the Prime Minister join me in urging all young people to support that fair, and will he apologise to them for failing them so far?

[The Prime Minister]

I think that jobs fairs are an important thing, and I know that colleagues across the House do them, but I also think that the Government can be proud of our record in getting record numbers of young people into employment. We now face a very severe problem caused by the pandemic, which we are addressing not just with the lifetime skills guarantee that I mentioned earlier with but the kickstart funds and the restart funds, with £2 billion going into kickstart alone, to help young people into the jobs that they need.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Karin Smyth and Boris Johnson

Monday 2nd November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for all his excellent suggestions. We are certainly happy to publish all the data. I tried to set out to the House earlier on our plan for the way forward. He is absolutely correct that it relies not just on getting the virus down now, in this four-week period—that is the objective—but on ensuring that we make the maximum possible use of the various scientific developments, not just the vaccine and new therapies but, as he says, improved testing. I can certainly assure him that the military will be closely involved.

[Karin Smyth (Bristol South) (Lab)]

My constituents did everything asked of them. They obeyed the rules, at great personal sacrifice, and now they are being asked to do it again because of the Government’s failure. Trust is absolutely now at rock bottom. The Prime Minister’s two key planks to rebuild that trust are around test and trace and the tier system. First, he needs to sack Baroness Harding. I know she is a friend and I know it is difficult, but test and trace has clearly been a failure. He needs to give that £12 billion resource back to the experts on the ground locally who know how to use it and to support people isolating. Secondly, he is going to return to the tier system; that is all we know about what will happen on 3 December. What is the real plan? If the tier system has worked—Bristol is currently in tier 1—are we to expect Bristolians to return to tier 1 on 3 December?

[The Prime Minister]

First, again NHS Test and Trace—whatever the drawbacks, whatever the frustrations that people legitimately feel—will achieve its target of 500,000 capacity by the end of October. It already has achieved that target, and I think that is a considerable thing to have done. I thank everybody working in NHS Test and Trace for their efforts. As I say, we need people to self-isolate to give the system the effectiveness that it needs.

I can tell the hon. Member that, when we come to 2 December, the tier that areas go into will depend very much on the effectiveness with which we have all followed the instructions that we are giving today, and that is the guidance she should give her constituents.

Covid-19

Debate between Karin Smyth and Boris Johnson

Tuesday 22nd September 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Of course we must do everything we can to ensure that our NHS is not overwhelmed with covid cases. It is when we have a covid crisis—a boom in covid cases—that, as my hon. Friend rightly points out, other needs, including cardiac and cancer cases, are pushed off. That is completely wrong, which is why it is now so vital that we suppress the R—that we drive the rate of infection down—and stop a boom in covid cases, because that is the threat to our NHS and to the provision of all the basic services on which our country relies.

[Karin Smyth (Bristol South) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister’s objective relies on the local public health effort. I thank the local NHS in Bristol, Bristol City Council and Public Health England in the south-west for their remarkable work. The reorganisation of health services always distracts from people’s jobs, destroys morale and wastes money, so will the Prime Minister explain the benefits of abolishing Public Health England in the middle of this crisis? If he cannot, will he commit now to reversing that decision, at least until we have an inquiry?

[The Prime Minister]

It is essential that we have the most powerful possible public health organisation in this country. The Joint Biosecurity Centre now needs to come together with Public Health England to deliver what I believe will be a better service for this country. In fact, the change to which the hon. Lady refers does not happen until next year, but we are getting it under way now.