Israel and Gaza

Debate between Kate Osamor and Rishi Sunak

Monday 16th October 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I agree with my hon. Friend. I absolutely endorse those who, in describing these attacks, call them what they are: attacks of terror by a terrorist organisation. My hon. Friend will know that the BBC is editorially and operationally independent of the Government, but the Culture Secretary has raised this issue directly with the director general and we wait to see.

[Kate Osamor (Edmonton) (Lab/Co-op)]

My thoughts go out to everyone affected by the terrible violence in Israel and Palestine. I thank the Prime Minister for his announcement of additional funding for humanitarian aid. I press upon him the need to integrate a framework of atrocity prevention into the UK’s strategy, to ensure that UK officials are able to properly centre its treaty and ethical obligations throughout its response to the crisis, and to resource UK country teams and relevant officials with urgent atrocity prevention and response training, expertise, guidance and leadership.

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Lady for her question. The existing support that we provide to the region ensures the stability of the Palestinian Authority, for example, and helps to build capability there. We will work with partners to make sure that the new money we announced today can be used in the most effective and quickest way possible.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kate Osamor and Rishi Sunak

Tuesday 7th December 2021 Commons Chamber

[Rishi Sunak]

Income inequality on the last published statistics is lower than it was in 2010. There are also fewer people living in absolute poverty. With regard to national insurance, we took a decision to fund the NHS in a progressive manner to clear the backlog and usher in reforms to the social care system that will benefit everyone in this country. As for banks, I am not sure whether the hon. Lady has seen that the rate of corporation tax that banks will pay is going up from 27% to 28% while the rest of the UK corporate base will pay 25%. It is right that the banks pay a fair contribution to our coffers, but we should also recognise that financial services is a fantastic UK asset that employs 1 million people, two thirds of whom are outside of London and the south-east.

[Kate Osamor]

Although discussions about regional inequality between the north and south in the UK are important, this must not be reduced to a simple and misleading binary. My area of Edmonton, north London, has an unemployment rate of 9.7%, almost double the national average. Will the Chancellor assure the House that he will provide the investment that London needs, starting by providing the funding that Transport for London requires to maintain its services, particularly the bus services, on which lower-income Londoners are disproportionately reliant and which face 20% reductions without support?

[Rishi Sunak]

If Londoners are worrying about the state of their transport system and who is responsible for it, I think we all know, and those problems were there before coronavirus. What we are responsible for is making sure that people have access to high-quality work, and I reassure the hon. Lady that we are investing in our plan for jobs right across the country. I have visited jobcentres in London. We are helping to get people into work and helping them to get the skills they need. I hope that I can work with her local area to bring that unemployment rate down.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kate Osamor and Rishi Sunak

Tuesday 7th July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Rishi Sunak]

I know that my hon. Friend is a proud champion of his local theatre, the Lyceum in Crewe, and that he has warmly welcomed our announcement. The Culture Secretary and his team will be here just after Question Time. We share his ambition to ensure that the support reaches all relevant institutions as quickly as is prudently possible.

[Kate Osamor (Edmonton) (Lab/Co-op) [V]]

Credit unions are known for offering those on low incomes alternative access to credit. However, due to covid-19, during April and May North London Credit Union in Enfield was hard hit and has seen an 87.5% fall in the number of loans issued. Will the Chancellor use his summer statement to announce financial support for credit unions, which are challenged with branch closures and possible bankruptcy?