Oral Answers to Questions

Kate Osborne Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd May 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is right that today marks a major moment for the economy; not only have we halved inflation, but it has returned back to normal, thanks to the collective hard work, sacrifice and resilience of people up and down the country. That is further proof that our plan is working. Mortgage rates have come down, energy bills have come down, taxes are being cut and inflation is now back to normal. That shows that when we stick to the plan, we can look forward to a brighter future, but he is right to point out the alternative: the Labour party imposing £2,000 of tax rises—that is what would put the country’s stability at risk.

[Kate Osborne (Jarrow) (Lab)]

Q10. England’s chief medical officer said that reducing sewage in rivers and seas is a “public health priority”, highlighting the problems that dumping untreated sewage causes. Even the treated sewage that is continuously discharged into rivers and seas contains faecal matter. Water firms are now asking for bills to go up by up to 91%, when they have paid out billions to shareholders and neglected pipework and infrastructure. Can the Prime Minister tell me why his Government are allowing those companies to destroy our waterways and make obscene levels of profit, while making people ill?

[The Prime Minister]

The level of overflows we have seen is unacceptable, but we have gone further than any other Government, monitoring 100% of overflows—up from only 7% under Labour—investing record amounts in our water infrastructure, enshrining in law strict targets and introducing unlimited fines for water companies to hold them to account. But when it came to this House the Labour party could not even vote for its own policy. That is because there is only one party with a plan to protect the environment—the Conservative party.

Oral Answers to Questions

Kate Osborne Excerpts

Wednesday 24th April 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I have always believed in having lower taxes that everyone pays.

[Kate Osborne (Jarrow) (Lab)]

Q12. This week marks the fifth Lesbian Visibility Week, founded by my good friend and publisher of DIVA magazine, Linda Riley. It comes at a time when LGBTQIA women are being let down by this Government, and nowhere more so than in their failure to remove the financial burdens that same-sex couples face when accessing IVF. My constituents Holly and Leanne, like so many others, have been priced out of having a family, so will the Deputy Prime Minister commit to finally ending this gay tax for same-sex couples who want to start a family?

Oral Answers to Questions

Kate Osborne Excerpts

Wednesday 21st February 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Of course we want women and girls to get the protection that they deserve, and I am pleased that our violence against women and girls strategy is showing results, improving the safety on our streets and increasing sentences for rapists. I will make sure that my hon. Friend gets the meeting that he needs with the Home Secretary or relevant policing Ministers to discuss his concerns.

[Kate Osborne (Jarrow) (Lab)]

Q11. I heard the Prime Minister’s responses to the Leader of the Opposition. Just like the Business Secretary’s claims that delays on compensation are wild, baseless allegations, his answers are unbelievable. The response from the Government Benches to the quote from my constituent Chris Head was completely disrespectful. The reality is that we would not have any action without the ITV serialisation of the sub-postmaster scandal—[Interruption.] Government Members can shout all they like, but we all know that is the case. The Prime Minister has promised a new law to swiftly exonerate and compensate victims. Today he said “shortly”, so will he commit today to ensuring that it is brought forward before the next general election?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, the legislation will be brought before the House very, very soon.

Oral Answers to Questions

Kate Osborne Excerpts

Wednesday 15th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

It was great to visit my right hon. Friend and to launch the Government’s antisocial behaviour plan. I thank her for raising awareness about the important work that her local policing team are doing, and I am pleased that they have been empowered by our strategy. Antisocial behaviour makes life miserable for many, which is why the delivery of our plan is so important, and it is making a difference across the country, including in her part of the world. I was also pleased to see that under this Government, by the most recent year for which we have data, crime had decreased by 56% since 2010.

[Kate Osborne (Jarrow) (Lab)]

Q9. It is insulting that in the week that marks 20 years since the abolition of section 28, the Prime Minister has appointed a Minister without Portfolio who frequently attacks the LGBTQ+ community and who, with their so-called war on woke, seeks a return to those awful days, denying our human rights and attacking our very existence. Does the Prime Minister agree that he has manifestly and repeatedly failed? It is time for him to resign and to call a general election.

[The Prime Minister]

Actually, this Government and previous Governments have a proud record in championing LGBT rights. It was this Government who introduced same-sex marriage. We will continue to ensure that everyone in our society can live with tolerance and compassion, and have every opportunity available to them. That is what we have delivered, and that is what we will continue to deliver.

Oral Answers to Questions

Kate Osborne Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd March 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

It is important to start by recognising the importance of vaccines in protecting us all, not least the fantastic roll-out of the covid vaccines across the UK. I am very sorry to hear about the case my right hon. and learned Friend raises. In the extremely rare case of a potential injury from a vaccine covered by the scheme, a one-off payment can be awarded. That is not designed to be a compensation scheme, and it does not prevent the injured person from pursuing a legal compensation claim with the vaccine manufacturer. We are taking steps to reform vaccine damage payment schemes, by modernising the operations and providing more timely outcomes, but of course I would be happy to talk to my right hon. and learned Friend further about that.

[Kate Osborne (Jarrow) (Lab)]

Q6. New inflation stats this morning show that food inflation is at 18%—the highest in 45 years. Millions are living in food and fuel poverty because of this Government’s failures and political decisions to enable grotesque profiteering at the expense of our communities. How on earth can the Prime Minister claim that his plan is working, or is it, in his eyes, a success that so many people are struggling with their weekly food shop?

[The Prime Minister]

Figures recently published show that since 2010, there are 2 million fewer people living in poverty thanks to the actions of this and previous Conservative Governments. Of course, no one wants to see people struggling with week-to-week bills, which is why it is so imperative we stick to our economic plan. As the Office for Budget Responsibility said, we are on track to halve inflation by the end of this year. That is the most important thing we can do to ease the burden on people. In the meantime we have a range of programmes, whether free school meals or the holiday activities and food programme, to provide support to the most vulnerable families who need our help.

MPs and Second Jobs

Kate Osborne Excerpts

Thursday 23rd February 2023 Commons Chamber

[Richard Burgon]

I believe that it was provided anonymously to the press when this Conservative MP was pleading poverty on £84,000 a year but did not want their constituents to know they were doing so. The Minister is mistaken if he thinks that that quote is somehow unrepresentative of an attitude.

How on earth do these people think that the rest of the population, who are earning way below £84,000 a year, cope? These are the same MPs, by the way, who are all too happy to vote through swingeing cuts to benefits and to suppress the wages of workers who earn far less than they do.

[Kate Osborne (Jarrow) (Lab)]

The former PM earned £5 million while remaining an MP, and MPs have raked in £17 million from second jobs since the last election. Does my hon. Friend agree that their time would be better spent in their constituencies, looking after their constituents and dealing with the cost of living crisis that we are in?

[Richard Burgon]

My hon. Friend is correct. It is even worse that this racket is taking place during a cost of living crisis, when we have seen a proliferation of food banks—we see Tory MPs raking it in while some Tory MPs even deny the need for food banks.

Many MPs seem to fail to understand that they already earn more than 95% of the public. If they do not get how well paid they are compared with the rest of the public, or if they are not happy with their salary, perhaps they are in the wrong job. Given that our job is to represent the people, perhaps our democracy would be better served by MPs who better reflect 95% of people in this country. Having MPs who are seen to be using their position not to serve the public, but to fill their own pockets is fuelling a lack of trust in our political system. People raise important questions about who MPs are there to serve: they rightly ask whether, if an MP is getting paid tens of thousands of pounds, that MP can really claim to be representing the public and not their other employer.

Despite what many may tell themselves, the truth is that MPs are being paid not for what they know, but for who they know. They would not get those vast sums from big corporations if they were not MPs with political connections, which creates obvious conflicts of interests. MPs’ second jobs are an especial danger to our democracy, given that trust in politicians is already at the lowest level on record. Two in three people now see politicians as merely out for themselves, while just one in 20 people think that politicians are in the job primarily to serve the public good. More than 60% of the public think that if an MP is being paid to do another job, that prevents them from being independent and able to make the right decisions as an MP. Banning second jobs is one way in which the Government can prove to the public that MPs are not just in it for themselves, and that they really are making decisions based only on what they believe is best for the people of this country. The majority of people in this country want a ban on MPs earning money from second jobs, and only a tiny minority—just 19%—support MPs’ second jobs. MPs need to wake up to the reality of that public feeling and public opinion.

So what is the way forward? My Bill to ban MPs’ second jobs could be an important first step in the long road towards a more transparent and healthy democracy. My Bill is clear and bold: no paid second jobs for MPs at all, except in very limited circumstances.

Oral Answers to Questions

Kate Osborne Excerpts

Tuesday 10th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Damian Hinds]

My hon. Friend is correct that there are a large number of foreign national offenders in our prisons, and facilitating the movement back to their home country is important. We have had the prisoner transfer agreement with Albania since May 2022, and we are looking at more.

[Kate Osborne (Jarrow) (Lab)]

7. What recent estimate he has made of the size of the backlog of criminal court cases in Jarrow constituency.

[Jess Phillips (Birmingham, Yardley) (Lab)]

8. What recent estimate he has made of the size of the backlog of criminal court cases in Birmingham Yardley constituency.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Mike Freer)]

The outstanding case load in the Crown court in Newcastle upon Tyne was 1,598 at the end of June 2022. In Birmingham, the outstanding case load in the Crown court was 1,748 and in Manchester, the outstanding case loads in the Crown courts were 1,271 and 1,259 at the end of June 2022. As I have said in previous answers, we are taking action across the criminal justice system to bring down the backlogs and improve waiting times for those who use our courts.

[Kate Osborne]

The Minister says that it is not a disaster, but the courts backlog has undeniably been made worse by the common platform system that Crown Prosecution Service members have been taking strike action over. It is a £300-million-plus IT scandal that has been dubbed “Horizon mark 2”; workers at my local court say that it is driving them to despair and judges have said that the system is not fit for purpose. Can the Minister confirm what cost-benefit analysis was done before making such drastic changes? What is being done to tackle the fundamental flaws in the system?

[Mike Freer]

First, I do not accept the characterisation of the common platform system. The hon. Lady forgets to mention the number of legacy systems that were on the verge of collapse, and they needed to be replaced. The members of staff I have spoken to accept that, while all IT roll-outs have teething problems, it is a worthwhile programme and will deliver benefits. If the hon. Lady would like to have the full implementation and benefits laid out in the business case, I will share what I can. On the ability to address the specific issues raised by members of staff, the programme team do on a regular basis engage with staff, and log all the issues and suggestions made by members of staff so that they can be resolved quickly.

Oral Answers to Questions

Kate Osborne Excerpts

Wednesday 16th November 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We fully support the Home Secretary and the important measures she has taken, whether on the Rwanda scheme, implementing the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, or the new deal with France to make sure that we collaborate with our international partners on a shared issue. He can also rest assured that that will be opposed tooth and nail by the Labour party.

[Kate Osborne (Jarrow) (Lab)]

Q14. In 1936, people from my constituency marched to Parliament demanding jobs. They were living in poverty and were hungry. Some 86 years later, 39% of kids in Jarrow are still hungry. Will the Deputy Prime Minister and the Government end that scandal and commit to providing free school meals to all 800,000 children—40,000 of whom are in the north-east—from households in receipt of universal credit?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Lady. She will know that we have extended the eligibility of free school meals to 1.9 million pupils. On top of that, there is the £200 million holiday activities and food programme and the £1,200 of direct payments to the most vulnerable. I gently say to her that we also need to keep an eye on the macroeconomic picture. The No. 1 priority is to get inflation down, and we will not be able to do that if we follow the Opposition’s plans.

Oral Answers to Questions

Kate Osborne Excerpts

Wednesday 30th March 2022 Commons Chamber

The Minister for Women and Equalities was asked—

[Kate Osborne (Jarrow) (Lab)]

1. What the Government’s timetable is for publishing a Bill on banning conversion therapy.

[Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab)]

4. What the Government’s timetable is for publishing a Bill on banning conversion therapy.

[The Minister for Equalities (Mike Freer)]

With your permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to begin by acknowledging the enormously personal statement that my hon. Friend the Member for Bridgend (Dr Wallis) made this morning. I hope I speak for the whole House in sending our support. It is so important that people are free to be safe to be themselves, whoever they are and whoever they love.

We remain wholly committed to bringing forward proposals to ban conversion therapy practices. We recently concluded a consultation period on the proposals being analysed, based on which we will be developing legislation to be brought forward later this spring.

[Kate Osborne]

My best wishes also go to the hon. Member for Bridgend (Dr Wallis). The Minister will be aware that the Cabinet Office recently tendered a contract for the provision of a conversion therapy victim support service. Does he agree that including a consent loophole in the Government’s proposals to ban conversion therapy will allow some of its worst practitioners off the hook, inevitably creating more victims who will need support?

Oral Answers to Questions

Kate Osborne Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Christian Wakeford (Bury South) (Lab)]

10. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to tackle violence against women and girls.

[Kate Osborne (Jarrow) (Lab)]

20. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to tackle violence against women and girls.

[The Minister of State, Home Department (Victoria Atkins)]

The Government set out in the summer their ambitious tackling violence against women and girls strategy to fundamentally change attitudes, support women and girls who are victims of crime and relentlessly pursue perpetrators. This focus includes plans to roll out to all Crown courts pre-recorded cross-examination for complainants of sexual and modern slavery offences, and giving victims of domestic abuse more time to report incidents of common assault. Last month, we launched the tender for the first ever national 24/7 helpline for victims of rape and sexual assault.

--- Later in debate ---

[Victoria Atkins]

I do hope the hon. Gentleman in his, I imagine, copious free time now that he has crossed the Floor, is able to read the rape review, because had he done his homework he would have seen the forensic examination we have conducted of the investigation and prosecution of offences of rape. We have seen tentative first steps toward increases in convictions for rape, but we are clear that through the rape review and working with the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and victims, we will make progress. I very much hope he will support the Government in our measures to do so.

[Kate Osborne]

After women spoke out about feeling exposed to physical aggression and sexual harassment when travelling on our regional north-east public transport system, the Northumbria police and crime commissioner, Kim McGuinness, launched the free Safer Transport Northumbria app, which takes people through a series of simple steps that allows them to raise safety concerns and report crimes. Does the Minister agree that that is a brilliant initiative from our Northumbria PCC, and will she commit to providing more funding for our region to tackle violence against women and girls?

[Victoria Atkins]

I welcome local initiatives such as the one that the hon. Member describes. I hope that she also welcomes the national efforts that we set out in the tackling violence against women and girls strategy, particularly on public transport, because we know that that can be a place of harassment and very unwelcome behaviour by perpetrators. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Brecon and Radnorshire (Fay Jones), who led a campaign to outlaw cyber-flashing. I trust that when provisions to outlaw that crime on public transport and elsewhere are introduced in the Online Safety Bill, they will have the hon. Lady’s support.