Ukraine

Debate between Laura Trott and Boris Johnson

Thursday 24th February 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady raises a very important point. What we are seeing now, tragically, as I am sure the House knows, is people moving west out of Kyiv, with columns of traffic, and people already moving into south-eastern Poland. There is going to be an influx. As I said to the Prime Minister of Poland as well, we are there to help.

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)]

I thank the Prime Minister for his statement today and for his strong package of sanctions. I want to ask him about preventing sexual violence in conflict. In November last year, we issued a strong statement that said that the use of sexual violence as a weapon in conflict is a red line akin to the use of chemical weapons. Will he reaffirm that commitment today, and will he send a strong message to Russia that the international community will not tolerate the use of sexual violence in conflict?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes; I thank my hon. Friend for all the work she has done on that issue. It is something that the UK Government have campaigned on for a long time and have indeed raised, very rightly, in international consciousness. I think it should be treated as a war crime like any other, and people who perpetrate sexual violence in conflict can expect to be tried in those tribunals.

G7 and NATO Summits

Debate between Laura Trott and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 16th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

For the hon. Gentleman to talk about profit-hungry pharmaceutical companies, in view of the efforts made by AstraZeneca to distribute 500 million vaccines around the world at cost, is utterly disgraceful, and he should withdraw his remarks.

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)]

I hugely welcome the Prime Minister’s focus on gender equality at the G7, and I note that the Leader of the Opposition, in his opening statement, did not mention girls or women once. Can the Prime Minister, who set some very ambitious targets on girls’ education and ending violence against women and girls, come back to the House before 2026 to reassure us that progress is being made on that very important topic?

[The Prime Minister]

Of course, Mr Speaker; the project will be scarcely off my lips.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Laura Trott and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 26th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman. It is great to see him in his place—it is always great to see him in this place. Actually, I have had conversations on that very matter already with Kristalina Georgiera.

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)]

One of the many awful things about the past year has been the inability to visit family and friends in hospital. It has caused immense anguish for many of my constituents. We are seeing some progress locally and I hope that, with the brilliant roll-out of the vaccine, we will see more, but can the Prime Minister inform the House when normal visiting hours will resume for all hospitals nationwide?

[The Prime Minister]

I know that my hon. Friend speaks for many millions of people who have wanted to visit loved ones and I know the anguish that they have felt. We need to balance those wholly legitimate feelings with the need to manage the risk of infection, as I know my hon. Friend understands very well. We will update the guidance as soon as it is possible to do so.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Laura Trott and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 27th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I can confirm to the hon. Gentleman that we will make sure that his constituents get exactly what they need for the roll-out to groups 1 to 4. I am assured by the Minister for vaccines, my hon. Friend the Member for Stratford-on-Avon (Nadhim Zahawi), that there is no such delay.

I am delighted that the hon. Gentleman now supports the vaccination programme; perhaps he could repudiate the policy, on which he stood, to destroy the pharmaceutical companies that have made the vaccines possible. Perhaps he could dissociate himself from previous Labour attacks on the vaccine taskforce, which secured the doses on which he now relies.

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con) [V]]

I welcome the emphasis today on school return, which is absolutely vital; we know the devastating impact that being out of school has on children’s mental health. The Prime Minister is absolutely right: schools are safe to return. There is now firm evidence that primary schools in particular do not contribute to the spread of this vicious disease. Will the Prime Minister commit to sharing that evidence with teachers, parents and students, so that they can be reassured that, regardless of vaccines, schools are safe to return?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is spot on. Schools are safe. The only issue with opening them is that, as I said to the House earlier, they add to the overall budget of transmission because lots of households are brought together—that, obviously, is what a school does. But schools are safe. They are wonderful places, and I support my hon. Friend in wanting to get them open as soon as possible.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Laura Trott and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 20th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

It is absolutely true that some British fishermen have faced barriers at the present time owing to complications over form-filling. Indeed, one of the biggest problems is that, alas, there is a decline in appetite for fish in continental markets just because most of the restaurants, as the right hon. Gentleman knows, are shut. But the reality is that Brexit will deliver, and is delivering, a huge uplift in quota already in the next five years. By 2026, the fishing people of this country will have access to all the fish in all the territorial waters of this country. To get them ready for that Eldorado, we are investing £100 million in improving our boats and our fish processing industry, and getting fishing ready for the opportunities ahead.

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con) [V]]

I thank the Prime Minister and the Health Secretary for the recent strengthened guidance to allow parents access to neonatal intensive care units whenever they need to in this pandemic. Can the Prime Minister confirm that compliance with this guidance will be monitored, and can he reassure parents, once and for all, that we know that they are integral to their child’s care in hospital, and not just visitors?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Laura Trott and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 25th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)]

I welcome the promised increase in education funding, and I look forward to hearing the detail this afternoon. Can I ask the Prime Minister that some of that money be spent on school building repairs, particularly for voluntary controlled and multi-academy trusts such as Orchards Academy and West Kingsdown in my constituency? Those types of school were unable to apply for the most recent round of funding and are in urgent need of repair.

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, indeed. That is why we have allocated an additional £560 million this year for essential maintenance and upgrades in the school estate, on top of more than £1.4 billion. In Kent, £20 million is going to the local authority, including for West Kingsdown Church of England Primary School, and nearly £6 million is going to Kemnal Academies Trust. I encourage my hon. Friend to continue her excellent campaign.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Laura Trott and Boris Johnson

Monday 12th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I just remind the hon. Lady that, in addition to the £500, there is also the support of universal credit. As to those who are thinking of not isolating still, alas I must tell the House that there is a fine of £10,000.

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)]

I was glad to hear the Prime Minister refer in his opening statement to the need to continue elective operations. My own trust has pledged to continue them through winter for as long as possible. Will the Prime Minister confirm that the decision will continue to be locally led and that he will do all he can to prevent a backlog?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, and it is exactly in order to prevent a further backlog that we need to prevent an uncontained outbreak of coronavirus now. That is why we are putting in place the measures we are.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Laura Trott and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 3rd June 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am happy to tell the hon. Lady that I have had no conversations on that matter whatever, nor any exchanges of any kind.

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)]

Q8. The lock- down has seen a rise in antisocial behaviour in my area, including at Lullingstone castle, where a man sadly died last Thursday evening. My sincere condolences are with his family and friends at this time. This incident shows the need for more visible police in Sevenoaks. Can the Prime Minister confirm that the 147 new police officers promised to Kent will not be delayed and they will be focused on frontline policing to tackle antisocial behaviour?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, indeed. That is why the Government are going to get on with our agenda of uniting and levelling up the country with 20,000 more police officers. In fact, we have recruited thousands already, and I am pleased to say in terms of the 147 that she identifies coming to Kent that I think they have already got there. If they have not, they are getting there very shortly.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Laura Trott and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 26th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Of course Scottish businesses matter, and the way to do well by them would not be to tax them with the highest tax rates in the UK; it would be to run a sound economy in Scotland and to have an educational system that does not leave Scottish children lagging behind through no fault of their own. This Government will get on and deliver a working immigration system for the whole of this country. [Interruption.] The right hon. Gentleman shouts at me from a sedentary position, but he would be better off getting on with delivering for the people of Scotland, rather than continuing with his ceaseless and vain quest to break up the United Kingdom, because he will not succeed.

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)]

Q7. This is a Government who are delivering for the people, so I am sure the Prime Minister shares my concerns about the delay in the delivery of the Maidstone East line, which runs through my constituency and others. Will he intervene to ensure that there are no further delays on this vital railway line?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for rightly raising the issue of rail connections between Maidstone East and the City. In addition to the £48 billion we are putting into the railways, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport has just indicated to me that those connections are his highest priority.