Point of Order

Lindsay Hoyle Excerpts

Thursday 27th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Fleur Anderson (Putney) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Yesterday, in Prime Minister’s questions, the Prime Minister made some statements that are incorrect. He said that there are

“more people in our NHS now than in 2020”.—[Official Report, 26 January 2022; Vol. 707, c. 997.]

However, there are 73,626 fewer full-time staff now than in January 2020. He said that Labour will abolish universal credit—we will not, and we voted to stop the cut in the £20 a week uplift. He said that

“we have the fastest-growing economy in the G7”.—[Official Report, 26 January 2022; Vol. 707, c. 995.]

Looking at the last quarter, we are the fifth in the G7. And, he said that we would still be in lockdown if Labour were in power—we would not, and there are no policies to back up that assertion.

I am concerned about the amount of times this is happening in Prime Minister’s questions and I seek your advice, Mr Speaker, on how to set the record straight.

[Mr Speaker]

I think the hon. Member has certainly put this agenda on the record and I thank her for giving notice of the point of order.

I appreciate that the hon. Member regards the answers from the Prime Minister as unsatisfactory. Unfortunately, the content of the answers to parliamentary questions is not a matter for the Chair. I remind the House that the Government’s own ministerial code requires Ministers to correct inadvertent errors in answers to parliamentary questions at the earliest opportunity. If errors have been made in this instance, I am sure the Prime Minister will seek to correct them as quickly as possible. The hon. Member will also be aware that she may wish to write to the Procedure Committee in order to take this up with it.