Oral Answers to Questions

Liz Twist Excerpts

Thursday 14th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Kit Malthouse]

That was a long question and I am afraid I only agree with the last sentence: we do want opportunity to be spread to every single individual. I find the hon. Gentleman a little churlish, given that in his part of the world £20 million from the levelling-up funding is supporting the Tileyard North development in Wakefield, we have put £24.9 million into the Wakefield town deal and the Mayor of West Yorkshire will get £1.4 billion for transport improvements in the coming cycle. These are all areas of Government expenditure that will improve the area in which he lives. If he wants to see social mobility writ large, I suggest he looks at the current candidates for the Tory leadership.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

9. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to ensure value for money in public spending.

[The Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency (Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg)]

The spending review 2021 placed renewed emphasis on ensuring that every pound of taxpayers’ money was spent well and focused on the areas that make the most difference to people’s daily lives. At the spring statement 2022, Her Majesty’s Government also set out plans to ensure that Departments were delivering the highest- quality services at the best value.

[Liz Twist]

Can the Minister explain to the House why the principles of value for money, public good, transparency, integrity, fair treatment of suppliers and non-discrimination are not on the face of the Procurement Bill, as proposed in the Government’s White Paper?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

Value for money is on the face of the Bill; it is a crucial part of what will be going on. When the Bill has completed its passage, it will be issued alongside principles of procurement for Government bodies to follow. This will ensure that value for money is put front and centre, which, it must be said, was the essence of the hon. Lady’s question. She asks what we are doing to ensure value for money, then when we do something to ensure it, she does not like it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Liz Twist Excerpts

Wednesday 29th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call shadow Minister Liz Twist.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

There are five excellent bids from across Scotland for the two proposed green freeports. Each of the bids is of such high quality that it would be a great shame not to support the local economies in Inverness and Cromarty, Orkney, the Forth, the Clyde, and Aberdeen City and Peterhead. Will the Minister’s Department consider what support can be given to unsuccessful areas, and whether that support can be widened?

[Neil O'Brien]

We will certainly look at that. Of course there is intense competition for the freeports, which will create huge benefits not only for the local area, but for all of Scotland.

Oral Answers to Questions

Liz Twist Excerpts

Wednesday 15th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend very much. I know that everybody’s thoughts will be with Nellie and her parents, Tom and Megan, at this very difficult time. The UK National Screening Committee has received a request to look again at the conditions for doing an MLD test, and that is being reviewed right now. I will make sure that my hon. Friend gets a meeting as soon as possible with the relevant Minister.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

Q5. In just five days, rail passengers across the UK and in the north-east will face huge disruption—[Interruption.] But on the eve of the biggest rail dispute in a generation, it has emerged that Ministers have not held any talks whatsoever since March. I ask the Prime Minister: has he met trade unions and employers in the rail industry to attempt to bring the dispute to an end—yes or no?

[The Prime Minister]

I noticed that when one union baron was asked about this, he said, “I don’t negotiate with a Tory Government.” That is what he said, Mr Speaker. We all know how much money the Labour Front Benchers take from the RMT. We know why they are sitting on their hands during Labour’s rail strike. They should come out and condemn it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Liz Twist Excerpts

Wednesday 20th April 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my right hon. Friend very much for campaigning on this issue, which I know attracts support across the House. I will certainly take personal charge of the matter and make sure that the veterans receive the recognition they deserve.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

Q8. My constituents across Blaydon knew the rules and stuck to them, nurses and teachers included—no after-work drinks for them. The Prime Minister set the rules. Night after night, he was on national television to exhort us to stick to the rules for everyone’s sake, but he continues to say that he does not think he broke any rules. My constituents are angry that while they stuck to the law, the Prime Minister broke it. Trust in his Government is broken: when will he go?

Oral Answers to Questions

Liz Twist Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

3. What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the impact of the level of police funding for Wales on crime.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (David T. C. Davies)]

On levels of crime, Office for National Statistics data for the year ending September 2021 show that crime levels per capita in Wales are below the national average across England and Wales. As for funding, this Conservative Government will always be the party of law and order, and that is why I am pleased to be able to say that we are putting £820 million into policing next year, an increase of £40 million.

[Liz Twist]

In the nearly 13 years the Government have been in power, police staffing has fallen by 25,000. Across the UK, there are 7,000 fewer police community support officers on the streets than there were in 2010. In Wales, the Welsh Labour Government, which does not have jurisdiction over policing, have stepped in and funded 500 PCSOs and will fund a further 100. Does that not show that the Tories are happy to see rising crime and an increase in victims, and it is only Labour which is taking action to keep our communities safe?

[David T. C. Davies]

What it shows is that the Welsh Government will have had a record increase in spend of around £2.5 billion over the next couple of financial years. What I can also tell the hon. Lady is that 603 additional police officers are being allocated for Wales, 479 have taken that opportunity and there are still 100 vacancies. As somebody who spent nine years as a special constable, I recommend to anyone who wants to serve their community that they should consider joining a police force in Wales.

Oral Answers to Questions

Liz Twist Excerpts

Wednesday 19th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. I am advised that the amendment in question will indeed be withdrawn.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

Q12. My constituents are rightly angry about the Prime Minister’s behaviour, but while Downing Street fights to save his political life, people across the north-east are worrying about rising food and energy bills, rising unemployment and rising levels of child poverty. He talks about levelling up, but my constituents are seeing opportunities cut. Does he agree that his Government have failed and it is time for him to go?

[The Prime Minister]

No, I really do not agree with the hon. Lady, and I do not think that she can have been following anything that has been said this afternoon. We have unemployment falling to near-record lows, and we have job vacancies at record highs. That is what Conservative Governments do: they create jobs and get the economy moving.

Oral Answers to Questions

Liz Twist Excerpts

Thursday 13th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Geraint Davies (Swansea West) (Lab/Co-op)]

2. What support he is providing to businesses and the voluntary sector to support key services affected by the omicron variant.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

12. What support he is providing to businesses and the voluntary sector to support key services affected by the omicron variant.

[Mr Virendra Sharma (Ealing, Southall) (Lab)]

14. What support he is providing to businesses and the voluntary sector to support key services affected by the omicron variant.

--- Later in debate ---

[Steve Barclay]

I recognise the seriousness of the case. On behalf of all colleagues in the House, I am sure, I express our sympathy for the family concerned. As he will know, it is difficult to comment on individual cases. He will also be aware that under plan B, employees are encouraged to work from home where possible. I am happy to flag the case to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport, who oversees the body concerned. My right hon. Friend is balancing the need to address those employment issues with the importance of getting testing boosted when it comes to HGVs, cars and others. But he will pick up the case and I will raise it with him.

[Liz Twist]

During the pandemic, charities have played a hugely important part in supporting people, particularly those in need of help and more vulnerable older people. Does not the Minister agree that it would have been better to have involved those charities in the planning right from the start? Can we learn that lesson for the future?

[Steve Barclay]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right about the importance of charities, including in the pandemic response more widely. That is why we have had a package of £750 million of support for charities, which indicates their importance and how they have been involved throughout the pandemic.

Oral Answers to Questions

Liz Twist Excerpts

Wednesday 15th December 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I welcome shadow Minister Liz Twist to her new post.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

The post-COP26 message is that Governments have little time to act on climate change. As the Secretary of State is aware, the Acorn carbon capture and storage project has not been given the go-ahead by the UK Government, but it could create 15,000 highly skilled jobs in Scotland and demonstrate that a just transition is feasible. The shadow Secretary of State for Scotland, my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South (Ian Murray), wrote to the First Minister to encourage her to find a joint solution, but the reply contained more reasons not to work together and grievances than finding a solution for the project. Rather than the UK and Scottish Governments trading insults, will the Secretary of State back the Acorn project by finding a joint funding solution with the Scottish Government?

[Iain Stewart]

I welcome the hon. Lady to her new position. I look forward to our debates in the weeks and months ahead. I can advise her that she should probably not be too surprised when letters from the Scottish Government are full of grievances—that is par for the course. On Acorn, we do support the scheme. There was a competitive bidding round, where it placed third. It is a reserved project, and we are working with it to ensure that it stands a good chance in the next tranche of the carbon capture and storage scheme.

Oral Answers to Questions

Liz Twist Excerpts

Wednesday 8th December 2021 Commons Chamber

[Brandon Lewis]

My hon. Friend will appreciate that it would be inappropriate for me to comment on an open court case, but we are determined to ensure we resolve the issues for the people and businesses of Northern Ireland and for the UK internal market.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

6. If he will make an assessment of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission’s ability to carry out its core functions.

[The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Conor Burns)]

We value the important work of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission in championing human rights in Northern Ireland. We are committed to ensuring the commission has the resources and the ability to carry out its functions, and we remain in close contact with the chief executive and their staff.

[Liz Twist]

One of the many risks of activating article 16 is the chance that human rights safeguards secured under article 2 and relied on by organisations such as the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission will fall by the wayside. Will the Minister confirm that any negotiations involving the protocol will not lead to the unravelling of article 2 commitments?

[Conor Burns]

I am happy to confirm to the hon. Lady that the provisions of article 2 are unconnected to any triggering of article 16. We are absolutely committed to seeing no diminution of human rights in Northern Ireland.

Oral Answers to Questions

Liz Twist Excerpts

Tuesday 9th November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

I have visited three prisons in my time as Justice Secretary. We have secured an important settlement for the courts backlog in this spending review, but on top of that, a lot of victims and their families say that it is galling to see foreign national offenders who cannot be deported and who are claiming their right to a family life. I think the hon. Gentleman needs to instil a little bit of balance and perspective, and we are going to reintroduce some common sense to the system.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

5. What his timescale is for clearing the backlog of Crown court cases resulting from the covid-19 outbreak.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (James Cartlidge)]

We are already seeing the results of our efforts to tackle the impact that the pandemic has had on our justice system, and the number of outstanding cases in magistrates courts has dropped by around 80,000 since its peak in July 2020. I am pleased to say that the spending review provides an extra £477 million for the criminal justice system, which will allow us to reduce Crown court backlogs caused by the pandemic from 60,000 today to an estimated 53,000 by March 2025.

[Liz Twist]

The Government try to blame covid-19 for the backlog, but the Crown court backlog had already increased by 23% in the year leading up to the pandemic. Does the Minister regret the decision to slash sitting days in 2019?

[James Cartlidge]

I say to the hon. Lady with the greatest respect that it is quite extraordinary that anybody in this place should try to pretend that the pandemic has nothing to do with the backlog. If she visits a Crown court, she will see extraordinary measures having to be used to ensure that, with a jury present and potentially multiple defendants, a case can be disposed of while upholding the rules that we brought in for public health. It would be very welcome if the Opposition recognised that the best part of £500 million of investment to clear the backlog is a very significant step and a positive way forward.