Prime Minister's Update
Debate between Martin Whitfield and Boris Johnson(5 years, 2 months ago)
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The Prime Minister
We are going to go for a deal, and we are going to come out on 31 October.
Martin Whitfield (East Lothian) (Lab)
To apply the mantra of this Government with universal credit to “test and learn”, if we look at the Supreme Court judgment, now with 20/20 hindsight, what would the Prime Minister do differently?
The Prime Minister
I think it would be fair to say that the Supreme Court is a relatively novel institution and this is a novel and groundbreaking judgment, even by the admission of the plaintiffs. We will study its implications with great care, and I think the House might like to reflect deeply on it, because I do think the judgment is of great constitutional interest and importance.
Oman, UAE and Iran
Debate between Martin Whitfield and Boris Johnson(7 years ago)
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Boris Johnson
The hon. Gentleman is entirely right. That is something that is regularly raised both by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Middle East, and by our ambassador, Nick Hopton, in Tehran. The treatment of Christians and Baha’is is a matter of deep concern for this Government, and it is something that we will continue to raise.
Martin Whitfield (East Lothian) (Lab)
I welcome the statement. Does the Secretary of State feel that journalists in the middle east and their families can sleep safer following his visit?
Boris Johnson
The treatment of journalists worldwide is a subject of grave concern. As I mentioned earlier, I have anxieties about the freezing of the assets of BBC Persian. As long as a society does not have free journalism and a free media, it will not only never be free, but never be truly prosperous or happy.