Covid-19 Inquiry

Munira Wilson Excerpts

Friday 19th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Pat McFadden]

I am very, very grateful to my hon. Friend for reflecting her experience. There is nothing that I can add to the power of her words. She is absolutely right that in planning for future pandemics, we have to listen to the voice of the staff, who are the people the country will rely on if we face any kind of similar emergency in future.

[Munira Wilson (Twickenham) (LD)]

Members on both sides of the House will recognise that children and young people really felt the impact of the pandemic and the lockdowns on their mental health, their learning and their social and emotional development. We all recognise that executive decisions have to be taken in an emergency to protect children and staff in schools, but I think the public were aghast that pubs and zoos opened before our schools and colleges. Will the right hon. Gentleman’s committee look at putting a proper process in place—potentially designating schools and colleges as national critical infrastructure—with this House taking a vote on any extended lockdowns of our schools and colleges if those ever need to be put in place, and with evidence taken from the Children’s Commissioner and our school and college leaders?

[Pat McFadden]

The hon. Lady is right to draw attention to the pandemic’s impact on education through lost learning and, as I said in my statement, the great inequality that children suffered as a result of differential access to online learning. Did they have a good wi-fi connection at home? Did they have the equipment? Was the school fully geared up to providing online learning? The answer for some children to some of those questions was yes, but the answer for a lot of children was no. It is really important in future planning that if we have to make a change, we ensure that it does not reinforce inequality but helps everyone.

Oral Answers to Questions

Munira Wilson Excerpts

Thursday 29th February 2024 Commons Chamber

[Alex Burghart]

I am pleased to tell the hon. Lady that polling at the end of last year found that 76% of respondents were satisfied with gov.uk, 78% agreed that they could typically find what they wanted and 74% trusted the information they found. Obviously, we keep all our systems under review, but gov.uk is a trusted brand and it is getting better every day.

[Munira Wilson (Twickenham) (LD)]

19. What recent discussions he has had with the independent adviser on Ministers’ interests on trends in the level of compliance with the ministerial code.

[The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General (John Glen)]

The Prime Minister has been clear that he will lead a Government of

“integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level.”

He is delivering on that promise. I met Sir Laurie Magnus, the independent adviser on Ministers’ interests, in November.

[Munira Wilson]

A survey published just this week by the Institute for Government revealed that two thirds of the public do not believe that the Government behave according to high ethical standards. I do not think anyone in the House will be surprised by that, given the behaviour we have seen from some—particularly former—Ministers over the past five years. Even in the last few weeks, questions have been raised about potential breaches of the ministerial code by the Business Secretary, and we have seen failure rewarded constantly with outrageous severance payments. Will the Minister finally fully enshrine the ministerial code into law?

[John Glen]

That matter has been discussed. The Committee on Standards in Public Life did not recommend that in 2021, because it would afford significant authority to a body that is outwith accountability to the House.

Infected Blood Inquiry: Government Response

Munira Wilson Excerpts

Monday 18th December 2023 Commons Chamber

[John Glen]

I will give a comprehensive response along the timetable that I set out earlier.

[Munira Wilson (Twickenham) (LD)]

I pay tribute to the right hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North (Dame Diana Johnson) and to the journalist Caroline Wheeler for their tireless campaigning on this issue.

I think we all know, as we have heard in a couple of questions from Conservative Members, why the Government have tried to delay compensation for so long; they are clearly hoping that it will be another Government’s problem. Perhaps the Minister can help me to understand. He says that he recognises the

“distress and trauma that each individual has faced,”

so why has it taken until today to announce a bespoke psychological service for people infected and affected by infected blood products, and why will it take until the summer to set up that service?

[John Glen]

The timing of the delivery of that service has been worked through with NHS England. I signed off the funding for it when I was Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and I am pleased that we can announce it today. I wish that it could have been sooner, but we are where we are, and I am pleased that we have made some progress. As with all these matters, of course I wish that I could accelerate it, but I have to work through all the deliberate steps needed to get the legislation in the right place to ensure that we can answer all the questions that so many people have—I recognise they have waited too long.

Oral Answers to Questions

Munira Wilson Excerpts

Wednesday 13th December 2023 Commons Chamber

The Minister for Women and Equalities was asked—

[Munira Wilson (Twickenham) (LD)]

1. If she will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of the Government’s kinship care policies on carers and children with protected characteristics.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (David Johnston)]

We comply with the public sector equality duty in considering how our policy decisions impact on individuals with protected characteristics, and we have complied with that obligation in drafting and developing the kinship strategy.

[Munira Wilson]

The annual survey of the Kinship charity showed that the majority of kinship carers are women, typically grandmothers, many of whom are affected by the gender pay gap and a rising retirement age, yet they are often forced to give up or reduce work to take on kinship care responsibilities. What progress has the Minister made with the Department for Business and Trade in finally securing paid leave for kinship carers so that they are not forced out of the labour force?

[David Johnston]

As the hon. Lady knows, we are committed to publishing the first ever strategy for kinship carers before the end of the year. She will not have long to wait.

Resettlement of Afghans

Munira Wilson Excerpts

Tuesday 19th September 2023 Commons Chamber

[Johnny Mercer]

The support going forward is extensive, as I alluded to earlier. There will be £9,000 per family, with specific reintegration funding of £20,500 per person to make sure that happens. We had that deadline by 1 September because I do not want people taken out of school. Half these people are children, and they should not be in hotels. Some of the scenes I witnessed at those hotels were unacceptable. I was determined that we stick to that deadline, because it was the compassionate thing to do in the end. I pay tribute to everyone at Hounslow council, which I have visited, for doing a great job. That shows that if we all work together on these issues and take politics out of it, we can meet the challenge of strategic migration.

[Munira Wilson (Twickenham) (LD)]

Let me start by putting on record my thanks to the Immigration Minister, the right hon. Member for Newark (Robert Jenrick), who, after 18 months of begging by me and my team, was finally persuaded to help me bring five British children and their Afghan mother to safety in the UK in June. That was after the father, who had served the previous Afghan Government and worked with NATO, was brutally assassinated by the Taliban. His much younger sister has been left behind. She is an aunt to the children but grew up like their sibling because she is much younger. She is alone with no male relatives, in hiding and in fear of her life because she is a target. Given the Minister’s repeated statements about honouring commitments to those left behind, and given this woman has a UK sponsor, a job offer and a home to go to—no hotel—will he meet me to discuss her case so that we can bring her to safety, too?

[Johnny Mercer]

If the hon. Lady sends me the details, I am more than happy to look at them. I recognise that such cases are out there. We were dealing with an individual over the summer who was known to us. We were trying to help him, but he was captured, tortured by the Taliban and killed in the middle of August. I am well aware of these issues. We will do everything we possibly can to make sure that we act in a timely manner. If she writes to me about that case, I will look into it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Munira Wilson Excerpts

Thursday 11th May 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call Dr Jamie Wallis for the first question. Not here.

[Munira Wilson (Twickenham) (LD)]

2. Whether he has held recent discussions with the Prime Minister on the observance of the ministerial code as it relates to the civil service.

[The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General (Jeremy Quin)]

The Prime Minister has made it absolutely clear that Ministers are expected to maintain the highest standards of behaviour at all times in accordance with the ministerial code. Working relationships, including with civil servants, should be professional and appropriate.

[Munira Wilson]

Civil servants living in my constituency and across the country feel utterly dismayed that their professionalism and integrity are constantly being undermined by statements from serving and former Ministers, repeated attacks on them and, indeed, the Prime Minister’s failure to condemn what was exposed as bullying and intimidatory behaviour. Does the Minister agree that, given the importance of civil service and ministerial relationships and his role in upholding the ministerial code, phrases such as “activist blob” or a “blizzard of snowflakes” are not in keeping with that code, and what will he do about it?

[Jeremy Quin]

I rather dispute the premise of the hon. Lady’s question. There is and always should be a professional relationship between civil servants and the Government. We should all ensure that we maintain the impartiality, objectivity and integrity of the civil service. We should support civil servants in doing the important job that they do, which includes upholding the impartiality of the civil service, about which the Opposition have a few things to learn.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jeremy Quin]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. We constantly have efficiency reviews, and those will continue, and we work closely with the Treasury to make certain that the customer on the ground gets the right service and that that happens as cost-effectively as is humanly possible. That is how we managed to get £3.4 billion of savings through the system last year. We will continue to work at it. It is a huge task, but we are absolutely committed to driving those savings and good service for the customer.

[Munira Wilson (Twickenham) (LD)]

T4. Let me put on the record my thanks to Ministers for backing my campaign to ensure that police authorities across the country can sell disused police stations such as Teddington in my constituency below market value for community benefit. I hope that they agree that the same principle should apply to Government Departments. Can Ministers please advise me on when the Office of Government Property will finally reissue its updated guidance on the disposal of public assets, so that bids for community benefit such as affordable housing and GP surgeries can be prioritised?

[Alex Burghart]

I am happy to look into the hon. Lady’s suggestion, and I am delighted that she sees our support for local communities and value for money.

Afghan Resettlement Update

Munira Wilson Excerpts

Tuesday 28th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Order. I have 16 people standing or thereabouts, so can we have shorter questions and shorter answers, Minister?

[Munira Wilson (Twickenham) (LD)]

The Minister said at least three times in his statement that we will honour our commitment to those who remain in danger in Afghanistan. While that may be true for him personally, I am afraid that as far as this Government go, that promise is utterly hollow. I challenge him to come to my surgery—to look in the eye those Afghans whose families have been left behind—and say that.

In particular, for three weeks in a row now, I have raised in this Chamber the case of five British children under the age of 18 who have been abandoned in hiding in Kabul. Their mother is an Afghan national; there is no safe and legal route for her to apply for. Their British father was blown up by the Taliban. When will the next round of the ACRS open up, or will the Minister admit that the Government have just given up on them?

Oral Answers to Questions

Munira Wilson Excerpts

Tuesday 10th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. He will have heard what the Prime Minister said about the five pledges, one of which is to end the small boats coming across illegally. I mentioned what we are doing with the Home Office to get the backlog down in the immigration tribunal. My hon. Friend will know about the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, and the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister have also talked about further measures being brought forward shortly. Of course, the Labour party has opposed every single one of those measures. It is no surprise that, in 2010, the last Labour Government left a record backlog of asylum claims. We are the ones fixing that mess.

[Munira Wilson (Twickenham) (LD)]

14. Whether he plans to replace the Human Rights Act 1998 with a Bill of Rights.

[The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Dominic Raab)]

The Government were elected with a manifesto to reform human rights. We have published the Bill of Rights, and we will bring it forward for Second Reading as soon as parliamentary time allows.

[Munira Wilson]

The Human Rights Act, which protects so many of our freedoms and basic rights and our access to justice, helped secure an inquiry into patient safety for families at Mid Staffs and empowered victims of the black cab rapist to ensure that the police were held to account when those crimes were not properly investigated. My constituents, the Secretary of State’s constituents and the wider public do not want the Human Rights Act to be ripped up. Is not the truth that, yet again, his shameful pet project to do so and replace it with a Bill of Rights has been shelved by the Prime Minister?

[Dominic Raab]

I thank the hon. Lady for at least giving me the opportunity to rebut some of the myths that are flying around. The truth is that the terrible situation at Mid Staffordshire was not brought to light as a result of a case under the Human Rights Act. It was the result of questions raised, campaigns and issues raised by hon. Members in this House. Of course, nothing in the Bill of Rights would affect any of the important expectations that people such as victims and patients have. What it will do is strengthen free speech and help us to deport more foreign offenders. She should get behind it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Munira Wilson Excerpts

Wednesday 30th November 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right about the unacceptable deterioration in the quality of Avanti’s service. The Transport Secretary is rightly monitoring it and holding Avanti to account. There is a plan to increase the number of trains—with the 100 additional drivers—and restore the full direct service between Manchester and London. But what this plan needs—and I hope the Labour party supports it—is trade union co-operation.

[Munira Wilson (Twickenham) (LD)]

Q7. I am sure that Conservative Members felt a sense of déjà vu watching the Welsh defence during last night’s match—after all, they know what it feels like to have Marcus Rashford run rings around them. Off the pitch, Marcus Rashford has been a tireless campaigner on child hunger, in the face of fierce Conservative opposition. Given that Marcus Rashford delivered on the pitch last night, will the Prime Minister give him the best thanks possible by delivering free school meals for every child living in poverty?

[The Prime Minister]

We are supporting almost 2 million children with free school meals. We also, last year, invested hundreds of millions of pounds in the new holiday activities and food programme, which is broadening that support through the holidays for those kids who need it, on top of our work to roll out breakfast clubs across the country.

Health and Social Care Update

Munira Wilson Excerpts

Thursday 22nd September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Dr Coffey]

I am sure that the Minister of State, Department of Health and Social Care, my right hon. Friend the Member for Newark (Robert Jenrick) would be happy to have a meeting on this occasion and to investigate that. It is important that Ministers get on with the creation of both new diagnostic centres and hospitals. I intend to work on Project Speed to make sure we get these hospitals right across the country under way.

[Munira Wilson (Twickenham) (LD)]

In the past year, I have witnessed a seven-year-old having to be locked in a classroom because they were a danger to other pupils and heard from the mother of a nine-year-old who hospitalised their sister. They, along with thousands of other children across the country struggling with their mental health, are languishing on waiting lists for months, if not years. So when the Secretary of State says,

“this Government will be on your side when you need care the most”,

those words are meaningless to the parents who come to my constituency surgery week in, week out. Will she give them hope, and make the mental health of children and young people a priority for this Government?