Tributes to Her Late Majesty the Queen

Stephen Timms Excerpts

Saturday 10th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Sir Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

Like other Members, my main memories of Her late Majesty the Queen are of visits to my constituency. In 1987, I was chair of Newham Council’s planning committee, and I negotiated with Mowlem the terms of its planning permission for London City airport. I attended the opening by Her Majesty in November 1987. It was pointed out that the terminal at the airport was on the site where her grandfather opened the King George V dock in 1921, 66 years before.

The airport was controversial locally. It turned out that most local residents, still smarting from the economic damage of the docks’ closure 10 years earlier, welcomed the jobs it was bringing, but some were very unhappy, understandably, about living with the noise of the planes. On the day of the airport opening, there was a small demonstration. The airport management, rightly wanting to avoid unnecessary ill feeling, invited half a dozen demonstrators inside and gave them a chance to meet the Queen and set out their case. When it came to their turn, the residents explained their fears about aircraft noise. The Queen listened carefully to what they had to say and replied, “I know exactly what you mean. You should hear the noise at Windsor castle of the jets coming in to land at Heathrow.”

The Prime Minister said yesterday that Her late Majesty had a unique ability to transcend difference and heal division. That is what she did on that occasion. Her off-the-cuff response transformed the situation. Arriving as disgruntled outsiders, the residents had been transformed into insiders who had shared a moment of recognition and warmth with their head of state. The rancour between the objectors and the airport was, I think, permanently eased.

The day after the opening ceremony for London 2012, which was a Saturday, when we might have thought that after the night before the then 86-year-old monarch would have been entitled to a day off, the Queen returned to London City airport to mark its 25th anniversary. Other memorable visits included, in her Golden Jubilee tour, a visit to Green Street, the most successful Asian shopping street in the country—we claim—where she was greeted by enthusiastic women in colourful saris waving Union Jacks, creating wonderful photographs in the Daily Mail the next day.

We always remember the Queen opening what we now call Newham University Hospital in December 1983. Her reign was seven decades: those treasured memories will last for many decades more.

Confidence in Her Majesty’s Government

Stephen Timms Excerpts

Monday 18th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Sir Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

I want to focus on one example of a specific problem with this Government that I think makes it impossible to have confidence in them. Between November last year and the end of March this year, the Prime Minister claimed 10 times at Prime Minister’s questions that more people were in work than before the pandemic. That was untrue. The figures show that total employment is still 366,000 lower than just before the pandemic.

The Prime Minister made that untrue claim twice on 24 November 2021, three times on 5 January 2022, again the following week and then again the following week. He claimed it again on 2 February and on 23 February. On 24 February, the exasperated chair of the UK Statistics Authority wrote to the Prime Minister to point out that the claim was not true. The Prime Minister claimed it again on 27 March.

On 30 March, I asked the Prime Minister at the Liaison Committee whether he accepted that his tenfold statements had been wrong. He replied:

“I think I have repeatedly—and I think I took steps to correct the record earlier.”

Well, he had not corrected the record, and he still has not. In his answer at the Liaison Committee it was clear that he understood what has actually happened since the pandemic, and that about half a million people—mainly older people—have given up on work, substantially reducing the number in work overall. However, four weeks after that discussion on 27 April, the Prime Minister said:

“Let me give them the figures: 500,000 more people in paid employment now than there were before the pandemic began”.—[Official Report, 27 April 2022; Vol. 712, c. 754.]

That was even though he had made clear to me on 30 March that he knew that to be untrue.

At the Liaison Committee two weeks ago, the Chair of the Justice Committee

asked:

“How important is the truth to you, Prime Minister?”

The Prime Minister replied, “Very important, Bob.” But it clearly isn’t important, and the record still has not been corrected for any of the 11 instances of the false claim that the Prime Minister knows he has made.

Other examples of a lack of truthfulness have been much more consequential. After negotiating customs checks between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Prime Minister went to the Democratic Unionist party conference and announced that there would be no such checks. That was obviously untrue, and the DUP has paid a very heavy political price for taking him at his word. Democracy does not work if Ministers routinely say things that they know to be untrue. Why did they not see through him before?

Functioning of Government

Stephen Timms Excerpts

Thursday 7th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Michael Ellis]

I am sure that my hon. Friend’s comment has been noted.

[Sir Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

It is a great relief that we will no longer have a Prime Minister who keeps on saying things that subsequently turn out to be untrue. Will the Minister reassure us that the change will take place in hours, not months, and does he recognise that effective democracy depends on Ministers telling the truth?

[Michael Ellis]

I can only say that the Prime Minister will make a statement shortly.

Easter Recess: Government Update

Stephen Timms Excerpts

Tuesday 19th April 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I apologise again. I thank the public very much for what they did: by their collective action, they have helped us to keep covid at bay.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

But giving an apology and then carrying on is not being held to account. Does the Prime Minister recognise that there is a very serious problem for the long term in leaving a lawbreaker in charge of the lawmakers?

[The Prime Minister]

I have said what I have said. I apologise and want to say again to the House that when I spoke before in this Chamber about events in Downing Street, I spoke in good faith.

Living with Covid-19

Stephen Timms Excerpts

Monday 21st February 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I know that my right hon. Friend speaks for millions of people around the country. I can tell her that many, many restrictions have already been lifted, and they will continue to be lifted.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

Three years ago, the Government consulted on much-needed reforms to statutory sick pay, rightly recognising that the current system is inflexible and does not reflect modern working life. Those reforms were postponed when the pandemic hit, and day one access to statutory sick pay was introduced instead. I think the Prime Minister has just announced that day one access to statutory sick pay will be withdrawn in a month’s time. Will he now bring forward the much-needed and long-delayed reforms to statutory sick pay?

[The Prime Minister]

As the right hon. Gentleman knows, statutory sick pay is only a part of what many employees already receive as part of their sick pay.

Oral Answers to Questions

Stephen Timms Excerpts

Tuesday 8th February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Victoria Atkins]

In an effort to help the hon. Gentleman, I point out that we have extended 32 Nightingale Crown courtrooms until April and we have opened two new super-courtrooms in Manchester and Loughborough. In the Crown court, the outstanding case load reduced from around 61,000 cases last June to around 58,700 cases at the end of November. As I say, we do not in any way say that this is job done. We will continue to invest in this, but the figures are beginning to go in the right direction after the pandemic.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

10. What steps he is taking to reduce delays in the family courts.

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

We are determined to reduce delays and bring down waiting times in the courts to reduce the impact the pandemic has had on children and their families. We invested £0.25 billion to support recovery in our courts in the last financial year, and that included £76 million to increase capacity to hear cases in the family and civil courts, as well as in tribunals. Last year’s spending review provided £324 million over the next three years to further improve waiting times in the civil and family courts and tribunals.

[Stephen Timms]

In east London the position is getting worse. The delays in the east London family court are the worst in London. Several months ago we were told that parts of east London would be transferred to other courts to ease the problems, but nothing seems to have happened so far and families are now having to wait a minimum of seven months for a hearing. When will we finally see some progress on this? Do we not need additional court capacity?

[James Cartlidge]

I hear what the right hon. Gentleman says. I can confirm that the Government and senior judiciary are working closely together to increase the sitting capacity across the east London cluster. In recognition of the pressure on family work across the east London estate, a Nightingale court was created at Petty France, with four additional courts, and additional courts are being utilised at Stratford magistrates and the Royal Court of Justice. But I recognise that this is an important issue for his constituents and I would be more than happy to meet him to talk about what more we can do.

Sue Gray Report

Stephen Timms Excerpts

Monday 31st January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend will see reference to that very problem in Sue Gray’s report and we will take steps to clarify things and make sure that there is greater transparency in the lines of command.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

Does the Prime Minister recognise that repeatedly making statements, including from the Dispatch Box, which turn out subsequently to be untrue, is a serious problem, or does he not recognise that?

[The Prime Minister]

I really think the right hon. Gentleman is prejudging things, and he should wait for the conclusion of the inquiries.

Tributes to Sir David Amess

Stephen Timms Excerpts

Monday 18th October 2021 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

We have rightly been reminded of David’s enthusiastic advocacy for the constituencies that he represented, but he was also an enthusiast for the London Borough of Newham, where he was born and grew up; where he attended the excellent St Bonaventure’s Catholic school, which he stayed in touch with for the rest of his life; where he supported West Ham United football club; and where his mother lived until her death five years ago, as we have been reminded, at the age of 104. I heard over the weekend from somebody who was in the sixth form at St Bonaventure’s with David but who, unlike David, supported the Labour party. He told me that the politics teacher, Mr Cunningham, predicted that David was going to be a Conservative MP. He also told me that in a period when he was not able to attend quite a lot of the politics lessons, David very carefully wrote out all of his notes so that his friend could copy those notes afterwards. Kindness was evident at that early stage as well.

David stood for election to the council in Newham in 1974 and 1978 and for Parliament in Newham North West in 1979, before finding more promising opportunities further east, but notwithstanding party differences, his supportive interest in Newham remained. As council leader from 1990, I pressed the Conservative Government to bring the channel tunnel rail link through a station in Stratford. David was our unwavering ally on the Government side. Singlehandedly, he made the campaign cross-party, and that was crucial to its success, leading to London 2012 and the regeneration that is under way at the moment.

Of course, David was not initially seen as a friend by my Newham Council colleagues, who have not seen a Conservative elected for 30 years. We all remembered David dashing our 1992 general election hopes by holding Basildon, but we invited him to our town hall celebration when the Stratford campaign succeeded. I was not quite sure how that was going to go, but David won over everybody with a beautifully judged speech. Newham has lost a great friend.

David was accessible to his constituents. Tragically, he has now given his life. We will rightly reflect on what more we can do to stop that happening again—I wonder if we might ask the police to review our appointment lists ahead of each surgery, for example—but we must not give up on the accessibility of Members of Parliament. If we do, the sponsors of those who attacked David and who attacked me will have succeeded. That must not happen.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

Oral Answers to Questions

Stephen Timms Excerpts

Wednesday 21st July 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend raises a very important point. Many of the hospitals that I have been round recently are doing incredible work at getting back to pre-covid levels of service. I understand that NHS partners are working hard to explore options for restoring maternity services at County Hospital.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

Together, the Chairs of the Committees dealing with social security in the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd and the Northern Ireland Assembly and I have made a call that the £20 a week cut in universal credit due in October should not go ahead. A new Joseph Rowntree Foundation Report shows that if it does go ahead, out-of-work families with children will have an income way below what the general public regard as the minimum necessary for an acceptable standard of living. Instead of cutting down, will the Prime Minister not follow his own policy, level up and leave the £20 a week in place?

[The Prime Minister]

What we want to do is level up across the whole of the UK by increasing access to high-wage, high-skilled jobs and by getting people off benefits and into work. That really is the big difference between the right hon. Member’s party and the party that I lead. We want to help people into work, but I am afraid that, as so often, Labour wants to keep them on welfare. I do not think that is the right way forward. We want to see higher wages, which is why we have increased the living wage by record amounts, and we are working to ensure that this is a jobs-led recovery. All the signs at the moment are that that is succeeding, but of course it depends on people getting those jabs when they are asked to.

International Aid: Treasury Update

Stephen Timms Excerpts

Programme motion
Tuesday 13th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab) [V]]

We had a 20-year cross-party consensus that we should meet the UN’s target of 0.7% of GNI on aid. I very much regret that that consensus has been lost. Of course, when GDP goes down, our aid budget will go down, but the pandemic is no justification for reducing the proportion of national income committed to international aid.

In a fine speech, the right hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr Mitchell) referred to the strength of Christian Aid in Chesham and Amersham. As a Treasury Minister in the late 1990s, I saw the churches play the key role in securing that cross-party consensus. They were the instigators of Jubilee 2000 ahead of the millennium and the key supporters of Make Poverty History afterwards. Those campaigns led to the historic 2005 Gleneagles deal in which $40 billion of debts owed by 18 highly indebted poor countries were written off. The idea of cancelling unpayable debts inspired people and drew them together. Rooted in teaching in the Bible, it had a dramatic impact on Government policy and on the lives of millions.

Last month, I joined MPs on a virtual trip to Togo organised by the Christian charity Compassion UK. We “visited” its UK aid-funded child survival project. The situation in Togo is desperate. Under-five mortality is among the worst in the world, one in 25 babies does not reach the age of one, and women have a one-in-58 chance of dying in pregnancy or childbirth. Compassion UK’s work, supported by UK aid, is starting to change things: in the first year, the project reached more than 4,000 people in extreme poverty and the number of full-term healthy babies delivered was 24% above target. UK development aid helps to save lives among the world’s poorest people.

We met somebody called Ama, who registered in the programme when she was seven months pregnant. She was struggling to feed her children. When she reached full term, her husband left suddenly. She also had malaria. Her baby and her own life were at risk. The child survival project provided food and hygiene support. Her expenses were paid, she gave birth to a son and she has since been able to set up a business of her own.

Even a small amount of aid saves lives. The cuts to UK aid put thousands of projects like those run by Compassion UK in Togo at risk. I really hope that Parliament will reject the motion.