Oral Answers to Questions

Wes Streeting Excerpts

Wednesday 29th April 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

I thank my hon. Friend for the tenacious and doughty way in which he is championing the NHS. I am delighted that Stockport NHS Foundation Trust has been allocated close to £31 million for the provision of a new emergency care campus at Stepping Hill, one of our 20 hospital upgrades, and Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust has been allocated over £16 million to provide emergency and urgent care facilities at Tameside general hospital. The Conservatives are the party of the NHS—more money, more hospitals, more doctors and nurses—and that is one of the reasons why we have managed, through our critical care capacity, to help protect the NHS from becoming overwhelmed by coronavirus.

[Wes Streeting (Ilford North) (Lab)]

May I first offer my deepest thanks to the first responders from the Metropolitan police and the London ambulance service who were greeted with the horrifying scene on Sunday night of an 18-month-old baby girl and three-year-old boy brutally murdered in their own home? There are no words of comfort that we can offer their grieving mother, but what the Government can do is more to support people who are not safe in their own homes. I recognise the £3 million that has gone in to support children who witness domestic abuse and the £2 million that has gone in to support the domestic abuse hotline, but it is not enough and it is not quick enough. In that spirit, may I ask the First Secretary of State to commit to providing the £75 million ring-fenced fund that the shadow Home Secretary has called for, so that in these darkest of times people who are trapped unsafe in their own homes know that support is available?

[Dominic Raab]

May I thank the hon. Gentleman and say how appalled I am at the tragic case in his constituency? I pay tribute to the frontline emergency responders, and I, absolutely in total solidarity with the hon. Gentleman, pass on my condolences to the family in that terrible case; it sounds absolutely appalling.

The police have been very clear that they will pursue perpetrators and anyone in immediate danger should call 999. We are going through the coronavirus challenge, which has put pressure on the police, but they are there to do that incredible job that they do day in, day out. We have the national domestic abuse helpline, which is staffed 24 hours a day, and we are supporting charities and others supporting victims of domestic abuse with £750 million. The hon. Gentleman makes interesting points about what more we could do; we are constantly looking to reinforce and strengthen the response to domestic abuse, and he is right that there is a specific issue in relation to this crisis. The Domestic Abuse Bill had its Second Reading yesterday; that will help to take our response to the next level and offers an opportunity for him to make further proposals in due course.