Engagements — House of Commons, 2018-10-17
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: The Prime Minister is very familiar with my five-year campaign to extend civil partnerships to all couples, and my private Member’s Bill has now completed its Committee stage, so I welcome her recent announcement that it is now Government policy, albeit without a timeline and with my having to find out about it by reading the press. Will she now support amendments to my Bill on Report in nine days as the quickest way to make equal civil partnerships a reality for the many thousands who want her to get on with it?; The vast majority of people in the United Kingdom will wish the Prime Minister well in the very tricky negotiations that she must undertake, which no other Prime Minister has had to do in our history. Will she ensure that the outcome of those negotiations will allow us to continue to attract the levels of inward investment that we have been attracting, which have caused unemployment to fall by more than 1 million people in the last six years?; Even the Prime Minister’s fiercest critics—I believe she has a few—must be full of admiration for the way in which she manages her diabetic condition and holds down such a tough and demanding job. I understand that she benefits from a FreeStyle Libre glucose monitoring system. Wouldn’t it be nice if she did something to make that benefit available to the half a million people who are denied it because of NHS rationing? Perhaps we could call it “help for the many, not the few”.; The Government’s announcement of a pilot scheme for seasonal agricultural workers has been warmly welcomed by fruit and vegetable farmers in Cornwall and, indeed, across the country, but that is not the only sector that relies heavily on seasonal migrant workers. The tourism and hospitality sector is anxious to be able to continue to access its seasonal workforce after we have left the EU. What action are the Government taking to ensure that the tourism sector, which is so important to our economy, will still be able to access the workforce that it needs, and will my right hon. Friend consider a seasonal workers scheme for that sector?; Yesterday, Nottingham Citizens published a report on hate crime in our schools, which it highlighted as a growing issue. I was particularly struck by the lack of awareness among the children who were surveyed of what actually constitutes a hate crime. We have failed those children by not yet properly arming them with the knowledge and skills that will enable them to thrive in this challenging world. Will the Prime Minister meet me, and a delegation of young people from my city, to discuss how to change that?; Our joint Health and Social Care and Housing, Communities and Local Government Committees inquiry into the future funding of adult social care recommended a social insurance system of the type that has been so successful in Germany. Will the Prime Minister give her fullest consideration to this solution, which would mean that everyone is protected from the potentially catastrophic costs of care?; Pensioners over 75 face having to find an extra £150.50 every year if current proposals to take away free TV licences come to fruition. Will the Prime Minister take responsibility for this policy, speak to the BBC and find a solution that does not pickpocket pensioners?; It is extraordinary that the Labour party has nothing to say about the good news of the fall in unemployment—falling by 50,000, and now at the lowest rate in my lifetime. More importantly I would suggest, wages are growing. That is particularly good news in constituencies such as North Dorset, where incomes are below the national average. Does my right hon. Friend agree that thousands of families across our country are now benefitting from the security of a regular pay packet and our balanced Tory approach to the economy?; The Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar in the occupied Palestinian territories faces imminent demolition and is currently being swamped with sewage from the nearby settlement of Kfar Adumim. Just this morning Israeli forces have tasered and pepper-sprayed activists there. Will the Prime Minister make it clear to the Prime Minister of Israel that this is occupied territory that these are refugees—protected people whose forcible removal would constitute, as the United Nations has stated, a war crime?; My constituent Elliot Peters died earlier this year from hyperammonemia aged just 14. His parents, Holly and Andy Storey, are understandably devastated. Elliot’s condition was not diagnosed early enough; by the time he was placed on dialysis it was too late. Will the Prime Minister meet me and Elliot’s parents to discuss raising awareness of the condition and adding hyperammonemia testing to A&E departments when a patient presents symptoms?; In the face of clear breaches of electoral law where the Vote Leave campaign might just have cheated its way to victory, the police refuse to undertake a criminal investigation because of what they say are “political sensitivities”. This comes on top of all the issues of unaccounted dark money sustaining the Scottish Conservatives. Does the Prime Minister believe that our electoral laws are fit for purpose, and what will she personally do to ensure that our democracy is defended from those who would seek to circumvent it?; I welcome the Government’s extra funding for our NHS. Will my right hon. Friend ensure that some of this new money is used to improve and upgrade NHS technology, which can both save more lives and improve patient care?; In Mitcham and Morden, Brexit means that the Wilson hospital will not reopen, after funders pulled out due to economic uncertainty. Goodness knows how many communities are now going to lose their health centres and GP surgeries. We must have missed that Brexit bus. Will the Prime Minister give Mitcham and Morden a people’s vote on Brexit so that we can save our hospital, or will she today guarantee the reopening of the Wilson?; The Prime Minister will be only too well aware that people living in the remote highlands and islands are being penalised by extra charges for the delivery of goods and utilities. Indeed, I would say that this is a wholly unfair geography tax on my constituents. May I appeal to her to consider and look favourably upon the proposal that a royal commission be set up to look into these extra charges and into how they could be eliminated?
Ivan Lewis (Independent, Unknown): The Prime Minister has an admirable sense of duty, so will she be honest about Brexit? There is now only one viable option in the short term that can reconcile the referendum result with the interests of all parts of the United Kingdom, with the genuine concerns of many Members on both sides of the House about the impact of a flawed deal or no deal, with our communities and with Labour’s tests. We should join the European Free Trade Association and the European economic area and seek EU agreement to remain in the customs union for a specified period from the date we leave. We should make it clear that, on joining the EEA, we will exercise our right to put an emergency brake on the free movement of labour. It may not be the perfect option, but our only consideration now should be the national interest.