Engagements — House of Commons, 2022-05-25
Topic: Social Welfare
Questions: When the Prime Minister gets passionate, things get done. Brexit is done. The vaccine—[Interruption.] If the Opposition can contain themselves—the vaccine roll-out is done. So will he personally intervene so that the immunocompromised, like my constituent Scott, can get access to British wonder-drug Evusheld—not next winter, not next year, but now—so that they can enjoy this summer and enjoy their freedom, just like the rest of us?; High streets and heritage mean a lot to the people of Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove and Talke. Burslem and Tunstall, two of the great six towns of Stoke-on-Trent, are plagued with rogue and absent landlords who are only too happy to let shops sit empty and historically important buildings, such as the Price and Kensington Teapot Works, fall into ruin, which is why I introduced my Planning (Proper Maintenance of Land) Bill to increase fines on these ruinous owners. Can my right hon. Friend confirm that, as part of the Government’s planning reform, he will adopt my Bill, which imposes a new unlimited fine, so these reckless reprobates can be held accountable?Up the Vale for Saturday, Mr Speaker!;   The recent report on levelling up the rural economy highlighted many areas where more work is needed in small rural and coastal communities to ensure that they also benefit from our levelling-up agenda. Does the Prime Minister agree that we need to ensure that levelling up reaches into rural and coastal Devon? Will he meet me and Helen Hurford, our excellent candidate in Tiverton and Honiton, to agree how we can progress our plans for Devon?; Rising fuel costs are causing serious problems for workers in car-dependent rural areas such as Ceredigion, and for carers and district nurses the situation has reached a crisis point. One carer from Ceredigion often has to travel 29 miles just to reach her first service user of the day and travels about 1,700 miles each month. Will the Prime Minister therefore consider extending the rural fuel duty relief scheme to areas such as Ceredigion to help my constituent and many like her to continue their invaluable work?; Labour and socialism have failed the country because their failed policies interfere too much in people’s lives, over-regulate, spend too much taxpayers’ money, borrow too much and raise taxes. Will the Prime Minister tell the House what policies his Government will follow to ensure that we do not have a similar fate?;   Days before the election of disgraced former Conservative MP Imran Ahmad Khan, his victim warned the Conservative party of the abuse that he had suffered.;   While the politics of politics often gets all the attention, back in the real world millions of parents—I declare a quite obvious interest—are being held back by issues with childcare schemes, which have been a muddle under Governments of all political colours. The taxpayer is spending five to six billion quid a year and we have some of the highest costs in the world during a cost of living squeeze. Stroud parents and early years educators are also really stuck with the bureaucracy. I know that my right hon. Friend has personally asked Ministers to investigate options to reduce the costs of childcare. Will he tell us a little more about what we can do urgently, and will he work with me and the Onward think-tank on reforms?; Next month marks five years since the horrific Grenfell Tower fire which killed 72 people. My constituency of Vauxhall has many tall buildings similar to Grenfell. In 2019, the Prime Minister rightly told this House that where the inquiry recommends Government responsibility for fire safety, “we will legislate accordingly.” But last week the Government dropped the inquiry’s recommendation that a personal evacuation plan should be in place for disabled residents, claiming basic safety would be too expensive. Grenfell United said that that showed“cutting costs is more important than the value of human life.”Will the Prime Minister urgently reverse this deeply inhumane decision and not break another promise to this House?; Mr Speaker, I am not a cynical sort but I was slightly perplexed this week when the Cabinet Secretary and the director general of Government Propriety and Ethics, no less, were banned from attending my Committee, the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, to give evidence. That meeting had been scheduled for two months. I cannot possibly think why, Mr Speaker. I wonder which particular subjects my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister was most concerned about being raised by my Committee. Was it the case of undeclared loans and donations in kind, security insights into appointments to the House of Lords, or indeed the consultation of the Propriety and Ethics unit in ministerial appointments?; The Prime Minister is leading a long queue of Conservative MPs lining up to show how out of touch they are. Bills are rising and people are struggling. A quarter of people in work in Putney earn less than the London living wage. They do not need to be told how to budget better, to learn how to cook or how to buy value food. They are already doing so. When will the Prime Minister get a grip on this crisis and when will he bring in the windfall tax?; Under cover of the pandemic we have seen a massive shift in wealth from the poorest to the richest. A partying Prime Minister and a law-breaking rich list Chancellor have lined the pockets of their wealthy pals while upwards of 175,000 of our fellow citizens have died from covid, and they are now sitting on their hands and laughing in our faces as the cost of living crisis and fuel poverty could well leave thousands more to die of cold in their own homes. So when we saw pictures of the Prime Minister partying in the middle of the pandemic was he toasting his assault on the working class, and how on earth does he sleep at night with so much blood on his filthy, privileged hands?; Yesterday the head of Ofgem advised MPs that the energy cap is due to increase to £2,800 in the autumn, more than double last year’s cap. I know the Prime Minister has been busy drafting and redrafting his half-arsed apologies rather than helping the people of Bury South, but at which work event—[Interruption.] At which work event did he realise Labour’s call was the right thing to do; considering he and his party voted against it last week? Is it just to save his own neck?
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I heard enough to have a rough idea of the nonsense the hon. Gentleman was talking. We are not only supporting people now but will continue to put our arms around the people of this country, as we did during the pandemic and beyond.