Engagements — House of Commons, 2019-05-22
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: Does the Prime Minister agree that energy efficiency measures are critical in tackling climate change? Bringing every home up to an energy performance certificate band C standard could save 25% of electricity generation, which is equivalent to six Hinkley Point nuclear power stations; it could save every family £270; and it could potentially pay for itself, by generating £1.27 for every £1 invested.; Can my right hon. Friend explain why she ordered that the consultation on the troubles in Northern Ireland not contain proposals for a statute of limitations, as reported in The Sunday Telegraph, and can she update us on what the Government will actually do?; My constituent Jackie Luxon was 26 weeks pregnant at the time of a car crash that caused her baby to be stillborn. However, only the injuries caused to Mrs Luxon and her older daughter were relevant when charging and subsequently sentencing the driver whose dangerous driving caused the crash. The baby, Grace, got no justice at all. I understand from the police and stillbirth support groups that the Luxon’s tragic experience is, sadly, far from unique. Will the Prime Minister look again at the Road Traffic Act 1988 so that those who cause death to viable babies over 24 weeks’ gestation through dangerous driving can be held responsible for these tragic losses of life?; Prime Minister, it has been brought to my attention that some children suffering from severe epilepsy have been able to greatly reduce, and in some cases end, their seizures if they have access to Bedrolite. Due to the cumbersome and discriminatory system that this Government implemented on 1 November 2018, parents are required to travel abroad, pay thousands of pounds and break the law to bring medicine back, or to pay extraordinary prices to access Bedrolite privately in the UK. Rather than people having to fight for access on a case-by-case basis, will the Prime Minister apply some common sense, show a soupçon of compassion and do everything she can to make medical cannabis available to the many people who are suffering and to ensure that those who can benefit do?; When Sally Masterton discovered a £1 billion fraud at Lloyds, the bank sought to discredit her to the regulator, constructively dismissed her and prevented her from working with the police investigation, which had described her role as vital. Five years later, the bank apologised and paid an undisclosed amount in compensation, yet the Financial Conduct Authority continues to refuse to investigate. Will the Prime Minister use her powers to compel it to do so and to sanction those responsible, including, if relevant, the chief executive for those five years, António Horta-Osório?; Brampton Primary School in Chesterfield has an exemplary record in special needs education. Yet, under the Government’s funding formula, the first £6,000 for every special needs child is not actually funded by the Government. When even the Tory lead member for education in Derbyshire describes a school like Brampton as a victim of its own success, is it not time that the Prime Minister, in her final days, changed the funding formula and started looking after those special needs children?; On 5 June the eyes of the world will be on Portsmouth for D-day 75. Events planned will give justice to the sacrifices made by veterans like my own grandfather, and will show Portsmouth to be a place that fosters a legacy of remembrance, reflection and reconciliation. Our allies in world war two— Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US—have all taken steps to ensure that coroners record suicide among the veteran community. Prime Minister, why don’t we?; It took time to get there, but the Prime Minister has now recognised that a no-deal Brexit is not a viable option. However, she knows as well as the rest of us that many of her potential successors do not feel the same way. So can she tell us whether she agrees with her Brexit Secretary, among others, who thinks that we should be spending the coming months stepping up the preparations for a no-deal Brexit, or with her Chancellor, who has issued an edict that no more Treasury money should be spent on preparing for a no-deal Brexit?; As a Manchester MP, may I thank the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition for their words of remembrance for the victims of the terrorist attack in our city two years ago? In the light of the concerns expressed about delays in accessing compensation, and about the amounts being offered to victims following the attack, will the Government give consideration, when the criminal injuries compensation scheme is reviewed this year, to establishing a separate Government funding pot for the victims of terrorist attacks? This would mean that such compensation would not have to be taken from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority funding, and that we could give more flexible and immediate support to the victims of terror attacks.; On two previous occasions I have asked the Prime Minister to do more to support the victims of the leasehold scandal. Now that she is about to move house any time soon, will she give that issue a little more focus and address it urgently to give leaseholders justice?; During the 2017 election campaign, the Prime Minister acknowledged that our social care system is broken and promised to fix it, yet the CEO of a care provider in Crewe and Nantwich recently told me that the decision to cut sleep-in pay for care workers by up to £400 a month is a direct result of underfunding in the care sector. Will the Prime Minister consider legislating to ensure that sleep-in shifts attract at least the national living wage, and will she provide local authorities with the necessary funding to give care workers the pay they deserve?; The Prime Minister must be considering her legacy. She said she wants to correct burning injustice, so will she commit to supporting legislation such as that proposed by my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull North (Diana Johnson) so that abortion in Northern Ireland becomes a health matter, not a criminal one, and, as soon possible, women have equal rights across the whole United Kingdom?; We have repeatedly heard from the Prime Minister that it would be an“unforgivable breach of trust in our democracy”if we failed to deliver Brexit, yet if the polls are correct Scotland will send a clear message tomorrow that it wants to remain in Europe by increasing its number of SNP MEPs while wiping out the Tories. Should Scotland increase its number of pro-EU MEPs tomorrow, will the Prime Minister finally listen to the people of Scotland, who want to determine their own future as an independent European nation, or will she breach their trust by leaving Scotland’s people with Boris’s Brexit Britain?; Universal credit was today condemned again by the United Nations special rapporteur, who likened DWP policy to creating modern versions of “the 19th-century workhouse”. A leaked memo has revealed that the DWP is doubling down, promoting universal credit with an aggressive public relations campaign, including a BBC documentary and adverts seen in today’s Metro, which DWP officials state“won’t look…like DWP or UC—you won’t see our branding, and this is deliberate.”Prime Minister, how is it right that the DWP is spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on misleading adverts that promote a cruel policy, which is driving my constituents into debt, despair and destitution?
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. Just before we come to the Prime Minister’s statement, I think it is fitting for me to refer again to something that was mentioned at the start of questions to the Prime Minister by the Leader of the Opposition Three trawlers set out from Hull during January and February of 1968 and never returned, leading to the loss of 58 lives. Yvonne Marie Blenkinsop is the last surviving member of a group of women from Hull who became known, following that tragedy, as the headscarf revolutionaries. The women campaigned for better protection for their husbands, fathers, brothers and sons. Through their actions, countless lives have been saved. I am reliably informed that Yvonne Marie Blenkinsop is with us today, observing our proceedings. We salute her and her fellow women, and we extend to her the warmest welcome to the House of Commons. [Applause.]