Watch live as Rishi Sunak faces Sir Keir Starmer in Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday 8 May.
It will be the first time the two leaders go head-to-head since last week’s local election results.
The Conservatives suffered a mauling from the electorate, losing nearly 500 council seats, the West Midlands mayoral race and the Blackpool South by-election.
Sir Keir has urged the prime minister to call a general election “as quickly as possible” as he welcomed Labour’s newest MP to Parliament.
Chris Webb took his seat in the House of Commons on Tuesday, five days after winning the Blackpool South by-election with almost 60 per cent of the vote.
Welcoming Mr Webb to parliament’s Westminster Hall, Sir Keir praised his “phenomenal victory” and hailed him as “the first born-and-bred Blackpool MP for 60 years”.
The Labour leader joked that the party was “making a habit of this”, with Mr Webb making Thursday’s by-election the eighth of the parliament to see Labour gain a seat.
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disability but if the honorable lady is truly concerned about cost of living pressures in Wales perhaps she ought to be asking her colleagues in the Welsh labor government why on this very day Welsh labor ministers are supporting a plan to create dozens of extra senate members at a cost of10 million all money which could be far better spent on supporting those with the least David is the Secretary of State aware of a study by a citizen’s advice K which end indicates that over half a million people in Wales are struggling to make ends meat if he’s aware about what’s he doing about it yeah well Mr Speaker I’ve already outlined the extra payments that are being made to pensioners of benefits to those on disability the fact that pensions benefits and and the minimum wage have all gone up in line with inflation and on top of that the UK government have been delivering Five Towns funds four growth deals three rounds of leveling up funding two investment zones two free ports an electric art furnace in South Wales an electrif rail line in North Wales and what are we getting from the Wales SLB government Mr Speaker we’re getting £120 million being spent on extra senate members while we level up the economy they want to level up the number of politicians in Cardiff Bay Patrick R Mr Speaker he mentioned Ukraine and Co as contributing factors to the cost of living crisis he forgot to mention brexit or is he going to try to argue that brexit has somehow improved things and made goods and services cheaper for people in Wheels Mr Speaker I’d be only too delighted to mentioned brexit which was voted for by a majority in the United Kingdom and a majority in Wales and point out to The Honorable gentleman that since brexit the UK has actually grown faster than France and Germany I could also go on to mention Mr Speaker wasting money on Scottish embassies all around the world trying to build fairies that haven’t yet been floated anywhere raising taxes and trying to shut down the oil and gas industry in Scotland as measures which are unlikely to support cost of living pressures in Scotland Bank of Wales was supposed to be aiding businesses through cost of living pressures does my right honorable friend agree that it’s unacceptable that one company received 400,000 from the bank was then able to give the first minister of Wales 200,000 well Mr Speaker Mr Speaker The Honorable lady raises a very interesting point here the Development Bank of Wales which is owned ultimately by the wal taxpayers should be there to support businesses through cost of living pressures it was able to make a £400,000 loan to a company which was then able to turn around and hand 00,000 back in a political donation to enable the first minister to win the Wales election campaign Mr Speaker it’s a very good question it’s not a question for me it’s one that should be answered by the shadow front bench but on this matter Mr Speaker they have been very silent indeed CS thank you uh Mr Speaker small businesses particularly those in retail and Hospitality are directly affected by cost of living challenges that come from the outcome of covid and the energy price uh uh Spike uh from the Ukraine uh conflict therefore the chancellor has introduced a 75% business rate relief scheme in England that is supporting businesses in England does he share my concern that that funding is not being used to the same degree in Wales and the business rates in Wales are only being relieved at rate of 40% and are paying more in tax Mr Speaker the right honorable gentleman is absolutely right the UK government made certain that the money for the business rate discount was passed on to the Welsh labor government and instead of passing it on to the pubs and restaurants and small businesses that are so vital to communities in Wales they’ve decided to spend it on other matters such as the one they’re voting on today and as a result of that Mr Speaker the average Pub in Wales is paying thousands more in business rates than a pub just across the border in England it is absolutely scandalous and I would urge the wsh labor government to think about where their priorities are thanks Mr Speaker no Contrition then in any of those answers from the secretary of state whose party has piled on average £960 extra on the tax bills of around 400,000 pensioners in Wales by freezing tax threshold the Prime Minister has now made a totally unfunded 46 billion pound promis to scrap National Insurance so will the minister tell us how in Earth they’re going to pay for it and will he rule out an 8p rise in income tax or scrapping winter fuel payments to do so well Mr Speaker we’ve made it very clear that we want to keep the triple lock to continue to to ensure that pensions increase in line with inflation and we’re going to afford to do that Mr Speaker by making sure we get growth in the economy which is why we wanted to end the double taxation system of making those in work pay uh extra money through national insurance tax we’ve also made very clear Mr Speaker that we will only make tax cuts when we afford them because this side of the house Mr Speaker we don’t believe in making unfunded promises in order to try and buy votes there’s S Roberts lar more than one in four children in Wales lives in poverty Devolution has the capacity to transform people’s lives but the current first minister is distracted with questions about his Integrity deleting messages and taking dodgy donations 25 years since the start of devolution does the Secretary of State agree with me that governments at both ends of the N4 need to recommit to integrity and transparency yeah yeah speaker I can absolutely assure The Honorable lady that this government and this political party are completely committed towards integrity and I think the time Mr Speaker Mr Speaker Mr Speaker They’re laughing Mr Speaker their own first Minister took £200,000 from a convicted criminal a a convicted criminal received £400,000 from a bank for which he was responsible when in front of the covid committee and said that all the messages on his phone had been accidentally deleted by the IT department but now we see a screenshot where he urges people to delete their messages so they can’t be foi and they have the audacity to sit there laughing when people ask questions about standards say The Honorable lady I said The Honorable lady makes a very good point let’s collapse the Coalition and stop supporting the Welsh labor government and then we can get a decent government with decent values running Wales Roberts my party seems to make a difference in the lives of the people of Wales but when it comes to the of state’s judgments and relations to the first first Minister yes we are for once an agreement but this screams hypocrisy the tour is in the Senate voted against a plyy motion to set a cap on political donations his party has still not returned a 10 million pound donation from a man who made racist and misogynistic remarks in that Spirit of open democracy will the Secretary of State support a cap on donations to political parties well Mr Speaker I’m not going to uh sit here and start making up policy on the hoof but what I would say to The Honorable lady and I think she’d agree with this is that I would not have taken hundreds of thousands of pounds in donations from somebody who’d been convicted twice of environmental offenses and if the labor party are happy with that that is a matter for them Mr Speaker look done four sir thank you Mr Speaker firstly can I thank my right honorable friend for his work as chair of the environmental audit committee the UK government River y action plan will halt ongo goinging decline of the river y to preserve and restore this treasured River to the rating of favorable condition as The Minister’s already said the environment is a devolved matter but nobody seems to have told The River Why which rises in Wales and uh and crosses the border to to emerge into the river 7 in England I very much welcome the riverwi action plan which defra has announced recently has my honorable friend seen any action taken by the Welsh government to match the UK government’s commitment to clean up the polluted river wide in the interest of time Mr Speaker I’ll give you a very short answer no the Welsh government has failed to come to the table time and time again on this issue which is close to my heart as a a constituency MP for the river y itself that has been the missing piece of the puzzle and that is why we are seeing no action in Wales fre bilas number five please Mr Speaker Mr Speaker Healthcare is devolved to the Welsh government who have received record levels of funding to deliver on all their devolved responsibilities receiving 20% more funding per person than in England sir so many people in Wales are waiting longer for NHS care than they are in England and in a 12-month period 40,000 people had to go from Wales to England for elective care doesn’t it show that labor claims to be better for the NHS are completely false yeah my right honorable friend is entirely right the NHS is not safe under Labor’s hands and we have living proof of that in Wales I think it is a great shame that when the Secretary of State for health in England offered the support of the of the NHS in England to alleviate pressures on waiting times in Wales the Welsh Health secretary turned that down that is Labor’s record on the NHS Mr Christopher BR thank you Mr Speaker one of the problems a lot of my constituents have raised with me is that when they do get a letter calling them from an appointment including ones where they’ve been waiting for some time the letter arrives after the appointment date because the Royal Mail is now delivering such an appalling service isn’t it time we really had a strong words to make sure that people who are being called for appointments get a chance to turn up to them because they’ve actually had the letter on time Mark the right honorable gentleman makes a good point one which I will certainly investigate with colleagues but I think the problem lies with the mismanagement of the well shed HS for which his party must take responsibility joh question s Mr speaker thank you Mr Speaker the UK government recognizes the importance of victims having access to the support they need to recover from the impact of crime that is why we are quadrupling funding for victim Services up from £41 million in 2010 John Young Mr Speaker is a recent victim of crime the impact on the victim makes you reflect on uh the impact on the victim but also on how many crimes remain unresolved latest figures show that N9 and 10 crimes in Wales went unsolved in the last 6 months so what can the minister say to the victims of the 82,000 reported crimes that went uncharged last year can I firstly say how sorry I am to to learn that The Honorable lady has been a victim of crime I know the experience she’s gone through and I I personally sented my my huge sympathies this government has a proud record in deliv ing on victims of crime whether that’s new pieces of legislation or the records headcount of police officers unfortunately it was the Welsh government who chose to reduce the numbers of police Community Support officers last year which is having an impact on victims of crime Jones Thank you Mr Speaker does my honorable friend agree that we are all victims when senior labor politicians make false and misleading statements at public inquiries my right honorable friend is absolutely right it is deeply concerning that a first Minister should reveal himself to have acted in such a way which appears to be entirely contrary um I look forward to Welsh labor members looking for further scrutiny on that issue Matt Wester today Mr Speaker with your permission I will answer questions 10 and 11 together I have regular discussions with cabinet colleagues on a range of subjects including steel making in Wales the government is investing 500 million to retain steel making at p talber and not only in Port tarbard actually but other T sites including sanw and shoton protecting 5,000 jobs and thousands more in the supply chain whilst increasing our economic security and at the same time the government have put aside £80 million for the transition board to spend supporting anyone who loses their job in p tarbard and The Wider Community Matt Wester thank you Mr Speaker whether it be the transm transmission pilm and lines to upgrade our power grid as demanded by The Windsor report or the prospect of building steel-based offshore wind platforms the Welsh steel industry can and should be Central to our transition to a net zero Nation when historic Investments are being made by European competitors in green steel does the minister recognize that it is the government’s lack of ambition for Britain that has let thousands of skilled workers down well Mr Speaker The Honorable gentleman makes a good point about the importance of making sure there’s a grid connection to enable an electric Arc furnace to work properly and I’ve raised this issue with National Grid and they’ve assured me that the grid connection can be made on time he makes a second reasonable point about the importance of being able to use steel produced in Port Talbert for floating off your wind turbines that is not the case at the moment because as some of his shadow front benches seem to be unaware of the steel made in Port tber is coil which is too thin to make floating offsh wind turbine but the honorable gentleman will be pleased to know that there are discussions going on with one major investor to try and ensure that the steel produced from the art furnace can be uh made in a way that could support floating offshore wind structures Lins thank you Mr Speaker the sustainability of domestic Automotive manufacturing is vital to the Future prosperity of luton’s local economy so what discussions has the minister had with the UK’s automotive industry about the effect of losing our Sovereign virgin steel production on their supply chain costs well Mr Speaker I’ve had a number of discussions Mr Speaker I have regular discussions with the automotive industry I’ve also had regular discussions with the steel industry across the United Kingdom 90% of the grades that are currently produced by Port tarbert can be produced using an electric AR furnace and there is work going on to ensure that the other 10% can be but can I just remind The Honorable lady that we actually have a plan for Port Tor when tataa came to us they were looking to close down Port Tor to pull out of the United Kingdom and it’s a move that would have cost 8,000 jobs and 12 a half thousand in The Wider supply chain as a result of that the UK conservative government stepped forward with half a billion pounds of investment to support an electric Arc furnace and a further 80 million to support retraining workers and to support infrastructure improvements in Port tber we have had not one single penny from the Welsh labor government who instead have decided today to prioritize spending £120 million on more senate members more senate members or support for steel workers I know what my priority is Mr Speaker we now come to questions to prime minister Kiren oswal question one pleasee Minister Mr Speaker I know the whole house will join me in congratulating John swinny on becoming s SMP leader and Scottish first Minister I look forward to working constructively with him to deliver for the people of Scotland Mr Speaker this morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others in addition to my duties in this house I shall have further such meetings later today kir thank you Mr Speaker uh last week’s primee Minister’s questions I highlighted the shocking rise in the number of teenagers trying vaping and asked the Prime Minister if he would take decisive action to stop Vape advertising on football strips he declined to do that since then I have had an exchange with the Scottish chief medical officer Professor sir Gregor Smith during a session of the tobacco and Vapes Bill committee and he said where I become very uncomfortable and I am not supportive is where the massive attraction of sports companies is used in a way that promotes behaviors that are known to be unsafe or unhealthy can I ask the Prime Minister again does he still think that it is right that Vape companies should sponsor foot bulets Mr Speaker I’m glad the honorable lady agrees with me and the government that we should do more to tackle youth vaping and that’s why we are bringing forward measures in the new bill to restrict the availability and appeal of Vapes to Children specifically whether that’s flavors or or indeed marketing as she knows advertising of Vapes is already heavily restricted by UK regulations including a ban on advertising on television and radio and most online now we’ve seen football take positive voluntary action in the past on issues such as this but I will say to her that the government will respond The Honorable lady specific amendment in the usual way thank you Mr Speaker iare that my daughter is a serving officer in the armed forces in recent weeks Mr Speaker my right honorable friend has announced plans to control welfare and get people back to work to increase defense spending to 2 and a half% of GDP and pass legislation to get flights off to Rwanda does he agree with me that these are all issues that real people like my constituents in southeast cor will care about and that the leader of the opposition should do the right thing and back them well Mr we my horable friend is a fantastic Champion for her local area and can I also thank her daughter for her service in the armed forces and she’s right I’m not surprised that the labor party don’t back our plans to stop the boats I’m not surprised they don’t back our plans to get people into work and reform welfare but I do think that they should do the right thing when it comes to the security of our nation and that’s back our plans to increase defense spending and give our brained Armed Forces Personnel the resources they need to keep us safe we don’t come to the opposition k Mr Speaker can I warmly welcome the new member for black Paul South after the representation that fine town has had recently it’s good to know they’ve got a proper Champion back at last can I also warmly welcome the new labor MP fova to these benches Mr Speaker if one week a Tori MP who’s also a doctor says the Prime Minister can’t be trusted with the NHS and joins labor and the next week the Tor MP for DOA on the front line of the small votes crisis says the Prime Minister cannot be trusted with our borders and join labor what is the point of this failed government staggering on well Mr Speaker can I actually join him in welcoming his newest MP for Blackpool I must say he looks a lot happier than the member who was sitting there last week uh but let me let me also let me also join with him and let me join with him in congratulating all new and paying tribute to all former counselors pccc’s and Mayers across the country I I hope his I hope his new ones do him as proud as I am of all of mine Mr Speaker great leaders great leaders like Andy Street great leaders like Andy Street who leave behind a strong Legacy of more homes more jobs and more investment in sharp contrast to the Legacy left by the last Labor government which was a letter joking that there was no money left well Mr Speaker in addition to losing two to PS in two weeks the prime minister’s been on the receiving end of some of the biggest bi-election swings in history he’s also lost 1500 Tory counselors half of his party’s Mayors and a leadership election to atis how many more times do the public and his own MPS need to reject him before he takes the hint well Mr Speaker this time last year I reminded him of uh some advice actually from his own Mentor Tony Blair who had said who had said at the time that he can be as cocky as he likes about local elections but come a general election it’s policy that counts Mr speaker now what one one year on one year on from that advice one year on from that advice what hases he managed 28 billion of tax Rises 17 new business regulations 30 u-turns and a deputy leader under a police investigation [Applause] well I’m surprised he brought up a police investigator think his record is played one lot no actually two the seat belt as well played two lost two in relation to police investigation but it it it’s the same the public keep telling him the voters tell him it’s not good enough instead of listening he keeps telling everything’s fine if only realize his greatness he just doesn’t get it but at least after Thursday night Mr Speaker he can go to the many places that he calls home and enjoy the fruits of his success in Southampton or Downing Street he’s got great labor councils at his mansion in Richmond he can enjoy a brand new labor mayor of North Yorkshire and at his P part in Kensington he can celebrate a historic third term for the mayor of London now that he too can enjoy the benefits of this change labor party is he really still in such a hurry to get back to California Mr Speaker I must say I was I was of course surprised uh to see The Honorable gentleman in North Yorkshire but probably although probably probably not a surprise probably not as surprised as he was when he realized he couldn’t take the tube there Mr Speaker but I can tell him that the people of North Yorkshire the people of North yorshire believe in hard work secure borders lower taxes and straight talking Common Sense Mr Speaker they’re not going to get any of that from a virtue signaling lawyer from North London well it was great to be a North Allon where they just voted to reject the prime minister’s proposition Mr Speaker he’s finally found something in common with the British public no matter where he calls home all his neighbors are backing this change labor party and they keep rejecting him because they have sused him out they know that there’s nothing behind the boasts the gimmicks the smug smile he’s a dodgy salesman desperate to sell them a dad now Mr Speaker 16 days ago when he held a press conference claiming Victory on Rwanda he said the next few weeks will be about action people want Deeds not words so let’s test that how many Small Boat Crossings have there been since he said that 16 days ago Mr Speaker Mr Speaker actually just before we go on to that he talked about a changed he talked about he talked about a chang labor party that’s important because he talked about a change labor party he talks about it a lot but just this morning and he also talked about his new mayor in London so just this morning we’ve learned that the labor mayor in London believes and I quote that there is an equivalence between the brutal terrorist attack of Hamas and Israel defending itself and let me be Crystal Clear there is absolutely no equivalence between a terrorist group and a democratic state so can I ask him now will he take this opportunity to demonstrate to demonstrate that that labor party has changed and will he condemn those comments from the labor mayor well I know that was the last run out before the general election but he’s getting ahead of himself in asking me questions he he [Applause] Mr Speaker I noticed he didn’t even attempt to answer the question he knows the answer since he claimed Victory 16 days ago there have been a staggering 2,400 small vot Crossing 2,400 that’s a gimmick not a deterent and those 2,400 will be added to the touris Asylum Perma backlog which is forecast to rise to 100,000 by the end of this year now the Prime Minister pretends he will remove them all to Rwanda but Rwanda can only take a few hundred a year at that rate the prime minister’s grand plan would take over 300 years to remove them all Mr Speaker that’s tens of thousands of people with their claims going unprocessed who are going to be here for their entire lifetime living in hotels at the taxpayers expense it is AB absurd to call that anything other than an amnesty handed to them by the Tory party isn’t it well Mr Speaker he had the opportunity to condemn the comments of his mayor a mayor who said that there is an equivalence between Hamas and Israel he did not do that and everyone will see what that is that is the change labor party Mr Speaker right there but since I became prime minister Small Boat Crossings are down by a third that’s because we’ve doubled NCA funding increased enforcement rates closed bank accounts to port to 24,000 people process more claims and Mr Speaker when it comes to border control there is a crucial difference between us we want secure borders he’s happy with open borders Mr Speaker the whole country knows that removing less than 1% of Asylum Seekers isn’t stopping the boats it’s granting an amnesty a Tory amnesty but if he thinks the voters are wrong if he thinks his own MPS joining the labor party are wrong if he thinks anyone believes any of the nonsense that he spouts why doesn’t he put it to the test and call a general election Minister Mr Speaker he talks about removing people this is a person who campaigned who person who campaigned to stop the deportation of foreign National offenders Mr Speaker it shows how out of touch his values are with the British people but Mr Speaker is yet another week where we hear nothing about his plan to do anything on the issues that matter to the country Meanwhile we’re getting on reforming welfare and getting people into work he opposes it we’re controlling migration legal and illegal he opposes it and as we heard Mr Speaker we are boosting defense spending to strengthen our country he opposes it and that’s the difference he Snipes from the sidelines the conservatives are building a brighter future when it comes to Small Boat Crossings there’s a lot of talk of Human Rights but surely the only human right and life that matters is the life of children who are being taken across the channel in this respect will the government now do the only thing that will actually be a real deterrence and that is to arrest and detain all those who land illegally on our Shores and then offshore them promptly so that once and for all we can save lives of an end this cruel and callous trade well Mr Speaker my rable friend is right that these Crossings are incredibly dangerous and they risk people’s lives just weeks ago a 7-year-old girl died attempting the crossing and that’s why as a matter of basic compassion we must do everything we can to break the cycle of the criminal gangs and that’s why Mr Speaker you need deterrent that’s what the National Crime agencies say that’s how we dealt with illegal migrants from Albania because it’s only by removing people who shouldn’t be here that we remove the reason for them to come in the first place and that is how we’ll control our borders and it’s clear that it’s only this party that not only has a plan to stop the boats but has a plan to stop the tragic loss of life in the channel too s SMP leader Steven Flyn thank you Mr Speaker may I begin by also congratulating the Fantastic John swiny on becoming Scotland’s first Minister our opponent should be careful very careful what they wish for Mr Speaker as we await the emminent Israeli incursion into Rafa where 1.2 million people are Sheltering including 600,000 children it’s been reported that the United States has paused an armed shipment to Israel the UK will now follow suit want it Mr Speaker there are gentlemen may not realize but the UK government doesn’t itself directly provide arms or ship arms to Israel and when it comes when it comes to the situation in Rafa I’ve been very clear that we are deeply concerned about a full military incursion of Rafa given the devastating humanitarian impact I’ve made that position and point specifically to prime minister Netanyahu whenever we’ve spoken and will continue to urge all sides to focus on the negotiations at hand to bring about a pause in the conflict to release hostages and get more Aid in Steven fln Mr Speaker let’s be clear the confidence that Israel has shown in its military Ambitions in in Rafa stems from the silence which has been shown from its allies on the front benches in this place and indeed elsewhere across the world now we know we all know that UK arms and Tech is supporting Israel’s activities in and will be used in any attack on Rafa knowing that and the devastation which is going to occur surely the time has come to end our complicity and to Halt our sales to Israel Mr Speaker of course we take our defense export responsibilities extremely seriously and that’s why we operate one of the most robust licensing control regimes anywhere in the world we period Al review advice on Israel’s commitment to International humanitarian law and ministers always act in accordance with that advice and that is crystal clear for the house to understand our position with regard to export licenses following the most recent assessment is unchanged and I know that he will join me in urging all parties to engage in the negotiations that are happening so we can see a pause in fighting to get more Aid in hostages out and then bring about a sustainable ceasefire to this conflict alers uh thank you Mr Speaker uh my constituents in rural Villages and on the fringes of the Grimsby cleop urban area are very concerned about overdevelopment they recognize that the highway infrastructure and public services are already overloaded could my right orable friend consider uh amending planning guidance so that local plans and decisions taken by local planning authorities are not overridden by planning inspectors and uh they’ greatly encouraged if he would agree to meet uh with me and my colleagues from the neighboring gainsboro and Grimsby constituencies to discuss this further my horable friend is right that sustainable development must be at the heart of the planning system and that’s why we’re committed to meeting the needs for housing by building the right homes in the right places and protecting the environmental assets that matter most the national planning policy framework is clear that we should be responsive to local circumstances I know that the relevant local in my unable friends area is due for further consultation later this year and that he’ll engage with that process but I will happily meet with him and colleagues to discuss his his situation further Ed David you Mr Speaker the abuse suffered by 88y old an King at the hands of Staff in her care home was captured on a hidden camera the footage is stomach churning an died in October 2022 and it took nearly a year before the CQC launched a criminal investigation now an’s children are working to protect other care home residents from being subjected to such appalling abuse her son came to see me as his MP to ask for my help in their campaign so will the Prime Minister join me in backing an’s law a proposal to include a national register to professionalize the care Workforce and hold those staff who are abusive to account and will he meet with an’s family and myself to discuss this idea Mr Speaker can I first of all extend my sympathies to an’s family for what she went through obviously that’s not appropriate and I’ll make sure that the department engages with him anan’s family on the proposed law and he’s right to say we should have high standards across the care industry and we’re walking towards more investment to support our Care Home staff making sure that they have training qualification to development and we have a regime in place that can hold everyone to account for delivering the high standards that we would all expect s thank you Mr Speaker does my right honorable friend agree with me that one of the greatest things that these back benches bring to Westminster is plain oldfashioned common sense and and it’s darish Common Sense darbishire common sense that means that the good people of ashborne and surrounding Villages reject the sadik KH ules rules and even the 20 mph W will he join with me and perhaps ask his neighbor if he will pay for the ashor by well Mr Speaker I know my honorable friend has been a dedicated campaigner for the ashborn bypass and the government is committed to investing more in the Midlands particularly investing every penny of the 9.6 billion from hs2 back into the local area uh and she’s right that we will focus on drivers and their priorities not continue the war on motorists which is waged waged by the labor mayor in London but also the labor party in Wales with both us and 20 mph speed limits it’s this party that is unashamedly on the side of the motorist thank you very much Mr Speaker our child of the North Cross party Group found that expectant mothers were terminating wanted pregnancies as they could not afford another mouth to feed recent figures show infant and child death rates have increased in the most deprived areas and 50 children have died alone in unregulated accommodation is this his plan for a brighter Britain in action Mr Speaker obviously what the honorable lady has described is tragedy nobody wants to see children grow up in those circumstances and that’s why I’m proud that the government has overseen a significant fall in poverty but particularly child poverty since 2010 for a range of measures and I’ll make and I’ll make sure that she is aware for her constituents of all the support that is in place both through the Department of Health and through the department of work and pensions and local authorities to provide support to the most vulnerable families in our communities John penr Mr Speaker Western super May is is a growing town so local health services are rightly growing too Western Hospital is treating more patients for a wider variety of problems than before GP surgeries are offering thousands more appointments this year than last and our new Diagnostic Center means faster tests and treatment but there’s a fly in our NHS prescribed ointment Dentistry isn’t fixed yet the new dental rep recovery plan is very welcome but when will it mean appointments that wonans can book Mr Speaker our Dentistry recovery plan will make dentist Services uh Dental Services faster simpler and fairer for patients funding around 2 and A2 billion more appointments uh and I was pleased to note that access is improving in my honorable friend’s area with almost 10% more children seeing a dentist in June last year than the previous year but we are going further the new patient premium that was announced last year is ensuring that more NHS Dentistry will be provided and since then at the end of January 500 more practices have said that they are now open to new patients Chris law thank you Mr Speaker it’s now been over a month since a parliamentary Ombudsman delivered a long awaited report on pension injustices yet women born in the 1950s and my constituency have done the and indeed every constituency in this house across these islands are still waiting to he the UK government will listen to these recommendations and deliver compensation Mr Speaker I was proud to see the Scottish Parliament support a motion last week calling for compensation to be delivered without delay but utterly dismayed to see members of the conservative party and the labor party abstain so can the prim Minister finally set out when wasby women will receive the compensation they rightly deserve Mr Speaker I understand the strong feelings across the chamber on this topic and the desire for urgency in addressing them however following the ombudsman’s 5year investigation it is imperative that we take the time to thoroughly review the comprehensive findings that have been published an update to the house will be provided once the reports findings have been fully considered uh more broadly we are committed to ensuring pensioners have the dignity and security and retirement that they deserve and most recently increasing the state pension by £900 thanks to the triple lot s Philip Davis thank you very much uh Mr Speaker is the prime minister as appalled as I am at reports of militant uh civil servant Trade union political activists seeking to find ways not to implement the Rwanda deportation does he agree with with me that if they are not prepared to implement the will of the government an act of Parliament that was passed by both uh Houses of Parliament that they should conclude that being in the civil service is perhaps not for them and maybe they can look for alternative employment at other left-wing organizations that M masquerade as being impartial maybe they could try the BBC or Channel 4 News yeah yeah yeah well Mr uh Mr Speaker you know my expectation is that civil servants will continue to be committed to supporting our priority of stopping the boats and deliver in accordance with the civil service code he’ll know that we made specific changes to ensure compliance with that code as we push through with our plans uh but I agree with him more broadly that we are the only party that has a plan to stop the bootes and we will face down all the obstacles in our way to deliver on this crucial priority for the Bri people and whoever stands in our way whether it’s the labor party or others we will deliver for this country on this vital issue Mr Mr Speaker China has now hacked the data of Defense Personnel the Electoral commission various other public institutions and has targeted many members of this house and yet Plans by China’s largest wind turbine manufacturer mingyang Smart Energy to build its largest European facility right here in the UK Advance at PACE with the facility set to be built in Scotland given widely shared concerns about the involvement of hostile states such as China in the UK’s critical National energy infrastructure does he not agree that now is the time for this project to be paused to be reviewed by the government on National Security grounds and if not what message does he think that sends well as I’ve said repeatedly China is a country with different values to ours and is acting in a way that is increasingly authoritarian at home and assertive abroad it’s right that we take firm steps to protect ourselves against that particularly in the area of Economic Security which is why this government passed the National Security and investment act precisely so that we can screen transactions without commenting on individual ones of course uh to protect this country and we have used those Powers not least to block Chinese investment in a sensitive Semiconductor Company uh but also to ensure that the Chinese nuclear company had no part in the future of our nuclear PL so he can rest assured that we’re alive to the challenges and have passed laws that give us the powers to protect against them shall Le F thank you Mr Speaker 5-year-old Benedict BL was a lovely little boy who attended a primary school in my constituency sadly however he died of aniplexus a severe allergic reaction the coroner’s inquest has not not yet reported but speaking generally on average two children in every class have a food allergy and allergic reactions take place more in school than in any other setting outside the home severe allergic reactions are on the rise and can be fatal yet there is no explicit legal requirement for schools to have allergy medication an allergy policy or other recommended safeguards being made available there is only guidance will the Prime Minister meet with me and Benedict’s parents Helen and Pete so that we can discuss a way forward to ensure the children who suffer from allergies in schools can be more safe including schools having an allergy policy adrenaline pens and staff who know how to use them well firstly can I extend my sympathy to Benedict’s family it’s tragic always to hear about the loss of a child and we fully understand the seriousness of severe allergies and believe that children with medical conditions should be properly supported to enjoy a full education and be safe at school now there is a legal Duty on the governing body of schools to make arrangements for supporting pupils including setting out what needs to be done symptoms treatment uh but I will ensure that my rable friend gets a meeting with the health secretary to discuss how we could further support pupils with serious allergies spell yesterday his chancelor confirmed that his government policy to abolish National Insurance a46 billion annual cost and no indication of where the money’s coming from so can the Prime Minister rule out further freezes on tax allowances or an 8p increase in income tax to pay for it well Mr Mr Speaker is total nonsense and of course I rule that out and let me just close up Mr Speaker there there is no unfunded policy what we have said is that we have a long-term ambition to keep cutting National Insurance to end the unfairness of the double taxation on work we’ll make progress towards that goal in the next Parliament just as we already have in this by cutting National Insurance by a third and six months delivering a900 tax cut at the same time is increasing investment in the NHS and increasing the state pension but it’s increasingly clear what this reveals is that the labor party opposes tax cuts for working people Angela Richardson thank you empowering local pharmacies is a key part of this government’s plan to cut waiting list in Guilford we recently lost two neighboring pharmacies but good news Mr Speaker I’m pleased to report that by working diligently with local pharmacists concerned residents the minister and the ICB I have helped to secure a a new Pharmacy in bord will my right honorable friend join me in welcoming this new Pharmacy and does he agree that it his vital residence should have access to a good efficient and above all local pharmacy well Mr Speaker I care deeply about the future of our community pharmacies I’m very pleased to hear about marable friend’s success and securing a new Pharmacy for her constituents joining the 10 and a half thousand others across the country and she’s now right about the important role that our local pharmacies can play that’s why we’re backing them with £645 million of additional funding through Pharmacy first so that you can now go straight to your pharmacist receive treatment for seven of the most common ailments saving you time and ensuring that patients get the care they need quicker and closer to home Mr Speaker last Friday the guardian reported uh major structural deficiencies at stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport stepping Hill’s major our patients building the radi department and the critical care unit have all been condemned in March I met with senior officials at Stockport NHS trust they were very clear that a sustained lack of capital investment is the root cause of problems at my local hospital Mr Speaker does does the Prime Minister believe that our hospitals quite literally crumbling is the price worth paying for the 14 years of successive conservative failure Mr Speaker we fully recognize the need to invest in health infrastructure across the country including at stepping Hill hospital and that’s why we are currently spending around4 billion a year for trust to spend on necessary maintenance and repairs on top of the 20 billion pound new hospital program and the additional funding that was put aside to deal with rack maintenance but he talks about a legacy of the NHS all he needs to do is look at the party his party’s record in Wales where people currently are experiencing the worst A&E performance and the longest wait times anywhere in Great Britain thank you Mr Speaker Mr Speaker Nottingham City Council is expecting to fall short of its housing Target by 6,000 new homes last time this happened rushcliffe as a neighboring Authority was forced to take thousands of homes on top of its own housing Target which led to huge pressures on our green spaces and public services so can my right honorable friend reassure me and my constituents that the changes we’ve made to the planning system will mean that this time we will be protected from Labor’s failure in Nottingham my honorable friend makes an important point and why on this while on this side of the house a conservatives Bill believe in building the right homes in the right places with local people having a say all labor would do is impose top- down housing Targets on areas decimating our precious Countryside and in Nottingham sh she says you can see the difference Mr Speaker between the well-run conservative County Council compared to the bankrupt Nottingham Council which has left residents to pick up the bill from their profac Caroline Lucas thank you very much Mr Speaker untreated sewage was pumped into English waterways for more than 3.6 million hours last year and into the sea of Sussex beaches three times in the last 24 hours alone yet since privatization the water companies have been allowed to rack up debts of over 64 billion pounds and their shareholders to pocket 78 billion in dividends the majority of the public including 58% of conservative and 80% of Labor supporters want to Turf out the profiteering polluters they want water brought back into public hands when is he going to listen to them and end the legalized scam of privatization oh Mr Speaker our plans have gone to tackle this have gone further than any other previous government in fact we now monitor 100% of overflows up from just 7% under the labor party we’re investing a record 56 billion into our water infrastructure and we’ve enshrined in law strict targets and introduced unlimited fines for water companies holding them and their bosses to account so it’s Crystal Clear that the record shows that there’s only one party who has a clear plan to tackle this issue for the environment and it’s the conservative party final question Matt Vickers thank you Mr speak speaker everybody knows that Stockton is a great place with great people and a great football team my right honorable friend recently visited the mighty Stockton town to see the incredible work that they do in the local community and heard about their promotion battle I’m sure he’ll want to join me in congratulating Mickey dunwell and the mighty anchors on their promotion well uh Mr Speaker it was fantastic to visit sown FC with my friend who was a brilliant Champion for his local community which I see firsthand on a weekly basis and let me join him in congratulating everyone at the club on their well-deserved promotion and I hope some of their good luck rubs off on Southampton in the coming weeks that completes prime minister e we now come to the Urgent question I call Shabana mmud thank you Mr Speaker to ask the Secretary of State for justice if he will make a statement on the expansion of the end of custody supervised life ski Minister thank you very much Mr Speaker um I’m grateful to The Honorable lady for her question protecting the public is our number one priority and so it is right we take the tough and decisive actions so we can keep putting the most serious offenders Behind Bars and for longer as the public would rightly expect we are carrying out the biggest prison expansion program since the Victorian era and ramping up removers of foreign National offenders we have a duty to make sure that the prison system continues to operate in a safe and effective way where offenders are held in safe and decent conditions this means making sure that no prison exceeds a safe maximum operating limit ecsl allows lower level offenders to be released before their automatic release date in March the Lord Chancellor stated that we will work with the police prisons and probation leaders to make adjustments as required this extension is in line with what he said ecsl operates only when it is absolutely necessary and is kept under constant review I know that many members of this house will be concerned about the early release of offenders into the community but let me be clear that only offenders who would soon be released anyway would be considered for ecsl we have put in place safeguards including that the prison service retains the discretion to prevent the ecsl release of any offender where releasing them earlier presents a heightened risk than if they were released at their automatic release date there are strict eligibility criteria and anyone convicted of a offense terrorist offense or a serious violent offense is ruled out Public Safety will always be our number one priority and all those releases will still be subject to probation supervision and stringent license conditions secretary Shabana mmud Mr Speaker here we go again never in this country has a government ever been forced to release prisoners over two months early this is the price that the public is paying for a justice system in crisis and and a government in freefall in just 6 months the early release scheme Mr Speaker has now undergone three major extensions it was quietly started in October when the government began releasing prisoners up to 18 days early in March it was slipped out that it was expanded from 18 days to 60 and now it has emerged through a media leak that it has been extended once again this time to 70 days and worst of all the government is doing all of this in secret they haven’t responded to any foi requests parliamentary questions or even the Justice select committee with any useful details about this scheme the government is releasing prisoners but not the facts the strategy is clear for all to see say nothing try and get away with it and get to the other side of the general election it’s Shameless and frankly a disgrace the public and this house rightly expect the minister to be transparent and honest so let’s see if he’ll answer these basic and simple questions why the increase of early release to 70 days how many offenders have been released in the six months since the scheme became operational how will they ensure that probation has the time and the resources to adequately assess risk and protect the public and will he give a guarantee to the house today that this secretive scheme will not be extended again thank you very much um Mr Speaker I’m grateful to the shadow Secretary of State for her uh question I would gently say to her a number of things first of all I think her suggesting sneaking it out in October and March which included statements to this house um was entirely transparent in terms of The Honorable ladies party’s record I think operating an early release scheme for three years between 2007 and 2010 would leave her on rather Shaky Ground she talked about a media leak this was an operational decision with operational guidance sent out to hmpps to prison Governors as well as other stakeholders including if I recall the Probation Union for a minor change which was already which was already reflected in the points made by my right honorable friend in March to this house she talked about data right my right honorable friend the secretary of state has been consistently clear we will publish the data on an annualized basis in exactly the same way as we do for example on deaths in custody and supplementary breakdowns of the prison population we’ve been clear we will always ensure that the prison system has the spaces to ensure that the courts can send people people to prison we are making an appropriate operational decision to ensure that continues to be the case and she also asked about probation and rightly so I suspect in our exchange the one thing where we may find ourselves in agreement is paying tribute to those who work in our probation Service as she will know since 2021 we have increased the budget for the probation service by 155 million with 4,000 additional probation officers in training we have worked with the leadership of our probation service on this scheme and as I say in terms of notifying people about the changes to the guidance the operational Guidance the pration union was one of those we did notify that commit Robert Neil thank you very much Mr this is in real Mr Speaker this is actually a perfectly rational and sensible pragmatic response to the pressures in our prisons uh and the minister should take credit for having done that but I would ask him to reconsider the point about transparency of data because precisely because it is a sensible thing to do there’s no reason why we shouldn’t release the figures in Greater time but isn’t there an underlying problem here that both parties in this house all parties have to face up to that the pressures in our prisons which the Justice committee has referred to repeatedly stem from Decades of underfunding by governments of all parties that prison at 46 plus, times PS a year for each place is a very expensive way of dealing with people and not always the best means for lower level offenders can we have a more intelligent debate about sentence about sentencing in the purpose of prison and perhaps we could start with that by the minister committing to bringing back the sentencing bill which will enable us to have a more nuanced approach to this I’m I’m grateful to my uh honorable um my honorable and learned friend um for his questions um he’s right to highlight the ongoing capacity challenges and a number of drivers of those one of those as he highlights is that for example the average sentences uh custodial sentence in this country has gone up from 14 months to I think about 21 months the Raman population has gone up from about 9,000 to about 16 and a half thousand partly um as a result of the covid backlogs in the court system partly as a result of the bar strike and the impact that that had on that so he’s right to highlight the drivers of this in respect of uh publication of data I would very gently in the case of my honorable friend very respectfully refer him to the answer I gave to his committee and at the dispatch box uh just now but it’s also important that alongside recognizing the pressures the systems under we are taking the steps to increase capacity both through increasing removals of foreign National offenders and at a faster rate but also having built all 6,000 new prison places in STK contrast to the record of the party opposite who built not one of the 7 a half thousand Titan prison places Wilson thank you very much Mr Speaker Court backlogs are Sky High PR prisons are dangerously close to capacity which is why we’ve had to see this policy implemented and the government is claiming the ministers just claimed to be carrying out a big prison expansion program yet its record is appalling in 2016 the government in respon respons to the tayor review committed to building two secure schools for young offenders since then the budget has spiraled out of control and not one of those schools has opened doesn’t this all just prove that the conservatives can’t be trusted with our justice system well I’m I’m grateful to The Honorable lady and she knows I have a huge amount of respect for her but I think even by Liv demen that was stretching the bounds of credibility a little not least as she will be aware we’ve built two new prisons we have three that have now now completed one in construction two have now completed planning one is currently subject to a planning appeal and in respect to the secure school I think she should look forward to that opening in a matter of days Rob B uh Mr Speaker um can I uh ask uh my rable friend to expand a little bit on the uh the great improvements that are being made to increase capacity uh can he tell us a little bit more about progress in ensuring that more foreign National offenders are removed to their own countries and can he also expand a little since it seems to be uh very badly understood by those on the other side of the house of all parties quite how much of a program we have got on this side of the house for prison building the number of different prisons the number of spaces that that will create and therefore the prospect for rehabilitation of offenders and consequently in time fewer victims of crime well my honorable friend is absolutely right highlight that and I pay tribute to his work in the justice system not only in this house but prior to his being a member of um this house in respect of fno removals I believe and of course I’ll correct it if I’m slightly out around 16,000 fos have now been removed and it’s timely that uh as I say that my right honorable friend the Home Secretary appears so I can pay tribute to him and his department for their work in delivering that in terms of prison places as I set out to the uh honorable lady the member for uh twicken them uh progress on the new six new prisons but alongside that of course we’ve built a vast number of Rapid deployment cells new house blocks so we are expanding our prison capacity rapidly and as I say that stands in stark contrast to the failure to deliver on the Titan prison places by the party opposite Rebecca Long thank you Mr Speaker the National Association of probation officers have said that the escl scheme is an unmitigated failure and has not only been extended without parliamentary scrutiny but represents an increasing risk to Public Safety the secretary knows our Probation Services in crisis and it cannot cope without a significant increase in support and resources will the government be providing this I’m very grateful to the um honorable lady and I have as I said um and share The View with the shadow Min Shadow Secretary of State great respect for the work done by those who work in prob probation service and indeed have met with the probation unions in the past and although we don’t always agree I do have huge respect for the work that those unions do in representing their members but I would make um three uh two points firstly to say that it was done without scrutiny this house I think is stretching the bounds of credibility two statements by my right honorable friend multiple oral parliamentary question sessions and indeed myself undergoing a a thorough a polite but thorough grilling in the Justice select committee by the chair of the select committee so I don’t think it Stacks up to say that this has not been subject to scrutiny to her underlying point however as I set out earlier we are investing in probation 155 million additional investment a year since 2021 and 4,000 more probation officers and probation staff in training thank you very much Mr Speaker just a moment ago the minister set out the significant increase in the number of people being held on remand I think he said from 9 to 16,000 could the minister just set out to the house the work that the government is doing to address the court backlogs and what steps he’s taking to look at other routes for uh monitoring people who are on remand who perhaps could serve that remand period in the community under a tagging system well I’m grateful to my my honorable friend um and I think actually to correct myself it’s actually I think 16 a half thousand now on remand out of the prison population terms of Court back plods we have increased investment in our courts we’ve increased the number of sitting days and we are seeing progress being made in terms of what we can do though to help give the courts who obviously make the decision on whether to remand or whether to bail someone the information they need we continue to invest in the bail information service which gives the sentencer the reassurance hopefully and the information they need to make a judgment call as to whether someone is safe to be bailed and we’re increasing our investment in the Cass the community accommodation service to make sure where someone may not be bailed because they don’t have a stable address to go to there is an increased opportunity for them to have that address to give sentences the opportunity to bail them my God very Mr Speaker I’ve been in this house uh long enough to uh as as the Minister and the the chairman of the Justice select committee knows to know when something is a sticking plaster uh act from a government this is perhaps it’s necessary but it’s a sticking plaster we’ had uh how many Queen speeches since 2010 included in a thorough look at the uh justice system with a royal commission it never happened and we all know that you don’t build building prisons doesn’t solve the crisis we do need a radical reform of the of the whole of our justice system and that would need extra resources and a real motivation from incoming labor government does she he agree with me Minister well I’m I’m grateful to The Honorable gentleman with whom I’ve occasionally um tussled across this chamber and I agree with some of what he says he won’t be surprised now I don’t agree with his last statement in that judging by the track record up to 2010 I fear it will be a case of let down by labor were that to happen however I’m grateful for his thought typically thoughtful comments actually on on this and his looking at the bigger picture behind the challenges um we Face we are it is right that we are putting Those who commit the most serious crimes in prison for longer to protect Society but also to ensure that they pay their debt back to society but it’s also important we look at how we rehabilitate people when they are in prison because we all want those who serve their time to come out and live uh their life within bounds in the community and be constructive and positive contributors to society that’s why we’re focusing on getting people into employment we’re getting them the education they need in prison I’m very grateful to my right honorable friend the member for Hampshire East for his work and his focus on that when he was both Secretary of State for education but also then as my predecessor and of course there are measures before this house currently or before Parliament currently I should say for example in the sentencing bill would you offer this house an opportunity to think about other ways of doing things this announcement comes after nine prisoners have recently lost their lives in hmp park and briend and the ministry of Justice says they won’t step in now a private prison in Wales is an unaccountable anomaly that fails everyone victims and prisoners alike and while we await the long anticipate the long awaited Devolution of Justice can he tell me why after 25 years there is still no Clarity over which Ombudsman is responsible for health in park well I’m grateful to the um right honorable lady while she we may disagree in our uh proposition or view on Devolution of Justice to Wales she raises a very important um issue in terms of those uh deaths in the past few months in hmp and Y Park I visited um Park recently and spoke to the uh the governor the director and others both those in custody and those working in park I got to be a little bit cautious about what I say given the matter is before both will be before both the coroner and uh before the Ombudsman what I would say is that uh I will be appearing before the W Fair select committee next week when I suspect some of this may be debated but I’ve got to be a little bit I’m happy to have a discussion with her but I think it’s right that I Don’t Stray at the dispatch box when these matters are before the and hopefully with the MPS whose constituents it is as well Jim sha Mr Speaker can I thank the minister very much for his answers to all the questions the scheme was initially designed to allow for short-term early release of a matter of days and yet some are now facing some 70 days can the minister understand why victims of crime are anx that the so-called soft crime criminals are getting an easier time with the victims of crimes are are told that per perpetrators have been released early so they can prepare themselves to see them again down the town or at the local supermarket as examples um which can be extremely disconcerting if not unexpected thank you Minister well I’m grateful to The Honorable Gentleman Just to reassure you Mr Speaker uh just to reassure you Mr Speaker the member whose constituency it is in I was due to be meeting actually at this moment in time but I’m before the bo I’m here at the box but have got a date in the diary to reschedule that so it has been arranged as I promised at the last oral parliamentary questions session sir um in respect of The Honorable gentleman he’s right to highlight the point and that’s why when it comes to ecsl our protections are significantly more stringent than those used by the party opposite where it ran its scheme for 3 years unlike the party opposite um our scheme allows Governors to veto the release of a uh any prison where they think early release will create a risk to victims it also contains a number of exemptions from the scheme it also allows for very rigorous conditions to be placed on the license for the release be that tagging be that exclusion zones be that curfews and they will be well aware that if they breach those conditions conditions to protect victims um uh they will hear the clang of the prison gate and be recalled that completes the Urgent question Lo the front bench to chair Jo right we now come to the statement I call the Home Secretary James clevy uh thank you Mr Speaker with permission I would like to make a statement to the house regarding measures that his majesty government will take in response to the Reckless and dangerous activities of the Russian government across Europe and now suspected here in the UK as reported on Friday the 26th of April five individuals have been charged in connection with an investigation into alleged offenses under the National Security Act as part of a counterterrorism policing investigation the offenses relate to what was widely reported by the media as a suspected arson attack on a Ukraine linked business in the UK the crown prosecution service has confirmed that the charges relate to alleged hostile activity in the UK in order to benefit a foreign State namely Russia I pay tribute to our law enforcement agencies for their quick and professional work to ensure that these charges were brought the first charges to be brought under the new National Security Act measures which this government brought forward and which this house passed are already being used to keep our country safe I also want to thank the Emergency Services who responded to the fire at the commercial property in London where the suspected activity took place the charges here are serious and it’s only through good fortune that nobody was hurt I want to reassure the house that Public Safety is of the utmost importance which is why the law enforcement response has been quick and decisive as members will appreciate I must not say anything further on the specific case or any related case to avoid Prejudice prejudicing the outcome of ongoing criminal proceedings and I ask for house to uh respect this and to avoid using the debate to add to the speculation about this incident it is vital that Justice runs its course however I want to highlight to the house a patter P of suspected Russian activity that we are seeing across Europe and of course this is not the first time that we have uncovered malign activity seemingly linked to Russia in the UK in the past year in September five Bulgarian Nationals were charged with conspiring to commit Espionage activities in the UK on behalf of Russia a sixth individual was later charged and legal proceedings against all six are ongoing there is a much broader pattern the Russian mine activity across Europe these include plans for sabotage activities against military aid for Ukraine in Germany and in Poland Espionage in Bulgaria and in Italy cyber attacks and disinformation activities air space violations and GPS jamming with an impact on civilian AV on civil aviation over a number of years we have witnessed Russia and its intelligence Services engage in yet more open and more Brazen attempts to undermine our security harm our people and interfere in our democracies Lan Yenko Georgia Crimea Salsbury Ukraine and across Europe and since the illegal invasion of Ukraine the rhetoric the threats the accusations from Russia have only increased as Putin seeks to justify the death and destruction that he has brought to the Ukrainian people these activities Bear all the Hallmarks of a deliberate campaign by Russia designed to bring the war home across Europe and to undermine our Collective resolve to support Ukraine and its fight it will not work as the Prime Minister said in Poland last month we are at a turning point for European security with our allies we will stand firm in the face of Russian threats to the UK and to our way of life it is why after Salsbury we took measures with our partners to make Europe a harder operating environment for Russian intelligence services including the expulsion of 23 Undeclared Russian Intelligence Officers from the UK and it’s why the UK has announced the biggest strengthening of the UK National Defense in a generation with a fully funded plan to grow the defense budget to 2.5% of GDP by 2030 and the UK and our allies will not falter in our support to Ukraine because it is ex existential to the security of Europe is why the Prime Minister has also announced an uplift to military aid to Ukraine bringing it to3 billion pound this year and has committed to this level of support every year until the end of the decade or indeed longer if it is sadly still required and we have sanctioned over 1,700 individuals over 90% of the Russian banking sector and over 130 oligarchs and family members with a combined net worth of 147 billion pound at the time of the invasion and as of October over 22 billion pounds of Russian assets were reported Frozen as a result of UK sanctions these assets can no longer be taken back to Russia to fund Putin’s War Machine we consider Russia’s campaign to undermine our support to Ukraine unacceptable and it is destined to fail we must wait of course for the ongoing criminal cases across Europe including here in the UK to conclude but given these allegations the government will not wait to take further action to send a strong deterrence message to Russia and to further reduce its ability of the Russian intelligence services to threaten the UK that is why today Mr Speaker in conjunction with my right honorable friend the foreign secretary I am announcing a package of measures to make clear to Russia that we will not tolerate such apparent escalations so I can tell the house that we will expel the Russian defense atache who is an Undeclared Military Intelligence officer we will remove diplomatic premises status from several russian-owned properties in the UK including sex’s house a Russian own property in Sussex and the trade and defense section in Highgate which we believe have been used for intelligence purposes and we are imposing new restrictions on Russian diplomatic visas including capping the length of time Russian diplomats can spend in the UK the measures we and our International Partners have taken in recent years have already made the UK an extremely challenging operating environment for Russian intelligence Services these further measures uh that I have described will only serve to strengthen our resilience to the Russian threat our NATO allies share our view of Russia’s alleged Behavior as seen in the North Atlantic Council statement of last week Russia has fa failed to provide any explanation for these events in the coming days we should expect accusations of russophobia conspiracy theories and hysteria from the Russian government this is not new and the British people and the British government will not fall for it and will not be taken for fools by Putin’s Bots trolls and Lackey Russia’s explanation was totally inadequate our response will be Resolute and firm our message to Russia is clear stop this illegal War withdraw your troops from Ukraine cease this malign activity Mr Speaker I commend this statement to the house as the Secretary of State himself noted he referred to a live case at the beginning beginning of his statement this case is Subud and I ask other members not to refer to it in their questions Shadow Home Secretary of vacouver yeah thank you Mr Mr Speaker and can I thank the Home Secretary for advanced site of the statement it is the first job of any government to keep our country safe from those who wish to do us harm not least those who wish to undermine our democracy and everything we stand for and we pay tribute to the remarkable work of our intelligence and Security Services our law enforcement agencies at home and abroad who strain every senu to keep us safe and we will always work with the government on those Nation naal security issues the Arsen attack the Home Secretary describes was a very serious one the charges now laid are important we support the work of law enforcement in this case and it’s immensely important nothing is done to cut across that criminal justice case now so I simply ask for the home secretary’s reassurance that a wider investigation is underway not just into these specific offenses but into the wider context and any wider threat to our national security that might be linked to this incident the Home Secretary has been clear in linking these charges to Russia and we Echo the home secretary’s strong condemnation of Russian interference and hostile activity here in the UK and throughout Europe repeatedly we have seen a Brazen disregard by Russia for the rule of law for the UK for our allies for our domestic security and as my right honorable friends the Shadow foreign and defense secretaries have made clear We Stand shoulder toosh shoulder with the government in our support for Ukraine a change any change in government will not change that strong cross-party support as we stand with our allies Putin must be defeated in Ukraine and Britain must stand full Square behind our Ukrainian friends Russia under Putin is a long-term generational threat to the security of Europe which requires a long-term response and as my right honorable friend and the shadow defense secretary said just yesterday the defense of the UK starts in Ukraine but as the Home Secretary has made clear these challenges are also to our homeland security and that is why we support wholeheartedly the measures the Home Secretary has set out today just as we worked on a cross-party basis with the government to pass the National Security Act and we will work closely with them in going further but can I ask him a few further questions about these measures and about what further measures the government may be able to take and ask him whether he expects there to be a diplomatic response from to uh from the uh Russia can I ask him also we saw obviously to such appalling extent in Salsbury very many years ago the willingness of Russian sponsored actors to put the safety of British citizens and British residents at risk see the Cyber threats the threats to undermine our democracy and our economy but I am concerned that we have known about the scale of these threats for some time and in areas that has been we have been too slow to respond he been too slow to rid the UK of illicit Finance he will know that concerns have been raised about prohibited Imports of Russia origin oil through third countries making their way to UK Shores can you tell me what action is being taken to ensure that those sanctions are being in forced he will know that there is real concerns still that the UK is still too easy for lawyers accountants and for the laundering of Russian money through the UK that potentially AIDS and abets Putin’s War the US has seized uh huge amounts of Russian related assets as part of the sanctions evasion and charged over 70 individuals with sanctions evasion can he confirm that no one has yet been charged with sanctions evasion in the US can he set out what is being done to address sanctions Invasion the government has said in principle it supports the seizing of Russian assets to fund Ukraine reconstruction but there have been no proposals to take that forward can he tell us what is happening there we have also still not had a full account of the scale of risks from Golden visas and he will know too that there are threats to our democracy the work of the defending democracy task force I would say to him I believe is far too limited and whilst the security minister is working on this can I ask him what engagement he as Home Secretary has had and whether this has been discussed at the National Security Council too and finally the update to the government’s integrated review warned in March last year that the transition into a multi-polar fragmented and contested world has happened more quickly and definitively than anticipated and it refers to the Iranian sponsored kidnap and kill threats on UK soil the repression of Hong Kong protesters outside of the Chinese Consulate in Manchester the UK has undergone not just because of the behavior from Russia but more widely a fundamental shift in the threat landscape as increasingly aggressive State actors feel emboldened to Target the UK often doing so in cooperation with serious and organized crime so can I urge him to look at the work that was done after the huge shift in the counter in the terror threat that we faced after 9/11 and after 77 to draw up the contest strategy we do not have a similar contest strategy for State actors and state sponsored threats the work is far too fragmented we and the labor party would like to see a comprehensive contest equivalent can I urge him to look again at that and we will work with him on that too Home Secretary one minute all uh Mr Speaker uh I thank the uh right honorable lady for the various points that she made uh in uh in her uh question about her party’s commitment to the ongoing support for Ukraine uh in its uh self-defense she was right to read it into the record um there is no doubt about her commitment uh from this side uh of the of the house she asked uh a number of uh she sought my reassurance urance that we do look at the wider threats emanating uh from Russia I can reassure her that we do of course we Lia closely with our International Partners uh those other countries in the Coalition of support to Ukraine uh which we suspect uh are being targeted by Russia and indeed uh they the the countries will take their discreet domestic actions but I draw the attention to the point I made uh about the uh shared commitment as set out in the uh North Atlantic Council statement I don’t have the precise quote in front of me from but from memory it said Nations will take both uh individual and Collective uh action so our response is calibrated it is designed to send a very very clear message as well as hampering Russia’s ability uh to conduct Espionage here in the UK but it is calibrated of course we will look closely to see what uh response Russia puts forward to see whether they seek to uh escalate uh this um but uh we we will always make sure that we uh protect our ability to have lines of communication with Russia even during these most challenging of times routs for deescalation of uh error avoidance and the um avoidance of miscalculations are really important we recognize that I believe uh the Putin’s regime in Moscow recognize that so we will seek to maintain lines of communication even whilst we take these decisive uh uh actions with regard to sanctions uh of course we have put an extensive we moved quickly we moved in uh coner with our International uh friends and allies and those sanctions are having an effect of course Russia uh seeks to uh evade sanctions with he can uh and whilst that is primarily the response of the HM treasury in terms of uh sanctions enforcement it is of course a cross government piece of work and all parts of the government uh and this is very much the case when I was foreign secretary speaking with our International counterparts and interlocutors to try and close off those uh opportunities for uh uh sanctions uh evasion we will uh she mentions about the defending democracy uh task force this is incredibly important particularly as we head towards a general election um we will of course adapt we will seek to work cross party because it’s in all our interests that we defend democracy uh and I will continue to ensure both the um security minister and I work closely with the uh Shadow front bench and opposition uh other opposition Partners the parties front bench teams to protect something that is so incredibly valuable thank you Mr Speaker I very much welcome from the statement and the update by the Secretary of State the United Kingdom has Lov the world in supporting Ukraine militarily economically and diplomatically our key Ally of the United States has introduced legislation and it was put forward by Congressman french hill my counterpart in the British American parliamentary group on the seizing Russian assets and uh using those assets to rebuild Ukraine reconstruction of Ukraine I have put forward a similar bill in Parliament which is due for a second reading on the 17th of May and I’ve written to the foreign secretary on that can the Home Secretary clarify if the United Kingdom will support those measures that United States has because it’s absolutely crucial we do everything we can to cut off Putin’s finances and make sure that he pays you know for the Reconstruction of Ukraine OB secretary uh Mr Speaker of course we work very closely with our International allies with regard to putting pressure uh on the Russian regime we will look closely at the detail of the proposals that are going through uh the United States system of course there is a very big difference between the freezing of assets the seizing of assets uh in order to uh for for for to go from one to the other would need close International uh cooperation uh uh coordination and to make sure that we always act within the uh rule of law we do not want to uh inadvertently find ourselves at the receiving end of criticism uh from a regime such as putins uh that we are stepping outside the bounds of international law but we have absolutely made it clear we will be incredibly imaginative we will work hard to ensure that the uh the regime and the people that have funded the brutal attack on Ukraine are also those that fund the rebuilding of Ukraine and we work with our International Partners to make sure that’s a reality we come to S&P Sports person Stuart and mik uh Mr Speaker can I thank the Home Secretary for advanced sight of his statement and like him pay tribute to those in law enforcement who H work so diligently to counter these types of threats of course these types of thre of threats are extremely well known and understood right across Europe uh disinformation other types of hybrid threats are now a feature uh of democratic life in this country and elsewhere and I think what that needs Mr Speaker is a comprehensive sea change and how we approach that threat a new whole of society approach uh to dealing with hybrid threats I I’m fine to support the government’s uh increase in defense spending but really what we need uh is new thinking new doctrines new institutions in order to uh compete against threats that are ever evolving becoming more sophisticated more aggressive and also extremely well funded I want to focus in particular on the threat on disinformation especially because we’re in an election year it used to be the case that the government would provide Parliament I can’t quite recall when this stopped with a six-monthly update on the threat posed by dases can we have a similar type of statement on hostile disinformation a written statement to Parliament on a regular basis informing members uh of where that threat is and what’s being done to meet it can I Echo the comments that have been made about pressing the government to ensure sanctioned money is converted into Ukrainian Hara to allow that country uh to rebuild I won’t press the minister on that any further he knows our views on it but I would also point out whilst I welcome the the the uh the seizure of the assets he mentions in his statement and the expulsion of the defense atachi there are tons of Assets in Scotland I can tell him land Estates and much else that could also be seized and if he chooses to look into that any further he will certainly have our support uh thank you Mr Speaker I think it’s very important we are precise in our use of language the Russian assets have been sanctioned they have been frozen and there is a very important legal difference between uh um freezing and and seiz it uh and it’s important no no one has uh as far as I’m aware no one has seized or liquidated um Russian assets um but of course we abide by our commitment to make sure that the people that funded the brutality fund the Reconstruction and we are absolutely uh committed to that we I’ve I’ve I’ve taken a note of the point he made about regular updates uh particularly as uh disinformation uh and uh distortions of our democracy and Society have a more direct and immediate effect in the UK than perhaps the activities of of Das so I will take on board the practicalities of how much detail we might be able to put uh in the public domain but we have uh the government has set aside significant amount of money to the defending democracy task force and the work streams that flow out from that to help uh uh parliamentarians and candidates at the forthcoming election uh defend themselves uh both uh physically and digitally against the sorts that might uh come from and we are constantly looking at ways to make sure that is uh effective uh as uh as possible and um and with regards to and with regards to the uh I mean the the the points he made about International cooperation uh of course of course we will we will continue to work very very closely with our allies because our self-defense has got to be Collective if it’s going to be fully effective Christopher BL thank you Mr Speaker I wholeheartedly come um support every word that the Home Secretary has said today um he is absolutely right uh Putin has been engaged now for at least 10 years arguably longer in a sustained hostile and malign set of actions against the UK and our allies and on occasions when we have not been as overt in our opposition I think he’s taken advantage of that so I’m glad that the Home Secretary has taken this action today um he knows all the things I’m going to ask him about why is there still Russian oil coming into the UK why is Russia still exporting the same amount of oil as it did before sanctions were introduced um why have we still not gone as far as the Americans and the Canadians in seeking to um not just freeze but seize Russian assets so that we could State assets so they can be used for the development of Ukraine uh why has the Abramovich money still not gone to Ukraine because that would be more than3 billion pounds more than the amount that the UK has so far devoted and finally can you just say a word about Vladimir kamosa for you know a man many of us have met here very very brave we want to make sure that um the UK government is doing everything in its power to make sure that he is protected um in Russia secretary uh Mr Speaker the uh The Honorable gentleman’s asked a number of questions which uh some of which are very much in the remit of the the foreign secretary uh Deputy foreign secretary uh will answer in this house on his behalf but I can let him know that the uh the answers that I have previously given to him and have been given from the the foreign office um have will have remained unchanged uh we of course work with our International partners because it it has to be an sanctions evasion and the fight against sanctions evasion is by nature an international uh uh act as I say um enforcement is predominantly a uh HMT competency and the international cooperation Falls very much within the uh remits of the FCD but of course we all work uh to try and uh ensure that sanctions evasion does not happen I’m going to have to correct him uh a number of countries are investigating what a seizure and liquidation of Russian assets regime might look like no country has seized and liquidated Russian assets and and and as I say so we will continue to work with our International Partners to exploring ways of ensuring that the people who’ve paid for the brutality paid for the regime but to say that other countries have done this is is not accurate very sh Mr Speaker can I say what a pleasure it is that we’re taking this seriously and the words of the Home Secretary filled me with renewed optimism because I think we need both optimism and action and does he agree with me that we can never underrate the the Russians and and and Vladimir Putin the fact of the matter is um they are very clever and they are using strategies while whether they’re Financial or whether they’re using uh people dupes in in Europe and and other places to to channel their influence we have to be a wary at every level did he think that our intelligence services are equipped to cope um with the real challenge that we now have from Russia and indeed from China and do he has he picking up um what I’m picking up from a lot of my old friends in Washington that they’re very not they only very disturbed about Russian influence on American elections I have heard very strong information that they believe that some of the influence coming um from Russia via London and from the United Kingdom and that is a real problem and can we make sure and he knows I’ve got this be in my Bonnet there are people in this Parliament have been named as very close to Russia we have a member of the House of Lords featured in a main article in the times only two weeks ago a member of the member of the House of Lords surely we must make our house and our Parliament as clean and as above board as absolutely possible and if there are groups or individuals in this place we should know about it I presume there was a question uh Mr Mr uh Mr Speaker the I mean The Honorable gentleman speaks with uh uh with great knowledge and passion about these um about these about these uh incredibly important uh issues uh he will of course understand that I will not go into detail about intelligence and security matters but I can reassure him and I can reassure the house that both our intelligence Services the external facing uh uh services and our security services are incredibly effective are without doubt amongst the best in the world and I would perhaps rather arrogantly suggest are the best in the world um both in my experience as Home Secretary and my former role as foreign secretary I have seen the positive diplomatic influence that our uh agencies uh bring on our behalf they are regarded very very highly by our uh allies and international partners and so without going into detail I hope that here in the house can feel reassured that we are in uh good hands however of course we have to recognize that just as The Honorable gentleman has said Russia takes pride in its long history of disinformation and propaganda and compromat.ru evolving their threats towards us so we have to constantly evolve our defenses I can reassure him that we are doing that the National Security Act is part of that but we reserve the right to take further action if Russia were to be foolish enough to escalate um or attempt once again the actions that we believe they have taken our country M CasCal thank you Mr Speaker neither prosecutions nor penalties have been applied to those who are importing Russian oil refined in and branded as Indian or other countries and yet at the same time the threat of closure hangs over gra mouth Refinery the world knows that this is ongoing grain mouth is aware of the threat that faces them and industrialization in Scotland is it not time that the minister spoke to colleagues to ensure that not just State security but energy security is considered and a Refinery capacity remains in Scotland and at the same time that those who are profiting from bringing Russian oil should in fact be prosecuted Home Secretary Mr Speaker this government is completely committed to ensuring energy security uh uh whilst it has not been universally uh um uh applauded uh the licenses that we have awarded to ensure that there is a vibrant hydrocarbons industry in Scotland is important it’s important for jobs it’s important for the Scottish economy it’s important for the UK economy and it is important for energy security so I can reassure him and the house energy Security will remain at the Forefront of our minds he makes the point about conversation about uh sanctions evasion particularly about uh oil and gas sanctions evasion I can assure him that my uh right honorable Noble friend Lord Cameron and I when I was foreign secretary raised these issues internationally with those countries still trading with Russia at every uh opportunity Jim sh thank you Mr Speaker can I uh very much thank the Secretary of State for his uh statement and and welcome his clear commitment encourages all in this house and across this great nation whenever the C State comes to to make his commitment bearing in mind the the overnight raate on Ukraine’s energy facilities and the continued aggression carried out when our eyes are turned very much to the Middle East does a c of State not believe that we must send a very Swift strong message to Putin that we are approaching the point where decisive action must be taken by the allies and that we have both capacity and the will uh to intervene against a Despicable War being waged and carried again against the Ukrainian people thank you Mr Speaker the uh The Honorable gentleman raises U an important point I want to uh reinforce it was quite clear that Vladimir Putin thought that the uh the the UK and our wider allies would be uh either distracted or dissuaded from supporting Ukraine when he initiated his full scale Invasion nothing could have been further from the truth and if he thought that the evolving situation in uh Gaza the terrorist attack against Israel and their military actions to defend themselves would again distract us from our support to Ukraine or our self-defense against uh Russian uh Mali activity again he would be mistaken so I can reassure The Honorable gentleman in the house that whilst of course we are very focused on the situation in Gaza and Southwest Israel and The Wider middle east region we are not going to lose sight of our commitment to the ukrainians in their self-defense and to reestablish the fact that you cannot redraw National borders by force that completes the statement I’ll let the front bench clear we now come to the next statement to call Minister Tom pea with permission Mr Speaker I will make a statement about disruption at the border at around A4 to 8 last night the home office became aware of a significant it outage investigations determine that the incident was caused by technical issues within the home office Network the relevant teams quickly swung into action and a technical response was underway within 6 minutes once the fault was identified officials worked closely with Partners to rectify the problem and restore service I joined a gold call with the lead officials at midnight last night and the issue was resolved shortly before halfast midnight my information this morning is that all impacted systems have been restored and the incident has been formly closed with all due diligence checks completed at this stage I can assure the house and the wider public that all Security checks were maintained throughout border security was not compromised at any point and there is no indication of malicious cyber activity police access to operational systems was unaffected as a result of the outage there were delays at some airports as members will be aware the cues remain manageable and within health and safety parameters staff on the ground supported passengers including through the provision of water and ensured Welfare needs were met while undoubtedly inconvenient the delays were necessary to maintain the Integrity of our border that is not to minimize the impact of the disruption and I realize this would have been frustrating for all those affected I offer my thanks to passengers for their patience as urgent activity was Mount to resolve the incident I also place on record my gratitude to all the Personnel who are involved in the response including staff within the home office and Border force and at airport Mr Speaker I realize there will be a number of questions arising from this occurrence I will of course do my utmost to provide as much information as possible with the caveat that detailed work to understand the circumstances is ongoing as the house and the public would expect comprehensive activity to ascertain all relevant information about what happened will be undertaken in Earnest in the coming days any incident involving our border systems causes concern that is perfectly understandable it is though worth putting this in context border Force facilitated over 132 million passenger arrivals last year consistently processing over 90% of passengers within service standards as I’ve said security was maintained AED at all times an Urgent Response was mounted and the issue was fully resolved in a matter of hours nonetheless I sincerely apologize for the disruption that occurred I can assure the house that the Home Secretary and I will be unworthy in our determination to ensure that every possible lesson is learned to ensure that this does not happen again and I know that will be the objective of everyone across the home office the security integ ity and effectiveness of the UK border is Paramount it is my foremost priority and will be for the entirety of the time that I have in this role I commend this statement to the house Shadow Minister J Dan Jaris Madame Deputy speaker can I thank the minister for his statement and for advanced sight of it and at the outset let me join with him in paying tribute to the staff who responded swiftly to resolve last night’s egate Network out their actions should be commended and I also think as the minister did it’s right to pay tribute to the passengers who waited patiently for many hours some of them after very long flights now Madame Deputy speaker our bard of security is not and should not be a dividing issue and the minister has done the right thing coming to the house today with the aim to provide Clarity and reassurance on this extremely important matter however I am sure that the house will agree that the chaotic scenes across many of the UK’s major airports last night are unacceptable not least given eates have failed on several occasions in recent years the system collapsed at the start of the late May bank holiday weekend in 20123 because of a failed system upgrade and in 2021 technical issues caused the gates to fail three times in two months that is unacceptable and it brings into Sharp Focus how the current high capacity egate system is no longer reliable enough and risks further damaging public trust in the government’s management of our border security furthermore whilst the minister made clear that last night’s egate failure was due to technical issues not malign activity the home office and Border Force must be making every effort to ensure that any such technical issues do not expose vulnerabilities to the system that could be exploited by our adversaries be they state or non-state malign actors Madame Deputy speaker Britain’s border system should at all times allow lawful entry into our country and stop illegal entry the Safety and Security of our country depends on it so I’d be grateful if the minister could answer the following questions firstly at this stage is he able to confirm if the same technical issue responsible for previous egate failures is behind the events of last night and if so what urgent action will be taken to ensure it is finally resolved secondly does the minister believe the contingency plan for a national egate failure worked last night and what does he deem to be an acceptable wait time for processing entries into the UK when egate fail thirdly is he able to share figures on how many border Force officers were redirected from other vital duties to manually process entries into the UK last night and were there backlogs in other parts of the Border system because of it and while he’s answering questions about mobility and security at the border can I ask him to give a guarantee that full preparations are in place at Dover to avoid cues when the European entry and exit checks are introduced in the Autumn and finally can he take the opportunity today to give an assurance that another National egate failure won’t happen again on his watch Madam Deputy speaker I hope the minister will take these questions in the constructive Spirit they are intended and if he isn’t able to answer them today will he write to my colleague The Honorable member for Abba aan and me Madame Deputy speaker to conclude there cannot be another repeat of the chaos seen at Britain’s border last night and the government must do everything it can to resolve these persistent problems once and for all the public must have faith that the UK’s border security system still works Minister well I’m very grateful to um the shadow Minister for the tone in which he has approached this um statement today and the response on behalf um of his Majesty’s opposition and I would again just like to reiterate the um thanks and appreciation that were reflected in his remarks to border of force staff and teams within the airports but as well as that um alongside working with um the airlines respectively to support passengers um during this period of disruption and again I would like to place on record my apologies sincerely to all those passengers who are affected by this issue last night um I can understand there frustrations and I sincerely apologize for it he specifically asked about whether the contingency plan that was in place worked um we will always of course learn lessons from contingencies um and evolve those models and make sure that we are responsive to feedback but I think it is fair to say that overall the contingency plans did work um last night with that strong partnership underpinning them working with the airlines working with um the airports and of course leadership on that from border Force teams he also asked me specifically again about whether border security was compromised I can confirm that border security was not compromised proper checks were undertaken in the way that you would expect just not in the automated manner that people would wish to see um with greater manual processing of cases but relying upon the underlying um systems again it demonstrates that the contingency plans that we put in place for incidents like this were robust um that they did work um the issue and the response to it was triggered within 6 minutes we then saw the operational contingency beginning within an hour and that has subsequently been assured as well um to ensure that Integrity of the Border was maintained at all times on the point around the security breach um aspect let me again be clear that this was not a Cyber attack but he’s right in the point that he makes about the need for us always to be vigilant when it comes to um border security and making sure that our it systems that underpin that um are able to withstand um those sorts of pressures and that is something that we continue to factor in the work that we are taking forward through our through our future borders um Endeavors and when it comes to the root cause of how we got to this point in the first place um as soon as the fix was put in place the posture changed to get to a place where we better understand the root cause of what has happened that work um is on goinging it wouldn’t be right for me to speculate but I can absolutely assure him that we will get to the bottom of this in terms of the specific technical issue last night I am assured that the technical team um are confident that there is now a permanent fix to this specific issue and when it comes to General eate reliability over 90 Mill million passengers use eates each year and we’re World leading in their use this is an extremely rare occurrence he will um recognize the fact that um you can never guarantee that any it system will ever be 100% reliable 100% of the time but that is why it’s imperative that robust contingencies are in place to underly any of these systems to maintain the Integrity of our border we are clear as a government that we must never comp compromis border security and we didn’t the Border was operational orbe it it was slower um than that which any of us would like and for which I am sorry and um I think it also demonstrates why actually the automation at the border and the eates are so important as part of um the way in which people enter the country without them you would see the sort of operation that we saw last night all of the time so it underpins why they are so important and in fact last year over 90% % um cleared the Border within 30 minutes which does demonstrate I think just how integral this is and why we place a real emphasis on making sure that there is an availability of eates and as I said earlier we will get to the bottom of this and finally on the point that is asked about the EU entry exit system we’ve had a number of opportunities in the house in recent weeks to debate that there is an enormous amount of cross government work going on at the moment to ensure that we have the best possible plans in place um my honorable friend the transport Minister who is in his place and I are working very closely together on this alongside colleagues from across government as well as engaging thoroughly with our EU and French counterparts we’ve made real progress in recent weeks and will’ll continue to sustain that effort Ian Stewart thank you Madame Deputy speaker may I press the minister a little further uh on the uh reliability of the airport’s contingency plans uh when we have failures like this as he’s alluded to this is not the first time uh it has occurred and I’d be interested to know what lessons have been learned from previous handlings that were deployed on this occasion particularly for supporting passengers uh who might be elderly uh have disabilities young families or require additional care and support so they are not unduly suffering uh during the delays Minister my honorable friend the chairman of the transport select committee’s right to raise these concerns about passengers and their experience as I say this was a highly regrettable situation but the response to this swung into action very quickly it is fair to say that we always iterate we always learn it’s probably the case again that we won’t have got everything 100% right when it comes to um the immediate response but I think that there was a genuine effort coordinated across border Force um with Airlines with the airports to support particularly vulnerable passengers I think it’s worth saying actually that I have had um messages from individuals who were at airports last night who said to me that they were impressed by the contingency that was in place but there are always things that we can learn from those efforts and we will do exactly that our contingencies always have to be iterated we always have to be responsive the Integrity of our border is of the utmost importance and particularly um supporting vulnerable people when things go wrong wrong is at the Forefront of our considerations S&P spokesman Chris Stevens thank you very much uh Madam Deputy speaker as the uh labor H Shadow team had said Madame Deputy speaker this is the third egate failure in a year and we’ve already seen just weeks ago Travelers in Edinburgh Manchester and Bristol facing our long cues now it sounds like the minister is conducting a thorough investigation if you could just confirm that and if he can confirm that he will report these findings to the house in a future statement can he also uh tell us that the the problem this time appeared to not just affect eates themselves but Belfast International Airport for example which doesn’t have egat said that the border of force systems had been impacted so could he please clarify that issue and finally Madam Deputy speaker the home office have been talking for a long time about introducing other technological innovations in order to car out its business and its work what lessons does he think that this particular example gives in relation to going forward in the future Minister well can I also just thank the um Shadow s SMP spokesman for his constructive um tone that he has taken in in raising this um there was a number of points there that he raised I can absolutely guarantee to him that there is a thorough investigation ongoing to get to precisely what it was that went wrong the technical team are confident that the fix that has put in been put in place um addresses the issue but we have course want to understand the underlying root causes of what went wrong last night to ensure um that the system is as robust as it can possibly be to withstand um any of those technical challenges moving forward and I will gladly take away um the point that he raises about updating the house and consider how that can best be um achieved on the point that he raises in relation to Belfast airport if he doesn’t mind I’d like to take that point away and speak to border of force officials about that and provide him um with a written update and when it comes to the wider delivery of what is actually a considerable program of change at our domestic border over the course of the coming months he will recall that we are rolling out changes through the electronic travel authorization scheme we’ve been delivering that in phases the early indications have been good it allows us to have much greater information Upstream um about passengers before they arrive at our border which of course helps us to um tackle threats before they travel which is an improved situation and allows us to understand more about passengers Who currently we know very little about before they set off to come to the United Kingdom as opposed to trying to deal with those issues at the border as well as introducing um measures like e visas which again is a really important part of our program to digitize the Border I think it’s important to say that there will always be a physical border Force Presence at our airports to ensure well the the uh The Honorable gentleman the member for Ronda um remarks on that um I’d wanted to make that point clear to the house because I think there is always a place for technology there is an important role for automation to play but it’s right that there is always that physical presence too to be able to support people who arrive through our reports to make sure that we can respond to any issues and what the automating process will allow us to do is to focus more increasingly on risk and to deploy border Force officers to deal with that in Greater volumes as well as improving the passenger experience so he’s right to raise this any and all learning will be taken forward as we develop those um processes and as we take those programs forward but I’m confident that the plans that we have around them is robust and we will get on and deliver on the commitments that we’ve made Henry Smith thank you Madame Deputy speaker Whenever there are malfunctions of the eates at the UK border it is the airport operators including Gatwick in my constituency uh which of course have to bear the brunt of the congestion uh that is caused by the delays that result um as the home office um updates uh the eate system with new technology uh what assurances can he give me that he will engage and the home office will engage uh with the airport operators to ensure that they are very much part of ensuring that we have both a secure but free flowing border Minister the um my honorable friend um recognizes I know the importance of the digitization that we are taking forward of our border from a security perspective from an efficiency perspective but also from a customer service perspective all of which is very important to the various Airlines as well as the airport operators my understanding is that consistently there has been significant engagement around the work that we are um taking forward through the future borders program as well as routine engagement that is conducted um with border Force officials I think that was reflected actually in the work that we saw on the ground last night in responding to this issue actually how strong those links how strong those connections are but we must never be complacent about this and when it comes to the programs that we’re developing and that we’ve made commitments to deliver I can guarantee to him that we will sustain that drum beat of Engagement um I am Keen to lean into that as the minister officials will continue to do that as well and I’m very grateful actually for my honorable friend’s efforts in raising um issues and concerns from Gap Wick airport he is a very diligent representative of his local area and I’m really appreciative of his input so Chris Briant thank you mad speaker I commend the minister for making the statement today it’s good to see such transparency can he just clarify how long did it take from the moment that the service went down to its restoration was it an hour 2 hours 3 hours what’s the longest period that um passengers had to wait um if it wasn’t a Cyber attack and there was no malicious activity as he said what what actually was it is it a problem with the it itself some kind of glitch kind of horizon kind of glitch or is it the physical operations of the barriers themselves and I note that last night is not the day with the largest number of Travelers in the UK we will have further days later on this year when we could have significantly larger numbers for instance the witson bank holiday what measures is he putting in place to make sure that there are um sufficient contingency measures just in case it does go down again Minister again can I just thank the honorable gentleman for the way in which he has put his questions um many passengers saw weights of around 2 to three hours last night as they were processed um through the border and as I was able to set out in my opening um remarks as part of this statement um the fix began to take effect at around half past midnight so there was several hours between the ISS issue first becoming known about the response to that kicking in around 6 minutes later to then finally getting to the point with which that um fix began to make a difference um at around 12:30 um he has asked about what more we can do on the contingency side I think there will be learning that comes out of last night we will take that on board there will be opportunities for us to discuss that and to evaluate working with the airports working with um the Airlines as I’ve said consistently I think it proved the response last night that actually there is robust contingency planning in place it did make a difference it did mean that the Integrity of the Border was maintained but I am sorry about the fact that passengers had a longer waight than any of us would want to see and when it comes to um what the specific technical issue is what I’m not going to do is to preempt the work that is ongoing at PACE within the department to get to the bottom of the specifics of that but of course we will respond to it and any learning that is required that flows from that will happen Marco longy thank you uh Madame Deputy speaker can I uh say The British people are well-renowned for their patience in queuing and I’d like to thank the minister for his statement and for for his apology for especially for my own dudle constituents I think the part that my constituents would uh struggle with more is is his position on wanting to say how uh it is a number one priority to make sure that our borders are 100% secure and that that is a priority when my same constituents can see hundreds if not a thousand a day landing on the beaches with no documentation whatsoever are allowed to stay in this country go on to commit crime and several years later are still allowed to stay in this country that’s a very real frustration and an understanding that even I can’t come to uh reconcile Minister I think my um honorable friend will recognize that of course there are proper checks in place when people arrive at our airports as happened last night people who are arriving in our country perfectly legally going about their business and the work that we are taking forward will only help to enhance the security of our border through initiatives such as the electronic travel authorization scheme which I think his constituents would welcome and which is akin to that which you see in the United States presently and in countries like Australia but he is right to raise the issue of illegal migration as well I can assure him and his constituents that proper Security checks are carried out when people arrive clandestinely in that way um and people should not be making um Small Boat Crossings of the Channel people should not be coming to the United Kingdom in the backs of lores for example it is completely unacceptable and and it’s why I think his constituents so strongly support the work that we are taking forward as a government particularly to focus in on making Channel Crossings unviable at the hands of what are evil criminal gangs who take people’s money put them in small bats have no regard as to whether they get safely to the other side it is heus and that’s why we are determined to put them out of business Gavin newans thank you much Madam Deputy speaker do apologize um I think um travels last night we given an aenc introduction to life in brexit Britain under the Shuki government where absolutely nothing works um whatsoever but um that’s that’s the the chly side of the of the point over but clearly passengers in Glasgow were impacted by this issue however uh however half the the fix coming at half past 12 was just before a whole slew of 12 flights arrived and so Glasgow in in many ways were was a lucky airport and the passengers we’re lucky but he speaks about concy plans and and working can I ask him what what is he doing in terms of to reaching out to individual airports and looking at the contingency plans and how they worked in individual airports last night and moving forward what resources are available to those airports in order to improve those continency plans Minister I think in terms of the first part of his question I mean what a load of rubbish Madam Deputy speaker when it comes to eates they are an important part of our border infrastructure when we were members of the European Union and they continue to be an important part of our border infrastructure as non-members of the European Union so I think we can discount that aspect of his question but the second half of his question was very valid and that’s precisely why I want operational teams to spend some time engaging with the airports and with the airlines following the incident last night to make sure that we capture any and all learning that flows from that as I’ve said I think it’s fair to say that across those organizations working in Partnership there was a robust response the contingency plan did work but there will be things that we can learn from it and that is as relevant to um Gat Wick as he fro as stanstead and other ports including um Belfast we should have those conversations and we will have those conversations Kevin Foster well thank you madam Deputy speaker it’s probably worth reminding ourselves why the expans of the use of eates has been a useful thing to do not just from a passenger comfort and convenience point of view including extending it so that families with children age 10 or over can now use them but actually there are a range of security benefits from having some of the checks machines can perform particularly on biometric I’m sure the minister would be grateful if I didn’t go into on the floor of the House of Commons but in terms of this type of outage inevitably when technology is being relied on and used there is always the potential for something to happen it’s reassuring to hear in this instance not caused by a malign influence and I’m sure the minister if it later emerged that was the case would come back but I can imagine the type of assurance that’s been done within the home office before coming here today to give that Assurance at the dispatch box but I think for me it is about F explor what are the opportunities for other agencies and authorities to support border force in terms of delivering the Border be very clear very clear from M statement that at all times people are still being checked but they’re just being done by an officer rather than an eate so what further work do you think could be done around for example having rapid deployment support agreements potentially with trained officers from other parts of the Civil Service who have the training to operate the Border but aren’t necessarily routinely uh positioned to it and also to again consider the fact that actually our core goal for the border and particularly as the ETA scheme comes in is actually to stop people who are a threat or who we don’t want to allow the country actually getting on a plane in the first place uh to come uh to the United Kingdom and actually decline more increasingly declining them at the place where they check in for their flight rather than the UK border my um honorable friend speaks with real Authority on these issues having been the architect of so much of the change that we are introducing at the border he’s right that when it comes to the opportunities of automation um those possibilities are enormous to improve the passenger experience but also to have a greater understanding of many of those individuals who are traveling to our country and to being able to prevent some of that travel in the first place rather than responding to that at the border where risk is involved he’s also um asked me about contingencies I think that um there is always a place for ensuring that there is wider training and opportunity within the organization to serve to Surge capacity in when there are challenges that is something that we have done in responding to a number of different challenges over the years and it is fair to say that last night there were members of Border force staff who were perhaps not on the um PCP ordinarily but who were surged in order to be able to support the team that were working on the PCP to be able to help them to get people through the Border as quickly as possible but we should always look at particularly where there are protracted issues um affecting our ports what we can do um to provide additional support from other parts of the home office and perhaps even elsewhere ver h house thank you Madame Deputy speaker I too pay tribute to the staff who worked so hard to respond to the crisis and to every traveler who waited so patiently but the episode says a lot about the priorities the government has when it comes to controlling our borders properly instead of chasing headlines on immoral and expensive policies to deport Asylum Seekers to Runa can the minister assure me that he will focus on making sure that my bath constituents can travel freely safely and without huge delays that is always the priority of the government I’ve set out the focus on security the focus on efficiency and also making sure that passengers have the best possible um experience of the UK border I’ve been able to set out the fact that in so many instances a very high percentage of occasions the eates work very successfully that 90 million figure of passengers who pass through the eates quickly every year um and when it comes to the issue of border security I think I’m probably right in saying Madame Deputy speaker that The Honorable lady voted against the sorts of measures like the electronic travel authorization scheme that we legislated for through the nationality and borders act which is Cornerstone to our efforts to help improve security at the border to improve that Automation and to be able to bring passengers through more quickly Patrick Grady Madam Deputy speaker I think you maybe saw the honorable member for stford hadam spoon on his way out of the chamber earlier um I I don’t think any of this will surprise uh those of us who think that the home office’s default position is to make it as difficult as possible for people to enter the UK and this is essentially a manifestation again of the hostile environment being r large I but I wonder if I can press him just a little bit on the contingencies and redundancies and when people are processed manually at the border is it essentially the egate system with with a human being doing the verification or is it sufficiently separate that people can be processed manually through the Border while the eates are down and can I also ask him about his relationship with the Airlines and the airport so that they are as my friend from Paisley said aware when large numbers of flights are expected so that the EEG gates are fully operational and fully staffed because certainly in my experience in that of some constituents that’s not always the case minister so I I do rather wonder if um the SNP reshuffle is on the mind of s SMP colleagues here this afternoon in terms of what their prospects um hold as part of that because we’ve heard some rather bizarre um angles in some of the questions but on the more serious point that um he is raised when it comes to when it comes to um the way in which we dealt with this yesterday there was that underlying um system availability to be able to support manual checks to get people through the Border as quickly as possible and we also of course work very closely with the Airlines and with the airports to ensure that at peak times we maximize the Staffing on the um primary control to ensure that people are able to be processed as quickly as possible um of course there are people who pass through um having Face to-face interactions with border Force officers there are people who pass through the eates we make sure though that we take proper account of the flows through our ports and that Staffing reflects the demand that there will be at any given point in the day thank you that concludes proceedings on the statement and so we proceed to presentation of Bill Jane hunt thank you medicines vitamin B12 injections bill reading what day Friday the 7th of June Friday the 7th of June thank you and now we come to the 10minute rule motion Sir Bill Wigan thank you madam speaker I beg to move that leave be given to bring in a bill to remove exemptions that require from requirements to provide access or services to a person who e e e e e e
16 Comments
Brexide who voted for it ? Of course the hard at thinking and the rich !
Priti Patel is the Saint of Women. She is divorced from Alex Sawyer.
David Cameron has been stripped of his title. He is a sir no longer.
Hilary Clarke is dead.
Oh dear sunaks performance gets worse each week at the dispatch box.
Say no to new Britain starmas new order deliting English
Let’s not forget in 1992, the Tories drastically cut back on the rates the NHS paid to dentists, encouraging many to go private.
But for years after coming to power, Labour did nothing, despite Tony Blair promising in 1999 that everyone would have access to NHS dental care.
Then in 2006, they introduced a new dental contract, and the result – like the new contracts for GPs and hospital consultants – was a disaster.
Under the old sy
Watching this while vaping 16:02
Love it how all these ministers continue to laugh and banter.pretend to answer questions then pop into chequers for a pimms twats
How. can viewers listening to questions in Westminister hear responses between Welsh Secretary David Davies and Welsh members ,? It is disgraceful that background chatter between other MP’s show such disrespect ,, is it any wonder good Manners are eroding in this country .!
Hi it’s about time labour won the next general election I’m a labour supporter…? 🎉
I can’t sand sunak😊
Can’t stand Keir he just calls out things never any plans except he doesn’t want to let Rwanda happen and we should have illegal immigrants left alone in hotels or claiming benefits and they say people who are on pip have never worked in their life?!I’ve worked all my life and now I’m disabled because of work!and Keir wants an open boarder,you won’t get that in the EU we have to prove
Prince Harry knew something that's why he fucked off ages ago, even gave up his title.
Dirty monkeys the lot of them
I feel a guy fawks moment coming and I will laugh 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂