Engagements

Q4. Last week, Emmy award-winning actor and musician Riz Ahmed released a hard-hitting new album and a short film, “The Long Goodbye”, which powerfully expresses the heartbreak of many British minorities who feel unwanted in Britain, where hate crime is rising and hate speech infects public life. These are also the concerns of Muslims in my constituency. I urge Members of the House to listen to it and watch it. Will the Prime Minister, for once without hiding behind the robes of his Muslim ancestors—yes, we all know he had them—or clinging to the fig leaf with which his ex-Chancellor’s presence in the Cabinet provided him, or resorting to the potentially divisive, tit-for-tat deflection of the very serious issue of antisemitism, and given the 300 complaints of Islamophobia in his party, simply tell me what he is doing to assure Britain’s Muslims that their Prime Minister is not an Islamophobe and takes their concerns seriously?

I can reassure the hon. Member that there is absolutely no room for hatred or racism in this party—in our Conservative party—and I wish I could say the same of her own party.

Q12. I congratulate my right hon. Friend on the news that he and Carrie are expecting their first child. All parents want the best start in life for their children. With the UK lagging behind the rest of the world in the number of diseases that we genetically test for—we test for only nine genetic conditions in this country—does he agree with and will he support my campaign calling for a review of the new-born baby screening programme?

My hon. Friend raises a very important point. I am glad that, starting this year, screening for babies with severe combined immunodeficiency will be evaluated for inclusion in the screening programme, but my right hon. Friend the Health Secretary says he is more than willing to meet her to discuss further how screening could be improved.

Further to the questions posed by my right hon. Friend the leader of the SNP, irrespective of what other countries are doing, policy in this country is the Prime Minister’s responsibility, so what will he do to help the self-employed during this coronavirus crisis?

What we are going to do, obviously, is ensure that nobody is penalised for doing the right thing and that everybody has access to the benefits and support they need. If the hon. Gentleman will contain himself, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor will set out more in just a minute.

Will the Prime Minister join me in congratulating the mighty Loughborough swim team on their five gold medal haul at the McCullagh international open league last month? The swimmers involved were Luke Greenbank, James Wilby, Abbie Wood, Max Litchfield and Molly Renshaw. Surely, this is the very epicentre of sporting excellence.

Having worked with Loughborough University on the Olympics at the fantastic site in east London, I know its formidable global reputation, and I have no hesitation in congratulating Loughborough swimming team on my hon. Friend’s behalf.

Q8. Can the Prime Minister explain why he is so singularly unpopular in Scotland? He has lost half his Scottish MPs and support for independence is at an all-time high. Is it because he thinks he can say no to a nation, or is it because the blustering buffoonery just jars with the Scottish people?

I notice that support for breaking up the Union is actually declining in Scotland. Maybe that is because they have a Scottish nationalist party in charge that has the highest taxes anywhere in the United Kingdom, is failing Scottish children in their schools and is not running the Scottish health service in the way it should. Maybe the hon. Member’s bluff and bluster is covering up for the abject failures of the Scottish nationalist Government. Maybe the Scottish nationalists should stick to the day job.

As this is the country that brought railways to the world, what plans does my right hon. Friend have to celebrate their 200th anniversary in 2025? Does he stand with the people of Darlington to prevent the removal of Locomotion No. 1, the world’s first passenger steam engine, from Darlington, where she has resided for over 160 years?

I congratulate my hon. Friend and the people of Darlington on the historic role they played in our railway history and heritage, and I will do what I can to support his campaign to prevent Darlington from being despoiled of the iconic Locomotion No. 1.

Q9. The week before Christmas, Luton food bank issued 339 food parcels, of which 124 were specifically for children. The level of child poverty in Luton has risen to a shameful 46%. While Luton’s unemployment rate may be going down, more people are in low-paid, insecure jobs. Does the Prime Minister agree that it is wholly unacceptable that families are in work but children are growing up in poverty? Will he commit to ending poverty pay?

Not only are we cutting national insurance contributions for everybody, whatever their pay; we are also lifting up the national living wage by the biggest ever increase, which will benefit people across the country to the tune of £4,000 a year. This is a one nation Government looking first at the needs of the poorest families in this country.

My hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Northfield (Gary Sambrook) makes the case for Birmingham, but in the west midlands, more than 31,000 new homes have been built since Andy Street became our Mayor—smashing his own target of 25,000 new homes. The vast majority have been built on derelict brownfield sites. Will the Prime Minister support me to ensure that we keep the focus on the regeneration and remediation of brownfield sites?

Yes. I congratulate Andy Street on what he is doing, and on his fantastic record on homes. It is always the Conservatives who build the homes. This House will hear more in just a few minutes about what we intend to do to give everybody, and every young person, in this country the chance to own their own home.

Q10. In this financial year, the Government have redistributed funding meant for veterans’ charities. That has resulted in severely reduced services from Combat Stress, a renowned mental health charity serving veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. It has also meant a reduction from 24 to 10 beds in our residential unit in my constituency, and the loss of 50 jobs. Will the Prime Minister show his support for veterans’ mental health today by initiating an urgent review of that redistribution of this critical funding, so that we can stop life-changing and often life-saving services being lost?

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to raise the issue of veterans and their needs, and that is why this Government appointed a Minister for Defence People and Veterans, and a veterans taskforce—a special unit in the Cabinet Office. He will hear a little more in just a few minutes about what further steps we intend to take to protect and promote the rights of veterans.