Contributions
1,991 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDEngagementsI have young children, and I know what it is like at Christmas when, as well as being a time of great happiness, there is also a certain degree of trepidation when they go for the…22 Sept 2021HANSARDEngagementsMy hon. Friend is a powerful champion for his constituency and the region. I will of course pass on his suggestion and advice to the Home Secretary. I believe that she has been…22 Sept 2021HANSARDEngagementsWe put the UK Infrastructure Bank in Leeds because we love Leeds. The hon. Member asks about inequality and levelling up. The levelling-up agenda will of course help those in the…22 Sept 2021HANSARDEngagementsMy hon. Friend is a huge champion of his local NHS and I know of his incredible work on the reinstatement of breast cancer screening clinics among other things. I join him in…22 Sept 2021HANSARDEngagementsI thank my hon. Friend and support all the efforts at a local level that she is pursuing. We are backing that up at a national level, by requiring all new build homes by 2025 to…22 Sept 2021HANSARDEngagementsI do not think it quite right to say that the Government have not been supporting workers. We have paid the wages of nearly 12 million workers throughout the pandemic. Clearly…22 Sept 2021HANSARDEngagementsI thank the hon. Lady. I can absolutely make that commitment. On day one, I looked at the plans and expedited the work that we are doing on that. [ Interruption. ] Well, if she…22 Sept 2021HANSARDEngagementsWhatever our differences, it is fantastic to see the right hon. Gentleman back in the Chamber, contributing and holding the Government to account. The agenda for levelling up must…22 Sept 2021HANSARDEngagementsMy hon. Friend knows that today the House will discuss our landmark Subsidy Control Bill, which will allow us to seize the opportunities from having left the EU. Our new control…22 Sept 2021HANSARDEngagementsI have been asked to reply on behalf of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister. As the House will know, he has been at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he…22 Sept 2021HANSARDEngagementsWe are very clear: vaccines are saving lives, and they are also boosting the economy because they have allowed us to open up. They are particularly important for the risk to…22 Sept 2021HANSARDAfghanistan: FCDO UpdateMy hon. Friend is right about holding the Taliban to account, particularly in relation to human rights and the approach they take to women and girls. Getting access on the ground…06 Sept 2021HANSARDAfghanistan: FCDO UpdateThere is clearly a difference between the Taliban and groups such as ISIS-K and al-Qaeda. Indeed, there is a suspicion—I would not say more than that—that part of the intention of…06 Sept 2021HANSARDAfghanistan: FCDO UpdateOn my last update, although it is changing and very fluid, I think that all the borders have been closed with the exception of Iran’s. When I was in Pakistan, the border with…06 Sept 2021HANSARDAfghanistan: FCDO UpdateI thank my hon. Friend for his question. I know that he has already raised LGBT rights in relation to the vulnerability of Afghans and the resettlement scheme. I have discussed…06 Sept 2021HANSARDAfghanistan: FCDO UpdateWe have an excellent relationship with Pakistan. The hon. Lady is right that, on my visit, I saw Prime Minister Khan and Foreign Minister Qureshi. The Minister of State, my noble…06 Sept 2021HANSARDAfghanistan: FCDO UpdateMy hon. Friend is absolutely right. I thank her for paying tribute to the cross-Whitehall teams that worked so assiduously under immense pressure. Of course, cases like the one…06 Sept 2021HANSARDAfghanistan: FCDO UpdateOf course we will do everything we conceivably can. One reason why we did not get everyone out was that some were afraid; the conditions on the ground were objectively very…06 Sept 2021HANSARDAfghanistan: FCDO UpdateWe are watching the developments on the ground very carefully, but it is fair to say that the Taliban are in control of the vast majority of Afghanistan. I do not think it is the…06 Sept 2021HANSARDAfghanistan: FCDO UpdateI do not think that the Home Secretary or I—both the children of refugees—need to be lectured on this subject by him in the terms and tone that he used. We will do everything we…06 Sept 2021