Contributions
617 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDLobbying of Government CommitteeThe scandal of the former Prime Minister lobbying the Government for his new boss has rightly captured the headlines. I must say that it is really a bit rich for some Tory MPs to…14 Apr 2021HANSARDFinance (No. 2) BillThank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The example I have just given is one of how our system works, and I would argue that that is entirely relevant to the Finance Bill, because while…13 Apr 2021HANSARDFinance (No. 2) BillThe coronavirus crisis has not just been a public health emergency; it has been a social emergency as well—a social emergency worsened by the Government’s catastrophic handling of…13 Apr 2021HANSARDCoronavirusI will vote against the Act today. The Government’s response has been one of the worst in the world: one of the world’s highest death rates and one of the world’s deepest economic…25 Mar 2021HANSARD Integrated Review: Defence Command PaperAt a time when the Government say there is no money for a proper pay rise for NHS workers, they are going to give the military the biggest financial boost since the cold war and…22 Mar 2021HANSARDEngagementsExactly one year ago today we were told that 20,000 coronavirus deaths would be a “good outcome”. Yet our death toll is now six times higher: over 100,000 more people have lost…17 Mar 2021HANSARD Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts BillThis is a dangerous Bill in many ways, both in what it contains and in what it omits, including in its stark failure to really tackle violence against women. I want to…16 Mar 2021HANSARDIncome Tax (Charge)The Budget should be judged on one key issue: whether it improves the living standards of the vast majority of people in this country. On that, I am afraid, it has failed, with a…04 Mar 2021HANSARDCovid-19: Statutory Sick PayThe idea behind statutory sick pay is as simple as it is important: workers who are ill are financially supported so that they can stay off work to recover. But during a rapidly…02 Mar 2021HANSARD Education Return and Awarding Qualifications in 2021On Monday, the very day the Prime Minister announced his “big bang” school return, the minutes of SAGE scientific advisers were published. They recommend a phased reopening of…25 Feb 2021HANSARDEducation Route Map: Covid-19Last month, just one day after sending millions of children and staff back into schools to mix, the Prime Minister did a U-turn. He decided that it was too dangerous and that, in…25 Feb 2021HANSARDCovid-19: Road MapWhat the Prime Minister said earlier about a zero-covid solution is simply not true. Since he lifted lockdown prematurely in December, which I voted against, we have had 60,000…22 Feb 2021HANSARD Business of the HouseYesterday, Dido Harding, the head of Test and Trace and a Conservative peer, defended there being 2,500 consultants working on test and trace who are paid an average of £1,100 a…04 Feb 2021HANSARDWage floor to the furlough schemeThe Government currently instruct people to stay at home, but too many simply cannot afford to do so. Ensuring that no one on furlough is paid less than the minimum wage is the…02 Feb 2021HANSARD Employment Rights: Government PlansA few years ago, a number of free market extremists published a book claiming that British workers “prefer a lie-in to hard work”, slandering them as “the worst idlers in the…25 Jan 2021HANSARD Business of the HouseThis week we got the disturbing news that the UK currently has the highest covid death rate in the whole world. Does the Leader of the House not have a sense of shame about his…21 Jan 2021HANSARD Remote Education and Free School MealsThis debate on free school meals cannot be separated from the earlier one on universal credit, because both prompt the question: why are over 14 million people living in poverty…18 Jan 2021HANSARD Covid-19The Government’s complete failure to get the virus under control means that once again we are in a lockdown, but it is clear already that this lockdown is inadequate to drive the…12 Jan 2021HANSARD Public HealthJust over a month ago, this House voted on the tier system. I voted against. It was clearly inadequate to get the virus under control. I warned that a lockdown would be needed in…06 Jan 2021HANSARDCovid-19 UpdateIn the past 100 days, more than 23,000 people in our country have lost their lives due to covid. That scale of loss was completely unnecessary; it is the result of a second wave…17 Dec 2020