Category: Speeches

  • Dominic Raab – 2021 Comments on Global Anti-Corruption Sentences

    Dominic Raab – 2021 Comments on Global Anti-Corruption Sentences

    The comments made by Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, on 26 April 2021.

    Corruption has a corrosive effect as it slows development, drains the wealth of poorer nations and keeps their people trapped in poverty. It poisons the well of democracy.

    The individuals we have sanctioned today have been involved in some of the most notorious corruption cases around the world.

    Global Britain is standing up for democracy, good governance and the rule of law. We are saying to those involved in serious corruption: we will not tolerate you or your dirty money in our country.

  • Angela Rayner – 2021 Comments on Liz Truss

    Angela Rayner – 2021 Comments on Liz Truss

    The comments made by Angela Rayner, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, on 25 April 2021.

    The stench of sleaze coming from the Conservatives is overwhelming.

    As a first step to start cleaning it up, they need to immediately publish the delayed Register of Ministers’ Interests and publish who benefited from their VIP fast lane. And we need an investigation to find out who paid for the Prime Minister’s redecoration of Downing Street and when.

    The choice at these elections is clear: incompetent Boris Johnson’s Conservatives doing favours for their mates, or Keir Starmer’s Labour putting the priorities of the British people first with a plan to create hundreds of thousands of jobs, give our NHS staff a pay rise and tackle anti-social behaviour.

  • Jo Stevens – 2021 Comments on Boris Johnson and European Super League

    Jo Stevens – 2021 Comments on Boris Johnson and European Super League

    The comments made by Jo Stevens, the Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on 26 April 2021.

    Yet again Boris Johnson’s integrity and honesty are in question.

    The public has a right to know what exactly was promised to Manchester United by both officials and the Prime Minister.

    If Boris Johnson gave the European Super League his backing and then publicly turned on the plan then the British people deserve a full, clear and immediate explanation and apology.

  • Rachel Reeves – 2021 Comments on Ministers with Covid Contract Links

    Rachel Reeves – 2021 Comments on Ministers with Covid Contract Links

    The comments made by Rachel Reeves, the Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, on 26 April 2021.

    Under the increasing spread of Tory sleaze, knowing how exposed some of our frontline staff were during the height of the pandemic without proper PPE, but also that Tory friends and donors were being awarded £2 billion worth of contracts creates increasingly serious questions for government.

    The government have long rejected Labour’s call for basic transparency by publishing the VIP fast lane, but this cannot go on given new revelations of corruption risk, and of companies without proper certification being allowed to jump the queue.

    As we are still missing an Independent Advisor on Ministerial Standards, and a Register of Ministers’ Interests, the government must require Ministers to publish openly and with full transparency, communications between them and those businesses who have won contracts since the pandemic begun and emergency procurement was introduced.

    Otherwise it’s increasingly clear that it is one set of rules for Ministers and their close friends, and another for everyone else.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2021 Comments on Covid-19 in India

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2021 Comments on Covid-19 in India

    The comments made by Jonathan Ashworth, the Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on 26 April 2021.

    Given our deep links with India, the UK cannot remain on the side lines. This pandemic has been a stark reminder of the interconnected nature of our world and the impact events on the other side of the globe can have here in the UK. Nowhere is safe until everywhere safe. The virus and its variants cannot be defeated by the individual efforts of nations alone.

    The crisis reminds us of the power of international collaboration and the importance of standing in solidarity with our global partners in the fight against this disease.

  • Lisa Nandy – 2021 Comments on Covid-19 in India

    Lisa Nandy – 2021 Comments on Covid-19 in India

    The comments made by Lisa Nandy, the Foreign Secretary, on 26 April 2021.

    Defeating this virus anywhere means defeating it everywhere. We have seen how quickly COVID-19 variants that have been identified in one country are able to spread rapidly across the globe.

    The UK can offer expertise and capacity in crucial areas like genome sequencing and epidemiology that have already proven vital in mapping and restricting the spread of coronavirus. It is vital, not only for protecting the lives of millions in the subcontinent, but also in limiting the spread of potentially vaccine-resilient variants to our own shores.

    This pandemic has been a stark reminder of the importance of global collaboration. Now is not the moment for the UK to step back from our international obligations, but to step forward and show real leadership.

  • Angela Rayner – 2021 Comments on “Bodies Pile High” Allegations

    Angela Rayner – 2021 Comments on “Bodies Pile High” Allegations

    The comments made by Angela Rayner, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, on 26 April 2021.

    It now appears that we have confirmation that as the second wave of Covid took hold and the Government lost control of the virus in the UK, Boris Johnson’s disgraceful reaction was to say “let the bodies pile high.”

    The Prime Minister has degraded the office he holds with rampant and overwhelming sleaze. But making light of the more than 127,000 deaths that happened on his watch and then trying to cover it up is a new low. This must now end.

    The Prime Minister should apologise to all those who have lost someone during the pandemic.

  • Lisa Nandy – 2021 Comments on the Sentencing of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

    Lisa Nandy – 2021 Comments on the Sentencing of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

    The comments made by Lisa Nandy, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, on 26 April 2021.

    This is absolutely devastating news. For more than five years, Nazanin’s freedom has been used as a political bargaining chip that has resulted in an unimaginable ordeal for her and her family.

    The UK government has serious questions to answer over their failed strategy to bring her home and the Foreign Secretary must come to Parliament to explain what actions he will take to ensure Nazanin is returned home to her family.

  • Preet Gill – 2021 Comments on Foreign Aid

    Preet Gill – 2021 Comments on Foreign Aid

    The comments made by Preet Gill, the Shadow Secretary of State for International Development, on 26 April 2021.

    Last week the Foreign Secretary exposed his fear of scrutiny by trying to sneak out a written statement on his callous aid cuts

    Today, having been forced to come to face up to his decisions by the right honourable member for Sutton Coldfield, he has once again evaded scrutiny and hidden behind one of his ministers instead.

    Make no mistake, slashing humanitarian support in the middle of a global pandemic is callous and incredibly short-sighted.

    People will lose their lives as a result of the cuts and we will all be less safe.

    As the only G7 nation to cut aid, it is a retreat from our moral duty and will weaken our position on the world stage.

    The statement last week was light on detail so can the minster tell us whether ambassadors have been informed of their allocated budgets and the date when all FCDO country office budgets for 2021 will be made public?

    Can he tell us whether impact assessments for each country will be conducted and when they will be forthcoming?

    Can he explain the Foreign Secretary’s comments that “no one is going hungry because we haven’t signed cheques” given that 16-million Yemenis and 12 million Syrian people are on the brink of famine and how he thinks the respective 60 per cent and 30 per cent cuts in aid will impact on people in those countries?

    The impact of the cuts on his government’s own stated priorities are stark:

    From education which has been cut by 40 per cent.

    To health programmes like the IRC’s ‘Saving Lives in Sierra Leone’ which has helped over three million people and now been cut by 60 per cent.

    In a year when Britain will be hosting the G7 and COP26 this is a shameful act and part of a pattern of retreat from the world stage by this Conservative government

    So, rather than continuing to treat parliament with contempt, will he commit to putting these cuts to a vote at the earliest opportunity?

  • Rachel Reeves – 2021 Comments on the Independent Advisor on Ministerial Standards Becoming Independent

    Rachel Reeves – 2021 Comments on the Independent Advisor on Ministerial Standards Becoming Independent

    The comments made by Rachel Reeves, the Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, on 26 April 2021.

    “There must be no bullying and no harassment, no leaking, no misuse of taxpayer money, and no actual or perceived conflicts of interest.”

    These words are from the Prime Minister’s foreword to the Ministerial Code.

    I don’t know if he believed them then, but he is trampling on them today.

    The Prime Minister is now corrupting the standards of public life expected in high office.

    As he tries to cover up payments for the luxury refurbishment of his Downing Street flat, possibly breaking the law through undeclared loans.

    As for leaks, we are now seeing the pipes burst with the sewage of allegations.

    The fish rots from the head down.

    There is a reason why there is no Independent Advisor on Ministerial Standards.

    There is a reason why the Government won’t publish the long overdue list of Ministerial Interests.

    The Prime Minister hasn’t wanted them.

    This is a Prime Minister who would rather “let the bodies pile high” than act on scientific advice.

    They are not bodies. They are people and loved ones, and they are missed.

    When will the Government publish the Register of Minsters’ Financial Interests?

    Who paid the invoices for the Prime Minister’s flat refurbishment in the first place, and when were those funds repaid?

    When will the vacancy for the Independent Advisor on Ministerial Standards be filled and will they be given powers to trigger independent investigations?

    And, finally, will the minister apologise for the stomach churning comments that have come out today, and urgently announce a public inquiry into the Government’s handling of the pandemic?

    This is all about conduct, character and decency.

    Our country deserves so much better than this.