The comments made by Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, on 27 January 2022.
Since I overhauled the Windrush Compensation Scheme, the Home Office has been able to secure compensation for more people more quickly. £41 million has now been offered to Windrush victims, with more claims being finalised as quickly as possible.
The comments made by Chloe Smith, the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work, on 28 January 2022.
Effective communication is vital to creating a more inclusive and accessible society, and legally recognising British Sign Language in Great Britain is a significant step towards ensuring that deaf people are not excluded from reaching their potential.
Passing the Bill will see government commit to improving the lives of deaf people, and will encourage organisations across the nation to take up the BSL mantle, benefitting both themselves and the deaf community.
The comments made by Alister Jack, the Secretary of State for Scotland, on 26 January 2022.
It’s encouraging to see Scotland’s economy growing again, as we start to build back from the pandemic.
The UK Government is continuing to support people and businesses in all parts of the UK to help ensure a strong recovery.
In addition, we are investing in communities right across Scotland, including through £191 million in direct UK Government grants and £1.5 billion being invested in Scottish Growth Deals. And the UK Government’s multi-billion pound Plan for Jobs is working, with more people in jobs than before the pandemic.
Our Levelling Up White paper, to be published shortly, will set out how we will ensure all parts of the UK thrive and prosper.
The comments made by James Heappey, the Armed Forces Minister, on 26 January 2022.
Responding to humanitarian crises across the globe is a core part our of Armed Forces’ daily business. The crew and company of HMS Spey have demonstrated that this week by delivering this vital aid.
The UK is a long-standing partner of the Pacific Islands and having the ship deployed in the Indo-Pacific meant that we could be there for Tonga in their hour of need, as the Island begins to rebuild their homes and communities.
The comments made by Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, on 26 January 2022.
This Government’s priority is keeping the people of this country safe, and we will stop at nothing to remove those with no right legal right to be in the UK, including foreign criminals.
Signing this agreement will strengthen our returns arrangements with Serbia and will crack down on those who seek to abuse our hospitality.
This landmark deal delivers on our New Plan for Immigration and our commitment to streamline the appeals and judicial process which can be used to frustrate removals.
The comments made by Chris Bryant, the Labour MP for Rhondda, in the House of Commons on 26 January 2022.
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. As you will know, during the evacuation from Afghanistan many hon. Members were concerned about constituents who had loved ones stuck in Afghanistan. One issue that arose was how it came to be that Pen Farthing and Nowzad were allowed to evacuate animals while there were still people stuck in Afghanistan.
The Prime Minister said on 26 August that he had “no influence” on that particular case and nor would it be right. On 7 December, he was asked “Did you intervene to get Pen Farthing’s animals out?” He said, “No, that is complete nonsense.” And the Downing Street spokesperson said, “Neither the Prime Minister nor Mrs Johnson was involved.“ Yet today, as I think you are aware, Mr Speaker, the Foreign Affairs Committee has published a letter from Lord Goldsmith’s office saying,
“the PM has just authorised their staff and animals to be evacuated”.
How can I get to the bottom of who is telling the truth?
The comments made by Johnny Mercer, the Conservative MP for Plymouth Moor View, in the House of Commons on 26 January 2022.
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. During Northern Ireland Office questions, the hon. Member for Foyle (Colum Eastwood) made the extremely incendiary allegation that British troops went to his constituency in the ’70s with the express purpose of murdering the people who lived in Derry. We all have a responsibility in this place for the language we use. Legacy is extremely difficult to deal with. What guidance can you give me, Mr Speaker, so that when a Member repeatedly makes such claims—to generate whatever online presence he may have—that are clearly incendiary to people across the House and across the country, we can put a stop to that behaviour and behave in this place with the dignity that our offices demand?
The comments made by Jim McMahon, the Shadow Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary, on 24 January 2022.
After a decade of Conservative rule, vital services continue to be stripped back thanks to cuts, while the pockets of shareholders are cushioned from any blow and working families made to pay the price.
The system is clearly broken and the government is refusing to listen to Labour’s calls for higher fines for water companies, proper annual parliamentary scrutiny of Defra, Ofwat and the Environment Agency, as well as a proper plan for reducing raw sewage being discharged.
Labour’s contract with the British people for prosperity, security and respect, will see an end to sewage dumping to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas.
The comments made by Rachel Reeves, the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, on 24 January 2022.
This is a damning indictment of the Chancellor and the Government’s failures on fraud.
That the Government’s own anti-fraud minister feels he is unable to defend the Government’s record on billions of pounds of taxpayer cash gifted to criminals tells you all you need to know about the incompetence of this government.
It should be a source of enduring shame to the Chancellor that he has so casually written off £4.3bn of taxpayers’ money that is now in the hand of criminals and gangs.
Coming on top of billions spent on crony contracts and billions more lost in loan fraud schemes, these levels of waste destroy any claim the Conservatives have to careful stewardship of the public finances.
Labour would treat every pound of taxpayer money with the respect it deserves.
The comments made by Steve Barclay, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, on 22 January 2022.
Now we are learning to live with COVID and have lifted Plan B measures, we need to move away from a reliance on video meetings and get back to the benefits of face-to-face, collaborative working.
I’m grateful to the Civil Service for managing the challenges of the last two years. It is important that we now see the maximum use of our office space being made from next week, as we build a strong recovery after the disruption of the pandemic.