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Tag: Emily Thornberry

  • Emily Thornberry – 2025 Speech on the Middle East

    Emily Thornberry – 2025 Speech on the Middle East

    The speech made by Emily Thornberry, the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, in the House of Commons on 1 September 2025.

    I read with alarm yesterday’s report in The Washington Post detailing a plan for the future of Gaza that is circulating among the Trump Administration. They call it the “GREAT” plan. It proposes the total transformation of Gaza into a tourist region—a high-tech hub under temporary US administration. What is going to happen to the Gazans? Well, 2 million of them will be temporarily relocated to other countries, including Somaliland and South Sudan. Forced population transfer is contrary to, and a complete violation of, international humanitarian law.

    Serious thought must be given to the day after for Gaza, and my Committee recommended as much in our report that was published in July, but this unserious, illegal and deeply dystopian plan cannot be the sum of that thinking. What are the Government doing to dissuade Donald Trump from following this path? What, alongside regional and European allies, are we doing to put forward a serious plan for a peaceful future in Israel, Gaza and the west bank that is ready for the day after this terrible war finally comes to an end?

    Mr Lammy

    I am very grateful to my right hon. Friend —my dear friend—for her remarks, and I commend the work of her Committee on the day after and the thoroughness of approach that is required. I have read the reports, but it is speculative stuff that I have seen in different news articles; it is not a comprehensive approach. In my discussions with the US system, I have seen nothing confirmed along the lines of what she said. The day after requires the removal of Hamas; it cannot be about the further displacement of the Gazan people. It is going to require a degree of finance and stability, which I think will require other states, particularly Arab partners. They would set themselves against the sorts of reports I have seen in the papers.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2023 Comments on the Personal Conduct of Nadhim Zahawi

    Emily Thornberry – 2023 Comments on the Personal Conduct of Nadhim Zahawi

    The comments made by Emily Thornberry, the Shadow Attorney General, on Twitter on 22 January 2023.

    Next up in today’s cavalcade of Tory corruption, Nadhim Zahawi spent more than £1,000 of taxpayers’ money on a ‘keep the meter running’ luxury car service when visiting COP26 to preach about children being taught to conserve the planet.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people who will be in receipt of legacy benefits and awaiting transfer to universal credit in May 2020.

    Priti Patel

    As quoted in the Public Accounts Committee report (attached below), the bulk of legacy claims will be transferred by the end of 2019.

    http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201415/cmselect/cmpubacc/810/81002.htm

    “

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Rent Officers (Housing Benefit and Universal Credit Functions) (Local Housing Allowance Amendments) Order 2015 (S.I., 2015, No. 1753), what total amount will be made available to local authorities under the Targeted Affordability Fund before the date on which those regulations are due to come into force.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Over the next five years Targeted Affordability Funding (TAF) will be drawn from recycling a percentage of the savings from the freeze of Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates. As a result of the level of savings produced by the freeze next year there will be no TAF available in 2016/17; however, there will be funding from 2017/18 to 2020/21.

    From 2017/18 around 30 per cent of the potential savings per year from the freeze to LHA will be used to support areas where higher rent increases are causing a shortage of affordable accommodation.

    The level of TAF in 2016/17 would have been the same if, as planned, LHA rates had been uprated by CPI inflation. This is because the CPI forecast in September was zero (0.01 per cent) and therefore LHA rates would not increase in 2016/17 but would remain at the 2015/16 levels.

    The amounts of TAF which will be available each year from 2017/18 and the plans to distribute it will be announced in due course.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much has been paid to HM Revenue and Customs in fines for non-compliance with minimum wage legislation in each of the last 10 years.

    Mr David Gauke

    In 2014/15, HM Revenue and Customs identified 735 incidences of non-compliance and issued penalties of £934,660. They recovered arrears for 26,318 workers.

    I refer the honourable member to the answer provided at UIN 218083 for numbers of workers for the previous years, to the answer provided to her on 6 May 2014 at Hansard Column 110W for information on arrears, and to the answer provided to her at UIN 205613 with regard to penalties.

    I further refer the honourable member to the answer provided at UIN 211605 for information on recovery of arrears.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people referred to Help to Work since April 2014 have left the scheme after opening a claim for working tax credit.

    Priti Patel

    The information as requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

    The information that is available on Help to Work, on the number of programme referrals and Community Work Placement starts can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/help-to-work-quarterly-statistics

    The latest published information on Help to Work covers the period from April 2014 to June 2015 inclusive.

    “

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Attorney General, how many Crown Prosecution Service staff worked on (a) referrals for suspected non-compliance with minimum wage legislation and (b) prosecutions for non-compliance with minimum wage legislation in each of the last five years.

    Robert Buckland

    All cases referred to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for the purposes of considering a prosecution for an offence contrary to national minimum wage legislation, are dealt with by the Specialist Fraud Division. The number of people dealing with such cases at any given time depends on the number of cases received and how they are allocated.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken since 2012 to evaluate the effectiveness of the application of the work-preparation requirements which have applied to single parents who are in receipt of income support and whose youngest child is aged three or four.

    Priti Patel

    There is currently no evaluation on the effectiveness of the application of this requirement, however, we have this under review. Statistics show that the employment rate for lone parents has increased from 57% in June 2010 to 64.4% in June 2015.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken to monitor the application of the easement of conditionality rules under the Jobseeker’s Allowance (Homeless Claimants) Amendment Regulations 2014 since those Regulations were brought into force.

    Priti Patel

    It is the responsibility of Jobcentre Plus managers to monitor the appropriate application of easements to Jobseeker’s Allowance conditionality. In doing so, they use an assurance framework to assess the quality of work coach interviews and Claimant Commitments to make sure they appropriately reflect individual circumstances.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 1.149 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what steps his Department plans to take to assist local authorities for which the cost of providing temporary accommodation exceeds their pre-allocated share of funding.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Spending Review and Autumn Statement announced that funding of the Temporary Accommodation management fee will be devolved to local authorities from 2017/18, giving them more freedom and flexibility in how they use this funding. Current levels of funding will be maintained and, in addition, councils will receive £10 million a year more. The Department for Communities and Local Government will set out the precise detail of how the new funding will be distributed in 2016/17. The Department will work closely with local authorities and other partners to ensure that funding will be allocated in order to most effectively help councils tackle homelessness.