The comments made by Scott Benton, the Conservative MP for Blackpool South, on 19 November 2020.
Priti Patel is the best Home Secretary we’ve ever had. Her tough views on immigration & crime are shared by the public. The left-liberal establishment know it and will do everything they can to undermine her and the brilliant job she’s doing.
The comments made by Dehenna Davison, the Conservative MP for Bishop Auckland, on 19 November 2020.
Being Home Secretary is one of the toughest jobs around, and it takes a tough character to take it on. Priti Patel is working non-stop to deliver what our country voted for – things like more police on our streets and creating a points-based immigration system.
Since I entered Parliament, Priti Patel has been one of the kindest, most supportive people I’ve met. I’ve lost count of how often she’s found time in her hectic diary to discuss local issues and even just to check in and see how I’m doing, or offer advice on being a new MP.
The comments made by Ken Clarke, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, on Times Radio on 21 November 2020.
It was assumed before that if an investigation was taken this far and if anyone was found to have broken the ministerial code, I don’t think anyone would have doubted the minister, to use the old phrase, would have to consider his or her position.
The comments made by Jonathan Ashworth, the Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on 22 November 2020.
Two days ago Tory MPs ordered to tweet effusive, over the top praise for Priti Patel.
Fast forward to Sunday & Tory sources briefing she is now set to be demoted.
After Cummings, exams fiasco, free school meals and gazillions of other u turns, when will these Tory MPs learn?
The comments made by Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on the BBC Andrew Marr Show on 22 November 2020.
Andrew Marr: Yes. It is said that the prime minister had asked the official concerned in this report to water down the language. Would that have been an appropriate thing to do?
Rishi Sunak: Well, that’s not what happened. And the independent adviser conducted a detailed review at the request of the Prime Minister because he takes this matter very seriously and that’s right because it is a serious issue. That review concluded, the findings have been published, the Prime Minister has spent a lot of time considering them in the round, has reached the conclusion that Priti is not a bully and she has offered a full and unreserved apology for what’s happened and as far as the Prime Minister’s concerned that draws a line under this and we should get back to focusing on what people want, which is tackling crime and making sure that our communities are safe, and on a personal level I’ve worked closely with Priti and found her to be entirely kind and very focused and passionate about what she does.
The comments made on Twitter by Steve Reed, the Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on 22 November 2020.
Scandal-prone Jenrick defends Priti Patel’s bullying breach of the Ministerial Code – no surprise there, Johnson blocked the Cabinet Secretary from assessing whether Jenrick had broken the same code after he unlawfully helped a billionaire Tory donor dodge £millions in tax.
The comments made by Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Opposition, on 20 November 2020.
Yet again, the Prime Minister has been found wanting when his leadership has been tested. If I were Prime Minister, the Home Secretary would have been removed from her job.
It is hard to imagine another workplace in the UK where this behaviour would be condoned by those at the top. The Government should be setting an example. Instead, it is one rule for Boris Johnson and his friends, another for everyone else.
The Prime Minister has previously said he ‘loathes bullying’. Yet when one of his own ministers is found to have bullied their staff he ignores the damning report sat on his desk and instead protects them.
In the interest of transparency, the report into Priti Patel’s conduct and any drafts should now be fully published and the Prime Minister and Home Secretary should come to the House on Monday to face questions on their conduct.
The comments made by Richard Burgon, the Labour MP for Leeds East, on 19 November 2020.
Keir stood to be Party Leader promising unity in our movement.
But yesterday’s unjust decision has created wider divisions in our Party. The Tories are no doubt delighted.
There’s an easy and just way to sort this: the Hearing has ruled so now restore the whip to Jeremy Corbyn.
The comments made by Andrew Adonis, the former Secretary of State for Transport, on 19 November 2020.
Last time Labour was electable and elected, Corbyn & McDonnell were serial rebels, voting against sensible and essential economic and security policies day in day out.
Much better if this time they’re in a separate party so they don’t hold Labour back from being sensible and successful.
The speech made by Alison McGovern, the Labour MP for Wirral South, in the House of Commons on 19 November 2020.
I thank the Minister for sight of his statement, and for the accepting manner in which he has dealt with the pestering from me and from other Members on this subject. Through you, Madam Deputy Speaker, I also thank all the civil servants at the Treasury and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport for their hard work on this support package for sport. That work is not unnoticed, and we thank them for it. However, as I mentioned, getting to this point has taken cross-party pestering, and meanwhile, sports are hanging by a thread.
I know that, for the Treasury, sport in the context of the UK Government’s spending is almost a rounding error. It is a comparatively small commitment on the very, very big Treasury spreadsheet, but that fact is irrelevant to how important sport is to families in all our constituencies. It plays a huge role in the life of our country and, given its place in keeping us healthy, we needed a swifter response than this. That is particularly the case when we see how sport has been messed about. In August, with eat out to help out and the Prime Minister saying that he wanted to see “bustle”, sports were told that it was full speed ahead towards the reopening in October until No. 10 executed a sharp about-turn, and since then the pace has been slow to glacial. So in order to speed things up, I would like to help the Minister with some questions that will hopefully prompt action.
In two weeks’ time, the current lockdown arrangements will come to an end, and we hear rumours of a return to the tier system. Can the Minister please clearly explain what that means for grassroots sport? There are so many people who rely on swimming, their football team, their rugby game, their running club or their round of golf for their mental and physical health, and the lack of sport is doing our country damage. It cannot go on for much longer, and that is especially true when it comes to our nation’s children, so will the Minister please tell us when children can return to training? Robbie Savage speaks for the nation when he counts down the days in frustration to when we can play sport, and we need answers.
Next, we need to know that the money the Minister has announced just now will reach sports quickly. The cultural recovery fund did not reach cultural organisations quickly enough, so can we ensure that we have no repeat of that experience? Will he commit to coming back to the House next month to explain the detail of the effect of this funding? Will it reach disability sport effectively, and will it support women’s and men’s sport absolutely equally, by penny piece? What measures will he put in place to ensure that that happens?
We live in uncertain times, and the once predictable sporting calendar has been shifted all over the shop, so will the Minister commit to keeping the situation under review? I think I heard him say that he had an open door for anyone who needed help. That is a good thing, and I welcome it. In relation to that, he has explained that these funds are in response to the cancellation of the very slow piloted return of spectators that we were expecting from 1 October. We had an extensive debate on this only last week in Westminster Hall, so can the Minister bring us up to date on that? What is the truth of the rumours that spectators will return, but only in line with the as yet unannounced tier system? There are also rumours concerning the number of spectators. Is it true that the cap will be 1,000 people? While we are on the subject of Members’ concerns, we have another Westminster Hall debate coming up next week on the governance of football, and I expect to see many Members there. If the Minister cannot give us full details of the fan-led review of football at the Dispatch Box today, I suggest that he does so next Wednesday.
Finally, Madam Deputy Speaker, I know it will not have escaped your notice that the Government started this crisis accusing premier league footballers of not doing their share, and ended the summer U-turning on child poverty in response to the heroic campaigning of a premier league footballer. That should be a lesson to the Government. Sports people have been messed about month after month, and the British people want better. My final question to the Minister is this: in the face of a deadly virus, nothing matters more than public health, so where is the comprehensive plan for wellbeing right across the UK? This funding announcement today is a panicked response to a bad situation made worse by Government incompetence, and the country deserves better.