Ukraine

Debate between Boris Johnson and Wera Hobhouse

Thursday 22nd September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Boris Johnson]

I think the whole House will agree that since the invasion on 24 February the UK has led the world in imposing sanctions on Russia and in mobilising diplomatic, political and military support for the Ukrainians. I think that most impartial observers around the world—and I meet a lot of them—believe that if it had not been for the actions of the UK Government, things might have been different. I am delighted to see this Administration continuing with the commitments that we began; the financial commitments in particular are extremely important.

[Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)]

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

[Boris Johnson]

I am just about to conclude.

If it were not for Putin’s inability to see what is really happening—if he were not locked, as it were, in a windowless dungeon surrounded by bodyguards, spies and sycophants in a sort of Lubyanka of the mind—he would see the tragedy that he has unleashed. He would withdraw from Ukraine before he is pushed out—and he is going to be pushed out.

In the past seven months, the sufferings of Ukraine have moved the world; I know that they have moved everybody in this House and in this country. We grieve for the people of Ukraine, and we open our hearts to them as few other countries have done. We know that, thanks to their bravery and sacrifice, their day of freedom is coming. When that day comes, we will rejoice with Ukraine, and that rejoicing will echo around the world. Until that day comes, I am sure that this House and this country will stand in unshakeable support for the people of Ukraine.

Sue Gray Report

Debate between Boris Johnson and Wera Hobhouse

Monday 31st January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I will do whatever I can to ensure that the House has as much clarity as possible. There are legal issues that we face about some of the testimony that has been given, but, in the meantime, what Sue Gray wants us to do is to wait for the conclusion of the investigation and to see where that goes, and to support the police in their work.

[Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)]

Does the Prime Minister need somebody else to tell him whether he was there, or that he is there now?

[The Prime Minister]

I refer the hon. Lady to the answer that I have already given.

COP26

Debate between Boris Johnson and Wera Hobhouse

Monday 15th November 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank Bristol for what it is doing. We are committed to regional plans for net zero. It should be possible within the funding envelope that Bristol has, but we will certainly look at it.

[Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)]

The Department of Energy and Climate Change, which was under Lib Dem leadership until 2015, was a huge driver towards decarbonisation across the board. There are now renewed calls to bring back such a Department, but there seem to be sources in the Treasury who are against such a move, saying that it would become

“the biggest begging bowl in Whitehall outside the NHS”.

Does the Prime Minister agree that we should bring back the Department of Energy and Climate Change, or does he agree with the Treasury?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady is totally wrong, because we need to integrate business into the fight against climate change. That is the way to do it, as we have done with wind power, and we also need nuclear power.

G20 and COP26 World Leaders Summit

Debate between Boris Johnson and Wera Hobhouse

Wednesday 3rd November 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

It gives me great pleasure to congratulate Ysgol Dinas Brân, which I know from my own abortive attempt to win the seat that my hon. Friend now represents so well. I thank those at the school for what they are doing, and I think they are quite right to set the example they are setting. All new schools in our country are carbon-neutral.

[Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)]

I thank the Prime Minister for his updates on the G20 summit and COP26, and also for listening so carefully to the suggestions from these Benches. I am sure that he, too, is disappointed that the G20 could not agree on an end date for domestic fossil fuel use. Will he be brave, show leadership, and set an end date for the extraction and domestic use of all fossil fuels in the UK?

[The Prime Minister]

We will have no fossil fuels at all in our power generation system from 2035 onwards.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Wera Hobhouse

Wednesday 15th September 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right in what he says about the importance of buying British and eating British. Our food is the best in the world. He is also right to address the problems that we are currently seeing in the supply chain, but we are taking steps. Of course, it has been a problem for a long time, but we will use the seasonal agricultural workers scheme to ensure that British farms get the labour that they need.

[Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)]

Q11. I express my condolences to the Prime Minister and his family.Does the Prime Minister believe that the burning of fossil fuels will not be a source of energy in the UK in future?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes. Since just 2012, when I think I was Mayor of London—I was—we have cut CO₂ massively and we have cut our dependence on coal from 40% to less than 1%. How about that, Mr Speaker?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Wera Hobhouse

Wednesday 16th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I could not have put it better myself.

[Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)]

In the week in which the Prime Minister announced the Government’s new strategy on obesity, the eating disorder charity Beat experienced a 165% increase in the number of people contacting its support services. I am pleased that the Prime Minister is focused on obesity, which is a very serious national health issue, but as the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on eating disorders, I have been contacted by many who suffer from eating disorders who have approached me with concerns about certain aspects of his obesity strategy and the adverse effects it would have on them. Will the Prime Minister take these concerns seriously and commit to a meeting between sufferers of an eating disorder, myself and the relevant Minister in his Health team?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes. I am acutely conscious that there are no glib, easy answers in this area of public policy, and I happily undertake that the relevant Minister should meet the hon. Lady as fast as possible to understand her concerns and the concerns of her constituents.

Global Britain

Debate between Boris Johnson and Wera Hobhouse

Tuesday 16th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I believe that this will be a profoundly beneficial change for both the FCO and DFID. It will infuse the whole of our foreign policy with the missionary zeal and sense of idealism that characterises the very best of our aid experts. They are the best in the world, and they will now be at the absolute heart of UK foreign policy. That is the right place for them to be.

[Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)]

All I am hearing from today’s exchanges is that we will only help the poorest in the world if they are buying British goods. Words fail me at the cowardly abdication of Britain’s global responsibility to the poorest in the world. We are shooting ourselves in the foot. The covid crisis can only be resolved if the poorest countries get rid of the virus or control it. Will the Prime Minister reconsider this globally illiterate and morally reprehensible move?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady should look at what this country is actually doing to tackle coronavirus around the world, giving more than any other country to the search for a virus. I do not know if she saw what happened at the recent Gavi summit, but she should be proud of what this country is doing to tackle the virus around the world.

Transport Infrastructure

Debate between Boris Johnson and Wera Hobhouse

Tuesday 11th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend speaks eloquently and passionately for Huddersfield, which is among the many towns and cities that will benefit from HS2.

[Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)]

To announce 250 miles of new cycle routes as a big green infrastructure investment is a complete joke; it will mean only a few extra miles per local authority, and we cyclists know what they look like. If the Prime Minister agrees that we need many more continuous segregated cycle routes, how can he begin to explain how 250 miles across the country will cut it?

[The Prime Minister]

This is just the beginning.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Wera Hobhouse

Wednesday 15th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on everything that he is doing to campaign for the George Eliot Hospital in his constituency, and I thank the staff there for everything that they do. The people plan will be coming forward in the spring, but I fancy that he already knows some of the details: 50,000 more nurses, 6,000 more doctors in general practice and 6,000 more primary care professionals in general practice. Today, as he knows, the House is legislating to ensure that we guarantee record multi-year funding for our NHS.

[Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)]

Q11. My constituent, Rosanna, came to the UK as a Kurdish refugee fleeing persecution and human rights abuses committed by Turkish-backed fighters in Syria. Her family remain in the area, and she lives in daily fear for their lives. There have been multiple reports of human rights abuses against Kurdish civilians in Syria, including reports that Turkish forces used white phosphorus against children. Will the Prime Minister join me in condemning the human rights abuses committed by Turkish forces against Kurdish civilians in northern Syria, and what will his Government do to prevent further atrocities?

[The Prime Minister]

As the hon. Lady knows, we have raised our concerns about the operation in northern Syria with the Turkish Government and with President Erdoğan several times. We certainly deplore any abuse of human rights and the suffering that she has identified. May I make a proposal to the hon. Lady? I would be happy to look at the details of the case she has raised myself, because I am deeply concerned about what is happening.

Brexit Negotiations

Debate between Boris Johnson and Wera Hobhouse

Thursday 3rd October 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, of course. We will make sure that we set out what we want to do with the political declaration and with our very considerable ambitions for FTAs.

[Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)]

The Prime Minister is promising to get Brexit done at the end of the month. But the EU is not going to sink to the bottom of the sea, and today’s exchanges—lasting almost two hours—have demonstrated that many, many questions are unanswered and nothing has been resolved. Rather than this being “getting Brexit done”, is not this the “never-ending Brexit”?

[The Prime Minister]

If I may, I am going to seize on that because the hon. Lady has it in her hands to help us all to get this thing over the line. This proposal is the basis of a deal; it is not a deal. We have to get it agreed with our EU friends and it will not be easy, but if I am able to return to the House of Commons with a deal like this, I hope—from what she has said today—that she will vote to get this thing done.

Prime Minister's Update

Debate between Boris Johnson and Wera Hobhouse

Wednesday 25th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As I have said many times to the House, I do not want an election. It is open to the hon. Gentleman to try to persuade his colleagues to vote for a Queen’s Speech and the progressive measures we will introduce, including on domestic abuse and domestic violence, but if he will not do that, the logical thing to do is to go to the country in a general election. But there are hesitations about doing that on the Opposition Front Bench, for reasons that I obviously understand.

[Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)]

We have had a long, heated discussion in this Chamber, but I think we have all come to the conclusion that the best way to move forward is to find some form of consensus. It is difficult, because this House is divided and the country is divided. May I offer the Prime Minister a true compromise? I will vote for his deal—and that is difficult, because I truly believe that we should stay in the European Union and so do the people in Bath who voted for me—if he will vote to put it back to the people. I will guarantee him that he will get a majority in this House for this compromise and in the country, and after that Brexit will be done.

[The Prime Minister]

What that shows, Mr Speaker, is that you cannot trust the Lib Dems. The hon. Lady wants a second referendum, but her party leader, as I understand it, wants us to revoke the whole thing.