Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Jonathan Gullis

Wednesday 25th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman very much, and I direct him to the report. I think it would be to his advantage to look through it and then I think we should return to it after PMQs.

[Jonathan Gullis (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Con)]

Q6. High streets and heritage mean a lot to the people of Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove and Talke. Burslem and Tunstall, two of the great six towns of Stoke-on-Trent, are plagued with rogue and absent landlords who are only too happy to let shops sit empty and historically important buildings, such as the Price and Kensington Teapot Works, fall into ruin, which is why I introduced my Planning (Proper Maintenance of Land) Bill to increase fines on these ruinous owners. Can my right hon. Friend confirm that, as part of the Government’s planning reform, he will adopt my Bill, which imposes a new unlimited fine, so these reckless reprobates can be held accountable?Up the Vale for Saturday, Mr Speaker!

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Jonathan Gullis

Wednesday 12th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful, as ever, to the hon. Gentleman—I think a former member of the Conservative party, as I understand it—for his party political advice. I do not agree with him. I have come to this House to make amends, to explain what happened on 20 May and to apologise. I really think, with all humility, I must ask him to wait for the result of the inquiry, when he will have abundant opportunity to question me again and to make his party political points again. Until then, I am going to ignore his advice.

[Jonathan Gullis (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Con)]

Hundreds of respondents took part in the Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove and Talke Bus Back Better survey, in which 80% said they would use the bus more if services were improved. The Conservative-led Stoke-on-Trent City Council has submitted a fantastic Bus Back Better bid for £90 million to improve our infrastructure and our services, so will the Prime Minister make our day in Stoke-on-Trent and announce that that money is coming soon?

Health and Social Care

Debate between Boris Johnson and Jonathan Gullis

Tuesday 7th September 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank unpaid carers for everything that they do, and the hon. Member is quite right to point out the huge contribution that they make. What unpaid carers have now is the certainty that if they need to pay for the cost of care in some way or other, there will be a limit and they will not have to continue with their unpaid exertions, their care and love forever, because the Government are coming in to help them.

[Jonathan Gullis (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Con)]

I welcome my right hon. Friend’s investment into the NHS, particularly into the beds, which have obviously clogged up. We see this in Stoke-on-Trent, where the Royal Stoke University Hospital was built under the last Labour Government, with a disastrous PFI debt that steals £20 million a year from the frontline. It also has 200 fewer beds than the previous hospital. So can my right hon. Friend ensure that previously forgotten areas such as Stoke-on-Trent will get their fair share of funding?

[The Prime Minister]

With the PFI contracts and the endless borrowing that Labour instituted, hospitals up and down the country are paying the price for the approach advocated by the last Labour Government—the completely financially reckless and incompetent approach. That is the opposite of what this Government are doing. We are taking the fiscally responsible, reasonable and right approach to fixing this problem.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Boris Johnson and Jonathan Gullis

Wednesday 12th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Without in any way accepting the premises of the hon. Member’s questions, I can certainly confirm that it will be a full public inquiry under the 2005 Act, and there will be full powers to compel evidence.

[Jonathan Gullis (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Con)]

I congratulate the Prime Minister on his statement and on his announcement that step 3 of our road map to recovery will go ahead as scheduled on 17 May. Like many across Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove and Talke, I have enjoyed a pint at the Millrace in Milton and another at the Bulls Head in Burslem, as pubs were able to open outdoors under step 2 of our road map. However, not every publican has been able to open their doors yet, and both they and excellent local brewers such as Titanic Brewery in Burslem have faced a very hard time throughout this pandemic. Will my right hon. Friend create a new draught beer duty rate to provide targeted support for breweries and pubs throughout the UK, which is only possible since leaving the European Union, recognising the important role that pubs play in our local communities?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for pointing out another of the advantages of leaving the European Union. Although we have consulted publicans and brewers on the potential for a differential duty rate on draught beer, we are awaiting the responses from the Treasury, and the Treasury will reply in due course.

Covid-19: Winter Plan

Debate between Boris Johnson and Jonathan Gullis

Monday 23rd November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I think I might quarrel with the hon. Member’s description of a broken land and a broken people, because I think actually the people of this country have shown fantastic resilience. I do not think that they or we are broken; I think that we are going to come back very strongly. I also think that churches play an enormous part in that, and I am glad that they are going to be reopening from next week.

[Jonathan Gullis (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend will know that while Stoke-on-Trent may be a small city, it is a mighty one. Having removed itself from Government attention over rising coronavirus figures twice this year, the city is once again showing its hardy spirit in pushing down case rates during the second wave by 100 per 100,000 cases in the last week. Will my right hon. Friend consider the approach made today by Stoke-on-Trent City Council leader, Councillor Abi Brown, of placing Stoke-on-Trent into tier 2 as we exit this national lockdown?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is so right in the way he champions Stoke and the community spirit of the people of Stoke. I cannot say which tier, alas, they will go into. It will depend on all the things that I have discussed, and the figures are not easy. The incidence of the virus is still high, and we have to face that grim, grim truth, I am afraid. But the hope is there that, with mass testing—and the people of Stoke can do this if they choose: you can drive down the incidence, you can drive down the R, you can find the asymptomatic positives and you can reduce the virus in your area. If they can reduce the virus in their area, as Liverpool has done, by about two thirds, partly thanks to the participation of the people of Liverpool in mass testing, then they have the prospect of removing those restrictions as well. So “Get a test to kick covid out” is what I would also say to the people of Stoke, in addition to thanking them and my hon. Friend for all their hard work.

Covid-19

Debate between Boris Johnson and Jonathan Gullis

Tuesday 22nd September 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The whole objective of trying to prevent another boom in coronavirus suffering—a boom in coronavirus patients—is to protect the NHS and allow scheduled surgery of the kind the hon. Gentleman describes to continue.

[Jonathan Gullis (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Con)]

Unfortunately, in Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove and Talke, schools such as the Excel Academy and Ormiston Horizon Academy have staff and students testing positive for coronavirus. Does my right hon. Friend share my concerns about staff and students being away from the classroom as they await testing? Does he agree that schools should be prioritised for testing to ensure that both staff and students are back in the classroom as soon as possible?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Jonathan Gullis

Wednesday 17th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am concerned about the behaviour of some companies, and many colleagues in the House will have received similar representations from their constituents. I do not want to single anyone out, but it is important that companies recognise that the Government —the taxpayer—have gone to huge lengths to help and to put our arms around UK business. They should do what they can as well to look after their workers in very difficult times, because those workers will stand them in good stead when the economy turns up again.

[Jonathan Gullis (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Con)]

In Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove and Talke, I have the incredible Chatterley Whitfield colliery. Once the beating heart of the industrial revolution, Chatterley is now, sadly, at risk of being lost. Will my right hon. Friend support me, Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Historic England and the Friends of Chatterley Whitfield to protect and preserve this historic landmark by creating an industrial heritage park to stimulate tourism, create new green jobs and memorialise the history from the pits to the pots?

[The Prime Minister]

I congratulate my hon. Friend and the Friends of Chatterley Whitfield colliery on the ambition that he has just outlined for a heritage park. It is a proposal that he needs to work up in more detail and bring to the Government, and we will certainly look at it with interest.