Sue Gray Report

Debate between Hywel Williams and Boris Johnson

Monday 31st January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. I think the House understands, even if many people outside do not, that No. 10 hosts more than 400 officials on a busy day. They have a huge amount to do —[Interruption.] No, they are working very hard. We need to make sure there are proper lines of authority and that we sort out the command structures, and that is what we are doing.

[Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC)]

Whatever the police decide, this update, severely limited as it is, would be enough to persuade any other Prime Minister to resign. This Prime Minister could resign and salvage a crumb or two of honour, or he may try to delay and take his party down with him. Is it not clear that, with notable exceptions, his Back Benchers should discover their backbone and sack him?

[The Prime Minister]

I have answered several questions like that. I must ask the hon. Gentleman to look at the report properly and to wait for the inquiry when it comes.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Hywel Williams and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 19th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC)]

Q7. Last April I asked the Prime Minister whether he agreed with the principle that politicians should not lie. He replied that he concurred“with the basic principle that the hon. Gentleman has just enunciated.”—[Official Report, 14 April 2021; Vol. 692, c. 317.]Would he like to amend the record?

[The Prime Minister]

No.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Hywel Williams and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 14th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend. I know the stretch of road that she refers to very well, as I am sure many Members across this House do. I will not be able to click my fingers and say that we can tunnel under Guildford; all I can say, in all candour, is that we will certainly look at it. But hon. Members should be in no doubt that we are spending record sums—£27 billion on improving England’s strategic roads following £640 billion for the biggest, best-ever package of infrastructure investment in this country.

[Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC) [V]]

Many people are aghast at the potential consequences of trashing English covid regulations in a triumphalist prime ministerial crash attack. Wales’s regulations, to be announced today, are expected to take a cautious and measured approach. Will the Prime Minister make it clear that those visiting Wales this summer must stick to Welsh laws and that on covid regulations he can only speak for England?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, of course. I think that people should stick to the rules and the guidance wherever they are, and the hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to talk about a cautious and measured approach.

Afghanistan

Debate between Hywel Williams and Boris Johnson

Thursday 8th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I share completely the feelings of my right hon. Friend and join him in thanking the men and women of the Welsh Guards and all other armed forces who did so much in so many ways in terms of sanitation, electricity and generally improving the life chances of the people of Afghanistan. We will do whatever we can from now on—diplomatically, politically and with our development budgets—to make sure that we protect the legacy of their achievement.

[Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC) [V]]

Now, with over a quarter of a million civilian lives lost, 457 British soldiers dead on Afghanistan’s plains, and thousands more at home maimed in body and mind, will the Prime Minister, unlike some of his predecessors, please give me his frank assessment: is the terrorist threat really eliminated, will the Taliban not just reverse the progressive gains of the past 20 years, and were those lives lost and ruined in vain?

[The Prime Minister]

No, I absolutely do not believe that the sacrifice of British troops over the past 20 years has been in vain. I believe that they are leaving a lasting legacy in Afghanistan. In 20 years, they have helped substantially to reduce the threat of terrorism. As I have told the House candidly, of course that threat has not gone away. We must do everything that we can to ensure that the Taliban stick to their promises—stick to what they have said—but we must also work to ensure that there is a settlement in Afghanistan that is propitious to a new approach and a new settlement for its people, so that there is not the temptation to use that country as a harbour for terrorist operations.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Hywel Williams and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 19th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I think that such a gesture would be the cherry on the cake of the free trade deal that we have already done.

[Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC)]

In 2019, before visiting Wales, the Prime Minister said: “I will always back Britain’s great farmers”. Now it looks as if he is backing Australia’s farmers instead, so will he keep to his word, clearly back Welsh farmers and permanently rule out tariff-free access for Australian lamb and beef imports?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Hywel Williams and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 28th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his expertise in this matter and thank him for what he has just said, because he is totally right. What happened to those Post Office workers—the postmasters and sub-postmasters—was appalling. It was one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in our history, and we are indeed looking at the issues involved. The former High Court judge Sir Wyn Williams will be making recommendations about what further actions—what further apologies—we need to make.

[Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC) [V]]

The PM just raised the matter of the Welsh general election. In March last year, this United Kingdom Conservative Government intercepted a deal between Wales and the Roche pharmaceutical company for 5,000 daily covid tests, instructing the company to “reserve all additional Covid tests”to England. Those tests would have been crucial to saving thousands of lives in Wales. As we go to the polls next week, will the Prime Minister tell us why Welsh lives meant so little to him?

[The Prime Minister]

I am afraid that the hon. Gentleman is completely wrong in what he says about tests, but he is right about one thing, which is that Wales has made an amazing contribution to our national fightback—our UK fightback—against covid. It was incredible again to go to the Wockhardt factory in Wrexham. It is Wockhardt, working together with Oxford Biomedica, that has enabled us to roll out the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine that has made such a difference. I want to say a massive thank you, again, to those Welsh scientists and all those people working in that factory, because they have helped to save countless lives across the UK.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Hywel Williams and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 14th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend. We will look at what Sir Peter has to say. He has come up with some very interesting interim proposals, particularly about improving connectivity along the north Wales coastline—the routes into Merseyside. On the A55, I repeat what I said to my right hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd West (Mr Jones): there is a great opportunity to do that if people will vote Conservative and vote for a Welsh Conservative Government on 6 May.

[Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC) [V]]

In 2007, my friend Adam Price, then the Member for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, proposed the Elected Representatives (Prohibition of Deception) Bill. At this distance in time, it would be unkind to quiz the Prime Minister on the detail, but he is seen as a big thinker, so perhaps he could tell the House what he thinks of the principle of that Bill, which is that on important matters of public policy, politicians must not lie.

[The Prime Minister]

I have a high regard for the hon. Gentleman and, indeed, remember happy times with his colleague Adam Price. I do not remember the details of his Bill, but I think we would all concur with the basic principle that the hon. Gentleman has just enunciated.

Integrated Review

Debate between Hywel Williams and Boris Johnson

Tuesday 16th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my right hon. Friend, who knows whereof he speaks and has done much to advance the cause of peace in the middle east. It was an unexpected breakthrough for many in the foreign policy establishment to see the Abraham accords, and I think a significant and positive step forward. As for Iran, I must tell him—I am sure he knows—that we remain extremely concerned by Iran’s influence and disruptive behaviour in the region. In particular, of course, we are concerned by the risk of Iran developing a viable nuclear weapon. That is why we think it right that Iran should be in compliance with the joint comprehensive plan of action not just for the benefit of the region, but for the benefit and security of the people of Iran.

[Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC) [V]]

This integrated review looks like a desperate, confused and self-important search for purpose, far, far removed from the concerns of the people of Wales. With Welsh trade with our most important trading partner, the EU, collapsing as a result of the fundamental political and strategic error of our exit, is it not increasingly clear that the best interests of my country would be served not by squandering billions and more on literally useless nuclear weapons, but by our ability to pursue our own course in the world?

[The Prime Minister]

I remind the hon. Gentleman that the people of Wales voted to leave the EU. I think they did the right thing, for all sorts of reasons. Not that I think he supports them, but it is the Welsh Labour Government who continue to squander money hand over fist on all sorts of projects that I do not believe are in the interests of the people of Wales, including £144 million on a study for a bypass alone.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Hywel Williams and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 3rd February 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend, who is a fantastic advocate for the people of Workington and never fails to put their interests before me. I will do everything I can to help him and will check my diary commitments to see when I can get there. I hope it will be as soon as possible.

[Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC) [V]]

The delivery of important letters, packets and parcels in the Caernarfon area has been delayed for days and weeks by a covid outbreak amongst local postal workers. The Prime Minister will, I am sure, join me in wishing my constituents a speedy recovery, but what are his Government doing, during this health crisis, to ensure that the once world-beating but now privatised Royal Mail is sufficiently robust to fulfil its duty to the public, particularly in rural areas?

[The Prime Minister]

I pass on my sympathies to all those affected by the outbreak of covid that the hon. Gentleman describes. The most important thing we can do is continue to roll out the vaccination programme. We want to get to key workers, such as postal workers, as fast as we possibly can. We are already at 10 million across the whole country. We have got to get through JCVI groups 1 to 9, the most vulnerable groups. Postal workers over 50 will certainly be included in those. After that, we want to get down to all key workers who come into regular contact with others who may be exposed to the virus.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Hywel Williams and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 11th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend raises a very important point. I am glad that, starting this year, screening for babies with severe combined immunodeficiency will be evaluated for inclusion in the screening programme, but my right hon. Friend the Health Secretary says he is more than willing to meet her to discuss further how screening could be improved.

[Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC)]

Further to the questions posed by my right hon. Friend the leader of the SNP, irrespective of what other countries are doing, policy in this country is the Prime Minister’s responsibility, so what will he do to help the self-employed during this coronavirus crisis?

[The Prime Minister]

What we are going to do, obviously, is ensure that nobody is penalised for doing the right thing and that everybody has access to the benefits and support they need. If the hon. Gentleman will contain himself, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor will set out more in just a minute.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Hywel Williams and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 5th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend is certainly right that we are going to be reducing the involvement of Huawei below the 35% market cap, but he is also right in his general vision, which is one I entirely share. What has happened, I am afraid, is a failure of like-minded countries to produce an alternative to the 5G network except that provided by high-risk vendors. That is why we are now doubling the science budget. We will be working with some of the countries he mentions in order to produce exactly that diversification in the market.

[Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC)]

Q4. In November last year, the personal independence payment assessment centre in my constituency was moved to Rhyl. No notice has ever been given of that change. The next bus from Caernarfon to Rhyl takes 1 hour 44 minutes, or in a case in point in the constituency of my right hon. Friend the Member for Dwyfor Meirionnydd (Liz Saville Roberts), the bus from Barmouth to Rhyl takes 5 hours 15 minutes. This is the reality in the Prime Minister’s soaraway global Britain. Will he instruct his Minister to remedy this matter immediately?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for the point he raises. We do need to improve our bus services across the whole country and that is why we are investing another £250 million immediately to improve bus services. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor has many more such investments in the pipeline.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Hywel Williams and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 8th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am not surprised by what my hon. Friend says about the cavalier behaviour of the Lib Dem council in Eastleigh. We will ensure that, in so far as we need to build many more homes, which we do, we will supply the infrastructure necessary and do it on brownfield sites.

[Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC)]

Q4. The Prime Minister is a man of vision, apparently. What is his vision for the constitutional relationship between Wales and England in the event of Irish reunification and Scottish independence?

[The Prime Minister]

Our relationship, like the relationship of the whole United Kingdom, will go from strength to strength.