Security Vetting

Kim Johnson Excerpts

Monday 20th April 2026 Commons Chamber

[Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside) (Lab)]

This morning the Secretary of State for Scotland said that to deal with an “unconventional” US Administration, we needed an “unconventional ambassador”. Prime Minister, does “unconventional” now mean appointing a man to a senior position when we know his lies, corruption and misconduct had allowed corruption at the very heart of our democracy? Will the Prime Minister tell us when he first knew about the evidence and the advice—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Please, let us get other people in.

Antisemitic Attacks

Kim Johnson Excerpts

Monday 20th April 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dan Jarvis]

This Government will take swift action. That is precisely why the Home Secretary commissioned Lord Macdonald to look at the issues that the hon. Member has raised. She will have heard the responses I have given about proscription.

[Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside) (Lab)]

Every community should feel safe. Does the Minister agree that we must condemn racism in all its forms—antisemitism, attacks on mosques, the abuse and intimidation directed at other minority ethnic communities, and attacks on asylum hotels by far-right terrorists? The Government’s approach appears inconsistent. Take the handling of visas for divisive far-right figures, such as Valentina Gomez. Her entry has now been blocked, but why was her visa approved in the first place, given the clear risk that she posed to the safety and cohesion of our—

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)]

Order. These questions are too long. Minister.

[Kim Johnson]

I will finish off by saying—

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

Order. Sit down please.

[Kim Johnson]

Does the Minister agree that all—

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

Order. The hon. Member will respect the Chair. I call the Minister.

Lord Mandelson: Response to Humble Address

Kim Johnson Excerpts

Monday 16th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Darren Jones]

I am sure that the right hon. Gentleman and Members across the House would not want to do anything to prejudice a criminal investigation that might finally result in justice for the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and his associates. As I have said to the House repeatedly, where the Metropolitan police has asked for documents to be held back, we have consented to that. However, recognising the points the right hon. Gentleman makes, we have agreed a process with the Chair of the relevant Select Committee—a Member on the right hon. Gentleman’s side of the House—so that the Chair is able to see those documents and so that any accusations of any cover-up by the Government can be shown to be inaccurate.

[Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside) (Lab)]

The Chief Secretary has just mentioned that the process was not strong enough, but I have to say that that was a massive understatement. The due diligence checklist published last week screamed reputational risks, yet its red flags were ignored and dismissed, exposing a deeply embedded culture of deception. Mandelson’s appointment has dragged our party into the gutter, and the apparent collusion between key figures in Labour Together and the Prime Minister’s top team signals their clear complicity in this failure of judgment. Will the Government now take responsibility and support a full independent inquiry into Labour Together and those in the UK Prime Minister’s office who enabled this?

[Darren Jones]

Where the Government have the ability to take action to ensure transparency and accountability on this matter, they are making sure that they do so. For organisations that are outside of Government, it is for those organisations to consider such requests.

Oral Answers to Questions

Kim Johnson Excerpts

Thursday 5th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Satvir Kaur]

Hardship loans are available, and a statutory complaints procedure is in place to determine whether compensation is appropriate. I urge hon. Members to direct their constituents towards it.

[Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside) (Lab)]

Our manifesto promised the biggest wave of insourcing for a generation. Will the Minister explain when that will happen? Capita will not fix the pension issues faced by thousands until June this year, according to the permanent secretary. To add insult to injury, Capita has been awarded the civil service payroll contract for a quarter of a million workers, covering many large Departments. When will the Government stop rewarding failure by issuing contracts to these outsourcing companies?

[Satvir Kaur]

I understand my hon. Friend’s frustration. She will know that the contract was awarded under the previous Government in 2023. I reassure her that existing key performance indicators have been enhanced and strengthened to deliver tighter performance expectations, with higher penalties for severe failures. Those have already been applied to recent issues and delays in Capita’s administration of the civil service pension scheme.

Middle East

Kim Johnson Excerpts

Monday 2nd March 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We are taking a number of measures to deal with Iranian threats, as the hon. Gentleman would expect.

[Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister claims that lessons have been learned from Iraq, and I really hope that is true. Netanyahu and Trump instigated an illegal act of aggression, putting at risk the lives of thousands of people, including UK nationals and our military. Does the Prime Minister agree that diplomacy and de-escalation are needed if we are not to bring Britain into a reckless and catastrophic war, and can he provide details about this “viable, thought-through plan” to repatriate our nationals?

[The Prime Minister]

I assure my hon. Friend that I will continue to apply the principles that I have set out, and will work to de-escalate across the region.

Civil Service Pension Scheme: Administration

Kim Johnson Excerpts

Wednesday 4th February 2026 Westminster Hall

[Lorraine Beavers]

I agree. Some retirees have had to borrow money just to pay bills because their expected pension payments or lump sums have not arrived, and no clear timescale has been given for when they will. This is not a one-off mistake; it is part of a longer pattern. The Public Accounts Committee has made it clear that successive Governments have failed for years to manage the outsourced contract properly.

[Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for securing this very important debate. PCS members in my constituency were on strike for a long time last year because of the failures by MyCSP. Capita had the contract before and failed. Does my hon. Friend agree that those people who have been waiting and struggling need to be compensated as soon as possible?

[Lorraine Beavers]

I absolutely do agree with you.

The move to Capita was meant to modernise the system and improve services. Instead, it has exposed poor planning and weak control. Since the transfer, the scheme has struggled to work properly. There have been late pension payments, missing lump sums, lost records, broken systems and long delays in answering calls.

US Department of Justice Release of Files

Kim Johnson Excerpts

Monday 2nd February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Darren Jones]

I say to the right hon. Gentleman and the House that, whether it is Peter Mandelson, Michelle Mone or other peers who have brought the other place into disrepute, there needs to be a process for removing peerages. The Government are making it very clear today that this should be conducted on a cross-party basis to ensure the integrity of the other place and our democracy in the future, as it relates to all peers. I encourage Members across this House, and in the other place, to make sure those proposals are brought forward swiftly.

[Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside) (Lab)]

Mandelson’s behaviour fell well below the expected standard for a long time, but he was disgracefully allowed to resign very quietly, even though he was sacked as ambassador to the US last year—more action should have been taken last year. I ask the Chief Secretary to do everything he can to expedite legislation to remove all the privileges from this awful man as soon as possible.

[Darren Jones]

The Government stand ready to work with the appropriate authorities in the House of Lords to update its procedures, and as I informed this House, we have written to them today to start that process. We hope to move as quickly as possible.

Public Office (Accountability) Bill

Kim Johnson Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 3rd November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside) (Lab)]

I rise in support of this Bill today as the MP for Liverpool Riverside, as a very proud Scouser and as chair of the all-party parliamentary group for miscarriages of justice. As we all know, Hillsborough stands as one of the greatest miscarriages of justice this country has ever seen. This Bill is about a simple, powerful idea: truth and justice. Those two words should underpin our systems of power, but from Hillsborough to Orgreave, the Manchester Arena tragedy, the Shrewsbury 24, Grenfell and Windrush, we know that too often that simply is not the case.

For decades, working-class communities and the families who have lost loved ones have had to fight tooth and nail against institutions that were meant to protect them, only to find those same institutions closing ranks and themselves facing delay, denial and deceit. This Bill, and the Hillsborough law it seeks to deliver, are about ending the cycle once and for all.

Let us be honest, though: that progress did not happen by chance. It is down to the tireless efforts of families and campaigners who refused to give up. I pay tribute to those families and campaigners who were in the Gallery, and to those who fought very hard, but are no longer with us. They kept this issue alive when others tried to move on and bury it. I also want to say thanks and pay tribute to my good friends, my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool West Derby (Ian Byrne), my right hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool Garston (Maria Eagle), Steve Rotheram and Andy Burnham for their work so far on bringing this Bill forward.

We know that this Bill, even with the best of intentions, may face obstacles. We have already heard about the possibility of it being watering down in the other place. We all know how things work in Westminster, and while it is welcome that the Government have brought the Bill forward, we are also being warned that it might be watered down, with its bite blunted and meaning diluted. It is on this House and all of us here to ensure that we fight back against that.

On that shocking day in 1989, 97 innocent people were unlawfully killed, but we must recognise that the injustice did not end that day. The real scandal began in the days, months and years that followed, when the machinery of the state turned on the victims and the families. Police statements were altered. Blatant lies were printed on the front pages, particularly by “The Scum” newspaper. Families were smeared and forced to relive the trauma for decades, just to prove what they already knew: that their loved ones were not to blame. That is why we need a Hillsborough law, with a statutory duty of candour on all public officials so that truth is not optional and cover-ups are impossible. If that duty had existed in 1989, those families might not have had to wait 36 years for justice.

If that duty had existed, perhaps we would not have seen the same play used again at Grenfell, or Orgreave, or with the infected blood scandal, the Post Office, Windrush and so many more that we have heard about in the Chamber this afternoon. We owe it to those families and to every family who has suffered injustice at the hands of the state to make sure it never happens again. That is why I want to take this opportunity to recognise the Cammell Laird workers, who were unjustly imprisoned in 1984 for standing up for their rights. Their struggle remains a stain on our history, and they are yet to receive justice. My good friend the former Member for Birkenhead is a staunch leader in that campaign, and I thank him for his incredible work. Their case, like Hillsborough, shows exactly why accountability in public office matters. When the state closes ranks, ordinary people pay the price.

This Bill must establish a legal duty of candour on public officials—a duty to tell the truth, to co-operate fully with investigations and inquiries and to act in the public interest, not for self-interest. It must ensure parity of legal funding for bereaved families, because justice should never depend on someone’s postcode or pay packet. The Bill must deliver real accountability with real consequences for those who lie, mislead or obstruct justice, because if we have learned anything from Hillsborough, it is that words without consequences are meaningless.

I am forever honoured to represent my home in this House. My city has lived and breathed this fight for more than three decades. It knows what institutional failure looks like and what courage, solidarity and persistence can achieve in the face of that failure. For the people of Liverpool, the fight for justice has never been abstract; it is deeply personal and born out of tragedy, betrayal and an unbreakable demand for truth. We are a proud city—proud of our history, our culture and, above all, our sense of solidarity. The campaign for justice after Hillsborough helped shape our modern identity, with a fierce refusal to be silenced, a stubborn loyalty to the truth and an unshakeable belief in collective action.

Liverpool has shown this country what dignity looks like in the pursuit of truth. Now it is time for this country to show Liverpool that it has learned the lessons. I urge colleagues from all parts of the House to support this Bill with the strength and integrity that the people of Liverpool and people across the UK expect from us. We must fight for every detail until it is over the line and passed into legislation. Let us make truth, justice and accountability not just passing words today, but enshrined in our Hillsborough law forever.

Middle East

Kim Johnson Excerpts

Tuesday 14th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I agree that accountability and justice are important in the middle east. We are strong supporters of international law and the role that that needs to play in relation to justice in the region.

[Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside) (Lab)]

I welcome the Prime Minister’s statement today, and I welcome the ceasefire and the release of hostages as part of this historic but fragile peace deal. I also welcome the release of Palestinian women and children who were held in Israeli military prisons without trial. What steps will the Government take to ensure that justice and accountability is made a reality for all victims of international law violations in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for her question. It is important that I am clear that this Government are committed to international law and to the accountability that that brings.

Oral Answers to Questions

Kim Johnson Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Bridget Phillipson]

The Home Secretary has set out our approach and the action we will be taking in this area, and I will make sure that the hon. Lady receives a response from the Home Office on the matter that she raises.

[Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside) (Lab)]

T7. Shelter’s “My colour speaks before me” report highlights systemic discrimination in access to housing, from disproportionate scrutiny of applicants to barriers in both social and private rented housing. How are the Government ensuring that tackling structural racism is at the heart of housing reform and this Government’s policies?

[Bridget Phillipson]

We are determined to ensure that we have high-quality housing available, including social housing for rent, and that people have the opportunity to buy their own home. There is no place for racism in our housing system. If my hon. Friend will share with me the details of the report that she mentions, I will look into that further on her behalf.