Dame Diana Johnson
MP for Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham · Labour · United Kingdom
“Longer-term funding is subject to future spending reviews. The Department and NHS England are committed to prioritising funding for sepsis in future spending bids. The framework is a 10-year plan. I do not pretend that we will deliver everything overnight, but it sets clear targets to reduce deaths by a quarter over the next 10 years.”
“It is not acceptable that when someone has been through the worst experience of their life, they are just left to get on with it. That is why we are committed to improving access to post-discharge support and rehabilitation, with priority actions set out in the framework.”
“I encourage everyone who has not yet come forward to do so, and to ensure that they obtain both doses of the vaccine for proper protection. The framework commits to improving vaccine access. The shadow Minister put a number of questions to me. I will respond in writing, as I am conscious of the time.”
“No one knows a child better than his or her parents or carers, which is why listening to patients, carers and families is vital to supporting sepsis recognition and escalation. Too many cases have shown the devastating consequences when deterioration concerns are not heard.”
“During Sepsis Awareness Month, I pay tribute to the charities, such as the UK Sepsis Trust and Sepsis Research FEAT, that do so much to support families, raise awareness and fund research.”
“That will include research calls that cover sepsis improvement priorities, whether it is vaccination and screening, faster and more accurate diagnosis or innovative treatments. It is true that the most recent data from the Office for National Statistics suggests that sepsis deaths went down in 2024.”
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“Although today we are discussing one single set of net migration figures, we know that net migration has hugely varying impacts in regions and communities. We also know that the most skilled migrants flow disproportionately towards London and the south-east. Has the Minister given any thought to developing a more regionalised approach to immigration, to ensure that communities across the country benefit evenly and fairly from it?”
“While fraud accounts for 40% of recorded crime at the moment, only 1% of police resources are used to deal with it. What are the Home Secretary’s thoughts on that?”
“It is the requirement that the College of Policing issue a code of practice on ethical policing. The College of Policing already publishes a code of ethics, so I assume from the drafting of the clause that the new code of practice relies on a trickle-down effect from chief officers, rather than being—as we all thought it would be—a general duty for all officers at all ranks to be open and honest with the public when mistakes are made. The importance of leadership in driving and improving culture is recognised in our policing report, but the public are entitled to expect openness and honesty from officers at all levels. The creation of a less defensive culture across policing is necessary to rebuild public trust and confidence in the police.”
“I want to look specifically at the clauses relating to policing. It is important to pay tribute to our police forces and officers for their work day in, day out, dealing with very difficult circumstances. However, we all know and accept that, in recent years, policing has had far too many scandals. Far too many police forces have gone into special measures, and there has been a real exposure of the racist, sexist and homophobic culture in many of our police forces. We must be mindful of the powerful report by Dame Louise Casey this year on the Metropolitan police. The Committee has been conscious of her recommendations in that report and the need for action from the Home Office and the Mayor of London. I turn to clause 73, which I welcome in principle.”
“The Home Affairs Committee carried out an inquiry and produced a report in which we were clear that we would like a specific offence of spiking to be introduced. We were also conscious of how important it is to work on prevention. That is ongoing work, and I am hopeful that we might see some progress from the Home Office in the coming months. It will be interesting if we get to the point where we need to table amendments to introduce that specific offence. Another Session, another Home Office Bill. As the hon. Member for Chatham and Aylesford said, it is probably the last before the general election. I want to focus on the issues that the Home Affairs Committee has considered in some detail in our recent inquiries. A few weeks ago we published our policing priorities inquiry, and before that a report on police misconduct.”
“Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for calling me to speak on the Second Reading of the Criminal Justice Bill. It is always a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Chatham and Aylesford (Tracey Crouch), who made a powerful speech. She speaks for many in Chamber when saying that there are things in the Bill that should not be there and things that should be that we do not have yet. I hope that we will see some improvements in Committee. I refer back to the point made by the previous Home Secretary, the right hon. Member for Witham (Priti Patel), on spiking. That is an ongoing issue—the hon. Member for Gloucester (Richard Graham) is in his place, and he has done an enormous amount of work on it.”
“What the amendment would do is usher in an end to women being put in jail for having an abortion, and in 2023, I hope that we can all come together and agree on that course of action.”
“Those calling for the threat of criminal prosecution relating to abortion to be lifted from women include the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Royal College of Midwives, the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service and Rape Crisis England & Wales. That is why I will be tabling a new clause to remove women from the criminal law relating to abortion. Let me be very clear with everybody: this is a very limited and highly targeted amendment. It would not change any law regarding the provision of abortion services within a healthcare setting in England and Wales. The abortion time limit, the legal grounds for abortion and the requirement for two doctors’ approval would all stay as they are.”
“For example, after Hampshire police found a human placenta in woodland in Southampton over the summer, it contacted the British Pregnancy Advisory Service and asked for details of anyone who had been seen at a clinic but turned away because they were past the time limit at which they could seek an abortion. That request was made without any court order. Earlier this year, it was reported that distressed women who have had miscarriages are being tested for abortion drugs by the police. Abortion providers have warned that women suspected of illegal abortions have been pushed into having these tests while in hospital, with no legal representation and without their proper consent being obtained. No woman should be pursued by the police for ending her pregnancy.”
“The maximum penalty under section 58 is life imprisonment. Between 1861 and November 2022, just three women were convicted of having an illegal abortion, but let us make no mistake: this not a defunct piece of legislation quietly gathering dust on the shelf. Since December 2022 one woman has been convicted for a late termination, and six women are awaiting trial. We also know that police officers have investigated at least 52 women over the past eight years on the basis of suspicions that abortions have taken place after the legal limit. Abortion care providers also report a stark increase in information requests from the police.”
“This issue has already been raised, but I still do not understand why each and every one of our police forces—rather than just two thirds of them—does not have specialised units dealing with rape and serious sexual assaults, when all the evidence makes it clear that what is needed is specialist investigation of those very serious crimes. There is another provision that is not in the Bill and ought to be, in the light of recent disturbing and tragic events. I have mentioned several times in the Chamber that women can still face prosecution under section 58 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861 if they end a pregnancy after the legal time limit. In 1861 Queen Victoria was on the throne, Charles Dickens was writing “Great Expectations”, women could not vote or be Members of Parliament, and the age of consent was 12.”
“There are a couple of other measures, recommended by the Select Committee in the past, that I hoped would be in the Bill. The first involves retail crime. We made a very specific recommendation that certain offences be created. A few weeks ago, the manager of my local Co-op was showing me the system that it had on its CCTV. While I was at the back of the store, someone came in, opened the door of the fridge, scooped out all the chicken legs and thighs and other kinds of meat, and then left. According to those at the Co-op, the crime that they see the most is organised crime. It is not a case of someone stealing a loaf of bread or some sandwiches; people are going into stores and stealing every day, and that needs to be addressed.”
“In Scotland it is carried by all police officers, and it plays an important part in saving the lives of people who have taken an overdose. Clause 19 deals with extending the powers of the police in respect of acquisitive crime. There are some important unanswered questions here. First, can the Minister provide examples of what might constitute “reasonable grounds” for believing that goods are stolen and on the specified premises? Secondly, how confident is she that the new power to enter any premises without a warrant will be used proportionately? Thirdly, given that forces are committed to following “all reasonable lines of enquiry” in the case of every crime, may I ask how they can be adequately resourced to undertake what they have promised to do?”
“As the Committee set out in its recent report on drugs, we must have the right interventions in place to help people break away from the terrible cycles of addiction and criminality that drug addiction can cause. They need the right support to let them deal with addiction, but they also need psychosocial support and interventions to deal with the underlying trauma that may have led them to drugs in the first place. I welcome the measures in clauses 1 to 3, including the creation of a new offence to better enable law enforcement agencies to prove illicit use of pill presses. That is very welcome, and it too was proposed in our drugs report. However, I hoped that the Government might make an announcement about a roll-out of naloxone to all police forces.”
“The Committee has been concerned about that for some time, and a review of the structure of the IOPC is ongoing. Separating out those two very important roles would be an important part of the reform of the IOPC that is perhaps still needed, and that is not in the Bill. Clauses 15 to 17 expand police powers to test suspects in police detention for drugs. I would be really grateful if the Minister was able to confirm what resourcing will be put in to ensure that any increase in those testing positive for the extended range of drugs will be matched by the necessary diversion services. I think we all want the Government’s 10-year drug strategy to meet its aims and objectives, but if it is to do that we must be clear that much more work needs to happen.”
“The Committee was concerned that giving PCCs extra powers to challenge individual misconduct hearing outcomes could encourage them to stray into operational decision making, and that the often party political and elected nature of their posts could be seen to influence their decisions. The Committee concluded that PCCs should drive systematic improvements in local forces, for example by taking steps to assure themselves that misconduct and competence processes are fit for purpose, rather than intervening in individual cases. At this point, I want to make a comment about something that is not in the Bill, but which the Committee would have liked to have seen in it. The Independent Office for Police Conduct has, very unusually for such an organisation, one post for the roles of chief executive and chair.”
“I would like to highlight again that the Home Affairs Committee heard, on several occasions, that simply giving chief constables more powers of appeal will not solve the underlying problem of the initial quality of investigations or even the confusion over the definition of misconduct. That has proved very problematic in dealing with disciplinary cases, so more clarity on that is needed. The Bill will allow the Secretary of State to enable appeals by police and crime commissioners in limited circumstances where the chief constable is the officer subject to a misconduct decision. The Home Affairs Committee has previously questioned whether extending rights to challenge misconduct hearing outcomes in general to police and crime commissioners would create a conflict of interest for them.”
“I am very grateful to the right hon. Lady, who speaks with great knowledge about this area and about how legislation has to be deliverable. It has to work for every officer at every level in all our police forces, so there is a job of work to be done. I hope that in Committee the information on how it will all fit together will become clear. The Home Office has said that the duty will filter down to all officers. The concern of the Home Affairs Committee is that if we are really serious about changing police culture we need more than just a hope that things will cascade down. We need clear responsibilities and clear duties. Clause 74 gives chief officers a statutory right to appeal to a police appeals tribunal against a disciplinary decision.”
“I am pleased that my right hon. Friend is talking about fraud. The Home Affairs Committee has just started an inquiry on fraud and we learnt that only about one in seven people who are the victim of a fraud report it, because of the shame and stigma attached. Is she is concerned as I am that people are not reporting fraud and so this is the tip of the iceberg?”
“The Home Affairs Committee has taken a particular interest in small-boat crossings. We produced a report last year that I suggest the new Home Secretary might want to look at. We have also visited France and Belgium this year. Owing to our interest and expertise in this area, will the Home Secretary consider giving the Home Affairs Committee and the Joint Committee on Human Rights the opportunity to carry out pre-legislative scrutiny of any emergency legislation that he plans to bring forward?”
“3. What progress he has made on implementing the final recommendations on compensation in the second interim report of the infected blood inquiry, published on 5 April 2023.”
“Eight months ago, recommendation 12 of the final report on compensation called for interim payments of £100,000 to be “paid to recognise the deaths of people to date unrecognised and alleviate immediate suffering.” The “Cambridge Dictionary” describes the word “interim” as something “temporary and intended to be used or accepted until something permanent exists”. I know the Minister is a good man and will want to do his best, so can he tell the House when those interim payments will start to be paid?”
“Why have Scotland and Wales been able to set up psychological support services for the victims of the contaminated blood scandal, but England has not?”
“Could we please have a statement to explain why the overhyped Hull and East Yorkshire devolution deal announced in yesterday’s autumn statement and described by a local, well-respected journalist in Hull as “cobblers” is worth only £13.3 million a year extra in funding over 30 years, and goes nowhere near the £111 million lost each year to Hull alone since 2010?”
“I congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on his new role. This morning at the Home Affairs Committee, David Neal, the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration, told us that the biggest challenge facing the Home Office is being professional, maintaining objectivity, being fair and understanding human rights. The inspector also said that what keeps him up at night is the question of who is protecting our borders and whether they are doing so to the best of our collective abilities. Could the Home Secretary tell us whether today’s ruling on Rwanda proves or disproves Mr Neal’s concerns?”
“That affects many parts of the country and there is nothing in the King’s Speech to deal with it. Secondly, it contains nothing to deal with the coalition Government’s having changed planning permission requirements so that companies wanting to erect telegraph poles outside people’s houses to extend broadband connectivity can just do that. In Hull, three or four companies are doing that without local residents being able to have a say in it. I hope that the Government will look at this matter again, and I have tabled a private Member’s Bill on that basis.”
“Member for Salisbury (John Glen) as the latest Paymaster General, we have had nine holders of that post since the infected blood inquiry started in July 2017. Those receiving infected blood are not to blame for what happened to them and for the decades of delays in getting to where this issue now stands. They are certainly not responsible for the current state of public finances. I, along with colleagues on both sides of the House, will continue to push the Government every step of the way until they finally do what is right and deliver justice for this group. Finally, I am really disappointed that the King’s Speech contained nothing to deal with the bread-and-butter issues that my constituents care about, one of which is the inability to access NHS dentistry.”
“I am sure that Members from across the House whose constituents include those infected and affected by the contaminated blood scandal will join me in voicing our deep disappointment that after 50 years, and five years of a public inquiry, with one victim dying on average every four days, this King’s Speech is yet another wasted opportunity. I therefore tabled amendment (q), with cross-party support, to try to put this matter right. Let us be clear: the Government have had all the information and time they could possibly need to set up a compensation scheme. It appears that the missing ingredient is political will, and that is not surprising. With the appointment this week of the right hon.”
“Sadly, we have learnt from the King’s Speech that the Government’s priorities for this Session do not include delivering justice to victims of the infected blood scandal, the biggest treatment disaster in the history of the NHS. That is, of course, despite the Government’s accepting the moral case for compensation, despite repeatedly assuring us that they were working at pace, ready for the infected blood inquiry to report this month, and despite having received final recommendations seven months ago from Sir Brian Langstaff on compensation, not to mention Sir Robert Francis KC’s framework document, which was given to them 20 months ago. The Government did not even pledge to extend interim payments to bereaved parents, children and siblings, as was proposed by Sir Brian Langstaff and recommended clearly in his report.”
“The Government are now planning to conduct a consultation before tabling the Bill in Parliament, and before responding to the pre-legislative scrutiny that the Committee conducted in the summer. However, it is worth remembering that the Bill is a response to the terrorist attack at the Manchester Arena in 2017 and the recommendations of the inquiry, and it is designed to help to prevent such an appalling crime from happening again. I pay tribute to Figen Murray, the driving force behind this legislation, whose son Martyn Hett was tragically killed in that attack. I hope that Ministers will be able to confirm the exact timetable for their consultation and when they plan to table the Bill in Parliament.”
“We hope that the Government might address that as well. I totally agree with the calls for a statutory definition of “child criminal exploitation”. The Committee has been calling for that for some time. After today’s judgment on the Rwanda policy, may I again commend to the Government our report on small boats, published last year, which contains a range of policy options that the Government might want to look at again? We look forward to working with the Home Office and Ministers, and to scrutinising proposals and policies that are based on evidence and a fully-costed model. I want specifically to address the Government’s draft Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, which is also known as Martyn’s law.”
“I am pleased to be called to speak in the King’s Speech debate on policing and criminal justice. As Chair of the Select Committee on Home Affairs, I am pleased that policing is getting the attention it rightly deserves, but I say to the Government that far more needs to be done quickly, particularly on the vetting and dismissal of police officers who should not be serving in our police forces, and on specialist units for investigating rape and serious sexual offences. It is disappointing that not all police forces have those in place. Our Committee, along with the hon. Member for Gloucester (Richard Graham), has also called for a spiking offence. In recent weeks the Committee has been concerned about whether we have the correct laws in place to deal with some of the protests we have seen and this issue of hateful extremism.”
“The Minister rightly said in his statement: “Hospitals should be places of safety, able to treat patients with compassion. It is distressing to see them unable to do so.” Médecins Sans Frontières has demanded, as a bare minimum, a medical evacuation of patients. What more can the British Government do to make that happen?”
“However, given the comments from the Home Secretary, the principles of operational independence of policing dating back to 1285, and the policing protocol, which the Home Secretary agreed in June this year, can the Minister confirm that if there is to be any discussion of these long-standing policy principles of policing, Parliament is the place to do it, possibly including the use of a royal commission? We should certainly not have these matters debated on the front page of newspapers at a time that is very challenging for communities in this nation.”
“The Home Affairs Committee has spent many months scrutinising policing for a report that is due to be published tomorrow. That scrutiny has included the principles of policing by consent and the operational independence of the police, free from political interference, in upholding the rule of law, as set down by Parliament on protests and other matters. Alongside that, the Committee has been briefed on the policing of protests and will be looking to do more shortly.”
“Can we please have a statement from the Paymaster General to explain to the House why the very clear and final recommendations made by Sir Brian Langstaff in his report published in April—seven months ago—setting out the need to extend interim payments and to set up a compensation scheme this year, have effectively been trashed by the Government? Is it not shameful that, after setting up a five-year public inquiry and running a parallel compensation review so that the payment of compensation would not drag on for far too long, and with very clear recommendations from a well-thought-of, esteemed former High Court judge, the Government have decided not to implement any of those key recommendations?”
“Although I welcome the decision, may I say to the Minister that it would have been much better to tell the House about it in a statement rather than an urgent question? We all know the huge pressures on accommodation in the United Kingdom and on local councils, so can the Minister say what engagement has taken place with local councils? What does “transitional accommodation” mean and how does it fit with the Home Office policy of not using hotels?”
“The World Health Organisation estimates that there are 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza, with an average of 180 giving birth every day without access to obstetric services and, of course, babies being born into a war zone. Can the Minister outline what work is going on to make sure that humanitarian aid is getting to those pregnant women, new mums and babies?”
“The clue is in the word—they are interim payments, to be made before the final compensation payments. That is why what the Prime Minister said yesterday is so wrong. There has been not one word on whether the interim payments will be extended. I wonder whether you might be able to assist me, Madam Deputy Speaker, in getting the Government to tell the House of Commons what they are doing in relation to Sir Brian’s final recommendations on compensation.”
“We have no idea what progress the Government have made on their work, despite being told repeatedly that it was at pace and they were working towards the original November deadline for the publication of the final report, which is now due out in March. Surely they have some progress to report to the House. The Government have also failed to explain why victims of the infected blood scandal are being treated differently from the victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal, who rightly have received compensation before the public inquiry into their scandal has concluded. If the Government are determined to needlessly delay justice to victims of the infected blood scandal, that makes the need to extend interim payments to bereaved parents, children and siblings—as recommended by Sir Brian—even more critical.”
“A parent who lost a child or a child who lost a parent in the scandal has received no such interim payment, despite clear recommendations from Sir Brian Langstaff, the chair of the infected blood inquiry, that such payments should be extended immediately. That confusion by the Prime Minister and his officials is deeply hurtful to those who are still waiting for the Government to respond to Sir Brian Langstaff’s second interim report on compensation published in April. Sir Brian made it clear that the compensation scheme should be set up now and should begin work this year. We are nearly in November, very close to the end of 2023, and there is still no clarity from the Government.”
“On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. You have had notice of this. In Prime Minister’s Question Time yesterday, the hon. Member for Edinburgh North and Leith (Deidre Brock) asked the Prime Minister about compensation for those infected and affected by the contaminated blood scandal. The Prime Minister responded: “What I would say is that extensive work has been going on in Government for a long time, co-ordinated by the Minister for the Cabinet Office, as well as interim payments of £100,000 being made to those who were affected.” —[ Official Report , 25 October 2023; Vol. 738, c. 830.] That is factually incorrect, and I hope that the record can be corrected as not all those affected have received interim payments.”
“At the Public Accounts Committee in July, Home Office officials told me that the Government were paying for 5,000 empty hotel beds as a buffer in case of an upsurge in people travelling across the channel. Could the Minister update the House on how many empty hotel beds the Government are currently paying for?”
“I think we can all agree that there is no place on our streets for hateful extremism, so what does the Prime Minister have to say to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, who said that, at the moment, law enforcement do not have the powers they need to combat hateful extremism?”
“There was no detail on progress to establish a compensation scheme, as has also already been recommended by Sir Brian Langstaff, and no explanation of why contaminated blood victims are being treated differently from victims of the Horizon scandal, who are already going to receive £600,000 in compensation before that final report is produced. What more can I do, Mr Deputy Speaker, to get the Government to deal with this matter in a timely way, and to ensure that as much information as possible is disclosed and that these people are shown some compassion?”
“On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. Today, after I had asked for a statement from the Paymaster General on the recently announced delay to the infected blood inquiry’s final report, a short, 193-word statement has been laid by the Government. That number is in stark contrast to the 485 people who are estimated to have died since the inquiry started, with one person dying every four days on average. The short statement failed to deal with the final recommendations made already by Sir Brian Langstaff for making interim payments, for which there is now an even stronger case because of the delay to his final report.”
“Could we please have a statement from the Paymaster General in the light of Sir Brian Langstaff moving his final report on the infected blood inquiry to next March, due to the number of individuals and organisations that will be criticised in it, and in the light of the fact that the Government have rightly given £600,000 in compensation to the victims of the Horizon scandal without waiting for the final report? It would be very timely to have a report because we know that the Government were working to the November deadline. We keep being told that work is “at pace”, so it should be ready for next month in any event.”
“The Foreign Secretary has talked about accountability and accuracy in broadcasts and social media. Does he share my bafflement at why the BBC, our national broadcaster, has repeatedly refused to describe Hamas as a terrorist organisation when they are a proscribed terrorist group?”
“I welcome the comments that the Secretary of State has just made, but may I take him to task about some of the comments that he made earlier? He talked about having conversations with Hull City Council about transport. This comes after the Government’s decade-long refusal to back the electrification of a line to Hull. It also comes after the exclusion of the northern Mayors in the decision to scrap the northern leg of HS2. Why should any of the people in Hull and East Riding—”
“Hamas’s kidnapping of 200 Israelis is a stark reminder that the terrorist group have learned from their paymasters, the Iranian regime, who for years have promoted state hostage taking, including, of course, of UK nationals. Will the Prime Minister say a bit more about the steps that the UK Government are taking for the release of the British nationals who are currently held in Gaza?”