James Asser
MP for West Ham and Beckton · Labour · United Kingdom
“I recently visited the British Airline Pilots’ Association training facility and flight simulator with the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. I confess, Mr Speaker, that the results were mixed: if you are flying on your holidays next week, you would not want to fly with either of us!”
“High street crime and shoplifting remain key concerns for my constituents, who have seen some pretty awful examples. My local police have had some successes, and they are running local initiatives on high streets that are starting to deliver results.”
“T3. Recently, I witnessed an attempted phone snatch outside one of my stations by three masked youths on electric bikes; fortunately, they were unsuccessful, but residents raised this as major concern at a community neighbourhood safety forum. Will my hon. Friend outline what progress we are making against tackling phone theft?”
“I am sorry to report to the House that last week, a 13-year-old boy lost his life in the Royal Victoria dock in my constituency, following a similar incident in the Thames in my constituency last year. The Royal Life Saving Society has reported evidence of an 80% increase in child deaths related to drowning over the last five years.”
“We are going through another heatwave, but we know that well tree-lined streets can reduce temperatures by 5°C to 8°C. The data shows that we are significantly behind Europe, with 18% coverage compared with 30%, and that, where there is coverage, it is mainly in more affluent areas rather than poorer, more deprived areas.”
“I am dealing with huge numbers of groups of leaseholders, and one of the things we have discovered—with the managing agent very much as my hon. Friend is describing —is this habit of subcontracting, only for the leaseholders to find that the subcontractors are owned by the same company; the name has just been changed.”
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“My hon. Friend mentions gradual change, which was apparently the policy of the Conservative party. Does he agree that a six-month temporary arrangement that takes a quarter of a century to overturn is the epitome of gradual?”
“I thank the Minister for joining me at Curwen primary school in Plaistow recently to see its excellent early years education work. He heard from parents about the struggles they often face as a result of serious economic and housing hardship. Will he assure my constituents that the Government will look at communities like mine, where housing and poverty create serious challenges for families, to ensure that all children, no matter their circumstances, get the best possible educational start in life?”
“Perhaps, by putting them on the record, I may encourage people who knew or remember them—or, indeed, unleash that amateur army of genealogists that we are so good at producing in this country—to come forward with more details, so that we can properly record their names and service. I very much support the work to create a permanent memorial in recognition of all the incredible, dedicated reconnaissance pilots who served our country between 1939 and 1945. I also commit that I will work to create a local memorial in Newham, so we can honour those six men from West Ham and any others who served from the wider borough, to remember both nationally and locally the service and sacrifice of this incredible unit.”
“Flight Lieutenant Arnold Rumsey was shot down on a mission to photograph the Scheldt estuary, where the Dutch royal naval shipyards are located. The pilot of the plane drowned, but Arnold and the rest of the crew were taken prisoner. He spent the rest of the conflict as a prisoner of war, and survived. Warrant Officer Anthony Sams was born in West Ham in January 1923; he joined up in December 1941. We know very little, other than he served in the PRU and survived the war, dying in Hornchurch in December 2001, aged 78. I hope that, by putting their names on the record, I have allowed those men something of a memorial to their service and sacrifice.”
“We know little of his RAF career, but we know that he survived the war and died in Epsom in 2007. Sadly, all we know about Flight Lieutenant Ronald Kemp-Lewis is that he was born in West Ham and served in the PRU. Flight Sergeant Alan McLaren, the son of Ernest and Lily McLaren, trained as a Spitfire pilot and served in 683 Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron in the Mediterranean. On 18 August 1944, he failed to return from a mission to photograph Udine in Italy. His remains are missing and he is one of the 144 with no known grave. He was 23 years old. Aircraftman First Class John Phypers served in 541 Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron at RAF Benson, Oxfordshire. Sadly, he was badly troubled by the ongoing stress of the war, and took his own life on the base on 16 June 1943, aged 39.”
“An accurate portrayal, it showed his character undertaking missions alone, with only his camera as defence. As we know, many of the PRU missions were undertaken without ammunition, and only the pilot’s skill and training to get them out of trouble. In the film—this speech contains spoilers, but the film is over 70 years old, so I hope that will not cause issues—Alec Guinness’s character is killed on a mission. That is, of course, poignant, as so many of these men lost their lives in that way. In discussions about the campaign, I am aware that six reconnaissance pilots were from West Ham. I wish to put their names on the record and say a few remarks about them. Flying Officer George Borrett was born in June 1920. He was a clerk in a shipping agent when he joined up in 1939.”
“It is good to see you in the Chair, Ms Vaz. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Carlisle (Ms Minns) for securing this debate. I also put on record my thanks to the Spitfire AA810 project for the work it has done to highlight the work of the Photographic Reconnaissance Units, and to get them a proper memorial. For many, the PRU will be an unknown group. Indeed, I was unaware of the unit until the project approached me. People will, of course, have seen the photographs many times in books, in museums and in films, but we rarely think about how those photographs were gathered, or the person behind the camera. As we have heard, over 26 million pictures were taken. Preparing for this debate, I could think of only one portrayal of a reconnaissance pilot in popular fiction: the role played by Alec Guinness in the film “Malta Story”.”
“I recently visited Richard House hospice in west Beckton in my constituency. It is the first dedicated children’s hospice in London, and currently supports more than 300 families every year. This summer, it is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating the hospice on its silver jubilee? Does she agree that, when we discuss hospices in this place, as we often do, we need to make sure that we put time aside specifically to discuss children’s hospices, which do such important work supporting families, children and parents in what is often the most difficult time of their family’s life?”
“My hon. Friend is making a very strong case for the importance of history. As my parliamentary neighbour, she will know that our part of east London has an incredibly strong labour and industrial history, but does she agree that it is so often forgotten that much of that history involved—or was led by—strong working-class women? Those women had to overcome not only class prejudice, grinding poverty and difficult social conditions, but the sexism of the time. We must do far more to shine a light on their successes and achievements, from which we all benefit today, to make sure they stay in the public memory.”
“I recently visited Keir Hardie primary school in Canning Town, which has been involved in a scheme run by Disney that ended up with 42 of the children performing in “The Jungle Book” in the west end. The children are now absolutely enthused by the idea of performance and theatre, and the teachers tell me that their concentration is better, their confidence is better and they are showing benefits in their academic work. Does the Secretary of State agree that as well as the benefits of access to theatre, there are clearly academic benefits too? We need to see more opportunities like this, particularly in constituencies like mine, where circumstances often mean that children do not get access to this kind of thing.”
“I raised the al-Ahli hospital at the end of last year, when it suffered quite a lot of damage. The situation has deteriorated rapidly since then. I understand that the hospital, as my hon. Friend outlined, has suffered further damage, including the loss of its emergency room. Given it is one of the few functioning hospitals left in Gaza, does my hon. Friend agree that it is vital that it stays open? Given it is one of the oldest hospitals, operating for almost 140 years, its loss would be an absolutely damning indictment of the disregard for the medical facilities, and for the health and lives of the Palestinian people.”
“One of the issues with the health service that my constituents most often ask me about is the struggle to get basic appointments. That is leading people to the hospital, which is unable to cope with the sheer numbers, and in a populous, fast-growing borough, that is creating unsustainable pressure. As such, I welcome my right hon. Friend’s remarks about the move from hospital to community. Does he agree that getting primary care right is at the centre of getting the NHS right, and can he assure my constituents that they will get what they want: appointments when they need them, as they need them, in their local community?”
“By doing that, hopefully we can take a couple of steps towards ensuring that no family has to go through the kind of incident and heartbreak that my constituents saw earlier this spring.”
“The marine policing unit of the Metropolitan Police Service, which receives over 2,000 calls a year on water safety, highlights that the risk grows in the summer and in hot weather. Certainly, near me, at the Royal Victoria Docks, we have children jumping in all the time, so this is a pertinent debate now, and as we move into the summer, with the hot weather, the issue is pressing. I will finish with a couple of asks for the Front Bench. Can we look at how we can put in place a comprehensive education programme, working with schools but also on a national level, perhaps taking advantage of modern technology? Can we also look at the need for a statutory duty for fire and rescue services, so that it is enshrined in law, as perhaps people expect it is not, but it is not at the moment?”
“Friend the Member for Salford (Rebecca Long Bailey) but is outside the scope of the Minister for Education, is about statutory duty. At the APPG meeting this week, we were told by a fire chief that there is a lack of statutory duty, which seems like a gap in our services. There have been a number of incidents on waterways in my constituency, both accidents and, sadly, suicide attempts, where the fire brigade attended. The London Fire Brigade is always absolutely magnificent—it turns out and does an exceptional job. However, the fact that there is no statutory duty seems to be a gap to me, so that is an important change that needs to be made. The hon. Member for Hamble Valley (Paul Holmes) talked about the weather that is currently forecast.”
“Members are interested, many such films are now online and often seen as nostalgia—shows that that type of campaigning works because it sticks in the mind. We seem to lack a national campaign on such issues. Ironically, those campaigns happened in a pre-digital age, but they lend themselves to the age we now live in, with social media, TikTok and all the rest of it. We could produce information to share with schools and youth groups, so that they could take advantage of such a campaign. I hope that we get back to being able to produce such campaigns that could be widely shared, so that children will remember and tell their children further down the line. A second issue that I would like to touch on, which was raised by my hon.”
“I am lucky to have active sea scouts and sea cadets in my area; those groups touch only a small number of people, but there are people out there who can deliver such education. I am of an age that I can remember public information films made by the Central Office of Information. That disappeared in 2012 and we do not have the same sort of programming—I see some smiles around the Chamber from Members of a similar age who remember such things. I was taught to cross the road by Kevin Keegan; I remember it was Jimmy who threw his frisbee into the pylon, so I did not do that; and it was the Spirit of Dark and Lonely Water who warned us about still pools. The fact that I can remember all that 40 years down the line—if hon.”
“With that comes a lot of open wharves and causeways, many of which are still in use, which is another aspect of water safety. We have reserved industrial spaces, and education is needed on that. People often forget that lots of the Thames is still a working river. We have a lot of industry. At my end, Tate & Lyle and Tarmac use large shipping, in addition to all the other boats that go up and down the river. Education is therefore hugely important for where I am, including education on safety and a wide range of things. We need to take advantage of the huge opportunity to work with schools, youth clubs, community groups and young people’s groups to try to get that education across.”
“That was a huge trauma for her family, and I put on the record—I know the whole House will share in this— my deepest condolences to them. I also extend my congratulations and thanks to the emergency services, search and rescue, and actually local people who stepped in to try to help on that occasion, which obviously had a huge impact on the community too. This debate is very pertinent for my constituency because I am surrounded by water in east London: I have the Roding to the east, the River Lea to the west and, significantly, the River Thames bordering the south of my constituency. I also have huge amounts of dockland, including the royal docks, which are a very large open space of water, built at a time when we had a lot of shipping.”
“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) for securing the debate, and for all the extremely important work that he is doing on this issue. I extend my compliments to his constituent in the Gallery, who we heard at the APPG earlier in the week. Given the circumstances, her campaign is extremely brave, and her words were very inspiring, so I wanted to put my tribute to her on the record too. I come to this debate because of a situation that occurred within my constituency of West Ham and Beckton very recently, which received quite a lot of press publicity. I do not intend to go into the details—it is still a very fresh event—but I lost an 11-year-old constituent in the River Thames earlier in the spring.”
“The Minister for Secondary Care recently visited my constituency and saw the pressures that Newham hospital A&E was under. That is partly due to the pressures left by the previous Conservative Government, and partly due to capacity issues resulting from a massive growth in population in the borough. Further pressures will come as we regenerate the massive areas of brownfield site in the Royal Docks. Can the Secretary of State reassure my constituents that, as well as the excellent work being done on day-to-day capacity, we will be looking at infrastructure over the longer term to make sure that we are not only dealing with the growth that we have had, but future-proofing for the population growth to come?”
“May I start by associating myself with the sympathies given over the news coming from India this morning, which will be causing great anxiety to many of my constituents? The Ascension Eagles cheerleading team of Silvertown have just returned triumphant from an important event in Florida. As a sports fan, Mr Speaker, you will know that almost 100,000 people take part in cheerleading now. It has recently been recognised by Sport England, but it often goes unrecognised by the wider public. Does the Leader of the House agree that we need to do more to shine a light on grassroots sports that often do not get recognition? Will she start today by congratulating the Ascension Eagles on their success in showing the Americans what talent the girls and boys of east London have?”
“Perhaps we should now be talking about pandemic spirit, and talking with pride about how that spirit shone through across our communities. Today, I hope that we can contribute to that spirit in this House. I hope the debate will provide comfort for those who are remembering loved ones. I hope it helps to ensure that all who went out to work to keep things going in those difficult days get their recognition. I hope it helps to shine a light on the army of volunteers who stepped up and helped when it was needed most.”
“These spaces are vital, not just for now, but for the generations that come after us. We cannot allow the legacy of the pandemic to be the preserve of documentaries, textbooks and history lessons. It should be a legacy rooted in our communities, celebrating the sacrifices and contributions that were made and remembering those who are no longer with us—not as the statistics they are recorded by, but by the lives they lived. This year is the 85th anniversary of the beginning of the blitz, which started in my constituency. It was in the east end of London that the phrase “blitz spirit”, which we still use, emerged—a spirit of standing firm and working together as a community. We saw in 2020 how strongly that still existed and, when the chips were down, the strength of our communities.”
“I did when I started as a councillor, and I even realised some of them. But if I had to leave just one thing behind me, I think it would be that garden. Sadly, there is no database of memorials, and no online guide to what has been put in place, but we will all know of something that has been done to recognise the impact of covid. We need to create some form of guide or register so we can ensure that such memorials are not lost for the future. We know that good work has been done. Researching the background to this debate, I came across some wonderful examples, such as memorial gardens in Telford, Oldham and Enfield, memorial woodlands in Wokingham and Hornchurch, and a memorial mosaic in Barrow. I hope we will hear more examples from hon. Members this afternoon.”
“Importantly, it was created in consultation and discussion with local people, and designed to work for all in our community. It is a landscaped area in a previously little-used part of Plaistow Park in my constituency, in the centre of our borough, with trees and flowers, seating and its own paths and works of art, in which people can sit quietly, pray, reflect or enjoy it with others. On the day of its opening in 2023, more than 100 local people turned out, including one local resident who had lost his father. Still grieving the loss, his appreciation for having a place that he could visit, and that meant that his father and those who died had not been forgotten, is something that struck me and that I remember vividly. All politicians hope that they will have a legacy, and we all have ideas of what we might like to achieve.”
“Indeed, Newham hosts the London blossom garden, a memorial for London, in the Olympic park, which is in the constituency of my neighbour and hon. Friend the Member for Stratford and Bow (Uma Kumaran). The national memorial wall has also offered much to many people. Given the impact on Newham, however, we needed something dedicated to our local people. A monolithic memorial felt wrong. This was not a war memorial; it needed to be something that reflected the nature of the people who were impacted. It needed to be a memorial for all—young or old, single or with a family, religious or not. It had to be a space for everyone. What was designed was a memorial garden in one of our parks, created with the help of our parks team, landscape architects and local artist Matt Ponting.”
“Behind those numbers are real people, real stories and real lives, and we must never forget that. That is backed up with stories of compassion and kindness from families, friends and NHS doctors and nurses. It is vital we find ways for their names and faces to be remembered, and for their families to gain comfort from that memory. The inspiration for this debate came from my staff during a visit to Plaistow Park. It is there that Newham has created its permanent memorial to covid. In the middle of the crisis, I was certain that we would need to find a way to mark it for local people. It was clear from the scale of the pandemic and the lives lost that there would be national and regional memorials.”
“Those are the people who made such a difference and provided vital support to the local council at a time when it was stretched by delivering vital services in a borough with a high number of vulnerable people and a high rate of infection and casualties. We often talk about the numbers, but it is important that we understand the sheer scale of the impact that the pandemic had on our communities. My borough lost more than 1,000 people to covid. It was one of the worst-hit places in the country, and at the beginning of the pandemic it was the worst-affected place in the UK. It is extremely easy to lose sight of the impact when we talk about the numbers, and the larger the number, the greater the danger that it becomes a statistic and the individuals behind it are lost.”
“In normal times we perhaps do not think about the people who collect our bins, other than to curse a little if it is an early morning collection or mildly panic on realising that it is bin day and the bins have not been put out. In this time of stress, the role they played was emblematic of so many of our key workers, and it was great to see residents sharing their appreciation. Across Newham, over 650 residents volunteered their time with the council’s #HelpNewham initiative to support the borough’s most vulnerable. There were also more than 500 covid champions, who helped to distribute information and advice to their communities during the pandemic to keep people informed.”
“They put their community first, above and beyond their own needs, as did our frontline workers, from those in the NHS and care homes to bin men, social workers, the emergency services and transport workers, to name just a few. There is a danger as we get into the politics and the legalities that we will forget the many workers on whom we quietly relied, or that we will allow their contribution to be underappreciated. They deserve to be recognised and for their efforts to be applauded. During the lockdowns I was a member of the Newham council cabinet, with responsibility for much of the public realm, including waste and recycling. I remember the posters attached to the wheelie bins thanking the bin men for their work and for coming out during the lockdown to clear rubbish.”
“There were funerals unattended and people who had to die alone. As the current Prime Minister said at the time, “People are frightened by the strangeness, anxious about what will happen next. And we have to remember that every number is a family shaken to its foundation.” It is not just those we lost whom we must remember. The country kept going through the incredible hard work and bravery of our frontline workforce, but it also carried on because of schools, community groups, places of worship, volunteers and people just being good neighbours. Without them, we could not have kept going. I know from experience in my community that the work of volunteers was vital.”
“I should say that I do not intend to talk about, and neither do I hope this debate becomes about, the origins of the pandemic, the way it was handled, personal protective equipment, the then Government, or any of the inquiries or legalities. There will be plenty of time for those discussions, and no doubt this House will have plenty of opportunities to talk about those things in future. I want this debate to be about people and communities. We lost a lot of people to covid, and the impact on those who lost loved ones was significant. It cut across communities, ages and faiths. Most of us will have had covid. All of us will know someone who has been affected. Many of us will know people who died and will understand the impact of the grief and loss combined with the shock of a pandemic.”
“I bet to move, That this House has considered the fifth anniversary of the covid-19 pandemic. I start by thanking the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) and the Backbench Business Committee for granting my request for this debate. I also thank all hon. Members who supported my application. I approached the Committee because it is important that we mark the fifth anniversary of the pandemic. It was an extraordinary time in our lives and for the nation. In some ways it feels like a dream. Five years on, it seems hard to believe that we actually went through such a period of disruption. The impact has been huge and long-lasting, even if we do not acknowledge that on a day-to-day basis.”
“In the few seconds I have, I just want to say that I thought it was important to have this debate so that the fifth anniversary did not pass without being marked. It is clear that we have merely touched the surface of what could be said, but I thank hon. Members across the House who have contributed. Much has been said, and there is clearly much more to say. I put on record my thanks to my constituents for all they have done. I hope that all the families and all those affected who have been watching will feel that this debate has been important in recognising the past five years, acknowledging that there is more to be said and that we will talk further about it. Question put and agreed to. Resolved , That this House has considered the fifth anniversary of the covid-19 pandemic.”
“I very much welcome the recognition in the statement today of what is going on in the west bank. I raised the issue of settler violence and the suppression of Palestinian rights several weeks ago in the House, following the disgraceful events we saw over Easter with the suppression of worship. I very much welcome the sanctions we have seen today. My hon. Friend talks about a two-state solution, but as other Members have said, we need two states for a two-state solution. What we are seeing from the Israeli Government is a clear attempt to stop there being a viable Palestinian state. What my constituents want and what the Palestinian people want is recognition. We need to do more, and next week is the perfect opportunity for us to recognise a Palestinian state. It is needed now.”
“We have seen increasing settler violence in the west bank, and Palestinian Christians were restricted and prevented from worshipping over Easter. I ask my hon. Friend to use her good offices to encourage the Church of England to do all it can, including working with other Churches and across faiths to protect the rights of the Palestinian people and ensure freedom of worship across all faiths in the face of increased harassment and violence.”
“The Minister will not be surprised to hear that I have had a lot of correspondence on this ruling, and there is great concern among the trans community about what the impact will be. There is also concern among the wider LGBT community that, in this populist age, the ruling may signal a move away from progress on LGBT rights. I therefore welcome her statement that there will be guidance. Will she ensure that that guidance is widely distributed, and is clear, so that it is understood? Will she also assure the LGBT community and the House that the Government and the Labour party stand four-square behind the advancement of LGBT rights, as they have long done, and that we will fight any attempt to row back on the progress of the last 30 years or the gains of the last Labour Government?”
“The response of this House to what happened to our colleagues at the weekend should be united, because it affects us all. Does the Minister agree that any equivocation from Members of this House risks sending a green light to other countries that wish to interfere in our activities and parliamentary delegations? Perhaps the Leader of the Opposition and those on the Opposition Front Bench could give that long and hard consideration.”
“The Minister has been generous with his time, not just today but over the past few months, both in the House and in private meetings, but every time we meet, the situation is bad and getting worse. As the hon. Member for Oxford West and Abingdon (Layla Moran) said, it is now as bad as it has ever been. Does the Minister agree that unless we in the international community take firmer immediate action to force change as a matter of urgency, nothing will be different and there will be no point talking about peace or a two-state solution, because those opportunities will be lost not just for now but for the foreseeable future, and the consequences for those in the region, particularly the people of Gaza, will be unimaginable?”
“The Secretary of State said in her announcement that many of these school-based nurseries will be in places with the greatest need. That is certainly the case in my constituency, and I am very grateful that Portway primary in West Ham has been included. I have said in this House before that my constituents do not lack ambition; they lack opportunity, and education is the golden ticket to that opportunity. Does the Secretary of State agree that nurseries provide opportunities not only for children but for adults, and can she assure us that, as the programme is rolled out, the focus will remain on areas that have not only educational needs but economic needs and other forms of deprivation?”
“Does the Minister agree that expanding our military expenditure creates a golden opportunity to deal with the shortage of people going into science, technology and engineering jobs, and that as we expand the military budget, we should make sure that the defence industry expands the number of apprenticeships and builds a robust skills and training base so that young people can benefit from those jobs?”
“As the Secretary of State is aware, my constituency contains London City airport, which sits closely alongside residential and business buildings, so safety is something we are very alive to. It is also an area of massive regeneration, so we are also alive to power pressure, and that part of her statement will be interesting for my constituents. Can she assure us not only that the review and the lessons learned will be shared, but that we will look at how they can be adapted, so that other airports can adjust and carry out future-proofing for their resilience, and so that we are not just learning lessons after the event?”
“My constituents in West Ham and Beckton are extremely concerned about knife crime. We have had a serious number of incidents over the last few years, including in the last few weeks. Could my hon. and learned Friend reassure my constituents on the work that the Government are doing to take a stronger approach on prosecuting knife crime and the work being done to support victims?”
“I thank my hon. Friend for securing this debate. Like him, I have a very diverse community, as he knows, because he was once a resident there. My seat in east London has long had, as east London has historically had, a reputation for communities working together and supporting one another. My hon. Friend has talked about the age of politics that we live in—a time of populism. Siren populist voices would like us to think that community engagement has gone. Does he agree that the work of the diverse communities from different parts of the world, and particularly of those in the Muslim community, with how they engage themselves in business, charity and social life, shows that up to be the lie that it is?”
“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool Riverside (Kim Johnson) for securing this debate; she has made important points. The voices of the people affected 40 years ago will never have been heard. Does the Minister agree that poverty and deprivation—she talked about their impact on educational standards—often make it challenging for people to get their voice heard when there are problems? On the Equality Act, does she agree that in making the system fairer, we must ensure that when there are problems, people can speak out and know that they will be heard?”
“I always like to leave things with a request to the Minister—I know they are all thrilled when I do that—so I urge my hon. Friend to look at what can be done to provide more resources and finances to ensure we hit that vital 2030 target.”
“That follows a period in which we have had a cost of living crisis and double-digit inflation. Those are impressive efforts, but they are, ultimately, not sustainable over the longer term. It is welcome that the Department of Health and Social Care website states that the programme will be commissioned for a further two-year period, but the budget is tight, the pressures are there and we need more than two years. I understand that that is the situation that my hon. Friend the Minister has inherited, but as we get nearer and nearer to 2030, this programme cannot stop. It needs to be ramped up if we are to reach the epic goal and leave no one behind. I am extremely optimistic about what we can achieve. I know that the Government are committed to achieving more, and I know that my hon. Friend is absolutely dedicated to that.”
“We are all delighted to see the new Government back that up with the £27 million announced in December, which will enable this highly effective programme to take place in 90 A&Es from this summer. However, we must acknowledge that our friends in the voluntary sector must continue to reach targets with fewer and fewer resources. We all know the pressures they are under. Compare the infrastructure for this National HIV Testing Week with what was available when Labour last left office. At that time, the Department of Health and Social Care was making available £4 million for HIV prevention in our communities. Today, the Terrence Higgins Trust and its 30 local partners run everything we see for National HIV Testing Week with just £1.1 million a year.”
“To think that we could be the first country in the world to make that happen—that would have seemed like a miracle to all my friends when I turned 18. It would show British excellence on a global stage, and it would be social justice that was impact-aligned. If we were to achieve such a remarkable goal, it would be the first time we had stopped the onward transmission of a virus without a vaccine and without a cure. We cannot afford to fail. There is a lot that we should be encouraged by. The proposal has cross-party support, and that is welcome. I pay tribute to the previous Government, which did much to enable opt-out testing in A&Es across the country.”