Caroline Johnson MP: speeches 2024

Speeches

• 8 Oct 2024 · Farming and Food Security · Hansard source

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  Will my right hon. Friend give way?

• 8 Oct 2024 · Farming and Food Security · Hansard source

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  The Secretary of State talks about the importance of cheap energy, solar and food security. Clearly, land needs a balance. What representations has he made to the Energy Secretary to be clear that the best farmland should not be used for ground-mounted solar?

• 8 Oct 2024 · Farming and Food Security · Hansard source

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  My right hon. Friend is talking about the clustering of solar farms, but that is not the only problem. They are being built on high-quality agricultural land, which is nonsensical.

• 8 Oct 2024 · VAT: Independent Schools · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is making a great point about how this change is ideologically motivated. Can he see why there is a difference between private school fees, which the Government have chosen to tax, and something like Kip McGrath tuition, which is also a paid-for form of education, which they have chosen not to tax—at least yet?

• 8 Oct 2024 · VAT: Independent Schools · Hansard source

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  Others have talked about the effect on children of military families and on children with special educational needs, as well as the impact on friendships, mental wellbeing, jobs in both state and private schools, and the bursaries, but I will focus on students in exam years. I declare an interest as I have three children in private school, one of whom is in her final year. This measure is wrong, but it is especially reckless for those in exam years. We have heard a lot about the steps the Prime Minister took to ensure that his son could study peacefully, to give him the best chance in his GCSEs. Why does he not want the same for all the other children in this country? The measure is not only disruptive but potentially impossible. Local to my constituency, Stamford school offers A-level Russian, Lincoln Minster school offers A-level Chinese and Oakham school offers the international baccalaureate. How could those children move into a state school that does not offer their course? Even if their course is offered, the timetable might not work. And even if the timetable works, the school might not teach the same periods and texts. For example, a student at Nottingham girls’ high school studying the Russian revolution as part of the AQA history curriculum might have to move partway through the year to Branston academy, which is teaching the Tudors under the OCR curriculum. What should children taking such courses do? Should they change course, merely months or even weeks before their exams? Should they try to learn the material themselves? Should they resit a whole year of school? Will the Government provide state schools with the extra resources to help those children complete their courses? If they intend to do so, will those resources be ready and available to the state schools those children will be forced into for January 2025? I want to talk briefly about bursaries. I went to a state primary and a state secondary school. When I was a teenager hiking with my parents in the North York moors, I met a young lad who told me all about the cool, exciting school he went to, where they did a lot of outdoor stuff. I said, “I would like to go there. That would be really cool.” My parents said, “That’s far too expensive, Caroline. We can’t do that.” Then I read about the scholarships they offered. I was very proud and pleased that Gordonstoun School offered me the opportunity to study at the sixth form there—I will always be intensely grateful for that. The measures proposed by this Government will reduce the amount of bursary support available to students like me, and those currently receiving bursaries, which enables them to get the education they wish for. Schools will have to cut back. The most obvious areas in which to do that will be in their charity work, the extra teaching staff they offer to pupils in state schools and the facilities they make freely available to state schools. This is a short-sighted measure focused entirely on the politics of envy and division.

• 7 Oct 2024 · NHS Performance: Darzi Investigation · Hansard source

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  I will not because there is not much time. A potential answer to the second question of why a former Labour Minister has been asked to conduct the report is its silence on a number of issues, for example on increasing the number of medical students. I could not find any reference in the report to the five additional medical schools that were commissioned and opened by the former Conservative Government, and whose first new doctors have recently graduated. Indeed, I found no mention of the NHS workforce plan at all. My constituency mailbag, no doubt much like that of Members across the House, is full of letters from elderly people who are frightened that their homes will be cold this winter, and that they will become ill, or perhaps even die, as a result. It is notable—again, perhaps this answers my second question—that despite being published two months after the Government’s announcement about the winter fuel allowance, the Darzi report appears to be silent on the subject. The chief medical officer said that, “cold homes and fuel poverty are directly linked to excess winter deaths” in his annual report from 2023. Is it remarkable that this report by a former Labour Minister does not mention cold homes? Perhaps it does not recognise the impact of such a decision because no impact assessment has been made. On 29 July, I asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate she had made of the impact that her winter fuel payment changes would have on the NHS. Her answer implied to me that that was something that had not been given enough consideration. On 5 September I submitted a written question to the Secretary of State, asking whether he would make an assessment of the winter fuel payment changes on a range of factors relating to the NHS and the health of elderly people, including hospital admissions, deaths, GP appointments and so on. The answer to whether he will do something or not is clearly “yes”, “no”, or “I have already done it”, but it seems the Government struggled to answer that question and I would be grateful if the Minister could do so today: will the Secretary of State make an assessment of the various effects of the changes to the winter fuel allowance and the consequent cold homes on the NHS and the health of elderly people? Earlier, the Secretary of State said that investment without reform would reduce productivity. He even said that it was “killing with kindness.” Actions, however, speak louder than words, so what substantial productivity gains come with the junior doctors’ 22% pay rise? None. What productivity benefits arise from a significant increase in the wages for train drivers? None. The NHS and the Government are now facing potential future industrial action from groups seeking similar pay deals. The Government’s willingness to take money from pensioners and give it to already well-paid train drivers suggests that such union demands will be successful, further creating a vicious cycle of industrial action that will ultimately be damaging to patients. I fear that the Labour party sees the Darzi report as a political bludgeon rather than as a blueprint for any meaningful reform. There are undeniable challenges within the NHS—something that I as a doctor see—and we must be honest about them, but instead of a constructive conversation on policy, Labour brings partisan attacks to the table. We now need real leadership, specific reforms, and the courage to make the tough decisions that will keep the NHS suitable for generations to come.

• 7 Oct 2024 · NHS Performance: Darzi Investigation · Hansard source

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  I am mindful of the need to be brief, but I wish to congratulate the hon. Members for South Norfolk (Ben Goldsborough), for South West Norfolk (Terry Jermy), for Esher and Walton (Monica Harding), for Gloucester (Alex McIntyre), for St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire (Ian Sollom), for Mid Dunbartonshire (Susan Murray), and for Basingstoke (Luke Murphy) on excellent maiden speeches. When I first heard that the Government had commissioned Lord Darzi to conduct a report on the NHS I wondered two things: why has this report been commissioned, and why has a former Labour Minister been asked to do it? The answer to the first question is still somewhat unclear after this debate. Much of the information is publicly available, and Labour had access to the civil service for six months before the general election, as is routine to help with planning. Before the election, in its manifesto Labour claimed to have a plan, and the Secretary of State said that he and the Government have a 10-year plan to reform and modernise the NHS. In the draft speech that I brought to this debate I was going to say that I assume that is the case, so where is that plan and when will it be published, but during the debate the Secretary of State said that he will soon meet to engage with patients and staff who will write the plan. Does it exist, or is it yet to be written? Given that Lord Darzi specifies that policy suggestions are outside the remit of his report, and notwithstanding the amount of time and dedication he has put into it, what primary purpose does it serve? Is it simply a political statement to cover the right hon. Gentleman’s plan and an increase in taxes in the Budget when it comes?

• 10 Sept 2024 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  Roughly 13,000 people in the hon. Gentleman’s Bracknell constituency will not get the winter fuel allowance this year as a result of the changes that he has just voted for. How many of them does he estimate will struggle to pay their bills?

• 10 Sept 2024 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman is making a case comparing the salaries of working individuals with the pensions of the elderly. Could he tell me how many of the people who will lose the winter fuel allowance in his constituency earn or receive less than the minimum wage?

• 10 Sept 2024 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend worry, as I do, that some of our constituents will die this year as a result of this policy?

• 10 Sept 2024 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  I wonder how many of my right hon. Friend’s constituents who will lose that vital payment earn less than the train drivers who have had all that extra money.

• 10 Sept 2024 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  As he is a Treasury Minister, I wonder whether he could help me with this question. How many of the pensioners who will lose the winter fuel allowance today receive less than the average train driver the Government have just given a pay rise to?

• 10 Sept 2024 · Social Security · Hansard source

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  Today, hon. and right hon. Members will make a choice: whether to take vital winter fuel payments from millions of vulnerable pensioners, including 20,000 pensioners in my constituency. It is important, when Members vote today, that they understand the consequences of their choice. It is important that they understand that when they take winter fuel payments away from vulnerable people, some elderly people will die. Vulnerable elderly people on relatively low incomes will be unable to heat their homes adequately, and as a direct result, because they are cold, they will die. Why? They will die because cold is bad for people. A number of reports that Members may read demonstrate that. When cold, people’s platelets get higher, they vasoconstrict and their blood pressure goes up, putting them at risk of stroke or heart attack. Their lungs become inflamed, which puts them at risk of pneumonia or chest infection. It makes people with chronic pulmonary obstructive disease more likely to suffer exacerbations and ill health. Studies have shown that physical performance and muscle strength—taking caps off things or walking about—are worse in people who are cold, particularly elderly people. That reduces their ability to complete the activities of daily living independently, and it makes them more likely to fall. Studies have also shown that elderly people who are cold in their home are more likely to need to get up at night to go to the toilet or to wake through the night. That again puts them at more risk of falls and therefore hospitalisation. Sleep disruption puts them at risk from a whole range of different illnesses. We also know that as the home temperature falls further, the risks increase. It is a proportional dose-response relationship. The House does not need to take my word for it; there is a lot of medical evidence to this end. The chief medical officer said in his annual report last year: “Cold homes and fuel poverty are directly linked to excess winter deaths.”

• 10 Sept 2024 · Social Security · Hansard source

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  Will the Secretary of State give way?

• 10 Sept 2024 · Social Security · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. He is absolutely right. Why is there no impact assessment? I have my suspicions, and my terrified constituents know why there is no impact assessment—it is because they know what the impact will be. I am sure, Madam Deputy Speaker, that your terrified constituents know what the impact of the policy will be. Right hon. and hon. Members all know, too. As right hon. and hon. Members vote, they should be in no doubt that the Government’s first job is to keep people safe, and they are going to fail miserably.

• 5 Sept 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  In his 2023 report, the chief medical officer said that cold homes and fuel poverty are directly linked to excess winter deaths. My constituents are worried, and I am concerned that Labour’s policy to restrict the winter fuel allowance will lead to the unnecessary ill health and death of elderly people. Will the Leader of the House arrange for a debate on the specific subject of the effect of Labour’s removal of the winter fuel allowance from elderly people on their health and wellbeing?

• 4 Sept 2024 · Preventable Baby Loss · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. I congratulate the hon. Member for Ashfield (Lee Anderson) on securing the debate; the stories he read were very emotive. Many people witnessing birth for the first time describe the experience as the miracle of birth. It is indeed the most wonderous occasion. I have been honoured to be present at the birth of many hundreds of babies in my work as an NHS doctor. Unfortunately, birth is an unpredictable process, and the hon. Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan) is right that we should focus not on natural birth but on the outcome of a healthy mother and child. Birth does not always go smoothly. Generally, and increasingly as I became a more senior doctor, I attended only the very high-risk deliveries—those when things go wrong. In a job focused on saving lives, the opportunity to do so at birth is perhaps the most rewarding, but sadly, despite the best efforts of the whole team—midwives, obstetricians, paediatricians and allied professionals—some babies die, and that leaves a hole in the families that, as others have said, does not go away. I spoke in the baby loss debate in 2022 as the responsible Minister, and I am reminded today of the words of Hayley Storrs, which were read by the hon. Member for Leeds East (Richard Burgon): “What people fail to understand when someone loses a child, it is that you have lost a lifetime. First days at school, first steps, graduations, what their favourite story would have been, birthdays, Christmases.” —[ Official Report, 25 October 2022; Vol. 721, c. 65WH.] That very moving account has stuck with me. It reminds us that this pain endures, so we must do all we can to prevent it. I pay tribute to my NHS colleagues who strive every single day to ensure that pregnancy and birth lead to the happy, healthy outcome that we all want. Politicians and the Government must do all we can to support that. We must hold the NHS to account when it fails to uphold the very highest standards. I also pay tribute to the many great charities, such as Sands, Tommy’s and Bliss, which have been mentioned by others, that do such great work in this area. I was proud to run the London marathon with a constituent earlier this year to raise money for Bliss, and I am grateful for the support it provided to him. We must focus relentlessly and systematically—starting at pre-conception, as the hon. Member for Sheffield Hallam (Olivia Blake) said—on every single factor that can cause or increase the risk of baby death. That includes reducing teenage pregnancy, smoking and obesity; ensuring that there is chronic illness optimisation, so that if someone has diabetes, it is optimally managed before they conceive; making medication changes if needed, so that someone is not taking teratogenic drugs at the onset of pregnancy; and ensuring that women are aware that folic acid should be taken before and during the early parts of pregnancy. Before the general election, the Government consulted on the fortification of flour with folic acid to reduce the number of babies who suffer from a shortage of folic acid during pregnancy. Can the Minister confirm whether this Government will go ahead with the proposed legislation to fortify bread products? Additionally, the Chancellor has said that she will stop all non-essential communications. Many of the messages we are talking about are public health messages that need public communication strategies. Can the Minister confirm that this essential form of communication is not affected by the Chancellor’s restrictions on communication costs? NHS England introduced the saving babies’ lives care bundle, which currently focuses on six areas: smoking; the assessment of foetal growth during pregnancy; awareness among parents and families that a reduction in foetal movements can be a significant warning sign; expertise training for cardiotocography monitoring during labour and pregnancy; the reduction of premature birth; and the management of diabetes to ensure that people have optimal control. The NHS had a plan to update the bundle to introduce maternal early-warning schools and tracking tools. Can the Minister confirm whether it is on track to deliver that? Can she also confirm that the saving babies’ lives care bundle will be updated this year and at regular intervals, as evidence improves on how we can best reduce the number of baby deaths? Two years ago, as Minister, I delivered a statement to the House on behalf of the Government regarding the outcome of Bill Kirkup’s independent review of maternity services in East Kent. His report was very sobering. Those tragic events revealed failings—failings seen previously elsewhere, which should and must not be repeated. In response to the review, the Government set up a group chaired by Maria Caulfield, then the Minister for Women’s Health, to oversee the work being done to improve maternity services nationwide, including by implementing the recommendations in Dr Kirkup’s report. Can the Minister confirm that the group’s work will continue under the new Government? If so, can she confirm who will lead it? Can the Minister confirm that she will support the work of the healthcare safety investigations branch, which investigates all cases of stillbirth and life-changing injury, to see what lessons can be learned and how care can be improved? Other have talked about the Sands and Tommy’s “Saving Babies’ Lives” report, and particularly about workforce issues. The previous Government invested heavily in increasing workforce numbers, building five new medical schools. That takes time, but it will ultimately increase the number of obstetricians and paediatricians. The number of midwives also increased. There were 23,361 full-time equivalent midwives in NHS trusts and other core organisations in 2023, which is an increase of 19% since 2010. Births fell in England and Wales during a similar period. In the spring Budget, the Government committed £35 million to improving babies’ care, £9 million of which was related to preventing brain injury. The remainder related mostly to funding 160 additional posts in midwifery and neonatal care. Can the Minister confirm that that investment will proceed in order to support the care of pregnant women and babies? In summary, it is almost 10 years since the Government launched the maternity safety ambition. While that goal has not yet been achieved, from 2010 to 2022, the stillbirth rate fell by a fifth, the rate of maternal mortality fell by a fifth, and the rates of neonatal mortality for those babies born after 24 weeks fell by 36%. Those statistics are a good achievement, representing many hundreds of families who will now enjoy watching with love as their children grow, thrive and develop. We must build on that now to ensure that many more families—all families—have the same opportunity.

• 29 Jul 2024 · Public Spending: Inheritance · Hansard source

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  Congratulations, Madam Deputy Speaker, on your new role. This Labour Government have chosen to take the winter fuel payment away from pensioners. The right hon. Lady does say she will keep it for those on pension credit, but the threshold for that is very low. That means someone on an income of just £220 a week may find themselves receiving nothing. It is long established that being cold increases ill health among vulnerable people. What estimate has she made of what her changes will cost the NHS?

• 23 Jul 2024 · New Hospital Programme · Hansard source

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  I congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on his position. I should declare that I have been working in the NHS for 23 years, currently as an NHS consultant paediatrician. I look forward to using that experience in my new role as shadow Minister of State to scrutinise the Government constructively. Under the new hospital programme, the previous Government had already opened six hospitals to patients, with two more due to open this financial year and 18 under construction. The Government are now putting that at risk by launching a review of that work, delaying those projects, which are vital to patients across the country. Could the right hon. Member please confirm when the review will be completed?

• 22 Jul 2024 · NATO and European Political Community Meetings · Hansard source

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  My constituents in Sleaford and North Hykeham are very concerned about levels of illegal migration, particularly people crossing the channel. I was pleased to hear the Prime Minister say that he wants to tackle it. He mentioned two measures: £84 million to tackle root causes and the focus, which is arguably already present, from law enforcement. In the last seven days, 1,500 people crossed the channel. How many of them would he expect to have been deterred by the measures he describes?