Munira Wilson MP: speeches

Speeches

• 24 Jul 2024 · Education and Opportunity · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for her important intervention. She pre-empts what I was about to say about the issue of VAT on private school fees and the pressures that it will create for some families and schools. I have set out a range of targeted measures that I think would help tackle the disadvantage gap. They were part of an ambitious package that the Liberal Democrats put forward at the election to ensure that our education system enables every child to thrive and that the local state school is the school of choice for every family in this country. But as liberals, we champion choice, and it is important that parents can choose the best and most appropriate option for their children. Importantly, and fundamentally, we believe in the principle that education—whether we are talking about private schools, music tuition, private tutoring or childcare—should not be taxed, so we oppose the Labour Government’s policy to introduce VAT on independent school fees. I do not think the policy will do much at all to boost our state schools. In fact, it risks reducing the brilliant partnership work—the sharing of staff time and facilities, for example—that we see between so many private schools and their local state schools. I have seen that vividly, with Hampton school and Lady Eleanor Holles school in my constituency working with the Reach academy in Feltham, in a very deprived area. They have really helped to boost the life chances of many of those children in Feltham, including by helping with coaching for university and medical school interviews.

• 19 Jul 2024 · Israel and Gaza · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Foreign Secretary to his place and I welcome the decision to restore UNRWA funding and the overall change of tone from his predecessors on this issue. The Liberal Democrats have long called for arms sales to Israel to be suspended while there are questions over its human rights record. As shadow Foreign Secretary, he called on the Conservative Government to publish the legal advice that they had received on this matter. Will he commit to doing so now?

• 19 Jul 2024 · Covid-19 Inquiry · Hansard source

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  Members on both sides of the House will recognise that children and young people really felt the impact of the pandemic and the lockdowns on their mental health, their learning and their social and emotional development. We all recognise that executive decisions have to be taken in an emergency to protect children and staff in schools, but I think the public were aghast that pubs and zoos opened before our schools and colleges. Will the right hon. Gentleman’s committee look at putting a proper process in place—potentially designating schools and colleges as national critical infrastructure—with this House taking a vote on any extended lockdowns of our schools and colleges if those ever need to be put in place, and with evidence taken from the Children’s Commissioner and our school and college leaders?

• 18 Jul 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mr Speaker, and I congratulate the Leader of the House on her appointment. The recent closures of two Boots pharmacies in Hampton in my constituency came amid hundreds of other community pharmacy closures across England, driven largely by the financial pressures on community pharmacies from an outdated pharmacy contract, coupled with impenetrable bureaucratic NHS England processes that do not engage with local communities when it comes to closures and new licence applications. Will the Leader of the House urgently grant a debate in Government time to consider this issue, given the health crisis faced by our country?