Key events
Matt Western (Lab) says Rishi Sunak had to be flown to a pharmacy in Southampton recently after suffering from electoral malpractice.
Sir Desmond Swayne (Con)aks what reason there might be to give EU citizens the right to vote in UK elections. Their numbers correspond to the population of Wales, he says.
Dowden saying while the Tories will stop the boats, Labour will rig the votes.
Dowden says the government remains committed to reforming the leasehold system. The plans will be presented later in this parliament.
Dowden gives the DUP leader assurances that the Government is acting to guarantee Northern Ireland’s access to the UK market
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader in Westminster, says the Westminster framework could create further barriers to trade between the UK and Northern Ireland. Will the Government legislate to ensure Northern Ireland’s access to the UK market?
Dowden says the government is willing to legislate to ensure Northern Ireland has unfettered access to the UK market.
There are local elections in Northern Ireland tomorrow, so that’s a valuable reassurance for the DUP.
Esther McVey (Con) says travelers are causing problems in her constituency.
Dowden says unauthorized camps can cause misery. The Home Secretary will have heard McVey’s comments, he says.
Mhairi blackthe deputy SNP leader at Westminster, asks why Dowden is ignoring all the downsides of Brexit.
Dowden claims the UK has had one of the fastest growth rates in the G7 since Brexit. SNP wants to undo Brexit. But they should regret the mess the SNP has left Scotland in.
Black says the only thing more misguided than Dowden’s defense of Brexit is Labour’s support for it. Even Nigel Farage can admit that Brexit has failed. Why can’t Dowden?
Dowden says the SNP should back the government’s trade deal. The SNP has been in power for 13 years, he says.
Rayner says child poverty is almost back to where it was Labour most recently inherited a mess from the Tories. The Tories have staged a “Trump tribute act” this week, she says. They have been spewing nonsense at their “conspiracy carnival”. When are the Tories going to stop blaming everyone else and realize they are the problem?
Dowden says he will proudly defend his party’s record. But Labor has lost four elections, Starmer has broken 30 promises, and under Corbyn the party has let anti-Semitism run rampant, he says.
Rayner says the Tories are about to make child poverty worse
Rayner saying they all want minimum service levels. It is the government that is failing to provide them, because it has run services into the ground. She says the government is about to worsen child poverty. As a young mother, she remembers the sick feeling in her stomach worrying about paying her bills. What level of poverty does Dowden consider a success?
Dowden says, like an elementary school boy, he will not take lectures from Labour. He says the Tories have lifted more than a million people out of poverty.
Rayner challenges Dowden over length of NHS waiting lists
Rayner says the waiting lists went up before the pandemic. The waiting lists are higher than when Rishi Sunak made his promise five months ago. Sunak has a private doctor, so he may not appreciate the urgency. But she mentions a voter who was repeatedly delayed. When do the waiting lists end?
Dowden says, if Rayner cares so much about access to healthcare, Labour should support the minimum service levels in the anti-strike bill.
Rayner says Dowden should spend more time following what’s going on in his party, not making up what’s going on in her party. She asks why the government has not met its latest target on waiting lists.
Dowden says the government had to deal with the pandemic. And he says that in Labour-run Wales waiting lists are also a problem.
Rayner says the Tories are starting to prepare for opposition. Referring to speeches at the NatCon conference, she says Jacob Rees-Mogg said the Tories were stingy with the electoral law. She says Dowden, when he was working in No 10, said he had to listen to the radio to find out what was going on. She says that 11 years later, nothing has changed.
Dowden says Rayner and Starmer are at each other’s throats. They are the Phil and Holly of British politics.
(Colleagues tell me he should have said Holly and Phil.)
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