Rishi Sunak – We will give the NHS whatever it needs
The Chancellor Rishi Sunak was the government’s representative across the TV studios today, ahead of his first Budget on Wednesday. Sunak remained tight lipped when asked about many of the specific measures he would be taking, but told Sky’s Sophy Ridge that the NHS could expect more cash to help with the strains caused by the coronavirus:
SR: Are you ready to give more money to the NHS?
RS: Absolutely. We stand ready to give the NHS whatever it needs.
Flood defence spending will double
Sunak also told Ridge that the amount of money the UK spent on flood defences would go up to £5.2 billion, after a spate of storms saw many rural communities deluged:
RS: What we are announcing today is a doubling in cash terms of the amount of money that we spend on flood defences in this country… It’s going to pay for around 2,000 different flood schemes around the country [and] protect over 300,000 homes.
Javid and I ‘are in very different places’
Sunak’s predecessor as Chancellor, Sajid Javid, famously resigned the post after the Prime Minister requested that he sack his team of advisers. Ridge asked him if this meant the new Chancellor had room to be his own man:
SR: He said… ‘I do not believe that any self-respecting minister would accept those conditions’… Are you a self-respecting minister?
RS: Saj and I are in very different places… My approach to it is one where I absolutely think that close working between the Prime Minister’s office and the Chancellor’s office is a good thing.
Delay to Brexit talks is ‘not helpful’
Andrew Marr also asked the Chancellor if dealing with the coronavirus would mean there could be a delay to the post-Brexit trade negotiations with the EU. Sunak suggested that there was no appetite for this:
RS: We’ve already started these talks and they’ve got off to a good start… I think we’ve seen over the last three years, delay doesn’t lead to good outcomes. It’s not helpful, and actually having a fixed timetable and delivering on it is the important thing here.
Rosie Duffield – Not just ‘soap opera families’ who experience domestic abuse
Rosie Duffield, the Labour MP for Canterbury who gave a speech in the House of Commons last October about living with an abusive partner, told Ridge that no one was immune to that kind of experience:
RD: It isn’t just those soap opera families. It’s not a particular class, or a particular kind of person that’s vulnerable to domestic violence or domestic abuse… [and] if it’s more about control or financial abuse, then those things aren’t necessarily going to be spotted.
Layla Moran – ‘I will be standing’ for the next Lib Dem leader
And finally, Layla Moran, the MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, has announced her candidacy for the vacancy at the top of the Liberal Democrats after previous leader Jo Swinson lost her seat at the general election:
LM: I will be standing… I believe it’s time that we move on as a party and offer a positive vision for the country, and I’m the right person to lead that change.
Comments