Diane Abbott – Labour will have ‘zero tolerance’ of sexual harassment
The Shadow Home Secretary joined Andrew Marr to discuss, among other things, the allegations that have been surfacing about sexual harassment in the House of Commons. Marr bought up the recent case of Jared O’Mara, the Labour MP for Sheffield Hallam who appears to have disgraced himself after several online comments were unearthed:
AM: Jared O’Mara – when did the Labour party know about what he’d said?
DA: When I heard about it was last Monday. He came to the PLP, he apologised, a lot of people took his apology quite seriously. But then on Tuesday we had more information. On Wednesday he was suspended and the Labour party is looking at it, there’s going to be an investigation.
AM: Because there was a text that suggests the Labour party were told about this a month ago and didn’t do anything.
DA: I don’t know anything about that. The party knew about it, as far as I know, when the allegations became public last week. And in any event, this is a matter for Iain McNicol and the party machine.
AM: …If these kinds of things were said by any Labour MP, should they stay as a Labour MP?
DA: You’re talking about the language and the tone?
AM: Yes.
DA: That language and that tone is not acceptable in 2017. We have now moved on and the leader of the Labour party is very clear that we are going to be a party with zero tolerance for sexual harassment.
AM: Do you think Jared O’Mara can stay as an MP?
DA: I can’t judge because I’ve not seen the evidence. What I would say is that language and that tone is unacceptable. The party has moved on and where you have that sort of language and that sort of harassment and sexual microaggressions it demeans and diminishes all women. That’s why it’s important to take a strong line.
Responding to Michael Gove’s now infamous joke about Harvey Weinstein on the Today Programme, Abbott said ‘I heard it and I didn’t think it was funny. Particularly in Parliament, making sexual harassment a joke is one of the reasons it’s not being dealt with. We’ve got to realise that it’s undermining and demeaning for women and it undermines and demeans the institution.’ When asked about the levels of abuse she received during the 2017 election campaign, she said ‘the Tories spent a lot of money on targeted Facebook advertising about me… there’s no question that of all the Labour front bench I was singled out.’
Jeremy Hunt – Mark Garnier will be investigated over ‘sex toy’ claim
The Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt also found himself discussing allegations of impropriety in Westminster. This came after Brexit Minister Mark Garnier was named in the press as having sent a member of his staff to buy sex toys, something which Garnier has not denied. Hunt confirmed to Robert Peston that Garnier will be investigated for breaching the Ministerial code:
RP: What is Theresa May going to do about all this?
JH: Well, she’s said to day that she’s going to write to the Speaker because it’s a cross party issue, and we need to come up with an approach to solve this completely. I think people at home will be quite angry about this, because a bit like the Harvey Weinstein stuff, Parliament – like Hollywood- is very good at preaching to people about what they ought to be doing and how they ought to be behaving. But I’m afraid this shows than in our own back yard we don’t live up to the high standard that we would expect others to.
RP: And just to be clear, you think is an issue for Parliament and not for individual parties?
JH: Well, the Cabinet Office is going to be doing a review of whether Mark Garnier has breached the Ministerial Code for [a] specific incidence.
RP: And that was the request for his assistant to go into this sex shop and buy a couple of sex toys? That might be in breach of the code itself?
JH: Potentially. The facts of that particular case are in dispute so the Cabinet Office are going to look at it and decide whether they think there was a breach. But there is a broader issue as we’ve seen because it does span all parties and my view is that if you had a daughter who got a job at Westminster… as a mum or a dad you would want to be confident she wouldn’t be subjected to this kind of pressure or this kind of behaviour. And I do think that – without being too pious – that we should be aspiring to set some kind of example as MPs, so we need to sort this out.
When Peston asked if he would back Theresa May if she sought to sack any ministers embroiled in the scandal, Hunt stated ‘If she made a judgment that that was the right thing to do, I would support her… I think she has very good judgment on this kind of thing, and she has a long track record of standing up for women’s rights.’
Jeremy Hunt – We are treating 1,400 more mental health patients every single day
Jeremy Hunt also surfaced on the Andrew Marr Show where he spoke at length about the provision of mental health care across England. Marr suggested to Hunt that he and the level of government cuts to public services were to blame for current failings in mental health provision:
AM: On June 1st last year, there was a moment in London when if you were a young person with a mental health problem, there was not a single hospital bed available for you… that’s scandalous isn’t it?
JH: We do have a problem with what we call Tier 4 beds, and in fact we have increased the number of mental health beds as a response to those issues. But what I would say is, in all of this, the thing that is most unacceptable is if you are a young person [and you] have to go to the other side of the country, because what really matters in terms of your recovery is that you can be visited by your parents and your friends….
AM: That is happening again and again because of the lack of nurses and the lack of beds. On your watch.
JH: Andrew, I think you are mischaracterising what is happening. There is more money, there are more people working in mental health, we are increasing the number of beds, particularly for young people. But Rome wasn’t built in a day, and if we are going to achieve Theresa May’s ambition of full parity of esteem between mental and physical health, then we are going to need to train up many many more people to deliver that. That’s what we’re doing and we’re absolutely determined to end this injustice that we have at the moment…
AM: You’ve had 7 years to end this injustice… Do you not recognise that part of the mental health crisis has happened on your watch and is the result of the cuts that were made at the beginning of your time?
JH: Andrew, you are only painting a limited picture. What has actually happened on my watch is the biggest example of mental health provision in Europe. Other countries are looking at what we’re doing… For example, on treatment for anxiety and depression were what we’re doing now is considered world leading, it’s even being copied by the Swedes… Overall, we are treating 1,400 more people every single day. There is a big expansion… Our plan is by 2020/21, we will deliver the Paul Farmer plan and be treating a million more people every year. We’re on track to do that, but it’s not going to happen overnight. There is no silver bullet. I’m afraid it does take time.
When asked about the perennial issue of more money for the NHS, Hunt replied ‘Our hospitals have never been busier, our NHS staff have never worked harder. We have this enormous pressure of an ageing population. There is no doubt we are going to need to find more money for the NHS in the years that come ahead of us.’
Lord Digby Jones – ‘I’m not going to hang around to vote’
Crossbencher Lord Jones of Birmingham, who was ennobled in order to become a Business Minister in Gordon Brown’s government, has been criticised for his poor voting record in the House of Lords. A recent report which has called for significant reforms to the chamber, including the abolition the £300 daily allowance. Jones has claimed £15,000 in expenses during the 2016/17 session, despite only voting 7 times in the same period. Interviewed by Sarah Smith, Jones robustly defended himself against claims that his voting record did not represent good value for money:
SS: If you’re not prepared to wait there for votes, if you’re not prepared to take part in debates, why do you want to be a member? It’s possible to resign from the House of Lords.
DJ: There are many many things that Lords do which [don’t involve] parrot fashioning somebody else, speaking the same thing about the same subject – which I refuse to do, speaking to an empty chamber, or indeed hanging on, sometimes for hours, to vote. There are many many other things that you do. You quote me as saying I will entertain at lunchtime or show people around the House – everything from schoolchildren to inward investors. I will meet ministers about big business issues or educational issues, I will meet other members of the Lords to try and get things moving. None of that relates to going into the House and getting on your hind legs, although I do go in and learn and listen from others… At the same time, many many times I will go after I’ve listened – ‘I’m leaving’ – and there’s a vote. If I haven’t heard the debate, I won’t vote. I ‘m not someone who is going to hang around… waiting to vote.
Barry Sheerman – Better educated people voted to Remain
And on Yorkshire’s regional edition of the Sunday Politics, the Labour backbencher Barry Sheerman has waded into the vanguard of Brexit debate determined not to take any prisoners. When discussing a recent letter sent around to universities by the Tory MP Chris Heaton-Harris, Sheerman launched into a tirade, which shocked interviewer Tim Iredale:
TI: There was a YouGov poll that said that 90% of academics believed that Brexit would have a negative impact… There is clearly an anti-Brexit feeling on campus isn’t there?
BS: The truth is that when you look at who voted to Remain, most of them were the better educated people in our country…
TI: This is controversial! Massively controversial.
BS: Absolutely! It’s absolutely true. You can actually see the pattern. All the university towns voted Remain…
TI: Do you stand by that? You are seriously saying that better educated people voted for Remain?
BS: They did. Absolutely they did.
TI: Thick people voted to Leave?
BS: I didn’t use the other expression, you used that…
TI: That’s the connotation!
BS: The fact of the matter is we know that the barmy army from the Brexit camp run the Conservative party now. The lunatic fringe have taken over [the] party… And [Chris Heaton-Harris], who I have never heard speak in the House of Commons, doing a McCarthyite tactic of trying to frighten campuses, frighten university students – this man who went to Wolverhampton Polytechnic, who does he think he is, trying to frighten my university in Huddersfield, because they have high class intellectuals teaching kids – and most people with a good education know that Brexit will damage the lives of our country.
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