The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care recently informed NHS England about the use of private health providers in the event of a COVID surge. The deal reached with private health providers is hugely expensive. It will see private hospitals receive a guaranteed minimum income of between £75 million to £90 million a month. This is an up-front payment without anything being delivered. In the event that surge arrangements are necessary, this cost could increase up to £175 million a month. 

The Government opened its long-awaited Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme last week. However, there are currently over 12,000 Afghan refugees already in the UK in temporary hotel accommodation waiting to be resettled. The Government needs to step up.

I also pressed the Minister for Afghan Resettlement on family reunion rules, particularly the challenges around the English language test. 

COVID-19 has meant that schools have had to implement measures to protect students and staff and this has been funded by the Government in the short term. I challenged the Education Secretary on how long this funding will continue as school budgets have been squeezed in the past decade. 

See my question and his response above. 

I challenged the Prime Minister directly on the shortage of lateral flow tests in Hackney and nationally, but he was unable to provide a clear answer. With the rise in cases due to Omicron, we have seen huge demand for lateral flow tests but supplies have not kept up.

See my full question and his response above.

It is nearly one year since the Government forced through its Brexit deal, which saw Northern Ireland thrown under the bus in the name of Brexit. 

I pressed the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland over his Government’s attitude to Northern Ireland.  

Since my question, the UK’s chief Brexit negotiator, Lord Frost, resigned and his brief is now the responsibility of the Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss MP. It's vital the Prime Minister gets a grip and acts to ensure a sustainable solution on Northern Ireland is reached.

Individual freedom cannot be at the expense of wider freedoms. We have a public health responsibility to one another in a pandemic. 

With Omicron set to become the dominant variant in London, it is clear that we must take immediate action to slow its spread. That is why I voted in support of the Government's Plan B measures. These include mandatory face masks in shops and public transport, PCR testing for all international arrivals, daily rapid testing for anyone in contact with someone infected with COVID-19, and COVID passes.

Concerning news about the new Omicron COVID variant.

I asked the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care whether there are any early indications about this variant’s impact on children.

See my full question and his response above.

I called out the Government for essentially sacrificing Northern Ireland on the altar of Brexit. 

I’ll keep pressing the Government to reach a sustainable solution.

See here to watch a recording of the debate in full.

Today's Budget is another smoke and mirrors budget. Promises of extra money unravel when you look into the details.For instance, the school settlement is not enough to make up for past cuts.

The Public Accounts Committee has also published a report pointing out that the Government's planned increase in school funding is lower for pupils in the most deprived areas and higher for the least deprived. See here to read that report. 

We need to properly fund the NHS and reform the social care system, but a tax rise that hits Generation Rent and the lowest paid, whilst protecting the assets of the wealthiest, is not the way to do it.