Why can't the Government answer perfectly straightforward questions?

Business of the House (18 January 2024)

Kevin Brennan Shadow Minister (Victims and Sentencing)
Will the Leader of the House have another go at improving written ministerial answers? I recently asked the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities a very simple question about what meetings Ministers had had with Welsh and Scottish counterparts on the implementation of the new ombudsman scheme. The answer from the Minister for Housing, Planning and Building Safety was:

“Ministers and officials have regular engagement with the devolved administrations on a range of issues.”

That passes the Lloyd George test: it was short, accurate and told me absolutely nothing I did not know already. In this day and age, can we not at least have a culture among Ministers of answering perfectly straightforward and factual questions in a perfectly straightforward and factual way, and will she help to facilitate that, please?

Penny Mordaunt Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The hon. Gentleman will know that a great deal of time and effort is taken in the drafting departments in Government Departments. My noble Friend Lord True and I run regular training sessions, as do the officials in my office. We are always on the lookout for good and bad practice so that we can ensure that people know what Members of Parliament need, and we inform those individuals of what is helpful to us in dealing with casework and in which format we might need information. I am always open to example of good and bad practice being passed to my office, and I will certainly raise it with the relevant Department.

Important to minimise any civilian casualties in action on Houthis

Defending the UK and Allies (15 January 2024)

Kevin Brennan Shadow Minister (Victims and Sentencing)
Some in the House may recall that one of my constituents was held captive by the Houthis for five years, simply for being in possession of a British passport. The House will know that we were able to get him safely returned, but we should be under no illusions about the nature of the Houthis. May I re-emphasise the importance of minimising civilian casualties in any action the UK is involved with? Will the Prime Minister impress that not only on our highly professional armed forces, but our partners in any further action taken by the UK?

Rishi Sunak The Prime Minister, Leader of the Conservative Party
I can give the hon. Gentleman that assurance. Again, our initial assessment is that we were successful in minimising civilian casualties in this case.

The UK Government should condemn the extremist language by some Israeli diplomats

Israel and Palestine (8 January 2024)

Shadow Minister (Victims and Sentencing)
"I am struggling to understand what the Government’s response is, apart from surprise at the use of extremist language. What chance can there be for the humanitarian truce that is needed now, and for a sustainable ceasefire and a lasting peace, when extremist views are uttered not just by terrorist organisations but by some Ministers and diplomats representing the Israeli Government?

Andrew Mitchell Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development), Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development and Africa)
Many wild statements have been made, some with which Members will agree and others with which they will not, but the British Government’s purpose is to achieve a sustainable ceasefire and to meet the immense humanitarian need. It is then to lift people’s eyes, when this terrible conflict is over, to the possibilities of peace that a political track can deliver.

Shouldn't the UK Government allow refugees from Gaza to live with their UK families?

Israel and Hamas: Humanitarian Pause (27 November 2023)

Kevin Brennan Shadow Minister (Victims and Sentencing)
My constituent Adam Abu Warda has close family in Gaza and is extremely anxious that they should have the opportunity to get out and come to the UK, as other MPs have said. What is the Government’s policy on our constituents wishing to get their very close family out of Gaza to bring them to the UK?

Andrew Mitchell Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development), Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development and Africa)
We are seeking, within the rules the hon. Gentleman will be aware of, to facilitate, in every way we can, those people leaving Gaza. As I said to one of our colleagues, it would not be sensible for me to look at the granular detail of the specific case he raises on the Floor of the House but, if he has contacted the emergency consular support team in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and has any concerns about the responses he is getting, I am of course very happy, to look at it myself.

Why doesn't the Six Nations have protected free-to-air TV status?

Why is domestic abuse and stalking not considered serious by government?

Prison Capacity
Justice Questions (21 November 2023)

Kevin Brennan Shadow Minister (Victims and Sentencing)
The Secretary of State’s emergency early release scheme is meant to tackle a capacity crisis that is entirely of this Government’s making, and it excludes only serious violence. Surely domestic abuse and stalking are serious offences, yet they are not excluded from early release. What kind of signal does that give to victims, the public, and indeed perpetrators of violence against women and girls?

Alex Chalk The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
We are proud that under this Government sentences for offences such as rape have gone up by a third. We have a situation in which charges are up, the conviction rate is higher and sentences are longer—and, unlike under the Labour Government, people are spending a higher proportion of those sentences in custody. We think that is the right thing to do. To the hon. Member’s point, the exclusions in place go beyond what he indicated, so he is factually incorrect; they also include sex offences and terrorist offences. Here is a really important point: where the custodial authorities are satisfied that there is a specific risk, there is an opportunity to ensure that release is blocked. That is important, because we will always stand up for victims of crime.

Kevin Brennan Shadow Minister (Victims and Sentencing)
Argument weak? Go long and do not answer the question—the classic response from this Government. The truth is that without any Government announcement of a start date, prisons began releasing offenders over a month ago. These men are already walking our streets, but the Government will not tell us how many, or why they were behind bars in the first place. Why do the Government not believe that the public deserve to know who is being released back into the community when a court decided that they should be in prison?

Alex Chalk The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
We will make whatever appropriate announcements in due course; we will not demur from that. We will also not apologise for having, under this Government, a higher custodial population than before. We are taking robust steps to ensure that the public are protected, which means unashamedly that those who commit the most serious offences—those such as murder in the context of sexual or sadistic conduct—go to prison for the rest of their lives. Will the hon. Member support that? I wonder. We are also using the evidence so that those capable of rehabilitation are rehabilitated. One thing that we will not ever put at risk is the threat to women and girls. As the Under-Secretary of State for Justice, my hon. Friend Laura Farris, indicated, we have taken steps to ensure that victims of domestic abuse will be properly protected under the Government.

Prime Minister can't even name one David Cameron foreign policy achievement

Prime Minister's Questions
15 November 2023

Kevin Brennan Shadow Minister (Victims and Sentencing)
The Prime Minister has just said that David Cameron had unprecedented experience, so what would he say was his finest foreign policy achievement?

Rishi Sunak The Prime Minister, Leader of the Conservative Party
There are many, many to pick from, but what I would say is that under his leadership this country hosted what was widely considered to be one of the most successful G8 summits of recent times.

What is the government doing to ensure creative industries can flourish?

Creative Industries: Skills and Training
20 July 2023

Kevin Brennan Labour, Cardiff West
Last night was the summer reception of UK Music, and I was there as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on music, along with the shadow Secretary of State and the Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee. If Ministers had been able to come, they would have heard an appeal for more education in the creative sectors in our schools and for more support for our grassroots venues, which are the research and development of the creative industries, particularly the music industry, and which are suffering from a crisis at the moment. What more are the Government going to do to support education at that level so that skills and training in our creative industries can enable them to keep flourishing into the future?

Lucy Frazer The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
I hope the hon. Gentleman read the sector vision, which included £5 million in additional funding for grassroots music venues—something we discussed at the Select Committee. We, too, think it is important to have those creative subjects in school; that is why art, design and music are already in the national curriculum and remain compulsory in all maintained schools up to the age of 14. But that is not all we are doing. He mentioned music, which is incredibly important. That is why we have our new joint national plan for music education, including £25 million of funding for musical instruments and equipment for schools, and, as I mentioned, we had our first meeting of the cultural education panel, which is looking at how we can ensure we help young people to get more creativity both in and outside school to ensure we have that creative excellence.

Prime Minister seems incapable of operating in a statesman like fashion

NATO Summit
13 July 2023

Kevin Brennan Labour, Cardiff West
In welcoming the Prime Minister’s statement, I gently encourage him to adopt a slightly different tone rather than phrases such as “new-found affection” for NATO. He knows the seminal role of the post-war Labour Government, in particular the Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin, in the creation of NATO. [Interruption.] I suggest they read some history books. He also knows that Labour’s policy of support for NATO is as strong now as it was 75 years ago. Will he welcome that fact and work in a statesmanlike way with the Leader of the Opposition, in the national interest?

Rishi Sunak The Prime Minister, Leader of the Conservative Party
I was not quibbling at all with the leadership shown by Labour politicians 75 years ago; I was quibbling with that shown just a few years ago.

Secondary ticket sites are selling Taylor Swift tickets for £3k

Business of the House
13 July 2023

Kevin Brennan Labour, Cardiff West
Can we have a debate on secondary ticketing? As the father of a Swiftie— I know that the shadow Deputy Leader of the House, my hon. Friend Jessica Morden, is the mother of a Swiftie—I was appalled to see that, within an hour of tickets going on sale for the Taylor Swift concert at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, a ticket was on sale in the lower tier for £3,352 on Viagogo. Why have the Government not done more to protect our daughters from these sorts of rip-off merchants?

Penny Mordaunt Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
That is a shocking example. There is one further session of Department for Culture, Media and Sport questions before the summer recess, and I encourage the hon. Gentleman to raise that matter with the Secretary of State.

If the Tories end rail ticket offices, it will be a huge mistake

Rail Ticket Offices
6 July 2023

Kevin Brennan Labour, Cardiff West
Tim Loughton was right: sometimes it is just too complicated to purchase a ticket without using a ticket office. I recently had that experience, and buying my ticket from the ticket office was £50 cheaper than if I had purchased it from the machine. I am afraid that the Beatles analogy he started is right: he’s got a ticket to ride, and he don’t care.

Huw Merriman Minister of State (Department for Transport)
I was not even aware that I had started a Beatles analogy. Actually, this is more important than joking about music; this is about reassuring passengers that we can deliver a better experience but also an experience that they are very familiar with, in terms of the other transactions they make across the retail space. More and more people are doing that online, and they start doing it online by being taught how to do it. The idea is that ticketing staff who are currently behind glass, not seeing those passengers, will help to deliver that and ensure that those passengers have a better experience and do not need to queue up next time, because they can do it in a seamless manner. Where that operation does not exist because of the machine, we are looking to upgrade. I will take any examples he has, to ensure that passengers get the best price but can do it online or via a machine.

Last three Tory Prime Ministers - the liar, the lettuce and weak

Prime Minister's Questions
21 June 2023

Kevin Brennan Labour, Cardiff West
Just to recap, during this Parliament we have had one Tory Prime Minister who turned out to be a proven liar, and a second Tory Prime Minister who was outlasted by a lettuce. After this week’s pathetic no-show by the Prime Minister, what one word would he use to describe himself? Might it be “weak”?

Rishi Sunak The Prime Minister, Leader of the Conservative Party
What is weak is those in the party opposite being unable to stand up to the people who fund them and stand behind hard-working families in this country.