PM must make a statement in Parliament about attack on Houthis, says Labour

PM must make a statement in Parliament about attack on Houthis, says Labour
Georgia Pearce

By Georgia Pearce


Published: 24/01/2024

- 09:38

PRIME Minister Rishi Sunak must come to Parliament and make a statement about the latest attack on the Houthi rebels in Yemen, Labour has demanded.

Shadow Health Minister Karin Smyth told GB News: “We don't know why the Government hasn’t spoken to us on the usual terms.

“We would expect them to do that and we would certainly expect a statement by the Prime Minister today in Parliament so we will await developments on that today…

“We wait to hear from the Government today and we do want to hear from them in Parliament and would expect to be briefed on the usual terms.”

Asked about the Rwanda bill, in a discussion during Breakfast with Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster, she said: “The amendment last night in the Lords was a cross-party amendment that basically offered the same safeguards that the Government said they wanted, so why they didn't just accept that amendment is not really very clear.

“Obviously, they do have more peers in the Lords to make things go through but really they need to work with them to accept what they've already said and get on in a way that they obviously can do, because they do have that, they do have that majority.

“This was a fairly straightforward amendment for the Government - I’m not really sure why they didn't accept that last night in the Lords, unless they want to look like they want to make a point about the Lords.”

She also said Labour will today outline plans to tackle waste in the NHS: “£200 million has already been spent in the NHS on paper a decade after Jeremy Hunt said that he would abolish it and make a paperless system.

“But it's not just the money in the NHS that is not being spent wisely. What we want to focus on really is what that means for patients, because we have a system for outpatients that is recognised as decades old, whereby one in five patients don't even know they've got an appointment.

“It's like a black hole after you go to your GP for that referral.”

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