LIVE: Rishi Sunak grilled at Prime Minister’s Questions

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak takes questions in parliament.

Sunak has vowed to prove to voters that he is improving their living standards as the Tories and Labour ­battle to frame a crucial week for the economy.

The prime minister insisted that the next general election was not a foregone conclusion and “the situation is closer than many people are saying”, as he sought to move on from heavy losses in the local elections and a failed attempt to remove him.

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colleagues and others in addition to my duties in this house I shall have further such meetings later today K thank you Mr Speaker uh last week’s prime minister’s questions I highlighted the shocking rise in the number of teenagers trying vaping and I asked the Prime Minister if he would take decisive action to stop Vape advertising on football strips he declined to do that since then I have had an exchange with the Scottish chief medical officer Professor sir Gregor Smith during a ation of the tobacco and Vapes Bill committee and he said where I become very uncomfortable and I am not supportive is where the massive attraction of sports companies is used in a way that promotes behaviors that are known to be unsafe or unhealthy can I ask the Prime Minister again does he still think that it is right that Vape companies should sponsor foot bulets Mr Speaker I’m glad the honorable lady agrees with me and the government that we should do more to tackle youth vaping and that’s why we are bringing forward measures in the new bill to restrict the availability and appeal of Vapes to Children specifically whether that’s flavors or or indeed marketing as she knows advertising of Vapes is already heavily restricted by UK regulations including a ban on advertising on television and radio and most online now we’ve seen football take positive voluntary action in the past on issues such as this but I will say to her that the government will respond to the honorable lady specific amendment in the usual way thank you Mr Speaker iare that my daughter is a serving officer in the armed forces in recent weeks Mr Speaker my right honorable friend has announced plans to control welfare and get people back to work to increase defense spending to 2 and a half% of GDP and pass legislation to get flights off to Rwanda does he agree with me that these are all issues that people like my constituents in southeast cor will care about and that the leader of the opposition should do the right thing and back them well Mr weer my rable friend is a fantastic Champion for her local area and can I also thank her daughter for her service in the armed forces and she’s right I’m not surprised that the labor party don’t back our plans to stop the boates I’m not surprised they don’t back our plans to get people into work and reform welfare but I do think that they should do the right thing when it comes to the security of our nation and that’s back our plans to increase defense spending and give our brained Armed Forces Personnel the resources they need to keep us safe we now come to lead of the opposition k Mr Speaker can I warmly welcome the new member for black Paul South after the representation that fine town has had recently it’s good to know they’ve got a proper Champion back at last can I also warmly welcome the new labor MP fova to these benches Mr Speaker if one week a Tor MP who’s also a doctor says the Prime Minister can’t be trusted with the NHS and joins labor and the next week the Tor MP for DOA on the front line of the small boats crisis says the Prime Minister cannot be trusted with our borders and joins labor what is the point of this failed government staggering on well Mr Speaker can I actually join him in welcoming his newest MP for Blackpool I must say he looks a lot happier than the member who was sitting there last week uh but let me let me also let me also join with him and let me join with him in congratulating all new and paying tribute to all former councilors pccc’s and Mayors across the country I I hope his I hope his new ones do him as proud as I am of all of mine Mr Speaker great leaders great leaders like Andy Street great leaders like Andy Street who leave behind a strong Legacy of more homes more jobs and more investment in sharp contrast to the Legacy left by the last Labor government which was a letter joking that there was no money left well Mr Speaker in addition to losing two Tory MPS in two weeks weeks the prime minister’s been on the receiving end of some of the biggest byelection swings in history he’s also lost 1500 Tory counselors half of his party’s Mayors and a leadership election to atis how many more times to the public and his own MPS need to reject him before he takes the hint yeah well Mr Speaker this time last year I reminded him of uh some advice actually from from his own Mentor Tony Blair who had said who had said at the time that he can be as cocky as he likes about local elections but come a general election it’s policy that counts Mr speaker now what one one year on one year on from that advice one year on from that advice what does he managed 28 billion of tax Rises 7 new business regulations 30 u-turns and a deputy leader under a police investigation well I’m surprised he brought up a police investigator think his record is played one lot no actually two the seat belt as well played two lost two in relation to police investigation but it it’s the same the public keep telling him the voters tell him it’s not good enough instead of listening he keeps telling him everything’s fine if only realize his greatness it just doesn’t get it but at least after Thursday night Mr Speaker he can go to the many places that he E’s home and enjoy the fruits of his success in Southampton or Downing Street he’s got great labor councils at his mansion in Richmond he can enjoy a brand new labor mayor of North Yorkshire and of his P part in Kensington he can celebrate a historic third term for the mayor of London now that he too can enjoy the benefits of this change labor party is he really still in such a hurry to get back to California Mr Speaker I must say I was I was of course surprised uh to see The Honorable gentleman in North Yorkshire but probably although probably probably not a surprise probably not a surprised as he was when he realized he couldn’t take the tube there Mr Speaker but I can tell him that the people of North Yorkshire the people of North York should believe in hard work secure borders lower taxes and straight talking common sense Mr Speaker they’re not going to get any of that from a virtue signaling lawyer from North London well it was great to be a North alaton where they just voted to reject the prime minister’s proposition Mr Speaker he’s finally found something in common with the British public no matter where he calls home all his neighbors are backing this change labor party and they keep rejecting him because they have sused him out they know there’s nothing behind the boasts the gimmicks the smug smile he’s a dodgy salesman desperate to sell them a dud now Mr Speaker 16 days ago when he held a press conference claiming Victory on Rwanda he said the next few weeks will be about action people want Deeds not words so let’s test that how many Small Boat Crossings have there been since he said that 16 days ago Mr Speaker actually just before we go on to that he talked about a changed he talked about he talked about a changed labor party that’s important because he talked about a change labor party he talks about it a lot but just this morning and he also talked about his new mayor in London so just this morning we’ve learned that the labor mayor in London believes and I quote that there is an equivalence between the brutal terrorist attack of Hamas and Israel defending itself and let me be Crystal Clear there is absolutely no equivalence between a terrorist group and a democratic state so can I ask him now will he take this opportunity to demonstrate to demonstrate that that labor party has changed and will he condemn those comments from the labor May well I know that was the last run out before the general election but he’s getting ahead of himself in asking me questions he he [Applause] Mr Speaker I noticed he didn’t even attempt to answer the question he knows the answer since he claimed Victory 16 days ago there have been a staggering 2,400 small vat CR 2,400 that’s a gimmick not a deterent and those 2,400 will be added to the touris Asylum Perma backlog which is forecast to rise to 100,000 by the end of this year now the Prime Minister pretends he will remove them all to Rwanda but Rwanda can only take a few hundred a year at that rate the prime minister’s grand plan would take over 300 years to remove them all Mr Speaker that’s tens of thousands of people with their claims going unprocessed who are going to be here for their entire lifetime living in hotels at the taxpayers expense it is absurd to call that anything other than an amnesty handed to them by the Tory party isn’t it well Mr Speaker he had the opportunity to condemn the comments of his mayor a mayor who said that there is an equivalence between Hamas and Israel he did not do that and everyone will see what that is that is the change labor party Mr Speaker right there but since I became prime minister Small Boat Crossings are down by a third that’s because we’ve doubled NCA funding increased enforcement rates closed bank accounts deported 24,000 people process more claims and Mr Speaker when it comes to border control there is a crucial difference between us we want secure borders he’s happy with open borders Mr Speaker the whole country knows that removing less than 1% of Asylum Seekers isn’t stopping the boats it’s granting an amnesty a Tory amnesty but if he thinks the voters are wrong if he thinks his own MPS joining the labor party are wrong if he thinks anyone believes any of the nonsense that he spouts why doesn’t he put it to the test and call a general election Minister Mr Speaker he talks about removing people this is a person who campaigned who person who campaigned to stop the deportation of foreign National offenders Mr Speaker it shows how out of touch his values are with the British people but Mr Speaker it’s yet another where we hear nothing about his plan to do anything on the issues that matter to the country Meanwhile we’re getting on reforming welfare and getting people into work he opposes it we’re controlling migration legal and illegal he opposes it and as we heard Mr Speaker we are boosting defense spending to strengthen our country he opposes it and that’s the difference he Snipes from the sidelines the conservatives are building a brighter future when it comes to Small Boat Crossings there’s a lot of talk of Human Rights but surely the only human right and life that matters is the life of children who are being taken across the channel in this respect will the government now do the only thing that will actually be a real deterrence and that is to arrest and attain all those who land illegally on our Shores and then offshore them promptly so that once and for all we can save lives of an end this cruel and callous trade well Mr Speaker my rable friend is right that these Crossings are incredibly dangerous and they risk people’s lives just weeks ago a seven-year-old girl died attempting the crossing and that’s why as a matter of basic compassion we must do everything we can to break the cycle of the criminal gangs and that’s why Mr Speaker you need a deterrent that’s what the National Crime agencies say that’s how we dealt with illegal migrants from Albania because it’s only by removing people who shouldn’t be here that we remove the reason for them to come in the first place and that is how we’ll control our borders and it’s clear that it’s only this party that not only has a plan to stop the boats but has a plan to stop the tragic loss of life in the channel too s SMP leader Steven Flynn thank you Mr Speaker may I begin by also congratulating the Fantastic John swinny on the coming Scotland’s first Minister our opponent should be careful very careful what they wish for Mr Speaker as we await the emminent Israeli incursion into Rafa where 1.2 million people are Sheltering including 600,000 children it’s been reported that the United States has paused an armed shipment to Israel the UK will now follow suit won’t it [Music] well Mr Speaker there are gentlemen may not realize but the UK government doesn’t itself directly provide arms or ship arms to Israel and when it comes when it comes to the situation in Rafa I’ve been very clear that we are deeply concerned about a full military incursion of Rafa given the devastating humanitarian impact I’ve made that position and point specifically to prime minister Netanyahu whenever we’ve spoken and will’ll continue to urge all sides to focus on the negotiations at hand to bring about a pause in the conflict to release hostages and get more Aid in Steven F Mr Speaker let’s be clear the confidence that Israel has shown in its military Ambitions in in Rafa stems from the silence which has been shown from its allies on the front benches in this place and indeed elsewhere across the world now we know we all know that UK arms and Tech is supporting Israel’s activities in Gaza and and will be used in any attack on Rafa knowing that and the devastation which is going to occur surely the time has come to end our complicity and to Halt our own sales to Israel Mr Speaker of course we take our defense export responsibilities extremely seriously and that’s why we operate one of the most robust licensing control regimes anywhere in the world we periodically review advice on Israel’s commitment to International humanitarian law and ministers always act in accordance with that advice and that is crystal clear for the house to understand our position with regard to export licenses following the most recent assessment is unchanged and I know that he will join me in urging all parties to engage in the negotiations that are happening so we can see a pause in fighting to get more Aid in hostages out and then bring about a sustainable ceasefire to this conflict Al Beckers uh thank you Mr Speaker uh my constituents in rural Villages and on the fringes of the Grimsby cops urban area are very concerned about overdevelopment they recognize that the highway infrastructure and public services are already overloaded could my right honorable friend consider uh amending planning guidance so that local plans and decisions taken by local planning authorities are not overridden by planning inspectors and uh they’d be greatly encouraged if he would agree to meet with me and my colleagues from the neighboring gainsboro and Grimsby constituencies to discuss this further my friend is right that sustainable development must be at the heart of the planning system and that’s why we’re committed to meeting the needs for housing by building the right homes in the right places and protecting the environmental assets that matter most the national planning policy framework is clear that we should be responsive to local circumstances I know that the relevant local plan and minable friends area is due for further consultation later this year and that he’ll engage with that process but I will happily meet with him and colleagues to discuss his his situation further Ed David thank you Mr Speaker the abuse suffered by 88 yearold an King at the hands of Staff in her care home was captured on a hidden camera the footage is stomach churning an died in October 2022 and it took near nearly a year before the CQC launched a criminal investigation now an’s children are working to protect other care home residents from being subjected to such appalling abuse her son came to see me as his MP to ask for my help in their campaign so will the Prime Minister join me in backing an’s law a proposal to include a national register to professionalize the care Workforce and hold those staff who are abusive to account and will he meet with ANS family and myself to discuss this idea Mr Speaker can I first of all extend my sympathies to an’s family for what she went through obviously that’s not appropriate and I’ll make sure that the department engages with him and an’s family on the proposed law and he’s right to say we should have high standards across the care industry and we’re walking towards more investment to support our Care Home staff making sure that they have training qualifications to development and we have a regime in place that can hold everyone to account for delivering the high standards that we would all expect s thank you Mr Speaker does my right honorable friend agree with me that one of the greatest things that these back benches bring to Westminster is plain oldfashioned common sense and and it’s darish Common Sense darbishire common sense that means that the good people of ashborne and surrounding Villages reject the sadik K ules rules and even the mph W will he join with me and perhaps ask his neighbor if he will pay for the ashborne byyb well Mr Speaker I know my honorable friend has been a dedicated campaigner for the ashborne bypass and the government is committed to investing more in the Midlands particularly investing every penny of the 9.6 billion from hs2 back into the local area uh and she’s right that we will focus on drivers and their priorities not continue the war on motorists which is waged waged by the labor mayor in London but also the labor party in Wales with both us and 20 mph speed limits it’s this party that is unashamedly on the side of the motorist thank you very much Mr Speaker our child of the North Cross party Group found that expectant mothers were terminating wanted pregnancies as they could not afford another mouth to feed recent figures show infant and child death rates have increased in the most deprived areas and 50 children have died alone in unregulated accommodation is this his plan for a brighter Britain in action Mr Speaker obviously what the honorable lady has described as tragedy nobody wants to see children grow up in those circumstances and that’s why I’m proud that the government has overseen a significant fall in poverty but particularly child poverty since 201 ATT for a range of measures and I’ll make and I’ll make sure that she is aware for her constituents of all the support that is in place both through the Department of Health and through the department of work and pensions and local authorities to provide support to the most vulnerable families in our communities John penos Mr Speaker Western superm is is a growing town so local health services are rightly growing too Western Hospital is treating more patients for a wider variety of problems than before GP surgeries are offering thousands more appointments this year than last and our new Diagnostic Center means faster tests and treatments but there’s a fly in our NHS prescribed ointment Dentistry isn’t fixed yet the new dental rep recovery plan is very welcome but when will it mean appointments that wonans can book Mr Speaker our Dentistry recovery plan will make dentist Services uh Dental Services faster simpler and fairer for patients funding around 2 and a half billion more appointments uh and I was pleased to note that access isn’t improving in my honorable friend’s area with almost 10% more children seeing a dentist in June last year than the previous year but we are going further the new patient premium that was announced last year is ensuring that more NHS Dentistry will be provided and since then at the end of January 500 more practices have said that they are now open to new patients Chris law thank you Mr Speaker it’s now been over a month since a parliamentary Ombudsman delivered a long awaited report on pension justices yet women born in the 1950s in my constituency of Doney and indeed every constituency in this house across his Island are still waiting to he if the UK government will listen to these recommendations and deliver compensation Mr Speaker I was proud to see the Scottish Parliament support a motion last week calling for compensation to be delivered without delay but utterly dismayed to see members of the conservative party and the labor party abstain so can the prime minister finally set out when WBY women will receive the compensation they rightly deserve Mr Speaker I understand the strong feelings across the chamber on this topic and the desire for urgency in addressing them however following the ombudsman’s 5year investigation it is imperative that we take the time to thoroughly review the comprehensive findings that have been published an update to the house will be provided once the reports findings have been fully considered uh more broadly we are committed to ensure ing pensioners have the dignity and security and retirement that they deserve and most recently increasing the state pension by £900 thanks to the triple lot s Philip Davis thank you very much uh Mr Speaker is the prime minister as appalled as I am at reports of militant uh civil servant Trade union political activists seeking to find ways not to implement the Rwanda deportations does he agree with me that if they are not prepared to implement the will of the government an act of Parliament that was passed by both uh Houses of Parliament that they should conclude that being in the civil service is perhaps not for them and maybe they can look for alternative employment at other left-wing organizations that M masquerade as being impartial maybe they could try the BBC or Channel 4 News yeah yeah Mr uh Mr Speaker you know my expectation is that civil servants will continue to be committed to supporting our priority of stopping the boats and deliver in accordance with the civil service code he’ll know that we made specific changes to ensure compliance with that code as we push through with our plans uh but I agree with him more broadly that we are the only party that has a plan to stop the boat and we will face down all the obstacles in our way to deliver on this crucial priority for the British people and whoever stands in our way whether it’s the labor party or others we will deliver for this country on this vital issue Mal back Mr Mr Speaker China has now hacked the data of Defense Personnel the Electoral commission various other public institutions and has targeted many members of this house and yet Plans by China’s largest wind turbine manufacturer mingyang Smart Energy to build its largest European facility right here in the UK and Advance at PACE with the facility set to be built in Scotland given widely shared concerns about the involvement of hostile states such as China in the UK’s critical National energy infrastructure does he not agree that now is the time for this project to be paused to be reviewed by the government on National Security grounds and if not what message does he think that sends well as I’ve said repeatedly China is a country with different values to ours and is acting in a way that is increasingly authoritarian at home and assertive abroad it’s right that we take firm steps to protect ourselves against that particularly in the area of Economic Security which is why this government passed the National Security and investment act precisely so that we can screen transactions without commenting on individual ones of course uh to protect this country and we have used those Powers not least to block Chinese investment in a sensitive Semiconductor Company uh but also to ensure that the Chinese State nuclear company had no part in the future of our nuclear PL so he can rest assured that we’re alive to the challenges and have passed laws that give us the powers to protect against them shall Le F thank you Mr Speaker 5-year-old Benedict BL was the lovely little boy who attended a primary school in my constituency sadly however he died of aniplexus a severe allergic reaction the coroner’s inquest has not yet reported but speaking generally on average two children in every class have a food allergy and allergic reactions take place more in school than in any other setting outside the home severe allergic reactions are on the rise and can be fatal yet there is no explicit legal requirement for schools to have allergy medication an allergy policy or other recommended safeguards being made available there is only guidance will the Prime Minister meet with me and Benedict’s parents Helen and Pete so that we can discuss a way forward to ensure that children who suffer from allergies in schools can be more safe including schools having an allergy policy adrenaline pens and staff who know how to use them well firstly can I extend my sympathy to Benedict’s family it’s tragic always to hear about the loss of a child and we fully understand the seriousness of severe allergies and believe that children with medical conditions should be properly supported to enjoy a full education and be safe at school now there is a legal Duty on the governing body of schools to make arrangements for supporting pupils including setting out what needs to be done symptoms treatment uh but I will ensure that my rable friend gets a meeting with the health secretary to discuss how we could further support pupils with serious allergies spell yesterday his Chancellor confirmed that it’s government policy to abolish National Insurance a46 billion annual cost and no indication of where the money is coming from so can the Prime Minister rule out further freezes on tax allowances or an AP increase in income tax to pay for it well Mr Speaker total nonsense and of course I rule that out and let me just close up speaker there there is no unfunded policy what we have said is that we have a long-term ambition to keep cutting National Insurance to end the unfairness of the double taxation on work we’ll make progress towards that goal in the next Parliament just as we already have in this by cutting National Insurance by a third and six months delivering a 900 tax cut at the same time is increasing investment in the NHS and increasing the state pension but it’s increasingly clear what this reveals is that the labor party opposes tax cuts for working people Angela Richardson thank you empowering local pharmacies is a key part of this government’s plan to cut waiting lists in Guilford we recently lost two neighboring pharmacies but good news Mr Speaker I’m pleased to report that by working diligently with local pharmacists concerned residents the minister and the ICB I have helped to secure a new Pharmacy and B will my right honorable friend join me in welcoming this new Pharmacy and does he agree that it is vital residents should have access to a good efficient and above all local pharmacy well Mr Speaker I care deeply about the future of our community pharmacies I’m very pleased to hear about marable friend’s success and securing a new Pharmacy for her constituents joining the 10 and a half thousand others across the country and she’s now right about the important role that our localy can play that’s why we’re backing them with £645 million of additional funding through Pharmacy first so that you can now go straight to your pharmacist receive treatment for seven of the most common ailments saving you time and ensuring that patients get the care they need quicker and closer to home Mr Speaker last Friday the guardian reported uh major structural deficiencies at stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport stepping Hill’s major out patient building the radiology department and the critical care unit have all been condemned in March I met with senior officials at Stockport NHS trust they were very clear that a sustained lack of capital investment is the root cause of problems at my local hospital Mr Speaker does does the Prime Minister believe that our hospitals quite literally crumbling is the price worth paying for the 14 years of successive conservative failure Mr Speaker we fully recognize the need to invest in health infrastructure across the country including at stepping Hill hospital and that’s why we are currently spending around4 billion a year for trust to spend on necessary maintenance and repairs on top of the 20 billion pound new hospital program and the additional funding that was put aside to deal with rack maintenance but he talks about a legacy of the NHS all he needs to do is look at the party his party’s record in Wales where people currently are experiencing the worst A&E performance and the longest wait times anywhere in Great Britain thank you Mr Speaker Mr Speaker Nottingham City Council is expecting to fall short of its housing Target by 6,000 new homes last time this happened rushcliffe as a neighboring Authority was forced to take thousands of homes on top of its own housing Target which led to huge pressures on our green spaces and public services so can my right honorable friend reassure me and my constituents that the changes we’ve made to the planning system will mean that this time we will be protected from Labor’s failure in Nottingham my honorable friend makes an important point and why on this while on this side of the house a conservatives Bill believe in building the right homes in the right places with local people having a say all labor would do is impose top- down housing Targets on areas decimating our precious Countryside and in Nottingham sh as she says you can see the difference Mr Speaker between the well-run conservative County Council compared to the bankrupt Nottingham Council which has left residents to pick up the bill from their pracy Caroline Lucas thank you very much Mr Speaker untreated sewage was pumped into English waterways for more than 3.6 million hours last year and into the sea of Sussex beaches three times in the last 24 hours alone yet since privatization the water companies have been allowed to rack up debts of over 64 billion and their shareholders to pocket 78 billion in dividends the majority of the public including 58% of conservative and 80% of Labor supporters want to Turf out the profiteering polluters they want water brought back into public hands when is he going to listen to them and end the legalized scam of privatization well Mr Speaker our plans have gone to tackle this have gone further than any other previous government in fact now monitor 100% of overflows up from just 7% under the labor party we’re investing a record 56 billion pounds into our water infrastructure and we’ve enshrined in law strict targets and introduced unlimited fines for water companies holding them and their bosses to account so it’s Crystal Clear that the record shows that there’s only one party who has a clear plan to tackle this issue for the environment and it’s the conservative party final question Mt Vickers thank you Mr Speaker everybody knows that Stockton is a great place with great people and a great football team my right honorable friend recently visited the mighty Stockton town to see the incredible work that they do in the local community and heard about their promotion battle I’m sure he’ll want to join me in congratulating Mickey dunwell and the mighty anchors on their promotion yeah well uh Mr Speaker it was fantastic to visit sown FC with my honorable friend who was a brilliant Champion for his local community which I see firsthand on a weekly basis and let me join him in congratulating everyone at the club on their well-deserved promotion and I hope some of their good luck rubs off on Southampton in the coming weeks that completes prime minister e we now come to the Urgent question I call Shabana mmud thank you Mr Speaker to ask the Secretary of State for justice if he will make a statement on the expansion of the end of custody supervised license scheme Yes Minister thank you very much Mr Speaker um I’m grateful to The Honorable lady for her question protecting the public is our number one priority and so it is right we take the tough and decisive actions so we can keep putting the most serious offenders Behind Bars and for longer as the public would rightly expect we are carrying out the biggest prison expansion program since the Victorian era and ramping up removals of foreign National offenders we have a duty to make sure that the prison system continues to operate in a safe and effective way where offenders are held in safe and decent conditions this means making sure that no prison exceeds a safe maximum operating limit ecsl allows lower level offenders to be released before their automatic release date in March the Lord Chancellor stated that we will work with the police prisons and probation leaders to make adjustments as required this extension is in line with what he said ecsl operates only when it is absolutely necessary and is kept under constant review I know that many members of this house will be concerned about the early release of offenders into the community but let me be clear that only offenders who would soon be released anyway would be considered for ecsl we have put in place safeguards including that the prison service retains the discretion to prevent the ecsl release of any offender where releasing them earlier presents a heightened risk than if they were released at their automatic release date there are strict eligibility criteria and anyone convicted of a sexual offense terrorist offense or a serious violent offense is ruled out Public Safety will always be our number one priority and all those released will still be subject to probation supervision and stringent license conditions secretary Shabana mmud Mr Speaker here we go again never in this country has a government ever been forced to release prisoners over two months early this is the price that the public is paying for a justice system in crisis and a government in freefall in just 6 months the early release scheme Mr Speaker has now undergone three major extensions it was quietly started in October when the government began releasing prisoners up to 18 days early in March it was slipped out that it was expanded from 18 days to 60 and now it has emerged through a media leak that it has been extended once again this time to 70 days and worst of all the government is doing all of this in secret they haven’t responded to any foi requests parliamentary questions or even the Justice select committee with any useful details about this scheme the government is releasing prisoners but not the facts the strategy is clear for all to see say nothing try and get away with it and get to the other side of the general election it’s Shameless and frankly a disgrace the public and this house rightly expect the minister to be transparent and honest so let’s see if he’ll answer these basic and simple questions why the increase of early release to 70 days how