Speeches by Munt.

“Have you done the same comparison between a state advert and a private estate advert? How does it look different? I go back to my question about the churn of prison officers and their having no idea about the demands and pressures of working in a jail. I have to say that I am not surprised; I am staggered. Have you com…”

“Thank you.”

“That is fine, but Elisabeth’s point is a good one, isn’t it? If you have part of the jail shut down for something, do everything, or at least do the minimum of everything that you might want to do.”

“My final question is addressed to all of you. The National Audit Office highlights that the maintenance backlog has doubled over the last four years, reaching £1.8 billion. What do you think the Department should be prioritising in its efforts to reduce the backlog? We understand that the Department believes it should …”

“The University of Worcester told us that, according to recent case law, prisons continue to fall below the standard under international law. How many prisons in England and Wales are regularly not compliant with international human rights obligations? Do we know that? I am very happy for you to come back to us later.”

“The Criminal Justice Alliance told us: “It is demoralising to see the churn of prison officers who end up in the job without a clue as to the demands and pressures of working in a jail.” What do you all make of that statement?”

“It sounds as though you have done some work on this. Do we have that?”

“When you have done some more thinking and some writing, it would be lovely if we could see that.”

“Today is World ME Day, and I hope that the Secretary of State and her Ministers will recognise the up to 1.3 million people who live with ME and ME-like symptoms, and some of those with long covid. All they want is to have a normal life. I recognise what she has said about making PIP work for fluctuating conditions. Ca…”

“In response to all the letters and emails from my constituents, I will focus on PIP and the effect that the changes will have on the 1.3 million people who are suffering from ME and long covid. I am particularly concerned that the additional criterion for a PIP award of needing four points in one descriptor disproporti…”

“Q2. Ahead of the 80th anniversary of VE Day, may I thank the Prime Minister for his Government’s recognition of the highly dangerous and clandestine work of the 1,746 pilots and navigators who formed the RAF’s photographic reconnaissance squadrons, and the 635 Buckinghamshire-based photographic interpreters—often forgo…”

“T8. I have a constituent who has broken and rotting teeth. His GP referred him to the local dental hospital, but he has been refused treatment because the hospital said that the surgeon would take a referral only from a dentist, which my constituent and many others in Somerset just do not have. What does the Minister s…”

“You did not try. It is an intellectual argument at this point because you have chosen not to do it, but my suggestion would be that it might have been an exercise that you would have considered among all those risk things that you face on a daily basis.”

“In lockdown, of course it would. I understand that.”

“Tessa Munt. Everything is on the register, but I draw your attention to the fact that I am a director of WhistleblowersUK, which is a non-profit-making organisation.”

“Thank you. May I just pick you up on your statements about being more successful in referrals? I think I have the facts here, saying that in 2024 CCRC received 1,629 applications and 25 were referred to the Court of Appeal, which is fewer than 2%. In reality, I suspect, to most of us, the only thing that matters is ref…”

“From what to what? Forgive me—”

“Since when?”

“You are saying that there have been eight hundred and—”

“Eight hundred and seventy three referrals to the Court of Appeal since exactly when?”