Extract from Commons
debate on Proceedings during the Pandemic and Hybrid Scrutiny
Proceedings
(Warley) (Lab):...Last month, for example, we had both
the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister here. I am pleased to
say that I was able to ask both of them, on successive days, about
the serious situation of very large numbers of our people stranded
in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. I am still
concerned about the long delay in getting them back, compared with
the work of many other countries, particularly Germany, which has
managed to bring back tens of thousands of people. We were able to
put some pressure on the system and get some reaction through that
direct confrontation. It is not the same as writing a letter or
asking questions in a slightly sterile Chamber, although this is an
improvement...
Extracts from Business
Statement
(Walsall South)
(Lab):...I want to place on record my thanks to the
acting high commissioner in India, Jan Thompson,
who has been absolutely fantastic in getting our constituents
back...
(Warley) (Lab):May I go back to a subject
that I raised with the Leader of the House in my earlier
contribution about those large number of constituents who are still
stranded in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh? Many
of them are elderly. The temperature there is rising enormously and
conditions are becoming unbearable. There has been an improvement
in the number of flights, but we are still well behind many other
countries, particularly Germany. We need urgent additional flights
to get these people home.
Mr Rees-Mogg: The Government have made enormous efforts to bring
people back. The numbers involved are very large: 200,000 people
have come back from Spain; 13,000 from Egypt; 6,000 from
Pakistan; and 1,000 from New Zealand. It has been a big effort by
the Government, and particularly difficult when the number of
aeroplanes flying has been reduced. May I suggest that the right
hon Gentleman raises this matter with the Foreign Secretary, the
First Secretary of State, when he is answering Prime Minister’s
questions tomorrow?
