Emily Thornberry: I have not asked the question yet, Boris. Which is it: the Telegraph article or the Florence speech—the lion roars or the lion wants to stop this malarkey? Apart from his own fading ambitions, what exactly does the Foreign Secretary believe in?
Emily Thornberry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the minutes of the Prime Minister's (a) meetings and (b) other discussions with his predecessor Mr Boris Johnson in the last nine months.
Emily Thornberry: Will the hon. Lady join me in condemning Boris Johnson for changing the mix of affordable housing in London from a 70:30 split- 70 for social-rented housing and 30 for intermediate ownership-to 60:40? If she joins me in that, will she join me also in condemning Islington Liberal Democrats, who in their planning strategy consultation favour a 50:50 split?
Emily Thornberry: .... An independent viability report says that 50% of the site could be used for affordable social housing, but what are the developers saying? They are saying that they can afford only 12%. Boris has stepped in and will presumably come down in favour of the developers. If the Secretary of State is not prepared to apologise, will he at least condemn these greedy spivs?
Emily Thornberry: .... We appeal to the Government—although the Minister is not listening to me—to listen to what we are saying: invest in real social housing, give up on the nonsense of affordable rent and tell Boris Johnson that that is no solution. We must find a real solution and we must have a plan. The Opposition have a plan: a Labour Government will build 200,000 homes every year. The question is...
Emily Thornberry: ...country’s agricultural infrastructure destroyed, millions of Yemeni children facing starvation. Let us be clear: the Foreign Secretary was absolutely right on this, and we say, “Good for you, Boris.” Yet he has still been slapped down by Downing Street and forced to go to Riyadh to “clarify his remarks”—and he has sent his junior Minister here today to support Saudi Arabia’s...
Emily Thornberry: May I start by welcoming the right hon. Member for Witham (Priti Patel) to her new position? I also welcome to his post the right hon. Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson), whom I have not seen in this place until today. I hope that they will both find their new roles fulfilling. I pay tribute to the right hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr Mitchell) for securing this...
Emily Thornberry: ...give best value to that community. Providing homes to my local community in Islington is best value as far as we are concerned, which we hope a Labour Mayor would understand. I will always give Boris Johnson the benefit of the doubt, and I will be completely converted if he comes back with this, but I want him to say, “Emily, I understand that ‘best value’ means affordable homes on...
Emily Thornberry: ...challenge of realising that goal. The motion speaks of "full consideration of alternative solutions" to Heathrow expansion in a week when the most powerful Tory in the land, the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, sailed up the Thames on a dredger to show us two islands on which he wants to build four runways for the biggest airport in Britain. That "alternative" to Heathrow is an airport four...
Emily Thornberry: ...installation of cameras. As I have pressed the Foreign Secretary repeatedly to tell us, how on earth is that possible, or is it just another addition to his ever-growing list of fantasies from ‘Boris island’ to the ‘channel bridge’? I welcome the fact that the Foreign Secretary has already promised the media today to publish his leaked memo in full, and I hope that will provide...
Emily Thornberry: ...school costs increased by 11% in 2012. Life is being made harder and harder. It is not right that the London child care strategy, which developed affordable and flexible child care, was closed when Boris Johnson was elected. It is right that we have extended schools and that we increase the number of free hours of child care for three and four-year-olds, but I agree with those who have...
Emily Thornberry: ...Relief and Works Agency has supported those refugees and their descendants. UNRWA’s budget last year was $760 million. We could fund its work for the next 220 years with the cost of just one “Boris bridge” across the channel, and it would be a far better use of the money. Thanks to UNRWA, 500,000 Palestinian children receive schooling every day and millions more receive healthcare....
Emily Thornberry: ...versus Bozza; Tarzan versus the Zip-Glider; the Dog-Killer versus the Dave-Slayer. We were denied a true fight, but we were left with these immortal words from Lord Heseltine: “When I listen to Boris…he has turned the art of political communication into a science” of using “waffle charm, delay, anything to stop actually answering questions.” In the rest of my speech, I intend to...
Emily Thornberry: ..., my hon. Friend the Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne), and I have to admit that I felt what can only be described as a pang of jealously, because I thought to myself, “When is Boris going to try and wrestle me?” But I am very glad that he is involved in the debate today. It is also good to see so many new Members present for this important debate. We have had some...
Emily Thornberry: ...same day, the council will not be asked to discuss the plans for Mount Pleasant above ground because the developers have decided to bypass local opposition and go straight to the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. They hope that they will get a better hearing from him than they would get locally, where we are all against the development. We are not against the British postal museum and...