Kettering General Hospital Redevelopment

Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)
Q3.  If he will ensure that the NHS new hospital programme team (a) provide feedback to the local NHS trust on the strategic outline case for the redevelopment of Kettering General Hospital so that the subsequent outline business case can be submitted in July 2022 and (b) enable the drawdown of the £46 million of funding awarded in October 2019.

The Prime Minister
I thank my hon. Friend, who is an excellent champion for Kettering. We are fully committed to the delivery of the new hospital for Kettering. The release of funding will be subject to the usual business case assessment process.

Mr Hollobone
The redevelopment of Kettering General Hospital is the No. 1 local priority for residents in Kettering and across north Northamptonshire. Will my right hon. Friend please be kind enough to facilitate a meeting with the Health Secretary for the three local Members—myself and my hon. Friends the Members for Wellingborough (Mr Bone) and for Corby (Tom Pursglove)—together with the hospital chief executive so that we can trigger the start of the drawdown of the initial £46 million of funding?

The Prime Minister
Yes; my right hon. Friend the Health Secretary has told me that he has met those individuals before and he is happy to meet them again.

Liz Saville Roberts (Dwyfor Meirionnydd) (PC)
Plaid Cymru has been calling for 15 years for a law to ban politicians from being wilfully misleading. New polling by Compassion in Politics shows that 73% of people support such a law. Will the Prime Minister support a lying in politics Bill?

The Prime Minister
It is well known that the rules of this House demand that we tell the truth in this House, and that is what we all try to do.