Given previous coverage of calls for Barry Gardiner to act, this is the Hansard record of an exchange in the House of Commons yesterday;
Barry Gardiner MP
Happy new year to you, Mr Speaker. Delays in the court system mean that one of my constituents has been in prison on remand awaiting trial for over a year. She is in New Hall Prison, 200 miles away from her mother, who is disabled and cannot make that journey. She has requested a transfer to Bronzefield Prison, so her mother can visit. Today, Heba Muraisi is close to death because she has been on a hunger strike protest for 67 days. I plead with the Leader of the House to let common sense and humanity prevail, to urgently intervene to agree the transfer, and to consider allowing her release on bail to her family home in my constituency—
(Speaker intervened warning Barry Gardiner: Order: ‘We have to be very careful. You are getting into the details, and I cannot afford that. Have you finished?’. Gardiner accepted the ruling)
Sir Alan Campbell for the Government
If my hon. Friend gives me the details of the case—I am talking about where the person concerned is currently—I will raise that with the Justice Secretary. On the wider point, we continually assess prisoners’ wellbeing and will always take appropriate action, including taking prisoners to hospital if their situation requires that. If he raises the issue with me, I will not only draw it to the attention of the Justice Secretary but make sure he gets the assurances that he and the family need.
6 comments:
Going on hunger strike is a choice that Heba Muraisi made thinking it would further her cause, clearly this is not the case, and clearly asking Barry Gardiner to intervene will make no difference. Keir Starmer and the labour government listen to no one but themselves and will only do a u-turn when its too late.
Good try Barry, but we know this Labour Government is a Hydra Authoritarian Dictatorship, just swap the Armed Forces for the Police in our case.
murder by neglect?
Good for Garderner, but why isn't Dawn Butler saying anything?
Thank you Barry Gardiner for speaking up on behalf on your constituent Heba, whose life is at risk every hour. But I wish you had spoken up earlier, as time is of the essence with hunger strikes, and action was urgently needed before the stage of irreversible effects.
The Labour Party stance has of course been an utter disgrace, and they have a long history of being murderous imperialists with wreckless disregard for human rights. I'm glad you've spoken up, now you need to continue exerting pressure. The world needs these brave young people, who've sacrificed their liberty, comfort and wellbeing, to expose the shameful depths of British complicity in the genocide of Palestinians.
Very sad that these 4 on Hunger Strike are not old enough to remember Bobby Sands and 9 of his comrades who 45 years ago all died whilst protesting their treatment in Maze Prison for being members of the IRA. Whilst some will think that they were Martyrs to their cause, the Government saw them as Criminals, their death certificates read "Self imposed Starvation" some of us have not forgotten.
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