Andrew Snowden MP: speeches 2026

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Speeches

20 Apr 2026 · Antisemitic Attacks · Hansard source
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I am proud to represent Lancashire’s only synagogue, St Annes in my constituency. Many of the members of the congregation tell me about the difficulties faced, and the fear and intimidation felt, by their friends and family around the country, as UK Jews. They are not interested in new strategies and plans and initiatives; they are interested in seeing handcuffs slapped on those who preach antisemitic hatred on our streets—not after the attacks have taken place, but pre-emptively—and who spill that bile on hate marches and in mosques across the country, and in extremist content. What action will the Government take to increase the number of arrests of those preaching hate, before it is too late?
16 Apr 2026 · Women’s Health Strategy · Hansard source
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I want to ask the Minister about a particular area of women’s health and how this strategy might impact on it. This is a very personal issue for me and my wife, regarding the pathways and support for women who have colostomies or ileostomies and have lifelong stoma care. I place on record my thanks to Mr Arnab Bhowmick, who is my wife’s very long-term consultant and has performed two major surgeries on Caroline—he is known as “the fantastic Mr B” in our house and to many of his patients. We know that on those pathways and in the decisions leading up to making the decision to have a stoma, putting it off can put people’s lives at risk. How people cope with a stoma afterwards has very unique elements for women—that can be around periods, fertility and pregnancy, or around the menopause later in life. How does the Minister think the strategy will help women like my wife, the friends she has met in hospital and others on those pathways?
16 Apr 2026 · Business of the House · Hansard source
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Over the past 12 months or so, a lot of residents and businesses across Fylde and Wyre have reported significant delays to, and times of entire absence of, Royal Mail deliveries to their properties and businesses, with some lucky to get post once a week, or twice a week at best. I have experienced that myself. With local government elections on the horizon, will the Leader of the House provide a statement or some reassurance on the work being done among the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Royal Mail and local councils to ensure that people’s access to democracy through their postal votes is not diminished?
14 Apr 2026 · Crime and Policing Bill · Hansard source
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In rural areas, farmers are often blighted, and end up landed with the costs of significant, often industrial and criminal fly-tipping. Does my right hon. Friend agree that that is deeply unfair, and that the Government should accept the amendments, which would help take the burden away from the victims of these crimes?
26 Mar 2026 · Business of the House · Hansard source
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Morgan McSweeney resigned from the Government in disgrace over his role in the Mandelson scandal. The key word is “resigned”—he was not made redundant. I have been asking the Cabinet Office whether he has received a taxpayer-funded cash payout from the Government as part of his deal for exiting No. 10. I asked a named day written parliamentary question the day after he resigned, and the question was ignored. I asked another named day written parliamentary question that was due an answer on Monday, and it was ignored. I raised a point of order on the Floor of the House yesterday, and I have still heard nothing. It is a straightforward question: either he did receive a cash payout for leaving No. 10, or he did not. If he did, how much was it? The Government have had six weeks to provide this information, and I have made three formal attempts to get them to do so. Does the Leader of the House think that is acceptable?
26 Mar 2026 · Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Craniocervical Instability · Hansard source
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It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Furniss. Given that this is a debate about a health condition that has a crippling impact on people’s lives, I beg the indulgence of the House to be allowed a moment for a personal diversion. Today is also International Epilepsy Day, and epilepsy is a condition that also impacts many of our constituents. My sister, Kimberley, grew up coping with it as a young girl in primary and then secondary school. The condition causes uncontrolled fits and seizures. Sufferers cannot go about their daily life the same way, and there are many other unpleasant and personal side effects that I will not disclose because I do not want to embarrass Kimberley. I saw at first hand the impact of living with that condition on my sister and the family. I distinctly remember the day that I was stood outside as she was effectively having her skull removed to have the cavernous angiomas that caused the epilepsy removed from her brain. The family went on a difficult enough journey with a well-known and well-established condition with pathways in place, so I can only imagine what it is like to go through something equally painful and life changing without clear pathways, a clear understanding and a clear recognition of what the condition is when talking to other people. My wife suffers with Crohn’s and colitis, which is an often misunderstood condition. People do not understand the daily pain and suffering. I am grateful to the hon. Member for Cannock Chase (Josh Newbury) for securing this important debate and for the way he has brought the experiences of people living with EDS and CCI to Westminster Hall. We have heard the personal stories of Connor, of Hannah from Ashfield, and of other constituents who have contacted their Members. We also had an excellent explanation of the condition from the hon. Member for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket (Peter Prinsley). It felt like listening to a mini-podcast. In politics, we go to many events and debates without learning anything, but everyone in the Chamber can say that we learned something today. This debate matters, because it speaks to the experience of people who too often feel unseen by the system. For too many people living with EDS, the challenge is not only the condition itself but the exhausting struggle to be recognised, to be diagnosed and to get the care and support that they need. Too many patients face long delays before diagnosis, too many encounter limited clinical awareness, and too many are left navigating fragmented care across multiple services. They are passed from one part of the system to another without anyone taking real ownership of their care. Complexity in a patient should not mean confusion in the system, yet for many people with EDS, that is still the reality. For those living with CCI, the picture can be even more difficult. Patients and families describe serious problems not only in getting the condition recognised but in accessing the specialist assessments, imaging and care needed to understand what is happening to them. That can leave people facing delay, uncertainty and, in some cases, the sense that there is simply no clear pathway available to them in the NHS. The consequences are serious. Delays in diagnosis can mean worsening symptoms, loss of mobility, deteriorating mental health and patients being left to navigate a system that is not designed with them in mind. The previous Conservative Government recognised the wider challenge facing people with rare diseases through the rare diseases framework and subsequent action plans. Those rightly focused on earlier diagnosis, improving awareness among clinicians and delivering more co-ordinated care. That was the right direction of travel, but it is clear from what we know, from what we have heard today, and from experiences raised repeatedly by patients and campaigners, that too many people still do not feel that the system is working for them. The Government will point to neighbourhood health centres, multidisciplinary teams and personalised care plans. Those ambitions may sound encouraging, but for people with EDS and CCI, the key question is whether those commitments will translate into practical change: earlier diagnosis, clearer pathways and access to co-ordinated specialist care, including for those with the most complex presentations. I hope that the Minister can address a number of important points. First, what steps are being taken to improve awareness and understanding of EDS among frontline clinicians, particularly in primary care? Secondly, if integrated care boards remain responsible for commissioning services, how will the Government ensure that patients do not face a postcode lottery in access to diagnosis, specialist input and ongoing care? Thirdly, on CCI, can the Minister set out what work is being done to improve clinical understanding, diagnostic pathways and access to appropriate imaging for those with more complex presentations? Finally, given that the Department has acknowledged significant delays to diagnosis, what assessment has been made of the gap between the Government’s ambitions and the lived reality of patients today? People with rare and complex conditions should not have to become their own care co-ordinators just to be heard. People living with EDS and CCI deserve earlier recognition, better co-ordinated care and the confidence that the NHS will respond to complexity with competence and compassion.
26 Mar 2026 · Passenger Rail Services · Hansard source
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In Fylde, we are blessed to have nationally and internationally significant events. The women’s open returns to Royal Lytham and St Annes this year, and the Lytham festival is going from strength to strength. Our Sunday rail services are important for these events, but they are often cancelled because of a lack of conductors at Northern Rail, which was nationalised back in 2020, as well as the inability to get staff to do overtime. Would the Minister be willing to meet me and representatives from Fylde to discuss how we can get extra and more reliable Sunday services to support our important tourism industry?
25 Mar 2026 · Points of Order · Hansard source
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On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. On 9 February, I submitted a named day written question to the Cabinet Office asking if any taxpayer-funded Government payment would be made to Morgan McSweeney or Tim Allan, both of whom had just resigned in the wake of the Mandelson scandal. It was due for answer on 12 February, but the question was ignored. I tried again to solicit an answer as to whether Morgan McSweeney or Tim Allan would, or will, receive a payout by asking a further written parliamentary question on 17 March, asking specifically when an answer to the original question would be provided. This written parliamentary question was due for answer on Monday. Again, the deadline came and went, and that question was ignored. Ignoring scrutiny at Prime Minister’s questions is routine for this Prime Minister, but it appears that the broader Government are also showing total contempt for their responsibilities to be open and transparent with Members of this House. Can I please seek your advice, Madam Deputy Speaker, on what recourse is available to Members whose written parliamentary questions are stonewalled by the Government?
24 Mar 2026 · Oil and Gas · Hansard source
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rose —
24 Mar 2026 · Oil and Gas · Hansard source
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Does the hon. Member think that this is a minuscule, distracting issue for the tens of thousands of workers who have lost their jobs because of the policies of this Government on this very subject?
24 Mar 2026 · Oil and Gas · Hansard source
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On Sunday, my son and I watched as the first fertiliser of the season started to be spread on the fields. It reminded me of the importance of the orders that are being placed now in the farming industry, the uncertainty that is being created—from fertiliser to diesel and so on—and the impact that it could have on the profitability of such businesses going forward.
18 Mar 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source
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Q12. Every week, the Prime Minister comes to the Chamber and reads out this pre-scripted nonsense that bears no resemblance to the questions that he is actually asked. The Leader of the Opposition asked him about Peter Mandelson, and he answered about the war in Iran; the Leader of the Opposition asked him about Mandelson again, and he answered with an attack on the shadow Justice Secretary; he was asked about Mandelson again, and he talked about protests in London. What is he scared of? What is he hiding? For a man who has spent years presenting himself as a forensic investigator, he has certainly had a blind spot to the details for this convicted paedophile with a friend in high Labour places. So I ask him again: when he found out that Lord Mandelson had an ongoing relationship with the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, did he speak to Lord Mandelson personally before appointing him as ambassador to the United States?
18 Mar 2026 · Fuel Duty · Hansard source
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Like the hon. Gentleman, I am a north-west MP representing a rural constituency. Even those of our constituents who work in big suburban areas like Manchester and elsewhere still need to get to a train station, so even those who spend significant time in larger urban areas still rely on their car to be able to get to what resembles public transport to commute to and from work.
16 Mar 2026 · Defence Skills · Hansard source
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On that Chorley and Lancashire theme, it will not be possible to increase the defence skills in this country if the defence jobs of the future are not secure in that pipeline. I was delighted to hear the Secretary of State talk earlier about British jobs, British industry and British innovation—he can probably gather where this is going, judging from the whispering on the Government Front Bench—so I was confused when there was bragging about ordering from British companies for defence as to why American F-35s were ordered, not British Typhoons. Given that we will need around 100 aircraft to maintain the workforce at Warton for Tempest in the future, I assume, whenever the defence investment plan is finally published, we will see an order of 25 Typhoons for the RAF within it.
16 Mar 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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T9. Earlier I asked the Secretary of State if he would confirm an order of 25 Typhoons for the RAF after claiming the Government were backing British jobs, but the Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry deployed the power of waffle to avoid answering the question. Just to be absolutely clear, I did welcome Turkey’s order of Typhoons, but, as I know and as he knows, it will not come anywhere near close to closing the skills gap between now and Tempest. Would the Secretary of State like to clarify this: will there be an order of 25 Typhoons for the RAF in the defence investment plan?
26 Feb 2026 · Traditions · Hansard source
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There is no finer UK tradition still lived out than drinking a cold beer and watching the local cricket team that has been there for decades. I recently visited St Annes cricket club. I should declare an interest as my dad was the professional there in 1973—he will probably not thank me for saying that, as that declaration is probably time-expired. Those clubs have relied on the revenue from their bars to support that wonderful tradition for many years, but the changes in national insurance costs and other cost pressures have completely eliminated the profits that many make and they are struggling to reinvest in facilities. What more support will the Government announce for our traditional British cricket clubs?
26 Feb 2026 · Business of the House · Hansard source
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As winter takes its toll, many Members of this House will, like me, be finding their best angry faces and awkwardly pointing at potholes in their constituencies, but this year many residents are getting in touch with me to say that this is the worst they can ever remember them being. In fact, one of the potholes that is sparking quite a few emails to me is a giant one right outside Reform UK’s office in the Fylde constituency, which is becoming a little metaphor for the rocky road that Reform has had since winning control of Lancashire county council. Reform promised to magically save hundreds of millions of pounds, to improve services and to cut council tax, but what have we seen so far? Council tax has gone up, and Reform went millions of pounds over budget within months of taking office and then it tried to settle some of that overspend by consulting on closing care homes, such as Milbanke in Fylde and Grove House in the Chorley constituency. Will the Leader of the House agree to have a Government statement on what support they will provide to these Reform-controlled councils, given that it clearly won control of them with no idea of what it was getting into or a plan of what to do once it did?
25 Feb 2026 · Draft Surrey (Structural Changes) Order 2026 · Hansard source
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The Minister referenced £500 million of debt repayment support off the back of Woking’s unsupported debt. That rings a bell with me; my neighbouring authority in Blackpool has £500 million of debt, while my Fylde borough council carries no debt. How much do the Government think they will pay in debt support as they look at the other councils going through this process, and have they budgeted an amount for that? Will the debt be paid off before the new authority is created, or will it be transferred to it?
25 Feb 2026 · UK-German Relations · Hansard source
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It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Twigg. I congratulate my constituency neighbour, the hon. Member for Preston (Sir Mark Hendrick), on securing this important debate. As we are going down the line of declaring interests or key products that we own, I too am a loyal customer of BMW and own one now. I realise that we will probably get some nasty emails from all the “buy British” campaigners, since we have declared our love for German cars. To pick up on the contribution of the right hon. Member for Oxford East (Anneliese Dodds) on town twinning, I reassure her that it is okay to have Tory friends occasionally; if Labour party T-shirts are to be believed, you are just not allowed to kiss us. In the debate generally, that clear love for Germany, the relationships that people built up and the places that they enjoyed visiting really came across. I note that, as a proud Brexiteer, I am heavily outnumbered in this Chamber, although I was grateful to the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon)—he has now legged it—who is usually my Brexiteer bodyguard in Westminster Hall debates. Perhaps we will save that one for discussion over a litre or two of Weissbier. Few bilateral relationships matter more to Britain’s security, prosperity and global standing than our partnership with Germany. This is a year of particular significance, as has been noted, but also marks 80 years since Britain founded North Rhine-Westphalia after the second world war, today Germany’s most populous state. My right hon. Friend the Member for Witham (Priti Patel), the shadow Foreign Secretary, was pleased to meet the North Rhine-Westphalia International Affairs Minister in Munich earlier this month, along with the German Foreign Minister. We Conservatives recognise that a confident Britain needs a confident, outward-looking Germany as a partner, and that a strong Germany and a strong Britain can be an anchor of stability at a time of global volatility. From a party political perspective, we are naturally pleased to see our sister party, the CDU/CSU, return to Government. Only last week, my right hon. Friend the shadow Foreign Secretary attended the Munich security conference, where she met German counterparts from our sister party to reaffirm the depth of the UK-German relationship and our shared determination to strengthen European and transatlantic security. Germany is now markedly stepping up its role in European and global security. The new federal Government have put significant resource behind defence and support for Ukraine. Germany’s 2026 budget includes a commitment to provide in excess of €11 billion in support to Ukraine, which is extremely welcome and will make a material difference on the ground. Politically, Berlin has taken steps to alter long-standing fiscal constraints so that it can fund the rearmament. The medium-term fiscal plan and recent constitutional adjustments reflect a willingness to unlock resources for defence in a way not seen for decades. The way in which Germany is funding its defence rise is, of course, specific to its fiscal situation and the way it manages its economy and spending, which is different from the UK. That, however, raises some simple but urgent questions for our own Government as part of that relationship. If one of our closest allies can set a date and a credible trajectory for higher defence spending, why has the UK not done the same? Germany has been explicit about its political timetable for increasing defence spending. By contrast, here at home we are still waiting for the defence investment plan, which the Government told us was due last autumn and has now been repeatedly delayed. In my constituency, I have a great defence manufacturing capability in BAE Systems, and I would like to see much more defence industrial collaboration across the board with Germany, made possible by the defence investment plan. With NATO allies, industry leaders and even senior military figures noting the strategic importance of clear spending pathways, can the Minister finally say when the defence investment plan will be published, and how it will ensure we meet our NATO ambitions? The Conservatives in Government laid the foundations for the deepening of UK-German co-operation, in particular on defence: the 2024 defence declaration, the Trinity House arrangements on defence and industrial co-operation, and the long-range precision missiles are of significance. Will the Government publish a clear timetable for delivering against those commitments and the commitments set out in the 2025 Kensington treaty? What progress has been made to date, and what should we expect to see in the coming weeks and months? Britain and Germany can together anchor European security in an unpredictable world. The Opposition want that partnership to flourish and will support steps that deepen it, but we will also insist that the British Government match their own rhetoric with credible resource plans. Only then will a strong Germany and a strong UK translate ambition into the hard capabilities required.
24 Feb 2026 · Gaza Healthcare System · Hansard source
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I will come on to the UN’s stats on the amount of aid that has been misappropriated shortly. I thank the hon. Member for her intervention, but I think it is a tad rich to talk about one-sidedness when the word “Hamas” was hardly mentioned in many of the contributions that we heard earlier. The Government say that they have been calling for broader aid access, but calling for something is not the same as achieving it. We need to know whether Ministers have put forward specific, concrete proposals for the opening of individual crossings and entry points into Gaza, whether those proposals have been presented directly to the Government of Israel, and their response. Will the Minister tell us what quantity and type of medical aid has been funded and prepared for this moment? Where is it currently stationed? How much of it has entered Gaza? Which organisations are distributing it? Critically, what new safeguards are in place to ensure that UK aid reaches innocent civilians, not terrorist groups? Aid diversion is not a peripheral concern; it is central. Since the ceasefire announcement on 10 October 2025 and 11 February 2026, the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs notes that 1,532 aid pallets have been verified as being intercepted during transit within Gaza. Although the destination of the pallets cannot be confirmed, it does not require too much imagination to work out where they have ended up. That is why we cannot discuss Gaza’s healthcare collapse in isolation from the wider political and security situation—the two are inseparable. The ceasefire provides an opening, but a ceasefire is not peace, and the Government seem curiously reluctant to acknowledge what is needed to convert one into the other. If the ceasefire is to translate into something sustainable, Hamas must be removed from power once and for all, and their terrorist infrastructure must be dismantled. Events of recent days—the violence between Hamas and armed groups and clans within Gaza—underline precisely why Hamas cannot be permitted any future role in the governance of the territory. Hamas have no regard for human life or human dignity; they never have. That brings me to governance. Rebuilding Gaza’s health system without addressing who actually governs Gaza is an exercise in futility. Have the Government had any meaningful say in the composition of the transitional Administration? Has anything of substance on governance reform emerged from the so-called memorandum of understanding with the Palestinian Authority—a document that did not even address corruption or antisemitism in school curricula? If the Palestinian Authority is to play an extended role, it must implement the most significant reforms in its history. That includes on healthcare, welfare, education, and frankly, basic democratic accountability.
24 Feb 2026 · Gaza Healthcare System · Hansard source
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It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Jeremy. I thank the hon. Member for Stroud (Dr Opher) for securing the debate to allow us to consider this important matter, and Members who have contributed to it. To pick up on some of the things that have been said so far, it is pretty obvious that everybody in this Chamber who has taken part in the debate and in other debates, whether here or in the main Chamber, wants peace for Gaza and for Israel. As always, there will be differences about the route to that peace, what people feel is getting in the way, and what more needs to be done. On some of the things that were said about the volume of aid, I note that since the conflict began, about 2 million tonnes of aid have entered Gaza. As for the management of that aid, given the industrial scale of the misappropriation of aid and the dual-use items that have enabled Hamas, over two decades, to build their terror network and to sustain their war effort, something is required to ensure that security concerns are addressed.
24 Feb 2026 · Gaza Healthcare System · Hansard source
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I thank you, Sir Jeremy, and I thank the hon. Lady for the point of order and continued interventions. Have the Government had any discussions with the United States about the consequences for Hamas if they do not engage constructively with phase 2 of the ceasefire process? We also want the UK to be engaged in expanding the Abraham accords. Saudi normalisation with Israel remains, in our view, the single most consequential diplomatic prize in the region, and potentially the most realistic path to a durable peace. We are enthusiastic supporters of that route, but we are considerably less convinced that the Labour Government share that enthusiasm or are working with the urgency the moment demands. The people of Gaza are suffering. That suffering is real and severe, and demands a response commensurate with its scale. The fighting war may have ceased temporarily, but the people of Gaza are still living with the jackboot of Hamas holding back any hope of prosperity or rebuilding the healthcare system. The Opposition have consistently called for more aid, including healthcare aid, to flow into Gaza, for it to be delivered safely and exclusively to innocent civilians, and for a sustainable end to the terrible conflict that guarantees security for both Israel and the Palestinian people.
24 Feb 2026 · Gaza Healthcare System · Hansard source
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I thank the hon. Lady for my temporary elevation; I enjoyed my 30 seconds as a Minister, but that is all I will get for now. I will come on to future aid, the volume of aid that needs to get in, dual-use items, to which I have referred, and other issues. I just wanted to pick up on and address some of the alternative facts. The situation in Gaza is serious and severe. Hamas and their Iranian sponsors bear responsibility for the continued suffering. Hamas launched their attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. They have refused to disarm and have infiltrated and used civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, as shields and military defensive positions. The whole House should be united in calling Hamas out, and it is important that the Minister gives us an update on the steps that the Government are taking to support the implementation of the 20-point peace plan for Gaza, including the removal of Hamas.
24 Feb 2026 · Gaza Healthcare System · Hansard source
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I will make a little progress first, given the time, but I will take interventions. The new NGO restrictions that are about to come into place affect some 15% of the aid agencies operating within Gaza, and those agencies have contributed about 1% of the aid delivery throughout the conflict. Some of those that have been notified of the new restrictions have applied and been approved to operate again in the area.
24 Feb 2026 · Gaza Healthcare System · Hansard source
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I am running out of time, and I have taken several interventions. Our support should be conditional on those reforms being delivered. Have the Government made that case clearly to the Palestinian Authority? I also ask the Minister whether the UK will be scaling up its involvement in the Civil-Military Co-ordination Centre. Is Britain contributing to the demilitarisation of Gaza and the disarming of Hamas? Have the Government had any discussions with the United States about the consequences for Hamas if they do not engage constructively with phase 2—

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