Andrew Snowden MP: speeches

Speeches

• 3 Jun 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  T3. The Secretary of State recently announced that paedophiles will be castrated ahead of early release from prison, which turns out to be nothing more than taking some pills that may—I repeat “may”—reduce their libido. Will the Secretary of State confirm here and now that no paedophile prisoner will be released from prison early until it has been proven that the medication has effectively castrated them?

• 24 Apr 2025 · Emergency Preparedness · Hansard source

  More

  While I was a police and crime commissioner, I saw many of the things that have been referred to by hon. Members as critically important for emergency resilience planning across the public sector and working with the private sector. To ensure that that is all targeted in the right way, it is key to make sure that all the different agencies, public bodies and companies have a shared understanding of the risks that we face as a country, and receive the latest updates on those. Can the Minister tell the House when the Government will next update the national risk register, and explain what plans Ministers have for the frequency with which those updates will be published?

• 17 Mar 2025 · Sentencing Council Guidelines · Hansard source

  More

  On Wednesday, I challenged the Prime Minister directly on two-tier justice, and gave him the opportunity to confirm that he would back the shadow Justice Secretary’s Bill to stop this in its tracks. In his attempts to scramble out of giving that commitment, he said something which has been repeated today: that the previous Government were consulted on and welcomed the guidance. However, the Sentencing Council has already put in writing that the wording is different and so would lead to a materially different outcome. The Government failed to take the opportunity that the shadow Justice Secretary presented them with to block this change. Was the Prime Minister right in what he said, or is the Sentencing Council right? They cannot both be.

• 12 Mar 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

  More

  Q3. In just 20 days’ time, new sentencing guidance will come into effect that the Justice Secretary has already conceded will be two-tier in its nature. It will mean that the colour of a person’s skin or their religion can mean that they are viewed with leniency in the eyes of the law. It will plunge public confidence in the judiciary into crisis, but it is avoidable. We Conservatives have tabled a Bill that, if backed on Friday, can stop this guidance in its tracks. Will the Prime Minister overrule his Justice Secretary, and confirm here and now that he will back that Bill, or will he simply step aside and prove that he has been two-tier Keir all along?

• 12 Feb 2025 · Prevent: Learning Review · Hansard source

  More

  I remember the day Sir David Amess was tragically murdered very well. I was serving as Lancashire’s police and crime commissioner at the time, and I remember having initial conversations with serving Members of this House, including the former Member for Hyndburn, Sara Britcliffe, who, along with her dad, had been lifelong friends of Sir David. I learned an awful lot about the sort of man he was and how much he meant to people in Parliament from the reactions of the Members I spoke to that day. I will turn to the Minister’s statement. The reviewer identified six issues. I will not read them all out in full, obviously, but they include not tackling all the vulnerabilities identified, problematic record keeping, the rationale for certain decisions not being explicit, responsibilities between police and local authorities being blurred, the tools used for identifying the individual’s vulnerability to radicalisation being outdated, and so on. These words and phrases could have been taken from the statement about the tragic incident in Southport—something else that is incredibly important to us, as a fellow north-west MP—but they could also have been taken from many inquiries, reviews and statements over many years on similar cases. The shadow Home Secretary’s point about the differential between the number of murders that have Islamist terrorism at their heart being over 90%, while only 13% of the casework is linked to Islamist ideologies, was also quite stark. For me, the issues here are around process—the quality of following process and quality of work—and the interlinking between different public services, but also around culture and how our public services in different ways have danced around the issue of Islamist extremism, and whether Prevent has delivered in identifying the threat and effectively dealing with it. I echo the suggestion that it is time to take a step back from all the individual reviews, inquiries and statements and take a look at the bigger picture. I am not going to press the Minister for a specific answer right now; in line with the tone all Members have taken this afternoon, I do not think this is the time for point scoring or trying to secure individual commitments at the Dispatch Box. I would just like to ask the Minister, as he goes forward, looking at this issue, Southport and others, to step back and ask whether Prevent is serving its intended purpose and offering value for money, whether it is keeping the public safe from terrorism, and whether it is time to take a broader, more strategic look, rather than a case-by-case look.

• 27 Jan 2025 · Storm Éowyn · Hansard source

  More

  I echo the tributes to the emergency services and all those who have been out trying to keep people safe. It is particularly poignant for all of us on the Fylde coast who, each year, mark our police officers who have lost their lives rescuing people during stormy conditions. Two things are noticeable to those who visit Fylde: it is beautiful, and it is very flat. As it is a coastal constituency, that means that during storms, the wind reaches particularly high levels, while the water that is trying to get into the sea from the hillier parts of Lancashire slows down and does not leave the area so quickly, making it more prone to flooding. I met representatives of the Environment Agency on Friday to discuss these issues in the midst of the storm. One problem concerns the pumping station at Lytham, which, like many others, has a funding allocation to pump water out to the river system when there is an immediate threat to life or residences but not necessarily when water is already backlogging on to farm and agricultural land across the area, which will cause further risks if that then creates a breach. May I ask two very brief questions? First, will there be a review of that funding from the Environment Agency. Can the Minister confirm the timelines for that? Secondly, when will the sustainable drainage systems legislation come into force?

• 14 Jan 2025 · Coastguard Helicopter Services · Hansard source

  More

  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Furniss, particularly given that this is my first time at the Dispatch Box in Westminster Hall. I congratulate the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) on securing this debate on the future of coastguard helicopter rescue services. I thank all the Members who have contributed so far. It is clear that His Majesty’s Coastguard has strong and passionate advocates in Parliament, who care deeply about the services provided to their constituents. I am part of the shadow Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office team, so normally a search and rescue helicopter would normally have to have travelled quite a way and caused a diplomatic incident before I would respond, but I am particularly pleased to be responding on behalf of His Majesty’s loyal Opposition, as I represent a coastal community in Fylde in Lancashire. I also served as Lancashire police and crime commissioner, and have therefore seen first hand the multi-agency work that goes into preventing the loss of life on our coastlines. His Majesty’s Coastguard is an integral part of coastal communities, with over 300 coastguard rescue teams around the UK. The coastguard search and rescue helicopter services play a vital role in protecting the public, and I pay tribute to the bravery and commitment of all those involved in delivering these lifesaving services, as has been mentioned by Members. Many people are alive today because a coastguard helicopter came to their rescue. In July 2022, the previous Conservative Government announced that the contract for the UK’s second-generation search and rescue aviation programme would be awarded to Bristow Helicopters to provide both rotary and fixed-wing services for the next 10 years—representing a significant allocation of budgets and resources. As the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) said, that contract will see UK search and rescue benefit from the latest innovations and advances in technology, to save more lives. As part of the contract, Bristow Helicopters launched two new seasonal bases in Fort William and Carlisle to serve these areas, which are two of the busiest locations for summer demand on services. Under the agreement, Bristow Helicopters will operate 18 helicopters, including the introduction of Leonardo AW139 helicopters and a drone system that has the capability to transmit real-time data. I am sure the Minister has heard from Members in this debate some concerns for the operationalisation of that contract. The previous Conservative Government also recognised the importance of all coastguard centres being equipped to receive, respond, and co-ordinate all distress, urgency and alert situations. For that reason, the then Government allocated £175 million to deliver a communications network connecting 163 remote radio sites across 11,000 miles. The project, part of the radio network infrastructure replacement programme, ensures that the coastguard can maintain effective emergency response operations for thousands of distress calls. I am pleased that the network is now operational and am confident that the improved resilience provided by the new network will aid the coastguard’s helicopter service and its lifesaving search and rescue operations for years to come. As part of the contract agreed by the previous Government, Telent, His Majesty’s Coastguard’s technology partner, will continue to manage and maintain the system. An effective radio network is integral in supporting the mission of preventing the loss of life on the coast and sea. Ministers must remain vigilant to ensure that the network and the services that support it remain operational at full capacity. The Minister will know that at the end of 2023 the Maritime and Coastguard Agency launched an analysis of recent data to determine whether the demand for the search and rescue helicopter services had changed since the launch of the UK’s second-generation search and rescue aviation programme—a point made by the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland. However, the report was due out by the end of 2024 and has not yet been published. I seek assurance from the Minister that the new Government will continue the investment into His Majesty’s Coastguard and treat it with the same priority. As a demonstration of that, will they ensure that the report is published as soon as possible, so that the Government can continue the work of ensuring that the right resources are in the right place at the right time to keep the public safe?

• 9 Jan 2025 · Road Safety: Vulnerable Road Users · Hansard source

  More

  As police and crime commissioner for Lancashire, I invested significant amounts of money in increasing the resources available to target drink and drug drivers, which is a key plank in improving road safety. It has become easier for police to target drug drivers over recent years, in particular through the advancement of technology, but while arrest rates have improved, charge rates are still lagging behind; it takes months for drug drivers, compared with weeks for drink drivers. D.tec International is a Fylde company that provides all 43 police forces with DrugWipe kits. It would like to use technology that is used in other European countries to improve charge rates through the use of roadside saliva testing. Will the Minister meet me and D.tec International to look at how this technology could improve the speed with which we can get drug drivers banned and off our roads?

• 25 Nov 2024 · Antisocial Behaviour: Town Centres · Hansard source

  More

  As a former police and crime commissioner for Lancashire, I worked very closely with the last Government on Operation Centurion, which was about really focusing in on antisocial behaviour through more visible patrols and better partnership working. We know that a lot of antisocial behaviour is egged on by a very small minority, and some of the most serious crimes related to antisocial behaviour are driven by that small minority. Without restricting freedoms, banning orders do not work and engagement with youth offending teams does not work, because they are all voluntary. What measures do the Government intend to bring in as part of their new zero tolerance zones that will be different from what currently exists, to make it really zero tolerance?

• 23 Jul 2024 · Immigration and Home Affairs · Hansard source

  More

  It is truly an honour to rise as the new Member for Fylde to give my maiden speech in this historic House, the global seat of democracy for centuries before us. I have chosen to make my maiden speech today because, having served as Lancashire’s police and crime commissioner until May this year, it felt incredibly poignant to speak in the home affairs debate. It gives me the opportunity to thank the police officers and staff I worked with for their bravery, their sacrifice and their service. During my term of office, I was truly inspired by so many people at Lancashire Constabulary. I threw myself into a job I loved, spending as much time on the frontline as I could. I learned the most about policing when there were no cameras around, sat in the back of carriers on the way to drug raids, walking the beat on a cold, wet evening, or taking part in training side by side with officers. They seemed to make the most of the commissioner being there with them, not sparing me the newbie treatment just because of who I was. I have been set on fire twice, had drainpipes Stihl-sawn off my arms and, despite doing all the videos people would expect from a politician, the most-watched video from my whole term of office was the one in which I got bitten by three different police dogs. With hindsight, given that the public appeared to enjoy the video of me getting bitten by dogs more than the ones about my budget, I suppose I should have seen my election defeat coming in that particular election. In all sincerity, though, I place firmly and proudly on the record my gratitude to everyone I have worked with at Lancashire Constabulary and in the office of commissioner. As this House debates the future policy and funding of policing in the UK, we should never forget those at the heart of it, on the frontline, working and making sacrifices to keep us safe every day. I am able to give this maiden speech today only because the people of Fylde have given me the honour of serving as their Member of Parliament, and it truly is an honour. Being elected to represent an area where my family connections go back before I was even born, that we as a family love, and where my two-year-old son Walter will grow up and call home, is an incredibly special and humbling moment. Fylde is a proud and beautiful area, steeped in the history of Lancashire and our country, nestled on stunning coastline with many towns and villages across the countryside, each with their own history. Might I add that it is also an area that we intend to fight to keep green and beautiful for generations to come? Fylde is far more than coastline, countryside and being part of our county’s history. Some of the most advanced technology in the world is being developed and built here. In fact, often when out near Warton and Freckleton we can hear the jet fighters taking off from the site where they are constructed. While I was out on the election battlefield, campaigning every day, it felt strangely reassuring to hear the incredible noise as the fighter jets powered overhead—to be honest, I needed all the back-up I could get in the battle to keep Fylde blue this time. From the defence sector to farming and agriculture, tourism and hospitality, the care sector and others, there is a strong local economy. However, to build on that, to create more opportunities for young people and to better connect our businesses and those seeking opportunities across Lancashire and beyond, we need to improve infrastructure and public transport. I am grateful to the work that my predecessor as the Member for Fylde did to secure millions in extra funding. Working with the Government, local councils and other partners, he was critical in securing the £27 million that enabled the M55 to Heyhouses link road to be constructed, and it has recently been opened. A few months earlier, the £150 million Windy Harbour to Skippool bypass opened, an important link road for the people across Poulton-le-Fylde. The boundary review brought this historic market town of Poulton in Wyre to the constituency of Fylde. I therefore also place on the record my thanks to the former Member for Wyre and Preston North, and former Defence Secretary, the right hon. Ben Wallace, and not only for the role he played in securing the funding for that major project, but for his unwavering work as Secretary of State for Defence in such critical, unpredictable and dangerous times. The global leadership he demonstrated in galvanising the international response to Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine is a legacy that he should be incredibly proud of. Going back to Fylde, we need to focus on continuing to improve the existing road network, as well as expanding it. Equally as importantly, we need to secure investment for the rail network, and I will be campaigning hard for a passing loop on the south Fylde line to improve the regularity and reliability of services. I would also like to talk about an important personal area of work that I will undertake as a Member of this House. I would not be here today—I would not have survived the journey to this moment—without the support, encouragement and love of my wife, Caroline. We have been each other’s strength through good times and difficult ones, and the fact that Caroline has always had the strength to support me in such magnitude when she has had her own battles to fight is testament to the person she is. Caroline, like thousands across this country, lives with what is often known as an invisible disability. It means that she has often concealed just how sick and in pain she is. She has had to explain why she is in hospital when just weeks earlier she may have been visibly well to everyone, and therefore suffering in silence. I want to champion the work of Crohn’s & Colitis UK, and other charities and organisations that support and advocate for those with disabilities that are not visible, and to help remove the stigma, indifference and even hostility that they receive, for example when needing to use facilities marked as for disabled people. The hurt and humiliation that can cause only adds to the incredible difficulty of living with these conditions, and we must do much more to raise awareness. To conclude, Fylde is a place where some of the most advanced fighter jets in the world are built, and it is at the cutting edge of artificial intelligence and other technology, but it is also a place where towns from Lytham to Kirkham, and villages from Staining to Singleton, still crown the young rose queens each year and hold galas and parades, and a place where people take pride in looking after the countryside and preserving our heritage. I intend to spend my time in this House fighting for Fylde—yes, for the investment in our future, but also the preservation of our history, our coastline and our countryside.