Andy MacNae MP: speeches

Speeches

• 7 Sept 2026 · Local Government Reorganisation · Hansard source

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  I echo the comments of Lancashire colleagues, particularly on the opportunity to review the boundary decisions, but I also think that all those councillors and officers in Lancashire who worked so hard on reorganisation and made so much progress deserve an apology. More fundamentally, every day and every week that goes past, Lancashire falls further behind our neighbours in Manchester and Liverpool, simply through lack of an effective structure and the capacity and capability to deliver our growth potential. I was pleased to hear the Secretary of State’s recommitment to growth in every postcode. Will she meet me, along with Lancashire colleagues, to agree how we can properly resource Lancashire’s growth potential? We cannot wait; we need to do it now. We need to properly resource it, and we need to deliver on our potential through this period of uncertainty.

• 16 Jul 2026 · Local Government Reorganisation · Hansard source

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  I have long been a proponent of the principles of LGR, which Lancashire and my constituents have desperately needed for a long time. It is a chance to reinvent local government. However, today, in respect of a decision made by the Secretary of State, I have to associate myself with the comments made by my parliamentary neighbours, my hon. Friends the Members for Burnley (Oliver Ryan) and for Hyndburn (Sarah Smith). I cannot accept the suggestion—the claim—that these boundaries match the natural economics of Lancashire. It will leave us with the most deprived local authority area in the country. We are good at making the best of things, so I ask the Secretary of State to work with me and us to bring in the much more significant capacity and capability funding that we need to reverse that deprivation and catch up with neighbouring places, such as Manchester. Will he meet me and east Lancashire colleagues to drive this forward with urgency?

• 16 Jul 2026 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  My right hon. Friend the Member for Makerfield (Andy Burnham) has made it clear that reindustrialisation will be a key priority for this Government, but in order to be meaningful this must be done with true ambition, delivering good jobs, hope and opportunity in every part of the country, including the small towns of Rossendale and Darwen. To achieve that, we need to move beyond city-centric economics and the outdated assumption that our future is simply as a service economy. We must recognise that national renewal and resilience come from making more things in more places. Will the Leader of the House agree to a debate in Government time on how we can achieve that?

• 8 Jul 2026 · NHS Corridor Care · Hansard source

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  The crucial thing is that we recognise the scale of the challenge and work together to solve it. This needs to be a shared mission on behalf of our residents, our friends and our families. In a year’s time, I intend to be standing here after we have together ended corridor care in Blackburn A&E for good, and I hope the Minister and the Department of Health continue to share this commitment. This is a moral imperative, and together we must deliver the care and dignity that our residents deserve.

• 8 Jul 2026 · NHS Corridor Care · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Tooting (Dr Allin-Khan) for securing this debate and all my esteemed colleagues for covering the issue so brilliantly and with such expertise. You will be glad to hear, Madam Deputy Speaker, that that allows me to be brief and to focus on Blackburn A&E. Blackburn A&E is one of the busiest in the country, serving east Lancashire. It has been one of the starkest examples of corridor care, and I could tell so many stories of constituents suffering the indignities and poor care that are the inevitable consequence of that. There is the 70-year-old lady with spinal cancer who was stuck there for 72 hours; the young woman who was a historical sexual assault victim, physically shaking with fear at being left in a corridor surrounded by men; or the 90-year-old with dementia and double incontinence, reliant on her daughter to change and clean her, and desperate for privacy, comfort and reassurance. I too have been there, unable to walk after a fall, for 13 hours overnight in a corridor that felt like a war zone, next to an old lady who was in constant pain, fearful and alone, crying out for her family—just one voice among many. Corridor care is at best undignified and at worst heartless, heartbreaking and cruel. Its normalisation is a scandal and is one of the starkest examples of a health system failed and broken by Tory austerity. We must end it, and I am pleased to say that in Blackburn we are finally seeing progress.

• 8 Jul 2026 · NHS Corridor Care · Hansard source

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  The investment in prevention and in repairing the massive damage done by the previous Government to our valued health system is crucial and fundamental. We are finally seeing progress in Blackburn, and that is because of additional resources and support from NHS England and the Government’s getting it right first time initiative. East Lancashire Hospitals NHS trust and the leadership must be praised for that. They have been working hard and with real focus to address the underlying drivers of corridor care, such as safe and timely discharge, and the presence of senior clinicians. This is not about quick fixes but about looking to end the practice for good. So far, waits of 12 hours-plus have reduced by 18%. That means there is a long way to go, and myself and fellow east Lancashire MPs are working with the trust both to challenge progress and to argue for the resources needed to do the job.