Andy McDonald MP: speeches 2025

129 published records · newest first.

Speeches

11 Sept 2025 · UK Ambassador to the US: Appointment Process · Hansard source
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I am sure I speak for the whole House in sending our best wishes to my hon. Friend the Member for Washington and Gateshead South (Mrs Hodgson) on the appalling fire at her office overnight. We send our very best wishes to her and her staff. May I thank the Minister for his statement? The Prime Minister has made exactly the right decision, and I think that has to be acknowledged. He has moved at pace to put it right— [ Interruption. ] Don’t be ridiculous. Treat this seriously.
11 Sept 2025 · UK Ambassador to the US: Appointment Process · Hansard source
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Clearly the appointment process did not pick up these issues; that is self-evident. Can we have an assurance that there will be an inquiry into why that was not the case and that this House will be kept informed?
10 Sept 2025 · Stockton and Darlington Railway: 200th Anniversary Festival · Hansard source
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It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stringer. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor (Alan Strickland) on securing this wonderful debate. I hope, Mr Stringer, that you will indulge a speech that not only celebrates our transport heritage but takes a look at our transport future. Some 200 years ago, on 27 September 1825, a small steam locomotive named Locomotion No.1 set off from Shildon, went through Darlington and reached Stockton-on-Tees. What seemed an eccentric experiment at first became the spark that ignited the modern world. That line—the Stockton and Darlington railway—was the first public railway to carry passengers and freight by steam. That journey began on the banks of the Tees; it transformed not only Britain, but every corner of the globe. In a few years the line reached the mouth of the Tees, and within a generation a small farmstead called Middlesbrough, with a population of 25 people, became an industrial giant—“the infant Hercules”, as Gladstone called it. The town’s first passenger station opened in 1846 and the present station, dating from 1877, has now been restored, its undercroft part of a new heritage quarter. From the 1880s came the great goods yards and sidings: Middlesbrough goods yard, the dockside yards, the Eston and South Bank sidings feeding the furnaces; then South Bank yard, Cargo Fleet sidings and finally Tees yard in Thornaby—the great marshalling hub for Teesside freight. Here, rail was never just about moving people; it fuelled an industrial revolution. Durham coal fed the network—carried to Stockton and Middlesbrough to power London’s homes, factories and ships. As iron and steelworks rose at South Tees, Middlesbrough and Redcar, the railway was their lifeblood. Rails, bridges, engines, ships—the very fabric of the modern world—were forged there and carried by train from that spot. The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), who is no longer in his place, having woven Northern Ireland into the debate, was absolutely right: people have to know their own heritage. What I have described brought about the immigration of thousands and thousands of people from Ireland, who came to work in those industries. The Stockton and Darlington railway was not just a local line, but the first step in a global transformation—the marriage of steam, steel and energy that built the modern age. We on Teesside can say, with great pride, that it all began with us. In celebrating our heritage, I hope that at the end of this month I will be able join the Boulby Flyer, in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland (Luke Myer), as it runs from Middlesbrough to Saltburn—I will give notice of my visit. I may also visit one of the exhibitions planned at Eaglescliffe station, the one I use so regularly, on the original railway’s route. If the first half of our story is pride, the second half must be honesty. Although our ancestors led the world, our region is today in some respects being left behind. Look at the line that still runs from Darlington, through Middlesbrough, to Saltburn. Nearly two centuries on, it still has not been electrified. Passengers and freight alike rely on ageing diesel trains. While other regions benefit from faster, cleaner and more reliable services, Teesside is stuck with the infrastructure of yesterday, not tomorrow. It is a bitter irony that the birthplace of the railway revolution now finds itself waiting on the platform while others speed ahead. Electrification is not just about convenience. It means efficiency; cutting emissions; freight trains hauling more without choking our air; faster, quieter and more reliable passenger services; and connecting Teesside businesses and communities to a modern rail network worthy of the 21st century. In 2024, the Tees Valley combined authority announced that it would use part of the £1 billion of funding devolved to it to develop a business case for electrification from Northallerton to Saltburn, but the Conservatives’ record is clear. In 2017, when I was shadow Transport Secretary, they scrapped electrification in Wales, the east midlands and the north-west. Again and again promises are made and then abandoned. That is why, whether it is urged by this House’s Transport Committee, the RMT, the Railway Industry Association or the Campaign for Better Transport, I believe that a Labour Government must deliver a long-term, rolling programme of rail electrification—not piecemeal promises or short-term fixes, but a serious national commitment. At home on Teesside, that must mean electrifying the line from Northallerton and Darlington through to Saltburn. Two hundred years ago, George Stephenson and Edward Pease had the vision to imagine a future that others thought impossible. They did not wait: they built, they acted, and they changed the world. We owe it to their memory, and to the generations to come, to show the same ambition today, so let us celebrate the courage of 1825 not with nostalgia alone, but with action. Let us put Teesside once again at the forefront of Britain’s future as it was at the forefront of Britain’s past. From Stockton to Darlington and from Middlesbrough to Saltburn, the railway that carried coal and steel now carries our pride, our history and our hope. Let us make sure that it carries our future as well.
10 Sept 2025 · Stockton and Darlington Railway: 200th Anniversary Festival · Hansard source
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This has been a really interesting exploration of our fantastic rail heritage, and we have celebrated many elements of it. Since his and my part of the world was the birthplace of the railway and we see the advances that have been made over 200 years—that fantastic progress showcased at the National Railway Museum in York—does my hon. Friend share with me an ambition for our part of the world, and the entire country, to make another seismic shift in the advancement of our transport, to be inspired by that heritage experience and to take it forward for the next 100 or 200 years, for the benefit of our people and economy?
10 Sept 2025 · Occupied Palestinian Territories: Humanitarian Access · Hansard source
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I am very grateful to the Minister for giving way. He is a good man who pays an awful lot of attention to these issues. He is telling us about the difficulties regarding aid and he is applying his mind to them. However, as we speak, we have President Herzog in the country. So I ask the Minister: is that opportunity being used to discuss the root cause of this situation? The failure to transmit humanitarian aid is because of the genocide and war crimes being committed by Israel. Is President Herzog being challenged on his open statements about collective responsibility and saying that there is no such thing as an innocent Gazan? And will he be upbraided for blithely signing his name on bombs that come raining down on Palestinian children? If so, will the Minister make those comments known to the public? We must know how this President is being received.
10 Sept 2025 · Occupied Palestinian Territories: Humanitarian Access · Hansard source
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UNRWA has been crippled, staff killed, warehouses targeted and its mandate undermined. Since last July, less than 40% of required food supplies have entered Gaza. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, anti-Islamic US biker gang included, operates only a handful of distribution points where UNRWA once ran 800. Its centres are largely in the south, forcing desperate civilians towards the Egyptian border, in line with Israeli military objectives. There have been repeated shootings at those sites. This is not humanitarian work; this is exploitation of suffering. The assault on Gaza City is escalating, 1 million residents have been told to evacuate, and we risk a further escalation of civilian death—a new phase in the genocide, so I ask the Government: what action is being taken to enforce an immediate ceasefire? Will the UK match the EU’s move to suspend bilateral support to Israel? And will we ask our F-35 partner nations to consider suspending supplies?
10 Sept 2025 · Occupied Palestinian Territories: Humanitarian Access · Hansard source
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I wholeheartedly agree with my hon. Friend’s comment. Much more needs to be done. I also support the call for UN peacekeepers. I ask the Government directly: has there been any discussion with the UN Secretary-General on the use of peacekeepers to secure operations? And will demands be made of President Herzog, as he is here today—the man who signed the bombs that would rain on Gazan children and who made it abundantly clear that he was totally aligned with the principles of collective punishment? We have to shake our heads that such a man should be invited into our country. Civilians in Gaza cannot wait. Starvation is advancing. International law is being shredded. Britain must act decisively, urgently and on the side of humanity.
8 Sept 2025 · Palestine Action: Proscription and Protests · Hansard source
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Nobody is above the law, yet the Metropolitan police report that a total of 857 people were arrested under section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000 at the weekend, the vast majority for simply holding placards stating, “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.” Can the Minister confirm whether the Government have received any legal advice concerning the implications of hosting a visit by Israeli President Herzog in relation to the UK’s genocide convention responsibilities, particularly given his recent record of stating that there are “no innocent civilians” in Gaza and personally signing artillery shells destined for use in Gaza? Will any visa application made by the Israeli President to visit the UK this week be rejected, or will he be subject to police investigation if he does arrive?
8 Sept 2025 · Indefinite Leave to Remain · Hansard source
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It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Pritchard, and I welcome the Minister to his place. I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests relating to support from trade unions. I welcome the expression of concerns by the Trades Union Congress this week, as well as migrant rights campaigners. I add my support to what they have said about the Government’s plan to double the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain for work visas, as well as to end to overseas recruitment in the NHS and social care for any role below degree level. I raise that matter because I have been made aware that health staff in my constituency at the James Cook University hospital have faced acts of racist abuse in recent weeks. I offer them my support, and I am reaching out to the hospital CEO, Stacey Hunter, and staff unions. Unison has documented case after case of exploitation of migrant workers. Over 320,000 NHS staff are overseas workers—20% of the workforce. In adult social care, around 20% of workers nationwide, and up to 50% in London, are migrants. There are care workers, tied to exploitative contracts, trapped in overcrowded housing and threatened with deportation if they dare to speak out. Some have even been forced to pay huge sums to take up jobs in this country, only to be told that they must repay those fees if they challenge poor conditions. By binding visas to a single employer, the system hands unscrupulous bosses extraordinary power. Doubling the settlement period will only extend that power. On migration we have been following a dangerous script, rather than setting out our own agenda. That is a mistake. It concedes the terrain of debate to malign political actors and their ilk, and distracts from the real crises shaping people’s lives.
8 Sept 2025 · Indefinite Leave to Remain · Hansard source
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Will the Minister give way?
8 Sept 2025 · Indefinite Leave to Remain · Hansard source
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I am grateful to the hon. Member for his contribution. We have heard speaker after speaker extolling the virtues of and making a positive case for immigration. Of course it is not the immigrant minority who hold our social care services together who are the problem; it is the minority of those with extreme wealth who go to huge lengths to avoid paying their proper taxes. They attend overseas conferences addressed by the leader of the Reform party, the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage), to learn how to collect multiple citizenships and avoid taxes through webs of multinational corporate arrangements. The question is: who are the patriots? The tax avoiders or the health workers? Being thousands of workers short, the care sector is unable to provide care packages for all those who need support, as the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone) mentioned a few moments ago. The Government must get on with making their fair pay agreement in the health sector a reality, and ensure that social care is funded properly. That element of the Employment Rights Bill will be a great boon, fillip, support and protection for those workers. I urge retention of the five-year route to ILR, a commitment not to apply any change retrospectively, and a sector-wide visa scheme in social care that enables migrant workers to challenge bad employers without the threat of dismissal and removal. I am particularly concerned about reports that the Government intend to apply the new policy on settlement retroactively to those already in the UK who applied and continue to reside under old settlement rules. I hope that the Minister will clarify the Government’s position, because behind these rules are human lives. We owe these workers a debt of gratitude, not new barriers, insecurity and betrayal.
8 Sept 2025 · Indefinite Leave to Remain · Hansard source
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On the reasonable point about English language, the bar has been raised, as the Minister has set out. Is the Minister content that there are sufficient resources devoted to the teaching of the English language? That will be a charge that is put to us if we make that demand but do not put in the resources to match.
4 Sept 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source
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The passage of the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024 into law is a great achievement of the Government’s first year, and the completion of the Employment Rights Bill will be another. As we get into the business of taking the private rail franchises and their employees back into the public sector, it is vital that the transfer of undertakings process fully engages trade unions, fully protects employment rights and, as we bring in private franchises with varying terms, levels those up to a national gold standard. May we have a statement on how the Government are preparing for that transition?
3 Sept 2025 · Duty of Candour for Public Authorities and Legal Representation for Bereaved Families · Hansard source
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The Minister mentioned getting this right, yet the Government were presented with a fully drafted Bill by a learned counsel. Can she give an indication of where the discrepancies and differentiations are between the Bill that was presented—properly drawn—and the current Government position?
3 Sept 2025 · Duty of Candour for Public Authorities and Legal Representation for Bereaved Families · Hansard source
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It is a pleasure to speak in this debate. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool West Derby (Ian Byrne) on securing it. The Government committed to a Hillsborough law in their first year, and it should be delivered without delay and in full. The case for action is starkly illustrated by the experience of bereaved families in my constituency and neighbouring areas whose daughters died under the care of Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS trust, known colloquially as TEWV. Three teenage girls—Christie Harnett, Nadia Sharif and Emily Moore—lost their lives in that trust’s care. The independent reports by Niche Health and Social Care Consulting into their deaths were unequivocal: the statutory duty of candour was not met, families were not told the truth and were not supported after the tragedy, and lessons were not learned. The candour that Parliament demanded in 2014 was absent in practice. The trust has since acknowledged those failings, but wider evidence shows that that is not an isolated case. The Department of Health and Social Care’s recent call for evidence found that only 40% of NHS staff thought that the purpose of the duty was clear, and fewer than a quarter believed that it was correctly applied after serious incidents. Most damning of all, 94% of patients and families felt that providers failed to engage with them meaningfully or compassionately when things went wrong. Rob Behrens, the ombudsman, said that avoidable deaths in mental healthcare are “too common” and that the duty of candour does not work. That is why we need an updated duty of candour—one that binds public authorities and individual leaders with consequences when truth is withheld. Crucially, bereaved families must have automatic access to funded representation. For too long, the state has been represented while ordinary families have had to fight alone. I therefore add my voice to those calling for a public inquiry into the deaths of Christie, Nadia and Emily. Indeed, other bereaved families have more than justifiable cause for complaint. Only a full inquiry can reveal the truth, demonstrate why the current duty is insufficient and ensure that lessons are learned. If “never again” is to mean anything, let us deliver the Hillsborough law in full so that openness, honesty and justice become the defining standards of public service.
1 Sept 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source
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I thank my right hon. Friend for making it clear that this country has historic responsibilities in the region, and he has been consistent in calling for a ceasefire month after month. That has not happened, so I ask him in all sincerity: what changes does he really expect by simply continuing to repeat that? If Israel has the ability to qualify, through those “unless” statements, whether recognition is granted, I ask him to reflect on that. In answer to the earlier exchange on the potential for a peacekeeping force, surely Israel should not have the ability to put a block on that. The people of Palestine deserve better than that, surely.
21 Jul 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source
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The statement we have from the 25 or 31 partners takes us no further forward. It says: “We are prepared to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire”. People want action, not more repetition of, “We call for”, “We demand” and “We urge”. We want action, and this is not action. We have had this so many times before. We have this terrible humanitarian crisis, the forcible transfer of civilians, and starvation by Israel. How can it be that we have a situation in which the IDF are firing at children and systematically going for the head, stomach and testicles for their sport, and in which Rafah has been razed to the ground and this euphemistic “humanitarian city” is being constructed, which the former Prime Minister of Israel has called a “concentration camp”? When are we going to take the appropriate action to bring about a comprehensive trade and arms embargo and concentrate the mind of Israel? Nothing else is working. They are not listening, and they are getting away with murder every single day.
9 Jul 2025 · Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill · Hansard source
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The hon. Member makes an important point, and it is critical that that is reflected on the face of the Bill. With all sincerity, we cannot walk away from here thinking that guidance notes are enough. They may change fundamentally in further iterations and say something completely different from what this honourable and decent Minister is saying to us today. Policy for disabled people must be made with them, not imposed upon them. If we are serious about ending austerity, we cannot keep balancing the books on the backs of the poorest. That means revisiting not just what we spend, but who we tax and how. We have heard about the Patriotic Millionaires making their case that this country has done so well by them—they are so privileged to have made a success of their lives and to have flourished—that they are looking at the opportunities they were given and saying, “Please, we can make a further contribution.” It is they who made the argument about a wealth tax that would raise £24 billion. Nigel Lawson, when he was Chancellor, thought that the differential between capital gains tax and income tax was an anathema, and he equalised it, so there are opportunities for us there. The Employment Rights Bill also presents us with wonderful opportunities. If we could grasp the issue of “single status of worker” and deal with the issue of bogus self-employment, limb (b) employment, zero-hours contracts and the rest of it, that not only represents secure, well-paid, unionised work for people to give them a flourishing life; it also gives us the opportunity to collect currently uncollected tax and national insurance, to the tune of £10 billion per annum. That would also mean supporting people according to their needs. That is not Marx, but the Acts of the Apostles. This is a moment of reckoning. The country expects better. If we are to lose our nerve now, we will lose more than a vote: we will lose the trust that brought us here. We must reflect that during our discussions about the Bill, each and every one of us has heard the response from our constituents and our offices that this has been a shambles—there is no other word to describe it. Now is the moment to stop the cuts and I implore the Government to rethink the Bill.
9 Jul 2025 · Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill · Hansard source
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I rise to speak in support of new clauses 8 and 11, amendment 38 and the Bill more broadly. This informed debate has been conducted respectfully. Throughout the entire process, it has been illuminating to hear from so many Members with such in-depth personal, familial and professional experience. I urge those on the Government Front Bench to look upon such Members from across the House as a resource, because they speak with great authority. I mention in particular the speeches by my hon. Friends the Members for Stourbridge (Cat Eccles), for South West Norfolk (Terry Jermy) and for Beckenham and Penge (Liam Conlon), which were so informative. May I correct one earlier comment? We heard from one Opposition Member that “no recourse to public funds” means “recourse to public funds.” Well, the clue is in the descriptor. I know that Boris Johnson struggled with that, but “no recourse to public funds” means exactly what it says. I wish to speak about the impact were the House to pass amendment 2. I recognise that the amendment adopts some of the previously announced concessions and somewhat limits the damage of clause 2. But let me be clear: even with the amendment, the clause is not acceptable. The Bill is not welfare reform; it is a cut—deliberate, far-reaching and deeply damaging. Even after amendments, clause 2 will remove £2 billion from disabled people in the years ahead. Three quarters of those affected are already in material deprivation. Around 750,000 individuals—people who are too ill to work—stand to lose an average of £3,000 a year. Members must consider today which constituents whose doors they knock on will find themselves £3,000 a year worse off. The weekly top-up for those too unwell to work, which is currently £97, will fall to £50 for new applicants—the same condition and need as current claimants, but half the support. That is not fairness; it is the creation of a two-tier welfare system. We are not talking about abstractions; we are talking about people who cannot walk 50 metres, or who need constant supervision, or who cannot operate a keypad unaided. They currently receive £423 per month. Soon, some could receive as little as £217 per month. That is not a budget decision; it is a moral one.
9 Jul 2025 · Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill · Hansard source
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The hon. Member makes a powerful point. We have to raise our heads and look at our brothers and sisters, who are actively and economically engaged in our country, and think about the contribution they make and the payments they make into the Treasury, through tax and national insurance. We must treat them with dignity and respect, rather than trying to other them at every opportunity.
8 Jul 2025 · Road and Rail Projects · Hansard source
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In my four years as shadow Transport Secretary, the issue of electrification was never far from the top of the agenda, and I very much welcome Secretary of State’s announcement around the trans-Pennine route upgrade. However, may I point out that the north of England is not confined to the conurbations in that immediate area? There is more to it than that. In 2015, the electrification taskforce established that the line from Northallerton through to Thornaby and Middlesbrough in my constituency, and indeed onwards to Redcar—the heart of Net Zero Teesside—was right at the top of the tier. When the infrastructure pipeline comes forward, I urge the Secretary of State to take into consideration the gross value added that the extension would bring, because Teesside and the Tees Valley are ready to make their contribution to growing this economy, and the extension would ensure that they could.
8 Jul 2025 · Private Contractors: Justice Services · Hansard source
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I thank the Minister for that response, and this Government are doing their best to make things work, but Channel 4 has revealed that the contract with Serco was fundamentally failing. In the answer to my written question in June, Serco’s performance was still deemed to be unacceptable, so where are we with bringing Serco around to perform properly? If it does not do so, will the Government consider cancelling that contract and bringing those services back in-house?
1 Jul 2025 · Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill · Hansard source
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On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I would be grateful for your clarification. We have just heard that a pivotal part of the Bill, clause 5, will not be effective, so I ask this: what are we supposed to be voting on tonight? Is it the Bill as drawn, or another Bill? I am confused, and I think Members in the Chamber will need that clarification.
30 Jun 2025 · Welfare Reform · Hansard source
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The Bill still leaves over £3.5 billion of cuts falling on disabled people and unpaid carers, with hundreds of thousands of new claimants set to lose thousands of pounds each year. Protections for existing claimants are welcome, but a two-tier system will generate hardship for many and create societal divisions. We are being asked to vote without vital evidence—without the Office for Budget Responsibility impact assessment, or the Timms and Mayfield reviews. Serious questions remain unanswered, and we are without clarity on outcomes and implementation. Will the Secretary of State continue to listen, withdraw this Bill, and co-design welfare reform with disabled people’s groups?
30 Jun 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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Will the Government raise with the F-35 joint program office or the joint executive steering board the human rights breaches and the possibility of suspending Israel’s access while maintaining supplies to other customers?

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