Bayo Alaba MP: speeches

Speeches

• 17 Jun 2025 · Cancer Diagnoses · Hansard source

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  Our Labour Government have recently invested in a new state-of-the-art linear accelerator machine in Southend hospital. The machine is the first of its type in the country and will drastically improve cancer treatments. Please can the Minister outline how record levels of investment, such as in the LINAC machine and as announced at the spending review, will finally mean that the NHS will be there when we need it?

• 28 Apr 2025 · Headingley Incident · Hansard source

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  I wish the victims of the Headingley attack a full recovery. My thoughts are with their friends and family and the community. Just this morning, I welcomed Joan Whelan to Westminster to meet the Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire—I thank the Minister for her time, and her sage advice and counsel—following the tragic loss of Joan’s beloved partner, Dave Peck. Dave was fatally struck by bolts fired from a crossbow into an open busy pub in Westcliff in my constituency of Southend East and Rochford in 2022. Dave was affectionately known as West Ham Dave, and was a larger-than-life character. Dave and Joan together had 22 grandchildren, who no longer have their grandad in their life. The crossbow was purchased by a resident with paranoid schizophrenia who had a history of mental health struggles. It was purchased freely, unchecked and unlicensed, on the internet. Does the Minister agree that more needs to be done to stop crossbows falling into the wrong hands? Will she join me in thanking Joan for her bravery in sharing her story?

• 4 Feb 2025 · National Cancer Plan · Hansard source

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  I also commend the Minister for his great announcement, which is welcome and needed. The Minister has often spoken about the importance of shifting from sickness to prevention, from hospital to community, and from analogue to digital. Residents of Southend East and Rochford deserve an NHS that is there when they need it. What impact does he think the plan will have on the issues he has outlined today?

• 5 Nov 2024 · Income Tax (Charge) · Hansard source

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  This Budget represents a huge step towards restoring the vibrancy and potential of my constituency. The commitments in this Budget will support our hospital and health services, revitalise trade and hospitality, and knit the community closer together. Over the past 14 years, our public services have been neglected and the hospitality and retail industries have been unsupported. That is why I am so proud that the Labour Government are working to fix the foundations and reform our public services at their very roots. This Budget invests £25.6 billion in the NHS over two years, which will cut waiting times by creating an extra 40,000 elective appointments a week so that the NHS will be there when we need it. I know how important this is in Southend East and Rochford, where hospital and health workers are working hard to serve their community. The businesses, restaurants and bars that are integral to Southend East and Rochford’s local offer will be pleased by the measures announced in this Budget—as someone who has run businesses in that sector for over 24 years, I know how important it is. The Government are choosing to protect small businesses by increasing the employment allowance to £10,500 and expanding that allowance to all eligible employers. This Labour Government are making business rates fairer to protect our high streets and are permanently introducing lower rates for retail, hospitality and leisure—as many as 6,380 microbusinesses in the Southend city council area stand to benefit from those changes. These are steps that will deliver the change that our communities deserve and regenerate our local economies. Finally, this Labour Government are increasing the national minimum wage to £12.21 per hour——an increase of 6.7%—which will serve to revitalise the hospitality and retail sectors. The Low Pay Commission estimates that 54% of all jobs paying at or below the minimum wage are in retail, hospitality, cleaning and maintenance occupations. The workers in those industries have been overlooked for too long. Labour’s Budget puts those workers back on the agenda, with more money in their pockets at the end of the month. I welcome the actions of this Labour Government to support essential services and equip our leisure and retail industries with the tools for the future. The Budget turns a page on the last 14 years and begins to create the conditions for an area such as Southend East and Rochford to thrive.