Ben Goldsborough MP: speeches 2026

Speeches

• 5 Feb 2026 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Residents in Stoke, Holy Cross and Upper Stoke in South Norfolk have been terribly let down by Anglian Water. The company digs up the road every two seconds, which has meant that residents are cut off from the only bus service to Norwich. Can we have a debate in Government time about companies such as Anglian Water, which keep letting down our villages by doing bodge jobs rather than doing the job right the first time?

• 4 Feb 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q12. From heat-tolerant rice trials to world-leading science at the Earlham Institute and the John Innes Centre at Norwich Research Park, South Norwich is helping to feed the world. Will the Prime Minister secure a clear carve-out for precision breeding in any future sanitary and phytosanitary agreement with the EU so that Britain can continue to lead in this field?

• 13 Jan 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T3. My South Norfolk constituents welcome the Government’s commitment to 250 new neighbourhood health centres. For rural areas such as mine, where healthcare can be miles away, this is a real turning point. Long Stratton is a growing town, yet it is distant from Norfolk’s main health hubs. Will the Secretary of State meet me to discuss how delivering a neighbourhood health centre for Long Stratton will dramatically improve health outcomes in South Norfolk?

• 8 Jan 2026 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I have been working closely with local teacher and Labour Wymondham town councillor Lowell Doheny on the pressing issue of youth provision and wellbeing in our growing market town. Can we have a debate in Government time on youth provision, including access to affordable leisure and youth clubs, to explore how best the Labour Government can ensure that youth support keeps pace with expanding market towns?

• 8 Jan 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Consider this a pincer movement from South Norfolk to talk about Wymondham railway station and Access for All. I have already had a productive meeting with the Minister for Rail this week. Will the Secretary of State help me to bang some heads together with Network Rail to ensure that we shorten the sidings so that Wyndham station can provide easy access for all?

• 7 Jan 2026 · Rural Communities · Hansard source

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  I think the fact that South Norfolk has a Labour MP for the first time since 1950 goes to show— [Interruption.] This is a key point, to which Opposition Members need to pay attention. I think it goes to show that there has been a huge change in rural representation in this country, and I also think some humility would be welcome. I want to focus on three main issues affecting rural communities. The first is healthcare—it was not mentioned in the motion, which I think is a bit odd, because we get ill, too—the second is infrastructure and the third, obviously, is farming in South Norfolk. Let me begin with healthcare. The Government have invested £9 million in the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS foundation trust in my constituency, which will make a huge difference for our local economy. It will stop people getting sick and ensure that we have the direct investment we need in our healthcare professionals. Moreover, £1.3 million has been invested in the Cotman Centre, a specialist centre dealing with cancer and prevention. There has also been investment in the health centre in Wymondham, which is in my largest market town, in Long Stratton health centre and in Cringleford surgery. Each of those investments means that my constituents can lead happier, healthier and longer lives. Then there is infrastructure. Since my election as the first Labour MP in South Norfolk since 1950, I have secured more than £200 million for upgrades to the Thickthorn junction of the A11 and the A47. Norfolk has been waiting years for that to be done. It will directly improve connectivity for constituencies across Norfolk, including that of the hon. Member for Broadland and Fakenham (Jerome Mayhew). There has also been £289 million of investment in broadband contracts, which are being rolled out to villages throughout Norfolk—that will make a huge difference to me locally—and 131,000 houses have now been connected under Project Gigabit. Farming is very important to me, because as the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Epping Forest (Dr Hudson), will know, I have a bit of an obsession with biosecurity in the United Kingdom. We need to take it extremely seriously, and I urge my Front-Bench colleagues to continue their investment, in Harlow and other places, to ensure that our borders are kept safe and that we stop the threat of avian influenza and African swine fever in the United Kingdom. We cannot continue blindly walking down that alley and not protecting our farming industry. We must also look at how we take more action on planning policy as it relates to farming—to reservoirs and broilers, for instance. There should be easy access to development to help our rural economy.

• 7 Jan 2026 · Rural Communities · Hansard source

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  Would the right hon. Gentleman give way?

• 7 Jan 2026 · Rural Communities · Hansard source

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  Did the right hon. Gentleman read the article in the Farmers Guardian that highlighted that more than 20% of the Conservative Back Benchers did not even bother to turn up to vote on the day?

• 5 Jan 2026 · Rural Crime · Hansard source

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  Heritage crime is a huge issue in rural communities like mine. My constituency boast some of the jewels in England’s crown—Roman town Venta Icenorum, Wymondham Abbey and the wooden henge in Arminghall—which puts us more at risk of heritage crime. Will the Minister meet me to discuss how we can train scrap metal dealers to be more aware of the damage that it does, and how might we record the statistics more appropriately so that we can give police the resources they need?

• 5 Jan 2026 · Rural Crime · Hansard source

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  23. What recent steps her Department has taken to help tackle rural crime.

• 5 Jan 2026 · Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief · Hansard source

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  South Norfolk is home to 400 farms, and I put on record my thanks to Will, Nick, David and Deborah, who are some of the farmers have supported me hand in glove over the past 14 months in making representations to the Minister. I welcome these changes, but the biggest threat to family farming in South Norfolk right now is biosecurity risk. I urge the Treasury to pay special attention to avian influenza and African swine fever, so that we can protect those family farms going forward.