Ben Goldsborough MP: speeches

Speeches

• 23 Feb 2026 · Firearms Licensing · Hansard source

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  That was excellently put by my hon. Friend. All of us who had the pleasure of spending time with Christopher send our heartfelt condolences to his family, because he was, as my hon. Friend rightly says, a gent. We also need to ensure that we respond to the risk, protect the vulnerable and ensure that our laws reflect the reality of the world that we live in today, not the world as it was 60 years ago. Let me begin by setting out clearly where we are. In the United Kingdom, there are about half a million gun owners—they are roughly 1% of the population—and about 90% use their firearms for leisure, for sport or for legitimate countryside management. The overwhelming majority of owners are responsible. The National Crime Agency has said that firearms certificate holders are highly unlikely to be involved in serious and organised crime. That important fact deserves to be stated clearly in this House. The shooting sector is also economically significant. It contributes £3.3 billion a year in gross value added to the UK economy, generates £9.3 billion in wider economic activity and supports an estimated 67,000 full-time equivalent jobs. Those jobs are not abstract; they are jobs in rural pubs, hotels, small family-run retailers, manufacturing, tourism, land management and pest control. They are jobs that sustain rural communities and working people across our country. In my constituency of South Norfolk and those of many across the House, the leisure sector is not a lifestyle choice, but the backbone of the local economy. We must always be mindful that decisions taken in Westminster have real-world consequences in such communities. At the same time, our legislative framework is undeniably outdated. Much of it dates back to the 1960s and, while amendments made since then, in particular after tragedies such as Dunblane, have strengthened safety, the overall framework has evolved in a piecemeal way. Such reforms, including the ban on handguns, were necessary and proportionate responses to unimaginable horror. They reflected the will of the public and the duty of Parliament to act in the interests of safety. I do not believe that anyone serious about public safety would suggest reversing those protections, but it is equally true that legislation cannot stand still, because the world does not.

• 23 Feb 2026 · Firearms Licensing · Hansard source

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  This has been a brilliant debate, which is what our constituents cry out for. It has been measured in tone, with solutions and not just mud-slinging. A fair amount of social media clips will have been thrown in here and there, but that is just the nature of the beast.

• 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?

• 25 Nov 2025 · Immigration Reforms: Humanitarian Visa Routes · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (James Naish) for securing this important debate. I think there is wide agreement across the House that our current immigration system is broken. It is inconsistent, confusing and, far too often, inhumane. It is right that it falls to a Labour Government to fix it and to build a system grounded in our values of fairness, transparency and humanity. At present, the system does the very opposite. I will specifically speak about Hongkongers who settled in the UK through the British national overseas visa scheme, many of whom have become proud and valued members of my constituency. We estimate that about 400 BNO status holders now call South Norfolk home. They enrich our towns and villages through work, volunteering, culture and the arts, and they have shown extraordinary resilience after fleeing political persecution. Following Beijing’s imposition of the national security law and its severe crackdown on civil liberties in Hong Kong, all parties in this House supported the launch of the BNO pathway in 2021. Over 200,000 Hongkongers have since arrived in the UK, rebuilding their lives under the terms we set out. In September, concern filled this Chamber during the debate I led on behalf of the Petitions Committee. The consultation launched on 20 November has exposed new risks that could inadvertently undermine the BNO scheme’s very humanitarian purpose. Let me be clear: if applied to BNO applicants for indefinite leave to remain, an income requirement would disproportionately disadvantage BNO families. The visa route is fundamentally different from a work visa. It was never designed around employment. People came here as families with stay-at-home parents, part-time workers, students and retirees. Their eligibility depended on need, not on earning power. Many of them face systemic barriers to having their professional qualifications recognised, preventing them from securing jobs that reflect their skills immediately upon arrival. They are not failing the system; the system is failing them. To require three to five years of earnings above £12,570 would not reflect their reality. Many BNO households are income-poor but savings-rich. They moved here under the explicit promise that no financial conditions would be attached to this humanitarian route. The proposed increase from B1 to B2 English has caused deep worry among BNOs, particularly those nearing retirement or who have already earned their B1 qualification and are months away from eligibility for settlement. B2 is effectively A-level proficiency. For many, achieving it with only months’ notice is unrealistic, and I hazard a guess that it would be unrealistic for many Members of this House as well. We must be cautious not to retroactively impose standards that people could never reasonably meet in that time. Above all, BNOs are not economic migrants; they made an irreversible decision to come to the UK to escape political repression. For many, returning to Hong Kong is not an option. If we were to shift the goalposts now, we would risk placing them in an impossible position —unable to settle here or return home. That would be a betrayal not only of policy, but of principle. I urge the Minister to listen to the speeches today and to make the progressive changes we need in the immigration system.

• 3 Nov 2025 · Video Games: Consumer Law · Hansard source

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  This is the one time that I am quite jealous of the hon. Member’s constituency because, as he suggested, it is the constituency that has laid the golden egg. The cultural relevance of GTA is never-ending: when the next title in the series is released it will be bigger than any movie that has been released in the United Kingdom, if not the world, for many years. I ask the Minister to work with studios and consumer groups to establish clear expectations around shutdowns and access, to support cultural institutions such as the National Videogame Museum and to help develop an industry-led framework to preserve our gaming heritage for future generations.

• 3 Nov 2025 · Video Games: Consumer Law · Hansard source

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  I thank all Members who took part in the debate and all the petitioners. Were the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) present, I could have said that every part of the United Kingdom was represented in the Chamber today—but we nearly got there. That shows the benefits of the video game industry to our economy and to our culture. I was heartened by the Minister’s closing remarks about action to put consumers back at the heart of the process. This is an evolving situation; the video game industry is changing on a daily basis. Ensuring that consumers are at the heart of how the video game industry works in future is a heartening step to hear about. As I said, this issue will not go away. I hope that the Minister and her Department will work closely with all Members who have spoken today to secure the best outcome, which we all want.

• 3 Nov 2025 · Video Games: Consumer Law · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend makes a really important point. What is it to own a video game? What is it to keep the background services running? Is it an interactive process going forward with multiple users, or is it just a single-access game? When a game shuts down, it is not just a consumer issue but a cultural one. This debate is not just about keeping games playable; it is about preserving our cultural heritage. The National Videogame Museum in Sheffield already does fantastic work to document, curate and celebrate this history, but we need to support institutions like it further. I urge the Government to explore funding, partnerships and sector support to ensure that we maintain a library full of significant games—not necessarily the full playable versions, but assets, scripts, soundtracks and design documents. We would never dream of pulping every copy of Shakespeare, and we should not think any differently about video games. We have seen what is possible when communities are empowered. When “Doom” was released decades ago, it sparked an entire ecosystem of mods, creativity and eventually genre-defining innovation. We also see it with ROM-hacking communities, especially around older titles such as “Super Mario World”. I am the first to admit that I cannot play “Kaizo Mario World” for toffee—those levels are punishing. But I do enjoy watching streamers such as BarbarousKing both creating the “Grand Poo World Trilogy”—this is the first time that Hansard has had to write that down—and playing it live. That highlights yet another modern element of gaming culture—streaming. Platforms such as Twitch have turned gameplay into performance art, commentary and community. People gather to cheer, learn, laugh and share. This, too, is culture, and it deserves to be safeguarded. I want to be absolutely clear that this debate is not anti-industry. Running online games costs real money. Servers, hardware, maintenance contracts, security and teams of engineers all cost money. Requiring developers to define end-of-life strategies up front could stifle innovation and create unintended risks. But gamers deserve clarity. If a game is likely to go offline, they should be told that.

• 3 Nov 2025 · Video Games: Consumer Law · Hansard source

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  This is the thing about gaming: it is not just about the creative arts; it is also about science and technology. Cambridge bats above its average not just within the UK but on the global stage. I am very proud, as an East Anglian MP, to have my hon. Friend’s constituency next door providing this for the future. The nature of games has changed. Many modern titles are live services, constantly updated, server-dependent and with ongoing operational costs. That is not inherently a bad thing—live services have created vibrant global communities—but it has changed what it means to own a game. Gamers still feel the deep sense of personal possession, because they invest more than money; they invest time, effort, imagination and friendship. When a game shuts down without clear notice, that investment is lost and a shared world disappears. The Video Game History Foundation estimates that 87% of games released before 2010 are now critically endangered.

• 8 Sept 2025 · Indefinite Leave to Remain · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That this House has considered e-petitions 727360 and 727356 relating to the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Jeremy. The excellent staff on the Petitions Committee have been as diligent as ever; thanks to their hard work, I have had some very informative meetings with experts and campaign groups. I want to quickly thank the Migration Observatory, the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, Hong Kong Watch and the Centre for Policy Studies for taking the time to discuss the policy with me. I also want to thank Darwin, the creator of the petition entitled “Keep the 5-Year ILR pathway for existing Skilled Worker visa holders”, for the fascinating and moving conversation that we had last week. Before I turn to the detail, I want to say why today’s debate matters. It is timely because the public discourse on immigration grows louder, fuelled by the algorithms of X and Facebook. We also see those who peddle the idea that you can have your cake and eat it: lower migration, but without the consequences to our economy, our NHS, our diplomacy or our culture. They are charlatans trying to hoodwink the public with slogans on the sides of buses. They want to divide us and set the tone that all immigration is bad and, by extension, that all migrants are unwelcome. But that is not our country. That is not who we are. The moral compass of the vast majority of Britons points firmly in the other direction. This debate is our chance to show that careful deliberation is needed. Managed migration, done well, strengthens us. It grows our economy, it enriches our culture and it gives us the diplomatic heft to punch above our weight on the world stage. First, I want to address one specific point. Experts have raised with me multiple times the need for a clear and honest conversation about what these changes mean, and the need for a clear distinction between immigration pathways and the different types of immigration. Let us be clear at the start about what we have and have not been asked to discuss today. We are not here to debate asylum claims, the graduate route, small boats or ancestry visas. The 164,000 and 108,000 people who signed the two petitions are asking us to consider two precise things: the five-year pathway for existing skilled worker visa holders and the five-year pathway for Hong Kong British national overseas visas. Let me turn first to skilled workers. There are three issues to get to grips with, the first of which is fairness to those who are already here. The skilled worker visa pathway was introduced only in December 2020, and many people are now close to completing their five years. Some are just months away.