Chi Onwurah MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 17 Dec 2025 · Supply Chain Resilience · Hansard source

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  This afternoon, UKRI will publish its detailed funding allocations for programmes such as ReImagining Supply Chains. Does the Minister agree with the Office for Budget Responsibility that the bursting of the AI bubble presents a significant downside risk to the UK economy? What steps are his Department and UKRI taking to protect their investment in innovative companies that would undoubtedly be affected by an AI market correction?

• 11 Dec 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  When I am out across the constituency, whether it is in Elswick, Denton, Westerhope, Wingrove, Arthur’s Hill or Monument, too often the issue that people raise with me is litter. Some 14 years of austerity reduced Newcastle city council’s cleansing resources, but hourly cleansing would not be enough in some areas of the city. We need greater powers and greater enforcement. Can we have a debate in Government time about devolving additional powers to local authorities, such as the power to require fast food outlets to have larger bins or to require landlords to keep their properties clean?

• 11 Dec 2025 · US National Security Strategy · Hansard source

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  I am sure that my hon. Friend is far too discreet to set out honestly her assessment of President Trump’s contribution to civilisation, but can she reassure my constituents—be they angered, insulted or just plain bemused by the pronouncements in the US national security strategy—that although we celebrate our cultural and economic ties with the United States and our relationship with its people, our sovereignty is not dependent on the US? Specifically, can she confirm that any capability that is dependent on the United States—whether it is to do with artificial intelligence, quantum or defence—is not a sovereign capability?

• 10 Dec 2025 · AI Safety · Hansard source

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  I congratulate the hon. Member on securing this really important debate. It is certainly the case that UK law applies to AI, just as it applies online. The question is whether AI requires new regulation specifically to address the threats and concerns surrounding AI. We refrained from regulating the internet—and I should declare an interest, having worked for Ofcom at the time—in order to support innovation. Under consecutive Conservative Governments, there was a desire not to intervene in the market. The internet has largely been taken over by large consolidated companies and does not have the diversity of innovation and creativity or the safety that we might want to see.

• 10 Dec 2025 · AI Safety · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Gentleman—a fellow engineer—for allowing this intervention. As the Chair of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee—a number of fantastic Committee members are here—I would like to say that we have already looked at some of the challenges that AI presents to our regulatory infrastructure and our Government. Last week, we heard from the Secretary of State, who assured us that where there is a legislative need, she will bring forward legislation to address the threats posed by AI, although she did not commit to an AI Bill. We are determined to continue to hold her to account on that commitment.

• 10 Dec 2025 · AI Safety · Hansard source

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  Each of the Select Committees is looking at AI, including the Defence Committee, which has looked at AI in defence. AI impacts every single Department and security on cross-governmental issues. Although we are not talking about the process of scrutiny, we all agree that scrutiny is important.

• 8 Dec 2025 · Digital ID · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Member give way?

• 8 Dec 2025 · Digital ID · Hansard source

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  There are many who seek the right and the ability to identify themselves, but who do not have it as it stands. We all have constituents who are experiencing that. My Committee has seen evidence that the figure cited by the hon. Gentleman is not recognised by the Secretary of State; it has been put forward by the Office for Budget Responsibility. The Secretary of State will be writing to us to set out what costs she envisages and when they will be realised. It is also important to recognise that the level of digital hygiene across Government is not such that it could support a mandatory digital ID scheme, in my view.

• 4 Dec 2025 · Local Elections · Hansard source

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  The north-east has perhaps the strongest sense of regional identity in the country, and it benefits immensely from the brilliant Labour mayor, Kim McGuinness, who has the devolved powers and funding to make a real difference to the lives of the people in the north-east. I know that the Minister is working hard to devolve more powers and, critically, more funding. Does she agree it is critical that that sense of identity, the strong institutions, the funding and the powers are in place in order for mayors to be successful?

• 27 Nov 2025 · Technology: Productivity of MPs · Hansard source

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  Are we paying for it?

• 27 Nov 2025 · Technology: Productivity of MPs · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for that response. My constituents expect me to spend their money and my time addressing their issues, not trying to manage an inbox flooded with lobbyist spam and by Russian and Chinese bots. Microsoft Copilot asks me if I want help writing emails to my constituents—I do not—but will not help me manage my inbox, despite repeated requests. Can my hon. Friend say whether this House is paying more money for Copilot functionality that we are not using, and if and when Microsoft Copilot will address the issues that I and other MPs face, rather than the ones that Microsoft thinks we should have?

• 27 Nov 2025 · Technology: Productivity of MPs · Hansard source

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  7. What steps the Commission is taking to provide technology to improve the productivity of hon. Members.

• 27 Nov 2025 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

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  Had our productivity grown at the same rate as media speculation, the UK would have been in a much stronger fiscal position ahead of the Budget. All the more credit is due, then, to my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer for delivering a Budget for working people, lifting children out of poverty and equipping our economy to grow, at the same time as delivering a master class at the Dispatch Box. There was another performance that was, well, magical in its way: that of the Conservative Members. They have managed to forget their economic vandalism, their fiscal incompetence and their social sabotage, and pretend that the UK’s economic situation is nothing to do with them, even as the OBR downgraded its productivity forecasts to reflect their past productivity failures. It is like some Westminster edition of “The Bourne Identity” without Matt Damon—well, perhaps the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for North Bedfordshire (Richard Fuller), thinks he is Matt Damon—but with a whole political party that wakes up not knowing where it has been for the past 15 years. But the north remembers, and particularly the north-east. We are a great and vibrant region, and the engine of the industrial revolution. It was growing up in Newcastle, surrounded by the legacy of great Geordie engineers and inventors, in a culture that championed making and building things, that inspired me to become an engineer. But the wealth created by our region’s industrious workforce has not been enjoyed by us. Despite having world-leading companies and research institutions, the north-east now has the lowest GDP per head in the UK, at £28,000. Every region in the country is below the national average of £39,000, except the south-east at £41,000 and London at a whopping £69,000. The Conservatives responded to the global financial crisis with the economic equivalent of leeches, with sustained austerity resulting in the slow strangulation of the economy and my constituents’ wages. Annual earnings for full-time employees in the north-east fell during that time and, despite Tory talk of levelling up, we see the same regional disparities in labour productivity, which is also, indirectly, a measure of capital investment, both physical and human. If we could just lift the north-east’s per capita GDP to the national average, it would increase UK GDP by over 1%, which is almost the same GDP growth as we had for the entire country in 2024. That is why the Chancellor chose to turn her back on Conservative austerity and make the tough decisions necessary to invest. Let me focus on just two areas, science and social justice, which are the twin passions of my personal politics. As a Geordie and as Chair of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, I am delighted to see the new £30 million facility in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Darlington (Lola McEvoy), which will accelerate the development of novel RNA—ribonucleic acid—therapies from labs to market to tackle cancer, heart conditions and infectious diseases. I am also excited by the Budget measures to support innovative businesses to grow and investors to invest beyond the start-up phase. My Committee’s inquiry into regional innovation and growth heard wide-ranging evidence that disparities in investment, access to capital, skills, infrastructure and integration of universities and local economies all need to be addressed if we are to ensure that our regions benefit from Britain’s scientific strengths. Unfortunately, the inquiry also revealed an enduring complacency and lack of regional focus in many Whitehall Departments. I urge the Chancellor to go further to address the barriers to regional growth, and I particularly echo the hope of our regional mayor, Kim McGuinness, to see more infrastructure investments in the coming months. The last Government’s record on social justice stained our nation, with children growing up in households where heating and eating were daily sources of stress. Cutting £150 from the average household energy bill, extending the warm home discount to a further 3 million of the poorest households, expanding free school meals and breakfast clubs and improving nutrition will make a real difference to young lives and cut the cost of living for my constituents. The Chancellor’s high-value council tax surcharge will also go some way to righting the ridiculous situation of a family in a band D home in Newcastle paying more council tax than someone in a £10 million property in Westminster. Finally, the decision to scrap the two-child limit will change for the better the lives of 4,960 children in my constituency alone and put almost £7 million back in the pockets of local families. It is an honour and a privilege to support a Labour Chancellor delivering a Labour Budget in the interests of every region and of every working person in this country.

• 18 Nov 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T4. The north-east is a vital hub for clean energy supply chains, and my constituents in oil and gas want to be part of that transition, but years of under-investment by the Tories mean that many North sea ports cannot host modern turbine manufacturing. As the Government prepare their plan for the future of the north-east, will the Minister consider infrastructure investment to enable communities and workers in the north-east to better benefit from clean energy jobs?

• 17 Nov 2025 · Asylum Policy · Hansard source

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  My right hon. Friend is right to seek to bring order to the chaos at our borders—chaos instituted by the Tories—which undermines trust in our state and imposes such costs on communities. She is also right to address the pull factors that lure migrants to their deaths in our channel, with claims of cushy lives in five-star hotels. She is right to insist that our proposals must reflect British values and work in practice. On that, will she say a bit more about how reviewing refugee status every two years will work in practice, particularly in regard to Home Office capacity and in regard to integration?

• 12 Nov 2025 · Online Safety · Hansard source

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  The Minister says that the Government are looking deeply into this issue, but as part of my Committee’s inquiry into misinformation and algorithms, we heard conflicting evidence from Ministers and Ofcom as to whether generative artificial intelligence is covered by the Online Safety Act. The Government have refused to implement our call for legislation to bring generative AI under the same categorisation as other high-risk services. Under what circumstances is chatbot advice covered by the Online Safety Act, and will there be enforcement?

• 4 Nov 2025 · Incomes of Working Families: Newcastle · Hansard source

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  11. What fiscal steps she is taking to help increase the incomes of working families in Newcastle.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Incomes of Working Families: Newcastle · Hansard source

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  Under 14 years of Tory misrule, workers in the north-east saw their average annual earnings fall, causing a cost of living crisis for families across the region. We have fantastic, passionate and productive workers. Will the Minister promise to continue to turn back on Tory failure by investing in the industry of the north-east to deliver high-wage, high-quality jobs as part of a Budget for working people?

• 29 Oct 2025 · Asylum Seekers: MOD Housing · Hansard source

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  I have visited the hotel in Newcastle where up to 400 asylum seekers are living. I have listened to local community concerns. I have spoken to the asylum seekers, the hotel owners, the programme managers, the police, and local stakeholders. It is clear that the policy of housing asylum seekers in hotel accommodation, instituted by the last Government, is failing everybody concerned, except for possibly the private providers profiting from the contracts. Newcastle city council is in discussions with the Home Office about alternative models for accommodation that better meet the needs of the city and of asylum seekers. Can the Minister tell us how those discussions are going and when we can expect to see progress?

• 29 Oct 2025 · Gaza and Hamas · Hansard source

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  The ceasefire has been one of the few positive achievements in what has been an unending tale of misery, violence, and horrific suffering, and all those involved in achieving that ceasefire deserve the gratitude and recognition that has been received. Now as Israel continues to kill Gazan children, and Hamas refuse to disarm, will the Minister reassure us that everyone involved in achieving a ceasefire in the US, the UK, and the middle east is equally concentrated and focused on keeping the peace and making the ceasefire work as a beginning of a peace process? Can he further reassure us, given our recognition of Palestine, that the Palestinian voice will be heard?

• 22 Oct 2025 · Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund · Hansard source

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  Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is a great pleasure to speak to you on this occasion to welcome the ambition behind the life sciences innovation manufacturing fund and, indeed, the Government’s positive support for life sciences, with their belief that Government can act to support industry in general; it is not simply a matter of getting out of the way. That is in sharp contrast to the last Conservative Government’s approach to industry, allowing a gentle decline and deindustrialisation in our nation. To be fair, the series of Conservative Governments chopped and changed their approach to industrial strategy so often it was difficult to know exactly where they stood. Unlike them, Labour is committed to the life sciences sector. Labour published its plan for life sciences in opposition, which included 10-year funding commitments for key research bodies aimed at putting an end to the short-termism that undermines economic growth and scientific success. Now in government, I welcome Labour’s commitment to the life sciences sector plan—developed in close co-ordination with the Government’s 10-year health plan—which aims to support cutting-edge research and turn that into real-world results, with new treatments, faster diagnoses and more lives saved. It is about making sure that breakthroughs happen here in this country, creating jobs, improving lives in every part of the country and driving growth. As the Minister said, the life sciences are a strength of our country—they are often described as a jewel in the crown of the British economy—and we all know that success in life sciences leads to positive, wide-reaching benefits across the country for the economy and our health.

• 22 Oct 2025 · Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund · Hansard source

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  Let me thank the hon. Member for that intervention, which pre-empts something I will say in a few minutes. She is absolutely right: Northern Ireland already plays an important role in the life sciences sector and life sciences manufacturing, and it will have an important role to play in the future. It is an incredibly exciting time to be involved in life sciences. I often think that if I were a young engineer now—I studied electrical engineering—I would be fascinated by the life sciences and, in particular, synthetic biology, which offers so many potential opportunities for growth and wellbeing. It is an enabling technology across so many different sectors. In Newcastle, including in my constituency of Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West, the life sciences contribute £1.7 billion and employ over 8,000 people across more than 200 companies. We are home to the National Innovation Centre for Ageing, Newcastle Helix and The Biosphere. Our city is one star in a constellation of excellent life sciences clusters across the north of England. I really welcome the ambition of the innovation manufacturing fund. I ask the Minister in his response for more clarity in three particular areas. First, in regard to the size of the fund, in the face of increased competition, and as the shadow Secretary of State described—this will be in less sensationalist terms—we are seeing some reduction in investment in the UK. Is £520 million enough to ensure that the UK is an attractive prospect for internationally mobile businesses? By contrast, a manufacturing plant such as Moderna’s recently opened vaccine centre in Oxfordshire might cost in the region of £150 million to £200 million. Is the fund the right size? Secondly, the Select Committee recently held a one-off session on life sciences investment, which was of such interest that we have decided to hold another one-off session next week on the same subject. We heard evidence from the pharma sector, including significant support for the life sciences sector plan and for the Government’s approach, but I think it is fair to say that we were told that, although NHS pricing is not the only factor in investment decisions, it is a significant one. We heard evidence that the UK spends less proportionately on medicines than other comparable countries and that that reduces the pull-through for innovative medicines. It would clearly be a difficult decision to spend more on medicines, as that would mean spending less elsewhere in our NHS. Does the Minister see the manufacturing fund as support in some way for investment decisions in the absence of progress on the NHS pricing discussions? Could he tell us whether the Secretary of State is involved in discussions between the Health Secretary and the pharma sector with regard to NHS pricing? I understand that discussions are ongoing, and I see the Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow South West (Dr Ahmed), conferring with him. Perhaps he can confirm that those discussions are ongoing.

• 22 Oct 2025 · Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for that intervention. The Committee’s work is fascinating, so I certainly recommend he read the transcript. To summarise, we were looking specifically at the reasons for investment being pulled and, as I said, we asked the question in a number of different ways. The message that came back was significant support for the life sciences sector plan and the Government approach, but lack of certainty and clarity over NHS pricing and dismay about some aspects of NHS pricing and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence decisions. The hon. Gentleman is therefore right to point out that there was concern over the current and likely future pricing of innovative medicines, but that was not the only factor in those investment decisions. I ask the Minister to give us an update on those negotiations to the extent that he is able to do so, and to say whether this manufacturing fund is seen as potential compensation for investment in medicines and pricing as part of the NHS future plan.

• 22 Oct 2025 · Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. My Committee has looked at some of the reasons for investments, such as those he sets out, and it is worth emphasising the strengths of the UK, some of which I have mentioned. We have a really strong life sciences sector, and specifically skills at every stage in the UK life sciences ecosystem, together with R&D tax credits, which is another point of incentivisation, and the fact that our NHS offers a fantastic opportunity to test and trial new medicines with a population that is heterogeneous and with population data records that are second to none. So there are many reasons why pharma and life sciences companies are continuing to invest in our country, and we have a fantastic ecosystem of life sciences start-ups and scale-ups. That brings me to the final question I want to put to the Minister, which is on the regional impact of the fund. The Minister mentioned on a number of occasions that the fund will drive investment and growth across our country. As part of the Committee’s inquiry into innovation and regional growth, we heard of significant disparities in investment, particularly in access to capital and research funding from UK Research and Innovation and in funding and investment between the regions of our country and the greater south-east, otherwise known as the golden triangle. Manufacturing is well distributed across the United Kingdom; we heard earlier about the opportunities in Northern Ireland. Can the Minister tell me whether there will be a regional dimension to how the funds are disbursed? I hope that the extent to which the funds are regionally distributed will be monitored, but does he expect that this funding will be distributed across the country to drive growth in every corner of the country as he said, and that it will not perpetuate existing regional inequalities?

• 13 Oct 2025 · Digital ID · Hansard source

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  The Secretary of State is absolutely right to champion access to a consistent, trusted digital ID. All of us online have digital IDs aplenty already—Facebook, TikTok, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, Tesco—so she is right to bring the benefits of one digital ID to my constituents. But making digital ID mandatory for everyone seeking work is poking a stick in the eye of all those with security, privacy and/or Government capacity concerns, which my Committee will be examining as part of our work on digital government. For now, though, can she first confirm that people will be in control of their digital ID data and who accesses it? Secondly, will she say whether it will be procured externally from the private sector or developed in-house by Government digital services?