Chris Vince MP: speeches 2026

Speeches

• 6 Jul 2026 · Payment Scheme · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for giving way again; he is being very generous with his time. It strikes me that the victims of these sorts of scandals—sadly, this is not the first we have discussed; I think of the Horizon Post Office scandal—are put in this position through no fault of their own and do not necessarily have degrees in how to access compensation schemes. What support—for example, through some sort of caseworker—is he giving to people who are looking to claim?

• 6 Jul 2026 · Payment Scheme · Hansard source

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  I thank the Paymaster General for his speech and the way he is framing the debate by talking about the victims of this scandal, which is really important. Can he confirm the number of interim payments of £100,000 that have already been paid out?

• 6 Jul 2026 · Payment Scheme · Hansard source

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  On that point, will the Minister give way?

• 6 Jul 2026 · Payment Scheme · Hansard source

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  This is a friendly intervention, because the hon. Gentleman’s response has been very supportive, and we all recognise the cross-party consensus on getting this right. As he will be aware, last week the Prime Minister made a formal apology to the women impacted by the forced adoption scandal; some of the evidence that we got on the Education Committee was about the way that they were treated when they tried to get the records. Does he recognise the importance of the front-facing organisations that support victims of these scandals being sympathetic and supportive?

• 6 Jul 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T7. May I welcome my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Leyton and Wanstead (Mr Bailey) to his rightful place on the Front Bench? I also welcome the publishing of the defence investment plan last week. Will the Minister outline how the additional £15 billion of Ministry of Defence spending will benefit towns like Harlow?

• 2 Jul 2026 · Historical Forced Adoption · Hansard source

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  I thank the Prime Minister for coming here with this heartfelt apology. I also thank all the campaigners for being here today and for the evidence they gave to the Education Committee. I was proud to be on the Committee when we reopened this inquiry. I pay tribute to the Chair of the Select Committee, to my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes) for her work, and to the Ministers. We heard compelling evidence from mothers whose babies were so cruelly ripped away from them, as many have described, and from those who were adopted—I see Sally in the Gallery; she spoke about a feeling of not belonging. Does the Prime Minister agree that supporting the victims of this terrible injustice is about supporting not just the mothers, but the babies, now adults, who were adopted?

• 2 Jul 2026 · Unpaid Carers: Workplace Support · Hansard source

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  9. What steps his Department is taking to help support unpaid carers in the workplace.

• 2 Jul 2026 · Unpaid Carers: Workplace Support · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for her commitment to unpaid carers. I speak to unpaid carers across my constituency all the time, and I personally thank them for all that they do in caring for loved ones and in the wider community. However, so many unpaid carers I speak to tell me that they struggle to hold down a job, and many of them have had to give up really important careers. I absolutely welcome the Government’s commitment to a review, which has the potential to be absolutely transformative, but does the Minister agree that we must continue to support unpaid carers in Harlow and beyond?

• 30 Jun 2026 · Points of Order · Hansard source

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  On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. In the previous statement, conversation was had about the future of the UK Health Security Agency. You will be aware that the Government last year made a decision that the new site of the UK Health Security Agency would be in my constituency of Harlow. It is therefore not subject to the defence investment plan. I just wanted to get that on the record.

• 30 Jun 2026 · Jury Trials · Hansard source

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  There are concerns that the changes the Government have made will give more power to judges to make decisions on their own, so what is the Minister doing to monitor the impact of these changes and ensure that there is transparency at all stages? Can I add, following your comment, Mr Speaker, that we would like to see Harlow magistrates court reopen as well as Chorley magistrates court?

• 30 Jun 2026 · Department for Work and Pensions · Hansard source

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  As my hon. Friend is talking about local implementation, I will pay tribute to what is being done in Harlow, and particularly at Harlow college, through programmes to support people who are not in education, employment or training. That is really paying dividends.

• 30 Jun 2026 · Department for Work and Pensions · Hansard source

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  I wonder whether my hon. Friend would like to touch on a point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Monmouthshire (Catherine Fookes). She was right to say that the Child Maintenance Service—

• 29 Jun 2026 · Asylum Accommodation · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for his statement and the work he is doing to tackle this important issue. As my Harlow constituency borders Epping, I am not unaware of the challenges that asylum hotels and the activity surrounding them pose for communities. I thank him for the work he has done on that. Is not the key issue the asylum backlog that was left by the previous Government? Can the Minister outline what this Government are doing to bring down the backlog and deal with the issue of appeals, which he mentioned in previous answers?

• 29 Jun 2026 · Youth Hubs · Hansard source

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  As you will be aware, Mr Speaker, my Harlow constituency is full of incredibly talented young people, some of whom I had the pleasure to meet at a recent Harlow college awards ceremony. Alan Milburn’s report makes it clear that young people are being let down by a broken system and deep-seated barriers, rather than by their own ambition, so will the Secretary of State outline how a youth hub in my constituency will make a massive difference to young people in Harlow, ensure that they get the skills that local employers are looking for, and build on the great work done by Harlow college?

• 29 Jun 2026 · Youth Hubs · Hansard source

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  9. What recent progress he has made on the expansion of youth hubs.

• 29 Jun 2026 · Prisoner Early Release · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for coming to the Dispatch Box and answering questions on a particularly important issue. I join my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Yardley (Jess Phillips) in being concerned not only about rapists being released early, but about the low conviction rates in rape cases. What are the Government doing to deal with that? What specifically can the Minister do to assure me that if any prisoners are released early—for whatever crime they have committed—they are being effectively monitored so that residents in Harlow feel safe, particularly given the mess and the two-tier probation service we were left with by the Conservative party? May I also ask the Minister about tagging? We have all heard stories about tags not being fit for purpose, with people able to take them off. What can we do to ensure that if people are tagged on release, those tags cannot be taken off?

• 25 Jun 2026 · Draft Conversion Practices Bill · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister wholeheartedly for her statement, and for the way in which she always carries herself at the Dispatch Box. I am very proud to call her my hon. Friend. I hope that one day I will be able to call her my right hon. Friend, but that is just my personal view and not that of the Labour party—I should be careful what I say. I have many former teaching colleagues who still talk with fear about section 28. I am really proud that it was a Labour Government who removed the terrible and divisive section 28, and I am proud that this Labour Government will ban conversion practices. Will the Minister confirm that this is a sign that this Labour Government are on the side of all of the LGBTQ+ community, in Harlow and beyond?

• 25 Jun 2026 · National Resilience Planning · Hansard source

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  I would just say to the Minister: live long and prosper. This heatwave may be considered as much man-made as naturally occurring. I am really concerned about the heat, not just in Westminster but in my constituency of Harlow. What are the Government doing to ensure that the country is resilient when it comes to heat? I know that the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has had conversations about water safety, and what we can do to ensure the safety of young people, or others, who take risks in water because of the hot weather.

• 25 Jun 2026 · Neuropsychiatric Conditions: PANS and PANDAS · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Lady for bringing this important issue to the House. The Government are introducing guidelines on this in the autumn. Does she welcome the publication of those guidelines, and does she hope that they will get rid of the inconsistencies and postcode lottery that she is describing?

• 25 Jun 2026 · Steel Trade Measure · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for his statement—he is very much the Government’s man of steel. Protecting British steelmaking capacity means we will have a reliable supply for years to come, but can the Minister confirm that this announcement is good news for downstream producers in my constituency, such as MRI Fabrications, LWC Engineering and—my favourite—the Harlow Group, all based in Harlow, for today and years to come?

• 24 Jun 2026 · Media Green Paper · Hansard source

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  Thank you, Mr Speaker—21 again. I thank the Secretary of State for her response to this urgent question, and particularly for her emphasis on the importance online literacy, which, as a former teacher—Chris Vince bingo in full force today—I know to be really important. I pay tribute to Michael Casey, editor of Your Harlow , an online newspaper that prints tens of thousands of articles every year, and that filled the hole left by Harlow Star when it closed down. I would like to build on the question from my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow South (Gordon McKee), who said that more and more people are using AI summaries to get their news, and are not relying on trusted sources. Is there not a danger that if we, and the AI companies, do not provide support to trusted sources, they will not be able to continue?

• 23 Jun 2026 · Defence Spending and Readiness · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for giving way. She is giving a really passionate speech and talking about her personal experience of being in the armed forces. It is important that the Conservative party hear again the figures she quoted in respect of the number of armed forces personnel at the start of her time in the forces and the number at the time she left, and the difference in the amount of officers. Will she also talk about what the Labour Government are doing to support our armed forces personnel and to increase morale, which is hugely important?

• 22 Jun 2026 · SEND: Improvement · Hansard source

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  As a former teacher, I know that these SEND reforms are not just necessary but vital for young people in my constituency of Harlow and beyond. Does the Minister agree that reforms in Harlow will be strengthened by multi-academy trust-level inspections and Ofsted’s welcome of the new focus on inclusion?

• 22 Jun 2026 · Spinal Muscular Atrophy: Newborn Screening Test · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Mundell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Sunderland Central (Lewis Atkinson) for opening and framing the debate. I also thank the right hon. Member for Melton and Syston (Edward Argar) for sharing Harvey’s story with us. It was really powerful, and I hope that Harvey’s memory will live on for us through this debate. One of the reasons I want to speak in this debate is that I am a new father, who celebrated his first Father’s Day yesterday, and I know how important it is for all new parents to know that their baby is healthy. I am very proud that so many of my constituents in Harlow, which borders Broxbourne, feel so passionately about this issue and signed the petition. Spinal Muscular Atrophy UK and Muscular Dystrophy UK have asked for SMA to be included in the newborn screening programme, and I thank those charities for their work. As Members will know, this issue came to the fore at the beginning of this year when Jesy Nelson’s twin daughters were diagnosed with SMA, and I thank the then Health Secretary for meeting her. The petition was launched subsequently and led to this debate. I recognise that the Government have started to roll out an in-service evaluation in NHS screening services in response to this petition, but I add my voice to those of the campaigners, the Members who have spoken in this debate and the many Harlow residents who signed the petition to urge the Government to go further and faster. The quoted 18 months for evaluation is just too long, and so many babies will not be diagnosed because of it. As my hon. Friend the Member for Sunderland Central said, the sooner this treatment is administered, the less these young people will be impacted. I also welcome his comments about screening not becoming a postcode lottery. Both those points are really important. I hope the Minister heard the passionate words of Members from across the House, in particular those of my hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth North (Amanda Martin), who is obviously hugely passionate that her constituents are not left out—I would feel the same if it was my constituency. Having worked with children, particularly young people with lifelong disabilities and their parents, for pretty much all my life before I came to this place, I know that the trauma they face never really goes away. The more we can do to support them and their children, the better.

• 18 Jun 2026 · Cost of Living: Support for Families · Hansard source

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  I want to pay tribute to three fantastic women in Harlow: Caroline Hatton, Alison Taylor and, in particular, the Rev. Jokey Poyntz at my local church, St Mary’s in Little Parndon, who for many years has run a church furniture fund—she has got me to move the odd sofa—providing furniture to those in need across our town. What work are the Church Commissioners doing to recognise the work of local churches, like St Mary’s in Little Parndon, and to learn from that good practice?