Chris Ward MP: speeches 2024

Speeches

• 12 Dec 2024 · LGBT Veterans: Etherton Review · Hansard source

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  I warmly welcome today’s debate, and I thank the Defence Secretary and the Veterans Minister for the way that they have gone about this, working with LGBT veterans and charities such as Fighting With Pride, and building on the work of the previous Government. I know that the Defence Secretary and the Veterans Minister care deeply about this issue. The Defence Secretary rightly said that this was unfinished business for Labour, and the Veterans Minister assured me when I first raised this matter with him many months ago that the scheme would be up and running by the end of the year. We can put that under the “promises kept” part of the Government’s record, and I am grateful for that. This is a profound injustice and a moral stain on the nation, as the Defence Secretary rightly said a few moments ago. Thousands of servicemen and women over many decades were interrogated, persecuted and punished for their sexuality—people who only wanted to serve our nation, but were let down in the most profound way. A constituent of mine in Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven told me that he felt “washed in shame” at the way he was discharged, imprisoned and discarded by the RAF, despite his exemplary service record. Thousands more veterans fall into that bracket, some of whom we have already heard about this afternoon and, hopefully, we will hear more about. Those people lost their career, their pay, their pension and often their family and friends, but also, as the hon. Member for South Suffolk (James Cartlidge) said, their sense of self, value and belonging. The emotional, psychological and physical impact is still being understood. That is the central point of this debate and the injustice we face—how do we ever go about rectifying something on such a scale? Harder still, how do we put a value on it and a process around it? I thank Lord Etherton for his work on this issue over many years, and recognise that the Defence Secretary and Veterans Minister have worked incredibly hard to build on the work of the previous Government to deliver this hugely welcome financial recognition scheme, which will be set up tomorrow. I know it will be welcomed by veterans in my constituency and others across the country. I will do everything I can to encourage the many LGBT veterans in my constituency to apply for it, as I hope other Members will, and as I know the Defence Secretary will. I welcome the increase in funding that has been allocated—a 50% increase is not insignificant. This is a significant commitment from this Government, and it is welcome. I also welcome the creation of two clear funding schemes: first, for those with formal discharge and dismissal; secondly, importantly, for the many who never suffered that discharge and dismissal, but who suffered much wider loss—emotional, financial and physical —as many Members have spoken about. As the Defence Secretary has said, it is also incredibly important that the option of restoring rank and removing the record of discharge has been brought forward—a point raised by many LGBT veterans I have met in my constituency surgeries and around Brighton Kemptown. It is, in some senses, as important as the financial measures announced, so I welcome that, too. However, if I may be so bold, I would also welcome clarity on a couple of points. First, what estimate has the Ministry of Defence made of the number of people likely to apply for each of the two tranches under the scheme? Secondly, what estimate has been made of what the average payment is likely to be? No two cases are the same, as the Defence Secretary said earlier. Of course, the headline figure of £70,000 is very welcome, but how many people does the Secretary of State believe will ever receive that? How many are likely to fall into those two tranches? I would welcome some clarity on that. Thirdly, how does the Secretary of State respond to the concern that by keeping a hard cap on compensation—albeit a significantly increased one—many applicants will ultimately receive quite low sums, particularly given the level of injustice that we have all stated? Fourthly, will he explain why there is a two-year cap on applications, and what the Government will be doing to ensure that all who are eligible will come forward and will be able to apply? As we know, and as we have all heard from looking at this over many months, many people are only just willing to come forward on this issue. It might take much more time to reach the many people who have suffered this injustice. I am slightly concerned about that cap, and I would welcome some clarity on it. I am conscious of time, Madam Deputy Speaker. I know there is a lot of work to do to get these schemes up and running and to get the compensation out as quickly as possible. Today is an incredibly welcome step on that journey. As we have heard, it has been a very long journey for many people—decades in the making—and time is running out to deliver justice. Above all, I thank those who have made that journey possible, especially the extraordinary LGBT veterans whom I have had the pleasure of meeting in the past five months, and Fighting With Pride, which has done so much for so many to achieve the progress we are discussing today.

• 25 Nov 2024 · Retail Crime · Hansard source

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  My constituency team and I recently visited shops on one of the busiest high streets in my constituency. Of the first 10 we visited, nine said that their staff had suffered attacks at work, and all 10 said that shoplifting was now pretty much a daily occurrence. Does the Minister agree that extra resources and extra policing are part of the answer, but that we should also be looking at programmes such as offender to rehab schemes—one of which has been rolled out in the west midlands—to make sure we are also tackling the causes of retail crime?

• 25 Nov 2024 · Retail Crime · Hansard source

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  22. What steps she is taking to help tackle retail crime.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The current national guidelines on school transport mean that children who live less than 3 miles from school do not get any support in Government funding. In my constituency, that means that some of the most deprived kids either have to walk an hour and a half a day to and from school, or their already struggling families have to find the money for their transport. Will the Minister meet me to talk about this and see whether the 3-mile limit can be changed?

• 31 Oct 2024 · LGBT Veterans Independent Review · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Burnley (Oliver Ryan) for securing this very welcome debate, and the Minister for Veterans and People, my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Selly Oak (Al Carns) for the collegiate and sympathetic way he has engaged with me and other colleagues across the House over recent weeks. I represent a constituency with a significant number of LGBT veterans, some of whom I have had the huge honour of meeting in recent weeks. I have also been fortunate enough to work with Fighting With Pride, the same organisation my hon. Friend the Member for Burnley referred to earlier, and I am pleased to say that they join us in the Public Gallery today. Let me be clear about the injustice that has been suffered here. As the Etherton review sets out, for over four decades, considerable time, resource and effort was put into hunting down people who were suspected of being gay in the armed forces. That led, among other things, to arrest, interrogation, demeaning physical inspections and medical treatments, court martial, imprisonment and being dismissed in disgrace. As we have heard, this left many LGBT veterans, often at a young age, with criminal records, and no jobs, income or family support. In the short time I have, I just want to highlight one case, a constituent of mine who I met last week. Steve joined the RAF in 1971 at the age of 16. He worked on Vulcan Bombers at RAF Waddington, served three tours of the Falklands, and was stationed in West Germany. He had an impeccable service record. In 1985, he was investigated by the RAF over a relationship with a male officer. He made the fatal mistake of telling the truth and was sentenced to six months in jail. He lost his rank, all his financial benefits, his family and the career he loved. When he was released he was 28 years old, homeless and had nowhere to turn. As I said, I met Steve. He is a man of huge honour and courage, but these are the words he said to me: “I felt washed in shame. My career was shattered. I had a criminal record. I had no pension and had to live hand to mouth for the rest of life surviving on benefits.” I raise Steve’s case not because it is unique. In fact, as we have heard today, it is not even an outlier. It is sadly typical of the story of too many LGBT veterans: loss of earnings, loss of dignity and loss of purpose not over the short term, but over a lifetime. That is why I gently ask the Minister, who has been incredibly sympathetic—and while I recognise the financial situation under which the Government operate—whether capping payments at an average of around £12,500 per person can really be appropriate for the level of injustice suffered by Steve and so many other LGBT veterans? Finally, the Defence Secretary, for whom I have enormous respect, said when the Etherton report was published: “This is unfinished business for Labour.” —[ Official Report , 13 December 2023; Vol. 742, c. 899.] I agree, and I know that the Veterans Minister will want to complete that work and finally deliver the justice for which LGBT veterans have been waiting far too long.

• 17 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T8. Historic England recently announced a £750,000 commitment to rebuilding the beautiful Victorian arches of Madeira Terrace in my constituency, which the Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism visited with me during the election campaign. That commitment is welcome, but such projects are expensive and take time, so what can the Secretary of State do to support heritage projects around the country, and will she come to Brighton with me to see the work in progress?

• 15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source

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  Will my right hon. Friend give way?

• 15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source

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  I am delighted to see the Minister picking up from where Harold Wilson left off. Does he not agree that the key part of the Bill is about making our legislature much more relevant to modern Britain and modernising both Parliament and the country? Is it not inexplicable and indefensible to have hereditary peers in the 21st century in modern Britain?

• 14 Oct 2024 · LGBT Veterans · Hansard source

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  5. What progress he has made on implementing the recommendations of the LGBT veterans independent review.

• 14 Oct 2024 · LGBT Veterans · Hansard source

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  LGBT veterans have suffered appalling injustice and ingratitude, including many in my Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven constituency. I welcome the update from the Minister, but he will know that it is recommendation 28 on financial redress and compensation that is causing concern among veterans. Because the report caps compensation at £50 million, the average payment per veteran might be as low as £12,500. The then Prime Minister, now the Leader of the Opposition, rightly told the House that the ban was “an appalling failure of the British state”. —[ Official Report , 19 July 2023; Vol. 736, c. 897.] Will the Minister meet me and Fighting With Pride to discuss how we can take this forward to get fair and swift compensation?

• 9 Oct 2024 · Renters’ Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for North Northumberland (David Smith), as well as all the excellent maiden speeches made this afternoon. I grew up in Brighton, and my parents grew up in Peacehaven, so it is a huge honour and responsibility to represent the great constituency of Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven. It is also a privilege to speak in this debate, because of all the Bills in the King’s Speech, this one will have the most immediate and far-ranging impact on my constituency. Why? Quite simply, housing is the single biggest issue there. It makes up around two thirds of the casework that I receive and dominates every constituency surgery, from overcrowding—typically a mum, dad and three kids crammed into a two-bedroom flat—to overpricing, with home ownership now beyond the reach of far too many, and landlords charging London prices in a city that does not pay London wages. In Brighton, there is also a persistent problem of homelessness and temporary accommodation, especially in the western part of my constituency. There are at least 7,500 on the council house waiting list, while 1,600 households, 50% of which have children, are living in temporary accommodation. On top of that, my constituency has the among the highest numbers of high and medium-rise blocks outside London, with people trapped for years in unsellable and unsuitable homes. You can see why, Madam Deputy Speaker, I wanted to make my maiden speech on the issue of housing. The Bill is a big step in the right direction. Justlife, a wonderful charity operating with people in temporary accommodation in Brighton, tells me that around a quarter of all homelessness applications in the city are a result of section 21 no-fault evictions. The Bill will finally outlaw that. As the Secretary of State said earlier, applying the decent homes standard to the private rented sector will also give renters the safety and security that they need. There will be new powers for renters to challenge the excessive rent rises that we see far too often in Brighton. Given that one in four people in my constituency live in the private rented sector, that is why the Bill will have an immediate and far-reaching impact. I thank my predecessors. When Dennis Hobden won Brighton Kemptown for Labour in 1964, he did so by seven votes and became the first Labour MP in the whole of Sussex. I am pleased to report that there are now six Labour MPs across Sussex—we are so numerous that we have our own WhatsApp group. I also thank Lloyd Russell-Moyle, who represented Brighton Kemptown for the past seven years. In particular, I thank Lloyd for his work championing LGBTQ rights, an incredibly important issue in Brighton Kemptown, given that it has one of the largest LGBTQ communities in the country. I also praise Lloyd’s campaign to ban the heinous practice of conversion therapy—a ban that I am proud to say this Labour Government will now pick up and take forward. I am delighted to say that I am the first Member of Parliament for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven. Quite right, too, because a third of my constituency extends beyond the boundaries of the city and reaches as far east as Peacehaven. Named at the end of world war one, Peacehaven lies on the Greenwich meridian, perched high above the cliff of the south downs looking out at the English channel. It is a wonderful place—although I am contractually obliged to say that, because it is where both my parents grew up, in neighbouring streets, more years ago than they would like me to admit. I am sure that many Members will have visited my constituency at some point, whether for a trip to the seaside; to see the bustling shops of Kemptown, the tranquillity of the south downs, Rudyard Kipling’s house in Rottingdean or the wonderfully restored art deco lido in Saltdean; or simply to jet-ski around Brighton marina, as the leader of the Liberal Democrats prefers to do. For those who have not had the pleasure of going, the easiest way to picture my constituency is running from west to east, from Brighton pier to Peacehaven, and from north to south, from the Amex stadium, which is home to my beloved Brighton and Hove Albion— [ Interruption. ] Thank you very much. And through the south downs to the seafront. In between, one can see the diversity and beauty of my constituency: the vibrancy of Kemptown, the proud working-class communities of Whitehawk and Moulsecoomb, the small towns known collectively as the Deans—Woodingdean, Bevendean, Ovingdean, Saltdean and Rottingdean—and the beautiful green spaces and sloping streets of Queen’s Park. But if we look closely, we also see something else: the inequality and injustice that holds back too many lives across my constituency. Behind the picture postcard view—the downs, the pier, the lido—one in four children in my constituency grow up in relative poverty. Whitehawk, a stone’s throw from the bustle of Kemptown, is in the 10% of most deprived wards in the whole country, and Moulsecoomb—within sight of the riches of the Amex and the excellence of Sussex and Brighton universities—is the second most deprived ward in Sussex. That inequality matters: it thwarts potential and holds back life chances. As the excellent local campaign group Class Divide emphasises, children from the poorest parts of my constituency are twice as likely to be excluded from school, three times more likely to be placed outside mainstream schooling, and half as likely to get good GCSE grades. Life expectancy itself varies by seven years between the poorest wards in my constituency and the rest. The Prime Minister often says that for him, politics is not about left or right; it is about who you have in your mind’s eye when you make a decision. I hope that for the time I have the great honour of representing the constituency and community that I love, I will always have in my mind’s eye those who are at the sharp end of that inequality.