Clive Jones MP: speeches 2024

77 published records · newest first.

Speeches

20 Nov 2024 · Apprenticeships and T-Levels · Hansard source
More
Will the right hon. Member give way?
20 Nov 2024 · Apprenticeships and T-Levels · Hansard source
More
Many residents in my constituency of Wokingham are concerned about the uncertainty around T-level courses and other existing level 3 qualifications. Students in Wokingham have been looking at courses and colleges to apply to, and some colleges are currently unable to confirm existing level 3 courses. Does my hon. Friend agree that the current lack of clarity about the implementation of T-level courses is causing unnecessary stress to parents, students and teachers?
13 Nov 2024 · Export and Investment Guarantees · Hansard source
More
Boosting British exports, especially for our small businesses, is vital to creating jobs and economic growth, and it absolutely must be a strategic priority for the Government. This secondary legislation is a welcome step forward, giving UK Export Finance the opportunity to grow its portfolio of projects to help deliver for businesses across the country. This measure will be very important to my constituents, as Wokingham is one of the best places in the country to do business, and the Government should continue to help unlock our growth potential. We ranked 15th of 362 local authorities for competitiveness between 2017 and 2021. The gross value added per filled job vacancy was 23.5%, which is significantly faster than the rest of Berkshire and the south-east. My constituency has great examples of where Government support programmes have delivered success, such as M2M Pharmaceuticals, which won a King’s award for enterprise this year. Tomorrow, I am visiting Intersurgical, another great success story for Wokingham business, which designs, manufactures and supplies medical devices. Having grown from seven people in 1982 to upwards of 3,500 employees worldwide, it now exports its products globally. However, I am sure it is deeply concerned about the Budget’s impact on maintaining its profitability. I look forward to hearing from the company what more the Government need to do to support its success. There is certainly more that should be done to boost British exporters and improve Britain’s trade policy. To start, the Government urgently need to fix our broken relations with the EU to foster closer co-operation with our largest trading partner. We must cut vast swathes of red tape and reduce the trade barriers that hold back our businesses. For example, the Government should urgently negotiate a veterinary and plant health agreement with the EU to reverse the decline in British agrifood exports since 2019. Securing bespoke mutual recognition agreements for Britain’s engineers, architects, lawyers and accountants would also help British businesses across a variety of sectors to secure greater export opportunities. The trade associations I have met made one thing overtly clear: the impact of Brexit is hurting their profits, and we need to fix this mess. On trade, I hope this Government do not follow the Conservative party’s approach of negotiating trade deals in desperation, which led to weak outcomes, as we can see from the results. For instance, the Conservatives failed to guarantee British standards on animal welfare and environmental protections in agreements such as the Australia trade deal, at an especially difficult time for the agriculture sector. Even a Tory former Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs described that agreement as “not actually a very good deal”. —[ Official Report , 14 November 2022; Vol. 722, c. 424.] Parliament never gets a proper say on our trade deals, eliminating the opportunity to stop the Government barrelling ahead with deals that are deeply unpopular. I respect the Minister greatly, but there is a lot to get right, and to fix from the previous Government. Will he meet me and representatives from Wokingham businesses, such as Bexprt, which is struggling to secure UK export finance, to hear what they need from his Department? Will he set out to the House the specific forms of scrutiny we will get when the Government conclude the trade deal? Will his Department renegotiate the Australia and New Zealand trade agreement?
12 Nov 2024 · NHS Dentistry: South-west · Hansard source
More
I thank my hon. Friend for securing this important debate. I am sure that the issues in the south-west are similar to, and as challenging as, those in Wokingham in Berkshire. Commons Library data states that only 32.6% of children in Wokingham have seen a dentist in the past two years, compared with a 40.3% figure for the whole of England. Both figures show the Conservative party legacy of rotten teeth, fillings and agony. Arborfield and Swallowfield in my constituency are without dedicated dentists. That simply is not good enough. Does he agree that NHS primary care needs to be properly funded?
12 Nov 2024 · Breast Cancer: Younger Women · Hansard source
More
I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate. After I survived breast cancer, one of my many emotional conversations with my daughters was about having the BRCA gene. Currently, there is a postcode lottery for the availability of counselling with proper genetic guidance for those who are identified as having the gene. Does my hon. Friend agree that NHS England should ensure equitable access to information and counselling services, and that fixing the system should be a feature of the Government’s future cancer strategy?
12 Nov 2024 · Transport Infrastructure Projects: Elizabeth Line · Hansard source
More
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Vickers. I thank my fellow Berkshire MP, the hon. Member for Reading Central (Matt Rodda), because many of the trains that pass through my constituency land in his, so it is something that we need to have regular discussions about. Our constituents want us to get this right. Wokingham is well served with choices to get to London, and many commuters take the journey every day. To provide a brief tour, residents in Winnersh and Wokingham are slowly taken by South Western Railway through a suburban route via Waterloo to the Reading line. In the north, Twyford is on the Great Western main line into Paddington, carried by the Elizabeth line and Great Western Railway. It is a blessing that all 8.8 million Londoners are merely 33 minutes away from the many beautiful villages in Wokingham. The Elizabeth line is a great addition to London and its route through Berkshire, helping to promote a shift from private vehicles and in turn reducing carbon emissions and particulate pollution. However, Wokingham has one of the highest levels of car dependency in England, and the quality of our railways likely explains why that is the case. Our railway services are unreliable and they do not work for passengers. I thank the House of Commons Library for the following data. Only 66.6% of GWR services arrive on time, below the UK average of 67.5%. South Western is marginally better, on 66.8%, but still below the national average. With that perspective, I must give credit to the Elizabeth line, because 81% of its services arrive on time. In addition, 4.8% of all GWR services are cancelled—again, above the national average. That might not sound too bad on the face of it, but if I forgot my house keys 4.8% of the time, I would be locked out of my house 18 days every year. For someone travelling on a Great Western service on Monday 28 October, 55 services were cancelled and 301 trains were late. How can we expect people to travel by train if passengers are not getting to where they need to be at the right time and for a reasonable price? As the Government begin a process of nationalising the railways, we need to seriously reflect on how we got here in the first place and how we can ensure that we are never here again, because people in Wokingham will continue to use cars if trains are not working for them. I ask the Minister this: how do the Government intend to increase the reliability of service on the Great Western main line, and will he explain the role better infrastructure plays in that? What particular attention has been given to improving the reliability and speed of the Waterloo to Reading line? When can my constituents expect genuine change from Great British Railways? Finally, I support the proposal to build a western rail link to Heathrow airport. Heathrow airport, the Thames Valley chamber of commerce, local MPs and many other organisations have backed the proposal, so Network Rail should get on and build it. Will the Minister confirm that the Secretary of State’s infrastructure review will include considering a western link to Heathrow airport, and will the Minister for Rail meet with me to discuss the proposal?
11 Nov 2024 · Pension Credit: Uptake · Hansard source
More
As the Minister will know, the Chancellor’s cruel decision to tie winter fuel allowance to pension credit, despite knowing that the uptake of pension credit is very low, will force thousands of vulnerable pensioners to choose heating or eating this winter. With 16,577 pensioners in Wokingham expected to be affected by the cuts, will she extend the deadline to apply for pension credit and consider pledging further support to increase take-up?
11 Nov 2024 · Pension Credit: Uptake · Hansard source
More
14. What estimate her Department has made of the number of pensioners eligible for Pension Credit but not claiming it.
6 Nov 2024 · Farming: Support · Hansard source
More
7. What discussions she is having with the Welsh Government on support for the farming industry in Wales.
6 Nov 2024 · Farming: Support · Hansard source
More
The Secretary of State, while in opposition, warned that the New Zealand trade deal would push Welsh farmers into bankruptcy and noted that Australian meat was produced at a far lower standard than in Wales. I agree. My constituents want high-quality Welsh lamb, beef and chicken. Will the Minister therefore push her colleagues in the Department for Business and Trade to review the Australia and New Zealand trade agreement and get it right for our farming communities?
6 Nov 2024 · Uyghur and Turkic Muslims: Forced Labour in China · Hansard source
More
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. I congratulate the hon. Member for East Renfrewshire (Blair McDougall) on securing a debate on such an important topic. It is also good to see the Minister; I look forward to working constructively with him. The Liberal Democrats welcome the news that the Court of Appeal has overruled the National Crime Agency’s decision not to launch an investigation into whether high-street brands are using forced labour in the Xinjiang province in China. I congratulate the Global Legal Action Network and World Uyghur Congress on that success. Importantly, in the short term, the ruling means that the National Crime Agency needs to seriously consider its decision not to carry out an investigation, because with 19 billion units of clothing produced in China yearly, it is not unbelievable that much of it is produced by detainees in Xinjiang. The Global Legal Action Network says that there is an abundance of evidence that UK companies import cotton made with forced labour from China, and that 85% of Chinese cotton is grown in the Xinjiang region. Let there be no confusion: slavery is not an issue of the past. Today, almost 50 million people worldwide are trapped in slavery. That is why the Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to reverse the Conservative party’s roll-backs of modern slavery protections and to introduce legislation obliging retailers to guarantee full traceability of their supply chains, ensuring ethically sourced materials, decent livelihoods and safe working conditions in the products that we buy. My constituents in Wokingham do not want to buy clothes that are the result of forced labour, but they simply do not know where they are sourced from. Retailers need to be forced to take action to review their supply chains and take due diligence seriously. We should not allow evil to profit from British consumers. We should not let genocide be a means of increasing a company’s profit margin. We are better than that. I would like to focus on the word “genocide” for a moment. In 2020, the world discovered that the Chinese Government’s treatment of the Uyghurs was more widespread and systematic than previously known: forced sterilisation, destruction of religious sites, torture, and detainment in re-education camps. The appeal judges in the National Crime Agency ruling stated that there was “a diverse, substantial and growing body of evidence” that human rights violations are taking place in the region. The horrific acts found in Xinjiang have been described in different ways, with the UN concluding that China’s actions would constitute crimes against humanity. The Liberal Democrats agree with Sir Geoffrey Nice KC, whose independent tribunal found that the Uyghurs are being subject to genocide by China. Specifically, these actions constitute a genocide based on the description of genocide laid out in article 6 of the Rome statute of the International Criminal Court. The Liberal Democrats believe that the Government need to be explicit in their condemnation of these actions as being those of a genocide. In recognising that, we need to champion human rights and support survivors and the Uyghur and the Turkic people, who are being persecuted simply for their beliefs. The Liberal Democrats are calling for the Government to issue a comprehensive China strategy that places human rights and effective rules-based multilateralism at its centre. My colleagues and I will continue to stand up for people’s human rights around the globe, to protect, defend and promote human rights for all, including those persecuted for their religion and belief. Liberalism and co-operation have a vital role to play in securing peace, promoting democracy and defending human rights across the world. The UK must work with its global allies to ensure the end of the persecution of the Uyghurs and Turkic people. The UK must introduce a general duty of care for the environment and human rights in business operations and supply chains, to guarantee that no human is taken advantage of for a piece of clothing. I ask the Minister to support the Liberal Democrat policies laid out in my speech. Will he back Magnitsky-style sanctions on persons and entities involved in the persecution of Uyghurs and the Turkic people, under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018? Will he ensure that the UK grants asylum to those fleeing genocide—and, to reiterate, will he explicitly condemn the actions of the Chinese state as genocide?
6 Nov 2024 · Fuel Poverty · Hansard source
More
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. I thank my right hon. Friend the Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) for securing this very important debate. I am pleased that the Minister and the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine (Andrew Bowie), are present to listen. My colleagues are exactly right: tackling fuel poverty needs to be a priority for the Government. Progress has stalled under the Conservatives, with no notable decrease in the percentage of households in fuel poverty since 2019. The situation in the country is pretty dire and we need action now. UK homes are among the least energy-efficient in Europe, making fuel poverty worse given the cost of heating. A Resolution Foundation study noted that UK housing stock offers the worst value for money of any advanced economy. I was particularly shocked, like my hon. Friend the Member for Winchester (Dr Chambers), to read that British housing is the oldest in Europe, with 38% of homes built before 1946. That is particularly noteworthy given that four years before that date, in 1942, Sir William Beveridge, the Liberal economist, politician and true father of the NHS, published his report uncovering the five great evils that plagued British society. One of the great evils in his report was “squalor”. He was shocked by the condition of housing, with its link to ill health and the discomfort that brought to inhabitants. More than 81 years later, however, he must be rolling in his grave. We still find ourselves failing to do the basic duty of a welfare state: we are unable to protect the most vulnerable in our society. That has a tangible impact on people’s lives. Again, as my hon. Friend the Member for Winchester said, the NHS spends an estimated £1.4 billion annually on treating illnesses associated with cold and damp housing. When wider societal costs are considered, such as healthcare, that figure rises to £15.4 billion. With that information in mind, I am perplexed about why the Government axed the winter fuel payment and allowed the greater evil of squalor to grow deeper into our communities. In my constituency of Wokingham, vulnerable pensioners continue to express concerns that they are not being considered by this Government. Age UK’s data shows that the vast majority of older people in poverty, or those just £55 a week above the poverty line, will not be protected from the cuts to the winter fuel payment. We need to ensure that they are protected, especially at a time when energy bills are set to rise yet again this winter. With 16,577 pensioners in Wokingham expected to be affected, yet again I make clear my complete and total opposition to the cut in the winter fuel payment. That is why I voted against the Government’s decision to scrap it, and why I have suggested in the main Chamber alternative means by which the Government could have paid for reversing the cuts, without any additional burden on the Exchequer. Despite overwhelming opposition from all over the country, however, the Government clearly intend to press ahead with their cuts. I therefore join my Lib Dem colleagues in calling on the Minister to set out how the Government intend to support households to cut their energy bills, and especially how they will ensure that pensioners are protected from fuel poverty.
5 Nov 2024 · Police Funding · Hansard source
More
I absolutely agree that local police officers and PCSOs are invaluable. If they have a connection with the local community, they do a very good job. Thames Valley police protect 2.5 million people and cover 196 miles of motorway, and I am proud of the manner in which they serve our community. It is, however, a disgrace that their hard work is severely let down by the previous Government’s reckless mismanagement of police forces. In the Thames Valley, we have only 198 police officers per 100,000 people. That is below the national average of 245. Only 88.1% of police officers in our area are in frontline roles, which is below the national average of 90.3%, and we only have seven special constables per 100,000 people, which is also below the national average of 10 per 100,000; that is a complete failure. Thames Valley police force needs more resources. The Conservative party’s dereliction of duty is evident in the consequences of the previous Government’s under-investment. Between October 2021 and September 2024, retail crime surged by 35.4%, from 10,306 cases to a massive 18,208 cases. Robberies have also surged, with a shocking 143% increase in robbery from businesses. In fact, within the Bracknell and Wokingham area, robbery from business property has risen by the higher figure of 147.4%. Whether at the national level or the local level, our communities have been failed. I recognise that the Government have inherited a mess, but they must urgently restore the proper community policing that people deserve. We must get more police officers out on to the street, and that should be funded by scrapping the wasteful, expensive police and crime commissioner experiment, and investing the savings in frontline policing instead. We also need to address the dramatic cut in the number of PCSOs, and free up existing officers’ time so they can focus on local policing. That is why the Liberal Democrats are calling for a new national online crime agency to take over the policing of crimes like online fraud and abuse, leaving local forces more time to tackle burglaries and other neighbourhood crimes. For years, the previous Conservative Government failed to keep our communities safe from crime, but the new Government have said that they will act, so I ask the Minister how and when the new Government will deliver their manifesto promise of recruiting more neighbourhood officers. The details should be brought forward urgently.
5 Nov 2024 · Police Funding · Hansard source
More
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. I congratulate the hon. Member for North Down (Alex Easton) on securing this debate. Everyone deserves to feel safe in their own home, walking down their own streets, on public transport and in their town centres, but for far too many people in the UK today, that is simply not reality. The previous Conservative Government failed to keep our community safe from crime; their unnecessary cuts left our police forces overstretched, under-resourced and unable to focus on the crimes that affect our communities the most. Every day, 6,000 cases are closed by the police across England and Wales without a suspect ever having been identified. Meanwhile, just 6% of crimes reported to the police result in a suspect being charged, and three in four burglaries and car thefts go unsolved. From 2015, the Conservative Government slashed the number of police community support officers by more than 4,500. My constituency of Wokingham is served by Thames Valley police force—the largest non-Metropolitan force in England and Wales—which does incredible work and is led selflessly by officers and civilian staff.
5 Nov 2024 · Income Tax (Charge) · Hansard source
More
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I must apologise to the House for not making a declaration at the beginning of my speech. I am a governor of the Royal Berkshire hospital, and I have a family member who has shares in a health company. I apologise for not mentioning it at the beginning of my speech.
5 Nov 2024 · Income Tax (Charge) · Hansard source
More
My constituency has suffered from the previous Government’s failure to fix our NHS. My constituents were promised a rebuild of the Royal Berkshire hospital. That amounted to nothing. The Conservatives failed to fund the programme; they did not allocate the proper amount of money and they dithered and delayed. I therefore welcome this Government’s extra funding in the Budget for the NHS and its infrastructure. However, they need to make clear how they will manage a backlog of maintenance repairs amounting to £102 million for the Royal Berkshire hospital, on top of upwards of £1.3 billion required to build a new hospital. The trust could start construction as early as 2028, but that requires urgent confirmation that the funding will go ahead. Does the Minister agree that a hospital sooner rather than later will deliver better outcomes for patients? I do not blame the Government for the financial mess that they have inherited from the Conservatives, but when it comes to primary care, the Budget has taken one step forward but two steps back. I simply do not understand why, at a time when Wokingham has an increasing GP-to-patient ratio and a growing population, the Chancellor has decided to levy a tax on jobs through the national insurance employer contribution. That will impact GP care provision and leave our overstretched services struggling even more. I am campaigning for the community of Arborfield to have their own dedicated GP practice. My constituents are crying out for change so that they can get the services that they deserve. Does the Minister agree that GPs in Wokingham and across England should be protected from the national insurance hike? If that does not happen, we risk losing their services. Will he engage with my local integrated care board to impress upon it the need to fund a GP surgery in the community of Arborfield?
5 Nov 2024 · NHS Dentistry: Rural Areas · Hansard source
More
I thank my hon. Friend for giving way. At a time when tooth decay is the most common reason for hospital admission in children aged between six and 10, and when my constituents in rural areas such as Swallowfield and Hurst struggle to access dentists, does she agree that the Conservative party has fundamentally failed the country on dentistry?
31 Oct 2024 · Cancer Strategy for England · Hansard source
More
I thank you, Mr Betts, and the Minister for giving me a few minutes to sum up; that is very kind. I thank colleagues from all political parties who contributed to the debate. I made notes of what everybody said. I do not think that I can go through all of them, but I have to say that I agree with the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon): we have got from the Government another £22 billion for the NHS, and that has to be welcomed. I am also very pleased to say that I agree with everything that the right hon. Member for Herne Bay and Sandwich (Sir Roger Gale) said. Children should be included in clinical trials; I totally agree. I am very pleased that he also said that there should be a national cancer strategy. I am delighted that the wife of my hon. Friend the Member for Cheltenham (Max Wilkinson) has had successful treatment—the same that I had. Both the Minister and the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Dr Spencer), were kind enough to mention that I have helped to raise over £800,000. But it is not just me; many other people have been involved in the raising of that £800,000. My daughters and I did skydives. They went out of the plane first, and that really made me decide that I had to go out as well—I did not want to! We have had dinners, tea parties and golf days with friends, and the two very big events have been fashion shows in front of 1,000 people. If Members think that it is daunting to make their maiden speech in Parliament, they should imagine what it is like to walk out in front of 1,000 people, dressed in a ridiculous pink three-piece suit. That was not the easiest thing that I have ever had to do. I was really pleased to hear the Minister say that he has heard loud and clear the request from all of us for a national cancer strategy. I hope that in the next few weeks, few months, or certainly by the end of the spring and beginning of the summer, he will have been able to persuade the Secretary of State that we need a national cancer strategy. It is a very popular policy. Eight out of 10 people want us to have a national cancer strategy. Many, many cancer charities want us to have a national cancer strategy. It would be really good if the Minister and the Secretary of State could help to deliver one. Question put and agreed to . Resolved , That this House has considered the potential merits of a cancer strategy for England.
31 Oct 2024 · Cancer Strategy for England · Hansard source
More
I thank the hon. Member for her very good intervention. We are lucky in this country to have many life science businesses, many of which would really like to work as part of a joined-up cancer strategy. I have several in my constituency that I know would really like to do that, so I thank her for making that very good point. Let us utilise this crucial opportunity to fix our cancer services. Some 360 people will die of cancer in the Wokingham area in the next year, and there will be around 2,000 cancer deaths over the next five years of this Parliament. We need to do our best to ensure that that figure is not reached but comes down.
31 Oct 2024 · Cancer Strategy for England · Hansard source
More
I am aware of that report and will refer to it later in my speech. The challenges will only grow. Experts state that one in two of us will get cancer in our lifetime. An expanding and ageing population means that the number of cancer cases is only going to grow. Cancer Research UK projects that there will be about 2.2 million new cancer cases in the current five-year parliamentary term, a 21% increase on the previous term. Cancer services are struggling now, and they will continue to struggle to keep up with demand. We have a greater number of people being diagnosed, but we have services that are not working. The challenge is stark, but there is a diagnosis for the problem. We now need to deliver meaningful action to recover England’s cancer care to full health. The Liberal Democrats have made cancer care one of our top priorities for health. There are many policies that we think are crucial to boosting cancer survival rates. We are calling for the introduction of a guarantee for 100% of patients to start treatment within 62 days of urgent referral. We cannot just be content with replacing old radiotherapy equipment; we need replacements, but we also need more equipment. We are calling for the recruitment of more cancer nurses so that every patient has a dedicated specialist supporting them throughout their treatment. Those crucial policies all feed into the very first step we must take, which is to give England the dedicated cancer strategy that it needs. It beggars belief that we do not have one. A cancer strategy is the best route to delivering genuine improvements for patients, for their families and loved ones and for those who work in our health system to research, prevent, diagnose and treat cancer. The recent announcement of a 10-year health plan for England and its aim to improve health outcomes for all is very welcome, but I fear that the plan for all could be a plan for none. For example, analysis from Bowel Cancer UK found that the existing NHS long-term plan failed to sufficiently address the barriers to early diagnosis for bowel cancer. That is the case for many cancers. The approach is just too broad. We need detail, we need political will to be focused and we need a rapid and urgent turnaround. A dedicated cancer strategy would provide a huge opportunity to fix the entire system, not just for the present but for the future—for our children and our grandchildren. It will not be simple or easy: that is why a strategy requires political will and bold leadership to bring Whitehall together and make tackling cancer a priority. It is clear that when there is strong, bold leadership, cancer strategies work. That is the case across the world. At present, internationally and across our four nations in the UK, England is an outlier in not having a cancer strategy. Comparable countries with a cancer strategy have seen greater improvements in survival rates. For example, having started from a similar position in the 1990s, countries such as Denmark have raced ahead of England in improving survival in recent decades. Denmark’s success is linked to a series of cancer strategies that successfully and strategically built on one another over a 20-year period to tackle critical issues facing cancer services. Past cancer strategies in England have worked. The 2000 cancer plan for England set ambitious targets across research, prevention and care outcomes. A report by the National Audit Office found that that strategy had supported progress in most aspects of patient experience. The last Conservative Government launched a consultation on a 10-year cancer plan for England in February 2022. They promised to wage a war on cancer, yet the then Health Secretary, the right hon. Member for North East Cambridgeshire (Steve Barclay), scrapped the dedicated cancer strategy, turning it into a broader major conditions strategy. Delays, delays and more delays meant that the strategy was never published. That is just another legacy of failure from the Conservatives. In May 2024, the Health and Social Care Committee wrote to the Government and argued that it was a mistake for the Conservatives to abandon the 10-year cancer plan. The current Government have the opportunity to turn that around. Having a cancer strategy is very popular with the public. Almost eight in 10 people think that the Government need to develop a long-term and fully funded plan for cancer. Organisations ranging from Cancer Research UK and Breast Cancer Now to global biopharmaceutical companies and medical institutions support having a cancer strategy for England. Yes, this requires effort, cross-Government thinking and focus, and the ambition to make England and the UK a world leader in cancer outcomes and research. But that effort will mean that we have the chance to save tens of thousands of lives and that millions of people will not need to suffer the upset of losing a loved one or friend. Last week, I tabled a private Member’s Bill—the National Cancer Strategy Bill—calling for the Government to implement a cancer strategy for England. But unlike other private Members’ Bills, mine does not need to be law for that to happen; the Government could make the decision tomorrow to kick-start the work to implement it. Indeed, if my interpretation of Hansard is correct, they may well be intending to do so. In response to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan), the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care recently said that the Government will “work tirelessly through a national cancer plan to make sure that we deliver the cancer waiting time standards that the last Labour Government met”. —[ Official Report , 15 October 2024; Vol. 754, c. 684.] A national cancer plan sounds quite similar to a national cancer strategy, and I would like to use the final section of my speech to make some recommendations to the Secretary of State as to what his cancer plan could and probably should include, because if the Department is seriously considering doing this, it will need to get it right. Broadly, the plan needs to cover all aspects of cancer prevention, research and care. It requires political leadership to bring together stakeholders to develop a strategy and co-ordinate implementation. It requires dedicated governance. There must be a robust central oversight function with a mandate to bridge the gap between disconnected Government structures. It must clearly detail how it will implement the strategy, with measurable objectives and achievable timelines. It must have regular, robust and transparent reporting of implementation and, inevitably, it needs dedicated resources to enable the right change. A cancer strategy also provides the opportunity for us to unlock innovation in the future. We are living in a golden age of cancer science. New types of cancer treatment, from immunotherapies to cell and gene therapies, are enabling clinicians to attack cancer from multiple angles. These advances are helping to improve cancer outcomes. Therefore, I implore the Government, if they do take up a cancer strategy, to look at how the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence can be reformed to unblock barriers to investment and to strengthen the current infrastructure to increase genomics and biomarker testing. I could go on. We could discuss the historical lack of strategic direction in terms of having a national policy for blood cancer, or the fact that every day 12 children and young people hear the news that they have cancer. Sadly, 10 die every week, making cancer the biggest killer by disease of children and young people in the UK. Despite that, it remains overlooked in existing strategies and reviews. That reflects the scale of the challenge we face in English cancer services; it feels like a never-ending list of things that we need to fix. I will use this opportunity to ask the Minister a few questions. Can he assure people living with cancer and cancer charities that the Government will address the current crisis facing cancer services and build long-term resilience through a dedicated cancer strategy? Will he give his support to my private Member’s Bill, which would put into legislation a requirement for the Government to establish a 10-year cancer strategy? Will he meet me and, more importantly, representatives of the cancer community to discuss the need for a cancer strategy? Finally, will he make the case to his colleague the Minister for Secondary Care that the Royal Berkshire hospital requires an urgent rebuild?
31 Oct 2024 · Cancer Strategy for England · Hansard source
More
I beg to move, That this House has considered the potential merits of a cancer strategy for England. It is an honour to serve under your guidance this afternoon, Mr Betts. This debate is significant to me for many reasons. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008, it came as a massive shock to me and my family. Questions whirled around in a haze of uncertainty: “Is it serious? What happens next? What does the future look like? What treatment will I have?” Some people think, “Am I going to die?”, and, sadly, far too many do. Cancer is an evil that takes your life completely out of your own hands. The hardest thing I had to do was to tell my two daughters about my diagnosis. They were 13 and 14. It was a very emotional time. Was our family of four about to become a family of three? Because of the delay in diagnosis, my cancer spread. I had surgery twice, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. I was one of the lucky ones who survived. Looking back on my personal experience of the NHS, I can only be grateful and thankful for the service I received. Our NHS consultants, oncologists, radiologists, radiographers, histopathologists and specialist nurses work with diligence and dedication to provide their patients with the best possible care. Yet it is hard not to reflect that being diagnosed in 2008 was in one respect a blessing, because cancer care in 2024 is simply not working. Lord Darzi’s independent investigation of the NHS in England plainly said: “The National Health Service is in serious trouble.” It did not surprise me to read his report calling out the failings in cancer care. I felt genuine anger when he highlighted that some of our services are lagging behind those of other countries. As a stark reminder, the UK has higher cancer mortality rates than any comparable country. One patient in three waits longer than 31 days for radical radiotherapy. The national target to start treatment within 62 days of an urgent referral has never been met since 2015. The Conservative party should be ashamed of those statistics. In my constituency of Wokingham, most cancer care is delivered at the Royal Berkshire hospital, and I am thankful that we have fantastic people working there. I am sure Ministers in the Department of Health and Social Care are sick of me saying this, but that hospital urgently needs a rebuild. The consequences of delay, disrepair and degradation put patients on the frontline of risk to their health, and they see at first hand the consequences of failing to invest in the future. That is especially clear in cancer care. Some of the Royal Berkshire cancer treatment is performed in buildings that were built when Viscount Melbourne was Prime Minister: in 1839. A broken estate is one of many issues stopping cancer standards from being met and is putting patients at risk. Across the country, the target of 85% of patients starting their first definitive treatment within 62 days of referral is not being met. The statistics are shocking. These are people with families and friends. They deserve better.
31 Oct 2024 · Cancer Strategy for England · Hansard source
More
I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. This is why we need a national cancer strategy. So many cancers do not get the resources they need. Everything is a bit too general; a lot of cancers need the focused, targeted resources that will lead to better outcomes.
31 Oct 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source
More
The Conservative party undercut farmers when they signed the UK-Australia trade deal, which allows for imports that use practices banned in the UK. The Environment Secretary promised that he would prevent farmers and the UK’s environmental and welfare standards from being sold out. Will the Leader of the House bring her colleagues together to set out how they intend to review the Australia free trade agreement, and can there be a debate in Government time on this matter?
31 Oct 2024 · High Street Businesses · Hansard source
More
In my constituency, the number of people shopping on our high streets has not returned to pre-covid levels, and we have lost anchor stores such as Marks & Spencer, and several banks. The Government urgently need to save our high streets, but the reduction in retail, hospitality and leisure business rates relief from 75% to 40% will come as bad news for thousands of businesses. When will the Government deliver a fundamental reform of business rates to save our high streets and end the penalising of productive investment?
31 Oct 2024 · Small Businesses: Scaling Up · Hansard source
More
Wokingham has one of the highest rates of business survival when compared with the averages for the south-east and Berkshire, but yesterday’s announcement that the Government will raise employers’ national insurance throws that into doubt. The hike is, plain and simple, a tax on jobs that will deal a hammer blow to our small businesses. What will the Government do to mitigate the impact on small businesses in my constituency and across the country?

Published records only — not a full account of an MP’s work. How we work →