Connor Naismith MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 2 Dec 2025 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

  More

  My constituents want to know that the decisions taken in the Budget are fair, that they are necessary to tackle the long-term challenges this country faces, and that they align with their priorities and lived experience of daily life. This Budget achieves that, and I want to talk about some specific measures, beginning with the two-child cap. I have been incredibly frustrated by the level at which the Conservatives have sought to debate the two-child cap. They should hang their heads in shame for trying to present this as an argument between people who work and those who do not, because 60% of the families who will benefit from the abolition of the two-child cap are working families. I do not think that we in this place talk often enough about the fact that 33% of those who claim universal credit are in work. They go out to work every single day and earn their poverty. That is the Conservatives’ record in government, and they should apologise for it. Let us talk about the 40% of people who do not work. Many of my constituents will have worked at one stage or another, and they find themselves unemployed for reasons that are outside their control. Prior to the last election, Conservative MPs at least had the opportunity to place bets on their future unemployment, but my constituents did not manage to do the same. The Conservatives should reflect on the fact that many people find themselves in that situation through no fault of their own. Many other measures in the Budget are aimed at tackling the cost of living for my constituents, including increases to the minimum wage and reductions in energy bills. I place on the record my thanks to the Chancellor for listening to my calls to delay the implementation of changes to the employee car ownership scheme. I heard from many constituents who work at Bentley Motors in my constituency about how that would have left them out of pocket by hundreds of pounds a month. I am proud to have advocated on their behalf, alongside Unite the union, in making that case, and I thank the Chancellor for listening. I want to touch briefly on investment. In her Budget statement, I was delighted to hear the Chancellor recommit to investing in Northern Powerhouse Rail, which is vital to my constituency as a proud rail town in the north of England. I urge the Government to be bold in their announcements on this subject and ensure that we leave the option open for a broader strategy of north-south connectivity, as well as east-west connectivity. I am delighted by the investments that we have made in the NHS. We are already seeing their benefits in reduced waiting times and improved patient experience. Finally, I thank the Chancellor for listening to my calls to take steps to tackle the dodgy vape shops on our high streets. My constituency was the subject of a recent BBC undercover investigation on the subject, so I am proud that this Government are taking action to tackle that. The Government have made fair choices in the Budget, which are the right choices in the economic circumstances, and I am proud to support them.

• 1 Dec 2025 · Attainment in Schools · Hansard source

  More

  9. What steps she is taking to help increase levels of attainment in schools.

• 1 Dec 2025 · Attainment in Schools · Hansard source

  More

  I am concerned about attainment levels across secondary schools in Crewe, where, on average, only about 46% of pupils achieve a grade 4 in English and maths. Will the Minister meet me to discuss what further support we can provide to our hard-working school leaders and teaching staff to help raise outcomes and ensure that every child in Crewe gets the opportunities that they deserve?

• 24 Nov 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  Cheshire East council area has pockets of severe deprivation, centred largely around my constituency. Under the previous Government, local government funding allocations never really took account of those deprivations. Will the Minister meet me to discuss how we can rebalance funding towards the deprived areas in my constituency that have been left behind for too long?

• 19 Nov 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

  More

  Q15. Crewe railway station is the gateway to the north, and indeed the shop window for my constituency, with an average annual footfall of 4.5 million people. I am working with Cheshire East council on ambitious plans for Crewe360 to deliver much-needed investment into the station and the land around it. We want to adopt the Railway Industry Association’s station investment zone proposals, which could deliver much-needed improvements in transport, housing, regeneration and economic growth. Does the Prime Minister agree that Crewe would make a perfect pilot for those proposals, and will he work with me to bring Departments round the table to make these plans a reality?

• 17 Nov 2025 · Asylum Policy · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the Home Secretary for her statement, and for taking the bold action necessary to tackle the chaos and lack of control that we inherited in our asylum system. Does she agree that these changes are as much about incentivising the right behaviour by creating capped legal routes to asylum as they are about taking tough action to break the status quo, which sees thousands of people crossing the channel in a dangerous, uncontrolled and unfair way?

• 4 Nov 2025 · Supporting High Streets · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Conservative Members do not like it, but what I am articulating is the lived reality of my constituents and the impact of the Conservatives’ record on the economy while in government. The failure to tackle the root causes of decline was compounded by economic mismanagement that drove up construction costs and by the devastating loss of HS2, but I am pleased to report that Crewe is turning a corner. We are seeing real investment, real ambition and real pride returning to our town centre, and that transformation is visible. It is being led by local leaders, our community and our entrepreneurs, backed by the economic stability that this Labour Government are delivering. The Crewe market hall, for example, has been reborn. It is now a thriving hub of food, drink and entertainment. The Lyceum theatre, a jewel in our town, is now joined by the Lyceum Square, a modern development that complements its historic charm. Together, they anchor a growing cultural quarter, and that quarter is expanding. The former Dorothy Perkins and Burton unit on Market Street, once another empty shell and blight on the high street, now hosts Crewe Creates—a vibrant space for arts and culture. This shows what can happen when creativity meets opportunity.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Supporting High Streets · Hansard source

  More

  The subject of high streets is one that matters deeply in constituencies like Crewe and Nantwich, where the story of decline is slowly but surely being rewritten into one of renewal. For too long, our high streets were left behind. Fourteen years of Conservative government saw projects stall, shopfronts shuttered and absentee landlords allowed to hold back regeneration. In Crewe, the failed Royal Arcade redevelopment became the symbol of that neglect. Shops were demolished as part of a regeneration scheme, only for inflation, particularly construction inflation, to soar through the ceiling as a result of Liz Truss’s mini-Budget— [ Interruption. ] This meant that the project failed and in Crewe we have been left with a wasteland.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Supporting High Streets · Hansard source

  More

  I am going to make some progress. Opportunity is exactly what the repurposing the high street grants delivered by our Labour council in Cheshire East has delivered. These are £30,000 grants for local entrepreneurs to renovate empty shop units, and they have empowered small and independent businesses to take risks, fill empty units and breathe new life into our town centre. They have transformed vacant spaces into thriving ventures, and I invite Ministers to come to Crewe to see the impact for themselves and to consider whether the scheme could be a blueprint for a national roll-out, because it works. The scheme, alongside the Southern Gateway project, is a great example of public investment connecting the dots, creating vibrant public spaces and opening up opportunities for a new community of businesses to emerge on our once-neglected high street. Businesses such as the Arena, the Ice and Fire tattoo studio and ABC Childcare are leading the way, and the upcoming Youth Zone, opening in spring 2026, will give young people a space to thrive right in the heart of our town centre. Even the old M&S unit, long a symbol of stagnation, now has a positive future under new ownership. It is a powerful metaphor for Crewe itself: written off by some but now ready to rise. We have seen investments in places such as the Mirion Street boxing club, supporting grassroots sport and building community resilience. These are the building blocks of a high street that works for everyone. This is what happens when local leadership, community, ambition and targeted investment come together, rather than when we talk our communities down, as we have heard too often from Conservative Members. So I say to investors: come to Crewe. I say to artists and entrepreneurs: come to Crewe. I say to Government Ministers: come and see what happens when a town refuses to be left behind. As with our railway past, Crewe town centre is on the right track.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Supporting High Streets · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend is absolutely right about restoring old buildings, and that is exactly what is taking place in Crewe. Alongside this, a rolling programme of cultural events from Crewe town council and the Crewe business improvement district is helping to make our town an early contender for this Government’s first town of culture award.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Supporting High Streets · Hansard source

  More

  Will the hon. Member give way?

• 4 Nov 2025 · Employer National Insurance Contributions: Business Impact · Hansard source

  More

  Opposition Members spend a lot of time complaining about the difficult decisions taken by this Labour Government, so I wonder whether the Chancellor can remind them what we have been able to do for public services and infrastructure as a result of this Government’s revenue-raising policies.

• 28 Oct 2025 · Stamp Duty Land Tax · Hansard source

  More

  I start by acknowledging a point that many Members across the House have made. Many of us would not defend the principle of stamp duty; indeed, if it did not already exist, it is hard to believe that we would invent it. However, that is not the question before us today. If we are to decide to abolish stamp duty, we must say how we will pay for it, and we have to justify that decision as a priority above all the other decisions that we might make on what to do with that money.

• 28 Oct 2025 · Stamp Duty Land Tax · Hansard source

  More

  The Minister is right to say that the Opposition have not been clear about how they would fund this tax cut, but there are some clues. The shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the hon. Member for North Bedfordshire (Richard Fuller), told a fringe event at the Tory party conference that we should look at the Australian system of state pensions and “essentially” a means-tested state pension. Does my right hon. Friend share my concerns that under the Tories the state pension would be under threat?

• 28 Oct 2025 · Stamp Duty Land Tax · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the hon. Member for that intervention. Look, we will await the Budget to see the OBR’s forecasts, but I will take no lessons from the party opposite on economic credibility. They are the party of Liz Truss, which dragged this country into the economic abyss. We know that Tory austerity and a lack of investment in our country’s infrastructure are part of the story of why our economic growth and productivity have never recovered since the financial crash in 2008. It seems like the Conservatives want to take us right back to the beginning of that 14 years of chaos, failure and decline. I think my constituents would say no, frankly. What is worse, the Conservatives cannot even tell us with any credibility where the cuts would fall. We have seen this playbook before. They have no credible plan to pay for their promises, just vague talk of savings from the very services that our communities rely on—our schools, NHS and local infrastructure. The Tories have some cheek to come here and talk about home ownership when they manifestly failed to build the homes that our country needs because they presided over a broken planning system that they did nothing to reform. As I mentioned earlier, my constituents have not forgotten what Liz Truss’s mini-Budget did to their mortgage payments. During the election campaign, I spoke directly with families in Crewe and Nantwich who had seen their monthly costs soar overnight. I distinctly remember speaking to a man who told me that his mortgage payments had risen by £1,000 a month and that he had been forced to sell his home as a result. If we want to examine the reality beyond the rhetoric of the modern day Conservative party’s record on home ownership, it is that: failure to deliver, soaring prices and broken dreams.

• 28 Oct 2025 · Stamp Duty Land Tax · Hansard source

  More

  The hon. Gentleman said that this tax cut would benefit everybody. Can he tell me how it would benefit people who do not currently pay it because their property is not worth enough?

• 28 Oct 2025 · Stamp Duty Land Tax · Hansard source

  More

  The hon. Member is right to point out that the Conservatives had 14 years in government. Now they are in opposition, they want to talk about all the magical savings that they could make. Why did they not do it when they were in government? It is too little, too late. As I was saying, if you decide that you want to do this, you have to tell us how you will pay for it, and justify that priority over all the other priorities.

• 28 Oct 2025 · Stamp Duty Land Tax · Hansard source

  More

  I completely agree. The most common reason I hear from my constituents for their inability to get on the housing ladder is that astronomical rise in house prices.

• 28 Oct 2025 · Stamp Duty Land Tax · Hansard source

  More

  It was those families in the middle who suffered most at the hands of Liz Truss’s mini-Budget, so I would expect Conservative Members to apologise to those families in my constituency for their record on the economy over the past 14 years. Compare all that with what Labour is delivering in government. We are getting Britain building, and not just the homes we need. In Crewe and Nantwich, we are getting a new hospital at Leighton, the new youth zone in Crewe town centre, a new history centre and many more things that our community will benefit from. The choice ahead at the Budget is clear: stick with Labour’s plan for national renewal or return to the chaos and cuts of the past, whatever shade of blue that comes in. Labour chooses a fairer economy, one that works for working people and rewards them. That is what we are building in Crewe and Nantwich and across Britain. The people of Crewe and Nantwich deserve better than unfunded tax cuts and economic instability. They deserve a Government that invest in the future, protect their services and build a Britain for all.

• 28 Oct 2025 · Stamp Duty Land Tax · Hansard source

  More

  I will make some progress. The motion tells us everything we need to know about the priorities of the Conservative party today. In the context of the vast majority of options that we could choose to pursue, this is a regressive tax cut, funded once again by cuts—cuts that they will not be brave enough to specify with any credibility. Reckless with our public finances, reckless with our public services, and utterly out of touch with the realities facing working families in constituencies like mine in Crewe and Nantwich.

• 22 Oct 2025 · Trade Union Workplace Access · Hansard source

  More

  I thank my hon. Friend for securing this important debate. Does he agree that in sectors such as social care, which are facing recruitment and retention crises, better trade union access would improve working conditions and staff retention, which ultimately is only for the better for good employers?

• 2 Sept 2025 · Defibrillators · Hansard source

  More

  I sincerely thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland (Sam Rushworth) for securing this important debate. I will focus on the maintenance of defibrillators, which is intrinsic to access to this lifesaving equipment. In my constituency of Crewe and Nantwich, it represents a very real challenge. I want to share a story about the gravity of the situation. In September last year, my constituent collapsed in Nantwich town centre, from a suspected cardiac arrest. CPR was administered by the public on site and a 999 call was made. The operator directed the member of the public to a defibrillator in the town centre, only for the member of the public to find, when they opened it, that it did not work. Another call was then made to 999 and they were directed to another defibrillator, which meant another 10-minute delay in finally administering treatment. We all know how vital it is that quick treatment be provided in cases of cardiac arrest. Sadly, the man who had the cardiac arrest did not survive; he passed away later. We do not know whether finding a working defibrillator first might have saved his life, but I am almost certain that it would have helped. I ask the Minister what plans the Government have to better regulate the maintenance of defibrillators. I have spoken at length about the situation with the British Heart Foundation, which operates the Circuit, and with the British Healthcare Trades Association, and it is clear that there are improvements that we could make. As of August 2024, in Crewe and Nantwich there were roughly seven defibrillators per 10,000 people. The national average is just 10. They recommend that there be between 50 and 100 defibrillators per 10,000 people. What is more, according to the British Heart Foundation, 46.4% of postcodes in Crewe and Nantwich are out of direct reach of a defibrillator. In a context in which we know that, with defib use, the chances of surviving a cardiac arrest increase from just 8% to above 70%, the existence of such defib deserts is clearly not acceptable.

• 2 Sept 2025 · Defibrillators · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend has almost taken the words out of my mouth, because I was about to move on to some of the steps that we could take to address this issue. She is absolutely right. Clearly there is an issue with the VAT; as we heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland, that is something that the Government should look at. It is also about ensuring that defibs are always accessible outside, about education on administering the equipment, about maintenance and about ensuring that defibs are on the Circuit wherever possible, because we know that in many cases they are not. One thing is certain: inaction is not an option. This equipment saves lives. If we fail to act, we will continue to have avoidable deaths, unfortunately, as in the case of my constituent. The opportunity is there to save lives. I urge the Government to grip it.

• 15 Jul 2025 · West Coast Main Line · Hansard source

  More

  I absolutely agree with the hon. Member. I do not often have to travel north to his constituency on the railway, but I have heard from several colleagues about the particular issues on that part of the line. He is absolutely right that although we should hold the operators to account, Network Rail needs to address key infrastructure issues.

• 15 Jul 2025 · West Coast Main Line · Hansard source

  More

  I wholeheartedly welcome the Government’s plan to bring our railway into public ownership, and hope to see the west coast main line brought into public ownership soon.