Emma Foody MP: speeches

Speeches

• 3 Jun 2026 · General Strike Centenary Commemorations · Hansard source

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  I congratulate my hon. Friend on bringing this important debate on the general strike before the House. Does he agree that when we remember the general strike as the national event that it was, we should also reflect on the countless local stories of solidarity, mutual support and sacrifice that defined so many communities, such as those in my constituency, home of the train wreckers? A local group of miners derailed the Flying Scotsman and suffered severe consequences as a result. It is such an important part of our labour movement and our national story that we remember those local actions as well.

• 26 Mar 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The Secretary of State and others in this place will be aware of my campaign for investment in the Moor Farm roundabout. The current situation causes misery for local people and is choking investment not just in my constituency, but across the north-east. I have held debates, asked questions, and had meetings with Ministers and National Highways. In fact, I have spoken about it more than 50 times in this place, but I am feeling lucky today. Does the Secretary of State have any update on my campaign to secure the crucial upgrades?

• 5 Feb 2026 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Later this month, Northumberland Park, a key interchange between rail and metro, will be the latest station opening on the Northumberland line. The completion of the line and station has been made possible thanks to a £17 million investment from this Labour Government and £10 million from the Mayor of the North East. Can we have a debate on how this Government are supporting regional transport, such as through the opening of Northumberland Park?

• 27 Jan 2026 · Regional Funding · Hansard source

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  Ministers will be all too aware of my campaign to unlock improvement at Moor Farm roundabout, which is currently holding back growth across the north-east and causing misery to local people on a daily basis. The Government have rightly taken steps to ensure that my region gets its fair share of investment through changes to the Green Book and place-based business cases, but will the Chancellor meet me ahead of the road investment strategy to ensure that we finally get this long overdue investment in a critical piece of north-east infrastructure?

• 8 Jan 2026 · Road Safety Strategy · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for her statement and join her in paying tribute to the bereaved families who, in the face of unimaginable loss, have campaigned for these road safety improvements. At the end of 2025 there were a number of serious accidents at Moor Farm roundabout in my constituency, leading to hospitalisations and serious delays on the network. The Minister is well aware of my campaign for improvements at Moor Farm—improvements that were long neglected by the previous Government, and which I will continue to push for as part of the road investment strategy. Can she say a little about how these two strategies will interact and, hopefully, unlock those vital improvements?

• 2 Dec 2025 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

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  For too long, my communities in the towns and villages across the Cramlington and Killingworth constituency felt the full force of Conservative cuts and lived with the consequences of austerity. This Budget is the end of that chapter, because growth only means something when communities right across the country feel it. This Budget invests in communities, in jobs, and in the people who make every part of Britain thrive. One of the great ambitions of this Government is to tackle child poverty wherever it exists. That child poverty was allowed to grow under the previous Government should be a source of immense shame for the Conservatives. There was a 44% increase in child poverty among working households—a tragedy for each child, for each family and for society. That does not just mean missing the additional extras in life; it means going to school with holes in your shoes, being hungry at home, being cold at night and being excluded from everyday opportunities. Ending the two-child benefit cap will lift almost half a million children out of poverty in one action. In the north-east alone, it will impact 70,000 children, including 1,750 in my own constituency. Those children will now have healthier lives, achieve more at school, and go on to earn more throughout their lives. This Budget will protect the children who are most in need—those who most deserve our support. Other measures in this Budget will address the cost of living. It will cut energy bills, bring inflation down, freeze rail fares and prescription prices, support the lowest paid through increases to the national living wage and the minimum wage, and provide an extra £575 a year to those on the new state pension. As a Labour and Co-operative MP, I am also delighted to see measures to support communities and co-operatives across the country and to deliver on our commitment to double the size of the co-operative sector, because communities deserve to build and share in their own wealth. We are backing devolution in my region and backing emerging industries in the north-east investment zone, enabling new technologies to thrive. We are getting public services back on their feet, with an extra £15 billion for the NHS to cut waiting times. We are tackling health inequalities, including by creating 250 new neighbourhood health centres. I want to touch on one issue before I finish my speech: Moor Farm roundabout in my constituency. Locally, some Conservatives have sought to make mischief by claiming that the Budget means that there is no funding for vital upgrades. The Tories never were ones for letting the truth get in the way of a good story. As they well know, there were never going to be any announcements in the Budget about whether the upgrades were going ahead or not; that will be announced in the first quarter of next year, as part of the road investment strategy. With this Budget, the Government are continuing to fix the foundations following 14 years of mismanagement from previous Conservative Governments, helping to renew our economy and our communities. It is a Budget of Labour values, fairness and justice.

• 18 Nov 2025 · Infrastructure: Cramlington and Killingworth · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend makes a powerful point on the risk to opportunity and the future of our region if we cannot resolve this matter. Another developer warned that “We are very reluctant to commit to the significant expenditure to bring schemes forward until we have more certainty regarding Moor Farm and whether it will hold up delivery”. This risks a nightmare situation where no business or housing development can move forward, potentially for years to come. Those missed opportunities are jobs and homes for local people that may be invested in elsewhere, or indeed not at all. Local people across my constituency will pay the price in missed opportunities for jobs and homes. The Minister does not need to take my word for it; Northumberland county council informed me: “A number of major planning applications across South East Northumberland cannot be determined due to National Highways’ concerns on the impact at Moor Farm”. North Tyneside council stated: “Without investment in this critical infrastructure, there is a risk that no land can be brought forward for housing or employment purposes without having a significant and unacceptable detrimental impact”. The council added: “Future growth will most likely be stymied”. The elected Mayor of North Tyneside, Karen Clark, stated: “There is a very real risk that we see only limited growth and will not…be able to meet our future housing requirements or secure inward investment.” The North East Mayor, Kim McGuinness, said: “If we don’t see the upgrade, economic growth in the North East, at a time when there is great momentum in the region, could be held back”. The North East combined authority has warned: “Lack of investment at this junction is holding back growth and our ambitions for the North East, as well as making it more difficult to meet the challenging housing targets set by the government”. This is a crucial issue for local authorities when they are updating their local plans. If we see sites that are allocated in current local plans being held up or withdrawn due to the situation at Moor Farm—large sections of the region that cannot be developed in any way—how can councils meet the Government’s requirements to update their local plans? I know that the Minister will see the significance of this issue for delivering on two of the Government’s pillars of the plan for change: sustained growth and homes, both of which are at risk as a result of the situation at Moor Farm roundabout. It is not just local authorities and public bodies that have raised their concerns. The North East chamber of commerce informed me: “Moor Farm roundabout is not just an inconvenience—it is a brake on sustainable growth, investment and opportunity. For our region to fulfil its potential, we must act now to deliver the infrastructure enabling—not hindering—opportunity.” Newcastle International airport, a key regional stakeholder, added: “The upgrades are vital to ensure the free flow of freight vehicles along a key artery for the region which connects the major ports”. I am also concerned that the extent of the issue is expanding down the A19 into North Tyneside, with National Highways again issuing holding directions further down the network. Those are being applied against sites in North Tyneside council’s existing local plan: approved sites are being held up. Frankly, the situation in Moor Farm should have been addressed many years ago, long before it got to this point. We now see the result of that lack of investment, and we cannot simply allow the situation to continue. It is as much an issue for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government as it is for the Department for Transport. We need a cross-Government approach to unblock this blocker to growth, development and investment. I have spoken about the challenges due to existing infrastructure, but I hope that the Minister might indulge me. Last year I held a debate, to which he kindly responded, on the adoption of new estates and the importance of infrastructure in those developments. As I have mentioned, I have a significant number of new and unadopted estates across my constituency, and the Minister will be aware that I have surveyed people who live on those estates about their experiences. I have shared with him previously their frustrations about the lack of delivery and accountability for infrastructure on unadopted estates. Residents should not be left for year after year paying estate management fees on unfinished estates, without any certainty from developers and councils about the adoption of those estates. I know that the Minister continues to work on that. If he is unable to speak about it today, perhaps he could write to me with an update on action on the issue. I will return to the main thrust of my speech. The Government have ambitious missions to deliver growth and build the houses that our country needs. Right now, the situation at Moor Farm is a blocker, causing misery and holding back investment. I recognise, of course, that the decision on the upgrade to the roundabout will be taken by the Department for Transport. I assure the Minister—as will the DFT—that I am very much on the case with that. The issue not only impacts the road network; while the congestion causes misery for people across my constituency, the infrastructure is critical to a number of councils in the north-east, and to the ability to meet the Government’s ambitions for growth and housing. How can the Minister’s Department work with National Highways, in its role as a statutory consultee, to facilitate and support investment, rather than using holding directions, especially when they put at risk the Department’s priorities? If National Highways continues to apply holding objections, and two local plans are potentially unsustainable, how can local authorities deliver on housing targets? Where critical pieces of infrastructure are on the strategic road network and therefore not under local authority control, how is the Ministry engaging to resolve issues? The Government are rightly focused on devolution. The north-east growth plan and devolution deal both reference Moor Farm and upgrades, and the local transport plan sets out how crucial it is to the region. In supporting devolution, how can the Minister’s Department empower this agenda in my region? Will the Minister meet me, the Department for Transport and National Highways to see how we can work together on this vital issue? I know that the Minister is committed to delivering the housing that our country needs. My hon. Friend the Member for Blyth and Ashington and I are here today to help secure growth, jobs and investment, not only in my constituency but across the north-east. As we have heard, Moor Farm roundabout is a key blocker to growth and development. Addressing it requires a joined-up approach across Government to remove the barrier and unleash the potential in my community and across the region. If we are to deliver the change that we were elected to deliver, turbocharge growth in the north-east and empower the region, delivering the upgrade and removing that barrier is essential. I hope that the Minister can join me in the mission to deliver this crucial change.

• 18 Nov 2025 · Infrastructure: Cramlington and Killingworth · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. The infrastructure in my constituency that I am talking about—as my hon. Friend the Member for Blyth and Ashington (Ian Lavery) highlighted—is the Moor Farm roundabout; hon. Members will be aware that barely a day goes by when I do not talk about it. I have also met Transport Ministers and I continue to lobby for the much-needed upgrades to be progressed through the road investment strategy. As has been mentioned already, however, this issue goes far beyond the road network and beyond my area; it affects the entire north-east region. That is why I have called for this debate with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government as the answering Department, because it is about housing, local plans and devolution. It is also critical to several councils in the north-east. I will set out the context of the existing infrastructure at Moor Farm. This roundabout is a major strategic six-armed roundabout. It links the A19, A1 and A189. Sitting at the south of Northumberland on the border with North Tyneside, it is heavily congested and well used. It is a key gateway for the region and the link between Newcastle International airport and the ports of Blyth and Tyne. It is the key growth corridor for south-east Northumberland. There is significant congestion at Moor Farm roundabout, which causes misery to local residents. We frequently see substantial delays, especially as a result of accidents on or near it. In recent weeks, we have seen delays of hours due to incidents that are far too frequent. The Department for Transport’s own statistics show that between 2021 and 2024, there was an 85% increase in delays through the northbound A19 section of Moor Farm and 36% increase in delays southwards. The north-east local transport plan states that Moor Farm generates congestion, worsens air quality and results in unreliable journey times. However, this is not a debate on the transport elements of Moor Farm—hon. Members can go back to my previous Westminster Hall debate for that. In this debate, I want to talk about how the situation at Moor Farm is impacting growth and development across the region in the short and long term. Moor Farm is a blocker to growth and a blocker to opportunity. It is preventing business expansion, causing investment to be delayed or withdrawn, costing jobs and hampering growth. It is putting at risk not only existing development sites for employment and housing in Northumberland and North Tyneside, but the ability for those councils to update their local plans and meet the housing need. Since being elected, I have met National Highways on several occasions. In the last few weeks, I have written again to the chief executive. Last week, I met regional representatives in Parliament, and I have met the North East Mayor and the roads Minister. The aim of this debate is to discuss the impact that National Highways and the situation at Moor Farm are now having on the ability to determine planning applications—whether for businesses to grow or for housing—across my constituency and beyond. The Minister will know that as a statutory consultee, National Highways can issue holding recommendations on planning applications, in effect preventing them from moving forward. In response to my written question, it has been confirmed that there are at least four holding objections on applications for housing and business development as a direct result of the Moor Farm roundabout. Not only that, but applicants are delaying or redirecting their investment because they have been told that National Highways would apply a holding objection, so there is a far greater lost opportunity cost. I know from speaking to developers, businesses and the community that investment has not been brought forward because of concerns that planning will be refused or held back as a result of holding objections or unrealistic mitigations. I will give some examples. The Port of Blyth sits in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Blyth and Ashington. He and I recently met representatives of the port who informed us that their key near-port site for inward investment is at West Hartford in my constituency, the largest remaining strategic employment site in the whole of Northumberland. It is 10 minutes from the Port of Blyth’s main terminals and there is a firm interest in developing the site. This is a key regional stakeholder seeking to invest nearly 2,000 jobs and £400 million in my community, but National Highways has indicated that it would object because of Moor Farm, despite traffic impact assessment modelling indicating that the proposal would add one queuing vehicle during the morning peak rush hour and three in the afternoon. National Highways’ objection is simply not reasonable or proportionate, but should it apply a holding objection, there is little that could be done locally due to its role. The Port of Blyth has rightly called for a more pragmatic cost-benefit approach. That is just one example. The North East combined authority estimates that within a 5-mile radius of Moor Farm there is commercial development with the potential to support more than 11,000 jobs at risk of being held back due the constraints of the roundabout. Another local developer has spoken of sites—one of £500 million in gross development value and one of £1 billion in gross development value—that are in current adopted local plans but are being held up because of the roundabout. I have been told that this has meant 18 months to two and a half years of additional modelling and surveys, but still they have not been able to proceed. One developer described this as a “near endless loop of present information, National Highways’ consultants review, then respond, rinse and repeat”. That has real-world impacts. A separate developer on an existing site warned that they may have to remove apprentice roles and other jobs if the issue is not resolved, depriving the community of local opportunities and impacting the local supply chain. That development is already baked into the housing delivery numbers but cannot move forward. Another developer explained that they might not suggest future viable sites as a direct result of expected objections from National Highways, reducing their work and footprint in the area.

• 16 Jul 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q14. Successive Conservative Governments failed to invest in the transport infrastructure of the north-east, but the Labour Government are already changing that with the £1.8 billion that was recently secured for the region. Upgrading Moor Farm and Seaton Burn roundabouts can build on that, unlocking growth, and is supported by local people and businesses. Does the Prime Minister share my disappointment that rather than supporting my campaign for upgrades, the Conservative leadership in Northumberland county council is actively undermining my lobbying efforts to deliver this game changer for the north-east?