Gagan Mohindra MP: speeches

Speeches

• 19 Jun 2025 · Chalk Streams · Hansard source

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  The River Chess in Rickmansworth is one of the chalk streams that goes through my constituency. The volunteers at the Rickmansworth Waterways Trust are keeping our canal heritage alive, despite funding for the Canal & River Trust being cut. I believe the cut is short-sighted, because these waterways tackle water shortages, boost biodiversity and protect 2,500 miles of national assets for a modest cost. Will the Minister rethink the funding cuts and back the Fund Britain’s Waterways campaign, so that local champions like David Montague and his team at Batchworth lock are not left to sink or swim on their own?

• 3 Apr 2025 · Grassroots Sports · Hansard source

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  Certain sports often remain inaccessible to women and girls early on, making it harder for them to join later. Will the Minister confirm how her Department is supporting clubs like Chess Valley rugby football club, in my constituency of South West Hertfordshire, that promote women’s participation at all levels?

• 26 Feb 2025 · British Indian Ocean Territory · Hansard source

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  I thank Nick Coombes from my office for helping me draft a long speech, most of which I will not be using, given the time constraints. May I try to lower the temperature in what has been a very passionate debate? I have immense respect for the Minister. She has had a very difficult outing today and she has held her head up high. Her former career as a lecturer will hopefully hold the House in good stead and perhaps she can educate us on some basic questions, because this is the second time this week I have asked questions about the Chagos islands and I am still confused. The Conservative Government entered into negotiations 11 times. [ Interruption. ] I know the junior Parliamentary Private Secretary is very eager, but please do let me say a few more words. My Government entered into negotiations 11 times. As anyone with any semblance of business experience will know, you enter negotiations but you do not always achieve an end result. The Labour Government won on 4 July. Within three months, they decided to do things differently from what my Government did 11 times, when Lord Cameron closed the negotiations. Can the Minister explain the rationale and what materially changed—we have heard about the advisory judgment by the ICJ; I am not a lawyer and have never claimed to be—to help us to understand, and to better educate me and my constituents, why they are giving our sovereign islands away when the world is becoming increasingly dangerous? Various media reports suggest that there will be increased lobbying from the Mauritius Government, and those they listen to, to revisit the terms of whatever deal we do to their benefit. The frustration heard from the Conservative Benches is about the lack of detail.

• 28 Jan 2025 · Crown Court Backlog · Hansard source

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  We all want justice to be served as quickly as possible, and many of my constituents have contacted me recently with concerns about law and order. Given the various media reports about unused capacity in courts up and down the country, what is the Secretary of State’s Department doing to ensure that every aspect of the justice system is working efficiently and at full capacity?

• 4 Nov 2024 · Income Tax (Charge) · Hansard source

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  I start by welcoming the fact that this is the first Budget presented by a female Chancellor. The House should be proud of that. I also send my thanks to the Prime Minister for acknowledging the former leader of the Conservative party and his heritage as a second-generation Indian. This place is symbolic not just here but around the world. I am going to shift tone, if I may. [ Laughter. ] The Budget is incredibly punitive for small businesses. I come from a small business background, and I applaud those who are brave enough to set up their own business. A lot of the time, those small businesses are one-man bands, reliant on family members or friends to support them. Today, I probably would not set up a small business, because off the back of this Budget we have destroyed ambition in our country. The Budget absolutely feeds into supporting public sector workers, but as Sir James Dyson said in The Times today, how can we encourage the entrepreneurs of tomorrow to start their businesses today? Politics is about choices. My party spent the summer trying to convince the electorate that Labour was going to raise their taxes—we thought that it was, and indeed we told the public that. The Budget raises taxes on working people, on pensioners, on wealth creators and on farmers. I think that farmers and the NFU knew there would be an issue when only 87 words of the Labour manifesto referred to farming. The Budget sends a message that ambition is something not to foster. With regard to the tax burden, we see an increase in capital gains tax and inheritance tax, the removal of stamp duty support for first-time buyers and the unfreezing of income tax bands. This is a Budget that penalises ambition. I am conscious of time, so I want quickly to focus on three local issues in South West Herts. On defence spending, I am lucky enough to represent Northwood NATO base in my constituency. While I applaud the Government’s investment in defence and supporting our Ukrainian allies, I gently point out that the Budget will actually see a decrease in the percentage of GDP spent on defence, let alone a pathway to spending 2.5%.

• 24 Jul 2024 · Education and Opportunity · Hansard source

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  Thank you for calling me, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is a real pleasure to have you in the Chair. This is a first time for both of us. I thank each and every Member for some awesome maiden speeches. I remember, four and a half years ago, how daunting it was. I still wake up today in a cold sweat thinking that I have to redo it. I will start with the hon. Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey), whose journey to this place is enlightening. This place is better when we bring our life experiences here to create better policy and to ensure that the next generation’s lives are better. I think that being honest about our own journeys helps others to feel as though they are part of our great country. One of the pleasures as a Member of Parliament is going into schools and speaking to school kids. I am dyslexic, and when I speak to them I ask, “Does anyone struggle to read or write?”—and I always stick my hand up. If someone like me can do this job, it hopefully gives the children I speak to the confidence to think high. There are a lot of Members here with an education background. I ask them to please bring that experience to the forefront. Every single Government, of whatever stripe, want to make sure that our children do better. Politics is a team sport. You are all critical friends—I can say that because I am on this side now—but as a former Whip I can also say that your ability to communicate is what differentiates you on the Government Benches from the Opposition: speak to your Whips; feed in your views. None of us wants to create bad laws or regulations. I say “Well done” to my hon. Friend the Member for Chester South and Eddisbury (Aphra Brandreth), because I thought it was only the other side that made politics a family business. I look forward to her own private Member’s Bill, which will be life-changing. I say to the hon. Member for Derby North (Catherine Atkinson) that I am not sure you are allowed to let your child abseil on behalf of Rainbows children’s hospice. I know the area well because I have family members from that part of the world, and I look forward to your legal skills being helpful.

• 24 Jul 2024 · Education and Opportunity · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member’s experience of being a professor will be very helpful to this place. My hon. Friend the Member for Solihull West and Shirley (Dr Shastri-Hurst) has significant experience of three separate careers, and I know he will be a strong advocate for his community. I applaud his focus on early years. I now come to the hon. Member for Harlow (Chris Vince). I was a councillor in the neighbouring area before I came to this place, so I know your patch well. Your experience as a teacher— [Interruption.] The hon. Member’s experience as a teacher will be extremely helpful. He highlighted the important issue of young carers. That is probably below the radar for many of us as constituency Members, and we all need to spend a bit more time focusing on it to ensure that our communities are supported properly. I now come to the hon. Member for Monmouthshire (Catherine Fookes). I applaud her ambition to have 50:50 in this place. When I speak to my nieces, and indeed my nephew, it is always a disappointment to us that while 51% of our great country consists of women, only about a third of my colleagues are women—although the proportion is probably greater now—and, similarly, many boardrooms throughout the country are still very male-dominated. The hon. Member for Derby South (Baggy Shanker) talked about Great British Railways. As my in-laws continually say, Derby remains the centre of the United Kingdom geographically, and I am surprised that neither of the new Derby Members mentioned that. As for the hon. Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Tony Vaughan), his Filipino heritage is a matter of passion and importance. When I was growing up and looking at Parliament TV—well, I didn’t really, but let us suppose that I did—this place did not reflect what I thought the country did, and today it does. We are on a journey towards getting better in that regard, and with his help and, hopefully, subsequent general elections and by-elections—and, also hopefully, with a few more Members elected to my side—this place will become truly reflective. The hon. Member for Dartford (Jim Dickson) spoke about the Rolling Stones. Music is a strong theme in Parliament; he will figure that out in the bars and the all-party parliamentary groups. his significant experience in local government will be very helpful. I offer the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr (Steve Witherden) my sincere condolences about his mother. We realise that we are all human. Sharing that personal background with this place humanises us and makes sure that we all have “more in common”. All of us will have had a difficult general election, and I hope that the tone of politics returns to what I thought it was meant to be about 20 years ago, when politicians were held in high esteem. When I speak to individual members of my community, they still seem to consider politicians to be public servants, but unfortunately social media may not always reflect that and unfortunately you will all experience that; so make sure you communicate with colleagues, because they will all be going through it as well. The hon. Member for Aylesbury (Laura Kyrke-Smith) spoke about Roald Dahl. I have the poem “If” on my wall at home, and I read it every single day. We have a really rich heritage in our great country, and when Members talk about things that inspire them, it will only inspire the next generation to be inquisitive. I hope that Stoke Mandeville will be improved, because it is a hospital that I will have to use, if and when necessary. I am conscious of the time and that the Minister will need to say a few words, so I am going to wrap up my comments on maiden speeches. I know that I have not addressed every single one, but I will buy Members a drink at the bar in the next few days, weeks and years. Please do enjoy this job. It is the best job in the world, and you really are life-changing. On that note, I welcome those on the Government Front Bench to what is a phenomenal brief, and I look forward to supporting them where they are changing people’s lives for the better.