Gregory Stafford MP: speeches

Speeches

• 9 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Fourth sitting) · Hansard source

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  I just want to clarify the intention of my hon. Friend’s amendments, not to resile in any way from her clear point that she supports the Bill, but to clarify her feeling that the current level of fines and punishments within it are disproportionate, especially if they are going to be levied on a part-time junior shop worker, or perhaps even a Saturday person who is a minor themselves. I want to clarify for the record that she does not in any way feel that the offence should carry a lesser punishment, but believes that first-time offenders should be educated rather than castigated.

• 9 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Fourth sitting) · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend makes a good point. We in this Committee want to ensure that nobody who does not have to dies of smoking or tobacco-related issues, but we do not want to make the regulations so tight that they make things more complicated than necessary for business.

• 9 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Third sitting) · Hansard source

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  Yes, under this clause.

• 9 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Third sitting) · Hansard source

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  Wisdom!

• 9 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Third sitting) · Hansard source

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  On that point, will my hon. Friend give way?

• 9 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Third sitting) · Hansard source

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  I do not know the answer to that question, although I suspect that many such shops do not. Although I agree with my hon. Friend about the thrust of the Bill, something that does concern me comes not from the retailer point of view but the consumer point of view. At the moment—please do not disabuse me of this view—when I go and buy a bottle of wine or a pint of beer, I am very rarely, if ever, IDed. But I accept that if, on the rare occasion that I am IDed, I do not have a form of identification, it is not the biggest problem in the world. Most of the time, however, people can see that I am over the age of 25 or over the age of 18, so it does not happen. If the Bill were to go forward in its current form, every smoker would essentially have to carry a form of ID all the time. Some, especially the older generation, might not have a suitable form of identification and some—if they are, like me, a civil libertarian—might not want to carry ID, so how do we get around that point in the Bill to ensure that we do not end up having ID cards for older people by the back door?

• 9 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Third sitting) · Hansard source

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  As a point of clarification, what the proposals in the Bill, and indeed the amendment, deal with is the selling of tobacco products, not the consumption. So when we are talking people not being able to smoke, they would be able to, but a retailer would not be able to sell them tobacco products. I say that just so we are clear what we are talking about.

• 9 Jan 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  In Hale and Badshot Lea, in the northernmost parts of my constituency, many residents can only get into Farnham town centre using the bus service. There is concern, given the increased amount of building, and future building under the new Government’s plans, that bus services will not be adequate. Will the Minister meet me to discuss the plans for north Farnham, and Badshot Lea and Hale?

• 8 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q12. First, we had a Chancellor who embellished her CV, then we had a Transport Secretary with a fraud conviction, and now we have an anti-corruption Minister who is being investigated for corruption. I know that the Prime Minister likes living in free accommodation, but does he really think that it is appropriate that his Minister is being given free housing by the political allies of some very dubious foreign regimes?

• 7 Jan 2025 · National Cancer Plan: Brain Tumours · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for his answer, and for his googling of my background! Early detection is essential in ensuring that brain tumours do not fall further behind other cancers in priority. Will the Minister update us on the Government’s progress to ensure that screening is prioritised?

• 7 Jan 2025 · National Cancer Plan: Brain Tumours · Hansard source

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  15. What steps he is taking to ensure that brain tumours are included in the national cancer plan.

• 7 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (First sitting) · Hansard source

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  Q Do you have any concerns about the impact of the Bill on vapes as a smoking cessation tool? As my hon. Friend the Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham said, vaping in children is abhorrent, and I am glad that the Bill is addressing that, but how can we ensure that, as a cessation tool, vapes remain part of the panoply of options for smokers who are trying to give up? Professor Sir Chris Whitty: That is a very important question. I think everybody would agree on two things, and then there is a way of making sure that we get to the exact middle point of this argument. First, as you imply, in this country—it is not universally true—there is a strong view that we should try to continue our support to allow current smokers who are finding it very difficult to get off because of their addiction, which has taken away their choice, to move to vaping as a step in the right direction. I think that is broadly accepted in this country. As I say, there are some countries where that is not accepted so, to be clear, that is not a universal view. At the other extreme, as you imply—or state directly, actually—I think everybody would agree that the marketing of vapes to children is utterly abhorrent. I think almost everybody would agree that marketing vapes to people who are current non-smokers, given that we do not know the long-term effects of vapes because we have not had them for long enough, is a big mistake. We should not allow ourselves to get into a position where, in 20 years, we regret not having taken action on them. The question then is: how do you get the balance? In my view, this is sometimes made more complicated than it needs to be. I think it can be very simply summarised: “If you smoke, vaping is safer; if you don’t smoke, don’t vape; and marketing to children is utterly abhorrent.” That is it, although it is sometimes made a lot more convoluted. Our view is that the Bill gets that balance right. In general, if people’s profession is getting people who are current smokers off, they tend to be more at the pro-vaping end, because they see the dangers for current smokers. People who deal with children, such as Dr Johnson, who has taken great leadership in this area and is very much in the centre of her profession, and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health take a very strong anti-vape view, because they have seen the effects on children. It is getting the balance between those two, and I think that the Bill does that. But—and it is an important but—the Bill takes powers in this area, and that means that if we go too far in one direction or the other, there is the ability to adjust that with consultation and with parliamentary secondary legislation. That allows for the ability to move that point around if it looks as if we have not got it exactly right. It may also change over time as the evidence evolves.

• 6 Jan 2025 · NHS Backlog · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

• 6 Jan 2025 · NHS Backlog · Hansard source

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  I welcome this debate, although we have had a number of health debates over the past few sitting days that have crystallised the real problem that we see in the NHS. It is stark that none of the Government Members have mentioned covid thus far and its massive impact. [ Interruption. ] The hon. Member for Carlisle (Ms Minns) is pointing at herself; she might have mentioned it, but she did not set out the absolute devastation that covid wreaked on our services. Before I came to the House, I worked for the Getting It Right First Time programme, an NHS England programme that was initially funded by my right hon. Friend the Member for Godalming and Ash (Jeremy Hunt) when he was Health Secretary, and again when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer. The programme made a significant difference in getting rid of “unwarranted variation” within the NHS, because while there is some amazing service, treatment and patient care in the NHS, we have to admit that there is also some poor and inefficient patient care. The Getting It Right First Time programme tried to improve patient care and ensure that the worst-performing trusts were brought up to the level of the best-performing trusts; I hope that the programme will continue to try to achieve that under the current Government. Areas for improvement include high-volume, low-complexity work, such as cataract, hip and knee operations. There are massive backlogs of such procedures in the NHS that could be cleared if some failing trusts reached the level not of the top-performing trusts, but of the top quartile, or the top 10%.

• 6 Jan 2025 · NHS Backlog · Hansard source

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  I accept that the pressure on the NHS went way beyond covid, as the hon. Gentleman will remember, but to use the Secretary of State’s term, covid was the point at which the NHS was “broken”, and it is taking a long time to recover. The Government are right to push for more localised services, and to bring services closer to the patient. Access to GPs is a fundamental part of that, but we know that GPs are overstretched. The previous Government really pushed Pharmacy First, which was a superb programme. This Government want to go further with it, but there are disincentives for general practitioners to embrace Pharmacy First. What will Ministers do to ensure that there is no financial disincentive to work with pharmacies? If we are to deal with the backlog, there has to be a financial incentive. What was concerning about today’s statement from the Secretary of State was the lack of genuine reform. There was a lot of rehashing of previous policies, perhaps eking them out a tad further than the previous Conservative Government did, but I think the Secretary of State himself said that if anyone is able to reform the NHS, it is a Labour Government. While I was quite interested in what he was saying as shadow Secretary of State, I have been deeply disappointed by what he has said since. It appears to me that unfortunately the union paymasters and the inertia in the NHS have captured him and his Front Bench. I hope that I am wrong, and that the Minister will tell me differently this evening, but that is what I have seen. Locally, the reality is that there is a problem with being able to bring services closer to home. My hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Dr Spencer) mentioned the problem of accountability for ICBs. I have the fortune, or misfortune, depending on how one looks at it, of having three ICBs in my constituency. To use a previously mentioned term, there is a lot of unwarranted variation in how they deal with my constituents, and with me as a Member of Parliament. A big issue in Bordon is that we want a brand new surgery in the area, but there has been no conversation with the ICB about how that might go ahead. Likewise, we are really keen for Haslemere hospital to move from being a district hospital to having an urgent treatment centre. It is vital that we get that moving. The community hospital in Farnham could also be somewhere treatment is done closer to home. I urge the Government not to sit back, but to use their majority and reform the NHS for the benefit of all our constituents.

• 18 Dec 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T3. It is always nice to get a cheer, Mr Speaker.As a former treasurer of the Oxford Union, I was disgusted that three weeks ago a debate descended into a mess of antisemitism, when a majority of the students voted that they would not have reported Hamas’s plans if they had known of them prior to the 7 October attacks. Will the Minister write to the Oxford Union and say that antisemitism has no place in our society, especially not in our universities?

• 11 Dec 2024 · Tourism Levy: Jobs · Hansard source

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  I thank the Secretary of State for her response, but has she assessed the regional impact of this levy? Although the impact can perhaps be levelled out and absorbed across the whole of Wales, some communities are clearly going to be hit harder than others. How will they be compensated for the impact?

• 11 Dec 2024 · Tourism Levy: Jobs · Hansard source

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  3. What discussions she has had with the Welsh Government on the potential impact of the proposed tourism levy on jobs in Wales.

• 10 Dec 2024 · Violence against Women and Girls · Hansard source

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  In August 2008, Alan Jermey brutally murdered Kirsty Wilson, strangling her and setting her body on fire while their two young daughters slept upstairs. He has now been recommended for transfer to an open prison, which could allow him unchaperoned access to the community within six months. His daughters, now 18 and 23, are my constituents, and they are terrified by the thought of encountering him, or worse, of him coming to their home, as he knows their address. Will the Lord Chancellor meet me and these young women to discuss their fears and ensure that this transfer is stopped?

• 4 Dec 2024 · Employer National Insurance Contributions · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman and I are members of the Health Committee, so I ask him this with all seriousness and genuineness. Does he not see the risk of this tax rise for GP surgeries, the hospice sector and the voluntary sector, which supports a lot of what the NHS does?

• 4 Dec 2024 · Employer National Insurance Contributions · Hansard source

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  The hon. Lady made that point powerfully. I have spoken to a GP surgery in my constituency that will have to cut seven members of staff, including a GP, a nurse, a social prescriber, a pharmacist and others providing ancillary services. These changes will affect not just her constituents and my constituents but every single constituency in the country, because every single GP practice will have the same problem.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Following on from the question asked by the hon. Member for Aberdeen North (Kirsty Blackman), in the Gallery today is Anne Puckridge, a world war two veteran and an intense campaigner. She has flown over 5,000 miles from Canada to meet the Prime Minister to discuss frozen pensions, a policy that is denying her and half a million Brits who live abroad an increase in their pensions. I am sure Anne will not mind me saying that she will be 100 years old in a couple of days’ time. Will the Prime Minister reconsider his decision, and give Anne the best birthday present ever and meet her to discuss this issue?

• 26 Nov 2024 · Project Gigabit · Hansard source

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  I give way to my right hon. Friend the Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds).

• 26 Nov 2024 · Project Gigabit · Hansard source

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  The hon. Lady is absolutely right. The fact is that many of our rural constituencies are so far below the national average that it is a real problem. In my constituency, gigabit coverage lags well below the national average, with 65.5% of premises connected in the old constituency of South West Surrey and 64.4% in the old constituency of East Hampshire. Both are over 10% below the UK average despite being just an hour’s drive away from London. In the villages of Tilford, Dippenhall and Greatham, broadband speeds are shockingly poor. In one Dippenhall postcode, 100% of properties lack speeds above 10 megabits per second. Similarly, in parts of Greatham, constituents are stuck with outdated speeds that cannot support modern digital demands. To put this in perspective, Londoners with gigabit connections enjoy speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second, while my constituents struggle with speeds 100 times slower. These numbers represent more than just technical deficiencies; they have a real and profound impact on people’s lives. Take, for example, a resident of Dippenhall who wrote to me to share their frustration. Their home is deemed inaccessible by Openreach, leaving them completely excluded from the benefits of gigabit broadband. Another example is Victoria, a magistrate in my constituency who commutes two hours each way to London. Victoria’s broadband speed—1.5 megabits per second download and 0.8 megabits per second upload—makes it impossible for her to work remotely or participate in virtual court hearings. During the covid-19 pandemic, while her colleagues in London worked from home with ease, Victoria was left unable to contribute. This digital inequality places an unnecessary strain on her family life, finances, and professional opportunities. Even Moor Park, in the east of Farnham, suffers from poor speeds of just 20 megabits per second download and five megabits per second upload—far below what is needed for modern working or learning. These residents, along with those in Beacon Hill, Hindhead and Frensham, feel increasingly left behind in a world that is becoming ever more digital.

• 26 Nov 2024 · Project Gigabit · Hansard source

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  I thank all Members who have contributed. Given that I have only one minute and 14 seconds to respond, I will not go through everyone’s villages. What has become clear today is that there is significant concern around the roll-out in rural areas. I am pleased that the Minister responded in the way that he did, and that he has offered to meet us to go through it “village by village”—I wrote that down. I am sure that many Members here will be taking him up on that. I will go back to what I said at the start: the facility to have superfast, gigabit-enabled broadband is going to be essential, and it is essential that we reach the target by 2030. We need to ensure that those people who are living in the most rural areas are not left behind, and that with the Opposition and the Government working together, we can move forward so that every property that is able has gigabit connectivity. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered the rollout of Project Gigabit in rural areas.