Harpreet Uppal MP: speeches

Speeches

• 16 Jun 2025 · Windrush Day 2025 · Hansard source

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  It is an honour to speak in the debate and to mark Windrush Day 2025. It is a day of reflection, recognition and pride. In Huddersfield, we are proud of our rich, diverse communities, shaped in no small part by those who came here as part of the Windrush generation and their descendants. Families made their homes in our town and have worked in our hospitals, on our buses, and in our textile mills and factories. They have helped to build not only our local economy but the very fabric of our communities, and established a number of dominoes clubs in the town, too. They include many people from Carriacou in Grenada—we have one of the largest diasporas outside Grenada—as well as communities from Jamaica and St Lucia. Their contributions continue to shape the cultural and civic life of Huddersfield today. Windrush Day gives us a chance to honour that legacy, but it must also remain a call to action, especially when so many of those who gave so much continue to be denied justice. For this year’s commemorations in Huddersfield, there will be a powerful new documentary series by Kirklees Local TV as part of its groundbreaking Windrush wise words project. The documentary captures the stories of 16 Caribbean descendants, preserving their lived experiences for future generations and shining a light on the contributions and challenges faced by our Windrush communities and their descendants. Events like the Deighton carnival provide an incredible local celebration of African Caribbean culture and continue to showcase the vibrancy, pride and legacy of our communities in Huddersfield. Venn Street was once home to legendary sound systems that put Huddersfield at the heart of the UK’s reggae scene in the 1980s. Gregory Isaacs, Jimmy Cliff and Desmond Dekker all played at Venn Street. More often than not, artists would come to Huddersfield direct from Jamaica, though some might do one show in Birmingham or London. It is vital that we celebrate those stories, but we must also confront the ongoing injustices that many still face. I previously raised in the House the case of a constituent who has been struggling to access the Windrush compensation scheme. Like many, he did not have access to support or legal aid. The process can be complicated, confusing and deeply frustrating for those seeking justice. Sadly, his experience is not unique. Across the country, many eligible individuals still do not know that they can apply, and others are deterred by the scheme’s complexity. Some are navigating ill health or grief but are expected to work through layers of bureaucracy to get the redress that they are owed. I welcome the Minister’s response to my question in the Chamber, and the subsequent assistance offered to my constituent. I know that she is committed to getting this right. The Labour Government have made it clear that the treatment of the Windrush generation was a profound injustice. We must do everything in our power to ensure that everyone affected is treated with dignity and can access the support and compensation they deserve.

• 16 Jun 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I recently met young people from the West Yorkshire Youth Collective. They told me that funding for work experience opportunities for those aged between 16 and 19 has reduced in recent years, particularly in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and the arts. What steps is the Secretary of State taking to ensure that young people, particularly those from low-income backgrounds, can access the opportunities that they need to succeed?

• 15 May 2025 · Youth Services · Hansard source

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  Let me start by recognising the work of local youth workers in Huddersfield. Despite the financial outlook, there are many incredible organisations, including Positive Stepz, Conscious Youth hub, Central Stars youth club, Team Kick Start, Yorkshire Community Development, Empower, Boxpower, Temple Well-Being, Kirklees youth alliance, and Kirklees council’s detached youth team. I also want to mention the foundations of Huddersfield Town football club and Huddersfield Giants rugby league club, which work with young people across our communities. Those organisations deliver outstanding services, offering young people opportunities to thrive. However, they continue to face financial constraints and constant short-term funding rounds. We are seeing the consequences of the reduction in youth service provision, as organised criminal gangs lure young children into county line networks and organised criminality. Sadly, we have seen the devastating consequences of knife crime in Huddersfield, with young lives lost, too many parents dealing with consequences that no parent should ever face, communities broken, and too many children and young people left with mental scars. To recover from those years of neglect, youth services need sustainable long-term funding. When I met young people from Huddersfield, they said they have found it increasingly difficult to access work experience opportunities since the covid pandemic. They also told me that too many of those opportunities came down to informal parent networks, which see those from the lowest-income backgrounds lose out. In his Labour conference speech in 2023, the Prime Minister said: “Imagine if a whole country said we back your potential…Then look what we could build. A country where every contribution is equally respected. Where you don’t have to change who you are just to get on. Where whatever your background you feel secure.” We must now make that our driving ambition.

• 20 Mar 2025 · Knife Crime: Children and Young People · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for Huntingdon (Ben Obese-Jecty) for bringing forward this important debate and for his moving speech. I also want to mention my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Erdington (Paulette Hamilton)—I am sorry for what happened to her family. Knife crime devastates communities across the country as organised criminal gangs lure children and young people into county line networks and organised criminality. Too many communities have seen children criminally exploited, and sadly we have seen the devastating consequences of knife crime in my constituency. In Huddersfield, Khayri Mclean, 15, and Harley Brown, 17, sadly lost their lives to knife crime in recent years. These were young lives cruelly taken too soon. Too many parents are dealing with consequences that no parent should have to face. Communities are left broken, and too many children and young people are left with mental scars. The Home Secretary’s announcement of Ronan’s law, along with the launch of the coalition to tackle knife crime, the Young Futures prevention partnerships and the Young Futures hubs, are all welcome and important steps forward. By introducing stricter regulations on online knife sales and developing an extensive understanding of the root causes of knife crime, we are making it harder for young people to access those weapons in the first place and encouraging different, safer pathways. The measures are welcome, but alone they will not be enough. Hon. Members have raised social media companies and the use of Spotify by gang members and so-called influencers, whereby algorithms are unfortunately driving this divisive behaviour, but that cannot be seen in isolation from what is happening on the ground. Kirklees council, covering my constituency of Huddersfield, has seen a 70% decrease in funding for its youth services since 2010. We know the loss of youth services has been linked to a 14% rise in youth crime within six years of the closures. We must invest in youth services, community outreach and early intervention. Despite the difficult financial outlook, many incredible organisations support young people in my constituency, including Positive Stepz, Conscious Youth, Central Stars youth club, Team KickStart, Yorkshire Community Development, Empower, Boxpower and Temple Well-Being. The deputy mayor of West Yorkshire has also introduced an A&E navigator and community links programme, as other Members have mentioned. Those help to identify and signpost young people to the right support networks at the earliest opportunity. Those organisations deliver outstanding community services to our young people, offering them experiences, opportunities and environments that allow them to thrive. However, despite their best efforts, the financial constraints that they face have resulted in many having to reduce their services. They continue to have to fight for small pots of funding, which is not sustainable in the long term. The evidence is clear: when youth services are cut, young people suffer. Will the Minister provide details of when the Young Futures hubs will be introduced? I am keen for Huddersfield and towns like ours to be early adopters, alongside cities. We must also give communities the tools to tackle this problem from the ground up. It is usually local people and local communities who best understand the issues, but they often find themselves fighting against the system rather than being supported by it. No parent should ever have to bury their child, and no community should have to live in fear. I look forward to continuing to work with Members from across the House, alongside the Government, to stamp out this epidemic of senseless violence.

• 6 Mar 2025 · International Women’s Day · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Brent East (Dawn Butler) for securing this important debate. It is with huge pride that I stand here today as the first woman MP for Huddersfield—[Hon. Members: “Hear, hear!]—but hopefully not the last. Female leadership continues in my local area, with a female leader of the council and our fantastic West Yorkshire Mayor, Tracy Brabin, and deputy Mayor, Alison Lowe. Of course, I have to mention you, Madam Deputy Speaker, as a proud Yorkshire woman —that is fantastic. International Women’s Day is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women, but it also marks a call to action to accelerate women’s equality. Around the world, we are witnessing a growing push- back against women’s rights—advances that were made painstakingly over decades. As parliamentarians, we have a particular responsibility to ensure that we do everything we can to progress women and girls’ equality and fight back against the culture wars from those who try to give easy and angry responses to complex problems, which too often pit us against each other when many of us are fighting for the same goals. I recently attended a Reclaim the Night march in Huddersfield, the first of which took place in Leeds back in 1977. As with those first powerful marches in the 1970s, we were there to renew our commitment to building a future free from violence against women and girls and to assert our right to go out without fear, whatever time of day or night it is. Recent data shows that 2 million women are estimated to be victims of violence perpetrated by men each year. That is one in 12 women. Police chiefs have warned of young men being radicalised online by so-called influencers. As the Safeguarding Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Yardley (Jess Phillips), said, “The scale of violence against women and girls in our country is intolerable, and the Government will treat it as a national emergency.” —[ Official Report , 25 November 2024; Vol. 757, c. 492.] I am very glad that she is in that role, doing this work. I am proud that we have more women in this Parliament than we have ever had, but we are only at 40%, so there is still more to do. I am glad that a women’s caucus has been established to look at issues on a cross-party basis, but the onus cannot just be on women; we must all act together and say, “Enough is enough.” I want to note a couple of local organisations in Huddersfield that work really hard to support women, including the Pennine Domestic Abuse Partnership, Kirklees Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre, WomenCentre and the Lipstick Project, among many others. When it comes to the responsibility of social media giants to curtail behaviour online, we must simply ask, are they doing enough? If the answer is no, we have to demand more. It cannot be right that at times, algorithms are driving this destructive and divisive behaviour.

• 17 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T5. I advise the House that my sister works for Rugby League Cares. The Minister will know that my constituency is the birthplace of rugby league. At a professional and community level, the game is really important to towns such as mine, but it has not always had the support that it deserves. The Rugby Football League has produced a national community facilities strategy, which states the level of funding that is needed for the game. What steps is she taking to support long-term investment in rugby league?