Iqbal Mohamed MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 20 Oct 2025 · Maccabi Tel Aviv FC: Away Fans Ban · Hansard source

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  Yes, please.

• 20 Oct 2025 · Maccabi Tel Aviv FC: Away Fans Ban · Hansard source

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  After the conflation of antisemitism with the banning of football hooligans who happen to come from Israel, and the abuse that I and other people have received for supporting the ban on safety grounds, I must put on the record that I and those people are not antisemitic—never have been and never will be. The Prime Minister described the decision to ban the violent Maccabi hooligans by West Midlands police and Birmingham city council’s safety advisory group as antisemitism. The leader of Reform, the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage), said that the police gave in to extremist intimidation. The leader of the Liberal Democrats, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Ed Davey), called for the decision to be reversed, saying, “You don’t tackle antisemitism by banning its victims.” And there were racist comments by the would-be leader of the Tories, the right hon. Member for Newark (Robert Jenrick), who said that integration has failed in Birmingham. Let me ask this: was it antisemitic for the Israeli police to cancel a football derby in Tel Aviv last night after those same hooligans forced the match to stop through violence and injury to fans and the police? Do we want those scenes to be repeated in our stadiums and on our streets?

• 15 Oct 2025 · Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill · Hansard source

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  The Minister mentioned a reduction of 6.3 megatonnes, but what is that as a proportion of the current emissions?

• 15 Oct 2025 · Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill · Hansard source

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  I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his intervention and I do understand his point. This is a transition. We are moving away from fuels that are killing our environment and our ability to survive on planet Earth. It is a responsible thing to do to find ways to reduce our reliance on carbon-generating fossil fuels through cleaner alternatives. This may not be the final solution for aviation—it might be a transition. Future technologies and innovations might allow us to stop the use of such fuels altogether. More than 130 organisations from airlines and clean energy firms to researchers and investors have called on the Government to prioritise PTL through the Bill. They have called for urgent engagement, timely regulation and a clear pathway to a commercial-scale plant in the UK by 2026. As I have mentioned, the EU, Canada and the United States are moving faster. We must not miss this industrial opportunity to take a lead in progressing innovative SAF alternatives and licensing that technology around the world. We must act decisively, not incrementally. I support the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill, but I believe we have a responsibility to make it stronger, bolder and more targeted towards the fuels that will truly deliver net zero. My amendments are practical, proportionate and widely supported. They add not cost, but clarity, confidence and a commitment to a sector that needs all three. If we want to lead the world in clean aviation, we must lead with action, not just ambition. I call on friends and colleagues across the House to support the amendments in my name, and in doing so to give PTL the foothold it needs to take off in the UK.

• 15 Oct 2025 · Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill · Hansard source

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  Could the hon. Member clarify over what period the Government would do the cost impact assessment, if they were to do one? Does he agree that the transition to any new technology requires significant initial upfront investment? All the trillion-dollar companies in the world were losing millions before they became profitable.

• 15 Oct 2025 · Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention and I wholeheartedly agree. We in the UK have the capabilities to be a leader in these technologies and we must take a collective approach on green energy for both environmental and economic gains. We need certainty for private capital to flow in and the delivery of long-term taxpayer returns. Amendment 12 looks at the SAF mandate itself. It requires a review within 12 months of the sub-target for power-to-liquid fuel to assess whether it is ambitious enough and whether it reflects the urgency of the climate challenge and the pace of international competition. This is not about setting targets in haste; it is about ensuring our targets are based on evidence, consultation and real-world feasibility. The amendment explicitly requires engagements with power-to-liquid producers, airlines, experts and wider stakeholders, and it requires that a report be laid before Parliament. Let me be clear: I do not stand alone in calling for this. More than 130 organisations, from airlines and clean energy firms to researchers and investors, have called on the Government to prioritise PTL through the Bill. They have called for urgent engagement, timely regulation and a clear pathway to a commercial-scale plant in the UK by 2026. We already know the EU is moving faster, alongside Canada and the United States, with more ambition on PTL. If we fall behind, we will become importers of clean fuel, not exporters of clean technology and we will miss the industrial opportunity staring us in the face. Time is of the essence, and we must all work together to get this right.

• 15 Oct 2025 · Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill · Hansard source

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  I am pleased to rise to speak to my new clause 7 and amendment 12. I support the intentions of the Bill, and I want to strengthen it with my amendments, which I believe are essential to ensuring this legislation delivers a real, lasting impact for our climate, our economy and our position on the global stage. The Bill rightly seeks to unlock private investment in UK sustainable aviation fuel through a revenue certainty mechanism. This is a welcome and necessary step that gives certainty to businesses looking to invest in this world-leading mechanism to decarbonise the aviation sector. However, if we are serious about climate leadership, preventing the worst effects of climate breakdown and long-term energy resilience, we must do more than build a framework; we must prioritise the right fuels. That is why my new clause 7 focuses on power-to-liquid sustainable aviation fuel. Not all SAF is equal. Power-to-liquid SAF is the cleanest, most sustainable option we have, in my opinion. It is made from renewable electricity and captured carbon, and it does not rely on limited or environmentally questionable feedstocks such as used cooking oil or palm derivatives. It is future-proof, and it is essential if we are to hit our net zero targets without compromising environmental integrity. The Government themselves, in their SAF mandate guidance, recognise power-to-liquid fuels as having the greatest potential. The Committee on Climate Change has said that we need 13 TWh of synthetic fuel by 2040 to stay on a credible path to net zero. The potential is there, but it will remain untapped unless we take deliberate action to bring this industry to life.

• 15 Oct 2025 · Educational Assessment System Reform · Hansard source

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  I absolutely agree. After my last exam at university, I promised myself that I would never take another exam. Before I became an MP—not since—I had nightmares where I believed I had an exam in the morning and had not revised, which is a common feeling among many. This debate follows the House’s passing of Third Reading of the Mental Health Bill yesterday. I spoke about remembering the importance of centring young people’s wellbeing and mental health, and how we must create policy and legislation that fits them and their experiences and needs. A constituent recently told me that both her daughters have needed mental health support, primarily because of issues in school and the stress that came with that. The pressures of our education system are part of that picture, and cannot be ignored. We have heard arguments about some of the benefits of exams, and we should try to find an adaptable hybrid model so that schools can adapt how they test and assess the ability of individual children rather than forcing them down a single, cookie-cutter, regimented process that does not show their capabilities, intelligence or resilience. Teaching children about resilience has to come from real-world scenarios, and exams that concentrate stresses into two-hour chunks at the end of an academic year do not reflect the realities of life. We all experience stresses, and we should all try to deal with them, but I do not believe, as the hon. Member for Wolverhampton West (Warinder Juss) mentioned, that they help strengthen children’s resilience. With the independent curriculum and assessment review expected soon, we have a crucial opportunity to rethink how we assess young people. Reform must place wellbeing, creativity and fairness at its heart, because a child’s worth should never be defined by how they perform under pressure, but by the full range of their potential.

• 15 Oct 2025 · Educational Assessment System Reform · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I thank the hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford (Josh Dean) for securing this important debate. For everybody in this room and every educationalist across the country, the aim is to get the best from every child at every age, from kindergarten through primary, secondary and whatever path they choose to take going forward, whether it is university or apprenticeships. However, where we are with our education system and our assessment system does not help us get to that point. As we have heard, our exam system is pushing young people to their limits. For some, exams are the right tool and they are excited by them—they are built for the exams and will show the best version of themselves—but for many, exams are not that vehicle. Last summer, nearly two thirds of students sitting their GCSEs and A-levels said that they struggled to cope, with many reporting panic attacks, self-harm and even suicidal thoughts. Over a third of 10 and 11-year-olds said SATs made them feel ill, and more than half worried about their abilities for the first time. Those figures tell us something is profoundly wrong. Our assessment system is damaging the very young people it is meant to serve. We have created an environment where success is defined by performance in a few hours of high-stakes exams, rather than by sustained learning or genuine understanding. Only around 5% of primary school leaders believe that SATs reflect a child’s true ability, and just 3% think that they accurately measure school performance. Exams are meant to measure learning, not resilience under stress. We need a system that uses a fairer mix of assessment methods, combining exams with course work, project work and modular or digital assessments to better reflect the diverse strengths of every student.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I associate myself with the tributes paid to Lord Campbell across the House, and I thank the Prime Minister for his statement. I also welcome the release of all hostages and several hundred Palestinian detainees, but we must remember that more than 10,000 captives—some prisoners, but many held without charge—are still held in Israeli prisons. I hope that the Government will work towards the release of the innocents being held. The rebuilding and the interim and final governance of Gaza must be Palestinian-led, not led by western actors. The Palestinians have suffered over two years of relentless genocide and decades of Israeli siege, occupation, military violence and oppression. I totally agree with the position that Hamas must play no role in the future governance of Palestine, and there is no excuse for what happened on 7 October, but one of the root causes that is preventing a two-state solution from becoming reality is the unlawful—

• 14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  Will the Prime Minister confirm to the House when the Government will be in full compliance with the International Court of Justice advisory opinion on not doing anything that helps perpetuate the unlawful occupation?

• 14 Oct 2025 · Mental Health Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  This Bill gives us a real opportunity to modernise mental health care and make sure that patient choice and fairness are at the heart of mental health services, but to achieve that, we must first confront the deep inequalities that still shape people’s experience of mental health care, particularly among ethnic minority communities, those facing economic hardship and young people. Like so many issues, the intersectionality between those factors means that some groups face particular challenges in navigating and accessing the help they need. In Dewsbury and Batley, we see the human reality of that inequality. Rates of depression stand at 15.4%, higher than the national average, and schizophrenia is also more common locally, compared with other constituencies in the UK. Across Yorkshire and the north, mental ill health is consistently higher than elsewhere in England. NHS data and mental health organisations are clear that both ethnic background and wealth disparity play a major role in that gap. People in my constituency are more likely to experience a mental health condition, yet the funding for research and specialised services in the north remains lower. That means less support, fewer beds, and fewer opportunities to provide specialist care. That is why I strongly support new clause 13, which requires every hospital to have a named person responsible for overseeing race equality in how the Mental Health Act is applied. Black people are still four times more likely to be detained under the Act and eight times more likely to be placed on a community treatment order. Without accountability, those injustices will continue. I also support new clause 35, tabled by the hon. Member for Sheffield Central (Abtisam Mohamed), which seeks to put limits on CTOs. We must also do far more for young people. The new clause proposed by the hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford (Josh Dean) powerfully argues for giving under-16s a clearer say in their own treatment decisions. A mother told me how both of her daughters needed mental health support, yet she had to seek private care because local services were overstretched and not up to standard. She pointed me to the Good Childhood Report, which shows that the wellbeing of children in the UK is among the lowest in Europe. I also support new clause 28, which aims urgently to address the need to stop children being placed in adult wards or sent miles away from home for treatment. I welcome the work that West Yorkshire ICB has done recently to expand mental health services for older people, but we must match that ambition for children and young people. If those commitments cannot all be secured through this Bill, they must be delivered in the forthcoming Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

• 13 Oct 2025 · Manchester Terrorism Attack · Hansard source

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  I join the Home Secretary and all Members across the House in my unequivocal condemnation of the heinous terrorist and antisemitic attack against Jewish worshippers in Manchester, and I express my heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Mr Daulby and Mr Cravitz. As a proud British Muslim, I remind the House and those listening that the actions of these so-called Islamist terrorists were vile and unacceptable. They have nothing to do with the religion of Islam and are actually in total contradiction to the teachings of Islam and the obligations of all Muslims. In my constituency and across the country, Muslims have joined the Jewish community in being saddened and angered by the terrorist attack in Manchester, and by any and all hatred and violence expressed against any community. We stand in full solidarity with them. The Home Secretary said that the terrorist was not known to the police or to the Prevent programme, so will she advise the House what steps are being taken to address any gaps identified in our preventive measures so that such acts of terrorism cannot happen again?

• 13 Oct 2025 · Digital ID · Hansard source

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  As has been mentioned, the petition opposing the Government’s proposals is the fourth largest that the people of this country have signed. I have had nearly 100 emails from my constituents opposing the scheme. Will the Secretary of State please commit to documenting every single use case for the scheme, and will she say how the separate islands of automation across Government and public services will be prepared to take advantage of a single digital ID?

• 16 Sept 2025 · Ambassador to the United States · Hansard source

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  An additional question is whether there was any external influence. Did Tony Blair or any of Mandelson’s friends have anything to do with the appointment?

• 15 Sept 2025 · Children with SEND: Assessments and Support · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member is making an important and passionate speech. Councils across the country are spending upwards of £100 million a year fighting EHCPs and going to tribunal instead of issuing those plans and providing the education that those children need. Does he agree that that money could be better spent on serving the children rather than fighting the parents?

• 15 Sept 2025 · Children with SEND: Assessments and Support · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Allin-Khan. I thank the over 124,000 people who signed this petition, including 178 from my constituency. I join them by speaking in support of retaining the legal right to assessment and adequate support for children with special educational needs and disabilities. Appropriate and fit-for-purpose education is a fundamental human right. We all agree that the current system is not just at breaking point, but broken, and the broken system perpetuates the mistreatment of parents and children. Families are going through that broken system daily, and are being broken themselves. The system was deliberately managed into decline by the previous Government, and mismanagement by local authorities means that a lot of resources are being misspent and wasted. We have heard that when parents are forced to take legal action, they are overwhelmingly successful. In 2022-23, 99% of tribunal cases challenging local authority SEND decisions were upheld in favour of families. The first step that the Government could take is to abolish the right for local authorities to deny EHCPs. That would immediately save millions of pounds across our country. I have heard from a constituent whose experience speaks to that wider problem. She has repeatedly tried to work with the council on her daughter’s EHCP, but has been met with silence and delay. Last year, she had to fight simply to secure the exam materials to which her daughter was entitled. More recently, her formal complaint about how the EHCP was being handled received little response. That is why legal rights must remain. Without them, families like that of my constituent would have no route to redress when things go wrong.

• 15 Sept 2025 · Provision of Council Housing · Hansard source

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  I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate. Since the Labour Government established the social housing policy and built the houses that were needed, the number of council houses has reduced as the Thatcher Government decided to sell those houses off. I will not object to people buying their own homes, but the Government of that time did not allow the money generated to be reinvested in social housing, so the social housing stock reduced over time and has not been replaced. Does he agree that the only way to address the issue is to replace the housing that was lost?

• 15 Sept 2025 · Provision of Council Housing · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Member give way?

• 10 Sept 2025 · Qatar: Israeli Strike · Hansard source

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  I join the House in its condemnation of the attacks against civilians in Jerusalem this week. The impunity and military support afforded to the state of Israel over the past 77 years, and as it carries out the ongoing genocide in Gaza and wider Palestine, has emboldened its leaders to launch assaults in Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Tunisia and now Qatar, killing thousands and forcing millions to flee their homes across the region. Is the Minister not concerned that the British Government’s continued support for a rogue state perpetrating repeated violations of international law will lead to Israel invading other countries, and undermine the UK’s security and credibility on the world stage? Does he agree that Qatar has a right to defend itself against this unprovoked illegal attack?

• 10 Sept 2025 · Occupied Palestinian Territories: Humanitarian Access · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer. I thank the hon. Member for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy (Melanie Ward) for securing this important debate. I begin with a harrowing quote from a father in Gaza speaking to aid workers: “Bread has become a dream. On the fourth attempt, I finally got flour—but only by stepping over bodies of people who died trying to reach the same bag I held in my hands.” Those words are not simply tragic; they are a stark reminder of the human cost of conflict—a cost borne disproportionately by those who have no choice and no voice in the halls of power. More sobering is the fact that this situation is not an unavoidable tragedy. It is a deliberate use of starvation as a weapon of war. It is a campaign of mass killing. It is a war crime. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has warned us plainly: “We are failing the people of Gaza. Inaction is not an option.” Yet we sit in our homes in our country, with a Government choosing to look away. I ask our Government and the Minister: has Israel really desisted? Has it responded to any of the steps that the Government have taken? It has actually increased the atrocities and the number of people being killed on a day-to-day basis, using all means available. I end by asking the Government: will we stop looking away? Will the Government finally demand and enforce a permanent ceasefire, ensure the protection of civilians and ensure unhindered access to aid? Will we—

• 3 Sept 2025 · Duty of Candour for Public Authorities and Legal Representation for Bereaved Families · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Hobhouse. I extend my immense gratitude to my friend, the hon. Member for Liverpool West Derby (Ian Byrne). On behalf of my independent alliance colleagues, I begin by paying tribute to the Hillsborough families, survivors and campaigners who for decades have fought with extraordinary courage and perseverance. Their demand has always been simple: for the truth to be told as it is so that families can find closure and not face barriers in their pursuit of justice for their loved ones. Their legacy is the Hillsborough law: a legal duty of candour on public authorities and officials, and equal representation for bereaved families. That was promised by the Government. With trust in politicians at an all-time low in our country and around the world, I appeal to the Government to please honour their promise. I am not asking for anything different or anything more. With high-profile tragedies such as Hillsborough, Grenfell, the Manchester Arena bombing, Horizon and infected blood, the need for such a law is undeniable. I attended the statement made yesterday by the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, the hon. Member for Birmingham Yardley (Jess Phillips), on child sexual abuse. Without the Hillsborough law, that inquiry may not uncover the truth about what people withheld and how many victims could have been prevented from abuse or supported in their time of need, so please—this is critical. I will skip to one additional point. Justice is about not just how we respond after a disaster but the systems we put in place to prevent injustices from happening again. Too often, families are forced into painful struggles because institutions have failed them. While we respect the work of our public servants, we must recognise that failures within the NHS, the police, local government and the courts are sometimes systemic. One such issue relates to critically ill children, where parents have to go through adversarial court battles to get second opinions and treatment for their children. I urge the Government to look into that and to pass the Hillsborough law as promised so that those things can be addressed.

• 3 Sept 2025 · Duty of Candour for Public Authorities and Legal Representation for Bereaved Families · Hansard source

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  On timelines, will the Minister elaborate on how long the Government expect to need before they can present something to the House?

• 3 Sept 2025 · Duty of Candour for Public Authorities and Legal Representation for Bereaved Families · Hansard source

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  This is a harrowing story about Ida and Sarah. Does the hon. Member agree that not every person who is impacted by failings of state, and who has lost family and loved ones, has the resources, time and energy to fight for five and a half years?

• 2 Sept 2025 · English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill · Hansard source

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  First, I thank Mayor Tracy Brabin for her investment in mass transit across West Yorkshire, including a new bus station in my town of Dewsbury. I am grateful for those investments, but how will this Bill stop a council from making the decision to distribute funding unequally across its borough? How would it stop a council from, for instance, making a decision to shut down a sports centre that is used by people of all ages on the pretence of there being reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete and then not taking steps to investigate or having a plan to reopen?