James Frith MP: speeches

Speeches

• 3 Feb 2026 · Iran · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for his work on this matter and for his statement. I want to raise the testimony of a constituent, a British-Iranian woman who fled Iran after being arrested three times for campaigning for the rights of women and children. She was raped and tortured in detention. Following the latest events, she received only brief calls from family before all communications were cut. Her relatives report people being shot in the streets, women and children being killed, bodies being withheld unless families pay large sums—sums based on the amount of bullets that are being used to kill—and almost no access to food, water, medicine, power or cash for those living in fear. What are the Government doing to document and preserve that evidence and testimony; is the status of the Iranian embassy and regime-linked assets in the UK under active review; and how are we supporting British-Iranian families who fear the worst for those they love back home?

• 3 Feb 2026 · Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill · Hansard source

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  Of course I support the Bill. It is what we are here for: to do this at the stroke of a pen—not of any pen, but that of a Government pen—after years in opposition, hoping to be able to come in and enact the sort of change we are able to make today. I am proud to stand in support of this Bill, and of the work that the Minister for Social Security and Disability continues to do in assessing the welfare reforms to come. In my constituency, child poverty is a daily reality for too many families. More than 7,000 children in Bury North are growing up in poverty. That means that over a third of the families I represent are in poverty—well above the national average—and the majority of them are in work. Behind each number is a child arriving at school hungry, a parent worrying about rent or heating, and families doing everything right but still falling short on the bills they have to pay. What makes this harder is that Bury North is often seen, on paper, as doing reasonably well, with strong communities and pride in place, but proximity to prosperity does not cushion poverty; it simply hides it. Too often, policy has failed to understand that. That is why the Government are right to reassess how funding is allocated, recognising that affluence and deprivation sit side by side, ward by ward. Crucially, it is why this change is being made now, when it is costed and affordable, yet overdue. In Chesham Fold and parts of East Ward, parents work every hour they can, budgeting meticulously, yet still struggle to cover the basics. The least well-off are often the best at budgeting, because they have no choice but to stretch limited means as far as possible. Nowhere is inequality clearer than in health. A child born in one part of my constituency can expect to live seven to 10 years less than a child born barely a mile away. That gap is not about lifestyle choices. It is about poverty shaping lives before they have even properly begun. That is why lifting the two-child limit matters so much, and why I support it as an economic and moral intervention. Scrapping it will lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty, reduce the depth of poverty for many more and increase spending power in exactly the communities that need it most. That money is spent locally, in full, on food shops, markets, uniforms, rent, heating and transport. It circulates through local economies, gives them buoyancy, stabilises households and reduces pressure on public services downstream. Child poverty already costs our economy close to £40 billion a year in lost potential and higher demand. Ending it for families in Bury North is not ideological; it is hard-headed prevention. I challenge those who continue to trade in the myths that cling to this debate. Most affected families are already in work; many include a disabled child. Family circumstances change overnight for many of us, through bereavement, redundancy or relationship breakdown. A social security system that fails to recognise that is not tough; it is brittle and will break too easily, as it did for 14 years. This matters even more profoundly for children with special educational needs and disabilities, with the recent Sutton Trust report stating that growing up with SEND and in poverty creates a “double disadvantage”. I support this Government’s instincts on welfare reform. Rights, responsibilities and contribution matter, but responsibility works only if the floor people are expected to stand on is high enough in the first place. The Bill, alongside wider measures to support families and tackle low incomes, sends a clear message: we are serious about prevention, serious about fairness, and serious about breaking the link between the circumstances of birth and chances in life.

• 20 Jan 2026 · Mobile Phones and Social Media: Use by Children · Hansard source

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  I welcome the leadership that the Secretary of State is showing on this issue. In Bury North, parental appetite for a ban on mobile phones is real, but so are the practical considerations when parents rightly want to track the location of their children, have a form of emergency contact and be able to reach their children safely. Does she agree that the existence of this anxiety is not about the technology itself, but about the design for use? Social media platforms are shaping our children’s childhoods, with excessive screen time and endless feeds absorbing the equivalent of a full-time job’s worth of hours of our young people’s lives every week. Will the Government’s approach focus on shaping healthier digital environments and rewarding first-mover tech companies that lead on safer design, rather than simply leaving the burden on families?

• 13 Jan 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T4. Following my recent meeting with Bury’s child and adolescent mental health services, can I ask the Secretary of State whether he has considered the merits of separating neurodiversity services from core CAMHS mental health provision? Will he meet me and Bury’s health leaders to discuss this approach, given the rising number of referrals in the system, the long waiting times, the workforce pressures and the growing risk of overmedicalisation?

• 15 Dec 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T9. I welcome the Government’s commitment to supporting servicemen and women, including those from Bury North, to travel home for Christmas. Given Bury’s long and proud military tradition and our ambition to host a Valour centre, will the Minister set out what practical steps the Government are taking this Christmas to support armed forces personnel and their families, and how that commitment will translate into stronger long-term local support for veterans? Will she also join me in wishing our brave men and women a very happy Christmas?

• 4 Dec 2025 · Acquired Brain Injury Action Plan · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Gentleman is making a typically thoughtful contribution, and I congratulate him on securing this debate. I also thank Clare Harrison, a constituent of mine, from the Brain Injury Group for bringing this important matter to my attention. The right hon. Gentleman makes a point about the Government’s role, and as he mentioned, sporting injuries populate such issues. Among those affected are former professional footballers, who are four times more likely to develop a neurodegenerative disease, support for which is patchy. For female former professional footballers, that support is non-existent. Will he join me in encouraging the Minister to consider the creation of an independent, football-funded body, alongside any wider action plan that his APPG is advocating for?

• 8 Sept 2025 · Indefinite Leave to Remain · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is being very generous in giving way and is making excellent remarks. At the weekend, I met Sid, who is in the Gallery today, and he made many of the excellent points that my hon. Friend is making. On the issue of the BNO route, the extension from five to 10 years makes it look as though we are shifting the goalposts. Does my hon. Friend agree that that risks handing Beijing a propaganda victory and that it would deny young Hongkongers access to home fee status at our universities for a decade?

• 4 Sept 2025 · Economic Crime · Hansard source

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  A businessman in my constituency has been defrauded of £100,000. Local police lack the skills and resources to investigate, and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau says that it cannot identify a line of inquiry, even though my constituent has compiled evidence himself. To his great credit, my constituent is more concerned about how many more victims there will be while such crimes go uninvestigated and unpunished. Will the Solicitor General meet me to discuss how we can ensure that this crime is properly investigated and these wretched fraudsters are brought to justice?

• 4 Sept 2025 · Economic Crime · Hansard source

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  10. What steps her Department is taking with the Serious Fraud Office to tackle economic crime.

• 4 Sept 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  The return to school in Bury North has seen the Derby and the Elton high schools introduce smartphone bans. I congratulate the principals Helen Hubert and Jonathan Wilton on their leadership in doing so. Like many of my Labour colleagues, through my smartphone-free schools campaign I have heard from hundreds of parents, teachers and pupils. Their overwhelming view is that smartphone use damages learning, concentration and behaviour while piling pressure on children to be permanently online. Will my right hon. Friend grant time to debate Government plans to help schools manage smartphones, so that every child can learn free from distraction and in a happier state?

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

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  We are very proud of the work of our Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham. On the issue of driving change, I would like to raise a point about drivers. Half of private hire taxis in Greater Manchester are licensed outside the area. That undermines local enforcement and accountability as well as local drivers who do the right thing. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the Bill is a chance to fix that, protect passengers, raise and maintain standards, and back the best in trade?

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

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  Will my right hon. Friend give way on that point?

• 21 Jul 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I recently hosted a series of engagements and roundtables on the SEN reforms, and it is impossible to ignore the sheer size of the problems this Government are confronting. Will the Secretary of State confirm that the legal right to specialist support will remain a core principle of every child’s entitlement as Labour rebuilds this broken system and that we will go further, delivering real outcomes, genuine inclusion and an SEN system built to serve families, not fail them?

• 16 Jul 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  In 2017 I led a Select Committee inquiry that warned of an emerging disaster in special educational needs and disability services. Those warnings went unheeded by the Conservatives, who left behind a broken system, which even they have since admitted is, “Lose, lose, lose.” Can the Prime Minister confirm that this Labour Government’s rebuilt SEND system will be shaped by listening to the needs of SEN families, never again ignored but served in the best traditions of a Labour Government?