Jeevun Sandher MP: speeches

Speeches

• 20 Oct 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Under the previous Government, British parents had the highest childcare costs in Europe. Will the Minister please set out how the expansion of early years education is reducing the cost of living for hard-working British parents?

• 14 Oct 2025 · COP30: Food System Transformation · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. We live in a world where climate change is leading to rising prices and to more hunger. World food prices are up by 30%. The number of undernourished people is rising across the world. Here in the UK, food prices have increased by almost 40%, and one in eight people are skipping meals. That is because a warming planet is leading to drought and to failed harvests. We can stop that by sorting out and investing in our global food system. That is about investing in sustainable agriculture, irrigation, digging wells, ecosystem management and stopping emissions so that we have a planet where all of us can cohere and work together. We must also ensure that there is emergency food and income support when our food systems fail and people go hungry, as is happening here and across the globe. When I speak about hunger and drought, I do not speak merely about what I have read; I speak about things that I have seen and experienced. For two years, between 2016 and 2018, I worked in the Somaliland Ministry of Finance. I was, I think, the only economist there, and I did its budgets, its economic policy and its national development plan. I was there during Somaliland’s worst drought in living memory, and a widespread hunger that led to almost a famine. I can tell hon. Members across the Chamber that one does not forget what hunger looks like when it is etched into a child’s face. It was incredibly difficult. Climate change had led to droughts, which had led to failed harvests, to insufficient produce for herds and to dying animals. In the immediate moment, there was not a huge amount we could do, but we could sort out the budget system to enable us to invest in greater food production, wells and irrigation, with a bit of money left on the side to ensure emergency food and income support. I was pleased to see that those measures are still in place. Unfortunately, as I speak here today, Somaliland is going through another drought and even more hunger, because of rising temperatures, a burning planet and failed harvests once again. It is for all of us in this place, and for nations across the globe, to stop emitting carbon so that every single person across our planet can afford to eat.

• 13 Oct 2025 · Security Update: Official Secrets Act Case · Hansard source

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  All of us across this House have an interest in protecting and preserving our democracy. Clearly, we have threats to our democracy, internally as well as externally. The Minister said a little bit about the elections Bill, but can he set out in more detail what the safeguards and protections will be for our democratic institutions and, indeed, for this place?

• 16 Sept 2025 · International Day of Democracy · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir John. The truth is that today democracy is dying and we have to face that if we want to save it as it stands. We are living in a divided nation, where people are losing faith in democracy because they cannot afford a decent life, they do not see a way forward and they see others who can. A nation as divided as ours cannot stand and it will not endure unless we protect and save it. We are divided by economics, by geography and online. We live in a nation where record numbers cannot afford a decent living. We live in different places in our country. Young people go to university and then never come back home. They live in major cities, living entirely different lives to those they have left behind. We occupy completely different spaces online. On average, we spend two and a half hours scrolling a day, hearing and listening to things that others do not, inhabiting completely different worlds. If we want to address that, and want people to once again have faith in our democracy, we need both a policy answer and a political answer. On the policy side, people need to see that democracy can and does deliver for them. There is a cost of living crisis today. What delivering means is good jobs in every single place for people. It means places where people can cohere and come together in their local communities, as well as ending the pervading sense of loneliness that leads people to live their lives online, seeing more extreme content, engaging with it, living within it and being driven by it. More than that, there is a political answer. How do we come together as one nation and one people? The answer is by living up to the greatest values of Britishness—unity, decency and determination. That is what has made this nation make the impossible seem only remarkable. It is how we saved democracy in Europe and saw it spread across the globe. It is how we came together during a pandemic. And beyond those great moments are the small, everyday ones that make life worth while—having a pint, queuing politely, a cup of tea. That is what it means to be British, cohering as one nation, together. The radical right will say, “No, no, no—we can fix all our problems by attacking immigrants.” The radical left will say, “It is all about corporations.” It is for us to say that we stand as one British people for decency— not blaming, but cohering together. Unity, decency, determination: that is how we protect our democracy, that is how we save it and that is how we keep it for future generations.

• 3 Sept 2025 · Property Taxes · Hansard source

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  I rise to speak against the motion on tax. I welcome the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing North (James Murray), and his well-deserved promotion. We all know that if we share in growth, we make the country more prosperous and we make it stronger. Tax, of course, helps to pay for the investment that makes us all more prosperous. Under the previous Government, we did not invest in our country and we saw a weaker nation as a result: the highest energy bills in the G7; the worst waiting lists ever seen in this nation; and the worst transport infrastructure in western Europe. That is what this Government are fixing and that is what we are doing with the taxes we have raised. The Opposition motion speaks of property taxes—this from the party that dashed the dream of home ownership for my generation. Some 40% of those under 30 live with mum and dad. Young people living in big cities pay 40% of their income on rent, unable to save for a house because of the amount they are paying in housing costs. That is precisely the kind of thing we are fixing when we invest to build social housing—£40 billion-worth. But of course, all that needs to be paid for and that is exactly what we do with the taxes we raise. That is why we are proud of the country we are building, where every single one of us is better off. Crucially, the taxes we raise follow three principles: that they are progressive, raising more from those on higher incomes than from those on middle and low incomes; that they are growth enhancing, both in the way that they are applied and in the investment they pay for; and that we can implement them easily. Those are the three principles that our taxes faced in the autumn: closing a non-dom loophole for those at the top of society; asking the largest businesses to pay more, so we can reduce our waiting lists; and increasing the taxes on second homes, so we can build homes for every single person in this nation. The revenue raised from those who can most afford it makes each one of us better off—that is what this Government are about. The Opposition want to leave us with a nation where we are weaker: where we do not invest in our collective prosperity, as they did not for the last 14 years; and where we see, instead of a nation that is united and sharing in our prosperity, one that is divided. A house that is divided against itself cannot stand and a nation that is as divided as ours will not stand. It is for us to invest in every corner of this country, so that every person can benefit. That is exactly what we are doing in our economic programme and that is exactly the kind of investment we are paying for through our taxes. We build a stronger nation when each of us shares in our prosperity, and we help to achieve that through our tax system when we invest to get wages rising, waiting lists down and energy bills down—a stronger nation where each of us is doing better, raising living standards that for too long have been far too low, helping people to be able to afford a home, helping them to raise a family, helping them to pay their bills without having to worry about their overdraft, and sharing, each of us, in our nation’s prosperity. That is what this Government are doing, that is what we are building and that is what we are proud to be a part of.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  We see the brutality and bloodshed in Gaza every single night on our screens. It is disproportionate and horrific, and it has gone on for far too long—bombs, bullets and now the blockades. There can never be any justification for shooting people while they wait and queue for aid. I know that the Secretary of State shares my desire for peace, a two-state solution, an immediate ceasefire and the flowing of aid into Gaza. Will he share what he is doing to help achieve that?

• 15 Jul 2025 · Taxes · Hansard source

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  Employment is rising, and has risen since the general election. [ Interruption. ] The reason why unemployment is rising is that more people are seeking to enter the labour force; people are less inactive than before, because we are getting waiting lists down. I would rather people were looking for a job than stayed out of the labour force entirely, as the Opposition would have it. We want to build the kind of country where people are able to work. We increased employers’ national insurance contributions in the Budget while protecting the smallest businesses. We ended the non-dom tax break, to make sure that the ultra-rich could not escape taxes by using a loophole, and increased taxes on private jets. We are getting more of the energy giants’ unearned profits into the public purse to invest in the things that we all need. We know the Conservatives will complain constantly about the things we are raising money for, but they will never say what they would cut. We saw what happened over the past 14 years; we saw the weaker nation they left in their wake. The Government are investing to change that for good. After the past 14 years, we were left a weaker and more divided nation—a nation in which each of us produces less, and looks inward as we have found it harder to pay the bills. That is exactly what the Government are fixing, and what we are investing in. I am proud of this Government. I am proud of this country. Most of all, I am proud of the country we will build, in which each of us does well, and we recognise that our common strength is found in our common prosperity.

• 15 Jul 2025 · Taxes · Hansard source

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  The motion before us shows the difference in values between the two sides of this House. The Conservatives’ motion speaks of wealth creators, but specifically says that only a few of us create wealth. On the Labour Benches, we believe that every single worker creates wealth in this country. We have seen the consequences of 14 years of their values in action: falling living standards, higher waiting lists, higher energy bills and a weaker nation. Our values, as we saw under the previous Labour Government, left us with a stronger, wealthier and prosperous nation, in which we taxed the wealthiest to invest in the services that we all rely on. We left a more prosperous and stronger nation last time, and that is what we are building this time. We have seen the damage of the past 14 years, as expressed in the motion. We have seen what the Conservatives’ values mean in practice. They believed that if a few did well, and there were a few tax cuts for those at the top, our country would be wealthier. That started in 2013, and continued with Truss. In reality, at the end of that 14 years, no one did well. We had the longest squeeze on wages since Napoleon threatened our shores. We were the only high-income nation to see sickness rise after the pandemic, had the highest energy bills in Europe, and were the worst-connected country in western Europe. That is the Conservatives’ record. I believe the right hon. Gentleman wanted to make an intervention.

• 15 Jul 2025 · Taxes · Hansard source

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  I thank the right hon. Member for giving way. We sit on the Treasury Committee together and I find him to be an incredibly kind and brilliant Member of Parliament. He has been very kind to me personally as well. On the experience of coming out of covid, our contention is not just about Liz Truss, but about the fact that we had the highest inflation and the highest energy bills. Natural gas, which we depend on, sets the price 98% of the time. It is also 50% to 75% more expensive than wind and solar, so the lack of investment in clean energy left us with higher inflation and made us poorer.

• 15 Jul 2025 · Taxes · Hansard source

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  The global financial crisis affected every single nation across the world. I do not deny, by the way, how difficult things were in 2010, but we also left the Conservatives an economy that was growing, record low waiting lists, and investment in our nation and a plan to insulate our homes. Because they did not follow through on our plans, we had the worst insulated homes in western Europe, and some of the highest energy bills to go with that. Yes, we left in a difficult moment, but we left the Conservatives with a strong foundation for going forward. The Conservatives left us poorer, sicker and slower, thanks to their their record on tax. In the worst cost of living crisis in a century, they attempted to cut taxes for the wealthiest. Everybody on the Labour Benches thought Truss was mad; I really do not know what Opposition Members believe anymore.

• 15 Jul 2025 · Taxes · Hansard source

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  We saw it in the insulation build-out; David Cameron, as he put it, cut the green crap. Insulation rates were rising when we left office, but they were cut throughout the 2010s; as a nation, we have not had that insulation. That is why we brought in the warm homes plan and are funding it with £13 billion. Millions more homes will be insulated under this Government, bringing down energy bills by hundreds of pounds. Those plans for insulation are funded by the tax rises that the Conservatives oppose. Time and again, we ask them what they would like less investment in, and time and again, no answer is given. We on the Government Benches are trying to build a country according to our values—a country where each of us is doing well, is doing better, is better educated, is healthier and finds it easier to get around. Those are the building blocks of our nation’s wealth. To build that wealth takes investment, which must be funded, and those who benefit most from our nation’s productivity should be asked to contribute more. That is exactly what this Government are ensuring.

• 15 Jul 2025 · Taxes · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Member give way?

• 10 Jul 2025 · Educational Attainment of Boys · Hansard source

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  Today I will speak about how boys from more deprived backgrounds have fewer academic and non-academic skills, and how it is harming their ability to get decent jobs in the post-industrial era. This topic was the subject of my second PhD paper, and although I cannot force Members to read it, I can certainly force them all to listen today. The puzzle that my paper addressed was why non-graduate men are finding it so hard to get jobs in the post-industrial economy. The employment rate for non-graduate men has fallen from about 90% in the 1970s to about 75% in 2020. The manufacturing jobs that they used to do have disappeared, but if employment rates have risen as they have, why can they not get jobs in the service sector? The answer—or at least part of the answer—is in the earliest years of young boys’ lives. By the age of five, the least-skilled boys have lower academic and non-academic skills than the least-skilled girls. That makes it hard for them to attain in school and to develop the perseverance and social skills that they need. The physical skills that were rewarded in the post-industrial economy lost out in the move to the service economy. How do we fix this and ensure that young boys can get the jobs that they need in our economy? As my hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland (Sam Rushworth) has pointed to, it is about the earliest years and even before birth. It is first about making their parents’ lives affordable. Less time for parents worrying about bills means more quality time with their kids, and more money in the pockets of parents means more psychological and material resources to invest in their children. Secondly, investing in high-quality early years education is probably the highest returning investment that any Government can make. Thirdly, we have to create good jobs for graduates and non-graduates to move into, for both men and women. Mass production manufacturing is not coming back, but we in government can create good non-graduate jobs in construction, healthcare and education. We must invest in our physical and social infrastructure to create the good jobs we need, where we need them. Every person should be able to live a decent life, but as things stand, too many people cannot. There are many young men whose fathers left school and got decent jobs at the local factory, but those young men cannot do the same today. That disappointment turns to depression, anger and division. Rather than coming together, we are falling apart. Strength is found in each of us doing well—each of us doing so with a common purpose and connection. It is for us in this place, on this side, to build that nation.

• 7 Jul 2025 · Government Performance against Fiscal Rules · Hansard source

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  I am amazed that the Conservative party has brought an urgent question on fiscal rules. The Conservatives had seven sets of fiscal rules in 14 years; I mean, guys—and it is all guys—come on. The reason why they kept missing debt and deficit targets is because they kept cutting investment, meaning less growth and less tax revenue. Does the Chief Secretary agree that by investing to grow, we get our debt burden down?