Joe Morris MP: speeches

Speeches

• 25 Jun 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q6. Prudhoe community high school in my constituency was forced to relocate to Washington after its just over eight-year-old building, built under the previous Government, was found to have cracks in the infrastructure. This incredibly distressing news has required huge resilience and strength from the local community. Will my right hon. Friend join me in paying tribute to the staff, the parents and, most importantly, the students at Prudhoe community high school, and in commending them for their hard work and dedication during this incredibly destabilising time?

• 18 Jun 2025 · Future of the Gas Grid · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dame Siobhain. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Cannock Chase (Josh Newbury) on securing this important debate. I, too, commend the Government’s commitment to clean power and our clean energy mission. I will speak about not industry but the impact of the gas grid on rural communities, because many of my constituents do not have the luxury of being connected to the gas grid. Many of them rely on other means of heating their homes, which are subject to price fluctuations and greater disruption, and then shut them out of opportunities. Before I turn to the impact on rural communities, however, I put on record my support for reaching net zero, decarbonising our economy and decarbonising our energy system; I look back at the relatively halcyon days when it was not politically controversial to say that, and hope at some point that we can get back to that. It is vital that rural communities are at the heart of these discussions, and I hope that the Minister will bear them in mind when he goes back to his Department. For many communities across Northumberland, being shut out of the gas grid contributes to a wider feeling of being shut out from broader opportunities. They are unable to access the essential energy infrastructure that often facilitates the growth of small businesses and local economies and helps to attract tourism. I read an article last week that said that people in the Coquet valley, of which I represent a small part—it is mainly represented by my hon. Friend the Member for North Northumberland (David Smith)—felt cut off and on the edge of society because they were not connected. That feeling is present not just in the Coquet valley, but across the rural extremities of Northumberland. When I hold my surgeries in those places, I get that feedback constantly. The fact that there is not just inadequate gas, but inadequate electricity and phone signal, emphasises that lack of connection. These communities are not just off the grid; they are shut out from opportunities that urban parts of our country often take for granted. One of the major failures of the last Government was that they did not properly boost and invest in rural economies and the opportunities of people in places such as Otterburn. That has deprived rural residents of lower heating costs, efficient services and opportunities that individuals in urban regions access daily. What can the Government do to ensure that rural communities such as those dotted around my constituency get the services they need and the energy they depend on—at the price that they deserve—to prevent that feeling of being on the edge of society? Rural communities must not be deprived of basic necessities purely because of their geographical location. We need to ensure that that feeling of being at the extremity ends with this Labour Government. With the National Energy System Operator, we already have a highly resilient electricity system. I regularly see the community action, investment and spirit that is brought about by storm events, when communities club together to provide for one another. I know that is something continually looked at by communities and organisations working in Northumberland. I wanted to come to this debate, not because I have any great industrial expertise—I will leave that to some of my illustrious colleagues who spoke before me—but because, in the past, MPs representing my constituency have not been the voice that rural communities need. It is important that MPs from Northumberland make sure that Ministers do not go back to their Departments without first considering the needs of communities that are not connected to the gas grid.

• 18 Jun 2025 · Businesses in Rural Areas · Hansard source

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  On transport, it is not just buses but road infrastructure that is important for our communities and businesses, whether that is the Lord Crewe Arms in Blanchland, in the south of my constituency, or Falconry Days in Simonburn, in the north. Filling potholes is important to ensure that we can get to appointments and to businesses, but the lack of advertisements from councils on when they are conducting roadworks impacts tourism businesses. Does the Minister agree that Northumberland county council could do a far better job of communicating with small businesses about when it is repairing roads, so that tourism bookings do not drop off?

• 4 Jun 2025 · Regional Growth · Hansard source

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  I welcome the huge investment in the north-east under this Government. For a long time, rural Northumberland was ignored and held in contempt by the Conservatives. May I encourage the Chief Secretary to reflect on the growth opportunities in the rural north-east, to communicate them to devolved leaders, and to recognise the development and growth opportunities that rural communities offer our economy?

• 20 May 2025 · School Buildings: Northumberland and Newcastle · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is a passionate advocate for his constituency and for the north of the county. Too often schools in Northumberland have been victims of the mañana attitude of Northumberland county council. For far too long, whether it is on this or on SEND—special educational needs and disabilities—transport, the council has been asleep at the wheel when it comes to issues affecting the children of Northumberland. The structural issues at the school have damaged not only the community but the children’s education. One thing that really stuck out to me was a quote from a former Conservative Education Minister saying that those schools were built “one third cheaper per square metre on average than schools built under the Building Schools for the Future Programme”, which was Labour’s flagship programme. Educational services should not just be used for political gain when our country and our county’s young people depend on them. The students of Prudhoe deserve and need a safe place to continue their education. They need it in the short term, and they need it in the long term. When a report was leaked to The Observer that a senior official at the Department for Education had described the “upcoming risk” three years ago that many schools were in such disrepair that they were a “risk to life”, I do not believe that a newly rebuilt community high school in Prudhoe was one of the ones at the top of their minds. The school’s facilities were described as fantastic when it reopened, and they were a welcome investment, but it is clear that something has gone seriously wrong. I completely take the point made by the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) about the need to look at a warranty. For my generation, a warranty is something we consider for a mobile phone, not a public institution like a school, but clearly something needs to be done. I would really like the Minister to reflect on what can be done to investigate how this went so badly wrong and how this community was let down, because the students of PCHS deserve nothing more. They deserve better. They deserve, at the very least, an apology. To experience a school closing for an indeterminate period of time is a disruption that no student should have to experience. It uproots lives, derails routine and destabilises students. No child should have to go through this. No parent should be forced to watch their child go through this. As the hon. Member for Strangford indicated, school is not just a building where children learn; it is a building where children should feel safe, supported and at home.

• 20 May 2025 · School Buildings: Northumberland and Newcastle · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman is absolutely correct: the most important thing is the children. This is about the children of Prudhoe and the whole community. If he ever has the opportunity to visit Prudhoe community high school, which I hope he does, he will see the most extraordinary set of students, and staff who are desperate to get their children back on site and back into learning. PCHS was where my mum went to school, so I have a very personal link to it. I have spoken to the headteacher multiple times about making sure that we get those students back on site with the correct support that is needed, so I absolutely agree with the hon. Gentleman on that.

• 20 May 2025 · School Buildings: Northumberland and Newcastle · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Like him, I have done my best to visit as many schools in the constituency as I can—having said that, I can feel letters coming in from headteachers to suggest that I have not yet got around to visiting. The fabric of the schools is important. Ensuring that schools feel invested in is important, whether they are the smaller schools in my constituency like Kielder, which is incredibly small and has a tightly focused and tight-knit group of young people and staff, or some of the larger schools—or, indeed, some of the schools out of my constituency, in Newcastle, attended by some children from Callerton and Throckley. Some of the damage done to the community in Prudhoe is due to the feeling that they were led up the garden path. Prudhoe is an incredible community. It is one of the shining lights of the Tyne valley. It is one of the best places to visit, and to be, in my constituency, although all towns in the Tyne valley are excellent. It deserves so much more—it deserves a Rolls-Royce of a school—but not only was the last Labour Government’s Building Schools for the Future programme scrapped; the replacement programme appears poorly crafted at best. I want briefly to mention another school in my constituency. Haydon Bridge high school has a dedicated teaching force and a headteacher, in David Nisbet, who works tirelessly for his community and is focused on innovative ways of improving the school, on employability, on moving forward and improving outcomes for students. I do not want to mislead the House, but I believe the school serves a catchment area larger than the M25. The challenges for such a rural school are massive. I visited the school fairly recently and we discussed some of the challenges it faced, including getting adequate funds and support. It did get some minor investment under the last Government, which is obviously welcome—don’t get me wrong—but it did not touch the sides of what was needed. I would like to see Northumberland county council do something about the state of the toilets in that school, which the headteacher told me was the No. 1 issue raised by the student voice. These are little things that could be done; it is a council-maintained school, and the council should step in and take action. There is a list of inadequacies in the backing provided to those schools—I could go on. How could these conditions for a school building, and inadequate investment, possibly foster an educational environment that helps students to reach their full potential? I want to draw attention to the work of the RISE programme. I had some correspondence with the head of Haydon Bridge, who recognised that the contextual support that Haydon Bridge high school is now getting—that is mindful of its hyper-rural, hyper-sparsely populated location—is welcome. That contextual support, in relation to schools’ structural elements and the socioeconomic make-up of their student bodies, is necessary. What I have been saying is applicable not just to PCHS and Haydon Bridge high school, but to every school building throughout Northumberland, Newcastle and the north-east that was on the receiving end of 14 years of Conservative neglect. Throughout my constituency, we have wonderful teachers who adapt to the diverse needs of the communities they teach, from the western edge of Newcastle and places like Throckley, and the towns and villages of the Tyne valley, to the most remote communities in the Allen valleys and north Tyne. All those teachers are striving to ensure that their pupils have the best possible start in life. It is only right that their dedication and hard work is delivered in buildings that are fit for the present and for the future. I will continue to speak up for our young people to ensure that they access not only the education they need, but the education they deserve. I will continue to give a voice to Northumberland, Newcastle and the north-east more broadly. Chronic underfunding, deliberate neglect and thoughtless oversight is what the Conservative contempt for the west of Northumberland brought during 100 years of domination, but that needs to end with this Labour Government. I once again thank the Department for Education for their dedication and commitment to supporting the community of Prudhoe; I thank Sunderland College for its gracious hospitality in hosting the staff and students of Prudhoe community high school in its Washington campus; and I thank the teachers and staff of PCHS for doing everything they possibly could so students could continue accessing their education, and for reassuring parents during a very difficult transition. Most of all, I pay tribute to the community of Prudhoe and to the councillors who have worked particularly hard, including Angie Scott and Lawrence O’Donnell, who have been fantastic voices for their community during a fraught time. I am grateful for those who did not jump in and immediately seek to politicise the matter or score points when the news about Prudhoe community high school first broke. Although it is important that we look at this situation in context and at the damage done by the poor decisions made by the previous Government, this is not about scoring points; it is about getting a fair deal for a community that has suffered for too long. It is time that the previous Government are held to account for their failure and neglect, and that starts with what happened to the students and staff at Prudhoe community high school.

• 20 May 2025 · School Buildings: Northumberland and Newcastle · Hansard source

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  I am glad to have secured this important debate and to see the Members who have stayed in the Chamber and who share my concerns about the conditions of school buildings in Northumberland, in Newcastle and across the country. Speaking on the conditions of school buildings and the education of our young people should not be used for political gain or for making cheap political points—to be clear, I am not here to do that. I regularly visit schools throughout my constituency. Despite being schools in the largest geographical constituency in England, they are all united by a clear, overarching similarity: the dedication of teachers and staff to ensuring that their students can access the best possible education and resources. From Queen Elizabeth high school to the Sele first school to Hexham middle school and Longhorsley St Helen’s Church of England first school, the list goes on. There is an unwavering strength of community throughout the local schools, fostered by the teachers, the parents, the staff and the students, and it is a testament to the constituency that the region I represent cares so much about the future of our young people. When we invest in the condition of our schools, we are not just fixing buildings and infrastructure; we are investing in the education of our students and the future of our young people, creating a secure learning environment that should allow all students to reach their full potential. Unfortunately for students of Prudhoe community high school in my constituency, those young people have been let down. In February, mere months before students were set to sit their GCSE and A-level examinations, structural engineers discovered cracks that threatened the safety of students, staff and teachers. As a result, the school was closed while investigations were conducted. It is testament to the strength of Prudhoe’s community, to the staff and headteacher Annemarie Moore, and to the Cheviot Learning Trust that students have been successfully relocated, with minimal disruption, to a building in Washington. Relocating IT equipment, removing furniture, and launching cleaning and repairs is no small feat, and I commend everyone involved for their dedication to Prudhoe’s students and to finding the most appropriate location for them to continue their education in what must be some very trying circumstances. I think back to my own experience of doing GCSEs and A-levels not that long ago. It was challenging enough to do them in a school that was great as it was. It is another thing to imagine doing that with the stress and while losing all that time on the bus every week. Although everyone accepts that the best outcome would have been for students to go back into school to receive their education on site, that simply would not have been safe. I commend the Department for Education for the hard work, support and reassurance that it has provided to the students, teachers, parents and staff every step of the way. However, the situation raises an urgent question: how can a school built less than nine years ago, under the previous Government, be closed due to cracks in the building’s infrastructure? There is one clear answer to me: the blatant disregard of the previous Government for my constituency’s community. The Conservative Government had launched the priority school building programme with the intention of “rebuilding and refurbishing school buildings in the worst condition across the country.” They appear to have achieved what could be described as the opposite.

• 14 May 2025 · Future of Public Libraries · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure, as always, to serve under your chairship, Mr Dowd. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Derbyshire (Jonathan Davies) for securing a vital debate. As has been said many times, libraries are not just buildings or physical things; they are an emblem of what communities are, particularly in my constituency, which includes sparsely populated areas of rural Northumberland. They play a crucial role in bringing together those communities, and they foster educational thought and development. I would like to mention a few of our fantastic libraries: the Spetchells centre in Prudhoe, Northumberland library in Heddon-on-the-Wall, Haltwhistle library, Wylam library, Bellingham library, and the Allendale, Newburn and Crawcrook libraries. My office is located upstairs at the Queen’s Hall library; it is good to have a space at the library that allows me, as an MP, to be based within the community. In Matfen, there is an old telephone box that has been transformed into a book swap shop for residents. I commend Hannah Cutler, a resident from that village, for her valuable contribution to the local community. It is clear that libraries offer much more than educational material; they are hubs for social interaction, and for communities to share thought. In rural communities and in the fractured social media environment that we live in, that is perhaps more valuable now than ever. The opportunity to have safe, local spaces through which we can curb social isolation with shared community experiences is vital. This morning, I was reading a study that said that one in five children in the north-east do not own a book. I sincerely hope that by the end of this Labour Government’s time in office, we have combated that appalling statistic. In my constituency, town councils do excellent work in libraries by hosting events such as green jobs fairs and events for the Ukrainian community, who have settled in my constituency since the outbreak of war in Europe and have made a fantastic contribution. Those events bring them, and some of the host families, together as a community. It is a privilege, every week, to look at the “What’s On” in the community libraries and see the different ways that communities are coming together. Obviously, representing the largest constituency in England—which I think I am contractually obliged to mention every time I rise to speak—I do not manage to get to all the libraries every week, but I try my best. We try to hold our surgeries in every library that I have mentioned, because I think that is crucial. It is now Mental Health Awareness Week. When we invest in libraries, we are not just investing in literacy; we are investing in mental health support, digital access and in the futures of the residents themselves. In the brief time that I have left, I will talk about rural primary schools and their libraries.

• 13 May 2025 · UK-EU Summit · Hansard source

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  I will keep my remarks fairly brief, and we have been treated to a lot of good, well-informed speeches. On respect and speaking up for what we believe in, it is important to remember the poison that was brought into the body politic before I entered this place. On the local election night I was particularly concerned in my constituency about the return of a Reform councillor whose Facebook page has been described by Hope Not Hate as “a slew of anti-Muslim content.” That really worries me. It worries a lot of my constituents, and it worries a lot of people across the country. I am very disappointed with Reform and question some of its vetting processes. To return to the matter in hand, I meet every week with businesses in my constituency—with farmers, small businesses, businesses that export and those that want to export but do not feel they have the facilities or support in place to do so. There are failures in the Brexit deal, and I know that there are many sober and mature Members on the other side of the House who recognise those shortcomings, and this summit is an opportunity to recognise that we live in a world that is changing every single day, where the demands of yesterday are not the same as the demands of tomorrow. We have a Government who are looking to the mature, reasonable and responsible thing to do, which is to improve the day to day lives of our constituents, which is what we are sent here to do. I speak to farmers who suffer from being caught up in red tape when trying to export or small businesses who do not have access to the “Rolls-Royce” access programmes that larger businesses do to go abroad, and that is one of the major failings of the previous Government’s trade policy. I hope that in winding up the Minister will address how we can get small businesses exporting across the world as part of the slew of trade deals that we have just signed. It is really important that we do not go into conspiracy-theory baiting on backsliding on the EU and what that means. I do not particularly care about chasing views from accounts amplified by Elon Musk: I care about getting good results, jobs and outcomes for my constituents. For far too long, my constituency was denied a voice because it was a safe Conservative seat. It was a seat where Members would go up every six weeks and not really engage with the solid issues. We have a school in my constituency that was built eight-and-a-half years ago that is already structurally unsound. That is a pretty damning failure of the Conservatives. We need to ensure that the system we have inherited works properly. I urge the Minister and the Government to get to the negotiating table, work through the kinks in the deal, work out what is going wrong and holding businesses back, and approach the issue with a mature, honest and genuine discussion on how we can improve things. As it says on my party membership card, we achieve more by our common endeavour; ultimately, we need that approach. We need an internationalist approach rooted in pragmatism that does not fall victim to some of the appalling cynicism and rather brutal mischaracterisation that we often see from Opposition Members.

• 13 May 2025 · Churches and Religious Buildings: Communities · Hansard source

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  It is always a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Jeremy. I will keep my remarks fairly short. As many Members present know, churches in my constituency are much more than just places of worship. They are vital hubs for community cohesion and provide crucial resilience in the face of events such as Storm Éowyn and Storm Arwen, particularly for the most rural parts of the constituency. They are marks of local identity and symbols of the rich history that Northumberland, the north-east and Newcastle have to offer. Northumberland is often called the cradle of Christianity due to Holy Island, also known as Lindisfarne, but Members will appreciate that, in my view, the west of the county has far more to offer than the coast—my hon. Friend the Member for North Northumberland (David Smith) is not here. We benefit greatly from that religious history through the great amount of tourism coming in and the huge involvement of local communities. Organisations and churches operate throughout the Tyne valley and the more rural parts of the constituency, particularly the Holy Cross Anglican church in Haltwhistle, St Mary the Virgin in Throckley, St Mary Magdalene in Prudhoe. Hexham abbey is one of the most iconic buildings that my constituency and the north-east have to offer, not just because I will be getting married there later this year, but because there has been a church on that site for around 1,300 years. For anyone interested in history, it has been there since Queen Etheldreda made a gift of lands to Wilfrid, the Bishop of York, in roughly the year 674. The constituency is home to more than just Hexham abbey. Bywell is the only village in England with two surviving Anglo-Saxon churches. In Bellingham, St Cuthbert’s has been attracting worshippers for over 800 years, dating back to at least the 13th century. Such churches are not simply relics, attractions or bits of our history that have seen their day and are now merely decorations. They are the beating heart of our communities and they provide a community spirit in Northumberland that is unparalleled elsewhere in the world. I am tremendously proud to represent all of them. They also provide a crucial venue for hosting constituency office surgeries and for meeting individual members of the community.

• 6 May 2025 · Parking Regulation · Hansard source

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  We have talked about the impact of parking practices on particular towns, and I am concerned about some of the towns in the Tyne valley, where a lot of effort is being made to preserve the local environment and clean air, and to drive down car use and promote the use of public transport. Northern Rail has just brought in paid parking at Stocksfield train station, which has dramatically impacted the local community and caused a lot of concerns about future on-street parking in residential areas. It would be good to know that the Government are considering those kinds of moves from train companies, which will ultimately have a damaging effect on local communities.

• 6 May 2025 · Dedicated Schools Grant · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Butler. I congratulate the hon. Member for Tewkesbury (Cameron Thomas) on securing this important debate. For far too long, the state of rural and semi-rural schools has been forgotten, particularly in my part of Northumberland, where Northumberland county council, which is still run by the Conservatives, treats my part of the county with what I can only describe as tender contempt. The previous Government thought so little of my constituency that eight and a half years ago they built a school that is already deemed structurally unsafe. Students have had to be transported to another part of the north-east to continue their education. That is the context in which I situate my remarks. Generations of rural students have been left behind. I thank the hon. Member for Tewkesbury for his circumspectness in his comments about the awful circumstances that the Government inherited. It is not possible to start any discussion of any policy without recognising that we received a generational hospital pass, as I think he put it. Having grown up in a rural area, I know that there are foundational characteristics. I confess to not knowing too much about Gloucestershire, having not had the chance to go there much beyond, I think, one family funeral when I was about 10, but I am sure it is lovely. From what I can tell, Northumberland has a lot that is similar, including large distances to travel and restricted access to opportunities and services. I went back to my old high school recently to discuss some of the access to work schemes that staff there try to provide and some of the opportunities for younger people to get employment skills. The teachers are working every hour they get, but they are hamstrung by the lack of local bus routes and appropriate public transport, and the lack of employers with the capacity to take on apprentices or students who are in need of work experience. For far too long during the 100 years my constituency had Conservative representation down here, the challenges were not given voice or addressed. That was the challenge, dare I say it, of being considered a safe Tory seat: people could vote for their MP but not get a voice as part of that. We need to do more to engender stronger ties between communities and schools, to ensure that those growing up in our communities do not have to search too far outside them to find the opportunities and jobs that they want to progress in life. Unfortunately, the reality for many students is that they do have to. I will direct the remainder of my remarks to two particular schools. First, Haydon Bridge high school is an incredible school in a beautiful location—and I get to visit a lot of schools. Haydon Bridge is a wonderful town on the Tyne Valley railway line—although the railway could do with running on time a bit more—and it has a fantastic school with genuinely fantastic teachers. Unfortunately, when I visited I had to discuss the funding issues with the headteacher. I would dearly like to see the new administration at Northumberland county hall put their hands in their pocket to do something about the state of the school, which has been underfunded for a long time. There has not been the political will, nous or leadership among the Conservative group in Morpeth to stand up for students in the west of Northumberland. The teachers at Haydon Bridge could not work any harder, nor put on more opportunities. They are always looking at how to make the school more attractive and at how they can drive employment and employability, but for far too long the voice of rural schools has been shut out of the national debate. Prudhoe community high school was opened eight and a half years ago. It was built under a Conservative Secretary of State and Education Department, but it was closed due to cracks in the infrastructure. I have been working on that with the staff and the community in Prudhoe. It would be a struggle to find a more inspiring group of people, particularly the headteacher and the teaching staff there. They had to deal with cracks appearing in the structure just months before GCSEs and A-levels—an incredibly challenging situation—and did so to the best of their ability. Everyone accepts that the ultimate, best outcome would have been for the students to be able to go back into the school to receive their education on site, but that would not have been safe. People had to work incredibly hard to find an appropriate site that did not involve travel and enabled the students to continue their education safely. I urge the Minister not just to look at the matters raised in this debate but to consider—as I know she has many times, because I have chased her down corridors about this—the circumstances of those at the community high school. I also put that point to the exam boards, because the students had a black swan event with their school being deemed unsafe so close to exam times. Some of the boards have said that it falls under the definition of a school with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, but I do not believe that—I want to put on the record. For far too long schools in my constituency in the west of Northumberland have been forgotten about and done down. It is beyond time that those responsible, particularly at county hall, stand up and take note.

• 28 Apr 2025 · School Costs and Employer’s National Insurance Contributions · Hansard source

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  I am deeply concerned about Prudhoe community high school in my constituency, which was opened eight and a half years ago after being built under a Conservative Secretary of State and Conservative Education Department. Unfortunately, in February this year, cracks were discovered in the structure and the students are being taught in Washington, which is quite a significant journey. Can I ask the Minister to not only back the students and staff at Prudhoe community high school, but have an urgent investigation into how the school got into this state? Does she agree that, after 100 years in charge, the legacy of the Tories in west Northumberland is crumbling?

• 23 Apr 2025 · Sewage · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to speak in such an important debate, particularly as I represent one of the most beautiful counties, and the largest constituency, in England—as the Lib Dem spokesman, the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron), has already hinted at. Rivers define my constituency and the county I grew up in. From the Tyne to the Coquet to the Allen Valleys and all the way to the River Rede, we cannot go throughout Northumberland without coming across rivers and the communities that are named for them and depend on them. They drive tourism, wildlife, and our local economies. Protecting those rivers is not a luxury or a nice to have; it is a fundamental duty for those of us who represent those communities. I am incredibly proud to be the MP for such a vibrant and active constituency with such fantastic grassroots campaigners, including Dr Stephen Westgarth and the “Clean Tyne” campaign. Conservative Members will be aware that he was at one point a Conservative county council candidate—I enjoy working cross-party with people, although probably not quite as much in the week before the local elections as in the week after. I also pay tribute to a retiring Green party councillor in my constituency, Dr Nick Morphet, the councillor for Humshaugh. He has done an excellent job and, despite running against me in the general election, was always good company when I met him on the doorsteps. Coming back to slightly hackneyed party politics, I recognise quite how much the sewage issue raises hackles and confirms just what a state of stagnation and decline the country has fallen into. During 2024, my constituency was polluted 3,991 times, with spillages lasting more than 27,000 hours. Dumping sewage is not waste management; it is environmental destruction and environmental vandalism, and it is particularly devastating in the rural north-east, where so much tourism relies on water. When the Minister comes to wind up the debate—she is not in her place, but I hope she will hear this—I hope she will dwell on those communities that rely on water, particularly the really isolated communities such as those in Kielder, where they deal with the practicalities of living so sparsely. I often talk about Hexham having a very rural population, but when I go to Kielder, they look at me coming from Hexham as if I had come from Vegas. I was at a Kielder parish council meeting—it took an hour to get there—where one of the farmers said that if she is feeding her cows, she cannot have a shower. That is the kind of sparsity and rurality we are dealing with. I urge the Minister, when she comes to her feet, to address that point. If she came to meet the “Clean Tyne” campaign to discuss the difficulties it faces and the work it is doing to combat some of the challenges we face on the Tyne, it would be massively appreciated in my constituency.

• 22 Apr 2025 · Road Safety and Active Travel to School · Hansard source

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  I hope the Opposition spokesperson can do me a favour: a charity in my constituency headed by David Dixon, the bicycle mayor for Tynedale, and supported by No. 28 Community House in Hexham, is trying to get Northumberland county council to support a pretty innovative cycle to school initiative in Hexham. However, it is falling on deaf ears with the Tory group in Northumberland County Hall. Could the hon. Gentleman possibly have a word with some of his colleagues there?

• 22 Apr 2025 · Retail Investment · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Hobhouse. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Buckingham and Bletchley (Callum Anderson) on securing such an important debate and on covering so comprehensively and so vividly the challenges in the retail investment sector. When I speak to people across my constituency about the challenges they face and particularly when I speak to entrepreneurs, the lack of financial education in schools often comes up; too often, however, a lack of confidence in rural infrastructure is also raised with me, and as the MP for a very sparsely populated seat, I will focus my remarks in part on that issue, as well as on some of the points that are more directly relevant to retail investment. One of the things I have discussed with local businesses such as the Allendale Brewery, which I managed to visit over the recess, is the lack of targeted support, not just for retail investment but for entrepreneurs in rural areas, to make sure that their business ideas can be brought to completion. Grants or other forms of support relevant to urban areas simply do not exist in rural areas where, to be honest, the jobs created through such investment can have a transformational impact, due to the fact that a couple of jobs created in a small village will have a far greater effect than the creation of a couple of jobs in a city. While we are talking about banks and large financial services, I also recognise that the withdrawal of those services and organisations from rural communities is incredibly worrying and incredibly damaging to people starting their investment, who cannot see anyone with the knowledge or ability to advise them. People are unable to go to those institutions for life’s expected or unexpected moments. If the proposed Lloyds closures across the Hexham constituency go through, there will be very few bank branches in my constituency, which will present a major challenge. I raised the subject in an Adjournment debate shortly after I was elected, so I know that the Minister is very aware of my position and views on rural bank branch closures, but I will not miss an opportunity to raise it again. I also quickly want to raise an issue brought to my attention by the Vintage Hub, a fantastic business in my constituency. Its owners, Lisa and Douglas, were faced with a 40% rent increase from Advance Northumberland, an arm’s length body of Northumberland county council, which was simply not sustainable. One of the issues that I constantly hear about is lack of appropriate infrastructure, with the hiking up of rents driving people out of what are often commercially viable businesses. I know that the Vintage Hub is a very successful business, but in the block that it rents three businesses were forced to leave the unit because of the rent rise inflicted on them by an arms-length body of the Tory-run Northumberland county council. I am sure the Minister is listening to this, but we need to ensure that we develop a financial services growth and competitiveness strategy that does not just prioritise retail investment across the country to restore our high streets, but takes into account the unique circumstances of local communities. It needs to get long-term, patient capital into communities that will otherwise be left behind in the past. I am thinking of smaller villages across the Tyne valley in areas that have been forgotten about for far too long, where we consistently see “To Let” or “For Sale” signs on prominent, attractive high street shops. We need to encourage development. I hope that how best to deploy retail investment capital is a major part of what the Government look at going forward.

• 7 Apr 2025 · Road Maintenance · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to speak about road maintenance and the importance of safe, accessible roads in Northumberland and western Newcastle. Under the last Government, the condition of the county’s roads was neglected, ignored and disregarded, which damaged the basic infrastructure and social fabric of my constituency. Throughout the constituency, I am regularly confronted by roads that have been left in a state of disrepair—for instance, the B6307. I could name many more, but in Hexham, Prudhoe, Acomb, Anick, Hepscott and Haltwhistle, and even in smaller villages such as Ogle, crumbling surfaces, erosions and deep potholes are rife. When I speak to local people on the doorstep, the first thing that they generally ask me about is a fault in their local road. Quite small roads in Northumberland experience industrial traffic, and potholes can cause real damage and danger. It is a disgrace that the safety of residents in my constituency is being jeopardised by poor road surfaces that not only put the wellbeing of residents at risk, but cause considerable damage to vehicles and inflict expensive repairs on drivers. One example is the road in Newton village, which is only wide enough to fit one car at a time, requiring drivers to pull over regularly. Because of the erosions on the sides of the road, drivers are experiencing significant damage to their vehicles and, as a result, increasing financial burdens. Because of rampant flooding on the road, the county council’s attempted patch repairs are often undone within minutes. When I visited the area with members of Newton by the Sea parish council, I saw with my own eyes the repairs being carried out and, within minutes, the potholes being flooded. Residents driving to pick up their children from school, young people driving to access employment, people driving to the shops and those cycling to explore the wonderful landscape that makes north-east England the best place in the country to visit should not have to regularly encounter safety hazards or experience vehicle damage because of those road surfaces. This is inhibiting access to opportunities throughout the region, but the Conservative administration in the county council have taken their eyes off the road. They are failing to communicate timeframes for repairs, and failing to improve the condition of local roads. Even where basic repairs have been provided, they are slapdash. Lawrence O’Donnell, the Labour candidate for Prudhoe North and Wylam, tells me that on Wylam bridge the same pothole has been patched eight times in 12 months. It seems to me that the council is disregarding the basic welfare of residents and letting down residents across Northumberland, and on 1 May we will have the opportunity to vote it out. The community should not be neglected owing to the Conservative majority’s ignorance of rural life and affairs and its contempt for the people of Northumberland. I am pleased that this Labour Government have committed additional money to delivering vital road schemes to fix our local roads. While the Minister is here, let me echo the calls from my hon. Friend the Member for North Northumberland (David Smith) for the Government to consider the urgently needed safety work on the A1, and, this time, to ensure that any work that is done is properly funded. Let me also make my own pitch for the A69 to receive similar treatment. It is clear that ours is the only party that will prioritise local roads, and that we need a Labour-backed council in Northumberland to ensure that that happens. There are a few more points that I hope the Minister will address when she responds to the debate. I have recently met quite a few local farmers who have told me that they want electric vehicle charging points in their farm shop car parks, but are finding it difficult to obtain grants from the Department for Transport. They are being told that these are only available for service stations, but there are not a huge number of service stations on the A69. Putting charging points in farm shop car parks would be a great way of boosting our net zero credentials and ensuring that more people throughout Northumberland access farm shops and put more money into the local rural economy. It is easy to play a hackneyed political game in this context, but it is not just politicians who benefit from potholes being fixed. It is the public—the people doing the school run and the people driving to work, whether they are going to work at Egger or Essity, or whether they are travelling to Newcastle or to Carlisle across my vast constituency, the biggest in England. Let me use my last 15 seconds to describe my visit to Newcastle airport, where I saw the runway being relaid with tarmac from—I was told—my constituency. It would be great to see some of that knowledge, skill and expertise put to use to fix the roads of Northumberland.

• 7 Apr 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T3. At the end of January, 14,000 people were still on Northumberland county council’s social housing waiting list, yet hundreds of properties right across the county, including in rural Allendale, remain empty. Given the number of people on the housing list and in desperate need of accommodation, it is a disgrace that the Conservative administration has left them empty for so long. Does the Minister agree that a Labour council, backed by a Labour Government, will do much more to get people off the housing list and into homes?

• 1 Apr 2025 · Royal British Legion · Hansard source

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  I am sure he did far better at carrying than I did when I was a slightly incompetent child. [ Laughter . ] The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is another organisation that does really important work to commemorate those who died in service to country. I visited St Andrew’s cemetery in the west of Hexham, and was really privileged to see the graves and hear the stories not only of those who had grown up in Hexham and sadly passed away, but of some members of the Free Polish forces who were treated at Hexham hospital during the second world war, as they aided the fight against fascism. I will bring my remarks to a swift and doubtless welcome end, but before I finish I want to put on the record my thanks to the Prudhoe Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Club, the Hexham Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Club, Northumberland SSAFA and to Forward Assist and many other local groups throughout the community. I know that many Members present with a military background will be familiar with the Otterburn ranges in my constituency, not just, I am told, for the stellar weather and the beautiful surroundings, but for the place it will hold in many of their hearts.

• 6 Mar 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Residents in Ovingham, in my constituency, are desperate for adequate glass recycling facilities that they can walk to, as they are currently having to drive to Prudhoe or Wylam, yet Conservative-led Northumberland county council is simply not listening to them. Will the Leader of the House join me in calling for the Tories leading Northumberland county council to get a grip and allow my constituents to recycle their glass properly?

• 27 Feb 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  The recent announcement that Prudhoe community high school will be closed for a lengthy period due to cracks in the building’s infrastructure is deeply concerning, particularly given that the building was only recently opened, in 2016. Students have already experienced vast disruption due to the covid pandemic and they deserve stability in their education experience; I am deeply concerned for their welfare. Can the Leader of the House help me secure a meeting with an Education Minister to discuss how the students can receive the best support to ensure their education and upcoming exams receive minimal disruption and they can continue their education in peace?

• 26 Feb 2025 · Family Businesses · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to follow some measured and passionate speeches from across the House on this important subject. As Members will know, I am very proud to represent England’s largest constituency by geographic area, and an area that was found to be one of the happiest in the country, with one of the best senses of community and belonging. Over the recent recess, I was able to host a roundtable with the conductors of the “Belonging Barometer”, which was attended by many local businesses and community organisations. As has just been said, family businesses are the glue that binds together many of the strands of our community, particularly across the Tyne valley. In the aftermath of Storm Éowyn, we have seen heartening examples of family-run businesses in particular coming out, helping their community, providing those places to stay and to recuperate for communities that have taken a battering from extreme weather events that are sadly becoming all too common. I was disappointed to read the Opposition motion. Once again, we are here discussing a kind of hodgepodge of various gripes and groans that the Conservatives have with Government policy. That is absolutely fine, and it is their right so to do—there are Members sitting on the Tory Benches now who I genuinely respect and, in some cases, admire—but they are better than that, and they should be better than that. [ Laughter. ] They can laugh if they want, although I know that some of them have considerable experience in writing manifestos that perhaps did not play out so well. Ultimately, we need to achieve an environment in which family businesses and small businesses across the country and across our constituencies are genuinely supported by Government. One of the things that has come to my attention since being elected as the first non-Conservative MP for Hexham in a century is that a lot of businesses have said to me, “It is nice to have an MP who is really connected to the constituency—one who is not complacent.” That compares with some of the treatment that rural communities have received from the Conservative party in years past. We have MPs who are genuinely rooted in their communities, who went to school in those communities and who got their first jobs in local businesses. They can speak to businesses in their constituencies and deliver messages down here. I have had conversations with businesses such as Brocksbushes farm shop, which did involve some patient disagreement over the Budget, but mainly involved real concerns over local infrastructure, such as the lack of bus stops on the A69 and the difficulties that the young people it employs have in getting to the business to work. The farm shop does a fantastic job. My now fiancée and I went pumpkin-picking there just after the election. It was a wonderful event, although I think Hana probably enjoyed it more than I did. Ultimately, from having those positive conversations and looking at what business needs, we can see that it is infrastructure and investment. They need a Government who listen, not one who embark on some kind of haywire, high-minded ideological crusade, as the Opposition did when in government. [ Laughter. ] They can laugh.

• 26 Feb 2025 · Family Businesses · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is far more well read and well researched than I could ever hope to be, but those barriers to import and export come up whenever I speak to farmers and food businesses. Getting the products made by fantastic businesses in our communities out to consumers is simply not as easy as it used to be. The main concerns that I hear in my constituency are about infrastructure, bus routes and a lack of roads that are navigable, in some cases. I went out to visit the village of Newton—it has not so much a pothole, but more of a small gorge that has been carved into the road—to hear updates on the parish council’s continued missives to the county council. That is the kind of thing that holds back small and family businesses in my constituency, because they simply do not know whether the delivery driver will be able to get to their premises or they will be able to get to work. That is what is causing real uncertainty and real harm to businesses. I urge Opposition Members to get a grip of their party and to object to some of the more terminally online things, such as this conspiracy theory over the pint. It is, as I have said, beneath them.

• 25 Feb 2025 · SEND Education Support · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend knows, as I think we all do, the strength of feeling from SEND parents, staff and teachers, who have been burnt out over 14 years of failure on SEND. I certainly have my frustrations with Northumberland county council’s wrong-headed, misguided and deluded approach to the SEND crisis in my county. That particularly comes across with the lack of provision in the west of Northumberland, when I am constantly confronted by families travelling from Haltwhistle, which is—for those here who are not familiar with the geography of my constituency—in the extreme west of Northumberland, all the way to the coast to Ashington, which is often a journey that exceeds 90 minutes either way. Accessing that provision is incredibly hard and draining. I want to put on record my thanks to the parents and staff at Hexham Priory school, who provide that supportive and caring environment, to local charities such as Mencap, and to individuals who constantly reach out to my office—I know that there were 11 places, for which 72 applied. This is a crisis that we must work to address.