Johanna Baxter MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 22 Oct 2025 · Devolution in Scotland · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

• 22 Oct 2025 · Devolution in Scotland · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend talks eloquently about the pressures on the health services in Scotland under the SNP Government. Does she share my concern about the dental deserts that now exist in Scotland? Just yesterday, a constituent contacted me to say that they had been told that their daughter would have to wait three years for an orthodontist appointment—or they could pay more than £2,000 and receive a private appointment in two weeks.

• 22 Oct 2025 · Devolution in Scotland · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for giving way. He talks about a budget cut to the Scottish Government, but does he not recognise that this Westminster Government have actually given the Scottish Government the largest funding settlement in the history of devolution? What has happened to the money?

• 22 Oct 2025 · Devolution in Scotland · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone) for securing this important debate. The last Labour Government had many remarkable achievements, including Sure Start, the national minimum wage and the Human Rights Act 1998, but right up there among our proudest was delivering devolution to Scotland. That was our vision, rooted in the belief that communities are best placed to make local decisions that shape their lives. I know this might age me somewhat, but I was proud to be active in the campaign for the establishment of the Scottish Parliament and campaign for a Parliament that had tax-varying powers. Indeed, I still have my “Yes-Yes” t-shirt to prove it. We have seen the success of devolution in London, Manchester and Liverpool, with better transport, more house building and more investment in grassroots sports. When power is put in the hands of those who know their communities best, devolution delivers. Yet I fear that the obsession of the SNP Government in Holyrood with seeking to rerun referendum after referendum has paralysed Government north of the border. Their endless fixation on independence has come at the expense of delivery. They promised more homes but built a housing crisis; they pledged to strengthen our NHS but put party politics over patients; and instead of serving Scotland they have sunk to sleaze and scandal. Councils across our country are on their knees after funding cuts year after year. Local government funding in Scotland over the last 18 years has fallen by 42%, which is less than it would have been had it kept up with inflation. In a summer interview promoting her catalogue of career failures, Nicola Sturgeon admitted that she might leave Scotland “for a wee while”—the great champion for independence now fleeing the wreck her party has created. While London, Manchester and Liverpool reap the rewards of devolution done properly, for the last 18 years Scotland has been left with a Government more interested in constitutional games than the real business of governing. Although that might be a game to some of those on the Opposition Benches, the consequences for my constituents are very real, and I will speak to one example. While the Scottish Government have been handed the largest funding settlement in the history of devolution by this Labour Government, in my constituency of Paisley and Renfrewshire South, the SNP-run health and social care partnership is swinging the axe on vital frontline services to plug a £19 million black hole in its budget that it created. Right now, it is holding voluntary severance talks across the partnership, cutting jobs and gutting and hollowing out services that have already been stripped to the bone. Users of the Disability Resource Centre, which is a lifeline for people living with physical disabilities, many of whom reside in my constituency, now face a review of their fees and transport costs backdated to April. That potentially means bills of more than £1,000 hitting the doorsteps of some of the most vulnerable people in our community, driving them out the back door and slamming it shut on the vital services that they rely on across Renfrewshire. Last year, the SNP locally was humiliated into a U-turn on a proposed merger of the Mirin and Milldale day centres after brave campaigners stood up to say no to cuts to the vital services their families rely on. Yet last month, the SNP dragged back the same cruel proposal, putting the same families through the same anguish all over again. It is cynical, it is calculated and it is downright cruel. Hon. Members need not just take my word for it. These are the words of Linda Murray, a member of the Renfrewshire Learning Disability Carers Group, who said last month: “We knew it wasn’t a done deal last year. We basically got a stay of execution…We’re tired, we’re exhausted, it took a lot out of all of us and we expected to at least get a couple of years’ grace”. We have seen it all before. Just like its endless independence obsession, the SNP ignores the will of the people and grinds our communities down until exhaustion delivers it the outcome it demands. That is not democracy; it is harassment of vulnerable families. The result is that the most vulnerable people in my community are robbed of the care that they rely on. That is not just a failure of leadership; it is a disgrace. The SNP lead for the local integrated joint board said: “The IJB’s financial challenges have been well documented”. I rarely say this of the SNP, but I happen to agree with her. Those financial challenges have been well documented, so why have the local SNP representatives not challenged their own Government in Holyrood to get them the money that they rely on, especially when the Government have been given such a generous financial settlement from this Labour Government? In truth, it has been 18 wasted years—years of scandal, years of sleaze and years of division—while schools in my communities have been subject to decline, our hospitals struggle and our services face collapse. This is not about money, because the Scottish Government have the money. This is not about powers, because they have the powers. This is about excuses, and for the SNP Government in Holyrood, they have no excuses left. Scotland deserves better, our NHS deserves better, our local people deserve better, and next year, the people of Scotland can choose a new and fresh direction with a Scottish Labour Government led by Anas Sarwar.

• 16 Oct 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating the great town of Paisley in my constituency on being shortlisted for the Scotland Loves Local town of the year award? Will he go further and throw his full support behind Paisley’s nomination as the best local town in Scotland?

• 15 Oct 2025 · Ukraine · Hansard source

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  I welcome my right hon. Friend to her place and I welcome her statement. In September, the Yale School of Public Health Humanitarian Research Lab revealed that the number of facilities that Russia is using in its forced deportation of Ukrainian children has risen from 53 to 210. That report highlighted that 110 facilities were being used to re-educate children, and that at 39 of those facilities military training was being provided to train Ukrainian children to throw the grenades and pilot the drones that are destroying their homes and killing their families. Could my right hon. Friend outline what further steps are being taken to relocate, rescue and return those children to their families?

• 13 Oct 2025 · Manchester Terrorism Attack · Hansard source

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  I wish to extend my condolences to the friends and families of Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz, and to the people of Manchester and the wider Jewish community across the United Kingdom, following the appalling terrorist attack at the synagogue in Heaton Park. Many in the Jewish community felt that this attack was a matter of not if, but when. According to the Community Security Trust, 76 of the 1,521 antisemitic incidents that occurred in the first six months of the year were violent assaults that were so severe as to be recorded as extreme violence, which meant that they involved gross bodily harm or a threat to life. Will my right hon. Friend say a little more about what she is doing personally to tackle the scourge of antisemitism in our nation?

• 8 Sept 2025 · Renters’ Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  I declare an interest as the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on cats. As an animal owner myself—I have two cats—I rise to give voice to the many concerns expressed to me by pet owners across the country. Their concerns relate specifically to Lords amendment 11, which would allow landlords to request a pet deposit equivalent to three weeks’ rent. The amendment was narrowly agreed to on Report in the House of Lords in July, in response to the Government’s decision to remove the right for landlords to require tenants to take out pet damage insurance. Cats Protection has argued that the Government’s decision to remove the provision allowing landlords to request pet-related damage insurance was the right one, as the insurance sector was not ready to meet demand competitively. The Minister in the Lords outlined many arguments against the pet deposit amendment, including that an extra three weeks’ deposit is unaffordable for many tenants. She also referred to a report commissioned by Battersea Cats & Dogs Home and the University of Huddersfield, which found that 76% of landlords reported that they did not encounter any damage caused by dogs or cats in their rental properties. She noted that the Government were “content that landlords would be suitably protected against the cost of pet damage through existing tenancy deposits”, and I wholly agree. Cats Protection is also strongly of the view that charging an additional pet deposit is neither necessary nor proportionate. Measures already exist for landlords to seek additional compensation from the tenant in the very rare circumstances in which damage caused by a pet may exceed the value of the existing security deposit. The amendment could see tenants forced to find up to £1,500 extra for a one-bedroom flat in high-rent areas. That would mean that those without additional ready funds are priced out of having a pet. Another problem with the addition of a pet deposit is the potential lack of transparency in landlord decisions on what constitutes pet damage and what constitutes the type of damage that would otherwise be funded by the standard security deposit. Some landlords may just see the extra fund as an option to withhold more money for standard wear and tear. Damage can be avoided with the use of throws and rugs, for example. I know that Cats Protection and Dogs Trust adopters are always given information on how to provide enrichment activities to keep pets happy. Perhaps the right hon. Member for Braintree (Sir James Cleverly) would like to take advantage of those to ensure that his terriers do not tear up his carpet. I am concerned that the amendment will reintroduce the very inequity that the pet provision was designed to remove, putting the price of pet ownership out of reach for many tenants and entrenching geographical inequality. We all know how beneficial pet ownership is not just for the welfare of the animals, but for our wellbeing. “Cats and their stats”, a 2024 Cats Protection report, found that over half a million households who would like a cat do not have one simply because their rental agreement forbids it. I strongly believe that the additional pet deposit should be withdrawn from the Bill; the standard security deposit is more than adequate to cover any damage caused by a pet. I will oppose Lords amendment 11, and I encourage colleagues from across the House to do likewise.

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

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  Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating Rabi Maharajan and his team at Dé Buddha restaurant in my constituency on their incredible achievement of “best dining experience” at the Scottish hospitality awards? I urge Members across the House to come and sample the excellent Nepalese cuisine at Dé Buddha in Johnstone.

• 3 Sept 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Since the start of the full-scale invasion into Ukraine, Russia has stolen, abducted and indoctrinated at least 19,546 children. It is one of the most heinous crimes of this war. I warmly welcome this morning’s announcement of an additional package of sanctions on those perpetrating these crimes, and will the Prime Minister assure the House that he will do everything possible to return these children to their homes?

• 2 Sept 2025 · Russia: Economic Sanctions · Hansard source

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  May I join colleagues in sending my warmest congratulations to the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the hon. Member for Cardiff South and Penarth (Stephen Doughty), on his recent nuptials? Over the summer recess, reports emerged that the Russians had launched an online “catalogue” of the children whom they have stolen from Ukraine. This grotesque database allows Russian families to search for Ukrainian children by hair and eye colour. The Russians are advertising their war crimes in real time. What further action are the Government taking on this issue, and can the Foreign Secretary assure me that it will be the highest priority in discussions with the President of the United States during his visit later this month?

• 2 Sept 2025 · Defibrillators · Hansard source

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  I absolutely commend the work that charities such as the Southport Saviours are doing to raise money for this vital equipment. If anything, the lack of emergency services makes it all the more vital that defibrillators are readily available, yet too often they are not. In my constituency, our vibrant villages are at the very heart of our cultural identity. Kilbarchan is a village of 3,500 people, with one of the oldest populations in Renfrewshire. It has a proud and active community council, which recently undertook public CPR projects, hosted training sessions and ran a thorough consultation on this issue. The findings were clear: the village did not have enough public access to defibrillators for its size and layout. Kilbarchan needed three more devices to bring it up to the recommended standard. The cost? Just £3,800. Despite its fundraising efforts, it fell a little short and applied to the SNP-run Renfrewshire council for support through the villages investment fund. The council’s response, delivered last week, was to grant only £1,600—less than half of what was required. One of Kilbarchan’s brilliant local councillors, Gill Graham, described that decision as “stingy in the extreme”. I have to say that I wholeheartedly agree with her. For the sake of £2,200, the council chose not to ensure that the village has the lifesaving equipment it needs. Is it any wonder that trust in politics is so low when communities are met with that kind of penny-pinching? This is about not just the message it sends but the lives it risks. What makes it even more incomprehensible is the broader context: last year, the Labour Government provided the Scottish Government at Holyrood with the highest funding settlement they have ever had in the history of devolution. It is therefore unacceptable that communities in Scotland are being forced to rely on fundraising and charity drives to secure something as basic and essential as a public defibrillator. The truth is that the SNP Government in Holyrood are not funding defibrillators themselves and have underfunded local authorities, which could provide the money, year after year. That chronic underfunding has forced councils into incomprehensible choices where, unbelievably, public safety and survival are being sacrificed. That is indefensible and I urge the Minister to raise this issue with her counterparts in the Holyrood Government.

• 2 Sept 2025 · Defibrillators · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stringer. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland (Sam Rushworth) for securing this debate, because it could not be more important. Cardiac arrest can strike at any time and in any place, and when it does, every second counts. We know that defibrillation within three minutes can increase survival chances by more than 70%, but those odds fall by 10% for every minute without access to a defibrillator. A cardiac arrest is one of the most terrifying experiences that anyone, or their loved ones, can face. It often comes without warning at the very moment we least expect it. The harsh reality is that, in rural Scotland, delays in ambulance response times can mean the difference between life and death. It cannot be right that people in rural communities face lower survival chances simply because lifesaving tools are out of reach.

• 1 Sept 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  Can I start by welcoming the announcement of the additional aid and medical care for Gaza that has been announced by the Secretary of State today? It is now widely reported that the Israeli Government are considering the annexation of the west bank as a direct result of the United Kingdom’s plan to recognise Palestinian statehood, so will the Secretary of State make it absolutely clear that that move would constitute a blatant breach of international law? Further, will he assure the House that the Government will not hesitate to take the strongest possible action, diplomatically and politically, to condemn any such unlawful annexation?

• 1 Sept 2025 · Ukraine · Hansard source

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  I thank my right hon. Friend and his whole team for the incredible efforts that they are making on this issue. Over the weekend, Russia launched yet more devastating airstrikes on Kyiv, killing 23 people including a two-year-old child. July was the deadliest month of the conflict since its early stages, with more than 280 civilians killed and more than 1,300 injured. Russia has once again shown its blatant disregard for human life, targeting, abducting, indoctrinating and even weaponising children. What further steps is the Secretary of State taking to ensure that Ukraine has the means to defend itself from these heinous crimes?

• 1 Sept 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  As someone who proudly served the trade union movement for two decades before entering this place, I warmly welcome the Government’s improvement to workers’ rights. Will the Minister set out what steps are being taken to ensure that no one is left behind in the vital reforms to statutory sick pay?

• 17 Jul 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Under the previous Conservative Government, changes were made to how claimants access the diffuse mesothelioma payment scheme, which is designed to compensate those with rare asbestos-related lung cancers. Those changes forced claimants to use outdated paper forms instead of online applications. As a result, people facing terminal illness experienced unacceptable delays in receiving the support they were rightly entitled to, including my constituent Carolanne’s husband Jack—sadly no longer with us—who was left waiting months because of that bureaucracy. Will the Leader of the House help to facilitate a meeting between me, my constituent and the relevant Minister to ensure that the process is streamlined to better support those who need it?

• 17 Jul 2025 · Ukraine · Hansard source

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  I thank my right hon. Friend for his update and for his leadership on this issue. In Russia and the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, Russian authorities have introduced military-patriotic training in schools and youth groups, exposing Ukrainian children to military propaganda urging enlistment in the Russian armed forces. There are also reports that Russia is recruiting Ukrainian teenagers and young adults to carry out espionage and sabotage within Ukraine. Does my right hon. Friend agree that Ukraine’s children have no place on the battlefield in this war? Can he say a little more about the work he is doing with colleagues in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to hold to account those responsible for the militarisation and forced deportation of Ukraine’s children?

• 10 Jul 2025 · UK-France Nuclear Partnership · Hansard source

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  I welcome my right hon. Friend’s response and greater collaboration between the UK and France with this nuclear partnership. It not only enhances our nation’s security, but has the potential to deliver highly skilled and highly paid jobs to every nation and region across our country. Will she say a little more about how those benefits will be realised in Scotland?

• 10 Jul 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  After many years of dedicated service, a former police officer from my constituency is being failed by the Scottish Public Pensions Agency’s mishandling of the police pension scheme and outrageous delays to the issuing of remediable service statements. Months of delays in receiving her remediable service statement has left her unable to plan for her future. Instead of enjoying a well-earned retirement, she is now forced to continue working due to the failure of the SNP Government in Holyrood. This is not just the usual SNP incompetence; it is a betrayal of those who have served our communities. Does the Leader of the House agree not only that this situation is deeply shameful but that the only way to restore dignity to our public servants and honour the promise of a secure retirement for workers across Scotland is to elect a Scottish Labour Government next year?

• 9 Jul 2025 · Spending Review 2025: Economic Growth · Hansard source

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  It is fantastic news that Ferguson Marine has secured a contract with BAE Systems to help further enhance the UK’s maritime capability, making use of its skilled workforce. Does my right hon. Friend agree that that is in sharp contrast to the student union politics played on defence by the SNP Government? Does he agree that the benefits of the spending review cannot be fully assessed until the SNP is removed from power in 2026?

• 8 Jul 2025 · Government Resilience Action Plan · Hansard source

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  During the covid pandemic, I was a trade union official representing 200,000 local government workers across Scotland. I saw at first hand their extraordinary dedication to our public services, but I also saw when they were let down by a lack of co-operation and co-ordination between the UK Government and the Scottish Government. Will my right hon. Friend outline how the resilience action plan will encourage greater co-operation between Governments across our devolved nations?

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

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  The consequences of losing control of the country’s finances, as the Conservatives did, caused real pain and a cost of living crisis for my constituents. Does my right hon. Friend agree it is only because of our sound economic management that we have seen wages rise for working people at a faster rate in the first 10 months of this Labour Government than in the last 10 years of the Conservative Government?

• 3 Jul 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  As a lifelong trade unionist, I will be proud to stand with my constituents in Paisley and Renfrewshire South this weekend as we have our annual Sma’ Shot Day, which is our annual celebration of the historic victory of local weavers in their trade dispute with the Paisley mill bosses. This week, our Labour Government are building on their legacy with the introduction of our parental leave review and of the timescales for the implementation of our Employment Rights Bill. Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating everyone involved in our annual Sma’ Shot celebrations and in paying tribute to the work being done to advance workers’ rights?

• 1 Jul 2025 · Parental Leave Review · Hansard source

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  I welcome today’s long overdue review of parental leave. The UK currently has among the lowest paternity leave in Europe, and that is not just a statistic; it is a real-life struggle for families up and down this country. Can my hon. Friend assure me that the review will look not only at the amount of leave but at the amount of salary provided during the period in order to protect those on the lowest wages? How will he go about ensuring that the voices of fathers, campaigning groups like the Dad Shift, and trade unions are heard in the review?