Johanna Baxter MP: speeches

Speeches

• 24 Jun 2025 · National Security Strategy · Hansard source

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  It is vital that the UK has robust defences against biological incidents, accidents and attacks. What steps are the Government taking to invest in our biosecurity, and how that will help to protect our country from the range of bio-threats that we face?

• 23 Jun 2025 · Unemployment Levels · Hansard source

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  Paisley jobcentre runs a “Take a job to work” day, where work coaches look for local employment opportunities and take those suggestions into the jobcentre to match jobseekers with local jobs. Does my hon. Friend agree that that is a good example of local innovation in jobcentres, and would the Government consider sharing that good practice across the rest of the country?

• 23 Jun 2025 · UK Modern Industrial Strategy · Hansard source

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  I welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement and the doubling of business investment by 2035. I particularly welcome the £4.3 billion of funding for the advanced manufacturing sector, which will directly benefit the AMIDS—advanced manufacturing innovation district Scotland—factory in Renfrewshire, which is in Scotland. Can the Minister say more about how he will work hand in hand with the devolved Administration in Holyrood to ensure that the delivery of the strategy is tailored to local strengths?

• 20 Jun 2025 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

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  Will my hon. Friend give way?

• 19 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Earlier this month, Johnstone Burgh football club in my constituency brought home the Scottish junior cup, its first such win since 1968. Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating Johnstone Burgh football club, its manager Murdo MacKinnon, the players and everyone in our community who supports the club on their historic victory?

• 19 Jun 2025 · Warm Home Discount · Hansard source

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  I warmly welcome my hon. Friend’s statement today on the expansion of the warm home discount. It will mean that 240,000 people across Scotland, including many thousands in Paisley and Renfrewshire South, will receive £150 directly off their energy bills from this UK Government. Will my hon. Friend say a little more about the work being done to accelerate proposals to introduce a debt relief scheme, which would target unsustainable debt built up during the energy crisis?

• 17 Jun 2025 · Disabled People in Poverty · Hansard source

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  The Government’s consultation on mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting, led by the Office for Equality and Opportunity, recently closed. Can the Minister update the House on the findings of that consultation and when we might expect a formal Government response?

• 17 Jun 2025 · Disabled People in Poverty · Hansard source

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  Talking of cruelty, does the hon. Gentleman agree that it is cruel that the number of people from working households living in poverty more than doubled under the Conservatives’ watch, from 600,000 to 1.3 million? Is that not cruel?

• 17 Jun 2025 · Disabled People in Poverty · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

• 16 Jun 2025 · Iran-Israel Conflict · Hansard source

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  My constituents will be extremely concerned by the developments in the region, so I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement and the efforts he is making to encourage de-escalation. Will he assure me that this escalating conflict will not undermine the UK’s efforts to end the war in Gaza, free the hostages and lift all restrictions to humanitarian aid in Palestine?

• 12 Jun 2025 · Covid: Fifth Anniversary · Hansard source

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  I declare my interest in this debate as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on vulnerable groups to pandemics. “Stay at home. Protect the NHS. Save lives.” It is almost surreal, five years on, to say those words aloud today. Most of us had never heard of social distancing or imagined a Britain under lockdown. Overnight, vibrant communities turned still. Our high streets, once filled with life and laughter, became eerily silent, like scenes from a Hollywood sci-fi. But this was not fiction; it was our shared reality. The consequences were real and the sacrifices immeasurable. Today, as we reflect on that time, we carry a duty to not just remember but learn the lessons for the future. For many of us, the covid pandemic feels like a closed chapter. The lockdowns have ended, the pubs are open, the masks are off and life has almost returned to normal, but for over 1 million people across the UK, normal never really returned. Those are people who are immunocompromised. They cannot mount an effective response to mRNA—messenger ribonucleic acid—vaccines. The very tool that pulled so many of us out of lockdown—the vaccine—simply does not work for them. That means today, in 2025, they are still living with the same risk that the elderly and clinically vulnerable faced in those terrifying months in 2020. They are still shielding, still isolated and still left behind, and the toll on those people and their families is appalling. A recent report by the campaign group Forgotten Lives UK found that 93% of family members of immunocompromised patients are still shielding to protect their loved ones. Three quarters of those families are in the clinical range for anxiety and depression. Half of all patients are missing medical appointments, and a third are facing financial hardship. I know the Secretary of State has met with immunocompromised patients and representatives from the Forgotten Lives UK group. I welcome that engagement and echo its call for better support. However, I must express my disappointment. As chair of the all-party group on vulnerable groups to pandemics, I wrote to the previous Minister and the current Minister, asking them to meet me and those immunocompromised patients. To date, I have not received a response, so I would be grateful if the Minister would follow up on that matter directly. In conclusion—I am flipping through my well prepared speech, Madam Deputy Speaker—we need a whole-Government approach to addressing this issue, and tangible assistance to help people reintegrate into work and public life; and we need to educate society about the risks that covid-19 continues to pose to immuno- compromised individuals.

• 11 Jun 2025 · Employment: Wales · Hansard source

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  6. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to create new jobs in Wales.

• 11 Jun 2025 · Employment: Wales · Hansard source

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  This Labour Government are creating good, well-paid jobs across the whole of the UK, including in my Paisley and Renfrewshire South constituency. Will the Secretary of State explain what she is doing, in collaboration with Cabinet colleagues, to ensure that those new jobs are well paid and have good terms and conditions?

• 11 Jun 2025 · Spending Review 2025 · Hansard source

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  Fourteen years of the Tories and 18 years of the SNP have left many Scottish high streets in desperate need of investment, including those in my constituency of Paisley and Renfrewshire South. I welcome the Chancellor’s announcement today of investing in new community funds, bringing the total UK Government direct investment in Scottish local growth funding to almost £1.7 billion. Will my right hon. Friend agree to come to Paisley to see why our high street deserves a slice of that very substantial pie.

• 10 Jun 2025 · Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for his statement. I welcome the sanctions that have been taken today against Ben-Gvir and Smotrich because their rhetoric and actions towards the Palestinian people are dangerous and extremist. But this is the third set of sanctions imposed by our Government against violent settlers and settlement entities, and they have unfortunately not stopped food being used as a weapon of war. What does the Minister think will stop food being used as a weapon of war, and what more can we do to ensure that humanitarian aid is delivered into Gaza as a matter of urgency?

• 10 Jun 2025 · Nuclear Power: Investment · Hansard source

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  Happy birthday, Mr Speaker. New nuclear has the potential not only to power communities across our country, but to create jobs in every constituency. That is why it is particularly extraordinary to hear SNP representatives argue against those jobs. Will the Secretary of State confirm how many new jobs will be created by today’s announcement and what conversations he has had with workplace representatives to ensure that those are genuinely good jobs, with good terms and conditions?

• 9 Jun 2025 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  I welcome my hon. Friend’s announcement, because this news will not only bring more money to Scotland; it also demonstrates that this is a Government who listen. The winter fuel payment is devolved in Scotland, as it was at the time of the original announcement, and the Scottish National party’s current policy robs poorer pensioners to fund payments for millionaires. Does my hon. Friend agree that the SNP must now re-examine its own policy in the light of this game-changing announcement today?

• 2 Jun 2025 · Strategic Defence Review · Hansard source

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  I congratulate my right hon. Friend on his statement about this significant investment in the security of our nation. I was thrilled that the Prime Minister announced that there will be up to 12 new attack submarines, boosting growth in Scotland and keeping the UK safe for years to come. However, I was astonished to read over the weekend that the SNP Government in Holyrood are blocking investment in a specialist welding centre in Glasgow by withdrawing a £2.5 million grant. If the SNP continues to block funding for that centre, will the Secretary of State confirm that this Labour Government will step in?

• 2 Jun 2025 · Illegal Working · Hansard source

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  Good employers in my constituency of Paisley and Renfrewshire South—those who conduct employment checks and employ people on decent terms and conditions—are being undercut by unscrupulous firms that use exploitative practices and prey on the vulnerabilities of people seeking a better life here in the UK. What steps are being taken to protect people from exploitation and employers who do the right thing?

• 2 Jun 2025 · Illegal Working · Hansard source

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  11. What steps her Department is taking to tackle illegal working.

• 22 May 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  The Scottish National party pretends to be on the side of elderly people in our communities, but despite the rhetoric, the SNP-led Renfrewshire integration joint board has taken the heartless decision to slash funding to the Food Train—a vital volunteer initiative that supports our elderly residents with prepared meals and shopping, and helps them to live independently. The Food Train’s funding has been cut, despite the Scottish Government having received a record-breaking funding settlement from this Labour Government. Will the Leader of the House join me in condemning Renfrewshire IJB’s heartless decision?

• 21 May 2025 · Ukraine: Forcibly Deported Children · Hansard source

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  I thank every hon. Member who has participated in the debate. I cannot do justice to all the contributions in the time that I have, but the strength and depth of feeling expressed by colleagues across the House should send a strong message to President Putin that this is a heinous crime to which we all object. The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) reminds us of the urgency of the issue. As he said, justice delayed is justice denied. As I mentioned earlier, this summer 53,000 children are expected to attend summer camps in Russia. We need to ensure that those children return home. To reiterate the point, there can be no lasting peace in Ukraine without the return of these children. I ask the Minister to again consider sanctions, in particular aligning our sanctions on individuals involved in the forced and illegal deportation of these children with those that have been applied by the US and EU. I also ask for a little clarity—he may be able to write to me afterwards—on the terms of reference for the special tribunal for the crime of aggression and whether those will cover this issue. Also, will the Government continue to investigate whether these crimes meet the definition of genocide under international law? I thank the Minister for his commitment to get back to me on the national day of action, which would certainly help to raise awareness of the issue. I also plead with the Government to look again at the issue of rehabilitation for these children, who will have gone through severe trauma. If we are able to return them home, they will need a lot of support. I thank every hon. Member who contributed so powerfully to the debate. Question put and agreed to. Resolved , That this House has considered the matter of returning forcibly deported children to Ukraine.

• 21 May 2025 · Ukraine: Forcibly Deported Children · Hansard source

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  I completely agree, and I have already called for the Government to recognise a UK day of action, to highlight the profile of this issue to the wider public. Our report calls for Russia to publish a full register of all Ukrainian children in its custody, as required under the Geneva convention. We are calling for Russia to provide a framework, jointly agreed upon by both parties, for the return of every Ukrainian child who has been forcibly deported. We should also expand our intelligence sharing and support for child trafficking efforts. We need to know where the children are, who has taken them and who is hiding them, because with every day that passes, it is getting harder to bring them home. I am calling for sanctions to be targeted, biting and relentless on every official, agency and person complicit in these crimes, from the senior politicians to the Russian organisations running re-education camps. I previously called for a special tribunal for the crime of aggression, and I am pleased to see that the UK, alongside 40 partners, has agreed to a framework for that. Can the Minister share more detail on the scope of that tribunal? This debate is about turning up the volume on this issue. It is about making sure that no one can say, “We did not know.” We need help to amplify this. We need more pressure, more action and more urgency, because with every day that we delay, another child forgets their name.

• 21 May 2025 · Ukraine: Forcibly Deported Children · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That this House has considered the matter of returning forcibly deported children to Ukraine. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stuart. I start by welcoming a distinguished guest to the Chamber: Olena Kondratiuk, the Deputy Chair of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, who is here with her colleagues from the Ukrainian embassy to the UK. Her welcome presence shows that our two nations’ great democratic institutions stand united alongside the families of the thousands of stolen children of Ukraine. Today, we commit ourselves to ensuring that our work will continue until every single Ukrainian child is returned home. Earlier this year, I joined the all-party parliamentary group on Ukraine and UK Friends of Ukraine on a delegation of British parliamentarians to mark the third anniversary of Putin’s illegal and bloody war. It was unquestionably one of the most humbling experiences of my life to meet the brave men and women, unbroken in spirit, who are fighting courageously for their freedom and their homeland. It is an experience that will stay with me forever. On that visit, I met the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets. What we discussed was devastating: the systematic abduction of Ukrainian children by Russian forces—a grave crime that continues unabated to this day. When Dmytro told me that at least 19,546 Ukrainian children had been stolen, I had to ask him to repeat the number, because I simply could not believe that a crime of this magnitude was taking place before our very eyes and no one was talking about it. The official estimates are horrendous enough, but some other organisations estimate that the total number of children stolen could be much higher. The Russian Federation’s children’s ombudsman has stated that it has “accepted” 700,000 Ukrainian children since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. When I returned from Ukraine, I made it my purpose to ensure that the scale of this crime receives the attention that it demands in this place. That is why in April, alongside UK Friends of Ukraine, I co-authored a report titled “Returning the Stolen Children of Ukraine”. The report lays out, in no uncertain terms, a detailed timeline of the systematic abduction and forcible deportation of Ukrainian children from Russian-occupied territories. It highlights that President Putin has personally directed Russia’s children’s commissioner to identify and streamline bureaucratic barriers, not to protect children, but to fast-track their placement into Russian families. The report highlights that Putin’s presidential aircraft is complicit in flying Ukrainian children from occupied Donetsk to Moscow. It highlights the role of federal and regional officials across Russia, occupied Ukraine and Belarus in the deportation of those children and the deliberate erasure of their Ukrainian identity. It highlights that military-style camps have been set up to indoctrinate the children, teaching them basic combat skills and loyalty to the Russian state. It highlights that parents in occupied territories are being coerced into sending their children to so-called summer camps across Russia—camps designed to distance them permanently from their homeland.

• 21 May 2025 · Ukraine: Forcibly Deported Children · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for his intervention. Indeed, I will come later in my speech to what I hope the Minister will be able to set out. The report also highlights that Ukrainian children in occupied areas are now being used to support Russia’s drone development and production efforts. Children are being made to assist a war machine. Since the publication of our report, the situation has only worsened. Russia’s First Deputy Minister of Education recently announced that approximately 53,000 Ukrainian children from occupied territories will spend their summer holidays in camps—not in their homes or with their families, but scattered throughout occupied territories. These are not just numbers; they are children—sons and daughters—taken from their families, their culture and their country. Today’s debate is not just about numbers; it is about the stories of children such as Kira and Margarita. Margarita was 10 months old—a baby—when she was taken from a children’s home in Kherson. She could not walk or talk, but she was already a target of the Russian regime. She was taken to Moscow on the excuse that she needed medical care, but she did not. She ended up in the arms of a senior Russian politician and close ally of President Putin. He adopted her, changed her name to Marina, changed her birthplace to a Russian city and registered her as his daughter. That baby girl, just months old, had her whole identity rewritten—erased. She is now legally Russian, and the truth is buried. That is not care; it is abduction in the uniform of bureaucracy. Kira was an 11-year-old girl from Mariupol. At 10, she lost her mother. Then, during the invasion, she watched her father die—shot by Russian forces on their balcony as he tried to save what little they had left. She fled with her father’s partner, walking for a full day to reach her grandmother. Along the way, a landmine exploded, Russian soldiers came and Kira was taken, separated from her loved ones and told she would be sent to a remote orphanage in Russia if no one came to collect her. Weeks later, terrified and alone, she remembered she had a telephone. She called her grandfather. He found her, traumatised but alive, and brought her home. She is 11 years old. She said: “The Russians took my childhood, my city, and my dad”. Kira was one of the first children rescued by the Bring Kids Back initiative, supported by the United Kingdom, which to date has helped return 1,307 children, including two brought home over the weekend. We now have clear and credible evidence, including from the Yale University humanitarian research lab, that approximately 8,400 Ukrainian children have been forcibly transferred to at least 57 so-called re-education camps. They span eight time zones, from occupied Crimea all the way to Magadan in Russia’s far east. Inside those camps, Ukrainian children are indoctrinated. They are told that Russia’s brutal invasion is justified. Ukrainian history is erased from textbooks and mentions of Ukraine as a sovereign nation are removed. This is not just the rewriting of the story, but its deletion. It is a chilling, systematic attempt to dismantle Ukrainian identity, starting with the youngest and most vulnerable. Russia is not stopping at cultural erasure. In occupied territories, there is mounting evidence that more than 10,000 children are being trained in drone warfare. The training is gamified, turning it into some twisted kind of play, and taught through special engineering classes in which students are instructed in how to build and deploy drones for the Russian military. To make matters worse, occupation authorities in Donetsk and Luhansk have signed co-operation agreements with the Russian Young Army Cadets National Movement, with the goal of scaling up the recruitment of Ukrainian children into pro-Kremlin military patriotic youth organisations. According to the Institute for the Study of War, as many as 11,500 Ukrainian children may already be involved. The Russian adoption system operates as a tool of administrative erasure; Ukrainian children are absorbed into a bureaucratic structure deliberately designed to erase their cultural and national identity. For those taken in infancy, this practice all but guarantees that an entire generation grow up on Russian soil, utterly unaware of their Ukrainian roots. This is not just occupation. It is indoctrination. It is militarisation. It is a deliberate, state-led campaign to steal Ukraine’s future one child at a time, and it is a war crime playing out before our eyes. As the House will already know, the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for President Vladimir Putin and the so-called children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, for the war crime of unlawful deportation of children. As our report sets out, I believe there is sufficient evidence and scope to consider whether charges of crimes against humanity and genocide could also be considered under international criminal law. It is certainly clear that Russia’s actions are flagrant violations of international humanitarian law and international conventions and treaties to which Russia is a party. To conclude, I am calling for the Government to work with our international partners to take all necessary measures to secure the immediate return of these children.