Johanna Baxter MP: speeches

Speeches

• 9 Jun 2026 · Sir David Attenborough: Permanent National Monument · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That this House has considered the potential merits of Government support for a permanent national monument for Sir David Attenborough. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. Last month marked the 100th birthday of a television icon, a broadcasting legend and a true national treasure: Sir David Attenborough. Across his 70 years in television, Sir David has inspired generations to care more deeply about our natural world. A staple of Sunday evening viewing for decades, he has enthralled and inspired us in a way that no other broadcaster ever has or arguably could.

• 9 Jun 2026 · Sir David Attenborough: Permanent National Monument · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for his kind words. Sir David is not just an incredible broadcaster with a passion for nature; he is an architect who shaped the landscape of British broadcasting. As the controller of BBC Two, he oversaw the introduction of colour television to the UK, beating continental Europe to the airwaves. His eye for innovation even changed global sport. It was Sir David who noticed that traditional white tennis balls were nearly impossible for viewers to track on early colour television screens during broadcasts from Wimbledon. He personally intervened and championed the introduction of the optic yellow tennis balls that are used worldwide today. His embrace of technological advances led to him being the only person ever to win BAFTA awards for programmes across black and white, colour, high-definition, 3D and 4K television. From “The Blue Planet” and “Life on Earth” to “Galapagos” and “Frozen Planet”—I am sure everybody here today could name their favourite—each landmark production pushed human ingenuity forward. Within the scientific community, one of the greatest compliments a person can receive is to have a species named after them. It is extraordinary, then, to think that Sir David has had over 50 species named in his honour, reflecting a staggering range of biodiversity. They range from the Euptychia attenboroughi, a black-eyed satyr butterfly found in the tropical Amazon, to the Platysaurus attenboroughi, a flat lizard native to southern Africa. Sir David is also one of very few people to have been knighted twice.

• 9 Jun 2026 · Water Safety · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms McVey. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) on securing this important and timely debate on water safety. I also pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme (Lee Pitcher) for the work he has done. I also extend my condolences, on behalf of the people of Paisley and Renfrewshire South, to the families and friends of those who tragically lost their lives in water during the recent heatwave across the United Kingdom. Our thoughts are with them at this unimaginably difficult time. Every other minute, someone in the world drowns—those lives wasted, those deaths preventable. Our country is a nation defined by its relationship with water. We are an island nation whose history, prosperity and identity have been shaped by our seas, rivers and lochs. Our proud maritime heritage connected us to the world. Our waterways powered the textile industries, which transformed Paisley in my constituency, and our lochs and coastlines provide places of outstanding natural beauty. In my constituency, the stunning surroundings of the Lochwinnoch wetlands attract visitors and local residents alike. However, our connection to water must be accompanied by a respect for its dangers. Far too often, calm waters conceal serious risks. Cold water shock, strong currents and rapidly changing conditions can turn a day of enjoyment into tragedy in moments. Organisations such as the RNLI perform an invaluable service. I recently visited its headquarters and national training centre in Poole as part of the parliamentary knowledge scheme for frontline services. I was blown away by the breadth and depth of its work, and by the dangerous conditions in which it operates, often while coming to the help of our national Border Force. Its 7,900 lifeboat crew and shore crew volunteers, 451 lifeboats and hovercraft, most of which it designs itself, and 238 lifeboat stations create a ring of safety around the UK’s coasts. It operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, ready to answer the call to rescue and save lives. In 2024 alone, its work meant that 2,199 lives were saved, and 17,068 people were aided by RNLI lifeguards. I place on the record my sincere thanks to the thousands of volunteers who give their time and dedication to protecting others. We cannot simply rely on charities and volunteers to shoulder this responsibility alone. Dedicated as they are, they cannot be present at every riverbank, loch side and stretch of coastline, so prevention must be at the heart of our approach. That means embedding water safety into our national culture in the same way as we have embedded fire safety and road safety awareness. Young people should learn it from an early age, but true education requires local authorities and public bodies to actively support the practical, hands-on training needed to stay safe. Regrettably, too often we see obstacles in the way of this culture. In my own constituency, a local kayaking club, West Coast Paddlers, has repeatedly sought permission from a local arm’s length external organisation, OneRen, to use a local leisure centre pool to practise kayak rolls in a safe, controlled environment. Despite this training being commonplace and vital to prepare people for real-world conditions, its requests have been repeatedly denied over risk-averse concerns about minor damage that may be caused to the pool. If we are serious about embedding a culture of safety, we should be encouraging people to undertake training in a supervised environment before they enter open water. The cost of allowing access to a local pool is negligible compared with the tragic cost of inadequate preparation. I hope my hon. Friend the Minister will work with local authorities and the Scottish Government on the resources needed for a true UK-wide education programme and a national awareness campaign, so that we can all play our part in helping to save more lives.

• 8 Jun 2026 · Digital Safety: Children · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for his response to the urgent question. I am very grateful that the Government are taking action on this vital issue, but we all know that the pace of change in technology is terrifying. Will he set out how the discussions with technology companies and online safety experts have focused on ensuring that device-level controls are not only effective and easy for families to use, but adaptable to emerging online risks?

• 23 Apr 2026 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Friday 8 May is a significant day: the country will celebrate the 100th birthday of our national treasure, Sir David Attenborough. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear!”] He is an icon of broadcasting, a steadfast champion of the natural world, and an educator who has brought science and all corners of our world into the homes of millions of people. His contribution to our national life is without equal. He remains the only individual to have received BAFTA awards across black and white, colour, high definition, 3D and 4K broadcasting, and one of the very few people to have been knighted twice. On the off-chance that these are the last business questions before Sir David’s birthday, will the Leader of the House join me in wishing him a very happy birthday, and will he support a debate in Government time on the immense contribution that Sir David has made to our nation and on the merits of establishing a permanent public monument to honour it?

• 14 Jan 2026 · Ukraine · Hansard source

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  It will come as no surprise to colleagues across the House to hear that the issue I want to focus on is the treatment of the Ukrainian children. When I first visited Ukraine, this was the issue that struck me to my core. Russia has stolen 20,000 Ukrainian children from their home, and Russian authorities themselves report that more than 700 Ukrainian children have now been officially registered in Russia—a heinous war crime that continues unabated today. [ Official Report , 15 January 2026; Vol. 778, c. 8WC.] (Correction) Some 1.6 million children in the occupied territories are being subjected to militarisation and indoctrination. In recent months, we have seen clearer and deeply disturbing evidence, and have heard harrowing testimony from Ukrainian children who have been abducted by Russia, and from those trapped in the occupied territories, that the militarisation of Ukrainian children is accelerating at pace. It is no longer about propaganda quietly slipped into classrooms. We now see the deliberate transformation of schools into instruments of war—an $8 billion down payment on Russia’s future military. Ukrainian children are being placed on so-called specialised tracks and funnelled into paramilitary movements that are now formally embedded in the education system. Children are prescribed mandatory hours of military training and are forced to attend military camps. If they refuse, they risk failing their secondary education, which leaves conscription into the Russian military as the only future left to them. One child told Save Ukraine: “They showed us different types of grenades and mines. How much pressure a mine can withstand when it explodes. How to lay mines, clear areas, set tripwires, dig trenches. While I was digging a trench, they deliberately threw in a grenade to make it feel like a real battlefield.” Another child recently rescued by Save Ukraine reported that Russian soldiers conduct psychological testing, asking them questions like, “How do you feel about killing? Do you enjoy hurting people? Do you want to be a tank operator or a pilot?”. The fear of violence, punishment and forced conscription is not an isolated experience. It has become a daily reality for those living in the occupied territories. This is not education; it is coercion. It is cold, calculated and chillingly familiar from the darkest chapters of history on occupation. Those children who are not trained to fight are trained to police. They are being shaped into the next generation of law enforcement officials. Whose laws are they being taught to enforce? Putin’s. They are laws that silence dissent through violence, that tear children from families, and that allow children as young as 14 to be prosecuted for terrorism, with penalties reaching life imprisonment, simply for opposing Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. Children in the occupied territories live under constant surveillance. Their phones are checked, their social media is monitored, and any sign of Ukrainian consciousness is routinely treated as suspicious, disloyal and extremism. Russia’s treatment of Ukrainian children reveals its long-term strategy, with deep security implications for Europe and NATO. I am proud of the leadership that the United Kingdom has shown in standing with Ukraine, in everything from the arms we have supplied to the sanctuary we have provided, but I am deeply concerned; although reports suggest that we are 90% of the way towards a peace agreement, the language on the abducted Ukrainian children remains disturbingly vague. There is no clarity on how the stolen children will be traced. There is no clarity on how they will be returned, and bear in mind that many have been trafficked to Belarus or North Korea. What happens to the youngest children who were ripped from their homes, who may not be able to remember a time before they were placed with Russian families? Who will adjudicate if there are disputes about children’s documentation, bearing in mind that many mothers in the occupied territories were forced to register their children as Russian simply to secure maternity care? There remain disparities between the individuals whom we in this country have sanctioned for the forced deportation of Ukrainian children and those sanctioned by the EU and the US. I have flagged those disparities with the Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff South and Penarth (Stephen Doughty). I completely understand that he cannot comment on further designations, but I urge him to look again at that list. I thank the Minister sincerely for his efforts, and I know that he takes this issue incredibly seriously. To that end, I urge him to ensure that the same determination and resolve shown to the international coalition of the willing is now, at this pivotal time in peace negotiations, shown to the international coalition for the return of Ukrainian children. Will he push for a meeting of that coalition again at the earliest opportunity so that it can establish a clear post-war plan to secure international consensus on the fate of the abducted children, and to make it clear that their return must be a non-negotiable next step in any peace deal between Russia and Ukraine? There can be no lasting peace without the return of the stolen children. Slava Ukraini!

• 18 Dec 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  A very merry Christmas to you, Madam Deputy Speaker. My constituents would have been forgiven for thinking that Christmas had come early last weekend, because we were treated to not one, but two major sporting achievements. Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating Stephen Robinson and everyone at St Mirren football club for their historic achievement in winning the Scottish Premier Sports cup, after their 3-1 victory over Celtic, the first club in the UK to win a major trophy under fan ownership; and Johnstone Burgh FC on its excellent 2-0 victory over Renfrew in the Scottish Communities cup?

• 11 Dec 2025 · St Andrew’s Day and Scottish Affairs · Hansard source

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  On St Andrew’s Day, we honour a Scotland rooted in community, fairness and responsibility—the values that have shaped our nation for generations, and which continue to guide communities like mine in Paisley and Renfrewshire South. Legend has it that St Andrew foretold the future site of the city we now know as Kyiv, and today the solidarity between Scotland and Ukraine is not just symbolic; it is lived. I am very proud to welcome the Ukrainian diaspora into my constituency. In October, I invited members of that community to my constituency office so that I could hear directly about their experiences of building a new life in Scotland. They have found a place that opens its doors wide, and they have brought so much in return. One Ukrainian woman told me that she has put her skills to work as a seamstress, helping to carry forward the proud textile heritage of Paisley. It is a reminder that when people are given the chance to contribute, they do not just settle in; they help us all move forward. I have touched on Scotland’s values of community, fairness and responsibility. Those are the values that shaped one of the proudest achievements of the last Labour Government: devolution. It was never meant to be about flags or slogans; it was about a simple, powerful belief that decisions are best made closest to the people they affect. That is why Labour delivered Sure Start, the national minimum wage, the Human Rights Act 1998 and devolution. It is why this Labour Government have raised the national minimum wage and lifted the two-child benefit cap, which will lift 1,560 children in my constituency out of poverty, and why we are delivering £150 off energy bills for every household next year. But in Scotland our potential is being squandered by an SNP Government in Holyrood who are fixated endlessly on rerunning referendums, paralysing government north of the border. Instead of building homes, they build division. Instead of fixing schools and hospitals, they fall out with themselves. And instead of delivering for Scotland, they lurch from sleaze to scandal. Whereas other parts of the UK can move forward, Scotland is stuck with a Government who are more interested in constitutional games than in the hard graft of governing, and my constituents are feeling the pain of that. The Scottish Government have just received the biggest funding settlement since devolution began, yet the SNP-run health and social care partnership in Paisley and Renfrewshire South is slashing vital frontline services to fill an £18.5 million hole that it dug itself. The disability resource centre, a vital lifeline for people with physical disabilities in my community, faces closure. The Weavers Linn respite unit, a cornerstone of support for families in my community, is being stripped to the bone. The housing and health hub, the community health champion service, and grants that help older people to stay well and live independently are being shut down. The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, which is the voice of Scotland’s councils, has warned of a £16 billion shortfall across Scottish local government, calling it nothing less than an “existential threat”. This is austerity in action—short-sighted decisions that undermine the fabric of communities and leave us exposed when a crisis hits. We all know there is a clear link between child poverty and lack of access to safe, secure and affordable homes, yet under the SNP’s watch, Scotland is in a housing crisis.

• 20 Nov 2025 · Ukraine: Forcible Removal of Children · Hansard source

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  Today, on World Children’s Day, we are reminded that safeguarding the next generation is not just a value that we hold dear, but the responsibility of every Member of this House. In recent days, more than 100 Members have backed President Zelensky’s Bring Kids Back initiative. They stand united with Ukraine and its stolen children, and I thank all those Members. I also thank the Minister for working with me on supporting the Ukrainian Government’s launch of a new pilot programme to trace the children. Since September, it has found 600 of those children. If media reports from the last 24 hours about a US-brokered peace deal are to be believed, they should trouble every single one of us. A deal that trades away Ukrainian territory and security and makes no mention at all of the 20,000 children whom Russia has stolen from Ukraine is not peace; it is capitulation. This House should stand united in rejecting that deal. Can the Minister assure us that before any peace deal is considered, the future of Ukraine’s 20,000 stolen children will be top of the agenda?