John Hayes MP: speeches

269 published records · newest first.

Speeches

3 Feb 2026 · Animals in Science Regulation Unit: Annual Report 2024 · Hansard source
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I am renowned for my generosity in the Chair and I am extremely open minded about how debates are conducted, but it is not really appropriate to come in two thirds of the way through and intervene when everyone else took the trouble to get here at the beginning. We are all busy, after all.
3 Feb 2026 · Animals in Science Regulation Unit: Annual Report 2024 · Hansard source
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The hon. Gentleman, the Minister and others might like to know that there is some evidence to suggest that bees can count. I speak as a beekeeper. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered the Animals in Science Regulation Unit annual report 2024.
3 Feb 2026 · Changes to Jury Trials · Hansard source
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As you know, Mr Speaker, the age-old jury system connects the public to the exercise of law, and is therefore at the heart of popular consent for criminal justice. In abandoning this link, are the Government careless of the accountability that it brings, or are they driven wholly by thoughtless expediency? Are Ministers careless or thoughtless?
3 Feb 2026 · Changes to Jury Trials · Hansard source
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3. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of his proposed changes to jury trials on the criminal justice system.
3 Feb 2026 · Transport in the South-East · Hansard source
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Dr Chambers is showing how interventions should be done.
3 Feb 2026 · Transport in the South-East · Hansard source
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If Members speak for about six minutes each, everyone will get in. I am going to call the Front-Bench spokespeople at 3.30 pm, so Members should work on that basis.
3 Feb 2026 · Transport in the South-East · Hansard source
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Order. I remind Members that they need to bob, although I can see that they know that already.
3 Feb 2026 · Transport in the South-East · Hansard source
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I hope this will be a pithy intervention.
3 Feb 2026 · Transport in the South-East · Hansard source
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That intervention tested my legendary patience to its very limits, so just bear that in mind in the future.
28 Jan 2026 · British Indian Ocean Territory · Hansard source
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I invite my right hon. Friend to challenge the Minister to deal with the issue of the treaty of Pelindaba, which I think came into force in 2009. It was designed to prevent African nuclear proliferation. If we breach that treaty by means of this deal, it would open up an opportunity for all kinds of hostile powers, including China, to site nuclear weapons in Africa. Do the Government realise that? I know that my right hon. Friend certainly does.
21 Jan 2026 · Northern Ireland Troubles: Legacy and Reconciliation · Hansard source
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I am extremely grateful to the Secretary of State for giving way; he is an immensely courteous Member of this House and always has been. He will be aware, however, that there is a live legal case by the Northern Ireland Veterans Movement, and that the very Human Rights Act he cited says that this kind of order ought not to be moved—indeed, it would be ultra vires—while a case is proceeding. How does he feel about that, and will he explain to the House why we are debating this at all given all that I have said?
20 Jan 2026 · Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill · Hansard source
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I am immensely grateful, Madam Deputy Speaker. The best laws begin as Bills that metamorphosise during their passage and are improved through scrutiny. However, that depends on Ministers listening and learning. The amendments before us from the House of Lords are measured and reasonable. They are not wrecking amendments, but attempts to save the Government from their worst instincts. They provide greater scrutiny, greater parliamentary oversight and more checks and balances, yet they are rejected by the Government. I will not speak, in the brief time available, about the cost of the deal, although it is wholly unpalatable that we should give away a treasured possession and then rent it back from a foreign place. I will not speak about the strategic cost of doing just that, although I will draw on Lord West’s remarks. That former Labour security Minister, who sits on the Intelligence and Security Committee with me, said: “surrendering sovereignty over the Chagos Islands would be an irresponsible act, which would put our strategic interests—and the interests of our closest allies—in danger.” That is wholly unwise. I will speak, however, about the interests of the Chagossians, who have been ignored throughout this process, who were uninvolved in the negotiations from the outset, whose voice has not been heard, and whose future has been disregarded. That seems to me to be wholly unethical. This is unwise, unpalatable, unwelcome, unethical, and fundamentally wrong. The Lords amendments would make some improvement to something that is woeful. I implore the Government to accept the amendments. More than that, I implore them to abandon this sorry mission, which is not in the national interest, and certainly not in the interests of the Chagos islanders.
20 Jan 2026 · Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill · Hansard source
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rose—
20 Jan 2026 · Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill · Hansard source
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On that point, the Minister will be aware that the matter was debated at length in the Lords. Indeed, one of the amendments that we are considering deals precisely with the entitlements of the Chagossians. They were not involved in the negotiations at any stage, and they have made that clear. Why on earth would the Minister reject the Lords amendment, which simply says that they should have a defining say in their own future?
20 Jan 2026 · Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill · Hansard source
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On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. The Chair made it clear at the outset that the amendments that deal with matters of finance were inappropriate to be considered here, for obvious reasons. I understood, however, that the amendments that we were debating, including those that reference the Chagossians, do not concern finance in particular. Can you clarify the matter?
20 Jan 2026 · Temporary Accommodation: Out of Area Placements · Hansard source
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I will call Josh Babarinde to move the motion, and then call the Minister to respond. Other Members may make a speech only with prior permission from the Member in charge. There will not be an opportunity to wind up, sadly, as it is only a half-hour debate.
20 Jan 2026 · Temporary Accommodation: Out of Area Placements · Hansard source
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It is a private joke, don’t worry!
20 Jan 2026 · Domestic Abuse-related Deaths: NHS Prevention · Hansard source
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For the benefit of the large number of visitors in the Public Gallery, I say that we now move to the wind-up speeches. I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
20 Jan 2026 · Domestic Abuse-related Deaths: NHS Prevention · Hansard source
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Thank you for winding up. This has been a really important debate and I am so pleased that everyone was able to contribute. I hope that, had I spoken in the debate and not chaired it, I would have spoken with the same passion and insight that everyone has shown. Question put and agreed to . Resolved , That this House has considered the role of the NHS in preventing domestic homicides and domestic abuse-related deaths.
20 Jan 2026 · Domestic Abuse-related Deaths: NHS Prevention · Hansard source
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I remind Members that they need to bob to catch my eye— although I can see they already know that.
7 Jan 2026 · Rural Communities · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend is, as ever, making a valuable contribution to our considerations. Does he recognise that energy security and food security should not be made competitors? We need to invest in energy security, yes, but not at the expense of the most fertile, valuable farmland of the country, which we need to grow enough food to feed the nation.
7 Jan 2026 · Rural Communities · Hansard source
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I entirely endorse what the hon. Lady said about the family farm tax and the campaign that was waged against it, which crossed a number of political parties. Will she go further and join the campaign that is raging among the Opposition against the imposition of huge solar plants, pylons and substations on prime agricultural land? Thirty-five per cent of the land in this country is not of that kind; surely those things should go there.
7 Jan 2026 · Rural Communities · Hansard source
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rose—
7 Jan 2026 · Rural Communities · Hansard source
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My right hon. Friend is making a salient point. When local people face the impositions that she mentions, it is prime land that is taken out of production, compromising our food security, making us less economically resilient, and costing jobs and livelihoods in the countryside.
18 Dec 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source
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Merry Christmas to you, Mr Speaker, to the Leader of the House and to my friends across the House. I also wish a merry Christmas to my constituent in Holbeach, Annette Bramley, although at this time she will be grieving the loss of her daughter Holly, who was brutally murdered by a worthless, wicked husband. We have just debated animal welfare, and this week we have talked about violence against women. This man tortured and brutally killed Holly’s pets before he killed her. So often that is the case: first come God’s creatures, then come men and women. Will the Leader of the House make a statement to support Annette’s campaign for a national register of animal cruelty? That would give some solace and hope to those many women and children—and men, by the way—who face domestic abuse.

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