Josh Babarinde MP: speeches

Speeches

• 30 Jun 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  During our last session of Defence questions, I asked the Secretary of State to join me in wishing a happy forthcoming birthday to Eastbourne’s last surviving war veteran, Eric Deach, who was shortly to turn 100. Unfortunately, tomorrow I shall be a pallbearer at his funeral; he did not make it. Will the Secretary of State, ahead of that funeral, join me in paying one final tribute to Eric for his service and everything he did to fight for our country?

• 19 May 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  One of Eastbourne’s last surviving world war two veterans, the incredible Eric Deach, celebrates his 100th birthday three weeks today, on 9 June. Will the Secretary of State join me in wishing him a very happy centenary, and thank him for his service to our country?

• 30 Apr 2025 · Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports) Bill · Hansard source

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  One problem with the proposals is that consultation has been minimal. They come from a rushed place. They come from a place of responding to a culture war. We are voting on people’s liberties and we need to consider the issues in great detail before responding, not in a knee-jerk way. What I can say, and what I have discussed with Members, including the Lord Chancellor, is that, for example, in the guidance on pre-sentence reports, the circumstances of victims of domestic violence, modern slavery and so on should be considered. As I said at the very beginning of my speech, on pre-sentence reports we should lean toward a presumption of universality rather than one of rationing, so that for all the groups and individuals that have just been mentioned, and more, judges can access a pre-sentence report. We make the call I have just made not only because we have grave concerns about the impact of the proposed changes, but because we remain steadfastly committed to evidence-based policy making. Against the backdrop of cynical culture wars and leadership manoeuvres, it is more important than ever for the Government to assess the outcomes of this policy, with assessments based on statistics, data and evidence as opposed to dogma and ideology. To conclude, we must not dance to the tune of the populists or the culture war fanatics, or undermine our legal institutions. As such, our position has not changed since last time and we will act accordingly. We will defend our judicial system and its independence, but we reject short-term reforms that fail to address the wider issues of disproportionality at play.

• 30 Apr 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Eastbourne war veteran Staff Sergeant Pauline Cole sustained injuries while serving our country. She was awarded military compensation, but because military compensation is currently considered income by this Government, her pension credit has been cut from £77 a week to just £11 a week. We have met the relevant Minister to try to address this to no avail. With the 80th anniversary of VE Day just next week, will the Prime Minister meet Pauline, who is in the Gallery, and I to address this injustice and ensure that no veteran is penalised for serving our country?

• 24 Mar 2025 · Domestic Abuse: Defence Personnel · Hansard source

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  According to King’s College London, one in 10 of our armed forces personnel is a survivor of domestic abuse, but, because there is no specific offence of domestic abuse in the law, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed that it cannot comprehensively identify perpetrators, and cannot therefore comprehensively rehabilitate them and keep victims and survivors safe. Will the Minister join me and colleagues across the House in campaigning for a specific offence of domestic abuse in the law so that we can better protect our armed forces personnel from domestic abuse?

• 24 Mar 2025 · Domestic Abuse: Defence Personnel · Hansard source

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  10. What steps he is taking to support defence personnel affected by domestic abuse.

• 21 Nov 2024 · G20 and COP29 Summits · Hansard source

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  I am proud that the Liberal Democrats were the first UK-wide major party to call for an immediate bilateral ceasefire between Israel and Gaza, and we continue to push the Prime Minister to honour that position. I am also proud that many Eastbourne campaigners have been calling for that from the get-go, and have come out to condemn the rising tide of Islamophobia and antisemitism across the country. What global efforts to stem this tide of prejudice did the Prime Minister discuss with G20 leaders, and will he congratulate Muslim and Jewish leaders in Eastbourne, as well as incredible neighbourhood policing officers such as Fareed Kamar—you know him too, Madam Deputy Speaker—for uniting to root out hate crime locally?

• 11 Nov 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Eastbourne veteran Pauline was awarded military compensation for injuries that she sustained in the service of our country, but she said that that has caused her pension credit entitlement to plummet from £70 to just £10.42 a week. Will the Minister meet me to discuss her case and ensure that no veteran is penalised for their service to our country?

• 28 Oct 2024 · Remembrance and Veterans · Hansard source

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  It is an honour to pay tribute to our armed forces community this evening, and it is particularly special to be able to pay tribute to my late great-grandfather, Flight Lieutenant Thomas Gittins. He was a tool salesman who joined the RAF Reserves in the hopes of becoming a pilot. He was pretty small in stature, so he was never allowed to get near the cockpit. He fell at the first hurdle, despite being almost small enough to walk under it. He did, however, join 196 Squadron as a rear gunner in Wellington and Lancaster bombers, and between 1940 and 1945 he completed 51 missions, including towing gliders to transport soldiers to Normandy on D-Day. For his service he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, which was pretty rare for folk serving in his position. Like so many war heroes, my great-grandfather was intensely humble about his grand achievements. He was too humble to say that his bravery contributed to the preservation of our democracy, and to accept that his service meant that Members of Parliament, including his great-grandson down the line, could stand up here for our country. As with many war heroes, the atrocity of war took its toll on his mental health as he transitioned back to civilian life. Today, we recognise those challenges as combat stress. Thanks to so many volunteers across my wonderful constituency of Eastbourne—the sunniest in the UK—local veterans have access to more support than ever, including through our Royal British Legion branch, chaired by Alan Leith, who I recruited as my driving instructor. He is supported in chairing the RBL in Eastbourne by his fab secretary, Daphne Geninazza. I have also had the chance to meet inspirational veterans such as Eric Deach and Brian Perry, who is known as the formidable poppy salesman at the Tesco in the Admiral Way retail park in St Anthony’s. There is also local support in the form of the brilliant Eastbourne and District Veterans Association; I was proud to lead on its incorporation as a community interest company. I pay tribute to the wonderful Barry and Petra Coase and their dog Bella, who are involved with the charity Combat Stress, which supports veterans locally, and to the Blue Van drop-in group. We all need to go even further to support our armed forces, and I am delighted to speak up for them today.

• 24 Oct 2024 · Black History Month · Hansard source

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  I am sure they heard that loud and clear, and I thank the hon. Member for his intervention. Seriously, the response of folks like Margaret, Godfrey and many others has made me feel more welcome than so many other things could have in this House. I put on the record my thanks to them for their warmth, humour and generosity. This House has come far, but there is still some work to do. I reflect on an anecdote, which I have permission to tell, involving me and my friend the hon. Member for Huntingdon (Ben Obese-Jecty). Some Members can see where this is going. It was week one or two for us as new MPs. I was sat in Portcullis House, and the hon. Member came up to me and asked, “Are you Josh?” I said, “Yeah, I am.” He said, “I’m Ben, and I know that you’re Josh, because three people have mistaken me for you already. Has anyone mistaken you for me?” I said, “No, mate, sorry.” [ Laughter. ] I jinxed it, because later that day it happened. I bumped into the hon. Member and said it was 3-1. We exchanged numbers. The following day, I received a message: “4-1”. I was then out and about in my constituency at Airborne, which is the world’s largest free seafront airshow, held in what is officially the sunniest town in the UK. Some folks may know that the hon. Member for Huntington has a distinguished career in the armed forces. Somebody came up to me at Airborne and said, “It is so fantastic to see you. Great stuff. I’m really inspired by you—”, and I thought, “Oh wow, that is really kind.” Then they said, “And all the work you did in the Army.” I thought, “Oh my gosh, in my own constituency!” It then became 4-2, and I think it now stands at 4-3. This House has come far, and the country has come so far, and I am not prepared to let a group of unpatriotic folks in the minority take us way back. We have some serious work to do to take things forward. We need to address the disproportionate use of stop and search. We need to tackle the disproportionate levels of incarceration: 26% of the youth custody population is black, compared with just 6% elsewhere. The fact that black men are twice as likely as other men to get prostate cancer is something else that we need to address. We also need to tackle the fact that maternal mortality is almost four times higher among black women than among white women, and we need to secure justice for the Windrush generation.