Josh Fenton-Glynn MP: speeches 2024

Speeches

• 26 Nov 2024 · COP29 · Hansard source

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  I welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement. My constituency is at the mercy of climate change, as the floods showed at the weekend. It is deeply frustrating for many of my constituents to hear the Opposition fail to grasp the urgency. We are on the frontline of the impact of climate change, but we also want to be on the frontline of the response, so many of my constituents welcome the warm homes plan. What is he doing to ensure that we have the workforce to deliver that plan, particularly in constituencies such as mine that have houses that are quite hard to retrofit?

• 25 Nov 2024 · Storm Bert · Hansard source

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  This weekend, much of my constituency was under a severe flood warning. Businesses, roads and homes were flooded. We were luckier than in previous years in terms of severity, but in places it was agonisingly close, with rivers centimetres away from breaking their banks. Calder Valley has had two major floods in the past decade, and the fact that we avoided the same level of destruction this time was in no small part because of the work of local flood wardens, natural flood management organisations such as Slow The Flow and Calderdale council. I pay tribute to them. It is almost a decade since the serious floods in Calder Valley on Boxing day 2015. We had further floods in 2020. While the Environment Agency has carried out flood prevention works in Mytholmroyd and Brighouse, it has not even made a start on planned schemes in Hebden Bridge and Elland. Will the Minister meet me to discuss the plans we have upcoming and get some action from the Environment Agency? My constituents are understandably really anxious.

• 25 Nov 2024 · Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill · Hansard source

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  The Stop School Cuts campaign website estimates the combined school cuts since 2010 in Thirsk and Malton, the shadow Minister’s constituency, as more than £70,000. Will he point to where in the public record he has spoken out about that?

• 25 Nov 2024 · Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill · Hansard source

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  One of the first things the coalition Government voted to do was to scrap the Building Schools for the Future programme, which impacted schools in my constituency including Calder high school, Brooksbank and Todmorden high school. Will the hon. Lady reflect on whether that was a mistake by her party and whether it has prevented state schools from being able to provide for more students?

• 21 Nov 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  A constant theme in my casework inbox is rogue private parking companies and their intimidating behaviour. Just this month, my constituency office has returned over £200-worth of fines to my constituents. Will the Leader of the House advise me on the best possible way to put the issue on the record and get the Government to take action on this behaviour?

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

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  Today, the United Nations has said that virtually no aid has got into Gaza for the past 40 days. This winter, hundreds of thousands of people face malnutrition or worse. Can the Prime Minister give an update on conversations he had at the G20 that could help us end this conflict, release the hostages and finally get aid back into Gaza?

• 18 Nov 2024 · Children’s Social Care · Hansard source

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  In my time as a councillor and corporate parent, nothing was more distressing than the complex safeguarding issues that we had to deal with, and nothing more enraging that seeing people profit from them. That is why Calderdale council did good work to bring children’s homes in house. I hope that the statement means an end to that profiteering.

• 14 Nov 2024 · National Insurance Contributions: Healthcare · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend join me in welcoming the Opposition’s new interest in social care? Does she further agree that the problems that social care faces owe more to the previous Government’s failure to do anything with Andrew Dilnot’s 2011 report than they do to anything that is happening now with national insurance?

• 12 Nov 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source

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  rose—

• 12 Nov 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Gentleman makes an important point about the need to govern responsibly and reasonably, whatever one’s majority. While I was sitting here, I was interested in his record of following through on that strong belief, so I googled his name and “Prorogation”, and I did not see any results. Will the right hon. Gentleman perhaps reflect on any points when he thinks recent Governments might have abused their power?

• 12 Nov 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source

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  Will the right hon. Member remind me how long a parliamentary term is and therefore how long we have to implement our manifesto?

• 12 Nov 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source

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  I appreciate that the right hon. Gentleman is not a doctor, but could he explain the biological process by which someone inherits expertise?

• 11 Nov 2024 · Rail Performance · Hansard source

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  My constituents in Calder Valley are also sick of the performance of Northern Rail. In July, the Department for Transport issued a breach of notice to Northern Rail, because of its underperformance. Northern Rail’s chief operating officer said that performance was “not good enough”. Will my right hon. Friend confirm that she will prioritise getting Northern Rail back on track?

• 6 Nov 2024 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

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  I am proud to stand up on behalf of my constituents in Calder Valley and thank this Government for the Budget delivered by our Chancellor—a Budget that rebuilds the country and protects the NHS. As someone who spent eight years in local government before coming to this place, I recognise some of the huge steps that this Budget takes to cement local government, guaranteeing funding for high street projects like those in Calder Valley, and ending the beauty contests that see communities pitted against one another for meagre funding. There was £600 million guaranteed for social care and a commitment to longer-term, proper funding for our highways and the scourge of potholes. Most importantly, we get three-year funding settlements—no more annual scrabble in December to work out how to make a budget fit. Local authorities and businesses can plan long-term, which is what they want, and it is the stability that we need. It has been quite something to sit through this Budget debate for the past few days, because it seems like there have been two Budgets. One was delivered by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which fixed our foundations, supported hospitality and the high street, provided billions for the NHS, found funding for SEND and opened breakfast clubs. Then, there has been the Budget that exists in the imagination of Opposition Members. Today, the Leader of the Opposition claimed that it did not mention the word “defence”. The speech mentions it six times, and the Budget has a whole section in the funding settlement for defence. Today, we heard from the hon. Members for Solihull West and Shirley (Dr Shastri-Hurst) and for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Dr Johnson) about the problems of social care. That should not be a new concern for Conservative Members. Andrew Dilnot released his report in 2011. We were then promised that we would get some kind of proposal in 2014. In 2017, the Conservative Government released their proposal, but then withdrew it because they had an election. They then delayed it in 2018. It came back in 2021 and was delayed again in 2022. Then they said that they would deliver it in 2024, but did not find the funding. Throughout all that, there has not been a shred of contrition or acknowledgment from the Conservatives that they left the country on its knees. They have no idea yet why the public rejected them so resoundingly at the last election. I hope that as they sum up, they will perhaps show some contrition and answer the Budget as it is, not the one that exists only in their imagination.

• 5 Nov 2024 · Income Tax (Charge) · Hansard source

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  Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

• 23 Oct 2024 · Independent Water Commission · Hansard source

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  My constituents do not think that Yorkshire Water is doing a good job. Last year, sewage was discharged into the River Calder 4,125 times. The same year, Nichola Shaw, the boss, chose to take home a bonus of £371,000—or £90 per discharge. We have also had three major flooding incidents in Calder Valley over the past 15 years. Regulations do not cover water companies acting against flooding. Will my right hon. Friend look at the breadth of the current regulations and at what water companies can do about flooding?

• 17 Oct 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  This week is Flood Action Week. In Calder Valley, where we have had several major floods in the last 15 years, my constituents are all too aware of flooding and its impact; indeed, we have spent much of the last few days under a flood alert. Although Yorkshire Water has been active in supporting anti-flooding measures, could we have a debate in Government time on how regulation could be used to ensure that flood prevention is part of the statutory role of water companies?

• 16 Oct 2024 · Access to Primary Healthcare · Hansard source

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  I am glad that this debate has been called. Across the House, stories of failings in primary care are too familiar and, frankly, too distressing. The Darzi report makes it clear that since the announcement in the late 2000s of the so-called left shift—the shift from hospital care to care in the community—we have seen the number of people treated in hospitals rising. Indeed, 58% of the NHS budget is now spent on hospitals compared with 47% in the late 2000s. As Darzi said, there is no left shift, just a “right drift”. Let us be clear: GPs work hard and do a fantastic job. Just a few weeks ago, I visited the fantastic Hebden Bridge group practice in my constituency. The 13 doctors conduct about 2,000 appointments a week, and while they are fantastically efficient, that is taking its toll. The General Medical Council’s national training survey—I used to be proud to work on that report every year—found that 68% of GP trainers said they always felt worn out at the end of the day. This is simply unsustainable. We see the impact of the unsustainable model and the underfunding in our constituencies every week. In my constituency, the Calder community practice in Todmorden closed with over 2,800 patients on its books because there simply was not anyone able to take it on. The Darzi report makes it clear that we need to prioritise primary care and care in the community. The left shift must not be a slogan, but create real action. It cannot be right that, last year, 2,000 patients each day were admitted to hospital for something that could have been treated elsewhere and closer to home. I look forward to supporting the Government amendment, and to working across the House week in and week out to make sure that we rebuild the NHS and get it the support it needs.

• 15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman talks movingly, comparing our evolving and changing constitution to art, but are the measures set out in the Bill not just the latest in the evolution of that changing constitution, which will make it ever better?

• 10 Oct 2024 · Universities: Freedom of Speech · Hansard source

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  Under the Office for Students’ draft guidance, some universities have said they will have to revoke their adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism for fear that it might contravene the legislation. Does my hon. Friend agree that that highlights why it is so important to get the legislation right and that it is right to be cautious about how we implement any such legislation?

• 9 Oct 2024 · Film Industry · Hansard source

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  The film industry was worth £850,000 to Calderdale last year alone, from Marvel to “Happy Valley”, and I think it is obvious what the real Hollywood of the UK is—there is only one “Collywood”. Does the Secretary of State agree that the film industry must be part of developing our economies outside London, and will she work with me to make sure that we attract more brilliant film and TV projects to Calderdale and beyond?

• 8 Oct 2024 · VAT: Independent Schools · Hansard source

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  I am proud to have gone to Calder high school in my constituency—the first purpose-built comprehensive school in the north of England. The history of that school and its teachers are fantastic, but the building is not. After years of under-investment in the capital programme and the shameful cancelling of Building Schools for the Future, the building is crumbling. The same can be said for Brooksbank school and Todmorden high school, which are also in Calder Valley. All of them would have been scheduled for a rebuild sooner, had the Government not cancelled Building Schools for the Future. In the state sector, the problem is not just that the buildings are on their knees; there is also the issue of everything inside the buildings. At the start of the previous Government’s austerity programme, we heard about teachers going without items, or buying them with their own money—glue sticks, books and so on. Now when I talk to headteachers, they talk about going without teachers and support assistants, who are so vital for children’s needs. We can judge a Government, or indeed an Opposition, by their priorities. Frankly, the fact that the first Opposition day debate on education focuses on the 7% of students who go to private schools shows where this Opposition’s priorities are. If they had held a debate on SEND, I would have welcomed it, because SEND provision has been left in crisis. In Calder Valley, I can point to multiple examples of parents for whom advocating for their child has become a second job—and that is just those who have the resources to do so. Ahead of this debate, I asked headteachers what their priorities for education would be. One, who did not want to be named, said: “Any therapeutic service is no longer easily accessible. No educational psychologists, no speech and language therapist access for the increasing number of pupils who can’t access the curriculum.” We need to focus on the next generation in state schools—in all schools. That should be our priority. If I asked my constituents in Calder Valley what they think £1.5 billion should be spent on—that is the value of this tax break—it would not be the 7% of children who go to private schools.

• 7 Oct 2024 · NHS Performance: Darzi Investigation · Hansard source

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  The reform that we desperately need includes the so-called “left shift” out of hospitals and into primary care. Yet under the previous Government, the amount of money spent on hospitals went from 47% to 58% of the NHS budget. According to Age UK, every day 2,000 people are admitted to hospital who could be treated elsewhere and earlier. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the only way to fix the NHS is to get more and better care in the community?

• 12 Sept 2024 · NHS: Independent Investigation · Hansard source

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  I truly learned to appreciate the NHS when I became a parent and saw the care given to my family and children. It therefore horrified me, having sat in A&E with an ill child, to see in Lord Darzi’s report that 100,000 infants waited for over six hours in A&E last year. Does the Secretary of State agree that that is a shocking state in which to leave the NHS? Will he commit to bringing the numbers down and making sure that parents do not have to endure that terrible wait?

• 11 Sept 2024 · Building Safety and Resilience · Hansard source

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  I congratulate the hon. Member for Bromley and Biggin Hill (Peter Fortune) on a valiant attempt to pretend his is the best constituency in the country. I say to him: come back when you have two Nobel prize winners and a poet laureate. I rise to give my maiden speech about the constituency of Calder Valley, where I was born and brought up, and where I now raise my family. I have had some time to consider this speech, having been elected at the fourth time of asking. I have stood that many times because I believe that the voiceless in our society need a voice; we have particularly heard that in today’s debate. As is customary, I would like to start with a few thank-yous. I thank my local Labour officials, who for a decade have stood by me and, frankly, put up with me. I also give thanks to the campaigners who gave up so much time to something bigger than themselves; to my agent Marie Wright, who I trusted with my campaign; and to my agent at the three previous elections, Steve Sweeney, a fine councillor and a better human being, who, sadly, is no longer with us to hear this speech. No series of thank-yous would be complete without those to my family, from Calder Valley’s two smallest leaflet deliverers and door-knockers to my amazing wife and all the other family members who have given me emotional and practical support over many years. I owe so much to all of them, and I only hope that I can live up to their expectations of me. Calder Valley, as I know to my cost, is a bellwether constituency, having gone the same way as the Government in every election since 1983. It consists of a string of towns that are all unique, but have a common heritage in the wool trade, and there is a commonality in the way they have faced the world since that trade has died away. To win in Calder Valley and represent it, a candidate has to be able to speak to different people in different communities, and successful Governments should always do so. Donald Thompson, the first MP for Calder Valley, in his maiden speech for the predecessor seat of Sowerby in 1979 referred to the shift in the use of our mills, saying: “Not all the mills now spin and weave…Dozens of them house new industries”. —[ Official Report , 19 June 1979; Vol. 968, c. 1156.] Perhaps the story of the modern Calder Valley is how we have adapted to that change. The towns of Calder Valley run along the River Calder. That river has brought beauty, and supported the textile trade that once made our community world-famous, but it also brought the floods that hit our community particularly hard in 2012, 2015 and 2020—a visible sign of the impact of climate change, which will define many of our coming years. However, the towns have been able to rebuild, relying on an incredible community spirit and a way of being with the world that Chris McCafferty, Calder Valley’s MP from 1997 to 2010, described in her maiden speech as “bloody-minded, proud, pernickety and independent”. —[ Official Report , 21 November 1997; Vol. 301, c. 573.] I would demur from saying that myself, but I certainly recognise it in many of the people I represent. When I was 15, Chris was good enough to accept me on work experience in her office. Each town has its own history and traditions, guarded proudly. The town of Todmorden is the traditional county boundary between Yorkshire and Lancashire, with Yorkshire governance, an Oldham postcode and an accent somewhere in between. It was home to the famous Radical parliamentarian John Fielden, who changed the law to reduce the number of hours that children could work to 10 hours a day. Over the years, the town has boasted an astonishing two Nobel prize winners and is the birthplace of Incredible Edible, which pioneered growing vegetables in community spaces. Moving down the river, the town of Hebden Bridge was once famous for fustian trousers and the first worker-owned co-operative mill. That mill is now home to Calrec, which makes state-of-the-art mixing desks. Other mills house a thriving creative community. From Hebden Bridge, a short hop down the Rochdale canal takes us to Mytholmroyd, the birthplace of poet laureate, and scourge of GCSE English students everywhere, Ted Hughes. The mid-valley includes Elland, a market town once of such importance that the ground of Yorkshire’s largest football club is named for the road that leads there. Elland is now home to great businesses and even better people. I am proud to be a member of Elland round table, and our annual bonfire raises thousands of pounds for local good causes. Round tables across the country offer a lot of charity work, but they also give men an opportunity to do things alongside each other, creating an intentional community of friends that has been vital to men’s mental health over the years. I pay tribute to them. Elland will soon be improved by a new train station, on which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport will hear quite a lot from me in due course. Our rural communities include Ryburn and Greetland— I will pass both spellings to Hansard later—where farmers continue to reinvent themselves. From BSE and foot and mouth to political shocks such as Brexit, the life of a small farmer is never straightforward. However, they should not be underestimated as custodians of our landscape, nature and biodiversity. By supporting small farms, we can answer many of the problems we face in other places. The biggest population centre in the constituency is Brighouse and Rastrick, famous for its brass band that has the dubious honour of the longest-running No. 2 in British chart history. Over the years, Brighouse has produced everything from biscuits to valves, and it perhaps typifies the story of our changing industry as much as anywhere. The mills do not spin and weave, but they are now home to new industries. On to me, I was born and raised in Calder Valley and am keen to continue the campaigning tradition of past MPs from John Fielden to Chris McCafferty, who was a tireless campaigner for women’s rights. Despite my severe dyslexia, I got a good education at Calder high school, thanks to great teachers like my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent South (Dr Gardner). It was the first purpose-built comprehensive school in the north of England. Although no one in my family has chosen politics as their path, it would be untrue to say that they are not political. Indeed, going back to my great-great-grandfather, my family have been Labour supporters. Said ancestor, John Hughes, was agent to Joshua Ritson, the first Labour MP for City of Durham—one of 142 Labour MPs elected in the 1922 cohort, but the only Josh. The 2024 intake saw a 2.9-fold increase in the number of Labour MPs and a sevenfold increase in the number of Joshes. I hope that both numbers continue to hold strong.