Joshua Reynolds MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 29 Apr 2025 · Electricity Bills: Standing Charges · Hansard source

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  1. What assessment he has made of the potential implications for his Department’s policies of recent trends in levels of standing charges for electricity bills.

• 23 Apr 2025 · Sewage · Hansard source

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  In my constituency, the Cut runs from Binfield all the way through to the Thames. That river had 615 hours-worth of sewage pumped into it last year, and my constituent Danny’s dog had to be put down, having got so ill from swimming in that water. Does the Secretary of State agree that no matter how many fines we levy against Thames Water, which ultimately come back to our bills—we have to pay for them—they will do absolutely nothing to deter the shareholders and make them invest properly where needed?

• 12 Apr 2025 · Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill · Hansard source

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  I thank the Secretary of State for giving way. Once he has the powers in this Bill, I urge him to use them decisively and swiftly, but then, as he has said, we need to look to the future. Once we have secured Scunthorpe’s future, we need to discuss what happens next, which is clean energy, and investing in the global clean energy that the UK really could succeed in. Does he agree that the people of Scunthorpe have upheld their end of the bargain for decades, and now it is time that we in this House make sure we uphold our end too?

• 12 Apr 2025 · Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill · Hansard source

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• 26 Mar 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill · Hansard source

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  Trading standards are really important and obviously, therefore, so are fixed penalty notices, so will the Minister support amendment 1, which would mean that any fixed penalty notice sums will be retained by local authorities to spend on public health, thus saving the NHS money, as she mentioned earlier?

• 24 Mar 2025 · Disruption at Heathrow · Hansard source

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  The fire and Heathrow closure will have impacted not only on travellers and on goods and services, but on the employees and contractors who work at Heathrow. Could the Secretary of State reassure me and those workers that she will urge all employers at Heathrow to ensure that staff who were due to work but were unable to do so, through no fault of their own, will be paid for that day?

• 24 Mar 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T5. With the UK frozen out of the EU rearmament scheme while defence contractors and security firms in Albania, Norway and South Korea stand to benefit, what estimates has the Secretary of State made of the potential loss of economic activity in the UK as a result?

• 19 Mar 2025 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  What would the Minister say to residents in Maidenhead who have told me that they are not eligible for pension credit? He talks about responsible choices, but the choice those residents now have to make is whether to dip into their savings to pay for their energy bills or to turn off their heating at night. A Labour voter contacted me who had had to make exactly that decision, and she said that she will never vote Labour again. Is that really the change that the Government were elected to introduce?

• 19 Mar 2025 · National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill · Hansard source

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  What advice can the Minister give Thames hospice and Alexander Devine children’s hospice service in Maidenhead, which are looking at a £300,000 and £50,000 increase in bills respectively? Is he saying that they should cut services, or is he expecting residents in our constituencies to raise more money for them, for it to be given directly back to the Chancellor?

• 18 Mar 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T2. Martin, a disabled resident, lives in his park home in Maidenhead. After his boiler broke down two months ago, he has faced significant challenges. He is unable to apply for the boiler upgrade scheme, as park homes do not get energy performance certificates, and the National Energy Foundation, which visited him three weeks ago, has still not provided him with a response. Will the Secretary of State outline what support he can give Martin and other elderly residents without heat or hot water?

• 17 Mar 2025 · Sentencing Council Guidelines · Hansard source

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  We are in the bizarre position where the body that advises judges on how to judge may decide to go to court for a ruling on whether Ministers have the power to tell judges what to do. What preparation has the Minister’s Department made for that possibility?

• 17 Mar 2025 · Two-child Benefit Cap · Hansard source

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  3. What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of removing the two-child benefit cap.

• 17 Mar 2025 · Two-child Benefit Cap · Hansard source

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  A BMJ study found that people in food poverty have diets with worse health outcomes including more fat, sugar and salt, so what conversations has the Minister had with the Health Secretary about how lifting the two-child benefit cap could improve diet and reduce costs for the NHS?

• 11 Mar 2025 · Employment Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Lady for her warm words about carers. Will she therefore support Liberal Democrat new clause 10, which would make paid carer’s leave an entitlement?

• 11 Mar 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  What work is the Secretary of State doing with the Victims’ Commissioner to ensure that the families of British citizens who are murdered abroad have the same rights as the families of homicide victims in the United Kingdom?

• 3 Mar 2025 · Leasehold Costs · Hansard source

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  What steps are the Government taking to help those leaseholders with doubling ground rents who now feel trapped and unable to remortgage or sell their properties without meeting the massive costs of changing their leases, which, as I know from personal experience, can amount to five-figure sums?

• 6 Feb 2025 · Flood Preparedness Projects · Hansard source

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  Will the Minister confirm what portion of the £2.6 billion allocated to flood preparedness will be used in my constituency of Maidenhead, specifically to protect the villages of Hurley and Cookham?

• 6 Feb 2025 · Flood Preparedness Projects · Hansard source

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  8. What steps he is taking to support flood preparedness projects.

• 5 Feb 2025 · English Devolution and Local Government · Hansard source

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  The Deputy Prime Minister said that new unitary authorities need to be the right size to withstand financial shocks, so will she explain how merging councils that are in severe financial difficulty and just hoping that they get on with it will provide the security that we need?

• 5 Feb 2025 · Chagos Islands · Hansard source

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  Parliament has been without a say on the deal, despite numerous efforts to raise concerns. Why should Donald Trump have a say about British sovereign territory when British elected officials do not? When will the Minister ensure that this House is given a final say on the deal?

• 4 Feb 2025 · National Cancer Plan · Hansard source

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  Some 3.4 million people in England live further than 45 minutes away from a radiotherapy centre. We all want to see that changed, but one of the challenges will be the fact that eight out of 10 radiotherapists have considered leaving the profession. Could the Minister outline what work the Government are doing to retain and recruit the radiotherapists that we need?

• 3 Feb 2025 · School Accountability and Intervention · Hansard source

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  I have spoken to a number of headteachers in Maidenhead today, who have told me that what Ofsted is proposing is incredibly overcomplicated, makes “exceptional” seem out of reach and will be a blunt tool that will not allow schools’ individual identities to be taken into account. They still do not believe that anybody can accurately judge a school’s strengths and areas for improvement within two days. What does the Minister have to say to those headteachers, and will she meet me and Maidenhead heads to discuss?

• 3 Feb 2025 · AstraZeneca · Hansard source

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  Given the protectionist policies of US President Trump, can the Minister confirm how he will seize the opportunity to make the UK the best place for pharmaceutical investment in the world?

• 3 Feb 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Jamie from my constituency is a full-time carer, but he is also in full-time education and is therefore not entitled to carer’s allowance. Will the Government confirm that they will extend carer’s allowance to those in full-time education?

• 30 Jan 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T2. The outgoing chair of the Competition and Markets Authority warned of the authority being vulnerable to “expediency or vested interests”. Does the Minister believe that appointing a former Amazon executive produces that risk?