Katrina Murray MP: speeches

Speeches

• 14 Mar 2025 · Rare Cancers Bill · Hansard source

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  There is hardly a family in the UK who have not been touched by cancer in some way—this morning’s debate has shown how much we reflect the population—and the feeling of fear, anxiety and heartbreak that comes with it. But for those diagnosed with a rare cancer, the challenges are even greater: delayed diagnosis, fewer treatment options and the shocking lack of research, which means that these patients and their families are often left in the dark. I am glad that we are united in saying that that has to change. I am so proud to support the Bill introduced by my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur)—I think I possibly worked with his father-in-law at Bell Baxter many years ago—because we now have the chance to turn the tide and focus on people with rare cancers. We have talked a lot about the statistics. Rare cancers still do not get the same investment in research or access to clinical trials as common cancers. As a result, survival rates for some of the least survivable cancers, like pancreatic cancer, brain cancer and stomach cancer, are stuck at just 16%, which is not good enough. Seven weeks ago, I lost my dad. More time has now passed since his death than the time we had between his diagnosis and his passing. The grief is still exceptionally raw.

• 14 Mar 2025 · Rare Cancers Bill · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. The Brain Tumour Charity and Brain Tumour Research have highlighted time and again that just 1% of national cancer research funding goes towards brain tumours, despite their being the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40. That is totally unacceptable. People who are dealing with these devastating diagnoses need more than words; they need real investment in clinical trials and better pathways to diagnosis. The Bill is about fairness—it is about tackling the lack of funding, the difficulty in getting patients into research, and the absence of clear Government leadership in this area. People miss out on life-changing trials because they simply do not know that they exist. My hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham and Morden (Dame Siobhain McDonagh) talked about having a universal system in this country. We also have one of the most siloed systems. People in one part of the system often do not know what is going on in other parts, and we need that to stop. We have talked a lot about the approaches in places like the United States, where targeted policies have led to surges in new treatments for rare cancers. But we also need to recognise what else is going on in the United States: a raft of Executive orders from the White House is putting higher education and current clinical trials into a tailspin. I want to pay tribute to the people who have helped me a lot over the last few weeks, in particular my hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham and Morden. She talks about being angry. I just remember that anger is a natural stage of grief, but it is also a massive driver for change and for getting things done. I am not at the angry stage just yet, but I will be at some point, and when I get there I will certainly be joining my hon. Friend; it is something we all get. Somebody said to me many years ago that the greatest gift that any of us can give is the gift of time. No matter our political differences on other things, we have a chance today to give others the gift of time and to make sure no other families have to experience what we have had to go through. Please pass this Bill. Thank you.

• 13 Mar 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Cumbernauld theatre is a long-standing and vital cultural cornerstone, but it now faces the possibility of closure following a cut to its funding by Creative Scotland. Its work extends beyond performance, with an extensive outreach programme in the local community, and the petition to save it has now reached 10,000 signatures. May we please have a debate in Government time on the importance of local theatres and their role in increasing access to culture?

• 12 Mar 2025 · Employment Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  Thank you very much for your intervention. I have 20 years’ experience of working in a partnership arrangement, and staff-side trade unions have been the agreed and recognised bodies for staff in the NHS. It is natural to sit down together and say, “These are our issues. How do we resolve them?” It is a lot more financially advantageous if we do not end up in a situation that is adversarial. Electronic balloting has long been common practice, but not for statutory trade union ballots. This is not just about public votes on “Strictly Come Dancing” or “I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!” I noticed that the Conservative leadership election in 2024 made great use of electronic balloting. It is absolutely time for trade union ballots to be brought into line with society, so I welcome the measures in the Bill to widen the methods of voting in industrial action ballots. While I am on the subject of balloting, let me also say that I support the extension of the period of time before a re-ballot takes place to extend the mandate for strike action. The ultimate aim of any form of industrial action is for disputes to be resolved by all of the parties involved, ideally before any action is taken, before labour is withdrawn, before individuals lose their money and before the public are affected. The role of the Government should be to ensure that intransigent parties get round the table and talk in order to resolve any issues. Conservative Members have reminded us that when faced with that opportunity, they did exactly the opposite. They introduced the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023, a piece of legislation that is so useless that it has stopped precisely zero strikes. It was used precisely zero times and is rightly being repealed as part of this legislation. What Conservative Members do not recognise is that trade unions and trade union members do not take action lightly. I do wonder what the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Mid Buckinghamshire (Greg Smith), was thinking, because he has obviously never talked to trade union members. People know their rights, they want to belong to things and they want to be involved. People collectively make such decisions, and they individually make decisions about their subscriptions—and by golly they know, because they have told me. These provisions have not been brought in with businesses kicking and screaming. Most businesses that work well with people know exactly what is going on.

• 12 Mar 2025 · Employment Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  My membership of Unison, and of the national executive of Unison prior to my election, is well documented. I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. What people on this side of the House probably do not know is that I am also an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the professional body for the people profession, and I have spent over 20 years as a manager and an employer. I have therefore spent most of my career working with people, managing people and employing people. I have ensured that staffing levels are maintained on the hours that people are contracted and available to work, and I have managed their flexibility without having to resort to bank or agency staff every week. However, as a trade union rep, I have prepared for and worked on consultative ballots, statutory industrial action ballots and—oh yeah—political fund ballots. I have done the hard yards: I have walked the wards at 3 o’clock in the morning to speak to the night shift, and I have gone out to remote workplaces to engage with people. But I have also met management to agree on what essential levels of service are. I pay tribute to all of those who have worked on this Bill to get it to the place where it is today, and I welcome its coming back to the House. I believe in fair work; a relationship between the employer and the worker that is based on equality; a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work; and the right of an individual to withdraw their labour should workers collectively vote to do so. We discussed yesterday what a healthy employment relationship looks like, and it is about more than just pay. It is about how people are treated at work, and it is about ensuring that work pays and that people have not only a job but guaranteed hours, if that is what they want. If someone wants to work full time, they should not have to work two or maybe three contracts with the same employer to make up those hours, or to work the same excess hours every week for months and months—until they want to take an annual leave day, when they lose their entitlement to that. Today’s amendments focus on two main aspects of the Bill: the rights of trade unions to organise in a way that we recognise in the 21st century, and how this vital piece of legislation is enforced. As we have been reminded, the world of work has changed fundamentally in the last 20 years, and so has the world of trade unions. I listened very carefully, and with great respect, to the hon. Member for St Albans (Daisy Cooper), who spoke of the combative and adversarial nature of trade unions, but that is not the world that I recognise.

• 12 Mar 2025 · Employment Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  Does the hon. Member agree that it is an absolute failure of collective bargaining for the Scottish Government to have walked away from the commitments they made in a deal with health service unions two years ago on the reduction of the working week? They are failing to go through with reducing the working week by half an hour as of 1 April 2025.

• 7 Mar 2025 · Space Industry (Indemnities) Bill · Hansard source

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  I am proud to speak in support of the Bill promoted by my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow East (John Grady) on the space industry. Like large parts of Scotland, my constituency has a burgeoning footprint in the aerospace industry—indeed, not just the industry, but the supply chain, because as my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur) pointed out, Kirkintilloch and Kilsyth are very much part of my area and it is becoming one of our largest industrial sectors. To be honest, my interest in space, like that of many in my generation, comes from a combination of sci-fi and being made to watch the launch of the space shuttle. As the opening statements of “Star Trek” told us, space is “the final frontier” and we should “boldly go where no man has gone before”. Given that what separates the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow East from mine is the M73, a major part of Scotland’s motorway and logistics infrastructure, it is probably fair to say that people do not boldly go on that journey every day, although having once spent the night on the motorway during a snowstorm, it does feel a bit like the final frontier at times. The Bill is exceptionally technical, and the need for it is immense. The Prime Minister rightly reminded us this week of the need for Europe to be united and not rely on the United States when conflict comes to our continent. While that is true in Ukraine, it is also immediately true in space. There may be competition within the sector in Europe, and we have even heard about competition within the sector in Scotland, but that is healthy. However, we must break up the dominance of the US private sector in this space. To develop the sector at warp speed is vital. Constituencies such as mine are crying out for advanced engineering jobs—jobs that are highly skilled and naturally well paid. Our local economies benefit from people coming from all over the country to work in those factories and warehouse units. People visit those units, as I have had the privilege to do, and they meet the range of people who work there. No longer is this the engineering I knew in my childhood—it is no longer pale, male and stale. The role of women in the industry is obvious, which takes us right back to the original series of “Star Trek” in the ’70s, where the inspirational and transformative effect that Nichelle Nichols had as Lieutenant Uhura cannot be overstated. The fact that she was hired by NASA to recruit women and people of colour for the space shuttle programme between 1997 and 2015 showed the impact that she had. Many astronauts have credited Nichols and Uhura with inspiring them to want to work in that industry. Mae Jemison was the first African-American woman in space in 1992, and a year later she appeared on the decks of the USS Enterprise as part of “Star Trek: The Next Generation”. All the devices that we love to watch on “Star Trek” are what we are using today—look at our iPads. It had the first handheld mobile devices and personal access display screens. In the “Star Trek” world, Jean-Luc Picard would say to his replicator, “Tea, Earl Grey, hot,” and it would then appear from the ship’s reserves. We are not quite at that level of sophistication yet, although the work of 3D printers and computer-aided design, and the effect of that on the advanced engineering sector, cannot be overestimated. Indeed, we are now seeing food products being printed, so maybe in the not-too-distant future Patrick Stewart himself will be able to order up a “Tea, Yorkshire, hot.” NASA has said that, although not yet developed, the warp drive is something that could be possible in the future. Investment in our sector makes it happen—or, again in the words of Jean-Luc Picard, it makes it so.

• 6 Mar 2025 · International Women’s Day · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Brent East (Dawn Butler) for allowing us to do what this House does at its best: speak as one and work together. International Women’s Day is an opportunity for us all to celebrate the achievements of women, reflect on the progress we have made and, crucially, recommit to the work still to be done. As we have been rightly reminded throughout this debate, there are still many, many battles to be won, whether in our local communities, across the nation or globally. Women have always been at the forefront of change, often having to fight to have their voices heard, yet they have made significant contributions and led movements for justice and equality. The fight for women’s rights is a fight for economic justice, reproductive rights and freedom from violence and discrimination. It is a fight against exploitation, trafficking and the silencing of women’s voices. The theme for International Women’s Day this year is “Accelerate Action”. While every single one of us in this place has a role to play in that, it is also necessary for our communities. Like other Members, I will take a moment to share the stories and celebrate the achievements of some really spectacular women in my constituency. However, not a single one of them would say that they were spectacular or that they are doing something above and beyond. They are women like Lavinia McElhinney, the ladies’ president at Woodilee bowling club, whom I met at the club’s fundraising coffee morning last year. Women’s sports, such as bowling, are just as important at the sport on the telly. There is Louise Carberry, a primary 7 pupil at Kilsyth primary school, whose app-designing skills saw her win the Make It Happen Club app design challenge. Her “save the whale” idea was not only recognised, but developed into reality—yet another woman going into science, technology, engineering and maths. There is also RSE, an engineering company in my constituency that is overwhelmingly recruiting graduate women engineers in the water industry. There are the inspiring women of Kilsyth and Stepps guiding. I must admit that I am biased—I was a Guide, a Brownie and an occasional adult volunteer—but the volunteers there are bringing young women forward. Our fight is not finished. The battle for equality continues everywhere, so let us recommit ourselves to not only celebrating progress, but truly accelerating action.

• 27 Feb 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Last month, along with approximately 20 local employers, I attended Cumbernauld academy’s world of work event, where I was able to engage with more than 100 13-year-olds about the skills needed to be an elected politician and how to work for one. It was a crucial part of their preparation for choosing which subjects they wanted to take at national 4 and national 5 level. I really got put through my paces on all that, and it was an absolutely fantastic event; I commend the school on doing that. It is important that we further debate the importance of careers advice for young people.

• 27 Feb 2025 · Women’s Health · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye (Helena Dollimore) on securing this vital debate. In the time available, I will concentrate on the importance of delivery. The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) spoke eloquently about the experience in Northern Ireland; it is only appropriate that I, as a Scottish MP, talk about my constituency and my constituents’ experience. In 2021, the Scottish Government published its women’s health plan, the intent of which was absolutely sound. In November ’24, they provided the final report for this plan, measuring what it had delivered. I looked at that when preparing this speech, and in particular at one of the topics that comes up regularly in my inbox—endometriosis. People, particularly younger women, are living with pain. It is difficult to get on to the referral pathway, and long waiting times for people who do get there. The Scottish Government’s strategy detailed a clinical endometriosis pathway for women that was launched in January ’23. It was rightly lauded at the time, but the Scottish Government have a habit of announcing and launching brand new shiny things that are then not delivered operationally. There is a review date of January ’24 on the pathway, but I cannot find any evidence of that review having ever happened. It gives a set of criteria for women to be referred to specialist services, but when someone has those symptoms and declares them to their GPs, they are still do not getting that referral. When people actually get on to a waiting list, it is endless. Unlike the experience in England, where waiting lists are starting to come down, in Scotland they are not. My constituency of Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch straddles the periphery of NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. On average, 65% of people referred to specialist gynaecological services in Scotland wait more than 12 weeks for the first appointment—most wait an awful lot longer than that, as the number of clinics is certainly less than when I worked in the service 30 years ago. One of my constituents informed me that after fighting for a year with her GP to get a referral to a specialist service, she waited over a year before deciding to go private. She travelled abroad for treatment because she could not stand the uncertainty and the pain. That is just one case from my inbox; there are many, many more. Pathways and strategies are good, but they need to be delivered. I know my hon. Friend the Minister, and I am assured that the Government are focusing on delivery, not just the strategy and a publication that can be held up. I welcome that.

• 4 Feb 2025 · National Cancer Plan · Hansard source

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  One of my earliest memories is being in a hospital room as my grandfather was dying of cancer. Ten days ago, I was in the same hospital as my father died with the same cancer—50 years in between, almost to the week, but no significant change in prognosis. Can the Minister assure me that what are termed the less survivable cancers, which are not necessarily rare cancers, are included as part of this work?

• 3 Feb 2025 · People with Disabilities and Long-term Health Conditions: Work Support · Hansard source

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  8. What steps she is taking to support people with disabilities and long-term health conditions into work.

• 3 Feb 2025 · People with Disabilities and Long-term Health Conditions: Work Support · Hansard source

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  I draw attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests; prior to my election, I represented disabled members on the national executive of Unison. There are many barriers that prevent disabled people and those with long-term health conditions from not only entering but staying in the workplace, from a strict and punitive approach to attendance and sickness to a failure even to consider adaptations that make work possible. It is clear that employers have to be supported to make high-quality work accessible to disabled people. What work is my right hon. Friend therefore doing to engage employers in making work a positive and constructive experience for disabled people?

• 23 Jan 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  In the Hillhead, Waterside, Harestanes and, in particular, Twechar parts of my constituency, the issue of buses—or, more accurately, the lack of them—is continually being raised with me. My constituents cannot get access to local services, whether it is going to the bank or going to church. They need to change buses and wait for up to an hour for a connecting service—that is if the connecting service ever turns up. I wish to request a debate in Government time on the need for bus services in local communities.

• 15 Jan 2025 · Aerospace Sector · Hansard source

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  2. What progress his Department has made on securing the future of Spirit AeroSystems in Northern Ireland.

• 15 Jan 2025 · Aerospace Sector · Hansard source

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  While the contract with Airbus is welcome, there is concern about the split of the Spirit plant in Belfast. Can the Secretary of State reassure me that wider defence and aerospace contracts with companies such as Skyrora in my constituency that are held in Belfast by the non-Airbus part of Spirit will not be put at risk because of that?

• 9 Jan 2025 · Violence against Women and Girls · Hansard source

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  I am honoured to participate in this debate and to follow such esteemed colleagues from all sides of the House. Violence takes many forms, not just physical or sexual, but emotional, financial and coercive control. Those acts, which do not leave physical bruises, have just as bruising an effect—the effect cutting off the women on the receiving end from their families, from the friends who support them, and not necessarily from their abuser. It is the effect of cutting off women from the people who will provide support and help, and from those who will utter the immortal words, “Do you know you are living in an abusive relationship?” I thank the right hon. Member for Staffordshire Moorlands (Dame Karen Bradley) for what she said. We must not underestimate the power of those words, or the power of those friends. It was a person uttering those words that got me out. I did not believe it; I did not recognise it. I pooh-poohed it in that meeting, but then I sat back and reflected. Every single one of us here will have come to the debate thinking of women we know—women we met before we came to this place. There were those who I represented in the trade union. There was one I sat in the car with and did the midnight flit with. They got out. I phoned managers and said that we needed to get her moved. There are people whose stories I do not have the privilege or the permission to tell, but one woman—one of my constituents—who did give me that permission got out of the relationship. She moved 400 miles to be beside her family and is now sitting in temporary accommodation, working part-time and on universal credit. She cannot get a tenancy in a private flat, because she does not have the good financial standing to get a reference. She cannot get a council house, because we have a housing emergency, and she has no children. She does not want to sit and wait for 10 years without work. I know fine well that the Under-Secretary of State for Justice, my hon. Friend the Member for Pontypridd (Alex Davies-Jones), and my hon. Friend the Safeguarding Minister know this inside out. I know that they can make the case that, as a joined-up Government, we need to solve the housing emergency, and we need to reform universal credit. It is only when we get this joined- up Government moving and working correctly—

• 9 Jan 2025 · Violence against Women and Girls · Hansard source

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  I will continue, if that is okay; I do not need the time. I am good, thank you. Everything I had written down has gone. I have been struck by the power of words in this Chamber. People out there listen. As has been said, we are working for the good today. We need to make sure that everybody out there hears us working for the good. We believe everyone who comes forward, and we thank everybody who has shared their stories this week. Thank you all.

• 11 Dec 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q7. My constituents in the east of Kirkintilloch are experiencing a housing emergency. There are not enough houses for families or for those fleeing domestic abuse, and what houses there are are in drastic need of repair. Does the Prime Minister agree that the Scottish Government should prioritise repairing that housing emergency and funding local authorities to address this crisis of their own making?

• 5 Dec 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Today, 5 December, is International Volunteer Day. In the interests of time, I will not list all the voluntary organisations, volunteer groups and roles in my constituency, but the contribution they make is vital. May we have a debate in Government time to celebrate the contribution that volunteers make to our local communities?

• 5 Dec 2024 · Public Procurement Reform · Hansard source

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  Small businesses are a crucial part of the economy in Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch. There are huge opportunities to help them further, and one way of doing that is to work across the public sector and with local authorities—in my case, North Lanarkshire and East Dunbartonshire councils, with contracts as big as the redevelopment of Cumbernauld town centre. Will the Minister work with local authorities and the Scottish Government to help more small businesses to bid successfully for contracts?

• 5 Dec 2024 · Public Procurement Reform · Hansard source

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  5. What steps he is taking to reform public procurement.

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

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  Cumbernauld airport in my constituency has been in the application process for vital instrument approach procedure for over 10 years. It has been subject to many delays by the Civil Aviation Authority and has been delayed yet again. This ongoing delay to the approval of the global navigation satellite system is putting future commercial operations at the airport at risk. May we have a debate in Government time on the importance of local airfields to the delivery of public services?

• 26 Nov 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T8. Does the Foreign Secretary agree that Iran’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine is a direct threat to Europe’s security, and can he outline what steps he is taking to respond?

• 26 Nov 2024 · “Get Britain Working” White Paper · Hansard source

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  I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests and to the work that I did prior to prior to entering this place. It is difficult enough for a disabled person to enter employment; it is even more difficult for a disabled person to remain in employment if the employers are not aware of or not accommodating their disabilities and the reasonable adjustments that they might need. Within the debate on this White Paper, will the Secretary of State ensure that the work of exemplar employers is picked up and credited? There must be a recognition of the value that disabled people can bring to all workplaces. I also invite her to come and meet my old team in the employability service within NHS Lanarkshire, who have worked not just with Project Search but with disabled—