Kerry McCarthy MP: speeches

Speeches

• 15 Sept 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The Minister has been absolutely brilliant in helping to identify children with a parent in prison. Will he now agree to join me on 25 November for national Children with a Parent in Prison Day, where we will be able to hear from young people with lived experience about the important next steps, and getting them the support they need?

• 3 Sept 2026 · Jackdaw and Rosebank Oil and Gas Fields · Hansard source

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  Personally, I cannot see that Rosebank is compatible with meeting our climate objectives, but I recognise that the process should be followed. Green Alliance has reported that the gas being wasted in the North sea would be enough to heat 570,000 homes. It has been over a year since the Government issued a methane action plan—I think the Minister took it over from me. Methane is more than 80 times more powerful than CO 2 in the short term, so what are we doing to reduce venting and flaring in the North sea?

• 3 Sept 2026 · Global Biodiversity and Ecosystems: National Security · Hansard source

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  Following the heatwaves and wildfires across Europe this summer and the destruction caused by the glacier collapse and catastrophic flooding in Nepal and Tibet, the message is becoming impossible to ignore: the consequences of climate change and environmental degradation are real, not some distant future threat. As the national security risk assessment says, climate change, biodiversity loss and ecosystem disruption pose risks not just for the environment but for our economy, security and way of life. Climate and nature shocks are arriving faster, harder and more systematically than many of our economic systems were designed to handle. We see that in four main ways: physical risks, including floods, wildfires, droughts and storms; transition risks as economies move away from high-carbon industries; nature-related risks affecting food production and natural resources; and systemic risks, where shocks spread rapidly across sectors and markets. For many years, conversations about green finance primarily focused on corporate social responsibility. Today, they are equally about resilience and risk management. The UK is well placed to lead on that, but I fear that we are not doing as much as we could be. I am vice-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Tibet. What is happening in the Himalayas and the Tibetan plateau is one of the clearest examples of climate risk unfolding today. The glaciers of the third pole function as Asia’s water tower, feeding major river systems that support nearly 2 billion people. When rising temperatures accelerate glacial melt, the consequences extend far beyond the mountains. This is not simply an environmental catastrophe; it is about infrastructure resilience, water and energy security, as well as economic stability across the entire region. It is entirely the kind of systemic risk that modern resilience finance should help countries to anticipate and manage. I conclude by asking the Minister this: who will be attending COP17, and will we make sure we show leadership on global resilience there?

• 1 Sept 2026 · UK Financial Services · Hansard source

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  I too worked in the financial markets, although I think I have done a better job of hiding it in my 21 years in Parliament. I was more on the debt market side. In fact, I am so old that I was part of the salvage operation for Barings bank when it went under. That brings me to the right hon. Gentleman’s point about regulation. The management of Barings did not have a clue what its traders were doing, and the regulators certainly did not have a clue what Barings was doing. I strike a note of caution. I worked for an American investment bank, so I saw the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as the UK regime. Where do we strike the balance between ensuring that there is not another collapse of a bank and light-touch regulation?

• 1 Sept 2026 · UK Financial Services · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend will not be surprised to hear that I very much agree with the point that he just made. We have some excellent, innovative businesses in Bristol that came up through the Science Creates innovation hubs and attracted private capital. They are flourishing, but they need signals from the Government that we are sticking to our net zero agenda so that there will be a market for their products in due course. Does my hon. Friend agree that those signals are important?

• 14 Jul 2026 · NHS Buildings: Extreme Heat · Hansard source

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  19. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of recent heatwaves on hospitals.

• 14 Jul 2026 · NHS Buildings: Extreme Heat · Hansard source

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  I appreciate the Government’s plans to upgrade the NHS estate, but the heatwaves are happening now, and staff and patients are enduring unbearable conditions: wards without air conditioning, temperatures of more than 30°, radiotherapy machines and MRI scanners failing, IT servers overheating, and so on. And that is all happening alongside many more hospital admissions. What are the Government currently doing to ensure that safe patient care can still be provided this summer and that staff are able to do their jobs properly, too?

• 13 Jul 2026 · State of Climate and Nature · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for including land use and food systems within this outline. It is so important that that is included as part of the triple challenge of climate, nature and food. We know that we can meet our climate and nature goals only if we catalyse and incentivise private sector investment. I point to the example of Bristol, where through our strategic energy partnership city leap we have mobilised finance for city decarbonisation, and where the West of England combined authority has just launched a £5 million nature fund to help kick-start nature markets. What more are we doing at a national level to support nature and carbon markets and to incentivise that private sector investment?

• 6 Jul 2026 · Environmental Protection · Hansard source

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  The Minister has touched on organised crime. As I am sure she is aware, modern slavery can be a real issue within the waste crime sector; we have had some powerful debates on that issue in the Chamber. The waste crime action plan sets out that people will be held to account and given community service, but we need to reach further up the chain, because often the people who are caught in the act are the ones being exploited or forced to carry out such activities. I am reassured by what she says, but does she agree that we need to go further up the chain?