Laurence Turner MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 15 Sept 2025 · Employment Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is making a very powerful case. I rise merely to support what he is saying. About a decade ago, the University of Manchester published research that found that being in forms of insecure employment may be more damaging to health than being unemployed.

• 11 Sept 2025 · Regional Transport Inequality · Hansard source

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  Does the shadow Minister agree with his predecessor—the last Conservative Rail Minister, Huw Merriman—who said this: “Whilst it’s legitimate to debate the terms of the deal, the demonisation of train drivers and those onboard and at stations, who carry out a difficult and skilled job for the safety of passengers, is completely unfair. These people work hard and should be shown more respect.”?

• 11 Sept 2025 · Regional Transport Inequality · Hansard source

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  rose —

• 11 Sept 2025 · Regional Transport Inequality · Hansard source

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  I will do my best to speak at high speed, Madam Deputy Speaker. I want to say a few words about my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham South (Lilian Greenwood): she was an outstanding Minister and the Department’s loss is the Whips Office’s gain. She will be much missed on the Transport Front Bench. I am grateful, too, to my hon. Friend the Member for Derby North (Catherine Atkinson) for securing this debate. She and I represent constituencies in the squeezed midlands—regions home to 10 million people that have historically been denied a fair share of funding and political attention. As has been noted already, the east midlands receives the lowest transport funding per head of any region, although the west midlands held that unhappy status until recently. The rail line between Birmingham and Nottingham is slower, mile for mile, than that between Manchester and Leeds. The west midlands has the lowest share of public transport journeys of any English region, followed by the east midlands. That fuels congestion, road safety problems and potholes. Birmingham’s roads are a special case. We have one of the last private finance initiative contracts in the country. When originally issued, local government austerity and the high inflation of the early 2020s were not foreseen. The previous Government tried to withdraw support for the PFI contract without a clear plan, which was ruled unlawful. I know that the new Minister will be looking at that closely, and I look forward to working with him to get a fair deal for Birmingham. Most public transport journeys are by bus and half the industry’s income now comes from public funding, yet public accountability lags behind. This summer, National Express announced major changes to the X20 and 61 routes. People in Allens Cross and parts of the New Frankley estate lost their direct connection to Birmingham, and some older residents no longer have direct bus access to the Queen Elizabeth hospital. I am grateful to the hundreds of people who signed petitions, including one that I organised. I have met National Express and Transport for West Midlands, and I hope that we can find a way forward. Significant investment has been announced for commuter rail. I have spoken frequently in this House about rebuilding Kings Norton station as part of a midlands rail hub. In the interest of time, I will only say how grateful I am that Ministers listened; I hope that we can make progress on restoring that service’s frequency. Finally, we must be ambitious. Birmingham Corporation Tramways once ran services to my constituency. The original 1984 vision for a revitalised metro included a loop serving Northfield, Longbridge, Frankley and Rubery. That vision was right, and I hope that we can find funding for a feasibility study for a south Birmingham extension. Regional transport inequality hinders economic growth and denies opportunities to my constituents. I am glad that the House has had the chance to debate this issue. I think this is my stop, so I will.

• 11 Sept 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Half the bus sector’s funding now comes from public sources, but during the summer, National Express announced changes to bus services in my constituency with just two weeks’ public notice, which will have a really negative effect on residents in New Frankley, Allens Cross and Bournville Gardens Village retirement home. Does the Minister agree that when regulation is brought in—which is welcome—consultation must be included?

• 11 Sept 2025 · Life Sciences Investment · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Minister to his place. The life sciences sector is helping to regenerate parts of south Birmingham’s economy, from the new Waters pharmaceutical factory on the old Longbridge MG Rover site in my constituency to the University of Birmingham’s life science incubator. The Minister has been extremely generous in agreeing to meet Members today, so continuing in that spirit, would he be willing to meet south Birmingham MPs to discuss what more can be done to support this very important part of our local economy?

• 9 Sept 2025 · Jaguar Land Rover Cyber-attack · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Widnes and Halewood (Derek Twigg) for securing this urgent question, and welcome the Minister to his new role. JLR employs hundreds of people directly in my constituency, and many more indirectly. This is an extremely concerning time for them, and I hope that the Department will consider providing information directly to local MPs, in addition to engaging with the company. As has been said, this attack follows attacks on Marks & Spencer, the NHS, the British Library and other public institutions. I understand why the Minister has set out that the Government’s focus is on ensuring that companies are better protected and report these kinds of incidents, but can he assure the House that all steps are being taken to identify areas of critical national vulnerability in both the public and private sectors, so that we can try to avoid these attacks in the first place?

• 8 Sept 2025 · Indefinite Leave to Remain · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Pritchard. I echo the welcome that has already been extended to the Minister of State, Home Department, my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham North and Kimberley (Alex Norris), in his new post. I know that he will bring to this position the same qualities of diligence and collegiate working that characterised his approach at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Given the level of interest in today’s debate, I will speak only about and in support of the second petition that we are considering, which is on the Hong Kong BNO visa. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for South Norfolk (Ben Goldsborough) for the able way in which he has led this debate, and the Petitions Committee for making it possible. I also thank the 635 people in Birmingham Northfield who signed the petition, and the dozens of people who have made representations at constituency surgeries and in writing. I can do no better than to quote one of them: “Since settling in Birmingham, we have purchased our own home and integrated into the community. Two of us are working in the NHS. We made this move not out of convenience but out of necessity, fleeing the erosion of human rights in Hong Kong. Incidents such as the firing of pro-democracy campaigners, prosecution of journalists and the enactment of the article 23 law have only reinforced the difficult choice we made to leave.” Our Hongkonger constituents who are watching this debate should know that they are welcome here and are valued members of our communities. We should also recognise that Hong Kong is clearly a special case. The statement that I have just quoted is not only a commentary on the deep links of culture and history that bind us together, as important as those links are. The practical reality is that although we might wish that the Chinese Government’s tightening repression at home and abroad might lessen within the next 10 years, such hope is contradicted by all the available evidence. We need only look at the fate of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, the organising centre of independent labour, which was linked indelibly to the democracy movement. It was coerced into dissolving itself in 2021. Its leaders are now prosecuted and persecuted, including through abuse of the international arrest warrant system. They are people such as Christopher Siu-tat Mung. Some Members of this House will have heard him speak at the conferences of the TUC, the GMB and other UK labour organisations. He was forced into hiding here in the UK under the protection of the Home Office after a bounty was issued for his arrest. I have spoken to a number of my constituents who share the concern that they may themselves be targeted and subjected to surveillance. They deserve to have that fear lifted—the fear of return to Hong Kong or relocation to another country that may offer lesser levels of protection. There are other important issues that we could talk about today, such as the need for progress towards greater UK recognition of Hong Kong qualifications, but, on the substantive issue—the subject of the petition—the Government have said that they will set out their approach to particular visa routes over the coming months. While I do not necessarily expect the Minister to pre-empt that announcement today, I do ask that he acknowledges the strength of feeling shared by so many Members in this debate, that he makes sure that the arguments made today are given full attention by the Home Office, and that our constituents will be given that certainty as soon as possible.

• 4 Sept 2025 · Early Education and Childcare · Hansard source

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  It is so gratifying to see the school-based nursery programme going from an idea to a reality. I place on record an appreciation of the positive role that the trade union movement, and in particular the GMB, has played in nurturing that idea in response to the problem of falling rolls. Will the Minister please set out a bit more information for schools in my constituency that may wish to apply for phase 2 funding on the steps they should take next?

• 3 Sept 2025 · Property Taxes · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to be called in this debate, even if I must start by questioning the wisdom of the Opposition’s decision to bring forward today’s motion. After all, the memories and consequences of their so-called mini-Budget are still fresh—the culmination of Liz Truss’s economic policies, which the present Leader of the Opposition said were “aspirational and inspirational”. Their dreams became our constituents’ nightmares—to say nothing of the Conservatives’ failure to pass renters’ rights reform, which this Government are now putting through, or of their dreadful record on wages, which left people in my constituency with £300 a month less, after inflation, every month. It cannot be reasonably denied—although the Conservatives have tried—that the incoming Government faced a bedevilled inheritance last July. For all the sound and fury, there is little mystery about this now. As Richard Hughes, the chair of the OBR, told the Treasury Committee: “When we had a high-trust relationship with the Treasury those things were being well managed, and managed within the total. That system very clearly broke down… there was about £9.5 billion-worth of net pressure on Departments’ budgets, which they did not disclose…which under the law and under the Act they should have done.” What a disgraceful set of affairs, and decisions that awaited the Government on public sector pay had been ducked and delayed until after the election. We need to be clear about this: Conservative Ministers already knew the recommendation of the schoolteachers review body. They also knew that the recommendations of each pay review body tend to be similar. Why were those recommendations delayed, given that the pay year started not in July or even at the beginning of the pre-election period, but in April? It was because Conservative Ministers and their Departments submitted the remit letters and their evidence late. As the Office of Manpower Economics said in its 2022 efficiency review: “The work of the PRBs is demand led and essentially non-negotiable—departments set the remits and timetables.” There we have it: the additional cost was always coming, and the only reason why it came seven months into an election year was because Conservative Ministers were content for it to be so delayed. Today Opposition Front Benchers claim that they would have rejected the recommendations, but not once has any Opposition Member had the courage to say how much less they would have paid nurses, paramedics, teachers, police officers and armed forces personnel in each of our constituencies. Are any Opposition Members able to enlighten us today? No. The reality is that they want the investment that means 25,000 fewer people are on a University Hospitals Birmingham waiting list compared with last year, and which is almost doubling the free school meals entitlement in my constituency of Birmingham Northfield, but they do not support a single measure to pay for it. We should be clear in saying that strong public services create value. Businesses and working people in all our constituencies need roads, schools and hospitals that are resourced and decent.

• 3 Sept 2025 · Property Taxes · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member tempts me to get drawn into a discussion to which, in one minute and 30 seconds, I do not have enough time to do justice. Of course we need a bin service that is fit and decent—I have spoken about that many times in this House. What my constituents did not need were the sharpest cuts in resourcing of any unitary authority in the entire country, coupled with the sharpest increases in council tax, and those were signed off by Conservative Ministers. I have in front of me the impact assessment of the 10% council tax increase from January last year, which says: “The decision for Ministers across Government, as No. 10 and HMT clearance will be needed, is whether to grant these increases.” That is the legacy of the hon. Member’s party for my constituents: the highest spending cuts and the highest tax rises. The last thing they need is a return to the failed approach of the Conservatives, who deserve to be reminded of that every time they bring such a debate to this House.

• 2 Sept 2025 · English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill · Hansard source

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  For many years under the Tories, the west midlands was at the bottom of the league table for regional transport investment, but Mayor Richard Parker has secured £2.4 billion of investment to extend the metro. Will my right hon. Friend confirm that the powers in the Bill will make it easier for combined authorities to deliver these kinds of projects in the future, including, I hope, further extensions of the metro to south Birmingham?

• 2 Sept 2025 · Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse · Hansard source

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  One of the questions that haunt Baroness Casey’s audit is, “Why?” Why was this type of offending allowed to grow seemingly unchecked for so long? Will the Minister, whom it is good to see in her place, give an assurance that serious and credible research on all the factors that drove and enabled the horrendous crime of gang-based child sexual exploitation will be commissioned and will operate without fear or favour?

• 1 Sept 2025 · Ukraine · Hansard source

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  I welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement and his leadership on this issue. As the pressure on Ukraine to agree a ceasefire builds, Russia too escalates its campaign of aerial attack on Ukrainian civilians and civilian infrastructure. In the liberated city of Kherson, Russian first-person drone operators are turning state killing into a grotesque spectacle that is publicly broadcast and has been christened a “human safari”. The provision and conversion of Ukrainian Soviet-era missiles into the Gravehawk system represents both real material aid and an accomplishment of British military engineering. Crucially, it helps to reduce dependency on any single supply chain and technology for aerial defence. Will the Defence Secretary give the House an assurance that all steps are being taken to increase both the quantity and the diversity of air defence systems for Ukraine?

• 22 Jul 2025 · Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery · Hansard source

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  I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests in respect of the GMB trade union. The Minister said that he was engaging with workers. Will he set out in more detail what engagement he is undertaking with the trade unions that are those workers’ representatives? Will he give the House an assurance that the detailed modelling work undertaken by the Department includes the impact on the wider supply chain?

• 22 Jul 2025 · Birmingham Bin Strikes · Hansard source

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  I welcome the appointment of the new lead commissioner. As the Minister knows, we have had many discussions about the intervention, including at times from a place of concern. I look forward to working constructively with Tony McArdle on behalf of the citizens of Birmingham. I draw attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests in respect of the GMB and Unison unions, which are the claimant unions in the equal pay case in Birmingham. I feel compelled to round out the partial account that we have heard today in the Chamber. Will the Minister confirm that by far the largest share of Birmingham’s equal pay liability of more than £1 billion was incurred when the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats ran the city, and that over the past decade to 2024, Birmingham suffered the sharpest reduction in spending power of any unitary authority in the country, with devastating consequences for every constituency in Birmingham?

• 22 Jul 2025 · Orgreave Inquiry · Hansard source

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  I strongly welcome the Minister’s statement and the fulfilment of that manifesto commitment and, like others, I pay tribute to the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign. I am sure that Members across the House will have been disturbed by reports of the destruction of potentially relevant documents—a point that has already been ably raised. The Home Office is currently considering the case for instituting a public inquiry into the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings, and I do not expect the Minister to pre-empt that today, but in respect of the preservation of records, will the Department consider taking the same actions to preserve potentially relevant documents, including those held by external bodies, in advance of that decision? The Northumbria police case highlights the particular risk of accidental loss or deliberate destruction in advance of that legal protection kicking in. I would welcome the chance to discuss this matter further with the Minister.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Extending the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme · Hansard source

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  Has the hon. Member seen the research produced by the University of Birmingham on the experience of Ukrainian refugees in circumstances such as those he describes, particularly loss of employment and loss of tenancies? Does he agree that landlords and employers should not be acting in this way, that to do so may be discrimination on the grounds of nationality, and that some form of remediation needs to be found in these cases?

• 21 Jul 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Victoria college in my constituency is one of the relatively small number of SEND specialist further education colleges in the country. It does outstanding work. For many years, such colleges have not had access to dedicated capital grant funding. Will the Minister be so good as to look into the issue and agree to meet me to discuss it further?

• 21 Jul 2025 · Victory over Japan: 80th Anniversary · Hansard source

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  I am truly thankful to be called to speak today. In three weeks, we will remember as a nation the end of the second world war and the deliverance of peace from that bloodiest conflict. In this House, too, we remember the terrible scale and depths of human suffering, the more than 50 million civilians killed, the service personnel who risked their lives at home and abroad, those who gave their lives and those who came home forever changed by what they endured. When the instrument of surrender was signed aboard the USS Missouri on 2 September 1945, a young seaman of the Royal Navy was present. In the space of just a year, that teenager had already faced down the terror of kamikaze pilots and rescued sailors from submerged explosives. He later said: “You were in that situation, and you did what you had to do, whatever the circumstances. I went in a boy and came out a man.” My constituent, Ken Tinkler, a witness to the momentous events that shape our world today, is still telling his story at the age of 98. I pay tribute to a remarkable life, well lived. As the guns fell silent, the world learned the true extent of the cruelty that the imperial Japanese state had inflicted upon its prisoners of war. In Birmingham, work continues to this day to preserve the memory of those British and Commonwealth servicemen and women who were captured. After the war, many far east prisoner of war associations were created, and Birmingham’s is one of the few that is still in operation today. The Birmingham Association of Far East Prisoners of War has produced a VJ80 badge, expertly manufactured by Thomas Fattorini Ltd in the jewellery quarter in Birmingham. It depicts a Commonwealth torch, the everlasting flame, and I am proud to wear it in this House tonight. In preparation for this debate, I asked the secretary of the association, a constituent whose father was a POW in the far east, what words it would be appropriate to read into the record to commemorate him, his comrades and all others represented. She replied with this: “To remember them is to honour them.” As the war fades from direct memory, it is important to say here, as we will shortly across the nation, that we remember the war and its end. We remember those who served, and we remember those who now are gone. We will endeavour to preserve and pass on those memories to our children and grandchildren, and onwards to the uncounted generations that are yet to come. They will not be forgotten. We honour them by remembering them. I am truly grateful to those who have made this debate possible, and for the funding that has been put in place so that we can mark the VJ80 anniversary appropriately.

• 9 Jul 2025 · Birmingham Pub Bombings · Hansard source

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  I thank my right hon. Friend for bringing this debate to the House, and for the powerful and creditable case he is making. Does he share the concern that after 51 years, memories are fading? Documentary evidence, some of which may not be secured in the Department or the National Archives, is at risk of destruction, and the chance of bringing those still living who bear responsibility for this atrocity to some measure of accountability is fading. We may not be out of time, but time is running out. Does he agree that action is needed now?

• 8 Jul 2025 · Road and Rail Projects · Hansard source

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  I welcome the statement, and thank the Transport Secretary for all the positive engagement that she and other Ministers have had with the midlands rail project. At the heart of those works is the upgrade of Kings Norton station in my constituency, which is critically important for the cross-city line, and is also the birthplace of Thomas the Tank Engine. The Secretary of State will understand that we, as local MPs, are pressing for that next level of detail, so will she help to keep up the head of steam around this project, and leave commuters in my constituency feeling chuffed to bits?

• 7 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

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  I strongly welcome the Secretary of State’s announcement. Under the Conservatives, 40 Sure Start children’s centres in Birmingham were shut down, including seven in my constituency, with devastating consequences for thousands of children who needed that support. I am so glad that Labour is taking action to turn the tide. Will she confirm that when funding allocations are made at local authority level, factors such as population size and child poverty rates, which are particularly important in an authority like Birmingham, will be taken into account?

• 7 Jul 2025 · Government Performance against Fiscal Rules · Hansard source

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  In the context of spending decisions taken by the Johnson Government, the last Conservative Rail Minister, Huw Merriman, told the Transport Committee last week: “A lot of promises were made to MPs and others as to the ambition, but it did not match the amount that was actually being set down.” He went on to say: “By the time I came into post I ended up with a list that was much longer than could be funded.” Does the Chief Secretary share my anger at the way that the Conservative party tried to take all our constituents for fools?

• 7 Jul 2025 · Actions of Iranian Regime: UK Response · Hansard source

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  Like many Members, I have constituents who are stranded in Iran. We have all heard what the Minister has told the House this afternoon, and I know that he takes the safety of British nationals overseas extremely seriously. Will he assure the House that all practical steps are being taken to extend consular support, which is currently being frustrated and denied by the Iranian regime?