Lee Pitcher MP: speeches

Speeches

• 15 Sept 2026 · Civil Service Pension Scheme · Hansard source

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  This Capita situation is not acceptable. I have constituents who have served for decades who are now living off their savings because they cannot get a response from Capita, never mind the pension payments that they are owed. Others have had to borrow money from friends and family just to make ends meet, and have no idea when this will be resolved. One person worked for 30 years in the prison service. In September, he received a letter promising that he would receive his pension “by the end of August”. Those are not isolated examples. I have received hundreds of emails—about 400 in total. Whatever uniform they wore, and whatever office they worked in, they worked hard, they paid in, and they planned for their retirement on the understanding that the pension they had earned would be there when they needed it most. They have kept their side of the bargain; it is time the system kept its side, too. I ask the Minister to lay out the plans and timescales for getting this resolved for my constituents.

• 9 Sept 2026 · Youth Parliament: Government Support · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend agree that with Pride in Place we have a great opportunity to get our local youth voices heard in shaping the future of their local community?

• 14 Jul 2026 · Support for Pig Farmers · Hansard source

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  The hon. Lady has my full support—and, I am pretty sure, that of my farmers. My farmers have told me how much this issue matters to them. When consumers can easily identify British pork, they actively choose to buy it. That supports British farms, British jobs and our rural communities, while rewarding producers who meet the high standards of animal welfare, environmental stewardship and food safety that we rightly expect. There is nothing wrong with imported food being sold in Britain, provided it is labelled honestly. What is wrong is allowing the true origin of the meat to be hidden behind British branding. The principle should be simple: the Union flag on a pork product should mean British pork, not simply British packaging. I therefore ask the Minister to genuinely consider—I was going to say genu-swine-ly, but I will not do that—extending mandatory country-of-origin labelling to processed pork products, requiring that information to appear clearly on the front of the packet, and ensuring that unqualified claims that a product is British are reserved for pork from pigs born, reared and slaughtered in the United Kingdom. Pig farmers do not need another expression of sympathy; they need practical action that helps consumers to identify British produce and choose it with confidence. When shoppers pick up a packet carrying the Union flag or drawing on the proud reputation of UK farming, they should not have to search through the small print to discover where the pork came from. British branding should mean British farming.