Lucy Powell MP: speeches

Speeches

• 19 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I join the hon. Lady in thanking Yvonne and all the volunteers for what sounds like a really good campaign. I did not realise that blister packs are so recyclable, and it is so important that people do so. In bringing that to the House today, she has shared that with everybody else, and I am sure the campaign will go from strength to strength.

• 19 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I join my hon. Friend in congratulating those at Eccles RFC and Boothstown FC on all the great work that they do. Grassroots sport is often raised at business questions, so I am sure that it would make a popular topic for debate. We are committed to the “This Girl Can” campaign. I am sure that girls’ grassroots sport would also be a popular topic for debate.

• 19 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I am sorry to hear of the crime and antisocial behaviour in Falmouth and across my hon. Friend’s constituency. She is absolutely right that we are committed to our neighbourhood policing guarantee, which will put 13,000 more police officers into our neighbourhood policing areas. I am sorry to hear that the funding is not being directed in the way she would want, and I will ensure that the Minister gets back to her about it.

• 19 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  As we mark nine years since the murder of Jo Cox, I thank my hon. Friend for raising the issue of loneliness, which was an issue dear to her heart. She did much work to raise awareness of the issue. My hon. Friend is absolutely right to draw the link between loneliness and health and wellbeing, and that is why the Government will continue to support those who want to tackle loneliness.

• 19 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I know that the issue of HMOs causes a lot of concern for communities and for Members across the House. My hon. Friend is absolutely right: local authorities must establish and maintain a register of licensed HMOs in their area. In the Renters’ Rights Bill we are strengthening rights to ensure that HMOs are held to account by communities and local authorities.

• 19 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I am sorry to hear of that story. Everyone deserves dignity and respect in our society. We committed in our manifesto to reforming the Gender Recognition Act 2004. Our immediate priorities for the trans community are a trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices and strengthening the protections from hate crimes, which we discussed in the House yesterday.

• 19 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  What a great initiative by Doug Smith to set up Volunteers Count; I am sure we all recognise that it is a really good and important way of collecting this data and information. The subject of volunteering gets raised with me every week, and I am sure that a debate, probably on the Floor of the House, to celebrate our volunteers would be very well attended.

• 19 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I absolutely join my hon. Friend in congratulating Anne MacDougall and James McLaren on their honours. I am sure the whole House would agree that our honours system is an opportunity for us to thank and reward all those in our communities who do the work that Anne, Jim and many others across the country do.

• 19 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  We are working hard with industry and health leaders to resolve issues with the supply of those capsules. I will ensure that my hon. Friend gets a full update.

• 19 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I absolutely join the hon. Gentleman in paying a warm tribute to Norma Burton, and I am sure the whole House will want to do so, too. Her partnership with her granddaughter Jess was great, as I am sure many would agree. The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to point to the importance of intergenerational relationships, and of always respecting our elders and doing exactly what they say.

• 19 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I am sure that the Deputy Prime Minister has a very full diary; she will be washing her hair and the like, so it might not be possible for her to have dinner with the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage).

• 19 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for raising the issues facing the bioethanol industry. We are working closely with the industry to find a way forward and I will ensure that the House is updated.

• 19 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I know that road tax raises lots of issues with our constituents. I was not aware of the issue that my hon. Friend raises, but I will ensure that she gets a ministerial response.

• 19 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I join my hon. Friend in thanking Lisa Fleming and all those involved in the House of Hope for supporting those with breast cancer at some of the most difficult times in their lives, providing support, hope and all that they need.

• 19 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  We are boosting schools funding significantly, whether that is funding for special educational needs, or funding to support teachers in doing their work. I will ensure that the hon. Lady and the rest of the House are kept up to date on how that money is distributed.

• 19 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I know the whole House will be following the unfolding events in the middle east carefully and with a great deal of concern. I assure the House that the Government are working with our partners to urge de-escalation and diplomacy, as well as continuing to engage very closely on the situation in Gaza, for aid to get in and for a sustainable ceasefire. This week was the ninth anniversary of the murder of my and many other Members’ dear friend Jo Cox. This week we remember everything that Jo stood for—her values, her passion, and her commitment to building bridges and resolving conflict, and to international development. I send my thoughts, and I am sure the thoughts of the whole House, to Brendan, Cuillin, Lejla, Jean and Gordon, and of course to Jo’s dear younger sister, my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley (Kim Leadbeater), who I know Jo would have been incredibly proud of, especially in recent weeks. It is a pleasure to be joined once again by the hon. Member for Beaconsfield (Joy Morrissey), who I have a great deal of respect for and enjoy working with. I am sure that she and I are happy to take whatever plaudits we can for the exchanges that we have at business questions, because I know that the Prime Minister and many others follow them incredibly closely. Her contribution is certainly an improvement on the normal exchanges that I have with the shadow Leader of the House, the right hon. Member for Hereford and South Herefordshire (Jesse Norman), who is not in his place today. I accept the hon. Lady’s invitation to say a little bit about child exploitation, but I do not accept her characterisation of there being any kind of U-turn. I thank her for her tone, which is really important in these debates, because in the midst of such unforgiveable injustices, it is essential that we come together across the House to lower the temperature, and to put victims and their experiences at the centre. As a Government, we have always said that we would leave no stone unturned to uncover the truth, get justice for victims and lock up the perpetrators, which is why the Prime Minister commissioned Baroness Casey’s review in the first place. We never ruled out returning to the issue of a national inquiry; we have always been guided by what would be the most effective way of getting the action, truth, justice and accountability in the most effective way possible. Some of those measures, including implementing the recommendations in the Jay inquiry around mandatory reporting and the introduction of new aggravated offences for grooming offenders, were included in the Crime and Policing Bill that we voted on last night. I was surprised to see Conservative Members voting against the Bill, which strengthens those measures, so perhaps they can reflect on that next time they criticise the Government. The hon. Lady raises job creation and the economy— I happy to debate that subject with her. She did not mention the three unprecedented trade deals that we have secured. The Conservatives were once the party of the trade deal and free trade, but they seem to have set themselves against the trade deals that are already securing jobs and investment. Since we came into government, economic activity has reached a record high; we have created half a million new jobs, moving people into employment; and real wages have grown more in the 10 months since last July than they did in the 10 years of the Conservative Government, so we are happy to stand by our record on job creation and the economy. The hon. Lady talked about the Employment Rights Bill, which is absolutely not something that this Government will be U-turning on. We are incredibly proud of giving the biggest boost in a generation to workers in this country, and it is about time too. We are giving them rights on sick pay, abolishing exploitative zero-hours contracts for the first time, as called for by many Members for a long time, and introducing fair pay agreements and many other things. in a Bill that we are incredibly proud to be delivering for this country. Finally, in this week of all weeks, Parliament has found itself at the centre of the national debate—a place where we should always find ourselves. There are big issues at stake, globally and here at home, which Members of Parliament from all parties have been grappling with and taking decisions on to the best of their abilities, whether about the conflict in the middle east, the publication of the Casey audit, or votes on abortion and assisted dying, among many other issues. I put on record my thanks to all those across the House who have approached those issues with the respectful, non-partisan tone that they deserve. We are all elected to this place to make hard decisions, to represent our constituents with integrity and to work in their best interests. I know that every single Member of this House takes that job incredibly seriously. However, we also have a duty not to slide into personalised, over-politicised, clickbait attacks on each other which, if we are not careful, undermine us all and democracy as a whole, and threaten the safety of individuals. I was disappointed to see that members of the shadow Cabinet were doing just that this week, and I hope they will reflect and withdraw some of the dangerous attacks that they launched, particularly as we remember Jo Cox. We have a responsibility to take the heat out of the political debate— [ Interruption. ] Personalised political attack lines—exactly. We have a responsibility to approach these difficult challenges with the thought, respect and humility that they deserve, and I think the whole House will want to do its job without fear or favour.

• 19 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I am not sure whether the hon. Gentleman is aware, but Governments have always had the policy that we do not comment on what advice the Attorney General has provided, or indeed whether he has provided any advice at all. That ensures Ministers can get the advice they need to carry out Government business and make decisions without fear or favour.

• 19 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I absolutely join my hon. Friend in thanking all teachers for the amazing work they do. I hope that I will still be saying the same after my daughter’s year 10 parents’ evening later today.

• 19 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  This matter has been raised with me before, and it is concerning. We want people to enjoy the countryside and, specifically, the great countryside in her constituency. It is great that people on social media are advertising it, but if they are not also telling people what steps they need to take to keep themselves safe on our mountains, then that is a challenge. I will certainly raise that point with Ministers for my hon. Friend.

• 19 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  First of all, the Government remain absolutely committed to fulfilling our commitment to the Hillsborough families on bringing forward and enacting a Hillsborough law, which, as my hon. Friend says, includes a duty of candour. That is because the Hillsborough families have spent decades fighting for justice and we do not want to see that continue. It is important that the Bill reflects the range of views, concerns and experiences, and meets the expectations of families. That is why we are working at pace with the families on the Bill, and we will introduce it when it is ready.

• 19 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  This is a shocking case, and the Government are committed to tackling these issues. In November, we took the first steps to ban rogue employers from sponsoring overseas workers. The immigration White Paper sets out the next steps, including ending overseas recruitment for adult social care. I will ensure that my hon. Friend gets a ministerial response on this case.

• 19 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Absolutely. I have seen at first hand what a big difference it can make in reducing crime and antisocial behaviour when these powers are used to seize and crush vehicles that are being used for antisocial behaviour in our communities. I thank my hon. Friend for voting for that important Bill last night. We look forward to getting it on the statute book.

• 19 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Antisocial behaviour is a blight on all of our communities. We are taking big steps to strengthen police powers in that area and introduce respect orders, and the Crime and Policing Bill, which had its Third Reading last night, contains many measures that I hope will support my hon. Friend’s police.

• 19 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I am really sorry to hear about Daniel’s situation, and my heart goes out to him and his family at this difficult time. I know from my experience of brain tumours in my own family that it is a very difficult disease from which many people do not recover. We need to go much further in the research and treatment of brain tumours, because too many people die too quickly of them. I am really sorry to hear that he is falling through the cracks between different policies, and I will raise that with Ministers. The hon. Member may want to know that we have the national cancer plan coming later this year, and we have relaunched the children and young people cancer taskforce to ensure that services are joined up in the way he describes.

• 19 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I am sorry to hear about the antisocial behaviour in my hon. Friend’s constituency. He is absolutely right to say that, as a result of decisions this Government have taken, the Scottish Government have one of the most generous budget settlements they have ever had. They now have the power to tackle these issues, and they really have no excuse not to do so.