Lucy Powell MP: speeches

Speeches

• 3 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  I am sorry to hear that my hon. Friend’s constituents have not had their compensation payment. Over 5,000 victims have had their payments made so far, but we certainly have more to do. She will recognise that this Government set aside the proper amount of money necessary for the first time, but I will ensure that her case is expedited.

• 3 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise the issue of void council homes in her constituency. As she said, these homes could be housing those desperately in need of a social home, and it involves a loss of income. We are putting extra money into local government to ensure that they have the capital and revenues to bring those homes back into use, but we are also committed to ensuring we have more affordable and social housing for all her constituents.

• 3 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the hon. Member for raising that important issue, which I know has caused considerable concern and debate across the House over a number of years. She is right to identify the poorer maternal health outcomes for those with black and ethnic minority backgrounds. The Government are committed to addressing that, and I am happy to keep her updated on progress.

• 3 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  May I join the shadow Leader of the House in wishing everybody a very happy Easter? I hope that Members can resist eating too much chocolate and hot cross buns, especially those who are on diets at this time of year. Today is a day to reflect, Mr Speaker, because we face unprecedented times, which have the potential to change the global trade consensus of the past 80 years—a consensus that has brought this country, and most western countries, a great deal of prosperity. We are still processing exactly what the new tariffs will mean for British businesses, and we will shortly hear from the Secretary of State for Business and Trade about that in more detail. Just as President Trump is acting in what he believes is his national interest, we will always act in our national interest. We will do whatever is necessary to protect British jobs, British businesses and British consumers. I am sure the shadow Leader of the House will agree that, in any eventuality, securing the long-sought economic deal with our closest partner, the US, which the Prime Minister has been leading on for many months, is in our national interest, and I am sure the whole House will support him in those endeavours. As the shadow Leader of the House said, this week is the start of a new financial year and the annual uprating of Bills. It is also a very worrying time for families. The cost of living crisis is not yet over, and many people will be wondering, as the month begins, how long their pay cheque will last. We have inherited a very difficult situation, and the global trade war will not help, but we are determined to protect working people. That is what we are all about. We are about making work pay with our Employment Rights Bill. We have seen a £1,400 a year increase to the national living wage. And for young people, there has been an unprecedented uplift to the national minimum wage, which is now up to £10 an hour. The state pension will increase this week by £470. We will take the action necessary to bring down in the long term our bills, including those for water and energy. The shadow Leader of the House raised the situation in Birmingham. I was in Birmingham just last weekend visiting my husband’s family and found the conditions to be totally unacceptable. It is awful what people are living with, and we want to see the situation end, and end immediately. I am happy to tell the right hon. Member that I have no problem in saying that the trade union Unite needs to step up, get back round the table and come to an agreement. A reasonable agreement is on the table, so the trade union and the council should be able to deal with this very quickly. I gently say to the shadow Leader of the House, however, that I do not think the situation in Birmingham covers anybody in glory. To make some party political point about it does not serve him too well. He and other Conservative Members might have a short memory, but this is a failure of successive leaderships of that council, including the Tory-Liberal Democrat coalition of the early 2000s in particular. That was a critical phase in resolving the equality pay dispute, which other councils, including in Manchester and other cities, dealt with during that time, while Birmingham’s buried their heads in the sand about it. If the shadow Leader of the House wants a discussion about what has happened with local government finances, let me say that local government was absolutely starved of finances for 14 years under his Government. Month after month, we saw councils go bust, including Tory councils such as Northamptonshire and Thurrock. We have put record investment into local government, and will bring forward a devolution Bill later this year, which will include further measures on auditing local finances. The shadow Leader of the House mentions the impact of industrial action on the working people of this country, but what did his Government preside over? We saw more days of industrial action in our NHS and on the railways under the Conservative Government than we have done under Labour. That is what the Conservatives want to do every time—cause conflict and have industrial action. We have seen an end to industrial action in our NHS. Because the strikes ended, waiting lists have gone down every single month for five months—and another 2 million doctors’ appointments have become available. On the shadow Leader of the House’s watch, rail companies boasted about free cash from the Government for their rail contracts, and we had a record number of days lost to industrial action. We put an end to that. We got this country back to working in the interests of working people, so I will take no lectures from him.

• 3 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  A number of Members have raised that with me over the last couple of weeks and I think it was raised last week at business questions too. As I said then, given the close scrutiny of the Bill in Committee and the number of amendments accepted from all sides of the debate, the impact assessment will require significant work by the Government to get it ready. However, we are absolutely committed to doing that in time for Report stage. My hon. Friend asks about the future progress of the Bill. She will know that Report stage of this private Member’s Bill is on the Order Paper for 25 April. It is a matter for the House to decide on the Bill’s progress and I am sure that, as on Second Reading, so ably chaired by you, Mr Speaker, this House will come together in that debate. Hopefully, it will be chaired by you, Mr Speaker —let us see—and we will have a respectful debate in which people can contribute, make their views heard and show the public that we can come together and discuss such issues.

• 3 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the hon. Member for raising this issue; it was also raised last week by my hon. Friend the Member for Widnes and Halewood (Derek Twigg). She is right. As we approach the anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy, we should remember the 97 lives lost, all the families affected and the years and years of fighting for justice and accountability that the families have suffered since—frankly, with the state fighting against them, in most cases. That is something we should all endeavour to put right. As she says, the Prime Minister and the whole Government, myself included, remain focused on fulfilling our commitment to the Hillsborough families to bring forward and enact a Hillsborough law, which will of course include a duty of candour at all times. That is a very important measure to take forward. At this time, the most important issue is to ensure that the legislation reflects the full range of concerns and experiences, and meets the expectations of the families. The very worst thing we could do is not meet those expectations, given that all the trust issues relate to the state failing to live up to the families’ expectations. We are working on the Bill at pace, but we will take whatever time is necessary to work collaboratively with the families and their representatives, because getting the legislation right is overwhelmingly our priority, as I am sure the hon. Lady can understand.

• 3 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the hon. Member for pursuing the issue through all those different means. She is an example to other new Members as to how to take forward an issue across a range of opportunities in this House. I will ensure that she gets a fuller response from the Minister about the timescale and how Members can be involved.

• 3 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  I shall, Mr Speaker. Monday 7 April—General debate on road maintenance, followed by a general debate on neighbourhood policing and tackling town centre crime. Tuesday 8 April—General debate on the potential merits of awarding a posthumous Victoria Cross to Blair Mayne, followed by a general debate on matters to be raised before the forthcoming Adjournment. The subjects for these debates were determined by the Backbench Business Committee. The House will rise for the Easter recess at the conclusion of business on Tuesday 8 April and return on Tuesday 22 April. The provisional business for the week commencing 21 April includes: Tuesday 22 April—Second Reading of the Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports) Bill. Wednesday 23 April—Opposition day (6th allotted day). Debate on a motion in the name of the Liberal Democrats—subject to be announced. Thursday 24 April—Remaining stages of the Bank Resolution (Recapitalisation) Bill [Lords] . Friday 25 April—Private Members’ Bills. The provisional business for the week commencing 28 April will include: Monday 28 April—Second Reading of the Football Governance Bill [Lords] . Tuesday 29 April—Remaining stages of the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill. Wednesday 30 April—Committee of the whole House and remaining stages of the Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports) Bill. Thursday 1 May—Business to be determined by the Backbench Business Committee. Friday 2 May—The House will not be sitting.

• 3 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  I was not aware of the issue the right hon. Member raised. I know the matter of Ukrainian visas will be of concern to many Members across this House, and I thank him for raising it. I will absolutely ensure that the Home Office considers a written ministerial statement or some other means to communicate an update on the matter.

• 3 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  It is always a pleasure to see the right hon. Gentleman here. I am not sure how his promise to stay committed to this House is faring, as I think he has now had another flip-flop on that and I hear he is still going for that second job. For as long as he is here— [ Interruption. ] He asks if I would miss him. I, and I am sure the whole House, would miss him greatly. He raises an important issue, which is energy bills. He will know that this Government are absolutely determined to lower our bills, to create the jobs of the future and to get our energy security. As a country, we are still far too exposed to international gas prices, as we are seeing with the increase in energy bills this year. That is why we are even more determined than ever—I am sure he will join us in this—to ensure that we have that clean, renewable energy of the future, which is the only way that we will get lower bills.

• 3 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  I join my hon. Friend in congratulating the Whitburn brass band, the Scottish brass band champions, and wish them all the very best in the UK-wide national brass band championships. If I may say so, she is doing a fantastic job of blowing the trumpet on behalf of her constituents. [ Laughter. ] It is Easter. I wish the band all the best in the championships.

• 3 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  I absolutely join my hon. Friend in thanking the trustees of Hertsavers in his constituency. Credit unions are incredibly popular and an important part of our constituents having access to loans and finance when they otherwise would not get them. I am sure that would make a popular topic for debate if he wanted to have one.

• 3 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the Chair of the Backbench Business Committee, as ever, for organising so many good, well-attended debates. He asked about 24 April. I am sure he will recognise that there is a bank holiday that week, and two weeks later, so we have a number of short weeks and a lot of Government business to get through. Given that Tuesday 22 April will be more like a Monday, I am afraid that Thursday 24 April will be more like a Wednesday, which is why, on the Thursday, time was not allocated to the Backbench Business Committee. However, I heard what he said about St George’s day and am happy to have a conversation with him about that. As ever, I will try to give him as much advance notice as I can of estimates day. I thank the hon. Member for raising the issue regarding the UN rapporteur. He will appreciate that such matters are for the UN. However, I will ensure that the Foreign Office has heard his point, as I am sure his constituents have. In general, the Government and I would not find acceptable any comments of the kind that he described; I join him in saying that.

• 3 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  I will certainly ensure that a Minister gives the hon. Member a full response about rail capacity in her constituency and that any assessments of the damage caused are shared with her.

• 3 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  As I said to the hon. Lady at the time, individual applications by airports are a quasi-judicial decision for the Secretary of State for Transport, so it is difficult to comment in advance of them. However, all those decisions are taken in the context of our legally binding climate commitments, as well as other factors. I do not know about today’s press reports that she mentions, but I will ensure that she and the House are updated on those decisions.

• 3 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  As my hon. Friend says, we are committed to introducing a short-term let registration scheme. I will get for her the latest estimation for delivery of that scheme. We are also abolishing the furnished holiday lettings tax regime. I know that both those things will be of great significance to her constituents.

• 3 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  I join my hon. Friend in congratulating all the winners of those community awards, to whom she has paid a great tribute.

• 3 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  I know that my hon. Friend has been campaigning on welfare reform issues. I am sure she will appreciate that we have committed to publishing legislation and taking through a Bill; that will give us ample time to debate and consider these issues, and to look in great detail at aspects of the proposals. As she says, that includes transitional arrangements, and we should absolutely debate those arrangements. We have produced the impact assessment—however Members view what it says—in good time, so that Members across the House can consider all the issues before we debate the primary legislation.

• 3 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  I thank my hon. Friend for raising the important issue of high streets. From my time as a Member of Parliament, I know that any debate on the future of phone boxes would be incredibly well attended if he wanted to apply for one.

• 3 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend raises the very important issue of unspent developer contributions. There really is no excuse for the eye-watering length of time it has taken for his local authority to deploy them, and he has made a strong case here today.

• 3 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  We understand the disruption and inconvenience caused when Operation Brock is deployed in Kent. Unfortunately, it is sometimes necessary, but I will ensure that a Minister comes back to my hon. Friend about how this can be done in a more sensitive way, especially during the school holidays.

• 3 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  What a lovely tribute to George Kelly— I am sure he will be very pleased to hear that. I join the hon. Gentleman in congratulating him on a very long life of dedication and service to this country, and thank him for bringing that tribute to the Floor of the House.

• 3 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  I join my hon. Friend in supporting John Staines’s call to get 1,000 people down to Hertford Town FC this weekend, which would be a great tribute to his life. I am sure he will want to raise such an issue when we debate the Football Governance Bill, which is coming back to the House after Easter.

• 3 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  Parking always generates a very considerable debate in this House, and pavement parking would be no exception. I join my hon. Friend in raising that issue today. I am sure it would be a very popular topic for a debate.

• 3 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  The British Government condemn the persecution of Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan, and we are aware of the recent reports of threats and incidents at holy sites. As ever, the hon. Gentleman raises a very important matter, which I will raise with the Minister.