Lucy Powell MP: speeches

Speeches

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

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  I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising that with me again. I have looked at these issues closely since he and others raised them with me last week. As he will be aware, with the Diego Garcia agreement and the global ocean treaty, ratification depends on this Government implementing many of the commitments that are made in that treaty. That is why the CRAG process, as well as legislation, is required in both cases. There will be a Bill brought forward on the Diego Garcia agreement, and therefore this House will have ample opportunity to debate its merits and vote on it.

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

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  My hon. Friend is right to raise the difficult issue of the Junction pub in his constituency. We all hear those stories time and again. We want to give local communities more powers to have the right to acquire such facilities, and for those powers to be exercised more quickly than they currently are. We are bringing forward legislation in that regard, but he might want to club together with others to get a debate on the issue.

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

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  My hon. Friend is certainly a great cheerleader for his constituency and for this sport, which has been raised with me before. It provides great opportunities for people to engage with sport and showcases what can be done.

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

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  The Government are committed to introducing the most ambitious programme of animal welfare in a generation. I am not aware of the particular regulation that the right hon. Gentleman mentions, but I will ensure that he gets a full response from the Minister and that it is made available for everybody else.

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

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  We are committed to providing mental health support, especially for our young people. We have an ambitious programme to do just that, and I am sure that Health Ministers will keep us updated.

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

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  I hear what the hon. Lady says. Many of us have met constituents with fluctuating illnesses like the ones she describes, and I understand that this is a worrying time for people. We have had the Green Paper. We will shortly bring forward a piece of legislation to consider further the eligibility criteria for the personal independence payment, and I am sure that she will want to debate them.

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

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  I know from dear family members of the plight of those who suffer from arthritis and the huge impact it can have on their lives and their ability to work and live a happy and long life. We can do a huge range of things for arthritis, such as new treatments, prevention and early diagnosis, and I am sure that a Minister will want to come forward to this House with a whole strategy.

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

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  I am not quite sure that I understand what that race is, but it sounds very unique to Knaresborough, and I will take an interest now that the hon. Gentleman has raised it with me. That would make a good topic for a debate.

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

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  I am sorry to hear of the struggles that Voices in the hon. Lady’s constituency is experiencing. She will know that this Government are absolutely committed to halving violence against women and girls over the next 10 years. That is an incredibly ambitious agenda, and of course it includes working with the voluntary and charitable sector. I will ensure that the Minister for Safeguarding gives the hon. Lady a full reply about that charity.

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

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  I thank my hon. Friend for raising the issue. He is aware that we took the difficult decision to raise employers’ national insurance contributions so that we could get our NHS back on its feet, and that is what we have been doing since the Budget. We are providing the support needed against any knock-on effects to social care providers and key charities, particularly through the additional boost that we have given to local authorities in their funding. He may want to raise this issue with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, who will be in the Chamber shortly.

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

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  I join my hon. Friend in thanking all the carers in his constituency and right across this country. The Government remain committed to supporting carers. They do a fantastic and wonderful job—and, as he says, they also save the state a huge amount of money through the work they do.

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

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  I am absolutely delighted to join my hon. Friend in congratulating Glasgow City football club on its achievements and I wish the team all the very best in their European campaign. Women’s football and grassroots women’s sport are discussed regularly in this House, and I am sure that she will continue to raise those matters.

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

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  We have inherited a very difficult situation when it comes to cancer diagnosis and many other diagnoses across our health service. That is why we are boosting healthcare spending in the coming years, as we did yesterday in the spending review. We will publish a dedicated national cancer plan shortly, and that will include how we can identify and diagnose cancer earlier.

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

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  That sounds like a really interesting proposal, which my hon. Friend is right to raise. This country has now given sanctuary to more than 300,000 Ukrainians since the war broke out, of which I am sure we are all incredibly proud. We all recognise the contribution that they are making to our country. I will ensure that a Minister from the Department for Education gives him a reply about the new school.

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

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  As the hon. Gentleman knows, the numbers he describes are within the normal fluctuations of these things. I am not clear whether this Conservative party supports getting more teachers into our state schools. As a result of the changes we have made to VAT on private schools, we have got over 2,000 more teachers in our schools this year, with more to come. It is vital to get more teachers into state schools, which educate 94% of young people in this country.

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

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  The business for next week is as follows: Monday 16 June—Motion relating to the House of Commons independent complaints and grievance scheme, followed by a general debate on Windrush Day 2025. The subject for this debate was determined by the Backbench Business Committee. Tuesday 17 June—Remaining stages of the Crime and Policing Bill (day one). Wednesday 18 June—Remaining stages of the Crime and Policing Bill (day two). Thursday 19 June—Motion to approve the draft Licensing Act 2003 (UEFA Women’s European Football Championship Licensing Hours) Order 2025, followed by general debate on incontinence, followed by general debate on water safety education. The subjects for these debates were determined by the Backbench Business Committee. Friday 20 June—Private Member’s Bills. The provisional business for the week commencing 23 June will include: Monday 23 June—General debate on Pride Month. Tuesday 24 June—Estimates day (2nd allotted day). Wednesday 25 June—Estimates day (3rd allotted day). At 7 pm the House will be asked to agree all outstanding estimates. Thursday 26 June—Proceedings on the Supply and Appropriation (Main Estimates) (No. 2) Bill, followed by general debate on Armed Forces Day. Friday 27 June—The House will not be sitting.

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

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  I was really sorry to hear of this horrific case of a young person in her constituency being groomed by an AI bot. It highlights further the challenges we face. My hon. Friend is right that the previous Government brought in the Online Safety Act. We need to see how that unfolds, but if we need to strengthen it, we will.

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

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  I absolutely join my hon. Friend in thanking and congratulating all those who worked to reinstate that important memorial, and commemorating all those who gave their lives and sacrificed so much to keep this country safe in many ways. We have a general debate on Armed Forces Day on 26 June, and I am looking at requests that I have had from other Members about a particular debate for VJ Day before we break up for the summer recess.

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

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  This sounds like a particularly frustrating situation for my hon. Friend’s constituents. If she gives me the full details of the case, I will make sure that HMRC deals with it quickly.

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

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  I start by saying that the thoughts of the whole House and the Government will be with the families of those travelling on flight AI171 from Ahmedabad in India to London Gatwick, which has reportedly crashed. This is an unfolding story, and it will undoubtedly be causing a huge amount of worry and concern to the many families and communities here and those waiting for the arrival of their loved ones. We send our deepest sympathies and thoughts to all those families, and the Government will provide all the support that they can to those affected in India and in this country. I congratulate Billy Boston on receiving a knighthood for his services to rugby league—during your birthday week, Mr Speaker. I know that as a former patron of rugby league, you felt very strongly indeed that it was about time rugby league was recognised in this way, and you might want to mention that later. Given that I know it is of great interest to the House, I am pleased to update colleagues on the ratification of the BBNJ—biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction—oceans treaty. Our oceans are dying, and without urgent action they will be irreversibly destroyed. I am proud to confirm to the House today that this Labour Government will introduce legislation before the end of the year to ratify the high seas treaty and protect marine life around the world. We were all shocked by Sir David Attenborough’s film about the destruction caused by bottom trawling, which this Government will ban in protected British waters. I am really happy, as ever, to debate the right hon. Member for Hereford and South Herefordshire (Jesse Norman) on the economy. He used to be a Treasury Minister and he is well read. He knows, I am sure, what every economist in this country knows, which is that for many, many years, the UK economy has been defined by low growth and stagnant living standards, because of our comparatively low productivity. That is because we have had years and years of under-investment in our infrastructure, in our services, in our regions and in our people. This Labour Government are finally putting that right with a 10-year renewal plan to rebuild Britain and address the productivity gap. I am not sure whether the Conservatives really understand basic economics, because they are showing no sign of it. In my part of the world and yours, Mr Speaker, that has been particularly true. Towns and cities across the north and the midlands have been held back by woeful transport infrastructure that would be unacceptable to people in the south; held back by the lack of job opportunities near where they live; held back by poor, insecure and costly housing; held back because they are not getting the training and skills they need; and held back because their life chances are lower as a result of deep-seated inequalities. That cannot be addressed overnight, and we are not pretending that it will be, but we have a long-term plan for renewal. That includes the biggest investment in affordable and social housing in 50 years; nuclear and renewable infrastructure transforming communities around the country; the north finally getting the rail connectivity it deserves; and every community getting better buses. Schools and hospitals are being rebuilt for the 21st century, based not on fictional budgets and economics but on actual plans to deliver them. We are addressing today’s cost of living crisis, too, with our warm homes plan to bring down bills, by extending free school meals and free breakfast clubs, with more free childcare, with a cap on bus fares and by increasing the wages of the lowest paid—with wages going up more in the first 10 months of this Labour Government than they did in 10 years of the Conservative Government. Finally, we continue to boost the NHS, which has already resulted in waiting lists coming down month after month. The right hon. Gentleman wants to talk about choices, so let us talk about those choices. We would not have been able to set those things out if we had not made the difficult changes to taxes that we made in the Budget last year. He seems to want more spending for the police and defence—I think that is what he was saying—but he does not want to make the hard decisions about where the money will come from. He mentions yet again the 2.5% of spending on defence, which this Government are delivering, but he might want to remind himself of when defence spending reached 2.5% in the last 20 years. Was it in any of the 14 years for which his Government were in office? No, it was not. It was only when Labour was last in government that we reached the heights of 2.5%. In contrast to the Conservatives’ fantasy economics, yesterday’s spending allocations were all within the envelope that we set out in the Budget last year, so we are really clear where the money is coming from. As ever, their economic argument is utterly incoherent. On the one hand, they say that we are spending too much, and on the other that we are not spending even more on police and defence. They criticise us on growth, yet they do not want the investment to turbocharge our productivity and, therefore, our growth. We are the party with a plan—a plan to renew Britain, a plan to raise living standards in every part of the country, a plan to get our public services back on their feet and a plan to give people the security they need in their homes.

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

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  I am sorry to hear that some of the hon. Lady’s constituents are facing challenges moving from legacy benefits to universal credit. She will be aware that the Government made changes to the debt aspect of universal credit, which put money in the pockets of many people in that situation, but I will ensure that she gets a full update on where we are up to.

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

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  Yes.

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

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  I certainly join my hon. Friend in congratulating all those involved in improving the Southwick village green, and thank all volunteers in all our constituencies for what they do.

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

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  As a constituency MP—I represent Manchester Central—I am well aware that parking charges in local communities cause a great deal of contention among our constituents. I am not sure about the reasons behind that decision in Ilkley, but local authorities are balancing the needs of a range of different residents on these matters. It would make a popular topic for a well-subscribed debate.

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

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  I am sorry to hear that the testing facility in my hon. Friend’s constituency closed under the last Government, despite their previous commitments to it. He will be aware that we will soon set out the 10-year NHS strategy, and as part of that I am sure that my hon. Friend will want to put those kinds of questions to the Secretary of State.