Luke Charters MP: speeches

Speeches

• 10 Dec 2025 · AI Safety · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend think the Whips would prefer the real Mark, or the AI Mark?

• 10 Dec 2025 · AI Safety · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Butler, especially given your distinguished background in tech and AI advocacy. May I share something that hon. Members will be pleased to hear? I am, in fact, the youngest parent in Parliament, and I am constantly thinking about the place that my young boys are set to grow up in. We expect that AI will form a core part of their lives, even in primary school, which is hard to imagine. The more I think about AI, however, the more I think that we should introduce it in the key stage 2 curriculum, alongside vital safeguards. After all, I was learning to use Google Search at around that age. What is different about using Gemini today? There are potential harms, such as the deeply tragic story of a young boy in the US who sadly took his own life, but AI can be a force for good. The more that children learn about AI, and about using it for activities such as homework and coursework, the more I believe we should not be punishing them for using it. Instead, in the future, we should allow students to use AI in some exams to test how they use their AI skills. I met students at Fulford school and York college in my constituency and their message was, “Don’t punish us for using AI when it’s going to become a key part of our employment in the future. Teach us to use it responsibly. Teach us to use it when we come to our employment.” If we do not make that shift now, we will face a productivity puzzle in the future. I will move on to the issue of physical illness. We have all been poorly; we have all picked up an iPhone. As hon. Members can tell, my greatest treasure is my kids, but when parents put their children’s symptoms into AI, they are putting a lot of trust in AI models. I urge the Government to work with the Department of Health and Social Care and the NHS to make sure that AI chatbots and tools cite the NHS as a single source of truth, not health advice from outside this country. I will touch on mental health as well, because around a quarter of children now use AI chatbots for their mental health. We cannot pretend that people will not use AI as a tool for mental health support, and in particular, blokes out there might well use AI as a first port of call to unpack what they are going through. That should be welcome, but it comes with a great responsibility for the AI tools—Gemini, ChatGPT, Perplexity and so on—to get things right. I urge the companies that make those tools to work with the Government and the charitable sector, including great charities such as Samaritans, to do that. We have to embrace AI. There are great opportunities, but there need to be safeguards and support. With that in mind, Britain can be a world leader in AI safety.

• 8 Dec 2025 · Ajax Armoured Vehicle · Hansard source

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  More than 30 soldiers fell ill, so I place on record our thanks as a House to Army Medical. Does my hon. Friend agree that when it comes to the forthcoming defence investment plan, Army Medical, of which 2 Med Group is headquartered in my constituency, will stand to benefit from that plan and that we will learn the lessons from this Ajax incident?

• 4 Dec 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T8. As you know, Mr Speaker, I am proud to represent York, a city that works hard, has excellent connectivity, two universities, and of course the York Central project, which includes a major Government Property Agency building. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is about time more civil service jobs moved out of London and into York, which is ideally placed to deliver graft and common sense in equal measure?

• 1 Dec 2025 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

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  I wanted to come in on the right hon. Member’s point about inflation. I am sure that he will welcome a Budget that reduces inflation. If he looks at the Blue Book— [ Interruption. ] Hang on a minute. Look at the Blue Book. It says: “Government policy measures announced since March are expected to decrease inflation by 0.3 percentage points”. Does he welcome that, or is he staying silent on fiscal measures that reduce inflation?

• 1 Dec 2025 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

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  I wonder if my hon. Friend will allow me to raise the case of a single mum in my constituency who unexpectedly became pregnant a third time. It was a time of anxiety for her. She used food banks periodically and worried that she would not be able to afford toys for her kids at Christmas. Does my hon. Friend agree that the two-child benefit cap imposed by the Conservatives is the cruellest Tory policy of all?

• 1 Dec 2025 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

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  Will the right hon. Member give way?

• 27 Nov 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.

• 27 Nov 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Away tickets cost £45 at championship Coventry and £30 at league one Mansfield Town. Even some national league games are getting close to £30 for York City fans, when premiership clubs Arsenal, Liverpool and United all have a £30 cap. Does the Secretary of State support extending an away ticket cap across all leagues as a ceiling, not a target?

• 20 Nov 2025 · Bus Services: York Outer · Hansard source

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  Last week, I held a survey of my constituents on bus services. I got a great response, but one response stayed with me. My constituent said that the No. 11 bus—the only route to the crematorium—does not run on Sundays, meaning that they cannot visit loved ones on Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, the days that hurt most. Reading that put a real lump in my throat. No one should be stopped from remembering those they have lost because of a bus not running, so I have written to the operator, but will the Minister join me in arguing that this is the sort of practical, kind change we need to make across the country?

• 20 Nov 2025 · Bus Services: York Outer · Hansard source

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  8. What steps her Department is taking to improve bus services in York Outer constituency.

• 19 Nov 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q9. On International Men’s Day, and in the spirit of Movember, I want to be open about my own past mental health challenges, in the hope that it might encourage other men to do the same. During the traumatic birth of my first son I nearly lost my wife, and a dark cloud settled over me—a cloud that lifted through conversation and support, and through the safe arrival of my second son. Bright days lie ahead. In the Public Gallery today is Mike from Menfulness, a fantastic charity in York giving men a place to talk. Will the Prime Minister, as a dad himself, agree that strength as a man means being open about our emotions, and that we should never face challenges on our own?

• 11 Nov 2025 · Remembrance Day: Armed Forces · Hansard source

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  Joshua Mullinger is an able cadet in the sea cadets in York, who played an integral role in the York service of remembrance, and Conservative councillor and Lord Mayor Martin Rowley is a veteran. Will the Minister join me in commemorating the work of those very remarkable individuals?

• 4 Nov 2025 · Welfare Spending · Hansard source

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  First, I congratulate the hon. Member, because I think his audience here in the Chamber is bigger than his party leader’s for her speech on welfare earlier today. Could he look back to his party’s record in government when it comes to the NHS? As the intelligent man I think he is—I consider him a friend—does he agree that larger NHS waiting lists, which his party left, increase the benefit bill? Does he agree with that easy-to-accept premise?

• 4 Nov 2025 · Welfare Spending · Hansard source

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  Will my right hon. Friend join me in recognising the benefit to the labour market of the roll-out of 30 hours of free childcare? I met a single mum in my constituency who is taking on more hours to support her family. That will help her children get out of poverty, thanks to this Government’s efforts.

• 28 Oct 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T8. I welcome the new package of sanctions on Russian financial institutions. Does the Minister agree that we should stand ready to expand that package to stop Russian financial institutions financing Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine?

• 20 Oct 2025 · Asylum Seekers: Support and Accommodation · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right that companies should be transparent about those things, not only on a contractual basis with the Government but on a moral basis. We are a country of great compassion, and where contractors are profiteering from asylum accommodation for children, they have to learn to embody the value of compassion that we have in this great country. Many charities have raised the issue of children living in such terrible conditions. Let me say, as a former member of the Public Accounts Committee, that the situation also represents terrible value for money for the taxpayer. The National Audit Office found that since 2019, the three main accommodation providers have made nearly £400 million from asylum contracts—they are profiting from those terrible conditions. That is not who we are; it is not what Britain should ever stand for. That is why I am proud that the Government are committing to making that stop, and that my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary is going to fix it. Through the Government’s new dispersal strategy, we will see those hotels being closed, and much more suitable dispersal accommodation for asylum-seeking children and their families will be made available. I must come on to Reform UK, which shouts from the sidelines. We have not yet heard from the hon. Member for Runcorn and Helsby (Sarah Pochin) about the few ideas that Reform is proposing, but perhaps she will address one issue in her speech. When we interrogate Reform UK’s plans, we find that they talk about using the British overseas territories. As someone who has visited the Falklands and other overseas territories, I find that suggestion deeply troubling and unrealistic. When she rises to speak, hopefully she will give some assurance that Reform UK will rule out using the Falkland Islands in its asylum plans. Reform UK proposes to deport 600,000 people over five years and to abolish indefinite leave to remain. Sadly, I believe that the latter idea is currying favour on the Opposition Benches, but the idea of abolishing ILR and tearing families apart is not policy; it is performative cruelty. Those proposals are fantasies that would rip this country apart, as the Prime Minister has rightly said. We are a country proud of its compassion towards refugee children through the ages. Britain’s tradition of welcoming and protecting refugees is deeply rooted in our history, from sheltering Belgian refugees in world war one to rescuing Jewish children through the Kindertransport and supporting Hungarians escaping Soviet oppression. More recently, in modern times, we have stood with Ukrainians fleeing war, through bespoke visa schemes. That commitment embodies the very best of British values, reflecting our openness and humanity in times of crisis. Among those who found safety here was Freddie Mercury, a refugee from Zanzibar whose extraordinary talent transformed global music. Britain has also welcomed figures such as Lord Alf Dubs, a Kindertransport child who became a prominent MP in this place; Dua Lipa, whose family fled conflict in the Balkans; Nobel laureate Sigmund Freud, whose ideas changed the world, and so many others. We are a tolerant and inclusive country that welcomes refugee families who are genuinely fleeing war and trauma, but we cannot go on as we are. There is a compassionate and progressive reason why hotels must be closed, so we must look with urgency to more suitable solutions, particularly for asylum-seeking children. We are closing the hotels, not with slogans but with common sense and a serious plan that is grounded in compassion. We are overhauling the appeals system and introducing a new independent body with trained adjudicators, to cut the waiting times back from 54 weeks to a statutory 24 weeks. We are reducing the asylum backlog, and we are committing, of course, to ending asylum hotels by 2029. People are frustrated. My constituents are frustrated. I get it. They should be angry about the reprehensible conditions that so many children are being forced to live in. We must ensure that there is suitable accommodation for asylum-seeking families with children. We are a kind, decent and compassionate country that wants to look after people who genuinely need help, but we do not want to line the pockets of hotel companies and other contractors in doing so when the conditions are unfair. We are closing the hotels, with a serious plan. This is who we are. This is what Britain stands for.

• 20 Oct 2025 · Asylum Seekers: Support and Accommodation · Hansard source

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  Let me just finish. At its worst under the Tories, the system cost the taxpayer £9 million a day, which has already been cut to £5.5 million a day. That is not a gimmick; it is delivery. Let me talk about the scandal of profiteering, however, because the public are paying the price while private hotel companies and contractors profit. I will be blunt: £180 million in profit was made by one hotel company where toilet roll was rationed, asylum seekers were fed inedible expired food, and families and children lived with cockroaches, rodents, damp and mould. That is absolutely disgusting—it is a disgrace, frankly, that under the last Government taxpayer money was funding such hotels. It is absolutely right that we work to close them by 2029.

• 20 Oct 2025 · Asylum Seekers: Support and Accommodation · Hansard source

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  Reform UK has mooted the idea of using British overseas territories as part of its asylum processing plans. Would the hon. Lady use this occasion to rule out any asylum processing ever taking place in the Falklands or Gibraltar as part of Reform UK’s policies?

• 20 Oct 2025 · Asylum Seekers: Support and Accommodation · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Murrison. We need to close the hotels, but as a Labour MP I will make the progressive and moral case for doing so. Let me first talk about the current law. There is a very helpful House of Commons Library report setting out the law: the Home Office must provide accommodation that is adequate for people’s needs. As a parent, I will say why we must have concern for the living conditions of children in asylum accommodation. In my view, hotels are not suitable living environments for asylum-seeking children and their families for longer-term stays. Let us think about what we are talking about here—children sleeping while cockroaches scuttle by and rats run next to their faces. That happened in this country under the last Government. Even today, we find that many families are confined to small living spaces where the bed serves as the bedroom, living room, dining area and study space all at once. These are children in British primary schools. I know personally of a case in which an asylum-seeking child did not have the space to store her disability equipment, and I have heard of toddlers who have insufficient room to crawl, use a highchair or go on their potty. These children have fled war-torn countries. Is it their fault that they are seeking asylum? Absolutely not. Do they deserve to live in unsuitable accommodation through no fault of their own? Absolutely not. Let us think back to the performative cruelty of a certain Minister in the last Government who ordered the painting over of child asylum unit murals. That is who they are. Let me talk about our Government’s dispersal strategy, because dispersal accommodation is more cost-effective, and I hope that we can all agree on the central premise that dispersal accommodation is also more appropriate for asylum-seeking families and children.

• 20 Oct 2025 · Asylum Seekers: Support and Accommodation · Hansard source

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  I know the hon. Member will therefore welcome the Government’s plan to end the use of asylum hotels. I hope he will join me in accepting the premise that dispersal accommodation, where it is more stable and more community based, is more suitable for children than the hotel that he speaks of in his constituency. Closing the hotels is a progressive responsibility, but let me be clear about what the Government have already achieved. They have brought down the number of asylum hotels, from over 400 to about 210 now, and have reduced the number of people in hotels—

• 20 Oct 2025 · Asylum Seekers: Support and Accommodation · Hansard source

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  Is the hon. Lady courageous enough to give way?

• 14 Oct 2025 · International Rail Services: Ashford · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye (Helena Dollimore) for securing this debate. I praise the ambition she has for her region, just as I have for mine. It is great to see my hon. Friend the Minister in his place. He is a good Yorkshire colleague, who I know will absolutely be interested in the ideas I have for our region. There is growing interest in international rail in this country, with Eurostar exploring direct services to Geneva and Frankfurt and other operators looking to expand in the UK. I welcome recent research from the Good Growth Foundation on the potential of reopening Ashford’s international terminal for unlocking economic opportunity in the south-east, but you will not be surprised to hear, Sir Desmond, that as a proud Yorkshireman I would like my county in this conversation too. I believe it is time to reimagine the future of rail, where we connect Yorkshire directly with the continent, and York and Leeds act as central hubs in a new European rail corridor. As part of that vision, I propose transformation of the disused High Speed 2 land near Leeds station. That site could one day become a dedicated European train terminal. York, with its rich rail heritage and scalable infrastructure, would then serve as a vital secondary node. This is not just about faster journeys; it is about unlocking economic potential—maybe even 10 years from now. I wrote to Eurostar about that, and I am very disappointed that they were not up for it. There was no foresight about the future spec of their rolling stock—more Eurostasis than Eurostar. This week I am engaging with other rail operators and writing to them: Virgin Group, Uber-Gemini trains and Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, which I am sure Members will acknowledge is bellissimo in my Yorkshire accent. I have asked them to consider what I call the Leeds to Lille route, because if Eurostar do not do it, maybe another operator will step up to the plate. I am sick of people writing things off as unfeasible or impossible. People said the channel tunnel could never be built. They called it an engineering fantasy, yet 30 years on it is a vital link that has transformed trade and travel. Are we to embrace ambition or defeatism for our country? Under the Tories, Britain lost its imagination—14 years of incompetence; broken promises; failed infrastructure. We saw Network North’s non-delivery and HS2’s eye-watering costs—and Reform wants to scrap the lot. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport has talked of an exciting ambition to link us up with Germany, which is brilliant—that is the leadership we get with a Labour Government. However, it would be great to see rail operators considering the push to parts of the country other than London, whether that is Kent or Yorkshire. Labour Together and JP Spencer have been talking about mass transit networks across the UK and Europe. Leeds is one of the few cities without one, but that is soon to change thanks to Mayor Tracy Brabin’s trams. That would be an anchor for my humble but bold idea: in 10 or 20 years to have a Leeds to Lille service taking just three and a half hours. York would offer additional capacity to support connections, meaning that villages like Poppleton in my constituency could be five hours from Paris by rail. I want my new-born son Louis—just a few months old now—to grow up in a country that dares to dream big again. A country where, in 20 years, I could take him to Leeds station, stand on a new international platform and wave him off as he sets off for Europe—maybe to study, maybe to chase a dream, but carrying with him the confidence of a nation that believes in building again. For too long, the north has been forgotten. These plans could act as a bold bridge to continental prosperity. As the MP for York Outer, I know that by running 50 services a week from Leeds to Europe we could bring in 2 million passenger journeys annually. That would supercharge the tourism economy in the north. While Reform would cut Britain off from Europe, the ideas we are talking about today could offer our regions a connected path to renewed prosperity and a gateway to new jobs and thriving towns. Never forget that Labour developed High Speed 1, Crossrail and Heathrow terminal 5—projects that transformed Britain. Today, it is Labour MPs who are proposing similar ideas again. It is over to the rail operators to engage with all of us, which I hope they can. Together, we can set the wheels turning on a new chapter of British connectivity and transport innovation. Let us lay new international tracks as a nation that refuses to stop moving forward.

• 13 Oct 2025 · Manchester Terrorism Attack · Hansard source

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  The horrific terrorist attack at Heaton Park follows a decade during which antisemitism has increased nearly every year, and the CST has confirmed that antisemitism is increasing on university campuses. In York we have two fantastic universities where antisemitism has no place. Will my right hon. Friend commit to working with the Secretary of State for Education to ensure that universities across the country have all they need to root out antisemitism for good?

• 13 Oct 2025 · Baby Loss · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for making such a moving speech; she is an inspirational mum, raising awareness of this. If she will allow, I will raise the case of Hayley Patrick-Copeland, a bereaved mum who has been raising awareness of baby loss and putting in place support for bereaved parents. If I may, I will also put on the record in this place, for centuries to come, the names of her children, Alya and Aleah, whom she lost. Will my hon. Friend join me in remembering them, and in commending Hayley for her inspirational work, just like my hon. Friend’s, raising awareness of baby loss?