Luke Myer MP: speeches 2024

Speeches

• 19 Dec 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  On Saturday, more than 100 veterans gathered in my constituency to pay tribute to the late Sam Morgan, a former Royal Marine who tragically took his own life aged just 36. I met a local group of veterans and the message that I have heard from them loud and clear is that we must do more to address the issue of veteran mental health. I am very grateful to my hon. Friend, the Minister for Veterans and People, who is in his place, for agreeing to meet me and my hon. Friend the Member for Redcar (Anna Turley) to discuss this issue with local veterans. Will the Leader of the House give her assurance that this issue will be treated as a priority by this Government?

• 19 Dec 2024 · Christmas Adjournment · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend has been incredibly active on steel, in her constituency and in this place. She and I both know that the Government are engaged in sensitive and difficult negotiations at this present time about the steel industry, but can she touch on her views and the Government’s views about ensuring that steel is not a sunset industry?

• 16 Dec 2024 · English Devolution · Hansard source

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  I welcome the statement and the White Paper. Centralisation is part of the reason why we are one of the most regionally unequal advanced economies, as IPPR North has set out, but it is important that these strategic authorities are run well. What steps will the Minister take to ensure that they are funded fairly, and what assurances can he give that strategic authorities must demonstrate responsible stewardship of the public finances?

• 12 Dec 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  An investor in my constituency is interested in regenerating a site, which would create jobs and growth in a community that really needs it, but the owner of the site seems unwilling to engage with the local authority or my office, which has contacted them seven times since August. What avenues can I take, through Parliament, to bring the organisation to the table and get the project off the ground?

• 10 Dec 2024 · Crown Court Backlog · Hansard source

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  10. What steps her Department is taking to reduce the backlog of Crown court cases.

• 10 Dec 2024 · Crown Court Backlog · Hansard source

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  I am campaigning to put more police on our streets, but that is only part of the picture. This backlog in our courts means that the entire criminal justice system is creaking and justice is being delayed. This time last year, there was a backlog in my region of more than 9,000 cases. Will the Minister ensure that this Conservative court chaos is dealt with and offenders are brought to justice?

• 9 Dec 2024 · Planning Committees: Reform · Hansard source

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  I associate myself with the comments of my constituency neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East (Andy McDonald), on ensuring that the planning authority for Middlesbrough sits within Middlesbrough. Young families in Teesside are desperate to get on the housing ladder, yet last year the number of new homes given planning permission fell to a 10-year low. Can the Minister reassure the House of the steps that he will take to ensure that homes are built and that we get Britain building again?

• 9 Dec 2024 · Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill · Hansard source

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  I congratulate the Minister and, indeed, the Opposition on the Bill. Of course, all hon. Members hope that future attacks will be prevented by the Bill, but, as has been mentioned, it is also about planning to ensure increased survivability for those impacted by an attack. With that comes the need to ensure that the support we provide to victims is fit for purpose. What efforts will the Minister make to improve support for victims of terrorism?

• 3 Dec 2024 · National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member is talking about small businesses. Last week, I was proud to host members of the Federation of Small Businesses here in Parliament, who welcomed the Budget, particularly the increase in the employment allowance, which will see the smallest businesses benefit—250,000 of the smallest businesses better off now than they were before the Budget. Are they wrong?

• 3 Dec 2024 · Critical Minerals: Domestic Production · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend mentions the critical minerals list; it is my view that the list needs to evolve to keep up with the increasing demands that we face, and to account for the production of minerals that we have in this country. In my part of the world we produce polyhalite, a fantastic crop nutrient fertiliser that has huge potential for our food security. Would he agree that the critical minerals list needs to account for minerals such as polyhalite, so that we can ensure our economy is growing into the future?

• 28 Nov 2024 · Tourism: Coastal Towns · Hansard source

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  The coastal village of Skinningrove is home to a fantastic tourist asset, Land of Iron, which is the leading ironstone mining museum in the country. I am campaigning for it to receive national status as the national ironstone mining museum. Will Ministers consider meeting me to discuss that request, and would they like to visit?

• 28 Nov 2024 · Tourism: Coastal Towns · Hansard source

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  2. What recent assessment she has made of the contribution of tourism to the local economies of coastal towns.

• 20 Nov 2024 · Police Reform · Hansard source

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  Just last night, Guisborough Town FC in my constituency suffered a break-in and burglary. I am grateful to Cleveland police for responding, and for meeting me this morning to update me on the situation, but there simply are not enough of them on the streets. Can the Minister give me an assurance that this Government will prioritise frontline, visible, neighbourhood community policing once again?

• 18 Nov 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I welcome that announcement by the Secretary of State. It should shame every politician in this House that today veterans who have served our country are still sleeping rough on our streets. Can the Secretary of State set out the steps he will take to ensure that homes will be there for heroes?

• 18 Nov 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

• 13 Nov 2024 · Rural Broadband · Hansard source

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  The data issue that the Minister is raising is precisely what we have been experiencing. Looking at it on paper, from the maps, the villages have fantastic signal and broadband, but that is just not people’s experience. I am grateful to the Minister for meeting me recently to discuss this and for the roll-out we are going to see from the Government in East Cleveland.

• 12 Nov 2024 · Tackling Image-based Abuse · Hansard source

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  So many young women are having their life destroyed by the proliferation of deepfakes and AI-enabled images. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Bill introduced by Baroness Owen—the Non-Consensual Sexually Explicit Images and Videos (Offences) Bill—would go some way towards addressing the issue, and that the Government should look favourably on it?

• 6 Nov 2024 · Small Boat Crossings · Hansard source

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  One of the most colossal failures under the previous Government was the chaos in the channel and the associated backlog in the system, yet the Conservatives seem to have come here today to tell the British people that they had it all under control. Can the Minister reassure my constituents of the serious steps she is taking to disrupt the gangs, speed up returns and end this chaos.

• 5 Nov 2024 · Police Funding · Hansard source

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  I congratulate the hon. Member for North Down (Alex Easton) on securing this debate. Although his focus is of course on the PSNI, the general issues he raised concerning policing are echoed across the United Kingdom. I hope to raise some of those issues that are affecting my constituents. Last week in my constituency a fire was started in Marton, shop fronts smashed in Guisborough, a pharmacy broken into and its contents burglarised and staff assaulted. Police officers responded and arrests were made, but those are not individual, isolated incidents—that is a pattern and picture of crime across the country. It is a picture of criminals who feel emboldened and residents who feel unsafe. I am grateful to the Policing Minister for taking the time to meet me to discuss police funding in Cleveland, the area I represent. I am grateful for the opportunity to raise these issues here as well, because this is what people are dealing with every day. People feel afraid to leave the house; they do not feel safe in their communities, They do not feel confident that when they call the police, the police will come, or that crimes will be investigated when they report them. They do not feel confident that the courts will see justice done, and certainly not timely justice. That is why we need a change. In my part of the world, we have seen major cuts to our police force. We have lost more than 200 officers net since 2010—a 12% reduction in full-time equivalent officers—and all the while demand has gone up. Our officers work incredibly hard under extraordinary pressure, and although they make arrests, the broader criminal justice system is creaking at the seams. Prosecution rates have fallen over the past decade, victims wait months and even years for cases to come to trial and judges have been advised to delay sentencing because of the lack of prison capacity. The system is in crisis and it has been allowed to get to this point after years of systematic underfunding and a lack of support. That is why investment in our criminal justice system is crucial. Investment has to come at all four stages of the system. It has to come into our prison estate, and I welcome the £2.3 billion investment announced in the Budget last week to expand our prison capacity and ensure that we have the necessary prison places. Investment needs to go into bringing down the court backlog so that cases are heard in a timely fashion and victims feel that justice will be served. We need investment in visible community policing again. Residents desperately want a named officer for every community, who understands their village or town, knows the families and the history, and can tackle issues before they escalate. That was the cornerstone of the consent-based model of British policing for decades, and it has been eroded in recent years; it must be restored. We also need investment in prevention. The previous Labour Government were famously tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime. They provided funding for Sure Start and targeted schemes such as the safer school partnerships and the family intervention projects. That is what the new Labour Government need to do. When I was in local government, we invested heavily in setting up a specialist team to tackle the exploitation of vulnerable children and young people by organised criminal gangs. It was about getting upstream of the process and making sure that vulnerable children were diverted. That saved the state money in the long term and ensured that those young people had opportunities. This Government need that kind of ambition, and I believe they will have it. We need that investment; we need to make sure that our police have the resources they need to do their jobs; and we need to take back our streets and make them safe again.

• 5 Nov 2024 · Income Tax (Charge) · Hansard source

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  On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Higher Education Reform · Hansard source

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  I welcome my right hon. Friend’s leadership not just on the funding, but on the reform that the sector needs. The previous Government’s approach to regulation put ideology over evidence, and one example of that is in the role of the designated quality body. It was there to check on quality and standards in higher education, but it had to give up that role because the regulatory climate that the previous Government brought in was non-compliant with international standards. Can the Secretary of State assure the House that the regulatory approach that she will take will be different from that of the previous Government and ensure that our higher education sector continues to be world-leading?

• 4 Nov 2024 · Budget: Implications for Farming Communities · Hansard source

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  I am proud to represent proud North Yorkshire farmers in my constituency. Will the Minister set out the steps he will be taking to ensure that small family farms will be protected by the Government? Additionally, will he endorse polyhalite, a fantastic crop nutrient fertiliser that is produced in only one place in the world: North Yorkshire?

• 17 Oct 2024 · Independent Safeguarding Board Review · Hansard source

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  I welcome my hon. Friend to her role; she is doing a fantastic job. My constituent has been involved in that process. Can she help to secure a meeting with my constituent to discuss the findings and the work in more detail?

• 17 Oct 2024 · Independent Safeguarding Board Review · Hansard source

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  4. What steps the Church has taken in response to the findings of Sarah Wilkinson’s independent review into the Independent Safeguarding Board.

• 16 Oct 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Government’s historic investment in carbon capture and storage technology for Teesside and Merseyside. This week I have been at the sector’s conference, and the feeling there is that this is a Government who are delivering after years of delay. Will the Prime Minister recognise the unique potential that Teesside has for jobs, prosperity and economic growth into the future?