Luke Myer MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 10 Sept 2025 · Stockton and Darlington Railway: 200th Anniversary Festival · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Stringer, and I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor (Alan Strickland) on securing this important debate. Today, as colleagues have said, we mark 200 years since the Stockton and Darlington railway opened; it was the first passenger railway in the world, and the Quaker philanthropist Edward Pease, father of the railways, had a slogan for the railway: “At private risk for public service”. It was a radical experiment to fund engineer George Stephenson and his 18-year-old son Robert to use a steam engine instead of horses to power Locomotion No. 1, and it worked. As we have heard in this debate, 10,000 people turned out to welcome its launch, and the success of the railway soon spread across Britain and around the world. Goods could move quickly and cheaply, and so could people. Stockton’s exports and economy grew, and soon the town’s storage staithes could not keep up with the amount of coal, so in the summer of 1828, Edward’s son Joseph started looking for new land. On 2 August 1828, he surveyed the small hamlet of Middlesbrough. He recorded in his diary that he could see the day when “the bare fields will be covered with a busy multitude, and numerous vessels crowding to the banks denoting a busy seaport”. He bought the farmland in 1829, with a population of 25, as my hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East (Andy McDonald) has just said; over the next 20 years, it would grow to over 7,000. Industrial Teesside was born. Sadly, 200 years on, our public transport across Teesside is no longer world leading. Our bus routes have been cut back and our trains do not meet the needs of our communities. That is why the Labour Government have given the Tees Valley Mayor a £1 billion Transport for City Regions settlement to start sorting things out. As part of that work, I would like to see new passenger railways spread across our region again, such as along the Boulby line, which has had a station sitting empty at Brotton since 1960, even though freight still runs three times a day along the line. Previous work by Arup in 2018 and by SYSTRA in 2023, commissioned by Redcar and Cleveland borough council, found that restoring passenger trains to the line would be feasible without substantial investment in infrastructure, and that diverting an existing service from Saltburn to service the villages in Skelton, Brotton and Loftus would represent value for money and be a net generator of revenue for the rail network. The combined authority has committed £1 million of those TCR funds to a feasibility study, and I hope that the Mayor will do that work—

• 10 Sept 2025 · Stockton and Darlington Railway: 200th Anniversary Festival · Hansard source

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  Thank you, Chair. As part of the S&DR200 celebrations, the Boulby line is being reopened, so passengers can enjoy that heritage rail, because it is an important part of Teesside’s infrastructure and still services the mines in our region today. With respect, Chair, it is part of the heritage of Teesside’s rail infrastructure, and I would greatly like to see it restored. There is no reason that our region cannot again lead the world in public transport. Just as we did 200 years ago, we have the ideas and the can-do attitude to take things forward. Let us make that happen; let us get our region back on track once again.

• 9 Sept 2025 · Hydrogen Supply Chains · Hansard source

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  I can only speak to the public shift we saw in our region. The public are fully behind projects such as hydrogen fuels for public transport, which we are seeing trials of in Teesside. But, for whatever reason, there was much more reluctance over the Redcar trial, and it was not without significant investment in educating people on the benefits.

• 9 Sept 2025 · Hydrogen Supply Chains · Hansard source

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  Having tried to make many of the points that my hon. Friend made during that experience, I am more sceptical about whether that shift will happen quickly or easily. There is certainly huge potential for industrial use and for transport. In any case, our region helped to power Britain’s industrial revolution, and we can do the same today through the age of clean energy. Hydrogen can anchor a new era of good jobs and pride in our communities if we have the ambition to make it work for working people.

• 9 Sept 2025 · Hydrogen Supply Chains · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Betts. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (James Naish) on securing the debate and my hon. Friend the Member for Worcester (Tom Collins) on opening it so well. The Teesside region already produces much of the UK’s hydrogen, in an economy built on the legacy of ICI, and it continues today with BOC’s Teesside hydrogen carbon capture, usage and storage project. We have the pipelines, the port and the skills, and now the prospect of a new £4 billion net zero Teesside CCUS project linked to the Endurance saline aquifer beneath the North sea. With projects across our industrial cluster, we are well equipped to deliver perhaps a quarter of the Government’s 2030 target. The potential is huge, representing thousands of construction jobs in the short term, with long-term roles in energy, transport and manufacturing, and the chance to give our young people skilled work close to home. This is about livelihoods and whether young people in Middlesbrough, Redcar, Cleveland, Stockton—my hon. Friend the Member for Stockton North (Chris McDonald) is in his place—Hartlepool and Darlington can find skilled, unionised work in the industries of the future, rather than having to leave home to find opportunity elsewhere. That shift will not happen by accident and needs Government to back British supply chains, to ensure that we build the infrastructure and elements we need here, not overseas. It means putting in specific sector support for industries such as steel manufacturing and construction to adopt hydrogen where it is needed—for example, hydrogen for direct reduced iron. It means ensuring that contracts come with conditions on fair pay, skills and apprenticeships. And it means putting local communities in the driving seat, devolving power and investment so that the people of regions such as Teesside can shape this transition, not just watch it happen from the sidelines. Given the outsized role the north of England is already playing through the three major clusters, the Government should perhaps establish a regional body—an acceleration forum—to draw together existing work and drive hydrogen development in the north. In any case, pioneering businesses, research partners and regional governments are driving the work forward, and co-ordinating that investment and innovation is important. I am slightly more cautious about domestic heating, which has been touched on in the debate. That is purely because our region saw the unsuccessful trial in Redcar in 2023, when the public opposed the project in the end. It is important that people are brought along in the process. That is not to say these things are not safe or possible—there are areas of the country where blending works well—but it is about doing this with communities.

• 8 Sept 2025 · Remote Coastal Communities · Hansard source

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  I have submitted proposals to the Tees Valley combined authority to get East Cleveland’s economy moving—the focus of my Invest in East Cleveland event on Friday. Will the Minister commit to working with me to bring investment into our rural and coastal communities so that we can unlock jobs and growth for the whole country?

• 8 Sept 2025 · Remote Coastal Communities · Hansard source

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  If the speech of the hon. Member for St Ives (Andrew George) was nothing more than a buffer, I dread to think what mine will be. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Camborne and Redruth (Perran Moon) on securing this important debate. Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland is an odd constituency, and my hon. Friend mentioned the Middlesbrough part of it. East Cleveland is a rural and coastal community defined by its proximity to the North sea. From the cliffs of Huntcliff and Boulby, which are some of the highest in England, to the hidden gem of Skinningrove beach, it is a place of great natural beauty. It is also a place of great talent, yet too often that talent is lost. I completely agree with my hon. Friend about the brain-drain migration of young people inland to find opportunities elsewhere. Time and again, employers in my constituency have met me and told me of their frustrations at seeing their talent pool displaced to nearby urban centres or even further into Leeds, York, Newcastle and so on. I hear the same from young people themselves, who feel they have to get out to get on, and that is holding our communities back in so many ways. There has been a lot of discussion about devolution, quite rightly, and I completely agree that it has to be done in the right way. We have a devolved combined authority in our region, and I feel quite strongly that our coastal communities and our rural communities are not fully acknowledged in some of the strategies brought forward by the regional government. Skills are a great example. I think insufficient work is put in to make sure that young people can access opportunity in some of the new industries coming into Teesside. As my hon. Friend mentioned, public transport is another example; getting from the furthest part of my constituency to urban centres is extremely difficult and very challenging for young people, and that is exacerbating some of these divides and the deprivation that we see. Coastal communities are often described as left behind. I really want to get across the point that we are not a problem to be resolved, as I think my hon. Friend said, but an opportunity. It is a decade since IPPR North published a report, “Northern Prosperity is National Prosperity”. That can be extended to many communities across the country. By unlocking economic growth in remote areas, we can benefit the whole country and the whole economy. We are untapped in our potential.

• 8 Sept 2025 · Remote Coastal Communities · Hansard source

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  I do agree. That is part of the problem in our part of the world. By investing in infrastructure, whether that is public transport or grid connectivity for our manufacturers, the entire economy across the country can benefit. I have one village, Aysdalegate, which does not have a clean water supply; these are the basics of modern-day life. My hon. Friend the Member for Camborne and Redruth mentioned, towards the start of his speech, that the economic divides among our regions have led to a kind of fraying of the social fabric. There is a danger that we become more vulnerable to the anger, resentment and radicalisation that we often see in our politics. It is a mistake to assume that radicalisation can only happen to a very small number of people who are particularly vulnerable. It can happen to anyone when the economic conditions are ripe, particularly at a time when social media giants have built algorithms designed to keep us angry and afraid, and to make us think that our country has never been so bad. It is important to remember that that is not real. When we visit our coastal communities, we see that England is alive and well. It is there in fishing villages, farmsteads, the stained glass of church windows, dry stone walls and rolling fields. It is there in marketplaces, allotments and so much else. We must not lose sight of that. That England is alive and kicking. That unpixellated England is waiting for us all to come home.

• 8 Sept 2025 · Remote Coastal Communities · Hansard source

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  Governments of many colours have missed a trick by not investing and unlocking economic growth in our communities. We are not a problem, but we could be if not addressed.

• 4 Sept 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I pay tribute to the firefighters, farmers, volunteers and all the businesses, such as Woodsmith, that have come together to tackle the fires in North Yorkshire. Will the Leader of the House join me in giving thanks to everyone who has come out to tackle those blazes? What support can be provided to those who have come together to do so?

• 2 Sept 2025 · Recognition of a Palestinian State · Hansard source

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  We all want to see an end to the suffering and progress towards a two-state solution, but what assurance can the Foreign Secretary provide that in the recognition of Palestine there can be no role for Hamas in the governance of a Palestinian state?

• 2 Sept 2025 · Speciality Steel UK: Insolvency · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for her statement, and for the decisive action this Government have taken to safeguard steel jobs across the country. Liberty Pipes is delivering an important contract for the Government’s landmark carbon capture, usage and storage project in our region. Can the Minister provide assurance not only that those jobs in our region are unaffected, but that this project continues at pace?

• 17 Jul 2025 · Industrial Strategy: Teesside · Hansard source

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  5. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the industrial strategy on Teesside.

• 17 Jul 2025 · Industrial Strategy: Teesside · Hansard source

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  I am pleased that the Government have been listening to us and backing Teesside businesses with serious investment—I have been pushing for investment in clean power and advanced manufacturing. Last year, the 2024 UK tech jobs report named Middlesbrough as the UK’s fastest-growing tech destination. Will Ministers work with me to bring in investment in frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence to our region as well?

• 17 Jul 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Government’s commitment to provide homes for heroes, but some social housing providers are focusing on those with very recent service only. My constituent Arthur is a veteran with 12 years’ service, but he is living in an overcrowded property; in fact, he is sleeping on the floor in the living room so that his children can have a bed. Will the Leader of the House ensure that I can obtain a meeting with the relevant Minister to ensure that veterans like Arthur get the housing they need?

• 17 Jul 2025 · Strategy for Elections · Hansard source

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  I welcome this strategy from the Government. Under the previous Government, we saw serious issues with MPs taking thousands of pounds from a Russia-linked entity, despite the Ministry of Defence raising “significant security concerns”. I am concerned that we are still seeing such issues today. We have seen reports of Reform UK taking tens of thousands of pounds from a company whose owner is apparently based overseas. Does the Minister agree that this raises the urgent need to tighten donation rules and protect our democracy?

• 16 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

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  Breaking down barriers to opportunity and giving children the best start in life is one of the Government’s defining missions, so I welcome the steps that have been taken to expand free school meals, roll out free breakfast clubs and establish the child poverty taskforce. Does the Minister agree that when that taskforce reports in the autumn, it is really important that it recommends things like lifting the two-child limit, which would make such a difference to so many families?

• 14 Jul 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T5. Residents in parts of East Cleveland are rightly sick of unscrupulous landlords dumping individuals with serious criminal histories in our villages. Will the Department support my call for the council to introduce selective licensing in the area, and what further support can the Secretary of State offer to help us take back control of our villages?

• 10 Jul 2025 · Electricity Market Review · Hansard source

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  Yesterday I hosted a roundtable of manufacturers in the rural part of my constituency. They welcomed the Government’s industrial strategy and particularly the measures on industrial energy prices, but they raised concerns about the grid connections in that part of my constituency. Will the Government work with me to improve these grid connections, because the Teesside region has thousands of jobs in clean energy and green industries, and I want all my industries to benefit from that?

• 10 Jul 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Douglas Forteath, vice-principal at Freebrough academy in my constituency, is retiring after 30 years of service as a school teacher. He was one of my teachers when I was there—[Hon. Members: “Ah!”] Will the Leader of the House join me in paying tribute both to Douglas for 30 years of educating young people in our constituency and to teachers all across our country?

• 10 Jul 2025 · Victims of Terrorism: State Support · Hansard source

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  Several Members have raised the issue of the 63 recommendations, which I know the Minister will touch on. I also recognise that the Minister published some of the findings of the Victims of Terrorism Unit report in March, which is appreciated, because previously there was a bit of black hole in terms of information. That is genuine progress, and I think we all recognise that the commitment to the support hub will make a genuine difference to people. I pay tribute to the Minister for taking that step, while joining the call for the full transparency and publication of those recommendations.

• 10 Jul 2025 · Educational Attainment of Boys · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for his speech. The educational attainment of boys is a serious concern, and I agree with him that it is principally a class issue. Working-class boys are further behind in their GCSEs and face higher NEET rates and exclusion rates, with a lower rate of those going on to HE. Does my hon. Friend agree that to prevent crime and antisocial behaviour and to deal with wider economic issues, we need to see early intervention and targeted support for working-class boys?

• 7 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

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  Last year, I was delighted to welcome my right hon. Friend to our family hub in Guisborough—one of three that our Labour council opened across East Cleveland. I commend the work of Nicola Hall and her team at those centres. Today our Government have gone even further by investing in early years services to benefit working families right across the country. I commend this statement and this Secretary of State for delivering that. Will local authorities with existing provision, like mine, be able to access this funding and benefit in future?

• 7 Jul 2025 · Small Boat Crossings · Hansard source

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  The small boats crisis is one of the single biggest issues that my constituents raise with me, and although the Government have made progress on returns, crossings are still happening. What assurances can the Home Secretary give my constituents that these gangs will be dismantled and that the crossings will stop?

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

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  My constituent Katherine has given 25 years of service as a civil servant, but she has been experiencing difficulties in resolving discrepancies with her pension forecast—an issue that the National Audit Office recently highlighted as a failure with the civil service pension scheme. Will the Leader of the House help me to raise the matter with the relevant Minister so that people like Katherine can receive accurate and timely information?