Martin Vickers MP: speeches

Speeches

• 7 Jan 2025 · Northern Gaza · Hansard source

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  Last Saturday morning, a constituent came to my surgery to discuss the situation in Gaza. She reminded me that she had previously visited my surgery exactly a year ago to discuss the situation. I recognise that the Minister was critical of the previous Administration; to some extent, that is justified, but the reality is that the situation remains the same. We can all agree that Hamas should release the hostages immediately, but does the Minister agree that the continued bombardment of Gaza by the Israelis is not of itself going to deliver that? If he agrees, has he made that very clear to the Israelis?

• 7 Jan 2025 · Care Sector Salaries · Hansard source

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  In north-east Lincolnshire, a social enterprise employs 800 staff providing health and social care. I have been approached by many staff who are unhappy that they have not benefited from the increases that NHS staff have gained. They have the support of the Royal College of Nursing and are looking for the Government to provide Care Plus Group, which employs them, with the resources to ensure that they are recompensed to the same level. What is the Secretary of State able to pass on to them?

• 19 Dec 2024 · Misdemeanours · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Lady for that reply and I appreciate the additional resources, but what my constituents, and I am sure constituents up and down the country, want to see is robust effective policing and prosecution of what is low-level crime in the great scheme of things, but which can be a real curse, particularly on our housing estates. Can the hon. Lady give an assurance to my constituents that there will be real robust and positive action?

• 19 Dec 2024 · Misdemeanours · Hansard source

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  3. What steps she is taking to help ensure the effective prosecution of perpetrators of misdemeanours.

• 19 Dec 2024 · Hospice Funding · Hansard source

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  Any increase in funding for the hospice movement is of course welcome, but let us be honest: it is giving with one hand and taking with the other. The two excellent hospices that serve my constituency—St Andrew’s in Grimsby and Lindsey Lodge in Scunthorpe—tell me they want certainty. The Minister says they will be told early in the new year. Can the Minister give a categorical assurance that in the first half of January hospices will be told how much extra they are getting from the £100 million she mentioned?

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

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  Last week, I called in on the drop-in session organised by Alzheimer’s Research UK and Prostate Cancer UK. At these sessions, we repeatedly hear appeals for people to go in for early diagnosis, and the message is the same now as it was many years ago. Could the Leader of the House find time for a debate on how we can prevent illness through early screening and diagnosis?

• 19 Dec 2024 · Christmas Adjournment · Hansard source

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  Earlier this year, I initiated a Westminster Hall debate on headlight glare and the increasing road safety risks resulting from modern vehicle headlights. I did so having read an article in my local newspaper, the Grimsby Telegraph , reporting on a study carried out by the Royal Automobile Club, and it emerged from the debate that the Department for Transport is undertaking research. Last week, in business questions, I raised the matter with the Leader of the House, and I appreciated her reply saying that she would get the Minister to follow up. I was planning on raising the matter in this debate anyway. I look forward to receiving that update, but I hope that mentioning it yet again today will keep it on the Department’s agenda. We all know that lighting technology has changed considerably in the past decade or so. Clearly it is to everyone’s advantage that vehicles are well lit, particularly for pedestrians, but there can be no doubt that the amount of glare has increased, and the Minister who responded to my May debate acknowledged that he was receiving far more correspondence on this matter. Dr John Lincoln of LightAware, a charity that explores these issues, explains that although the human eye can adapt to a wide range of light levels, from bright sunlight to almost total darkness, it cannot do so in a short space of time. He went on to detail the various scientific issues involved. I appreciate that the issue is complex and that the Department will have to do much research before introducing any regulations, but it is important. It is not just that the lights are much brighter, but that some vehicles seem to have far more than required. There is also the issue of street furniture, such as where vehicles passing over road humps can glare oncoming drivers. Last January, the RAC published the results of its research, showing that 89% of drivers think that some or most headlights on the roads are too bright. Some 74% said that they were regularly dazzled. That might result in part from the fact that we have many more larger vehicles on the roads, and they sit higher off the road. LightAware has carried out extensive research on that, and I hope the Department will soon conclude its own research. The College of Optometrists has suggested that as many as half of motorists over the age of 60 may have early-stage cataracts in both eyes. That makes them even more vulnerable to glare from oncoming vehicles. I hope that we can fairly rapidly conclude that research and bring forward new regulations to improve road safety. I will touch on one or two constituency issues. I am sorry to bore Members about this issue, but I can tell new Members that the only way to get success in this place often is to bore Front Benchers so that they eventually take action. In 2011, I first raised the issue of direct train services from my constituency—then called Cleethorpes—to King’s Cross, which were withdrawn by British Rail in 1992. I am still campaigning. Along with my friend the hon. Member for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes (Melanie Onn), we now await a meeting with yet another Minister from the Department for Transport to hopefully restore that service. As I have mentioned to many Transport Secretaries over the years, my constituency has 10 railway stations, an international airport and the largest port in the country, yet we still cannot have a direct train service to London. That is crucial to the development of industry in the area and is fully supported by big business. The Hull and Humber chamber of commerce has done much research on it. I very much hope that it will be brought forward in the not-too-distant future. I see that my time is running out, so I will restrict myself to just one other railway issue. It was interesting to hear the hon. Member for Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor (Alan Strickland) talk about the 200th anniversary of the Stockton and Darlington railway. As chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on rail, I hope that we can all join in marking that occasion. It will not be marked in Brigg, though. The rail service between Gainsborough, Brigg, Grimsby and Cleethorpes has one train a day and allows people only 90 minutes to enjoy the sunny sands of Cleethorpes or the excellent shopping in Grimsby. It is pointless to run one service a day and give people only 90 minutes at their destination. The service is run for the convenience of Northern Trains, rather than for passengers. I see the Lord Commissioner of His Majesty’s Treasury, the hon. Member for Redcar (Anna Turley), nodding; I hope that the message will get through to the Department for Transport. I could go on for much longer, but I conclude by saying happy Christmas to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and to all Members and staff, and a prosperous and safe new year.

• 16 Dec 2024 · English Devolution · Hansard source

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  The Minister has just concluded the Greater Lincolnshire devolution deal, which I welcome and support. As he will know, there were two unitary authorities in the north of the county and the rest is a two-tier system. Do the Government expect that two-tier area to come forward with proposals for unitary authorities? If so, may I remind him that the sparsity factor plays with Lincolnshire, and the target of 500,000 is far too high. Prior to 1974 there were three county councils to cover the whole county.

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

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  Thank you, Mr Speaker. During the last Parliament, I initiated a Westminster Hall debate about the growing evidence that bright LED lights on vehicles were resulting in more road traffic accidents. I know that the Leader of the House might tell me that I can initiate yet another debate, but it would be even better if she arranged for a Minister to make a statement about the evidence that the Department for Transport is collecting on that matter.

• 12 Dec 2024 · Building Homes · Hansard source

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  In reply to an earlier question, the Minister spoke of streamlining the planning system. In my 26 years as a councillor and 14 years in this House, I have heard successive Governments talk about streamlining the planning system, by which they mean taking more central control. It results in frustration among ward councillors, frustration among their constituents who feel that they are not able to participate properly and frustration for Government because, in effect, they fail to meet their targets, as I am sure this Government will. Does the Minister accept that one way of involving local communities, other than in the local plan, is to allow local councillors to work closer with their communities and have some influence over individual major developments? In that case, we would have better quality and the Government would meet their targets a lot quicker.

• 12 Dec 2024 · Steel Industry: South Yorkshire · Hansard source

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  As the Minister knows, it is not just South Yorkshire that is facing difficult decisions about the steel industry. I thank her for our recent meeting about the future of Scunthorpe. Is she able to add anything on when we might expect an announcement? As she will appreciate, particularly at this time of year, there is growing anxiety among the workforce.

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

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  The Minister speaks of mandatory training for councillors, but it has been tried before. It sounds like an effort by central Government to make councillors think more like planning officers, rather than be representatives of their local community. Those of us who have served on local authorities know full well that there are frequently recommendations from officers to approve major schemes, which, in the wider context—infrastructure, schools, GPs and so on—planning committees have refused. Can the Minister assure us that they would still have discretion to turn down applications, even if the recommendation from officers was to approve them?

• 2 Dec 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  There is growing concern among constituents that planning decisions are being swept aside because of the Government’s new planning reforms. What assurance can the Minister give that there will be meaningful engagement between constituents and their local planning authority, and that decisions will be respected?

• 28 Nov 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Earlier this week, along with Members across the House, I attended the drop-in session organised by the Royal National Institute of Blind People. One of the stands at the session outlined the difficulties that blind and partially sighted people have in exercising their vote on election day. Will the Leader of the House find time for a debate on how blind, partially sighted and other disabled people are able to exercise their vote? Much work has been done in recent years, but there is still more to do.

• 28 Nov 2024 · Historic Church Preservation: Northumberland · Hansard source

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  It is not just in Northumberland where there are many historic churches. The village of Ashby cum Fenby in my constituency has recently shown that the local community will come together to support their local church, but vital to that is leadership. With priests spread throughout so many different parishes, it becomes more and more difficult to provide that leadership. Can the hon. Lady give an assurance that the Church will do all it can to ensure that our smaller villages are not neglected, and that there are regular services and leadership by the ordained priest?

• 21 Nov 2024 · Condition of Local Roads · Hansard source

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  John Prescott was a towering figure in the politics of the Humber region, and I associate myself with the words of sympathy to his family. Roads in my constituency are under greater pressure because traffic from the A180 is continually being transferred on to them while it is being patched up. Earlier this month, the hon. Member for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes (Melanie Onn) and I met National Highways, and it is perfectly obvious that the A180 will be in its present state for many years to come. Will the Secretary of State meet me and the hon. Member for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes to discuss this and other transport issues in the area?

• 21 Nov 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Last week at my surgery in Barton-upon-Humber, two constituents, the parents of a young man who died suddenly from a cardiac arrest, pointed out that between 12 and 20 young people under 35 die in similar undiagnosed circumstances each week. Screening would play a major part in dealing with such tragic situations. Can the Leader of the House find time for a debate in Government time when we can look at the whole screening programme for serious diseases?

• 14 Nov 2024 · National Insurance Contributions: Healthcare · Hansard source

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  Earlier this week, I received a letter from the Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire air ambulance, a charitable healthcare provider. The national insurance changes will add £70,000 a year to its costs, and if it is forced to close, lives will be lost. May I urge the Minister—I know she will want to protect this service—to do all she can to ensure that that air ambulance and others across the country are not hit by this tax?

• 13 Nov 2024 · Future of the Post Office · Hansard source

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  One of the post offices on today’s list of potential closures is in Grimsby, where many of my constituents work and run businesses. The Minister rightly says that Crown post offices are more costly. I can assure him that the one in Grimsby, for example, could easily operate in much smaller premises or in premises shared with other businesses in the commercial centre of the town. Will the Minister give an assurance that he will ensure the Post Office looks at operating out of alternative premises, and cuts its costs before considering closures?

• 12 Nov 2024 · NHS Dentistry: South-west · Hansard source

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  I remind Members that if they wish to speak, they should bob. If they could limit their contributions to an absolute maximum of four minutes, we will probably get everyone in. But it is going to be a squeeze, particularly if there are too many interventions.

• 12 Nov 2024 · Breast Cancer: Younger Women · Hansard source

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  I will call Vera Hobhouse to move the motion, and I will then call the Minister to respond. There will not be an opportunity for the Member in charge to wind up, as is the convention in 30-minute debates.

• 12 Nov 2024 · Transport Infrastructure Projects: Elizabeth Line · Hansard source

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  I remind Members that they should bob if they wish to be called in the debate. If Members restrict themselves to speaking for about five minutes, we should be able to accommodate everyone.

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

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  Order. Interventions are supposed to be short. May I ask the hon. Member to conclude hers?

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

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  Reference has been made to rural crime. May I suggest that a whole new definition of “rural crime” is the proposals contained in the Budget? The Labour party has yet again shown that it does not understand the rural community. If family farms close, there will be a knock-on effect for grain merchants, farm machinery dealers and so on. Can the Minister explain what assessment has been made of the impact on the total rural economy?

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

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  I am afraid that, for those of us who can remember the 1970s, we appear to have gone back in time, with a Labour Government increasing borrowing, increasing spending and, of course, increasing our taxes. There was a little improvement during the Tony Blair years, as he seemed at least to recognise that we have to create wealth before we can spend it, but this Budget clearly indicates that the Government have failed that test. Budgets often unravel in four or five days; this one unravelled in four or five hours. Many hon. Members will have read the article in today’s Times by Sir James Dyson. Hopefully Labour Members will take note of his comments. It is clear that the Government are set on a course that will most certainly not deliver on their growth agenda. My constituency is very industrial and takes in the south bank of the Humber, containing two oil refineries, chemical industries, logistics and much more. It also contains the largest port in the country by tonnage, Immingham, and I cannot fail to mention the port of Grimsby; I only have one ward of Grimsby in my constituency, but Grimsby was the world’s largest deep-sea fishing port and is now still reliant on fish supplies, as thousands are employed in fish processing. Grimsby is also a major centre for the renewable energy sector. As we transition towards clean energy production, we have developed a network of training and skills institutions to prepare the younger generation for jobs in that sector. However, I must offer a word of caution: Ministers should have less zeal and more realism in trying to meet stretched targets. We have a large rural hinterland where people toil to put food on our table. It is a constituency where tens of thousands work hard for a living. Today’s debate is about protecting working people. The working people I represent are resilient and self-reliant, but they do expect some support and protection from their Government. What they want are good public services in exchange for their taxes. We have had a large tax hike on businesses, and we know that many parts of the health sector will have to pay enormous increases in employer’s contributions. Hon. Members across the House will have heard from doctors, from pensioners, from GPs and from farmers who are desperately concerned about what is coming. I urge the Government to protect jobs and reverse their damaging proposals. Only then will they truly be able to say that they are protecting working people.