Martin Vickers MP: speeches

168 published records · newest first.

Speeches

31 Oct 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source
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Last Friday, along with the hon. Member for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes (Melanie Onn) and council leaders, I met National Highways specifically to raise the issue of the A180, but also access to the major ports of Immingham and Grimsby. Irrespective of the amount of National Highways’ resources, surely the input from local representatives is important. Can we have a debate about how National Highways prioritises its various spending programmes?
31 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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Although yesterday’s announcements may dampen businesses’ expansion plans, many businesses in my constituency and elsewhere find it difficult to expand because of national grid connections. What are Ministers doing to engage with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and National Grid to ensure that connections are available?
28 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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T6. Ministers have acknowledged in reply to earlier questions that they recognise the financial pressures being placed on local authorities, especially in connection with children’s services and adult social care. Whatever may or may not be in the Budget, can the Minister reassure council tax payers that they will not bear an undue burden as a result of any changes?
24 Oct 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source
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North Lincolnshire council has just published proposals for a green growth zone, which will help to revitalise the local economy, provide engineering jobs and help young people to find a route into the renewable energy sector. As that appears to fit perfectly with the Government’s growth agenda, will the Leader of the House arrange a statement, or preferably a debate in Government time, on green growth zones across the country?
24 Oct 2024 · Special Educational Needs and Disabilities · Hansard source
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On a recent visit to a school in my constituency, it was put to me that not all schools fully participate in dealing with special needs children, and my casework over the years substantiates that. What efforts is the Minister making to ensure that all schools participate fully?
22 Oct 2024 · Postal Voting at General Elections · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend is making an interesting and powerful speech. He referred to the number of items delivered by Royal Mail, and said that it is going through a period of change. Do we need to look for alternatives to Royal Mail because of the major changes that are taking place?
17 Oct 2024 · Youth Services · Hansard source
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As the Member of Parliament for a bit of Grimsby, I share the support of the hon. Member for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes (Melanie Onn) for the excellent work carried out in the area. However, the Secretary of State rightly criticises the last Government for reducing the resources made available to the youth sector. Can she reassure me that this Government will actually increase those resources?
17 Oct 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source
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Earlier this week, I met the representative of a business that is proposing a carbon capture project in my constituency. They stressed the importance of having a decision from the Secretary of State by the end of this year. Will the Leader of the House arrange for the Secretary of State to come to the House with a statement on the next stage of these projects?
17 Oct 2024 · Hongkongers in the UK: Visas, Security and Services · Hansard source
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I remind Members that they should bob if they wish to be called in the debate. To allow Mr Rand two minutes at the end to wind up, I will be calling the Front Benchers from 2.28 pm. If Members could limit their contribution to five minutes, I will have no need to impose a time limit.
16 Oct 2024 · Steel Industry · Hansard source
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The Minister and I share a desire to see a thriving steel industry. On a couple of occasions in her reply, she mentioned wanting to halt its decline, as well as the production of the steel strategy in the spring. Can she give any sort of assurance that there will be no job losses at Scunthorpe until the strategy is produced? Then we can then work together to plan the way forward.
16 Oct 2024 · Steel Industry · Hansard source
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It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mrs Harris. I congratulate the hon. Member for Boston and Skegness (Richard Tice) on securing this timely debate. Part of the British steel site at Scunthorpe falls within my Brigg and Immingham constituency, so needless to say I take a keen interest in its future. The site is known across the country and further afield for the steel it produces, which is top-quality virgin steel made from raw materials. This method of production results in products used for rail tracks and tyre wire, all the way to cruise ships and the Shard. British steel can be found all over the world. The steelworkers who make this world-class product are understandably proud of the skills they possess. There is widespread, cross-party agreement that steel is incredibly important for everything we do, from defence to growth, which the hon. Member for Newport East (Jessica Morden) mentioned. If anything can be defined as a core industry—one of genuine strategic importance—it must be steel. Workers and their families in my constituency and across northern Lincolnshire are incredibly concerned. They have heard rumours and seen press reports in recent weeks that suggest an early end to the imports of coke, the imminent closure of blast furnaces and escalating plans to import steel from the other side of the world to replace the products they make. Understandably, they want to know once and for all whether the rumours are true. They want certainty on whether the plan is to keep the blast furnaces running at least until electric arc furnaces are fully operational—does that still stand? Prior to the election, Labour candidates stood on a platform of support for the UK steel industry, and billions of pounds were pledged. My constituents have not forgotten what they were told. They want to know where those billions are going and they want to see them spent in Scunthorpe. Will the Minister level with workers at the Scunthorpe site and set out exactly what this Government’s intentions are? Do they want to keep a domestic steel industry, like many countries around the world, or do they not? The absolute least that the workforce at Scunthorpe deserve is for the Government to be completely frank with them on this issue. Do the Government value the work of steelmakers in Scunthorpe? Do they value the strategic capability of our nation to make our own steel? Do they want to keep domestic steel production for use in infrastructure and defence? How and when are they going secure that? If they cannot answer yes to those questions, can they explain what is so exceptional about the UK that means we cannot aspire to maintain a steel industry? The reality is that maintaining a steel industry will always demand support from the public purse. Without a steel industry, we are in effect admitting that we no longer aspire to be a major manufacturing nation and accepting that we do not value the defence industry. In discussions on steel there are those who like to criticise the efforts of the previous Government. Although I do not want to spend the short time I have on political point scoring, I do think it is worth setting out some of the realities. The Conservative Government extended trade tariffs on steel products twice in the last Parliament; they did this having listened to MPs and businesses. It is a fact that they brought forward measures to help energy costs, and that they paid workers’ wages at Scunthorpe for many months to maintain jobs, skills and the site itself during the sale of the business five years ago. These were tangible, proactive decisions made by a Government who understood the importance of steel to our nation. The former Member for Scunthorpe, Holly Mumby-Croft, mentioned steel over 200 times in questions and debates during her time in the House. I recognise that the current hon. Member for Scunthorpe (Sir Nicholas Dakin) is a Minister, meaning, I presume, that he supports the Government’s policies in relation to the steel industry. If his mailbag is similar to mine, he will know the scale of anxiety across the whole area. Just last week he was calling for a deal at Scunthorpe similar to the one in south Wales, where thousands of workers are set to lose their jobs. I want to see a policy that supports jobs, produces top-quality steel and supports the whole supply chain, which Scunthorpe relies on. Under the last Labour Government, steel production and jobs halved in the UK. Will the Minister reassure workers at the Scunthorpe site that this Labour Government do not intend to repeat that legacy? I understand that the Minister is involved in current negotiations and will not be able to share all the detail the discussions. If that is the case, can she at least give the workers some clarity on when she expects there to be an announcement on the future of the site? Will she also reassure residents that she is working with North Lincolnshire council’s leader Rob Waltham, who proactively travelled to China a few weeks ago to meet the owners in person? He is taking a front-and-centre role in putting together a masterplan for the site to ensure that jobs and opportunities are brought to the area. He must be fully supported by the Government in that work; will the Minister confirm that that support will be offered? I am conscious that there are those who will challenge the continuation of blast furnace steelmaking on environmental grounds, but it is quite clear that ending the production of virgin steel in the UK, and then importing virgin steel from abroad, would simply be offshoring our own emissions and adding the emissions involved in the transport of the steel to the UK. We should certainly not consider patting ourselves on the back for making environmental improvements if the Government’s plan is simply to allow the same or worse levels of emissions to be created elsewhere and for the steel then to be brought to the UK on diesel ships.
16 Oct 2024 · Steel Industry · Hansard source
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There would certainly be a case for the point the hon. Member makes. I gently point out that net zero is actually crucial to the economy of northern Lincolnshire, which I represent—I am thinking of the Humber Zero project and similar schemes. I think you are urging me to come to a conclusion, Mrs Harris, so I will miss the next two or three pages out. I will say that whatever deal is reached now is in this Government’s hands. This an industry that, if lost, will be lost forever. I call on the Minister to redouble her efforts to secure the future of steelmaking in Scunthorpe and throughout the country. It is hard to exaggerate how crucial this is to Scunthorpe, to northern Lincolnshire and to the UK as a whole. We must bring this situation to a conclusion speedily to avoid the anxiety that workers are currently experiencing.
16 Oct 2024 · City and Town Centres: Regeneration · Hansard source
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In order to try to get most people in, I will now impose a fixed three-minute time limit on speeches. I call Darren Paffey.
16 Oct 2024 · City and Town Centres: Regeneration · Hansard source
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Order. There is a Division in the House. The sitting is suspended for 15 minutes.
16 Oct 2024 · City and Town Centres: Regeneration · Hansard source
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Order. We have three more speakers, so would they take two minutes each? I call Amanda Martin.
16 Oct 2024 · City and Town Centres: Regeneration · Hansard source
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Order. I remind Members that they should bob if they wish to be called. It is highly unlikely that we will fit everyone in, as we have a long list of speakers. I will impose a time limit if necessary, but initially I ask Members to limit themselves to three minutes. Even then, I fear that people near the bottom of the list will probably not be called. Please help by keeping interventions to a minimum.
16 Oct 2024 · City and Town Centres: Regeneration · Hansard source
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Order. Our first two Back-Bench speeches have been slightly over the three-minute mark, but Rachel Hopkins will now demonstrate how to keep to time.
16 Oct 2024 · City and Town Centres: Regeneration · Hansard source
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Order. I think you are trying to have the 30 seconds you lost. Interventions should be much shorter.
16 Oct 2024 · City and Town Centres: Regeneration · Hansard source
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I call the Lib Dem spokesperson, Vikki Slade.
16 Oct 2024 · City and Town Centres: Regeneration · Hansard source
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That speech lasted for four minutes, so we are getting better. Jim Shannon will take only three.
10 Oct 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source
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In north and north-east Lincolnshire, we have some excellent further and higher education institutions that provide the knowledge and skills that our young people need for the evolving world of work. Yesterday, I met representatives of the Association of Colleges, who outlined the challenges that the sector faces. Can we have a debate in Government time on further and higher education colleges to give Members the opportunity to tease out from Government how they see policies developing in that area?
10 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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I welcome the Secretary of State’s decision to approve the new roll-on, roll-off shipping terminal at Immingham. However, as she will be aware, it will put more pressure on the local road network, particularly the A180. Will she bring forward improvements to the A180, particularly the removal of the concrete surfaces? Long term, we really need the A180 to be upgraded to motorway status.
7 Oct 2024 · Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage · Hansard source
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The Secretary of State will be aware that the Humber area produces the most emissions in the country, and it is vital that we make progress in that region. Some £15 billion-worth of private investment stands ready. The Secretary of State mentioned that there will be a further announcement in the coming months. Could he perhaps advance that as quickly as possible in order that we can take our first steps towards reaching our targets?
7 Oct 2024 · British Indian Ocean Territory: Negotiations · Hansard source
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Those of us who have had the privilege of visiting some of the overseas territories or meeting their representatives here in Westminster are very much aware of their strong loyalty to and admiration for the United Kingdom. Even if they have heard what the Foreign Secretary said this afternoon, perhaps they are right to have a nagging doubt that that loyalty will not be returned, are they not?
12 Sept 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source
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I recently visited Lindsey Lodge hospice, which serves my constituents along with St Andrew’s hospice in Grimsby. They rely on Government for approximately a third of their income. Obviously, there were concerns that that income may be reduced in the near future. The volunteers do tremendous work, but they need that Government support. Will the Leader of the House arrange for a statement from the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to reassure those hospices about their future income streams?

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