Matt Western MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 20 Mar 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  My sincere condolences go to the shadow Leader of the House. Hundreds of thousands of households across this country live on unadopted estates. They can be in that status for a great many years—I am hearing up to 10 years. In my constituency of Warwick and Leamington, I have estates where certain streets have been built, for example by Taylor Wimpey, and residents are just charged council tax, but on other streets, perhaps built by Persimmon, residents are being charged not just council tax but a monthly fee. Fortunately, my local Labour councillors are campaigning against companies such as FirstPort, because they see that as an absolute outright scam. Can I therefore urge the Government to allow a meeting with the Housing Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Greenwich and Woolwich (Matthew Pennycook), or indeed a debate? I fear that this issue is being felt right across the country, and it is an absolute scandal.

• 20 Mar 2025 · Conflict in Gaza · Hansard source

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  I thank the Foreign Secretary for his update. What we are seeing is clearly appalling. The signals coming from Defence Minister Katz are absolutely clear: the Israeli Government seek the total destruction of Gaza and they see the occupation of west bank as their objective. The leverage over Netanyahu’s Government is from Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, so my question is simple. Other than once again reviewing all the arms licences, and perhaps withdrawing them, and putting in place sanctions against Israel, what leverage do the UK Government have over Israel in this circumstance?

• 11 Mar 2025 · Employment Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  The shadow Minister is being very generous. I am making a simple point: it is less motivating and of less interest to a company to invest in machinery and plant if it can ultimately change the structure of its workforce or expend them through fire and rehire. That is what is holding us back, and that is why we have a 20% deficit to France and Germany in terms of productivity.

• 11 Mar 2025 · Employment Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  Will the shadow Minister give way?

• 11 Mar 2025 · Employment Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  I refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests and my union membership. The legislation before us today is truly historic. It is totemic in scale—the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation. I commend the Minister and the team for the work they have done. The Bill delivers not only for working families, but for the whole country. It will lead to higher productivity, higher wages and, ultimately, economic growth. These reforms are unashamedly pro-worker and pro-business, in sharp contrast with the past 14 years, when we saw low pay, low productivity and low growth in the economy. Shockingly, productivity grew by just 0.2% a year between 2010 and 2020. Since 2011, we have seen insecure work rise nearly three times as fast as secure work. Whether it be the 800 P&O workers who were sacked over Zoom without notice, the retail workers whose shifts get cancelled last minute and now cannot afford their weekly food shop, or the 9 million people—one in three workers in this country—not protected from unfair dismissal, it cannot go on. I will talk briefly about some of the measures in the Bill. Day one rights will provide a serious boost for millions of people. Nine million workers have less than two years’ service with their employer, and thus do not enjoy protections from unfair dismissal. I would welcome some clarity around the initial period of employment. What specific timeframe would the measure apply to, and what exactly does it mean? Moreover, I urge the Government to look at what support is available for smaller firms that are concerned about the impact that the measure may have on their costs. Can we consider what more can be done to guide companies through these changes? Zero-hours contracts are endemic across our economy. So many people with those contracts are given very little notice when their work is cancelled. In some cases, they may have already sorted out their childcare or made travel arrangements. Let me turn briefly to industrial relations. An important element of the legislation is setting the new framework for industrial relations. The Business and Trade Committee heard from many good employers, such as Jaguar Land Rover and British Aerospace, that work with the unions to create the right employment practices across their businesses. By contrast, we also witnessed the mistreatment of workers and the denial of their basic rights at Amazon, which clearly had problems in the workplace. The proposed Fair Work Agency, which is welcomed by unions and progressive businesses alike, is a positive move. As we heard in the Business and Trade Committee, the agency needs to be adequately resourced, because it is so important. I shall turn to some of the amendments that I support. We just heard from my right hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield Heeley (Louise Haigh) about new clause 74. One constituent of mine, Mrs E, was the victim of harassment in the workplace. She was victim to a particular individual who was protected by the management. Ultimately, she had to leave the organisation. He then also had to leave himself. Harassment is such a problem in the workplace, and it is something that must be addressed in this legislation. New clause 81 relates to modern slavery. The Select Committee heard about the problems of Shein and how companies in the UK have been disadvantaged by the practices of businesses that operate elsewhere. I wish to talk a bit more about productivity and the points that I raised with the shadow Minister. The legislation is important because it brings not only great benefits to workers, but even greater responsibilities for employers. Tighter employment legislation leads to greater productivity, as we see in France and Germany. Both countries have seen a 20% advantage in their productivity compared with that of the UK. This is why we have seen such a stagnant economy in the UK over the past 10 years. This legislation is another reminder to the people of this country that only the Labour party can deliver for working families. It will mean less uncertainty at work, less insecurity at work and more money in people’s pockets. I urge the Government to look at the Fair Work Agency, and particularly at the definitions of “reasonable notice”, “moved” and “short notice”, and to provide clarity on how many weeks the initial and subsequent reference periods should be. This is a colossal piece of legislation that is so important in this decade. It brings about real change, which is what this party will deliver for working people, thereby boosting productivity and ultimately growing the economy.

• 11 Mar 2025 · Employment Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  Does the shadow Minister not accept that it is due to the expendability of employees in the workplace that we have such a poor rate of productivity in this country, particularly compared with France and Germany?

• 13 Feb 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I am sorry that I forgot to wear red today. If we are to meet net zero, we need to address the CO 2 emissions from our housing stock. We have some of the oldest housing stock in Europe, and it accounts for 17% of our CO 2 emissions. As I understand it, one issue is that houses in conservation areas and grade II properties cannot be changed to double glazing or secondary glazing. Can we have a debate on the hundreds of thousands of affected homes across this country? These households want to do the right thing for this country by reducing their CO 2 emissions, and they want to reduce their bills. That means changing their glazing—it is as simple as that—so we need to change our planning legislation.

• 11 Feb 2025 · Cost of Energy · Hansard source

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  Order. I remind hon. Members to refer to each other as “the hon. Member” as opposed to “you”.

• 11 Feb 2025 · Cost of Energy · Hansard source

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  I remind Members that they should bob if they wish to be called in the debate.

• 6 Feb 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  In a week when we are reminded of the tragedy of Grenfell Tower, we have also learned about the scandal of companies issuing false fire safety certificates, or EWS1—external wall system—forms. I understand that there is no official register of those certificates, yet tens of thousands of homeowners are affected by the issue, and face their properties being uninsurable and unsaleable. Can we have a debate in Government time on this scandal and the need for an official register of these certificates?

• 6 Feb 2025 · Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories · Hansard source

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  The current ceasefire is clearly welcome, but it is fragile, given that Israel seems determined to pursue a policy of expansionism. We have seen the bombings in Jenin and the expansion into southern Lebanon, as well as into the buffer zone of the Golan heights, and Israel will only be emboldened by the irresponsible ramblings of the new US President. Does the Minister agree that we are witnessing ethnic cleansing, and can I urge the UK Government to lead at the United Nations with a new resolution for a Marshall plan to ensure the rebuilding of Gaza on the terms of the Palestinian people?

• 22 Jan 2025 · Child Arrangements: Presumption of Parental Involvement · Hansard source

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  I will call Dr Marie Tidball 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 for 30-minute debates.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Listed Places of Worship Scheme · Hansard source

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  Order. Can interventions be brief, please?

• 22 Jan 2025 · Listed Places of Worship Scheme · Hansard source

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  Sir Christopher, thank you for your point of order. I am sure that that is something the Minister will attend to in his winding-up speech.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Listed Places of Worship Scheme · Hansard source

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  I call the Father of the House.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Listed Places of Worship Scheme · Hansard source

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  I remind Members that they should bob if they wish to be called in the debate. Given that so many are standing, we will start with a time limit of three minutes. I ask that any interventions be kept to a minimum.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Listed Places of Worship Scheme · Hansard source

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  I call on the Liberal Democrat spokesperson, and I would appreciate it if her speech could be reduced to around nine minutes.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Listed Places of Worship Scheme · Hansard source

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  Due to the constraints of time and the number of interventions, after the next speaker we will reduce the time to two minutes each.

• 21 Jan 2025 · Auditory Verbal Therapy · Hansard source

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  Order. I remind Members that they should bob if they wish to be called in the debate. I never thought I would be saying these words, but it is my pleasure to invite Mr Jim Shannon to speak.

• 21 Jan 2025 · Auditory Verbal Therapy · Hansard source

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  I also thank Sam and his family for attending this morning. Question put and agreed to. Resolved , That this House has considered the provision of auditory verbal therapy.

• 21 Jan 2025 · Northern Ireland’s Political Institutions · Hansard source

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  I will call Sorcha Eastwood to move the motion and then the Minister to respond. As is the convention for 30-minute debates, there will not be an opportunity for the Member in charge to wind up.