Matthew Patrick MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 20 Jun 2025 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

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  Today we are faced with a defining choice. We have debated assisted dying for months, and in some ways we could never have enough time for this. I wish there had been more opportunity to debate the amendments, but I can also say, based on my time in these debates, that hon. Members have approached these issues with great dignity and care. My hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley (Kim Leadbeater), who is a friend of mine and who I am very proud of, has led this debate with characteristic humanity, decency and honour. I am sure all of us have found that whenever we have approached her with our concerns or those of others, she has had a willing ear and an open heart. I pay tribute to her. Opponents of the Bill have also worked tirelessly to understand and voice people’s concerns, and like my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley, they brought that expertise so that all voices could be heard today. My office has been approached more than 1,000 times by people in Wirral West regarding this issue, and that has shown that people are guided by all faiths and none. As others have said, that deserves great respect. I think back to a meeting I held to discuss this matter in Melrose Hall in Hoylake with more than 50 constituents. With candour and respect, people shared their personal stories. They disagreed wholeheartedly, but they did so with compassion and dignity. They are the best of us. Standing here, I recognise that however today ends up, we will let people down—whether the Bill passes and people who would otherwise not choose to have an assisted death go through with one, or whether the Bill falls and people who I believe should have the choice to end their illness on their own terms are denied that opportunity. I am conscious of that, yet the vote before us is not on the harrowing stories we have heard but on a system, and it is that system that I worry about, as it would have implications that go beyond individual cases. The consequences of getting this wrong are severe, and the risks of getting it wrong with an NHS still in recovery are too high.

• 19 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  For many people in Wirral West, their church is a hub where they can practise their faith and put their values into action. That was evident to me at a recent meeting with representatives of St Luke’s church in Hoylake, West Kirby Methodist church, Wirral’s Methodist churches, West Kirby United Reformed church and Saints Catherine and Martina Roman Catholic church. Can the Leader of the House set out when we might have a debate to celebrate the work of churches across our communities?

• 16 Jun 2025 · Iran-Israel Conflict · Hansard source

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  When the UN’s nuclear watchdog says that Iran is closing in on the ability to develop up to nine nuclear weapons, I worry. Does the Foreign Secretary agree that it is in our national interests that Iran never acquires those nuclear weapons?

• 11 Jun 2025 · Spending Review 2025 · Hansard source

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  I wonder whether the Chancellor can help me. I want to write a letter to my constituents, and I do not know which story I should lead with—whether it is the rapid investment in our NHS to get more doctors’ appointments, the money for our police to get more police on the streets, the transport investment to build new train stations, or the money to give hungry children in my constituency free school meals. Could she help me out? I only have one page. What should I start with?

• 9 Jun 2025 · Support for High Streets · Hansard source

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  Heswall in my Wirral West constituency is a brilliant place to live and deserves a thriving high street, but unfortunately for too many years now beloved shops have closed and decline has felt inevitable. The people of Heswall deserve better. I appreciate the Minister’s answer, but will he go further in explaining exactly how my constituents can take back control of their high street, so that it can thrive once again and deliver growth and opportunities for them?

• 9 Jun 2025 · Support for High Streets · Hansard source

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  4. What steps she is taking to support high streets.

• 5 Jun 2025 · Infected Blood Compensation Scheme · Hansard source

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  14. What recent progress he has made on establishing an infected blood compensation scheme.

• 5 Jun 2025 · Infected Blood Compensation Scheme · Hansard source

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  In Wirral West, my constituent became a victim of this scandal over 50 years ago when she was a child, and it has affected her life ever since. In her own words, victims have gone through horrible levels of distress, and now they wait for compensation. That wait is not just for financial security; it is for closure. Could the Minister please give me and my constituent assurances that the speed at which the payments will be made will be ramped up?

• 3 Jun 2025 · Football Governance Bill [ Lords ] (First sitting) · Hansard source

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  I refer the Committee to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.

• 20 May 2025 · UK-EU Summit · Hansard source

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  The energy industry is central to our mission for growth, but it is also important to our tackling of the generational challenge that is climate change. This is a sentiment felt in my constituency, which is proud to be a regional hub of carbon capture and hydrogen storage. Will the Prime Minister explain how the deal supports the energy industry so that we can pursue the growth, bring down energy bills and tackle climate change?

• 13 May 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  On Sunday, I had the honour of meeting Emily Damari. She told me about her good friends, Ziv and Gali Berman, who remain in captivity. It is so clear to me that no hostage will be free until all hostages are free. Hamas footage at the weekend serves only to deliver more torment to the families. Will the Minister set out, before the 600 day-anniversary later this month of the 7 October attacks, the steps he will be taking to ensure humanitarian access for those hostages?

• 6 May 2025 · Middle East Update · Hansard source

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  Not a week goes by without more worrying news coming out of the middle east, and my thoughts are with the innocent people in Gaza who are worried about a new offensive, with the hostage families who are worried about their loved ones, and with Israel following the Houthi attack. Will the Minister join me in condemning the Houthi attack, and in calling for negotiations to continue that will see aid get into Gaza and hostages returned home?

• 29 Apr 2025 · Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Visit · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Government’s commitment to securing a peaceful future for the region, but that future feels far away for the families of the hostages still held by Hamas. As the Minister mentioned, yesterday he and I heard from Eli Sharabi, who talked about the horrors of his experience and how he lost absolutely everything. He is working tirelessly to secure the release of all hostages, including Avinatan Or, who has British links. Does the Minister agree that the first step in securing the peaceful future we all want to see is the immediate release of all the hostages?

• 24 Apr 2025 · Public Service Reform · Hansard source

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  20. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to reform public services.

• 24 Apr 2025 · Public Service Reform · Hansard source

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  It is clear to me that under the last Government, our state failed the public. We had an agenda that was not rooted in the lives of everyday people, meaning that despite the number of civil servants being the highest in a generation, outcomes for my constituents in Wirral West and people across the country were worse. Will the Minister please set out how a smaller, more modern and more focused state can once again deliver world-class public services?

• 26 Mar 2025 · Spring Statement · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Chancellor’s £3 billion investment into a transformation fund to sort out how government is run. Does the Chancellor agree that the Tories ducked that reform—they should have done it but did not—and their failure to address it put pressure on frontline services and stretched the public finances?

• 20 Mar 2025 · Violence against Women and Girls: Prosecution Rates · Hansard source

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  I thank the Solicitor General for her answer. Yesterday, I spoke to one of my constituents. When she was 14, she was raped by an adult whom she should have been able to trust. She woke up to him raping her. She has been carrying that with her for decades. Two years ago, she reported what happened to her and she has been fighting for her day in court all of that time. Can the Solicitor General please set out what the Government are doing to fix the broken system that is failing to deliver justice, and will she meet me to discuss how we can better support victim survivors such as my constituent?

• 20 Mar 2025 · Violence against Women and Girls: Prosecution Rates · Hansard source

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  1. What steps she is taking to help increase prosecution rates in cases of violence against women and girls.

• 20 Mar 2025 · Conflict in Gaza · Hansard source

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  This ceasefire must be desperately salvaged for the 59 hostages—they and their families have lived through hell for 530 days now—and for the innocent people of Gaza, who need aid, safety and security and have themselves lived through hell in that time. I worry that Hamas state that they want to repeat the actions of 7 October. They are committed only to endless war. What can this Government do to ensure that they have no role in the future of Gaza?

• 19 Mar 2025 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  The hon. Lady will know that, when it comes to the NHS, the longest waiting times were impacted by the pandemic, but the longest waiting times on record prior to the pandemic were seen the day before it, because of Conservative mismanagement. The Conservatives do not have a record that they should feel proud of on that matter, or on the economy.

• 19 Mar 2025 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to the right hon. Member, including for the way in which he puts his point. He will hopefully share my relief, then, about the household support fund, which I often find my constituents do not know about. The fund is not reported heavily in the media, so it would be wise for us all to take the opportunity in this debate to reiterate that that support is available to people who are just above the threshold and who might just miss out on accessing the winter fuel allowance, so that they know that. I signpost many concerned constituents to Citizens Advice Wirral and support them in accessing the money available through the household support fund, hundreds of millions of pounds of which has come from this Government. Conservative Members rightly talk about the need to relieve pressures and protect the most vulnerable. However, I question where their outrage was when their Government, back in 2021, broke their manifesto commitment and suspended the triple lock; I wonder where their outrage was when their leader recently suggested that we should look at means-testing access to the state pension; and where was their outrage when only months ago the shadow Chancellor suggested scrapping the triple lock all together? It is Labour politicians who are committed to protecting pensioners’ incomes and delivering support to those in need. I have mentioned the household support fund, and we are ending the Tories’ disastrous plans to drag a record number of pensioners into paying income tax by uprating personal tax thresholds from April 2028. Unlike the Tories, we have an iron-clad commitment to the triple lock, which will see the state pension of millions increase by more than £470 this year. I would like to hear them welcome that. We are supporting those caring for their loved ones by increasing the income threshold for carer’s allowance so that more than 60,000 carers will benefit by the end of this Parliament. Times are tough and this Labour Government have made tough decisions to get our country back on track. As I mentioned, NHS waiting times have now fallen for five consecutive months. We have not had that for a long time. We have made a deal with GPs so that healthcare in the community works for everyone, we have targeted income support to those in the most difficulty and we have launched the biggest ever drive to ensure that those who can claim pension credit do so, with almost 50,000 more pensioners now getting the money they are entitled to. The Tory status quo meant only decline for this country. With the Government’s plan for change, we will get the country back on its feet.

• 19 Mar 2025 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend makes a good point. There is incredible uptake under this Government because we want to see the poorest pensioners access the support they are entitled to.

• 19 Mar 2025 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member stated that he believes in means-testing the winter fuel allowance, so at what level does he believe that eligibility should be set?

• 19 Mar 2025 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman uses the words “suppose” and “sorry state”. It is no wonder Conservative Members lost; they were in total denial about their failure for this country. Now is the right time to end the status quo, end the incessant decline under the Conservatives and put a huge amount of investment back into our NHS. I, for one, am proud that we have had five months of falling waiting times. I want Conservative Members to welcome such good news for our NHS—news that helps all the people in this country.

• 19 Mar 2025 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  I start by paying tribute to the pensioners in my constituency. They have worked hard all their lives and made immeasurable contributions to our community by volunteering for others and supporting family members and friends through hardship and sickness. My generation owes them a great debt, and they deserve better than what had become the norm under the Tories. Tory mismanagement saw spiralling inflation and a £22 billion black hole in the nation’s finances. Tory mismanagement saw an NHS on its knees, with the longest waiting times on record and a social care system that was not fit for purpose.