Nick Smith MP: speeches 2026

Speeches

• 15 Jan 2026 · British Manufacturers · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is a doughty campaigner for ceramics and Stoke. The limited edition House of Commons Christmas mugs are a popular product in our gift shop. Those products are sourced as unfinished products from overseas and then hand-finished in the UK. This approach ensures that the product is commercially viable to purchase and that the retail team can sell it while maintaining high standards, but I would be happy to meet him again to discuss this further.

• 15 Jan 2026 · British Manufacturers · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend always takes an interest in ceramics and parliamentary procurement. He will remember that approximately 85% of ceramic items purchased in our gift shops are either fully or partially made in the UK. More widely, Parliament endeavours to purchase British goods, in compliance with the procurement legislation. If he would like further information, I would be very happy to help him.

• 15 Jan 2026 · New Palace Yard Project · Hansard source

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  The New Palace Yard project will be completed this month, at an expected cost of £62 million, within the latest approved business case. The project included important security works and significant ground and heritage works.

• 15 Jan 2026 · New Palace Yard Project · Hansard source

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  There have been different estimates for the stages of the project, as the hon. Gentleman rightly points out. The costs have evolved since 2017. I will send him the recent Finance Committee report, which was published just before Christmas and goes into detail on this matter. Delays have occurred, particularly at peak times, and it has taken too long for vehicles to leave, but steps are being taken to speed up exit times.

• 15 Jan 2026 · Restoration and Renewal: Member Consultation · Hansard source

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  The restoration and renewal programme has engaged extensively with Members of both Houses. In this Parliament, there have been 380 interactions with MPs and peers through briefings, tours and events. The number of interactions over the past three years, since January 2023, is about 980. The client board will shortly publish a report to help us all decide on the preferred way forward.

• 15 Jan 2026 · Restoration and Renewal: Member Consultation · Hansard source

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  After ramping up engagement on the cost information, and once the House has provided direction on the R and R programme, if we do go to full decant, the Lords will likely go to the Queen Elizabeth II centre and MPs to the northern estate. There will be ongoing work on temporary accommodation, and the related impact on jobs is for us all to consider in future.

• 8 Jan 2026 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Constituents in the upper Rhymney valley face unacceptably high petrol prices. When I wrote to the Competition and Markets Authority about that, it referred to a forthcoming fuel finder scheme; however, that scheme has no confirmed launch date. I get that this is complicated, but will the Leader of the House please encourage Ministers to provide a statement on when that scheme will be delivered, in order to improve consumer information across the UK?

• 5 Jan 2026 · Venezuela · Hansard source

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  Maduro was an illegitimate president. In The New York Times today, Colette Capriles, writing from Caracas, describes a “struggle for survival”, a “primitive capitalism”, a “web of bosses, private loyalties, corrupt practices and institutional ruins that have replaced public life” in Venezuela. I ask the Foreign Secretary: what can the UK do to support the development of strong civic institutions there that can help to build a new Venezuela?