Noah Law MP: speeches

Speeches

• 4 Mar 2026 · St Piran’s Day · Hansard source

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  I am delighted to hear that story, for the first time, of St Piran smelting tin. Does my hon. Friend agree that, if St Piran could have a tin smelter in the fifth century AD, it is not too much of a stretch to imagine we could have one today in Cornwall, and that we would once again smelt tin?

• 4 Mar 2026 · St Piran’s Day · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for giving way again. I welcome his statement on the Green Book review. It is really important that we get infrastructure investment in place. Does he agree with me that the Labour Government are already doing an awful lot, whether that is record funding for roads or the record local government funding settlement—not that we would know it from some of the comments from the council? Does he agree that the Labour Government are already doing a huge amount by way of investment in Cornwall?

• 4 Mar 2026 · St Piran’s Day · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend agree that Cornwall is not just a proud Celtic nation, but also a functional economic geography in its own right?

• 2 Mar 2026 · Free Breakfast Clubs · Hansard source

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  I am delighted that Pondhu primary school in my constituency has been a trailblazer for not just our Government’s free breakfast clubs scheme, but investment in school nurseries, which has been a resounding success. What assessment has the Minister made of the positive impacts of our free breakfast clubs programme on children and their families?

• 2 Mar 2026 · Free Breakfast Clubs · Hansard source

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  12. What steps she has taken to roll out Best Start free breakfast clubs.

• 25 Feb 2026 · Diego Garcia and British Indian Ocean Territory · Hansard source

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  Can I ask the Minister to engage in a short thought experiment? If senior members of the Labour party, at the time they were in opposition, had gone to lobby a foreign Government against the best interests of the British security services, what would have been the reaction of the right-wing media and Opposition parties who have made this their pet project?

• 24 Feb 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T6. In 2024, my constituent Wendy fractured three vertebrae from osteoporosis after being denied a DEXA scan. She spent three months in hospital and suffered lasting harm. Will the Minister review DEXA eligibility and expand local access to prevent future fractures and save the NHS costs?

• 10 Feb 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I welcome the news this morning of Imerys’s success in auction round 7. What steps is the Minister taking as part of the local power plan to ensure that local communities share the spoils of Cornwall’s great renewable energy potential?

• 2 Feb 2026 · Tolled Crossings and Regional Connectivity · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member makes an important point about the lack of National Highways funding for the bridge, but does he share my delight at the £220 million investment coming into Cornwall’s roads from national Government? We are seeing record-breaking investment in our roads, but that is not to detract from the point he makes about the lack of funding for the Tamar bridge.

• 2 Feb 2026 · Tolled Crossings and Regional Connectivity · Hansard source

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  I refer to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I thank my hon. Friend for giving way on Cornwall’s economic potential and particularly the role of critical minerals. Does she agree that in an ideal but not unimaginable world, we would have electric ferries, ideally powered by Cornish lithium batteries, which would reduce the operating costs of those ferries and therefore the subsidy effectively paid by Tamar bridge users to support that service?

• 2 Feb 2026 · Tolled Crossings and Regional Connectivity · Hansard source

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  If we are taking a local growth approach, which I know is so important to our Government, surely a deal for the Tamar must be a crucial part of any devolution arrangement.

• 13 Jan 2026 · Storm Goretti · Hansard source

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  I, too, put on record my thanks to the emergency services for their work over this long and difficult weekend. In particular, I thank National Grid for its swift work, at least in my part of Cornwall, in reconnecting people to the grid. However, other infrastructure has been unacceptably slow to come back online. With many of my constituents still without access to rail and some still without access to broadband and their phone lines, what assurances can the Minister give that he is working with Great Western Railway and National Rail to ensure that, four days after the storm, those closed railway lines can be reopened? Will he reiterate the commitment he made to my hon. Friend the Member for Camborne and Redruth (Perran Moon) to work with us to continue to build infrastructure resilience in Cornwall?

• 7 Jan 2026 · Ukraine and Wider Operational Update · Hansard source

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  Given that what is proposed today is a peacekeeping force, does the Secretary of State wonder, as I do, when the leader of Reform will cease his adulation of Putin, ensure that there are no further traitors among his ranks, support the peace process in Ukraine and stand up for British interests?

• 6 Jan 2026 · Warm Home Discount · Hansard source

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  I greatly welcome these cuts to forthcoming bills. Notwithstanding those potential improvements, many of my constituents in Roche, for example, live in areas not connected to the mains gas grid, and the initial outlay associated with implementing renewable technologies can be prohibitively expensive for people. Can the scope of the warm homes plan be extended so that areas rich in geological resources but exposed to fuel poverty, such as Roche, can benefit from geothermal heat networks and significantly reduce bills on the back of those cheap renewable sources?

• 6 Jan 2026 · Warm Home Discount · Hansard source

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  9. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of extending the warm home discount on levels of fuel poverty.

• 5 Jan 2026 · Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for his considered engagement with rural Labour MPs such as myself on this issue from the get-go. I also thank farmers—at least in my part of Cornwall—for their dignified engagement at what I know has been a difficult time. Does the Minister agree that where we have landed now strikes a much better balance, one that in relative terms favours small family farms compared with industrial concerns, institutional investors and those looking to use agricultural property as a means of avoiding tax?

• 18 Dec 2025 · Christmas Adjournment · Hansard source

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  War and Russian brutality first came to Ukraine in 2014. While Ukrainians knew that it never left, I think it fair to say that we did forget that our friends in Ukraine were at war—that is, until 2022. Since then, we have witnessed the heroism of the Ukrainian people, and the savagery of Putin’s regime. In case it was not devastatingly clear, this is not just Ukraine’s fight; it is a contest for the security of Europe and the integrity of the international order. The Britain I know has always stood on the side of the underdog. We are in a phase of hybrid warfare. Other countries, such as Poland and Estonia, are calling a spade a spade, and it is time we did so, too. One does not have to turn very far for examples. Warehouse fires, targeting of undersea cables, a strategy to recruit traitors in turquoise—these are not just random acts; they are deliberate steps in a campaign of destabilisation designed to test our resilience and erode our unity. In case there were any illusions about quite how direct the links between Reform UK and the Kremlin were, we should ask ourselves why even local Reform supporters in Cornwall share posts attacking the plans to freeze Russian assets. Meanwhile, this Labour Government are getting on with the job, as shown by the Prime Minister’s announcement yesterday compelling Abramovich to pay up. As a former banker, I know as well as anyone the importance of a rules-based order, but the fact that we are engaged in hybrid warfare is precisely why I have absolutely no qualms about these assets being used to help Ukraine. I also greatly welcome the new probe into foreign interference in British politics, which will investigate how foreign agents target and subvert our political process. By next July, this phase of war will have lasted longer than the first world war. It has cost the European economy more than $4 trillion, barely a 10th of which has been spent on support for Ukraine. I am not a defence or security specialist—I am not even a banker any more—but I can tell the House that this is a war that Europe cannot afford to lose.

• 15 Dec 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Given the recent further estimates putting the total cost of the war in Ukraine to the European economy at north of $1 billion a year, while the total allied commitment to Ukraine remains at about $100 billion a year, does the Secretary of State agree that we cannot but afford to go further in our support for our Ukrainian allies?

• 9 Dec 2025 · Economic Growth: Rural Areas · Hansard source

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  Cornish communities and small and medium-sized enterprises in the supply chains of Cornwall’s most promising industries alike will have been delighted by the Chancellor’s announcement of the Kernow industrial growth fund in the recent Budget. Does the Chief Secretary to the Treasury agree that those funds should be invested prudently and sustainably and that the proceeds should be recouped for the Cornish public’s coffers so they can be invested in future projects?

• 8 Dec 2025 · Digital ID · Hansard source

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  Like many Members who have spoken today, I have received a lot of representations from constituents to speak in opposition to digital ID. It would have been easy enough, given my own personal level of comfort with digital ID, to have let today’s debate pass me by. As my constituents will know, this is a point of personal conviction for me, rather than a blind defence of something. As they will also know from the events of this past week, as well as from my travails against the imposition of imaginary geographies on Cornwall’s devolved governance, I have no problem speaking up against policies without a predefined mandate. [Gill Furniss in the Chair ] However, we do have a mandate to improve our public services, to increase digitalisation and to deliver the best outcomes for our constituents. We also have a mandate to make decisions that are not necessarily the easy option, but the right option. That is the courage of a serious Labour Government—not necessarily to do what is easy, but to do what is right and what will clearly contribute to our much-needed mission of national renewal. We cannot have a debate about digital ID without beginning from a common factual base, so let me bust some myths from the outset. The scheme will be voluntary, it will be free, it will not require some form of card and it will be secure. Above all, it will make the lives of people in our country easier.

• 8 Dec 2025 · Digital ID · Hansard source

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  This scheme presents a much better opportunity to ensure that we have the correct security procedures in place, versus some of our current insecure measures.

• 8 Dec 2025 · Digital ID · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Lady give way on that point?

• 8 Dec 2025 · Digital ID · Hansard source

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  I will turn the question back on the hon. Gentleman. What is the cost of not doing this? What is the cost of inaction? I have heard very little today from Opposition Members about how much a digital ID scheme will alleviate the costs currently associated with some processes, but I would welcome such input. On a personal level, I have lived in a country with a digital ID system that works well, is widely supported and has had very few issues. Just because I can log in here on my phone does not mean that there is some pesky Finn from the Suojelupoliisi out there logging in to watch my every move. That is not quite how these things work in practice. I know some people might well find this difficult to believe, given the dystopian way of the world today, but this scheme is no conspiracy.

• 8 Dec 2025 · Digital ID · Hansard source

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  I wholeheartedly agree. That is why it is important that in the months ahead and through the consultation, this scheme is introduced on a voluntary basis, just as we have set out, and remains that way. I know some might find this difficult to believe, but this really is no conspiracy. If we are not concerned about the huge threats involving the vast amount of personal data that is held by private companies—they must, of course, be regulated too—why is this scheme such a cause for concern? Although I appreciate that two wrongs do not necessarily make a right, and that many of my constituents no doubt long for an analogue world—as do I, on occasion—that is not the world we live in.

• 8 Dec 2025 · Digital ID · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member makes an important point that such systems are by no means immune, but I argue that the systems that we have in place at the minute are hardly secure.