Pam Cox MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 17 Dec 2025 · Local Government Finance · Hansard source

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  I am always proud to be in this Chamber, but I am particularly proud to be here today as the Government bang a final nail in the coffin of Conservative austerity. I really welcome what I hope will be significant additional investment in my constituency of Colchester, because that investment will do so much to improve local services for local residents. Can the Minister give us a timeline for that funding—that is, when will we get the cash?

• 15 Dec 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T7. Colchester is home to many serving personnel, veterans and their families. Will the Minister set out how our new veterans strategy and Valour will better support those who have served in our armed forces in my area and beyond? Also, would a member of the ministerial team love to visit Colchester in the year that we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the airborne forces being based there?

• 11 Dec 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  The UK’s universities play a vital role in our communities and our economy, but many of them, including the one where I worked for many years, face severe financial challenges, resulting in course closures and redundancies. Would the Leader of the House allow a debate on the subject in Government time, so that we can address this really urgent issue?

• 11 Dec 2025 · US National Security Strategy · Hansard source

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  On European security, I give my strong support to the position taken by the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary in relation to the recent Ukraine peace proposals. Does the Minister agree that there can be no deal affecting Ukraine without Ukraine, and that any deal that rewards Putin’s aggression cannot proceed?

• 4 Dec 2025 · Local Elections · Hansard source

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  I am glad to hear that local council elections will go ahead in 2026, and I welcome the significant investment into the six priority new mayoral areas. I also welcome the fact that Greater Essex—my part of the world—will have the opportunity to complete much-needed local government reform before we elect our inaugural Mayor of Essex. Can the Minister confirm when that new investment will land with councils, which were so badly underfunded by the previous Government?

• 2 Dec 2025 · Angiolini Inquiry · Hansard source

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  I welcome the work of the Angiolini inquiry into the appalling murder of Sarah Everard. I also welcome the Minister’s update on the Government’s strategy to halve violence against women and girls over the next decade. She knows that representatives from four Select Committees met recently to help to do our bit to advance that work, and she can be assured of our support with it. Can she indicate what kind of implementation and engagement will follow the publication of the strategy?

• 2 Dec 2025 · Criminal Court Reform · Hansard source

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  The governance of jury trials has changed considerably over time—dramatically so in the 19th century, and again in the 1970s. In both cases, that was to improve public access to justice. Does the Lord Chancellor agree that if our traditions are to endure, including our legal traditions, they need to adapt?

• 1 Dec 2025 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

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  In the east of England, we welcome the Government and private sector investment in Sizewell C, and a clean energy supply chain that will stretch from Suffolk through to Essex. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the Budget offers tax incentives to start-ups and scale-ups in that sector, which will help that supply chain to flourish and bring energy bills down even further?

• 24 Nov 2025 · Gaza: Humanitarian Obligations · Hansard source

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  In October this year, I was pleased, along with other parliamentarians, to meet a senior member of UNRWA as part of our work with the British group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. He told us how vital it was that UNRWA’s programme of aid be fully restored, given the conditions that my hon. Friend and others have described. Would she agree that it is vital to restore the programme in full?

• 13 Nov 2025 · Support for Victims of Crime · Hansard source

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  Victims in the criminal justice system deserve to be kept fully informed of developments in their case. Can the Solicitor General set out how she is working with the Crown Prosecution Service to improve those communications for victims? I note again the very valuable work in this space of Baroness Newlove, the former Victims’ Commissioner.

• 13 Nov 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Today I am hosting pupils from Colchester academy in Greenstead in my constituency. They and their families want a clean River Colne. Will the Secretary of State set out what the Government are doing to hold Anglian Water to account, and whether she is seeing an improvement in its performance?

• 13 Nov 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.

• 11 Nov 2025 · BBC Leadership · Hansard source

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  In the early 2000s, I lived in Hanoi alongside my husband who was reporting on Vietnam for the BBC, and I saw for myself how he and the BBC worked very hard for truth. He then spent a year in Myanmar, working alongside extraordinarily brave local journalists who sought to expand public broadcasting under a military dictatorship. Does the Secretary of State agree that the BBC’s trusted journalism is one of our strongest defences against disinformation, both at home and abroad?

• 11 Nov 2025 · Remembrance Day: Armed Forces · Hansard source

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  It is an honour to pay tribute in this debate to the men and women of our armed forces, past and present, whose courage and service secured our freedoms. In Colchester, we gathered for our traditional Remembrance Sunday service at the war memorial, against the backdrop of our castle and the remains of our Roman temple—a reminder that Colchester has been a garrison city for nearly two millennia. As ever, it was a deeply moving occasion. Soldiers from 16 Air Assault Brigade and their families were joined by civic representatives, veterans, cadets, youth organisations, the city orchestra and residents from across the community. The bond between our city and the armed forces is historic and enduring. It is also a global history. Colchester cemetery is home to over 300 Commonwealth war graves, lovingly tended by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and its local volunteers, and I thank the commission for giving me a poignant tour of the site in September. I want to take a moment to recognise the Gurkha and Nepalese community in Colchester. Their contribution to our armed forces is legendary, and their presence in our city enriches us all. As we commemorate 80 years since the end of the second world war, we should remind ourselves of the bravery of over 250,000 Gurkha soldiers who fought for the British empire during that time. Their regiments continue to serve in the city today. We are proud to call them neighbours and friends. The Minister will be aware of the continued campaign by Gurkha veterans on pension rights, and I urge the Ministry of Defence to look again at that issue in good faith. As we reflect on the historic sacrifices made, it is right that we also look forward. Our armed forces covenant renews our commitment to those who serve today. Just last week, the Government announced a £9 billion defence housing strategy—the largest upgrade to armed forces housing in over half a century. That plan will rebuild or modernise over 40,000 military homes, ensuring that service families have the safe, comfortable and dignified accommodation they deserve. Nearly 1,000 local Army homes in my area will be brought back into public ownership as a result of that scheme, and I would love to invite the Minister for the Armed Forces to come and see that for himself when his diary allows. Remembrance is not just about looking back, as so many have said today. It is about reaffirming our present and future commitment to peace, security and community in extremely challenging times. It is also about underlining our unwavering support for our armed forces and our veterans.

• 3 Nov 2025 · Video Games: Consumer Law · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Mundell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for South Norfolk (Ben Goldsborough) for securing this important debate, which shines a light on the growing disconnect between video game consumers and the companies that profit from them. The e-petition received nearly 190,000 signatures nationwide, and Colchester ranked among the top 20 constituencies for signatures. I thank those who signed it for standing up for fairness and for their digital rights. I should say that I am not a gamer—I feel rather in the minority—but, as a parent of gamers, I have made a solid financial contribution to the gaming industry over the years. Colchester has a thriving video game industry of its own, based around the Innovation Centre, Knowledge Gateway at the University of Essex. The university offers a very respected BSc in game technology. The city also has a fantastic creative digital learning charity called Signals, which offers superb short courses to school pupils—very good for half-term recreation, as I recall—in animation, coding and other skills that underpin the industry. I cannot resist saying that Colchester has another claim to fame in this space: it was recreated in “Assassin’s Creed Valhalla”, in which players are able to roam around our Roman and Anglo Saxon heritage. I do not know whether any other constituency can match that. It is another testament to our city’s huge cultural importance, and reminds us that games are more than entertainment, as Members have said. They combine rich and complex design, art, graphics and music. What happens when that rich content is deleted? When publishers shut down servers or revoke access, consumers lose something that they have paid for, often with very little warning or recourse. That is not just inconvenient but fundamentally unfair. Other forms of cultural production—film, books, music and so on—live on, but we have allowed a situation to develop in the gaming industry whereby games are sold to consumers to play, but it is never quite clear when it is game over. The Stop Killing Games movement highlights the growing frustration among players who see their purchases vanish. It is clear that digital ownership must be respected, and that publishers should look to provide routes for players to retain or repair games even if the official service support for products ends. I welcome the Government’s willingness to monitor the issue, not least because current laws such as the Consumer Rights Act clearly do not offer adequate consumer protections against digital obsolescence. I ask the Minister to review statutory protections in digital ownership and protect gamers in Colchester and elsewhere.

• 30 Oct 2025 · Property Service Charges · Hansard source

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  I will see what I can do, Madam Deputy Speaker. Property service charges and the behaviour of the companies that levy them are causing real distress across the country. I thank the hon. Member for Reigate (Rebecca Paul) for her speech setting out those challenges. In Colchester, I have heard from residents in Orchard Gardens, Colne View and Kingswood Heath who are being charged astonishing amounts—often thousands of pounds a year—for services that are either poorly delivered or not delivered at all. Many of those homes are managed by one company, and the House could guess that that company is FirstPort. When I walked into the Chamber, FirstPort had been named 39 times in the Chamber this year, but I imagine that has doubled in the course of this afternoon. It claims to be an “award- winning property management service” that “makes sure customers feel safe and happy in their homes.” I think we all have a little bit of news for FirstPort. Retired residents in Orchard Gardens showed me demands for payments for services that they never received or for which they had already paid. Residents at the Colne View development have faced a 15-year battle over neglect, overcharging and obfuscation. They have faced extortionate service charges—sometimes doubling in a year—yet their buildings are left mouldy, unsafe and unclean. They feel bullied, belittled and beyond hope that they will ever resolve what has become a living nightmare. I am pleased to say that one of those residents, Chia, was able to come into Parliament last week to give some evidence to a panel of MPs organised by my hon. Friends the Members for Hendon (David Pinto-Duschinsky) and for Cities of London and Westminster (Rachel Blake), who have been working on this issue for some time. I hope the Minister will consider the evidence that was gathered.

• 30 Oct 2025 · Property Service Charges · Hansard source

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  I am advised not to, so that we can keep to time. Lord Best, chair of the Regulation of Property Agents Working Group, said in his recent evidence to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee that this “is an unregulated sector”, and his group has called for proper regulation. If property agents cannot behave responsibly, they must be held to account. This is about fairness, restoring trust, and ensuring that nobody in Colchester, or anywhere else, has to pay over the odds for basic services, or fight tooth and nail just to get a straight answer from companies like FirstPort. I urge the Minister to move at pace to implement this new framework.

• 29 Oct 2025 · Sentencing Bill · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend agree that offering clear incentives for earned release is a key way of offering certain offenders clear chances to change, thereby reducing the risk of reoffending and enhancing public protection?

• 27 Oct 2025 · Victims and Courts Bill · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend agree that community-based services supporting the victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse, such as Next Chapter, the Centre of Action on Rape and Abuse—CARA—and Restitute in Essex, do vital work that should be backed by multi-year settlements and enhanced commissioning arrangements in the east of England and beyond?

• 16 Oct 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Last week, the Care Quality Commission published a shocking report on Colchester hospital that found the safety of aspects of medical and emergency care there to be inadequate. Will the Leader of the House provide time for a debate on ensuring that the record levels of investment in our NHS is reaching frontline staff and patients?

• 14 Oct 2025 · Criminal Courts: Independent Review · Hansard source

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  Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the jury trial system has evolved over time—it has been with us for centuries—and has changed intermittently over time: it looks very different now than it did in the 13th century. In the 19th century, civil adjudications were taken out of the jury trial system and our civil justice system is still extremely robust.

• 13 Oct 2025 · Heritage Sites: East of England · Hansard source

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  I agree that all those options are things to be explored. Speaking as a former historian, I think that anything that enables greater access to heritage is to be celebrated. In the east, beneficiaries of some of the grants that I mentioned include projects to revitalise Lowestoft town hall, the former Iron Duke pub in Great Yarmouth and St George’s Guildhall in King's Lynn in Norfolk. As we can see, heritage takes many forms across our region. In Colchester, work has just begun on a £10 million project to restore our magnificent Victorian water tower, known as Jumbo. The project is generously supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, central Government, city and county councils, charitable funds and local residents. It will create a great visitor attraction for our city—it is one of the first things people see as they come into the city on the train. But welcome as those projects are, they do not make up for the fact that heritage and cultural sectors in the east face ongoing funding challenges. Much of the blame for that, like so many of the challenges we face, can be laid on the years of austerity after 2010. Since that year, overall local authority spending on heritage has dropped by 45%. That is bad enough in itself, but according to figures from Historic England it is down in the east by 60%, which can be catastrophic for those sites. Spending on museums in the east is down by 57%, and on archives by 38%. By one count from an Institute for Public Policy Research report published in July, the east of England receives less heritage and cultural funding per capita than any other region: just £12.57 per person, which is less than half the national average and just a fifth of the amount in London. In bringing my remarks to a close, I encourage the Minister to consider two broad courses of action: first, to create a dedicated regional heritage strategy for the east of England, which could help shape devolved policy under the new mayoralties, with clear priorities and long-term funding commitments that address the funding gap for heritage in our part of the country; and, secondly, to meet me to discuss how we might develop more innovative, inclusive approaches to preserving and celebrating our regional heritage. Heritage is not just about bricks, mortar or memory; it is about identity, belonging and opportunity in the here and now. When we invest in heritage, we invest in jobs, tourism, education and community cohesion. As we have heard from Members around the Chamber tonight, there are treasures aplenty in our region, and I hope we can find new ways to unlock their full potential, with imagination, investment and a commitment to future generations.

• 13 Oct 2025 · Heritage Sites: East of England · Hansard source

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  I am pleased to have secured some parliamentary time today to highlight our superb heritage in the east of England and the role of Government in supporting that. I am mindful of the very moving stories we heard in the previous debate, so I will keep these remarks fairly brief; I know that others want to intervene, and I am very happy to accept that. I declare an interest as co-chair of the East of England all-party parliamentary group. I begin by wishing Members a slightly early Essex Day. The official celebration is on St Cedd’s day in two weeks’ time, but I am sure St Cedd would not mind an early greeting. In the seventh century, Cedd became the bishop of the East Saxons at the request of King Sigeberht the Good—whose territory included the mighty Colchester, which I am proud to represent, and the muddy river crossing now known as London—and Cedd remains the patron saint of Essex. As a proud Essex girl, I know that Essex retains a fierce and unique identity. We may no longer have our own king, but we will shortly be electing our own Mayor as part of this Government’s commitment to devolution. It is the process of devolution that is the context for tonight’s remarks. Powers are being reorganised in the east of England, and I and other colleagues want to make the case for heritage and culture to be at the heart of that process. The English devolution White Paper, issued last December, says: “Strategic Authorities will also be key partners in boosting culture, heritage and the visitor economy, supported by close integration with arm’s length bodies like Historic England.” However, the consultations issued in July this year for devolution in Greater Essex and Norfolk and Suffolk say that the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and its arm’s length bodies should “explore a deeper, collaborative partnership with the mayoral combined county authority.” Many east of England MPs are concerned that this language does not sufficiently prioritise heritage and culture and the economic opportunities that they present within this devolution process.

• 13 Oct 2025 · Heritage Sites: East of England · Hansard source

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  Indeed, planning regulation plays an important part in preserving our heritage. I am sure the Minister will make note of those comments. The east is a region rich in history. In my constituency of Colchester, we are rightly proud of our claim to be the first city built in Britain and its first Roman capital. We possess the oldest and longest Roman city walls, the remains of the temple of Claudius and Britain’s only known Roman chariot racing track, which is a monument particularly close to my own heart—think “Ben-Hur” with an Essex twist. It is known as the Colchester Roman circus and is a site of international importance, yet continues to face planning and development pressures, which speaks to what my hon. Friend just mentioned, and lacks the sustained investment needed to realise its full potential. One difficulty we face at that site and at some other scheduled ancient monuments in my constituency is that their historic importance can be at first sight very difficult to appreciate. The Roman circus spectator terraces were so huge that the Saxons, presumably including King Sigeberht, found them a great source of building materials. Unfortunately, their commendable recycling meant that there is nothing left of the circus above ground. As a result, I have been in discussions with local heritage architects about the possibility of reconstructing these mighty starting gates of the circus based on designs that have been found in similar buildings elsewhere in Europe. These are the gates through which charioteers and horses would have thundered at the start of every race. We have run into a problem, however, in that Historic England does not seem very keen on reconstructions these days, when in previous generations it may have been more keen. A reconstruction in some form would most likely draw many more people to the site, promote local pride and energise local tourism. Given that, I would like to ask the Minister to take up this issue with Historic England to see if its attitude towards reconstruction can be revised in situations such as these. Another key site in my constituency is the former Romano-British settlement at Gosbecks field. This dates from the early first century CE and is believed to have been the residence of Cunobelin, known to Romans as “King of the Britons” and to Shakespeare as Cymbeline. The site includes an Iron Age dyke, which today still forms part of the boundary line between my constituency and that of the right hon. Member for Witham (Priti Patel). Gosbecks is believed to be the place where ancient Britons signed up—or surrendered, depending on your view—to become part of the Roman empire. It therefore plays a vital part in the history not just of our county, but of the country. I would like to see very much more made of Gosbecks. The Romans constructed a large theatre and a huge temple at Gosbecks, but here too the bricks were recycled and today there is little to see. However, experts—and former colleagues of mine—at the University of Essex have a renowned track record in developing immersive technology and virtual and augmented reality applications that could help bring Gosbecks back to life for new audiences. Think Runnymede and Magna Carta—it is of that order of magnitude. There is already some interest in that from the National Lottery Heritage Fund from a green spaces perspective, but I also see many synergies with the ministerial team’s responsibilities for culture, heritage and media, with an emphasis on media, as Gosbecks and sites like it could provide brilliant opportunities for 21st century interactive media interpretations that are the gateway to more inclusive access to our heritage and culture. I therefore encourage the Minister and the Department to do more to promote such opportunities, perhaps taking Gosbecks as a use case. Our heritage sites tell our national story, connect us to the generations who came before us and offer opportunities for education and tourism and to create pride in place. However, they also face real and growing threats from neglect, development pressures and underinvestment—threats that became ever-more intense under the previous Government’s cuts to local authority coffers. I welcome the many announcements of enhanced funding for heritage made by the Government over the past year. To give just a few, we have had £15 million through the heritage at risk capital fund, a further £5 million through the heritage revival fund, and just this week we have had details of a new £20 million museum renewal fund. Those initiatives empower communities to take ownership of local heritage and breathe new life into neglected buildings. When done well, such projects can deliver multiple returns for local economies, creating employment, aspiration and pride.

• 13 Oct 2025 · Heritage Sites: East of England · Hansard source

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  I absolutely agree that accessibility and affordability are at the heart of much of this. On the point about devolution, I would like to ask the Minister to address this issue and to work with colleagues to enhance the standing of heritage and culture within the ongoing devolution processes in the east of England.