Paul Holmes MP: speeches 2024

Speeches

• 2 Dec 2024 · Social Housing Supply · Hansard source

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  We can see that after just five months, the Government’s target of 1.5 million new homes lies in tatters. The National Housing Federation says that the Government will miss their target by 475,000 without more grant—last week the Housing Minister said the same—and now Labour-run South Tyneside council says that the plans are “wholly unrealistic”, with other Labour councils agreeing. Is it not time for the Government to admit defeat, come back with a deliverable plan and provide the sector with the certainty that it needs to deliver more social homes across the country?

• 2 Dec 2024 · Homelessness Reduction · Hansard source

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  Sadly, homelessness is projected to rise by 27% this year. The Government’s broken promise on national insurance rises has wreaked havoc across the charitable sector, with 110 national homelessness charities warning the Chancellor that £50 million to £60 million will be lost in the sector and Homeless Link calling the increase “the final nail in the coffin” for the sector. Will the Minister listen to that warning, and what will she be doing to convey these concerns to the Chancellor and change this disastrous policy?

• 28 Nov 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Mountbatten hospice, which serves my constituency and Hampshire more widely, receives 70% of its income through charitable donations. It has told me and my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight East (Joe Robertson) that its viability is under risk because of the national insurance contributions policy that this Government have brought forward. Can the Secretary of State outline what pressure she will put on the Treasury to make sure that the policy changes? The charitable sector is in real danger because of this Government’s decisions.

• 27 Nov 2024 · Finance Bill · Hansard source

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  Does he agree with me that there seems to be a collective amnesia among colleagues on the Labour Benches? If we had taken their advice during covid, when we were making reasonable decisions, not only would we have seen the longer lockdowns that the now Prime Minister was calling for, but more economic damage, which they now deny ever happened in the first place.

• 27 Nov 2024 · Finance Bill · Hansard source

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  The Minister is dedicated to extolling the virtues of his manifesto. When he sat down to write the Budget with his right hon. Friend the Chancellor, did he recall whether the manifesto put to the country at the general election stated that growth forecasts under this Government would be lower than they were under the previous Government? Was the taxing of small family farms for a total revenue of £590 million in his manifesto? He is very keen on the manifesto, but did it outline that growth would be lower under this Government?

• 27 Nov 2024 · Finance Bill · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Member give way?

• 27 Nov 2024 · Finance Bill · Hansard source

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  If my hon. Friend will forgive me, will he give way?

• 27 Nov 2024 · Finance Bill · Hansard source

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  Will the Minister give way?

• 27 Nov 2024 · Finance Bill · Hansard source

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  Will the Minister give way?

• 27 Nov 2024 · Finance Bill · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is making a typically eloquent and excellent speech. I challenged a number of Labour Members to outline that public services can be invested in if, in addition to some of the tax-raising mechanisms they have chosen, we have economic growth. Will my hon. Friend outline how much growth has been cut by under the Government’s proposals compared with ours? Am I correct in thinking it is 0.7% over the Parliament?

• 25 Nov 2024 · Israel-Gaza Conflict: Arrest Warrants · Hansard source

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  I ask for the Minister’s forgiveness because I did not hear whether he answered this question from my right hon. Friend the shadow Foreign Secretary. Is it his understanding that customary international law does not permit the arrest or delivery of a serving Prime Minister of a non-state party to the ICC, and that the UK seeking to arrest such a Prime Minister would not only breach our international obligations but be unlawful under the International Criminal Court Act 2001?

• 20 Nov 2024 · Healthcare: Hampshire · Hansard source

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  I apologise for intervening on the hon. Gentleman without notice; I appreciate him giving way. He outlined the case for a new hospital at junction 7 of the M3, but he is slightly muddling the argument. Clinical professionals recommended a location for that hospital, with replacement services that were being taken from Winchester hospital, while maintaining a Winchester hospital with certain services. Blue light times showed that there would be no significant difference in accessing healthcare for someone living in the north half of my old constituency of Eastleigh and someone living the part of his constituency that he mentioned. The hon. Gentleman and his hon. Friend, the new hon. Member for Eastleigh (Liz Jarvis), opposed the new hospital, so is it not a little bit awkward for him to say that the Government had no funding plans, when he opposed the location and that hospital being created? That meant there was a muddling of decision making because he and his colleague opposed that hospital being created in the first place.

• 20 Nov 2024 · Healthcare: Hampshire · Hansard source

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  On failing organisations, just before the general election a cross-party group of MPs, including Labour MPs, had a meeting with the then Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for Louth and Horncastle (Victoria Atkins), about the performance and management of Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB. Members of Parliament from across the political divide have serious concerns about its leadership, communications and funding—not Government funding, and I welcome the increased funding, but the way that it is distributed to services in Hampshire. Frankly, I do not think the leadership is up to running that ICB. Will the Minister agree to meet me and other Members from across the House to discuss the urgency of the situation? Will he find out from his civil servants where the request for a two-week action plan went and come back to Hampshire MPs?

• 13 Nov 2024 · Representation of the People · Hansard source

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  The hon. Lady’s party has the word democrat in it, so I want to understand something. If her policy was enacted, it would mean that people’s votes could be taken simply by someone going to a polling station and knowing the name and address of their next-door neighbour. Does she agree with that and, if so, does she not understand that her proposals would bring a lack of security to the voting system in this country, would encourage fraud and would make sure that results were not as accurate as they could be?

• 13 Nov 2024 · Representation of the People · Hansard source

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  I know that the Minister has been in position for three months, but I have just joined the shadow Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government team, so I welcome her to her place. I look forward to working constructively with her from the Opposition Benches over the next few years—hopefully not too many years. I am pleased to confirm that the Opposition support the regulations, which will add the new veteran card to the list of approved photographic identification that can be used for voting at a polling station. In addition, the regulations make small changes, which we also support, to the existing entries in the list of approved identification regarding Commonwealth passports and Scottish national entitlement cards. I am proud that the last Government were responsible for introducing the new veteran card to help veterans access specialist support and services, including from the NHS, their local authority and charities. We all owe a huge debt of gratitude to our veterans, and it is my sincere hope that the veteran card is making it easier for those who need support for issues related to their service to access it in good time. I am grateful to the Minister for the Armed Forces for being here to show his and the Government’s support and thanks for the work that our veterans do. Rolling out the new veteran card to around 2 million veterans in the UK is a vast job, and I am sure the whole House will agree that it was vital that the last Government got things right, not only so that veterans could benefit from the new card as soon as possible, but so that the system can accurately and securely process the large volume of card applications required. In 2019, the Government began rolling out the veteran card to armed forces personnel who have left since December 2018. In January this year, following months of testing, the previous Government launched the online application service to enable veterans who left the armed forces before December 2018 to apply. A paper-based application process was also launched. I take pride in the work undertaken by the last Government, including the £3 million investment made last year to scale up production of the veteran card. As the Minister will know, because the list of accepted voter identification was approved by this place and the other place in December 2022, just over a year before the latest stage of rolling out the veteran card began, it was not possible to include the card on the original list of accepted voter identification. However, as many of my colleagues have made clear, the last Government planned to consider adding the new veteran card to the list once it had been rolled out. Indeed, my hon. Friend the Member for North Dorset (Simon Hoare), who was a Minister before the general election, identified that that statutory instrument had been drafted and was due to be introduced to the House before the former Prime Minister called the general election. There is no doubt that the Opposition support such measures, as well as those that the Government have brought forward today. It is important that any addition to the list of approved voter identification reflects the need for such documents to be suitably secure, so that they are not easy to falsify or to acquire with false information. That is vital if we are to secure the integrity of our elections in the way that voters deserve. I am glad that the new veteran card satisfies that requirement, and that its addition to the list of approved identification has been warmly welcomed by the veteran community. May I press the Minister to set out what action the Government plan to take to ensure that as many veterans as possible are made aware of that addition, ahead of polling day for the local elections in May next year? Showing identification to prove who we are is something that people from all walks of life do every day. Opposition Members firmly believe that carrying out that practice at the polling station is a reasonable and proportionate way to give the public the assurance that their vote is theirs, and no one else’s. Without a requirement for voter identification it would be more difficult to take out a library book or collect a parcel from the post office than it would be to vote in someone else’s name. I understand—perhaps the Minister will confirm this—that people even need to present ID to attend Labour party events. If Labour Members, who opposed voter identification in the last Parliament, think that is good enough for them at their events, have they now changed their mind about the issue? Even the Electoral Commission says that at the last general election in 2024, 99.92% of people successfully cast their vote. In the Minister’s opening speech she gave no guarantee about whether the Labour Government have fundamentally changed their view on the principle of voter identification. I understand that they will need to bring forward minor adjustments to documents that may need to be presented and amended, but will the Government confirm that after opposing what I would call a sensible measure, they have now changed their mind and accept that legislation brought forward under the previous Government will stay? What scrutiny mechanism will the Minister guarantee to the House, should the Government make their view known that they wish to change the approach of the last Government? As I made clear to the House in 2022 when I spoke about a measure to introduce this legislation, voting with someone else’s voting card is unlikely to be proven, and the lack of ability to prosecute on that basis is exactly why voter identification is so important. Prior to the introduction of voter identification, the previous security system had seen no significant change since 1872. I hope the Minister will assure me that she is of the opinion that people in this country deserve elections that are secure and fit for the 21st century. As she will be aware, most European countries require some form of identification to vote. International election observers repeatedly called for the introduction of identification in polling stations in Great Britain, saying that its absence opened the door to electoral fraud. Voter identification has been supported by organisations such as the Electoral Commission and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Indeed, the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission recommends voter identification as part of the gold standard for ensuring that elections are free and fair, saying that it is “of paramount importance for the overall integrity of the electoral process”. In conclusion, as I have outlined, it should go without saying that electoral fraud undermines the fundamental right to vote in free and fair elections. It was right for the last Government to stamp out the potential for voter fraud and bring the rest of the UK into line with Northern Ireland, which has had such arrangements before. The Opposition support adding the new veteran card to the list of approved identifications, and will closely scrutinise any further announcements from the voter identification scheme. After the Minister wove it into her opening remarks, we understand that the Government have made a commitment on votes at 16. I look forward to tempting her to outline to the Opposition and all parties in the House whether she will go further and say what scrutiny measures we will have in the House, and when we can expect the Government to bring such measures forward.

• 13 Nov 2024 · Representation of the People · Hansard source

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  I share the hon. and learned Member’s scepticism about the view of the Liberal Democrats. I believe the hon. Member for Richmond Park (Sarah Olney) said that there were no convictions for electoral fraud in this country during 2021-22. Actually, there was a case in Eastleigh, my old constituency—I see that the hon. Member for Eastleigh (Liz Jarvis) is also present—of someone who had to complete 50 hours of unpaid work for providing a false name at a polling station in 2022.

• 13 Nov 2024 · Chagos Islands · Hansard source

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  Once again the Minister has come to the Chamber and said that the last Government started these negotiations. May I remind him that it was the last Government who ended the negotiations, because the Foreign Secretary did not agree with the advisory legal opinion that was given? This Foreign Secretary capitulated in two days. The Minister has also said that he will not reveal the cost of the deal because the Government do not release information about costs related to overseas bases, but when, on 14 October, my hon. Friend the Member for Huntingdon (Ben Obese-Jecty) asked the Minister for the Armed Forces a question about the total cost related to an overseas base in Kenya, the answer revealed the cost of what the Government were giving to that base. What is so different in this case?

• 5 Nov 2024 · Police Funding · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. I congratulate the hon. Member for North Down (Alex Easton) on securing this debate. I believe it is his first Westminster Hall debate—I hope the first of many. I know that policing in Northern Ireland is a matter on which he has long campaigned hard and I enjoyed hearing the historical facts in his opening speech. I am also grateful to other hon. Members for their contributions this afternoon; several were similar, but they were all passionate. Clearly, it is for the operationally independent Police Service of Northern Ireland to make decisions about day-to-day policing in Northern Ireland, and it is for the Northern Ireland Executive—who I am proud the Conservative Government helped to restore earlier this year—to decide how to allocate resources. Their being independent of this place, however, does not mean that we cannot harbour or express views about processes or individual decisions, or recognise the challenges of policing in Northern Ireland. We note the commitment in the Budget last week of £8 million for the Executive’s programme on paramilitarism and organised crime, which builds on the funding put in place by the Conservative Government to tackle that issue and strengthen community resilience in Northern Ireland. The Conservative Government also made additional contributions to the PSNI through additional security funding, including £31.2 million for the financial year 2023-24. The new Government had an explicit commitment in their manifesto to help improve public services in Northern Ireland. However, I am worried by the comments from Jon Boutcher, Chief Constable of the PSNI, who has said that the programme for government does not reflect the pressures that the PSNI is under, with policing numbers at an all-time low and further resources needed. I would be grateful to the Minister if she would confirm to the House what further discussions she intends to have over the coming weeks and months with her counterparts in Northern Ireland about policing needs. What steps will the Government take to support the Executive and PSNI to increase police numbers to the level envisaged in the New Decade, New Approach agreement, and to hit key milestones on the way there, as this seems to be a common theme in speeches in this House? According to the PSNI, all policing districts experienced a lower level of crime in the past 12 months. There were also fewer shootings, bombings and paramilitary-style attacks during the same period. However, just one of those appalling incidents is too many, and I also join the hon. Member for North Down in paying tribute to the work of PSNI and all staff and police officers in Northern Ireland, and our security services, for the daily job they do. It is important that the new Government act in a way that supports the Northern Ireland Executive and law enforcement to help lock in a positive trajectory and address areas where progress is more challenging. There can be no return to the violence of the past and, as I say, I commend the invaluable work of the PSNI, which faces security threats every day and does an amazing job. Northern Ireland has a tremendous peace dividend of its own with the progress that has come off the back of the Belfast/Good Friday agreement. With confusing messaging and short-term measures, this issue is not off to a great start for the Government. Whether it is the city deals that were paused and started again through a U-turn or the police funding levels, the Government must work with the Executive on an equal footing. I fear, judging by the announcements since this Government have taken over, that the Executive and Ministers within that Executive are not having solid and constructive messaging from this Government, with U-turns and various policies changed at the last minute. I hope the Minister will reassure the House that in future there will be a much more constructive relationship with the Executive when it comes to the direct funding of various Northern Ireland matters and governance. As I said, the manner in which the Government have handled issues in relation to Northern Ireland so far has been rather abrupt. That needs to change, and it must become more stable and consultative. We all want to see a safer, more prosperous Northern Ireland, with community cohesion moving only in the right direction and young people looking to a better future—everybody in this House absolutely wants that to happen; but we must see commitments made at the last general election delivered for the people of Northern Ireland, and see policing put at the forefront. That is not just by the UK Government but, as the hon. Gentleman and other hon. Members have said, a stronger approach taken by the Executive itself. That time has come, and it is time that the drawbacks and funding issues that have been outlined are sorted out, so that we can increase police numbers, ensure that crime continues to come down and ensure that policing is at the heart of all communities, as the hon. Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland (Luke Myer) said. He cleverly outlined policing issues in his constituency, which he is absolutely right to do in this one United Kingdom. The issues in his constituency are the same as the issues we heard in constituencies in Northern Ireland, and I pay tribute to him for turning up to this debate. Like him, I thought that it was a debate on policing throughout the United Kingdom. It should have been, but it is just that today we are addressing predominantly Northern Ireland issues with PSNI. The Conservative party will always back Northern Ireland—it has an integral place in our Union—and the aspirations and hopes of its people. I know the Minister shares that commitment, and I look forward to hearing her answer some of the questions by hon. Members from all around the Chamber, particularly when it comes to funding for PSNI going forward, so that it can make the decisions it knows it needs to make to ensure that policy is at the forefront of domestic politics in Northern Ireland and crime continues to come down.

• 5 Nov 2024 · Income Tax (Charge) · Hansard source

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  I thank my right hon. Friend for giving way and congratulate him on his appointment as shadow Secretary of State. Does he share my concern that, although the extra investment in the NHS is welcome, the lack of clarity from a Budget in which growth has actually been revised down means that in future years we could see additional investment in the NHS actually being cut back, because the Budget does not deliver the growth for public service investment?

• 5 Nov 2024 · Income Tax (Charge) · Hansard source

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  I congratulate the Secretary of State on the extra investment that he has secured for the national health service, in spite of the Chancellor. Does he agree that primary care needs to be diversified? Could he outline whether that includes walk-in centres? If it does, could I have a meeting to discuss a new walk-in centre at Fareham community hospital in my constituency?

• 5 Nov 2024 · Income Tax (Charge) · Hansard source

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  Will the shadow Secretary of State give way on that point?

• 30 Oct 2024 · Draft Immigration and Nationality (Fees) (Amendment) Order 2024 · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Betts. I welcome the Minister to her place. She will be delighted to know that we do not see the measure as contentious and we will not seek to divide the Committee today. The Opposition accept her reasons for why we have to make the changes today. We also accept that there will need to be retrospective legislation. I welcome her transparency on that matter. The Opposition always accept that immigration regulations must be pragmatic and we welcome the measures today. May I just ask the Minister what mechanisms will be put in place for the proper scrutiny of the statutory instruments, further regulations and retrospective legislation that she might introduce? Can she say what mechanisms this House will have to scrutinise those? Can she also outline—we accept that at this stage she might not know because of parliamentary timetabling —when we might expect the Government to introduce the retrospective legislation that might be needed to amend the issues that she has outlined this morning? Ministers should of course be assured that we will always, as the Opposition, look carefully at further proposals that the Minister may bring to the House. I also question whether it is Government policy to reverse or change the exemptions introduced by the previous Government, which have ensured that 300,000 fewer would-be applicants will have come to this country through other routes. Do the new Government intend to make further changes within that scope? Furthermore, I am concerned—even though it is not necessarily within the scope of this SI—that Ministers have publicly stated their intent to maintain an open-door policy for international students. Will the Minister outline the Government’s position on international students going forward? The Opposition welcome these pragmatic measures, and we look forward to supporting them in this Session.

• 29 Oct 2024 · Ministerial Code: Policy Announcements · Hansard source

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  Thank you, Mr Speaker—there I was ready to defend your honour, Sir. Even after your ruling yesterday, the Government made more announcements on the BBC this morning concerning health services, so has the Paymaster General asked his advisers at the Cabinet Office whether they think the Chancellor or any other Minister has broken the ministerial code? If he has not asked for that advice, why not?

• 29 Oct 2024 · Living Standards · Hansard source

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  With the promised £300 cut in energy bills not materialising, the winter fuel payment scrapped for pensioners, and now the bus cap lifted for working people—whatever definition of that term the Chancellor is using today—can she honestly say that living standards will improve for everybody under this Government?

• 24 Oct 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Will the Leader of the House join me in wishing the very best of luck to my Hamble constituent Jack Jarvis, an Army veteran, and his team—David Bruce and Nutty Edwards, both from the Royal Marines, and Adam Radcliffe—as they train in my constituency for a world record rowing attempt from New York to Southampton in aid of the veterans charity Head Up? Can we have a statement from the Health Secretary or the Defence Secretary on mental health services? Will the Leader of the House wish my constituents the best of luck in their attempt to raise money?