Paul Waugh MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 25 Nov 2025 · G20 and Ukraine · Hansard source

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  Last week in Rochdale, I joined our proud Ukrainian community to mark the Holodomor, which was Stalin’s forced famine of millions of Ukrainians in the 1930s. There is a modern-day Holodomor going on in Ukraine through the drone strikes and air strikes by Putin’s regime. Does the Prime Minister share my absolute disgust at the treacherous actions of the former leader of Reform in Wales, who lined his own pockets with cash from the Russian regime, and does he agree that Reform UK’s refusal to carry out a full investigation proves that they really are Putin’s poodles?

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

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  It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Ms Butler. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Irene Campbell), and others, for setting out the context of the modern-day moral outrage that is the plight of the people of Gaza. Gaza may have disappeared from the headlines and TV screens, but the suffering continues for many, and neither I nor my constituents in Rochdale will allow the Palestinian people to be forgotten this winter, or any winter. Yes, the ceasefire brokered by the United States and others was undeniably welcome—finally, we are seeing the deceased and living hostages returned, prisoners released and the bombing abating—but, for more than two years, innocent Palestinians have endured the destruction of their homes, the tearing apart of their communities, and a relentless assault on their basic humanity and dignity. Now, as the winter rains fall upon their battered land, the misery deepens. As has been said, camps have become swamps; families who once had roofs over their heads now huddle in mud and fetid water, some of it sewage water; and more than a quarter of a million people are in desperate need of emergency tents and tarpaulins. The skies may be quieter and the airstrikes fewer, but the silent killers of disease and deprivation stalk the land of Palestine. I ask the Minister, what are the United Kingdom Government doing to ensure that those emergency shelters reach Palestinians without delay? How will the new Civil-Military Co-ordination Centre be used to compel Israel to open the floodgates to the aid that Gaza so desperately needs? As many have said, UNRWA has been clear that Gaza remains in a catastrophic state, despite the ceasefire. Israel continues to block international staff and to choke the entry of aid: 6,000 aid trucks stand idle at the crossings—6,000 trucks that could feed hungry mouths, clothe children, and bring medicine to the sick. Some 90% of Gaza’s population now survive entirely on aid and families scrape by on one meal a day but, still, just 170 trucks are allowed in, far below the minimum required for basic survival. As has been said, as well as the scandal of the lack of food, the children of Gaza suffer gravely from a lack of education. UNRWA struggles to provide schooling for 300,000 students remotely and 50,000 in person, under intolerable conditions. Some 44,000 Palestinian children sit in makeshift learning spaces, often on cold floors without chairs. Their sense of security—their very childhood —is being eroded every single day. When I visited the west bank earlier this year, one of the most shocking sights was the ruins of a Palestinian school building in Zanuta that had been attacked by Israeli settlers. The trashed primary school desks, the maps ripped off the walls, the wrecked life chances—they will remain with me and many other parliamentarians who attended for a very long time, and all with zero accountability for the perpetrators. Education lies in ruins. Satellite imagery shows that 93% of Gaza’s schools have been directly hit or damaged—that is 526 out of 564 buildings destroyed or requiring reconstruction. In north Gaza and Rafah, every single school building has been hit. What kind of army bombs schools?

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

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  I agree with my hon. Friend. There must be accountability for Israel’s actions—for its sins of omission as much as those of commission. Is the UK pushing for education to be a key part of the peace plan? As Members have said, it has been singularly missing so far. Nearly 200,000 people signed the e-petition that brought us here today, making it one of the largest petitions of this Parliament, as has been said. In Rochdale alone, 283 constituents added their name. This is not a fringe concern; it is a mainstream demand for justice.

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

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  I thank the hon. Gentleman. Yes, this is a grassroots, people-led campaign, as the petition shows. There has been progress in November: expanded food rations; a catch-up immunisation campaign that vaccinated 13,000 children; the distribution of high-performance tents to learning spaces, at least in Khan Yunis; bread prices that are beginning to fall thanks to the World Food Programme; and households reporting two meals a day instead of one. But that is not enough—nowhere near enough. The challenges remain immense. Heavy rains have affected 13,000 households directly; hundreds of tents have collapsed; fuel shortages mean that half the population still burns waste to cook; infrastructure lies in ruins; and aid convoys are always blocked at Rafah, where they should not be, denied at Kerem Shalom and turned away at hospitals in the north. UNRWA has food parcels for 1.1 million people, flour for 2.1 million and shelter supplies for 1.3 million pre-positioned outside Gaza, but Israel refuses to let it in. I say again that for too many Palestinians, the ceasefire is a fiction. Between 12 and 19 November, the most recent data available, eight Palestinians were killed and 41 injured, with 18 bodies pulled from the rubble. As we all know, the toll since 7 October 2023 now stands at 69,513 dead and 170,745 injured. Even after the ceasefire, 280 people have been killed and 672 injured, and 571 bodies retrieved. What kind of ceasefire is this when the killing continues? Let us not forget that many ordinary Israelis want peace. Many Israeli human rights groups, civil society organisations such as B’Tselem, and others, are being targeted by Netanyahu’s Government. They know that, without full rights for Palestinians and full statehood, there will never be genuine security for them or other Israelis. This is not just a humanitarian crisis; it is a moral crisis. It is a test of our values as a nation. We must have urgent action to open all the crossings, lift the restrictions and flood Gaza with aid at long last. We must keep up progress for a two-state solution, with peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians side by side. Speaking of a two-state solution, it was particularly sickening this month to see the Israeli Minister Ben-Gvir taunting in prison the one man who many Palestinians see as the Mandela of the middle east: Marwan Barghouti. I had the privilege of meeting his son when I was in Jerusalem earlier this year. Does the Minister agree that Marwan Barghouti has a key role to play in a lasting peace for the region? The Government have rightly recognised that the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains desperate. As the Middle East Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Lincoln (Mr Falconer), has confirmed, in the financial year 2025-26, the UK will provide more than £100 million for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, prioritising humanitarian relief, economic development and strengthening the Palestinian Authority. Those are important commitments, but commitments must be backed by delivery. The people of Gaza cry out for shelter, food, education and dignity. The petitioners cry out for action, and history will cry out for accountability. The Labour Government have made an historic step in recognising the state of Palestine—something no other British Government have done before. We need similarly bold moves on aid. Let us ensure that Britain is remembered for solidarity and political courage. Let us press Israel to open all crossings, demand the entry of aid, support UNRWA in its vital work and, above all, work for a genuine ceasefire that stops the killing, allows rebuilding and restores hope for a two-state solution. Without hope and real justice, there can be no lasting peace in the middle east.

• 20 Nov 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Last week saw a big day for Rochdale and for Greater Manchester, as building works began on a world-leading research centre—the Sustainable Materials and Manufacturing Centre in Kingsway Business Park, which is backed by £15 million of this Government’s money. Does the Leader of the House agree that that proves the Government’s industrial strategy can boost the jobs and apprenticeships of the future to help towns such as mine that have a proud manufacturing past and present?

• 20 Nov 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Apologies for jumping the gun earlier, Mr Speaker. We need to crack down on drug drivers. Leon Clarke from Rochdale crashed his car and killed his eight-year-old son while driving under the influence of cocaine. Does the Minister agree that we need to change the law on roadside drug tests to stamp out this rising menace on our roads?

• 20 Nov 2025 · Practical Driving Tests · Hansard source

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  I warmly welcome the tough action taken by this Government to cut the backlog in driving tests, but one thing that will help drivers more than anything, and help pedestrians too, is a crackdown on drug drivers such as Leon Clarke, who crashed his car and killed his eight-year-old son while driving under the influence of cocaine. Does the Minister agree that we need to change the law on roadside drug tests to stamp out this rising menace?

• 18 Nov 2025 · Gaza and Sudan · Hansard source

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  I welcome the leading role that the UK has played at the United Nations, both in trying to corral international action on the slaughter and sexual violence in Sudan, and on the international leadership we have shown in recognising the state of Palestine—an historic recognition, as the Foreign Secretary has acknowledged. I thank her for her personal commitment and action in getting sick and injured Palestinian children to British hospitals. Given the NHS’s expertise, can she tell us what more the UK can do to rebuild healthcare in Gaza itself?

• 13 Nov 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Minky Homecare’s ironing board factory in Shawclough, in Rochdale, is the only one of its kind in the whole country. It provides high-quality British-made products and lots of vital local jobs. Does the Leader of the House agree with me that making, selling and buying British products is this Government’s priority, as we support our manufacturers across the country?

• 12 Nov 2025 · Energy · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend references Scotland. I was at COP26 in Glasgow the last time we had a Conservative Prime Minister who showed real climate leadership on the global stage, yet we have now seen the sad spectacle—and we will see more of it later today—of a party that had a distinguished tradition of environmental protection and climate change reality running away to the Reform vote, which is an empty one. Does the Minister agree with the former Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, who said: “Certainly in my party, it’s all about bashing the green agenda, and personally I don’t think we’ll get elected on that. I didn’t see us soaring in the polls as a result of saying what rubbish net zero is. I didn’t see a massive leap in support for the Conservatives”?

• 11 Nov 2025 · BBC Leadership · Hansard source

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  As a former journalist and former member of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, I know more than most some of the failings of the BBC, but I also recognise some of its great strengths, not least in combating misinformation online. I know many of its journalists personally and many, many of them take ultra seriously their duties to provide fair, impartial and, yes, fearless news coverage. It is the fearlessness that often upsets this House, on either side. Yes, this was a serious error by the “Panorama” team and a correction should have been issued swiftly, but that does not mean that the BBC as an institution should be undermined. There are enemies on the left and the right who want to see the demise of the BBC, and they would rue that day should it ever happen.

• 11 Nov 2025 · Prisoner Releases in Error · Hansard source

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  I put on record my thanks to all the prison officer staff at Buckley Hall prison in Rochdale, who have held the line in the face of impossible cuts and challenges over the past 14 years under the previous Government. It is hard to imagine the sheer distress that is caused to victims and their families whenever there is a release in error of any prisoner, as happened, as has been said, 800 times under the last Government without a single apology, a single independent inquiry or a single photo or name, as has been demanded by the shadow Justice Secretary. Does the Secretary of State agree that victims and their families should be put at the heart of our reforms when we try to make sure that that never happens again?

• 3 Nov 2025 · Public Office (Accountability) Bill · Hansard source

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  This legislation is all about a fundamental rebalancing of power between the state and the citizens it is meant to protect and serve. We have heard powerfully today from many Members about the Hillsborough families and their enduring quest for the truth. Briefly, I would like to add the nuclear test veterans to that list of campaigners for justice, including my constituent, 88-year-old John Morris. When John was stationed on Christmas Island in 1956, he was told that British troops were building a new runway. In reality, they were testing nuclear weapons, but the weapons that were intended to keep Britain safe from the Soviet threat were far from safe for the men who were out in the south Pacific—they were effectively treated like lab rats, with little or no protection from harm. John is one of 22,000 British troops who were exposed to radiation while on service in the 1950s, and who have campaigned for years about the cancers and other side effects they endured. John’s son Steven died at just four months old from birth defects. For 50 years, John and his wife faced repeated indignities. They were wrongfully questioned on suspicion of having murdered their son, denied information about how and why their son died, and denied John’s own medical records. Finally, a coroner’s report suggesting that Steven’s lungs might not have formed properly was revealed. John himself has had cancer, and has had a blood disorder since he was 26 years old. He sent me a message today: “Great news about the Hillsborough law…for us vets, it’s very positive”, because it will “make our lives much easier” in getting the answers they demand. He is pleased that in September, the Prime Minister agreed to meet him to discuss the issue further, and he is looking forward to that meeting. There is another Rochdale resident whose campaign will, I hope, also benefit from this new legislation: 83-year-old Sylvia Mountain, who used the pregnancy test drug Primodos, which has already been mentioned by some of my hon. Friends. She gave birth to her son Philip in 1963, but Philip died of birth defects just 22 days after he was born. Today is the anniversary of the day her baby died, 62 years ago. Sylvia was told by doctors at the time to stop being “hysterical”, and has been told that no medical records exist to explain her son’s death, but many other women who were prescribed Primodos suffered similar birth defects in their children, as well as stillbirths and miscarriages. Victims of the Primodos test are still waiting for answers. For more than half a century, these families have faced a culture of concealment—of suppressed evidence, misleading official conclusions, and denial of responsibility. John and Sylvia—two Rochdale pensioners in their 80s, whose lives have been overshadowed by tragedy and loss in ways that are very different, but also very similar—personify the decades of injustice that this legislation is intended to prevent from ever happening again. I pay tribute to both of them for their resilience in the face of unspeakable tragedy and suffering, and am proud to have them as my constituents. John and Sylvia want the state to recognise its responsibilities before it is too late for them and others like them. It is in their name, and that of all the other victims of state power and cover-ups, that I welcome this landmark Hillsborough Bill today, a Bill that it has taken this Labour Government to make a reality.

• 28 Oct 2025 · China Spying Case · Hansard source

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  That is a matter for Ministers to decide; I am not privy to all the information that would be required to make that determination. It is vital for our own national security and is in our national interests that we maintain a similar consensus as we have on Ukraine on the threats, challenges and opportunities posed by China. We should all stand firm in this House on issues of national security and human rights and on the threats China poses clearly to our economy, our industrial secrets, our intellectual property, our democracy and, yes, our cyber-space. We should also recognise that it is important that the UK engages with China where it is in our hard-headed national interest—and mutual interest—to do so, from climate change to global health and trade. That is why the Opposition in government had a policy of protect, align and engage—there is that word “engage” again. How different is that really from our own compete, challenge and co-operate? I know that this place often thrives on political knockabout, with parties trying to seize on opponents’ perceived weakness, but in accusing one’s political opponents of somehow being enemies of the people and plotting non-existent cover-ups, the only beneficiaries are our real enemies abroad.

• 28 Oct 2025 · China Spying Case · Hansard source

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  First, I want to put on the record my anger and frustration, shared by many in this House, at the collapse of this case, particularly the dropping of the spying charges against Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry and the resulting collapse of their trial, which had been due to go ahead this very month. Secondly, I welcome Mr Speaker’s guidance on how to improve Members’ security. Members must not forget that we have a personal responsibility too to protect ourselves, our fellow Members and our staff from such foreign interference, which includes in our hiring practices and vetting of staff who can work in this building, which has not been often mentioned in this debate. However, I want mainly to warn of the danger of some of the rhetoric that has been used to date in this case. Of course, it is the job of His Majesty’s Opposition to probe, challenge and scrutinise the Government, yet what has happened in this case goes way beyond that and risks harming us all, just as spying on our Parliament harms us all. I am talking about the repeated unsubstantiated and scurrilous suggestions that any Minister or special adviser in this Government interfered or intervened in the independent decision making of the CPS. In an article in The Times on 15 October, the shadow Home Secretary, the right hon. Member for Croydon South (Chris Philp), accused the Government of deliberately choosing to collapse the case: “It is clear the government chose to deliberately submit inadequate evidence that led to two alleged spies getting off scot-free.” He went on: “They must now also explain who was guiding Matt Collins in preparing this evidence.” That is an appalling accusation to make with zero evidence and an insult to the professional integrity of the deputy National Security Adviser, and I hope the shadow Home Secretary withdraws it. Sadly, he was not alone. On 13 October, the Leader of the Opposition told the BBC: “This looks like a deliberate decision to collapse the case and curry favour with the regime in China.” She went on to say that she suspected that Ministers “have decided that closer economic ties with China were more important than due process and our national security.” Just look at those words: “looks like” and “suspect”. There is not a shred of evidence, only insinuation. That is not the language of a Prime Minister in waiting. As the Security Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley North (Dan Jarvis), has made clear, it was an entirely independent decision by the CPS to discontinue the case, and the CPS has confirmed that it came under no outside pressure to do so. As for the Whitehall meeting on 1 September referenced by the Opposition in their motion, crucially, Mr Collins said yesterday that there had been “at least four lawyers in the room who ensured that there was no discussion about the evidence” in the case. This House has maintained a proud cross-party consensus on Ukraine, helping President Zelensky to stand up to Putin—a consensus that is, sadly, not helped at times by Reform, whose Putin apologists are indeed Moscow’s useful idiots of the 21st century. We need to maintain a similar cross-party consensus in fighting against Chinese threats.

• 27 Oct 2025 · Prisoner Release Checks · Hansard source

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  Hadush Kebatu is clearly a depraved individual and a dangerous pervert who should be booted out of the country without delay. But my constituents are sick and tired of having to foot the bill for the cost of housing foreign national offenders in British jails. Will the Home Secretary therefore reassure them that the Sentencing Bill will make it much easier to deport those individuals and ensure that they are in foreign jails where they belong, rather than clogging up our prisons?

• 21 Oct 2025 · Co-operative Sector: Government Support · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend kindly mentioned Rochdale and its proud history in 1844 of the Rochdale pioneers founding this global movement for social justice. It is still a movement that is alive and kicking today. It is not a relic, as is evidenced by the Metro Moneywise credit union, which celebrated its 35th anniversary last week in a town hall ceremony in Rochdale at which I was pleased to be present. Does my hon. Friend agree that the most important point is that the Labour party has agreed to double the size of the co-operative economy, and that the whole of Government needs to get stuck in to achieve that—not just the Treasury, and not just the brilliant new unit in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the co-operative development unit, but every part of Government?

• 21 Oct 2025 · Co-operative Sector: Government Support · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend may not be aware that four of the original 28 Rochdale pioneers were warpers and weavers from Spotland Bridge, which is where I grew up. That makes me incredibly proud of the sense of working-class ingenuity and self-help that lives on today. Directly to my hon. Friend’s point, does he not think that the most important statistic about co-ops is that co-operative start-ups are twice as likely to survive beyond the first five years as any other start up?

• 21 Oct 2025 · Rape Gangs: National Statutory Inquiry · Hansard source

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  I know that the Minister will not want to comment on individual candidates to chair the national grooming inquiry. However, may I put on record that Jim Gamble is a highly regarded police officer with a long experience of dealing with this matter? His leadership of the child exploitation and online protection centre proved what a fearless and fiercely independent figure he was, with a real track record of tracking down sick paedophiles online and off. Does the Minister agree that the chair of the inquiry must be someone who can earn the trust of those who have been let down by those in positions of authority for far too long? Will she confirm—I hope that she will—that the inquiry will not shy away from issues of race or class and will follow the evidence wherever it leads?

• 15 Oct 2025 · Pride in Place · Hansard source

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  Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. In Rochdale, we warmly welcome this £20 million investment in Smallbridge and Hurstead, which is very much overdue. I am the Labour and Co-operative MP for Rochdale, which is the home of the Co-op, and we know more than anyone elsewhere the power of local people coming together, setting their own priorities and taking back control. Does the Minister agree with me that this investment is overdue because of the years of neglect by the Conservative party and Whitehall, and is a vote of confidence in local people?

• 15 Oct 2025 · Pride in Place · Hansard source

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  rose—

• 14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I thank the Prime Minister for his statement and warmly welcome the ceasefire, both for the beginning of the end of the suffering of the children of Gaza and for the release of the hostages, one of whom is Nimrod Cohen, whose brother I met in Jerusalem earlier this year and whose family are eternally grateful for everything that this country and the United States have done to secure their release. I also thank the Prime Minister for his emphasis today on the need to flood Gaza with aid, something we have not seen done at all adequately until now. Does he agree with the UN’s Tom Fletcher that more Governments need to urgently fund the UN’s flash appeal for the Occupied Palestinian Territories?

• 14 Oct 2025 · Warm Home Discount: Fuel Poverty · Hansard source

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

• 14 Oct 2025 · Warm Home Discount: Fuel Poverty · Hansard source

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  I am delighted that thanks to this Government and the warm home discount eligibility extension, thousands more Rochdale families will be eligible for £150 off their bills this winter. It will ensure that young and old alike get more help with their bills this winter. I would like to raise the case of my constituent Keith Gumbridge, who had his cavity wall insulation botched under the previous Government, and who was left with huge legal bills after so-called “no win, no fee” law firm Pure Legal went bust. Mr Gumbridge’s case has been with the Legal Ombudsman for nearly three years; does the Minister agree that that is far too long to wait for justice?

• 13 Oct 2025 · Social and Affordable Housing · Hansard source

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  1. What steps he is taking to build more social and affordable homes.