Paul Waugh MP: speeches

Speeches

• 29 Jun 2026 · Animal Abusers · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend makes a valid link between the abuse of animals and of human beings. I thank the petitioner, Bea, for bringing this issue to this place, because it shines a spotlight on both forms of abuse. The RSPCA has reported that 71% of domestic violence victims suffer death threats to their pets, too. Does that not prove that we need to be more sophisticated in how we record crimes of animal abuse, so that we capture the wider sense that these people are a threat not just to animals, but to their wives, their partners and everyone else?

• 1 Jun 2026 · Child Sexual Offender Data · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member refers to real people. There are no people more real than the three girls mentioned in the 2017 BBC docudrama and the whistleblowers involved. Does he accept that within days of that broadcast, which exposed to the nation the horrific actions of a Rochdale grooming gang, Andy Burnham commissioned an independent inquiry that led not just to the exposure of institutional failings but the vindication of those whistleblowers and, subsequently, the arrest and conviction of seven sick paedophiles in Rochdale, who were jailed for a total of more than 170 years? Does that not prove that we need to have real, strong political leadership on this issue, but also cross-party consensus, and that we should not be making party political points out of this? We should be working together to defeat paedophilia.

• 15 Jan 2026 · Digital ID · Hansard source

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  Young people in my constituency have long wanted some form of digital ID that allows them to prove their age in a club, pub or shop; it will make their life a lot easier. They are used to using smartphones. I am delighted that the Government have made it clear that the scheme will be voluntary, not mandatory. However, many older people in my constituency do not have a smartphone, and a significant number of them will need to know the Government’s plans, so that they can make sure that they do not lose out.

• 9 Dec 2025 · Railways Bill · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman referred earlier to ideology; surely it was Tory ideology that privatised the railways in the first place. That ideology has not been copied anywhere else in the world precisely because it costs the taxpayer more and the passenger more.

• 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?

• 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?

• 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 · 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.

• 16 Sept 2025 · Sentencing Bill · Hansard source

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  Will the Lord Chancellor give way?