Peter Fortune MP: speeches

Speeches

• 18 Jun 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Bishop Challoner school has been helping to educate Bromley pupils for nearly 75 years, but it will close its doors in July due to Labour’s decision to impose VAT on independent schools. Given the Deputy Prime Minister’s well-publicised views on independent schools, does she welcome this closure or would she like to apologise to the parents, pupils and staff?

• 4 Jun 2025 · Business Rates Relief: High-street Businesses · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Jardine. I thank my right hon. Friend the Member for Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge (Sir Gavin Williamson) for securing the debate. I agree with nearly everything he said, with one notable exception: the constituency with the finest high streets is, of course, Bromley and Biggin Hill. High streets matter. They are the economic heart of our cities, towns and villages, supporting local jobs and serving as a social hub for communities, as my right hon. Friend said. When they are in decline or struggling, communities feel it: not only are there fewer jobs and less cohesion locally, but there is a deep sense of loss. Shuttered shops and empty streets shatter civic pride. While too many communities have seen their local high streets decline, we avoided mass closure during the pandemic, thanks to generous public support. Retail, hospitality and leisure relief, under which firms were initially offered 100% relief on business rates with a cap of up to £110,000, was one such pivotal measure. It was a lifeline for many businesses, and it remained a lifeline through the energy crisis and the subsequent inflation. Although it was intended as a temporary measure, that tax break remains crucial to the recovery of high streets and to local growth. It is not yet time to rapidly reduce it. That is why the Government’s decision to reduce the relief from 75% to 40% is a huge blow. The change effectively doubles the business rates bill for retail, hospitality and leisure firms, and it comes on top of the high energy costs and above-target inflation that are squeezing businesses. In my constituency we are fortunate to have successful high streets, from Bromley town centre, which is home to more than 700 businesses and supports 20,000 jobs, to the smaller parades in Hayes, Biggin Hill, Coney Hall, Bickley and Keston. However, they remain under pressure from rising costs, inflation and high energy prices, and the same challenges are squeezing consumer spending. It is precisely the wrong time to rapidly reduce the business rates relief. For an independent pub in my constituency with a rateable value of £98,000, the changes to the relief and the increase in the standard multiplier will mean an increase of nearly £20,000 in its tax bill. It is especially reckless because this is not the only Government policy with an impact on our high streets. In one swoop, Ministers have also hiked the minimum wage, created swathes of new employment red tape and introduced a substantial increase in national insurance contributions. The Government have mixed an expensive, anti-business cocktail for our high streets that few businesses can afford. It will mean fewer jobs, less investment and closures, at a time when we want to grow our local economies. The Government’s boast at last year’s tax-hiking Budget was “a penny off the pint”. —[ Official Report , 30 October 2024; Vol. 755, c. 820.] But behind that lacklustre announcement, they have not been honest about the collective impact of their policies, which are costing high street businesses an absolute fortune. If the Government are serious about securing investment and growing the economy, they need to rethink their decision to rapidly reduce this critical relief, before they hollow out Britain’s high streets and pull down the shutters for good.

• 7 May 2025 · Havering Borough and Essex Devolution · Hansard source

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  I commend my hon. Friend on an excellent speech. Does he agree that boroughs such as mine—Bromley—face many of the frustrations that his constituents in Havering face, and that we are also contributing huge amounts of money to the Mayor of London?

• 28 Apr 2025 · Football Governance Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  What fans tell me is that they want the money to move more freely through the sport. I shall say more about that in a moment. The cronyism is what we are concerned about. With political leadership, the risk of mission creep is greater. More state intervention would threaten English football’s independence, and UEFA warns that without independence, English clubs could not compete in European leagues. The Government know that their Bill could torpedo English football, and I wonder whether that is why Ministers refuse to publish UEFA’s letter about it. The regulator will also cost clubs a small fortune. The levy to pay for the new bureaucracy will cost them nearly £100 million, and the regulatory burden will cost them nearly £35 million more, hurting the smallest clubs, such as Bromley, that do not have the staff to handle yet more red tape. For clubs it means higher taxes, more paperwork, and staff working on state demands, rather than football. For fans it will inevitably mean higher ticket prices, especially in view of the new jobs tax that Labour has instigated, and employment red tape. We should be focusing on getting money to the league clubs, not tying their hands with bureaucracy. That is what the clubs need. Football is about risks and aspirations. Teams win or lose, are promoted or relegated. This is not banking; it is football. While I recognise that smaller clubs need support, a partisan regulator is not the answer. English football’s independence is worth protecting.

• 28 Apr 2025 · Football Governance Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  As has been mentioned, only one Football League club is represented by a Conservative MP, and that is the mighty Bromley football club. My efforts to bring about a chant of “You’ve got the only Tory” across opposition stands in league two are ongoing, and I will keep the House informed of how well they proceed. Hayes Lane, the club’s ground since 1938, stands proudly in my constituency. Bromley FC is a football fan’s dream. We have gone from strength to strength in recent years. Earning promotion to the conference south league in 2006, the club was crowned champion eight years later. We climbed the national league, reaching the FA trophy final in 2018 and earning promotion in 2021, but our rise did not stop there. Bromley faced Ryan Reynolds’s Wrexham at Wembley for a second shot at the FA trophy in 2022. It was an amazing day, and one that I remember well. While we may not have had “Deadpool”, we did have Michael Cheek—Cheeky, the Maradona of Bromley—who secured the silverware with the game’s only goal. I love Michael Cheek, and I congratulate him on being named league two player of the year last night; it is well deserved. Last year, a moment 132 years in the making arrived as Bromley was promoted to the English football league for the first time in its history. Why is this story relevant? Bromley’s football dream was realised thanks to sound management, private investment and raw talent, not a state regulator, and I congratulate Robin Stanton-Gleaves, Mark Hammond— Hammo—and Andy “Woody” Woodman on all that they have done for the club. As a Ravens fan, when I look at Labour’s supposedly independent football regulator, I have to ask whether it would help Bromley FC or aspiring clubs like it, and in its current state, the answer is a resounding no. When the Bill was first proposed, it was proposed with the right intentions. It would protect cherished community clubs from bad owners, and would prevent a breakaway European super league. However, Labour’s regulator is morphing into a meddling, costly political deadweight for English football, because the regulator will be neither independent nor impartial. This is cronyism at its worst.

• 28 Apr 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Bromley council has the second highest rate of education, health and care plans in London, and is in desperate need of extra special school provision. The council is looking to bring forward a 200-space special school but has met with a lack of innovation at the Education and Skills Funding Agency. Will the Minister meet me and local officials to discuss how we can break those bureaucratic blockers and deliver this provision?

• 1 Apr 2025 · Royal British Legion · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Jeremy. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Hinckley and Bosworth (Dr Evans) for securing the debate. I have no doubt that the Royal British Legion is one of the most nationally significant charities in Britain today. That is not solely because of the legion’s poppy appeal, which has raised millions upon millions of pounds to support the armed forces communities since 1921, nor because it leads our nation in remembrance each year, in a moment of national unity, with deeply shared gratitude, sorrow and loss that each generation continues; it is also because of its invaluable and irreplaceable support for British servicemen and women, veterans and their families. Established in the aftermath of the first world war, the legion helped returning soldiers to find housing and work. In the century since, the legion’s services to veterans have been a lifeline, and it has grown to support the entire armed forces community. Though I only served briefly, I know from friends who continued in the armed forces and from veterans in my community that the legion has made an enormous difference in their lives. As we all know, however, the Royal British Legion is more than a national charity; it is also local, and long embedded in communities across the country, including in my Bromley and Biggin Hill constituency. The Hayes Royal British Legion branch was established over 90 years ago and is a cornerstone of the local community. While many membership organisations struggle, it boasts 900 members, who together raise thousands of pounds to support serving and ex-serving members of the British armed forces and their families. I commend the work of their president, Jo Charstone, and all the wonderful volunteers, such as Olly Pereira and Dennis Burroughs. Although the Hayes branch, like others, has grown to include those who have not served, it still provides a crucial social hub for Bromley’s veterans. More than 6,600 veterans live in the London borough of Bromley—more than in any other corner of London—and the Hayes Royal British Legion branch offers Bromley’s veterans a place of camaraderie every month. I look forward to joining the branch next month for the beacon service, which they are organising to commemorate VE Day. It is a moment to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the second world war. In a powerful initiative, the Hayes branch will also ask residents living in a home that once belonged to a fallen hero to display a “Remembrance Tommy” sign in their garden bearing the name of the previous owner who never returned, so that we will always remember them.

• 26 Mar 2025 · Local Government Finances: London · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Lewell. Before serving the people of Bromley and Biggin Hill as their Member of Parliament, I served them as a councillor in the borough for 12 years. I was also privileged to be deputy leader of that great borough. I have, therefore, long been familiar with the financial challenges that face local government. As much as the Labour party would like to pin the blame solely on decisions taken in 2010, the story is far longer than that. For Bromley, the story of underfunding started in 1997, under the previous Labour Government. Bromley council’s net budget has reduced by more than a quarter in real terms and nearly two fifths per person. It is true that the previous Conservative Government asked councils to make significant savings to tackle the country’s deficit but, ultimately, without those difficult decisions our nation would not have been able to weather the financial storm caused by the coronavirus. I regret that the previous Conservative Government did not deliver a long-promised fair funding review, but I recognise that that was hard to achieve in the aftermath of the pandemic, the energy crisis and high inflation. It is a problem that successive Governments of all stripes have failed to grasp. The new Labour Government’s actions have made it even more challenging for councils. It is the same old Labour story in London: more money is spent on Labour areas and less on the Conservative suburbs. Bromley council was awarded the second-lowest funding settlement amount per person. If Bromley received the average settlement grant of funding per person for London, the borough would receive an additional £80 million a year. In addition to inadequate settlements, Bromley did not benefit from the recovery grant. With inflation rising fast again under the Labour Government, the funding pressures will worsen, further eroding councils’ financial standing. Nor have councils received adequate funding to cover the cost of Labour’s decision to increase employer’s national insurance contributions. This jobs tax will further push up costs, especially in social care. Bromley is a well-managed borough, and I commend its Conservative leader, Councillor Colin Smith, and his excellent team, but like all London councils Bromley faces enormous pressures that are simply unaffordable. We retain the fourth-lowest level of council tax in outer London because we are a low-cost borough. Bromley council has saved more than £150 million since 2011, but being a low-tax, low-cost borough means there are few remaining savings. It is becoming increasingly impossible for councils to balance the books. Bromley can this year, but only thanks to the authority’s reserves, carefully built and protected over many years of sensible and responsible stewardship, despite opposition calls to reduce them. That is not sustainable in the long term. It is why a quarter of London boroughs have already effectively declared bankruptcy and requested exceptional financial support. Future local government settlements must adequately fund councils to deliver, especially considering the rising national insurance costs. They should reflect the higher costs that all London boroughs face, fixing the area cost adjustments that wrongly say that Bromley is one of the most affordable places in London. There should also be a mechanism to reward low-cost and efficient authorities, instead of asking them to make savings while spendthrift authorities are given more. Finally, the Government should allow councils to change statutory charges to match costs, and reduce ringfencing to allow councils to be more flexible and more concerned with their own priorities.

• 5 Mar 2025 · Department for Business and Trade · Hansard source

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  I regularly meet business owners big and small across Bromley and Biggin Hill. The story is the same no matter who I talk to, be it big franchisees, independent care providers or small family-owned start-ups: British businesses do not feel supported by this Labour Government. Instead, they feel hamstrung by Labour’s tax rises and red tape. The Department for Business and Trade’s budget may be over £3.3 billion, but any business will say that things are getting worse, not better, under Labour. I have lost count of the number of local enterprises who have told me that they have stopped recruiting, and are making redundancies, delaying investment and increasing prices, all after Labour’s tax-raising budget. That should not come as a surprise to the Government. Hiking employers’ national insurance contributions by £25 billion will cost jobs. Imposing reams of new employment red tape will deter businesses from hiring. There may only be one Cabinet member who has started their own business, but this is simple stuff. If they make it more expensive and difficult to hire and grow, businesses will not hire or grow. That is what anti-business, anti-growth Government look like. Labour’s policies are causing economic growth to slow down, unemployment to rise fast and inflation to increase again. Bromley and Biggin Hill has nearly 4,800 small businesses. They are the lifeblood of the local economy. If they thrive, our community succeeds. If they fail, our community suffers. But Labour is making their jobs harder, as it is for small businesses across the country. A new survey by the Federation of Small Businesses shows that a third of small employers plan to cut jobs, with nine in 10 worried about Labour’s Employment Rights Bill. Small business confidence has also fallen to a record low because of the pandemic, with confidence among small firms plummeting more in London than in any other English region. This Labour Government are not helping businesses to deliver economic growth; instead, they are taxing them to the very brink.

• 5 Mar 2025 · Courts and Tribunals: Sitting Days · Hansard source

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  I speak as a member of the Public Accounts Committee, which worked on the report about how justice delayed is justice denied, and I recommend that Members peruse it. What specific conversations has the Lord Chancellor had with colleagues in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government about speeding up the planning process so that we can get more courtrooms operating?

• 26 Feb 2025 · Family Businesses · Hansard source

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  Like many Conservative Members who have started a small business, I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. It has been fascinating to listen to stories about businesses from across the country during the debate. I was particularly moved by my hon. Friend the Member for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Moore) who talked about the pressure facing a local gym. It made me feel better as I am contributing to my local gym by paying the membership fees and not using any of the facilities. Seven months ago, when Labour came to power, the new Government proclaimed that economic growth was their first mission. For all the doom-mongering, Labour inherited an economy that had turned a corner, following the pandemic and the energy crisis. The economy was growing, energy bills were falling, inflation was back on target and employment was high. However, in seven short months, economic growth has stalled, the Bank of England has halved its growth forecasts, the cost of living is rising again, with high inflation and energy bills, and unemployment is increasing, as businesses brace for tax rises. Britain’s economy is stuttering because of this Government’s failing policies: a family business tax to break up thriving enterprises, a jobs tax to make it more expensive for businesses to employ people, a business rate hike to squeeze the already struggling British high street and more employment red tape to tie businesses’ hands. But Labour is not content with cutting jobs and closing businesses—it is giving Ministers the power to shrink the great British pint. While they say they will never do it, who could trust a word this Government say? Not pensioners, not working people and certainly not farmers. On an issue of such vital national importance, can we take that risk? Every employer I speak to in my constituency tells me that they have no choice but to cut jobs, wages and investment. That is true whether the employer is a nursery in Bromley Common, a large franchisee on Bromley High Street or a charity serving our borough. That is what an anti-business Government look like, not a pro-growth Government. The policies are all the more bizarre as the Prime Minister once said: “Wealth creation is our number one priority.” In reality, he does not know how to create wealth, only tax it. The Government are taxing family farmers who will be forced to sell off their land, family businesses that will be forced to sell and high street businesses that will be forced to close, taking jobs so that working people face redundancy. It is not too late for Labour to spare family businesses. Those businesses employ 14 million people and contribute £575 billion to the economy. Labour’s decision to cap and cut the business property relief risks breaking up long-running family businesses. Instead of continuing those businesses, the next generation will be forced to sell. The Government’s policies will not grow the economy, but hollow it out. Britain simply cannot afford Labour’s assault on our nation’s economic future.

• 20 Jan 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T4. Following the Grenfell tragedy, the residents of Northpoint in my constituency have had to pay charges of nearly £700,000 for a waking watch, fire wardens and alarms. Given the Government’s manifesto commitment to better protect leaseholders from costs, what steps can the Minister take to help my constituents with the reimbursement of those charges?

• 14 Jan 2025 · Iran · Hansard source

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  With the re-election of President Trump in the US, we are likely to see a return to his policy of maximum pressure to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. What is the Secretary of State’s view on that approach? Will the Government support our allies in the United States of America?

• 14 Jan 2025 · Iran · Hansard source

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  16. What diplomatic steps he is taking to help counter potential threats to global stability by Iran.

• 8 Jan 2025 · Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill · Hansard source

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  As has been highlighted on the Opposition Benches, English education has been a success story. We have trusted schools to get on with the job, and academies and new free schools enjoy the freedom to run themselves, pay their teachers more and improve their curriculum. Ending central Government and local government micromanagement has put power into the hands of people who know best: school leaders and teachers. And it has worked: English schools have soared up the global rankings under the Conservatives.

• 8 Jan 2025 · Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill · Hansard source

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  Well, the figures speak for themselves. As was highlighted by my hon. Friend the Member for West Suffolk (Nick Timothy), who has morphed into a Whip at the moment, English schools have soared up the rankings. If we look at the recent PISA league tables, we see that English education is now ranked seventh-best for maths and ninth for reading and science. That is up from 21st, 19th and 11th respectively in 2009. Meanwhile, education in Scotland and Wales under the SNP and Labour, where schools were not granted those freedoms, has stagnated and slumped in various global rankings, so much so that some of them have withdrawn altogether from some of those rankings. I want to focus on one problematic element of the Bill, which was raised by the hon. Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse). The Government’s proposals would strip academies of the power to pay teachers more, award performance, and attract and retain talented people. I understand that at least two schools in my constituency pay teachers more than the national pay scales: Oaklands primary in Biggin Hill and Pickhurst primary in Hayes. Nearby, the Harris primary academy in Shortlands and many more schools in Bromley also choose to pay teachers more. The Bill will strip academies of that power, cutting teachers’ pay and weakening schools. In any other industry, pay reflects performance. When vacancies cannot be filled, pay rises to attract talent. That is why schools should be able to vary from national pay scales. School leaders should be able to pay good teachers more and respond to the local jobs market. Instead, the Government want to wind the clock back and empower Whitehall, not schools. The Government are so eager to be doom-mongers to justify their ideological policies that they risk wrecking a decade of progress. Who will benefit? It is not the teachers or the children, so why are they doing it? I am not even sure that those on the Government Front Bench know, but what we do know is that the Bill will destabilise years of progress and damage the future opportunities of young people across Bromley and Biggin Hill, and right across the nation.

• 7 Jan 2025 · Employer National Insurance Contributions: Charities · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight East (Joe Robertson) for bringing forward the debate. I want to speak about the impact that the jobs tax will have on my community. One excellent charity working in my constituency of Bromley and Biggin Hill is South East London Mind. It faces a £190,000 increase in its tax bill, which is the equivalent of hiring five mental health advisers who could support 1,000 people a year. However, instead of working hard fundraising or reworking NHS contracts to expand, staff will be working to pay tax, and in all likelihood to do less. That is not a unique case. Another fantastic charity working in Bromley and Biggin Hill is Aurora Nexus, which employs 240 people right across London, supporting people with autism and learning disabilities. It faces a £194,000 tax grab. Every Member present will know of a local charity that Labour’s jobs tax will hit hard. This is a poor policy, and quite frankly an attack on the most vulnerable in our society.

• 21 Nov 2024 · Transport Infrastructure · Hansard source

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  An increasing amount of Transport for London’s funding comes from punitive taxes on motorists, including those in my constituency of Bromley and Biggin Hill. There are reports that the Mayor of London was actively planning to charge drivers up to 60p a mile to drive. Will the Secretary of State take the opportunity to discourage the mayor from introducing pay-per-mile road user charging across Greater London?

• 17 Oct 2024 · International Investment Summit · Hansard source

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  I pay tribute to those who have made their maiden speeches today. I think we all felt the passion and emotion in the beautiful speech by the hon. Member for Congleton (Mrs Russell). She has given me an idea: when I am out in Keston this weekend, I might recommend to the residents that we get ourselves a village bear—although I can hear my daughter recommending that we get ourselves a village Harry Styles; that would probably be preferred. The hon. Member for Ossett and Denby Dale (Jade Botterill) spoke passionately about representing the place that she called home. The idea of “Pie Hard” is what I am looking forward to—a Bruce Willis remake in the rolling hills of Yorkshire would be most enjoyable. I congratulate both Members on their maiden speeches. I will continue being nice to the Opposition—

• 17 Oct 2024 · International Investment Summit · Hansard source

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  Yes, the Government—I have picked up that habit from my hon. Friend and I do apologise. I am impressed by what has been achieved at the international investment summit. Within weeks of allegedly receiving the worst economic inheritance of any incoming Government since the second world war, Labour has supposedly secured billions of pounds of investment. That is frankly unbelievable, and not because I doubt our country’s ability to attract investment. Britain is a tremendous place to invest, as a wealthy, free, fair and talented nation where people can do business and thrive. That is why Britain’s foreign direct investment stock grew to more than £2 trillion throughout successive Conservative Governments—more than France, Germany and Italy combined. My scepticism is about the idea that the Government, who appointed a Minister for Investment only four days before the summit, secured every penny of the investment. As anyone in business will tell us, the devil is in the details, and a quick inspection will confirm that most of the investment was in progress thanks to the last Conservative Government. Let us look at clean energy, for example. Britain secured much of the investment that the Government claim credit for thanks to a Conservative policy: contracts for difference. Without that market mechanism, under which investors bid for a guaranteed price, we would not have secured as much investment as cheaply for bill payers. It is why we have the world’s four largest offshore wind farms off our coast, why renewables generate 44% of our electricity today compared with 7% in 2010, and why the UK was able to close its last coal-fired power plant this year. That is a Conservative record, as much as Labour might envy it. The Government have done the easy bit in tallying the figures and taking credit for someone else’s work. Admittedly, that is a harder task when No. 10 is in such disarray and the Minister had only two days to prepare for the summit. In fairness, only time will tell if the summit was a success and the relationships built there lead to more investment beyond what was already on its way. But that is the hard bit, because to secure more investment and compete globally, Britain needs to be light on regulation and low in taxes. Although the Prime Minister talked about removing “needless regulation” and being “open for business,” his Government’s actions say otherwise. Despite Labour’s explicit manifesto pledge not to increase national insurance, the Chancellor is drawing up plans to hike the tax for employers. Make no mistake: that would be a tax on jobs, and would make it more expensive for firms to hire, which would impact on businesses big and small, including in my constituency—from Bombardier in Biggin Hill to pubs and cafés in Hayes and the Churchill theatre in Bromley. The tax hike may fall on employers, but working people will pay the price as job opportunities shrink and pay rises are limited. The hands of businesses will be tied further by what the Government themselves brand the biggest increase in employment regulation in a generation. While the Government plan to tax jobs and pass French-style union laws, a Cabinet Minister took a more explicit anti-business approach. The Transport Secretary admitted that she has been boycotting a ferry company for two and a half years, and encouraged others to do the same. While the Prime Minister glad-handed investors— promising less red tape and openness to business, and was careful to mention tax only once—his Government are delivering exactly the opposite. Britain faces a more significant problem: keeping up as technology advances. Leading on artificial intelligence, quantum, engineering biology or semiconductors is vital to our future prosperity and security, but we face considerable challenges in doing so. For example, Britain is home to the largest number of foundational models and generative Al start-ups in Europe, but we lack the compute power that we need to build and run Al models. The previous Conservative Government recognised that problem and planned to build a new supercomputer in Edinburgh 50 times more powerful than our current top-end system, but Labour has now cancelled that £800 million investment. That is yet another example of Labour’s actions not matching its rhetoric. The Government cannot be in favour of growth while cancelling investment. They cannot cut regulations while planning huge increases in red tape for employment. They cannot support jobs while preparing to tax their creation. And they cannot claim to have the worst economic inheritance while copying and championing the work of their Conservative predecessors. If the Government do not get their story straight, investors will almost certainly stay away.

• 16 Oct 2024 · The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2024 · Hansard source

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  Apologies if I get the procedure wrong—it is the first time I have done this. I align myself with the comments of my right hon. Friend—

• 16 Oct 2024 · The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2024 · Hansard source

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  One day. I have a quick question for the Minister on the consultation. I appreciate that there is no formal consultation required, but the paper says that there has been informal consultation with stakeholders. Can the Minister tell us who those stakeholders are?

• 8 Oct 2024 · VAT: Independent Schools · Hansard source

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  My children have been educated in both the state and independent sectors. I spoke earlier in the Westminster Hall debate about how Labour’s plan to impose VAT on independent schools is a tax on aspiration, but it is also something else: a lack of understanding of how to govern. The Government’s education tax is not just a lousy decision; it is a lousy plan. As has already been said, imposing the VAT in January—the middle of the school year—risks disrupting children’s education and forcing mainstream schools to accept mid-year students. It denies parents time to prepare and does not allow independent schools time to register for VAT. Families of more than 5,000 pupils studying at independent schools in the London borough of Bromley and my constituency must find up to £4,345 more per year to protect their children’s education, or take the gruesome decision to remove their child from their friends and the school they enjoy, even at crucial moments such as GCSE and A-level years. Is that really what the Government want? One concerned parent told me that, with their children just two terms away from their GCSEs and A-levels, finding a local state school with the capacity to take them on and that is studying exactly the same exam boards would be impossible. In truth, the Government have no idea how many pupils might leave. The Institute for Fiscal Studies, which the Government rely on, estimated that up to 40,000 people would leave independent schools, but it admits that there is too little evidence to be sure and that the situation is uncertain. In 2018, the Independent Schools Council estimated that, if this change were imposed, pupil numbers would drop by more than 134,000 over five years. Whatever the number, it is a safe bet that this will be a slow burner, with some pupils forced out immediately, others leaving after exams, and those who will never enrol, resulting in years of uncertainty for schools, their staff, students and teachers, as many smaller schools will simply wither away. Even a moderate number of exits threatens to close small independent schools. The likely result will be fewer pupils, fewer schools and more significant pressure on mainstream schools. This is a reckless recipe that will disrupt the education of pupils with special educational needs, pitch parents against councils and burden mainstream schools. When the Labour party said that it would not tax working people, we had no idea that its targets were children and pensioners. This is ideological, not practical, and it will impact far more pupils than the Government will admit to or recognise. Let us be clear: in a few short weeks, when children up and down the country will be saying goodbye to their friends, when they will be struggling with the anxiety of being forced to go to a strange new school, and when, through no fault of their own, they will be suffering academic pressure in an exam year, it will be the result of Government policy. As one headteacher said to me, this policy is nothing short of cruel.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Independent Schools: VAT and Business Rates Exemptions · Hansard source

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  I should be clear that both my children attend independent schools. Like many parents who make the same choice, my wife and I, with the support of our families, made sacrifices to enrol them. We did so because, with that support, we could. Make no mistake: I recognise it is a privilege to have that opportunity. Like many parents, I want to give my children something I did not have growing up—an excellent education. My schooling in Lambeth, where I grew up on a council estate, left a lot to be desired. As I grew older, I realised that an excellent education was the way out. With my children, I spent what I had to give them the best possible education. Crucially, our decision for our family did not impact anyone else. Sending children to independent school—a personal and privileged choice—is not a bad thing that should be taxed and regulated out of existence, as Labour also want to do with smoking or by introducing a two thirds of a pint measure. It does not mean that state schools are poorer. In fact, we pay our taxes and opt out, leaving more space and school resources for others. Independent schools also offer bursaries and donate the use of their facilities to other local schools. Those who think differently have an ideological obsession, and I am afraid that this new Labour Government share it. They are not thinking about lifting schools up, but tearing some down. Remember, in 2019, it was the Labour party that voted to abolish independent schools. Instead of the complete destruction they desire, the Government have settled, for now, on taxing these schools to the brink by imposing VAT on fees and removing their charitable status. What they picture are Eton schoolkids fresh from the family estate, high on their parents’ aspirations. They do not picture the kid done good from a council estate who also has high aspirations, the shopworker doing the extra shifts to give her kids the chance she never had or the parents giving up everything to get the extra SEN care they want to provide for their child. This is ideological, not practical. It is knocking people down, not lifting our country up. Worst of all, it is ill-considered. As one local headteacher told me, this policy is nothing short of cruel.

• 11 Sept 2024 · Building Safety and Resilience · Hansard source

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  Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker. I have learned from the potential misstep of the hon. Member for Sheffield South East (Mr Betts), and I promise to gaze at you throughout my entire speech. A maiden speech is, by tradition and design, quite light-hearted, and that is how I have fashioned mine, but I want the House to be in no doubt that this debate is on a very serious issue. I welcome the cross-party conversation about the disaster at Grenfell, and I know that my constituents in Bromley and Biggin Hill send their thoughts and prayers to the victims and survivors and their families, and to others who have been impacted. It is obvious that I represent the finest constituency in all of this great United Kingdom. Before I set out my case, let me say a few words about my main predecessor—noting, of course, those communities we welcome from the constituencies of both Beckenham and Orpington. The majority of my new constituency, however, is inherited from Bromley and Chislehurst and Sir Bob Neill KC. Sir Bob was and is a creature of this House, a magnificent speaker, a bon viveur and a good friend to many in this Chamber. Bob dedicated his adult life to service. He started as a councillor before moving to the Greater London Council. The GLC, of course, met its demise in 1986. Bob, unperturbed, simply hung around until it was reinvented in 2000, when he became the first assembly member for Bexley and Bromley. In 2006, on the passing of the much-loved awkward squad Member Eric Forth, Bob fought a difficult by-election to become the Member for Bromley and Chislehurst. For nearly a quarter of a century, Bob has been part of the fabric of our community, always ready to fight for those who needed a voice. Bob has a deep admiration and love for the law. He has held many positions in politics, but I believe that it was as Chairman of the Justice Committee that he reached his pinnacle. His knowledge and depth of understanding have been of unquestionable benefit to the House, but his love of the law is trumped by a love that is much deeper. It is not West Ham. It is not opera. It is not even Gibraltar, to which I know he has given so much time. His greatest love is for Ann-Louise, the woman, the wife and the friend who has made him so happy. Members will know that fate took a particularly callous decision early on in their relationship, but they will also know that Bob and Ann-Louise faced that challenge with their typical resilience and humour. I thank him for his service, and for the graciousness and kindness with which he has always treated me, and I wish his family well. Before I move on to making the self-evident case that Bromley and Biggin Hill is the greatest constituency that has ever existed, I want to make a note of another previous Member for Bromley: the former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. As Minister for housing, he took on the responsibility of meeting new and ambitious housing targets. He was not keen at first, writing in his diary in 1951 that it was “not my cup of tea at all”. Despite his concerns, he met the inflated target a year early, and changed the lives of families right across the country by presenting them with the opportunity to live in a safe and secure home. I wonder how he would feel—this links to the substance of the debate—if he knew that residents of North Point in Bromley are still suffering due to a cladding crisis that is no fault of their own. This is an injustice that has gone on for too long, and it is vital that the whole House work together to free those who are impacted from the shackles of poor governance and lack of accountability. Before I talk further about the constituency, I would like to say thank you to the best people I know. I cannot linger here for too long or I shall be reduced to an emotional puddle, but I must recognise my beautiful family, without whom I am nothing. My extraordinary children make me so proud, and I am blessed with the most beautiful, talented, funny and patient wife in Anna-Marie. She is the most wonderful and kindest person I have ever met; I will never be good enough for her, but I will keep trying. To business. Bromley and Biggin Hill is a long, thin and elegant constituency, which is why it comes as no surprise that its constituents chose me, an uncanny physical manifestation of the place. It is a wonderful place, comprising Sundridge, Bickley, Hayes and Keston, the bit of Darwin that is in the family, along with Coney Hall, Bromley common, Biggin Hill and of course the ancient market town of Bromley. Rather than give a geographical tour, I will demonstrate the amazing contributions from across Bromley and Biggin Hill to the fields of literature, sport, science and politics, and set out how we saved the world. I will start with literature. If readers have enjoyed exciting stories of time travel or invisible men; or secretly encouraged William, the unruly schoolboy; or empathised with the buddha of suburbia, they have been enjoying a writer from Bromley and Biggin Hill. H.G. Wells, Richmal Crompton and Hanif Kureishi are all connected to the constituency. Enid Blyton was one of the first teachers at Bickley Park school, and academic writers and thinkers, including Sir Anthony Seldon, have spent time scribbling in the constituency, but perhaps the greatest intellectual offering came as a pre-ironic criticism of consumerism and a reflection on the UK’s struggling agricultural base, all expressed in musical form. Produced by an epoch-defining philosophical movement from the ’70s, the song went: “Spam, spam, spam…spam, spam, spam, spam...lovely spam”, and was set in the fictional Green Midget café in Bromley. I have a pub quiz question for the sports round. Who can tell me the only English football league club in the constituency of a Conservative MP? It is indeed the mighty Bromley FC, recently promoted and going great guns, clearly due to the sound political stewardship of the constituency—and I look forward to chants of “You’ve got the only Tory” from Opposition Members when we take on Notts County at home in Hayes Lane later this week. We have also added to the canon scientific. In 1843, Thomas John Hussey, the rector of Hayes, noticed anomalies in the orbit of the recently discovered planet Uranus. He wrote to the future astronomer royal and talked of “the possibility of some disturbing body beyond Uranus”. [Interruption.] Members are making their own jokes up; stop it. This led to further investigation and discovery, ultimately contributing to our modern understanding of the solar system. What I am saying is that we invented Neptune. Moving on to politics, while we had our fair share of lefty types, notably anarcho-communist Peter Kropotkin, who lived with us for a bit, my favourite local communist has always been Coney Hall’s irrepressible Elsy Borders, who led the famous mortgage strike of 1937. Elsy intentionally defaulted on mortgage payments, demanding that the structural flaws in her newly acquired building be repaired. I cannot but help think how this relates to the substantive issue we are debating. While I have some Labour Members onside, I can delight them further by informing them that we in Bromley and Biggin Hill also invented the modern income tax—but allow me to win back Conservative colleagues by explaining that the revenue raised was used to fight the French. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear!”] I got them back. The tax was introduced by our local boy done good, William Pitt the younger, who was born and resided in the constituency. He was assisted into his political position by his father, William Pitt the elder, another resident. This original political nepo-baby went on to have an extraordinary career, with perhaps the highlight being the conversations he held with his colleague William Wilberforce around a tree in the grounds of the Pitt residence. A Wilberforce diary entry in 1788 reads: “At length, I well remember after a conversation with Mr. Pitt in the open air at the root of an old tree at Holwood, just above the steep descent into the vale of Keston, I resolved to give notice on a fit occasion in the House of Commons of my intention to bring forward the abolition of the slave-trade”— evidence that we in this House do occasionally get something right. Finally, I turn my attention to the wonderful town of Biggin Hill. It is more Kent than London, with its rolling green hills and rural lifestyle, but Biggin Hill has given us so much. I urge Members to visit the wonderful Biggin Hill museum and chapel, hear the stories of “the few”, and imagine those young men strapping themselves into their Spitfires and Hurricanes, accelerating down the runway at Biggin Hill, gently pulling back on the stick and gliding free from the bonds of Earth. Imagine the cognitive dissonance that must have arisen from the exhilaration of floating in the blue Kentish sky, and the terror of the strife awaiting them across a freezing channel. This Sunday, 15 September, is Battle of Britain Day, when we remember the service and sacrifice of those who gave their life so that we can debate the issues of the day in this place, and be both safe and free. They delivered this freedom with a bravery and selflessness that I can never begin to repay. As the Member for Bromley and Biggin Hill, I recognise the honour and responsibility of forever remembering them, and I know that my privilege of serving the whole constituency was delivered by the sacrifice of those who were so much better than me.