Polly Billington MP: speeches

Speeches

• 21 Jan 2026 · Warm Homes Plan · Hansard source

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  May I congratulate my right hon. Friend on this warm homes plan? It has been a long time coming—perhaps a little longer than Conservative Members are prepared to admit, given that he and I worked on something very similar before the Tories abandoned the warm homes ambitions that we now see fulfilled. Under the current calculation, one in six households in my constituency lives in fuel poverty, predominantly in places such as Cliftonville and Ramsgate town centre, where incomes are low and buildings are old. Incidentally, such households are predominantly in the private rented sector. Will my right hon. Friend consider revising the fuel poverty calculation to truly reflect how many people struggle to keep their homes warm in winter and cool in summer? As 28% of my residents live in private rented accommodation, will he say a bit more about the information that might be available to support landlords to make this shift? Will he confirm that he will support an energy social tariff to support the transition to a cheaper and cleaner form of energy?

• 14 Jan 2026 · Offshore Wind · Hansard source

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  I congratulate my right hon. Friend on structuring the auction to drive down the strike price and reduce consumer energy bills. It is worth reiterating that this means renewable energy will be 40% cheaper than gas. Importantly, though, this is also about creating jobs, specifically in coastal industries. Could he elaborate a little on the clean industry bonus and, in particular, how he might be able to support supply chain jobs in our coastal communities?

• 6 Jan 2026 · BBC Charter Renewal · Hansard source

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  Does the hon. Member agree with the principle that just because he does not like something, that does not mean it should not be produced? There is a wide variety of BBC productions that we may not watch, but that does not mean that we do not think they should exist.

• 6 Jan 2026 · Gas-fired Power Stations · Hansard source

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  19. Whether he has made an estimate of the cost of building new gas-fired power stations.

• 6 Jan 2026 · Gas-fired Power Stations · Hansard source

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  Current global instability, from Ukraine to Venezuela, has shown the vital importance of having domestic energy security. Does the Secretary of State agree that investing in renewables will help with both security and cost, particularly because they are cheaper to build and operate, as well as providing us with vital energy security in an uncertain world?

• 5 Jan 2026 · Free Bus Travel: Over-60s · Hansard source

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  I could not agree more with my hon. Friend. When talking about increasing the opportunities for young people in my constituency, I find it frustrating when people say that young people need more aspiration. I remind them that, frankly, young people need a bus service that gets them to where they can fulfil the aspirations they already have. In Thanet, our allocation will not be able to meet the needs and ambitions of our community, and that is deeply depressing. It is important, however, to put on record that the strongest message from our survey about people’s experience of the bus service in East Thanet was the friendliness and helpfulness of our bus drivers. That should not be underestimated when we talk about the experience of going on the bus. There is no point if the service is not there, and there is no point if it is grumpy. Our coastal communities in particular lack connectivity. Buses are essential, and can help us to move away from reliance on cars, but free bus travel is of little value if there are no buses. Concessionary travel for disabled people and for young people, as my hon. Friend says, are strong contenders for investment. Finally, I ask the Minister: when will the Department for Transport acknowledge that bus journeys are as good an indicator of economic activity as car movements?

• 5 Jan 2026 · Free Bus Travel: Over-60s · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Mundell. London’s Freedom Pass model is the envy of older residents across England, and it has become embedded in the expectations of many that free public transport is one of the benefits of living in our capital city. However, free travel for older residents is not the only element of a successful transport policy. Regular, reliable routes, safety on and off the bus and non-polluting vehicles all add up to a successful public transport network. All the characteristics of a proper bus service are more possible now than they have been for years, as a result of both the investment put in by this Government and the Bus Services Act 2025, which gives transport authorities the powers to make bus services more affordable, more reliable and safer. Kent county council, which commissions the buses in my part of the world, East Thanet, has 7.5 million fewer bus miles now than in 2010. That is 7.5 million fewer opportunities for people to get to work, healthcare appointments or simply go out and have fun—and that reduction did not happen by magic. It happened as a result of choices made by the Opposition, who probably rarely, if ever, take buses outside London and therefore have little or no experience of the impact of their neglect and obsession with privatisation, which have battered our buses over more than a decade. The Government have changed that. Our multi-year funding means that there is now a £3 billion boost to end the plight of bus routes being scrapped at short notice and tighter requirements for cancelling vital bus routes. That £3 billion, however, translates to £42 million in Kent. I would and should be celebrating that investment in opportunities for our county council to improve bus services, but unfortunately the decisions by the administration in Kent mean that very little of that investment will come to Thanet. Leafy and well-heeled Tunbridge Wells will receive more than £3 million-worth of investment in its bus services. Thanet, with some of the most deprived communities, including the poorest pensioners, is receiving a mere £500,000. We may all agree that decisions should be made by government as close as possible to the communities that they serve, as my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Tony Vaughan) pointed out, but the way that Kent county council has gone about that allocation is grossly unfair, and suggests that it is not interested in investing where bus services can significantly benefit the community. Thanet is effectively receiving only 2.3% of Kent’s bus subsidy funding. The Bus Services Act gives Kent county council the power to restore vital bus services, such as the No. 9—I say that in the same way that my hon. and learned Friend mentioned several bus numbers from across his constituency. Bus numbers matter to communities; they are the difference between being able to get out and about and being locked at home. Buses need to be regular and reliable, and they also need to be affordable, safe and clean. When I conducted my bus survey we received a number of representations, one of which was specifically about the No. 9—to put it in the context of free public transport and bus travel for all of the over 60s, there would be no point in having free bus travel for many of my East Thanet constituents trying to get to a hospital appointment in Canterbury, because there is no bus to get there. They cannot shop in Canterbury, whether the bus is free or not, because there is not a bus to take them there. When we are developing a bus service for our communities, we must ensure that it has reliable routes as well as affordable fares. I have received representations in support of the Transport Committee’s recommendation for free bus travel for the under-22s—representations that I am extremely sympathetic to. We have young people who simply cannot get to work when they are on apprenticeship wages, or cannot get to their colleges because they do not have significant and sustained income. They are being penalised for trying to do the right thing.

• 18 Dec 2025 · Indices of Deprivation: England · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is being very generous with his time. Not only do seven of the 10 most deprived areas appear to be in Blackpool, but all 10 of the top 10 are in coastal communities, as are 50% of the top 50. We who represent coastal communities do not want to indulge in any kind of deprivation bingo. Instead, we want the Government, and indeed the private sector, to see the potential to invest, given the untapped talent of our workforce, the energy of our entrepreneurs and our extraordinary natural environment. Does he agree that an economic regeneration strategy that is designed for coastal communities could transform our country?

• 18 Dec 2025 · Jane Austen · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Efford. I rise to speak in this debate simply because I love Jane Austen and all her works. We commemorate her in this debate, as we did on the 250th anniversary of her birth on Tuesday. Today, there has been a statement in the House on the Government’s launch of their strategy to counter violence against women and girls. One might ask: what is the link? Jane knew about coercive control and the endless structural limitations on women without means, income or property. From Charlotte Lucas in “Pride and Prejudice” to Harriet Smith in “Emma” and the Dashwood family—a mother and two daughters brought low, fallen on hard times, because of the death of the father—there are many examples of how women have to navigate a world with the odds stacked against them. Jane Austen is a comic genius, and I do not want to sideline her wit. It is because of her ability to describe with humour the realities of life for women in the 19th century that her stories resonate across those centuries. The context may have changed, but the fundamental truths are the same—not the idea that any young gentleman with means is in want of a wife, but the constraints, limits, dangers and insecurities of life for women. Those truths echo across time, as well as echoing through the streets of my constituency. Jane Austen’s sense of place was as acute as her observation of the social and economic condition of women, as demonstrated by the hon. Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse). Ramsgate, in my constituency, is portrayed in her novels as a place of ill repute. In “Mansfield Park”, it is referred to as a place where bad things happen. In “Pride and Prejudice”, it plays a larger role. Mr Wickham, who as we all know is a walking cautionary tale for all young women, plans to “elope”, as they call it, with Georgiana Darcy to Ramsgate. Of the bad’uns in Austen’s books, Mr Wickham, as a walking cautionary tale, is outdone only by the red flag of Frank Churchill going to London to get his hair cut. I can tell Members that reading that at the age of 17 helped me a lot later on. The fact is, with Georgiana Darcy, her brother had to intervene to stop that elopement happening. In the novel, that is portrayed as a proof-point that Mr Darcy is a morally strong and decisive figure, and not the terrible bore that Lizzy Bennet thought he was at first. Avoiding or surviving such an abuse of power, however, should not rely on good relatives or friends; not all women have a Mr Darcy to intervene. That is why, nowadays, we need support for all—so that risks are reduced for all women. Eloping sounds romantic, and seaside resorts such as Ramsgate have often had a saucy or edgy reputation. Indeed, this week, a blue plaque dedicated to Jane Austen has been installed in Ramsgate to acknowledge her link to the town. Her brother, Francis—better known as Frank—was a Royal Navy officer in the town. There are some suggestions that she disliked it, given that it was disreputable, but she was able to develop characters and so forth on the basis of it. The reality for women now, as then, is that their lives can be ruined by the actions of men like Wickham. It is therefore right for the Government to declare that violence against women and girls is an emergency. It is a problem even older than Jane Austen’s wonderful novel. On this day, when we commemorate her genius, we should also remember that her stories reveal that misogyny, violence and coercion have been a daily reality for women for centuries. Jane Austen’s cultural contribution stretches well beyond the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Luke Murphy) and beyond the stories of romance, helping us to understand women’s condition. Although things have improved—indeed, have been transformed—for most of us, the fear of financial hardship and the risk of being subject to the whims and power of men still loom large in the lives of many women. Let us make Jane Austen’s legacy an effort to consign that fear to history.

• 15 Dec 2025 · NHS: Winter Preparedness · Hansard source

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  Does my right hon. Friend share my concern that, in the run-up to Christmas, NHS staff will be having to change their Christmas plans to cover emergency shifts as a result of this ridiculous strike, and patients will have emergency operations, and indeed scheduled operations, cancelled?

• 10 Dec 2025 · Seasonal Work · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to the Government for the fact that Ramsgate in particular is benefiting from the Pride in Place fund. More widely, on the matter of seasonal work, which is vital for coastal communities such as mine, can the Minister confirm that seasonal and hospitality workers will benefit from many of the measures in the Budget that will tackle the cost of living and raise their wages, such as increases to the minimum wage, cuts to energy bills and the freezing of bus and train fares?

• 10 Dec 2025 · Seasonal Work · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way. I was interested in him suggesting that it was Labour’s principles that are causing the problem. Which bit of our plan for small and medium-sized businesses, action to tackle late payments, reducing regulatory burdens and expanding access to finance does he disagree with?

• 8 Dec 2025 · NEET Young People · Hansard source

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  I welcome the commitment to free apprenticeships for small and medium-sized enterprises if they take on under-25s, which was announced in the Budget, and I also welcome the commitment to apprenticeships in the hospitality sector. Can my right hon. Friend confirm that there will be a focus on coastal communities such as East Thanet in these programmes, given the disproportionate number of young people written off by the Tories over the past 14 years and the significant number of small and medium-sized hospitality businesses, in particular, that are desperate to hire local talent?

• 1 Dec 2025 · Office for Budget Responsibility Forecasts · Hansard source

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  My right hon. Friend will acknowledge, as he already has done, the importance of stability for families and businesses across this country. What we have called fiscal headroom is frankly money for a rainy day, and it is fundamental to being able to maintain that stability—something that was a failure of the Conservative Government for some time. Will he also acknowledge the importance of the way in which the bond markets responded positively to the Budget, for exactly the reason that it delivers us the stability we all need?

• 27 Nov 2025 · Gambling Duty · Hansard source

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  I congratulate my right hon. Friend and, indeed, the Chancellor on making the decision to tax online gambling in particular. The fact that people effectively have a casino in their pocket destroys lives and families, and it is right that we send that strong signal, as well as make sure money is available to tackle the insidious moral scar of child poverty that was left by the previous Government. Can my right hon. Friend confirm how we will ensure that the way we conduct gambling in this country provides better protection to those families and individuals who end up being exposed to some of the most insidious practices of the gambling industry?

• 26 Nov 2025 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

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  I am interested to know whether the hon. Lady welcomes the fact that the youth guarantee will benefit hundreds of young people in the Ynys Môn constituency. It will give free support for apprenticeships for the under-25s. That will help small and medium-sized businesses that want to recruit and train young people in Ynys Môn.

• 26 Nov 2025 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

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  May I confirm that the right hon. Gentleman is then perfectly happy for children to continue to live in poverty while we try to reform the welfare benefit system?

• 26 Nov 2025 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

• 25 Nov 2025 · COP30 · Hansard source

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  I am sure the Secretary of State would not necessarily like me to remind him that it is 16 years since the first COP he attended with me, which was significantly less successful than the one this year. I commend him for his great effort over that time in managing to demonstrate the UK’s leadership on climate change. That cannot be underestimated, and despite what some on the Opposition Benches think, we make a difference by demonstrating what is possible in climate actions here at home. Where we lead, others follow. For that reason, the Secretary of State also knows how important nature is in contributing to tackling climate change, and how much our constituents value nature at home and abroad. In that light, financing is important, especially maintaining the amount of funding in the new international climate finance budget for nature projects. Will he confirm that a third of the new budget will be spent on nature projects, with half of that spent on protecting forests?

• 24 Nov 2025 · English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill · Hansard source

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  I support my hon. Friend in his advocacy of new clause 29. The Minister mentioned that the Bill should be a floor on ambition, not a ceiling, and I am keen to seek reassurance on the climate duty, as I am sure my hon. Friend is. In particular, it is vital that local authorities can shape it locally, partly because they are responsible for a third of emissions, but also, interestingly, because organisations such as the Local Government Association, which is not known for wanting to increase obligations on local authorities, and UK100—I must declare my interest as its founder director—support giving duties to those local authorities. I am keen, as I am sure he is, for the Government to reassure us that they will seek such obligations in the future.

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

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  My right hon. Friend will be aware of the appalling environmental pollution incident at Camber Sands in East Sussex last week. A few days later, we also had huge sewage dumps in the seas around my constituency, leaving beaches in Ramsgate and Broadstairs effectively unusable. Not only do these incidents have appalling impacts on nature, but they affect people’s confidence in using the sea for health, wellbeing and enjoyment all year round. Will my right hon. Friend consider having a debate in Government time on the economic impact of water quality—poor water quality in particular—on our coastal towns and seaside resorts?

• 4 Nov 2025 · Supporting High Streets · Hansard source

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  I emphasise the importance of the pride in place programme for places such as Ramsgate, where the vacancy rate in the high street has been an appalling 24%. We were left with the legacy of 14 years of Tory Government, and only because of the social and community energy in Ramsgate have we been able to turn that around, with the support of the pride in place programme.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Supporting High Streets · Hansard source

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  I am grateful, in particular, to see the right hon. Member for Beverley and Holderness (Graham Stuart) back in his place. I was particularly struck by the significant intellectual differences between him and those of us on the Government side of the House about the importance of the public realm and investment in our communities in order for those places to flourish. I think that most of us on the Government Benches understand that we cannot look to the horizon and seize those opportunities of entrepreneurialism unless we are secure in ourselves and our communities and have those assets available. That is why the investment in our national health service is so important. There has been no assessment from the Conservatives of the importance or the potential or actual costs to business of days off due to sickness. Long waiting lists have caused insecurity and uncertainty in small businesses in my community, increasing both costs through staff absences and pressure on management. It is important for us to have security as well as flexibility in our employment market. Indeed, the small business owner Carly Cannings, who runs the Happy Business School, has said that our Employment Rights Bill is “a set in the right direction towards raising standards.” –– [ Official Report, Employment Rights Public Bill Committee, 26 November 2024; c. 28, Q22.] I know that responsible business owners want to ensure that they can recruit and retain staff. That is vital in small communities such as mine, where our high streets have been hollowed out.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Supporting High Streets · Hansard source

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  I agree with my hon. Friend. It has been striking in my community to see the local social energy of our businesses, particularly in Ramsgate, coming together to help tackle antisocial behaviour, work with the police and bear down on some of the worst excesses of the consequences of the last 14 years. We also need to be aware of the consequences for small businesses of the fear and uncertainty brought on by the chaos of Brexit. The botched Brexit deal has had a direct impact on my communities, particularly through the loss of our language schools in places such as Ramsgate and Broadstairs. Not all of them have been impacted, but some of them have, and that reduces the footfall on our high streets. That is a direct consequence of failures by the Conservatives. Ramsgate High Street, for example, has a 24% vacancy rate, as I mentioned earlier. The British Property Federation, when confronted with that statistic, suggested that that meant the people who owned the businesses were simply economically irrational. Well, there seems to be a lot of economic irrationality, which needs to be countered by people who understand the importance of shaping our places—hence our community compulsory auction leases and powers for local authorities such as Thanet to control the proliferation of vape shops and gambling centres. I am sure that the Minister will note my concern that there would be a greater appetite for compulsory purchase if we had a better funding settlement for places such as Thanet when these things come to pass. Of course we need to reform business rates. We know that they are disproportionately impacting on hospitality enterprises in places, such as my constituency, that rely significantly on the seasonal tourist economy, but I emphasise again the importance of the ability of communities themselves to shape their high streets, from Ramsgate Space and Margate Town Action Group—

• 4 Nov 2025 · Supporting High Streets · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for that contribution. Other consequences of the past 14 years for our high streets include retail crime. I am sorry that the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) is no longer in his place, because he spoke strongly about the consequences of shoplifting. Shoplifting rose by 70% under the last Conservative Government, with 2,000 incidents a day in 2023-24. With that record, the Conservatives need to recognise that they are significantly responsible, rather than complaining about what is happening now. I know that there is a significant issue with energy costs, because it is often raised with me by small businesses in my constituency. The reversal of the Conservatives’ commitment to net zero means that they would be risking a shift away from renewables, but it is renewables that will help us to shift off the gas price. The right hon. Member for Beverley and Holderness should know that well. The reality is that the public realm matters when we are talking about ensuring that we have a thriving high street. For example, there are now fewer buses. In Thanet we have seen bus services cut dramatically—by 7 million bus miles in Kent alone since 2020—and fewer police lead to the kinds of situations that we have seen. We also have insecure work with low pay, and fire and rehire.