Samantha Niblett MP: speeches

Speeches

• 1 Jul 2025 · Infant Feeding · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the hon. Member for securing this important Adjournment debate this evening. In South Derbyshire, I hear stories of services to support breastfeeding women being cut. I speak as a mum who breastfed to eight months, although I had that moment where I almost did not, and it was my community midwife who saved the day for me. Does the hon. Member agree that as well as having services to support breastfeeding women, whether they are successful in doing so, they decide not to or they cannot, we should create safe spaces for them? I have done exactly that in my constituency surgery, but I would like to see it in other venues.

• 30 Jun 2025 · Road Safety Powers: Parish and Town Councils · Hansard source

  More

  In South Derbyshire, we have created a network between my office and that of parish councils across the constituency. Several parish councils have raised the issue of road safety, from Repton all the way down to Overseal. They have carried out community speed watches, and made recommendations in a report about how we can make our roads safer, including by having a crossing right across the road from a school, improving safety on roads where haulage vehicles go up and down despite the fact that those roads are unsuitable, and using variable speed limits. Does my hon. Friend agree that those parish councillors are the best people to make recommendations about what should be carried out in their local communities?

• 26 Jun 2025 · G7 and NATO Summits · Hansard source

  More

  I recently visited a NATO air force base in Poland as part of the armed forces parliamentary scheme I am taking part in with the RAF. There, I saw at first hand the importance of working closely with our NATO allies to defend our nation and keep us secure, as we witnessed the scramble to the skies to ward off Russian fighter jets. Will the Prime Minister confirm that he is prioritising the wellbeing of our armed forces personnel, both at home and abroad, so that they can continue to keep us and our allies safe?

• 24 Jun 2025 · War Memorials · Hansard source

  More

  It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship today, Mr Stuart. It is reported that in Derbyshire we have well over 3,000 memorials, and some estimate that there are as many as 4,000. They range from crosses, obelisks, cenotaphs, columns, statues, boards, plaques and tablets to documents such as rolls of honour or books of remembrance, paintings, prints, tapestries, flags, banners and photographs. The variety is vast. Those memorials can be found in a variety of places among our towns and villages—in village halls, churches and chapels, clock towers, gates and gardens, and a whole host of other settings. I have already spoken in support of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the work that it does in my constituency of South Derbyshire. However, I want to mention some of the other memorials, and their variety, in the villages dotted across South Derbyshire. There is a magnificent plaque with raised gold lettering in All Saints’ parish church in Aston on Trent, commemorating those lost in the great war. There is a grey stone tablet attached to the front of the village hall in Burnaston as a tribute to those who fell in the first world war. In Ticknall, in the grounds of the village hall, there is a magnificent plaque encased in wrought iron as a tribute to those who fell in world war one. It is decorated with 19 wrought-iron poppies extending around the case, with the flowers forming a border. The poppies represent the 19 people from Ticknall who fell in world war one. Overseal has a delightful memorial garden that is surrounded by a fence, with wrought-iron gates at the front and an arch above. Two rectangular metal plaques are attached to a granite block, with the names of the 31 people from Overseal who died in the two world wars. It was wonderful to attend the Remembrance Sunday celebrations in Overseal in November. In St Mary’s church in Coton in the Elms, the fallen are commemorated in a framed and glazed print roll of honour, with a red and black border containing oak sprays, shields and mottos, and names handwritten in ink in three columns. In Swarkestone parish council, the roll of honour is mounted on the wall and framed, with the names of the fallen written in red, black and blue. Let us recognise the supreme sacrifice that was made for us so long ago in the two world wars and, at a time of renewed conflict in the world, the sacrifice of so many members of our armed forces in the conflicts since, which continue across the globe. This Armed Forces Week, it seems particularly pertinent to do so, so I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy for securing this really important debate.

• 24 Jun 2025 · Unadopted Estates and Roads · Hansard source

  More

  In my constituency, we have arguably the largest number of new builds in the country; we are vying with Warwickshire for the crown of new build county. I have been inundated with requests for help with freehold management companies. My constituents are telling me the same stories they are telling my hon. Friend—and I assume other Members present—about the lack of transparency, poor communication, soaring bills and contracts they cannot get out of. To date, we have contacted Centrick, Greenbelt, Ground Solutions, Meadfleet, Premier Estates, FirstPort, Trustgreen, Virtu Property, Ward Surveyors and Hardwick Construction. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is fine time we saw an end to the fleecehold stealth tax, which effectively forces homeowners to write a blank cheque to management companies for years to come?

• 23 Jun 2025 · UK Modern Industrial Strategy · Hansard source

  More

  As the founder of Labour: Women in Tech, I wholeheartedly welcome the industrial strategy’s ambitious goals to scale our tech sector and workforce. On 15 July in Parliament, I am hosting WeAreTechWomen and Oliver Wyman for the launch of the Lovelace report. The report has identified that between 40,000 and 60,000 female professionals are leaving the tech sector annually or seeking advancement opportunities elsewhere, which represents well over £1 billion of economic opportunity that could be unlocked by better supporting our existing skilled workforce. Does the Secretary of State agree that both inspiring new talent and supporting great existing talent and diverse teams, across all demographics, is fundamental to maximising returns on our industrial strategy investments and securing the UK’s position as a world-leading technology nation?

• 23 Jun 2025 · UK Military Base Protection · Hansard source

  More

  As I am taking part in the armed forces parliamentary scheme with the RAF, I have had the greatest pleasure and incredible privilege of visiting many RAF bases over the last year, and I am in absolute awe of those who put their lives on the line to defend us. The events of last week were not only a breach of our defences; they were a massive demonstration of disrespect for service personnel who will have been delivering aid to people in Gaza. Does the Minister agree that we should thank them for their service and that it was right to proscribe Palestine Action?

• 23 Jun 2025 · Pride Month · Hansard source

  More

  I completely agree with my hon. Friend that allyship is important. I am the proud mum to a very disappointingly straight daughter, and she is a brilliant ally. I hope that the next generation will continue to be exactly like that and will create the atmosphere that is needed to support those who we stand side-by-side with. In South Derbyshire, I believe the message is clear: we want inclusion, not exclusion. We want a society where someone being themselves is not a political act but simply a human one. Pride is not just about celebration; it is about commitment—commitment to equality, justice and standing up for those whose voices have too often been marginalised. Let us remember that Pride began as a protest. It is a reminder that the freedoms we now celebrate were hard-won and must be protected, not rolled back. In the face of rising hostility and misinformation, we in this House have a duty to lead with compassion and courage. To the LGBTQ+ community in South Derbyshire, we see you, we hear you, and we stand with you.

• 23 Jun 2025 · Pride Month · Hansard source

  More

  I absolutely join the hon. Member in thanking the people in his constituency who do the same. Mikey’s work does not go unnoticed. He and all those who supported the event created a safe, welcoming space for LGBTQ+ people in South Derbyshire to be visible, celebrated and, perhaps most importantly, to be themselves. Amid the colour and celebration, we must recognise a deeper undercurrent of concern, particularly among our transgender constituents. I have heard directly from individuals who are frightened about the tone of national conversations surrounding their rights, safety and dignity. These are not abstract issues; these are people in our towns and villages—our neighbours, friends and family members. They deserve the same rights, respect and freedoms as anyone else.

• 23 Jun 2025 · Pride Month · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the hon. Member for her intervention—and for giving me an extra minute, in which I would like to talk about my community. I have one main hope about saying what I have just said and being openly bisexual. My daughter is so straight—it is so disappointing— [ Laughter. ] But if there are girls and women in South Derbyshire and across the country who think, “Oh God, it is okay to love a woman, to kiss a woman, to be intimate with a woman—and she’s said it, so it’s okay that I do,” then good. I say to them: take that comfort, and if you want to talk to me about it, please feel free to reach out. Now I am going to talk about my constituency. It is an honour to speak in this important debate on Pride, not just as the Member of Parliament for South Derbyshire but as someone who has seen at first hand the power of community when it chooses inclusion over exclusion and love over fear. This past Saturday, I had the privilege of attending a truly fantastic Pride event at the Collective Hub in Swadlincote. The Collective Hub is a brilliant community space that fosters creativity, belonging and support for people of all ages. The Pride celebration it hosted was testament to everything that makes our community proud: diversity, resilience and joy. I want to pay particular tribute to Mikey, who leads the hub with passion, care and unwavering dedication. His work does not go unnoticed. He and all those who supported the event created a safe and welcoming space.

• 23 Jun 2025 · Pride Month · Hansard source

  More

  I had not intended to say what I am about to say, before the bit that I did intend to say, but, inspired by the Minister’s comment that coming out matters, I thought I would use this very public forum to say that I am a bisexual woman. Some people know; some do not. I do not wear it like a badge any more than I would expect a heterosexual person to walk around saying, “Hey, guess what, I’m attracted to men”—or women, depending what gender they are, or otherwise. The reason that I feel compelled to mention that publicly, before I get on to the good bit of my speech—please, somebody, intervene on me—is that I held back on showing my support for the LGBTQ+ community on my Facebook page for fear of retribution ahead of the local elections, when a certain party got into power at Derbyshire county council. Trying to appease that kind of support did not win any votes, so after that happened, I doubled down on what I believe in and who I am. I posted in support of the Day Against Transphobia, Biphobia and Homophobia, and I said, “If you dare make a negative comment, or anything alluding to one, such as, ‘What is a woman?’, you will be blocked from my page, because there’s falling on the right side of history and there’s falling on the wrong side of history, and you are wrong.”

• 10 Jun 2025 · Data (Use and Access) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

  More

  I draw the attention of the House to my being the founder of Labour: Women in Tech and the co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on financial technology, and to my career in data and technology prior to becoming an MP. I welcome the Government’s new approach to innovate and expedite the process and to leverage the expertise of both Houses and key stakeholders. I thank them for their work on that. Just under a month ago, the UK hosted FinTech Week and the global fintech forum, where businesses and Government leaders from around the world came to participate in critical conversations about the importance of the trusted global financial services ecosystem for the physical and digital worlds. Attendance was so senior and strong because after the global financial crisis the UK had to move quickly to a new model, and hence fintech was born. A lot of great work was done in this space by the Conservatives when they were in government, even if they could not get their act together over AI and keep the attention of AI companies. Government regulators, incumbents, entrepreneurs and investors worked together with alacrity to create an ecosystem that led the world into fintech. We created tens of thousands of new jobs, brought in tens of millions in inward investment and created more than 20 billion-dollar companies. We are in the middle of London Tech Week, which is happening a few miles away at Olympia and was attended by the Prime Minister. There is a technology challenge in the creative industries that needs addressing now, which is why it is great to hear the news today. This is an emergency, and the emergence of AI in recent times has created opportunity and new threats for creatives, who rightly worry that their work is often appropriated by AI without reward or recognition. However, we can be a pioneer in this field, developing trusted solutions that protect creatives and set the standards that others will follow. We have demonstrated our ability to do that in the past with fintech, in which the UK holds a 10% global market share. The UK’s secret sauce is a unique blend of not just our brilliant talent, light-touch regulation, common business language and soft power, but our common law, which is used by other countries. We are an exemplar. Other countries look to us to lead the way. A crisis is at the door, but we have an opportunity to be on the front foot, ahead of other countries experiencing the same challenges and watching us closely. This country always steps up in times of crisis. The UK can and must take a leading position on the fair use of AI in the creative industries and help to protect our creatives and their work, which are rightly celebrated across the world. Engagement with global players in the ecosystem is important, but we should also be far more focused on the UK’s home-grown talent and inventive mindset to solve the biggest puzzles. We can move quickly when we need to, and my message to the Secretary of State and to this House is that we really need to, and have to.

• 5 Jun 2025 · Free School Meals · Hansard source

  More

  I welcome wholeheartedly the announcement, not least because it means that almost 4,000 children in my constituency will benefit from free, healthy school meals, saving parents almost £500 a year. That is in addition to the breakfast clubs, of which we have two on the early adopter scheme. Does the Minister agree that as grateful as we are to wonderful people including the bean man, who can often be seen in Willington, Repton and surrounding areas collecting food for food banks, this is a step towards lifting people out of poverty so that we will no longer need food banks?

• 5 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  The Just the Tonic comedy festival is coming to South Derbyshire in July, the festival having chosen Elvaston castle as its venue—a place I am helping the local parish council to save as publicly owned. Who does not love comedy? Yet despite being nationally loved and generating billions across live digital streaming and more, comedy remains an economically under-leveraged sector, excluded from arts funding, Government reports and the Creative Industries Council itself. Using comedy in social prescribing could help us save billions on mental healthcare, and I am working with Lou Jackson of Craic House—that is C-R-A-I-C—on a tech platform to help comedians. Will the Leader of the House dedicate time for a debate on our comedy industry?

• 5 Jun 2025 · Battery Energy Storage Sites: Safety Regulations · Hansard source

  More

  In common with the hon. Gentleman, I welcome renewable energy. Safety is hugely important. In my constituency there are lots of battery sites that are being placed in pockets around beautiful little villages because there are connections to the national grid. Because of the potential fire hazards and possible toxic run-off into local rivers, does the hon. Gentleman agree that we should prioritise brownfield sites as opposed to such pockets around pretty little villages?

• 22 May 2025 · Data (Use and Access) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the Secretary of State for mentioning Kate Bush; she is the love of my life and has been since I was nine. We have repeatedly spoken about the need for a tech solution to address this issue. I have a background in data and technology and have been meeting several companies that seem between them to have a possible tech solution. Will the Secretary of State meet me and them to discuss it?

• 19 May 2025 · Mental Health Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

  More

  I was 11 years old when my mum first tried to take her own life; she was sectioned several times over the coming years, and until I was an adult. How will this new way of treating people and making that part of the community, as well as looking after the children of those impacted, be measured over time so that we know it is successful?

• 14 May 2025 · Data (Use and Access) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

  More

  Will the Minister give way?

• 14 May 2025 · Data (Use and Access) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

  More

  On the point of finding a solution in the round, if no credible technical solution is in sight, will the Minister confirm what non-technical legislative or regulatory measures the Government are considering to protect rights holders in the interim?

• 14 May 2025 · Data (Use and Access) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

  More

  It is wonderful to hear my hon. Friend talk about the importance of copyright and the fact that we have existing laws that we can use, but I wonder whether he is aware of the growing concern in industry about the risk of expansive US-style fair use principles creeping into UK practice and what we might do to secure our safeguards. We must not allow foreign interpretations of fair use to erode our copyright laws.

• 14 May 2025 · Data (Use and Access) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

  More

  rose —

• 7 May 2025 · Data (Use and Access) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

  More

  I am pleased to speak in this debate in support of new clause 14, in the name of my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds Central and Headingley (Alex Sobel), to which I have added my name. The clause would give our media and creative sectors urgently needed transparency over the use of copyright works by AI models. I am sure that my speech will come as no surprise to the Minister. I care about this issue because of, not in spite of, my belief in the power of AI and its potential to transform our society and our economy for the better. I care because the adoption of novel technologies by businesses and consumers requires trust in the practices of firms producing the tech. I care about this issue because, as the Creative Rights in AI Coalition has said: “The UK has the potential to be the global destination for generative firms seeking to license the highest-quality creative content. But to unlock that immense value, we must act now to stimulate a dynamic licensing market: the government must use this legislation to introduce meaningful transparency provisions.” Although I am sure that the Government’s amendments are well meant, they set us on a timeline for change to the copyright framework that would take us right to the tail end of this Parliament. Many in this House, including myself, do not believe that an effective opt-out mechanism will ever develop; I know it is not in the Bill right now, but it was proposed in the AI and copyright consultation. Even if the Government insist on pursuing this route, it would be a dereliction of duty to fail to enforce our existing laws in the intervening period. Big tech firms claim that transparency is not feasible, but that is a red herring. These companies are absolutely capable of letting rights holders know whether their individual works have been used, as OpenAI has been ordered to do in the Authors Guild v . OpenAI copyright case. Requiring transparency without the need for a court order will avoid wasting court time and swiftly establish a legal precedent, making the legal risk of copyright infringement too great for AI firms to continue with the mass theft that has taken place. That is why big tech objects to transparency, just as it objects to any transparency requirements, whether they are focused on online safety, digital competition or copyright. It would make it accountable to the individuals and businesses that it extracts value from. The AI companies further argue that providing transparency would compromise their trade secrets, but that is another red herring. Nobody is asking for a specific recipe of how the models are trained: they are asking only to be able to query the ingredients that have gone into it. Generative AI models are made up of billions of data points, and it is the weighting of data that is a model’s secret sauce. The Government can do myriad things around skills, access to finance, procurement practices and energy costs to support AI firms building and deploying models in the UK. They insist that they do not see the AI copyright debate as a zero-sum game, but trading away the property rights of 2.4 million UK creatives—70% of whom live outside London—to secure tech investment would be just that. There are no insurmountable technical barriers to transparency in the same way that there are no opt-outs. The key barrier to transparency is the desire of tech firms to obscure their illegal behaviour. It has been shown that Meta employees proactively sought, in their own words, “to remove data that is clearly marked as pirated/stolen” from the data that they used from the pirate shadow library, LibGen. If they have technical means to identify copyright content to cover their own backs, surely they have the technical means to be honest with creators about the use of their valuable work. I say to the Minister, who I know truly cares about the future of creatives and tech businesses in the UK—that is absolutely not in question—that if he cannot accept new clause 14 as tabled, he should take the opportunity as the Bill goes back to the Lords to bring forward clauses that would allow him to implement granular transparency mechanisms in the next six to 12 months. I and many on the Labour Benches—as well as the entire creative industries and others who do not want what is theirs simply to be taken from them—stand ready to support the development of workable solutions at pace. It can never be too soon to protect the livelihoods of UK citizens, nor to build trust between creators and the technology that would not exist without their hard work.

• 7 May 2025 · Data (Use and Access) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

  More

  The recent decision by the Supreme Court that “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refers to biological sex at birth, regardless of whether someone holds a gender recognition certificate or identifies as of a different gender, has already left many trans people feeling hurt and unseen. Does the shadow Minister agree with me that any ID and digital verification service must consider trans people, not risk making them more likely to feel that their country is forgetting who they are?

• 6 May 2025 · Victory in Europe and Victory over Japan: 80th Anniversary · Hansard source

  More

  As we mark the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day and later this summer celebrate the anniversary of Victory over Japan Day, I am reminded of the extraordinary bravery shown by so many, including our very own Ray Statham, from Newhall, in my constituency. Eighty years ago, Ray was in the English channel supporting the D-day landings; now, as he approaches his 103rd birthday, we celebrate not only his longevity but the legacy of service he represents. Ray served aboard HMS Indefatigable with the Royal Navy, and I know the whole House will want to join me in wishing him a very happy birthday and offering him our deepest thanks for his service to our country. I would also like to recognise Ken Ash from Repton, who served with the Royal Signals, and my own grandad, Frederick, or Fred, Palmer, who served in the Royal Logistics Corps in the Army. Winston Churchill said that the surrender of Nazi Germany was “the signal for the greatest outburst of joy in the history of mankind”, and while for many that was true, for countless others, the end of the war was marked by quiet sorrow for those who never came home. Across the UK and overseas, the graves of those who made the ultimate sacrifice are lovingly maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. We have one such war grave in Swadlincote, in Church Gresley cemetery. Thanks to Glyn Jackson and Joanne Abbassi, we have a folder of the names of those who rest in peace there. I am so grateful to Shelly Lynn, who leads tours of the cemetery, for sharing those names with me. I have written to the Secretary of State for Defence and to the Minister for Veterans and People with their names in a roll call, asking them to join me in sharing our gratitude for their service. Each of their names is a reminder of a family left behind, a future never fulfilled. What strikes me most is their youth. So many were in their early 20s, some just teenagers. They had dreams, careers and families ahead of them, and they gave all of that up for us. For me, this roll call carries an even more personal note. Many brave men and women served in the Royal Air Force as volunteer reserves. I have the privilege of taking part in the armed forces parliamentary scheme with the RAF this year, allowing me a small glimpse of the professionalism and sacrifice that defines our Royal Air Force personnel to this day. As we commemorate VE Day and VJ Day, let us remember those who fought and fell not only in victory, but in hope, and let us resolve always to be worthy of the freedom that they gave us.

• 23 Apr 2025 · Intellectual Property: Artificial Intelligence · Hansard source

  More

  It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey, and I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bury North (Mr Frith) for securing this crucial debate—a great way to spend his birthday. I want to draw attention to the fact that my partner works in publishing. My background is not in publishing or the creative industries, but in the data and tech industry, and I am excited by what it can help us to achieve. I rise to speak not only about artificial intelligence, but about the kind of country we want to be in the decades ahead. We are at a crossroads. The United Kingdom is positioning itself as a global leader in AI, and rightly so—AI has the potential to transform every sector of our economy, from healthcare to transport and from education to climate science—but, as we drive innovation forward, we must also ensure that our values are aligned. If we want to be the best place in the world to start, scale and grow an AI company, we must also be the most trusted. Trust is not built through ambition alone; it is built through transparency, fairness, respect for the rule of law and the protection of intellectual property. At present, many of the most powerful AI models have been trained on vast quantities of copyrighted material—books, articles, art, music and software—and often without the consent, knowledge or compensation of the people who created it. That is not hypothetical; it is happening now. In the last week, we have seen some big names in tech say that they want IP law to be ripped up altogether. I wonder how they would feel if tech firms with deeper pockets and bigger legal teams than theirs decided to simply take what they have. Pulling up the ladder of IP law may no longer seem such an attractive prospect. Let us be absolutely clear: copyright is not an inconvenience or a technicality. It is the legal and moral framework that ensures that creators are rewarded for their contributions. Some people will argue that requiring AI companies to comply with copyright law would hinder innovation, but the opposite is true: legal certainty enables innovation. What stifles innovation is a regulatory vacuum where only the largest, best resourced firms can afford to operate in the grey areas of the law. We should not accept a model where creativity becomes collateral damage in the pursuit of speed or short-term profit for shareholders. Governments must prioritise the concerns of citizens. Let us establish a clear, transparent and enforceable framework for the use of copyrighted content in AI training, and let us not waste any time or kick this can down the road by waiting for the results of the copyright and AI consultation. Let us act now. Let us amend the Data (Use and Access) Bill to ensure that companies providing generative AI services in the UK must comply with UK copyright law and be transparent about the data fuelling their models. After all, they should know what data they are utilising. It can be done; companies including Adobe, 273 Ventures and Flawless AI are doing it. Experts have made it clear that no opt-out models work. We have an opportunity to be world leaders—let us lead.