Saqib Bhatti MP: speeches

Speeches

• 29 Nov 2024 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

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  I acknowledge the importance of this debate and thank the hon. Member for Spen Valley (Kim Leadbeater) for bringing it forward. Although I will be voting against the Bill, I still think this is an important discussion to have, not least because many of my constituents believe that it is the right thing to do. Of course, there are also many who feel that it is not the right thing to do. We have shown the very best of what Parliament can do here today. I came to my conclusion not because of some sort of zealotry or evangelism. I completely acknowledge that there are people who go through very difficult situations where they lose their normal faculties and are in immense pain. However, we need to be clear about what we are discussing today: we are talking about wholesale change to how the state deals with death. That is really important. The Bill would place people, society and the medical profession in a number of scenarios, and put at great risk some of our most vulnerable people. That is part of the reason I will vote against it today. The slippery slope arguments are valid in terms of the risk the legislation produces. We are talking about medicalising death, placing an undue burden on our health professionals and legitimising a role for the state in the death process.

• 28 Nov 2024 · Tourism: Coastal Towns · Hansard source

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  The Budget has created a perfect storm for hospitality and tourism businesses across the country. UKHospitality is sounding the alarm, saying that the Budget is a “blow” for the tourism and hospitality sectors. According to the Minister’s impact assessment, how many jobs will be created as a result of lowering the national insurance threshold, and how many businesses will close, as we suspect they will? What does his impact assessment tell him will be the impact on ethnic minority communities, women, and those with disabilities for whom the tourism and hospitality sector is a huge employer? Will he tell the House whether he even has an impact assessment for one of the most damaging and regressive taxes that we will ever see?

• 27 Nov 2024 · Stellantis Luton · Hansard source

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  The Secretary of State was robust in his criticism of the previous Government and their approach to the zero emission vehicle mandate, but was he one of the 141 Labour MPs who voted for the ZEV mandate?

• 20 Nov 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q2. Yesterday, I met three constituents in Parliament: Duncan Hawley, his wife Nicola and his 10-year-old daughter Hattie. Duncan is a sheep farmer, and he has stewarded his family farm for most of his life. He is outraged, hurt and worried about the Government’s deeply damaging family farm tax. He is deeply worried about food security, food inflation and whether he will even be able to pass that farm on to future generations. My question to the Deputy Prime Minister is simple: why have this Labour Government declared war on British farmers?

• 19 Nov 2024 · Tourism: Northumberland · Hansard source

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  It is a great privilege to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. As I make my debut as the shadow Minister for DCMS, it is great that I am now shadowing my friend, the hon. Member for Rhondda and Ogmore (Chris Bryant), as he shadowed me in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. I hope we will have a constructive debate today and going forward. I want to thank the hon. Member for Hexham (Joe Morris) for securing this debate and for his illuminating speech about what his constituency, and the whole of Northumberland, offers in the way of tourism. We should all aspire to nurture the tourism industry in our constituencies. I look forward to visiting his constituency in Northumberland in the near future. We should all recognise the immense contribution of the tourism industry to our economy, our constituencies and our local communities. Tourism is a vital sector, contributing more than £70 billion to the UK economy annually and employing more than 1.6 million people directly, with millions more benefiting indirectly. Indeed, brand Britain depends on a thriving tourism industry. The latest annual Scarborough Tourism Economic Activity Monitor report on the economic impact of tourism shows that the Northumberland visitor economy has experienced strong year-on-year growth. In 2023, it recorded its highest ever gross value contribution of £1.262 billion, a 7.9% increase from 2022, with Northumberland welcoming more than 10 million visitors. That demonstrates that Northumberland’s tourism industry is continuing its post-covid recovery, thanks in part to the support provided by the previous Government’s tourism recovery plan. I put on record my thanks to the former Members who contributed to that plan, Guy Opperman and Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who are greatly missed on the Conservative side of the House. However, it is now up to the new Government to demonstrate how they plan to support the tourism sector in sustaining its post-covid recovery. During the general election and throughout their time in power, we have seen no indication yet of a comprehensive, long-term strategy. Can the Minister outline when the Government will present a sector-wide support plan to help counties such as Northumberland, and the businesses that rely so heavily on tourism? Many businesses in Northumberland are heavily dependent on seasonal tourism in particular, which poses significant challenges when it comes to retaining experienced staff and making long-term investment in their businesses. To truly support local economies such as Northumberland, it is crucial that we shift towards a year-round tourism model, which provides the stability and growth opportunities that our businesses need. Can the Minister confirm whether the Government’s tourism plan will consider specific support for businesses to operate year round, helping them to overcome the seasonal challenges that they face? The increase in national insurance contributions for businesses, made by the Chancellor in the last Budget, will have a profound impact on the hospitality sector. The sector is vital for the success of tourism-dependent businesses, as we are continually hearing. As noted by many industry leaders, including UKHospitality, it could force many small, tourism-related businesses—including those independent ones previously mentioned—to close, reduce employees’ hours, or even scale back their expansion plans. Tourism businesses, including hotels, restaurants and attractions, rely on part-time and seasonal workers to meet demand during peak times. The changes in NICs may make it more difficult for those businesses to retain or take on staff, limiting their capacity and ability to make a profit. That is especially concerning for Northumberland, where tourism clearly not only contributes to the local economy, but plays a key role in sustaining small businesses and preserving local jobs. Given the ongoing recovery of the tourism sector following the pandemic, those additional financial challenges may well threaten to undo much-needed and well achieved progress, particularly for small businesses struggling with already thin margins. Therefore, it is essential that the Government consider how those new cost pressures will affect tourism and hospitality businesses, and that they work to provide support to help those businesses navigate the challenges in that sector successfully. To unlock Northumberland’s full tourism potential, we must prioritise investment in key supply-side areas such as transport infrastructure, as rightly pointed out by the hon. Member for Hexham . Improved connectivity, whether by road or rail, is vital for attracting domestic and international visitors. Enhancing access to Northumberland’s iconic sites—from Hadrian’s wall to Alnwick castle—will enable more people to experience the county’s rich cultural and historical heritage. In addition, strengthening digital infrastructure is crucial. Many rural areas in Northumberland suffer from limited broadband, which affects not only local businesses but tourists’ experience. Will the Minister clarify the Government’s commitment to improving Northern Rail and investing in digital infrastructure as part of its tourism strategy? Northumberland’s tourism industry has demonstrated exceptional resilience in its recovery from the pandemic. However, the Government’s recent changes to national insurance contributions could push small tourism and hospitality businesses to the brink. It is crucial that the Government provide the necessary support to the tourism sector, particularly in counties such as Northumberland, to help them to absorb those additional financial pressures and work towards returning to pre-pandemic levels. I look forward to hearing the Minister’s plans for the future of tourism in the UK and in Northumberland, and for the communities that depend on the industry to thrive.

• 19 Nov 2024 · Autumn Budget Impact · Hansard source

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  Approximately 220,000 people currently reside in the Solihull borough, and if Government planning reforms go through, the number will increase significantly. My hon. Friend the Member for Solihull West and Shirley (Dr Shastri-Hurst) and I have written to the Health Secretary about the need for infrastructure and A&E services at Solihull hospital. Will he agree to meet us to see how we can make this Budget work for the people of Solihull?

• 18 Nov 2024 · Bus Funding · Hansard source

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  I was disappointed that the Secretary of State did not mention the west midlands a single time in her statement. My constituents across Meriden and Solihull East rely on buses to travel to jobs, job interviews and education facilities, and to attend medical appointments. Does the Secretary of State recognise that the most vulnerable people in my community, and those who need buses the most, will be hardest hit by the 50% increase in the bus cap?

• 11 Nov 2024 · Rural Affairs · Hansard source

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  On Armistice Day, I want to mention the vital role that our farmers played during the world wars to keep food on the table, as they continue to do. If I had more time, I would spend it championing the farmers in my own constituency, not least because it is the home of Berkswell cheese. I would welcome any Member who would like to try it, and they might also like to try some of the turkeys from Rod Adlington’s farm. However, I will focus on APR and BPR. I thought that the right hon. Member for Louth and Horncastle (Victoria Atkins), the shadow Secretary of State, did a wonderful job of deconstructing the Government’s arguments in that regard, despite Ministers’ desire to hide their heads in the sand. We are seeing a travesty unfold in front of us. We are seeing the travesty of the Secretary of State saying that farmers need to do more with less, and the Government’s sheer brass neck in not listening, which was mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Gordon and Buchan (Harriet Cross). Our farmers are working people. They put food on our table and are responsible for our food security, but the Budget puts our family farms on notice. In my constituency and those across the country, family farms ensure that we have food on our tables. They do not do so at a profit, even if they have assets that they will now be taxed on. I spent some time wondering why the policy was introduced, and it is clear that it is a cynical ploy to free up land so that the Deputy Prime Minister can concrete over our green belt and the Energy Secretary— [ Interruption. ] Labour Members can shout me down if they want—that is fine—but farmers are listening and can see the arrogance of those on the Government Benches. The Energy Secretary’s desire is to have pylons and solar panels peppered across our green belt. The Government broke their promises on NI, they broke their promises to pensioners, and now they are breaking their promises to our farmers. Some clarity is needed, because the Chancellor has repeatedly said that the thresholds will be shared between spouses. That was contradicted by the Treasury, and the Secretary of State said something else at the Dispatch Box. Farmers need clarity, because how can they possibly plan if the Chancellor and the Secretary of State do not know their own policies and are contradicting each other? The Government continue to say that the policy will not affect that many farmers, but DEFRA’s own analysis shows that it will affect 66% of them. The Secretary of State said he was using the Treasury’s figures. Why do two Departments’ figures contradict each other? We need clarity on that, because it is important. [ Interruption. ] Labour Members can shout me down, but it is really important for the livelihoods of so many people. When it comes to undermining our food security and national security, the only winners are autocrats around the world who would like to see us weakened—autocrats like Vladimir Putin. That is exactly what the policy will lead to.

• 5 Nov 2024 · Draft Online Safety Act 2023 (Priority Offences) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. I am happy to confirm that the Opposition will support these regulations, not least because, as the Minister has said, they complement the previous Government’s work on the Online Safety Act, and I was the Minister responsible for implementing the Act from when it received Royal Assent until the general election. I take great pride in having served in the Government that introduced and passed the Online Safety Act. It places significant new responsibilities and duties on social media companies, platforms and services to increase safety online. However, most importantly, this vital piece of legislation ensures that children are better protected online. Having just attended a roundtable where we listened to victims of online abuse, I know that that is more important than ever. The Minister will share my thoughts on that. I share his sentiment—the Opposition will work with the Government to make sure that victims of online abuse receive justice and are supported and protected. It is worrying and sad that almost three quarters of teenagers between 13 and 17 have encountered one or more potential harms online, and that three in five secondary school-aged children have been contacted online in a way that potentially made them feel uncomfortable. It is for those reasons that we ensured that the strongest measures in the Online Safety Act protect children. For example, platforms are required to prevent children from accessing harmful and age-inappropriate content and to provide parents and children with clear and accessible ways to report problems online when they arise. Furthermore, the Act requires all in-scope services that allow pornography to use highly effective age assurance to prevent children from accessing it, including services that host user-generated content and services that publish pornography. Ofcom has robust enforcement powers available against companies that fail to fulfil their duties. The Online Safety Act also includes provisions to protect adult users, as it ensures that major platforms are more transparent about which kinds of potentially harmful content they allow. It gives users more control over the types of content they want to see. I note that Ofcom expects the illegal harm safety duties to become enforceable around March 2025, following Ofcom’s publication of its illegal harm statement in December 2024. Does the Minister agree that platforms do not need to wait for those milestones, as I often said, and should already be taking action to improve safety on their sites? Can he confirm that he is encouraging platforms to take proactive action in advance of any deadlines? Separately from the Online Safety Act, the last Government also launched the pornography review, which explores the effectiveness of regulation, legislation and the law enforcement response to pornography. Can the Minister provide a reassurance that the review’s final report is on schedule and will be published before the end of the year? Can he also clarify whether the review will consider the impact of violent and harmful pornography on women and girls? I would be grateful for the Minister’s comments on those points and for his co-operation throughout his tenure. I am happy to add our support to these regulations, and to see that the previous Government’s pivotal piece of legislation is making the UK the safest place in the world for a child to be online.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Income Tax (Charge) · Hansard source

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  The Chancellor’s Budget last week was a shocking demonstration of economic illiteracy. The Government often speak about growth, but all the Budget showed was a disdain for wealth creators, and it betrayed family businesses and farmers—reminiscent of the damage that the Labour party caused in the 1970s. Conservative Members know that we cannot tax our way to growth. My constituents in Meriden and Solihull East are particularly dismayed by the trail of broken manifesto commitments, and the highest debt burden and tax burden, with taxes being put up by £40 billion. They are particularly angry about the disdain shown for our rural communities and small businesses. The Government often talk about them being the lifeblood of our communities, but that is more than just a slogan. I will focus on farming in the limited time I have. As the proud representative of a number of family farms, I speak on behalf of many constituents who are appalled by the Budget. Our farmers work seven days a week, 365 days a year, to keep food on our tables, and they nurture our green and pleasant land. They work no matter the weather, and are vulnerable to it like no other workers in any other industry in the country. The Chancellor argues that the tax on family farms is necessary to support our public services, but she clearly fails to recognise that those farms also provide a public service. They put food on our tables, ensure our food security and protect our rural heritage. The Chancellor’s betrayal of our rural communities through the family farm tax will have damaging consequences for farmers and everyone in the country. I welcome the interventions from Jeremy Clarkson and the NFU president Tim Bradshaw, who today made arguments about the deepening mental health crisis in our rural communities. The Chancellor must recognise that farming is not a hobby or pastime for the landed classes; it is an engine that drives our food security and sustains our rural communities. Farmers do not have huge bank accounts to pay death tax bills. The Budget will lead to an exodus of farmers, undermining our food security and making everyone more vulnerable to global instability. We should not be surprised by the measures. The Labour party included only 87 words on the farming industry in its manifesto, which I thought was particularly disrespectful. I would talk about the billions that our small businesses contribute to our high streets, but I will talk instead about fuel duty. My hon. Friend the Member for Mid Buckinghamshire (Greg Smith) was very kind to mention me earlier, but there were 73 Conservative Members of Parliament who wrote to the Chancellor, and 131,000 people signed the petition. Just two weeks ago, Government briefings revealed that they were going to raise fuel duty by 7p. We were able to force a U-turn and protect the freeze on fuel duty. What does this Labour party stand for? It does not stand for small businesses on the high street, it does not stand for our farms or rural communities, it does not stand for hard-working families, and it certainly does not stand for working people.

• 30 Oct 2024 · NHS Winter Readiness · Hansard source

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  It is a privilege to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger, and I thank the hon. Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan) for securing this debate on what is an important day. As the hon. Member for Winchester (Dr Chambers) has, I pay tribute to NHS staff who are dealing with significant demands in urgent and emergency care, which are particularly acute in a post-pandemic world. In the time that I have available, I will press the Government on the actions they are taking to increase vaccination uptake and to make use of available private sector capacity. Vaccination was the key to protecting the population from covid-19 and to ensuring that the virus could be managed and contained like other respiratory illnesses. Delivering the successful vaccination programme was one of the many benefits of leaving the European Union, which was a cause championed by the previous Government. We must continue the push to protect the most clinically vulnerable and to reduce hospital admissions for RSV, flu and covid-19. I welcome the national RSV vaccine programme that was launched earlier this summer, and I would welcome an update from the Minister about the uptake of that vaccine among eligible groups. I am concerned by recent data that shows that the uptake of the flu and covid-19 vaccines among eligible groups is lower compared with the same time last year. Figures on the uptake of the flu vaccine in the week commencing 20 October 2024 showed that the vaccination rate was 48.2% for all those aged 65 or over, which is lower than it was in October 2023. That means the picture for those people is worse. In the clinical risk group, only 20.8% of people had been vaccinated, which again is a worse uptake rate than that for last October. Given these worrying figures, what actions will the Government and the NHS take to promote vaccinations among eligible groups, particularly those at greater clinical risk? As other hon. Members have stated, many NHS hospitals and secondary care settings are working at close to full capacity. For that reason, we must maximise the use of private sector hospitals and other facilities to reduce the pressure on the national health service. The Telegraph recently reported that private health providers have written to the Chancellor and the Health Secretary to propose a major expansion in the use of private sector facilities and staff for NHS treatment. It was stated that private sector investment could help build diagnostic capacity and, “develop new surgery units and intensive care facilities.” If I am not mistaken, the Health Secretary has spoken about the use of private sector facilities, so will the Government support the proposals, which would see an extra 2.5 million patients treated in private hospitals with the potential to cut NHS waiting lists significantly? As we are talking about waiting lists in the winter, I want to turn to the winter fuel allowance, which is being cut. What is the Government’s assessment of the impact and pressure on hospitals from the withdrawal of the allowance? I believe that the Labour party put out an analysis back in 2017 stating that 4,000 people would be at risk of death from such a withdrawal. Can the Minister clarify whether that analysis is still correct and what the thinking is in the Health Department in response to the withdrawal? During the winter months, protecting bed space for elective treatment is particular important for keeping waiting lists down. That is why we must also build on the capacity provided by community diagnostics centres and surgical hubs in recent years. The previous Government invested £2.3 billion to establish CDCs, which represented the largest cash investment in MRI and CT scanning capacity in the history of the national health service. In addition, the Independent Health Foundation has highlighted the positive impact that surgical hubs made in reducing waiting lists and increasing bed capacity. Despite their impact, Lord Darzi’s report on NHS performance made no reference to the role of CDCs and surgical hubs in helping to reduce waiting lists. On expanding the network of surgical hubs, and bearing in mind that the Budget is taking place in the main Chamber, it would be helpful to get some clarity on where the additional funding will be spent. Will the Minister commit to having more surgical hubs so that more patients across the country can access elective care quicker? Will the Minister also commit to expanding the network of CDCs, which have delivered more than 7 million tests, scans and checks since 2021. The last Government supported national health service trusts to increase elective activity after the pandemic, particularly through the elective recovery fund, which reimbursed trusts for the operations they delivered. However, earlier this month the Health Service Journal reported that Ministers were considering whether to pause or cap the fund. At the election, Government Ministers stood on a manifesto that pledged to reduce waiting times for elective care, such as on hip and knee replacements, to 18 weeks by the end of the Parliament. Pausing or capping the elective recovery fund will surely affect the Government’s pledge to cut waiting times and risk placing further pressures on national health service finances. I am sure NHS leaders would greatly appreciate the Minister providing clarity on that point, so can she rule out the elective recovery fund being capped or paused this year? To finish, as has already been said, I want to encourage anyone who is eligible to make sure they go and get vaccinated in advance of this winter.

• 29 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Small business owners are working people, and they are some of the hardest-working people that I know. The Labour party struggled to define them over the weekend, but does the Chancellor agree that any rise in fuel duty, which the Conservatives froze or cut for 14 years, would be a tax on those hard-working people or those hard-working small business owners?

• 21 Oct 2024 · Employment Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  Many small business in Meriden and Solihull East are rightly concerned about the Bill for a number of reasons. Since the election, I have spoken a number of times demanding that the Government be more ambitious for growth, for our entrepreneurs and for our small businesses. Indeed, it is the moral duty of every Government to unleash the full potential of our businesses and, where possible, to create an environment to embolden entrepreneurs and encourage economic growth. Instead, the Bill will kill off any ambition and any focus on growth. If we want to focus on inclusive growth, we must nurture our start-ups, scale-ups and small businesses, and let them be nimble in how they operate, rather than shackling them. That is how economic magic will start to happen. The businesses to which I have spoken are worried about the insufficient consultation. The Government’s impact assessment, which we received late, shows that small businesses are likely to be hit hardest. The costs, according to the Government’s own analysis, will be in the low billions—up to £5 billion. For a Government who keep talking about the alleged black hole, those low billions seem rather reckless. It proves that this is nothing more than an ideological Bill that does not ensure growth.

• 21 Oct 2024 · Employment Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  I will not. What businesses want is less government, less regulation and more freedom. When making employment decisions, they require certainty and flexibility so that they can hire more people, but the Bill threatens to undermine the agility of businesses in ensuring that their workers maximise productivity. It does not encourage businesses to take risk, hire a budding new employee and reap the rewards; in fact, it does the complete opposite. The Federation of Small Businesses calls this legislation “clumsy and chaotic” and suggests that it will “increase economic inactivity.” Let us be clear: the Bill is not really about employment rights or better conditions. Its focus is on repealing the 10-year ballot requirement on political funds, removing the opt-in default for trade union political funds, removing the need for proper consent to form a trade union, and so on. It is not the Employment Rights Bill; it is the trade union appeasement Bill. The Government are not prepared to stand up to the unions. We have seen them cave in to train drivers and give sweetheart deals without any savings for the taxpayer.

• 21 Oct 2024 · Employment Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  I thank the shadow Secretary of State for giving way. He talks about trade unions. I have just seen a news update on the Unite union’s Birmingham hotel and conference centre being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office. The total cost was £112 million, but it has now been valued at £29 million. Who will hold the trade unions to account in the Bill?

• 21 Oct 2024 · Employment Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend makes a valid point. A lot of people are in a holding pattern for business decisions on investment and employment. All the Bill will do is leave our businesses at the mercy of the trade unions and take us back to the 1970s. It will merely align us with the growth-gobbling guidelines set by bureaucrats in Brussels and hold our businesses back. It is not just me who thinks this; I am going by the Government’s impact assessment. The CBI claims that employers expect Britain to become the worst place to invest and do business over the next five years—a damning indictment of the Government.

• 21 Oct 2024 · Employment Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  I will not. We have seen the unions hold the Government to ransom at the expense of hard-working taxpayers. That is why the Bill is bad for small and medium-sized businesses—those arguments have been made already. Our SMEs cannot afford dozens of French-style regulations that bolster the power of the trade unions and threaten to increase the cost of employment by over £1,000. I am speaking to raise the concerns of many small and medium-sized businesses in Meriden and Solihull East about this legislation. It is rushed—businesses have not been properly consulted—and it gives more power to the trade unions. It will fail to maximise productivity and will severely weaken the case for businesses to hire new employees. It is a flawed Bill serving a flawed ideology.

• 21 Oct 2024 · Employment Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  The Deputy Prime Minister talks about seafarers not being abused, but did she apologise to DP World last week?

• 16 Oct 2024 · Research and Development · Hansard source

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  The Secretary of State, in one of his first acts in his new role, cut £1.3 billion-worth of funding that would have been transformative for enabling cutting-edge research and development in Britain. I note that he has also ditched our ambition to turn Britain into a science and technology superpower. We set a target of £20 billion for R&D, which we met, but he has set no such target. Will he be setting a target, and can he today promise that there will be no cuts to R&D expenditure?

• 15 Oct 2024 · Business Confidence · Hansard source

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  It is a real privilege to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Harris. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for East Grinstead and Uckfield (Mims Davies) on securing this important debate in a very timely manner. It is so timely because the more I speak to businesses or business organisations, the more the phrase “holding pattern” comes up. That is down to of the uncertainty that has been created in the first 100 days of this Labour Government. Frankly, a lot of business organisations and businesses thought that the promise of change meant change for the better. Clearly, that was not the case, because, as we have just heard, the business confidence monitor of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales—I am a chartered accountant by profession—has dipped. That is consistent with what we are seeing across the patch. Politicians often refer to businesses and small businesses, which I used to cater for—when I was president of the Greater Birmingham chambers of commerce, the majority of our members were small businesses—as the lifeblood of our communities. That is a very easy phrase to put out there, but it has to be more than a slogan. They are the businesses that define what our communities stand for. They are the ones that create jobs, take risks and create the real wealth. Like my hon. Friend the Member for East Grinstead and Uckfield, I welcome the investment, but I think the figures of the new and old money will be disputed— I am sure we will do that in the main Chamber and in here. As I have said before, the Government’s successes will be the country’s successes, so we welcome that level of investment, but investment only comes when businesses have confidence to invest. It is about not just domestic investment but international investors. The Labour Government often talk about what they have inherited. As I was the Minister responsible for tech and the digital economy up until the election, I know that we had the third most valuable tech economy in the world. We had some of the highest levels of investment and were the fastest-growing in the G7. That was all defined by the fact that people felt confident enough to invest. Weeks before the general election was called, we had about £2.5 billion come in in one week. I want to stress the importance of business confidence and economic confidence. Damage is done when the Prime Minister talks about there being worse to come. On the back of the political choices the Government are making, there may well be worse to come, but they will not be able to deliver on the economic growth and public sector investment they want if the private sector does not believe that they can do it. There has been a lot of chatter about moving the goalposts on fiscal rules. There is no magic money tree, as has been said. There is no definite way of putting money out there without the chickens coming home to roost. There is always a price to be paid, and the burden will be borne by the businesses of the United Kingdom. They will be the ones that will be taxed. It is incredibly worrying that we have not had clarity on the capital gains issue. I think there was a report yesterday, but I will wait for the Chancellor to come to the Dispatch Box to confirm that capital gains will not rise, because that will affect investor sentiment. National insurance is very much in the media today, and that question is really hampering because if employers have to pay more national insurance, the cost will be borne by consumers. That will affect demand and recruitment and labour decisions—I say labour with a small l, but there might possibly be a big L involved at the next election if there is such an impact. My community is very entrepreneurial and there are businesses there, as well as businesses in my business forum, which all hon. Members are welcome to join. Britain is a great place to do business, and it is a great place to invest and grow, but that is despite this Labour Government.

• 15 Oct 2024 · NHS Dental Contracting Framework · Hansard source

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  Last month, the Secretary of State for Wales told the Labour party conference that this Labour Government will “take inspiration” from Labour-run Wales on dentistry. That is the same health system in which less than 60% of dentistry courses are being completed in comparison with pre-pandemic figures—a rate that is far lower than in England. Does the Minister agree that the Secretary of State for Wales is right and that Wales is a blueprint for what a Labour Government will do in England, or will they drop the bluster, get serious and commit to the dental reforms set out in the dental recovery plan, including a tie-in to NHS dentistry for graduate dentists?

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

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  I want to say from the outset that this is clearly an attack on aspiration, an attack on opportunity. I say to the constituents of the hon. Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) that he voted for winter fuel payments to be slashed and now he is voting for an attack on hard-working families who will be struggling to make ends meet. I went to a state school and an independent school and I was grateful for both those journeys and the education that I received in both. Plenty of hard-working families will be struggling to make ends meet. The first point I want to make is about tone. I will come back to the Education Secretary’s tweet, which was deeply offensive. Surely Labour Members must acknowledge—it is a simple case of maths—that people who are rich enough to afford VAT increases, whether it is 4%, 16%, which is the average, or the whole 20%, will continue to send their kids to independent schools and pay the fees. It is the people who are struggling to make ends meet, or the really hard-up families, or—God forbid—parents of children who are on scholarships and bursaries who will no longer be able to send their kids to those schools, because those schools will have to withdraw those scholarships and bursaries as they will be less affordable. So the tone of this debate is really important. I would caution the Government to be more reticent on this. They refer to tax breaks; these are not tax breaks. Education should not be, and is not, taxed, and they are about to open that Pandora’s box. There have been a lot of comments from Government Members about state schools. I agree: standards in state schools should be improved. They talk about the last 14 years. We delivered a real-terms increase per pupil. We have delivered record funding—about £60 billion. They may challenge that, but it is pure fact. I am happy to share those facts. We did that, and the result of that, especially with our focus on things like phonics, which Labour challenged when in opposition, is that we now have some of the highest reading standards in the world—independently and internationally rated. We also have some of the highest ratings in mathematics. So the Government may try to frame this debate as anything other than ideological, but those arguments are severely undermined by the Education Secretary’s tweet, which put it out there that this is really a class war.

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

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  My hon. Friend made an excellent speech about the practicalities of introducing this change in January, and she makes an excellent point now about the slippery slope involved. The Government say that the money will be focused on educational improvements, but there is no guarantee of that, as it will go into the general pot. They promised 6,500 new teachers, which is fewer than we delivered; it is a drop in the ocean, which will barely make a difference to the hundreds of thousands of schools that, of course, need extra teachers. I concede that point; we should have better educational standards. SEND will affect every Member of Parliament. It affects me. I was with a north Solihull parents group just a few weeks ago. Those parents will no longer be able to afford to give their children a private education for SEND purposes, and they will now have to rely on the state. Surely Government Members can see that that will further increase the burden on state provision, particularly if they are right that there is a lack of teachers. The Minister might address this point: how does this policy improve state school provision? How does it improve the standard and quality of delivery for SEND parents? It was all right for the Prime Minister to make special provision for his kids, and for the Education Secretary to have a benefactor, but what are these parents going to do?

• 10 Sept 2024 · Social Security · Hansard source

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  I will not, because I am sure the hon. Lady can participate later. The Government might be fooling themselves, but they are not fooling the British public or my pensioners. If they want to do the right thing, they should follow the example of the hon. Member for York Central. If there are issues, I am sure that even the Opposition will look into them in depth and we will do the right thing, but the Government are using our pensioners as some sort of political tool to make an ideological point. The Chancellor stood up and found this alleged black hole to try to justify that. It is a horrible situation—

• 10 Sept 2024 · Social Security · Hansard source

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  I stand to speak on behalf of my 18,500 pensioners who will be affected by this measure. Before I do so, I commend the hon. Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell) on a really impassioned speech. I know it is not easy to stand against one’s own party, but today’s decision is a choice between right and wrong. Members are defending the choice by the Government and the Chancellor to make this decision on the backs of pensioners, who have the sheer brass neck to go out and defend it, alleging a black hole when they have paid billions to unions without any savings in return. There is GB Energy—a shell company for £8 billion—and climate promises of more than £11 billion, and then they say that there is no money and they are going to get £1.1 billion on the back of pensioners.