Sarah Coombes MP: speeches 2026

Speeches

• 24 Mar 2026 · Oil and Gas · Hansard source

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  Is it not true that the number of jobs in the North sea oil industry halved in the last decade when the shadow Secretary of State’s party was in government?

• 19 Mar 2026 · Serious Fraud Office · Hansard source

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  Scams are devastating for the victims in my constituency, but serious fraud is insidious and is undermining the UK economy. Given the Serious Fraud Office recently found that just 10% of fraud referrals are coming from whistleblowers, what more are the Government doing to empower whistleblowers to come forward and to protect them when they do?

• 19 Mar 2026 · Serious Fraud Office · Hansard source

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  1. What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Serious Fraud Office.

• 12 Mar 2026 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  This week, there was a mass release of balloons in Birmingham in memory of my friend, Councillor Waseem Zaffar, who passed away suddenly and tragically at the age of 44. There was no prouder Brummie than Waseem: he loved the city, he loved the Villa and he loved representing the people of Lozells. As the cabinet member for transport, he was the driving force behind the city’s clean air zone, and he fought every day against the health inequalities that mean so many Brummies die too young. I will miss Waseem more than I can say. He leaves a hole in the city that will be very difficult to fill. Will the Leader of the House join me in sending deepest condolences to Waseem’s wife Aysha, his four sons and his wider family? Can we have a debate on the health inequalities that Waseem cared so passionately about?

• 12 Mar 2026 · Hospitality Sector · Hansard source

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  Drivers looking for refreshment on the motorway have regular signs to point them to the available hospitality, but it is less easy for drivers of electric vehicles to see where they can get a coffee and a charge because of arcane rules that prevent EV signage on motorways. This is also a problem on A roads—one charge company told me it was quoted £150,000 to put up two signs on an A road. Given that many hospitality businesses have partnerships with EV charge providers, will the Minister work with the Department for Transport to change these mad signage rules and support hospitality and EV charging?

• 11 Mar 2026 · Public Body Data Collection: Sikh and Jewish Ethnicity · Hansard source

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  I am proud to represent a very large Sikh community in Sandwell, which is near my hon. Friend’s constituency. What she campaigns for—for ethnicity data about the Sikh community to be recorded—is really important for organisations such as the NHS as well as for Home Office data and crime data. We have suffered some very serious anti-Sikh hate crime in West Bromwich recently, which the community is very upset about, and I am standing with them against it. Can she say more about how recording this data will help not just NHS and health data, but other types of public data?

• 9 Mar 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T2. The situation we inherited at the election, with one in eight young people not in education or employment, is a national scandal and I am glad that this Government will put it right. In West Brom, there are lots of opportunities in the manufacturing sector, but lots of young people often think of a different reality when they think of factories. In fact, many of the jobs are high quality, well paid and involve modern machinery and robotics, and are not the back-breaking work that many think it is. What are the Government doing to ensure that jobcentres connect young people with the opportunities in all different sectors, particularly in manufacturing?

• 3 Mar 2026 · Spring Forecast · Hansard source

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  We have heard a lot about young people today, but in my constituency, the thing that young people really want is the chance to own their own home. For years, they have been locked out of that because of sky-high mortgage rates thanks to the policies of the Conservative party. I welcome the six interest rate cuts that this Government have overseen. Will the Chancellor elaborate on what more we are doing to help young people in West Brom get on the housing ladder and to bring down the cost of borrowing?

• 27 Jan 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Thanks to the policies of the Labour Treasury team, Sandwell will receive £1.5 million to smarten up our towns. Does the Chancellor agree that local people should have a say in how that funding is spent, and will she encourage people in Rowley, West Bromwich and Oldbury to fill in my survey about how we spend this Government cash?

• 20 Jan 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Last week, I met a mother from my constituency who told me a terrible story. In October, her daughters were taken by their father, supposedly for a day out at the fair, but they never came home. It seems he has abducted them and taken them out of the country, either to Afghanistan or to Pakistan. Can the Minister set out what the Government can do about these kinds of abductions, and will he meet me to discuss how we get these little girls home?

• 8 Jan 2026 · Road Safety Strategy · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for all her hard work on this strategy—I have no doubt that it will save lives. I have spent the last year campaigning against ghost number plates, which make drivers invisible to speed and police cameras. These plates are great for car racers and criminals and terrible for the rest of us. They have spent years going under the radar, but today they have been rumbled, and I am delighted the Minister has announced a massive crackdown on these plates. How soon will these dodgy ghost-plate drivers start to get penalty points on their licence and their vehicles seized for using these plates, and when will we start to see these MOT number plate checks?

• 8 Jan 2026 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Guru Nanak gurdwara in West Brom recently suffered a horrible incident of anti-Sikh hate. An unidentified vandal ran past and dumped a bag of meat on the doorstep. As many Sikhs are vegetarian, that is obviously a horrible, offensive incident. Will the Leader of the House make time for a debate about how we reject that type of hate, how we protect our places of worship, and how we celebrate the contribution of Sikhs and all faith communities in our areas?

• 8 Jan 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T2. Happy new year, Mr Speaker. Traffic jams at junction 1 of the M5 are a nightmare for residents, businesses and West Bromwich Albion FC fans. We have already had a traffic light upgrade, which has improved things slightly, and the Government have now given Sandwell council yellow box enforcement powers, which I hope will ease things further. What more can the Government do to modernise our roads, ease the jams and get Britain moving?

• 6 Jan 2026 · BBC Charter Renewal · Hansard source

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  I spoke to representatives of BBC Arabic in Amman in the summer, and they talked about the fact that when cuts to the BBC meant that BBC Arabic radio was turned off in 2023, Russia’s Radio Sputnik stepped into that space and started broadcasting false and fake news in the English language. That is very worrying for us all, so we need a successful BBC renewal process that supports the BBC around the world.