Shockat Adam MP: speeches

Speeches

• 29 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Sadly, Leicester South is not immune to the unemployment figures for young people—1,000 young people and counting. My concern is that AI is about to make it even worse, especially as CEOs are citing lower human capital value as justification for replacing workers with AI. What is the Secretary of State’s Department doing to ensure that technological advancements create opportunity, rather than unemployment?

• 9 Jun 2026 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  The Secretary of State in her statement—in her own words—talked of Netanyahu’s condemnation of settler violence as being “hollow”. Will she allow the Great Israeli Real Estate Event to proceed on UK soil this weekend? If she does, could she not be accused of the same thing?

• 8 Jun 2026 · Digital Safety: Children · Hansard source

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  I refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests as a practising optometrist. Myopia—shortsightedness—is nearing epidemic levels for UK children. It is a crisis that was sharply increased by covid, when screentime surged and outdoor activity collapsed. Research shows that nearly one in three of our UK children will now be short sighted, and the rate is still rising. Shortsightedness after a certain dioptre level can lead to retinal conditions and sight loss. When developing any digital policies, can consideration be given to the devastating impact of screentime on our children’s eye health?

• 21 Apr 2026 · West Bank: Illegal Settlements · Hansard source

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  While atrocities are being committed against Palestinians in the west bank every single day, including the killing of hundreds and hundreds of children, it is disgusting to learn that British citizens are being offered Palestinian land, which they can purchase with virtually the same ease with which they do their everyday online shopping. Declassified UK has found that Israeli charity Shivat Zion is helping British citizens to move to illegal settlements. That breaks international law; and, to rub salt in the wound, British taxpayers are implicated, as the charity claims UK gift aid. Will the Secretary of State assure the House that she will look into the matter urgently and sanction any organisation, charity or otherwise, complicit in Israeli illegal land grabs?

• 20 Apr 2026 · Security Vetting · Hansard source

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  My concern is that this Prime Minister will run out of buses before he runs out of people to throw under them. The issue is this. The Prime Minister has said: “I never turn on my staff and you should never turn on your staff.” Well, we have Sue Gray scapegoated, Tim Allan canned, Sir Chris Wormald forced out, Morgan McSweeney axed and now Olly Robbins sacked. Will the Prime Minister accept that the buck stops with him? This is his fault. He should do the honourable thing.

• 16 Apr 2026 · World Cup: Support for Fans · Hansard source

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  7. Whether she has had recent discussions with FIFA on support for fans attending the world cup.

• 3 Mar 2026 · Funeral Premises: Environmental Health Inspections · Hansard source

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  We need regulation. One story of the mismanagement of a loved one is one too many. Does the hon. Member agree that in certain faith communities—and especially in the Jewish and Muslim communities—the expediency with which people wish to bury their loved ones must be taken into consideration within that regulation?

• 12 Feb 2026 · Onshoring: Fashion and Textiles · Hansard source

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  Does the hon. Lady agree that any company found to be utilising cotton produced through slave labour should not be allowed to list themselves on the stock market in this country?

• 8 Jan 2026 · Myanmar: Religious Minority Persecution · Hansard source

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  On that point, will the Minister give way?

• 5 Jan 2026 · Venezuela · Hansard source

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  The Secretary of State justifies in her statement a flagrant breach of international law by citing Venezuela’s drop in GDP, narcotics trafficking and gold trading. These are issues that could affect countless countries around the world. But let me remind the Secretary of State of the words of the person who perpetrated this action, Donald J. Trump, who said that the US is “going to have a presence in Venezuela as it pertains to oil. We’re going to be taking a tremendous amount of wealth out of the ground” and is going to “run” Venezuela. May I ask the Foreign Secretary to take a leaf out of Donald Trump’s book and answer a question once: do the Government support US colonial expansionism or do the Government believe in the rules-based world order? Which is it? It cannot be both.

• 11 Dec 2025 · US National Security Strategy · Hansard source

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  The rhetoric coming out of the US is frightening people, even those in my constituency, because it is building a wedge between communities. The strategy cites “civilisational erasure” and says that several countries risk becoming “majority non-European”. They have also declared that the US must cultivate resistance within European countries. I am glad to hear that the Minister does not agree with those sentiments, but what will she do to strengthen our diversity and response in this country against this really divisive ideology?

• 3 Dec 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  No religion, theology or philosophy is beyond critique or scrutiny, and we must protect freedom of speech at all costs. But Islamophobia is real, at least for Zainab Hussain in my city, who was run over not just once but twice, simply for being a Muslim. She survived. Not so lucky was Makram Ali, who was killed outside Finsbury Park mosque simply for being a Muslim, or Mohammed Saleem, who was stabbed to death simply for being a Muslim. When the Prime Minister was in opposition, a definition of Islamophobia was adopted, but in government it has been dropped. What has changed?

• 16 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for giving way, especially as she is making such a powerful speech. Yesterday, I went to an event with Health Equals, which has shown that where a child is born can lead to a 16-year discrepancy in life expectancy due to poverty. Does she agree that some form of legally binding poverty reduction target scheme could be put in place, as in Scotland, so that we can measure our progress?