Stella Creasy MP: speeches

Speeches

• 15 Jan 2026 · Food Inflation · Hansard source

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  I wonder whether my hon. Friend heard the testimony of Toby Ovens, the managing director of Broughton Transport Solutions, to the Business and Trade Committee the other day. He spoke about how we have lost that complex network, but gained a mountain of paperwork, which is accounting for much of the costs that are incurred for the food that is coming into our country. That includes 26 different stamps that he now has to get to import food into our country. Does she recognise that one of the ways that we can help bring food costs down is to get that sanitary and phytosanitary deal signed?

• 15 Jan 2026 · Food Inflation · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Member give way?

• 13 Jan 2026 · Iran · Hansard source

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  The scenes we have seen in Iran are heartbreaking, terrifying and, I fear, just a fraction of what is happening, given the media blackout. The Foreign Secretary says that the world must come together, and she is right. I understand her point that proscription in this country is a matter for the Home Secretary, but given the measures that are being talked about in the European Parliament, which has banned representatives of the Iranian Government from attending, can she confirm that she is talking to our European counterparts about co-ordinating proscription measures?

• 12 Jan 2026 · Social Media: Non-consensual Sexual Deepfakes · Hansard source

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  May I very much welcome what the Secretary of State is doing in proving that none of this is inevitable with the development of technology? She has just said that there is a concern that our legislation is behind, rather than ahead of, the curve. She knows that this issue is not just about Grok; it is about AI chatbots. I know that Baroness Kidron in the other place has brought forward legislation on that. Will the Secretary of State defend all those talking about content moderation and how we get this right in the future, including by standing up to Governments who are not free speech advocates if they bar those people from their shores?

• 5 Jan 2026 · Venezuela · Hansard source

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  The truth is, the warning signs that the rules-based order is at risk have been there for some time. In evidence to Congress during the impeachment inquiry into President Trump, the former White House adviser on Russia and Europe, Fiona Hill, claimed that an informal offer was made by Russia to withdraw its support for Venezuela in exchange for America withdrawing its support for Ukraine. In the light of these events, will the Foreign Secretary confirm that that specific allegation has been raised in her conversations with our American counterparts? What response has she had?

• 5 Jan 2026 · Middle East and North Africa · Hansard source

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  I must press the Minister on the further 19 settlements announced over the Christmas period in the west bank. Minister Smotrich has been explicit that that is deliberately about making it impossible to establish the Palestinian state. That brings the total in the last three years alone to 69 new settlements in the west bank, several of which had previously been dismantled. These actions are provocative at best, and deeply disturbing for a peace process that will benefit so many people in both Israel and Palestine as a result. The Minister has said that the Government condemn the settlements, but we know from the history of the crisis that condemnation is not enough; we do need concrete action. What more can he tell us about his conversations with our allies in America, for example, who are also concerned about the settlements, and what action will he take to stop this deliberate attempt to stop the peace process?

• 18 Dec 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I join others in wishing you, Mr Speaker, and the staff of the House a happy Christmas, and also wish a happy fifth night of Hanukkah to all those who are celebrating. May I also thank the shadow Deputy Leader of the House for reminding me of my favourite version of that Dickens classic, “The Muppet Christmas Carol”? Qesser Zuhrah is currently undertaking a hunger strike. Understandably, her next of kin, who are my constituents, are very worried about her welfare and desperate for information about her current condition. As her MP, I have sought that information, because I believe that, whatever one may think of what someone who is incarcerated has done, welfare information is a reasonable thing for the next of kin to require. Will the Leader of the House give some advice and support on how we can improve the channels of communication with the Ministry of Justice in these circumstances, especially at this time of year and given some of the reporting of this issue, so that the next of kin can get accurate information? Will he also say whether we can have a debate on how we can support families in those situations?

• 18 Dec 2025 · Violence against Women and Girls Strategy · Hansard source

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  I thank all the Ministers for their collective hard work with the Safeguarding Minister. It has been worth the wait for this strategy. She will know that for too long it has been an occupational hazard for women in this country that they get hassled wherever they go and whatever they do. Will she therefore confirm that, as part of the strategy, the Protection from Sex-based Harassment in Public Act 2023 will come into force in April next year? That will mean that, for the first time ever, the law will recognise that misogyny causes crimes against women and girls, and the police and courts will be able to do something about it. The Minister will know that Citizens UK, the brilliant Sue Fish, Our Streets Now, the hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells (Mike Martin), and indeed the former Member for that constituency, Greg Clark, and I have been pushing for that for over a decade because we want to see women and girls as free to walk our streets as men and boys are. Will she tell us how we can now feed into the police guidance on the matter?

• 17 Dec 2025 · UK-EU Common Understanding Negotiations · Hansard source

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  I congratulate the Minister on doing what many of us have felt has been needed in the relationship between the European Union and the UK: what therapists call “active listening”. He is actually listening to our neighbours, finding out what they are interested in and where we can do a deal, and recognising that those in a relationship who keep making random demands—whether they are about a customs union, rejoining the EU or fish—fail to recognise the importance of communication to negotiation. I note that the original wreckers of this relationship have not turned up today to explain to Britain’s young people, who have borne the consequences of their bad behaviour, why they felt that it was necessary. The Minister will know that many more people in our constituencies are now looking at the work he is doing to repair the UK-EU relationship, and seeking some Christmas cheer. For all the businesses still facing piles of paperwork and mountains of red tape, can he play Santa a little bit more and tell us what 2026 might bring in resetting the relationship and getting Britain back on track with its neighbours?

• 16 Dec 2025 · Transgender People: Provision of Healthcare · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. I think I speak for everyone in this Chamber when I say that it is a privilege to be in the room with my hon. Friend the Member for North Warwickshire and Bedworth (Rachel Taylor), and to hear her passion for this subject and her honesty about the impact. Too often, that voice is missing in our politics. Wherever we stand, I think people can recognise that. I am so grateful for this debate, because in the time available to me, I want to highlight what we have been doing in Walthamstow on this issue. We were worried that we would never find allies for our work, and today is a reminder that we will, because the majority of people in this country understand a simple and decent point: trans people pay for the NHS too, and they should be entitled to services that suit their needs. The reality for that very vulnerable and small group within our society is that they are not getting the services they need. This is not just about gender-affirming healthcare; it is about healthcare across the piece. That is the challenge that we have been dealing with in Walthamstow. I pay tribute to the members of my local trans community who have had the bravery to come forward and speak about their experiences. I will not name them because, sadly, we live in a world where people would demonise them simply for speaking up about the fact that, because they cannot access their local GP—particularly in shared care agreements, which many others have mentioned—they cannot access healthcare at all, even for other conditions. They might also have physical disabilities or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, but they struggle to access services accordingly. No one can think that it is acceptable for a patient group in the NHS to be systematically excluded. I pay tribute to the North East London integrated care board, which has risen to the challenge and recognised the problem, and is now looking at how to resolve it. I think we all recognise that shared care agreements are complicated, but the reality is that not every shared care agreement is refused. Not every person in my constituency with a referral from an NHS provider, let alone a private one, gets a doctor who says, “We do not cover that agreement”. Some in our local trans community are self-prescribing hormones and not getting the blood tests and monitoring that they need, and they face a delay in getting support. I want to put on the record that there have also been some very positive responses from my local GPs, but it is patchy. In the time available to me, I make one simple plea to the Minister. It is great that we have the David Levy review, but I ask for the Minister’s help and support for my local clinicians. They are cutting through the heat in this debate and asking a simple question: how can we serve this local community better? How can we make services work better for them? I will stand up for the right of every single one of my constituents to get decent healthcare, but I ask the Minister to work with us to get it right on the ground.

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

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  The Secretary of State is rightly proud of the work that has been done to vaccinate people, and he will be acutely aware that we are heading into the super-spreader festive season. There are parents across the country who want to protect their own parents by getting their children vaccinated, but right now there is a gap in the system: 16 and 17-year-olds are not covered. Even if people try to pay for a vaccine at a wholly private provider, they cannot get a vaccine for that cohort, and NHS pharmacists are turning away parents who want to pay for a vaccine. Can I press the Secretary of State to correct that gap, so that families who want to protect their loved ones can do so and 16 and 17-year-olds do not give their grandparents the worst Christmas present ever?

• 15 Dec 2025 · Violence against Women and Girls Strategy · Hansard source

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  I do not think that anyone in the Chamber can doubt the Minister’s passion and commitment on this topic, and she will recognise the shared sense of urgency across the House. We know that one in six teenage girls experience domestic abuse in a relationship, which means that an equivalent number of our teenage boys are perpetrators. I welcome the discussion about how we can help young men to make healthy choices, and I appreciate that the Minister will be saying more in the statement on Thursday. My colleagues and I all agree that we would love to be here, but we recognise that this discussion will continue. Can the Minister give us a bit more detail about how we can help both young men and young women not to feel judged, but to feel supported and helped to be healthy and to be respectful? That is how we can move forward together.

• 8 Dec 2025 · Child Poverty Strategy · Hansard source

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  I recognise that we should not take any lessons from Opposition Members, because they do not seem to understand that lots of families in work are affected by the two-child cap. Their priorities seem to need a rethink, because they are arguing against lifting the two-child cap before subsidising private school fees. They will go to the wall for some kids to play the Eton wall game, but not for all children to be able to eat. I welcome the Secretary of State’s plans for a review of early years funding. Right now, we know that 20% of those taking up the 30 hours of free childcare are on the lowest incomes. The role of the DWP is critical, because 1 million women in this country are out of work owing to their caring commitments. I would love for the DWP to be in Sure Start centres working with mums, so that they know about tax-free funded childcare and the changes to universal credit. Will she meet me and others who are concerned about this, to discuss bringing those systems together, so that those 1 million women are not forgotten but supported under this Government?

• 2 Dec 2025 · Angiolini Inquiry · Hansard source

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  I think all our hearts will have been broken by the words of Sarah Everard’s family. The honest truth is that what this report covers did not happen in a vacuum. This weekend women in Walthamstow will hold a vigil to reclaim Hollow Ponds, which is a lovely open space, but there have been repeated concerns about sexual harassment and offences there. I cannot tell the Minister whether those concerns are merited, because my local police, Waltham Forest police, have refused a freedom of information request about the number of crime reports or offences at the site, just as they refused an FOI to explain why they were using community protection notices to deal with violence against women offences. I mention FOIs because the police refused to respond to me, as the local MP, and to local women about how they are dealing with violence on our streets and concerns about street safety, which Lady Angiolini includes in her report. There is a problem with the Metropolitan police. We have known that for many years, and many reports show that. That is why for many years, many of us have campaigned to make misogyny part of our hate crime rubric, because we have seen the difference it has made to how other police forces approach these issues. The Minister will be aware that it is now nearly three years since this House passed the Protection from Sex-based Harassment in Public Act 2023 to bring those measures into power and finally hold organisations like Waltham Forest police to account for their disrespect for the safety of women in my community. Can the Minister give my residents some assurance that misogyny will be implemented as a hate crime and that we will see the cultural change that will tackle the fundamentals she is talking about?

• 2 Dec 2025 · Criminal Court Reform · Hansard source

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  Any of us who has supported a constituent in a rape trial will take no lectures from the Conservatives about how they managed our courts. There is clearly a challenge here. The worry for many of us is whether the Justice Secretary’s prescription is the solution; as he points out, juries are involved in less than 3% of all criminal cases. It is difficult to see how this measure, with all the challenges it may bring for justice and fairness, particularly for some of our minority communities, will address the backlog. Lord Leveson himself pointed out that increasing sitting days would not be a solution unless we had the barristers and solicitors. Can the Secretary of State give a guarantee that there will be funding for the legal aid required to ensure that every defendant has decent representation?

• 1 Dec 2025 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

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  The shadow Secretary of State wants to talk about fairness. One of the practical consequences of retaining the two-child cap was that in order to be exempted from it, 3,000 women had to declare to a Department for Work and Pensions official that they had been raped. [ Interruption. ] An Opposition Member is saying “wind up”. Will the shadow Secretary of State clarify why she thinks that measure would be fair?

• 1 Dec 2025 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is making an incredibly powerful point about going further on our relationship with Europe. Does he recognise that the OBR says that Brexit, as negotiated by the previous Government, is one of the “structural challenges” facing our manufacturing industry, so perhaps again being part of the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean convention, for example, would be one way to help businesses with all the extra paperwork created by the rules of origin changes?

• 25 Nov 2025 · G20 and Ukraine · Hansard source

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  I think we all understand that this is a breaking situation. In such an uncertain world, we know that allyship is integral to our security. The post-war generation created the NHS and NATO because they understood the power of collective solidarity. I am pleased to hear the Prime Minister talk about the importance of the Security Action for Europe negotiations, because our work with Europe is not about replacing our relationships with NATO but about strengthening them. Did he raise the SAFE negotiations with the President of the European Commission? This situation reminds us that we must get the European defence industry into a shape in which it can address the threats that we face from Russia. The UK must be part of those conversations.

• 25 Nov 2025 · COP30 · Hansard source

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  I was not at COP, unlike some of my colleagues, but I am so glad that others were there and saw, in particular, the enduring leadership of the Secretary of State on this issue. I am glad that my right hon. Friend is not listening to the hon. Member for Christchurch (Sir Christopher Chope), who said that we should be adapting to reality, because it is the poorest people in our societies, both at home and abroad, who often pay the ultimate price for our failure to tackle the climate crisis. It is also one of the biggest drags on growth. It is because of the powerful leadership that the Secretary of State has shown at COP this weekend that I have to press him. He will know of the concerns many of us have that decisions at home around issues such as Jackdaw and Rosebank could undermine that leadership. Those developments could lead to nearly 300 million tonnes of carbon emissions and fatally attack our ability to stick to the 1.5°C increase in temperature. It would also not help the cost of living crisis. I know that there is a process ahead. Can he assure us that he will rethink the developments and that our global leadership as well as our local cost of living will be foremost in his mind when he makes a decision on Rosebank and Jackdaw?

• 20 Nov 2025 · Migration: Settlement Pathway · Hansard source

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  I agree with the Home Secretary that our immigration system needs reform and that people are concerned about it. I think we should also be very clear in this House that we recognise the benefits of immigration to our country—the talents, the jobs and the entrepreneurship it brings—and that nobody would ever argue that we will bring this country together by tearing families apart. On that basis, it is very welcome to hear the Home Secretary commit to a five-year pathway for partners of British citizens. Many of my constituents have been deeply concerned about that, because they would never wish the state to tell them whom they could fall in love with. However, given that some of those people are on different visas here, can she clarify how the five-year term will be calculated, so that we do not inadvertently end up penalising people who fall in love with somebody who came here on a worker visa, but has been here for five years? Love is love, and let us make sure that in this country we welcome it.

• 20 Nov 2025 · International Men’s Day · Hansard source

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  It is a privilege to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Loughborough (Dr Sandher) and to be in the Chamber with my hon. Friend the Member for Cannock Chase (Josh Newbury), who made a truly extraordinary speech. I want to reassure you, Madam Deputy Speaker, that I will not be making a dad joke, not least because my father—a brilliant man—inspired in me the love of a deeply filthy joke. I suspect that such jokes are probably not parliamentary language, especially the one about the Bishop of Birmingham, so you will be relieved to hear that I am not going to tell it. I am also proud to be speaking in this debate, and that it is taking place in this Chamber. In previous International Men’s Day debates that I have participated in, we have been relegated to Westminster Hall, so I am proud that we are here today. There are people who want to suggest that campaigners like myself, who have worked on women’s rights, do not care about men—that we do not know about men and do not understand them. I did actually put “Tell me facts about men” into ChatGPT. It told me that men have less sense than women—what it meant was less sensitive tastebuds and smell receptors. It also told me that men’s beards can house more bacteria than dog fur, although different types of bacteria; that most men own three pairs of shoes; and—my favourite one—that men are more likely than women to have an extra nipple. I am not sure that looking to the internet to tell us about each other is the way forward, but from talking to men and boys in my constituency and across the country—and with pride in my colleagues in this place—I do know the challenges that we face in raising a generation of men and boys who can be happy and content with themselves. That is why I very much welcome the new men’s health strategy being introduced by the Health Secretary. This is not about trading off between the sexes. There is not a battle of the sexes; there is a bafflement about how we can help each other, because we are being pitted against each other in the very environment described by my hon. Friend the Member for Loughborough. I take great hope that the evidence shows us that young men in this country are rejecting Andrew Tate, but they are crying out for something else—for alternatives. Samaritans tells us that 70% of men would live differently if they were free from social judgment, and I know many women for whom that would strike a chord. That is the challenge we are facing. We are putting the men and the boys in our lives under a huge amount of pressure. Nearly 40% of men say that contributing less than their partner makes them less of a man, and more than three in four Britons say that a man who stays home to look after his children is less of a man. Yet men are so unhappy; that tells us that we can and should do things in this place to change that dynamic. Men are not a homogenous lump. Women used to get mad about being treated in that way. We have a multitude of problems and challenges, and so do men. We see the rates of suicide, but we also see the variation. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Wokingham (Clive Jones) for highlighting the difference for black men when it comes to prostate cancer, and the importance of developing a strategy that does not just see men with prostate cancer, but sees those challenges. I also look at the experience of disabled men in our society, who often find that they are being denied their own sense of identity in services. In the time left to me, I want to add my voice to those calling for us to support men to be able to build positive relationships with their children from the get-go. Frankly, we missed the boat with the Employment Rights Bill and, as a result, we have reinforced the gender stereotype that it is ladies who do babies and men who need to go out to work. We must not make that same mistake again. I pay tribute to the work of Elliott Rae, Joeli Brearley, Pregnant Then Screwed and all the campaigners now making that case. Frankly, we have got the evidence that doing at least what the Women and Equalities Committee said to do—pay at 90% for six weeks of paternity leave—would be a step forward, both for our young boys and men to have each other at that critical point in life from the get-go, and for them to be there with the women who love them. I think of the latest young man in my life—Marlowe Jay, born last week, who is just starting his fight in life—and of his parents. I want better for him, like I want for every child in my constituency.

• 18 Nov 2025 · Gaza and Sudan · Hansard source

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  I thank the Foreign Secretary for her strong and principled leadership about conflict resolution. Can she update us on the international stabilisation force? She will be aware of the heavy rains and flooding in Gaza. She is absolutely right about the importance of getting food in, but there are reports that the Israelis are blocking mobile homes and tents. Could she say more about what we are doing when they say that a dry night is a luxury? On the investigation of war crimes, clearly the future of Gaza will also be about a truth and reconciliation process. Will the ISF play any role in that?

• 17 Nov 2025 · Asylum Policy · Hansard source

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  The Home Secretary is arguing that what will heal this divided nation is to get somebody who we have agreed is a refugee, with a well-founded fear of persecution, to feel a permanent sense of limbo because they will never be able to plan for the long term for them or their family, because their status will always be uncertain because they could still face deportation. Her consultation document, which I have read, talks about using enforced return for families. Last year alone, 10,000 children, many of whom are with their families, were granted refugee status in this country. I know she plans to consult, but given that this involves children, can she be clear with us about whether she intends to incarcerate children with their families as part of enforced return, or to separate children from their mums and dads as part of this policy? How will we continue to uphold the UN convention on the rights of the child in terms of education?

• 13 Nov 2025 · Police Reform · Hansard source

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  I welcome the work that the Minister is doing on reforming how the police can engage with our local communities, because all of us want to see a closer relationship in that regard. May I press her on what lessons she is learning for my part of the world? In London, the challenge is at a borough-wide level. My own borough commander now requires me to submit freedom of information requests to find out about policing in my local community, and will only meet me twice a year. Panels of people are selected to meet the police, and often their presentations are death by PowerPoint to my local community. The Minister makes a very powerful case about police reform. What lessons can we learn from this process—not just in restructuring to work with mayors, but to work at a very localised level so that we can restore people’s confidence in policing?

• 11 Nov 2025 · BBC Leadership · Hansard source

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  I think we can all hear the Secretary of State’s frustration that we are in this position. She is absolutely right that there must be a period of introspection at the BBC about how this has come to pass, because it is true that trust in our national institutions is declining. However, I must take issue with her comment that the BBC is a national institution that belongs to us all. My constituents—and, I wager, those of Members across this House—are deeply concerned by the political attacks on the BBC, whether from home or abroad, and want to see it protected, because they think they own it. The honest truth, however, is that at the moment they do not own it. In the past, my right hon. Friend has been interested in these ideas; with the charter renewal coming up, might she meet a group of us to look at how ideas such as mutualisation and allowing the public to be part of running the organisation might be the future in giving back trust and confidence in the BBC and genuinely protecting it from political institutions?