Stella Creasy MP: speeches

Speeches

• 2 Sept 2026 · Representation of the People Bill · Hansard source

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  I start by paying tribute to the new Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green (Florence Eshalomi), for all the work she did on the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee on these issues. I know that she will do a brilliant job in this role. I also pay tribute to everyone who has played a part in this Bill to date, because for all our ambitions for the things we would like to change in the world, if the process by which we make those changes is not fair and free, we will not be able to achieve anything. We all know and understand that. Like everybody else, I recognise that new clause 31 is out of scope. I would gently suggest to the shadow Minister that there are many versions of proportional representation and electoral reform—those of us who have nerded out over this for years know that. We would welcome her having that conversation, which might be more illuminating than whether she is concerned about Zach Goldmsith’s leaflets. I add my support to the amendments tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Poplar and Limehouse (Apsana Begum) on domestic abuse and those supported by many of my colleagues from east London—maybe that says something about politics in our part of town—about abuse of candidates. I know well what my hon. Friend the Member for Bethnal Green and Stepney (Rushanara Ali) has been through, and it is a testament to her character that she is here fighting for change. I also support the amendments tabled by my right hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North (Liam Byrne) on crypto donations. I do not really understand the technology, but I know that he does, and I understand and share his fear accordingly. We come here today to debate this Bill because we all know that trust is a bygone issue in our politics. It takes something for us in this House to be lectured by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, but we are being lectured on this. It is like turkeys being told that Christmas is a good idea. IPSA has pointed out to us that only 28% of the public think that MPs care about their local community at all—so two thirds of our constituents think that we are here out of our own self-interest—and only 4% think that we are doing anything good for the country. The difficult question that we all have to take on the chin is: in whose interest do the public think we are acting? From today, if we do not take a stand with this Bill to tackle the ways that money has infiltrated our politics, the risk is that they will think we are acting in the interests of our own back pockets. We have heard a lot of quotes today, so let me bring in William Blake, who said: “Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but foresight is better”. We have all seen it. We know that money is coming in. We know that this is something different, and we know enough to know that it is a problem.

• 13 Jul 2026 · Immigration and Asylum Bill · Hansard source

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  To have concerns about this Bill does not mean that we defend the status quo. It does not mean that we want the boats to continue, or that we do not want to see Shabir Ahmed deported, or that we do not recognise that claims are down, channel crossings are down, the number waiting for decisions is coming down and things are moving in the right direction. It means making the very simple case that the Bill could take us backwards, and could end up being more expensive for the taxpayer. I do not stand here raising concerns about this legislation because of my concerns about the approach to the ECHR and my belief in the importance of defending it as a fundamental part of our liberty, or because I am proud to live in a community that welcomes refugees and proud to have spent this morning talking to a refugee businessman. If we are going to tell stories about refugees, let us tell the whole story about the contribution that they make to our country. I stand here as someone speaking up for the taxpayer’s interest. As my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Tony Vaughan) has just pointed out, the truth is that much of the backlog is a result of poor-quality decision making. That is where cost is mounting up for the British taxpayer. The idea that there are no lessons to be learned about how we can save money, when in two thirds of cases the appeals are accepted or the decisions are withdrawn by the Home Office, does not bear scrutiny. Frankly, it would be decent if the Home Office turned up at those first-tier tribunals in the first place, and it would probably improve decision making as well, because we know that that has been a problem. Our failure to go after the Eurodac data means that it is harder for us to deal with asylum claims between the UK and Europe. That is why Brexit has caused problems. Fundamentally, spending money on getting it right the first time would be the best way to give people confidence in our asylum system. Bringing in a new system that will add further complexity is only likely to add cost. We are creating a refugee system that will see us spending money on repeatedly asking people whether they are still victims of torture and whether there is still civil war in their country—testing and retesting these people for no apparent gain other than proving that we have a broken system. The Bill introduces a Diet Coke version of refugee status, the core protection visa, which will require refugees to be retested every two and a half years, potentially for 20 years. Think of the cost! The Refugee Council has estimated it to be about £1 billion. Then there are all the people that we are forgetting in this process. We have already talked about the madness of introducing a £10,000 debt for people on low incomes so that they are never able to sort themselves out properly in the UK if we do give them status. In the final seconds remaining to me, I want to refer to the overseas domestic workers in this country who are being exploited. The right hon. Member for Staffordshire Moorlands (Dame Karen Bradley) spoke powerfully about the importance of not seeing everyone who comes here as a criminal, but recognising criminal behaviour. There are things that we could do so much better, which would save the British taxpayer money and restore confidence in the system, but I am sad to say that I do not think the Bill will take us in that direction.

• 13 Jul 2026 · State of Climate and Nature · Hansard source

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  Yesterday, fire spread rapidly along the railway line in Walthamstow, with dry vegetation from the heatwave acting as kindling. Hundreds of residents had to be evacuated as an emergency and several lost their homes, which burned down. I pay tribute to the St Mary’s Welcome Centre, the Waltham Forest Islamic Association, the fire brigade, the police and the council staff who joined hundreds of residents in helping those affected by setting up emergency centres with food, water, fans and phone chargers, all at short notice. The honest truth is that this is not the first time Walthamstow has risen to the challenge to support our community when such a crisis has happened. What is the Minister doing to build climate resilience into local government planning? I fear that, whether from flooding or heatwaves, my community will face more of these incidents in future without that.