Steve Race MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 4 Sept 2025 · Early Education and Childcare · Hansard source

  More

  In just one year, up to 2,970 more children will receive free school meals in Exeter. We have received capital investment for Newtown and St Gabriel’s primary schools. Three primary schools in my constituency—Whipton Barton junior and infants and St Sidwell’s—are in the roll-out of breakfast clubs. This week, we have a new school-based nursery at Exwick Heights primary school. Can the Minister set out how that all helps us to achieve our aim to reduce child poverty in Exeter and across the country?

• 22 Jul 2025 · Humanitarian Situation in Sudan · Hansard source

  More

  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Huq. I, too, thank my hon. Friend the Member for Huddersfield (Harpreet Uppal) for securing time for this debate, and for her continued commitment to raising the humanitarian situation in Sudan through debates, questions in the House and briefing meetings for Members such as me and others in the room with people from the Sudanese diaspora community and those who have experienced at first hand the tragedy that is unfolding in Sudan. As we have heard, with the conflict in Sudan now entering its third year, the country is facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises on record. The impact is wide-reaching. It includes mass displacement, shocking attacks on healthcare facilities and aid workers, a raging cholera outbreak and mass atrocities against civilians, including sexual violence and widespread gender-based violence. However, as co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on nutrition for development, I will concentrate my remarks on the unprecedented severity of levels of food insecurity and malnutrition in Sudan. At the start of this month, together with the Minister for international development from the other place and the hon. Member for Esher and Walton (Monica Harding), I opened a photographic exhibition in Parliament on why nutrition is foundational to development aims in the UK. One of the images on display, taken by Peter Caton for Action Against Hunger, was of Nyibol; 27-years-old, six months pregnant and with a young daughter, she is one of up to 12 million people in Sudan forced from their homes. Nyibol was forced from her livelihood as a peanut farmer, and had to endure an exhausting journey over four long days in search of safety because her village was attacked and her house burnt down. She was fortunate to be reunited with her husband and eldest daughter after being separated while running for survival, and to receive malnutrition screening on arrival at the border checkpoint, but many are not. This mass displacement, together with ongoing conflict, high food prices, a collapsing economy, disruption to supply chains, challenges in agricultural production, the breakdown of essential services, and severely limited access to healthcare, nutrition and humanitarian services is fuelling Sudan’s continuing slide into famine. The most recent integrated food security phase classification report for Sudan, published in December, found widespread starvation and a significant surge in acute malnutrition, with half the population facing high levels of acute food insecurity. That includes more than 8 million people in the emergency phase, and at least 638,000 people in the catastrophe phase. The IPC’s latest alert, published 10 days ago, confirms that the situation will deteriorate over the coming months. Despite the fairly favourable harvest season in parts of Sudan, major production gaps and supply barriers persist, exacerbating food insecurity. Constrained access to treatment services, worsening road access, and the increased threat of floods as the country enters its rainy season, raises serious concerns, especially for children, during the July to September lean season between harvests, which we are now entering. Levels of malnutrition are such that people are increasingly succumbing to treatable illnesses that would not normally be a threat to life, such as diarrhoea. This is a particular concern with cholera, which is already present and likely to spread in the rainy season. We all know the importance of good nutrition to development. Without access to nutrition, the potential of each person, community, and country is held back. Entire economies are undermined, and poverty and suffering persist.

• 22 Jul 2025 · Humanitarian Situation in Sudan · Hansard source

  More

  I completely agree, and of course Chad is home to many of the displaced Sudanese too. Poverty and suffering persist and provide fertile recruiting grounds for extremism. It is encouraging to see the UK continue to take a leadership role as the penholder on Sudan at the UN Security Council, and through convening the London Sudan conference, committing £120 million of UK aid to support over 650,000 people in Sudan this year. However, with ongoing famine in Zamzam, in camps in El Fasher, and in the western Nuba mountains, which the Famine Review Committee warns is extremely likely to spread to additional areas, can the Minister update us on additional UK efforts to ensure the sustained delivery of food, nutrition, water, and health assistance to prevent further loss of life—particularly nutrition-specific interventions including ready-to-use therapeutic food? Recovery rates of children with severe acute malnutrition who receive a full course of RUTF are over 90%. Can the Minister also update us on progress towards ensuring unhindered access for humanitarian and commercial actors across borders and conflict lines, including through the Adre border crossing and El-Obeid corridors, and to communities under siege in El Fasher and surrounding areas? Those access routes need to be expanded and stabilised now before the height of the rainy season. Finally, how are we ensuring that lifesaving aid, including RUTF to treat severe acute malnutrition, will reach those children who desperately need it, and that aid workers are protected?

• 21 Jul 2025 · Further Education Estate · Hansard source

  More

  12. What steps she is taking to improve the quality of the further education estate.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Further Education Estate · Hansard source

  More

  I know that the Minister will agree with me that in Exeter we have two of the country’s most outstanding FE institutions. Exeter college is rated outstanding by Ofsted and as “strong” in its approach to meeting the skills needs of our area—the first time a college has achieved both. Exeter maths school is also rated outstanding and gives students from across the south-west the opportunity to specialise in maths, physics and computing. But as my hon. Friend the Member for Derby North (Catherine Atkinson) said, that success comes with its own challenges. Both are bursting at the seams and need capital investment to allow them to expand and continue their exceptional work. Does the Minister agree that Exeter college could also be an exceptional candidate to become a construction technical excellence college for the south-west, and will he meet me to discuss the ways in which we can support those changes?

• 9 Jul 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

  More

  Q4. From homelessness to child poverty, so many of the challenges I see people facing in Exeter can be traced back to early years, so I welcome the Government rebuilding on the legacy of Sure Start, which was so cruelly dismantled by the Conservative party. Will the Prime Minister set out what difference that will make to family services in Exeter?

• 8 Jul 2025 · Road and Rail Projects · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the Secretary of State for the statement, and I welcome the long-overdue and funded commitment to the new Cullompton train station, which will benefit Exeter. I commend the activists across the area for their successful campaign, and I also welcome the work done by the hon. Member for Taunton and Wellington (Gideon Amos). Does the Secretary of State agree with me that continuing to invest in public transport infrastructure and accessibility at stations such as Exeter St Thomas will help cities such as Exeter to grow their economies sustainably, delivering jobs and better living standards for everyone in those cities?

• 3 Jul 2025 · Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [ Lords ] (Sixth sitting) · Hansard source

  More

  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dame Siobhain, especially as this is my first time speaking in a Bill Committee. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear!”] Thank you so much, everyone. Few issues are more important to people than bus services generally and the accessibility of bus services and buses, which is at the core of clauses 30 and 31. Indeed, few topics come up more often when I talk to residents on the doorstep. It is often residents with the most highest needs who rely on the bus network; that includes our neighbours who are blind, who are partially sighted or who have other sight issues. Ensuring that our buses are accessible and safe for everyone is incredibly important. I welcome those in the Public Gallery who are here to listen to the debate. I thank them for raising important issues of accessibility, especially as they relate to so-called floating bus stops. As safe cycling infrastructure is rolled out to encourage more people out of cars and on to bikes and scooters for valid environmental, health and fitness reasons, in some places we are essentially fitting a third transport network into the existing two: cycle infrastructure is being added to motor vehicle and pedestrian infrastructure. That is challenging to get right and is relatively new, so it is right that the Government are looking at how it is designed so that it works for everyone. Some people like floating bus stops; some people hate them. Some floating bus stops work well, while others are poorly designed. Some simply do not work for anyone—not pedestrians, not bus users and not cyclists. As a cyclist myself, I am acutely aware of that. We have a new floating bus stop on Rifford Road in Exeter. Although some residents in the local area have praised the design, others have raised concerns about it to me. I am pleased that the Government have listened carefully to the discussion about floating bus stops, generally and in the other place, and have heard people’s very real concerns. In accepting Lord Blunkett’s amendment on the matter, the Government committed to issuing guidance on the design of floating bus stops within three months of Royal Assent. I welcome that and hope that interested groups will be able to feed into the process. There is a particular issue with the design of one type of floating bus stop, such that passengers alight or disembark from the bus directly on to the cycle track. I welcome the fact that the Government have committed to a pause on that specific type of infrastructure, which applies to any in England that are currently in the design phase. I also welcome the fact that the Government are taking cyclists’ behaviour seriously. Although the vast majority of cyclists obey the rules and are respectful of others, the proposed new penalties and offences for dangerous cycling in the Crime and Policing Bill will ensure that a signal is sent to all cyclists about safe cycling behaviour. I believe that that will ensure that the tiny minority of cyclists who recklessly disregard others will face the full force of the law. Overall, I believe that the clauses that we are considering are a welcome compromise. I hope that they will lead to more work to ensure that cyclists and pedestrians, including people who are blind or visually impaired, can avoid designed-in conflict. I do not believe that this issue is fundamentally insoluble. We must be able to find a way to deliver protected cycle lanes where necessary for people, including children, to cycle safely, while also allowing people to embark on and alight from buses very safely and securely.

• 5 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  Next week, we have the second day of debate on Report for the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which is important to many of my Exeter constituents. Does the Leader of the House agree with me and with Ruth Fox of the Hansard Society that consideration of the Bill should continue to be thorough and with significant time allocated to the process?

• 22 May 2025 · Same-sex couples: Church Blessing Services · Hansard source

  More

  1. What steps the Church is taking to roll out stand-alone services to bless same-sex couples.

• 22 May 2025 · Same-sex couples: Church Blessing Services · Hansard source

  More

  Does my hon. Friend agree that the next Archbishop of Canterbury should be someone who can show leadership on this issue, both for congregants and clergy who would want to participate in such a service, and ensure that the Church of England finally treats LGBT Anglicans in Exeter and beyond equally within the church?

• 15 May 2025 · Gavi and the Global Fund · Hansard source

  More

  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes Central (Emily Darlington) on securing this debate. I refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I am proud to co-chair the all-party parliamentary group on nutrition for development, alongside the right hon. Member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (David Mundell). Nutrition and immunisation are closely linked. Children with poor nutrition are often those who are most vulnerable to infectious diseases and need protection from vaccines, yet vaccines are less effective in malnourished children and often do not trigger strong immunity. The children whom specialised immunisation programmes are trying to reach are also the least likely to have access to food and nutrition services. Immunisation has the most impact when it is delivered alongside other interventions and integrated into primary health systems. By addressing under-nutrition and under-immunisation simultaneously, we can significantly improve health outcomes and vaccine efficacy, as well as provide interventions in the most cost-effective way. I saw this for myself on a recent visit to Isiolo in Kenya, hosted by UNICEF and organised by United Against Malnutrition and Hunger. We saw how in rural areas, nutrition interventions are delivered alongside vaccinations, healthcare education and maternal healthcare, to ensure that people have wraparound healthcare interventions that save lives. That was funded by UK development assistance and delivered by partners including Action Against Hunger. If a woman walks for 20 km or more with her children once a week for nutrition, they are less likely to walk the same distance, at a different time, to a different place, for vaccines. Integrating the services is paramount to good healthcare. This February, ahead of the Nutrition for Growth summit, I met the chief executive officer of Gavi, Dr Sania Nishtar, to discuss the important role that Gavi is playing in delivering these integrated services. Dr Nishtar spoke about the new $30 million programme to integrate nutrition and immunisation interventions in Ethiopia through the UK-founded Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, as well as UNICEF Ethiopia and Gavi, with support from the UK through Gavi’s matching fund mechanism. Ethiopia has one of the highest numbers—a staggering 1.1 million—of zero-dose children, who have not received a single dose of routine vaccines. That statistic is exacerbated by the covid-19 pandemic, conflict and displacement. The pilot programme aims to reach around 140,000 of those zero-dose children in areas with the highest dual burden of malnutrition and infectious disease, providing cost-effective and efficient interventions to help children to survive and thrive.

• 15 May 2025 · Gavi and the Global Fund · Hansard source

  More

  I will let the Minister answer that question, but I hope there will be an impact assessment to properly map our interventions in future. Integration costs money and Gavi cannot do it without financial support. I hope that when the Minister is assessing our contribution to this year’s Gavi replenishment, he will look at including support for nutrition integration. What plans does his Department have to integrate nutrition and immunisations more widely? I want to touch on one issue briefly. The UK’s contribution to Gavi has not only helped to save lives but contributed to the UK’s health security by reducing the risk of global health emergencies and pandemics. It has brought money into the British economy through reputational research returns, and it showcases the UK’s leadership on the global stage. In my constituency, the Medical Research Council-funded Centre for Medical Mycology at the University of Exeter works closely with Gavi, carrying out world-leading research into deadly fungal diseases and developing vaccines for some of the most widespread causes of death and disablement in developing countries. Does the Minister agree that the UK’s continued participation in Gavi and the Global Fund not only is the right thing to do because it saves lives around the world, but is strategically sound, as it supports our growth strategy and is an important part of delivering both our industrial strategy goals and our national health goals?

• 28 Apr 2025 · Scientific and Regulatory Procedures: Use of Dogs · Hansard source

  More

  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Irene Campbell) for introducing this petition and the 478 Exeter residents who have signed it. I will speak in support of phasing out the use of dogs in medical research, because the scientific case for change is now overwhelming. Members may know that I have a private Member’s Bill—the Animals in Medical Research (Prohibition) Bill—on phasing out the use of animals in medical research, and I very much support the petition. My Bill is the first of its kind to be laid before Parliament, and I am proud to bring it to the House. I approach this topic from a position of scientific rigour. It is clear that the use of animals in medical research does not necessarily offer the best scientific basis for medicines testing. According to Animal Free Research UK, more than 92% of drugs that pass animal tests, including tests on dogs, go on to fail in human trials. That is an extraordinary figure and means that, far from protecting human health, animal testing is giving us a false sense of security and can slow down medicines development. It is inefficient and it is generating bad science. Animal trials often fail to identify side effects in humans, for example. Although dogs are closer to humans than rodents are, they are still fundamentally different from us in key biological ways. Comprehensive analysis has found that dogs are highly inconsistent predictors of toxic responses in humans; it can be no better than tossing a coin. Crucially, there is no law saying we must use dogs. As has been said, the Department of Health and Social Care confirmed in 2023 that, while international guidelines suggest testing on two species, including dogs is not a legal requirement. We continue largely out of habit, not necessity; when I asked some of our larger pharma companies whether they have a strategy for reducing the use of animal testing and experimentation overall, some said that there is no strategy, but that they do have some principles. It is clear that the Government need to act in this space. We have better options. Cutting-edge methods such as organ-on-a-chip technology and 3D human tissue models, supplemented by the use of AI-enabled modelling, are far more accurate in predicting how drugs will behave in people. Investing in such technologies would make drug development faster, safer and ultimately far more effective. I have seen for myself how the techniques can be applied to science. In Exeter, we have an Animal Free Research UK centre of excellence at our research, innovation, learning and development centre, jointly operated by a hospital trust and the University of Exeter. Those researchers excel in using animal-free methods in scientific exploration—specifically on cell ageing, which has already generated several start-up companies out of that centre. That is cutting-edge science; this is exactly where we ought to be as a country. Investing in such areas of science, instead of relying on old methods involving millions of animals every year, will mean that the UK can lead the world in this area of scientific innovation. Indeed, the UK may already be falling behind internationally, which is a travesty for a nation of animal lovers. In April, as has been said, the US FDA announced it would move away from animal testing in the development of monoclonal antibody therapies and other drugs, which would be replaced “with more effective, human-relevant methods.” The FDA went on to state: “The new approach is designed to improve drug safety and accelerate the evaluation process, while reducing animal experimentation, lowering research and development (R&D) costs, and ultimately, drug prices.” One reason the FDA gives for that move is to provide global leadership in regulatory science, in which it “reaffirms its role as a global leader in modern regulatory science, setting new standards for the industry and encouraging the adoption of innovative, humane testing methods.” There we go: if the US can move in that direction, it is imperative that the UK does so too. Our life sciences sector simply should not be left behind in cutting-edge science. My private Member’s Bill is based on the campaign for Herbie’s law, which offers a clear, responsible plan to phase out the use of dogs and other animals over the next decade. It is a measured but vital step towards a future where science serves both human health and humane values. I commend the Science Minister, Lord Vallance, for meeting me and others to set out his work in this area, particularly the ongoing development of a strategy document that, I understand, is set to be published soon and will set out a road map for phasing out animal testing in medical research where possible. That strategy is long overdue and is evidence, I hope, that this Labour Government take this issue seriously. I encourage the Minister and the Government to choose progress. Let us choose science that actually works for patients, for innovation and for compassion.

• 28 Apr 2025 · Scientific and Regulatory Procedures: Use of Dogs · Hansard source

  More

  I failed to catch the Minister’s eye on her previous mention of the three Rs. Does she agree that the number of procedures using specially protected species—cats, dogs, horses and non-human primates—has actually increased over recent years, to about 17,000 from about 15,000 in 2022 and that that was driven by a 38.9% rise in procedures using horses? Does she also agree that our hon. Friend the Minister for Security confirmed that in the period from 1 January 2023 to 30 September 2024, no applications for a project licence under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 were refused? Does she see reductions in the number of animals being used in testing or are they actually increasing as part of the strategy?

• 24 Apr 2025 · EU Trading Relationship · Hansard source

  More

  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Jeremy. I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Andrew Lewin) for securing this debate. As Members have stated so eloquently, it is time for a pragmatic reset of our relationship with our nearest neighbours and oldest partners. This is not about reopening old wounds, but about fixing the harm done to our economy and our security by mistakes under the last Government and recognising that our future prosperity can be improved with better UK-EU relations. As Government Members referenced in our joint letter to the Secretary of State, we live in a period of increasing global instability. Certainties based on the post-world-war-two rules-based systems of trade are breaking down, and our stability, prosperity and security rely on having deep and resilient partnerships with like-minded nations. Therefore, we will be stronger when we work with, not against, our neighbours. That principle must guide our approach to Europe. We already see the benefits of co-operation in the emerging UK-European defence partnership: standing together with Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression, bolstering European security, and demonstrating that our shared values of democracy and the rule of law are more than just words. This is an area that must be deepened for the good of our joint defence and security. Trade, too, should be an urgent area for renewal. There are many areas of UK-EU trade that we should aim to ease, and they have been referenced throughout the debate. One area that should be looked at anew is the pan-Euro-Mediterranean convention. It is already used by many of our European neighbours, and it offers a model for streamlined trade across borders without being a member of an EU institution. It simplifies rules of origin, cuts red tape and helps goods move faster. The Government should be proactively exploring our alignment with this system. It will be good for many SMEs in Exeter.

• 24 Apr 2025 · EU Trading Relationship · Hansard source

  More

  I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. That would very much help the cultural institutions in my Exeter constituency, too, so I absolutely agree. Since the end of the transition period, UK exports to the EU have faced barriers that did not exist before, with small businesses disproportionately hit. According to the OBR, our overall trade intensity has fallen by 15% compared with where it should have been. This is not inevitable; it was a policy choice by the last Government, and this Government can and should choose differently. Closer economic ties mean growth. They mean investment in green energy, digital infrastructure and research, which are all sectors in which Exeter is already leading the way. They could now also mean opportunities for our next generation of young people to study, work and thrive across our shared continent. This is not about going back. It is about going forward clear-eyed, ambitious for our future and in partnership with those who share our values and interests. My residents in Exeter deserve that future, our country deserves that future, and I encourage the Government to be ambitious for that future at the next summit.

• 23 Apr 2025 · Intellectual Property: Artificial Intelligence · Hansard source

  More

  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms McVey, and I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Bury North (Mr Frith) on securing this debate, particularly as it is his birthday. The debate comes at an important time for the country as we grapple with the ways in which we can continue to nurture our fantastically successful creative and cultural sector, and supercharge our economy with the opportunities that AI offers. Across Devon, our creative industries contribute more than £250 million to the local economy every year, and support more than 11,000 jobs, with hubs in my city of Exeter, Plymouth, Totnes and our coastal towns, where there is a thriving festival scene. The sector is not only economically significant but deeply rooted in our communities. It is powered in our region by freelancers, microbusinesses and independent venues. It is also a driving force in regional regeneration and tourism. Exeter is a shining example of what creative investment can achieve. As a UNESCO city of literature, it stands among a global network of places that recognise the power of human words to connect, include and inspire. Exeter’s literary legacy stretches back over 1,000 years from the 10th century Exeter Book to the dynamic work of contemporary writers and festivals today. Our city holds institutions such as the Exeter Phoenix, the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter library and the Quay Words writing hub. They are not just cultural assets, they are civic anchors promoting literacy, community engagement and creative opportunity for all. We also have a thriving digital and gaming scene, a world-class climate science sector and a burgeoning life sciences economy. Creative tech includes an emerging immersive media, film and digital design sector across the city and the wider region. Although we have a creative economy that we want to grow, we also want to seize the opportunity of AI, which is able to change completely the way our economy works and will supercharge our science and creative tech sectors as well. The Government are already creating space for those opportunities with the AI opportunities action plan. I have written to the Department in support of the Exeter science park’s application to host a new AI growth zone. Building the UK’s sovereign compute capacity to enable UK-based AI models and cloud computing across the country, including in Exeter, will be vital to securing the investment, jobs and future tech creativity that will continue to shape our lives, and meet some of the great challenges of our times, including the very greatest—climate change. That must be built fairly, however, and not at the expense of human creators. I am a member of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, and we recently held a joint session with our Culture, Media and Sport Committee colleagues to delve further into these issues. I support our joint submission to the Minister on that basis. I want to ensure that the Government are working hard to find a balance between protecting the rights and nurturing the growth of our cultural and creative sector, while also grasping the opportunities of UK-based AI development. Will the Minister commit to working with stakeholders involved in the area, cultural and technological, to build a system—possibly a globally unique and groundbreaking system that will be embraced by others in the future—built on technological solutions, providing granular transparency, consent, fair remuneration, and respecting and building on our copyright laws while also enabling AI training models to be built and trained here?

• 22 Apr 2025 · “For Women Scotland” Supreme Court Ruling · Hansard source

  More

  Many of my trans, intersex and non-binary residents in Exeter and their relatives have been in touch with me to express their concern and fear after the decision last week. I know that my right hon. Friend mentioned this in her opening statement, but will she recommit to our ambitious agenda to advance the dignity and respect of trans people over the course of this Parliament?

• 31 Mar 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  T2. Residents of Exeter, particularly female residents, have raised with me their alarm at Tory-led Devon county council’s decision to dim or completely turn off 80% of Exeter’s street lights during the night, including on streets and paths to railway stations and bus stops. Many shift workers come home late at night or start early in the morning, and having well-lit routes offers them a sense of security. Does the Minister agree that Devon county council should think again, and should consult with resident groups and other groups on a way forward that puts the safety of residents at the centre of its decision making?

• 31 Mar 2025 · Defending Democracy Taskforce · Hansard source

  More

  People in Exeter want to be sure that the elections and referenda we hold are safe and secure from outside state actors who want to manipulate our politics for their own ends. We already know that Russian disinformation on social media in many African nations is already having a huge impact on their domestic politics. Can the Minister confirm that the taskforce will be taking into account our own Russia report and that this Government will do everything they can to defend our politics from the malign activities of external state actors?

• 31 Mar 2025 · Defending Democracy Taskforce · Hansard source

  More

  3. What recent progress the defending democracy taskforce has made.

• 25 Mar 2025 · Nutrition for Growth Summit · Hansard source

  More

  It is a privilege to serve under your chairship for the first time, Ms Jardine. I thank the right hon. Member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (David Mundell) for securing this important debate on the eve of the Nutrition for Growth summit in Paris. His long-standing commitment to improving the lives of the most disadvantaged in the world, particularly those experiencing malnutrition and hunger, is clear to see, both in this debate and through his work in the House. I am proud to work alongside him as his new co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on nutrition for development, and to attend the summit with him over the coming days. I will also take this opportunity to pay tribute to my predecessor as co-chair of the APPG, Lord Collins of Highbury, who continues to be a passionate champion for nutrition in Government as the Minister for Africa. As the right hon. Member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale ably set out, the summit comes at a critical time for global nutrition and its outcomes will have a lasting impact on the health, cognitive development and economic potential of millions of people. Across the world, 733 million people suffer from hunger and over 2.8 billion people are unable to afford a healthy diet. Malnutrition claims the lives of over 2 million children every year, with millions more left with permanent physical and cognitive impairment, and more than 1 billion adolescent girls and women worldwide suffer from undernutrition. It is therefore critical that the summit this week is a successful platform for global action. A few weeks ago, I visited Paris with the right hon. Member to meet the organisers of the summit, including special envoy and secretary-general of Nutrition for Growth, Brieuc Pont, and some of our counterparts in the French Parliament. They all emphasised the importance of the UK playing a leadership role at the summit and using our considerable convening strength to press for collective action on nutrition and to underscore its importance to global development and stability. I was again struck by the fact that addressing malnutrition must be a collective endeavour. It is not an issue that one country can solve by itself; we must all play our part. The UK has a proud history on malnutrition and hunger. The last Labour Government’s strategy, “The neglected crisis of undernutrition”, marked the start of a decade of UK leadership on global nutrition, and the UK initiated Nutrition for Growth, convening the first summit in London in 2013. The UK’s first investment at that summit reached over 50 million people with nutrition services between 2015 and 2020. I am pleased that the new Minister for International Development will attend the summit this week, and I hope that the UK, as the founder of Nutrition for Growth, can play a full role, including by making an ambitious financial pledge. The urgency could not be clearer: the growing crisis of global malnutrition is inflicting immense suffering on millions of people, undermining economic development and driving instability, with huge geopolitical implications. Just before I became a Member of Parliament, I travelled to Kenya with UNICEF, United Against Malnutrition and Hunger, and Action Against Hunger, along with the hon. Member for Esher and Walton (Monica Harding), to see the positive impact of interventions to help treat and prevent malnutrition for children and families in hard-to-reach communities hit by severe drought. Seeing how UK development assistance is delivered on the ground had a profound impact on me. In Isiolo county, we visited mobile outreach stations set up by local health workers to deliver emergency nutrition, vaccines and maternal health, as well as education about nutrition. The nurses there told us that since the clinic has been running in the county, they have seen malnutrition rates drop year on year. These interventions work. We know that access to good nutrition is the foundation on which sustainable development is built. Suffering from malnutrition at an early age will impact a child throughout their life; it will impact their education, economic and health outcomes. The children we met were getting what they needed not only to survive, but to thrive. That is why the all-party parliamentary group on nutrition for development would like to see the UK invest at least £500 million in nutrition-specific interventions by 2030. Those interventions, such as ready-to-use therapeutic food, known as RUTF, vitamin A supplements, support for breastfeeding and prenatal multiple micronutrient supplementation—MMS—are cost-effective, proven and powerful interventions that support women, who have the highest nutritional needs but often eat last and least, and enable them to give their children the best start in life. MMS, for example, is proven to support the health of both baby and mother and reduce the risk of birth complications. At £3 per pregnancy, it is a low-cost intervention with a high return on investment. The recovery rate of children with severe acute malnutrition who receive a full course of RUTF is over 90%. Given that women and girls are disproportionately affected by hunger and malnutrition, I wonder whether the Minister might commit to ensuring that at least 90% of nutrition spending is gender-sensitive. RUTF can also be locally produced and owned. In Nairobi, we visited a factory manufacturing RUTF that was part-funded by UK development assistance. The factory exports RUTF across east Africa, and is now trialling growing its own groundnuts—the primary ingredient of RUTF—in low-income communities in Kenya. That means that Kenya can produce its own nutrition products closer to people, supporting the local economy and creating jobs and livelihoods. These interventions work, provide value for money and build genuine partnerships with Governments. Will the Minister provide an update on the Government’s commitment to nutrition-specific interventions? One way that could be achieved is through the child nutrition fund, which was developed by UNICEF with support from the UK Government, the Gates Foundation and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation. The fund has huge potential to create genuine, equitable partnerships with low and middle-income countries. It can also leverage significant additional funding through match-funding initiatives by global philanthropies. That would give the Government the opportunity to maximise their investment with the potential, as the right hon. Member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale said, to transform a £50 million UK contribution into up to £500 million of impact, maximising our contribution and our impact at a time of fiscal constraint. Critically, the child nutrition fund also provides a means to unlock financial and political commitment from low and middle-income countries, creating a path to transition from dependency on global financing to domestic financing, and an exit strategy for global donors. Will the Minister provide an update on the Government’s commitment to the child nutrition fund? The Government have demonstrated positive action on global hunger and malnutrition in recent months. The UK was one of the founding members of the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, which was launched last November in Rio. The Government have also more than doubled their aid to Sudan and neighbouring countries, where malnutrition rates have soared due to the devastating conflicts and subsequent displacement. The FCDO has recently committed to integrating nutrition across all aspects of its work. These are really encouraging steps. I will make two final points. First, can the Minister tell us how quickly the Government aim to pivot the ODA budget back to its core purpose? The use of ODA to support the broken asylum application system in the UK clearly needs to end. The Government have committed to that by putting money back into the asylum application processing system and shortening the time that asylum seekers spend in hotels. However, that must be accelerated so that the 0.3% ODA budget is spent on ODA programmes, as expected. Secondly, will the Minister comment on the ways in which the UK can use its legislative clout to close tax evasion and other financial loopholes that deprive developing countries of tax income? The International Monetary Fund estimates that the tax gap is over $200 billion a year. As one of the global centres of finance, London is still awash with money effectively stolen from developing nations, and channelled and hidden through shell companies. That same status brings London the opportunity to further clamp down on that activity, and with significant ties to overseas dependencies that can facilitate the illicit transfer of cash, the UK Government can use their position to close the tax gap for good. I hope that we can take this momentum to the Nutrition for Growth summit this week and recommit UK leadership, political will and investment in nutrition. Our leadership will help ensure that vital clinics like the one I saw in Isiolo county are able to continue to deliver life-saving support to the most vulnerable communities, especially their young children and mothers.

• 13 Mar 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  Yesterday, I was proud to vote for the Employment Rights Bill, which—among other actions—will ban fire and rehire tactics. However, Tory-led Devon county council is currently threatening over 800 of its employees, including many of my constituents, with those exact tactics. Will the Leader of the House allocate time in this House to discuss that disgraceful decision?

• 13 Mar 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  T2. The south-west has a huge number of innovative start-up and scale-up businesses, but we attract only about 3% of private equity and venture capital funding per year. What is the Department doing to ensure that foreign direct investors are aware of, and have access to, the fantastic business infrastructure opportunities that we have in Exeter and across the south-west?