Susan Murray MP: speeches

Speeches

• 25 Jun 2025 · Access to Banking Hubs: Hertfordshire · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond. I thank the hon. Member for South West Hertfordshire (Mr Mohindra) for securing this important debate. I begin by acknowledging that my constituency does not fall within the boundaries of Hertfordshire; it is slightly further north. However, as we have heard, the issue of access to banking hubs is an important one across the UK. My constituents, like those of the other hon. Members here today, understand the difficulties brought about by banks closing. Older constituents who have no access to digital equipment or services are often the worst affected. For some, their family members step in to support them with things such as making NHS appointments, but for many, handing over control of their banking feels like a step too far and a loss of independence. Others have no family nearby to help. Being pushed to use complex online banking is not always appropriate for these customers. In addition, as we have heard, the ability to deposit cash is crucial for many local businesses, and with the closure of more and more post offices, it is a growing problem. Despite having many elderly residents, Bearsden in my constituency has lost all its bank branches and it appears that there is no access to an ATM. There are also no plans for a banking hub there. The Government have made assurances that by 2029 banks will have set up 350 banking hubs. The truth is that that is woefully inadequate and much too slow. The number of bank branches operating dropped from almost 15,000 in 1986 to just 5,745 by 2023.

• 22 May 2025 · Access to NHS Dentistry · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes (Melanie Onn) for bringing forward this important debate. In my constituency and across Scotland, families are desperately struggling to access NHS dental treatment. Public Health Scotland figures show that while 87% of children are registered with an NHS dentist, only about 66% have actually been seen by one in the past two years, and in our most deprived areas that drops to only one in two children. This is despite the SNP claiming that 95% of children are registered with an NHS dentist. When routine care disappears, the consequences are seen in hospitals. Before the pandemic, Scotland was admitting about 8,000 children a year for dental extractions under general anaesthetic, making it the single biggest cause of planned childhood admissions to hospitals. Despite the clear and dire consequences of failing to address dental health and health inequalities in general, the Governments in both Holyrood and Westminster appear to be looking the other way. A recent British Dental Association survey highlighted the financial strain faced by dentists, with 45% of practices saying that they were struggling to stay financially viable and over half saying that the recent Budget had accelerated their move into the private sector. With that in mind, we must ask why this Government chose to follow through on their national insurance rise for primary care providers such as dentists. It appears that while Labour’s manifesto said that they would support local health providers, the reality for those providing care is quite different. I therefore join my Liberal Democrat colleagues in calling on the Government to reconsider their stance on national insurance. Failing to return national insurance contributions to their former levels will inevitably result in fewer NHS dental appointments, fewer NHS dental providers, and more children on operating tables.

• 6 May 2025 · Poverty: Glasgow North East · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Butler. I thank the hon. Member for Glasgow North East (Maureen Burke) for securing this important debate and for her very moving speech. It is clear that she is committed to her constituents. We need to break the cycle of inequality. As we heard, on the streets of north-east Glasgow and in parts of my constituency of Mid Dunbartonshire—including Auchinairn, which neighbours Glasgow North East—too many young people begin life weighed down by poverty rather than uplifted by potential. Across Glasgow, 33% of children are growing up poor, but that figure rises to over 37% in the Glasgow East constituency, the highest rate in Scotland. Behind every percentage point are hundreds of pupils whose concentration is broken by hunger, and whose homework, if it is done at all, is done under blankets because the heating is off. New figures from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation reveal that 6 million people in the UK today are living in “very deep poverty”, and nearly half a million of them are in Scotland. Poverty on that scale is not just a social failure. It is an economic own goal and a drag on growth. The OECD has long shown that inequality depresses GDP by stunting skills and productivity. A cold, hungry child suffering from illness and missing school is unlikely to become the skilled, creative adult our economy needs. We need investment, not in handouts but in the human capital that will pay Scotland dividends for decades. Three interventions stand out. First, we must extend free school meals to every child in poverty throughout primary and secondary school. Scotland rightly offers universal provision in primary 1 to 5, yet pupils in primary 6 and 7 and early secondary school still fall through the net. Research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies finds that a reliable, nutritious lunch raises attainment by the equivalent of two months’ learning each year and boosts lifetime earnings. That is growth economics in a dinner hall: healthier children today, higher productivity tomorrow, and lower long-term welfare and NHS costs. Secondly, we must make every home in north-east Glasgow and beyond warm and efficient. The Warmer Homes Scotland programme helped over 7,000 households last year, cutting bills and carbon alike, and demand has soared as energy prices climb. Accelerating retrofits in social housing across the region would create skilled jobs and boost economic activity through local supply chains. For families, it means that money saved on energy bills can be spent on essentials such as food, school shoes or a local after-school club. Thirdly, we must ensure universal access to NHS dental care for all children. Despite school dentists, all too frequently families simply cannot get an NHS dentist. Routine care is being missed and tooth decay remains one of the leading causes of hospital admissions for children. That is not just a public health failure; it is a productivity issue. Dental pain keeps children off school, affects their speech and self-esteem and entrenches disadvantage. Good oral health must be seen as a core part of a child’s educational and developmental success.

• 27 Mar 2025 · Prevention of Drug Deaths · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. I am grateful for the opportunity to address the important issue that the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) has brought before us today. The UK’s outdated drug laws, intended to protect citizens, have deepened harm and opened the door to criminal gangs. That has led to a state in which in 2023 there were nearly 7,000 deaths from illegal drug use—a tragic failure to shield vulnerable people from the dangerous reach of the illegal market. The so-called war on drugs, championed by successive Governments, has not halted the supply of harmful substances. It has neither reduced addiction nor prevented disastrous impacts on families and communities. The emphasis on enforcement has allowed underground networks to thrive, and ultimately neglected the fundamental public health challenges at hand. We have clear evidence that we need to switch to a new approach, under which compassion and an understanding of addiction as a medical issue guide decision making. I have seen at first hand the impact that that switch can make, having recently visited the safe consumption facility in Scotland and two that are well established in Norway. That allowed me to see how such facilities not only save lives but help communities. They allow addicts to access services and get the care and support that they need. By offering a clean and monitored environment for those who are dependent on drugs, those centres have reduced open-air drug use in surrounding areas, helped more people to step on to the pathway to treatment and support, and saved the lives of users. So, it is with the lives of users and our communities in mind that I urge the Government to focus attention on three vital reforms. First, transfer the policy lead from the Home Office to the Department of Health and Social Care, ensuring that addiction is tackled as a health condition and not merely as a criminal matter. Secondly, invest in robust, evidence-based addiction services that make help readily available and eliminate waiting times. Thirdly, replace criminal penalties for simple possession with civil penalties where appropriate, empowering treatment options over punishment. By enacting these reforms at a national level we can send a clear message, putting people’s health first, saving lives and restoring dignity to families and communities that have borne the brunt of drug-related harms. Most important, we will begin to break the cycle of ineffective criminalisation, offering hope and a genuine path forward to those struggling with addiction.

• 5 Mar 2025 · Employer NICs: Businesses · Hansard source

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  A constituent has told me about one of their clients, which is a care home owner that is facing an increase in operating costs of £70,000 a year as a result of the national insurance contributions increase. Most of the business’s caring staff work part time, which suits their family circumstances. However, for each part-time member of staff, the business must pay an additional £615 a year as a result of the change to the national insurance contributions threshold in the Government’s October Budget. In Mid Dunbartonshire, and across the UK, there is growing demand for social care. What will the Government do to help businesses in the care sector that have been hit by these increased staffing costs at a time of significant rises?

• 30 Jan 2025 · Medicinal Cannabis · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms McVey. It is undeniable that the United Kingdom’s relationship with cannabis remains fundamentally flawed. For too long, our prohibitionist stance has shaped public perception, linking cannabis with criminality instead of recognising its significant therapeutic value. Sometimes those who do recognise its therapeutic value are pushed into criminality. In reality, for many people across the UK, access to cannabis-based medicines can represent the difference between enduring chronic pain or multiple fits and leading a fulfilling life. That discrepancy is central to this debate. Although, in principle, current regulations permit cannabis prescriptions for severe epilepsy, chemotherapy-induced nausea, muscle stiffness or spasms related to multiple sclerosis, genuine accessibility remains elusive. As the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) has already mentioned, between 2018 and 2022 fewer than five NHS prescriptions for unlicensed medical cannabis, with the resulting funding issues, were issued, while private providers supplied nearly 90,000. The stark contrast highlights the vast gulf between existing policy intentions and the lived experiences of patients seeking relief. Not only is this situation profoundly unjust for individuals who rely on cannabis to manage debilitating symptoms and have found no alternative, but it also entrenches an inherently two-tier healthcare system. Those with the financial means to travel for specialised appointments and cover private clinical expenses can access treatments that are virtually unobtainable for those who depend entirely on the NHS. While opinions on medical cannabis differ, I am sure we all agree that no one in Britain should be forced to pay exorbitant fees simply to secure a legally sanctioned and potentially life-changing medication. The situation is further compounded by the fact that our outdated perspective on cannabis continues to hold back domestic medical innovation and economic growth. At a time when the Government project a modern vision for the nation, Britain lags behind international counterparts who have embraced a more progressive approach to cannabis-based treatments. By clinging to outdated stigmas, we not only fail our patients but also forgo opportunities to develop a robust medical cannabis sector, stifling both financial potential and essential healthcare advantages. In the light of those realities, we must adopt a more compassionate and patient-centred strategy that does not penalise individuals for their economic circumstances. It is with this in mind that we must launch an investigation into the feasibility of GP prescribing of cannabis-based products, so that crucial treatments reach those who need them quickly. Such measures would reduce reliance on expensive private options, remove inequality and the push towards criminality, and alleviate unnecessary suffering of thousands of people nationwide. Given the clear shortcomings of the current system, my colleagues in the Liberal Democrats and I urge the Government to reform policy in practice around medicinal cannabis across the UK. By doing so, we can ensure that patients receive the care they deserve while fostering a modern healthcare environment that truly reflects Britain’s commitment to innovation, compassion and equity.

• 27 Jan 2025 · Creative Industries · Hansard source

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  It is a privilege to stand here to talk about our creative industries. At a time when Britain’s international influence has been waning, those industries remain a powerful testament to what we can achieve, shaping our global reputation for innovation and cultural strength. Beyond the enormous economic value of more than £100 billion contributed to our economy each year, our creative sector exerts a profound soft power that showcases British excellence, from Venice to Osaka and in every corner of the world. Much of the spending in this area is devolved, but the principle and opportunities extend UK wide. Indeed, the right hon. Member for Maldon (Sir John Whittingdale) mentioned David Tennant, who started out in Scotland. We are seeing the important role that the arts play in young people’s academic development in the move from a STEM approach, to one of science, technology, engineering and maths education also including the arts. Creative subjects foster development that enhances the learning of science and technology, producing innovation in industry as well as in the creative industries. The hon. Member for Hartlepool (Mr Brash) mentioned how the creative industries have a broader influence in our social care sector, and I want to highlight how creative industries at the grassroots benefit our communities and reduce costs to the NHS and social care. My constituency contains numerous examples, such as the Kirkintilloch Players, the Antonine theatre group, and Creative Spark Theatre Arts. They connect young people, developing their confidence, creativity and social skills, using the power of the arts. Programmes such as the East Dunbartonshire initiative for creative therapy—EDICT—demonstrate the social benefits of arts funding, providing services to help people manage mental health challenges, and supporting those on the autism spectrum. By offering a creative outlet and constructive ways to cope, those organisations reduce the strain on our already stretched NHS and transform the lives of those who need it. However clear the social and cultural benefits provided by our creative industries are, serious challenges persist. Since 2010, funding for local arts and culture has fallen by £2.3 billion in real terms. While the UK cut its arts and culture provision by around 6%, other OECD countries such as Germany, France and Finland increased theirs in the same period by 22%, 25%, and 70% respectively. The loss of grassroots support threatens the stability and future growth of community-based arts organisations and the wellbeing of our communities. EDICT in my community experienced a 70% funding reduction at the end of last year. As Liberal Democrats we believe in funding the creative arts, including fine art, music, theatre, literature, film, digital and media, which are crucial to maintaining a talented skilled workforce and a healthy and vibrant economy.

• 13 Jan 2025 · Hospice and Palliative Care · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Wimbledon (Mr Kohler) for securing this debate on this important subject. As many people said during the assisted dying discussions, it is clear that the one thing that everybody has in common is a desire to see better palliative care being made more available across the country. Nearly a third of palliative care in Scotland is delivered by charities, and it is the same across the UK. In Scotland, hospice charities provide end of life care to over 20,000 people a year, ensuring compassion and care at the end of life. This figure is expected to rise by 40% in the next 15 years. My constituency does not have a hospice within its boundaries, but we have many people who work and volunteer in the hospice sector. There is concern that the lack of understanding of the core role and wide scope of palliative care, which has for too long been funded outside the NHS despite being a fundamental aspect of care, has led to a shortfall in services, including palliative care for children. For too long, hospices have struggled with insufficient funding from consecutive Scottish and UK Governments, with less than half the funding for hospice care coming from Government sources. While the £100 million extra is absolutely welcome, there is still a huge shortfall. The national insurance increase is projected to cost Scottish hospices an extra £2.5 million a year, and it comes at a time when Marie Curie has highlighted that one in four people across the UK are unable to access the necessary support. This increased financial burden will undoubtedly lead to fewer beds, reduced services and a diminished quality of care for some of our most vulnerable citizens at the end of life. Inevitably, this will compound the effects of the staff shortages already being faced by the care industry, further straining hospice care providers. Where palliative care is available, there are still shortages, especially in psychological support and spiritual care, plus the possibility of serious recruitment problems with any assisted dying provision and in the social care structures that support people in their own homes. Fourteen hospice care providers have already issued an open letter calling for cross-party consensus on sustainable hospice funding. Their plea highlights the urgent need for additional support to ensure that these vital institutions are not forced to ration care or to close their doors. I therefore urge the Government again to consider exempting hospices from the recent national insurance hike. This would be a practical step to alleviate the financial strain on hospices and hospice charities. By doing so, we would not remove crucial funding from palliative care which, as we have heard, is often raised by charitable donations. We must support palliative care services and ensure that all who need hospice care can access it, allowing them dignity and compassion in their end of life care.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Income Tax (Charge) · Hansard source

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  Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to make my first contribution to a UK Budget debate. I refer to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I congratulate Members on the Government Benches on their excellent maiden speeches. I was pleased to hear the Chancellor’s plans for reparations for the infected blood scandal and the post office Horizon scandal, but I was disappointed that there was no mention of compensation for WASPI women, despite the health service ombudsman’s report, which was published in March. I trust that will be addressed in the very near future. My constituency of Mid Dunbartonshire has an ageing population, which is to be celebrated, but it brings with it higher numbers of patients with increased frailty and greater healthcare needs. Mid Dunbartonshire has a wealth of charities and community groups that support carers, offer peer support and support mental health, and generally reduce demand on statutory services and prevent costs for the NHS. The increase in employers national insurance will inevitably hit them hard, and it is vital that they are protected from additional taxes if these services are to continue. The same is true for small and medium-sized businesses in Mid Dunbartonshire, which are so vital to our local economy, providing jobs that break the cycle of disadvantage. I welcome the increase in capital funding for Scotland in the Budget. Given the increase, it is finally time to see the development of the much-needed new Milngavie health and care centre. This project echoes the Government’s plans to create community-focused health hubs, which are key to preventing costs for the NHS. Residents and health professionals in Bearsden and Milngavie desperately need the new health and care centre. GPs, dentists, allied health professionals and third-sector support ensure the health of our community and protect our hospitals from avoidable pressures. The co-operation between the Scottish Government and the UK Government is vital to ensuring appropriate funding reaches Scotland for devolved health and care services. Working cross-party will surely improve the effectiveness of solutions. I urge the Government to consider the Liberal Democrats’ fully costed plans to increase capital and revenue funding for the NHS and care. The people in Mid Dunbartonshire and the rest of the UK are counting on us to save our NHS. Improving care services is a key part of tackling this crisis.

• 7 Oct 2024 · NHS Performance: Darzi Investigation · Hansard source

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  Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for calling me to make my maiden speech. It is a pleasure to speak after the many excellent maiden speeches we have heard, including from the hon. Members for South Norfolk (Ben Goldsborough) and for South West Norfolk (Terry Jermy), my hon. Friend the Member for Esher and Walton (Monica Harding), the hon. Member for Gloucester (Alex McIntyre) and my hon. Friend the Member for St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire (Ian Sollom). That took a bit of time, but it is important that those excellent speeches are acknowledged. I enjoyed listening to them all. It is a great privilege for me to stand here today representing Mid Dunbartonshire, and the communities that are close to my heart. I have lived there for 30 years, and it is where both my sons went to school. Mid Dunbartonshire is in Scotland, in case Members had not noticed. It is a new constituency, following boundary changes this year. It sits 100% inside the East Dunbartonshire council area, as did the old constituency of East Dunbartonshire, but it now includes Lennoxtown and Milton of Campsie to the north and some of Lenzie to the east. I am delighted that these towns are now in the constituency I represent, but my sorrow is that it does not include Kirkintilloch East and Twechar, which are also dear to my heart and where I have been a councillor since 2017. I am sure that the hon. Member for Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch (Katrina Murray) will look after the community there, and it was good to hear her highlight the problems with local bus services in her maiden speech. It goes without saying that Mid Dunbartonshire is the best constituency in the UK. Local towns are regularly promoted as the best place to live in the UK—Bearsden in 2021 and Kirkintilloch in 2024—and in 2017 “Woman’s Hour” revealed East Dunbartonshire as the best place in Britain for women to live. Incidentally, that was when Jo Swinson began her third term as the Liberal Democrat MP for East Dunbartonshire, so I thank Jo for all her work in the constituency. I also want to recognise her successor, Amy Callaghan, and particularly the personal challenges that Amy overcame during her time as an MP. She has shown such courage in her service to the community, and I wish her well in the future. I also thank Stuart McDonald, who was the MP for the newer part of the constituency. I know that he is held in very high regard and with much affection in that area. I am pleased to speak in the debate on Lord Darzi’s report, because I know only too well the challenges that individuals and families have to face when our health lets us down. In 2006 my husband had a brain haemorrhage, which changed our lives in an instant. I became his full-time carer and could not continue in my profession, and he was never able to return to his career. From being comfortably off, life changed to watching every penny. Without the support of our family, we could have lost our home, and we were very fortunate. Friends and our community helped me to survive and get on with life. I cannot praise NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde enough. My husband spent months getting well enough to come home from hospital. Perhaps we were lucky with the timing, because at that time the excellent, talented and caring staff had the resources, which I have seen decline ever since. I worked in the NHS before a career in medical marketing. I know the NHS from working in it and with it, and from my experience of visiting my husband. Latterly, I have been aware of the integration of health and social care through my role on the council. I know the pressures that good, kind, caring professionals are under to become as efficient as possible, and they are absolutely doing their best. Looking back, that was the beginning of my involvement in politics. I was thrown into the space that our society refers to as “community”. I know why it is important for Government to fund local authorities and communities and to give them real power. They prevent costs to the NHS every day by stopping the revolving door of treatment, discharge home and relapse back into treatment, and they support self-care and wellbeing. They are our CPS—not the Crown Prosecution Service, but our community prevention service, which pays back investment in spades by preventing costs. What makes Mid Dunbartonshire special is its people and communities. Like in other places, during covid the community stepped up to support each other, and groups are still helping with shopping and patient transport. There are groups of volunteers fighting climate change, reducing social isolation, providing mental health support and peer support, supporting carers, providing financial advice, helping with housing problems, looking after community buildings, preserving our heritage, knitting for peace, and promoting fair trade, performance art and more—tackling problems at home and internationally. Mid Dunbartonshire people care and take action. From listening to other maiden speeches, I know that that is happening all over the UK. Liberal Democrats want to harness that power for good. One message that came across loud and clear on the doorsteps was that residents in Mid Dunbartonshire are tired of voting against things; they want to vote positively for things. Thomas Muir of Huntershill in Bishopbriggs was a famous son of Mid Dunbartonshire. At the end of the 18th century, he was a strenuous advocate of equal representation of the people in the House of the people, where I stand today. He said: “I have devoted myself to the cause of the people. It is a good cause. It shall ultimately prevail. It shall finally triumph.” The fight for fair votes prompted revolution at the end of the 18th century, and Thomas Muir was found guilty of sedition and transported to Australia for his efforts. In the 19th century, it took three reform Acts of this House to slowly extend voting rights for men. In the 20th century, the Representation of the People Act 1918 gave voting rights to some women and to men aged over 21. But it was not until 1928 that all adults had the right to vote. Today, in the 21st century, the call for better democracy continues. The turnout in Mid Dunbartonshire at the last election was almost 72%, but many constituencies had a turnout in the low 40 per cents. The result shows a clear failure to engage a huge number of voters. I call on the Government to consider carefully the mandate that the result gave them, to treat every potential voter with dignity and respect, and to make the change to give every vote an equal weight, no matter where it is cast. This is an opportunity to end self-serving and self-obsessed politics, and to truly introduce the politics of service. I will join my colleagues in this place in scrutinising Government proposals and working constructively with them to improve the quality of life for my constituents and all residents of the UK who make up the rich diversity of our communities.