Tom Gordon MP: speeches

Speeches

• 27 Apr 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Disabled people in England face a postcode lottery when it comes to the time in which they can use their bus passes. What conversations have been had with colleagues at the Department for Transport and the Treasury about removing those unfair time restrictions?

• 21 Apr 2026 · English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill · Hansard source

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  Given that the new powers are being handed to local transport authorities, will there be funding to enforce the new measures and the obligations that councils are getting?

• 20 Apr 2026 · Antisemitic Attacks · Hansard source

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  I recently had the pleasure of attending a Passover service at Harrogate synagogue. It saddens me that whenever I meet the Jewish community there, they always talk about their security and safety. In the light of the Chief Rabbi’s comment that attacks on the Jewish community are gathering momentum, may I press the Minister on what further steps he is taking to protect Jewish communities like mine in Harrogate?

• 20 Apr 2026 · Community-owned Assets: Government Support · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Lady is outlining a really clear case for community-owned assets. Can she elaborate on that and tell us if the UPP is an asset of community value? We have recently had to fight a campaign to stop Harrogate Spring Water chopping down the much-loved Rotary Wood, which is an asset of community value. If that planning decision had gone ahead and not been voted down, there would have been a moratorium that allowed the community to come together and put in a bid to try to purchase it, but there needs to be more support to make sure that those bids are prioritised, and that multinationals like Danone cannot simply swoop in and outbid a local community.

• 20 Apr 2026 · Community-owned Assets: Government Support · Hansard source

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  I just want to acknowledge the Government’s fantastic work, which the Minister is outlining, on this particular issue. Does she agree that one of the biggest worries people have in areas undergoing local government reorganisation is that cash-strapped councils will have to sell off such assets? Often when councils are merged, they can be further removed from local people on the ground. Does she agree that these steps will help to give people certainty, in the light of local government reorganisation?

• 14 Apr 2026 · NHS Dental Services · Hansard source

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  I have been contacted by dentists from across my constituency who want to expand access but are constrained by the current funding model. One NHS practice tells me that it has the physical space ready for a dentist to start working, but it cannot get them in because of the current funding model, forcing a reliance on short-term foundation dentists on rotations. Will the Minister outline what steps he is taking to reform NHS dental funding, and will he meet me to discuss the issues in my constituency?

• 14 Apr 2026 · NHS Dental Services · Hansard source

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  6. How many urgent dental appointments have been provided since 1 April 2025.

• 14 Apr 2026 · Infected Blood Compensation Scheme · Hansard source

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  I, too, acknowledge the work the Minister has done on this issue. Last year, I asked him about a constituent who fell under the special category mechanism, so it is welcome news that there will be an additional award for that group, but those affected are frustrated that it has taken this long to get here. The scheme so far, for the vast majority of victims, has been a failure, and only a fraction of those affected have yet received compensation. Is the Minister confident that all those eligible, including those eligible for additional awards from the special category mechanism, will have received payment by the end of 2029?

• 26 Mar 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The Labour Mayor of York and North Yorkshire is tinkering with the Department for Transport’s highways funding ratio, reallocating about £4 million from North Yorkshire to the city of York. When North Yorkshire council has already lost the rural services delivery grant, how can the Minister think that is fair?

• 25 Mar 2026 · Proposed Visitor Levy · Hansard source

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  Will the Minister give way?

• 25 Mar 2026 · Proposed Visitor Levy · Hansard source

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  They may well be focus articles too. The local community champions that we have on the ground are making the point that if money is raised locally, it should be shaped locally, spent locally and seen locally. That applies across England. Councillor Hannah Kitching in Barnsley put it to me very clearly: if South Yorkshire ends up with a tourist tax, people will expect to see real investment in public transport—connecting the whole region, not just parts of it. That means expanding such things as the Supertram network beyond Sheffield and Rotherham, so that growth is shared from the visitor economy and not concentrated. In my constituency, I have heard real concerns from businesses that a tourist tax has the potential to suck up money and take away from Harrogate and Knaresborough, rather than adding value to our community. If we are going to end up with yet another tax imposed by another Labour politician, it should at least fund the issues that will drive tourism and growth in our local area, for instance my long-standing campaign to dual the line between Knaresborough and York or the community campaign to get a restoration package for Knaresborough castle. Those things would bring people to the area and add, rather than taking away. They would not just be cases of tax and spend for the sake of it; they would deliver visible, tangible improvements that local residents and tourists alike would actually use. Let us be honest about the context we are in. Hospitality businesses are already under pressure from every direction. Costs are up, business rates are rising and the Government are making it harder to employ the very people the sector depends on. A sector cannot be taxed into growth, especially when it is already struggling to stay afloat. When Ministers or mayors say, “It’s only a pound or two a night,” that might sound small to us, but it does not feel small to a family booking a week away or a small hotel running on tight margins. In a domestic tourism market such as ours, price sensitivity is not a detail; it is everything. As it stands, the proposal’s fundamental flaw is that we would not necessarily end up taxing tourists; we would tax staying. Day-trippers, who often add strain to local infrastructure pay nothing, but those who stay overnight, supporting local jobs and businesses, pay more. We risk sending the signal, “Come for the day, but don’t stay the night.” North Yorkshire is the size of a small country, so who are we really taxing? More often than not, it will not be international tourists, but people from our own region: a family from Harrogate staying in Whitby or a couple from York spending a weekend in the dales. That leads to the concerns that this would not be a tourist tax in North Yorkshire, but a tax on our own communities enjoying their own county. The issues of fairness extend even further. Scout leaders have raised real concerns about whether they would be impacted. Are we seriously considering a policy that would put a price on a Scout camp, a school trip or young carers receiving residential respite weekends? We should be removing barriers for young people, who have already had a rough deal from this Government, not adding to them. Perhaps the biggest question is: why now? The reality is that this has not been driven by a tourism strategy; it has been driven by funding gaps. The Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, David Skaith, is operating with far less funding than many other devolved mayoralties, despite covering a vast rural geography. Instead of fixing that, we are handing over a simple new power to tax. When the Government will not fund regions properly, they give them a new tax and call it empowerment. Let us call it what it is: a workaround for underfunding, not a plan for growth. If Ministers are serious about this policy, three things must be clear. First, every penny must be reinvested into the local community it was raised in, and towns such as Harrogate and Knaresborough should not be used as cash cows for other places. Secondly, businesses should have a genuine say—not just a consultation exercise, but a seat at the table. Thirdly, there must be clear exemptions for young people, charities and community groups. Without those safeguards, this is not a visitor levy; it is simply another pressure on an already stretched sector. Tourism in North Yorkshire is not just about places; it is about people and the welcome that they offer. That is what brings people back time and again. Yes, let us empower local areas and give them the tools, but let us not pretend that this policy is fully thought through, or that it would deliver the fair deal that our communities deserve. Before I finish, I have questions for the Minister, some of which we have heard already. Will this levy apply to short-term lets, such as Airbnbs? If not, how is that fair? What exemptions will there be for Scouts, charities, young people and unpaid carers? What formal role, if any, will town and parish councils have in this scheme? How can we ensure that their voices are heard by these mayors? How will the Government guarantee that the money raised is not just spent locally, but spent with genuine input from local communities? If we get this wrong, we risk pushing our tourism and hospitality sector over the edge, and cutting off our own nose to spite our face.

• 25 Mar 2026 · Proposed Visitor Levy · Hansard source

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  I completely agree, and as Liberal Democrats we want to see devolution and the handing-down of powers. But, again, I come back to the question whether it is really meaningful devolution if, when I ask the Labour Mayor of York and North Yorkshire about removing the 9 o’clock time limit on disabled bus passes, his answer is that he does not have the funding to do it. These are not real choices if the funding settlements are not there in the first place.

• 25 Mar 2026 · Proposed Visitor Levy · Hansard source

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  It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. I congratulate the right hon. Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds) on securing the debate. As Liberals, we strongly believe that power should be handed down to the lowest level and that we should give local areas the tools and ability to shape their own future. In principle, I would therefore support giving combined authorities the powers to introduce an overnight visitor levy—but, in this economic climate, that does not mean that we necessarily should. Let us be clear: hamstringing regional mayors with inadequate funding and then handing them the power to tax is not devolution—it is simply passing the buck. Across North Yorkshire, from Whitby to Harrogate, from the dales to the moors, tourism is not a luxury, but a lifeline for many communities. Hotel owners in my constituency tell me that if the money comes back into the local visitor economy, they can make it work. That is a reasonable position—but they also say they have been promised investment before, and that is where the scepticism lies. Tourism is a vital part of the economy of many local areas, supporting jobs, local businesses and community services. One topic that has not been talked about much today is the support from town and parish councils with the hard graft of organising events, supporting culture and bringing people into our communities. That is why I am supporting both Harrogate’s and Knaresborough’s bids to be towns of culture. The problem is that there is no requirement to involve them in that tourism strategy, or even necessarily on what a visitor levy may look like. That is a glaring omission. My hon. Friend the Member for Stratford-on-Avon (Manuela Perteghella) cannot be here today, but she has told me about the work that her town council is doing in organising such events as the world-renowned Shakespeare birthday parade, which attracts visitors from across the UK and beyond. Under these proposals, the council could be expected to deliver the footfall to the town and the economy, but denied a say on the charge. That simply cannot be right. If we are serious about devolution, local must mean local—not just mayors in their ivory towers, feathering their own pet projects and their nests. We should be including voices from town halls, parish councils and the communities they represent. That principle must extend to how any money raised from a visitor levy is spent. I have heard clearly from my own town councillors in Harrogate, Josie Caven and Graham Dixon, that if the mayoral tourist tax is introduced, people expect to see the basics done properly. Some of that revenue should go to funding services that tourists use—for instance, the cleaning, fixing, painting and refurbishing of parks and public toilets. If people are asked to pay more, they will expect to see where the money goes. If people cannot see where it goes, they will not believe a word about why it has been raised in the first place. Crucially, people want to have an input and a proper say. That is why, in communities across the country, local Liberal Democrats are on the ground, working hard for their communities. They know much better than some of these regional mayors how any levy should be spent. For instance, across the other side of the Pennines in Stockport, local Lib Dem champion Niki Meerman is campaigning to bring a pavilion back into use at Bredbury rec. The local Lib Dem team in Offerton, led by Councillor Will Dawson and Councillor Dan Oliver, along with other local champions such as Jamie Hirst, wants to make sure the community gets the leisure facilities that have long been promised. Jason Jones is working to bring back Woodbank Hall into use. Those are not vanity projects. These are the things that make communities work.

• 18 Mar 2026 · Student Loans · Hansard source

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  Will the Minister give way?

• 16 Mar 2026 · Heating Oil Support · Hansard source

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  It is estimated that over 20,000 homes in North Yorkshire rely upon heating oil, including constituents in the rural part of my constituency in villages outside Occaney, Copgrove, Farnham, Flaxby and others. They already face what is known as a rural premium, with households paying more for everyday essentials. Given that reality, how can the Government justify offering only limited support to households that now face soaring heating oil costs?

• 16 Mar 2026 · GP Contract · Hansard source

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  I recently visited the Spa surgery in Harrogate and spent half a day with practice managers, GPs, partners, receptionists and nurses, and I am grateful to them for that opportunity. The Minister said earlier that he trusts GPs to make decisions, and just a moment ago he said that the Government should not be in the business of micromanaging, but the new contract outlines specific directions for spending. How does the Minister reconcile that with the fact that local GP partners tell me that the contract will remove the flexibility to manage and meet local service need, and that the uplift in funding will not cover the cost of these additional obligations?

• 9 Mar 2026 · Support for NEET Young People · Hansard source

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  I recently visited Ventrolla, a specialist heritage window manufacturer in my constituency. It was concerned by the recent announcements of apprenticeship reform and the impact that will have on its apprentices. It has signed a cross-party and cross-organisation letter from industry leaders and experts to the Prime Minister about the sector’s concerns about the changes to apprenticeships. They think those changes will undermine the Government’s ambition to generate economic growth. What conversations are Ministers having with businesses such as Ventrolla to ensure that these changes do not adversely impact the sector and rob young people of these opportunities and apprenticeships?

• 9 Mar 2026 · Type 1 Diabetes: Infant Testing · Hansard source

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  It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Sir Alec. I welcome the Minister to her place; the all-party parliamentary group for diabetes had a positive and constructive relationship with her predecessor, the hon. Member for West Lancashire (Ashley Dalton), and I hope that that will continue. I am grateful to the petitioners and to the petition’s creator, John, who is in the Gallery. He has been tirelessly campaigning in memory of his daughter, Lyla. His courage in speaking out and pushing for change has brought national attention to the urgent need to improve the way we recognise and diagnose type 1 diabetes. Earlier today, a group of cross-party MPs and of health professionals and families handed in a petition to Downing Street on this matter. About 400,000 people in the UK live with type 1 diabetes. That includes tens of thousands of children. It is most commonly diagnosed in childhood, but can develop at any age. Crucially, it cannot be prevented at the moment and is not linked to lifestyle. There is nothing a child or their parents could have done differently. Despite our understanding of the condition, too many people are still diagnosed only when they are already dangerously ill. Too often, the warning signs are missed. As we have heard, the classic symptoms are known as the four Ts: thirst, tiredness, thinning, and needing to go to the toilet more frequently. They are well known and simple to check. A quick finger-prick test can measure blood glucose and confirm whether urgent action is needed, but too many families find themselves making repeated visits to healthcare professionals before a diagnosis is made. In many cases, by the time that type 1 diabetes is identified, the patient is already experiencing diabetic ketoacidosis. DKA is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition caused by dangerously high blood glucose levels and the build-up of ketones in the blood. It frequently requires emergency hospital treatment. More than one in four children in the UK diagnosed with type 1 diabetes are diagnosed when already in DKA. This is an issue of health inequalities, too. We know that among children under five, and among those from deprived backgrounds, the proportion can be even higher. These are not just statistics. Behind every number is a child, a family and a moment of trauma that could all too easily have been avoided. Lyla Story’s case tragically illustrates that. In the days before her death, Lyla showed the classic symptoms of type 1 diabetes. Her parents sought medical help and she was seen by a GP, but the symptoms were attributed to another illness. Her condition deteriorated rapidly, and sadly she passed away after developing diabetic ketoacidosis. Since I met John months ago, he has sent endless examples of other families across the country. The same story has rung true time and again. This is not just one example; it is emblematic of our current systemic failure. There is an urgent need to improve awareness among healthcare professionals and ensure rapid testing when symptoms appear. They must be tret as a priority. NICE guidelines already state that children suspected of having type 1 diabetes should be referred immediately to a specialist paediatric diabetes team, but we know that, in practice, signs are sometimes missed or not acted on quickly enough. Ensuring that every GP practice has access to relevant glucometers and that the staff are confident about recognising the four Ts is one of the most simple and effective ways we can reduce those missed opportunities. Education and training can make a real difference. At a roundtable held by the APPG for diabetes earlier this year, we heard how quality improvement work in Cardiff has demonstrated that targeted education for primary care teams can significantly reduce emergency diagnoses. Alongside improving diagnosis, we are entering a new and exciting phase in our understanding of type 1 diabetes, with the possibility of identifying the condition before symptoms even begin. Research has shown that the immune attack that eventually leads to type 1 diabetes produces autoantibodies in the blood long before symptoms appear. Those markers can be detected through screening, and studies such as ELSA have demonstrated that childhood screening is feasible and can identify children at risk before they become unwell.

• 9 Mar 2026 · Type 1 Diabetes: Infant Testing · Hansard source

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  The Minister is talking about how the toolkit will outline for GPs what good diabetes care looks like. That independent advocacy and scrutiny function often came from Healthwatch, which will be abolished in the changes to the NHS and rolled into DHSC. Can she outline how we will ensure scrutiny of services such as diabetes care, which have the patient voice at their heart?

• 9 Mar 2026 · Type 1 Diabetes: Infant Testing · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for being so generous with her time. Before entering this place, I worked for Breakthrough T1D, and one thing that came up all too often was that clinicians did not feel that they had the funding to give people the treatment they needed. The Minister makes the point about giving them independence, but does she acknowledge that if they do not have the funding to do that, the guidance falls at the first hurdle?

• 9 Mar 2026 · Type 1 Diabetes: Infant Testing · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is a passionate advocate of diabetes awareness. I completely agree that we need to do more to raise those symptoms with the general public. Everyone knows the key signs of some health conditions—heart attacks or strokes, perhaps—but sadly, type 1 diabetes is not one of those. We can do more in the House to put the issue at the front of the public’s mind; I am optimistic that we can do that across parties, given the diversity of colleagues in this Chamber. Screening offers enormous potential. It will allow families and clinicians to monitor the condition closely, prepare for treatment and, we hope, avoid the trauma of an emergency diagnosis. I turn to some personal experience. When I was just 13, we were on a family holiday in Turkey. My little sister, who was nine at the time, collapsed by the pool. People do not often think much of it if a growing child loses and gains weight or is thirsty, particularly when abroad in severe heat. My mum had no idea that my sister was a type 1 diabetic; only when she collapsed by the side of a pool and was rushed and blue-lighted to hospital in Turkey did we find out that she was critically unwell and experiencing DKA. I will never forget that holiday. Fortunately for my sister, everything turned out okay. We got her back to the UK and got her the support that she needed, but it was an incredibly frightening experience for our family and a stark introduction to how suddenly type 1 diabetes can present when it goes undetected. That is one of the reasons why this issue matters deeply to me, and part of the reason why I went on to study biochemistry and a master’s in public health. What can we do? I will turn to what should happen next, but first I encourage any colleagues in the Chamber who are not already members of the APPG for diabetes to join. I want to press the Minister about a number of areas: first, on awareness of the four Ts, which we have already heard about but needs strengthening across the health system. Training for healthcare professionals, in particular those who work in primary care, should ensure that symptoms of type 1 diabetes are recognised immediately and acted on. Secondly, finger-prick blood-glucose testing should be standard practice whenever a patient presents with symptoms suggestive of type 1 diabetes. NICE guidance should make that expectation explicit, not simply implied. Thirdly, every GP practice should have the equipment ready to carry out such tests quickly and with confidence. Fourthly, awareness—including of the four Ts—should extend beyond the healthcare system to the personal child health record, or red book, and digital resources for parents, which would help families recognise those warning signs and seek testing earlier. Fifthly, there should be stronger oversight to ensure that learning takes place when diagnoses are missed, including a clearer role for the Care Quality Commission and national improvement initiatives, too. Finally, the NHS should continue to explore what role screening programmes could play in future. Research under way, such as that of the ELSA study, will be crucial in building the evidence needed to support any future national screening programme. Type 1 diabetes cannot currently be cured, but deaths from undiagnosed type 1 are preventable. Through better awareness, faster testing and continued research, we can ensure that fewer families experience the trauma of delayed diagnosis. If we ended up with a Lyla’s law, we would be honouring the memory of children such as Lyla and the determination of family members such as John, who are campaigning so powerfully for this change.

• 5 Mar 2026 · Local Museums · Hansard source

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  It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I congratulate the hon. Member for Thurrock (Jen Craft) on securing this debate. North Yorkshire is blessed to have some of the UK’s finest and quirkiest small museums, from the Richmondshire Museum and the Green Howards Museum, and the Workhouse, Courthouse and Prison & Police Museums in Ripon, to Nidderdale Museum in Pateley Bridge and the Royal Pump Room Museum in Harrogate, which outlines our spa town’s history and heritage. A new, even smaller museum that I was unaware of until doing research for this debate is the New Park heritage centre. It tells the story of New Park, a suburb of Harrogate that began life as a tiny hamlet to house a gasworks—which served the neighbouring, more affluent High Harrogate and Low Harrogate—and its employees. I also want to highlight the remarkable work of the team of volunteers behind Knaresborough Museum Association. They run the Knaresborough Heritage Centre, which I had the privilege of attending when it opened on the high street before the general election. Their work goes far beyond operating the museum, gallery and heritage centre: they have around 70 local volunteers who give their time and support to local schools to help with curriculum-linked workshops, and they run weekly heritage walks through Knaresborough, conduct original historical research and provide activities for groups of adults ranging from those with learning disabilities to people with early onset dementia. All that highlights some of the fantastic work that our small museums can carry out. They are not just cultural assets: they are community anchors. They foster local pride, protect stories that might otherwise be lost and play a real role in our towns’ visitor economies. That is why investment in local heritage matters so much. Last year, I handed in a petition calling for a long-term package of support to restore and protect Knaresborough castle. If we want our towns to thrive, we must recognise that small museums, volunteer heritage groups and historic sites work together as part of the same local economy. With that in mind, what support can the Minister provide to fantastic assets like those in Harrogate and Knaresborough that I have outlined? Will he meet me to talk about my campaign to save Knaresborough castle? What steps is he taking to make the case to local authorities about the importance of our small museums?

• 5 Mar 2026 · Consular Assistance · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister, Government officials and all our casework teams dealing with our constituents on this matter. Many of my constituents have been affected, and I too have encouraged them to register for the scheme. I am particularly concerned about vulnerable people with health conditions. I understand that they will be prioritised for repatriation flights. One of my constituents, who hopes to be on a flight tomorrow morning, has a heart condition and will run out of medication at some point. The Minister said that the Government hope to get medication into those countries. Will he elaborate on that to give reassurance to constituents like mine, who are understandably concerned about the management of their health conditions while this situation continues?

• 3 Feb 2026 · Fish and Chip Sector · Hansard source

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  I will not make any fish puns; it is not my plaice to do so. We have fantastic fish-and-chipperies in Harrogate and Knaresborough, including Oatlands Mount. Local chippy owners tell me that a cut in VAT for hospitality and restaurants would deliver a meaningful boost for them. Will the Minister pass that on to her Treasury colleagues?

• 3 Feb 2026 · Fish and Chip Sector · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman is outlining some of the economic challenges that the sector is facing. One of my constituents is heavily involved in the National Federation of Fish Friers. He told me that he often feels that the Government are very good at listening to UK hospitality and other big sectors, but they do not necessarily understand the specific local issues of this sector. Does he agree that we would welcome more communication and better collaboration between them?