Tom Hayes MP: speeches

Speeches

• 17 Jun 2025 · Crime and Policing Bill · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend is giving a powerful speech. In my constituency of Bournemouth East, I regularly talk to shop workers who are experiencing the scourge of shoplifting—no, wholesale looting—and they are being made to feel incredibly unsafe. I am thinking of the staff of Tesco in Tuckton, the Co-op on Seabourne Road and Tesco on the Grove in Southbourne. I am also thinking of the owner of a wine shop who has a hockey stick beside them, so that they can chase away shoplifters who try to take carts of wine bottles. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is very good news that our Labour Government are introducing a new offence of assaulting retail workers and ending the effective decriminalisation of shoplifting? Will she also commend the Co-op party, which, like USDAW, has campaigned so hard for this new law?

• 17 Jun 2025 · Crime and Policing Bill · Hansard source

  More

  I do not think the right hon. Member was pointing at her shadow Minister when she was accusing somebody of being a litter tosser—I think it was just a dramatic gesture, because nothing could be further from the truth. Building on the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Darlington (Lola McEvoy), does the right hon. Member agree that when people see potholes unfilled, litter uncollected, overgrown verges and general disrepair—when they are walking through decline—they feel hopeless, not just about their communities, in which they take such pride, but about the ability of their council and elected officials to act on their most immediate priorities? Does she agree that when we restore pride in place by fixing these problems, we help to create a confidence that politics can deliver a better community?

• 17 Jun 2025 · Crime and Policing Bill · Hansard source

  More

  I thank my hon. Friend for that really powerful intervention. I completely agree. If in this place we can do one important thing today, which is to send a signal that we wish to alleviate that pain, then we should do it.

• 17 Jun 2025 · Crime and Policing Bill · Hansard source

  More

  I want to start by aligning myself with, and commending the speeches of, my hon. Friends the Members for Morecambe and Lunesdale (Lizzi Collinge), for Ribble Valley (Maya Ellis), for Monmouthshire (Catherine Fookes), for Gower (Tonia Antoniazzi) and for Walthamstow (Ms Creasy). I am proud to stand alongside my colleagues and was proud to listen to what they had to say today. And because of what they had to say today, I have less to say, which will allow more people to speak. I have been sent here by my constituents to defend and further their right to safe and legal abortion. My inbox has been inundated with messages from constituents who are concerned, and who want to be able to have safe and legal abortions. They want to be removed from the criminal justice system, as my hon. Friend the Member for Gower said, because we have situations where clinically vulnerable women, who have gone through some of the worst experiences that anybody can go through, will in some cases be arrested straight from the hospital ward, hurried to cells and made to feel unmitigated levels of shame and guilt, on top of the physical and mental traumas they have already experienced.

• 16 Jun 2025 · Air India Plane Crash · Hansard source

  More

  On behalf of my constituents, may I thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for your moving eulogy to Mr Shah who lived in Southbourne in my constituency for more than a decade? Many of my constituents remember Mr Shah and mourn his passing. They send their love to his family. Bournemouth and India have a deep bond; Britain and India have a deep bond. What is the Minister doing to ensure that everybody affected by this tragedy is getting the support they need? Will he join me in commending the community leaders of the Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch Indian Community for all that they are doing at this difficult moment?

• 16 Jun 2025 · Farmed Animals: Cages and Crates · Hansard source

  More

  It is a pleasure to contribute with you in the Chair, Mr Mundell. My hon. Friend the Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Irene Campbell) introduced this important debate so well. As a nation of animal lovers, we rightly seek the highest welfare standards. We were the first country to create animal protection law, in 1822, and the first country to set up an animal welfare charity, in 1824. I was proud to be elected as the Member of Parliament for Bournemouth East on a manifesto that pledged the most ambitious advancement of animal welfare in a generation. Today, I reaffirm my commitment to my constituents in Bournemouth East, because the compassion that we show for animals represents who we are as a people. Animal welfare is extremely important. We know that cages and crates cause huge suffering for farm animals. We need action now to end the use of cages and crates for farmed animals because our constituents demand it. I know this issue is of significant interest and importance to my constituents because 190 of them signed the petition and my mailbox has been inundated by constituents getting in touch about this issue. Whether from Hilary on Carbery Avenue, Alison on Windham Road, or Angela on Chigwell Road, there is a call for action. The public in Bournemouth East want us to go further and faster. It is good news that Ministers are working closely with the farm sector to deliver high standards for food production, animal welfare and environmental concerns. It is good news that when it comes to laying hens we are moving away from the use of enriched colony cages to free-range and barn production, and that Government grants to farmers are supporting that work. We need an urgent and full move away from cages. As we have just heard, 8 million laying hens are unable to flap their wings because they are confined in such small, intolerable spaces. It is also good news that major supermarkets have pledged to stop selling shell eggs from hens kept in colony cages by the end of this year. That shift will happily quicken the move away from colony cages, with free-range eggs now accounting for over two thirds of the market, but we must go further and faster. Indeed, we may have to: the UK agreed in May to link to EU farm standards, so if the EU brings in a cage ban, the UK would have to reciprocate. We should be mindful of that, as we are already seeing moves in that direction in France and Germany, and the European Commission is interested in that policy area. Like colleagues who have spoken before me, I am proud to be a Labour Member of Parliament because the last Labour Government provided the most comprehensive reform of animal welfare laws and policies in over a century. I am proud, too, of the Labour manifesto commitments that we made on animal welfare, including proposals to ban trail hunting, end puppy smuggling and puppy farming, ban the use of snare traps, ban the import of animals with fashion mutilations and cropped ears and ban scientific testing on dogs; we had a debate on that subject a few short weeks ago in which the will of MPs of all parties was extraordinarily clear. We also committed to a ban on the import of hunting trophies, which is particularly timely because 2 July will mark a decade since the killing of Cecil the lion. I hope that the House will focus on the issue with renewed sharpness. I am pleased to see the Government pledge to ratify the high seas treaty, a landmark agreement that will protect marine life in international waters, covering almost two thirds of the ocean, including sharks, whales and sea turtles, which are currently vulnerable to unsustainable and illegal fishing and other extractive industries. This Government are already supporting animals and marine life, are committed to supporting animals over the course of this Parliament, and are building on the work of the last Labour Government in protecting animals. I want to stand alongside our Labour Government with their commitment to introduce their ambitious programme for animal welfare, because all our constituents are calling on us to do better and to do it faster.

• 12 Jun 2025 · Covid: Fifth Anniversary · Hansard source

  More

  In Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, up to 1,400 people died because of covid, and many in my constituency are living with grief, trauma and long covid. When I speak to GPs, they are rightly pleased with and proud of their role in vaccinating our town and country, but they feel that this role has been forgotten. Does my hon. Friend agree that we must remember the contribution of our GPs as vaccinators, and send the signal that this House thanks them?

• 11 Jun 2025 · NHS Funding: South-west · Hansard source

  More

  In less than a year, this Government have recruited 1,700 new GPs, delivered 3.5 million new appointments and cut waiting lists by more than 200,000. Just today, we heard in the Chamber the good news from the spending review: a record cash investment increase, in real terms, of 3% every year up to 2029, the equivalent of £29 billion extra a year. That will help to put our NHS back on the road to recovery. In Dorset, we are already seeing the impacts of the investment. Dorset ICB has seen 13,600 extra urgent dental appointments. The public health grant for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council is up from £22 million in 2024-25 to £23.3 million in 2025-26. There have been four surgeries identified for enhancement in Bournemouth, one of which is in my constituency, and the waiting list for University Hospitals Dorset trust is down by 1,715 between July and now.

• 11 Jun 2025 · NHS Funding: South-west · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend makes a powerful point. I, of course, welcome that investment and it will benefit both his constituents and mine. We are also seeing significant investments in the Royal Bournemouth hospital. Just yesterday, I was standing on top of the Coast building at the hospital, at the topping-out ceremony. The Coast building will feature 110 new beds across four floors, a larger kitchen and a catering facility. If we look across from the top of that building, we will see the new £91 million Beach building that houses the emergency department from the Royal Bournemouth. Services moved into that building in May, and it will also contain a maternity unit, critical care and a children’s unit, which will be moving in next year. These developments are all part of a £500 million transformation of University Hospitals Dorset sites, which is much needed and will have a critical impact. These investments across hospitals, and across Dorset, will improve care for the people of our region—for my constituents—and will support our staff, who have been really looking for light at the end of the tunnel after 14 difficult years of Conservative rule, so that they can care for patients in modern, purpose-built facilities. I would like more. Despite all the investment and the upcoming reform, I would like the funding formula to be changed so that it reflects the age profile of our local area. The south-west and especially areas such as BCP have a much higher older population, but not the funding to match. Our house prices are high but, unlike in Hampshire, UHD staff do not get pay weighting. I would also like to register concerns about proposals to create new subsidiary companies in Dorset and Newcastle. I have called for a pause in those processes, because I have concerns about the terms and conditions. Existing staff who are TUPE-ed into a subco have their existing terms and conditions protected, but I am concerned that when new staff are recruited into subcos, they do not have existing NHS terms and conditions. That could particularly affect lower-paid roles. In conclusion, I thank the Government for their prioritisation of our NHS. I feel that the NHS is firmly on the path to renewal and is in safe hands.

• 9 Jun 2025 · Planning and Infrastructure Bill · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend will know that I have spent a lot of time in Reading getting to know his constituents and the community, and I do indeed praise the people that he is talking about. I agree that, with time and space for play, children will have the very best start in life, but this is not just about children; it is also about their families. We are in an ongoing cost of living crisis. With play, and outdoor play in particular, we have free opportunities for parents and guardians to give their children the support, the social development and the leisure opportunities that they need and deserve.

• 9 Jun 2025 · Planning and Infrastructure Bill · Hansard source

  More

  I rise to speak in favour of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill because it will build high-quality housing, reform energy grid connections and deliver critical energy infrastructure. I also rise to speak in favour of new clause 82, tabled in my name and backed by 71 MPs with cross-party support, to achieve happy, healthy childhoods. We should bring forward a statutory duty in England, like those in Scotland and Wales, to ensure inclusive and sufficient play opportunities. The foreword to the first and only play strategy to be published, by a Labour Government in 2008, states: “Time and space to play safely is integral to our ambition to make England the best country in the world for children and young people to grow up”. That ambition remains, but the strategy was scrapped because, a few years after its publication with a £235 million budget, the coalition Government drew a red line through everything. We need to prioritise play in this Parliament. Why? Because in the intervening years, hundreds of playgrounds in our constituencies have been boarded up and allowed to rust. This has been especially true in disadvantaged communities. Our poorest communities have been the greatest casualties of austerity, and we know the consequences. Screen time dominates and we have a rise in social media. Politicians are very good at telling children to get off their screens without providing the alternative play opportunities. With more play and less screen time, we can have better mental health outcomes for children. We can have more safety in our streets and we can have better social development opportunities. Play is prevention. When we improve life quality and life chances, we save the public purse significant sums in the long run because we reduce demand on the NHS, on our councils and on our social services.

• 9 Jun 2025 · Planning and Infrastructure Bill · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend and I have talked many times about the importance of inclusive play, and I commend her as a fantastic champion for children with special educational needs and disabilities to access those play opportunities. I agree with her entirely, and one thing that my new clause 82 would do is to introduce a requirement for planning authorities to assess play sufficiency, particularly inclusive play sufficiency. That is a critically important point. In a nutshell, we need to have national policy frameworks and national planning actions that will ensure that the voices of children and their families are properly listened to, that they are consulted on their needs, and that planning authorities are required and supported to introduce the outdoor play equipment and areas that can so enhance their life chances. In so doing, we would be building on the work of that last Labour Government that I was just talking about. If you ever want to enjoy a beautiful photograph that sums up all of what the last Labour Government were doing, have a look at Ed Balls and Andy Burnham on a swing announcing the 2008 national play strategy. It is a fantastic sight. Genuinely, you can see in their faces the joy that comes from play and extending play opportunities. You can see that they are Ministers who are fantastically enjoying their jobs, and that is because they are delivering for children. That 2008 strategy was a critical development in the world of play, and the play sector responded so positively to it. It came with £235 million of investment to provide up to 3,500 new or refurbished playgrounds. I still get sent photographs by people who have seen those playgrounds with the Department for Children, Schools and Families logo on them, with its beautiful rainbow, and we should have more of that. To conclude, this Bill is critical for children’s development. This is also a pro-growth new clause because we have in our play sector small family businesses who contribute to our economy to the tune of £250 million and are powering employment and economic opportunity in our communities. Our country feels like it needs a lick of paint at times. We need potholes filling, we need litter collecting and we need playgrounds repairing. In so doing, we can bring hope back to our communities, and in doing that we can help people to feel positive about the potential for politics to make change.

• 9 Jun 2025 · Planning and Infrastructure Bill · Hansard source

  More

  I make it a habit to agree with my hon. Friend and I will keep that tradition today. I do indeed agree, and she rather anticipates the points that I am about to make. New clause 82 is so important because it provides key things that our children need. It would require developers to deliver and fund adequate play in their communities. It would ensure no net loss without equivalent provision as a consequence of development, but let me be clear: this is not about requiring every development to have a blanket requirement. It is not about holding every development hostage, because we know that development is important for growth in our communities. It is about ensuring that councils are well equipped and that planning authorities are supported to take a view in the round of what play sufficiency would be in a given area, and indeed to use contributions from developers to fund adequate—indeed, excellent—play provision.

• 9 Jun 2025 · Planning and Infrastructure Bill · Hansard source

  More

  Does the hon. Member recognise that only up to 1% of agricultural land could actually be dedicated to solar panels? Does he also recognise that a former president of the National Farmers Union has said that solar helps farmers to generate income?

• 4 Jun 2025 · Disadvantaged Communities · Hansard source

  More

  Disadvantage comes in many forms, and today I want to talk about child poverty. I grew up in poverty caring for two disabled parents. It took me a very long time to say that, and every time I do my mum will text me afterwards to say that she loves me, she is sorry and she did her best. No mum should ever have to text their son that. Enough is enough, and I want this Labour Government to stamp out child poverty. There are five quick solutions that we could take forward. The first is nothing less than the resurrection of Sure Start. We know the benefits and impacts: a recent Institute for Fiscal Studies report found that access to a Sure Start centre significantly improved children’s educational outcomes and reduced hospitalisations; children with Sure Start access in their early years were less likely to have depressive and anxiety disorders in their later years; and the impacts were remarkably long lasting. Let us do as the 1998 comprehensive spending review did and commit to 250 Sure Starts in the most disadvantaged communities, within a pram push of a person’s home. Let us resurrect our town and district centres by, wherever possible, filling empty shops with spaces where we can co-locate and integrate services once and for all. Let us think again about our libraries. Some 800 have closed in recent years and the number of librarians has been slashed. Let us reinvigorate our libraries as a place for the imagination to develop and roam, and let us centre Sure Start right there. Let us involve the integrated care boards. They have a duty to tackle health inequalities and can do that work. [ Interruption. ] Time is short; I am going to be fast. We need to invest in playgrounds, which are more likely to have been cut in deprived areas. We need to tackle the two-child benefit cap. I am glad to see that the Labour Government are looking at that again; it would have a significant impact overnight. We need to consider bus travel for children and younger people. Let them have free bus travel so that they can access opportunities. Let us, once and for all, stamp out child poverty.

• 4 Jun 2025 · Disadvantaged Communities · Hansard source

  More

  This Labour Government have seen 500,000 people added to employment since the election in July, which is a point that we should reflect on. But does the Conservative party commit to ending child poverty? Is that an explicit goal of the Conservative party under the current leadership?

• 4 Jun 2025 · Swimming Facilities · Hansard source

  More

  Water is so important to Bournemouth, the coastal town that I represent. I commend Bournemouth swimming club and the 1.4 mile swim between Boscombe and Bournemouth piers, which is one of Europe’s largest charity swimming events. We have swimming pools in Bournemouth, but only a few of them. Foremost among them is the Littledown centre’s 25-metre swimming pool, but schools tell me that they have limited opportunities for children to swim. If schools have few feasible places to go to, swimming opportunities are reduced. We can tackle child poverty, we can improve people’s life chances by, for example, resurrecting Sure Start and extending free school meals to families in receipt of universal credit, but we can also subsidise swimming lessons, provide free swimming passes, and invest in the swimming facilities that have been run down for so long. Leisure provision should be a statutory duty for local authorities, and we should have a Government—as we do with this Labour Government—who are committed to improving swimming for all.

• 3 Jun 2025 · Leasehold Reform · Hansard source

  More

  My constituents have been defrauded by Initiative Property Management, are suffering at the hands of Scanlans Limited, and have had to deal with the Residential Management Group, representatives of which I am meeting later today. I welcome this Labour Government’s action to hold companies such as those accountable, to challenge unfair charges and hidden fees, and to end leasehold. What is the Government’s message to rogue management companies? I ask so that when I meet the Residential Management Group, I can convey the will of the Government.

• 2 Jun 2025 · Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

  More

  I have been campaigning for a reliable, affordable bus route to Bournemouth airport. As a fellow Dorset MP, does my hon. Friend recognise the need for a dedicated service to the airport every 30 minutes, especially as it increases the number of flights that it will be handling?

• 2 Jun 2025 · Decriminalising Abortion · Hansard source

  More

  This Parliament must protect women’s fundamental healthcare rights. That is what nearly 200 of my constituents said in signing this petition, and it is why I co-signed new clause 17 to the Crime and Policing Bill, proposed by our hon. Friend the Member for Walthamstow (Ms Creasy). We face a global backlash against abortion access. The US vice-president has criticised our buffer zones, citing a case in my Bournemouth East constituency. I visited the clinic identified by the vice-president and met staff there. They deserve safety and freedom from harassment, but they are concerned about tampering and vandalism of their vehicles and rising hostility. Does my hon. and learned Friend agree that my constituents deserve fundamental human rights? We must lock in those rights and put them beyond the reach of politicians, to prevent future roll-backs. Does he agree that we need to end the threat of prosecution, and decriminalise abortion?

• 14 May 2025 · Future of Public Libraries · Hansard source

  More

  It is a pleasure to contribute to this debate with you in the Chair, Mr Dowd. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Derbyshire (Jonathan Davies) for bringing forward this debate. It is an honour to celebrate the public library and the dedicated librarians who have kept them going in recent years. Libraries are more than buildings filled with knowledge and books; they encapsulate who we are. Funded by our taxes, free at the point of need and delivery, they are the cornerstones of education, equality and opportunity in our country. Dr Seuss said, and he could not have put it better, that “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” I think that sums up the value of the library. The public library is a safe space for people of all ages and backgrounds to explore their imagination. I feel embarrassed to say this in front of the Minister, who is a very learned gentleman—the writer of nine books—but the library provided me with my earliest opportunities to read. I explored Enid Blyton, “Goosebumps”, “Point Horror”, “The Hardy Boys”, sometimes even Nancy Drew books. I moved on to Ed McBain, Michael Crichton and Stephen King. I also explored Shakespeare, Austen and Dickens, but the lion’s share of what I learned was probably at the lower end of the cultural spectrum. It put me in a good position to learn, to be curious, to enjoy reading and to develop that lifelong habit. I want my constituents in Bournemouth East to be able to develop that too. The public library also provided me with something important. I grew up in poverty, caring for two young disabled parents. If I had not had a public library on my doorstep where I could go to complete my homework in a warm, safe space, I do not think I would have been elected as an MP. Were it not for the kind eyes of librarians who looked at young children and saw potential and something they wanted to nourish, I do not think I could serve as the Member of Parliament for Bournemouth East. I want to thank the librarians around our country, and particularly those in my constituency, who have gone not just the extra mile but the extra 100 miles to keep libraries going in the face of significant cuts. Since 2010, UK public libraries have lost around £232.5 million. That is because of cuts by the Conservative Government to the budgets of local authorities of all political colours and that decrease in funding being passed on. We have seen the closure of 800 libraries since 2010 and a loss of librarians, with their numbers going down from 24,000 in 2009 to 15,000 in 2018. That is a travesty. In Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council, where my constituency is based, in the last financial year we have seen hundreds of thousands of pounds taken out of libraries’ budgets by the Liberal Democrat alliance, reckoning with the mismanagement of council funds by the previous Conservative administration and the Conservative austerity that was passed on to it. The budget set by the three towns alliance caused libraries to shorten their opening hours and close for an extra day a week. The Bournemouth Daily Echo says that opening times were cut by an average of 10 hours per week per library across BCP. In response to the public consultation on that budget, 60% of respondents disagreed with the proposed closing times that have been introduced. Many staff have had their hours reduced, and some have left, which is a sad loss of valued and experienced people. The Labour group in BCP council spoke against those cuts, particularly as the library strategy was yet to be published. It argued against the closures and changes to opening times and asked for a far more strategic approach, while acknowledging the funding pressures. Trying to be proactive and solutions-focused, the group said that no two neighbouring libraries should be closed on the same days at the same times and that we should see libraries as community hubs rather than just lenders of books. That speaks to the challenge faced by our public library system. Although providing a library service is a key statutory function for councils, the quality and quantity of that service is up to the council; it is dependent on the funding that the council makes available. When we have such a crisis in social care, which is increasing the cost that councils have to bear, those who fall behind will be people who use libraries. We need a radical solution to social care and local government funding, which I know is beyond the Minister’s remit, but it is part of thinking strategically about what local councils mean in this day and age and what role libraries play in the delivery of services by local councils. I want to echo what many Members have said about libraries being a critical place for MPs to hold their surgeries. I have held my surgeries in Boscombe, Castlepoint, Charminster, Pokesdown and Southbourne, and Springbourne libraries. In fact, the only library I have not held a surgery in is Tuckton, because it is too small. In going to those libraries, meeting the staff and bringing constituents into them, I have seen just how loved those libraries are, not just as places that lend books but as places where people can get guidance, advice and support. In conclusion, it is important that we provide the funding that libraries need, but it is also important that we provide the funding to councils with a clear definition of what their roles are, so that libraries do not lose out. I thank the dedicated librarians of Bournemouth East, and although we are talking about public libraries, I also thank the House of Commons Library, which is a brilliant institution that has served MPs well. I have benefited enormously from it, and every time I go in, I am greeted with a smile and a significant amount of knowledge, so I want to say a huge thank you to the House of Commons Library staff.

• 13 May 2025 · UK-EU Summit · Hansard source

  More

  I think Sir John wanted to intervene.

• 13 May 2025 · UK-EU Summit · Hansard source

  More

  I will come to you. That deal will put money in people’s pockets, grow our economy and create jobs. Now, we have the prospect of a third trade deal, with the European Union, on the horizon. It would be a really important deal. That is crucial, because if we do not foster the conditions for trade in a world of global insecurity, we will create further problems in our democracy and around the world.

• 13 May 2025 · UK-EU Summit · Hansard source

  More

  I will come to you shortly. We must recognise the importance of urgency. That is why I am genuinely extremely pleased that we have a Government who have moved forward in recent days and weeks with two significant trade deals. The first, with India, was achieved in 10 months, after the Conservatives had spent eight years saying that they would get a deal. We rolled up our sleeves and got a deal that will put more money into people’s pockets, create jobs here, and benefit our economy. The trade deal with the United States is not what we would have got had Kamala Harris been elected President; it is the deal we could get with Donald Trump as President, and I think that it shows realistic, common-sense negotiation.

• 13 May 2025 · UK-EU Summit · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the hon. Member for listening to some of what I said. I said that we in this place have the right to speak in debates such as this, to shape the conditions of trade. Clearly, with the Minister on the Front Bench listening acutely to everything that Members are saying, that message is being carried into Government —the Minister is nodding profusely—in which case, we will have that democratic accountability. I turn to the other areas of potential EU-UK relationship improvement. Defence is obviously a core part of that. NATO is the cornerstone of our collective security, but a strong UK must sit alongside strong European countries. The UK is raising its defence spending to an unprecedented level and making efforts to grow our defence industrial base. We need to do that not only for our own security and the security of democracies, but to set an example to European countries about raising their own defence spending, while working with them to grow our collaboration. On the question of trade, all of us in this House, whichever party we represent, will have had small businesses come to our surgeries and tell us about the red tape they encounter as a result of the Brexit deal. If they voted for Brexit, they did not vote for that Brexit deal; they voted for something very different. I think we can all recognise that, and if we do not, we are not listening to our constituents when they come to our surgeries and tell us their truth very clearly. By reducing red tape, we can help to grow the number of jobs in our economy, open up our borders to more trade and smooth our exports, which is critical if we are going to achieve the Government’s No. 1 goal of growing our economy. Without growth in our economy, we will not raise living standards, we will not be a country at ease with itself, we will not again be confident on the world stage, and we will not be a leading democratic voice in a world of strengthening democracies.