Tom Hayes MP: speeches

Speeches

• 13 Nov 2024 · Chagos Islands · Hansard source

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  One of the wonderful things about our Parliament and our democracy is that our citizens can see our proceedings, but so too can our foes. Those who wish us harm and have no good intentions towards us will look across at the Opposition Benches and see that there is not a credible national security team when they are asking questions of this Government. I want to confine my question to a constituent of mine who has lived in the UK for the last 17 years after leaving the Chagos islands. He is keen to reunite with his family who are now UK citizens, but housing costs are an issue. Will the Minister get back to me with information on whether housing support could be part of the Government’s overall support for the Chagossian community?

• 12 Nov 2024 · NHS Dentistry: South-west · Hansard source

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  I have just been rereading the 2010 Conservative manifesto—a delightful read. On page 47, it promises full dental contract reform. I then looked at comments by Conservative Ministers in 2024, when they promised to “consider” dental contract reform. Can the hon. Lady explain why no meaningful reform happened over those 14 years of Conservative government?

• 12 Nov 2024 · NHS Dentistry: South-west · Hansard source

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  My constituent Jonathon Carr-Brown recently went to his dentist for a routine check-up. Dr King seated him in the dentist’s chair, as he had done many times before, and felt his throat, as he had done many times before. Unlike those other times, Dr King found something: he found a lump. After that visit to Bournemouth dental centre and further investigations, a tumour was identified. I saw Jonathon at the weekend. He had just completed a course of chemotherapy, because his dentist had helped to spot cancer. He was doing well: he was a little tired following his treatment, but he was not too tired to talk passionately about the importance of dentistry within our wider healthcare and about how more lives could be saved with the right changes by our Labour Government. Jonathon’s story shows the potential of so many things, including co-location, the promise of innovation and the possibilities of integration. Imagine if Jonathon had been able to go up the corridor to get diagnosed even faster and receive the right kind of support even faster. Jonathon’s story shows the power of prevention. There are so many people in Bournemouth East who are struggling to get the routine appointments that could spot problems and fix them sooner. Of course we need more appointments and of course we need more workers, but we also need a rethink of who does what. In my constituency, as elsewhere, I know the potential for local hygienists and therapists to use the full scope of their practice, and indeed for Bournemouth to pilot a new model of therapy-led practices, with dentists covering only the work that sits outside scope. I would welcome investment in the training and development of an oral health team who could learn by doing, providing clinical and preventive services to people who need them. Right now, Health Sciences University in Boscombe could help to increase local people’s access to oral health care by training even more professionals for the future and getting support to people who need it, bringing down the waiting list while also training people up and particularly providing outreach in areas of deprivation. There are so many areas of policy that we could focus on. I would love to talk at length about the reform of the dental contract, but in the hope that colleagues will do so, I will focus instead on the importance of empowering people by giving them accurate and clear information about NHS dentistry. The NHS app and the nhs.uk website are managed by NHS Digital and the NHS Business Services Authority—I said “NHS” quite a lot there. It is the responsibility of NHS contractors to update for their specific provision. That means that there is no kind of oversight or meaningful guarantee of accuracy of information. In April, before the general election, my team rang around all the surgeries in Bournemouth that were offering spaces to new NHS patients. They discovered that many had not updated their details, sometimes for years. Since then, there have been a small number of updates, perhaps prompted by my team’s calls. However, most of the surgeries that were recently showing as not having updated their details were private. They were only offering private appointments and seemed baffled to be rung by somebody looking for NHS care. It is not just that time-poor people who are desperate for dental care might be accessing incorrect information. It struck me and my team that people could be ringing surgeries listed on NHS platforms for NHS care—they are not listed as private dental providers. When those people are unable to access NHS care, they may be so desperate for any kind of care that they will buy into private dental provision. When we checked it out with the NHS, it had no way of determining whether patients commit to private dental provision, or what service members of the public may be offered. We were told that although so many private surgeries were not listed as private on the website and digital platforms, the NHS could not comment on the advertising of private dental providers. In April, under the Conservative Government, we discovered that there were no new NHS places available in a dental surgery in Bournemouth. Things have improved slightly since then, but only slightly. We need to improve the accuracy of the information that we provide to our public by putting in place the right mechanisms. We need to strengthen our digital platforms to ensure that citizens can book appointments, get personalised notifications to book routine check-ups and compare waiting times and patient satisfaction scores. Lastly, we need a digital health record as a single source of truth about someone’s health. That information is fragmented across pharmacies, GP surgeries, dental practices, hospitals and people’s phones. How much better would it be to bring that information together so that someone’s medical record is in hand and complete when they are seen? That would allow them to be seen by the right person at the right time in the right setting. Our NHS was founded on the principle that health should not depend on wealth. However, people who can pay are paying. The use of private healthcare will continue to rocket, perhaps even through unintended encouragement on NHS platforms, unless we co-locate, innovate and integrate. A healthy population will unlock a stronger Britain. I look forward to supporting the Government in their efforts to change our NHS and our NHS dentistry, so that they can survive and serve our public.

• 11 Nov 2024 · Parents Looking for Work · Hansard source

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  17. What steps she is taking to help support parents who are looking for work.

• 11 Nov 2024 · Parents Looking for Work · Hansard source

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  In recent weeks, I have met the DWP in Bournemouth and advice agencies including the citizens advice bureau for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole. Advice agencies welcome the record increase in carers allowance that was announced in the Budget. They and in-work parents with disabled children have also asked about the transition from child tax credit to universal credit. That may be a matter for the “Get Britain Working” White Paper, but can the Minister say how the Government will further support such parents to work and earn, and flexibly meet their families’ needs?

• 30 Oct 2024 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

• 30 Oct 2024 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

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  Would the right hon. Gentleman welcome the £63 billion of investment that came through the international investment summit as a result of the election of a Labour Government? That money had been held back until the election, and the election led to the investment of those billions of pounds. Is that not a sign of significant business confidence in our country?

• 30 Oct 2024 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

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  I think the hon. Lady should say the same to her leadership contenders. I think it is important to say that, because we have very big decisions being taken in this Budget. The Conservatives are now the Opposition, and the public have entrusted to them the responsibility for holding this Government to account for getting things right. However, there is a desertion of duty and a dereliction of what they are supposed to do that I think the country will remember. Having campaigned in many elections and lost many elections over the last 14 years, I know the pain that comes from losing, but I also know the importance of listening to the voters. What we heard in the Leader of the Opposition’s contribution to the Budget debate was a refusal to listen to the result of the general election. So divorced are the Conservatives from the reality of people’s lives that they are projecting absurd notions. Again, I think the Conservative party will be judged on that, but enough about the Conservative party. With our first Budget in 14 years, this Labour Government are putting Bournemouth and Britain back on track. We are fixing broken public services and broken finances. Unlike the Conservatives, we will fix the foundations rather than accept permanent decline. Unlike the Conservatives, we were elected to be on the side of working people, and we will govern as such. Unlike the Conservatives, we are on the side investment to grow our economy, and we reject austerity. After over a decade of stagnant wages and out of control prices, we are putting money into people’s pockets. Over 8,000 people across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole on the national living wage will see their pay packet increase by 6.7%, and they will get a well-deserved pay rise of up to £1,400 a year. Labour is cancelling Tory stealth tax increases by ensuring that income tax brackets will rise with inflation from 2028, and we are freezing fuel duty. After years of economic mismanagement, Labour’s Budget will boost our local economy, and we are restoring economic stability to give businesses the confidence to invest. I welcome the fact that the Federation of Small Businesses has said today that the Budget is “a huge help for small firms”, which have been heard loud and clear. After a decade of austerity and under-investment, Labour’s Budget will give a new lease of life to our struggling public services. We are investing a record £22 billion in our NHS. As somebody who cared for two disabled parents when I was growing up, I know that waiting lists kill. Waiting lists have got longer, and more people are dying because of that. With this Labour Government, there is an investment in protecting people’s lives and people’s quality of life, which we should never ever forget. We are also providing £2.3 billion of extra investment in our core schools budget and £6.7 billion to rebuild crumbling schools in all of our communities. It is particularly important to me that we are investing an additional £1 billion to start to fix the special educational needs and disabilities system. It is a good start, with more to come. These are just a few of the measures that Labour is taking to boost the economy nationally and locally, and to improve people’s lives. Labour is making different choices from the Conservatives, and as somebody who grew up, in mouldy and damp council housing, caring for disabled parents who knew the value of a Labour Government, I am so pleased that people across Bournemouth East and across Britain will once again know the value of a Labour Government after 14 years of Tory chaos and Conservative austerity. I am particularly pleased that those claiming carer’s allowance will see the earnings limit increase, which means that people claiming the allowance can earn over £10,000 a year while continuing to be eligible. That is such an important step for carers, who give so much to their families, their loved ones, and our communities. I commend all that they do in my constituency and across the country—this Government has got your back. We are investing billions in our public services to ensure that children have access to breakfast at school, that our roads are fixed, and potholes filled. That is all happening because of balanced, careful choices by our Chancellor of the Exchequer to fund the changes that people voted for at the general election. Earlier today somebody was talking about hope. I feel hopeful for the first time in a very long time, and when I go knocking on doors in Bournemouth East on Saturday and Sunday, I am 100% confident that people will feel hopeful too.

• 30 Oct 2024 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

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  In this Budget today, we are basically asking this question: what kind of country will we be? I think we should first think about this debate because we have desertion on the Opposition Benches. We have used lots of numbers in this debate, and I have quickly crunched some more: 3.3% of the Conservative parliamentary party are sitting facing us.

• 29 Oct 2024 · Great British Energy Bill · Hansard source

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  It is an honour to welcome this Bill as it is moving forward, and I want to commend the leadership of the Secretary of State and the Energy Minister. To show such leadership so early on in the Parliament on such an important topic is really commended in my community. My community of Bournemouth, and Britain, have suffered the worst cost of living crisis in a generation, driven by the energy shock that followed Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. This cost of living crisis has been a disaster for businesses. Typical energy bills have nearly doubled in the space of a year. It has been a disaster for family finances, with millions struggling with fuel poverty and many still facing enormous debts. It has been a disaster for public finances because the Government that we replaced left our country so unprepared. They were forced to spend an eye-watering £94 billion to support households with the cost of living—almost as much as our entire defence budget over the entire period. Because energy costs underpin economic performance, inflation soared, growth sputtered and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent inflation in the UK to over 10%, with a full third of that directly due to rising gas prices as a direct result of our vulnerability over the last 14 years. We risk paying an even heavier price if we stay exposed to fossil fuels. We still depend on gas to generate more than a third of our electricity and to heat more than four out of five of our homes. No more. We must make sure that we are energy secure, and we must be able to bring down our bills. The Office for Budget Responsibility has warned about our exposure to surges in energy prices, and the potential costs to bill payers, taxpayers, consumers and businesses alike. The OBR now estimates that another fossil fuel price shock would cost the economy 2% to 3% of our GDP in the 2030s. The crisis is not over. It still casts a long shadow and we cannot go on like this. We must learn the lessons, and the fastest way to reduce our vulnerability is to end our dependence on volatile global fossil fuels. The cheapest way to meet our energy needs is to enhance our home-grown renewables and British-based nuclear. I was intrigued to hear the Conservative spokesperson, the right hon. Member for East Surrey (Claire Coutinho), saying that this Government want to go slow on nuclear, so I have to ask: what nuclear projects were built over the last 14 years of the Conservative Government and five Prime Ministers? What small modular reactors actually moved ahead? What did those Prime Ministers do with the investment and the work that developers wanted to bring forward? Nothing. Our nuclear industry has been starved of funding and attention, but no more. When the energy is produced here and consumed here, Britain is protected against the volatile international markets that send our bills soaring. The Climate Change Committee’s report, published two weeks after the Labour Government came into office, laid bare the true reality of energy policy under the last Conservative Government. It states: “Last year…the previous Government signalled a slowing of pace and reversed or delayed key policies”. We did not hear about that from the right hon. Member for East Surrey. It also stated that “announcements were given with the justification that they will make the transition more affordable for people, but with no evidence backing this claim”. We did not hear anything about that. The assessment of the committee was that “only a third of the emissions reductions required…are currently covered by credible plans” by the previous Government. We did not hear anything about that. That is this Labour Government’s inheritance, for a target that has to be achieved in just five years’ time. Britain is way off track to hit our 2030 international target of a 68% reduction in emissions. That is why the Government are in a hurry, and it is why they introduced the Bill so early in this Parliament. In the five years ahead, our big challenges will be building an energy system at speed and supporting people through the energy transition. We need to demonstrate the benefits of the infrastructure we are building and make sure that host communities benefit in return. When we ask our communities to host this infrastructure, I am confident that they will say yes. They will do so on behalf of our nation. They will do so for cheaper bills in the long run, for good jobs that pay well and to benefit our communities. National Grid estimates that five times as many pylons and underground lines will need to be constructed by 2030 than in the past 30 years. Underground cables cost six to 10 times more than overground cables. If part of our challenge is to cut bills and to reduce overall costs in a time of scarcity, we must be willing to invest in our infrastructure. The faster we go, the more secure we become. Every wind turbine we erect, every solar panel we install and every piece of grid we construct will help our families and protect them from future energy shocks. Conversely, every wind turbine blocked, every solar farm rejected and every piece of grid left unbuilt will make us less secure and more exposed. The faster we go, the better our economy will work for working people by creating a new generation of good jobs that finally pay decent wages in our industrial heartlands. Labour Members do not seek deindustrialisation; we seek decarbonisation. And decarbonisation will be achieved through reindustrialisation and the creation of good green jobs. The faster we go, the more we will be early movers and lead the world in new technologies. Why should these jobs be created in Pennsylvania or Shanghai? Let us create them in Bournemouth and across our country. And the faster we go, the more we can tackle our climate challenge. This is no longer a future threat. It is right here, right now, and we need to be able to tackle it. Over the past few years, the race for jobs and the industries of the future has accelerated across the world. For too long, our country has been opted out of that race against our will. We have lost out, and our communities have fallen behind. Pay has not kept pace, and jobs have not been created on the scale needed. Why did the previous Government allow other countries to lead in these industries and clean jobs? Why did they not bet on our country and our potential? I am delighted to see this Bill make progress. I commend Ministers for introducing it, and I look forward to seeing true investment in our green industries and the jobs of the future.

• 28 Oct 2024 · Fiscal Rules · Hansard source

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  Before I became an MP, I led services for very vulnerable people and, unfortunately, came into close contact with gaslighting. As a new MP, I am afraid that my contact with gaslighting is not diminishing, and I slightly despair at what I am seeing from Opposition Members. While I was out canvassing over the weekend and talking with residents on Ken Road in Southbourne, I met a constituent who said, “We knew it wasn’t going to be pretty and you were going to inherit a mess, and we knew that it would be a long haul to get things right. But we were sick and tired of politicians who weren’t taking the big decisions and investing in the long term.” Does my right hon. Friend agree that we should listen to more of our constituents, like the person I just mentioned, who happened to vote Labour on 4 July for the first time in her life?

• 23 Oct 2024 · Rough Sleeping · Hansard source

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  Will the Minister give way?

• 23 Oct 2024 · Rough Sleeping · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Member acknowledge that many of the Labour local authorities he was just referencing are in densely urban areas, which, according to research into homelessness, tend to have larger numbers of homeless people? Will he recognise that those authorities, like Conservative authorities, have been significantly starved of funding in recent years, to the point that council leaders, both Conservative and Labour, have been crying out for relief from Government? Will he also acknowledge that, with the starvation of many of our public services, people who are sleeping rough could otherwise often have received support earlier, but because they did not they now have to sleep rough—and that that is the fault of the Conservative Government?

• 23 Oct 2024 · Rough Sleeping · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing Southall (Deirdre Costigan) for calling this debate. People sleeping rough often have important things in common. They often have several support needs, such as mental ill health, substance misuse, an offending history, physical disability, self-harm, learning disabilities, experience of domestic abuse, sex work, abuse, neglect and modern slavery—pretty much some of the worst things a person can go through. But they also often do not get the entirety of the services and support they need, when they need them, in the ways they need them. Frankly, that is the fault of nobody—certainly not the person sleeping rough—except the last Conservative Government. I say that with the immediate and direct experiences of having run a mental health and domestic abuse charity for the five years before I was elected, of setting up and sitting on a homelessness alliance, of chairing a mental health partnership, of being a councillor for 10 years and of serving as deputy council leader in that time. I can tell the House that over the 14 years of Conservative government, this problem got worse and worse. I want to commend those leading and working in our services, because they are the most amazing, caring, understanding, dedicated people. We have heard from some of those people who are now in Parliament. In my constituency of Bournemouth East, I want to commend Bournemouth Churches Housing Association; St Paul’s Hostel, which is run by BCHA; HealthBus; YMCA Bournemouth; Healthwatch Dorset, which has just produced a fantastic report on homelessness and health; Homewards, represented by the Prince of Wales; WithYou; We Are Humans; the citizens advice bureaux across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole; and Shelter. That goes to show the array of services available in my local area, but the services they lead and the systems they contribute are being held back by forces beyond their control. Underfunding has forced services to narrow and narrow their focus, year after year. As a result, they are meeting a smaller set of needs. Services cannot wrap support around as many needs as they would have done in the past; instead, somebody sleeping rough must engage with a larger set of services. No charity has wanted to narrow its focus, but, left out of pocket, and often subsidising contracts, they just could not carry on delivering services without enough funding. The result is twofold. First, our third sector’s ability to support clients and contribute to healthcare has been eroded year after year, and secondly, the people needing support who no longer fit the referral criteria for a service will end up being bounced from pillar to post, and people with a combination of issues will always be the exception to somebody’s rule. People who are willing to engage may become distrustful of agencies and refuse services, and that is a particular problem when people who are sleeping rough may, because of their needs, have difficulties keeping appointments. When people are flying through revolving doors, increasingly distrustful of people and services, and feeling let down, they may experience crises. Without the support they need, that will only set back their health and increase the cost not only to their own health but to services that could wrap around them. Prevention is always cheaper and better than having to treat somebody’s health. The people in Bournemouth East working in these sectors know exactly what is going wrong, they know exactly what needs to happen, and they know exactly how things could be so much better. They tell me what needs to happen. They are clear that we need sufficient funding to run the services to meet the needs of rough sleepers. What will that buy? First, it will mean that we have enough caseworkers with the time to care, because a flexible approach is needed to engage people with multiple support needs who may slip through the net of services. People sleeping rough typically benefit from longer-term interactions, and we need to understand that the funding should be available for those longer-term interactions rather than for short interventions. Secondly, we need funding models that appreciate that work can go at a slower pace to achieve useful outcomes. That means having a system with the clarity, and the time to achieve that clarity, for the people working within it but also for the people accessing support. Thirdly—and this cannot go ignored—caseworkers who are supporting people sleeping rough need to be at their posts in their organisations for a long period of time, uninterrupted, to develop relationships with the people they support and build trust. If they have to get out of bed worrying about whether they can pay their bills, or worrying about their own mental health, they are not going to be able to provide support to the people who need it the most. That requires taking away the reasons caseworkers may leave the service: not getting paid enough to survive; not being able to develop professionally with the training and new skills that they need; or having their resilience beaten down because they support too many people, their caseloads are too high and the needs they are meeting are so many, so varied and so complex. I recently visited the Poole campus of Bournemouth and Poole college. I talked to the head, Phil Sayles, and he told me about a chap who had been sleeping rough on the park grass beside the college campus. Every morning, he had packed up his tent to come into the college and learn. His relationship had broken down and he was unable to see his child; his life had fallen apart. But with the kindness and support of the college and the services around him, he was able to start to get his life back on track, and he is now flying. That is one person on one campus of one college, in one town in one part of our United Kingdom; there will be countless people across our country in similar situations. I commend the Government for moving forward with the endeavour for a cross-departmental long-term strategy. We have ended rough sleeping before, during the pandemic; we can end it again. We just need the necessary political will, and the people who know what the solutions are to be listened to.

• 23 Oct 2024 · Rough Sleeping · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman made valid points about using a street count to determine the number of people sleeping rough. Does he therefore agree that the numbers of those recorded as sleeping rough over the past 14 years are the tip of the iceberg and that the vulnerability, often in urban areas, is far higher?

• 23 Oct 2024 · Rough Sleeping · Hansard source

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  Integrated care boards are expected to have a dedicated focus on reducing inequalities in access to and outcomes from health care in the populations they serve. Clearly, rough-sleeping people are among the health inclusion populations that integrated care boards are supposed to have a dedicated focus on. Will the Minister talk a little about the importance of integrated care boards in supporting the access of people sleeping rough to GPs and dentists?

• 22 Oct 2024 · Renewable Energy: Cornwall · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is giving an excellent speech in which she is once again standing up for her communities and clean power. Does she agree that the cost of living crisis—the worst in a generation, driven by the energy shock—will cast a long shadow for as long as we remain exposed to fossil fuels, and that we must embrace British-based nuclear and Cornwall renewables? The faster we go, the more secure we become. On the point about ground source heat pumps, can she say a little about Kensa, which manufactures heat pumps in Cornwall? I was privileged to see its heat pumps last week at the Sutton Dwellings in Chelsea. They are an amazing technology.

• 22 Oct 2024 · Pub and Hospitality Sector · Hansard source

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  I am thrilled that the Labour Government value the role of pubs, cafés, restaurants and more in serving Bournemouth and Britain. When I speak with publicans and people involved in the hospitality sector, they tell me that they want Bournemouth to be seen not as a sleepy seaside town, but as a thriving and bustling place to invest, work and live. Let us take as an example the stretch of Charminster Road between the Broadway pub and Creams. There are 17 different types of cuisine on offer, which are as diverse as the communities that call Charmy home. We have four pubs—the Richmond Arms, the Fiveways, the Broadway and The Dancing Jug—and more than 80% of vendors are independent. If we move to Boscombe—I know that hon. Members would want to—we have Boscanova. Started by the team behind Bad Hand Coffee, it is a fantastic place that I visited recently and remains a bustling spot for great food made from ingredients sourced in Dorset and Hampshire, and some of the best coffee in Bournemouth. I cannot dwell on Boscombe without talking about Flamingo and Joy Cafe, and Cafe Riva and the Hush Club. The Hush Club almost stopped visiting Cafe Riva because of issues with the council and licensing complaints. I am pleased to have brought people together in recent weeks to keep that going. If we move over to Southbourne, as again I know hon. Members would want to, there are fantastic places to visit, such as Wild & Ginger, Little Perth, Ludo Lounge, Brewhouse & Kitchen, The Wight Bear, Syd’s Slaps, The Larder House, Dicky’s, Harry’s—I could go on. Moving quickly over to Moordown, if hon. Members fancy a good fish and chips on a Friday night, they might have to queue up, but I recommend they go to Malvern Road Fisheries. Lastly, in Muscliff and Strouden Park, perhaps the best kebab in the whole of Bournemouth East, if not the whole country, is found at Noor. I encourage any and all people to come, any day of the week. I thank the business improvement districts for all they do to fuel economic growth and the people of Bournemouth East, who invest, set up businesses and help to fuel the hospitality economy, because they are making Bournemouth the amazing place that it is.

• 21 Oct 2024 · Employment Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  I proudly refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Bournemouth is blighted by insecurity, and Britain is paralysed by low pay. As somebody who grew up in very significant financial hardship, caring for two disabled parents, work for me was a route out of poverty. By working on several shop floors in Salford, I was able to earn enough money to go to university. Were it not for that opportunity, I would not be here today. Things were hard then, but they are so much harder today, so I welcome the Bill. The Bill gives workers in Bournemouth the rights that they need, employers in Bournemouth the security that they need, and our economy in Bournemouth the tools that it needs to grow sustainably. I thank people across Bournemouth East, the constituency that I am so proud to represent, who have shared their thoughts and insights, and met with me about the Bill. I have represented their views and been a voice for their arguments, and I believe that the legislation is stronger as a result. Across Britain, more than 1 million people on zero-hours contracts will benefit from the new guaranteed-hours policy; 1.5 million parents will benefit from unpaid parental leave as a day one right; and 9 million people who have been with their employer for less than two years will benefit from the new day one unfair dismissal policy. An estimated one in 25 employees did not get any of the paid holiday that they were entitled to last year. The new fair work agency will enforce holiday pay for the first time. The Bill is a crucial, long-overdue step that directly benefits women at work. It will increase protection from sexual harassment. One in two women have been sexually harassed in the workplace, and four out of five do not report it to their employers. The legislation will empower tribunals to raise compensation in cases of sexual harassment where the employer failed to take reasonable steps to prevent it. An estimated 4,000 pregnant women and mothers returning from maternity leave a year will benefit from new protections. The Bill will also introduce gender pay gap action plans, and strengthen protection for workers through the menopause. The Labour party made a promise to level the playing field at work by introducing the Bill early in the life of this Government. Promise made, promise kept. I am so proud and excited to be voting for this pro-worker, pro-business, pro-growth, pro-economy measure, and I commend the Deputy Prime Minister for bringing it forward. Bournemouth and Britain have been held back for too long. Together, we take a big step forward, with a measure that has been agreed and negotiated with businesses, trade unions and workers. We are fixing the foundations, and together we are shortening the journey towards the fairer society that so many people elected a Labour Government to bring forward.

• 21 Oct 2024 · Employment Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  We have just had a general election. The Labour party won a historic majority on the basis of a manifesto that was pro-business, pro-worker and pro-growth. Through the Bill, we are bringing forward provisions that were sketched out in our manifesto. Why is the hon. Member choosing not to listen to the result of the election? In choosing to reject the provisions in the Bill, he is not learning from the result of the general election.

• 17 Oct 2024 · International Investment Summit · Hansard source

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  On that point about finance, I was pleased to see that JP Morgan, which has its headquarters in my constituency, joined other big banks in the world to back the push to invest in the UK ahead of the summit. Does the hon. Member agree with JP Morgan and those banks that we should be optimistic about the future of the British economy following the election?

• 17 Oct 2024 · International Investment Summit · Hansard source

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  I start by noting that we have on the Government Front Bench two Ministers who split their time between Departments. One is at the Treasury and the Department for Work and Pensions, and the other is at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the Department for Business and Trade. That just goes to show that we have a joined-up, mission-led Government who are trying to move away from working in silos and to have a shared ambition, and that is to be commended. We are here today to talk about investment, which is obviously about money, but it is also—I would not want to lose this—about people. It is about skills, expertise, experience, opportunities for learning, better jobs, dignity at work, feeding families and enabling the maximum amount of prosperity. We should hold on to those things, because they are what our constituents want and what they send us to this place to deliver. That said, investment is also about the money. The £63 billion truly is a record-breaking amount, and I commend our mission-led Government for securing it. It is the clearest sign that global businesses are backing the British economy and working people under this new Labour Government. That money could have gone elsewhere, but it is coming to our country, for all the reasons I just described. It is coming here because the country voted for change to achieve stability. In the last 14 years, we have had little to no growth, with billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money wasted and a huge black hole in our finances. The country was left vulnerable to the worst cost of living crisis in a generation, and our Government was forced to spend £94 billion on household support because we were so exposed to fossil fuels. That is why I am particularly pleased that so much of this investment is going towards clean energy. For example, some of the £2 billion from Octopus Energy will be used to build four new solar farms across Bristol, Wiltshire, Essex and the East Riding of Yorkshire, powering up to 80,000 homes. Those investments will improve our local economies and communities. I feel sad and wrong saying this, but we have been talking about Elton John, and nobody else has made the inevitable point: sorry seems to be the hardest word, but we are not hearing it said, either in jest or in sincerity. As I look at the Opposition Benches, which are deserted, I wish that Conservatives could speak up on behalf of British business— [ Interruption. ] I do apologise to the hon. Member for Grantham and Bourne (Gareth Davies). Perhaps he will find the hymn sheet to sing from—the one about being in favour of British business and investment. Perhaps he will also say sorry, much as it is the hardest word—I have said that twice now. As I said, neither this debate nor these investments are just about the money. Hopefully, nearly 38,000 people across the UK, including in my home of Bournemouth East, will begin new jobs as part of the green transition that our country so desperately needs and that our industrial sector has been crying out for. To that end, I very much welcome the publishing of the Government’s Green Paper on their 10-year industrial strategy, which we have already heard about. In the short time I have been a Member of Parliament, the Government have committed to strengthening Britain’s industrial base—in both the service and manufacturing industries—to create good, well-paid jobs in not only the green sectors we have today but those of the future. With the right policies, the Government can supercharge investment in clean energy industries across the UK, from the industrial heartlands of the north to the thriving finance sector in Bournemouth. This is about more than just creating green jobs; it is about the revitalisation of entire regions and ensuring that every corner of our country benefits. I have been fortunate this week to spend time with investors, businesses and working people at three events in London, and the relief is palpable. I have listened to investors talk about how they have been holding on to money because they have been craving regulatory certainty; planning reform; the building of homes for their workers; an NHS that can fix those workers, who they need at their workplaces but who are at home unwell, because of mental ill health, musculoskeletal problems or worse; and the certainty from Government that would remove the barriers to growth, so that the investments they make extract a dividend for not just their companies but our wider economy. When Members hear that the investment we are talking about was lined up before the general election, they should not believe it. It came forward after the general election, because businesses now have a Government who are committed to putting in place the infrastructure and changes needed for our economy to grow now and into the future. We know the benefits of action, and we know the costs of inaction, because we are bearing those costs now. Working together, Government, investors, working people, our trade unions, and businesses will achieve energy independence and security. We will achieve falling and lower bills. We will achieve good jobs and pride in our communities. Together with our mission-led Government, we will achieve a growing and improving economy and way of life.

• 15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

• 15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source

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  Our majority is 174, but who’s counting? As far as I can tell, the Conservative party’s manifesto did not mention House of Lords reform—I may have missed it, so I apologise if it did mention that. Could the right hon. Member please tell me the Conservative thinking on House of Lords reform? A big package of House of Lords reform has been mentioned, but I am not any clearer about what that might entail. Reading the 1999 debate on the House of Lords reform that was pushed forward by the Blair Government, I was struck by the fact that many Conservative Members opposed that reform on the basis that it did not go far enough. Is the call for further reform actually a smokescreen to do nothing and, therefore, to preserve the hereditary principle? All of us, including the right hon. Member, would agree that we should eliminate that principle.

• 15 Oct 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source

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  Today, Conservative colleagues have said that the reforms go too far but not far enough, and too fast but not fast enough. They have said that we should abolish the hereditary principle and that we should keep it. What is the official Conservative position? May I ask whether what we have seen today is exactly the reason that the Conservative manifesto said nothing about the hereditary principle?