Tom Hayes MP: speeches

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Speeches

27 Jan 2026 · Business Rates · Hansard source
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Business rates are complicated, and this new methodology particularly so. Businesses were always going to be in touch with MPs, and in our democracy we were going to talk it through with the Government to get to a better place. Today’s announcement shows that our democracy works and that representation works. I thank the hospitality sector business owners in Bournemouth East who have constructively engaged with me to get to that better place. We also, in this House, need to put party politics aside and recognise that business owners put their hearts and souls, and their blood, sweat and tears, into building something better. We all need to commit to doing something better on their behalf. Will the Minister continue to engage with me, on behalf of all hospitality, so that we can get the very best deal for them, and not just now but for the future?
27 Jan 2026 · Inflation · Hansard source
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The Conservatives may want to talk down Britain, but Bournemouth is building again, with a £350 million expansion at J. P. Morgan Chase following the Chancellor’s visit, a £100 million expansion planned by AFC Bournemouth, a £50 million airport upgrade, £26 million invested in Bournemouth and Poole College, £500 million provided for the Royal Bournemouth hospital development, and new land at Wessex Fields to build key worker housing and medical research facilities. Will the Chancellor continue to prioritise stability, bringing down costs, and the free trade that we need in our world, so that we can continue to protect and expand these investments into Bournemouth?
26 Jan 2026 · Animal Rescue Centres · Hansard source
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I thank the 145 signatories to the petition from Bournemouth East; I also thank Staffie and Stray Rescue, Waggy Tails Rescue Dorset and Margaret Green Animal Rescue, alongside Cats Protection and the RSPCA, for all that they do in my constituency. My hon. Friend mentions the Government’s recently announced plan to consult on the issue. Does she agree that we need a publicly accessible national database of animal welfare establishments? That is the only way in which the rescue and rehoming centres that ensure that abandoned or lost animals have a safe place and a second chance can truly be supported.
26 Jan 2026 · Key Stage 1 Curriculum · Hansard source
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This is a debate about whether play ought to be a mandatory part of key stage 1—do the official Opposition support that?
26 Jan 2026 · Key Stage 1 Curriculum · Hansard source
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Play is firmly back on the agenda in this Parliament, as symbolised by the new APPG on play. On Wednesday last week, we heard from, among others, Ruth Lue-Quee—My Mummy Teacher—about the importance of this petition. In England, we rightly pride ourselves on an early years foundation stage that places play-based pedagogy at the heart of learning, but for children, that approach ends abruptly at the school gate of year 1. My constituent Rachel Peck, a key stage 1 teacher and early years practitioner, says: “The need for play doesn’t suddenly disappear at five. Removing play so early removes the very opportunities children need to develop creativity, collaboration, problem-solving and communication.” My constituent Louise Jane tells me: “Children in Key Stage 1 are still so young. Sometimes it feels like the system sees them as numbers and data—when they are so much more than that.” We know that active play stimulates the release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, which supports memory, focus and neuroplasticity. Put simply, we know that movement helps the brain to grow. We also know that play offers challenge and risk, so that children develop self-regulation, emotional resilience and the ability to manage stress—essential social skills that cannot be taught by a child sitting down with a worksheet. My constituent Rachel Peck says: “We spend the rest of children’s school lives trying to teach skills that should have been naturally developed through play alongside their peers.” I agree. Yet when children enter key stage 1, we find that play becomes a reward and its withdrawal a sanction, without realising that it is often the absence of movement and play that drives the behaviours that then get punished. My constituent Kate Bethune, whom I met at one of my surgeries, told me: “We are crushing children’s natural creativity and curiosity because we are obsessed with compliance and early testing. Many children are simply not developmentally ready to sit still and write for long periods.” So what do we need? We need to make play-based pedagogy and continuous provision statutory in key stage 1, thereby creating a clear national expectation that play is a developmental need, not an enrichment activity. I want to thank Veronica Woodward of St Walburga’s, Leanne Dixon from Stourfield junior school, Pauline Sweetman from Stourfield infant school, Vanessa Webster from Epiphany, Michelle Dyer and Imogen Bull from the Avonbourne academies, and Chris Jackson from Avonwood school. Last Friday, Chris hosted us for one of my SEND roundtables, so that we could hear from teachers and headteachers about what future reform should look like. They were convinced that play-based pedagogy is critical for supporting children’s wellbeing and trying to address some of the issues that occur in later life. Just this morning, I was at St James’ school and spoke with the headteacher, Mr Brown, and the assistant head, Mr Parsons, who is also a key stage 1 teacher, and they too agree. We are in a rare reform window. The decisions that are being made now on curriculum and assessment will shape classrooms for years, and with them children’s confidence, wellbeing and attainment. This is not about choosing play over learning; it is about choosing play because it is learning.
26 Jan 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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My constituent Stephen Sherwood has complex needs and learning difficulties. He could not understand changes to universal credit, needed guidance that never came, and so lost financial support that he badly needed. Stephen and his mum, Nicola, rightly want to know whether the DWP involves people with complex needs and learning difficulties in the design of system changes, and whether the Government will do more to ensure that such people have these changes explained to them in ways that they can understand.
26 Jan 2026 · Armed Forces Bill · Hansard source
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The right hon. Gentleman gives me a very good prompt, because this morning I was at the war memorial in Bournemouth, where two new plaques were unveiled for the 12 Indian soldiers who died at No. 8A Indian general hospital, which is now Bournemouth town hall. The plaques mark their contribution to Britain’s fight in world war one and honour their sacrifice. I agree with the right hon. Gentleman that the sacrifices of our allies, particularly our Indian allies, have too often been forgotten. Will he join me in commending Ramesh Lal, who has been pivotal in making those plaques happen?
22 Jan 2026 · Business of the House · Hansard source
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In the last 20 minutes, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council’s planning committee has approved the Cherries’ plans to enable work to expand Vitality stadium. There is an agreement that there will be staff to marshal traffic and parking, and a council working group to abate the concerns of residents, which were voiced so eloquently by Councillor Sharon Carr-Brown at the planning meeting. Will the Leader of the House welcome this good news, and will he commit the Government to continuing to support football? There is already the £551 million going into Euro 2028, which England will co-host, and the Football Governance Act 2025.
22 Jan 2026 · UK-EU Relations · Hansard source
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This week the Prime Minister hit the phones again to protect our interests; meanwhile, the Leader of the Opposition risked undermining those efforts, acting almost like a Trump Trojan horse in this Chamber. Diplomacy is paying off: tariff threats are receding and Greenland solutions may be emerging. Does the Minister agree that we must always put country before party and work with the US and our European allies, and that our efforts should command cross-party support?
22 Jan 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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Boots has stores in Castlepoint, Southbourne Grove and Boscombe high street in my constituency. I met Boots in Parliament to hear about what it is doing to tackle shoplifting. In London, it is working with the Metropolitan police, who plug into Boots’s own reporting system to avoid the need for duplicate reporting. I am calling for the same to come to Bournemouth, but plugging all businesses into all police forces will take a lot of work. Will the Government consider having a national police app that is opt-in, like the national health service app, so people do not have to go through the faff of reporting their demographic information and so they can get on with reporting crime faster? That would be a lot of help to Karl, the store manager at Aldi in Boscombe.
21 Jan 2026 · Warm Homes Plan · Hansard source
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It was interesting to hear the Liberal Democrats really struggle to say that they admire this policy, given that they seem to be getting everything they want from it, and it is disappointing to see the deserted Conservative Benches for this statement. [ Interruption. ] Oh, I offer my apologies to the shadow Minister, who is not with allies. It is disappointing to hear the Conservatives move from being climate change converts to sustainability sceptics yet again. They left our country vulnerable to the energy price spikes that meant the last Government had to spend at least £78 billion to deal with the cost of living crisis, whereas this Government are investing big. We announced Europe’s biggest ever wind auction last week. Now we are seeing clean power from day one—new builds, new power. Does the Secretary of State agree that a major motive for this plan is to cut hundreds of pounds off bills in Bournemouth East by going solar as standard, and that a rooftop revolution will not only bring down bills, but keep bills down in the long term?
20 Jan 2026 · Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill · Hansard source
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Another question that might be asked is why the Conservatives started the negotiations in the first place.
20 Jan 2026 · Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill · Hansard source
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rose—
20 Jan 2026 · Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill · Hansard source
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Moving forward three pages—those pages were a condensed history of how our country was left completely insecure by the Opposition—to look at Diego Garcia, it is a critical UK asset for national security. We all agree on that in the House. It supports counter-terrorism, monitors hostile states and enables rapid deployment of US and UK forces worldwide. That is, in large part, why the US Administration have backed what this Government have been pushing forward. Recent operations against high-value ISIS targets show its vital role in keeping global trade routes and the British people safe. With this deal, we have full operational freedom. We have control of installations, communications, logistics and land use with strict safeguards, a UK-controlled electromagnetic spectrum, a 24 nautical mile buffer zone and a ban on foreign military presence on the outer islands. In the interests of giving a briefer speech, I am going to put down the two pages that further explain the way in which the treaty reinforces the UK’s relationship with the Chagos islands and supports our national security. We have talked about this issue at great length. There have been many urgent questions, statements and debates in the House. The Opposition talk about the importance of national security. This country is facing some of the gravest threats to our national security. We are repelling Russian cyber-attacks and disinformation daily. Our security services are having to fight against Russian spying and sabotage of our infrastructure.
20 Jan 2026 · Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill · Hansard source
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I always listen to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and to the hon. Member for Hinckley and Bosworth (Dr Evans). As I said at the outset, I support all of what was said by my hon. Friend the Member for Halesowen, who went into great detail about the amendments. The point I am bringing us back to is that Conservative Members need to put country before petty party politics. They are acting in a childish way and they are overexcited about this debate. This treaty protects our national interest. It safeguards British interests. The Opposition have a cheek, when they were responsible for at least 85% of the negotiations that led to this debate. I will close with this. In this House, we speak through the Chair, because doing so tempers debate. When I speak with schoolchildren about the House, they remark upon the fact that we are in an old building, and that shows our continuity over many years of history. In this place, we make decisions in a sombre, sober way. We do not make them in the same way as the President of the United States did last night, in the form of a rash tweet. Let us not take that social media post at face value. Let us do the reasonable thing and debate this matter properly.
20 Jan 2026 · Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill · Hansard source
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I am too young to have seen that scene in “Dallas”, so that went slightly over my head. Does the right hon. Member agree that we cannot read too much into a social media post? After all, the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage) has said about the right hon. Member for Newark (Robert Jenrick): “Jenrick is a fraud. I’ve always thought so”, and “Don’t believe a word that he says”. Is it not true that we cannot always stick with the same mindset on social media?
20 Jan 2026 · Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend the Member for Halesowen (Alex Ballinger) has said much of what I was going to say, thankfully, so I will try to be brief. The shadow Foreign Secretary, the right hon. Member for Witham (Priti Patel), made a set of arguments predicated on the case for national security. It is therefore important to take on the question of how secure we are. Look at the economic security that this Government inherited: 15 years of slow, weak growth, the lowest business investment in the G7, and wages that had grown at a consistent 2% a year flatlining. Look at the impacts of the Brexit deal negotiated by the Conservatives: in early 2025, the UK’s GDP was between 6% and 8% lower than it would have been without Brexit, and we lost between £180 billion and £240 billion of output. This is important, because it relates to the credibility of the Opposition when they make their case on the basis of national security.
19 Jan 2026 · Sale of Fireworks · Hansard source
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Nearly two hours into this debate, I am pleased to have the chance to speak. The fact that so many have spoken shows just how much this issue matters to our constituents. I thank the 497 people in my constituency who signed the two petitions, showing just how much this matters to Bournemouth East. In preparing to speak today, I was struck by what some colleagues have noted: it feels like we have been debating this for a very long time. In fact, as far as I can tell, the first time that Parliament debated fireworks legislation was in 1697. The first regulations to support the public use of fireworks were in the Gunpowder and Fireworks Act 1860. As one who can be frustrated by the pace of change in Parliament, I was a bit concerned that it took just 56 calendar days to get that piece of legislation through, from the First Reading in the House of Commons to Royal Assent. We might be able to learn something from our colleagues way back in history. In thinking about what my constituents have told me about fireworks, I am struck by the words of Sandra in Muscliff, who described some of her evenings as resembling living in a warzone. Carl, who lives in Townsend, told me at my surgery appointment at Boscombe library the other week about his and his wife’s cat Chester, who suffers significantly during noisy fireworks displays, to such an extent that he has blood in his urine, which is horrible to hear. Carl was asking what more can be done about the intensity and frequency of fireworks, and echoed an awful lot of views that I have heard from my constituents in doing so. I think also of Jeanette Shepperd, who lives in Pokesdown, who has called on me to represent her call for a limit on fireworks, particularly on the Bournemouth fireworks display, which happens annually in Litterdown, where there can be loud and unpredictable displays not just on that evening, but on the days leading up to it. There are also people on the other side of the argument, such as Gayle on Beaufort Road in Southbourne, who is very clear that she wants a live-and-let-live approach. James in Queen’s Park says that his “very, very beautiful dog Penny”—those are his words as well as mine—has never been bothered by fireworks. That tells us that we need to find a balance, between safety and welfare on one side and the ability of constituents to enjoy coming together and have happy experiences on the other. Let’s face it, our country has been denied many opportunities to join together and to feel a sense of hope and happiness for a long time. As an animal lover, I have been calling on the Government to do more. I have been calling on Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council in my area to regulate fireworks displays better and, crucially, to enforce existing rules more effectively. There is no point in making regulations if they are not enforced, and we should remember that we do have means of enforcement. The last Labour Government introduced the Fireworks Act 2003 and the Fireworks Regulations 2004, which were about restricting the antisocial use of fireworks. It has been said very well today by a number of colleagues that we are not against people being sociable, and we are not against the social use of fireworks; we are against the antisocial elements, the excessive noise and duration, the significant intensity, and the fact that we do not have reserved days for fireworks, but they happen throughout the course of the year. I and many colleagues recognise that when one person’s actions cause harm or distress to others, and when individual freedoms come into conflict, we must always consider whether the balance is right. When it is not just the owners of pets, but the beloved pets themselves who bear the consequences, all of us feel the very great need to be compassionate towards them, but this is not just about pets. As we have heard, it is also about veterans, who are triggered as a consequence of hearing loud fireworks displays. It is about pensioners and it is about shift workers; it is about a spectrum in our society. If the Government move forward with a limitation on the quality, duration, hours and noise of fireworks displays, that would be very much in keeping with our new animal welfare strategy. One of the best things that this Government can do as part of that strategy is to look at this issue again, bring forward the legislation that will finally protect animals, and make sure that we have more cohesive societies and a reduction in antisocial behaviour.
15 Jan 2026 · Business of the House · Hansard source
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Told mistakenly that he was £472 in arrears for child support, my constituent Daniel White was then told that his situation was resolved, only to hear months later that he was in fact £1,800 in arrears. Diagnosed with leukaemia and unable to work, my constituent Nader Nouripanah found out months after applying for employment and support allowance, while recovering from a bone marrow transport, that he had to reapply, without explanation. Daniel and Nader have been left dangling for an answer, and both are chasing a fix. How can I work with the Department for Work and Pensions to get the right solution for my constituents? I will keep fighting on their behalf, and the DWP needs to do better.
15 Jan 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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T5. AFC Bournemouth has just said goodbye to Antoine Semenyo. He has been a superstar on the pitch and a gentleman off it, taking out a full-page ad in the Bournemouth Daily Echo to thank fans for the memories as, sadly, he left for Manchester City. Bournemouth need more players like him, and that means getting kids off their phones and outdoors, which is why I back raising the minimum social media age to 16. It also means supporting play spaces, youth centres and grassroots football facilities for clubs like Boscombe Albion, Kings Park Dynamos, Queens Park Ladies and Generation Elite. What are the Department doing to support our young kids?
14 Jan 2026 · Ukraine · Hansard source
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At the outset, may I acknowledge your staunch and consistent support for the people of Ukraine, Madam Deputy Speaker? You have most recently represented Mr Speaker at the international Crimea platform to reinforce Ukraine’s sovereignty. My heart goes out to the people of Ukraine both in Ukraine and in Bournemouth. I commend Ukraine Relief, which has a donation centre at Castlepoint shopping centre in my constituency, and the work of Karol Swiacki and other Ukrainians across Bournemouth. Whether the peace that President Trump creates is durable will depend on whether he applies sufficient pressure to Vladimir Putin to secure it. We do not yet know the final outline of a peace deal or even a ceasefire, but we know that the Trump Administration have pressed Ukraine before to make concessions. When granted a summit with President Trump in Alaska, Putin demanded more territory than he had already seized in his war of aggression to date. The Administration responded not by pressuring Russia, but by putting more pressure on Ukraine. Arms were withheld and intelligence was withdrawn, and the assistance that remained was limited and slow. Kyiv has been left perpetually uncertain about the reliability of US support, and the offer of a 15-year US security guarantee as part of a peace plan should give us pause, too. Fifteen years will go by in the blink of an eye unless the guarantee is exceptionally robust, and unless the armed forces of Europe’s democracies—ours included—are integral to enforcing it. Otherwise, I fear that Moscow will wait, rebuild, and return when the clock runs out. As the hon. Member for South Shropshire (Stuart Anderson) was saying, we need to be mindful about what a deployment looks like, and we need to ask the serious questions. I know that the Prime Minister—a good, serious and patriotic man, having to deal with the insanity abroad and difficult conditions at home—is charting that course as best he and this Government can, and I know that he puts the safety of British troops at the heart of what he does. Without genuine stability, Ukraine cannot rebuild in peace; boardrooms will not make investments over the long term. We know, too, that this would not be peace; it would be merely a ceasefire, a temporary pause. Given the temptation to renew aggression—a temptation that we know Putin cannot resist—brutish competition for continental dominance would define this decade and, sadly, the next. We have to keep the peace, as well as make it, and the only way that we can do that is through robust security guarantees. Unfortunately, that means that we need to come to terms with a changed world. We have not known this fear for a long time, but it is a feeling that Ukraine knows every single day in its bones. Uniquely, although the United States has been the richest and most capable country in world history, nations have not chosen to balance against it; they have chosen to ally with it—this is a reversal of all we have known in history—because America sought collective security, self-determination, open trade, institutions, legitimacy and purposeful democracy. However, today, that strategic capital is being diminished consciously, as a matter of policy, by the Trump Administration. That is not happening everywhere in the US security apparatus, it should be said, but it is happening at the highest level, where political decisions are being taken. I have lived in America, I have travelled it widely, I have had the privilege of studying international security at one of its universities, and I have a deep affection for its dynamism and its democracy. However, we must face the fact that in its national security strategy, Ukraine and Europe are less of a priority than other parts of the world. European defence planners now have to spend their days tracking Russian troop movements; calculating whether Putin might, before the end of the decade, order an attack against a NATO member, as he did against Ukraine; and wondering whether the United States will come to our defence. We need to rearm faster, and we need to improve and significantly increase our weapons manufacture. We also need to move closer to European democracies on defence and security—not closer to the EU per se, which may be too inflexible, but closer to our like-minded European democratic friends who care about peace and democracy, and who will themselves put forward a programme of rearmament. In facing the world as it is, and trying to rearm and increase our diplomatic influence to meet it, we need to recognise that there will be people in our country who do not like this. In France and Germany, we see the rise of the far right and the populist right, who are seeking to make an issue of rearmament. We in this House need to be united. We know that there are those on the Opposition Benches, but not in attendance today, who will protest against our rearmament and our commitment to Ukraine. We in this House need to be united behind Ukraine, democracy and peace. As far as we can, we should not play party politics; we should rebuild the consensus that has lasted for so many years. To me, that consensus seems to be under threat today.
13 Jan 2026 · Universities: Statutory Duty of Care · Hansard source
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It is a pleasure to see a constituency neighbour in the Chair, Sir Christopher. My constituency has three universities: Bournemouth University, Arts University Bournemouth and the Health Sciences University. They are committed to achieving zero suicides, and have a joint strategy intended to ensure that no person loses their life. I would like to put on the official parliamentary record the names of Paul Millgate, Callum Jewell and Alec Channing. Their lives were lost, as was the love that they gave to their families. Universities provide significant support for student wellbeing, but it is worth reflecting on what needs to go beyond that. My constituents are benefiting from studying at Bournemouth University and the duty of care that it provides. Bournemouth University is going as far as it possibly can to provide this care, but as we have heard in this debate, introducing a statutory duty of care can achieve two important things: first, a level playing field between the higher education sector and other sectors, and secondly consistency in the standards of care that students and staff can expect across the whole country. It is great that we have fantastic constituency examples of universities that care deeply for their students and staff, and that exercise that care deeply, but we need to make sure that every staff member and student benefits from that type of care. That is particularly the case because education opens doors for so many young people. I am a fervent fan of apprenticeships and am pleased that the Government are moving towards further investment in apprenticeships, but university will still be a place of great educational importance for our young people. I am also pleased that many of them do not regret their decision to choose a degree. Indeed, last year’s student experience survey showed that just 11% of undergraduates regretted their decision to take a degree. We must ensure that every undergraduate’s experience is the best it can be. In introducing a statutory duty of care, we need to think carefully about what this would be. There must be clarity on what duty of care means in a higher education context, and it has to intercept with and make sense alongside existing safeguarding responsibilities, health and safety law and anticipatory duties under equality legislation. I am confident that it can, for it must. We also need to think about who would monitor and regulate compliance. Would it fall under Ofsted, the Office for Students, the Department for Education or a new regulatory body? Universities need clear expectations and pathways for managing risk. We also need to recognise the critical importance of funding, which has been touched on in this debate. In April, I spoke about the shortfall that Bournemouth University was facing of around £15 million to £20 million, which has now more or less closed. In the view of the Office for Students, 24 higher education institutions are at risk of closure. That is a desperate situation for many institutions and our higher education setting. If we are to put this duty on universities, as I think we should, we should also think carefully about what the funding will be. I will give a short example of what Bournemouth University does. There is a university retreat that provides self-defined crisis support for students, Monday to Saturday from 2 pm to 9 pm on the Talbot campus. It has no thresholds to access, so student mental health support is available in the here and now. For students whose needs may be more complex—or not complex enough to allow them to access healthcare support at hospitals or GPs—this service from the university provides face-to-face support, particularly in crisis moments. It provides those who are stuck on long waiting lists with immediate access to the support that they need. Critically, that is funded by Dorset HealthCare and is delivered in collaboration with it. Any duty that we provide should provide additional funding through our NHS pathways, alongside higher education institutions, so that we can get the very best for our students. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (James Naish) for securing this debate and look forward to hearing what the Minister has to say in response. In particular, I am looking for the answer to the exam question: is it the Government’s intention to bring forward a statutory duty of care? What would that mean, and how would it be resourced?
12 Jan 2026 · New Medium Helicopter Contract · Hansard source
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As the Member of Parliament for Bournemouth East, I am passionate about renewing British military aircraft. After all, my constituency hosted the Bournemouth air festival until it was scrapped by the Liberal Democrat-led council, with no plans to return it—something that I am trying to reverse. I welcome the award of 1,000 major contracts since July, and the defence spending bumps of £5 billion this year and £270 billion over the lifetime of the Parliament. Like me, the Defence Minister is a south-west MP. Will he set out how the Government are investing in defence across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and the broader south-west?
8 Jan 2026 · Business of the House · Hansard source
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Evri are the worst. My constituents faced misery over Christmas, with no customer service. In fact, customer service was provided only in the form of chatbots. I recently received a woeful reply after writing to Evri’s CEO. There are many excellent couriers, including Rodrigo, Martin and Tony in Bournemouth, and I thank them, but they are being let down by Evri. Does my right hon. Friend agree that when private parcel operators deliver appalling customer service without minimum standards, it is workers and customers who suffer, left shouting into the void? Can he advise me on how I can secure meaningful redress for my Bournemouth East constituents?
8 Jan 2026 · E-scooters · Hansard source
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4. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle the illegal use of e-scooters on public roads and pavements.

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