Zubir Ahmed MP: speeches

Speeches

• 7 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Second sitting) · Hansard source

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  Q Thank you, Professor Bauld, for sharing your extensive expertise with us today. I want to explore the intersection between poverty and health, and where you think the Bill will have an impact. We know that health outcomes are poorer where there are pockets of high deprivation, as in many areas of Scotland, including my constituency of Glasgow South West. What are your thoughts, both quantifiable and general, as to the impact of this legislation on those children and on those particularly deprived communities? Professor Linda Bauld: Dr Ahmed, you know—as Sir Gregor Smith said earlier—that smoking rates in our most deprived communities in Scotland are about 26%, compared with 6% in the least deprived. That is a very big number, and we see that pattern across the UK. The Bill will make a difference in several respects. First, on preventing smoking uptake by gradually raising the age of sale, the evidence that we have from studies done by my colleagues at University College London and elsewhere is that previous rises in the age of sale have not exacerbated inequalities but have had a benefit in terms of preventing uptake. We know from the evidence that we have that those measures should be useful and helpful, and should not exacerbate that. The other thing is that, to go back to my earlier answer to the shadow Minister, by preventing smoking uptake in the groups that are likely to be future parents who are already likely to smoke, which are highly concentrated in our most deprived communities, we are going to have an impact there. I do not see any signs in the Bill, when I look across the measures, that we will be exacerbating inequalities with it. I think that we will probably have the biggest impact in the areas where we have the most smokers which, unfortunately, are our most deprived communities.

• 7 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Second sitting) · Hansard source

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  Q Thank you, Dr Squire, for being with us. The Royal College of Physicians has called for manufacturers to limit the production of toxic substances and for the MHRA to independently verify some of the contents of e-cigarettes. Do you think that that can be achieved through the measures in the Bill as it stands? Dr Laura Squire: It depends on what happens with the actual regulations. At the moment, we do not have powers to test consumer e-cigarettes—that power sits with trading standards. Again, if we license something as a medicine, we go into absolute detail about what is in it. At the moment, it depends on what is in the regulations that come round. We do not do testing at the moment, and it would be important to think about the point at which any testing is done. If it is done at the point where something goes on to the register, that is fine and it tells you that the sample we saw at that point was compliant. But what happens later down the track? I think the role that trading standards has in doing that testing is really important, because it can do it post-market at any point. The question really is about the role of the MHRA—a medicines and healthcare products agency. Is it getting deeper into these consumer products where the risk is not outweighed by the benefits? That is an uncomfortable position for a medicines regulator.

• 7 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Second sitting) · Hansard source

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  Q I have a couple of points, Minister. The first is to do with poverty and how the Bill will affect those who are disproportionately impacted not only by smoking but by second-hand smoke. We heard from our CMOs and Professor Bauld about the impact that smoking-related diseases have on those populations. It is not often in our lives that we get an opportunity to use an instrument that has the potential to change the trajectory of the lives of people who are at the lower end of the economic spectrum in society. What do you think will be the impact of the Bill on them? Secondly, could you make a wider comment on the historical context of the Bill? In 2006, it was a Scottish Labour Government in the Scottish Parliament who set in train some of the processes that we are trying to finish today. Over those 14 to 15 years, we have seen many positive short-term and long-term public health outcomes. What do you think will be history’s judgment on this portion of that journey?

• 7 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (First sitting) · Hansard source

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  Q Thank you, Sir Chris—your anecdote about the vascular war resonates strongly with me as a practising vascular surgeon; many of my patients leave hospital with fewer legs than when they entered. The comment I want to make is on the chronic disease burden. As you all know, there is a rising epidemic of chronic disease in our country, and it will probably require various public health measures to get back under control. I wonder if I could ask you to comment on how you feel this legislation might impact on the chronic disease burden on the NHS going forward, not only in the short term but in the long term? Professor Sir Chris Whitty: I will give a view, and I think Sir Gregor will want to add to it. It will make a very substantial difference. The thing to understand is that not only does cigarette smoking cause individual diseases, but many people as they go through life have multiple diseases from smoking. They will start off with heart disease, for example, as a result of smoking, and will go on to have a variety of possible cancers, and they might have chronic obstructive airway disease, and they will end up potentially with dementia. All of these would have not happened at all or would have been substantially delayed had they not smoked. Of course, this is heavily weighted towards areas of deprivation, people living with mental health conditions, and other areas where I think most people would consider it really unjust in society. All of us, and anybody who has looked at this in public health terms, would say that if you could remove smoking from the equation, the chronic disease burden would go down very substantially, and be delayed, and the inequalities of that burden of disease would also be eroded. The arguments for this are really clear. To give some indication of the numbers involved, we have thousands of people every year—millions over time—going into hospitals and general practices only because they are smoking. Had they not smoked, they would not have to use the NHS, and they would not have the chronic disease burden that disbenefits themselves, disbenefits their families and, of course, because of the impact on wider society, disbenefits everyone else as well. Undoubtedly this Bill—if it is passed by Parliament—will reduce that burden and have an enormous impact. Professor Sir Gregor Ian Smith: Thank you for raising this as a question, because it is a very important point to understand. I will speak to the experience in Scotland. The Scottish burden of disease study published by Public Health Scotland suggests that from now to 2043 we are going to see a rise of 21% in overall burden of disease across our society in Scotland. That burden of disease is very much weighted towards a number of conditions such as cancer, dementia including vascular dementia, cardiovascular disease, and others. There is no doubt in my mind that smoking contributes to those. Chris’s point about the multimorbidity that people experience is really important in this context. There are more people in Scotland who experience multimorbidity under the age of 50 than those who do over the age of 50, and much of that is related to smoking. Anything that we can do to reduce that burden of disease on people will not only make their own lives so much better, but make them more productive—they will be able to spend more time with their families, they will be economically active for longer, and they will also use health services less. So there is both a compelling health argument and an economic argument here on the preventive nature of stopping smoking and stopping people from beginning to smoke, which is really important to understand in the context of that projected increase in the burden of disease. The last thing to remember is that our experience of disease can sometimes be cumulative. As Sir Chris alluded to, people who have developed diabetes for other reasons but who smoke as well, will have accelerated disease as a consequence. Removing as much as we can, step by step, the risks that are associated with the development of that accelerated disease—you will have seen it very clearly in your role as a vascular surgeon—has to be a step that we take to maintain both the health and the economic prosperity of our nation. Professor Sir Chris Whitty: The numbers that I was looking for—

• 7 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (First sitting) · Hansard source

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  I declare an interest as an NHS transplant and vascular surgeon. My wife is a lung cancer doctor.

• 9 Dec 2024 · Fireworks: Sale and Use · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Edward. I thank the hon. Member for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Moore) for presenting this debate on restricting the public sale of fireworks. It has strong public support, including in my constituency of Glasgow South West. I am delighted to support my hon. Friend the Member for Luton North (Sarah Owen) and her private Member’s Bill to ban the sale of the loudest fireworks and to ensure that fireworks are purchased only from licensed premises. If the Bill is passed, the public sale of fireworks would be restricted all over Britain, including in Scotland. I will share some of the adverse experiences that have taken place in Glasgow South West. For many years, Pollokshields in my constituency has suffered the impact of over-the-counter fireworks on bonfire night and the weeks around it. I saw the disasters that resulted from fireworks when I worked as a junior doctor many years ago in my local A&E—not only burns, but penetrating injuries from the increasingly high velocity of more sophisticated fireworks. This year, the situation in Pollokshields could have been helped by the introduction of a local byelaw using a firework control zone. Devastatingly, the paperwork was put in too late by Glasgow city council and it did not come to fruition. Instead, in the weeks around 5 November, Pollokshields residents—my constituents—were subjected to loud, intrusive fireworks being set off on roads and pavements, from inside cars, and everywhere in between. On bonfire night itself, there were fires on roundabouts and disturbances into the early morning of 6 November, with even the police fearing for their safety. That was not an abstract fear because, in the previous year, 40 police officers across Glasgow were injured in firework-related incidents. In Pollokshields the morning after, shrapnel was left in and around parks and gardens, risking injury to children, and the remnants of fires could still be seen down the main promenade of Albert Drive. Despite the criminality on their doorstep, community council members led by chair Ameen Mohammed, and local schools and residents, engaged in a massive clean-up operation to bring back dignity to the streets that were once their own. I also held an emergency public meeting where community members engaged with the police and councillors in an attempt to reconcile themselves to what had taken place and to raise concerns. As a result, the police spent precious resources scouring hours of CCTV to make arrests and send a strong signal that criminality will not be tolerated in our community. IGlasgow South West is probably the most culturally diverse community in Scotland, where fireworks are often used in festivals and religious celebrations. I personally know the significance of such celebrations, which should of course be facilitated, but it is time to accept that there need to be controls on general sales so that they are curtailed for the common good. Over and above the impact of fireworks on pets, children and the vulnerable, I note that when my hon. Friend the Member for Poole (Neil Duncan-Jordan) asked on 30 October whether an impact assessment had been done on the effect of the noise of fireworks on the mental health of veterans, the answer was that there had not. At a time when our mental health services are stretched beyond recognition, we must be cognisant that veterans can often suffer from PTSD, as has been mentioned, and other mental health issues for which fireworks are a recognised trigger. Directing fireworks to controlled settings has many benefits beyond safety. They can become a focus for community cohesion and a stimulus for small businesses to diversify into servicing those events. Moving forward, I hope to work constructively on the Fireworks Bill with Members from all parties, because it is clear from these petitions that modern society demands that this issue needs to be sorted.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Support for Veterans · Hansard source

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  Last week, I had the honour of attending the steel-cutting ceremony of HMS Sheffield at BAE Govan in my constituency, adding to a long list in the tradition of building high-quality defence industry vessels on the Clyde. What assurances can the Minister give me that defence procurement and skills will continue to be developed on the Clyde?

• 2 Dec 2024 · Medical Aid During Conflict · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for putting that so eloquently, and I wholeheartedly agree with every word and sentiment. It is not just those typically physically injured by conflict that medical aid supports; it is those who need insulin for diabetes, dialysis machines to keep their kidney function working, and antibiotics to treat life-threatening bacterial infections. People who need basic medical support are caught up in the struggle. The figures support this: in Lebanon, 74% of people over 50 have two or more chronic conditions, so are at increased risk during times of conflict. The same rate of aid is clearly not getting through in current world conflicts. Those suffering in Gaza are not receiving the same aid. Since April 2023, the escalation of armed violence in Sudan has resulted in famine and displacement. To our credit, in November 2024, this UK Labour Government increased aid to Sudan by £113 million, including medical aid. That has provided medical staff, out-patient consultations, emergency room admissions and access to feeding programmes for children and adults. Of course, there is lots more to do. Since Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022, the UK has given £5 billion in non-military contributions and a total of £457 million in humanitarian support, including medical aid. That is in addition to what people are doing locally on the ground in every city in this country, including my own city of Glasgow, where my friend and surgical colleague Mr Vladyslav Shumeyko, a consultant surgeon at the Queen Elizabeth university hospital, has personally sent tons of medical aid to Ukraine. I pay tribute to his tireless, selfless work and that of other charity workers, whose contributions have saved thousands of lives.

• 2 Dec 2024 · Medical Aid During Conflict · Hansard source

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  I wholeheartedly agree with the hon. Member’s sentiments. Aid should not be impeded by anyone, be they state actors or individual criminals. At the moment, further aid in Gaza has been suspended following an Israeli airstrike that killed five humanitarian workers employed by US-based organisation World Central Kitchen. The UN has said that it is necessary to stop the delivery of aid into Gaza because of the threat posed by armed gangs. UNRWA’s final decision comes after the latest airstrike. According to the Famine Review Committee, there is a strong likelihood of famine in Gaza. My conversations with colleagues on the ground in the region have confirmed how scarce food is, with very limited meat, cheese, snacks, fruit and vegetables. I understand that people are now surviving on rationed rice. What conversations has the Minister had with international partners to ensure that famine does not break out in Gaza? As an international actor, it is imperative that the UK ensures that international law is upheld and medical aid reaches people caught up in conflict everywhere. International law dictates that people who are providing medical tasks must always be respected and, more importantly, protected. Medical professionals in the region are risking their lives to treat the injured and ill. My hon. Friend the Member for Rochdale (Paul Waugh) mentioned my colleague Professor Nizam Mamode, who recently returned from a month performing surgical operations in Gaza. He told me when he was there, and on his return, of the lives that he tried to save in increasingly difficult circumstances. He described it to me as hell on earth. What discussions has the Minister had with regional actors, including the Israeli Government, about ensuring the safety of those delivering medical aid in Gaza? Ambassador Barbara Woodward, the UK permanent representative to the UN, recently said to the UN Security Council: “There is no justification for denying civilians access to essential supplies. The Government of Israel must do more to protect civilians, civilian infrastructure, and allow aid to be delivered safely and at scale.” I am sure that those words are wholeheartedly endorsed by all Members of this House. I am proud that this Labour Government restored funding to UNRWA, providing £21 million to support its work, and have given £5.5 million to UK-Med to support its lifesaving work in Gaza. That funding and aid is necessary, but I wonder whether it goes far enough. Our concern now is how we ensure that the correct amount of aid reaches the people of Gaza. What discussions has the Minister had with the Israeli Government to allow aid convoys to enter safely into the region? Children in Gaza are dying and suffering needlessly. According to the UN Human Rights Office, nearly 70% of people killed in Gaza are women and children. That report has found unprecedented levels of international legal violations, including of the right to medical aid. This includes children now having complex medical needs without access to the requisite specialists in any other nearby country. What discussions could be had with regional actors and the UN about potentially bringing such children to the United Kingdom for treatment, as some of our international partners have already started to do? I will conclude by reiterating the salient point that anyone caught up in conflict has the right to aid—it is not a gift or an act of benevolence by anyone else. We must now ensure that our record on this issue is one that future generations in this House can look back at, not with regret or contrition, but with pride.

• 2 Dec 2024 · Medical Aid During Conflict · Hansard source

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  Civilians always pay the highest price in conflict. Medical aid during conflict is critical to saving lives and, more importantly, is protected under international law. Yet, in recent conflicts, much of that lifesaving aid has been denied. Not only does that shame all of us on a basic human level, but as a surgeon where healthcare and aid have been at the forefront of my professional life and, notably, where I have been directly involved in providing aid, I feel that as a particular pain. I secured this debate to highlight the fact that civilians and medical aid workers are impacted by armed conflict. Everyone caught up in conflict has an inalienable right to aid, and it is not the gift of any country or anybody else. I note that under international human rights law, the rights of the wounded and the sick must be respected in all circumstances, and attempts on their lives and violence against their person are strictly prohibited. Wilfully killing them or causing great suffering or serious injury to their bodies or their health constitutes war crimes, as grave breaches of the Geneva conventions.

• 2 Dec 2024 · Medical Aid During Conflict · Hansard source

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  I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s intervention. That highlights this country’s adherence to the international rules-based order. We must always comply with international law, even—and perhaps particularly—when that may seem difficult. I acknowledge the important work of organisations such as Islamic Relief, which operates in my Glasgow South West constituency, throughout the UK and across the world. Since October 2023, Islamic Relief has provided over £30 million in aid and delivered over 51 million hot meals in Gaza alone—and that does not include its work in South Sudan. Despite that, medical aid is severely restricted in Gaza. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency and other agencies have been unable to deliver essential medical equipment—including medical swabs to stem bleeding and lifesaving medications such as penicillin—and essential vaccine campaign roll-outs have been delayed. That has all been compounded by this weekend’s events.

• 19 Nov 2024 · Occupied Palestinian Territories: Humanitarian Situation · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend agree that the right to basic necessities—surgical swabs, vaccines and basic hygiene equipment—is the right of the Palestinian people and not the gift of any other country? Does he also agree that, as a critical friend of Israel, we perhaps need to feed back to Israel that elements of its own Government are now a threat not only to the peace and security of the region, but to the peace and security of Israel itself?

• 6 Nov 2024 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

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  I congratulate hon. Members who have delivered maiden speeches today on their thoughtful contributions. This Budget marks the end of an era of austerity inflicted by the Conservative party over the past 14 years, during which time take-home pay was cut to the bone and our public services almost reached existential crisis. In Scotland, we had the trouble of two failing Governments. The SNP promised Scandinavian-type public services, while the Conservative party promised North American levels of taxation. The result was broken public services and a complete misuse of taxpayer money. I am proud of many things in the Budget, but I am most proud that next April the national minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour. That will lift the earnings of 200,000 people in Scotland and 3,000 people in my Glasgow South West constituency. This Labour Government will ensure that work pays, and that it is secure and dignified. The Budget continues and increases direct investment in Scotland through the innovation accelerators programme, which supports 11 projects in Glasgow. It also establishes Brand Scotland, and supports Scottish trade abroad by contributing £750,000 to the Scotland Office. This is the biggest uplift in Scotland’s funding through Barnett consequentials since the beginning of devolution in 1999, with £3.4 billion of additional funding. Within that funding, Labour has increased the overall education budget by 3.5% in real terms and increased local government funding by 3.2%, so SNP-run Glasgow city council has no excuse to be cutting 450 teaching posts over the next three years. It must not rob young Glaswegians of their future, because theirs is the contribution that will make our economy grow. Conservative Members used to tell us frequently that they believed in Britain, and SNP Members—conspicuous by their absence today—used to tell us that they were stronger for Scotland. What better embodiment of strength and of that belief than investing in our infrastructure and our people? We on the Labour Benches have made our decision; it is now up to them whether they back Britain or not.

• 6 Nov 2024 · Uyghur and Turkic Muslims: Forced Labour in China · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to my hon. Friend for securing the debate and for illuminating an issue that still too few in the international global order are willing or brave enough to talk about. I assure him that Muslim communities across the country will be particularly grateful to him for securing the debate. Important as it is for us to be ethical about our own supply chains, does he agree that as a major global player we should double down on our efforts to persuade China’s near neighbours to adopt a similar ethical approach to the one that he espouses?

• 30 Oct 2024 · Western Sahara · Hansard source

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  Can the right hon. Gentleman adumbrate how the uninhabited Chagos islands are equivalent, in any way, shape or form, to the Falkland Islands?

• 22 Oct 2024 · Gaza: Humanitarian Situation · Hansard source

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  Will the Minister reassure me that September’s export licence ban with Israel covers items that we reasonably believe could be used to breach international law in Gaza? Will she further reassure me that the remaining export licences with Israel largely do not cover the Israel Defence Forces or military equipment?

• 22 Oct 2024 · Gaza: Humanitarian Situation · Hansard source

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  16. What steps he is taking to help improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

• 21 Oct 2024 · Employment Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  Sixty-one per cent of people in my constituency are in poverty despite being in work. Does my hon. Friend agree with me that it is only when work is made secure that we can truly grow our economy?

• 21 Oct 2024 · Taxi Licensing: Deregulation Act 2015 · Hansard source

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  I must declare an interest as the son of a long-standing taxi driver. Does the Minister agree that taxi drivers are, as they proved in covid, key workers and key to our economy, and furthermore, that in recent years their business costs, specifically their insurance costs, have risen to a prohibitively high level? Will he undertake to investigate the root causes of those rising business costs, which are stifling individual taxi drivers from maintaining their businesses?

• 21 Oct 2024 · Taxi Licensing: Deregulation Act 2015 · Hansard source

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  Will my hon. Friend give way?

• 7 Oct 2024 · British Indian Ocean Territory: Negotiations · Hansard source

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  rose—

• 12 Sept 2024 · UK Shared Prosperity Fund · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to the Minister for giving way and to my hon. Friend the Member for Rochester and Strood (Lauren Edwards) for securing this really important debate. Scotland has been a beneficiary of the shared prosperity fund to the tune of £212 million since 2022, over £70 million of which has come to my home city of Glasgow. Does the Minister agree that that is a demonstration of the Union dividend, which Scotland and the nations and regions of the United Kingdom enjoy by being part of this Union? Does he further agree that the shared prosperity fund is an important vehicle for bringing equity to the regions and nations of the United Kingdom?

• 11 Sept 2024 · Building Safety and Resilience · Hansard source

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  I am frustrated with the SNP Government’s slow progress on facilitating the removal of dangerous, flammable cladding. The Scottish Government were allocated £97 million by this place to facilitate the programme, but only £11 million has been used, with only one project being completed to date. Does the Minister agree that the SNP Government need to address this imbalance urgently?

• 10 Sept 2024 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Gentleman is citing concerns about the safety of vulnerable groups, and I wonder if he might reflect on the past 14 years, and that he enabled a Government that led to the decay and decline of every single public service. When public services decay and decline, that disproportionately affects vulnerable groups.

• 29 Jul 2024 · Public Spending: Inheritance · Hansard source

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  I thank my right hon. Friend the Chancellor for coming to this House and outlining the difficult decisions she has had to take on behalf of us all—decisions that she would not have had to take were it not for the opaque fiscal negligence of the Conservative party. Can she reassure me that a Labour Government will always protect the vulnerable, and that under a Labour Government pensioners in this country will still be over £1,600 better off per year by the end of this Parliament?