The Lord Commissioner of His Majesty’s Treasury (Anna Turley)
Let me begin by paying tribute to the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) and thanking him and all the members of the Backbench Business Committee for all the work they do in bringing so many important issues to the notice of this House. I thank him again for his contribution today, although I slightly disagree with him and others on the Transport for London issues. Many of us outside London dearly wish for a transport system that is so well-funded and efficient. I think he was channelling Ebenezer Scrooge a little bit in complaining about capped fares, but I take his comments in the spirit in which they were intended. I also thank him for raising the issue of the hostages taken on 7 October. Our hearts break for them and their families, and we desperately hope for them to be returned. We hope for peace and a ceasefire, and we thank him for bringing this issue to the House. I also thank him for his important tribute to Holocaust Memorial Day; we all agree on its importance.
I wish a very happy Christmas to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, the other Deputy Speakers and Mr Speaker, as well as your fantastic team, the Clerks, the Doorkeepers, the Library staff, the security, the catering teams, the police, the guides, the visitor support, the cleaners, Hansard and the many thousands of people who make this place and the other place run. We should never forget what a privilege it is to be here, and how well we are served by the entire parliamentary team.
We also should never forget how precious our democracy is as we stand here in the mother of Parliaments. From the market squares of Damascus to the trenches of the Donbas, people are fighting and dying for democracy—for the right to self-determination, for the right to speak out, for freedom. We must never take this responsibility or this privilege for granted.
While this may be the last speech in this Chamber for the year, it is my first speech in the Chamber for more than five years. I am very grateful to find that this old place has not changed too much. I see one or two new faces on the Benches, and I am delighted at how many of them are on the Labour Benches, and how many Labour Members represent places that have never before had a Labour MP. The lovely Jennie the guide dog, who is normally here, is following in the pawprints of Lucy and Sadie. And of course today we think particularly of the late, great Sir David Amess—we see the commemorative plaque—a phenomenal man who I really enjoyed working with in setting up the all-party group on endometriosis. He is much missed, and I know how much he loved this debate every year.
Of course, I think also of my dear friend Jo Cox, who we still miss very dearly, and who should have been here with us, playing her part in a Labour Government.
I have never been prouder in my life than to have been returned as the Member for Redcar in July. As a so-called retread, I have been denied a maiden speech, and as a Government Whip, I am unable to join in debates. I have swapped voice in this place for influence, I hope, on behalf of my constituents within this Government. As it is Christmas, I hope the House will indulge me if I take a moment to thank my wonderful constituents across the Redcar and Cleveland constituency for putting their faith in me once again. I thank my agent Sarah, my organiser Jack and my brilliant team for their hard work in those long months leading up to 4 July. I thank them and all constituency and parliamentary staff for the fantastic support they provide for us on our constituents’ behalf.
Since the election, I have been thrilled to visit schools across the constituency, including Huntcliff, Riverdale, Nunthorpe, Ormesby primary, Rye Hills, Lakes primary, Whale Hill and Redcar and Cleveland college. I talked to hundreds of pupils to celebrate Parliament Week recently. It has also been my privilege to continue to support local charities, including Footprints in the Community, South Tees Research, Innovation and Education, the Imaginarium, Teesside hospice, the Royal British Legion, Grangetown Generations, the Junction and many more. It has also been a privilege to have watched netball at Grangetown, football at Redcar Athletic, Redcar Town, Marske United and Normanby, swimming with Eston swimming club and boxing at Redcar boxing club. I am thinking today of the home helps caring for our elderly, the steelworkers at Lackenby, the small businesses on our high streets and the nurses in James Cook, Foxrush House and Redcar hospital. I am reminded every day what makes our community great and what a great community I am lucky to live in.
Luke Myer (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)
My hon. Friend has been incredibly active on steel, in her constituency and in this place. She and I both know that the Government are engaged in sensitive and difficult negotiations at this present time about the steel industry, but can she touch on her views and the Government’s views about ensuring that steel is not a sunset industry?
Anna Turley
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for the hard work he is undertaking. What a doughty champion he is for the people of East Cleveland, the community in which he was born, and the steel industry. As he says, it is a vital industry to this country, not a sunset industry. It is vital to our defence, our sovereignty, jobs, our plans for building homes, our infrastructure and to our being at the forefront of the global transition on steel. We are all working hard together on the Government Benches for electric arc furnaces in Teesside, for the future of Scunthorpe and for Port Talbot, and this Christmas we think of steelworkers around the country, who are doing their utmost to maintain this phenomenal industry that is so vital to our national interest. We thank them.
This has been a debate worthy of this place, and I believe this is the best democratic assembly in the world, capable of rising to greatness when the occasion demands. In particular our recent debate on assisted dying was testament to our democracy and the quality and thoughtfulness of hon. and right hon. Members from all parts of the House. Today’s debate has been no less impressive, if a little more local and festive. I pay tribute to a few of the fantastic speeches we have heard today.
My right hon. Friend the Member for Walsall and Bloxwich (Valerie Vaz) raised important issues, and I take to heart the pledge I made to her to bring these issues to Ministers. No one should be denied the chance, for better or worse, to watch their local football team because they cannot access transport. We will certainly be taking that matter up.
I am proud of everything that this Government are doing on cancer, with £1.5 billion being put into scanners and diagnosis. As someone who lost my grandad to bowel cancer, that is close to my heart. I will also take up my hon. Friend’s issues on free schools and arts and museums. I very much look forward to the year of reading, too, as a champion of literature.
The hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (John Lamont) paid fantastic tribute to charities and volunteers, and we all know how crucial they are to our society and our community, particularly at this time of year. We could not function without them. I am reminded that my hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk Coastal (Jenny Riddell-Carpenter) mentioned the Salvation Army. We know what a phenomenal job it does at this time of year, when so many are falling through the gaps. Its people are there to catch them, and thank goodness they are. I pay tribute to them and to all our voluntary and community groups. I send all best wishes to Edward and for his future.
My hon. Friend the Member for Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor (Alan Strickland) has done fantastic work championing Hitachi. He is certainly not boring in his relentlessness in that work. We are delighted to secure that half a billion pounds to support the workers, the supply chains, the jobs and the apprenticeships. We look forward next year to celebrating 200 years of the railways, and as someone who is going back via Darlington tonight, I look forward to celebrating the Stockton and Darlington railway next year.
The hon. Member for Brigg and Immingham (Martin Vickers) raised really important issues on road safety that I had not really thought of, but I valued the opportunity to reflect on them—sorry for the pun. Lights and glare is fascinating, not boring. Persistence is key. I look forward to him continuing to work with Ministers on that. I am certainly happy to take that up with the Department for Transport.
My hon. Friend the Member for Southend West and Leigh (David Burton-Sampson) talked about fantastic local projects. I congratulate the Music Man Project on its King’s award and wish it all the very best for the future.
The hon. Member for North Norfolk (Steff Aquarone) raised a really important constituency case. We listened very carefully to that. He is absolutely right about the numbers of people who, like Patricia, have to wrestle and navigate the system for whole-person care. The Government are committed to dealing with that. I look forward to working with him, not just on that particular case but perhaps in seeking a debate and working on addressing that.
The hon. Member for Ynys Môn (Llinos Medi) raised a really important issue. Our thoughts are with all those affected by the storm and the closure of the port. We will continue to press the Secretary of State and the Government for Wales on that. It is a port of massive national significance, and I can imagine that the impact is really hard for small businesses, particularly at this time of year. We will take that up. I look forward to engaging with her on that.
My hon. Friend the Member for Luton South and South Bedfordshire (Rachel Hopkins) is, again, a doughty champion for her patch. I spent many happy times in my childhood in Whipsnade Zoo, so I wish it all the very best, as I do Maisie, my hon. Friend’s rescue dog, and Luton Town FC.
The hon. Member for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Moore) was, again, a real powerhouse for his constituency. He paid tribute to some great sports and community groups. I congratulate him on the new hospital, and we all look forward to celebrating the city of culture in Bradford next year.
I come to my hon. Friend the Member for Reading Central (Matt Rodda). We wish the Royals all the very best in their promotion. Likewise, in terms of the fine sport we have in this country, as mentioned by the hon. Member for Woking (Mr Forster), we congratulate McLaren on the brilliant work it does. As he said, Britain is at the forefront of high-tech manufacturing and engineering.
We wish my hon. Friend the Member for Dartford (Jim Dickson)—my home town—all the best in continuing to campaign for spades in the ground on the lower Thames crossing and on the Elizabeth line, which are both crucial projects. I thank the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), who is sadly not in his place, for his classic decency and kindness, not just in his tribute today, but in everything he has done, particularly for new Members to welcome and support us all.
The hon. Member for Guildford (Zöe Franklin) raised SEND, which has been raised a huge amount in the House—it has been raised with me in every surgery since I have been re-elected—so we know that it is a critical issue. As she said, families are battling the system, and we want to have a country where every child matters and gets the support that they need. The issue of off- rolling is crucial. I thank her for raising those issues and look forward to working with her.
The right hon. Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn) knows that I greatly respect his lifelong work and commitment to tackling poverty and inequality. I am sure that he would agree that a Labour Government are infinitely more able to tackle poverty and reduce inequality than a Labour Opposition, and I know that he will support some of our work to tackle inequality and poverty in this country. I thank the hon. Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse) for paying tribute to all those working with adults and children with disabilities this Christmas.
I will be brief, because I am conscious of time, but I want to say thank you to the British people who in July chose change. They looked around and saw the NHS on its knees, our dentistry in crisis, our trains stalled and chaotic, raw sewage in our rivers, lakes and seas, rough sleeping visibly scarring our towns and lives, taxes at a 30-year high and child poverty at Dickensian levels. After 14 years, they had had enough. They turned in their droves to a Labour Government once again to clear up the mess and rebuild the social and economic fabric of a fractured nation. Now the hard yards of change have begun.
We on the Government side of the House are so ambitious for change. We have the biggest legislative programme in a quarter of a century, with 38 bills in the King’s Speech. The programme includes: rail back in public hands to put passengers before profit; a raise in the minimum wage and increases for teachers, nurses and public sector workers; maternity leave from day one in a job; more powers for police to tackle antisocial behaviour; a house building revolution; the miners pension scheme; £1 billion for buses, with local people back in charge of them; homes for veterans; a child poverty taskforce; a national wealth fund for a transition to the industries of the future; breakfast clubs for schoolchildren; action on spiking and stalking; bringing back neighbourhood policing; action on sewage; and, in my own patch, the biggest single investment on Teesside in history, with carbon capture and storage bringing jobs and ushering in a new industrial renaissance on Teesside.
This is an exhaustive Christmas list for Britain—only missing, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Walsall and Bloxwich (Valerie Vaz) said, a partridge in a pear tree. Change is coming, Madam Deputy Speaker. The people have cast out the old and ushered in the new.
Paul Holmes
The hon. Lady has plenty of time, but can I just say to her: one line, two lines, full house.
Anna Turley
Eyes down. [Laughter.]
To quote Lord Tennyson,
“The old order changeth, yielding place to new”.
In July, the people cast out the old and ushered in the new, and we will not fail them.
At this time, I know we all want to take a moment to reflect on our families, our communities and, perhaps, our faith. We should never forget that Christmas is not always a time for celebration and joy; for some, it is a time of great regret, sadness, grief and loneliness. For many, it is a time of mental stress and financial worry. We pray for peace and for an end to conflict and separation around the world. We think of our courageous armed forces around the world, those saving lives in conflict zones, the NHS and so many other key workers, for whom Christmas day is just another day at work. To everyone alone, or serving abroad, or in pain this Christmas, please know you are not alone, and that you are loved. That, surely, is the true meaning of Christmas.
I am reminded, as I finish, that one of England’s greatest Christmas literary figures, Charles Dickens, began his career here as a parliamentary reporter and sketch writer. So, like Tiny Tim, let me close by saying,
“God bless Us, Every One!”