Business of the House
Rachel Hopkins Excerpts(2 weeks, 5 days ago)
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Lucy Powell
First, I put on record that Tuesday was International Day of Persons with Disabilities, and note that the House of Commons now has more disabled Members than ever before. I commend their contribution, and look forward to working with them through the Modernisation Committee, and with you, Mr Speaker, to make sure that this place and our politics are as accessible as they can be. As has been mentioned, this Saturday is Small Business Saturday, when we celebrate the heart of all our high streets. In these sessions, I like to hear about many of our constituents’ great cafés, and in particular their bars, especially when an invitation for me to visit follows.
I also put on record my thanks to you, Mr Speaker, for the way proceedings were handled last Friday, and to all of those who took part in the debate on assisted dying, or were in the Chamber for it. That debate was respectful, considered and thoughtful. Whatever view we each took, it was a moment when huge attention was on us, and I thought our democracy and our Parliament showed itself at its best.
Members will see that there are lots of important issues and much important business in the run-up to Christmas. Two thirds of the Bills that we announced in our King’s Speech are now making their way through Parliament. The rail franchising Bill has received Royal Assent; the Renters’ Rights Bill has completed Committee; and our important Budget measures will soon be passed. We are fixing the foundations and getting on with the job. As has been noted, copies of the “Plan for Change” will be available in the Vote Office shortly, ahead of the statement later today.
It is another week, and another misjudged and confused contribution from the shadow Leader of the House. He really does need to work out what the Conservative strategy for opposition is. Is it to tell people across the country that they never had it so good as when the Conservatives were in office, or to learn from defeat and accept that they got things wrong? I gently advise them to listen to the voters, because acting as if they did nothing wrong and accepting no responsibility will not do them any good at all. If the right hon. Gentleman does not want to take my advice, perhaps he should listen to his own, because he said that the Conservatives suffered from
“many disastrous recent failures of policy and leadership”,
and I agree. He said we inherited a “struggling” economy and “anaemic” growth; I agree with that, too. I also agreed with him when he was a champion of net zero, and when he was Financial Secretary to the Treasury, he was right to care about economic stability. I agreed with him; does he still agree with him? I am not quite sure.
The right hon. Gentleman asked about scrutiny of legislation and debate, but I gently remind him that we have had many debates on the Finance Bill, on the Budget, and the on the national insurance contributions Bill, which is coming back to the House next week and before Christmas. I must remind him yet again, I am afraid, that he was Financial Secretary to the Treasury when the national insurance contributions were raised not just on business but on workers; he said that was a thoroughly “Conservative thing to do.” He was also a Treasury Minister when the minimum wage was raised. He has had plenty of time to come to this House and explain why he thought that was okay then but not okay now.
The right hon. Gentleman raised the topic of the economy, but he failed to mention one of the big economic forecasts out this week, from the OECD, which shows that the UK is now forecast to be the fastest growing European economy in the G7 over the next three years. He did not mention that when he was talking about the economy. We have always been clear that growth only matters when ordinary people right around the country feel better off and see public services improve; that is the difference between our economic plans and his.
We have a plan for change; the Conservatives have yet to change—they are yet to learn their own lessons. We are laying out today how we will deliver our clear outcomes. The right hon. Gentleman might not like them, because the Conservatives failed on all their measures, which is why they lost the election. While he and the rest of his party shout from the sidelines and try to rewrite history, we are delivering the real change that the public voted for.
Rachel Hopkins (Luton South and South Bedfordshire) (Lab)
My right hon. Friend knows that on occasion, this House can come to agreement about key pieces of legislation. In the last Parliament, one such piece of legislation was the Football Governance Bill. Will she give an update on its progress in this Parliament and consider granting time for a debate on the sustainability of football?
Lucy Powell
I am really pleased and proud that this Government have brought back a strengthened Football Governance Bill; it is being considered in the House of Lords. The Conservatives supported it when they were in government, but I have to say that the behaviour of Conservative peers in the House of Lords does not suggest that the Conservatives are still in favour of it, because they have tabled hundreds of amendments to slow down progress of that important Bill. If they still care about putting fans back at the heart of our football, and making sure that we have a sustainable football industry in the future, perhaps they should tell their colleagues in the other place to pipe down.
Business of the House
Rachel Hopkins Excerpts(1 month, 3 weeks ago)
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Lucy Powell
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that. Perhaps that joke should have referred to one of the prospective leaders of the—no, I will not go any further.
The right hon. Gentleman refers to some very important independent financial institutions that offer this country the financial stability for which is renowned around the world. When we ignore those institutions, as the former Prime Minister Liz Truss did, we see who pays the greatest price for that. Those institutions play an important role, but he is right to say that they should be accountable to Parliament, and it is my expectation that those bodies appear regularly before Select Committees.
Rachel Hopkins (Luton South and South Bedfordshire) (Lab)
Five-year-olds in the most deprived areas of Luton are two and a half times more likely to have experienced dental decay. I pay tribute to organisations such as the Dental Wellness Trust, which does great work on children’s oral health in Luton and beyond. I welcome our Labour Government’s plan to fix dentistry, including the provision of a supervised tooth brushing programme for three to five-year-olds. Will the Leader of the House provide Government time for a debate on the positive impact these measures will have across the country?
Lucy Powell
My hon. Friend is right to highlight the dire state that NHS dentistry fell into under the previous Government, and the really high levels of poor oral health that many of our children face. Poor child oral health remains one of the main reasons for admission into A&E and other services, and that is why this Government are committed to tackling it. Further work was announced in yesterday’s Budget. My hon. Friend will know that there is a debate next week on fixing the NHS, and I am sure she will want to raise these issues there.
Business of the House
Rachel Hopkins Excerpts(2 months, 1 week ago)
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Lucy Powell
I join the shadow Leader of the House in paying tribute to Alex Salmond, a great parliamentarian who has sadly passed away. I also pay tribute to the late Sir David Amess, as this week marks three years since his awful murder. We still miss him greatly in this House. I also send condolences to the friends and family of Liam Payne. One Direction was loved by millions across the world, and this was a tragic end for someone so young.
I would like to draw the House’s attention to the Modernisation Committee’s call for views on its future work, which has been published this morning. I am hoping to hear many views, and I thank the shadow Leader of the House and other Committee members for their constructive engagement so far.
As the right hon. Gentleman mentioned, the private Member’s Bills were presented yesterday. I know that many colleagues want to ensure that proper time and consideration are given to the important matter of assisted dying. As a Member of this House who was present last time we considered this issue, I know that these debates of conscience bring out the very best of Parliament in respectful and considered debate.
I am sure that we all welcome this week’s news that inflation is now lower than the Bank of England’s target, for the first time in three years. After so much political instability, economic turbulence and rising bills, it will be a huge relief for families. But it is just the first step in securing the economy. Given the state of the public finances we inherited, there is a long road ahead.
The Conservatives do not like to hear it, but they left the country’s finances in a very sorry state. They ducked the decisions on things that they knew would explode after the election, and were grossly irresponsible: pay deals left on Ministers’ desks with no money allocated; this year’s pay rise for teachers not funded, and last year’s not either; a hospital building programme that was a work of fiction, not worth the paper it was written on; out-of-control expenditure in Departments, like the billions spent on asylum hotels; reserves for this financial year spent three times over; waiting lists at a record high, with industrial action ripping through the NHS; and prisons on the verge of collapse. It was a Government who knew they were about to lose, and left us to pick up the pieces.
This is not about not just the £22 billion black hole that we have now; it is a black hole year after year. Doing nothing is not an option. If we do not deal with it, markets lose confidence and the cost of borrowing goes up. We saw two years ago what happens, did not we not? The poorest in society pay the highest price when the economy tanks. We are all still paying higher mortgages and higher costs after what the shadow Leader of the House did when he was the Chief Secretary of the Treasury in Liz Truss’s Cabinet.
I will not be discussing the measures that may or may not be in the Budget. The Chancellor is working night and day to deliver economic stability. We stand by all our manifesto commitments, and we know that we need to live within our means. I have said it once and I will say it again: I will not take the right hon. Gentleman’s advice on economic stability, if he does not mind.
The right hon. Gentleman raised the Taylor Swift concerts, inevitably. Let me say to this House [Interruption.] No, I was not there. The concerts generated £1 billion for the UK visitor economy this summer. Surely people welcome that. I know that he is interested in quoting other people; he might want to read what the Conservative peer Andrew Lloyd Webber said in The Times today: the continued attention on this concert by the Conservatives is “ludicrous”. It is about time they “Shake it off”, quite honestly—someone had to get it in.
The right hon. Gentleman raised the Rwanda scheme. Frankly, more Home Secretaries from his Government went to Rwanda than illegal migrants. We are fixing the mess that the Conservatives left behind, as we are across all policy areas. We are restoring confidence and governing for the long term. Just this week, our investment summit attracted record private sector investment—twice as much as was attracted by the same conference under his watch last year. Businesses are coming to Britain; a vote of confidence in Labour’s handling of the economy, turning the page on the instability and infighting that happened in the past.
Just this week, we have gone further: we have published our industrial strategy; unlocked thousands of new homes on brownfield sites; kept our promise to veterans on voter ID; tackled spiralling car insurance costs; taken our first steps on Martyn’s law and on removing hereditary peers, which Conservative Members were against; published our Employment Rights Bill; taken action on carer’s allowance overpayments; increased independent film tax credits; and, today, opened funding applications for school-based nurseries. That is the difference that just one week of a Labour Government can make, unlike the Tories.
Rachel Hopkins (Luton South and South Bedfordshire) (Lab)
This weekend, I had the great and fun privilege of attending the Windrush celebration at All Saints church in my constituency. It was as much a discussion as a celebration. Will the Leader of the House provide either a Government statement or Government time for a debate on the Windrush compensation scheme and the improvements that will hopefully be made under this Government?
Business of the House
Rachel Hopkins Excerpts(2 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Lucy Powell
The hon. Member will know that assisted dying is a matter of conscience and therefore a matter for Parliament; it is not one on which the Government have a view or will take an active role. We will remain neutral. Should someone wish to bring forward a private Member’s Bill, I am sure that it will progress through respectful and lengthy debate in Parliament, as we have had in the past and has taken place in the other House. That is a long-standing convention. The Government have set aside collective responsibility to allow the debate to happen in a thoughtful and thorough way.
Rachel Hopkins (Luton South and South Bedfordshire) (Lab)
Today is World Mental Health Day, so I pay tribute to staff and volunteers at charities such as Mind BLMK and Samaritans, among many others, who do brilliant work to support people in Luton South and South Bedfordshire. This year’s theme is mental health in the workplace, so I was delighted to see Labour’s Employment Rights Bill formally laid in Parliament today, and even more pleased to hear the Leader of the House announce that its Second Reading will be on 21 October, even though that pre-empted my question. I will simply ask: does she agree that Labour’s Bill will make a huge difference to people’s mental wellbeing in the workplace and that the whole House should support it on that basis alone?
Business of the House
Rachel Hopkins Excerpts(4 months, 4 weeks ago)
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Lucy Powell
I know from my previous work with my hon. Friend, who I am sure will make a fantastic contribution to the House as the MP for Stockton North, that he is extremely committed to these issues. The Government will look forward to working with him on the “Back British Metals” campaign, which I hope he will take forward in the coming weeks.
Rachel Hopkins (Luton South and South Bedfordshire) (Lab)
People in my new constituency have told me that they feel let down by the lack of local bus service provision, be it in Wigmore in the east or Caddington and villages in the west. Will the Leader of the House provide time for a debate on the Government’s exciting plan to give local leaders new powers to franchise local bus services and lift the ban on municipal ownership?
Lucy Powell
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I am afraid that local bus services are woeful in most parts of the country because, in many cases, they are privately run and desperately underfunded. That is why this Government were so committed to ensuring that the bus reform Bill was included in the King’s Speech. It will be introduced in due course, and I think that it will revolutionise bus services in my hon. Friend’s constituency and across the country.