Business of the House

Alistair Strathern Excerpts

Thursday 19th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Alistair Strathern (Hitchin) (Lab)]

Happy Christmas to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and your team. Hitchin’s fantastic festive knitted postbox topper campaign by Sue, Karen and other brilliant local volunteers has raised thousands of pounds for Hitchin Choices, a local special educational needs and disabilities youth group. I had the pleasure of visiting the group last week and, while there, I quickly learned that I need to practise my ping-pong skills a lot more before going back. It was clear how valued the group was by the young people who attended. Will the Leader of the House join me in urging people to back this campaign, and can we have a statement from the Secretary of State about what more we can do to support such youth groups as part of our wider SEND reforms?

[Lucy Powell]

In the spirit of Christmas, as this was a knitted postbox campaign, I did think that in his constituency, we could perhaps say, “Let it sew, let it sew, let it sew.” I am sorry about that; the puns are just getting worse. My hon. Friend has raised an important point about children needing support. That point has been raised many times today. I am sure that if many Members from across the House came together and applied for a Backbench Business debate on how we support the most vulnerable children and those with special educational needs, it would be very well subscribed.