General Election

Alistair Strathern Excerpts

Monday 6th January 2025 Westminster Hall

[Alistair Strathern (Hitchin) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship again, Mrs Harris, and a real privilege to serve as MP for my constituency. Over six months ago, I had the privilege of being elected again to represent the towns and villages where I live. There is no greater privilege than being an MP and getting to champion the representation and the change that politics, when done right, can deliver.

In that spirit, I would like to thank the petition organiser and all those who engaged with the petition in good faith, as I am sure he and many of those here today did, for bringing this matter to our attention and for instilling the level of interest that this debate has doubtless generated outside this place. I am sure that there is a great deal that he and I would disagree about, and I am sure that that will be as true in five years’ time as it is now, but we probably both agree that for far too long, far too many politicians have taken our electorate for granted and have let people down. That is something that none of us, whatever political party we represent, should allow to continue.

Although this is not the first time that I have been elected to serve my community, it feels like the stakes could not be higher. Throughout the election, I heard some truly heartbreaking stories of people whose health had been allowed to deteriorate to breaking point by a health service that was no longer there for them when they needed it; of families whose lives had been squeezed and narrowed beyond all recognition by cost of living pressures that were simply not of their making; and of far too many people who had lost faith in the basic ability of the state to do the simple things right—keeping our borders secure, fixing our roads and showing people that politics can be a force for good. Against that backdrop, being elected again in this fragile time for the party of Government is a deep responsibility that I and my colleagues on the Government Benches take incredibly seriously.

Throughout the election period, we were under no illusions about the fact that we would be inheriting challenging circumstances, but no one could have predicted the depth of the challenges that we would inherit, with public services way beyond breaking point, far further than imagined, with prisons closer to overflowing and with our health service even more on its knees. The NHS had to advise our incoming Health Secretary that, far from expanding appointments, we should be cutting them—at a point when we had record waiting lists. It was an unacceptable inheritance, far beyond what we had been led to believe we would be picking up. And yes, public finances were in an even worse situation, with a black hole that was growing, as was verified by the Treasury, the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the Office for Budget Responsibility, and that would only get worse without robust action.

I am as angry about those stories as anyone. I completely understand why those are frustrating things to hear. I am frustrated, and I know my colleagues are, but we would have done a disservice to our country and our constituents if we had not faced up to them and the tough choices that we had to inherit. Only the right hon. Member for Richmond and Northallerton (Rishi Sunak) knows why he called an early election, but given our inheritance, it is pretty clear that it was not because he thought that things could only get better.

However difficult it is, I am glad to have the privilege of being in a party that now has to wrestle with the tough choices. We need to rebuild faith with and start fixing things for our constituents. I am glad that we are not shying away from that. It would have been easy to will away the black hole, will away the scale of the problems and introduce a Budget and reforms that tinkered around the edges of the challenges. We are not doing that.

There is no doubt that this Budget was a big Budget. It was a big Budget because we needed to make some big choices. They were not easy—if they were, even the last party might have been able to make them—but we faced up to them. We could not continue to tolerate a situation in which too many of my constituents were waiting too long to see a doctor, too many young people in my constituency with additional needs were waiting too long to have them met, and far too many of the very basic things for which every citizen should be able to count on their Government—border security, fixed roads, a functioning economy—simply were not happening.

I am under no illusion: I know that those choices brought with them some pain. It is for us, over the next five years, to work closely with our communities to show them that those choices have been worthwhile and show them that we are using that money to good end, delivering on the things that they elected us to change. Over the next five years, that is my mission, and that is the mission of everyone on the Government Benches.

I have no doubt that we will make some mistakes along the way—I certainly will—but I hope that in five years’ time, or whenever the next election is called, I will be able to go back to our electorate, talk to them about the changes we have been able to make, and show them the difference that a Labour Government have made to the health service and to the incomes of working people by designing and delivering an economy that is truly working for our communities again.

For far too long, we have accepted a managed decline and a broken political settlement in this country. I have no doubt that it is not going to be easy. It certainly has not been an easy first six months, but I am incredibly proud to be part of a party that is facing up to those difficult choices and that remains resolute in its resolve to deliver for people and show them, choice by choice and decision by decision, that things can get better again. We will be doing everything we can to ensure that they do.

Oral Answers to Questions

Alistair Strathern Excerpts

Wednesday 13th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The Chancellor made this absolutely clear in the Budget. We are putting that huge investment into special educational needs, an issue of concern across the House, because I think all Members recognise the appalling record of the last Government. The appalling state of SEN has been raised by those on the hon. Gentleman’s own Benches. I am proud of the money that the Government are putting in where the last Government failed.

[Alistair Strathern (Hitchin) (Lab)]

Not a week goes by when my office is not contacted by young people and their families who are being let down by the shocking state of SEN provision locally. In my constituency, I am trying to work across party lines to push both Central Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire councils to do more. I welcome the fantastic news in the Budget about additional funding, and the subsequent announcements about increased support for mainstream settings, but we will need to do more. Can the Prime Minister assure my constituents that we will not shy away from the whole-system reform needed to finally ensure that every young person has the support that they need to thrive in school?

[The Prime Minister]

We will not shy away from that challenge, because it is far too important for the children, families and communities involved. We will therefore not only put the necessary money in, but look at the reform that is needed alongside that investment, and we will finally fix the problem—another of the problems that we have inherited from the lot opposite.

House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill

Alistair Strathern Excerpts

2nd reading
Tuesday 15th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[John Glen (Salisbury) (Con)]

It is my privilege to wind up the Opposition’s case on the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill. In their first 100 days, the new Government have come out of the general election at lightning speed, but at times they have found themselves struggling to keep the wheels from spinning off the wagon. It is perhaps no surprise, therefore, that this gesture at constitutional modernisation is being rushed through Parliament without pre-legislative scrutiny, without meaningful cross-party engagement and without proper consultation.

This is a five-clause Bill with no detail on the next steps. The Government had 14 long years in opposition to ponder how to complete the changes from when they last addressed the matter in the House of Lords Act 1999, yet we see a Bill without ambition. It is incomplete, and without due consideration of the wider implications, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Hertsmere (Sir Oliver Dowden) set out so eloquently. It is a Bill that provokes questions that are not answered despite repeated assertions to the contrary; and, sadly, in line with many aspects of Labour’s first 100 days in power, there is no clear plan. There is the hope of one— I acknowledge that—but the complexity and variable geometry of our constitutional settlement and history and traditions need serious examination.

[Alistair Strathern (Hitchin) (Lab)]

I admire the right hon. Gentleman’s elegant efforts to slide past the 14 years when his party was in charge and had an opportunity to change some of these things, but I also note that he is circumventing having to try and defend the indefensible, which is the idea that people have a birthright to be in our Parliament. We are surely long past that point, and if he agrees he and his party should be supporting our party’s proposals.

[John Glen]

I am not hiding at all from that; I am saying that it must be one part of much wider reforms, which many Conservative Members would agree with. If we are to make a large number of changes, it is only reasonable when taking the first step to want to know what the next steps are, because we then address the final overall effect on our constitution and national Parliament.

Reporting Ministerial Gifts and Hospitality

Alistair Strathern Excerpts

Monday 14th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Ellie Reeves]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his comments. There are no plans to do that at this stage.

[Alistair Strathern (Hitchin) (Lab)]

I am sure that many Members will share my disbelief and that of my constituents at reports in The Times today that as many as one in 10 Conservative Members are considering standing down early because of the closing down of loopholes on second jobs. Regardless of political affiliation, one of our most important responsibilities is making sure we build and maintain our constituents’ trust in politics. Whether it is by tightening up the rules on second jobs or making sure we clamp down on some of the loopholes on Ministers’ declarations that we had under the last Government, will the Government remain resolute in ensuring that when we come to this House, we do so to serve our constituents and not ourselves?

[Ellie Reeves]

As I said in answer to a previous question, the Modernisation Committee is looking at the matter very closely. Being a Member of Parliament is a huge privilege and an honour. It is a full-time job, and then some. It is important, and it is also important that we look closely at the appropriateness of second jobs for Members of Parliament.

Oral Answers to Questions

Alistair Strathern Excerpts

Wednesday 10th January 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend has been a fantastic campaigner for the new Hillingdon hospital and I agree that it will provide fantastic care to him and his constituents. I am pleased that planning permission and funding have now been granted for the site and that work is progressing. I will look at my diary, but in the meantime I can tell him that my right hon. Friend the Health Secretary will be very happy to visit the project and see the significant progress for herself.

[Alistair Strathern (Mid Bedfordshire) (Lab)]

Q4. Last year, my constituents had to wait months for an election to be finally confirmed, with uncertainty repeatedly prolonged, seemingly out of self-interest. This year, I did not expect the Prime Minister to be turning to my predecessor of all people for strategic inspiration but, if we are going to be waiting, I hope we can work together for a group in my constituency who really deserve support. Will the Prime Minister meet some fantastic kinship carers in Mid Bedfordshire to talk through how we can progress the strategy to make it go further and faster and, crucially, why Bedfordshire might be a fantastic place for one of the proposed pilot areas?

[The Prime Minister]

I pay tribute to all kinship carers for the incredible work they do. I would be happy to review the plans the hon. Gentleman mentions and make sure Ministers have a look at them too. I pay tribute to all those in his constituency and elsewhere who are doing a terrific job; in Government, as he knows, we are looking at ways we can support them further and we will continue to do so.

Risk and Resilience: Annual Statement

Alistair Strathern Excerpts

Monday 4th December 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend speaks from experience, having previously worked in the Cabinet Office, and he is absolutely right to highlight the importance of exercising. Indeed, we conducted Exercise Mighty Oak, a major national exercising programme in relation to power outages, earlier this year. We are currently developing the forward programme for national exercises, and I will be able to provide an update shortly on our progress. Indeed, it forms part of the national resilience academy to train people in that kind of exercising.

[Alistair Strathern (Mid Bedfordshire) (Lab)]

One big driver of flooding risk from our waterways is raw sewage pollution, which has not improved since 2016. When I was starting out as a maths teacher, it did not take me long to realise that letting some of my classes mark their own homework was quite a naive approach and did not drive performance. When will the Government learn the same lesson and recognise that the current self-reporting regime for raw sewage discharge simply is not working?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

The Government have introduced an unprecedented package to address sewage discharge. On resilience more widely, we have put £150 million into the flood and coastal resilience innovation programme to ensure that, as we develop flood defences, we also look at how we protect against, for example, coastal erosion and wider risks to seawater.

Oral Answers to Questions

Alistair Strathern Excerpts

Wednesday 15th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Sir John Whittingdale]

I do not agree with that. The voucher scheme has delivered gigabit broadband to thousands of constituents up and down the country. At the same time, we are rolling out the procurement contract. I know that there are particular challenges in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency, but we have already extended gigabit coverage to 78% of the United Kingdom. I am happy to ask BDUK to discuss with him any specific challenges in his constituency.

[Alistair Strathern (Mid Bedfordshire) (Lab)]

6. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help support universities with research and development on net zero technologies.

[The Minister of State, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (Andrew Griffith)]

I thank my predecessor, my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Norfolk (George Freeman), for the outstanding contribution he has made to British science and technology.

The Government are investing around £4.2 billion in net zero research and innovation over the current spending review period, including through UK Research and Innovation and other Government Departments.

[Alistair Strathern]

I thank the Minister for that answer. I am incredibly proud of the leading role that Cranfield University in my constituency is playing, not just in pioneering research around net zero but in commercialisation of that technology. Can the Minister outline what further support we can offer companies such as Cranfield Aerospace Solutions in my constituency, to make sure we capture that economic benefit locally in the future?

[Andrew Griffith]

I share the hon. Member’s pride in the wonderful work done by Cranfield University and Cranfield Aerospace Solutions. We are providing £1.6 billion of funding for the UK’s nine Catapults, including the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, some of which will go to the Cranfield Digital Aviation Research and Technology Centre. I hope to join the hon. Member in visiting that wonderful institution.