Christmas Adjournment
Andrew Rosindell Excerpts(2 days, 10 hours ago)
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Andrew Rosindell (Romford) (Con)
I bring greetings to all Members of this House from my constituents in Romford, a town that I am proud to represent in my 25th year as a Member of Parliament. Having been born and brought up in the town, I can tell the House that we are proud of our Essex roots, although we are unfortunately part of Greater London, instead of Essex. Nevertheless, we are determined to reassert our identity as a proud part of the great English county of Essex.
On Friday, I will be hosting the carols round the Christmas tree for my local churches, scout groups and schools at Margaret Thatcher House in Romford. Everybody is welcome to come and celebrate our proud Christian heritage. However, we enter 2026 with a lot of issues that we are simply not happy about—the Leader of the House knows, because I raise them with him every Thursday. They include the Gallows Corner roundabout, which is a disaster because of the Mayor of London and Transport for London’s complete incompetence and failure to deal with the junction and rebuild the flyover much faster, which is affecting everybody in the Essex and east London area. We need action on that, because it is making people’s lives quite miserable. The Mayor of London is also reducing our police counter hours in Romford—all our police stations are already closed except the main one, but now the hours there are reducing.
We also have a boom in HMOs—houses in multiple occupation—in Romford and across the borough of Havering. Homes are being built without the consent of local people, causing much anger and creating disruption for families in many residential streets. We also have the ongoing situation on the Oldchurch estate. Sanctuary housing has failed to deal with the issues facing the residents of the estate, where unacceptable conditions exist. That housing association has completely failed to do an effective job for the tenants who pay its wages. That is another issue that I ask the Leader of the House to raise on behalf of my constituents.
Finally, the Building Safety Regulator has failed to act swiftly on cladding on the Mercury Gardens estate and the Axis estate at the back of my headquarters. It is causing unbelievable stress for the residents of flats, because they are trapped as leaseholders, unable to sell their properties until the matter is resolved.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish you a merry Christmas. Thank you for your kindness and courtesy, and thank you to all the Speaker’s staff for all they have done over the year. I am here because I love my country and I love my constituency, and this House must always put our country first.
Business of the House
Andrew Rosindell Excerpts(2 days, 10 hours ago)
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Sir Alan Campbell
I thank my hon. Friend for raising such an important case. We are committed to improving the lives of those who, like Sam, have rare diseases. Integrated care boards have a responsibility to commission services to meet the needs of those in their care, so I will refer the case to the Department of Health and Social Care, and will ensure that my hon. Friend gets a meeting, if she wants one, to see what progress can be made on these matters.
Andrew Rosindell (Romford) (Con)
Madam Deputy Speaker, may I wish you and all the staff in the Speaker’s Office a very merry Christmas, and may I thank you for all your kindness and courtesy throughout the past year? However, I must say to the Leader of the House that this Christmas, my constituents in Romford are increasingly afraid to walk through the town centre; reports of violent crime and street robbery are becoming a regular occurrence. Despite the huge precept that we pay to the Mayor of London—it is an average of £500 a year, per household—we simply do not get the police we pay for. Inner London always takes priority. Indeed, the whole Greater London region has become plagued with petty theft, shoplifting and violent crime, especially on Transport for London services. Will the Leader of the House make time for a debate on these pressing issues, which affect the daily life of my tax-paying, law-abiding constituents in Romford?
Sir Alan Campbell
The hon. Gentleman will know that the Government take this important matter seriously, and through the safer streets summer initiative, we applied additional resources. We are doing so in the winter as well, particularly for town centres, so there should be no excuse for inactivity on these matters, in the run-up to Christmas or beyond. Our commitment is absolutely to ensure increased numbers of police officers, because, quite frankly, we inherited a system that was chronically underfunded. We are bringing forward the police grant, which will be debated in the new year, and I encourage the hon. Gentleman to make his strong case during that debate.
Business of the House
Andrew Rosindell Excerpts(1 week, 2 days ago)
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Sir Alan Campbell
We continue to assess the wellbeing of prisoners and will always take the appropriate action, including taking prisoners to hospital if they are assessed as needing treatment by a medical professional. We are keeping that under very close scrutiny; the Deputy Prime Minister is aware of the situation, and he and his Department are monitoring it closely. However, as was made clear by our right hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) and by Mr Speaker yesterday, it is important that correspondence on these matters is responded to quickly and in a timely fashion, so I will raise this issue with the Department to make sure Members are kept informed.
Andrew Rosindell (Romford) (Con)
I want to urgently draw the attention of the Leader of the House to the appalling situation at the Queen’s hospital in Romford, which serves the boroughs of Redbridge, Barking, Dagenham and Havering and the wider Essex area—in fact, it is the hospital that serves the constituents of the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, the right hon. Member for Ilford North (Wes Streeting). The A&E unit is simply not able to cope; it is dealing with double the number of patients it was built to serve. People are lying in corridors and people’s lives are at risk—frankly, it is totally unacceptable. I have raised this matter with the Minister for Secondary Care, the hon. Member for Bristol South (Karin Smyth), as well as with the Secretary of State, yet nothing is happening. Will the Leader of the House please ask the Secretary of State to make an urgent statement on the situation at Queen’s hospital? I fear that many people’s lives could be at risk at Christmas.
Sir Alan Campbell
As the hon. Gentleman points out, the winter crisis has started early this year—not least because of the flu situation—so our hospitals are under enormous pressure. A number of hospitals need capital expenditure; we inherited crumbling public services and, in many cases, a crumbling NHS estate, so that will take some time. However, despite the fact that the hon. Gentleman shares his hospital with the Secretary of State, should he wish to discuss these matters with a Health Minister and see what can be done, I will facilitate that meeting.
Business of the House
Andrew Rosindell Excerpts(3 weeks, 2 days ago)
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Sir Alan Campbell
We are not in favour of solar radiation modification, given the uncertainty around the risks that it poses for the climate and environment, and we work closely with the international research community to evaluate the latest scientific evidence. My hon. Friend may wish to raise the point, however, at Department for Science, Innovation and Technology questions next month.
Andrew Rosindell (Romford) (Con)
May I also wish you a happy Lancashire day, Mr Speaker? I thank you for ensuring that the historical county flags are flown from New Palace Yard. It is great to see the Lancashire flag flying today.
If I may go on to an Essex question, the Leader of the House should be aware that the Metropolitan police are reducing the opening hours of 25 police stations across Greater London. Romford police station’s opening times will be cut to four hours. That comes on top of the closure of all other functioning police stations throughout Havering, leaving my constituents with limited access to local police stations, and limited opportunity to meet a constable face to face to seek advice or report a crime. That is unacceptable. Once again, Havering is getting an unfair allocation of police resources, thanks to the Mayor of London, who seems to have no interest in our borough. Will the Leader of the House make time for a debate in the House on the detrimental policy of closing police station front desks across the London region?
Sir Alan Campbell
Many constituents will look at what the hon. Gentleman has said and recognise the concerns. I know that face-to-face contact with police officers is very valuable. However, over time, the usefulness of big, and often old, police stations has become questionable, particularly given the use of new technology. It is about balance. As for making decisions about police stations and front counters, that is a matter for the commissioner. I also gently refer to the historical underfunding of the police across our country in general in the last 14 years.
Business of the House
Andrew Rosindell Excerpts(1 month ago)
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Sir Alan Campbell
I thank my hon. Friend for all his work on that issue. He has raised it with me a number of times—as have colleagues at business questions, so there is real interest in it. Ministers continue to meet the BCSSS trustees, but as my hon. Friend knows, I have just announced the future business, and he will have two opportunities to raise it further: first, we will have a debate following the Budget, when he may wish to go into more detail; and secondly, there is some pension legislation coming down the track.
Andrew Rosindell (Romford) (Con)
Animal lovers across the country— most especially Katie Amess, the daughter of our late dear friend, who is continuing the battle for animal welfare across the country—are raising concerns that after the seven-day statutory period, many healthy dogs are not being offered for adoption and are instead euthanised without transparency. One shelter that receives dogs from several councils lists only a handful that are available for rehoming despite its far higher intake figures. That lack of accountability is deeply troubling. Will the Leader of the House make time for Members to examine whether stronger reporting requirements and safeguards are needed to protect those animals, and may we have a debate on the welfare of stray dogs transferred by local authorities to contracted shelters?
Sir Alan Campbell
The hon. Gentleman is right to raise these sad and often abhorrent cases. Should he seek a debate, he could amplify his message, and others could join him, so that anyone who is engaged in these practices recognises the scale of concern. If they cannot change the way in which they operate, the Government will need to consider whether legislation is adequate.
Business of the House
Andrew Rosindell Excerpts(1 month, 1 week ago)
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Sir Alan Campbell
We are committed to bringing forward legislation to ban these abusive practices. It was, as my hon. Friend says, and is a key manifesto commitment. I cannot give her an exact time, but when the legislation does come forward, there will be plenty of time for debate on the matters that she raises.
Andrew Rosindell (Romford) (Con)
My constituents continue to suffer from the dither, delay and ineptitude of Transport for London and the Mayor, as the rebuilding of the Gallows Corner junction, which was originally meant to be completed in September, is now delayed to the spring. This is causing chaos in Essex and on the eastern side of London. Will the Leader of the House ask the Secretary of State for Transport to take over this project, so that everyone can get on with their life and travel freely through this junction?
Sir Alan Campbell
I will raise the issue with the Transport Secretary, to see how it can be resolved.
Business of the House
Andrew Rosindell Excerpts(1 month, 2 weeks ago)
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Andrew Rosindell (Romford) (Con)
As chairman of the parliamentary support group for the victims of Libyan-sponsored IRA terrorism, I welcome the publication of the long overdue Shawcross report. Will the Leader of the House accept that the Government must now make a serious attempt to heal the wounds and deliver justice for the victims and their families, who have waited so long for compensation? With that in mind, will he find time for a debate on the report’s recommendations, the handling of the issue by successive Governments and the prospect of delivering specific compensation for the victims of the atrocities of the Docklands, the Baltic Exchange and Harrods, among other tragic attacks, as called for by the families and specifically the Docklands Victims Association led by Jonathan Ganesh?
Sir Alan Campbell
The Government are absolutely committed to bringing closure to these matters in a fair way and to getting justice for people who have been affected in that way. The hon. Member may wish to look towards the Backbench Business Committee, or indeed apply for an Adjournment debate, so that he can raise these matters directly with and hear from the Minister.
Business of the House
Andrew Rosindell Excerpts(2 months ago)
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Sir Alan Campbell
It may be the first reservoir in 30 years, but we are committed to making sure that it is not the last. Putting right the crumbling infrastructure that we were left with is an important part of growth, which is the priority of this Government. I cannot comment specifically on what the hon. Lady has said, but I will draw it to the attention of Ministers in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. She may seek to raise the issue at questions or at a meeting with Ministers, or indeed call for a debate on it.
Andrew Rosindell (Romford) (Con)
The Leader of the House will be aware that 2027 will mark the 1,100th anniversary of the unification of England under King Athelstan, and the Royal Society of St George is proposing that we have a bank holiday on 12 July 2027. Will he make time for a debate on such a great, momentous occasion for our country, and will he also join me in celebrating Essex Day on 26 October? I thank you, Mr Speaker, for ensuring that the flag of Essex will be flown from the Palace of Westminster for the first time ever. I hope the Leader of the House will ensure that under the new local government reorganisation, historic and ceremonial counties will be put together, so that we can celebrate our true county identity.
Sir Alan Campbell
I was aware of that anniversary, because I think the hon. Gentleman has raised it before. [Interruption.] Rather cruelly, my colleague sitting next to me says that I was there for the event, but that simply is not true. I am sure that when the time arises, it will be an appropriate opportunity to have a debate in this House, because we should be very proud of our national identity and celebrate it. When an anniversary such as that comes along, we should seize it with both hands.
I wish Essex Day all the very best. It is not just about being proud of our nation; it is about being proud of our regions and our towns, too. Devolution and where we will end up with it is a matter for another day as the devolution Bill progresses through this House. At this moment, I am not going to speculate about the future of counties, either historic or not as historic.
Business of the House
Andrew Rosindell Excerpts(3 months, 1 week ago)
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Sir Alan Campbell
The news of job losses that my hon. Friend brings to the House is disappointing. It is always disappointing when jobs are lost, and I know the whole House will share his concern, particularly as it is a well-known name employing a large number of people. We are committed to supporting British industry, and Armitage Shanks is a name well known throughout the land. The Chancellor has announced the date of the next Budget, which will turn to the long-term reforms that Britain needs to unlock growth and ensure that the economy works for working people. I will of course bring forward time for a debate following the Budget in the usual way.
Andrew Rosindell (Romford) (Con)
This is a truly sad and tragic day for our friends in the United States of America as they remember the events of 9/11 in 2001, and given the tragic assassination last night of Charlie Kirk. I was privileged to welcome him to the Houses of Parliament in 2018 and take him to Speaker’s House for a Christmas reception. He was a friend of the United Kingdom, he stood up for freedom and his Christian faith, and we mourn his loss and send our condolences to his family and friends.
Talking about someone of principle who stands up for freedom, 13 October—the day the House returns after the conference recess—will be the 100th anniversary of the birth of our finest post-war Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. Will the Leader of the House allow a debate on the legacy of Margaret Thatcher, which was to restore the British economy, stand up for Britain around the world, defend freedom and not give away British islands but protect, defend and restore them, as she did for the Falkland Islands in 1982?
Sir Alan Campbell
I echo the remarks I made earlier about Charlie Kirk. Whether we shared views or not, political violence is never acceptable.
Should the hon. Member wish to seek a debate on the anniversary of Mrs Thatcher’s birth, I can assure him that it would be well attended. I can also assure him that there would not be the unanimous approval of her legacy and record that he perhaps thinks there would be. I come from a community that was devastated by the loss of heavy industry, and to be honest, many of those communities are still suffering. The difference between those days and today is that when there is industrial change, this Government stand with working people to lessen the impact and ensure that new growth brings new jobs.
Business of the House
Andrew Rosindell Excerpts(3 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)
Order. May I urge colleagues to keep their questions short, and the Leader of the House to keep her answers just as short?
Andrew Rosindell (Romford) (Con)
The Leader of the House will be aware of the outrage across the country regarding illegal immigration, asylum hotels and now the huge increase in the number of houses in multiple occupation. This is happening on a large scale in Romford, with a massive boom in HMOs. My constituents want to see an end to illegal immigration and the housing of asylum seekers in local hotels. However, transferring the problem to roads and neighbourhoods, and putting families and children at risk in residential streets, is not acceptable. Will the Leader of the House allow for a debate on the Floor of the House on the need to adopt an urgent strategy to end the use of hotels and HMOs for this purpose?
Lucy Powell
I share the frustration, concern and indeed anger in many parts about the huge use of asylum hotels, and now HMOs, in dealing with the asylum backlog, which was left by the hon. Gentleman’s party after it was in power. Indeed, I remember the shadow Home Secretary and the shadow Justice Secretary going round the country opening these hotels and allowing this to happen. They left us with a huge backlog. We need to take all necessary steps to bring down illegal migration, deal with these issues and close the hotels. That is what we want to do, but as the hon. Gentleman says, we cannot just make the problem dissipate into other parts of the community. That is why we are working to tackle it.