Flooding: Monmouthshire

Debate between Anna McMorrin and Lindsay Hoyle

Wednesday 19th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Anna McMorrin]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. My hon. Friend the Member for Monmouthshire (Catherine Fookes) has been so diligent. I was on the phone with her over the weekend, and I know that she has been speaking to the Welsh Government. I was also on the phone to the Deputy First Minister over the weekend, and I have been in contact with Natural Resources Wales and local community groups. My hon. Friend the Member for Monmouthshire has been out there in her wellies, helping with the clean-up. I know that she feels this as deeply as those who have been impacted. The support we will be there, and we will continue to work together. Although flooding is a devolved matter, it reaches right across the country. Wherever we can help, we will. We are working together to ensure that we resolve this at pace and help the people who need it.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[David Chadwick (Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe) (LD)]

The recent floods in Monmouthshire have been devastating for local communities, and our thoughts are with everyone affected as they try to return to some sense of normality. I would also like to pay tribute to the emergency services and everyone who has worked tirelessly to keep residents safe throughout these events.

Last year, we saw attempts by multiple fire and rescue authorities in Wales to close small fire stations, which often house the equipment needed to respond to major floods like the ones we have just seen. Two of the proposed closures are in my constituency in Knighton and Crickhowell. Crickhowell is just a stone’s throw away from Monmouthshire, and the services that are based there often go over the border to help out. Will the Minister clarify what engagements the Government have had with fire services in Wales on potential closures? Does she agree that it is vital that we keep small stations open to protect residents in rural Wales from devastating events such as the ones we have just seen?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Anna McMorrin and Lindsay Hoyle

Wednesday 29th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Minister, welcome.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Anna McMorrin)]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. As a proud Welsh MP I am honoured to be here for my first Welsh questions.

We fully recognise the role of farmers and the agricultural community in Wales. That is why one of the first things that I did as Minister was meet members of the Farmers’ Union of Wales at the farm of one of its members just two weeks ago. I will be meeting with the National Farmers’ Union later today to discuss important matters for its members, including inheritance tax. This Government have also made sure to protect the farm budget for Wales, ensuring that the full £337 million has been allocated to the Welsh Government.

--- Later in debate ---

[Anna McMorrin]

I thank my hon. Friend and pay tribute to her work in this role prior to my appointment. I completely agree: the Welsh Government published their outline draft budget earlier this month, and are working with Opposition parties to ensure that it has broad support. The question everyone in Wales wants the answer to is whether the Opposition parties will vote against billions of pounds for public services, including vital support for Welsh farmers, just like they did last year.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

[Mims Davies (East Grinstead and Uckfield) (Con)]

I note that it takes three women to take me on now, but I very much welcome the Ministers to their places. Charles Rees, a fifth-generation Pembrokeshire farmer, has bravely and moving shared his battle with cancer on the BBC’s “Countryfile”, and I know this House will send him and his family our best wishes. His illness is not his only worry; he is also seriously concerned that his son, who is running his farm, could now be facing an unaffordable inheritance tax bill of £1 million, solely due to this Government’s catastrophic family farm tax. Despite Ministers saying differently, Charles and many other farmers across the country are fearing for their livelihoods, their way of life, their futures, and for food security. Will the Government scrap the family farm tax?

--- Later in debate ---

[Anna McMorrin]

We offer sanctuary for those who desperately need it, and we are proud of that, but we inherited contracts and a broken system from the Conservatives. Hotel use has nearly halved since the last election, and we have removed 30,000 people who have no right to be here, ensuring that those who do need to be here have the welcome and support that they need. It is not job done, but work in progress. We can compare that with the 14 years of the Tory Government.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

--- Later in debate ---

[Anna McMorrin]

That money just did not exist. We are investing a historic £445 million in Welsh rail to right years of underfunding by previous Governments, unleashing Wales’s economic potential. That will mean new stations, faster trains on key lines, and connecting people with well-paid and better jobs right across Wales. Two Governments are working in partnership to deliver for the people of Wales.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Before we come to Prime Minister’s questions, may I welcome, in the Gallery, the honourable Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka and his delegation?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Anna McMorrin and Lindsay Hoyle

Tuesday 30th April 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Anna McMorrin (Cardiff North) (Lab)]

Half of Haiti’s population is starving, violence is rife, dead bodies lie forgotten on the street. For too long this crisis has been ignored. As the Minister knows, that grave situation risks also destabilising the wider Caribbean region, including our overseas territories, with the Turks and Caicos islands less than 200 miles away. Can the Minister confirm the UK’s donation to the UN fund—the Government missed that out of their statement—and lay out what other diplomatic support the Government are offering to address the crisis?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Anna McMorrin and Lindsay Hoyle

Tuesday 30th January 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Anna McMorrin (Cardiff North) (Lab)]

Access to critical minerals is vital as we face a climate and energy crisis, but this Government have repeatedly disregarded Latin America and ignored its potential. Will the Minister commit to working with countries such as Chile, Brazil, Peru and Mexico to deliver these essential supplies for a green energy transition?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Anna McMorrin and Lindsay Hoyle

Tuesday 27th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Anna McMorrin (Cardiff North) (Lab)]

This week, it has been three years since the harm panel’s report found a serious risk of harm to victims of domestic abuse and their children in the family courts, yet we have seen that nothing has changed. Heartbreakingly, the experiences of victims in the family courts all read the same: the mother criminalised, the children ignored, the father excused. One 10-year-old girl disclosed to the guardian assigned to her case that her father had sexually abused and assaulted her. The guardian dismissed this and, instead, read a book to her, saying that her mother had made it up and her father had done nothing wrong. With no definition of rape or consent in statute in the family courts, when will the Government put a stop to this national scandal?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Anna McMorrin and Lindsay Hoyle

Tuesday 16th May 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Anna McMorrin (Cardiff North) (Lab)]

Family courts across the country are being used to perpetuate domestic abuse, and when that abuse proves fatal, which we know it too often does, the family courts allow it to be continued against the victim’s family. Currently, the parents of a woman who was killed by her husband would have to be cross-examined by that same murderer to adopt their orphaned grandchildren. This is a system that is stacked in favour of the killer. Do the Government agree that this practice is abhorrent and support Labour’s calls to implement Jade’s law in the Victims and Prisoners Bill?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Anna McMorrin and Lindsay Hoyle

Tuesday 28th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Anna McMorrin (Cardiff North) (Lab)]

Since questions began at 11.30 am today, 12 women across the country will have been raped. It is likely that not a single one of them will see their rapist charged. Those women have no Victims’ Commissioner and no victims Bill to protect them. Have not women suffered enough? How long will victims have to wait until they are put first in this broken justice system?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Anna McMorrin and Lindsay Hoyle

Tuesday 10th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Anna McMorrin (Cardiff North) (Lab)]

The Operation Soteria report on the handling of rape cases was quietly released just before Christmas. It reports of explicit victim blaming, botched investigations and serving officers claiming sexual offences should not be a priority, and those are just a few takeaways from its 191 pages. It is a dark stain on this Government. We still have no victims Bill and no Victims’ Commissioner, so what is the Secretary of State actually achieving in post?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Anna McMorrin and Lindsay Hoyle

Tuesday 22nd November 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister, Anna McMorrin.

[Anna McMorrin (Cardiff North) (Lab)]

My constituent Sarah was sexually assaulted. After a three-year wait and a hugely traumatic trial, the defendant was found not guilty. Of her experiences in the criminal justice system, she said:

“I felt like I was being publicly beaten and humiliated. I wouldn’t advise anyone to go through it, they destroy you.”

Can the Secretary of State tell me how survivors such as Sarah are supposed to trust the Government when, seven years on, we are still waiting for the victims Bill and he is under investigation for bullying?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Anna McMorrin and Lindsay Hoyle

Tuesday 5th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister, Anna McMorrin.

[Anna McMorrin (Cardiff North) (Lab)]

Seven years on, we do not have a victims Bill in statute. Thousands of victims are trapped in court backlogs and domestic abuse victims are still being cross-examined by their abuser in family courts, despite that being made illegal last year. Not only does the abuse continue, but the Government have facilitated it by deciding that that provision will not apply to domestic abuse victims who are already in the system. Will the Government ensure that that will apply to them and explain why victims should think that they are anything but an afterthought for the Government?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Anna McMorrin and Lindsay Hoyle

Tuesday 29th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call shadow Minister Anna McMorrin.

[Anna McMorrin (Cardiff North) (Lab)]

Henriett Szucs and Jan Mustafa were brutally murdered, and their bodies were found in the freezer of a known violent sex offender. Their deaths were avoidable, had it not been for a catalogue of failures within the justice system—failures that allowed this man the freedom to repeatedly commit horrifying crimes—and the collapse in victim safeguarding. Two women each week are murdered by a current or former partner, and apologies simply are not enough. I do not see the necessary action being taken to prevent the next Henriett or Jan. Labour has a ready-to-go plan, including a review of domestic violence and homicides; new progress indicators, as we have in Wales; more sustainable funding; and better access to specialist support services. The Minister has the power to stop violence against women being an afterthought in the justice system, so will he work with us to achieve it?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Anna McMorrin and Lindsay Hoyle

Tuesday 18th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Let us welcome Anna McMorrin to the Dispatch Box.

[Anna McMorrin (Cardiff North) (Lab)]

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.

The first duty of any Government is to protect and deliver justice, but justice for victims of violence against women and girls is becoming ever more distant. Rape convictions have fallen by more than 50% in the last two years—a record low, according to the Crown Prosecution Service. Worse still, more and more victims are dropping out of the process altogether. The Government are due to release a violence against women and girls strategy, but Labour’s is ready to go and includes: a fast-track system; a dedicated Minister for survivors of sexual violence; and a survivors’ support package, which would aid victims before, during and after the process. Will the Minister commit to taking these proposals forward now? If not, can he explain to victims why this Government choose further delay and inaction?