Digital ID

Chris Hinchliff Excerpts

Monday 8th December 2025 Westminster Hall

[Imran Hussain (Bradford East) (Lab)]

There is a reason why millions of people have signed this petition, making it the fourth largest in the history of this place. At the heart of this debate is an attack on our most fundamental and protected of rights: our freedom. We live in a free country, and we do not need a nanny state indirectly spying on its citizens.

A compulsory digital ID or a national ID card scheme is not a small administrative tweak that will make lives slightly easier for people; it is a fundamental shift in the relationship between the citizen and the state. Like many others in this place, I have serious concerns about what that means for civil liberties, for privacy and for equality in this country. No Government should ever hold a master key to every part of a citizen’s life, and we cannot pretend that such power could never fall into dangerous hands.

[Chris Hinchliff (North East Hertfordshire) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is making a powerful speech, as usual. Does he agree, from the clear argument across the Chamber, that constituents are overwhelmingly unconvinced by the proposed benefits of this scheme and overwhelmingly concerned by the disbenefits; and that therefore the Minister should commit today to ensuring that at the end of the consultation, the Government have the option of not taking this any further?

[Imran Hussain]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. There is a reason why millions have signed this petition. The Minister should commit to scrapping it today, but I am not sure he will.

As is the case for many hon. Members, thousands of my constituents have quite rightly signed this petition because they know that they are already at the sharp end of state systems that do not always treat them fairly. Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, migrants, older and disabled people, those on low incomes and those who are digitally excluded—these are the people who will feel the impact first if we rush headlong into a digital ID system without thinking through the consequences.

We have already seen how data can be misused, both in our country and across the world. In the wrong circumstances, information given in good faith to access childcare, education, healthcare or support can end up being misused. Frankly, trust in our institutions has been eroding for years now.

Oral Answers to Questions

Chris Hinchliff Excerpts

Wednesday 12th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Member for raising this very serious issue, which has been raised by others across these Benches on previous occasions. It is simply not right that customers and staff have been so badly let down. The Care Minister has convened representatives from across the industry to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. I want to reassure the hon. Member that we are working speedily to consider how to strengthen regulation of these pharmacies, and I will update the House as soon as I can.

[Chris Hinchliff (North East Hertfordshire) (Lab)]

Q9. During the debates on assisted dying, I and many others highlighted the importance of palliative care provided by hospices, but this vital work has been left reliant on donations and charity for far too long. Garden House hospice in Letchworth now faces a serious funding gap. I welcome Government investment in hospices, but will the Prime Minister consider broader reform to put hospice funding on a sustainable footing, and will he ensure that Ministers meet me to explore every option to keep Garden House hospice open?

[The Prime Minister]

I am pleased to tell my hon. Friend that £100 million has now been passed to Hospice UK, so places like Garden House in his constituency can create the best environment to deliver care. That is backed by a £26 million investment for children and young people’s hospices. We are also investing over £3 million in researching palliative and end-of-life care through the National Institute for Health and Care Research. We are working on further proposals to improve the access, quality and sustainability of care, and I will ensure that Ministers keep him updated.

Oral Answers to Questions

Chris Hinchliff Excerpts

Wednesday 18th December 2024 Commons Chamber

The Prime Minister was asked—

[Chris Hinchliff (North East Hertfordshire) (Lab)]

Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 18 December.

[The Prime Minister (Keir Starmer)]

Yesterday I met the brave men and women serving on HMS Iron Duke and the troops serving in Operation Cabrit in Estonia. This Christmas, as every Christmas, members of our armed forces will be serving overseas, working day and night to protect Britain’s national security. I know that the whole House will join me in sending our deepest thanks to them, to our emergency services and to everyone working to keep the country safe over the festive period.

Mr Speaker, may I also take this opportunity, at the end of the year, to thank you and the House staff for all your hard work this year, and can I wish everyone across the House a merry Christmas and a happy new year?

This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in this House, I shall have further such meetings later today.

[Chris Hinchliff]

May I associate myself with the Prime Minister’s remarks?

In 2021, Ceri and Frances Menai-Davis, who live in my constituency of North East Hertfordshire and are in the Gallery today, tragically lost their son, Hugh, at the age of just six to a rare form of cancer. Now they are courageously campaigning to ensure that every parent who must leave work to look after a sick child in hospital gets the financial support they need from day one. Will the Prime Minister meet them and me to discuss implementing Hugh’s law, and giving their son a legacy that improves the lives of families at the most difficult time imaginable?

[The Prime Minister]

Can I pay tribute to Ceri and Frances—it is a heartbreaking case—and commend them for their campaign on behalf of other families? I know that the Minister for Social Security and Disability met the family yesterday, but no parent should endure losing their child to cancer, particularly at such a young age. We are investing £1.5 billion for new surgical hubs and scanners, and £70 million for new radiotherapy machines, and we will set out our next steps on the children and young people cancer taskforce shortly.