High Street Businesses

Chris McDonald Excerpts

Wednesday 26th February 2025 Westminster Hall

[Chris McDonald (Stockton North) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. I thank my neighbour, the hon. Member for Stockton West (Matt Vickers) for securing the debate and particularly for devoting so much of his speech to outlining some of the achievements of our local Labour council in Stockton in developing our town centres.

Stockton is known for having the widest high street in Britain, but it is the breadth of the vision of our Labour council that I would really like to share with colleagues today, because I think there are some opportunities that might be of benefit to other areas. Labour councillor Nigel Cooke said many years ago that the future of the high street is about leisure, culture and recreation as much as it is about shops, and Stockton Council have put everything behind achieving that. The single biggest, most noticeable thing anyone will see on Stockton High Street—or will not see if they go today—is the former Castlegate shopping centre, which was demolished by the council to much local opposition. That resulted in a much higher rate of occupancy, up to 90%, at the other end of the street, but opened up for the first time in hundreds of years a vista across the high street to the river, the Cleveland hills and Roseberry Topping beyond, creating an urban park that will be the centre of events in the future. Stockton has turned itself into an event town, hosting many events on the high street and in the other towns in the borough throughout the year.

That has given us the opportunity to attract new businesses into the borough. Contrary to the usual doom and gloom about Stockton we hear from the hon. Member for Stockton West, I took the opportunity to talk to the Stockton business improvement district before coming here today, and it told me that three businesses this week are planning to open up on Stockton high street in the hospitality and leisure area. We have great entrepreneurs such as Nathan Lee, who has bought the Teesside Princess pleasure cruiser and who is fizzing with ideas for things that he wants to do to bring more footfall to our high street in that area. Remember Me Tearooms were sort of blocked in beside that terrible shopping centre and will now increase capacity so that they can serve people who are visiting the park. It is not only happening in Stockton town centre, but also in Norton, another lovely town in our area, which is a basis not only for the daytime but the night-time economy.

That brings me to safety. In our area, under the last Conservative Government, police officer numbers reduced by 550 compared with under the last Labour Government, but I made a commitment to have more officers on the street. With the £2.4 million we are getting from the Government, there will be 40 additional officers on the street.

[Matt Vickers]

Does the hon. Member know how much national insurance contributions are costing our police force, and the impact that they will have on police numbers in Cleveland?

--- Later in debate ---

[Chris McDonald]

As the police and crime commissioner for Cleveland said, the increase in national insurance contributions will not have an impact. In fact, overall there will be an increase of 40 police officers in Stockton.

[Matt Vickers]

Will the hon. Member give way?

[Chris McDonald]

I will not give way any more. The hon. Member might want to listen to what I have to say and intervene later. There will be an increase of 40 police officers, including some dedicated to the high street, so that people feel safe. They did not feel safe under the last Government; that was what drove people out of the high street. Civic enforcement patrols and police officers will ensure that people feel safe in Stockton. This Government have also ended the effective decriminalisation of shoplifting for items under £200. Rather than standing with shoplifters, we are standing with shop workers.

I think that every child who grows up in Billingham thinks that every town in the country has an ice rink, but they do not. There is one in Billingham, and the council has invested in Billingham Forum, where it is. The last Government left the residents of Billingham in the shameful condition of having been promised £20 million, but with no money there, and I thank the Government for coming forward with that funding, so that we can bring 10 derelict buildings back into use and create new commercial and retail space.

What about the future? The council is creating a health and care zone alongside our new diagnostic centre. It is not a hospital—it is a centre. Teesside is hoping to have a medical school there as well, so we will have medical students there. I am supporting and championing these initiatives. Quite shortly, Billingham will be the UK’s largest centre for biomanufacturing. I encourage all colleagues to come to Stockton for the Stockton and Darlington railway 200th anniversary this year, and we will welcome them to our town.

Defence and Security

Chris McDonald Excerpts

Tuesday 25th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Member for his support and that of his party. That is important at a moment like this. So far as the funding of the 2.5% is concerned, that has been set out today. The commitment on the ambition to get to 3% is something that we need to talk about across this House. I will work with all parties on any issue of the security and defence of our country.

[Chris McDonald (Stockton North) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister has delivered a powerful statement today, and I know that his unwavering commitment to the defence of the realm will be greatly appreciated by my constituents in Stockton North. He mentioned the industrial strategy. Does he agree that we need to start immediately to mobilise our steel, chemicals and shipbuilding industries, working with regional groups such as the Teesside defence and innovation cluster to ensure that we build the capability that we need for our defence supply chains at home?

[The Prime Minister]

The industrial strategy and steel within it are vitally important, as my hon. Friend and the House will know. Steel and our ability to manufacture it are vital to our security, and we must do everything to ensure that is preserved into the future.

US Steel Import Tariffs

Chris McDonald Excerpts

Tuesday 11th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Alexander]

In terms of an understanding of Scottish business, again I should probably declare an interest, given that the Glenkinchie distillery is in the Lothian East constituency. Only this morning, I met with Chivas Regal and Diageo, so I can assure the hon. Gentleman that I am fully aware. Certainly, no one party should claim to speak for Scotland, or for Scotland’s businesses.

As for the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union, it is no secret that I was a remain campaigner and wanted the United Kingdom to stay within the European Union in 2016. I would gently point out to the hon. Gentleman that had his party been successful in its endeavour to break up the United Kingdom in 2014, the direct and immediate consequence of that choice would have been Scotland’s departure from the European Union.

[Chris McDonald (Stockton North) (Lab)]

In his response, the Minister mentioned the previous Conservative Government’s neglect of the steel industry—it was allowed to decline to a size smaller than the industry in Belgium. Does he agree that the UK’s market presents a great commercial opportunity for investment in steel, and that through this Government’s steel strategy, we have the opportunity to attract that investment to the UK?

[Mr Alexander]

I am very happy to give my hon. Friend the assurance that he seeks. We have a comprehensive plan for steel, which, sadly, we have not had in this country for a number of years. That plan is backed up by significant public resources, which again were not available under the previous Government, and we look forward to publishing a comprehensive strategy for steel in the spring of this year.

G20 and COP29 Summits

Chris McDonald Excerpts

Thursday 21st November 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes. The direct investment in jobs in Hull to build turbines is obviously really important for that constituency and for the country, and I will continue to make the case for those deals to be done, with those jobs to come, so that we can drive forward to clean power. That will have the effect of protecting energy security, but also of lowering energy bills.

[Chris McDonald (Stockton North) (Lab)]

Last week, I had the privilege of meeting some Members of the Ukrainian Parliament, and I know that they will have been heartened by the leadership that my right hon. and learned Friend the Prime Minister has shown on the world stage this week. Does the Prime Minister agree that there is only one aggressor in this conflict, and that the way to end the war is, in his own words, for Putin to “get out of Ukraine”?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, I do. I think we must never lose sight of the fact that this war could be ended today if the aggressor ceased being aggressive—if Russia backed out and backed down. There is no equivalence here. A sovereign country has been invaded, and that is why, across this House, we have stood with Ukraine for as long as it takes, and will continue to do so.

Debate on the Address

Chris McDonald Excerpts

Wednesday 17th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Chris McDonald (Stockton North) (Lab)]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Speaking as a new Member, I would like to add my congratulations to those hon. Members who have made their first speech today on the confidence and clarity with which they were delivered. They really have set a worryingly high standard.

The Gracious Speech contained many fine Bills, but for me it was much more about a new way of governing: a Government of service, of change and of action. I know that this will be warmly welcomed by my constituents in Stockton North. The reason for that could be seen quite clearly Saturday last, when I was in Durham playing my cornet at the Durham miners’ gala. The village banners of the gala display the pride and hopes of the community. Behind me was an image of the great miners’ leader, Peter Lee, and emblazoned on the banner was the slogan:

“The past we inherit, the future we build.”

This belief in a positive future, one that we can determine ourselves, has instilled in me the tenacity and determination to stand here. It is also characteristic of the people I represent in Stockton North.

Stockton North is an industrial place, and the people are industrious people. Stockton was home to the world’s first passenger railway, opened in 1825 with one of Britain’s most famous engineers, George Stephenson, driving the engine. The line that he built is now used by the nearby Hitachi Rail factory to transport new locomotives on to the national network. Stockton thrived on industries such as steel and shipbuilding, and whenever I hear the chimes of Big Ben ring out across Westminster, I am reminded that the first bell for the Elizabeth Tower was cast in Stockton North, in Norton.

John Walker, a pioneer of chemical engineering, invented the friction match on Stockton’s famous high street in 1827. However, it was in the 20th century, with the dawn of the chemicals industry, that the neighbouring town of Billingham began to boom with the manufacture of ammonia for explosives and fertiliser.

This industrial progress continues, with Billingham and Stockton home to catalyst technologies and life sciences, with new investments planned in sustainable aviation fuel—which also featured in the Gracious Speech —and small modular reactors, carbon capture and hydrogen projects. During the covid pandemic, vaccines were developed in Oxford but manufactured in Billingham. From Wynyard to Port Clarence, we have the skills and expertise to deliver this Government’s industrial strategy and attract the private sector investment that our new national wealth fund demands. We know that Britain is great at industry, which keeps us safe, generates fairer economic growth and creates new opportunities for our young people. That is sorely needed in Stockton North, where a third of our children live in poverty. We will seize this chance to help the people who need it most.

It is an honour for me to have the good fortune to succeed Alex Cunningham. Alex is as well regarded in Stockton North as he was in this House, and it has been a joy for me in the last week to meet Members here who know Alex and describe his fundamental decency and fairness as a person—values that we would all like to see more of in political life. Alex has given great service over four decades as a local councillor and Member of Parliament. He held a series of shadow ministerial positions, but his personal priority was always to promote opportunities for young people through education and health. These interests were combined in what I know Alex himself sees as his greatest achievement: the extension of restrictions on smoking to include private vehicles where children are present, a measure that will undoubtedly save the health of so many young people. I am sure he was delighted to see the smoking measures proposed today.

In a slight break with tradition, I would also like to acknowledge the former Member for Langbaurgh, the late Ashok Kumar. Ashok and I were both chemical engineers in the steel industry before being elected to Parliament. We worked together at British Steel’s research laboratories in Redcar, which I know is why many of my colleagues over the last week have been referring to me as the steel guy. At that time, I was fresh out of school and Ashok was taking a rest between general elections. I recall that he devoted as much of his time at work to political campaigning as he did to steel research.

Ashok was a well-loved colleague, and I took the opportunity a few years ago to re-establish the Ashok Kumar fellowship, which is a collaboration between the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology and the Institution of Chemical Engineers to promote understanding between engineers and parliamentarians. I believe that I have the privilege of being the first and only fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering to sit here, and bringing together the two worlds of engineering and politics in the area of industrial strategy is something that I hope to do usefully in my time here.

The people of Stockton North recognise the value of service, and we count many service members, veterans and cadets among our number. As a signatory of the armed forces covenant, I welcome the measures to establish an armed forces commissioner. I personally feel a great responsibility of service as a Member of this House, and my concern is to ensure that this Parliament delivers a noticeable improvement in the lives of the people of Stockton North. At the time of my election, I invited my constituents to bear that commitment in mind when they come to judge my performance at the next general election, and I now make that pledge here, again.