EU Membership Referendum: Impact on the UK

Danny Beales Excerpts

Tuesday 24th February 2026 Westminster Hall

[Ben Coleman (Chelsea and Fulham) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond. Eighty years ago, just after the second world war, my great-uncle Zelia stood outside this Parliament building. He doffed his hat—everyone had a hat in those days—and he said, “She saved us all.” He was a Latvian Jew. He lived in Paris; I was always told he had fought with the French resistance. He certainly knew what Britain had meant to Europe. The whole of Europe knew that.

At that moment, Europe looked to Britain for a lead, but we pulled back. Even when we finally joined them, we developed the habit of blaming Brussels more than reminding people of the benefits. So when the 2016 referendum came, people answered on the basis of what they had been told and what they had not been told. Now, 10 years on, the cost is clear. Boris Johnson promised the NHS £19 billion a year. Instead, we have lost £90 billion a year, every year, in tax revenue.

[Danny Beales (Uxbridge and South Ruislip) (Lab)]

My predecessor, Boris Johnson, promised much that never seemed to materialise, locally as well as nationally. My hon. Friend is right in his assertion that we have seen significant economic impacts. Pharmaceutical companies in my constituency talk about double administration and double testing of the exports of drugs now, with the need to go through both the European and UK medicines agencies for approvals. They say that has directly harmed investment and jobs in the UK. Does my hon. Friend share my concern about that?

[Ben Coleman]

I do. I congratulate my hon. Friend again on replacing Boris Johnson with a much nicer man, who definitely has much better hair. I absolutely agree.

We have to recognise that the swiftest path to growth for this country lies in tackling the red tape that Brexit introduced. I think of a small butcher in my constituency of Chelsea and Fulham, who used to import most of his goods from Spain and Italy and now has shelves half bare because his small distributors just cannot cope with the paperwork.

We do not have that £90 billion in tax revenue any more, and that is money that we need badly for our NHS, police and schools after years of Conservative austerity. I am not dismissing the concerns that drove the leave vote, least of all the feeling of not being heard, but the response that the referendum conveyed has made all those problems worse. If we left to take back control, the evidence is that we simply have much less of it. No wonder that two thirds of the British people, including six out of 10 of those who voted to leave, now say that they want a closer relationship with the European Union, which my Government are pursuing.

The British people deserve better. This country, diminished though it is, but still undefeated, has never shrunk from doing what the moment requires. Let us seize this moment to repair the damage, welcome the reset, act with ambition, optimism and hope, and put Brexit right.

Oral Answers to Questions

Danny Beales Excerpts

Wednesday 4th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Catherine Atkinson (Derby North) (Lab)]

6. What steps her Department is taking to help protect young people online.

[Danny Beales (Uxbridge and South Ruislip) (Lab)]

12. What steps her Department is taking to help protect young people online.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology (Kanishka Narayan)]

With the groundbreaking steps in the Online Safety Act 2023, we are protecting children from illegal and harmful content online. The Secretary of State’s first step was to ensure that self-harm and suicide content were made priority offences. We have legislated to criminalise both the depiction of strangulation in pornography and the creation of non-consensual intimate images, making them priority offences. We have now launched a short, sharp consultation to protect children’s experiences online. Under this Government, children’s wellbeing is put right at the heart of our decisions.

--- Later in debate ---

[Kanishka Narayan]

I first pay tribute to my hon. Friend for the depth and breadth of her advocacy for the people of Derby. I can confirm that I would be delighted to ensure that we continue the conversation with young people. I was at a school last week, and I will be in a school this week. I commit to the House that the Secretary of State and I will continue to put young people at the heart of all our decisions.

[Danny Beales]

I have been contacted by over 400 of my constituents who are calling for greater regulation of social media and young people’s use of it. There is disagreement about whether there should be a full or partial ban, and the exact age at which it should be introduced. Regardless of where the Government’s consultation leads, there will be a cliff edge, and young people will, at some point, start to engage with the digital world. With that in mind, what engagement is the Department having with the Department for Education’s curriculum review to give young people the skills, information and support they need to identify online harms and misinformation?

[Kanishka Narayan]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right: regulation is one part of this issue, but we are also focused on the fundamental aspects of media literacy and education. We are engaging very closely with the Department for Education on a media literacy aspect of the national curriculum to ensure that our young people can spot misinformation and disinformation, and that they are prepared to make the most of online experiences.

Oral Answers to Questions

Danny Beales Excerpts

Thursday 23rd October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Dan Jarvis]

My hon. Friend will know better than anyone that Barrow makes a critical contribution to national security. I can assure her that UKSV continues to undertake a programme of work to improve the efficiency of the vetting process and that further work is ongoing to digitise and improve the automation of processes. If she has any further concerns, I would be happy to discuss them with her.

[Danny Beales (Uxbridge and South Ruislip) (Lab)]

4. What recent steps his Department has taken to strengthen partnership working with the voluntary sector.

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Josh Simons)]

The Government believe that strong partnerships with the voluntary sector are central to delivering for people across the country. Following publication in July of the civil society covenant—our ambitious plan to partner with civil society—we are now working with partners to launch a new £100 million programme that will reform services at a local level to help prevent the most vulnerable from falling into crisis. It will involve partnering with the voluntary sector to support people who might otherwise fall through the cracks between services, such as prison leavers or those suffering domestic abuse.

[Danny Beales]

I welcome the covenant and the Minister’s response. Research from the National Council for Voluntary Organisations indicates that the charity and voluntary sector delivers £14 billion of public services annually. In my constituency, Hillingdon citizens advice bureau, Mencap and Mind provide vital advice and support, but in recent years their funding has been cut by the local authority. What steps is the Cabinet Office taking to reform public procurement and strengthen partnership working with the voluntary sector so that such organisations can play a greater role in future?

[Josh Simons]

I know that my hon. Friend has been a real leader in working with voluntary organisations in his constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip, and indeed across the country. As he knows, those organisations are often closest to the communities they serve. I am proud to say that, from April next year, all Government Departments must set a two-year target for direct spend with voluntary, community and social enterprises, and they must publish their results annually. That is a clear commitment to this Government’s belief that the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector is vital to rebuilding and renewing our country.

Middle East

Danny Beales Excerpts

Tuesday 14th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I agree that we need to take this moment to work to bring all our communities together. I was genuinely saddened to see some of the protests taking place in Whitehall on the very day of the Manchester attack and then again at the weekend, notwithstanding the quite reasonable request, “Please exercise your right of freedom of expression on a different day, in a different way.” I genuinely thought that human decency would prevail there. I agree with the hon. Member that now is the time internationally to work on the agreement and, in the United Kingdom, to do everything we can across this House to bring our communities together.

[Danny Beales (Uxbridge and South Ruislip) (Lab)]

I welcome the Prime Minister’s statement, which we all hope will bring an end to two years of awful bloodshed. I visited Israel and Palestine one month before 7 October and met civil society organisations working on a cross-community basis. It struck me how vital they will be in building a potential future long-term peace, but they lack funding and they lack legitimacy and support in Israel and in Palestine. What thought and consideration has the Prime Minister given to the UK’s role in an international peace fund, similar to the Northern Ireland peace fund, which could fund civil society organisations working cross-community to support leaders of the future, to build peacemakers and to start to heal the rifts?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for touching on this point. One of the great tragedies of what happened on 7 October was that that cross-community work—particularly involving the next generation in Israel and Palestine, trying to ensure that they would have a better future and could take things forward—fell away, as did some of the interfaith work in this country, which we all thought was stronger and more robust than it turned out to be. We must do all we can to restore that work and build on it, because it is essential as we go forward.

Oral Answers to Questions

Danny Beales Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd April 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman and I share a love of the Lake district. We still go back there with our children. This is obviously a serious issue, which is why we put a record amount into farming at the Budget and also set out our road map. I will happily make sure that he gets a meeting with the relevant Minister to go through that and to take on board any points he has to make in relation to it.

[Danny Beales (Uxbridge and South Ruislip) (Lab)]

Q6. Hundreds of residents in my constituency at Union Park are facing massive £1 million charges to repair their heating system and for fire safety works that have not been put right by the developer, which has now declared bankruptcy and walked away. Their new freeholder has washed its hands of responsibility and is instead leveraging huge ground rent bills and fines against those residents. Does the Prime Minister agree that that is exactly why we have to move forward with our plan, much delayed by the Conservatives, to abolish the outdated leasehold system once and for all as part of our plan for change?

[The Prime Minister]

The Deputy Prime Minister is saying, “Absolutely”, in my ear. We will end the feudal leasehold system which has left millions of homeowners subject to unfair costs and unreasonable practices. Our reforms include clear standards for repairs and maintenance, and that will give homeowners a greater say in how their homes are managed. I know the Housing Minister will have heard what my hon. Friend said.