Business of the House

David Smith Excerpts

Thursday 5th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sir Alan Campbell]

I thank my hon. Friend for highlighting the vital contribution of tourism to our national economy. Like him, I am lucky enough to have a constituency that is a popular tourist destination and has a large number of attractions, and I would encourage people to visit. Grime’s Graves is an extraordinary site. I am pleased to hear that he will visit a historical place in his constituency in English Tourism Week, and I encourage other Members to do the same. I think this would be an interesting topic for a Backbench Business or Adjournment debate, should he wish to seek one.

[David Smith (North Northumberland) (Lab)]

The children of Belford primary school in my constituency recently wrote to me on a range of subjects. One of them said:

“There are too many people using fossil fuels in Northumberland. It is hurting the earth’s surface and increasing global warming. Please can you encourage people to stop using fossil fuels and walk or bike to more places”.

The events of recent weeks have shown that we cannot rely on fossil fuels. Does the Leader of the House agree that the Government’s plans for Great British Energy will enable the growth of local community clean energy projects in Northumberland and across the country, making us more safe in the process?

[Sir Alan Campbell]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this question. The Government are wasting no time in our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower and tackle the climate crisis, both for people living in his beautiful constituency, and for people living in other parts of the country. Great British Energy will ensure that British bill payers reap the benefits of clean, secure, home-grown energy. Our local power plan will support more than 1,000 local clean energy projects. That is about not just making sure that we have sustainable and safe energy, but supplying jobs.

Business of the House

David Smith Excerpts

Thursday 17th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

As I said, the Defence Secretary, the Prime Minister, the rest of the Government and I are deeply uncomfortable about how the situation unfolded. Many of us did not even know about this until this week. The House was kept in the dark, which it should not be at any time. I understand the intention, which was to try to keep people safe, but I think some of the actions could have been different, and the House could have been informed of some of the issues. We look at things on a case-by-case basis, but I hope the hon. Gentleman will recognise that we are deeply uncomfortable and concerned about how the matter progressed.

[David Smith (North Northumberland) (Lab)]

I am sure the Leader of the House will agree that grassroots community football clubs, such as North Sunderland and Berwick Rangers in my constituency, play a vital role in the development of elite footballers, such as Lucy Bronze, who hopefully tonight will go “Supersonic” in her game for the Lionesses in the quarter-finals of the Euros. Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating players such as Lucy Bronze, who started out at another football club in my constituency, Alnwick Town, and grant a debate in Government time on how we can ensure that the money from elite football gets to grassroots football to develop the Lucy Bronzes of the future?

[Lucy Powell]

I absolutely join my hon. Friend in congratulating Lucy Bronze and the rest of the women’s Euros team. We are all getting behind them in the coming days. He is absolutely right that our grassroots clubs, whether in men’s or women’s football, are the engine of the football pyramid. That is why I am really pleased, and I am sure the whole House—well, those of us on the Labour Benches, anyway—will be pleased that the Football Governance Bill has now passed all its stages and will hopefully soon receive Royal Assent. We are putting fans and community clubs right back at the heart of the football pyramid, which is as it should be.