Immigration and Home Affairs

Frank McNally Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Frank McNally (Coatbridge and Bellshill) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to follow the passionate speech of my hon. Friend the Member for Clapham and Brixton Hill (Bell Ribeiro-Addy).

I come to this House as the new Member for Coatbridge and Bellshill. To have been elected to represent the communities that I have always called home is humbling, and it is a responsibility that I do not take lightly. I wish to start by thanking you, Madam Deputy Speaker, Mr Speaker and the House staff for what has been an incredible welcome here at the Palace of Westminster. It cannot be easy herding 300-plus new and excitable MPs around, but you have done so diligently and I commend all the staff of the House.

I also wish to pay tribute to my predecessor, Steven Bonnar, who served as the Member for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill in the previous Parliament. We live in volatile political times, and it is important to remember that there is often more that unites us than divides us. That was the case with Steven and me, and I wish him, his family and his staff all the very best for the future.

My seat has been well represented over many years, but, perhaps alarmingly for me, it has had five different MPs in recent times. In fact, there has been a new MP elected at every election since 2015. I fervently hope that that tradition will come to an end at the next election.

I also wish to pay tribute to my other predecessors and friends, including Hugh Gaffney and, of course, Sir Tom Clarke, who served this place with great distinction for 33 years. He was a man knighted by both His Majesty the King and His Holiness the Pope for his service to those in the most need, particularly the disabled. Sir Tom’s predecessor was the late Jimmy Dempsey, a legend across Coatbridge and Bellshill. Jimmy’s first speech in the House, in 1959, was on unemployment and workers’ rights. His final speech, just before his death 23 years later, was on the exact same subject. I am confident that he would be incredibly proud of Labour’s new deal for working people, the employment rights Bill so ably championed by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister.

My constituency is rooted in Lanarkshire, made up of the towns and villages of Coatbridge and Bellshill, of Mossend, Gartcosh, Glenboig, Moodiesburn, Bargeddie, Viewpark, Fallside, Birkenshaw and Tannochside—I am sure that if I have missed one, my constituents will be chapping my door or sending me messages as I speak.

My constituency was once known as the “iron burgh”, the beating heart of Scotland’s industrial heritage, from the mining villages to the steel towns—sadly consigned, for the most part, to history. That history includes the fire at the Auchengeich colliery on 18 September 1959, resulting in Scotland’s worst mining disaster of the 20th century: 47 miners lost their lives, 41 women were widowed and 76 children lost their fathers. The 65th anniversary is later this year, when we will gather to remember those lost, but also to redouble our efforts to ensure that workplace protections, safe conditions and workers’ rights exist to serve all people, no matter the job or the industry, or the age. I know that the retired miners will be absolutely delighted that it was announced in the King’s Speech that those on the Treasury Bench would be ending the injustice of the mineworkers pension scheme.

Out of the post-industrial landscape a new mosaic continues to form in my area—one of manufacturing, of distribution, of new technologies, and of local businesses that have generated international reach, including at Strathclyde business park in Bellshill, which continues to attract local and global companies.

Bellshill is also famous for its former maternity hospital, which operated for over 120 years. It is the birthplace of many big names. One national newspaper a few years ago ran the headline, “The Town That Gave Birth to Legends”. Included within that legend category are my noble Friends Lord Reid of Cardowan and Baroness Hazarika of Coatbridge, both of whom moved and seconded the Gracious Speech in the other place last week. They were born in the same place just a few years apart—as were the late former right hon. Member for Livingston, Robin Cook; Texas superstar Sharlene Spiteri; and even one Sheena Easton. The hospital’s final incarnation was opened by her late Majesty the Queen in 1962, which was quite a moment for Bellshill. Sadly, I will be unlikely to acquire legend status as I was born in Greenock.

I think it is appropriate at this point to thank my parents, Danny and Edwina, and my wife Steph, who have been a tremendous source of strength. Without their steadfast encouragement, I would never have sought to stand for election to this place. So if it all goes wrong, if I am ever disorderly or I ever rebel, Mr Speaker and the Whips will know who to blame.

When reflecting on today’s debate, when we move beyond some of the rhetoric that we hear around immigration, it is important to recognise the tremendous contribution that immigrants make to our society, and have done over many generations—my own family included—from Irish immigrants settling in Coatbridge in the 19th century to the Lithuanian community that thrived in Mossend, and now Ukrainian refugees, hundreds of whom have settled in my constituency following Putin’s barbaric invasion of their homeland; forced from their families, their homes, their jobs and their way of life. I am proud of the welcome that they have received from my constituents and key agencies across Coatbridge and Bellshill. The contributions that immigrants have made, and continue to make, to our economy, our public services and our communities more broadly, are immense. Sadly, not all of that history is good. It is a tale often blighted by racism, sectarianism and hatred, which we should fight every day to root out—and keep out—of our society.

On my first visit back to my constituency after my first week here in Parliament, I had the opportunity to visit Coatbridge community food bank. The team there do exceptional work in incredibly challenging circumstances. As many right hon. and hon. Members have cited today, every day we see people being pushed to the brink and hear stories of those who are enduring enviable hardship and have understandably lost hope. Making their lives better is my mission and my purpose in this place.

I welcome the provisions outlined in the Gracious Speech, from a serious plan to grow the economy to supporting businesses and improving public services; from GB Energy—which, in case anyone happened to miss the memo, will be headquartered in Scotland—to a new deal for working people that addresses the scourge of low pay and tackles exploitative practices, and a real strategy to end the scourge of poverty. I look forward to working with right hon. and hon. Members across the House. As I begin my journey here, our Government have also begun their journey to make our country fairer and better, and to stand up and fight for those in the most need, rooted in the values and history of the Labour movement. I wish them all the best of luck in their endeavours.