Business of the House

Debate between Gareth Snell and Lucy Powell

Thursday 19th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

I am sorry—the deputy leader. He gave up his leadership role to someone else at some point, I recall. Anyway, the deputy leader.

[Gareth Snell (Stoke-on-Trent Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

For now.

[Lucy Powell]

For now, yes. I think the hon. Member has made his point.

My hon. Friend will be aware that foreign donations are not permitted in our electoral system, and that is absolutely as it should be. Our democracy does face daily threats from rogue states, rogue actors and others who try to disrupt it and to spread myth and disinformation, and these are issues that we should be very alive to.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lucy Powell]

This Government support farmers and our rural communities. We have put in an extra £5 billion for the farming budget over two years, which is one of the biggest increases that farming has seen. I will, however, ensure that the hon. Lady’s question is heard by the relevant Minister, and that she gets a response.

[Gareth Snell (Stoke-on-Trent Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

Will the Leader of the House arrange for either a statement or a debate in Government time on the regulation of houses in multiple occupancy? Without an article 4 direction in Stoke-on-Trent, we are at the mercy of developers who buy family homes or terraced properties and then convert them, using permitted development rights. That has a huge impact on amenities and on community feeling, and I think we could do a lot about that as a Government.

[Lucy Powell]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We all see the impact of permitted development rights and houses in multiple occupation on our communities. Where they go unchecked, they can cause real problems, and also have a detrimental impact on the housing supply in an area. He will be aware that the Renters’ Rights Bill covers some of those issues, and we are due to consider the Bill on Report and in its final stages when we return from recess.

Business of the House

Debate between Gareth Snell and Lucy Powell

Thursday 5th September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on the granting of his urgent question. I can assure him that the Government are working apace to secure the future of British steel production, which is a key priority for us, and that when there are developments, Ministers will come to the House and ensure that the House hears about them first.

[Gareth Snell (Stoke-on-Trent Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

BTecs provide a vital route to higher and further education for thousands of learners throughout the country, and it was welcome news that the Education Secretary has announced a pause and review of the ad hoc cancellation programme initiated by the last Government, but may I gently remind my right hon. Friend that colleges need to know now what qualifications they can offer next September? Could she, through her office, arrange for a statement to be made by the Education Secretary, and for a general debate to take place in Government time so that we can all celebrate the BTec courses that our young are people taking in our constituencies?

[Lucy Powell]

My hon. Friend raises the important matter of BTecs and their future, which has also been raised with me as a constituency MP and, I am sure, with many other Members. If answers are not found at Education questions next week, I will ensure that the relevant Minister comes to the House to provide them.

EU: Withdrawal and Future Relationship (Motions)

Debate between Gareth Snell and Lucy Powell

Wednesday 27th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell (Manchester Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

As others have said, this debate should have happened a long time ago. Unfortunately, in the meantime, positions have become more entrenched and the country has become more divided. I hope that today, the healing process can begin. I want to say at the outset that each one of us has thought deeply for a long time. These are difficult issues, and we have all made balanced judgments from a place of good intent. We should respect where others have arrived at, even though some of us have arrived at different places.

We also have to remember that nothing about this debate is perfect. There is no easy solution, and there is no panacea. Every single thing before us has upsides and downsides, and I am not going to pretend any differently about what I want to support this evening. We need some honesty in the debate, and we need some balance too. The only thing that is absolute is that compromise is absolutely necessary, and we must have that in everything we do. My other criteria for looking at the things before us today is what is actually doable and achievable because, for too long in this debate, we have been chasing unicorns around that unicorn forest.

Although I have arrived at the view that, on the balance of upsides and downsides, common market 2.0 for me offers a balance I can live with, I will be voting for other things this evening. I think today is about keeping as many options as possible on the table—in the forest, or whatever metaphor hon. Members want—not narrowing them down. In brief, the upsides of common market 2.0 for me are that it is about leaving the EU in economically the best possible way of doing so—the single market is the key element, not the customs union—and we can do it quickly as well. There are of course downsides: there are still issues about freedom of movement and whether we are a rule taker. As ever in this debate, there are shades of grey; it is not all just black and white.

[Gareth Snell (Stoke-on-Trent Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

I want to place on the record my thanks to my hon. Friend and my hon. Friend the Member for Aberavon (Stephen Kinnock). While many in this place have retrenched to process issues and talked about procedures in the House, the two of them have actually taken the bull by the horns and looked at issues that can resolve this situation practically. I have some concerns about what she is proposing, but she has at least proposed something substantive, and I thank her for that.

[Lucy Powell]

I thank my hon. Friend very much. As my mum always says, “Those who do nowt do nowt wrong, do they?” We always get criticised for having a position, rather than for not doing so. As I say, I respect the many people across the House who have worked in cross-party teams to try to do that.

Finally, on the issue of the second referendum, for me this is a separate question. We have to find something that we can put to the public if that is what this House decides. We still need to determine what the best Brexit looks like which, if the House wanted, we would put back to the people. We cannot have remain versus remain on the ballot paper, as I know some would want, and I do not think we can have remain versus leave in a form that is undefined. Regardless of what people’s views are about a second referendum, I just implore those in all parts of the House to agree on what Brexit may look like, including in the eventuality of a second referendum.

Budget Resolutions

Debate between Gareth Snell and Lucy Powell

1st reading: House of Commons
Tuesday 14th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Gareth Snell (Stoke-on-Trent Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to make my maiden speech during an important debate on education and skills. Both are vital to the future success of my constituency, albeit a greater challenge following the sustained underfunding of Stoke schools.

It is a privilege to have been elected as the Labour and Co-operative Member of Parliament for Stoke-on-Trent Central in an election that was not planned and following a campaign that, all too often, did not do justice to the wonderful city that I now represent. Many of my colleagues on these Benches—and, I would wager, on the Government Benches—who came to Stoke-on-Trent during the by- election would struggle to reconcile the vibrant, welcoming and proud city they visited with the portrait painted by the national media. All too often, cameras lingered over disused bottle kilns, while our resurgence in hi-tech ceramics went unmentioned. Journalists posed by abandoned shop fronts, just yards away from the city’s thriving cultural quarter, and rarely did our world-class university feature in reports. Commentators talked down my city in order to play up their narrative. They dismissed a capital of culture as little more than the capital of Brexit, pigeonholing my constituents into a box that does not reflect their true character.

While that narrative suited those seeking to win the election on a platform of hatred, division and nationalism dressed up as patriotism, it did a grave disservice to my city, whose motto is “United strength is stronger.” My city demonstrated that nationalism of any sort has no place in our politics. My challenge, for however long I am blessed to represent Stoke-on-Trent in this place, is to champion everything that is great and good about our city; to recognise our problems, but to highlight our many achievements; and to shout loud and often about why the Potteries, above all else, is the best place in the UK, if not the world.

In the Potteries, we are innovators and educators, artists and entrepreneurs. We pioneered the first industrial revolution—something that has been discussed quite a lot this afternoon—and we have the potential to lead the next. We are the home of Reginald Mitchell, Josiah Wedgwood, Clarice Cliff and, more recently, Robbie Williams. But, most importantly, we are home to the Staffordshire oatcake—a delicacy seldom found outside of the ST postcode but which, once savoured, is never forgotten.

[Lucy Powell]

We’ll have to try it.