Debate on the Address

Hannah Spencer Excerpts

Wednesday 13th May 2026 Commons Chamber

[Hannah Spencer (Gorton and Denton) (Green)]

I am grateful to be taking part in this debate on the Loyal Address, and honoured to be doing so on behalf of the Green party. This is only the second time I have made a speech here, so I hope you will all bear with me if I get any protocols wrong.

In my maiden speech, I gave a shout out to those in the many professions and communities that have not been well represented here in Parliament in the past. I made a promise to help give them a voice. Today, it feels especially important to keep that promise, because there is, sadly, not enough in the King’s Speech that will make their lives significantly better. That is why we Greens have tabled a reasoned amendment—for all the people working hard to raise a family or just get through each day, because everyone deserves a safety net and a chance to get ahead, and for everyone who wants things to be different.

One in three households in Gorton and Denton live in fuel poverty. The UK has some of the leakiest homes in Europe. I know that, because I have worked on thousands of them in my previous job as a plumber. If we want to cut energy bills for good, we really need a properly funded and properly regulated national home insulation scheme, and to go even bigger on renewable energy. That is where investment should be going, not into nuclear power.

The King’s Speech includes some steps in the right direction, but it is nothing like the transformative, progressive programme that this moment demands. It does not rise to the climate and nature crisis that is happening now. It is a crisis that cannot be separated from the inequality and cost of living crises that are happening too, because it is always the poorest people who suffer the most, here in our country and around the world. While certain people will claim climate action is pushing up bills, we know that is not true. We know that some of the people who are saying that are being bankrolled by the very companies causing climate destruction and ripping off our constituents. The representation of the people Bill must go further on cleaning up politics, because a greener, more affordable and more secure future is possible if we stand up to those vested interests, and if we are prepared to admit that obscene wealth is damaging our country.

People out there are so angry at the gap between the super-rich and all the rest of us getting even bigger, and they want something equally big to be done about it. They do not want any child to go hungry, and they know that a free hot school meal for every child up to the age 16 is possible if extreme wealth is taxed fairly. They want public transport to be more affordable, and they know that we could start by giving free bus passes to all the under-22s—again, paid for by our tax system being made fairer. They want everyone to have a roof over their head, to get a doctor or dentist appointment without struggle, and for the NHS to be run for the public good, not to line shareholders’ pockets. They know that change is possible only if this Government—a Labour Government—taxed extreme wealth fairly.

Our Green amendment includes new powers to control rents. Greens welcome the changes in the renters’ reform Act, and the plans for more social housing, but far too many people are still struggling to pay their rent and make ends meet. Alongside taking action to bring down energy and water bills, it is time to get a grip on the cost of renting.

I was elected to give voice to a politics that truly represents everyone. This is the first King’s Speech I have been in Parliament to hear, and honestly, what I am hearing is not going to give everyone the meaningful change that we and they all know is possible. The Greens will not hesitate to use our individual and collective voices over the coming months to welcome progress when it is made, but also, crucially, to demand the change that people were promised—the change that people deserve to have.