Business of the House

Joe Morris Excerpts

Thursday 20th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

I join the hon. Lady in congratulating King Edward’s school. We discussed many of these issues last week, as it was World Book Day when we met in the Chamber—we shared powerful testimonies about the importance of reading, access to school libraries, book schemes, and all the literacy work that goes on. I absolutely support the hon. Lady’s call to make sure that reading for pleasure is central to our education.

[Joe Morris (Hexham) (Lab)]

Across my constituency, in towns such as Corbridge, Ponteland, Prudhoe, Haltwhistle and Hexham, people are very passionate about the environment and the natural world, so they will have been disappointed to hear the Leader of the Opposition junk her party’s environmental commitments. Does the Leader of the House agree that moderate Conservative candidates should do some soul-searching and tell the people of Northumberland whether they plan to put planet before party?

[Lucy Powell]

Absolutely. I think we saw the Leader of the Opposition go to a whole other planet this week—Planet Zog, maybe, or I am sure there are many others. My hon. Friend is right that not only is tackling climate change important for the future of our climate, but it is vital to providing the jobs of the future that we need in this country and the energy security that will protect us from the likes of Putin in the future. It also means that all of our constituents will have lower bills over the longer term, which is why the Leader of the Opposition’s announcement this week was a completely mad thing to do.