John Hayes
Main Page: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)(3 days, 2 hours ago)
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Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)
I beg to move,
That this House has considered matters to be raised before the forthcoming adjournment.
I should say, for the benefit of new Members, that this is quite rightly called the Sir David Amess debate, because this was his debate. I remember a poor Minister having to respond to him after a five-minute time limit had been put on speeches but he had still managed to raise 27 topics. It was his absolute dream to have this debate, and somewhere he will be looking on and observing what we all have to say. May he rest in peace. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”]
We seem to be over halfway through 2025, yet it seems like only yesterday that we came back from the Christmas break. In true British style, the weather cannot decide whether we should have Saharan sunshine or tropical rainfall—all of which makes the tube journey into this place even more of a challenge. It has been a busy few months for Parliament and across my constituency. I have been doing my job hosting residents’ tours and events, speaking in the Chamber, visiting schools and local businesses, piloting a presentation Bill and chairing the Backbench Business Committee and the 1922 committee—and finally, after 17 years, Tottenham Hotspur has won a trophy.
I am pleased that Backbench Business debates have become very popular with Members, and it is encouraging that so many have made applications to the Committee. I would like to place on record my thanks to the Committee and the Clerks for all the hard work they have done over these past few months. We now have a waiting list, and if anyone applies for a debate in the Chamber, I am afraid they will have to wait until 2026 before one will be granted, because we have such a long waiting list. I thank the Leader of the House for meeting me on occasion to discuss the work that the Committee does and to ensure that Back Benchers have the opportunity to raise their own topics.
In the true tradition of these Adjournment debates, I will raise the subject of making Stanmore station step-free. We seem to actually be making some progress, because Queensbury and Canons Park tube stations on the Jubilee line are now on the shortlist to get lifts. That is great news for my residents and cause for some celebration. However, Stanmore station is still not on the list. Commuters there face the choice of climbing 48 steps to the main entrance hall, 16 steps via the car park or 24 steps at the side to the bus stop, or taking the current so-called step-free route, which is 140 metres long and has a steep ramp that even the great Paralympian Tanni Grey-Thompson could not go up unaided.
Transport for London and the mayor consider Stanmore station to be step-free and will not consider any further work, but I have discovered through a 2017 freedom of information request that there is no legal definition of a step-free station. It is up to each individual train operating company—in this case TfL—to determine what it means. Taken in conjunction with the Transport Committee’s excellent report on accessibility issues faced by disabled people in the transport sector, I am now exploring how we can get TfL or the Government to take action. If we can get a proper definition of “step-free” agreed, we can apply pressure on TfL to de-list Stanmore station as step-free so that it meets the requirements to be considered for a new lift or travelator.
The world has never been so dangerous, and that is particularly true of London. The news that police station front desks will be closing not just in Harrow but across London is incredibly worrying. This comes at a time when knife and street crime are at an all-time high in the capital, with total crime increasing by 5.6% this year alone. Additionally, there has been a 30% increase in gun crime, a 10% increase in robbery and a whopping 82.5% increase in business robbery. The timing of the decision to cut police stations’ resources is another example of the Mayor of London’s impeccable timing. It is important to me and our residents that the desks remain open, because they provide a vital service, allowing victims to report crime in person and to seek safety.
Bob Blackman
I will not, because many Members want to get in.
The justification for these “tough choices” is the need to address a £260 million funding gap, yet this is not the right area in which to be cutting vital support. For years, Sadiq Khan has told us how much better London would be with a Labour mayor and a Labour Government, but we now have a Labour mayor and a Labour Government, and London is no better as a result. I have created a petition calling on the mayor to keep Harrow police station fully functioning, and I urge everyone in my constituency to visit my website and add their name to this important cause.
Tomorrow, Barnet’s strategic planning committee will decide whether to approve the Broadwalk redevelopment, which is a proposal for 3,828 housing units across 25 towers, most of which are above 20 storeys high, with the highest reaching 29 storeys. It would demolish Edgware’s existing bus station, bus garage and car park, with no guaranteed replacement. I reject this development in its entirety until a safe, deliverable transport plan can be guaranteed. The plan currently depends on an underground electric bus garage that the London Fire Brigade has objected to, calling it a very serious safety risk with no existing regulations or precedents. TfL has claimed that the alternative—the diesel fallback—is not viable, is uncosted and is not supported by an engineering plan. If the scheme is approved, Edgware could lose its core transport infrastructure permanently. I have created a petition against these plans, which can also be accessed on my website, and I urge everyone to sign it.
We are all very conscious of the escalating situation in the middle east, and my prayers are with all those who have been impacted. The events that have unfolded in the middle east since 7 October 2023 have been unbearable to witness. Israel suffered the worst terror attack in its history at the hands of the Iran-backed terrorists Hamas. Innocent civilians were brutally murdered and hundreds were taken hostage, including babies, children and the elderly. The hostages have been held in appalling conditions, and the accounts given by those released have been distressing and harrowing. Only last week, I welcomed Keith and Aviva Siegel into Parliament to recount their horrific experiences.
As a direct consequence of Hamas’ actions on 7 October and their use of civilian infrastructure to undertake terrorist operations, Palestinian civilians face a devastating humanitarian crisis in Gaza. My thoughts are with the families of those still held hostage and every innocent life lost or impacted by the conflict. I firmly support Israel’s right to defend itself against security threats, but we must also ensure that the civilian population of Gaza is protected.
It is welcome news that the US has facilitated a ceasefire between Iran and Israel, which must be upheld to secure regional security. The Government and the Foreign Office must clarify their role in relation to that ceasefire. Iran must never be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons, as it is a prolific state sponsor of terrorism with a stated intention of annihilating the world’s only Jewish state. My colleagues and I are clear that the recent actions taken by the United States alongside Israel to degrade Iran’s nuclear weapons programme and military capabilities were indeed necessary. I am concerned that the UK has not given a strong voice on that outcome.
The UK faces an increasingly complex and concerning landscape of malign foreign influence. Iranian influence in particular has been persistent and insidious in trying to harm our civic institutions and challenge our democratic resilience. One of its shocking tactics is exploitation of our charity sector, with such charities having become the nerve centre of the Islamic Republic of Iran on British soil, advancing a foreign policy rooted in regional destabilisation and ideological extremism.
It was revealed by United Against Nuclear Iran—published in The Times—that Labaik Ya Zahra, a UK-registered charity based in my constituency, went to Iran, met senior commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and signed an agreement with the propaganda arm of the highest military authority of Iran’s regime, the head of which is sanctioned in the UK, pledging to spread the ideals of jihad, martyrdom and resistance in the UK. That is in clear violation of the Government’s foreign influence registration scheme and the National Security Act 2023, as well as violating British sanctions, yet the charity remains open today.
Hostile states are increasingly testing the resilience of our democracy. In the light of the recent Intelligence and Security Committee report detailing the IRGC’s direct involvement in such threats, including plots on UK soil and direct interference in the UK public sector, more than 100 parliamentarians have signed a letter co-led by me and the hon. Member for Bristol North East (Damien Egan) to be sent to the Prime Minister today urging the Government finally to proscribe the IRGC in its entirety. It states that should the Government decide not to take that essential step, they must urgently and immediately put forward for adoption alternative legislative measures as recommended by the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation Jonathan Hall KC to address the growing danger posed by state-backed threats.
It is disappointing that the Tobacco and Vapes Bill has stalled somewhat in the other place, with no set date for its Committee. There is a risk that because the smoke-free generation policy in the Bill has an implementation date in 2027, the Bill is not seen as urgent. That is not the case. While we delay, tobacco companies are marketing heated tobacco products in supermarkets, and children are exposed to them. The marketing is working, and children’s awareness of such products is at an all-time high, with 24% of 11 to 17-year-olds knowing what heated tobacco is, up from 7.1% just three years ago. Will the Minister confirm that the Bill is a priority for the Government and that its Committee will begin before the conference recess in the autumn?
The same is true for nicotine pouches. I am sure that many hon. Members will have seen when travelling into London on the tube brightly coloured adverts for these products. Children are seeing them, too, with a record 43% level of awareness among young people. There is currently no age-of-sale limit for those products, so a nine-year-old could legally purchase them. Will the Government put a stop to that madness and urgently schedule a date for peers to begin scrutinising the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which was overwhelmingly passed by this House?
This year alone, I have visited 12 schools, and I know that many colleagues will have visited schools in their constituencies. I welcome the Government’s commitment to breakfast clubs for primary schoolchildren, but every primary school in my constituency is unable to provide the space for a breakfast club to take place, so even though they want to implement them, they cannot. I was glad to meet the Under-Secretary of State for Education, the hon. Member for Portsmouth South (Stephen Morgan), recently to discuss further how we can achieve that.
I am pleased that the consultation has finally closed on the regulations for my Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023. I hope that that can be spurred on to the next stages so that we finally see those measures enacted, preventing the countless rogue landlords operating in the sector from exploiting vulnerable tenants. It is my understanding that the Deputy Prime Minister is currently in breach of the law, given that she was due to create a supported housing advisory panel by August 2024. We are yet to see that in action, and she could—literally—implement it tomorrow.
The situation in Bangladesh is really concerning. With the coup that took place and the new regime, we have seen attacks on minorities in Bangladesh increase. I have raised this in the House several times, yet our Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office does not seem to take proper action to call that out for what it is, which is an attack on minorities.
Similarly, we had the horrific terrorist attack in Pahalgam and India’s subsequent counter-terrorism action, Operation Sindoor. I remain deeply appalled and saddened by the barbaric attack on the innocent tourists, which claimed the lives of 26 people, including women and children, Hindus, Christians and a Nepali national. My thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones, and I continue to stand in solidarity with them and the people of India.
On the response to that, it is good that there is currently a pause and a truce between India and Pakistan; however, that truce is very fragile and there could be a return to war. As someone who has stood with the Kashmiri Pandits and their right to return to the Kashmir valley, and with India’s sovereign right to defend its people and territory, I think it is outrageous that such terrorism, sponsored by Pakistan, continues in Jammu and Kashmir. It is therefore right that we stand in solidarity with India.
Last week, we heard that the Home Office would finally be un-pausing claims relating to Syrian nationals, which I am sure we all welcome. I bring that up because my office has several cases that pertain to Syrian nationals in limbo with the Home Office, awaiting updates and decisions, one of which was first brought to my attention nearly two years ago. Clearly, the Government’s Home Office policy changes have created confusion and delay. May we therefore have an update on when Syrian nationals can expect to have their cases processed so that we can close some of them for the benefit of the individuals? While we are on the topic of the Home Office, once again I pay tribute to the wonderful caseworkers at the Home Office MP account management team, who have been fantastic in dealing with the many cases that my office sends through.
It is said that a week in politics is a long time. Well, the last three years have been transformational in Conservative-run Harrow. We took over the council when it was just 18 months from declaring bankruptcy, with dwindling reserves and corruption in the highways department—a matter that I have raised in the House before. Yet now, it could hardly be thought to be the same organisation. Everyone asks about the state of roads, pavements and potholes. When we took over the council, we faced allegations of corruption and kickback schemes, but now the administration has committed £14 million a year for the next three years to invest in our ageing infrastructure. Furthermore, Harrow was the first London borough to use new machinery such as the JCB PotholePro, otherwise known as Pothole Pete, which can repair potholes in as little as a few minutes. It has been revolutionary, and even though there is more to be done, and many more roads to be repaired, things are heading in the right direction.
Fly-tipping is down 33%, culprits are being fined £1,000 each and the council has launched a wall of shame to deter people and catch culprits. Bin collection rates are heading in the right direction, with fewer missed collections, and for the first time in a generation Harrow has expanded the number of green flag parks, adding to the list Chandos recreation ground in Edgware in my constituency and Hatch End riverside park in the neighbouring constituency. We also began one-hour free parking, the most generous free parking offer in all London boroughs, which has been used millions of times by residents to support our local businesses and high streets. Even though there is a lot more to do, it is clear that Harrow is heading in the right direction as the Conservatives put residents first. I hope that they are returned at the local elections next year to carry on that good work for another four years.
We will all shortly go on our summer recess and Members and staff will take a well-deserved break, but at the beginning of August, I will be hosting my annual work experience programme. I will welcome to my constituency 25 work experience students a week for two weeks and I will teach them what it is like to be an MP and how they can get involved in politics. Over the last 15 years, I have welcomed thousands of young people into the programme, with many going on to work in my office or elsewhere on the parliamentary estate. It is a great way to engage with constituents and the younger generation and to inspire them to get involved and learn about the parliamentary processes.
I shall conclude my remarks by wishing everyone a lovely summer recess and a well-deserved break. I hope everyone can get some rest and recuperation with their family, enjoying good food and good company with their loved ones. I also wish all the staff of the House a chance to get a break from all of us.