Business of the House

Judith Cummins Excerpts

Thursday 10th September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sir Alan Campbell]

This is not the first time that wildfires have been raised with me in these sessions, and my hon. Friend is right to do so. We have announced £97 million to upgrade the national resilience assets, including specialised firefighters and equipment. As he says, there will be a wildfire summit in the autumn to see how we can further strengthen our national response capabilities. I place on record again our thanks to all the emergency services, including firefighters. I also want to thank farmers for the fantastic job they did in combating this problem over the extraordinarily dry summer we have just had. I will make sure that the House is updated on the Government’s work going forward, because we are keen to learn lessons and make sure that we have resilience going forward.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)]

I call Danny Beales to ask the last question.

[Danny Beales (Uxbridge and South Ruislip) (Lab)]

I would say you have saved the best to last, Madam Deputy Speaker, but you can be the judge of that.

My predecessor, when he was in this place, famously campaigned for a new fish and chip shop in Uxbridge. Now that he is the leader of the Conservative council, he seems to be closing the fish and chip shop that does exist in Hillingdon, along with the florist, the pharmacy, the hairdresser and the local convenience store. Local shops, whose landlord is the council, are facing a 100% rent increase, backdated for several years, all while repairs have not been done, sometimes for up to nine years. Does the Leader of the House agree that local businesses are the lifeblood of our communities and should be supported by councils? Can we have time for a debate in this place on the importance of local high streets?