Budget Resolutions

Mark Sewards Excerpts

Thursday 29th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mark Sewards (Leeds South West and Morley) (Lab)]

In the short time available to me, I will go through a few things in the Budget that will genuinely help my constituents, as well as a few areas where the Government should go further.

Let me start with household bills. I will certainly not be alone in this House in finding that most of my constituents are genuinely worried about the pressure of household bills. It is definitely welcome that standing charges have been scrapped from gas bills, that VAT on energy bills has been suspended for longer and that a new £100 household energy payment is being introduced. That will benefit 40,000 properties in my constituency alone. That is welcome breathing space, but it cannot be the summit of our ambitions on energy bills or bills more generally. That is why I welcome the long-term direction set out on energy by the Chancellor yesterday. However, I assure my constituents and give fair warning to Members on the Front Bench that I will be asking for more support if bills do not come down quickly enough in the short and medium term.

I welcome the support given to businesses. Nearly half of all businesses in Yorkshire and the Humber will not pay business rates, following the announcement yesterday. Alongside that immediate support for families and businesses, the Budget made some investments in my home city of Leeds, not least the £200 million extra to transform Leeds train station. There is a lot in that, such as a new bridge over the platforms, three new entrances and bigger and better concourses, but when I went through that yesterday with my wife, Alice, she was very quick to remind me that the improvements to the lifts are incredibly overdue, and she is absolutely right. The lifts are so painfully slow that people have to factor an extra 15 or 20 minutes into their journey if they have a pram or a wheelchair. As somebody who has a five-year-old, a two-year-old and another one arriving in a few weeks’ time, I welcome that investment in our lifts, and I cannot wait to spend the money to make them that a little bit faster for anybody with a pram. I also welcome the £15 million being given to Leeds College of Building for its new campus on the south bank. That campus is going to be used by my constituents; it is going to benefit them and give them the chance to start a new career in an area where we already have skills shortages.

In the very short time available to me, I will also say as chair of the all-party parliamentary group for Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire that we were about to put out a report calling on the Government to give fiscal devolution to the regions, to allow mayors to keep more of the tax revenue that we raise centrally. I was very pleased that the Chancellor beat us to the punch with his announcement. I know that the Prime Minister considers Lord Blunkett to be a personal mentor and hero to him, and he has also been a mentor and hero to our APPG, so I will just say that he took what was in our report and gave it to the Prime Minister, and that is how it ended up in the Budget statement. That is my story, and I am sticking to it.

Saudi Arabia: RAF Support

Mark Sewards Excerpts

Thursday 22nd October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mr Bailey]

There was a multiplicity of questions within that question. First, on why a statement on the deployment was not made, I have made it clear that the strategic parameters were set out by the Prime Minister and that the deployment was laid out by the Secretary of State. I am pleased to be here to talk about the extension of an existing deployment; this is not anything new. With regards to the word “defence”, the right hon. Gentleman, my neighbouring MP, as a gallant person with a significant military background, will understand that a layered air defence system is exactly that, and defensive counter air is a capability. We are not conducting strikes and there is no capability to conduct strikes. We are not seeking to present that in any other way.

[Mark Sewards (Leeds South West and Morley) (Lab)]

Thank you for granting the urgent question, Mr Speaker. For what it is worth, I support the Government’s decision to deploy this defensive operation against the Houthis. The Minister will be aware that Britain’s former ambassador to Yemen has called for proscription of the Houthis, and I absolutely agree with him on that. That would allow us to criminalise fundraising and support for the Houthis and disrupt any operations on UK soil as well as freeze their assets. What conversations has he had with his counterparts in the Home Office about proscribing the Iranian-backed threat that is the Houthis?

[Mr Bailey]

I thank my hon. Friend for his remarks and his concern for Yemen. It is important that we remember the reason for these measures is to seek a ceasefire and allow the United Nations to provide humanitarian support to the people in Yemen. We do not comment on future measures, but we are considering all options. I can offer my hon. Friend a meeting with the Minister of State in the FCDO, my hon. Friend the hon. Member for Cardiff South and Penarth (Stephen Doughty).

Defence Readiness

Mark Sewards Excerpts

Wednesday 20th May 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mark Sewards (Leeds South West and Morley) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for The Wrekin (Mark Pritchard). I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Hemel Hempstead (David Taylor) on his speech; I will touch on some of the same themes.

I am only really going to refer to the tackling state threats Bill today. This new legislation honours Labour’s manifesto commitment to follow the Jonathan Hall review and to introduce new powers that allow us to proscribe state threats, specifically the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Many of us from across the House have been advocating for this for a long time—and I, for one, am grateful to the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary, the Foreign Secretary and the Security Minister for enduring my questions on the subject, both in this place and in private.

The Bill could not be more timely. We know that the IRGC directs Tehran’s terror networks abroad and brutally crushes dissent at home. It oversaw the sickening repression following January’s protest movement in Iran, which saw 30,000 people murdered. That repression continues to this day, while the conflict goes on, with torture, sham trials and executions all being used to try to beat the Iranian people into submission, and we are only getting a small amount of information out of Iran because of the internet blackouts.

We know that the IRGC is responsible for funding and arming terrorist proxies, including Hamas, Hezbollah and others across the region who seek to hurt our allies and destroy the world’s only Jewish state. The new head of the IRGC is an internationally wanted terrorist, implicated in the 1994 attack against the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people; he was also the Interior Minister in 2022, when Iran cracked down brutally on the Woman, Life, Freedom protest.

Of course, all of what I am saying is about Iran—a foreign country—and today’s debate is about defence readiness in this country, but unfortunately the IRGC seeks to wreak havoc on our shores. In November, the director general of MI5 linked the IRGC to no fewer than 20 potentially lethal threats here in the UK in the last year alone. The threat has only grown. The Chief Rabbi has said THAT British Jews and Iranian dissidents here are facing a

“sustained campaign of violence and intimidation”.

We have all seen this. We saw that the ambulances belonging to Hatzola, a Jewish charity serving the whole community, were targeted. We saw the Finchley Reform and Kenton United synagogues attacked. We saw Jewish charities, the Israeli embassy and the Iranian media all targeted. Most horrifying of all, we saw two Jews stabbed on the streets of London simply because they were Jewish. All this, the police and security experts suspect—there are ongoing investigations—is the work of paid proxies and criminal gangs on behalf of Iranian-backed terror groups, directed by the IRGC.

Since coming to office, this Government have continued to ramp up sanctions against the regime and individuals. Travel bans, asset freezes and disqualifications from directorships are all very welcome and very useful in the fight against this activity, but these sanctions cannot and have not curtailed the IRGC’s nefarious actions in the UK. That is why we need the proscription-like tool now being legislated for by the Government, and why we need it now.

We do not know the full detail of what is being proposed, which is why I am here to say that the Government must ensure that IRGC members cannot be active in any respect in the UK, and that includes attending or speaking at meetings. The new power must make it a criminal offence for anyone in the UK to associate with the IRGC, profess support for it, share any materials from it or attend any meetings with IRGC representatives. It must require all IRGC online material, be it propaganda or otherwise, to be removed from the internet.

I call on the Prime Minister to keep his promise from just a few weeks ago, stating that this legislation will be prioritised and accelerated through this parliamentary Session. We need to see it as soon as possible. I also urge the Government to build further on this legislation, and to take further action to protect our national security and the Jewish community. First, the Iranian embassy has been using social media to incite violence on our shores. Both the ambassador and the supreme leader’s representative in the UK should be expelled. Secondly, the regime is using soft influence networks across the UK to advance its objectives, under the cover of cultural, academic, charitable and media activity. These must be identified and dismantled. Thirdly, the Government’s “Protecting What Matters” strategy, the announcement of which was extremely welcome, needs to be implemented in full and quickly.

The Iranian regime is one of the world’s worst abusers of human rights. It menaces our allies in the region with its support for terrorist proxies. It threatens the safety and security of the British people, including our Jewish community here at home. I commend the Government on the seriousness with which they treat this danger, as underlined by this new legislation. We now have to get on, pass these new laws and proscribe the biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world. It is time to proscribe the IRGC.

Ukraine and Wider Operational Update

Mark Sewards Excerpts

Wednesday 7th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

I call Mark Sewards for the final question.

[Mark Sewards (Leeds South West and Morley) (Lab)]

I welcome this evening’s statement. I say, primarily to those outside this Chamber, that any deployment of British forces in Ukraine is not going to be a tripwire to a wider conflict. If we do not deploy those forces, put that deterrent in place and back Ukraine—if we allow Putin to take Ukraine either now or at some point in the future—there will be devastating consequences for British interests and global stability.

With British interests in mind, although I fully appreciate the answer the Defence Secretary gave on troop numbers—I understand his reasoning for not wanting to share those—can he reassure the House that this country has the soldiers, the resources and the equipment to ensure that we can provide an effective deterrent in Ukraine without compromising and undermining the other commitments we have made to allies around the world?

Ukraine

Mark Sewards Excerpts

Monday 1st September 2025 Commons Chamber

[John Healey]

I think this House appreciates the hon. Member’s declaration on behalf of the people of Northern Ireland that they stand steadfast with Ukraine. The support that the UK Government—the previous Government and this Government—are giving to Ukraine to document in the most difficult circumstances of an ongoing war the evidence that will be required to bring the Russian forces and Russian leaders to account after the fighting is over is an important part of the contribution that we can make. Funding, resources, and expert and legal advice is part of the ongoing aid that we are providing to Ukraine for that purpose.

[Mark Sewards (Leeds South West and Morley) (Lab)]

I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement and reiteration that we will always support the people of Ukraine. Given Russia’s despicable attack against civilian targets in Kyiv, costing the lives of over 20 civilians including children and damaging a British Council building, it is quite clear that Vladimir Putin has very little interest in any legitimate peace process. Given that reports differ about how committed countries are to deploying troops in Ukraine to enforce any potential peace agreement, can the Secretary of State set out how the UK is working with our allies to convince them to back security guarantees and peace in Ukraine, and will he state that there is nothing that Vladimir Putin can do now to deter our support for Ukraine?

[John Healey]

There is indeed nothing that Putin can do to deter our support for Ukraine—our support while it fights, but also our preparation for the moment of peace that we hope will come. My hon. Friend invites me to set out how we are developing that. We have had multiple meetings of our military leaders and planners over the summer through the coalition of the willing. I will host this week a meeting of Defence Ministers from the coalition of the willing. It will be designed to make sure that we maintain our military plans and step up the commitments to contribute at the point at which we can get a peace agreement in place. There will be a role for countries like ours to support Ukraine, both in securing that peace for the long term and in regenerating their own armed forces to deter Russia in future.

Nuclear-certified Aircraft Procurement

Mark Sewards Excerpts

Wednesday 25th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Maria Eagle]

I would argue that defence spending is there to create peace, not to fight wars. It is cheaper to deter wars than it is to end up fighting them, so I would argue that our commitment to 2.6%, as it will be by 2027, to 3% in the next Parliament and then on to the 5% target—including the 1.5% broader definition—by 2035 shows a very strong commitment across NATO to do just that. Let’s deter these wars.

[Mark Sewards (Leeds South West and Morley) (Lab)]

I welcome the Minister’s response to the urgent question. The purchase of 12 new F-35A aircraft will increase our nuclear capabilities and shows that our commitment to NATO is unshakeable. As the chair of the Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire all-party parliamentary group, I am always on the lookout for opportunities for growth in my region. Given that this announcement supports 20,000 jobs and places 15% of the global supply chain in the UK, will the Minister say how that will benefit my region and how she will ensure that all the investment, jobs and growth opportunities will be spread to each part of the UK?

[Maria Eagle]

I cannot say precisely whether any of the 100 companies that are UK-based suppliers on this programme are in my hon. Friend’s constituency or his region—I will have to go away and look it up—but I do know that these procurements spread prosperity around all regions and nations of the UK. That is one great thing about the defence industry: it provides jobs and growth across the UK.

Ukraine

Mark Sewards Excerpts

Thursday 13th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Maria Eagle]

In the spring.

[Mark Sewards (Leeds South West and Morley) (Lab)]

I welcome the statement that any negotiations about Ukraine must involve Ukraine. In that spirit, has the Minister or any of her colleagues had conversations with their counterparts in Ukraine following the recent developments to find out how they are feeling? If not, do they plan to soon?

[Maria Eagle]

I have not, but I know my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has been having discussions and, indeed, our discussions are ongoing and frequent. I have had contact with my counterpart in Ukraine, just not since yesterday.

Russian Maritime Activity and UK Response

Mark Sewards Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd January 2025 Commons Chamber

[John Healey]

The right hon. Gentleman is right that this is not the first instance; indeed, the total loss of digital connection that his constituency suffered in 2022 vividly demonstrated the dependency of such communities on this critical infrastructure in their everyday life, and their vulnerability to damage or sabotage. I give him the assurance that he seeks. In the consideration of the strategic defence review, and certainly in its implementation, that is exactly the sort of question and challenge that we will meet.

[Mr Mark Sewards (Leeds South West and Morley) (Lab)]

I thank the Secretary of State for his clear statement, and for spelling out why it is so important that we protect these deep-sea cables. Something like 95% of all international data goes through them. They are the backbone of the internet. Given those facts, can he assure us that the protection of that critical infrastructure will be at the forefront of the minds of everybody completing the strategic defence review?

[John Healey]

My hon. Friend makes a powerful case. I certainly give him that assurance.

Ukraine

Mark Sewards Excerpts

Thursday 19th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Luke Pollard]

I thank the hon. Gentleman and his party for their support for Ukraine and for the united front this House has presented and continues to present for Ukraine. Discussions with our European friends on frozen assets are a matter for the Treasury, but I know that Treasury colleagues are continuing conversations to ensure that when the United Kingdom makes a move on particular areas of sanctions or assets, it is replicated by our friends. Indeed, the sanctions we have implemented on Russia’s shadow fleet have been replicated by a huge number of our European and other international allies, to ensure that there is no place for that trade. I am concerned by what the hon. Gentleman says, but I know that the Treasury has been working further with the Foreign Office on how we can strengthen sanctions. However, I am very happy for him to write to me with further details on that.

The hon. Gentleman mentioned technology coming from further afield. It is not just technology developed in Asia that we need to worry about; we also need to worry about technology developed in Iran, which goes directly to the frontline and is used by Russian forces to target civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. That is why we continue to take action against Iranian weapon transfers to Ukraine, too.

[Mr Mark Sewards (Leeds South West and Morley) (Lab)]

I start by welcoming the Minister’s statement. It is incredibly welcome to hear that we still fully support the people of Ukraine and will back them financially for as long as it takes. I have two questions for the Minister. First, he mentioned the 11,000 North Korean troops in the Kursk region. He said that they had made little progress—that they had had a few tactical victories, but that it had come at great cost to them. How did he arrive at that assessment, and does he expect North Korean troops to contribute more in the conflict?

Secondly, I increasingly find myself in debates with people who ask why Britain is spending this money in Ukraine—why is it not being spent in Britain? I use the argument that many in this House will be familiar with: when people like Vladimir Putin are given what they want, they always come back for more, whether there is a deal or not. Will the Minister restate at the Dispatch Box why it is in Britain’s direct national interest to ensure that the people of Ukraine win this conflict?

[Luke Pollard]

I thank my hon. Friend for his questions. It is certainly true that the assessment we have made of troops from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea engaging in combat is a concerning development. It is a dangerous escalation and expansion of Putin’s illegal war against Ukraine, and is further proof that he has no interest in peace. We will continue to monitor what takes place there. My hon. Friend will understand if I do not go into the precise collection methods as to how we came to that assessment, but it is certainly a sign of further Russian weakness that it needs to rely on North Korean troops in the operations it is undertaking in Kursk oblast.

Secondly, on why this matters, I would pose a question that is always useful when thinking about this conflict: do we think Putin would stop if he won in Ukraine? I think we all know the answer. His illegal war would continue against the Ukrainian people, as would his threats against NATO allies, especially those on NATO’s eastern flank. His malign influence would continue to extend to subversion of democracies through attacks on critical infrastructure and cyber-attacks on NATO allies, including the United Kingdom. That is why we have cross-party unity in our support for Ukraine: Ukraine’s security is the United Kingdom’s security.

Chagos Islands: UK-US Defence Relationship

Mark Sewards Excerpts

Monday 2nd December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Luke Pollard]

We will follow the normal process for treaty ratification, which is that after signature, the treaty will come before this House, with details given to colleagues and with the ability for full parliamentary scrutiny, as would be expected as part of the normal process. The hon. Gentleman is right to raise the Chagossians. My ministerial colleague, my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff South and Penarth (Stephen Doughty), who is sat next to me, has been meeting Chagossian communities in the UK. He will continue to meet those communities. This Government deeply regret how they were treated and removed from the islands originally. It is one reason why we have made the relationship with the Chagossians such an important part of the future of the islands, as the Foreign Secretary has previously outlined to the House.

[Mr Mark Sewards (Leeds South West and Morley) (Lab)]

Can the Minister confirm that the operations of the vital UK-US base on Diego Garcia will continue, completely unaffected by the terms of this deal? Separately, will he confirm that our commitment to the Falkland Islands, to Gibraltar and to the rights of the people there to self-determine remain completely unaffected by this deal?

[Luke Pollard]

As the first Minister from the new Government to visit the Falklands, I was able to say clearly that the Falkland Islands are British for as long as they would like to be. The message I gave to the Gibraltarians was that Gibraltar is British for as long as the people of Gibraltar want it to be. I confirm to my hon. Friend that this deal secures the future of the UK-US base on Diego Garcia. That is something that our US allies have supported.