Business of the House

Debate between Mark Sewards and Nusrat Ghani

Thursday 30th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

Unless questions are short and answers are on point, we will not get everybody in. I call Mark Sewards.

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

Greenhill primary school serves the small Armley and Bramley parts of my constituency. Its excellent work was recognised in its most recent Ofsted report this month, which states that the school has improved rapidly and pupils are safe. I have seen that excellent work at first hand, including through the Solar for Schools programme. Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating the school for its amazing Ofsted report, and grant a debate in Government time on the need for solar energy programmes in primary schools?

Holocaust Memorial Day

Debate between Mark Sewards and Nusrat Ghani

Thursday 23rd January 2025 Commons Chamber

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

May I start by saying what a privilege it is to follow the incredible speeches that we have heard across the House today? It has been especially powerful hearing the testimonies of people descended from the families of Holocaust survivors. I wish to pay tribute to several Members before I begin the substance of my speech today.

My hon. Friend the Member for Hendon (David Pinto-Duschinsky) has been referred to countless times, and rightly so. His family history is a powerful reminder. I am certain that his family will be proud of him, because he has come to this place and shared his story from the Government Benches. I am incredibly grateful for that. In exactly the same vein, my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds Central and Headingley (Alex Sobel) gave a powerful account. He and I have known each other for many years, before either of us made it to this House—he got here in 2017, so he is a veteran by most standards; I have been here for six months—but I have never heard him speak in that way about his family history. It was a privilege to be here as he did so, and I thank him for it.

We have heard other great speeches too. I give special thanks to the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman), who set out in great detail the opportunities that were missed to potentially prevent the Holocaust, or at least mitigate some of its impacts. Despite studying history, I have often wondered what could have been done to prevent this catastrophe from taking place. I really appreciate his insight into what the allies could have done sooner to prevent it from happening.

My hon. Friend the Member for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket (Peter Prinsley) made an excellent short contribution. I am so proud that he is the first Labour MP to represent that constituency in this House. He has made many good contributions—I found listening to him in today’s debate particularly powerful, as I have in other debates.

The hon. Member for Eastleigh (Liz Jarvis) talked about the ceremony that we attended yesterday in Portcullis House. It was especially powerful to hear from Yisrael and Alfred, two Holocaust survivors, because, as the hon. Member and many others have stated, the window to speak to survivors and hear their first-hand testimony is shrinking. I am especially grateful to Mr Speaker and his office for arranging that event.

My hon. Friend the Member for High Peak (Jon Pearce) set out exactly why we need to be vigilant to the terror and the spectre of antisemitism that haunts Britain’s streets today. He spoke far more powerfully and summed up the issues much more succinctly than I could, but we know that Jewish people are less safe on Britain’s streets today than they were before 7 October. That cannot be right, and I thank him for highlighting it. I also thank my hon. Friend the Member for Rochdale (Paul Waugh), whose speech was incredibly powerful. I always enjoy listening to his testimony, especially since he is a former newspaper columnist. That certainly came through in his contribution.

Monday 27 January will mark a sombre day of reflection and remembrance. Eighty years after the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day is an important anniversary that we must all observe. In November, I had the privilege of joining the European Jewish Association’s delegation to Auschwitz and Krakow. In Krakow, we talked about the spectre of antisemitism and what needs to be done to prevent it, and to prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again. I talked about my experience as a maths teacher in a secondary school before I made it to this place, and the role that I thought Holocaust education had to play in preventing such tragedies in the future.

The most important part of the visit, however, was our visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau. We laid wreaths and paid tribute to the millions of victims of the Holocaust. To stand in that place, where human beings committed the most evil acts imaginable, was a harrowing experience. I cannot share all the details today, but something struck me while I was there. I was standing in the field just past the gates of Auschwitz-Birkenau, and I was stunned by the scale and size of the camp. I never imagined it being as large as it was—murder on an industrial scale. Most of the accommodation—I use that word knowing it does no justice to the terrible conditions that people were kept in—that was built for the camp’s inhabitants was made of wood, so it has long since perished. However, the chimneys of the accommodation were built from bricks, and they still stand. I was taken aback by an enormous field of chimneys stretching as far as I could see—the worst of humanity on display for all. But it is so important that the camp stands as a lesson and stands in history forever so that all of us can learn about the horrors of the Holocaust. It will stay with me forever. While liberation brought an end to the horrors of Nazi extermination and torture, it came too late for 6 million Jewish people and all the other victims of the Holocaust. We owe it to all of them to ensure that “never again” means never again.

Some of the people who survived Auschwitz and the Holocaust have shared their stories with us, and I referred to some of them earlier. Powerful lessons can always be learned from those testimonies. I would like to pay tribute to one of those survivors today. Iby Knill was a Leeds resident for most of her life following world war two. However, in her youth, Iby fled to Hungary to escape Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, but sadly she was still captured and deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

With your permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like to read a little of Iby’s testimony. Please understand that any references to “you” are just taken from her testimony. This is what she wrote about arriving at Auschwitz-Birkenau:

“When we arrived, men in striped pyjamas opened the doors and told us to leave the sick, the old and the children. Men and women were separated. I and four other women—two of them doctors—linked arms and moved past”

the doctor.

“We had arrived in Auschwitz-Birkenau. We were told to strip, had the hair shaved off all over our bodies and were then pushed into showers. Normal practise included, at this stage, the registration and tattooing of each persons’ identity number on their left arm, but there were so many of us that the ink run out and I was not tattooed. We were given some clothes and taken into the camp. Two hundred and fifty women went into each hut.”

The people

“(in charge of my hut) were Czech; I could speak to them and got a slightly larger ration of watery soup and also a slightly larger piece of blanket. There was so little room we had to sleep squashed up like spoons. Every morning, midday and evening…everyone was counted, this could take three or four hours. You had to strip and hold your clothes above your head. If you swayed or stumbled you were taken away and never seen again. We were taken to be showered once a week. If anyone was taken ill they were taken to the hospital hut and usually then to the gas chambers. Worse than hunger was the thirst. It was summer and there was no water at all… On 26th July”

the doctor

“asked for volunteers. I, with the two doctors and the two nurses who had come together to Auschwitz had realized that if we stayed there we would eventually die. We therefore volunteered and went with a slave labour transport of five hundred and thirty Hungarian women to”

Germany.

“We spent overnight in another hutment, where a twin I knew from Szekesfehervar asked me to tell the world what I had seen because twins were being experimented on by

a doctor

“and they did not believe that they would survive. We left on 27th July.”

Iby’s testimony is incredibly powerful. She knew that if she stayed in that camp she would die, so she took the opportunity to go to Germany—an opportunity that few had—until she was liberated while on a death march on Easter Sunday 1945. She married, came to England and lived in Leeds. She was later supported by the Holocaust Survivors’ Friendship Association based in Leeds. The association now runs the Holocaust Centre North, a museum in Huddersfield devoted to telling a global history of the Holocaust through the local stories of survivors and refugees like Iby.

Iby spent the remainder of her later life telling the story that I have just shared with the House. She wanted to educate future generations about the horrors of the Holocaust. I pay tribute to her and all the survivors. They have given their accounts so that we can learn the lessons and ensure that it never happens again.

Members have spoken about the theme of this Holocaust Memorial Day, which is about taking action for a better future. Given the rise of antisemitism in the UK and across Europe, we must prioritise action to stop that evil. My hon. Friend the Member for High Peak set that out in clear terms. I welcome the Government’s allocation of £54 million for the Community Security Trust to continue its vital work to protect the Jewish community. I also welcome the fact that the Prime Minister took the opportunity at Prime Minister’s questions a few weeks ago to reiterate his commitment to that funding.

Education is key. As a former teacher, I know the power that education has to inspire understanding. The Holocaust must never become a footnote in history, especially as we approach the era that I spoke about, when we will no longer be able to hear survivors provide their testimony in person. I put on record my gratitude to the Holocaust Educational Trust, which does an incredible amount to educate teachers and provide high-quality material to schools. I am also pleased that the Government have maintained the cross-party consensus on properly supporting and funding Holocaust education. We have pledged an additional £2 million to support the crucial work of the Holocaust Educational Trust. We are also committed to building a new Holocaust memorial and learning centre. I welcome the fact that Holocaust education will remain mandatory in the national curriculum.

On that point, let me speak about the trials going ahead to see how we can further expand Holocaust education in schools. We need to ensure not just that it is embedded in the curriculum, but that it stays with our young people beyond school. While I was in Poland for my visit, I spoke with a journalist—a young man from Gildersome in my constituency—who was asking me about the post office that was under threat. I told him where I was, and he said, “Oh yes, the Holocaust. We had a few lessons on that in school, but not much more.” That struck me, because if he is saying that—someone who is switched on, interested in politics and becoming a journalist —there are bound to be other students who are left behind. That is why it is so important that the trials going on at the moment are used, and, if successful, rolled out to the wider national curriculum. We all must continue to learn the lessons from humanity’s darkest time.

Before I conclude my remarks, I pay tribute to the Jewish community in Leeds for the events that they always organise across Leeds for Holocaust Memorial Day. This Sunday will see the civic remembrance event at City Varieties, which I have attended before. It will remember those murdered in the Holocaust, as well as in subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. I was very pleased to hear those genocides mentioned by Members across different parties. There will be readings and candles lit by representatives of all those who were persecuted, including Holocaust survivors. We will come together as a city to remember those we lost, as we do every year and always will.

All of us in this House have a duty to use our voices to uphold the memory of the Holocaust, its victims and its survivors. We owe it to everyone who died. We will never forget them. The words “never again” will stand for all time. I know that everyone in this House will work towards that end.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

I call the shadow Minister.

Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill

Debate between Mark Sewards and Nusrat Ghani

Report stage
Wednesday 15th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Sewards]

I believe it is right to tax businesses. Private schools are businesses, and we are choosing to levy the tax on businesses. We are not choosing to levy the tax on state education, because as I was just setting out, it is imperative on us to make sure there is an excellent and well-funded place in state-funded education for all students, should parents choose to take advantage of it. It must be remembered that not all parents have the choice of private or state education. The reason why 94% of students are in state education is because that choice does not exist for most parents in this country. That is why we will take the necessary action to fund state schools properly.

I will make some progress because I can see that Madam Deputy Speaker would like me to—oh, she is being quite generous with her time. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. In which case, I will take more interventions.

Some Members have raised concerns about whether the legislation adversely affects the private schools that are primarily concerned with teaching students with EHCPs. I am pleased to report that it does not. The Government have clearly set out that private schools that teach 50% or more students with EHCPs will continue to be exempt from business rates, which is exactly the right approach. There are therefore no concerns there.

Amendment 8 seeks exemptions for certain kinds of schools. We have talked a little bit about faith schools, and we talked about that a lot on Second Reading. I cannot support the amendment given that we are ending the tax breaks to support the 94% of students who attend state schools. If we dilute the measures in the Bill for that exception, it is easy to make an argument for the next exemption, the one after that and the one after that as well. Our guiding principle should be that every child is entitled to an excellent, properly funded state school place, as I think I have said repeatedly.

Amendment 9—the last one I will speak about—gives local authorities discretion over whether the higher multiplier will apply. As many hon. Members will know, local authorities already possess wide-reaching powers regarding discretionary rate relief. Given that the Bill does not affect those powers at all, I do not think the amendment is required.

To conclude, the measures in the Bill are vital to bring about the restoration of our high streets, support local businesses and give state schools the funding they desperately need. Those are the priorities of this Labour Government and my priorities too. If Conservative Members claim to represent the party of business again, if they ever hope to seize back the mantle of being the party of opportunity, I hope they put their money where their mouth is and join us in voting for this unamended Bill today.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

I thought it very sensible for the hon. Member to clarify that it is young Arthur, not himself, who enjoys soft play. I call the final speaker, Chris Vince.

Higher Education Regulatory Approach

Debate between Mark Sewards and Nusrat Ghani

Wednesday 15th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

I call Mark Sewards, a member of the Education Committee.

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

I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement. It is good to see that our universities will no longer be a battleground in which political parties seek to make headlines—unsuccessfully, I might add. Does she agree that now that she has taken decisive action on this issue, it is time to talk about the financial situation facing many of our universities, which threatens their very existence? We know that students are paying far more for far less at university, and we need to end that ridiculous cycle.

Business of the House

Debate between Mark Sewards and Nusrat Ghani

Thursday 9th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

Order. We have 20 Members left, all on the Government Benches. If you work together, you will all get in. It is up to you.

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

I welcome the Government’s announcement that Yorkshire and the Humber is getting £123 million to repair potholes. Since the announcement, many of my constituents in Leeds South West and Morley have been in touch about key roads in the constituency—Cross Peel Street, the Tingley roundabout and Asquith Avenue. I have mentioned this three times in the House already. Will the Leader of the House grant an urgent debate on the need to help these local authorities spend this money quickly, so that all our residents feel the benefit?

Great British Energy Bill

Debate between Mark Sewards and Nusrat Ghani

2nd reading
Thursday 5th September 2024 Commons Chamber

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

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. In the interest of saving time, I am sure you will grant me permission to skip to the part of my speech where I celebrate my great constituency of Leeds South West and Morley.

It is the greatest responsibility and honour of my life to stand before you as the Labour MP for Leeds South West and Morley. Alongside being a husband and a dad, this is the most important job I will ever do, and I give sincere thanks to my constituents and neighbours for sending me to this place.

It has been nine years since Morley and Outwood, the old constituency, sent Dame Andrea Jenkyns to represent us, and I would like to give sincere thanks to my predecessor. Dame Andrea is a ferocious campaigner for the issues she passionately believes in. During her time as our MP, she was a strong advocate for animal welfare and always stood up for the people of Ukraine. She will always speak her mind and her truth to power, as Members of this House will be able to confirm. While the list of things that we agree on is reasonably short, we were in broad agreement, prior to the general election, that there needed to be change in Prime Minister. I sincerely thank Dame Andrea Jenkyns for her service to her constituents and this House.

Leeds South West and Morley is steeped in history and tradition, and it is made up of some of the best and proudest communities in the country. The town of Morley is in the centre, and I am proud to say that I was raised there. However, some of my constituents will hear me say that and take issue, because I was in fact raised in Churwell, a village that is geographically attached to the town of Morley. While I will always call myself a proud Morleian, the truth is that there are distinct differences in each part of my constituency. Each one has its own proud history and its own stories to tell.

Part of Morley’s history is that it was once home to the penultimate Liberal Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith. You can find his name on buildings and in streets, including, I am sorry to say, the infamous Asquith Avenue, which is in desperate need of resurfacing. I know that some of the historians among us will never forgive Herbert Asquith—not for the quality of the roads in his name, but for the shell crisis of 1915, which saw the British Army left without the munitions it needed during world war one. This ultimately brought down his premiership, but given that the crisis was abated when the state stepped in to provide a solution, it stands as a reminder that, as powerful as the free market can be, at times there are problems and crises that require the power of the state to solve.

While I am sharing a snippet of the history of my constituency, it would be remiss of me not to talk about the place of the mills and the mines in the history of Leeds South West and Morley. Whether it was the role of Morley, Tingley, Gildersome or East Ardsley in the heavy woollen trade, or the mines in the villages of Lofthouse and Robin Hood, these industries have shaped our constituency and the home that we know and love today. But it is not just the history of my constituency that makes it great; it is the people. It is the people at Drighlington village’s Coffee Pot Memory Café, who do outstanding work for people with dementia. For their efforts, they were recently awarded the King’s award for voluntary service—one of the highest honours that such an organisation can receive. I commend them for their work.

While I am talking about Drighlington, I must also pay tribute to not one but two Olympic medallists who live in the village: Jack Laughter and Lois Toulson, who both won bronze in the 3-metre and 10-metre synchronised diving events in Paris. I congratulate them on their incredible success. It is Lois’s first medal and Jack’s fourth—he now has one of every colour.

In Churwell village, we are blessed with the environmental action volunteers, who keep the community looking outstanding. In Farnley, we have the 8th South West Leeds scout group, who work in conjunction with our litter pickers to keep our community looking outstanding. In Wortley, residents have gone to great lengths to protect and restore the TV Harrison football field. Leeds United legends have trained there, including Paul Reaney and David Batty, and I look forward to working with residents and the Leeds Schools Sports Association, which has responsibility for the site, to restore it to its former glory.

Although Farnley and Wortley are new additions to the constituency, it is a place that does not have its own community hub or library. But what it does have are some outstanding sports teams that make up the community hub for our community in Farnley and Wortley. These are Wortley FC, the Farnley Falcons, West Leeds RUFC and, of course, New Farnley Cricket Club. Wortley is the place where I am raising my own children, Oscar and Arthur, who will never be able to call themselves Morleians, I am sorry to say.

Finally, Madam Deputy Speaker—I know that my remaining time is very short—I want to reference the work of WF3 Kindness, which works across Tingley, Ardsley, Thorpe, Lofthouse and Robin Hood. Its sole aim is to help people in those communities to live stronger and better lives, and I look forward to supporting the charity in that work.

These organisations and constituents have sent me here to return politics to public service once again. They have sent me here to restore stability to our country and our economy. They have sent me here to plug the gaps that they have often had to fill themselves. My constituents have stepped up for their community time and again, and it is my turn to do the same for them.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

I call the shadow Minister.