Business of the House

Matt Western Excerpts

Thursday 18th April 2024 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

When I was Minister for Women and Equalities, I set up the first inquiry looking at why so many children were being referred into trans services. There was a 4,000% increase in the number of girls, for example, who were being referred into trans services. The Government have consistently raised such matters. The Cass review is an important review. The gender recognition consultation that looked at whether we needed to reform the 2004 Act was also an important piece of work for Whitehall. It had a record number of responses—more than 100,000—and although I did not read them all, I read the ones from healthcare professionals. They raised concerns that the rules about referring people into such services were too restrictive and looked only at one particular type of condition as opposed to the raft of conditions that they were dealing with. I hope that work informed Whitehall. It certainly led to other reviews, including the Cass review. I think that was important.

These issues need to be gripped, but while we do so, we need to send a clear message to people who are trans that their rights and their ability to lead a good quality of life are also protected. That is the aim of the current Minister for Equalities. I refer the House to her many statements, including on the provision of same-sex spaces. She has always taken care to mention certainty and support for trans people.

[Matt Western (Warwick and Leamington) (Lab)]

Last summer, I was a lone voice among the Warwickshire MPs in calling for Warwickshire not to be subsumed into the West Midlands Combined Authority under Andy Street. Thank goodness I did. It is forecast by PricewaterhouseCoopers to be the worst-performing economic region in the country. Andy’s trams are not running. We now understand that in eight years he has built only 46 social rent houses—that is six a year—despite 64,000 people being on the waiting list. Last night at a hustings, he said that he did not realise that it was his responsibility, or that there was a need for that housing.

By comparison, Mayor Khan started 11,000 council homes in 2022-23, and the Labour candidate for the west midlands mayoralty, Richard Parker, has promised 2,000 social rent homes a year. Even in Warwick, my little local district council has built more than Andy Street. As chair of the all-party parliamentary group for council housing, I ask for a debate in Government time on the importance of delivering social rent housing.

[Penny Mordaunt]

I think there is a pattern to Labour’s questions here. While we talk about the records in office of Conservative Mayors, the Opposition try to smear them. However, it does afford me the opportunity to recap on Andy Street’s record. He has won £10 billion of investment from central Government, has secured and delivered the 2022 Commonwealth games, has recovered the regional economy after covid, has secured the investment zone, has extended the metro, is making Coventry an all-electric bus city, has reduced and retained low bus fares, and has built more homes for young people and families than any other region. Some 15,690 homes were built in the west midlands last year alone, and it is the only region that is on track for its housing targets. In stark contrast, the Labour London Mayor has missed his targets. Andy has delivered 4,000 apprenticeships and has been a champion for community cohesion in some very difficult times. He is standing on his record; he is standing on the fact that he has stood up and fought for his constituents and those he represents. The London Mayor’s much more deficient record sits in stark contrast.