Infected Blood Inquiry

Michael Payne Excerpts

Tuesday 19th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Michael Payne (Gedling) (Lab)]

It is the honour of my life to speak for the first time in this House as the Member of Parliament for my home town of Gedling. To be given the opportunity to represent your neighbours and the place you are proud to call home in the greatest democratic Chamber in the world is a tremendous privilege and responsibility. To the people of Gedling who sent me here to speak up for them, thank you. I am eternally grateful for your support and trust. In my time in this House, I shall work tirelessly to repay that trust, representing each and every one of you to the very best of my ability.

My immediate predecessor was Tom Randall. He and I had our differences, but the fact that two young boys who grew up in Arnold and attended Redhill comprehensive school went on to represent their home town in Parliament says so much about the power of education and the value of our democracy, both of which must be cherished and protected. In particular, I thank Tom for his work in standing up for Hongkongers in Gedling and across the United Kingdom. At the count on election night, I promised that I would continue that important work, and I am pleased to be able to restate that promise on the Floor of the House today.

In 1997, Gedling elected its first Labour MP, my friend Vernon Coaker, now Lord Coaker. For 22 years, Vernon served the people of Gedling with distinction. He was widely respected across this House, just as he is now in the other place. As a kid growing up in Gedling, I was inspired by Vernon visiting my school, so I would like to place on record my thanks to Vernon and his wife Jackie for their service to Gedling.

Since the general election, as I have listened to inspiring contributions from Members across the House, I have been constantly reminded that the privilege of being elected to this House brings with it a duty to speak up for those who feel voiceless, powerless and ignored—people like my auntie, Tara Payne, whose first husband, Thomas Muir, died on 1 August 2013 at just 55 years of age, a victim of the infected blood scandal. Thomas and tens of thousands of others lost their life because their country failed them. It is only because of the courage, perseverance and resilience of those affected and their families that this Government finally committed to compensating them for this horrifying injustice. The victims of the infected blood scandal learned through heartbreaking experience that the words of Martin Luther King are as true today as when he first spoke them:

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Thirty-six years ago, if you had told the young working-class boy growing up in a terraced house in Arnold, just outside of Nottingham, that he would one day be representing the place he owes everything to in the United Kingdom Parliament, he would never have believed it, and I still do not today. The values that our great country and this Parliament stand for, and the parliamentarians and trailblazers who have gone before us, mean that kids from backgrounds like mine can achieve their dreams and ambitions, irrespective of their birthright. During my time in this House, I promise to do all I can to ensure that children in Gedling and across our country have the best possible start in life and are given the support and education to realise their dreams and their full potential, because if we are not here in this House to leave a better society for future generations, what are we here for at all?

I am only able to stand here and speak from these Benches today for three reasons: a loving family, an excellent education and a wonderful community. Let me begin with the community that I am proud to call home. Gedling is a constituency that may not be known by its name, but it certainly should be known by its nature: a beautiful collection of towns and villages to the north-east of the city of Nottingham and bordering the banks of the River Trent. It is surrounded by the historical footprint of the ancient Sherwood forest and the rural beauty of Nottinghamshire county.

My home town of Arnold is a market town with a proud history of hosiery. It was the centre of the framework knitting industry in the 19th century, and the site of the first frame-breaking incident of the luddite riots in March 1811—not that I agree with the rioters’ view on technology in the workplace, but their cause, increased pay and conditions and improved living standards, is just as important today as it was then. That is why I am proud to serve as part of a Government who are introducing the biggest advance in workers’ rights for a generation.

The town of Carlton was once home to a thriving textile industry, and is famous for its brickworks, as well as being home to the late, great actor Richard Beckinsale. It is now primarily residential, as is the smaller railway town of Netherfield, the beautiful village of Colwick and the bustling high-street community of Mapperley and Porchester. Gedling is also home to several picturesque villages that form part of rural Nottinghamshire: Burton Joyce, Stoke Bardolph, Lambley, Woodborough and the former mining village of Bestwood, where the original 1876 Victorian winding engine house still stands in its full glory, thanks to the work of the winding engine house volunteer group and Friends of Bestwood Country Park.

At the heart of the constituency is the historical village from which the constituency took its name: Gedling. It is home to All Hallows church, whose beautiful spire was an inspiration to one of the architects of this Palace, Augustus Pugin. All Hallows stands proudly in the landscape of its surroundings and at the foot of the former Gedling colliery. Gedling colliery was one of the most important collieries in Nottinghamshire, and was known as the pit of nations in honour of its diverse workforce, including from the Windrush generation. It was there that my grandad served as a coal miner. I still remember the tear in his eye when, on the 25th anniversary of the colliery’s closure, I accompanied him and his fellow former coal miners on a visit to Gedling country park, which now stands in the place of the colliery, and which I was proud to play a part in creating as deputy leader of Gedling borough council. The miners of our past powered this country’s future. We owe them an eternal debt of gratitude. That is why I am so proud be part of a Government who are finally ending the miners’ pension injustice.

My family have lived in Gedling for generations. They mean everything to me. I grew up in a home where hard work, respect, playing by the rules and honesty meant everything. Those are values that matter to most families, and they are the values that will guide me during my time in this place. Growing up as the son of a mechanic, watching my dad work hard at three jobs just to keep a roof over my head and pay the bills, I learned the meaning of hard work and the true meaning of family. Growing up watching my grandad and nana spend many years raising much-needed funds for Derrymount school—a school for children with special educational needs and disabilities—I learned the meaning of compassion and never looking down on anyone. Growing up as the son of a mum who went without so that I could be the first in my family to go to university, I learned the meaning of true love and selflessness.

My politics and beliefs are important to me, but, like millions of other people across this country, nothing is more important to me than my family. It is for that reason that making this maiden speech has not been easy. There are two people I desperately wish were watching from the Public Gallery today: John Herbert Waplington and Joan Edna Waplington—my grandad and my nana. Their love and compassion, and the values that they and my parents taught me, are the reason I am who I am today. They are the reason I believe in helping others. My nana and grandad were so proud to see me elected to serve my home community on Gedling borough council in May 2011, and they would have been even prouder to see me elected to this place to serve our home community. It is true that love really is the greatest gift that one generation can leave to another, and I am forever blessed to have been loved by them both.

Gedling is full of people with compassion and a desire to serve others. I have had the privilege of meeting so many of them over the years. Helen Lloyd and the volunteers at Arnold food bank; Tina Simpson and the team at Netherfield St George’s Centre; Nathan Kenney and Mapperley All Stars; Joel Baldry and the team at the Ark in Gedling; the Friends of Gedling Country Park; Daybrook bowls club, which is celebrating its centenary this year; the wonderful musicians of Burton Joyce community brass, and many more extraordinary people and groups, make Gedling such a wonderful community. Gedling is also home to brilliant schools with inspirational teachers and staff. I spent many happy years at Richard Bonington primary school and Redhill comprehensive school. Like so many others across the country, I owe so much to my teachers for their encouragement, support and inspiration.

Being elected to serve my home town in this place was the second greatest moment of my life. The first was marrying my husband, Kyle Robinson-Payne, on 1 July 2022. I am delighted that he is in the Public Gallery today, just as he has been with me on every step of my journey to this place. We live in a world where far too many people continue to be persecuted for who they are and who they love. For as long as I am in this place, I will use this platform to speak up for them and their rights. As our much-missed and beautiful friend Jo Cox taught us, whatever our differences, we always have so much more in common than that which divides us.