Data Protection and Digital Information (No. 2) Bill

Mike Amesbury Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 17th April 2023 Commons Chamber

[Julia Lopez]

I am always happy to take an intervention from the hon. Member. I want to assure him that we are building high data protection standards that are built on the fundamental principles of the GDPR, and we are trying to get the right balance between high data protection standards that will protect the consumer and giving businesses the flexibility they need. I will continue this conversation with him as the Bill passes through the House.

[Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)]

I thank the Minster for being so generous with her time. With regard to the independent commissioner, the regulator, who will set the terms of reference? Will it be genuinely independent? It seems to me that a lot of power will fall on the shoulders of the Secretary of State, whoever that might be in the not-too-distant future.

[Julia Lopez]

The Secretary of State will have greater powers when it comes to some of the statutory codes that the ICO adheres to, but those powers will be brought to this House for its consent. The whole idea is to make the ICO much more democratically accountable. I know that concern about the independence of the regulator has been raised as we have been working up these proposals, but I wish to assure the House that we do not believe those concerns to be justified or legitimate. The Bill actually has the strong support of the current Information Commissioner, John Edwards.

The Bill will also put in place the foundations for data intermediaries, which are organisations that can help us to benefit from our data. In effect, we will be able to share less sensitive data about ourselves with businesses while securing greater benefits. As I say, one of the examples of this is open banking. Another way in which the Bill will help people to take back control of their data is by making it easier and more secure for people to prove things about themselves once, electronically, without having to dig out stacks of physical documents such as passports, bills, statements and birth certificates and then having to provide lots of copies of those documents to different organisations. Digital verification services already exist, but we want consumers to be able to identify trustworthy providers by creating a set of standards around them.

The Bill is designed not just to boost businesses, support scientists and deliver consumer benefits; it also contains measures to keep people healthy and safe. It will improve the way in which the NHS and adult social care organise data to deliver crucial health services. It will let the police get on with their jobs by allowing them to spend more time on the beat rather than on pointless paperwork. We believe that this will save up to 1.5 million hours of police time each year—

Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Mike Amesbury Excerpts

Monday 20th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Don Valley (Nick Fletcher) and to disagree with nearly every word uttered from his lips. It is clear to working people and hard-pressed families in my Weaver Vale constituency that last week’s Budget offered them little in the midst of this cost of living crisis, and that point has been echoed right across these Opposition Benches.

We have to ask ourselves the fundamental questions. Thirteen years on, are people in our constituencies better off? Are houses—genuinely affordable houses and social houses—being built? Are schools being resourced adequately? Are they being rebuilt? Are the 40 wonderful hospitals that the Government claim they are going to build being built? The answer to all those questions is no, no, and no. After 13 years, we have sticking-plaster politics. We have no growth and taxation at a 70-year high. People in my constituency and in others up and down the land look at their mortgage bills, particularly those who are remortgaging, and they think there is a nearly £2,000 tax upon their hard-pressed shoulders.

I spoke to many of my constituents over the weekend, asking, “What did you think of the Budget?” It was the chatter in cafés and on the buses—the buses that run, of course; the buses that have not been cut. I asked, “Do you feel helped?” They said no. They decried that huge tax giveaway to less than 1% in our society, including very wealthy pensioners. In fact, it is a great way to avoid inheritance tax. That is well documented by people more in the know than I am.

Was it a Budget for people? Was it a Budget for growth? Was it a Budget to turbocharge the green economy? Again the answer is no, no, no. It was a failure, and that failure we can measure not just in figures, but in people’s purses and wallets, which are empty. People have referred to food banks. Food banks are a growth industry, and that is shameful. My good friend and colleague, my hon. Friend the Member for Lancaster and Fleetwood (Cat Smith), who is no longer in her place, spoke about that. Our mission in this place should be to ensure that we do not see food banks and that people, particularly those on the Government side, do not use them as a photo opportunity, standing in front of them with a great big smile on their face. It is shameful.

Was it a Budget that increased people’s wages? I think there was only one passing reference to people’s wages. As Members have pointed out, the figures are there to see. The OBR says that wages are expected to fall by 5.7% over the next two years—the largest fall since records began. Is that something to be proud of? Absolutely not, and it is a fact. It is not me, a Labour politician, saying that; it is the OBR, set up by the very Government we face today. It is simply not good enough.

What about public services in the Chancellor’s Budget? Did it re-resource our local authorities to fill the potholes? Absolutely not. More importantly, what about adult social care and children’s social care? Did it talk about the most vulnerable in our society? Absolutely not. There was hardly a word in that regard. From our postbags, Members from all parts of the House are aware of the people who cannot get operations, including elective surgery and serious operations for cancer. More than 7 million are now waiting. Did the Budget deal with that? Absolutely not—it is a resounding no, yet again.

In conclusion, I look forward to the day when the people get an opportunity to deliver hope and to look forward to something better, and when the next generation can get higher wages and better opportunities. The only way that will happen is if this Government step aside, sooner rather than later, face the wonderful electorate, and we get rid of every last one of them.