Business of the House

Mike Kane Excerpts

Thursday 23rd November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

The hon. Lady will know that we have provided additional funding for social care. We have also been supporting both the care sector and the NHS to work more efficiently and effectively together. I will ensure that the Secretary of State has heard her concerns today, and she will know how to raise them with her directly.

[Mike Kane (Wythenshawe and Sale East) (Lab)]

My constituent Jess McNichols, who is receiving treatment for cancer at the Christie Hospital in Manchester, missed an important medical appointment due to the general disruption of Royal Mail services. Her letter arrived late. Could the Leader of the House counsel me on how best to raise this case further in this place?

[Penny Mordaunt]

This is becoming a consistent theme for hon. Members on both sides of the House. Services are not meeting Royal Mail’s performance targets and he has just illustrated that that can often have a pretty devastating impact, with missed appointments and knock-on effects for inefficiencies in other public services. I have ensured that the relevant Department is aware of hon. Members’ concerns. I urge all hon. Members to do their bit, particularly on the issue of industrial action, to ensure that there is no further disruption to mail services.

Business of the House

Mike Kane Excerpts

Thursday 15th December 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mike Kane (Wythenshawe and Sale East) (Lab)]

May I press the Leader of the House on her answer to the hon. Member for Rugby (Mark Pawsey) and ask for a statement from the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on when he is actually going to level up? The round 2 levelling-up bids were submitted in early autumn, and we still do not have a date for when the announcements will be made. Two superb bids for Wythenshawe and Sale town centres, which will bring in cultural and business activity and unlock thousands of homes and hundreds of millions of pounds in investment, have been submitted by Manchester City Council and Trafford Borough Council. Can we have that statement, please?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I wish the hon. Gentleman good luck with his bids, which sound very exciting. I remind him that the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities will be the first to face questions when the House returns after the Christmas recess. I hope he is in attendance.

Sir David Amess Summer Adjournment

Mike Kane Excerpts

Thursday 21st July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Sara Britcliffe (Hyndburn) (Con)]

It is an honour to follow my hon. Friend the new Member for Southend West (Anna Firth) and a true honour to speak in this debate dedicated to our wonderful late colleague, Sir David. When I entered Parliament he showed me so much love and affection because I became the next Conservative MP for Hyndburn after his best friend, and godfather to two of his beloved children, the late Ken Hargreaves.

Before I talk about Hyndburn, I would like to read a quick excerpt from David’s eulogy to Ken that describes the cheeky relationship they shared. It is about a joke that David played on Ken. He said:

“I had thought that we had the same views on pornography, thinking there should be less of it, but one evening I observed Ken dashing into a lobby to vote. The lobby was fairly empty and when he came through he asked me what he had voted for not knowing himself. ‘More pornography’ I replied. ‘Oh eck’ said he.”

What shines through in his eulogy is a clear understanding of how they became such great friends. Every word that he attributed to Ken could be attributed to Sir David. He concluded as follows:

“Ken was undoubtedly an inspirational character, a man of the highest integrity and generous to a fault. The nearest thing to a saint that I have ever met and he was certainly a political saint if we excuse his voting record on pornography! So I share with everyone in this Church the pain and grief of our loss, but this is a celebration of a very great life and let us be cheered in the certain knowledge that if anyone deserved to go to heaven Ken did and that is where he is now.”

[Mike Kane (Wythenshawe and Sale East) (Lab)]

Will the hon. Member join me in thanking the Government for dealing with the issue of extreme unction when it came to Sir David and setting up a commission to look at third-party access to crime scenes? They did that and it is now part of the guidance issued for all police forces throughout the country. I am grateful to the Government for that.

[Sara Britcliffe]

I share the hon. Gentleman’s gratitude for that. That the Government acted quite swiftly on the issue was key and put us all at ease after such a tragic incident.

Now on to Hyndburn and Haslingden, my fantastic home. We have some really exciting projects coming forward in Hyndburn and Haslingden. We are putting forward our £20 million levelling-up fund bid, which could bring back the life that Accrington town centre needs and that everybody knew and loved. That is something we are putting forward.

Lancashire County Council is putting forward a £50 million bid, and much of that money will be spent on Hyndburn to improve transport and our local roads, and to create the community hubs that we need. The shared prosperity fund will help to support businesses across Hyndburn and Haslingden, and promote our culture and heritage, which is desperately needed. We have some beautiful architecture: it just needs a little bit of tummy loving care. We also need to make sure that some of the shared prosperity fund is spent on Haslingden market hall, which I have pushed for. We have received funding for Clayton community hub, which is now the heart of the boxing club.

Lancashire is now home to the national cyber security centre, which is a £5 billion project bringing more than 3,000 jobs to the heart of Lancashire, and we now need to make sure that young people get the skills they need to feed into those jobs. We are looking at access for all at our local railway station. Work is already going ahead at Accrington, which is key, but we are now looking at Church and Oswaldtwistle, and Rishton. We need more frequent rail services to Manchester from Accrington, and I am working on that.

Accrington and Rossendale College became an institute of technology and received funding from the Department for Education, and received a grade of outstanding from Ofsted this year, which is a credit to Amanda Melton. She has just retired from teaching, but she was really keen in that.

We need funding for transport infrastructure, more frequent rail services and measures to improve pollution and congestion on our local roads. We also need to tackle speed, which is a key issue for local residents, and I am working with our fantastic police and crime commissioner, Andrew Snowden, to achieve that. We also need to look at our parks and green spaces and see investment in Victoria park in Haslingden. Hyndburn Council has just bought 88 acres of land in Oswaldtwistle to create a country park, which will be a fantastic asset. We have also created a BMX track—

Business of the House

Mike Kane Excerpts

Thursday 17th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mark Spencer]

I would like to join my hon. Friend in wishing the Hindu community across the UK a happy Holi, including those in his constituency. It is a joyful occasion. I have not participated in it myself, but splashing colours around looks like great fun, if nothing else. I think it is something I would quite enjoy.

[Mike Kane (Wythenshawe and Sale East) (Lab)]

Residents of Lantern Court and Compass Point in my constituency are stuck in limbo with unaffordable insurance premiums and eyewatering repair bills while they are unable to sell their apartments. Can the Leader of the House confirm when the Building Safety Bill will come before us?

Business of the House

Mike Kane Excerpts

Thursday 14th June 2018 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

I totally sympathise with my hon. Friend, and it is a huge shame to see shops standing empty on our high streets. Owners of empty shops normally pay rates when those shops have been vacant for three months, which provides a clear incentive for owners to bring those shops back into use quickly. However, in recognition of the particular challenges faced by owners of listed buildings, currently no rates are payable on empty listed buildings. I strongly encourage my hon. Friend to raise this important issue directly during questions to Housing, Communities and Local Government Ministers on Monday.

[Mike Kane (Wythenshawe and Sale East) (Lab)]

As the home of Manchester airport, my constituency is one of the most visited in the north of England. However, many of my constituents suffer the menace of unlicensed airport parking operators who use the streets outside their homes. Will the Government provide a statement on the measures they are taking to tackle rogue meet-and-greet airport parking companies?

[Andrea Leadsom]

That genuinely sounds like an appalling issue, although I was not aware of it previously. I can well imagine that if someone hands over their car in good faith while they go on holiday, and they get it back vandalised or damaged in some way, or illegally parked, that is pretty horrible. I encourage the hon. Gentleman to seek an Adjournment debate so that he can take the issue up with Ministers and see what more can be done.

EU Referendum (Privy Council)

Mike Kane Excerpts

Monday 14th March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

If I understand it correctly, Buckingham Palace is complaining about the story in the newspaper, and the proper body to investigate a complaint of that kind is the Independent Press Standards Organisation.

[Mike Kane (Wythenshawe and Sale East) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister has described the situation as “very serious”. Does the Leader of the House agree with him that it is very serious if a member of the Privy Council has breached confidential codes and been the source for The Sun story? If he does, why is he not launching his own investigation?

[Chris Grayling]

If I understand it correctly, the serious issue is about the story in the newspaper, which is being investigated, but my predecessor, the former Lord President of the Council, has said that the story is categorically untrue.

Business of the House

Mike Kane Excerpts

Thursday 28th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

We have made changes in that area, but I take on board the hon. Gentleman’s comments and will speak with the Secretary of State for Defence about the matter.

[Mike Kane (Wythenshawe and Sale East) (Lab)]

Last Thursday I visited the camp at Calais as part of a cross-party delegation of UK parliamentarians and deputies from the Assemblée Nationale. It was the first such joint delegation to discuss the problems. Will the Leader of the House set out concrete proposals on how we can best improve the channels of communication between our Parliaments on this issue?

[Chris Grayling]

The French and UK Governments are in regular contact on this issue. I am absolutely in favour of continued dialogue, which we ought to encourage, because we will have to work very closely with the French on this problem. It is a very distressing and difficult problem, but I remain of the view that our focus should be on providing support to the very vulnerable who cannot find their way to mainland Europe, and who certainly do not have the ability to travel across mainland Europe in search of a place in the United Kingdom. We cannot accept everybody who wants to come here, so we need to focus our efforts on the most vulnerable in the camps in and around Syria.

Oral Answers to Questions

Mike Kane Excerpts

Thursday 9th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central) (Lab)]

1. What assessment he has made of the implications for the House of the proposals for the restoration and renewal of the Palace of Westminster.

[Mike Kane (Wythenshawe and Sale East) (Lab)]

9. What assessment he has made of the implications for the House of the proposals for the restoration and renewal of the Palace of Westminster.

[The Leader of the House of Commons (Chris Grayling)]

We intend to establish a Joint Committee of Parliament on the restoration and renewal of the Palace of Westminster. I expect this to be established before the summer recess. The Committee, which will be co-chaired by the Leaders of both Houses, will consider the independent options appraisal report, which was laid before both Houses on 18 June, as well as related evidence. It will then make recommendations to both Houses on a way forward, taking account of costs, benefits, risks and potential timescales.

--- Later in debate ---

[Chris Grayling]

I hear Wallasey from the Opposition Front Bench. I suspect there are 650 different views on where Parliament might be temporarily located. I am sure the Committee will note the fact that those views exist.

[Mike Kane]

Can the Leader of the House be more specific about when he will bring the Deloitte report back to this place for a full discussion? Although I enjoy a relationship of solidarity, reciprocity and mutuality with my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield Central (Paul Blomfield), may I put in my bid for Manchester, please?

[Chris Grayling]

As I said, I think we will get many more such representations. Seriously, this is something that has to be agreed by everyone: we need the agreement of this House and of the other place. We need to have a sensible plan that represents value for the taxpayer, as well as recognising that this is a historical part of our nation and the centre of our democracy. We will endeavour to make sure we deliver a sensible recommendation in a timely way that gives this House a way forward.

Business of the House

Mike Kane Excerpts

Thursday 26th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

My hon. Friend will be familiar with the plans that the Prime Minister has set out—the Conservative party’s plans for after the general election, to negotiate a better relationship with the EU and a reformed European Union in which it will be possible for this country to take actions that we cannot take now, particularly on welfare payments and other issues relating to immigration. This is, of course, a very important issue, which my hon. Friend has raised regularly. Part of what we are seeing at present is the impact of this country’s having a dramatically stronger economy than the rest of Europe, which is producing more migration into the UK. In that sense it is a problem of success, but it remains an important issue. Although the shadow Leader of the House raised it in earlier questions, she omitted to mention the completely open-door policy of the Labour Government, during which millions of people migrated to the United Kingdom, and we are certainly not going back to those days.

[Mike Kane (Wythenshawe and Sale East) (Lab)]

Last week I met Sam, Charlotte, Sarah and Sara, constituents of mine, who gave me their personal testimonies about the physical, emotional and sexual violence that they had suffered, perpetrated by their ex-partners. I am sure the Leader of the House will commend their bravery in coming forward to talk to their MP about that. They are also campaigning for safe spots with businesses and public agencies in Wythenshawe town centre, where people may go in future for advice and support. My parliamentary office has signed up to be one such safe spot. Is it time that the House authorities considered creating a safe spot here on the parliamentary estate?

[Mr Hague]

That is an interesting idea. I salute the courage of the individuals whom the hon. Gentleman met. I have had many distressing conversations internationally with victims of sexual violence—he will be aware of my campaign on that—and I am very much aware of the courage that it takes to speak out and to speak to other people about such experiences. We will have to consider with other authorities in the House whether it is possible to do what he has just proposed, but we should give consideration to that.

Business of the House

Mike Kane Excerpts

Thursday 8th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

My right hon. Friend has been assiduous in ensuring that the Bill was brought forward in a timely way. He asked a few weeks ago for all of its stages to be dealt with in one day and that is what we will be able to do, subject to the agreement of the allocation of time motion on 19 January. Of course, it is very much the intention that it will be possible for the Bill to receive Royal Assent before the dissolution of Parliament. We would not have introduced it with any other expectation. I am pleased that we have been able to introduce it speedily and I hope that we will be able to consider it speedily, and that they will be to do so in the other place as well.

[Mike Kane (Wythenshawe and Sale East) (Lab)]

Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating the Whitefoot and Downham community group here in London on winning the Paul Goggins memorial prize, which was established by the all-party parliamentary group on poverty and the Webb Memorial Trust? As it was the anniversary of Paul’s death yesterday, will he also extend the sympathy of the House to Paul’s family during this very difficult period?

[Mr Hague]

Yes. What the hon. Gentleman has said will have wide support and will have raised strong feelings across the House and I congratulate the group that won that award. In all parties we have fond memories of the work of Paul Goggins and we remember him again today.