Easter Adjournment

Mike Wood Excerpts

Tuesday 8th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mike Wood (Kingswinford and South Staffordshire) (Con)]

It is an honour to respond to this debate on behalf of His Majesty’s official Opposition. Having spent just over a year and a half in the Government Whips Office before the election, during which time the longest speech I was able to make in this Chamber was probably to move that this House do now adjourn, today is a chance to catch up on lost time.

Several Members have paid kind tributes to our late and much-missed former colleague Sir David Amess, who of course always lit up these occasions with his wit, charm and good humour. As I say, he is hugely missed, and our thoughts continue to be with his family. In his absence, my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman), the Chairman of the Backbench Business Committee, did a good job of opening the debate and running through a number of the issues that are dear to his constituents. He has furthered his reputation as a champion—a doughty champion, of course; if I do not add the “doughty”, it will not make the Google search—of local transport connections and step-free access at stations. Of course, he can always be relied on to give us a lift. My hon. Friend mentioned his experience at the Glebe school, where he was covered in powder. Having caught a little bit of the highlights of the new series of “Celebrity Big Brother”, I do not know whether they are currently making their services available to our former colleague from Lichfield.

My hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East also alluded to his love of Tottenham Hotspur football club, although it was not clear whether that was a declaration of an interest, a confession or a plea in mitigation. In any event, what were the chances that he would be followed immediately by the hon. Member for Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor (Alan Strickland), whose local team actually has won silverware—not just this century, but this season? The hon. Member spoke about the value of grassroots sports clubs to their communities, a view that I think is shared across the Chamber. He also spoke about his dedication to public duty in sampling local beer. Having been on the armed forces parliamentary scheme with him and visited a number of military bases, I know that that is a public duty that he takes most seriously, and not just when in his constituency.

My hon. Friend the Member for Reigate (Rebecca Paul) spoke about the wonderful Safer Redhill initiative—a fantastic initiative from an excellent police and crime commissioner working together with the local charity sector and local organisations. The hon. Member for Brent East (Dawn Butler) spoke about the negative impact that gambling establishments can have on town centres, which Members from all parts of the House will be able to identify with.

The hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole (Vikki Slade) told us that Dorset was burning, particularly at Upton heath. Whether it is through carelessness or arson, these fires cause enormous damage, as well as impacting on public services. I am a little more wary than she is about reaching for a ban, but clearly people need to be accountable for their actions. The hon. Member for Stockport (Navendu Mishra) spoke about bank branch closures and fair funding for schools. As a newly Staffordshire Member of Parliament since the boundary changes, I know that a lot of my schools in South Staffordshire will be sympathetic with that issue.

The hon. Member for Carlisle (Ms Minns) spoke about yarn bombing, which is a fantastic phenomenon that we see in so many of our villages. It is not quite in my constituency, but I saw a knitted post box topper of George the station cat just outside Stourbridge Junction station as I was coming through at the weekend. The hon. Member for Ynys Môn (Llinos Medi) is continuing the excellent work done by her predecessor to fight for the Wylfa nuclear power station. As she says, it should be a no-brainer, and it has to be a core part of our clean energy mix going forward. The hon. Member for Cannock Chase (Josh Newbury) spoke about mineworkers’ pensions, which are obviously an issue of concern for many in traditional mining areas such as Staffordshire.

An issue that probably goes even more widely across the country is NHS dental treatment, which the hon. Members for Taunton and Wellington (Gideon Amos) and for Honiton and Sidmouth (Richard Foord) raised. As they said, with Easter coming up, things might be getting slightly worse, but routine and urgent dental care can be too hard to access in many parts of the country. This time last year, the previous Government announced a plan to try to do something about that, with £200 million of funding for 2.5 million more NHS dentist appointments, new patient payments and one-off payments to tackle dental blackspots. We need the Government to continue that work and to step up and make sure that all our constituents can receive the care they need.

The hon. Member for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme (Lee Pitcher) spoke about community sports clubs, but also the local heroes we are all so proud of in our own constituencies. What is the best part of being a Member of Parliament? I think it is the chance to meet some of these people whose work often goes unacknowledged and to make sure that they get, if not the recognition they deserve, at least an element of recognition.

My hon. Friend the Member for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Moore) made a fantastic contribution about the work done by local dance schools, which is important. For a lot of young people growing up, access to dance schools is not just for people who are joining the Royal Ballet. For boys and girls in every constituency, it helps with physical development as well as developing social skills. He also spoke of his own sports clubs, Silsden AFC and Keighley Albion rugby league football club.

The hon. Member for High Peak (Jon Pearce) spoke passionately about the advantages of smaller, more localised unitary authorities over county-wide super councils. I hope the Government show the flexibility to move below their 500,000 threshold where appropriate. My hon. Friend the Member for Brigg and Immingham (Martin Vickers) spoke about the social as well as the economic impact when an area loses its core industry. We hope that the Government will show flexibility on net zero to support the workers of Scunthorpe.

I would like to refer to every speech, Madam Deputy Speaker, but sadly I do not have time to do so. Let me end by wishing you, and Members of the House and the House staff, a very blessed, happy and peaceful Easter recess.