Valedictory Debate

Debate between Nickie Aiken and Nigel Evans

Friday 24th May 2024 Commons Chamber

[Nickie Aiken (Cities of London and Westminster) (Con)]

I rise to speak for the last time in this place. I am the 505th woman to take her seat in Parliament, but the first to represent the Cities of London and Westminster. The seat was established in 1298, so it took us a while, but we got there eventually. I am proud that I was given the freedom of the City last year.

Following on from what so many colleagues have said, it has been such a privilege to represent what I consider to be the capital of the capital. It is the home of Parliament, the monarch, the legal profession, the City of London and the amazing west end. The Cities of London and Westminster is the most amazing constituency to represent, and it has so many iconic sites, but the most important parts of my constituency are the people and the neighbourhoods: Soho, Marylebone, Pimlico, Fitzrovia, Covent Garden, Belgravia, Knightsbridge and the City—I could go on.

There are amazing people, residents associations and amenity societies in every part of the constituency, and I thank every single one of them for supporting me. I have been very proud to receive quite a lot of emails and letters since I announced that I am stepping down, with many saying, “I have never voted Conservative, but I voted for you.” I thank them all.

It has been a short time. I did not expect it to be one term, as I hoped that I might scrape a second. I started on the greasy pole, the ministerial ladder, during those four and a half years. I was appointed as a PPS in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government quite early on, but I found that it was not for me. [Interruption.] The Whips probably realised, too. Being on the payroll, I could not say anything. As colleagues know well, I do not like to be quiet, so I asked the then Chief Whip whether I could step down, and he said, “Okay.”

I have since been able to campaign, which is what I love. I am delighted that, in my one and only term, we have secured short-term lets registration. One of my proudest moments is securing an amendment to the Domestic Abuse Bill so that children are now recognised as victims if they live in a household in which domestic violence or domestic abuse exists.

I am sure the now Lord Chancellor will never forget the conversation we had when I was a very new, green MP and did not realise that, as a Government Back Bencher, I should not really table amendments. He said that he would not take through the amendment, and we had what I would call robust conversations, but he came around to my point of view eventually.

I have also campaigned to repeal the Vagrancy Act 1824, which makes it illegal to sleep rough. I am very sad that the Criminal Justice Bill will not go through wash-up, and that the Vagrancy Act will therefore remain on the statute book. I plead with whoever leads the next Government, and I hope it is a Conservative Government, to repeal the Vagrancy Act.

I am also proud of the new-born baby screening, which was the subject of one of the first ministerial meetings I ever had. The heel prick used to test for only nine diseases in new-born babies, the lowest number in the western world. By working with the then Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, my right hon. Friend the Member for West Suffolk (Matt Hancock), we changed that, and babies are now tested for hundreds of diseases.

There is also the fertility workplace pledge, on which I had a private Member’s Bill—we all know what happens to some of those. I therefore set up the voluntary fertility workplace pledge, working alongside brilliant organisations including Fertility Matters at Work, Fertility Network UK and others. Companies across the country, big and small, are now signing up for workplace fertility policies.

I recently had the idea of a British Jewish history month, and I hope very much that the next Government will see it through. I have given this task to my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (David Simmonds), and I know that he will see it through, because he knows what will happen if he does not. However, of all my campaigns, if there is one that may be particularly well known, it is the one on pedicabs. I have to thank all my hon. Friends for their support. They were quite surprised to find a reference to pedicabs in the King’s Speech—and so, to be honest, was I—but believe me, it has been my life’s work to secure a pedicab licensing scheme for London. It took two private Members’ Bills and a Transport Bill that was never concluded, and then there was the King’s Speech.

I have to put on record my thanks—some will be quite surprised by this—to the former Member of Parliament for Uxbridge and South Ruislip. During a conversation with me, he asked, “What is happening to pedicabs regulation?” I said, “Well, you may want to have a conversation with my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch.” I cannot tell the House exactly how he responded, but he did make it clear that there were no pedicabs in Christchurch. I said, “I know that.” A couple of weeks later, however, I received a text from the then Prime Minister, saying, “Where are we with pedicabs?” I replied, “We are still not getting it through.” His response was “Leave it with me.” This was at seven o’clock on a Saturday morning. By four o’clock that afternoon, the then Transport Secretary was ringing me up to say, “We are going to put pedicabs in the Transport Bill.” Obviously that did happen, but then my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Rishi Sunak) became Prime Minister, and I will always be grateful to him and his team for putting pedicab regulation into the King’s Speech. I was absolutely delighted when that happened, and it will make such a difference in central London—to tourists, to the safety of women and girls, and to the amenity of local residents.

There have to be some thank yous before I leave this place. Obviously I must thank my amazing office staff, who are here today: Louise Parry, Ben Sewell, Lucy Scoffin, James Lloyd and Harry McKay. I could not have achieved anything like what I have achieved without them. Apparently there have been 32,000 pieces of casework—not that I have done much of that. [Laughter.] You all know that you do not do your casework! I must also thank my amazing Conservative association team, including Reece and Paula, and my long-suffering agent James Cockram. I also thank my dear and close friends outside this place, because friends are so important. Kate and Andrew McCarthy, Clare Hambro, Christabel Flight, Daniel Astaire, Sally Vernon-Evans, Josie Lyon and Julie Molloy have kept me sane.

I must of course thank my amazing parliamentary friends as well, including the “Trophic Women”; I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for South Ribble (Katherine Fletcher) for pointing out that they were not “Trophy Women”, as I had thought. I shall not be able to name all my parliamentary colleagues, but I thank my hon. Friends the Members for Brecon and Radnorshire (Fay Jones), for Eastleigh (Paul Holmes), for Rutland and Melton (Alicia Kearns) and for Aylesbury (Rob Butler), my right hon. Friends the Members for Staffordshire Moorlands (Dame Karen Bradley) and for Romsey and Southampton North (Caroline Nokes), my hon. Friend the Member for North Dorset (Simon Hoare), my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for South Swindon (Sir Robert Buckland), my right hon. Friends the Members for North West Hampshire (Kit Malthouse) and for Elmet and Rothwell (Sir Alec Shelbrooke), and my hon. Friend the Member for Redcar (Jacob Young)—whom I must thank for pointing out to me once on my birthday that I was old enough to be his mother, and that he would be my firstborn.

I must also thank my friends across the aisle. As we have heard, it is so important in this place to have friends from across the aisle, and I will always be grateful to the hon. Member for Vauxhall (Florence Eshalomi), who has been an amazing constituency neighbour. We did so much together, particularly last year in marking the fifth anniversary of the Westminster Bridge terrorist attack. I thank the hon. Member for Cardiff West (Kevin Brennan); many Members have been surprised to hear me refer to him as “Sir”, but that is because he was my teacher at school. The last of the many Opposition Members I have to thank is the hon. Member for Westminster North (Ms Buck). She and I have campaigned together on many issues in Westminster over the years. I know she is stepping down, and she will be greatly missed.

I have to thank, and perhaps blame, my right hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon), who is no longer in his place, for getting me into the Conservative party when I was 19, which was a long time ago. I will always be grateful to him.

I thank all the staff, including the Doorkeepers, those who work in the Tea Room and everybody else. I will always miss having our sweepstakes with the Doorkeepers outside on what time we are going to finish.

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. We have known each other far too long—30 years, I think. I also thank Mr Speaker, who has given me amazing support over the years—first, when I was leader of Westminster City Council, and then in this place.

I have to thank my family, including my husband Alex. It is his fault I am leaving, I am afraid. He is now living the dream in Abu Dhabi and working very hard. I thank my son Harry, who is doing his English A-level today and who would be here otherwise. I was seven months pregnant with him when I was first elected, so he has known nothing but me being an elected politician. I thank my gorgeous daughter Georgia, who is the reason why I am here. When she was born in 2004, I was determined to show her that women can achieve in public life—so it is all her fault, really.

That is how I want to end. I want to say to any girl or mum of a girl watching this that they have every right to stand for public office. No matter what their background, where they are going or where they have been, they must consider standing for public office. We have got to hear more women’s voices in this place and across all political spheres. We are 51% of the population, and we give birth to the other 49%. We need to be heard. If this girl from Cardiff, who had a comprehensive education, can become leader of Westminster City Council and then the first woman MP for Cities of London and Westminster, you can too.

[Mr Deputy Speaker]

Diolch yn fawr, Nickie. Thank you for reminding us that if it was not for our staff, we would have to do the work ourselves. I look forward to seeing you and Alex in the UAE sometime soon.

Pedicabs (London) Bill [Lords]

Debate between Nickie Aiken and Nigel Evans

Committee of the whole House
Tuesday 26th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

We are all going to miss you, Nickie—although obviously I will be going out to Dubai to stay for a few weeks.

[Nickie Aiken]

I will have a room ready for you.

[Mr Deputy Speaker]

Here we go!

Question put and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read the Third time and passed, with an amendment.

Proposed British Jewish History Month

Debate between Nickie Aiken and Nigel Evans

Thursday 11th January 2024 Commons Chamber

[Nickie Aiken]

It was a pleasure to allow that intervention.

It is absolutely right that we continue to educate ourselves and future generations on antisemitism and the holocaust, and we will be marking the holocaust later this month, but it is equally important—or perhaps more important—that we highlight and celebrate the achievements and contributions of the Jewish community. The Jewish story in Britain is a positive and a negative one. It is a history of human suffering, of human perseverance and of human strength. Now more than ever, it is important that British Jews know that their incredible contribution to this country is valued and that the history of antisemitism is understood.

I take this opportunity to thank the very special rabbi in my constituency, Rabbi Daniel Epstein of Western Marble Arch Synagogue; I am sure he is not impressed by my Hebrew in this debate, but he provided me with the text from the Torah that I repeated in my speech. The Jewish community in the Cities of London and Westminster and across the nation is very important to me and has been very supportive of me, and has led me to believe that it is now more important than ever that we have a British Jewish history month.

I look forward to working with this Government, who I believe are very positive towards the suggestion, and with Jewish community to make the proposal a reality. We must celebrate the British Jewish community and we must have a British Jewish history month.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

I have been an MP for 31 years, and it was not until one of my researchers asked for time off because there was a Jewish holiday, and then the other one asked for time off for the Jewish holiday, and then the third one came to ask, that I appreciated that all my members of staff were Jewish. I am incredibly grateful for the contribution that they have made to my office personally. Yet again, this debate demonstrates how good the House is when it comes together.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House calls for the creation of a British Jewish History Month.

Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill

Debate between Nickie Aiken and Nigel Evans

Report stage
Tuesday 13th December 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Happy wedding anniversary, Nickie Aiken!

[Nickie Aiken (Cities of London and Westminster) (Con)]

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker.

I want to speak in favour of Government new clause 119, to which I am delighted to add my name. The campaign for a register for short-term Airbnb-style properties has been long in the making. Before I came to this place, when I was a member of Philippa Roe’s cabinet on Westminster Council, we successfully lobbied the Government of the time—the coalition Government—to secure a 90-day limit for lettings in London under the Deregulation Act 2015. Mr Deputy Speaker, I hope you will allow me to pay tribute to Philippa Roe, Baroness Couttie, who lost her battle against cancer yesterday. I pay tribute to the brilliant work she did as a councillor.

It should therefore come as no surprise that I welcome the substance of the Government’s new clause 119, which would require the Secretary of State to make provision for a registration scheme for short-term rental properties. Legislating for such a scheme, let alone understanding the scale of the problem across the country, has been hampered over the past decade by a distinct lack of evidence and data. With this in mind, I would like to stress the importance of subsection 3 of new clause 119, which will mean that the Secretary of State

“must consult the public before making the first regulations under this section.”

This is absolutely the right approach, in my opinion. Consultation will be fundamental, and we need time to review the data and make sure that we are doing this right.

I have a certain amount of sympathy with the hon. Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell). There are strong commonalities between the Government’s new clause 119 and new clause 107, and I know, having run a local authority, that we must allow councils the freedom to do what is best for their own area. Believe me, a one-size-fits-all approach will not work. To avoid over-legislating, it will be essential that we get this right before applying the standardised registration scheme to the to-do list of local authorities, primarily because not all local authorities need a registration scheme; for those where a scheme is necessary, it must differ according to regional trends in short-term letting. Westminster will be different from York, and requirements in York will be different from those in Cumbria and coastal communities.

I take this opportunity to thank the Minister, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for South East Cambridgeshire (Lucy Frazer), who has really listened and got this argument. I do ask, though, that we look at announcing a timescale for the first regulations to be brought forward, to allow local authorities to start planning now for the registration if it is coming later this year. I am delighted that the Department has accepted our arguments and has brought in new clause 119.

COP27

Debate between Nickie Aiken and Nigel Evans

Wednesday 9th November 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

I am trying to get everybody in. I ask Members to start with a question, and then stop. [Laughter.]

[Nickie Aiken (Cities of London and Westminster) (Con)]

I thank the Prime Minister for his statement on COP27 and in particular for highlighting his discussions on migration with other European leaders. Does he agree with me that if we are to sort out the migration crisis, we must all work together to help developing countries with their climate change challenges, so that we can also deal with the migration crisis?

Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Bill

Debate between Nickie Aiken and Nigel Evans

3rd reading
Friday 21st January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Nickie Aiken]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising the issue of insurance. She may be shocked and possibly appalled to learn that, as it stands, pedicabs in London have no licensing regime. Therefore, there is no onus on them to have any insurance. Currently, passengers getting into a pedicab have no understanding of the risk they are putting themselves at. There is no legislation that calls on pedicabs in London to have any insurance, and drivers are not checked. Operations conducted in recent weeks by Westminster City Council and the Metropolitan police found drivers who are wanted for sexual offences. Their vehicles have no form of MOT—there is no onus on the driver to have an MOT or any checks on their vehicle. That is why I have been campaigning, since I arrived in this place, to ensure we have a proper licensing regime that mirrors what my hon. Friend the Member for Darlington is trying to do with his Bill.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Can I just stop the hon. Lady there momentarily and suggest that we go back to this Bill? I know and appreciate that the hon. Lady has a separate Bill, which may or may not have a Second Reading this afternoon, but we must focus on this Bill. I have given a little bit of generous leeway, but I think we should get back to the Bill.

[Nickie Aiken]

I appreciate and understand your comments, Mr Deputy Speaker. You will understand my passion to ensure that everybody who gets a pedicab in London is safe, but I will move on.

I pay tribute to the outstanding taxi drivers and private hire vehicle drivers we have in this country. As Members have pointed out, it is clear that they have paid a huge price during the pandemic. One only has to go on to the streets of my constituency to see that the office workers and international travellers have disappeared. I talk to taxi drivers all the time and I know they are desperate for us to get back to normal after the pandemic. I hope the Bill my hon. Friend the Member for Darlington is bringing forward today will give those who work day in, day out to provide a service the comfort that we support their efforts.

Let us not forget that private hire vehicle and taxi drivers provide us with a service, including in taking us to hospital. Many vulnerable citizens going to hospital may not want to get a bus. They may prefer to get a taxi. I have a taxi driver in my own family. I am very proud that my cousin-in-law in Cardiff, Alex, is a black cab driver. He does a brilliant job. I know from first hand the work he does. He supports children with learning difficulties by getting them to school every day of the week. I thank him and drivers like him who are doing that public service, taking our vulnerable patients to hospital and our vulnerable children and young people to school. Quite often, that type of work is forgotten. We think that taxi drivers and private hire vehicle drivers are just those who take us out on a night out or perhaps take us home after we have had a good night out.

In conclusion, I thank my hon. Friend for bringing forward this brilliant Bill. It will make us safer, it will make our drivers safer and it will ensure that our outstanding licensing authorities across the nation, and in particular across England and Wales, provide the extra level of security we all deserve when we get into a private hire vehicle.

Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Support Measures

Debate between Nickie Aiken and Nigel Evans

Thursday 8th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Nickie Aiken (Cities of London and Westminster) (Con)]

I ask you to keep this to yourself, Mr Deputy Speaker. I have always had—do not tell Andrew Lloyd Webber—a burning ambition to sing “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” from “Evita” on the London Palladium stage. That is because I have always had a love of the arts and the theatre. It is embedded in me. One of my earliest memories is of going to see a pantomime at the New Theatre in Cardiff with my nan. It is a shame that the hon. Member for Cardiff West (Kevin Brennan) is no longer here—I am glad that he brought the debate to the Chamber with my hon. Friend the Member for Solihull (Julian Knight)—because he will no doubt remember my outstanding stage management of Radyr Comprehensive’s production of “The King and I”. I am therefore so proud of the west end in my constituency of the Cities of London and Westminster. It is the heart of arts and culture in this nation.

I was very proud to lead my first ever Westminster Hall debate on Tuesday, in which a number of Members spoke about the importance of theatre, live music and cultural venues for local economies. Members from Glasgow, Cardiff, Liverpool, London, Clacton, Northamptonshire and the west country spoke passionately about the arts and culture sectors in their constituencies and their place at the heart of local economies. I have learned, particularly during this dreadful crisis, that theatre and culture play an intrinsic part in the ecosystem of the west end. With the theatres and our marvellous cultural venues closed, such as the Royal Albert Hall, the Coliseum and the Royal Opera House, the heart of the west end has died at the moment. We must get these theatres back.

I pay tribute to the DCMS ministerial team, who have been outstanding during this crisis and led the way. There has been a £1.5 billion support package, which I welcome, and other brilliant support schemes such as the furlough and the VAT cut. I ask Ministers to consider continuing some of those schemes, particularly the VAT cut, and to look at business rates. We need reform in this country. I ask Ministers to extend the rates holiday and—particularly in my constituency, where rateable values are so high—to look at extending the threshold from £51,000 to £150,000. It is a lot of money, but that would make a huge difference to not only the arts and cultural sectors but retail and many other businesses across central London.

We know that this virus is not going away, and I understand that theatres and other venues must stay closed for safety reasons, but the industry needs a date for stage 5, when they can open. I ask the Minister to work with the industry to ensure that we can allow these venues to open as soon as possible. We all know about the importance to local economies, but more importantly, theatre, arts and culture are the soul of our nation, and they are so important for our mental health and wellbeing.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

If there are other Members on the call list who are in their offices but intend to speak in the debate and have not withdrawn officially, it would be useful if they appeared around the Chamber in the next 10 minutes or so, in order that we can help with timings. I call Bambos Charalambous.