Tributes to Her Late Majesty the Queen

Nigel Huddleston Excerpts

Saturday 10th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

I rise humbly and with great sadness to pay tribute to Her Majesty the Queen on behalf of my family, my constituents and the people of Worcestershire. The late Queen was an inspiration and an example to us all. She taught us the true meaning of duty, and she reigned and worked for so long and so hard.

More than 85% of the population of this country have never known anybody but the Queen as monarch, and nearly one third of the population say they have met or seen her. Many of my constituents have told me about their own interactions, whether it be the Queen putting them at ease when they received an honour at the Palace, chatting to her at an event in the constituency or just seeing her from afar at a sporting event. Of course, we all knew her special love for racing.

Millions more never saw the Queen but nevertheless felt there was an intimate relationship because of the way she communicated. When she gave her Christmas broadcast, it felt like she was there with us in our own home. When she told us that we will meet again, it was as if she were sending that message to us all individually and personally. Of course she remains, and will remain for some time, on 29 billion coins and 4.5 billion banknotes. We will be seeing the Queen and thinking of her for a long time to come.

I first saw the Queen when I was at university and her impending visit led to a considerable refurbishment of the student common room, for which we were very grateful, but I fear it may have added to the legend that wherever the monarch goes smells of fresh paint.

The last time I saw Her Majesty was at the launch of the Queen’s baton relay last October outside Buckingham Palace, where she placed her message to the Commonwealth, to be read out at the opening ceremony, into the baton and handed it to Kadeena Cox, the athlete. The baton then started its journey around the 72 nations and territories of the Commonwealth, visiting many of the constituencies represented by Members in this Chamber. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people turned out to cheer on the baton bearers and the baton but, of course, it was the Queen’s baton—we were also cheering on Her Majesty. I am so pleased that we were all able to show our love and affection for her, and that she saw it during the jubilee celebrations this year.

The Queen was the epitome of duty, service, dignity and grace. Her constitutional powers were limited, but her global influence was immense. Because of the way she conducted herself and the way she wore the Crown, no matter what any of us here can do, it will be as nothing to what a call, an invitation or a visit from Her late Majesty could do.

All of us who saw King Charles’s speech last night will have also seen glimpses of his mother. He appeared well aware of the awesome responsibility ahead of him. He was regal yet relatable, expressing love and warmth that consoled us all. So we say goodbye to the Queen and the Elizabethan age, but we will never forget her. May she rest in peace. God save the King.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nigel Huddleston Excerpts

Wednesday 24th November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD)]

5. What steps she plans to take with the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to tackle Islamophobia in sport.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Nigel Huddleston)]

I am sure the whole House has been appalled by recent reports of racism in cricket, a sad reminder that racial discrimination still exists within sport. There can be no place for it. Sports bodies must take robust action to tackle this behaviour. The Government and our sports councils are committed to ensuring that sport is inclusive for everyone, and will be watching; where action does not go far enough, the Government are prepared to step in.

[Jamie Stone]

It seems to me that we have an opportunity here to tackle hate crimes by raising them to the status of aggravated offences. Clearly, training and resources would have to follow that decision, but, while we can all say the right things and be quite correct in what we say about absolutely opposing Islamophobia and antisemitism, unless we do something concrete, we may have this problem for a lot longer than we think.

[Nigel Huddleston]

I agree with the hon. Gentleman. He is right: we must ensure that laws are constantly updated and reviewed. That goes for the offline world, but also the online one; I am sure he will be aware of the work we are doing, with cross-party support, on online safety to tackle the important issues he raises.

[Kate Osamor (Edmonton) (Lab/Co-op)]

6. What steps she is taking to tackle the ethnicity pay gap; and if she will make a statement.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nigel Huddleston Excerpts

Wednesday 11th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Flick Drummond (Meon Valley) (Con)]

T2. On Sunday, I played netball for the first time since university at Clanfield sports and community centre with mothers and children. What is my hon. Friend doing to encourage more women and girls into sport?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Nigel Huddleston)]

We want to get more women and girls embracing sport and physical activity. Sport England’s “This Girl Can” campaign has already inspired 3.9 million women to get active. Sport England is encouraging more women to work in sport, including coaching and volunteering. We are hosting the Euro women’s football championship next year and the Commonwealth games in 2022, which will no doubt encourage even more women and girls to take up sport.

[Kate Osborne (Jarrow) (Lab)]

T6. TUC analysis shows that 70% of the 1.8 million workers who do not earn enough to qualify for statutory sick pay are women. Over a third are in insecure work or on zero-hours contracts, including many in my constituency. Will the Government agree to the TUC’s calls for the threshold to be removed as part of the emergency powers being brought forward?

Oral Answers to Questions

Nigel Huddleston Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd July 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We were all shocked when we saw the terrible act that, sadly, led to the death of Kelly Mary Fauvrelle. Of course, as the hon. Gentleman said, the baby inside her sadly died this morning. The question of knife crime is one I did refer to earlier. We are taking action in a number of ways. We will continue to work, and work with the Mayor of London, on the action that can be taken across London on this issue, but this is something that requires a multifaceted approach; it is about the whole of society. Yes, we look at giving police the right powers—we have done that—but we also need to look at how we can ensure that young people particularly do not feel the need to carry knives and that we deal with the criminal gangs and the drugs that are often behind these terrible acts of violence that take place.

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

Yet again this year, we can expect to welcome between 35 million and 40 million overseas visitors to our shores. Overall, tourism employs about 3 million people in the UK, including thousands in my constituency. Does that not underline the importance of a tourism sector deal?

[The Prime Minister]

We have, of course, been working with the tourism sector to look at what support can be given and how we can work with it to enhance not just the offer that it is able to make but the way in which it is able to ensure that people can come here and enjoy the benefits of not just my hon. Friend’s constituency but all our constituencies across the country. Tourism is an important sector for us, and we will continue to work with the tourism industry to ensure that we can enhance that sector, and enhance the benefits to this country and our economy of that sector, but also enhance the benefits to the many tourists who come here and see what a wonderful place the United Kingdom is.

European Council

Nigel Huddleston Excerpts

Monday 24th June 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady will have an opportunity to consider this matter in the debate on the motion on the recess dates that is coming before the House later today.

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

I welcome the Prime Minister’s comments about the positive reception at the European Council for Britain’s leadership on vital issues such as online harms, internet regulation and, of course, climate change. What mechanisms and institutions can be leveraged by the UK to continue to show this international leadership once we leave the European Union?

[The Prime Minister]

There are a number of mechanisms that we can use on the two specific issues my hon. Friend has raised—and on climate change, of course. Hopefully, if we are able to win the bid to host COP 26, that will be an important signal. We want to address this issue globally, not just with the European Union. On internet harms, the UK led the way in, for example, setting up the global forum against terrorist and extremist material on the internet. The UK will continue to play its role in encouraging our European partners, but others around the world as well, on those and other important issues.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nigel Huddleston Excerpts

Wednesday 12th June 2019 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I have committed myself to that cause in ways that previous Defence Secretaries have not by wearing a uniform myself. There has been considerable progress, and I refer the hon. Lady to some statistics that will be published tomorrow that are encouraging in that respect. We now have women on the boards of all three services, and I hope to make some further announcements shortly.

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

Will the Minister join me in welcoming the fact that the UK was recently announced as one of the best places in the world for female entrepreneurship under the Dell scorecard?

[Victoria Atkins]

I join my hon. Friend in welcoming the fact that this country is a great place for women, indeed everyone, to do business. This is one of the challenges facing us in our new future outside the European Union and, with women like us in our country, we have a very bright future indeed.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nigel Huddleston Excerpts

Wednesday 5th June 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Kevin Foster)]

The process was exactly the same as for previous European parliamentary elections and I urge the hon. Gentleman to look at the independent review that the Electoral Commission will do following the poll.

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

T2. What are the Government doing to encourage maximum participation in elections and, in particular, to encourage young people to register to vote?

[The Minister without Portfolio (Brandon Lewis)]

The Government are committed to ensuring that all citizens feel empowered to participate in democracy. In the Cabinet Office, we have delivered projects to promote and encourage participation among young people, including a scheme to recruit and train some 1,000 youth democracy ambassadors. I know that my hon. Friend has personally worked very hard on this issue and I give great credit to him for that, because political parties have a role to play in getting young people involved in politics as well. I am very proud that, in the Conservative party, with his good work, we have seen over 100 new young Conservative branches in just a year.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nigel Huddleston Excerpts

Wednesday 15th May 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

In fact, as I have pointed out, the top 1% are paying more in income tax today than they ever did under a Labour Government. But what have we seen from Labour in just the past week? The Labour party has a plan for a system where everybody in this country would get benefits. That means handouts to hedge fund managers paid for by tax hikes on working people. Labour’s policy—money for the rich, paid by taxes on the poor.

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

Q6. As already noted, 40 years ago, Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister. During her premiership, she convinced people like me and people from modest backgrounds right across the country that it is the Conservative party that is the party of opportunity and aspiration. Does the Prime Minister agree that education plays a pivotal role in unlocking these opportunities and enabling social mobility, and will education and skills funding receive the attention it therefore deserves in the upcoming spending round?

[The Prime Minister]

Of course, we are already putting record levels of funding into our schools—£43.5 billion. My hon. Friend is trying to tempt me to talk about the spending review that is upcoming, but I can assure him that we are committed to improving education for every child, because I absolutely passionately believe that we should be making sure that how far a child goes in life depends not on their background, their circumstances or who their parents are, but on their individual talents and their hard work. Everybody in this country should be able to go as far as their talents and their hard work will take them.

Electoral Registration: EU Citizens

Nigel Huddleston Excerpts

Thursday 25th April 2019 Commons Chamber

[Brandon Lewis]

Let me correct something that the right hon. Gentleman said. I have huge respect for him and for his role. The point I have been making about EU citizens voting in their home member states is that because we were not looking to fight European elections as we wanted to leave the EU, the Government’s advice over the past year for people who wished to use their vote had been to register in their home state, because that would be the only place where there would be a European election in which they could vote. There is obviously now the potential that we will fight European elections, which is why, as I outlined in my opening remarks, the Electoral Commission has advised the electoral registration officers to identify all EU citizens who have the right to vote and notify them that they can vote in this country. If they complete a UC1, they will be able to register to vote and then vote in the European elections, should we hold them, although obviously as a Government we would rather not hold them.

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

I am fortunate to represent a constituency with at least 7,000 EU citizens, so this issue is particularly important for me. We should continue to communicate on the process. Will my right hon. Friend confirm that the registration process is exactly the same as it was last time and that to suggest that there has been some kind of change is more likely to cause confusion than clarity?

[Brandon Lewis]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I give credit to Opposition Members and am absolutely sure that they are not trying purposely to confuse people, but the processes are exactly the same as they were in 2014 and, as I said, go back to the 2001 regulations.

Exiting the European Union

Nigel Huddleston Excerpts

Monday 11th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that those of us who wish to respect the result of the referendum and deliver on Brexit should be comforted by the comments in the statement that my right hon. Friend has made, because they appear to provide the reassurances that we were seeking on the backstop? Not unsurprisingly, some who do not wish to implement Brexit appear to be uncomfortable with the reassurances he has given this evening, for a variety of understandable reasons. Nevertheless, when we vote tomorrow, should we all not remember what we promised the electorate at the general election?

[Mr Lidington]

I do agree with my hon. Friend. Many of us in this House and many people outside the House who voted and campaigned to remain in the European Union have said that we accept the majority verdict of the British people but want to deliver that in a way that secures jobs, living standards and investment in the United Kingdom and the integrity of our Union.