Oral Answers to Questions

Phil Brickell Excerpts

Tuesday 8th September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Torsten Bell]

The difficult choices that we have had to make are why NHS waiting lists are falling in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency and why his own police chief constable said that

“increased officer numbers will enable us to further tackle issues such as antisocial behaviour, theft and drug-related crimes.”

The hon. Gentleman is a man who, unfortunately, on the day of the mini-Budget spoke up in this Chamber and said that it was a “vote of confidence” in the whole UK economy. The only regret he must have is not being more enthusiastic—otherwise he would be shadow Chancellor.

[Phil Brickell (Bolton West) (Lab)]

UK Finance estimates that two thirds of all fraud cases are enabled online. Jonathan Fisher’s recent review into fraud recommended that an anti-fraud levy be placed on digital and communications platforms. Will the Minister meet me to discuss how we ensure that economic crime enforcement agencies are properly funded to protect us all from predatory scammers on the internet?

[Lucy Rigby]

Fraud is the most common type of crime in this country, and its impact can be truly devastating for individuals and businesses. That is why this Government are committed to tackling it, including via the doubling of the economic crime levy. The Fisher review made a number of recommendations, including about the role of technology companies. We are considering those recommendations very thoroughly.