Jane Austen

Polly Billington Excerpts

Thursday 18th December 2025 Westminster Hall

[Ms Polly Billington (East Thanet) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Efford. I rise to speak in this debate simply because I love Jane Austen and all her works. We commemorate her in this debate, as we did on the 250th anniversary of her birth on Tuesday. Today, there has been a statement in the House on the Government’s launch of their strategy to counter violence against women and girls.

One might ask: what is the link? Jane knew about coercive control and the endless structural limitations on women without means, income or property. From Charlotte Lucas in “Pride and Prejudice” to Harriet Smith in “Emma” and the Dashwood family—a mother and two daughters brought low, fallen on hard times, because of the death of the father—there are many examples of how women have to navigate a world with the odds stacked against them.

Jane Austen is a comic genius, and I do not want to sideline her wit. It is because of her ability to describe with humour the realities of life for women in the 19th century that her stories resonate across those centuries. The context may have changed, but the fundamental truths are the same—not the idea that any young gentleman with means is in want of a wife, but the constraints, limits, dangers and insecurities of life for women. Those truths echo across time, as well as echoing through the streets of my constituency.

Jane Austen’s sense of place was as acute as her observation of the social and economic condition of women, as demonstrated by the hon. Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse). Ramsgate, in my constituency, is portrayed in her novels as a place of ill repute. In “Mansfield Park”, it is referred to as a place where bad things happen. In “Pride and Prejudice”, it plays a larger role. Mr Wickham, who as we all know is a walking cautionary tale for all young women, plans to “elope”, as they call it, with Georgiana Darcy to Ramsgate. Of the bad’uns in Austen’s books, Mr Wickham, as a walking cautionary tale, is outdone only by the red flag of Frank Churchill going to London to get his hair cut. I can tell Members that reading that at the age of 17 helped me a lot later on.

The fact is, with Georgiana Darcy, her brother had to intervene to stop that elopement happening. In the novel, that is portrayed as a proof-point that Mr Darcy is a morally strong and decisive figure, and not the terrible bore that Lizzy Bennet thought he was at first. Avoiding or surviving such an abuse of power, however, should not rely on good relatives or friends; not all women have a Mr Darcy to intervene. That is why, nowadays, we need support for all—so that risks are reduced for all women.

Eloping sounds romantic, and seaside resorts such as Ramsgate have often had a saucy or edgy reputation. Indeed, this week, a blue plaque dedicated to Jane Austen has been installed in Ramsgate to acknowledge her link to the town. Her brother, Francis—better known as Frank—was a Royal Navy officer in the town. There are some suggestions that she disliked it, given that it was disreputable, but she was able to develop characters and so forth on the basis of it.

The reality for women now, as then, is that their lives can be ruined by the actions of men like Wickham. It is therefore right for the Government to declare that violence against women and girls is an emergency. It is a problem even older than Jane Austen’s wonderful novel. On this day, when we commemorate her genius, we should also remember that her stories reveal that misogyny, violence and coercion have been a daily reality for women for centuries.

Jane Austen’s cultural contribution stretches well beyond the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Luke Murphy) and beyond the stories of romance, helping us to understand women’s condition. Although things have improved—indeed, have been transformed—for most of us, the fear of financial hardship and the risk of being subject to the whims and power of men still loom large in the lives of many women. Let us make Jane Austen’s legacy an effort to consign that fear to history.

Seasonal Work

Polly Billington Excerpts

Wednesday 10th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Ms Polly Billington (East Thanet) (Lab)]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way. I was interested in him suggesting that it was Labour’s principles that are causing the problem. Which bit of our plan for small and medium-sized businesses, action to tackle late payments, reducing regulatory burdens and expanding access to finance does he disagree with?

[Nigel Huddleston]

This is just noise. The hon. Lady needs to speak to businesses in her constituency—[Interruption.] The facts are the national insurance increases, the business rates increases and the additional burdens on businesses. If anybody on the Government Benches can name any major business organisation that welcomes the employment Bill—the unemployment Bill, as we call it—I would welcome them doing so now, but I do not think they can. They are anti-business: that is the point. The Conservatives are pro-business, they are anti-business. The principle is key: to be pro-business means to be pro-workers and pro-public sector, because that is how the taxes are generated. The Government have the exact different—

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[Blair McDougall]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. That is one of the important ways we will get the welfare bill down as well as getting more money into people’s pockets, and ultimately more money into tills. Instead of fantastical unfunded tax cuts, we are giving real help to high streets across the country. Millions of British people will benefit from the £5 billion Pride in Place programme, which puts local people in 339 neighbourhoods in the driving seat of renewing their own areas.

[Ms Billington]

I am grateful to the Government for the fact that Ramsgate in particular is benefiting from the Pride in Place fund. More widely, on the matter of seasonal work, which is vital for coastal communities such as mine, can the Minister confirm that seasonal and hospitality workers will benefit from many of the measures in the Budget that will tackle the cost of living and raise their wages, such as increases to the minimum wage, cuts to energy bills and the freezing of bus and train fares?

North Sea Oil and Gas Industry

Polly Billington Excerpts

Monday 27th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Michael Shanks]

The right hon. Member asks a serious question, and I am trying to give him an answer, if he would but listen for a few moments. We take the issue of job losses seriously—of course we do—but we have to recognise that over 70,000 jobs have been lost over the past 10 years because there has not been a credible plan on the future of the North sea. We are going to deliver that alongside new jobs in the energy future.

I also say to the right hon. Member that I am somewhat confused what the SNP’s policy is on this because, as far as I understood it, it is exactly the same as this Government’s policy, which is to look at the licensing position. If he is telling us now that the SNP’s position has changed, that is news to me and, I suspect, to the House, but of course, the SNP has not published the draft energy strategy, which has been in draft form for two years, so it is hard for anyone to know.

[Ms Polly Billington (East Thanet) (Lab)]

What steps is the Minister taking to ensure that the UK arm of the company, which is an in-demand business with a highly skilled workforce and many successful contracts, has a long-term future in the UK, particularly in the context of our clean energy jobs plan announced last week and, as my hon. Friend the Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Torcuil Crichton) pointed out, some of the risks around the development of offshore wind in Holland?

[Michael Shanks]

We have obviously been liaising with the company over quite a long period of time on the restructuring; indeed, the previous Government did as well. We have been looking at this issue and will continue to work very closely with the company to ensure that there is a viable long-term future for the UK part. But it is an in-demand business and, as I said just last month, it expanded some of its contracts, which shows that it is successful. Of course, it has a highly skilled workforce working in a huge range of jobs right across oil and gas.

The wider question about investment into renewables is also one that we should take seriously. We have a huge opportunity in the United Kingdom to capitalise on the economic opportunities that come from offshore and onshore wind, hydrogen and carbon capture, but that requires consistency and a view that the UK is a safe place to invest—things that were threatened by the Conservatives.

Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill

Polly Billington Excerpts

2nd reading
Saturday 12th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Ms Polly Billington (East Thanet) (Lab)]

Will the right hon. Gentleman clarify whether he was aware that the Chinese company that is now in possession of British Steel was sold it by a Conservative Government of which he was part?

[Sir Edward Leigh]

Of course I am, because I just said that. I have just admitted that it was a mistake, but I ask everybody what they were saying at the time. Of course, there is silence. It is easy to be wise after the event, but I am worried about my steelworkers—I am worried about their future.

Employment Rights Bill

Polly Billington Excerpts

Report stage
Tuesday 11th March 2025 Commons Chamber

My generation and those younger than me are the keenest yet for more family time, but their primary concern is paying the bills. The rate of paternity leave, the huge swathes of discrimination for returning mothers and the lack of protections mean that dads cannot even take what they are entitled to. We have to change that. I am proud of this Bill and proud of our Government, and I am very hopeful for dads.

[Ms Polly Billington (East Thanet) (Lab)]

I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests and declare that I am a proud member of the GMB.

I stand to speak against amendment 289, which would exclude the hospitality sector and sports venues from the Bill’s duty for employers not to permit harassment of their employees. The first time I was harassed at work was when I was 14 years old, waiting tables at a charity event. The second time was when I was 16, in a bistro, except this time I was being paid for the experience. After that, it was when I was a student working in a bar, then when I worked in a canteen, and then in a warehouse. It is because of that experience—one shared by people of both sexes and all ages, but particularly the young and particularly women, across this country—that I was, I am not going to lie, absolutely gobsmacked by the amendment tabled by the shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade, the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs (Andrew Griffith), to the protection from harassment clause, which would exclude those working in the hospitality sector or sports venues.

The Conservative party is arguing that some kind of harassment is okay and that if you are working in the hospitality sector or in a sports venue, it is fine. Tories seem to believe that if you go to a pub, your right to harass bar staff is greater than their right not to be harassed. I have to say, that is quite an extraordinary thing to argue for, but I am glad that they are at least being honest with us. Jobs in hospitality often involve insecure work on low pay that is reliant on tips. In Margate, Ramsgate and Broadstairs, thousands of people work in jobs like that, and I do not see why it should be deemed acceptable for them to be harassed in their job, but not people who work in an office.

[Jon Pearce (High Peak) (Lab)]

I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests and I am a proud member of the GMB. Does my hon. Friend agree that even more concerning are the calls from the Opposition Benches, and particularly from the former Home Secretary, the right hon. and learned Member for Fareham and Waterlooville (Suella Braverman), for the Equality Act to be scrapped, which would mean that laws covering sexual harassment and equal pay would be completely removed from the workplace? This is a really troubling agenda from the Conservatives, and I believe it is in keeping with this amendment.

[Ms Billington]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that intervention. It is indeed a very worrying direction of travel from the Conservatives.

We on the Labour Benches think that people should not be allowed to harass any workers. I honestly did not expect this to be a controversial aspect of the Bill for the Conservatives. Perhaps I am being uncharitable, so I would really appreciate it if the shadow Secretary of State, who is now in his place, could answer a few questions. When did it become Conservative party policy to allow staff to be harassed? Why does that apply only to staff working in hospitality and sports venues and not to all workers? Why is it all right to harass bar staff but not office staff?

[Alison Griffiths]

I know that the hon. Lady has not been in the Chamber for most of the debate, so she will have missed many of the discussions where my hon. Friends have explained the nuance of our position on this, which relates to the law of unintended consequences where publicans and nightclub owners could be responsible for policing the words of their customers. That is clearly not a tenable situation, but I will repeat the words of all of my colleagues on this side of the House: sexual harassment is abhorrent. We do not condone it in any shape or form, and I ask her to withdraw the insinuation that anyone on this side of the House has any truck with such behaviour.

[Ms Billington]

I would like to emphasise that I listened closely to the opening speeches when the hon. Lady’s colleagues were talking about amendment 289. I heard clearly, for example, some confusion over whether sexual harassment was a crime or a civil offence, so I will not take any lessons from the Conservatives on their understanding of employment law or, indeed, what is considered acceptable at work.

The amendment is utterly disgraceful. I am proud that this Labour Government have brought forward a Bill to stop workers being harassed wherever they work. It is just a shame that the Conservative party does not agree. The hon. Member for Mid Buckinghamshire (Greg Smith), and apparently the hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (Alison Griffiths), think that it is wrong that pub landlords will have to be responsible for kicking out customers. He talked about it being a “banter ban”, but pub managers have always known the importance of keeping rowdy behaviour in limits and protecting their staff and customers from being pestered or being made the unwilling butt of so-called jokes. This law—

[Alison Griffiths]

Will the hon. Member give way?

[Ms Billington]

No, I will not give way.

This law will strengthen their hand. I say, in the words of the greatest pub manager of all time—Peggy Mitchell—to the proposers of the amendment, “Get outta my pub!”

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

Quite. I call Dr Jeevun Sandher.

North Sea Energy

Polly Billington Excerpts

Thursday 6th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Jones]

The previous Government oversaw a loss of 70,000 jobs that they cared not one jot about. They had no plan of support and no transition plan, and they allowed that managed decline without any commitment. This Government are doing exactly the opposite. We are supporting that transition, we are supporting those workers and we are making sure we can transition people, grow the economy and deliver energy security at the same time.

[Ms Polly Billington (East Thanet) (Lab)]

I welcome my hon. Friend�s statement, and indeed the fact that there is a plan. Although the Tories now accept that they did not have a plan, which is at least an important admission, the result of that lack of a plan is that have been left with uncertainty for both workers and consumers. In East Thanet, we need better jobs and lower bills, and surely she will agree with me that the overall security of our energy is also vital. There is one solution, which is to get off fossil fuels and shift to renewable energy as soon as possible.

Oral Answers to Questions

Polly Billington Excerpts

Thursday 12th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Jones]

The agrifood sector is incredibly important —I meet representatives of the sector, and I will do all I can. As always, I am very keen to talk to the hon. Gentleman about what more we as a Government can do to support the sector.

[Ms Polly Billington (East Thanet) (Lab)]

13. What steps his Department is taking to support high streets.

[Sir Oliver Dowden (Hertsmere) (Con)]

14. What steps he is taking to support high street businesses.

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[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Gareth Thomas)]

Working across government with mayors, local authorities and—crucially—local communities, we are beginning to tackle antisocial behaviour and crime, reforming business rates, working with the banking industry to roll out 350 banking hubs, stamping out late payments, empowering communities to make the most of vacant properties, strengthening the post office network and reforming the apprenticeship levy.

[Ms Billington]

I welcome the new powers delegated to local authorities, enabling them to tackle the blight of empty shop fronts and rejuvenate our local high streets. This will be particularly welcome in East Thanet, where the Ramsgate empty shops action group has been a powerful advocate for addressing this issue. We have a 24% vacancy rate on Ramsgate high street, so what steps are the Government taking to support and encourage local businesses and community projects to take over those vacant properties?

[Gareth Thomas]

I commend my hon. Friend on her work with the Ramsgate empty shops action group. Her experience on her high street is sadly echoed up and down the country—under the Conservative party, vacancy rates on our high streets shot up. High street rental auctions, which are the new powers that my hon. Friend alludes to, will help local councils to bring vacant units back into use, working with local communities. That will hopefully help to drive co-operation between landlords and councils and make town centre tenancies more accessible and affordable. We are encouraging local authorities to take advantage of those powers. As I suspect my hon. Friend already knows, colleagues in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government are looking to do further work in this space.

Post Office Horizon: Redress

Polly Billington Excerpts

Monday 9th September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Jonathan Reynolds]

I thought that the hon. Member might recognise the words from Isiah that I used in the statement. The failure that goes to the heart of what we are talking about today is not just about the reliance on computer systems over the testimony of people on the frontline; it is also about the culture of organisations and how government operates. We will definitely turn a page on all of that, but there are Members in the Chamber who, like me, have been here not just for infected blood and the Grenfell statement last week, but for Hillsborough and Bloody Sunday.

We must reflect on what has been a very difficult set of findings. I think that we can commit to making sure that we learn the lessons from them, and take them forward. That is the challenge for all of us who believe that we are here to do good, and to do as I said in the statement. There is more to do on that, but we can move in the right direction, and that is certainly what I and my Government Ministers will do.

[Ms Polly Billington (East Thanet) (Lab)]

As my right hon. Friend will be aware, sub-postmasters such as my constituent have experienced an enormous amount of devastation without even having been convicted—30 years of reputation absolutely destroyed. Although he has had some compensation, he still does not know whether he has had the right amount of money, and whether he is paying the right amount of tax, and he still does not have an admission of responsibility and failings from the Post Office. How much of that will be dealt with by this redress scheme?

[Jonathan Reynolds]

I understand the situation, and the need to have different redress schemes to correct specific problems. I understand the constituent’s sentiments, as described by my hon. Friend. I would like to make sure that we are doing everything we can to provide the answers in every case. If she writes to me about that case, I will look into it personally and advise her, so that she can advise her constituent to make sure that, as far as possible, we give the right advice.