Oral Answers to Questions
Rebecca Smith Excerpts(1 week, 5 days ago)
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Jo Stevens
I thank my hon. Friend for recognising the scale of the opportunities and new jobs that this Government are creating in Wales and across the UK. Whether it is 3,000 jobs in new nuclear, 5,000 jobs in floating offshore wind, 8,000 jobs in our two AI growth zones, 12,000 jobs with our historic £14 billion commitment for Welsh rail, or 25,000 jobs in our freeports and investment zones, we are delivering generational change for people in Wales.
Rebecca Smith (South West Devon) (Con)
In Wales, the south-west and across the UK, nearly 1 million young people are not in education, employment or training. Labour’s jobs tax, failed welfare reforms and damaging energy policies will worsen that crisis. Does the Minister recognise that when the Labour Government’s first response to any crisis is to tax business, businesses stop hiring, and it is young people in Wales who suffer most?
Antisemitic Attacks
Rebecca Smith Excerpts(2 weeks ago)
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Dan Jarvis
Every community must feel safe, and this Government will defend against racism wherever it raises its ugly head.
Rebecca Smith (South West Devon) (Con)
Last week, I had the privilege of visiting Auschwitz, on a visit organised by March of the Living UK. I joined 200 members of the British Jewish community there, and almost 8,000 people from around the world. We marched between Auschwitz and Birkenau. Many of those there were Holocaust survivors. I heard their stories, from the 1930s and 1940s, and from today. Many told me that they have an exit plan. We were escorted by security the whole time. Will the Minister provide much-needed assurance to our Jewish community in the UK by explaining what steps are being taken to address rising antisemitism here, and will he commit to taking action that is significant enough to reassure British Jews that they do not need a plan B?
Dan Jarvis
I will give the hon. Member that assurance. I am grateful to her for mentioning her recent visit to Auschwitz. I visited Auschwitz with the Holocaust Educational Trust. It was one of the most moving things I have ever done, and I recommend that all Members do it.
Security Vetting
Rebecca Smith Excerpts(2 weeks ago)
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The Prime Minister
The information that was fed into the review, and the reasons for the review, are protected. This is not a Peter Mandelson issue; it is about the integrity of the process. What I do not accept is that that means I cannot be told the recommendation that comes out of it.
Rebecca Smith (South West Devon) (Con)
I wonder whether the Prime Minister knew the difference between the due diligence information from the Cabinet Office and the security vetting that had not taken place when he appointed Peter Mandelson on 18 December.
Oral Answers to Questions
Rebecca Smith Excerpts(1 month, 3 weeks ago)
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Seema Malhotra
My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the challenges that endometriosis brings and that workplaces cannot afford to lose such talented women. Action matters. That is why, as part of the Employment Rights Act, we are improving access to flexible working, making changes to statutory sick pay and opening up conversations about women’s health through the employer action plans that we launched last week. I look forward to working with my hon. Friend and other Members to make that support a reality.
Rebecca Smith (South West Devon) (Con)
One in 10 women have endometriosis, seriously impacting their ability to work. What plans does the Minister have to ensure that employers have clear guidance about the reasonable adjustments that they should be offering, not just for endometriosis but for all gynaecological issues that impact women’s work?
Middle East
Rebecca Smith Excerpts(2 months ago)
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The Prime Minister
Yes, I will. I can absolutely assure my hon. Friend and the House that there will always be a lawful basis for any action that we take, and there must be a viable plan for it.
Rebecca Smith (South West Devon) (Con)
Over the weekend, I heard from families in my constituency whose loved ones—also constituents of mine—are among the 300 service personnel in Bahrain who were within metres of the Iranian missile strike. Given that we have known for some time about the build-up of US forces in the region, why did the activity to decommission HMS Lancaster in Bahrain continue, and—I trust that this is not an operational question—will those works be paused and service personnel withdrawn until the treat status has been downgraded?
The Prime Minister
In relation to the hon. Lady’s constituents, may I ask her to urge them, if they have not already done so, to register their presence as quickly as possible so that we can give them the necessary advice, because this is about how we get people out in the coming days? There are obviously wider questions in the region, but it is very important that we take the necessary measures in the coming days.
Oral Answers to Questions
Rebecca Smith Excerpts(4 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Alex Davies-Jones
The hon. Lady is right, and Refuge does brilliant work to support victims of tech-based abuse. I have been to its offices and seen its team working really hard on this issue. The Government are determined to have a cross-Government approach, and I am working very closely with the Home Office and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to see how we can get to grips with the issue. We will be publishing our cross-Government VAWG strategy imminently and there will be a specific reference to tech abuse in that strategy.
Rebecca Smith (South West Devon) (Con)
The Government’s dithering on grooming gangs has gone on for so long that it is now unlikely that any report into what has happened will be published before the next general election. Does the Minister think that is acceptable, and will she commit to publishing interim findings before the next general election?
Alex Davies-Jones
The grooming gangs scandal was one of the darkest moments in this country’s history, with vulnerable young people being failed time and time again. The Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and I are determined to finally get victims and survivors the answers they need. It was this Prime Minister who brought the first ever major prosecution on the Asian grooming gangs, it was this Government who implemented the statutory inquiry recommendations, and it is this Government who have issued a national inquiry. We will get on with supporting victims and girls.
Oral Answers to Questions
Rebecca Smith Excerpts(6 months ago)
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Jo Stevens
It sounds like the Liberal Democrats in Wales have the same position as Plaid Cymru. Our priority is to drive growth, lower bills and create jobs for people through our new green energy revolution, including those in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency. Investment in his constituency is something he should be welcoming.
Rebecca Smith (South West Devon) (Con)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Anna McMorrin)
We inherited a broken asylum system in absolute chaos from the Tories, with tens of thousands stuck in a system dependent on expensive asylum hotels. We are committed to ending the use of hotels as asylum accommodation as soon as possible and before the end of this Parliament, as part of a controlled, managed and orderly programme.
Rebecca Smith
Under the Welsh Labour Government, waiting lists, educational standards and opportunities for young people have all ground to an abrupt halt. It is therefore shocking that the Welsh Labour Government are not prioritising issues that would make a real difference to the people of Wales. Instead, Labour Ministers, supported by Plaid Cymru, are ploughing tens of millions of pounds into their nation of sanctuary policy, which is believed to support services for some illegal immigrants. Does the hon. Lady agree that it is high time her colleagues scrapped this wasteful, non-devolved policy and instead focused their time on lowering NHS waiting times and improving standards?
Anna McMorrin
It sounds like the hon. Member does not agree with welcoming the thousands of Ukrainian refugees that the UK Government’s nation of sanctuary has supported. The scheme has been used to welcome Ukrainian families fleeing from Russian aggression. That is a cause that I understood her party supported.
Oral Answers to Questions
Rebecca Smith Excerpts(6 months, 2 weeks ago)
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The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend has been a strong advocate for his constituents on this issue. The Health Secretary has met the families affected by these failures twice, I think, this year to hear their stories, and I want to make it clear that what happened to their loved ones is unacceptable. The Health Secretary is currently considering the best way forward so that families get the answers that they deserve. It is right that they receive any update first, but I can assure my hon. Friend that we will provide that update as soon as we are able to do so.
Rebecca Smith (South West Devon) (Con)
The Prime Minister
Just a few months ago we published our small business strategy, which was based on what small businesses said to us. I will make a copy available to the hon. Lady so that she can give one to each of her constituents before they respond to the survey.
Cabinet Office
Rebecca Smith Excerpts(8 months ago)
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Rebecca Smith (South West Devon) (Con)
The Government are clearly very happy to claim that all is rosy after their first year in power, yet on the ground in my constituency and around the country, the opposite story is being told. The Government’s policies are hitting my constituents hard—whether it is the impact of increased national insurance contributions on local charities, the prospect of more red tape for landlords, or moving the goalposts for the most vulnerable. Given the Government’s amazing claims, why are they so reticent to share the plan for change metrics in one place, so that the good people up and down the United Kingdom can see the reality of this Labour Government in hard facts?
Pat McFadden
The hon. Lady seems to want more delivery stats, so let me help her out. As my right hon. Friend, the Minister without Portfolio, said, we have had the highest growth of any G7 economy in the first quarter of this year, cuts in interest rates and an expansion of the warm home discount, which will mean that 6 million households will benefit from better insulated houses. I do not claim, in reading out these statistics, that everything is perfect—far from it—but I do believe that we have had change in the past year: change in the investment pattern of the country; change in real wages; and change in our trading position. That is change well worth having.
[Official Report, 10 July 2025; Vol. 770, c. 1104.]
Written correction submitted by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the right hon. Member for Wolverhampton South East (Pat McFadden):
Oral Answers to Questions
Rebecca Smith Excerpts(9 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Joe Robertson (Isle of Wight East) (Con)
Rebecca Smith (South West Devon) (Con)
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Pat McFadden)
Our plan for change is already delivering for the British people, as the Minister without Portfolio, my right hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham West and East Dulwich (Ellie Reeves), has just said: wages up more in the first 10 months of our Government than in 10 years under the previous Government; a new nuclear age with £14 billion committed to building Sizewell C as a critical part of our clean energy transition; and NHS waiting lists down by more than 200,000 for the first time in years. What a contrast to the record of the Conservatives.
Pat McFadden
I hear a cry for more delivery statistics, so let me help the hon. Member out. We have also recruited 1,500 new GPs, deported 30,000 people with no right to be here, and expanded free school meals to lift 100,000 children out of poverty. He is welcome.
Rebecca Smith
The Government are clearly very happy to claim that all is rosy after their first year in power, yet on the ground in my constituency and around the country, the opposite story is being told. The Government’s policies are hitting my constituents hard—whether it is the impact of increased national insurance contributions on local charities, the prospect of more red tape for landlords, or moving the goalposts for the most vulnerable. Given the Government’s amazing claims, why are they so reticent to share the plan for change metrics in one place, so that the good people up and down the United Kingdom can see the reality of this Labour Government in hard facts?