Extremism Definition and Community Engagement

Sam Tarry Excerpts

Thursday 14th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend is correct to draw attention to the fact that there have been occasions recently when people motivated to make a particular point have crossed the threshold. I know that the police take those transgressions incredibly seriously, as do the Security Minister and the Home Secretary.

[Sam Tarry (Ilford South) (Lab)]

Over the past week, as we have meandered towards this statement, much of the debate has been played out in the press; there have been definitions, and various organisations that could potentially be proscribed have been named. How can my constituents in Ilford South have any faith in the Secretary of State’s ability to decide who is, and who is not, an extremist? I ask because it has also been briefed that his preferred appointment as the anti-Muslim hatred adviser is Haras Rafiq, the former chief executive officer of the Quilliam Foundation, which worked with US anti-Muslim think-tanks and promoted the favourite theory of Nick Griffin, the great replacement theory—a conspiracy theory that is so debunked and extreme that it should be nowhere near the thinking of the Secretary of State. Yesterday, most damningly, Tommy Robinson, a far-right extremist—everyone in this House knows who he is—praised that appointment. How can my constituents have faith that the decisions the Secretary of State will make are not politicised?

[Michael Gove]

Because we will publish the evidence behind them.

Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill

Sam Tarry Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 3rd July 2023 Commons Chamber

[Alex Norris]

Yes, I think that what has been striking is that colleagues who come at this from very different places and parties have reached that conclusion of the inadequacy of this legislation. I hope the Government will reflect on that. The hon. Member for Brigg and Goole (Andrew Percy) asked what our alternative was. The hon. Member for Gloucester (Richard Graham) made a powerful contribution, but I slightly challenge his suggestion that we were saying that we should rip this up in an unspecified way. That is not the point we are making. We are saying that we tabled an amendment to the Procurement Bill that we think is better. If the Government think it is technically inadequate, we would be happy to work with them to improve it. What we do know is that it is much better than what is before us today.

My hon. Friends the Members for Middlesbrough (Andy McDonald) and for Cynon Valley (Beth Winter) made important points about what this Bill does to the devolved regional and national settlements—it challenges and presses them greatly. The right hon. Member for Preseli Pembrokeshire (Stephen Crabb) and the hon. Members for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) and for Strangford (Jim Shannon) made powerful anti-BDS cases. I hope the position that my hon. Friend the Member for Wigan (Lisa Nandy) and I have taken on that assuages some concerns. My hon. Friend the Member for Strangford is my friend and we should always be honest with our friends, so let me say that he has done peerless work in this place on tackling the persecution of Christians abroad and he should have real concerns about how this legislation would fetter such activities in the future.

I will cover some more of the contributions as I get through the rest of my points, but certain concerns must be addressed by the Minister in her closing remarks. First, which of the two possible readings of clause 1 do the Government intend? Does the “territorial consideration” provision mean that not wishing to procure from Xinjiang is unacceptable but that not wishing to procure from the entire nation of China would be acceptable? Or does it mean that all actions of all foreign Governments are beyond the scope of local decision makers? How, at this stage, can it be satisfactory that there is ambiguity? As we have heard, this is legislation that will head straight to the courts. Secondly, to accept clause 3 is to exalt the Secretary of State ahead of any other public representative, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) said. It is to set aside the mandates of the Mayor of the West Midlands, the Mayor of Greater Manchester or of the leaders of councils in favour of the Secretary of State. It is to give that person, whoever they may be, sole arbitration of human rights abuses, of genocide. That should give all of us pause, but it is worsened by clause 4, the gagging clause, which my hon. Friends the Members for Sunderland Central (Julie Elliott), for Liverpool, Riverside (Kim Johnson), for Leeds East (Richard Burgon)—

[Sam Tarry (Ilford South) (Lab)]

We heard a powerful and compelling contribution from my neighbour, my right hon. Friend the Member for Barking, about pernicious political thinking behind this Bill. Does my hon. Friend agree that that has happened multiple times? We are talking about a smackdown on democracy. We had the so-called “gagging Bill”, which was about gagging charities and became the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014; in 2016, we had the wrapping up of trade unions in even more red tape; and, recently, we have had more attacks on trade unions and the right to protest. Are the Government not crushing dissent on the part of any organisation or body that wants to challenge them?

[Alex Norris]

I am grateful for that intervention. My hon. Friend almost reads to the end of my paragraph, so I will address that point presently. The point on gagging clauses was also made by my hon. Friends the Members for Leeds East and for Bradford East (Imran Hussain), and the hon. Members for Reigate (Crispin Blunt) and for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (David Simmonds). The Bill means that not only does the judgment of the Secretary of State supersede any and all local leaders, but the Government seek to ensure that those leaders are not even allowed to talk about their desire to challenge human rights abuses or not to consume settlement goods. The Government are taking away not only the right to act, but the ability to speak. As my hon. Friend the Member for Ilford South (Sam Tarry) says, that is consistent with a legislative programme designed to whittle away at the civic space, with the Trade Union Act 2016, the 2014 Act, the Public Order Act 2023 and more. What we have in front of us is an unacceptable fetter on free expression.

Separately, but no less importantly, the Bill will, as the right hon. Member for North West Hampshire (Kit Malthouse) said, have consequences for billions of pounds in local government pension funds. Any hard deadline that is imposed on them to change their operations in accordance with new law could be deeply destabilising, and the Minister ought to talk about how much she has looked into that impact. We know that at the moment a pension fund makes a divestment decision on a financial ground that relates to territories named in the Bill, that decision will be challenged in the court as a moral judgment. That will bind up our pension funds in court case after court case.

Let me turn to an issue that has had little airing in the debate so far and will have a lot more to run. Through clause 7, the Bill permits extraordinary powers to compel information—powers that demolish long-held legal privileges. It is not proportionate to hand to the Secretary of State even stronger powers to compel information from public bodies than the security services have. Surely the Government see the unsustainability of that position. As detailed by Labour and other colleagues, these are weighty concerns that make the Bill unacceptable in its current form.

But there is an alternative, as covered in our reasoned amendment. Our country has a proud history in the development of modern international humanitarian law, from the ashes of world war two to the creation of the United Nations and the role that we continue to play on the world stage. We have always defended the fundamental and inalienable rights of all human beings. It is vital that procurement decisions made in respect of such rights are then applied across the board to prevent unethical actions against specific states and to ensure that common actions have the greatest impact. That could be readily achieved by requiring public bodies to produce a document that sets out their policy on procurement and human rights, and for that to be developed in accordance with guidance published by the Secretary of State. That would ensure consistency in how contracting authorities decide on such matters.

What would that suggestion mean in practice? The practical effect would be to make it clear and unambiguous that if a public body does not wish to procure goods from Russia because of President Putin’s abhorrent human rights abuses in Ukraine, the law will be on its side. If that same body does not wish to procure services from Xinjiang because of the appalling treatment of Uyghur Muslims, the law will be on its side. But if a public body acts only against a particular state—let us say the world’s only Jewish state—while turning a blind eye to human rights abuses elsewhere, such actions would be illegal. We offer this workable solution to the Government and I hope the Minister picks it up. If colleagues do not hear that in the Minister’s response, I encourage them to vote in favour of the reasoned amendment tabled in my name and the names of my right hon. and hon. Friends.

Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Sam Tarry Excerpts

Tuesday 21st March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Sam Tarry (Ilford South) (Lab)]

This Budget follows successive Conservative and coalition Governments that have overseen the worst growth in GDP per head since records began, a sustained decline in living standards, and a disintegration of our vital public services. Worse still, a recent forecast by the IMF has said that we are going to be languishing behind even the Russian economy in terms of economic growth. That is the result of 13 years of stagnant wages and rapid inflation—what the TUC has called the worst pay crisis “since Napoleonic times”. Real income is still below the levels of 2010, the last time that we had a Labour Government. The recent collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse have shown how fragile global financial regulatory frameworks are. SVB took unnecessary risks and triggered a run on its assets, while Credit Suisse accrued fine after fine, as well as the involvement of Greensill, a former Prime Minister’s employer, in damaging its capital.

Yet every time, it is my constituents in Ilford who have borne the brunt of this economic chaos. My inbox is full of desperate cries for help from people being forced into debt and even further below the poverty line. This Budget, unfortunately, was a Budget for the select few, totally divorced from the reality that so many constituents face every day. Rather than supporting ordinary people struggling to make ends meet, the Chancellor is handing billions to the wealthiest 1% through tax cuts for corporations and abolishing the lifetime pensions allowance at huge taxpayer cost. What is most bizarre is that, on the day that the Budget statement took place, 400,000 teachers, doctors, rail workers and civil servants took industrial action for better pay and conditions, yet the Budget made just one cursory reference to wages.

In the past year, public sector pay has fallen by £185 a month, with real pay being lower now than in 2008 and not expected to go back above 2008 levels until 2027. It is no wonder that, in almost every sector of the economy, workers are taking industrial action. The New Economics Foundation has warned that we are now on the precipice of the

“greatest living standards crisis on…record.”

Colleagues will undoubtedly have seen the OBR forecast that predicts a staggering 5.7% fall in real income per capita over the next two years, after what has already been a decade of decline. What that means for the lived experiences of families, especially those already on a low income, is utterly grim. By December 2024, based on estimates from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 43% of households will be unable to afford a decent standard of living. On average, those falling below the threshold for a decent standard of living will be short by £10,000 a year—10 grand, Mr Deputy Speaker.

Let us be clear: low pay is the cause of thousands of unfilled vacancies in key professions such as nursing and teaching. Until wages grow in real terms, there will be no long-term solution to the recruitment and retention crisis. James Meadway and Costas Lapavitsas have just launched a new book on the cost of living crisis. The language of pay restraint urged by some Government Members is out of kilter with the economic reality for so many, because there is no wage-price spiral. It is nonsense—it is economically illiterate and untrue—to say that putting people’s wages up is going to lead to inflation rises. If the Government are serious about tackling this crisis, they must provide public sector workers with the inflationary pay rise that they sorely deserve. The Government were perfectly capable of spending billions in taxpayer money to protect private enterprises during the pandemic and to bail out banks. This needs to be extended to ordinary working people.

Affordable and Safe Housing for All

Sam Tarry Excerpts

Tuesday 18th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[Sam Tarry (Ilford South) (Lab)]

It is an honour to address Her Majesty’s Gracious Speech. This Gracious Speech was an opportunity for the Government to once and for all tackle the appalling housing crisis facing so many across the country and in my constituency. The planning regime is too often stacked in favour of housing developers and property speculators, rather than tackling the acute needs of many of my constituents, which could be met through real social and council housing. Coupled with the disastrous legacy of right to buy in east London, we have an untenable situation, with thousands of homes now in the hands of private owners exploiting their tenants, rather than those homes going to those who need them.

We have across our country one of the worst housing crises in living memory, with millions of homeowners and tenants suffering from dangerous and substandard properties coupled with skyrocketing rents, while young people looking to get on the property ladder face insurmountable obstacles to home ownership. Four years on from the Grenfell tragedy, far from addressing the cladding scandal, the Government have financially crippled tenants by forcing them to pay for protective housing materials that should be a fundamental human right. There is not a single Bill in the Queen’s Speech that either addresses the root causes of the housing crisis or tackles its worst excesses—for example, by preventing the looming wave of evictions and homelessness or reforming the private rented sector—or deals with the ruinous cost of remediation works on buildings with unsafe cladding.

This crisis has been deeply felt in my constituency of Ilford South and right across the Borough of Redbridge, where more than 13,000 households are on the council housing waiting list—the third highest figure in London. That is exacerbated by the fact that in 2019, just 306 affordable homes were built in the borough, despite families being forced to wait on the list for years. For example, those who need a three-bedroom house in Ilford will have to wait 12 years. Furthermore, significant numbers are forced to live in squalid and cramped conditions. It is little wonder that almost 20% of all cases raised with my office by my constituents since I was elected to this House relate to housing—it is by far the most of any issue.

Across our country, more than 11 million people live in properties that have unsafe cladding four years on from the Grenfell tragedy, and that is nothing short of a national scandal. In Ilford South alone, more than 100 constituents have written to me, mainly from Raphael House, Centreway Apartments and the Paragon building, who have had their life savings wiped out because their freeholders have them over a barrel for enforced remediation and waking watch costs.

That is why Labour tabled a motion earlier this year to force a vote to end the cladding scandal. Disgracefully, not only did the Government not bring forward such a measure in the Queen’s Speech, but Government Members voted against protecting homeowners from fire safety costs, which are estimated to run to £10 billion nationally. It is high time that this Government made good on their failed housing policies, stopped cosying up to Tory party donors who are housing developers and instead tackled the problems in the genuine and serious way that my constituents need.

Fire and Rehire

Sam Tarry Excerpts

Tuesday 27th April 2021 Westminster Hall

[Sam Tarry (Ilford South) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Murray. I draw attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, and congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Jarrow (Kate Osborne) on securing the debate at a time when the shameful practice of fire and rehire is increasingly weaponised by companies to exploit workers. Fire and rehire should never be acceptable in any circumstances, and I would like to hear the Minister commit to outlawing that anti-worker practice today. It is nothing short of disgraceful that so many companies have been allowed to engage in it in the middle of a global pandemic.

Fire and rehire is not the final option left to the companies in question. They are not struggling to make ends meet. Many continue to pay their chief executive officers six or seven-figure salaries and to fork out massive dividends to their shareholders, while claiming that they cannot afford to pay their staff a decent day’s wages for a decent day’s work. In the case of British Airways, whose former chief executive officer I had the misfortune to encounter on several occasions during my time on the Transport Committee, it attempted to force fire and rehire down the throats of its staff despite making tens of millions of taxpayers’ money for furloughing its workers, and despite the parent company IAG having made billions in profits the previous financial year. Thanks in large part to the efforts of my union Unite, British Airways was forced to ditch some of its plans to fire and rehire 30,000 of their staff.

British Airways was not, sadly, the only UK major employer whose reputation has now been trashed as a result of the decision to pursue that policy. Last year, British Gas told its shareholders that it would slash 5,000 jobs and committed to forcing the remaining 2,000 to undergo a fire and rehire process before it had engaged with the GMB union. In January, Centrica chief executive Chris O’Shea told the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee that the company had been forced to issue the fire and rehire threat before talks began, by law. In a leaked email that I have here from 22 February, of which I have been made aware, Mr O’Shea informed British Gas’s human resources team it would no longer use fire and rehire as a strategy. He writes in the email that

“I recognise that the use of fire and rehire has led to a lack of trust, and I understand the impact this has had on morale, which is why we pledge never to revisit the use of fire and rehire again.”

If he would never consider fire and rehire again, why did he previously say that it was the only option when appearing before a Select Committee? I am deeply concerned that Mr O’Shea may have misled Parliament in the way that he defended himself, given the subsequent email in which he explicitly states that he would consider another option.

The reality is that Mr O’Shea’s actions mean that people will no longer think of British Gas as a proud British company, and maybe it is time for him to consider his own position. It would certainly be one way of saving the country £775,000. Local authorities have also been caught up in the unsavoury practice, including the Conservative-run Thurrock Council, with changes to terms and conditions that see workers losing over £3,000 a year. Thankfully, an election is coming up next week, so perhaps that will also be consigned to the dustbin of history.

DRAFT PRODUCT SAFETY AND METROLOGY ETC. (AMENDMENT ETC.) (UK (NI) INDICATION) (EU EXIT) REGULATIONS 2020

Sam Tarry Excerpts

Monday 16th November 2020 General Committees

[Sam Tarry (Ilford South) (Lab)]

It is an absolute pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms McVey, in place of my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester Central.

Colleagues who were here in 2019 will know that the House has debated a previous incarnation of the SI. For those who were not here, that probably seems quite a long time ago. A lot has changed since then, including the context in which businesses find themselves and the unknowns of what is happening in Government negotiations on a deal with the EU. It does not look as though the ingredients of that deal are out of the cupboard, let alone mixed and ready to go in the oven, as the Prime Minister so famously promised.

We are also in the midst of a global pandemic, which has hit businesses, our economy and local authorities hard. That makes them less able to deal with the end of the transition period. British businesses of course do the best they can—they are among the very best on the planet—but many have told us that they do not have the bandwidth for the end of transition and the likely changes it will mean, alongside trying to stay afloat as the coronavirus crisis continues to rage.

The 2019 SI was described at the time as a “beast of an SI” in The Times on 12 February. It was 636 pages long, weighed 2.5 kg and put together 11 issues that would usually be in separate documents to be sifted through. The Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee was damning about the length and scope of the SI and the Government’s approach to bringing it to Parliament. For that reason, we voted against it then. Today, we will not vote against the changes because they are necessary to update the situation as we come to the end of the transition period.

The legislation will ensure that the UK has a meaningful regulatory framework for product safety and legal metrology, including the ability to amend its own regulations in future in the interests of UK businesses and consumers and to provide adequate protection for UK consumers. It will also ensure that unsafe and non-compliant products can continue to be removed from the market. That will provide businesses and consumers with reassurance about the safety and accuracy of products.

The instrument makes amendments to regulations relating to a diverse range of subjects, including container bottles, toys, lifts, gas appliances and personal protective equipment enforcement. It is perhaps a mini-beast compared with its predecessor.

It is likely that there will be a lot of work for companies to understand and act on the changes in this SI. The Government’s impact assessment estimates that between 10,000 and 17,000 UK manufacturers and up to 135,000 UK wholesalers and retailers will be impacted by its implementation. With a total cost of over £35 million—£25.7 million for conformity marking, £3.7 million for conformity assessment and £6.6 million for familiarisation for businesses—the assessment warns that those costs could be passed on to UK consumers and businesses through increased prices or reduced product availability. Will the Minister confirm what support the Department is offering businesses, which are already struggling through the pandemic, to limit these costs as far as possible?

If we are to ensure that there is consumer confidence about product safety, it is important too that the organisations that engender that confidence are properly supported. As we have pointed out before, trading standards teams have seen huge cuts of 40% since 2010. Clearly, we want good product safety and consumer confidence, but we will get them only if those services are properly resourced. Given the pressures local authorities are under through the coronavirus crisis, what assessment has the Minister made of the impact of ongoing changes on trading standards teams?

Following our departure from the EU, the UK will no longer be able to use the CE mark to identify safe products. That will be replaced in the UK with a new UK conformity-assessed marking—the UK CA. What work have the Government undertaken to ensure that people are aware of the new UK CA marking?

We must not forget that the SI also relates to Northern Ireland. As we have recently warned, it is questionable whether GB-NI trade systems will be ready, following repeated warnings. What contingency plans do the Government have to ensure there is not widespread disruption on 1 January? Businesses in Northern Ireland could be very hard hit by all these changes. What extra support are they receiving from the Government?

The costs that businesses will incur as a result of these changes are not insignificant, and a large number of businesses will be affected. I hope that the Minister and his team will do all they can to mitigate the impact on businesses as far as possible, given the huge pressures they face.

Covid-19 Lockdown: Homelessness and Rough Sleepers

Sam Tarry Excerpts

Wednesday 11th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Kelly Tolhurst]

I thank my hon. Friend and, yes, I totally will. I have already met Andy Street to discuss the issues within the area. I am very grateful for the work that he and others have been leading, such as Jean Templeton from Saint Basils, who has been doing a tremendous job up there, and for the leadership of young people in that area. I look forward to continuing to work with all parts of the country to achieve this ambition.

[Sam Tarry (Ilford South) (Lab)]

In 2019, one in 46 people in Redbridge, which Ilford South is part of, were homeless. That is a shocking statistic. While recent funding is obviously very welcome, I wonder if we can have a situation where I do not have to walk outside Ilford Exchange or outside my constituency office and see once again the many cardboard cities, which so miraculously disappeared, literally in a week, once the Government decided to act and house those homeless people and rough sleepers. Could the Minister ensure that, once lockdown ends, they will uphold their commitment to permanently ending rough sleeping?

[Kelly Tolhurst]

Actually, I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising the issue in his constituency. It is true, and I am sure I speak for everyone across the House, that every one of us really feels sadness and regret when we see any individual sleeping rough in a tent, a box or whatever. It is just not satisfactory. That is why this Government have committed to ending rough sleeping, and why we have put in this unprecedented level of support to achieve that goal. My challenge is to keep working with those local authorities to deliver on that promise.

Oral Answers to Questions

Sam Tarry Excerpts

Monday 5th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Sam Tarry (Ilford South) (Lab)]

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that dangerous cladding is removed from residential buildings of all heights.

[The Minister for Housing (Christopher Pincher)]

We are taking action with the biggest reforms of building and fire safety in nearly 40 years through the Building Safety Bill. To tackle the most urgent problems, we have already made available £1.6 billion to remove unsafe cladding systems, and appointed expert construction consultants to review aluminium composite material remediation timescales and to work at increased pace. There therefore should be no excuse for delay.

--- Later in debate ---

[Sam Tarry]

According to leading civil servants, the building safety fund will cover less than a third of the buildings that require external remediation, and it does not even cover the interim safety measures and costs that may unscrupulous freeholders have been pushing on to leaseholders, including at Raphael House in my constituency. My constituents and I are wondering whether the Government could increase the budget for that fund so that all buildings are covered, including the cost of the expensive interim safety measures, and extend the application deadline beyond April so that freeholders can act responsibly in the best interests of leaseholders and tenants.

[Christopher Pincher]

The objective of the £1 billion fund is to target those properties that most need help, where there is no other immediate means of helping them. £1 billion is not a small amount of money and it is important that we get that money out of the door first to help those places that need it. The hon. Gentleman might, while he is at it, have a word with the Mayor of London, because London is lagging well behind the remediation of properties around England. That is why Lord Greenhalgh had to organise a London summit to get London to up its game. So, as much as we are determined to get the money out of the door, he must encourage the Mayor to do the same.

Leaseholders and Cladding

Sam Tarry Excerpts

Wednesday 12th February 2020 Westminster Hall

[Esther McVey]

It is absolutely imperative that we have people with the right skills who are able to do the job straight away.

[Sam Tarry (Ilford South) (Lab)]

Does the Minister agree that we need to hear more not just about how great it is that we have all come to discuss these things, but about concrete actions? Some of my constituents in Ilford South, including the 100 people in Raphael House, have mental health issues and problems planning their futures and getting their kids into schools, because freeholders essentially have them over a barrel. The time has come to stop the platitudes and take some action.

[Esther McVey]

The Government took the unprecedented step of bringing forward £600 million to support the people whom the expert panel said were in the most dangerous buildings with ACM cladding. I started my speech with the words of the Secretary of State, who spoke about how we can ensure that we have the right support at the right place and at the right time. From the very start, we have taken the advice of experts in the field to ensure that we are supporting the leaseholders.