Debate on the Address

Vicky Ford Excerpts

Tuesday 7th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mrs May]

I am tempted to say to the hon. Gentleman that, when he was called to speak, it was only 4.23. Of course we want to make sure that all parts of the United Kingdom are part of our plans. I do not know the contract for difference details that he talks about, but we want to make sure that every part of the United Kingdom is able to contribute to the work to reach net zero, and there are things the Government must do to enable that.

[Vicky Ford (Chelmsford) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend is making an excellent speech and I completely agree on the need to keep focused on the pathway to net zero. I am a member of the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee, and we are told that unlocking the grid and making faster approvals for new energy schemes to come on to the grid is most vital in that pathway. Does she welcome what there was in the King’s Speech about transforming the speed at which decisions can be made about new power coming on to our grid?

[Mrs May]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right that getting those grid connections right and making it easier and faster for people to make them are critical for us to reach net zero. I am pleased that the reform of grid connections was in the King’s Speech; we wait to hear the details of what the Chancellor and the Secretary of State will bring forward on that.

There is one other aspect of the move to the green economy that the Government need to address now, and not in 10 years’ time when the advanced British standard comes on board: the green skills agenda. We must ensure that the young people of today are being trained in the skills needed for the green economy and that people already in work are being retrained. Gas engineers must be retrained to deliver heat pumps, for example. There are many areas where we must make sure that we have a workforce fully trained to meet the needs of that new economy. I hope that the Government are going to press the accelerator on that.

--- Later in debate ---

[Vicky Ford (Chelmsford) (Con)]

On behalf of the people of Chelmsford, I wish to express my gratitude and respect to His Majesty. History and lessons from across the world tell us that transferring the Crown from one monarch to the next can be deeply unsettling for a nation and can lead to uncertainty. Many were concerned about the mood of our country and the uncertainty that we would face when our much-beloved Queen passed away, but His Majesty has been remarkable. With dignity, gravitas and compassion, both here and overseas, he has ensured that the transfer of the Crown has happened with certainty and delivered stability, despite the fact that people across the world face great insecurity.

I grew up in Northern Ireland during the troubles, so security was an important part of my childhood and teenage years. After the birth of my third child and just as I was about to return to work, 9/11 happened. My workplace was on the 52nd floor of Canary Wharf tower, so security—or lack of security—was also very much part of my children’s early years; and I had always hoped that they would see a world that was more peaceful and secure than the one in which I had grown up.

I do not think that I have seen global security in such a precarious state as it is today for many decades. Today marks one month since 7 October, when Hamas rewrote the definition of evil. Since that day, when so many Israelis lost their lives, we have seen the desperate loss of Palestinian civilian lives as well, and the dire humanitarian situation. The Prime Minister was right in everything he said today about the need of Israel to defend its citizens, the need for a pause in fighting—that is not in our hands to deliver, but in the hands of those who are fighting—the need for aid to flow, and the need to minimise civilian casualties.

The middle east situation is doubly precarious and the risk of contagion continues. Because of all the horror we are seeing in that region, our eye has gone completely off what is happening in Ukraine; we have forgotten about the dreadful situation that the women of Afghanistan still face; just a few days ago, a young woman in Iran lost her life because she would not wear a headscarf; and no one is talking about the slaughter that continues in the civil war in Sudan. Therefore, it was absolutely right that security was a common theme in this King’s Speech. I have counted that it was mentioned nine times, included with respect to: health and security; financial security; energy security; security for leaseholders; national security; and security across the world.

Global insecurity brings insecurity at home. We have felt that most acutely in our energy prices. On energy security, I agree with the Government that, for so long as this country needs to use oil and gas, we should endeavour to produce that domestically, where the production can be done to a higher environmental standard, where the carbon cost is lower and, most importantly, where we can have more security about the supply. That does not mean that we should take our eye off the ball when it comes to climate change. Climate change not only causes fires, floods and food shortages, but fuels conflict. Addressing climate change remains one of our biggest challenges. We know that it is not easy, and the Government are right that we must bring people with us, but we must not suggest to people that this issue does not matter and we should not lower our leadership on it. As a member of the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee, I look forward to hearing from the Secretary of State tomorrow.

I come from an NHS family. I think that I have told Members previously that my parents were NHS doctors, my husband is an NHS doctor, and my sister is an NHS doctor. I do not think that I have updated you, Mr Deputy Speaker, but my son has recently got engaged to a medical student, and my niece has just started her first year at medical school. The doctors are carrying on through the generations. I am very pleased that delivering the NHS long-term workforce plan was part of the King’s Speech. I think the Prime Minister said that this would help us to recruit more doctors, nurses and dentists. Incidentally, I am very glad that the Minister for Health and Secondary Care, my hon. Friend the Member for Colchester (Will Quince), who does so much on NHS workforce planning, is here in the Chamber today.

It is right that we recruit more doctors and nurses—indeed, there are more doctors and nurses now than there were at the start of this Government’s tenure—because we are a growing population and we always need more. We need not only to recruit, but to train and retain our doctors and nurses. Over the past 13 years, I have been really pleased to see how apprenticeships, especially nursing apprenticeships, have helped to train more people into that profession. These apprenticeships have been championed by Anglia Ruskin University in Chelmsford. I hope that one of the things that the Minister for Health and Secondary Care will do is to look at introducing a doctor apprenticeship. That would mean, for example, that someone who has been a paediatric nurse could retrain and upskill to become a paediatrician. That is the sort of way that we will get very clever training. I hope that he will listen again to my pleas to double the size of the medical school in my constituency, which is doing such good work. It is one of the great medical schools that was started by this Government—a great development of the past 13 years. On the issue of retention, I am pleased to hear that there may be a bit more warmth in some of the consultation with senior doctors. That is what I am reading in the press, and I hope that it is true.

There were important elements of opportunity and hope in this Gracious Speech—and not just about football fans or pedicabs. We do not have any pedicabs in Chelmsford, but we have scooters, which can be challenging sometimes. I warmly welcome the positive news about opening up fast-growing new markets for trade and continuing to work on developing skills. I also welcome a lot of what was in the speech on innovation.

Chelmsford has a long history of innovation. It was in Chelmsford more than 100 years ago that Marconi invented radar and the radio, starting the modern form of communications that we all enjoy today. The digital revolution is accelerating faster and faster because of AI, so it is absolutely right that the speech talked about harnessing the positive benefits from AI, such as driverless vehicles, and increasing benefits for consumers, such as more choices and lower prices through the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill. I look forward to those.

I also have a bit of personal history on some of this innovation stuff. Before going into politics, my job was raising money for infrastructure. I have to admit that I helped to raise the money to build the UK’s first mobile phone networks. If hon. Members ever get totally frustrated with what they see on their phones and say, “Why did we ever invent these things?”, I am really sorry; it is partly my fault.

I am also very aware that the internet revolution has its dark side. The Internet Watch Foundation has removed 200,000 webpages containing self-generated indecent images of children so far this year, representing 95% of the webpages it has taken down in that time. These are images where children are likely to have been groomed, coerced or manipulated into performing sexual acts via a webcam. One in five of those pages contained category A material, the most severe form of child sexual abuse, which would involve penetrative activity, sexual activity with an animal or sadism.

On the dark web there was also a significant rise in deepfakes driven by artificial intelligence. Nearly 3,000 images collected in a one-month period on one dark web forum were confirmed to be either criminally pseudo-photographs or prohibited images in the UK. Many of those images are manipulated to depict well-known celebrities as child abusers. There are also images that de-age celebrities to make them look younger than they are.

An area of particular concern is that exchanging hints and tips through paedophile manuals on how to create generative AI or manipulate the technology to that end is not currently illegal, whereas such a manual would be illegal if the image were an actual photograph and not a manipulated one. I welcome the Government’s initiative on that and the fact that there will be new legislation to tackle digital-enabled crime and sexual abuse, including grooming. I also welcome the measures that the Government are going to take on tougher sentences for the most serious offenders, including for rape.

I agree with much of what the Government are saying, but I want to make clear that I do not agree with every single word that every Minister on our Front Bench uses. For example, I do not believe that every person sleeping rough is there because of choice. However, I welcome what the Prime Minister said: that the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 has helped to prevent 640,000 people from becoming homeless, and that veteran homelessness is at a record low.

The advantage of speaking late on in this debate is getting to listen to what others have said. Listening to Opposition Members again and again, one would think that nothing good ever happens in this country, but last week was an exceptionally good week for Chelmsford. On Monday morning, at the break of dawn, the new bridge opened—not just any bridge, but the largest piece of curved steel infrastructure anywhere in England. It connects the old city of Chelmsford to the new garden community. As people drive over the bridge, if they look down to their left they will see the new railway station being built. It is the first time we have built a new railway station on the great eastern main line in over 100 years.

That was Monday. On Tuesday we heard that the outline business case for our new junction, park and ride, cycle routes, bus routes and pedestrian routes had been approved by the Government. That is £68 million-worth of investment that will dramatically change transport through the city of Chelmsford. On Wednesday, 9,300 households started to get cost of living payments—from the Government? No; this is taxpayers’ money, coming from some taxpayers to help others. That was good news. On Thursday we heard that many millions of pounds-worth of investment is coming to our hospitals, which will help to expand our A&E and our wards to serve our growing population. Those are all excellent bits of news for our long-term future, and all secured by the Conservative Government.

On Friday, I went to a meeting where the local Lib Dems basically told me, “Nothing good is happening in Chelmsford.” I repeat, good news on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. I say to Opposition Members: this is a difficult time for many people across this country and across this world. It is a difficult time for diplomacy, a difficult time for democracy and a difficult time for political discourse—but do not talk down our country.