Financial Services and Markets Bill [Lords]

Debate between Vikki Slade and John Healey

2nd reading
Tuesday 10th November 2026 Commons Chamber

[John Healey]

I think that most would regard the total removal of consumer protection or regulation as a reckless move. I hope the hon. Gentleman accepts that the Bill will reduce and remove unnecessary and duplicative regulation. I also hope that, where he has constructive, practical suggestions to offer, he will offer them as part of the House’s scrutiny of the Bill.

[Vikki Slade (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)]

I am grateful to the Chancellor for talking about consumer protection, but one group of consumers is missing from the Bill: people who have been victims of economic abuse. They are trapped with financial products through no market failure or fault of their own, even if they want to move to something that is cheaper and therefore a smaller risk to their joint borrower. The Bill does not do anything for those people. Will the Chancellor consider some amendments to help them?

[John Healey]

If the hon. Lady wishes to table amendments for debate and consideration, she should please do so. If she looks at the detail of the financial inclusion strategy that we have published, with some of the measures now being put in place, she will see a recognition of concern for that group of people and some of the measures that may help in the future.

I will return to the four headline purposes and definitions of the content of the Bill, the first of which is the streamlining of regulation, and the second is allowing credit unions to expand, enabling more people to benefit from membership. Thirdly, the Bill modernises consumer protections and access to redress. Fourthly, it supports business lending and investment here in Britain. I am grateful that the Bill has received support from across the sector. UK Finance has confirmed that the Bill supports

“growth and competitiveness while strengthening consumer outcomes”.

TheCityUK has reasonably and rightly said, “Get on with it” and that the priority now needs to be on fully delivering these reforms. Before I move on, I want to pay tribute to my right hon. and learned Friend the Economic Secretary to the Treasury for all her work in developing the policy in the Bill and on the issues ranging from financial inclusion to the digitisation of markets.

Let me take those four major sections briefly in turn. First, on regulation, good growth demands an active state that is willing to deliver better regulation and quicker decisions. The Bill does that by updating the regulatory framework to support innovation, speed up decision making and streamline processes that at the moment add little value. It does so in five ways. First, it reduces the number of regulators that firms need to engage with by abolishing the Payment Systems Regulator and consolidating its functions within the Financial Conduct Authority. Secondly, it speeds up regulators’ decision making with ambitious new deadlines, including when deciding to authorise a new firm. The Bill also creates a new provisional licence regime to support innovative new firms while they apply for full authorisation. Thirdly, it strengthens oversight of the regulators. The Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority will now be required to publish long-term strategies, so that regulated firms and consumers can better understand their priorities, and Government and Parliament can better hold them to account against delivery.

Ukraine and Wider Operational Update

Debate between Vikki Slade and John Healey

Wednesday 7th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[John Healey]

I do indeed. My hon. Friend is right: a secure Ukraine is at the heart of a secure Europe and at the heart of a secure UK. That will be a consideration for all Members of this House if we get to the stage when we have a peace deal and a decision to deploy and command the multinational force in Ukraine.

[Vikki Slade (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)]

President Trump is supposed to be working on a peace deal for Ukraine, but he has been so much more focused on invading Venezuela and making threats against Greenland. What assurance can the Secretary of State give to the House on the US’s continued commitment to getting a deal in Ukraine? What contingencies are in place to revisit the EU-led proposals should they be necessary?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Vikki Slade and John Healey

Monday 3rd November 2025 Commons Chamber

[John Healey]

We have the increase in the budget this year; we have the increase in the budget over the Parliament. Our job now is to ensure that we can deliver value for money for that increased investment, and use that increased investment to drive economic growth across the UK. It is thanks to that increased investment that we have been able to announce and launch our defence housing strategy today.

[Vikki Slade (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)]

T10. Several of my veteran constituents have contacted me about very long delays in payments under the armed forces compensation scheme. Mr Butler, who lives near Wareham, has two separate claims—one for hearing loss and another for an arm injury—and has been waiting two years for an outcome. As we look forward to Remembrance Sunday and reflect on the sacrifices made, what steps is the Department taking to ensure that we pay our debts to those who have served us more recently?

Strategic Defence Review

Debate between Vikki Slade and John Healey

Monday 2nd June 2025 Commons Chamber

[John Healey]

I know that my hon. Friend will welcome the strategic defence review, and the reviewers’ reinforcement of how valuable our British Red Arrows are to the nation. He has made a very powerful case for the capacity to look for a replacement Hawk trainer in his constituency. The SDR makes the commitment and sets the vision that allows us to say, “We will ensure that there is a defence dividend for the defence investments we make in the future. We will do more than we saw under the previous Government to direct British taxpayers’ investment first to British jobs, British-based businesses, British innovation and British tech.”

[Vikki Slade (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)]

I rise to speak as a proud member of the armed forces covenant family; my husband Paul is a naval veteran, and my daughter is a reservist. I am really pleased to see the whole-society approach in chapter 6 of the defence review, but what actions are being taken to make a career of service in the armed forces more attractive to young people and to address the specific issues raised by those leaving the service, particularly how the nation fails to treat them as the heroes that they are?

[John Healey]

The hon. Lady makes a very powerful case, and I pay tribute to the members of her family who make their own contribution to service. I encourage her to do more of what she has done: speak up, explain, and help us close the gap that has been growing in recent years. A wide range of people in society no longer have any personal or family connection to the forces. We need them to understand, recognise and pay tribute to the service and the sacrifice of those who do serve—those who put on the uniform and provide for us all.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Vikki Slade and John Healey

Monday 19th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[John Healey]

We are developing the veterans’ strategy in close consultation with veterans and the organisations that represent them. They are at the heart of the process; I can give my hon. Friend that reassurance. I am glad that she is looking forward to the strategy’s publication.

[Vikki Slade (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)]

UNCLOS––the United Nations convention on the law of the sea—is an incredible international anti-piracy and anti-drug-running tool, but as the House of Lords discussed in 2022, it needs upgrading to include measures on modern slavery and human trafficking. What work are the Government doing on that in the international sphere?

Russian Maritime Activity and UK Response

Debate between Vikki Slade and John Healey

Wednesday 22nd January 2025 Commons Chamber

[John Healey]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for the work he does on chairing the all-party group on Nordic countries in this House. One of the benefits of all Nordic countries now being part of NATO, and of the very close defence and security relationships we have with those countries, is that we can indeed learn from each other. It is not just the new approach taken before Christmas by the Swedish, but the sense that a country is stronger if its society is resilient and if societies recognise they may be under threat and are ready to respond if required. There are certainly some lessons for us in the UK as we consider the future and consider the rising level and complexity of threats we may face in the years ahead.

[Vikki Slade (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)]

Last week, alongside other hon. Members and peers in the armed forces parliamentary scheme, I visited the nation’s flagship Prince of Wales aircraft carrier. The commanding officer Captain Will Blackett and his team showed us the ship’s capability, and we witnessed an incredible demonstration of how they can respond. But when we asked about how they would respond to ballistic missiles, or how this place and other institutions are protected from hostile states, it was a terrifying response. I realise the strategic defence review is ongoing and that there is a commitment to get to 2.5%, but with President Trump threatening to pull out of NATO, that is not enough. What plans does the Secretary of State have to go faster and to put our military retention and recruitment on a stronger footing, so that our country and infrastructure are properly protected?

[John Healey]

Captain Blackett and his crew were delighted that the hon. Lady and other members of the armed forces parliamentary scheme were able to go on board to be briefed and look at what an extraordinary piece of British military kit we have. The strategic defence review is set up to examine exactly the sort of points that she raises. It is designed to look at the threats we may face, the capabilities we may need, the resources available, and, in particular, the accelerated way in which the nature of warfare is changing and the central role of accelerating technology development in the changing natures both of the threat and of the capabilities that we must develop with allies to meet that threat.