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Category: Speeches

  • Rachel Reeves – 2021 Comments on UK Exports to EU Down 40% in January

    Rachel Reeves – 2021 Comments on UK Exports to EU Down 40% in January

    The comments made by Rachel Reeves, the Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, on 12 March 2021.

    These figures make it clear just how many British businesses have been struggling with the new reams of costly red tape and bureaucracy this Government has wrapped them in.

    Businesses have been appealing to the government to start listening to the problems they’ve been facing, but they’ve been left out in the cold.

    The Government must up their ambition here, and take practical action, hand in hand with businesses, to build on the limited deal they negotiated with the EU.

  • Jess Phillips – 2021 Speech on International Women’s Day

    Jess Phillips – 2021 Speech on International Women’s Day

    The speech made by Jess Phillips, the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, in the House of Commons on 11 March 2021.

    Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and thank you to all in the Speaker’s Office for their consideration. It shows that Parliament is very committed to this issue.

    In this place, we count what we care about—we count the vaccines done; we count the number of people on benefits. We rule or oppose based on a count, and we obsessively track that data. We love to count data about our own popularity. However, we do not currently count dead women. No Government study is done into the patterns every year of the data on victims of domestic abuse who are killed, die by suicide or die suddenly. Dead women is a thing we have all just accepted as part of our daily lives. Dead women are just one of those things.

    Killed women are not vanishingly rare; killed women are common. Dead women do count, and thanks to the brilliant work of Karen Ingala Smith and the Counting Dead Women project, and the academics and charities working on the femicide census, these women’s lives and the scale of male violence against women can be known.

    Since last year on this day, these are the women killed in the UK where a man has been convicted or charged as the primary perpetrator in the case: Vanita Nowell; Tracey Kidd; Nelly Moustafa; Zahida Bi; Josephine Kaye; Shadika Mohsin Patel; Maureen Kidd; Wendy Morse; Nageeba Alariqy; Elsie Smith; Kelly Stewart; Gwendoline Bound; Ruth Williams; Victoria Woodhall; Kelly Fitzgibbons, who was killed alongside her two daughters; Caroline Walker; Katie Walker; Zobaidah Salangy; Betty Dobbin; Sonia Calvi; Maryan Ismail; Daniela Espirito Santo; Ruth Brown, Denise Keane-Barnett-Simmons; Jadwiga Szczygielska; Emma Jane McParland; Louise Aitchison; Silke Hartshorne-Jones; Hyacinth Morris; Louise Smith; Claire Parry; Aya Hachem; Melissa Belshaw; Yvonne Lawson McCann; Lyndsey Alcock; Aneta Zdun; Nikoleta Zdun; Mandy Houghton; Amy-Leanne Stringfellow; Bibaa Henry; Nicole Smallman; Dawn Bennett; Gemma Marjoram; Karolina Zinkeviciene; Rosemary Hill; Jackie Hoadley; Khloemae Loy; Kerry Woolley; Shelly Clark; Bernadette Walker; Stella Frew; Dawn Fletcher; Deborah Jones; Patrycja Wyrebek; Therasia Gordon; Esther Egbon; Susan Baird; Balvinder Gahir; Lynda Cooper; Lorraine Cox; Suzanne Winnister; Maria Howarth; Abida Karim; Saman Mir Sacharvi; Vian Mangrio; Poorna Kaameshwari Sivaraj, who was killed alongside her three-year-old son; Louise Rump; Julie Williams; Rhonda Humphreys; Nicole McGregor; Angela Webber; Carole Wright; Sarah Smith; Ildiko Bettison; Kimberley Deakin; Marie Gladders; Paula Leather; Caroline Kayll; Lauren Mae Bloomer; Hansa Patel; Helen Bannister; Marta Vento; Andreia Rodriguez Guilherme; Joanna Borucka; Azaria Williams; Catherine Granger; Eileen Dean; Sue Addis; Carol Hart; Jacqueline Price; Mary Wells; Tiprat Argatu; Christie Frewin; Souad Bellaha; Ann Turner; N’Taya Elliott-Cleverley; Rose Marie Tinton; Ranjit Gill; Helen Joy; Emma Robertson; Nicole Anderson; Linda Maggs; Carol Smith; Sophie Moss; Christina Rowe; Susan Hannaby; Michelle Lizanec; Wieslawa Mierzejewska; Judith Rhead; Anna Ovsyannikova; Tina Eyre; Katie Simpson; Bennylyn Burke and her two-year-old daughter; Samantha Heap; Geetika Goyal; Imogen Bohajczuk; and Wenjing Xu.

    There has been much debate over what I would say at the end of the list. Her name rings out across all our media—we have all prayed that the name of Sarah Everard would never be on any list. Let us pray every day and work every day to make sure that nobody’s name ends up on this list again.

  • Peter Bottomley – 2021 Speech on International Women’s Day

    Peter Bottomley – 2021 Speech on International Women’s Day

    The speech made by Peter Bottomley, the Conservative MP for Worthing West and the Father of the House, in the House of Commons on 11 March 2021.

    Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)

    We now go to the Father of the House, who, I recollect, has taken part in this International Women’s Day debate on every occasion I have observed over the last 25 years—long before it was fashionable.

    Sir Peter Bottomley (Worthing West) (Con)

    That is probably because my mother thought she would have been a better MP than I have been, and my wife, daughters and granddaughters are probably certain that they could be, too.

    I want to recognise that there has been progress, but I also want to join the right hon. and hon. Ladies—colleagues—who have spoken so far. We will listen in silence to the next speaker, the hon. Member for Birmingham, Yardley (Jess Phillips), giving the roll call of those who been killed by men.

    I echo the remarks that have been and will be made about the fact that cuts in our target for UN overseas aid will predominantly hit women—the women whom I have been dedicated to since I was a trustee of Christian Aid, and since I served on the Select Committee on overseas aid in the 1970s. I hope that the House will have the opportunity to say that the Government should stick to the promise that was proudly in the Conservative manifesto at the last election.

    Domestically, it is not a question of, “Most men behave well most of the time, and no one can claim to be perfect,” or a question of, “Why are most women in a worse position?” The fact is that we all need to change. I hope that we can get to the stage where I do not have to carry a whistle on my keyring, and neither do my daughters and granddaughters.

    People need to feel safe at work, when travelling and in their domestic circumstances. For that to happen, we need to find a way to ensure that people have the patience and courage to challenge behaviours in themselves and others that result in people feeling threatened and suffering violence, whether physical, mental or economic. I would like people to be able to be people. I recognise that we may be men, we may be women, we may be female, we may be male, we may be mixed, we may have other orientations or we may feel differently. That is not the point; the point is that we should be safe and secure, and we should be able to talk. For that, we need to encourage each other.

    I hope that the elements of this debate will be reported in the newspapers, along with practical suggestions about what we can see in ourselves and around us. As Dr Richard Stone—one of the assessors, along with Sir William Macpherson, on the Stephen Lawrence inquiry—said in relation to housing, too often we ask the victims to put things right. He said that it is normally white, middle-class men in full-time jobs who have the power. It is our responsibility to join with others to make life better. Whatever our age, stage, race, background or religion, people need to be safe, and at the moment women do not feel safe. I am glad to have contributed, and I hope to learn from what I will hear in a moment.

  • Chris Heaton-Harris – 2021 Comments on the Hope Valley Line

    Chris Heaton-Harris – 2021 Comments on the Hope Valley Line

    The comments made by Chris Heaton-Harris, the Rail Minister, on 11 March 2021.

    I am delighted to confirm £137 million for this scheme to remove bottlenecks on the Hope Valley line, transforming journeys between Sheffield and Manchester – 2 dynamic Northern Powerhouse cities.

    We are committed to levelling up infrastructure across the North, and these important upgrades will make a huge difference to passengers, providing the punctual, reliable services they deserve, as we build back better from COVID-19.

  • Matt Warman – 2021 Comments on the Shared Rural Network

    Matt Warman – 2021 Comments on the Shared Rural Network

    The comments made by Matt Warman, the Minister for Digital Infrastructure, on 11 March 2021.

    The Shared Rural Network is a key part of the government’s infrastructure revolution to level up and unlock new economic opportunities in every corner of the UK.

    Mobile firms are making great progress boosting 4G services in countryside communities as part of their side of this landmark agreement.

    With the publication of this notice, we shall now push on with making patchy or poor coverage a thing of the past as we build back better from the pandemic.

  • Dominic Raab – 2021 Statement in Norway

    Dominic Raab – 2021 Statement in Norway

    The statement made by Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, on 11 March 2021.

    Ine thank you so much, it’s cold and snowy outside, certainly even for us Brits, but a very warm welcome. Thank you so much for your hospitality and I think above all for Norway’s friendship. We really value it and I believe we can do even more in the months and years ahead.

    As Ine said, I had a meeting with Minister Ulstein, we’re looking forward to the roundtable with Nordic Foreign Ministers later on this afternoon. Again, the different areas of collaboration I think are really exciting for us. We’ve obviously got a long-standing partnership across many areas, from the ‘force for good’ work we do within aid and development through to security collaboration.

    We are fellow NATO members. UK armed forces have trained in Norway with your brilliant troops for over 50 years. I think one of the most professional partnerships we have – certainly very prized on our side.

    We stand shoulder to shoulder with you in defending the North Atlantic and countering threats in the region. And now I think it’s fantastic having you on the security council – so many areas of common interest – but more importantly common values.

    Norway, the incredible contribution you are already making, whether it’s on climate change or the recent initiative we worked together on to allow COVID-19 vaccinations to take place in conflict zones, so having a ceasefire moment in conflict zones for that vaccination.

    Your lead on humanitarian issues in Syria is also I think laudable and something that we respect to learn from and also want to support. We are also building a new economic partnership. I think the negotiations on the new Free Trade Agreement with EEA EFTA members are going well.

    Of course, there are always issues we will haggle on but for us the political imperative of a win-win deal is extremely important. And of course it builds on the agreement we signed last year to make sure we’ve got full rights for UK citizens living in Norway, and also Norwegians living in the UK. Just to say that we think the contributions Norwegians make in the UK is brilliant, they are always welcome and always valued.

    So, as I said, our partnership is one of shared values, as champions of democracy, human rights and the international rule of law. We want to get the vaccine delivered obviously at home but also to the poorest and most vulnerable countries around the world.

    We are pursuing sustainable development, we want to bounce back economically from this terrible pandemic in a more sustainable and greener way. All areas where we’re working together and, of course, with the UK hosting the COP26, in wanting to switch the dial on climate change, we couldn’t have a better partner than our Norwegian friends in making sure that we are ambitious, that we are getting other countries locked into a deal which can really serve as a step forward.

    We are delighted to sign the memorandum of understanding on increased cooperation in the Polar Regions. Because after all we’re not just North Sea neighbours, we are also neighbours in the Antarctic. And, of course, the Polar Regions are the fastest warming places on the planet and that has implications for all of us because of the impact on sea levels.

    So I’m delighted today that we’ve committed to work on scientific research and also for advocating increased protections for the Arctic and the Southern Oceans which again Norway leads on and I know that your Prime Minister is really committed to as well.

    Above all, there’s a huge amount of interest for our citizens in all this collaboration, whether it’s on trade or security cooperation and I think the scope for Norway and the UK being an even stronger force for good in the world in the weeks, months and years ahead is enormous and I’m very optimistic that that relationship will go from strength to strength.

  • Dominic Raab – 2021 Statement on Libya’s Government of National Unity

    Dominic Raab – 2021 Statement on Libya’s Government of National Unity

    The statement made by Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, in conjunction with the Governments of France, Germany, Italy and the United States, on 11 March 2021.

    France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States of America welcome the vote of confidence by the overwhelming majority of the members of the House of Representatives meeting in Sirte 8-10 March to endorse the cabinet chosen by Prime Minister-designate Abdulhamid Dabaiba for an interim Government of National Unity.

    We applaud the Libyan people for their determination to restore unity to their country. We commend all Libyan actors for constructively participating in and facilitating this vote by a body representing the voices of the Libyan people.

    This outcome is a fundamental step on the path towards the unification of Libyan institutions and a comprehensive political solution to a crisis that has tested Libya and its people. Through the Berlin Process, we will continue to support the Libyan people and the UN efforts jointly with our partners.

    We appreciate the statement issued by Prime Minister Sarraj welcoming the vote of the House of Representatives and expressing readiness to hand over power, and now call upon all current Libyan authorities and actors to show the same responsibility and ensure a smooth and constructive handover of all competences and duties to the interim Government of National Unity. The new interim executive authority will have the primary tasks of organizing free and fair Presidential and Parliamentary elections on 24 December 2021, followed by a transfer of authority to Libya’s democratically chosen leaders; fully implementing the 23 October 2020 ceasefire agreement; commencing a process of national reconciliation; and addressing the basic needs of the Libyan population.

    France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States of America welcome the withdrawal of foreign forces and mercenaries from the area around Ghardabya airport, in order to allow members of the House of Representatives to safely participate in the parliamentary session in Sirte, and praise the work of the Joint Military Commission 5+5 to make this possible. It is important that such a development represent an irreversible step towards the full implementation of the 23 October 2020 ceasefire agreement, including the withdrawal of all foreign fighters and mercenaries from all of Libya.

    We express gratitude to the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General for Libya, Jan Kubiš, for their tireless efforts to stabilize Libya and ensure stability and prosperity to its people.

  • Dominic Raab – 2021 Statement on Houthi Attacks

    Dominic Raab – 2021 Statement on Houthi Attacks

    The joint statement issued by numerous Governments, including the United Kingdom, on 11 March 2021.

    We, the governments of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, condemn the sustained Houthi offensive on the Yemeni city of Ma’rib and the major escalation of attacks the Houthis have conducted and claimed against Saudi Arabia. Their determined attack on Ma’rib is worsening an already dire humanitarian crisis.

    Our renewed diplomatic efforts to end the Yemen conflict, in support of the UN Special Envoy, with the support of Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the international community, offer the best hope for ending this war. We urge the Houthis to seize this opportunity for peace and end the ongoing escalation.

    We reiterate our firm commitment to the security and integrity of Saudi territory, and to restoring stability and calm along the Saudi/Yemeni border. We reaffirm our strong support for a swift resolution of the Yemeni conflict, which will bring much-needed stability to the region and immediate benefit to the people of Yemen.

  • Ellen Murray – 2021 Resignation from LGBT Advisory Panel

    Ellen Murray – 2021 Resignation from LGBT Advisory Panel

    The letter of resignation written by Ellen Murray, a member of the Government’s LGBT Advisory Panel, on 11 March 2021.

    Dear Secretary of State,

    I write to you today to tender my resignation from the UK Government’s LGBT Advisory Panel with immediate effect. I do this with some sadness, but more with frustration at the government’s responses to calls to prohibit conversion therapy, its ongoing treatment of LGBT refugees and its participation in the worsening culture war on trans rights issues in the national press.

    Repeating the concerns of my colleagues who have also resigned, the government’s appallingly poor response to conversion therapy, the abandonment of trans people’s rights to healthcare and recognition before the law, and the continued persecution of refugees fall well below what LGBT people should expect from those claiming to represent us in public office.

    It has become a great surprise to me personally that I can now recognise the Northern Ireland government as more willing to meaningfully progress LGBT people’s rights than the UK Government, a change I did not see coming so soon.

    I fully support my colleagues Jayne Ozanne and James Morton and wish the remaining members of the Panel the best of luck. I urge you and your ministerial colleagues to take them seriously and to recognise their expertise.

    Yours sincerely,

    Ellen Murray

    CC Kemi Badenoch MP, Minister for Equalities

  • Joseph Butterworth – 1821 Speech on Roman Catholics

    Joseph Butterworth – 1821 Speech on Roman Catholics

    The House of Commons Hansard report made following the speech made by Joseph Butterworth, the then MP for Dover, on 12 March 1821.

    Joseph Butterworth presented a Petition against the Claims of the Catholics, from the parish of St. Dunstan’s, London, said, that having been unable to attend the late debates upon this subject, he would briefly mention some of his reasons for concurring with the present petition.

    With all possible respect for the motives of those who supported the resolutions, he conceived them to be grounded on mistaken principles. It was not because Roman Catholics held the doctrines of transubstantiation, the adoration of the Virgin Mary, and the sacrifice of the mass, &c. that our ancestors excluded them from high offices and seats in parliament; but on account of their intolerant spirit in civil and religious affairs, and their dangerous acknowledgment of a foreign supreme jurisdiction over this country. The oaths and declarations were a mere test to ascertain who were Roman Catholics. Although this was not a subject of clamour out of doors, yet it would be much more lastingly felt than the evanescent politics of the day.

    If the bills now before the House should pass into law, they would transfer discontent from Ireland to the Protestant population of this country, as well as afford great dissatisfaction to the Protestants there. He entertained no fear for the stability of the Protestant religion, even if it were separated from the state, because he believed it to be founded upon the principles of eternal truth; but as the Protestant church and the state were in this country united, he should deeply lament if what God, by his providence, had joined together, should, by the adoption of the measures now before parliament, be put asunder. But if Roman Catholics were to change their intolerant principles, and renounce the supremacy of the pope, he, for one, should have no objection to their possessing political power, notwithstanding the peculiar doctrines of their church.

    The spirit of that church was, however, evident, from various documents issued by the present pope. He should only instance one, viz. the instructions of that pontiff to his nuncio at Vienna, in 1805, in which he maintains the pretended right of deposing heretical princes, and deplores the misfortunes of those times, which, as he says, prevent the spouse of Jesus Christ (the church) from putting those holy maxims into practice, and constrain her to suspend the course of her just severities against the enemies of the faith. The petition alluded to the Jesuits’ college established in Lancashire. That order had been revived by the present pope, although it had been found so dangerous to the peace and well-being of society, that it had been put down by the common consent of all the courts of Europe.

    He conceived that Roman Catholics, if they possessed political power, never would consent to pay tithes in support of a Protestant ministry, which they considered as belonging to an heretical church. As tithes were before the Reformation in the hands of the Roman Catholics themselves, and had been looked upon by them as the patrimony of St. Peter, they could not, in their opinion, be alienated by any temporal authority, nor become property of a Protestant church. He, therefore, thought that a general commutation for tithes should at least precede any concession of the Roman Catholic claims; but as a sincere friend to civil and religious liberty, he must confess himself opposed to the admission of Roman Catholics to political power.