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Tag: 2023

  • PRESS RELEASE : All Israelis and Palestinians deserve peace and security – UK Statement at the Security Council [March 2023]

    PRESS RELEASE : All Israelis and Palestinians deserve peace and security – UK Statement at the Security Council [March 2023]

    The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 22 March 2023.

    Statement by Ambassador James Kariuki at the UN Security Council briefing on the Middle East.

    Mr President,

    We commend Israeli and Palestinian officials for their engagement in Aqaba on 26 February and Sharm El Sheikh on 19 March and thank Jordan and Egypt for hosting.

    Commitments to desist from provocative unilateral actions and to pursue further actions in support of de-escalation are critical ahead of the convergence of Easter, Passover and Ramadan.

    It is also critical that both parties abide by the commitments made and take forward promised confidence building measures, including to support the historic Status Quo governing Jerusalem’s holy sites and all those who worship there.

    Mr President, let me make four points.

    The Palestinian Authority must resume security cooperation with Israel, fight against terror and incitement, and maintain security in Area A. We also condemn indiscriminate rocket fire from Gaza.

    Whilst Israel has a legitimate right to self-defence, unilateral incursions that result in the deaths of innocent Palestinians only escalate tensions. Israeli security forces must operate in accordance with international law, show restraint in the use of live fire, and conduct thorough investigations into the deaths of Palestinian civilians.

    Second, Israel must also cease the approval of settlements and legalisation of outposts and from evictions of Palestinians in occupied territory, particularly in East Jerusalem.

    The UK opposes the repeal of the Disengagement Law by the Knesset. This repeal is a unilateral measure which further undermines prospects for a two-state solution, and damages any renewed efforts at de-escalation.

    Third, settler violence has gone unchecked for too long. The UK condemns all forms of violence by settlers, including the fatal attacks perpetrated against innocent Palestinians in Huwara.

    I urge Israeli security forces to provide appropriate protection to the Palestinian civilian population as they are obliged to under international law, investigate and bring to justice perpetrators of settler violence, and end the culture of permissiveness and impunity.

    Finally President,

    Inflammatory rhetoric and incitement of violence by certain Israeli political leaders only serves to drive settler violence. The UK condemned the Israeli Finance Minister’s comments calling for the Palestinian village of Huwara to be “wiped-out” and his recent comments that deny the existence of the Palestinian people, their right to self-determination, and their history and culture. The United Kingdom extends its full support to Jordan and its sovereign territory.

    All Israelis and Palestinians deserve peace and security, particularly during the holy festivals of Easter, Passover and Ramadan. This will require political will, good faith, strong co-operation, and meaningful actions by both Israelis and the Palestinians.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Leading UK bosses join mission to get thousands more prisoners into work [March 2023]

    PRESS RELEASE : Leading UK bosses join mission to get thousands more prisoners into work [March 2023]

    The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 22 March 2023.

    More than 90 business experts have been enlisted as prison employment advisors to help drive thousands of prison leavers into work and away from a life of crime.

    • business leaders from top firms now offering expertise at all 92 ‘resettlement’ prisons
    • household names including Iceland, Greggs and Oliver Bonas backing initiative
    • number of offenders in work 6 months after release has increased by two-thirds

    Bosses from top firms including the Co-op, Greggs, Iceland, and Oliver Bonas have now been appointed as Employment Advisory Board chairs in all 92 resettlement prisons, which help prepare prisoners nearing the end of their sentence for release into the community.

    The Boards link prisons to leading business figures who can offer their expertise on the skills, qualifications and training needed to help prisoners re-enter the workforce.

    Using these insights, prisons can tailor their training and workshops to match local labour market demands so ex-offenders are job-ready when they walk out the prison gate.

    The initiative was launched in March 2022 and will play a crucial role in boosting the UK economy while tackling the £18 billion annual cost of reoffending, with ex-prisoners in steady employment being nine percentage points less likely to reoffend.

    Getting more prison leavers into work helps to protect the public and the number in employment 6 months after release increased by almost two thirds between April 2021 and March 2022, from 14 per cent to 23 per cent.

    Deputy Prime Minister, Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor, Dominic Raab MP, said:

    Our innovative scheme is helping to get ex-offenders into work, keeping them on the straight and narrow while providing businesses with the staff they need to grow.

    We are already seeing the rewards with more prison leavers in work six months after release – helping them turn their backs on crime, contribute to society and saving the taxpayer money.

    Alongside breaking the cycle of crime, getting prison leavers work-ready helps employers build the workforce they and the economy needs.

    Research from the Ministry of Justice shows that 90% of businesses that employ ex-offenders agreed that they are good attenders, motivated and trustworthy*. Harnessing the talent from those leaving the prison is already supporting employers to fill vacancies bringing benefits to businesses and the UK economy.

    Richard Walker, Executive Chairman, Iceland Foods, said:

    The rehabilitation of offenders back into the workforce can offer huge benefits to UK businesses and give those individuals seeking employment a much-needed lifeline. At Iceland we feel it’s the right thing to do, and although we’re at the beginning of this rehabilitation journey we are already seeing how it can offer real societal and business impact.

    Employment Advisory Boards allow business leaders, including Iceland’s own Director of Rehabilitation Paul Cowley, an inside track to support ex-offenders, equipping them with much needed skills that employers like us will value both now and in the future.

    Olly Tress, Founder and CEO of Oliver Bonas and EAB Chair at HMP Belmarsh said:

    Employment Advisory Boards are helping prisoners to be job-ready for opportunities in the outside world, whether it be in IT support, catering or hospitality.

    It’s a true win-win situation by plugging gaps in the skills shortages across various sectors, while providing a more stable future for the individual so they can stay crime-free.

    Beckie Rowlands, Greggs Fresh Start Manager and EAB Chair at HMP Foston Hall said:

    At Greggs, we pride ourselves on our culture, creating an environment which is inclusive of everyone. Being an inclusive business also means making it easier for people who might face challenges with getting a job. Through our Fresh Start programme, we proactively offer training and work experience to people who are transitioning into work, including care leavers, people who have been unemployed for a long time, or who are leaving the armed services or prison. We provide employability workshops, mentoring, mock interviews, interviews, placements and, most importantly, sustainable job opportunities to candidates that we would not ordinarily meet.

    Working with the Employment Advisory Boards is a great way for us to not only reduce the impact of re-offending within our communities, but also an avenue to find great employees to join Greggs.

    Dedicated job experts have been recruited in every resettlement prison in England and Wales and will walk prisoners through job applications and give them interview training so they are ready to find jobs in booming sectors such as construction, haulage, and logistics.

    One-stop hubs where prisoners can access career advice and support with tasks such as CV writing have also been established in 91 of 92 resettlement prisons.

    Dan Whyte, former prisoner, founder and Co-Director of DWRM Consultants, said:

    When I received my life sentence, I had no qualifications at all, but I was determined to use my time inside productively by studying and focusing on the career I wanted when I walked through the prison gates.

    Having a job gave me the direction I needed to stay on the straight-and-narrow after my release and now run a successful business helping prisoners get access to university training and education.

    The launch of Employment Advisory Boards and Prison Employment Leads forms a central part of the Prisons White Paper, published in December 2021. This includes a major focus on upskilling offenders so they can turn their back on crime for good.

  • PRESS RELEASE : UK announces new support for improving access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene in Asia and Africa [March 2023]

    PRESS RELEASE : UK announces new support for improving access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene in Asia and Africa [March 2023]

    The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 22 March 2023.

    Speaking at the United Nations Water Conference, Lord Goldsmith announced a new programme to improve access to safe, reliable and affordable water supplies.

    • the UK has announced a new 5-year programme to improve access to safe, reliable and affordable water supplies and sanitation services, benefitting millions in Asia and Africa
    • UK Climate and Environment minister Lord Goldsmith announced new UK funding at the United Nation Water Conference, the first UN conference focused on water since 1977
    • new support builds on the UK’s success helping 120 million people gain access to basic water and hygiene facilities between 2010 and 2020

    Speaking at the first UN High-Level Conference on Water in 40 years, UK Climate and Environment Minister, Lord Goldsmith announced new support to improve the quality of water supply, and sanitation and hygiene services in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

    £18.5 million in UK funding will help provide safe, reliable, and affordable water supply sanitation and hygiene services that help prevent disease, protect people’s health and safeguard the environment from pollution. It is a key part of the UK government’s commitment to help end the preventable deaths of mothers, young children and infants.

    The programme will help people living in poor communities across Asia and Africa, including in rural areas and in informal settlements in towns and cities. The funding will also support improvements to water, sanitation and hygiene services in schools, including menstrual hygiene, and in health facilities where it will have a major impact on reducing infection and improving quality of care received by patients.

    Between 2010 and 2020, UK funding helped over 120 million people gain access to clean water supplies and sanitation. Since 2020 the UK has also reached 1.2 billion people with information promoting hygiene, with a strong emphasis on handwashing, including to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

    The provision of safe water supply, sanitation and hygiene services helps protect people, especially young children, from diarrhoea, cholera and other killer diseases. It also reduces the huge effort and time that women and girls spend collecting water, opening up education and employment prospects.

    UK Climate and Environment Minister Lord Goldsmith said:

    Access to water is a human right and it is shocking that by 2030, 1.6 billion people will still not have access to a safe, reliable water supply. We urgently need to scale up global action, to support governments to strengthen and improve water sanitation and hygiene services.

    The UK’s new funding will build on our long-running work to ensure more people have access to clean and safe water, to prevent deaths, open up education and employment, and reduce poverty.

    The UN Conference on Water comes at a critical time. It is predicted that global freshwater demand will outstrip supply by 40% by 2030. Lord Goldsmith will meet with international partners and members of the private sector to discuss progress on ensuring water is a safe, sustainable and accessible resource globally.

    This builds on the UK’s COP26 Presidency and work to drive progress on improving access to water, as well as how we value, manage and use water. At COP26, the UK and Malawi launched the Fair Water Footprints initiative, ensuring that goods consumed in the UK and across the world, have sustainable, just and equitable water management.

  • PRESS RELEASE : HRC52 – Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela [March 2023]

    PRESS RELEASE : HRC52 – Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela [March 2023]

    The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 22 March 2023.

    Statement for Interactive Dialogue with the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela, delivered by UK Human Rights Ambassador Rita French.

    Thank you Mr President.

    We thank the Fact-Finding Mission for its update, and we welcome the renewal of your crucial mandate.

    The work of the Mission remains essential to monitor, document and report serious human rights violations in Venezuela, particularly for vulnerable populations including women, LGBTQ+ people and indigenous communities. There is limited progress on accountability for human rights violations and abuses by Venezuelan authorities. Perpetrators of these abuses continue to walk free with impunity.

    Threats and intimidation of human rights defenders continues. In January 2023 alone, 187 attacks were registered against them.

    We are also closely monitoring the two proposed bills that would severely limit the civic and democratic space and the activities of civil society in Venezuela.

    The upcoming electoral period in the country is critical to the country’s stability and for recovery to a democratic path where all Venezuelans can participate. Guaranteeing the free exercise of the right to association is fundamental to holding free and fair elections.

    What is the extent of accountability for human rights abuses and violations that your Mission has documented?

    Thank you.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Trade Update – UK-Gulf Cooperation Council FTA [March 2023]

    PRESS RELEASE : Trade Update – UK-Gulf Cooperation Council FTA [March 2023]

    The press release issued by the Department for International Trade on 22 March 2023.

    A trade update on the UK-Gulf Cooperation Council Free Trade Agreement.

    The third round of negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) between the UK and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) took place between 12 and 16 March.

    The round was hosted by GCC in Riyadh and held in a hybrid fashion. A number of UK negotiators from across the Government travelled to Riyadh for in-person discussions and others attended virtually.

    Draft treaty text was advanced across the majority of chapters. Technical discussions were held across 13 policy areas over 30 sessions. Good progress was made and both sides remain committed to securing an ambitious, comprehensive and modern agreement fit for the 21st century.

    An FTA will be a substantial economic opportunity and a significant moment in the UK-GCC relationship. Government analysis shows that, in the long run, a deal with the GCC is expected to increase trade by at least 16%, add at least £1.6 billion a year to the UK economy and contribute an additional £600 million or more to UK.

    The fourth round of negotiations is expected to be hosted by the UK later this year.

    His Majesty’s Government remains clear that any deal we sign will be in the best interests of the British people and the United Kingdom economy.

  • Emma Hardy – 2023 Speech on the Budget

    Emma Hardy – 2023 Speech on the Budget

    The speech made by Emma Hardy, the Labour MP for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle, in the House of Commons on 20 March 2023.

    It is good to see you back, Madam Deputy Speaker.

    This Budget has been described as being “slightly better” than the previous Prime Minister’s Budget, which crashed the economy. At least during the delivery of this Budget statement we were not watching on our phones as the pound plummeted, but what a low bar to reach above. Nothing says “clutching at straws” like the staged cheering of a “pothole fund”, whose very existence tells us that routine road maintenance has been starved of funds—another example of the managed decline that we have seen after 13 long years of Conservative rule.

    This Budget is weak and unambitious. It is a sticking plaster, an attempt to fix mistakes that consecutive Conservative chancellors have made, and it does nothing to address the real problems that people face. What does it give us? We find ourselves facing the biggest drop in living standards on record. The average French family is now a tenth richer and the average German family a fifth richer than their British counterparts. Wages are now lower in real terms than they were 13 years ago. This stalling wage growth has left British workers £11,000 a year worse off. Taxes as a share of GDP are at a 30-year high, which is the equivalent of every household paying £4,600 more tax each year than in 2019-20. The OECD has said that the UK economy is the weakest in the G7. The only other country that is set to have a lower rate of growth and more contraction of its economy is Russia.

    Why is this? The Government want to point to international factors such as covid and Ukraine, but those factors do not explain away the unique situation that the UK is facing. Yes, the Conservatives’ Brexit deal has had an impact, but these roots go far deeper. The roots of our economic difficulties go back to austerity in 2010, and the utter chaos and dysfunction at the heart of Government since 2016. The British people are literally paying the price for the internal wars within the Conservative party. Let us be honest: the Conservative party has no strategy and no plan to grow our economy, because the Conservative party no longer knows who it is or what it stands for. We are seeing that again this week as the soap opera continues, and the headlines about what the former Prime Minister did hit the newspapers instead of a real analysis of what is happening to the cost of living crisis.

    We see another example when we look at the Conservatives’ desperate attempt to form an economic plan. In January 2020 the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy introduced an industrial strategy that promised five foundations of productivity. That lasted only a year. In the spring of 2021 the Budget abolished the industrial strategy and replaced it with “Build Back Better: our plan for growth”, which contained three core pillars of growth. That lasted less than a year. In February 2022 the Chancellor—now the Prime Minister—abolished the pillars and the foundations, and introduced three priorities for growth. That lasted seven months. In September 2022 the Chancellor, the right hon. Member for Spelthorne (Kwasi Kwarteng), left out the pillars, foundations and priorities in favour of a growth plan—the less said about that, the better. It lasted four months. In January 2023 the new Chancellor brought back the pillars, but managed to increase their number from three to four. So far, that has lasted three months. What an utter farce! No wonder business investment is the lowest in the G7. There have been five plans for growth in one Parliament, and as a result of this incompetence GDP has fallen by 0.2%.

    Who are the winners? As usual, the richest 1% gain from a Conservative Budget via the changes to pensions, at a cost of £.1 billion for the rest of the taxpayers. As for the ludicrous claim that this is all about helping the doctors, I gently suggest that if the Government want to help the doctors and get more of them back working for the NHS, they should go and talk to the junior doctors who are currently on strike.

    Who are the other winners? Let us have a look at those. Research and development “claim farms” are exploiting the low level of scrutiny of tax reliefs. R&D relief is the largest co-operative tax relief, predicted to cost more than £9 billion by 2026-27. A recent report from the charity TaxWatch revealed that highly profitable finance companies are claiming millions in relief. Boundary-pushing is rife. Fraud and error in R&D totalled more than £1.1 billion in the last three years, and our HMRC is too under-resourced even to look at it properly. The Government were prepared to chase people who were accidentally overpaid in benefits and pensions more than companies that were exploiting the system.

    This Budget is a continuation of the pattern of managed decline, and it makes me so angry that our brilliant country is being let down in this way. It is a Budget from a tired, fractious, divided and desperate Government, focused so much on the enemies within and not enough on the real struggles that people out there are facing. It is a Budget with nothing to say on social care, NHS waiting lists or the millions without access to NHS dentists. It is a Budget that fails to learn the lessons of the past, with the only growth we see being in claim farms in R&D relief and in the very richest in society. Our country can be and will be so much better than this when we consign these farcical plans for pillars, foundations and priorities to the past and get in a new Labour Government who will put working people first.

  • Bob Seely – 2023 Speech on the Budget

    Bob Seely – 2023 Speech on the Budget

    The speech made by Bob Seely, the Conservative MP for the Isle of Wight, in the House of Commons on 20 March 2023.

    It is great to see you in the Chair, Madam Deputy Speaker.

    Like my hon. Friend the Member for Hazel Grove (Mr Wragg), I will be ultra-parochial: I am going to talk specifically about the funding model in my constituency in relation to public services, and what the Treasury says or does not say about it. The issue, which I will bring up in my Prime Minister’s question on Wednesday and in my meeting with the relevant Minister in the next couple of weeks, is the funding of public services on the Isle of Wight.

    Isle of Wight Council is the only island authority in the United Kingdom that does not receive a permanent, consistent uplift in its funding that reflects the additional cost of providing services on an island separated by sea from the mainland and without a fixed link. The “Fair funding review” of 2017, which was signed off by the current Prime Minister when he was in a different job, made clear that it recognised the additional costs associated with providing Government services on the Isle of Wight. It set those costs at a fairly high level, estimating them to be the equivalent of an extra 35 miles for ferry passengers on foot and about 70 miles—the distance from London to Peterborough—for those travelling in a car or lorry.

    Since 1989, there have been six major studies of the impact of separation by sea on fair funding and public services on the Island. I shall refer briefly to two of them, the University of Portsmouth model of 2016 and a study commissioned last year by the Government, working with me, to examine the funding settlement for the Island. The University of Portsmouth, in an excellent study for which I thank its academics, confirmed that three separate economic factors were at play in making the provision of local services on the Island more expensive. The first was the lack of spill-over of public goods between the mainland and the Island, the second was the so-called Island premium—the higher prices charged by suppliers on the Island as opposed to the mainland—and the third was the additional costs to the Island that result from physical and perceived dislocation.

    Two years ago, backing up and building on that report, the Government—at my request—spent about £50,000 on commissioning LG Futures, a respected local government think-tank, to review the evidence for the “additional costs” argument in relation to the provision of public services on the Island. The Government worked through with the council and me the parameters of what the review—which they had committed to and commissioned—would be investigating. It confirmed the accuracy of every relevant study of the funding of public services on the Island: it confirmed that it cost more to deliver public services there, for the reasons outlined by the University of Portsmouth.

    In many ways I am delighted by what has been happening in the past few years, and I want Ministers to hear that. We have had a much better deal from the Government in recent years. Since I became the Member of Parliament for the Island, we have got more than £120 million of additional Government funding, including about £48 million for St Mary’s Hospital—and that does not include the £10 million for the new diagnostics centre, which is wonderful news. We have received £50 million to upgrade the railway and the Ryde railway pier. The work on the pier is under way, as is the work at St Mary’s. We have got £20 million for Isle of Wight College, and £6 million to support shipbuilding in East Cowes. All that provides much better life opportunities and life chances for Islanders, which are what I am here to try to deliver.

    However, when it comes to the provision of local government services via Isle of Wight Council, we are lagging behind other islands in the UK, and our need—which has been confirmed by all coherent and responsible academic research into the Island—backs up our argument. I shall be meeting the relevant Minister in the next couple of weeks to discuss that, because the Government have, I am delighted to say, reopened the case for looking at Isle of Wight funding. The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities will come to the Island in May to talk to the Islands Forum, which I helped to establish along with others, including council leaders in Orkney and, I believe, Wales. I also hope to talk to the Prime Minister about the issue in due course.

    I ask Ministers, including those at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Treasury, to look at a fair funding formula for the Island, because this is one of the outstanding issues that have still not been resolved in our efforts to secure a better deal. We have gone a long way towards delivering that better deal for health, shipbuilding, transport and Isle of Wight College, but a fairer funding settlement that takes account of the fact that the Isle of Wight is an island is still eluding us. I should be extremely grateful if Ministers could work with me on that to solve the issue this year.

  • Robert Syms – 2023 Speech on the Budget

    Robert Syms – 2023 Speech on the Budget

    The speech made by Sir Robert Syms, the Conservative MP for Poole, in the House of Commons on 20 March 2023.

    I draw attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I am in the parliamentary pension fund and I may be affected by the lifetime allowance changes.

    Listening to the debate today, one would be forgiven for forgetting the fact that we had the worst public health emergency for 100 years, in which the Government had to take actions to lock the economy down. I had my disagreements with my right hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson), but you cannot say his motives were bad. He was trying to save lives and to get through a pandemic. We did not know whether the disease was going to be deadly, mild or what. That cost a lot of money and had a big impact on many businesses. If several million people are sent to sit at home for months on end while the Bank of England is printing money, it should not be a surprise if, at the end of that, inflation is high and living standards are under some challenge. The only people who could be surprised about the fact that the last 12 or 18 months have been difficult economically are those who did not think that there would be any consequences to lockdown. There were consequences. We are getting through them and things are improving, but that means there have to be some tough and difficult decisions on issues such as tax.

    On the Government Benches, sometimes we do not like to put up taxes, but sometimes it is necessary. If we look at what the Government have done, we see that they have a plan, which is working. Between now and the next general election, there will probably be five statements or Budgets. We are at stage 2, so there are another three to go. In November, there were predictions of a recession—quite a big recession, actually—in the early part of this year, a rise in unemployment and a black hole in public spending. They have all sort of disappeared, which means the Government have stabilised the situation.

    The Government have been trying to ensure that more people can get back into the labour force, with changes to childcare. They have protected a lot of capital budgets through their decisions, and their main objective in the Budget is to keep the economy growing. I understand why people quote the International Monetary Fund, but its predictions, which are always educated guesses, were produced before the German economy went into a recession at the end of last year. At the moment, neither the French nor the German economy is performing as well as the British economy.

    The truth of the matter is that we have a spike in inflation, which should come down quite rapidly this year. There will be a crossover point, somewhere around May, June or July, at which inflation will fall below the rate of pay increases. We will then start to have an increase in living standards from this summer onwards, and some of the squeezes that families are facing will be reversed. If the public finances improve as we grow, I hope that my right hon. Friends on the Treasury Bench will be able to cut taxation. There is a lot to be said for the Budget, which is one further step in the direction of sensible economics and nursing our economy and our public and individual finances back to health, so I support what the Prime Minister and the Chancellor are doing.

    I was pleased by what my hon. Friend the Member for Ynys Môn (Virginia Crosbie) said about nuclear, particularly small modular. It is very important that we get on with that because, as always, we need a balanced range with not just renewables and gas but nuclear power.

    I am generally pleased with what the Budget has done: I think that the outlook has measurably improved. We can still see some fragility in the world economy, certainly when we look at Switzerland or the United States, so we have to take a cautious approach, but I am sure that if we do so and nurse the economy back to health, our nation will be rather the better for it in 12 or 18 months’ time.

    I say to the Opposition: if we are right, we will beat you, and if you are right, you will beat us. I keep hearing about these 13 years of misery, but we won an election in 2015, we won an election in 2017 and we won an election in 2019. We may well win the election in 2024, but it will really be determined by whether the Treasury team get it right. My view is that they probably are getting it right; the Opposition’s difficulty is that they have to sit there and watch us getting it right. I think it is going to be an interesting 18 months.

    The hospitality sector in Bournemouth and Poole thinks that VAT is too high. The Isan Thai restaurant in Poole and the Lakeside restaurant in Poole would like to see it reduced when we can afford it, not least because many restaurants do not pay VAT on food, so the real rate of VAT at 20%, when they do not have many offsets, is quite a painful thing to pay. I told them that I would raise that point in this debate.

    I think we are going in the right direction. I think we will see an improvement as we go through the year, and it will fundamentally change the politics of our country.

  • Nia Griffith – 2023 Speech on the Budget

    Nia Griffith – 2023 Speech on the Budget

    The speech made by Dame Nia Griffith, the Labour MP for Llanelli, in the House of Commons on 20 March 2023.

    It is good to see you back, Madam Deputy Speaker.

    Today, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change climate science report reminds us that we are not doing enough to tackle climate change. While we continue to have a clear moral obligation to prioritise reaching net zero, we are now at a critical time for companies to invest in the technologies for the future. If the UK Government do not provide the appropriate conditions and incentives for multinational companies to choose to site their new production lines in the UK, they will go elsewhere. There will be not just one factory closure, but multiple factory closures. We will lose critical mass and a whole generation of investment. That would be a tragedy, when we think back to our role in the industrial revolution and about the world-class research and development that takes place in the UK’s great universities and leading manufacturers.

    The US Inflation Reduction Act and the European Union green deal industrial plan pose real challenges for the UK. Sadly, this Chancellor’s Budget was an extremely disappointing response to what is going on elsewhere. It prompted the CEO of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders to say of it:

    “There is little, however, that enables the UK to compete with the massive packages of support to power a green transition that are available elsewhere.”

    That is particularly galling as we do have the ideas to invest in innovation and research and development, and, at the same time, we have a desperate need for the Government to create growth. Just last week, the OECD report, “A Fragile Recovery”, repeated that Britain’s economy will have the worst performance of any advanced country this year. That is a disgrace this Tory Government should be ashamed of.

    The investment needs to be comprehensive. For example, the automotive transformation fund needs not just to support the development of batteries and electrical components, but to be available to companies such as those in my constituency investing in the development of lighter bodywork parts, which are essential for improved electric vehicles.

    That is why we need a bold investment programme, such as the one Labour proposes of some £28 billion a year, so we can lead the green revolution, and develop, manufacture and export goods from our proposed export hubs, rather than find ourselves left behind in the green technological race, with factory lines shutting down as the manufacture of current models is phased out and our manufacturing base disappearing, leaving us ever more dependent on imports and exposed to the vagaries of world markets.

    Time and again, from way before the current energy crisis, we have raised the issue of uncompetitive energy costs in industry and business. If the UK had invested considerably more in renewables, we would have been much less reliant on imported gas and in a much better position to control our energy prices. Yet this Tory Government have wasted so many years, dragging their feet on investment in renewables, with their absurd ideological ban on onshore wind in England—a ban there was absolutely no need for. We have just had a begrudging, half-hearted reversal of that ban, with no real enthusiasm and no renewed drive to accelerate the roll-out of this, the cheapest and easiest form of renewable energy to produce. And what did we hear in the autumn? Measures to curtail solar panel expansion investment. What will the Government now do to give a real boost to the transition to renewables?

    We recently witnessed the fiasco where wind energy was being generated in Scotland, but because of lack of grid capacity, it could not be transmitted to England, where consumers needed it. So there is work to be done for the national grid just to catch up with the present, never mind prepare for the future.

    I know the Climate Change Minister in the Welsh Government, Julie James MS, is mindful of the likely quantities of energy that will be generated by offshore wind in the Celtic sea. She has raised with the UK Government the vital work that is needed to the national grid to ensure that energy can be transported from where it is generated to where it is needed. Yet when I have mentioned that here in this place, I have been met with looks of incredulity from some Members of the Government Front Bench. So I ask again: given the huge potential for increasing output from both onshore and offshore wind, please can the Minister responding to the debate set out in detail what talks Ministers have had with National Grid about ensuring grid capacity will be able to transmit power from where it is generated to where it is needed? How do the Government intend to accelerate the development of the national grid?

    I turn to the Horizon programme, the EU programme that UK universities have particularly benefited from in the past, as they have been seen as attractive partners for other European countries. There was an abject failure by this Government in their Brexit negotiations not to come to a cordial agreement with the EU whereby we could, albeit from outside the EU, have collaborated on Horizon or similar programmes. Investors are now coming to the end of current programmes and unable to plan for the future.

    The UK Government keep trying to blame the EU for the delays to the Horizon association, but they should be taking responsibility for their actions in breaking their manifesto promise to broker an association. In summing up, can the Minister update us on negotiations for the UK to have Horizon associate status, and ensure that our universities can benefit and compete with the best in the world?

  • Virginia Crosbie – 2023 Speech on the Budget

    Virginia Crosbie – 2023 Speech on the Budget

    The speech made by Virginia Crosbie, the Conservative MP for Ynys Mon, in the House of Commons on 20 March 2023.

    It is wonderful to see you in your rightful place, Madam Deputy Speaker.

    This Budget is an example of how this Conservative Government are investing in Britain and in levelling up communities across the country, including in my constituency. The £20 million for the breakwater refurbishment in Holyhead will help to support the redevelopment of the second busiest roll-on roll-off port in the UK. The support offered to individuals and households, in particular for childcare, will open new opportunities for the working-age population in my constituency, but it is the nuclear energy announcements that I believe will have the greatest long-term impact on the people and economy of Ynys Môn. It is nuclear that I have consistently campaigned on and championed. I was delighted that my constituency was mentioned in the Chancellor’s speech.

    Earlier this month, I wrote a letter to the Prime Minister, co-signed by 57 right hon. and hon. Friends. In that letter, I asked the Prime Minister to push ahead with a bold new programme of nuclear power construction under the aegis of Great British Nuclear and to make new nuclear energy part of the green taxonomy. Great British Nuclear and the vision of our British energy security strategy would enable this country to make enormous strides toward energy independence, net zero and a more prosperous and balanced economy.

    Every single nuclear power station online in Britain today was connected to the grid under a Conservative Government. The stations that we approve and build today will give the United Kingdom secure, reliable energy for at least 80 years. They will stand as this Government’s green legacy to our children and our children’s children. By announcing the intention to include nuclear in our green taxonomy, we open the gates to investment that was not previously accessible, and demonstrate to the world that we are committed to new nuclear. By backing small modular reactors through a competitive process, we will derive best value and drive our nuclear energy production forward in innovative ways that can tackle both national and local demand.

    Ynys Môn is one of Rolls-Royce’s four potential SMR sites. I have taken around the island SMR companies, such Last Energy and GE Hitachi, with a view to investing on Ynys Môn. But it is the outcome of all these words that my constituents are most interested in. This Budget paves the way for regenerating Wylfa—currently the site of a nuclear power plant undergoing decommissioning. I hope, soon, to see spades in the ground for the UK’s next new nuclear construction.

    In case you have not heard, Madam Deputy Speaker, alongside these exciting developments, Ynys Môn is awaiting the outcome of its bid to become a freeport and I have an Anglesey freeport jacket especially for you. The freeport would be the last piece of the puzzle that would allow us to unleash the full potential of Ynys Môn. A freeport would work hand in hand with these nuclear announcements and make Ynys Môn a thriving, successful and economically productive part of the UK. Together, new nuclear and an Anglesey freeport would unleash our potential and make us roar.

    The impact on Ynys Môn of such a step change in its fortunes would be huge—the culmination of decades of “nearly theres” for my constituents. It would bring employment, investment and the opportunity for local people to work locally. My dad had to leave Wales to find work. He could not afford to have his family in Wales. I have come back to ensure that other people do not have to leave and there is good-quality employment, right there on Ynys Môn.

    The choice for our young people on Ynys Môn will no longer be to stay in their communities on low-paid and often seasonal work, or to leave in search of a career, like my father. They will be able to stay local, train local, work local and contribute local. That is what this Conservative Government and levelling up are all about. Diolch yn fawr.