Tag: 2024

PRESS RELEASE : Health and Social Care Secretary visits Berkshire hospital [July 2024]
The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 19 July 2024.

Secretary of State Wes Streeting spoke to staff and patients before meeting regional health leaders.
- Wes Streeting met staff and patients on visit to Heatherwood Hospital, Ascot
- The site is helping tackle backlogs of planned operations with dedicated surgical services
- Secretary of State also met with regional health leaders at ‘town hall’ event
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting underlined his mission to cut NHS waiting lists as he visited staff and patients at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust’s Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot today (19 July 2024).

Mr Streeting toured the Berkshire hospital to see first hand how its work is helping patients get quicker access to planned surgery, cutting local waiting lists.

The Health and Social Care Secretary also hosted a town hall meeting with health representatives from across the region to discuss the issues facing services. It comes after he ordered an independent investigation into the NHS last week, pledging to be honest about the state of the health service and serious about fixing it.

Heatherwood Hospital exclusively performs planned surgery, diagnostics and outpatients’ services mainly focusing on high volume, low complexity surgery such as orthopaedics, ophthalmology, gynaecology and urology. The hub also performs surgery for cancer and plans to expand the specialties performed in its theatres.

It is set up to ensure patients have shorter waits for surgery, are more likely to be able to go home on the same day, and have a better patient experience – a model Mr Streeting wants to see emulated across the country.

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, said:

The NHS is broken. Millions of patients are waiting too long for treatment, often in pain and discomfort.

But services like those I’ve seen today at Heatherwood Hospital show that there are still great things happening in the health service. My job as Health Secretary is to take the best of the NHS to the rest of the NHS. I’m talking to patients, frontline staff, and NHS leaders about what needs to change.

We are determined to turn around the NHS so it can be there for all of us when we need it, once again. The NHS saved my life when I was diagnosed with kidney cancer, and I can’t think of a better way to repay my debt than to help save the NHS.

Caroline Hutton, Interim Chief Executive for Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Heatherwood Hospital, said:

We are very proud of what we have been able to achieve for our patients through new ways of working and innovation using, for example, artificial intelligence (AI), digital patient records and collaboration with health and care partners to provide better care more efficiently.

We were delighted to have the chance to share with the new Secretary of State how our dedicated planned care hospital is enabling us to reduce waiting lists, including maintaining planned surgery and procedures during winter challenges and how we are sharing our learning throughout the NHS as a Getting it Right First Time (GIRFT) surgical elective hub.

Today’s visit comes exactly 2 weeks since Mr Streeting was appointed Health and Social Care Secretary.

In that time, he has:
- met with representatives of the British Medical Association and announced the start of formal negotiations to end strikes
- met with the British Dental Association to discuss contract reform
- ordered an independent investigation into the state of the NHS
- visited a London GP surgery where he pledged to “fix the front door to the NHS”
August 8, 2024
PRESS RELEASE : Student protests in Bangladesh – Foreign Office Reaction [July 2024]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 18 July 2024.

Following the escalating violence during the student protests about quota reforms in Bangladesh, FCDO Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Catherine West gave a statement.

“The UK government is deeply concerned by the violence following protests in Bangladesh.

The UK supports fundamental freedoms and respect for human rights, including the right to protest and peaceful assembly.

We urge all sides to end the violence and find a peaceful way forward.”

August 8, 2024
PRESS RELEASE : Joint Statement between UK and France [July 2024]

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 18 July 2024.

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the President of the French Republic met today at Blenheim Palace.

In this, the 120th anniversary year of the Entente Cordiale, the two leaders discussed the full spectrum of the bilateral relationship between the UK and France, the UK’s intention to reset its relationship with the EU and wider Europe, as well as international and global issues. 80 years on from the D-Day landings and the Liberation of France the leaders remembered the immense common sacrifices that both countries have made to defend their shared values and to protect their societies. And 30 years on from the opening of the Channel Tunnel, they recalled what the UK and France can build together when they do not constrain their ambitions, allowing their economies to flourish and their people to connect.

As fellow members of the G7, G20, NATO and permanent members of the UN Security Council, the UK and France will continue to work together to provide global leadership in an era of renewed geopolitical instability. They are committed to continuing to invest in the European Political Community format to bring together Europe’s democracies and contribute to regional stability and security through political dialogue and concrete cooperation.

Looking to the future France and the UK will pursue their cooperation across the full spectrum of the relationship, at both a bilateral and at a global level. This will include through a focus on sustainable economic growth, international development, energy security and driving low carbon solutions to tackle the climate and nature emergencies. They will embrace the opportunities presented by supporting the clean energy transition, reform of the international financial system and responsible use of Artificial Intelligence.

The UK and France reaffirm their deep commitment to Europe’s defence and security. This includes their steadfast support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s illegal war of aggression, for as long as it takes, and for Ukraine’s irreversible path to NATO membership. Fourteen years on from the Lancaster House Treaty, the UK and France share the ambition to reinvigorate their defence cooperation to reflect the complex challenges of the modern era and the range of threats from hostile state and non-state actors to our shared values and interests.

The UK and France agree the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza along with the release of all hostages, unfettered access to humanitarian aid, the upholding of international law, and progress towards establishing a Palestinian State living in peace and security alongside a safe and secure Israel. They also agree on the importance of maintaining stability and security in the wider region.

The Prime Minister and President expressed their condolences for the victims of the tragic events in the channel yesterday and last week. They committed to strengthening their cooperation on irregular migration and the fight against criminal gangs responsible for this tragic loss of life through small boat crossings. The Prime Minister presented the UK’s new Border Security Command and the vital role it will play in this mission.

As a sign of the ever deeper cooperation between the UK and France, the Prime Minister and President welcomed UK support for the staging of the Olympics. They agreed to hold the next bilateral summit in the UK in 2025.

August 8, 2024
Peter Prinsley – 2024 Maiden Speech on Planning, the Green Belt and Rural Affairs

The maiden speech made by Peter Prinsley, the Labour MP for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, in the House of Commons on 19 July 2024.

I am a surgeon from East Anglia, and it is an honour beyond my imagining to have been elected to Parliament to serve the people of Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket in the most beautiful county of Suffolk. I thank its voters for putting their faith in me and in Labour, and for giving us the chance to change Britain. I am the first ever Labour Member of Parliament for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, which has been a Conservative seat for nigh on 150 years.

I must thank my predecessor, Jo Churchill, most sincerely for her long service to her constituents. I am the first ear, nose and throat surgeon ever elected to Parliament. I am not, however, the first member of my family to be an MP. I recall my uncle, George Jeger, from when I was a small boy in the 1960s—he was the Member for Goole, in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

I thank my teachers at Guisborough grammar school in Cleveland. As a descendant of Jewish refugees, what a pleasure it was to hear my hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland (Luke Myer) deliver his maiden speech. I went to medical school in Sheffield, and I thank the many surgeons who trained me in the NHS. I thank the thousands of patients whom I have treated during my career, and who put their faith in me and are my lasting inspiration. Indeed, one of the first people I met as I walked into Parliament was one of my patients, Paul from Great Yarmouth, who works here in this place to keep us all safe. I thank my family and in particular my wife, Marian, the former sheriff of Norwich, who has been my greatest supporter and who first encouraged me in politics.

My constituency of Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket is a wonderful part of the world, with a rich tradition of agriculture and food production. We are home to Greene King and, according to the records in the House of Commons Library, one of my distinguished predecessors urged the House bars to stock the delicious beer created from Suffolk barley. I see that the present Greene King brew in the Strangers’ Bar is called Level Head—something we are all going to need in the years to come as we begin to rebuild Britain. We are also home to Silver Spoon, and the enormous Suffolk sugar beet production is key to the local economy. In Stowmarket, we have a brilliant food museum to showcase that most essential of national services, farming.

I was delighted to see our new Government’s proposals to sort out our buses. Let us think of them as the crucial services they are and support them. There are villages in my constituency that have two buses a day during the school term and no buses at all in the school holidays. How does anyone without a car get to the GP surgery or to the pharmacy in the nearby town?

Very few surgeons are ever elected to Parliament and I will bring my experience of 42 years as an NHS doctor to this place to do something to help mend a service that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has described as broken. Many of our hospitals are indeed in poor repair and we have seen very little progress on the 40 new hospitals famously promised by the last Government. In Bury St Edmunds, we urgently need to confirm the capital funding to progress the replacement of the West Suffolk hospital which, like my own James Paget university hospital in Great Yarmouth and our sister hospital in King’s Lynn, is supported by thousands of scaffolding poles and is literally falling down. Last week, it was reported that bird droppings had fallen through the roof on to sterile surgical instruments. My predecessor was a strong advocate for the replacement of our hospital, and I will aim to continue her work.

Our brilliant new Government have much to do. Let us use our huge mandate wisely. Let us look after the staff who look after us, end the outrage of food banks for the nurses in many of our hospitals, and sort out the pay and conditions of all who work in our most precious of public services. Let us make the biggest employer in the land the very best employer in the land.

There are things to do to sort out social care and to end the financial lottery at the end of life, which many families fear. The answers are political, and we can do this. Our hospitals are full of patients with a non-medical condition called bed block, because they cannot be discharged safely in many cases. I cannot begin to tell the House how many of my operating lists have been cancelled because of that problem. Whole surgical teams are waiting around for hours and operating theatres are lying empty. If we solve the problem of social care, we will not need to build ever bigger hospitals.

But I am optimistic for our NHS. Britain leads the world in scientific advances. Right in my own region of East Anglia we have world-beating biomedical science and leading universities.

Recently, we celebrated 75 years of the NHS. My father—who, if he were alive and here today, would be astonished—was an RAF medic who joined the RAF in 1948. My son is an A&E doctor right here in London. My sister is a nurse. My family has served the NHS continuously since it began.

When the great Nye Bevan invented the NHS, a painful hip was treated with a walking stick, and a cataract with a thick pair of glasses. Now the miracles of joint replacement and cataract surgery are no longer regarded as the surgical miracles they are, but as an entitlement. Nye would have been amazed.

I am sure we will see in our own time scientific and medical advances beyond our imagination. Already we are at last seeing effective treatments for dementia and neurological disorders, and genetic cures for haemophilia and other inherited problems. We will also have cancer vaccines and other marvels that we cannot yet imagine.

I urge all my honourable colleagues in this brand-new Parliament to do whatever we can to support research and innovation with all our heart and all our soul, for as the great poet Seamus Heaney wrote,

“once in a lifetime

The longed-for tidal wave

Of justice can rise up,

And hope and history rhyme.”

I commend this King’s Speech to the House.

August 8, 2024
Lewis Cocking – 2024 Maiden Speech on Planning, the Green Belt and Rural Affairs

The maiden speech made by Lewis Cocking, the Conservative MP for Broxbourne, in the House of Commons on 19 July 2024.

I congratulate all Members who have made their maiden speeches today. I am a geographer by background, so it is an absolute privilege to sit here and learn about all the different parts of our lovely United Kingdom.

It is truly the greatest honour of my life to stand here as the Member of Parliament for Broxbourne. I am under no illusion about the responsibility of representing the place where I was raised, where my family lives and that I call home. I am hugely grateful to the residents of Broxbourne, who put their faith in me and elected one of their own. They will be keeping me on my toes—not least my nan, who will not hesitate to badger me if she thinks I need to get things sorted.

We are straight-talkers in Broxbourne, and chief among us was my predecessor, Sir Charles Walker. He certainly was not afraid to speak his mind in this Chamber. More than a decade ago, I was lucky enough to do some work experience in Sir Charles’s office here in Parliament. I simply would not be here today without the opportunities and wisdom that he offered over the years. Sir Charles had a number of triumphs in Broxbourne, and I was grateful to join him and our community in our efforts to save Cheshunt urgent care centre in 2011 and to stop the energy-from-waste facility in Hoddesdon in 2017.

I joined Sir Charles on many occasions out on the doorstep. The December 2019 general election campaign in particular sticks in the mind. Despite the darkness and the cold, the ever-enthusiastic Sir Charles ploughed on. On one occasion, it was just the two of us, and all of a sudden, Charles slipped and fell. I gasped and said, “Charles, please don’t injure yourself when you’re just with me, or they’ll be saying I did it to get the seat.”

Sir Charles served Broxbourne for 19 years, and although I knew him well, it is only in the short time since my election that I have come to understand just how much of an impact he had on this House. As Chair of the Procedure Committee and, later, the Administration Committee, Sir Charles championed the institution of Parliament and the individuals who make it. That has been made clear to me from the reactions of House staff when they discover that I represent Broxbourne. I will do my utmost to follow him in taking my responsibilities of scrutiny and representation seriously.

As I have said, Broxbourne is my home and the place I love. The constituency is characterised by its closeness to both London and the countryside, with the Lee Valley regional park on our doorstep. In 2012, Broxbourne became an Olympic borough: we hosted the canoe events at our world-class Lee Valley white water rafting centre, and we have a gold post box in Cheshunt thanks to our very own Laura Kenny’s success in the cycling. There are a number of Team GB athletes with connections to Broxbourne heading to the summer Olympics, and I wish them all the best.

The area has many small independent businesses, particularly around our towns of Waltham Cross, Cheshunt and Hoddesdon. They are the backbone of Broxbourne’s local economy, and I will do all I can to support entrepreneurship at every level. I am also proud of the international investment coming to the constituency over the next few years. I am pleased to say that Hollywood is coming to Broxbourne: a £700 million project is well under way to build a film studio complex, which will have the capacity to produce four blockbusters at the same time.

At this election, the constituency of Broxbourne took on the villages of Stanstead Abbotts, St Margarets, Hertford Heath, Great Amwell and Brickendon. These villages are all known for their tight-knit communities and natural beauty, which brings me on to the topic of this debate. While preparing for this speech, I noticed that both of the former MPs for Broxbourne referred to the unspoiled green belt that we are lucky to have in our area. Broxbourne has a local plan and has built hundreds of new homes—too many in a short space of time, some of my constituents would argue, and too many in total. I tend to agree. As many Members who are councillors will have seen if they have sat on a planning committee, developers use outline planning permission to promise the world. I have seen houses in outline that look absolutely amazing: the development has schools, new roads, a local centre and healthcare facilities. However, once outline planning permission has been granted, the developers come forward for full planning permission, and nine times out of 10 the application looks incredibly different, with bad design and no infrastructure. And developers wonder why residents get up in arms!

We need to better link the NHS to new developments. On several occasions, getting local NHS providers to tell us what they need, or even getting them around the table so that we can plan new services for my constituents, has been a real struggle. I have a real issue in Goffs Oak and the wider west Cheshunt area, which has seen a lot of new housing but no new healthcare facilities. It is obvious to everyone living there that those facilities are desperately needed.

We must ensure that developments are acceptable—not development anywhere, but appropriate development in the right places. Infrastructure must come first, with new schools, GP surgeries and section 106 moneys up front, or as close to day one as possible. Above all else, we must ensure that local people have a say over development in their area, so I hope the Government will listen to local people. On this and other issues, I assure my constituents that I will be their voice in this place, and I hope I can begin to repay their trust as my hard work starts now.

August 8, 2024
Mary Glindon – 2024 Speech on Planning, the Green Belt and Rural Affairs

The speech made by Mary Glindon, the Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend, on 19 July 2024.

It is a great honour to be in the Chamber to hear so many wonderful maiden speeches, especially those of my north-east colleagues. They have made me very proud today, and I think they are going to be fantastic representatives of all their constituents.

This is my fifth election to Westminster, but my constituency has changed, with only four wards from my former North Tyneside constituency and six wards added from the former Newcastle upon Tyne East constituency. I thank the people of my former constituency for giving me the honour of serving them for the past 14 years, and I thank the people of the new constituency for placing their trust in me at the general election. I will work hard to honour that trust.

Voters in the former Newcastle upon Tyne East constituency were fortunate to be represented for 41 years by the right hon. Nick Brown, who commanded great respect in this House. Constituents hold him in high regard for all his work and achievements, both in the constituency and as a Minister in the last Labour Government. He has earned his well-deserved retirement, but personally I am grateful to Nick for all his help and friendship.

Across my new constituency, people face the same challenges—the cost of living crisis, a shortage of good social housing, hikes in mortgages and diminished public services—and they have all taken a toll on people’s everyday lives. My constituency is crying out for this Labour Government’s shared mission of renewal. I share the view of our new North East Mayor, Kim McGuinness, in fully supporting the English devolution Bill. Kim believes that her office will be the delivery arm of the Labour mission in the north-east, and she is keen to start that work at pace. Although I know it will not be easy, I have great hope that the announcements made in the King’s Speech will start to turn the tide and make life better for everyone in this country.

I was a North Tyneside ward councillor for 15 years before I entered the House, so I have a self-confessed bias for North Tyneside council. The council’s planning committee has not voted against offers or recommendations on any medium or large house building site for over a decade. It has an up-to-date local plan and ambitious housing targets of its own, yet it still has sites stuck in the planning system. Although National Highways agreed in the local plan that strategic sites should proceed and be accommodated in road infrastructure, when it came to planning applications being submitted, National Highways placed a holding objection on the sites, leading to 5,000 new homes being stuck in the system. Alongside dealing with other planning reform issues, I ask Ministers to look at the impact of statutory consultees on delays in the planning system, to help authorities such as North Tyneside.

The Health Equals campaign coalition, which is made up of 27 organisations, has launched its visually though-provoking campaign, “Make Health Equal”, to highlight the fact that levels of poverty and deprivation lead to people in parts of my constituency and other such areas living 16 years less than people in more affluent parts of the country. The coalition acknowledges that the King’s Speech will start to repair some of the building blocks of health, such as decent and secure housing, good work opportunities and clean transport. It looks to the Government to assess the impact of the King’s Speech on health inequalities, and, in the spirit of unity, to work with such groups to deliver the mission in my constituency and across the country.

I also make a plea on behalf of the offshore energy industries. Although the Great British Energy Bill is welcome, we must not lose sight of the fact that oil and gas play a massive part in our economy, and will continue to do so. On the tobacco and vapes Bill, I hope that the Government will, unlike the previous Government, take into account the views of the industry.

I look forward to supporting the King’s Speech in the voting Lobby, along with my 411 colleagues and, hopefully, Members of the Opposition. In so doing, we will vote for an agenda fixed on making the lives of everyone in this country far better.

August 8, 2024
PRESS RELEASE : Keir Starmer meeting with Prime Minister Støre of Norway [July 2024]

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 18 July 2024.

The Prime Minister met Jonas Støre , the Prime Minister of Norway at Blenheim Palace today, as part of the European Political Community meeting.

The Prime Minister reflected on the close friendship between the UK and Norway, which was built on historic ties and a shared outlook.

The Prime Minister said he was also proud of the close defence partnership between the two countries, and said he hoped the UK and Norway could go further in the coming years to uphold stability in the High North

The leaders also discussed the importance of energy security, including how both countries could work together on green energy and renewables. The leaders agreed that they should initiate a Norwegian-UK partnership on security and energy transition.

The leaders agreed to stay in close touch.

August 8, 2024
PRESS RELEASE : Keir Starmer meeting with Prime Minister Sánchez of Spain [July 2024]

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 18 July 2024.

The Prime Minister welcomed Pedro Sánchez, the Prime Minister of Spain, to Oxfordshire this afternoon.

The Prime Minister set out his plan to reset the United Kingdom’s position on the international stage and said he hoped the change in approach would forge the way for an agreement on Gibraltar that worked for all parties.

The leaders also discussed the generational challenges facing Europe, including Russian disinformation, the climate crisis and illegal migration.

The Prime Minister said he hoped the UK and Spain could work even closer together to tackle such issues in the coming months.

The leaders agreed to stay in close touch.

August 8, 2024
PRESS RELEASE : Keir Starmer’s meeting with Prime Minister Tusk of Poland [July 2024]

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 18 July 2024.

The Prime Minister met Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk at Blenheim Palace today, as part of the European Political Community meeting.

The Prime Minister thanked Prime Minister Tusk for attending the summit, and said he was looking forward to advancing the UK and Poland’s close friendship.

That relationship was not just based on historic ties but also shared values, the leaders agreed.

The Prime Minister said he hoped the UK and Poland could do more together on sectors of national importance, such as energy and defence.

Turning to Ukraine, the leaders discussed the situation on the battlefield and agreed on the need to never relent in the face of Russian aggression.

The leaders looked forward to speaking again soon.”

August 8, 2024
PRESS RELEASE : Keir Starmer’s press conference remarks at the European Political Community summit [July 2024]

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 18 July 2024.

Hello everyone, thanks for being here.

We’ve had a very successful and productive summit…

Bringing together 46 European leaders – including President Zelenskyy who addressed the EPC this morning.

We discussed once again our commitment to stand with Ukraine…

Including supporting their energy needs ahead of winter…

And cracking down on the ships that are helping Russia to evade sanctions.

We need to be clear that Ukraine is fighting not just for the Ukrainian people – and of course it is – But for the European people…

For freedom, democracy and the rule of law.

Our security therefore starts in Ukraine.

So we pledged to President Zelenskyy, once again, that we will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.

We also had productive discussions on wider European security…

Defending our democracies against Russian interference…

And supporting countries like Moldova who are dealing with more direct threats.

It’s not just a good idea to work with our partners, it’s essential.

I said on the steps of Downing Street, that I would govern for the whole country – including those who didn’t vote for us.

And I meant it.

We can only make progress on the issues that so many people care about…

Like illegal migration and national security…

If we have the maturity and leadership to reach out a hand to our European friends.

And I want to congratulate Ursula von der Leyen on her re-election today as President of the European Commission.

So we are going to deepen our cooperation…

On defence and security…

And on illegal migration, where we are resetting our approach and that’s been central today.

We are going to smash the gangs, break their business model, and secure our borders.

We will do this, not by committing taxpayer money to gimmicks…

But with practical solutions, that are in line with international law.

As Director of Public Prosecutions, I saw the work that can be done, across borders…

To bring terrorists to justice and break up their networks.

I simply do not accept that we can’t do the same with organised migration crime.

We started that work here today.

We’re increasing the UK presence at Europol in The Hague…

To play our full part in the European Migrant Smuggling Centre.

We’ve agreed new cooperation arrangements with partners like Slovenia and Slovakia, to disrupt organised crime.

And with our new Border Security Command…

We are going to work with our European partners to share intelligence, data and expertise and put the gangs out of business.

To stop illegal migration, we must also tackle it at source.

So today I am announcing £84 million of new funding for projects across Africa and the Middle East.

That includes humanitarian and health support, skills training, help with job opportunities, and access to education.

This is a vital part of gripping the migration crisis.

And it shows how we are going to do business on the world stage.

We are facing up to the huge problems beyond our shores…

Because these problems echo at home.

The effects play out on our streets.

In a dangerous world, we serve no-one and solve nothing by turning inward.

We have to step forward and lead.

That’s what we’re doing – that’s what we’ve shown here today.

Because it’s the best way to uphold our values…

And keep our people safe.

So, I’m proud to leave this summit with stronger relationships across Europe…

And to leave the EPC in a stronger position as well.

With a clear agenda for the coming months…

And the next summits confirmed in Hungary this year…

And Albania and Denmark in 2025.

Thank you very much.

August 8, 2024