The press release issued by HM Treasury on 18 May 2026.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has this day appointed Joshua Cameron Simons to be Steward and Bailiff of the Three Hundreds of Chiltern.
Tag: 2026
-
![PRESS RELEASE : Youth Justice overhaul to keep streets safer [May 2026]](https://www.ukpol.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Gemini_Generated_Image_fnxmipfnxmipfnxm-150x150.png)
PRESS RELEASE : Youth Justice overhaul to keep streets safer [May 2026]
The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 18 May 2026.
Children and young people will get earlier support to steer them away from crime under a major overhaul of the youth justice system unveiled by the Government today (Monday 18 May).
- Landmark reforms will intervene earlier and stop more young people falling into crime.
- Parents and carers to face tougher accountability when children offend.
- New youth intervention courts to tackle repeat offenders.
- Part of Government action to cut crime and create safer streets.
Published by the Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, a new Youth Justice White Paper provides the blueprint for earlier intervention, more targeted support, and tackling the root causes of youth crime to create safer communities and fewer victims.
The announcement comes as figures show eight out of ten prolific offenders committed their first crime as a child, while two-thirds of those released from custody reoffend within a year.
New measures announced today include piloting new Youth Intervention Courts, which will for the first time bring together judges, youth justice services and specialist support to tackle the drivers of offending and keep young people on track. The courts will also provide intensive supervision and tailored interventions, including health or educational requirements, while closely monitoring compliance to break cycles of repeat reoffending.
Parents and carers will also face greater responsibility for children who commit crime or cause anti-social behaviour, recognising the vital role families play in reducing reoffending. The Government will strengthen and expand Parenting Orders, which can compel parents or guardians to address their child’s behaviour – including attending counselling or guidance sessions – or face penalties such as fines.
The move comes after the use of Parenting Orders declined dramatically, from more than 1,000 in 2009/10 to just 33 in 2022/23.
There will also be a greater emphasis on addressing children who present the highest risk of committing the most serious and violent offences. Ministers will explore strengthening Youth Rehabilitation Orders with intensive supervision and surveillance, allowing electronic monitoring to track their whereabouts alongside robust rehabilitation activity to keep the public safe. However, the Government is clear custody will always remain essential for the most dangerous offenders.
Crucially, the reforms look to modernise the youth justice system, ensuring it keeps pace with new and emerging risks faced by today’s children including online harms, exploitation and rising vulnerability.
Further measures set out in the White Paper include:
- An extra £15.4 million per year investment in the Government’s flagship Turnaround programme to help a further 12,000 children at risk of entering the youth justice system, over the next three years. As of December 2024, just 7% of children who had completed Turnaround interventions had gone on to receive a sentence or caution.
- Fundamental reform of the youth out-of-court resolution framework, setting out our proposals in autumn 2026.
- Taking a fundamental look at the function and purpose of criminal courts for child defendants, reporting by August 2027.
- A commitment to end unnecessary custodial remand for children – slashing its use by 25% this Parliament to ensure children awaiting trial or sentencing are not held unless public protection requires it, backed by £5 million for robust community alternatives.
- Widening the range of tough community sentences available to the courts and reducing ineffective short custodial sentences – which combined with remand reforms could reduce the youth custodial population by 20%.
- Consulting on childhood criminal records reform by the end of the year. This will consider potentially ending lifelong disclosure requirements for childhood offences so people aren’t forever held back by mistakes made as children.
- Delivering on the commitment to create a new child criminal exploitation offence – going after the adults who prey on children and draw them into offending.
Deputy Prime Minister, David Lammy said:
Too many young people are being drawn into crime, with devastating consequences for victims, communities and their own futures.
These reforms lay the foundation to intervene far earlier, support families, and tackle the drivers of offending so fewer young people become trapped in cycles of crime, creating safer streets and fewer victims.
Minister for Sentencing and Youth Justice, Jake Richards, said:
Put simply, the youth justice system is not working – not for children, victims and communities blighted by crime.
These reforms will modernise the system, keep pace with emerging risks and ensure young offenders get the support they need to turn their lives around, while improving public safety.
The reforms announced today are backed by figures which show more than two-thirds of children released from custody reoffend within a year, but just over one-third of children sentenced to community sentences reoffended.
In addition, following sustained efforts across the system for many years, the number of children entering the youth justice system has fallen significantly. The result is a far more complex cohort of children, many victims of exploitation and with extensive offending histories including serious offences.
The White Paper seeks to address this challenge head on – ensuring the youth justice system intervenes earlier, is firmer where necessary, and is consistently focussed on preventing harm.
Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said:
As Children’s Commissioner, I have consistently been clear about the need to reform the youth justice system. We must build an approach that keeps children safe, diverts them from crime wherever possible, and prioritises meaningful behaviour change.
Education is central to this. It is the most powerful tool we have to prevent offending in the first place, and it remains vital for those in Young Offender Institutions who have already fallen through the cracks. I am therefore pleased to welcome the Youth Justice White Paper published today, and that I have been asked to undertake a review of the education children in YOIs receive, with the aim of improving outcomes and giving these children a better chance for the future.
Anti-knife crime campaigner and founder of Fazamnesty, Faron Paul, said:
Fazamnesty welcomes the Government’s proactive approach in the Youth Justice White Paper, which focuses on early intervention, prevention, and support for young people facing growing pressures and exploitation. Prevention is always better than cure. By working together with organisations like Fazamnesty and other community groups, we can help guide young people away from crime and create safer communities for everyone.
These reforms build on recent Government action to tackle the most serious issues affecting young people including knife crime and violence against women and girls.
Every child in England and Wales caught carrying a knife will now be given a mandatory specialised plan to stop them reoffending, part of the Government’s commitment to halve knife crime within a decade.
Meanwhile, the Government’s violence against women and girls strategy seeks to better protect girls from abuse and steer young boys away from harmful misogynistic influences.
-
![PRESS RELEASE : Seven-year ban for cleaning director, Philip Walker, who used Atherton scheme and transferred almost £200,000 to new company [May 2026]](https://www.ukpol.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/insolvencyservice2-150x150.png)
PRESS RELEASE : Seven-year ban for cleaning director, Philip Walker, who used Atherton scheme and transferred almost £200,000 to new company [May 2026]
The press release issued by the Insolvency Service on 18 May 2026.
- Philip Walker used the Atherton scheme to walk away from more than half a million pounds of debt owed by his cleaning company
- He made net payments of almost £200,000 from his insolvent business into a new company he controlled, knowing Solus Facilities Limited could not pay its creditors
- Walker has been disqualified as a company director for seven years following Insolvency Service investigations into users of the scheme
A cleaning boss has been banned as a company director after transferring almost £200,000 out of his insolvent business into his new company.
Leicestershire-based Philip Walker was the director of Solus Facilities Limited, a company providing cleaning services for restaurants.
However, by April 2023, the company was in financial difficulty, and unable to pay its debts.
Instead of following standard insolvency procedures, the 44-year-old used the Atherton scheme to avoid paying his debts, leaving creditors more than half a million pounds out of pocket.
Atherton was advertised as a corporate rescue service where directors of distressed companies were encouraged to sell their businesses as an “alternative” to entering formal insolvency proceedings such as liquidation.
Walker paid Atherton Corporate (UK) Ltd £16,500 in three instalments across the summer of 2023 for it to purchase Solus Facilities Limited’s liabilities.
During this period, Walker also set up a new phoenix company, Carbon White Group Ltd, of which he was director.
Solus Facilities Limited did not trade after Walker resigned as director and was replaced by Karen Mortimer, one of Atherton’s main enablers, in December 2023.
Despite this, Walker accessed the company’s account, making net payments of £198,100 to Carbon White Group Ltd between November 2023 and January 2024 when he knew that Solus Facilities Limited was insolvent.
Solus Facilities Limited went into liquidation in September 2024 owing creditors £513,090.
Walker, of Wykes Close, Quorn, has been disqualified as a company director for seven years.
Dave Magrath, Director of Investigation and Enforcement Services at the Insolvency Service, said:
Philip Walker made payments to his new company when he knew his former business had no reasonable prospect of avoiding liquidation, leaving creditors seriously out of pocket.
Indeed, many of these transfers were made when Walker had resigned as a director of Solus Facilities Limited yet was still accessing the company’s bank account.
These actions are deeply damaging to creditors and are completely unacceptable. Those who deliberately use companies repeatedly to avoid debts – known as abusive phoenixism – should be in no doubt that we will pursue them using all the enforcement tools at our disposal.
Mortimer, 67, was disqualified as a company director for seven years having put the creditors of 138 companies at risk of financial loss after taking control of businesses referred to her by Atherton Corporate UK (Ltd) and Atherton Corporate Rescue Limited.
Her sister Joanna Seawright, 55, also received a seven-year ban for her role in the Atherton scheme.
Atherton enabler Neville Taylor, 59, was disqualified as a company director for nine years in January 2025.
Suzanne Harley-Davies, 68, who failed to ensure her Atherton-linked companies operated for legitimate corporate purposes, was banned for four years in May this year.
Atherton Corporate (UK) Ltd and Atherton Corporate Rescue Limited, along with five companies which enabled the running of the scheme, were wound-up in the public interest in the summer of 2024.
Four more companies which formed part of the Atherton scheme – Atherton Corporate Partners LLP, Jones & Harlington Ltd, TYA GRP Ltd and TYA Two GRP Ltd – went into compulsory liquidation in early 2026 after Insolvency Service investigations.
Criminal investigations into the Atherton scheme remain ongoing. Six search warrants have been executed across the UK in the last three months with the support of the police.
The Secretary of State for Business and Trade accepted a disqualification undertaking from Walker, and his ban started on Friday 15 May.
It prevents him from being involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.
Further information
- Philip Walker is of Wykes Close, Quorn, Leicestershire. His date of birth is 10 November 1981
- Solus Facilities Limited (company number 09796369)
-
![PRESS RELEASE : UK Armed Forces salute 250 years of American independence with US celebrations [May 2026]](https://www.ukpol.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mod-150x150.png)
PRESS RELEASE : UK Armed Forces salute 250 years of American independence with US celebrations [May 2026]
The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 18 May 2026.
- The Red Arrows will tour the United States this summer to support the UK’s closest ally as it celebrates 250 years of independence
- The iconic team will appear at 13 events across seven states this summer
- Royal Navy ships will attend celebrations in New Orleans and New York
The UK Armed Forces will visit the United States to mark 250 years of American independence with a series of high-profile celebrations across the US this summer.
At the heart of the celebrations, the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team – widely known as the Red Arrows – will lead the UK’s contribution with a showcase tour spanning one month.
Royal Navy ships will visit New Orleans later this month and attend the US Navy’s International Naval Review 250 in the port of New York and New Jersey in July.
The Band of His Majesty’s Royal Marines will also travel to the United States to perform at the celebrations and celebrate the close military relationship.
Defence Minister Lord Coaker said:
I offer our sincere congratulations to the United States as it celebrates 250 years of independence. The defence relationship between our nations is built on unparalleled trust, professionalism and shared purpose.
British and American forces have served together with distinction for generations, and our alliance remains vital to the security of our countries and our allies around the world.
The Red Arrows will deliver a series of spectacular displays at 13 events across New York, Washington, Wisconsin, Maine, Maryland and Michigan between 27 June and 26 July, commemorating the anniversary.
On 4 July – Independence Day – the world-famous red jets will take part in a major international flypast over New York, performing in front of crowds expected to reach tens of thousands. Additional flypasts are set to be confirmed as part of the programme.
The visit will highlight and celebrate the enduring and close partnership between the United Kingdom and the United States – its strongest and closest security ally.
The Red Arrows will also appear at events across the United Kingdom before and after their visit to the USA.
Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group, Air Vice-Marshal Mark Jackson, said:
We’re honoured to accept the US military’s invitation for the Red Arrows to participate in these special July 4 events in the country’s 250th year.
The Royal Air Force has a long, proud history of working side-by-side with the Armed Forces of the United States, whether that be on operations and exercises or by joining with other allies as part of NATO.
I hope the Red Arrows’ trademark combination of close formation flying, speed and world-class precision will excite and inspire the hundreds of thousands of people attending these shows.
Officer Commanding the Red Arrows Wing Commander Sasha Nash said:
The whole Red Arrows team are greatly looking forward to visiting the United States – the tour is a fantastic opportunity to display the best of British, at significant events and occasions marking the 250th anniversary, alongside friends, allies and international counterparts.
The UK-US alliance remains central to the UK’s NATO-first approach to defence. For more than a century, British and American forces have operated side-by-side in some of history’s most significant conflicts and security operations.
From the beaches of Normandy during the Second World War to joint operations in the Middle East and ongoing cooperation through NATO, this partnership has remained steadfast – playing a crucial role in maintaining global stability.
Today, the UK and the US continue to share one of the closest defence relationships in the world, underpinned by deep intelligence cooperation, integrated military planning, joint exercises, advanced defence technology collaboration and shared strategic objectives.
-
John Slinger – 2026 Speech on Getting Britain Working Again
The speech made by John Slinger, the Labour MP for Rugby, in the House of Commons on 14 May 2026.
I do not know if colleagues noticed, but a lot of rhetoric and rumours have been flying around Westminster recently. MPs have been huddled in the Tea Room and the corridors, whispering feverishly—tensions are high. After all the anticipation and the angst, today was the day. Rumour became reality.
Members will have guessed it: today it was announced that, for the start of 2026, we had the fastest GDP per capita growth in four years. In Q1, the UK’s growth was the fastest of six G7 nations for which we have data. Reports of the economy being in demise under the stewardship of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer have been greatly exaggerated, as have reports of the political demise of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister. Today’s good economic news matters for my constituents in Rugby. Economic growth matters for jobs and public services, for tackling the cost of living and much more.
The Labour party is aptly named: labour, work. It is a party founded to represent working people in this House of Commons. We want people to work, and we are doing much to help people find work, to help people who face challenges of all kinds to get into work, to ensure that all have dignity when they are in work, to help them navigate a rapidly changing world of work and to ensure compassion and support for those who cannot work but who can still contribute and lead fulfilling lives. Because we are Labour we believe in an active state, not in the laissez-faire approach of the Conservatives or the money-from-who-knows-where approach of Reform UK. We believe in work.
It is easy for people in here and for people outside to assume things about someone’s professional and work background. Even I have made that mistake. After reading the Reform UK leaflets that came through my door about the local elections, emblazoned with the face of the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage), I made the schoolboy error of thinking that, given his mythical status as a man of the people, his work background was varied, perhaps even working class. It turns out that this tribune of the people was a commodities trader in the City of London—nothing wrong with that.
I would not want hon. Members to assume anything about my professional background. To misquote President Reagen in 1984, I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponents’ inexperience in blue collar jobs. My career has been varied. I did a paper round, I have been a gardener, I have done farmwork, I worked in a cinema, and I share with the Leader of the Opposition the fact that I worked in a McDonald’s restaurant for several years, although not the same one as her. I have been a waiter and a bartender, I was a hospital porter for two years, and I even worked here 20 years ago for Labour MPs. However, I have spent most of my career in the private sector in strategic communications consultancy.
I say that because all jobs are important. All add value—public or private, blue or white collar, full time or part time. From our teenage years, they teach us that our labour is valuable and that we can benefit not only ourselves but the wider community. Members across the House will know that I have spoken many times about engaging young people and ensuring they have the best start in life. That has been a core tenet of my philosophy as an MP, and I am pleased to see it reflected in the King’s Speech, with policies that give young people more freedom, more opportunity and more hope, because building the foundations of a young life through work helps us strengthen the foundations of our country.
In the Prime Minister’s much analysed speech on Monday, he described a vision to relentlessly pursue opportunities for our young people, promising a closer relationship with Europe, where young people can benefit from the Erasmus+ scheme and a new youth experience programme, which I strongly commend. He placed an even greater emphasis on young people: we will invest in apprenticeships, technical excellence colleges and a guaranteed offer of a job, training or work placement for every young person. Those measures will be brought forward in Bills announced in the King’s Speech.
I welcome this Government’s laser focus on getting Britain working because, sadly, the latest official statistics make for depressing reading. They show that nearly 1 million 16 to 24-year-olds are not in education, employment or training. I want to see that figure come down, as I am sure all Members do. Not only does this situation rob young people of opportunity; it also risks condemning them to a life of inactivity, reliant on the state for their needs. That is unfair both to them and to the rest of the tax-paying population. The costs are borne by the individual, too. Analysis suggests that someone who is long-term unemployed loses around £1 million in lifetime earnings, which is absolutely shocking.
Make no mistake, Madam Deputy Speaker: the scale of the problem is a direct consequence of 14 years of Tory rule. Under their watch, the number of 16 to 24-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training rose from 673,000 to 921,000. Shamefully, young people were written off, while the enormous benefits bill continued to grow. The Green party attracts those who are disillusioned with the status quo, but it offers no concrete pathways into work or training. I cannot see Reform offering anything substantial either, apart from Orwellian, un-British slogans about “remoralising” our youth. Young people do not need their morals recalibrated by that party or any other.
Young people already have the initiative and the talent; they just need to be encouraged and helped. The Bills and measures announced in the King’s Speech will do just that and go beyond what this Government have already achieved to tackle the national scandal of young people being written off: the youth guarantee, backed by £820 million of new funding; hundreds of thousands of new training and work experience placements; and a new jobs guarantee that fully subsidises six months of paid employment for 18 to 21-year-olds who are long-term unemployed and on universal credit. Alan Milburn’s review seeks to dig deeper into this issue, and I have been in touch with him to contribute to the much-needed work he is conducting with the Secretary of State.
I have previously spoken in Parliament about driving job creation for young people. I have visited Rugby College in my constituency and met with Intec Business Colleges, and I am campaigning for a youth hub that will offer employment advice and wellbeing support. I recently supported Jobcentre Plus and the DWP in organising a well-attended jobs fair in Rugby. I want to do all I can to help everyone right across my constituency into work.
However, young people need more attention, resources and empowerment. They and their needs must be elevated in the decision-making process and the lawmaking process, as we govern more widely, and among other stakeholders in society. To co-ordinate that, I hope the Government will consider going further by appointing a youth commissioner, or even better, a dedicated Cabinet Minister for young people and the future generations. Such a role would scrutinise the work of Government, so that the benefits and trade-offs are assessed against the needs of young people and the future generations, ensuring that every decision takes their future into account. Their demographic is too often overlooked, but the legislation set out in the King’s Speech offers the Government an opportunity to give young people a genuine voice.
Since January last year, I have been making the case for what I call a youth triple lock—a commitment to protecting and expanding the opportunities for young people in the same way that we protect pensioners. That idea is also supported by my hon. Friend the Member for York Outer (Mr Charters). It could include free bus travel, increasing maintenance loans above inflation or a voucher scheme for constructive activities—answers on a postcard.
Before I draw my remarks to a conclusion, I want to pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Jarrow and Gateshead East (Kate Osborne) for her moving words about her autism diagnosis. I am sure it is a difficult thing to speak publicly about.
The Government should take this moment, and be bold in their approach. The Prime Minister set out on Monday that we can no longer continue with the status quo, or go back to the status quo ante, and that we must bring urgency to everything we do. I am glad we have a Chancellor, a Prime Minister, a Government and a parliamentary Labour party committed to ensuring that young people are empowered to become the architects and owners of the future, not merely tenants of one built by others. This is work in progress. This King’s Speech shows that Labour is the party of work, and we are making progress.
-
Caroline Voaden – 2026 Speech on Getting Britain Working Again
The speech made by Caroline Voaden, the Liberal Democrat MP for South Devon, in the House of Commons on 14 May 2026.
It is a real pleasure to speak in this King’s Speech debate, which is my first in this Chamber. Last time around, I was sat on my own in a hotel room on the south bank with covid, warmly shared as a welcome gift by a lovely new colleague just after I entered this place.
After the local election results last week, it is clear that the country has spoken. People right across this great nation are deeply, viscerally disappointed in the performance of this Government since the general election two years ago. This Government came in with such promise and such a huge majority that they could have done anything they wanted. They could have swung into action on day one, giving people real hope, with a real commitment to turbocharge the economy, to clean up our dying and degraded natural environment and to provide truly affordable and social homes, rather than more million-pound new builds like those we see carpeting South Devon. Instead, two years on, people are struggling to pay their bills, young people are failing to find their first job, parents are still fighting with local authorities to secure a decent education for their child, and thousands upon thousands of people simply cannot afford a secure roof over their head.
Peter Swallow
The hon. Member knows how fond I am of her, but how can she possibly in one voice condemn building new homes and in the next sentence suggest that we do not have enough homes for young people to live in? She simply cannot have her cake and eat it.
Caroline Voaden
What I said is absolutely correct. In my constituency of South Devon, new build homes in developer-led housing estates are selling for £950,000. We are not providing the homes we need—the social homes and the truly affordable homes that young people, young couples, young families and people who want to move out from their parents’ home need. We are providing the wrong sort of homes. Having a system led by housing developers that are driven by profit will never provide the homes that we need.
Is it any wonder that voters across the country have turned to the extreme ends of our political spectrum to stick two fingers up at what they see as an ineffective political class that has completely ignored them? “Blame the immigrants” or “blame the billionaires” seem to be the two easy answers thrown out by these parties to the difficult, thorny, complicated questions that this country faces. The sad truth is that neither of those two propositions will be enough to make the changes we need to see to reform the structures of our economy and public services and to improve the lives of those who need it most.
Ten years ago, we saw a referendum that cut our country in two, like a chainsaw through the trunk of a mighty oak tree, and that division has not healed. The arguments still rage, the communities still feel left behind, and the false promise offered in that awful referendum has turned out to be nothing but smoke and mirrors. People are still angry on both sides of that debate. The House will not be surprised to hear that as a Liberal Democrat, I welcome the Government’s promise to strengthen ties with our nearest neighbours in Europe. The House will probably not be surprised to hear me also say that that promise does not go far enough, especially if we are to get Britain working again.
The upcoming EU reset Bill is just the latest example of the Government’s lack of ambition when it comes to rebuilding our trading links with Europe. When we talk of Brexit red tape, nowhere is that more limiting than in the red lines that Labour tied around itself in its 2024 manifesto. It said on coming into office that the previous Conservative Government had left a £22 billion black hole in the UK’s public finances, yet the botched Brexit deal has left a £90 billion hole, similar in scale to the damage wreaked by the 2008 financial crash.
Businesses in South Devon regularly talk to me about the nightmare of trying to do business with Europe. Many have just given up on it altogether. Others are hanging on, desperately hoping that trading restrictions will be eased and customers will come back. I welcome the promise of a sanitary and phytosanitary deal, which cannot come fast enough for my food and farming businesses. We want to hear the Government talk about a customs union with the EU to slash the red tape that is holding us back, because economic growth has stagnated in this country for far too long. We also want to see the UK at the heart of European defence co-operation, not only for the benefits it would bring to national security, but for the investment opportunities it would provide for the supply chain. We must be front and centre of those negotiations. Europe would welcome our involvement, and we must be confident about shaping and leading that discussion.
There is so much to cover in the King’s Speech, but I will just touch on a couple of other areas. I have talked about people feeling ignored and forgotten. Nowhere is the visible representation of that starker than in our high streets, with boarded-up shops, endless vape shops, cafés and pubs struggling to survive, and exorbitant rents making it impossible to get a new business off the ground. The Government have pledged to nationalise British Steel to protect fewer than 3,000 jobs. I have no doubt that the wider economy in and around Scunthorpe will truly benefit from that decision, but why is there nothing in this speech to protect our once vibrant and precious hospitality industry, which has lost nearly 100,000 jobs in the past year? Those jobs are less visible than the closure of a steelworks or a car plant, because it is 10 jobs here and 20 jobs there, but the effect of the national insurance rise has been devastating up and down the country. Businesses have been calling last orders once and for all or simply shrinking their offer.
In my constituency, Rockfish, the California Inn, the Maltsters Arms and the Berry Head hotel—I could go on and on, because hospitality is the backbone of our economy—are cutting staff hours, choosing not to employ extra staff or closing two days a week so that they can manage on one exhausted chef, rather than employing a second, with the owner of the pub having to step into the kitchen when the chef has a few precious days off. This death by a thousand cuts is having a devastating impact on youth employment and part-time jobs. Those are the jobs that so many people rely on to combine with parenting, caring or studying. Let us not forget that every teenager who gets a job washing pots or waiting tables is learning valuable skills that will take them forward in the job market for years to come.
As the Secretary of State said earlier today, this is about the story of their lives, and I was pleased to hear his passion for supporting young people into work, but youth unemployment now stands at around 20%. That is utterly shameful. One in five of our young people is unable to even get a start in the workforce. The new small business protections Bill is laudable, but it falls far short of a proper plan to protect small businesses. We are disappointed that the Government have not listened to our plan to scrap the national insurance rise, reform business rates and prioritise a high street revival.
As a south-west MP, there is a list of Bills that I would have loved to see in the King’s Speech but are sadly missing. Yet again, the rural south-west seems to have been ignored. We have £45 billion for Northern Powerhouse Rail, but not a word about boosting vital bus services across the villages of the south-west. If we are to get people working again, we have to get them to work. If there are no buses, they cannot get there. There was nothing on boosting digital connectivity for hard-to-reach areas.
Sam Rushworth
I hear what the hon. Lady is saying—we have exactly the same challenges in my rural community, where people cannot get to job interviews or to jobs—but we passed the Bus Services Act 2025 in the last Session.
Caroline Voaden
I thank the hon. Member for his intervention. We do not have a mayor in Devon, so we miss out on a lot of that legislation’s benefits. I have loads of villages that do not even have a bus, so talk of bus fares is completely irrelevant when there is literally no service. How are young people supposed to get to college or work or seek opportunities if they cannot get out of their village?
There was no legislation to require banks to offer a minimum service guarantee to their customers. Lloyds bank made nearly £7 billion in profit in 2025, yet it closed branches with impunity, and the Government’s promises to address the lack of banking services have led to nothing so far.
There are some things in the King’s Speech that I would like to welcome. I am pleased to see the Government pledge finally to break the link between gas and electricity prices, which is vital in a country that depends more heavily on gas than many of our neighbours. Investment in home-grown renewable power is also welcome, but we want to see the focus of solar on warehouses and car parks, not on prime farmland. We also want to see stronger community benefits from new renewable infrastructure, empowering communities with the right to buy and sell community energy locally.
Talk of farmland leads me to a devastating omission from the King’s Speech: not once was the word “nature” mentioned. As my hon. Friend the Member for South Cotswolds (Dr Savage) so beautifully laid out in her speech last night, that was probably something that the King himself was disappointed to see. Where is the desire to protect our green spaces, to prompt a revival in nature, to restore our ancient forests and our peatlands, and to clean up our dirty rivers and waterways once and for all? We live in one of the most nature depleted countries in the world, yet nature is not a priority for the Government, despite all the benefits that it brings to people’s health and wellbeing. If we truly want to cut the NHS bill, that would be a really good place to start.
The new water Bill is welcome. The Liberal Democrats have long called for Ofwat to be replaced by a regulator that actually has some teeth, but until the Government address the elephant in the room and look at the ownership of the water industry, nothing will really change. No one should be making a profit from water: something that is so vital not only to us as humans, but to the health of all our planet’s ecosystems. The Liberal Democrats have long led the campaign in Parliament against the sewage scandal, tabling 44 amendments to the Water (Special Measures) Bill, none of which the Government or the Conservatives accepted. They must do more.
Lastly, I will mention the education for all Bill. We all know that support for children with special educational needs is broken, so I welcome the Government’s commitment to tackling it; we urgently need this reform. As my party’s schools spokesperson, I will scrutinise every line of the legislation when it comes before the House, so I will no doubt have time to say far more about it, but let me say this. We must build a system designed around the potential that every child has and that works to their strengths, noticing their gifts and talents and what they can achieve given the right support. We must stop judging them by their limitations, ostracising them, separating them from their peers and causing lifelong damage to their mental health and confidence.
Reform to SEND must be done with children and parents at its heart, with open, honest consultation with families, and with a serious commitment to invest the money needed in our educators and our schools so that they can rise to the challenge and truly build a more inclusive system that works for every child, from those facing the hardest of challenges to the lucky and blessed high achievers among them.
It is a strange thing to deliver this speech opposite Government Benches that are so clearly riven by intrigue, and not knowing who will be leading this legislation through Parliament. It is my hope that whatever path our Government colleagues decide to go down today—or over the next few days and weeks—they will commit to going further in the areas that I have set out, remember the challenges and higher costs faced by rural areas in service delivery and communications, and prioritise nature in every single major decision they make about infrastructure and new building programmes. Think bigger, think bolder, think greener for the benefit of everyone.
-
Peter Swallow – 2026 Speech on Getting Britain Working Again
The speech made by Peter Swallow, the Labour MP for Bracknell, in the House of Commons on 14 May 2026.
I start by declaring that I am the chair of the all-party parliamentary group for schools, learning and assessment, of the all-party parliamentary group on social mobility, and of the all- party parliamentary group for classics.
I welcome the ambitious agenda set out yesterday in a King’s Speech that places working people at its heart—an agenda that builds on our promises to deliver a safer, stronger and more prosperous country. It is an agenda that will get Britain working and break down the barriers to opportunity, both for our country on the global stage and for every young person in it.
Opening up new opportunities for growth and trade is a vital part of this Government’s commitment to working families, because it is crucial that my constituents not only hear about the change we are delivering, but feel it in their pockets. As such, the Prime Minister is right when he says that a stronger relationship with Europe is in all of our best interests. Our European neighbours are our closest friends and allies, and greater opportunities on the continent for our businesses and our young people can only mean a more prosperous country with more opportunities for all. [Interruption.] It does not make sense to be so fixated on an ideology that we act against the interests of our nation and reject the opportunities that are on our doorstep—we are hearing some of that in the chuntering from Conservative Front Benchers. I remind those lining up to cry “Brexit betrayal” that the Leave campaign never promised that we would be completely isolated from our closest economic and defensive allies. In fact, it promised quite the opposite. A closer relationship with Europe means a safer, stronger, more prosperous Britain at a time when that has never been more important, and youth mobility offers brighter futures for our young people. I am proud to support the Government’s clear leadership in this area.
I also welcome the Government’s commitment to supporting British businesses and jobs through tackling unnecessary regulation and supporting businesses to introduce 50,000 more apprenticeships. I was delighted to see this in action in my constituency with the recent opening of a new youth employment hub in Bracknell, which will support hundreds of young people to enter the workplace and develop their skills and futures. I extend a huge thank you to the local businesses across Bracknell Forest that are supporting this initiative, because I and this Government recognise that youth unemployment is not just a problem that lies with individuals. It will take a whole-of-society approach to reach the one in eight young people who are not in education, work or training, and give them hope again.
We also know that for many young people the barriers to opportunity begin far before they even think of entering the workplace. Of all the issues that constituents have raised with me since I became Bracknell’s MP, none has been as complex, pervasive, emotional or deeply personal as those I have heard from parents and children experiencing our broken SEND system. As such, I could not welcome more strongly the commitment this Government have made to face the problem head-on and reform our broken system.
This Government’s determination to deliver for SEND young people is already making a big difference in my constituency, where funding has been confirmed for a new SEND school at Buckler’s Park in Crowthorne. Under the previous Conservative Government, that school was promised, but never funded. This Government are ending the years of empty promises, and are not only investing in the services that families so badly need, but getting on with the work we were elected to do and rebuilding those services so that they actually function. My only ask—the SEND Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Queen’s Park and Maida Vale (Georgia Gould), who is in her place and always listens very attentively on this issue, knows what I am going to say—is that we build that school as quickly as possible. Having visited my constituency, she knows all too well that in Bracknell, and across the country, there are very many young people who need us to act as quickly as we can to get them the places in mainstream education and specialist provision that they so badly need.
On that note, it is also hugely welcome to see the Government delivering an initial £1 million in funding to Bracknell Forest council to establish our new Experts at Hand service, which will improve the availability of occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and educational psychologists to our local schools. I was delighted to get an update on that new programme earlier this week. Many parent carers are concerned about the need to train more practitioners. I know that my hon. Friend the Minister also recognises those challenges, so I hope we can set out an ambitious but deliverable workforce plan as soon as possible, to make sure that the new service can make the difference it is intended to make.
Recently, I hosted a meeting with parents in my constituency to discuss the SEND proposals. There was no doubt among those who attended that the system is badly in need of change, but parent carers raised concerns about individual support plans containing the right safeguards to ensure that every young person gets the support they need. I know that Ministers take that task extremely seriously, and I welcome their resolve to listen to families and educators and to make sustained, meaningful change. Accountability is important, so I simply ask Ministers to focus on that issue as they respond to the consultation. I look forward to the Government setting out all of their proposals in the education for all Bill, to rebuild a system that will give every child the education and opportunities they deserve.
Reform to our education system is about high standards for all, but it is also about preparing our young people to be active, informed and ambitious for their futures. As a former teacher, I know that young people have much to contribute to our political and civic life, and I wholeheartedly welcome the plans set out by this Government to extend the right to vote to 16 and 17-year-olds. As chair of the APPG for schools, learning and assessment, I have been leading an inquiry into votes at 16 and how we can ensure schools are supporting young people to engage in our democracy. I thank the democracy Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Chester North and Neston (Samantha Dixon), for attending one of our evidence sessions.
We have heard from a wide range of young people, educators and civic organisations, and the message has been clear. This is the moment for a wider reflection on our education system and how it serves all of us in areas of civic life—not just in the classroom, but across society. The success of votes at 16 will be reflected, not just in how many young people vote, but in how they feel about their experience of voting and the tools that are available to support them to exercise their right to vote. I welcome the work that is already being undertaken in this area, including the curriculum and assessment review and the schools White Paper. I urge Ministers to grasp the opportunity to embrace a fully cross-departmental approach to delivering this policy, so that our young people develop the skills that employers are crying out for, the skills that will empower them in every area of their life, and have a sense of belonging. It is so important for everyone to feel that they belong to, contribute to, and are part of this United Kingdom.
This Government are fixing the foundations of this country. A quality education and secure employment are the gateways to opportunity, but so too is having a safe and decent home to live in. Too many people are denied that—stuck in insecure, impermanent accommodation and on long waiting lists for social housing simply to find somewhere suitable to live. We have already done a huge amount to tackle those injustices through our Renters’ Rights Act 2025. I am proud that Bracknell’s history as a post-war new town shows what ambition a Labour Government can have when staring a housing crisis in the face, a point that was made eloquently yesterday by my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Chris Vince) when seconding the Humble Address. Let me quickly put on record that I am as proud of Bracknell as he is of Harlow. As everyone in this House will know, that is quite a big boast, given how supportive he is of Harlow.
I welcome the announcement of a social housing renewal Bill, including measures to protect our vital social housing stock and to introduce greater protections for tenants in instances of domestic abuse. I am pleased that the Government are proposing reforms to tackle disposals, but I would like us to go even further in this area so that local authorities are not just informed of any disposal of valuable housing stock, but must approve of it. Given that we have so many families on our waiting lists, I think that is very important. The social housing renewal Bill will ensure the investment and reform needed so that the great legacy that made Bracknell and other new towns what they are today can belong not just to Labour Governments past, but equally to this Government.
Finally, I will touch on something a bit more personal, but no less important. There is no place in the Britain I know and love for abusive conversion practices to continue. The promise we made to ban them is one we must keep, and I offer my full support to the Government’s plans to bring forward draft legislation to do so in this Session. It is right that that ban will be fully trans-inclusive.
The British people elected this Labour Government to deliver change. In my maiden speech, I emphasised that that would not be easy and would not necessarily always happen as quickly as we would like. Transparently, this week has demonstrated the truth of those words far more than I would have liked, so let me simply finish with this promise to the constituents who put their faith in me and sent me to this place to represent them. Whatever the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune care to throw at me, I will remain focused on the one and only thing I was sent here to do: delivering change for my constituents.
-
Marie Goldman – 2026 Speech on Getting Britain Working Again
The speech made by Marie Goldman, the Liberal Democrat MP for Chelmsford, in the House of Commons on 14 May 2026.
As Member of Parliament for Chelmsford, I am proud to represent a city with a breadth of businesses, industries and educational institutions that do so much to support people from all backgrounds into employment. On today’s theme of getting Britain working again, over recent months I have held several roundtables with local small businesses, from independent restaurants that serve as important community spaces to local shops that provide high-quality, high street based alternatives to major multinationals. Those businesses face many challenges, but I am concerned that the Government’s proposed solutions outlined in the King’s Speech fall far short of where we need to be.
At the end of last month, I hosted a roundtable with Chelmsford businesses in the construction industry. I must declare an interest here, because I have for many years run small businesses in construction, working as a specialist subcontractor. We have been through good times and bad times. I know that the often incredibly tight margins are difficult for the industry to work with, and I know the huge temptation for main contractors, desperate to win work, to overpromise and underdeliver.
Some of the most unscrupulous contractors rely on putting their subcontractors out of business at the end of a contract through non-payment, delayed payment or ridiculously long retention clauses, hoping that avoiding paying a subbie will keep the main contractor afloat. I welcome the proposed introduction of legislation to tackle late payments and hope that, in so doing, the Government will listen to all those across the industry, at all levels, to understand the imperatives and the complexities of this matter.
The construction industry is essential to our economy and our lives. The sector creates, sustains and draws on an enormous range of trades and skills. Far from being just about getting muddy and cold on a building site, the industry requires highly skilled engineers, surveyors, planners and logistics experts. It needs administrators and accountants alongside plumbers, brickies and sparkies. The industry is critical to the functioning of our country, from ensuring that we build enough homes to maintaining and expanding critical transport infrastructure. However, owners and representatives from the companies that I met highlighted the significant decrease in young people entering the construction workforce, as well as the overall proportion of women in the sector being extremely low, at around 16%. The industry is already working hard to tackle that, but businesses cannot do it alone.
Let me highlight one specific example raised with me, which goes to the very heart of the theme of “getting Britain working again”: getting young people to site. If we want young people to take up careers in construction—and we surely do—we need them to not just learn the skills and gain essential knowledge through further education courses, but get hands-on, practical experience on building sites. I know that that is more of a challenge, but the industry wants and needs that. Time and again, I have heard businesses tell me that there is simply no substitute for a young person learning alongside a master craftsman or craftswoman and learning the tricks of the trade that allow them to adapt to the unpredictability of the myriad issues that come up on real sites, rather than in the theoretical world of a classroom. The problem is that these young people cannot get there.
Building sites tend not to be conveniently located along a bus route or next to a train station. Indeed, by definition a “new site” is often in an entirely new, undeveloped area. The work is creating the infrastructure that will be used in the future, but in the meantime how do we get young people to the sites? Many of them are too young to even hold a driving licence. If they do not drive, they are reliant on getting a lift, but it is very difficult for businesses to provide that lift, due to safeguarding rules for under-18s. That inevitably generates inequality, as only those who can afford to take taxis or have a parent available to take them can do so, with others being left behind. I am in no way saying that we should scrap safeguarding, but this is the kind of practical issue that businesses tell me directly they need help with—perhaps in the form of grant funding for transport for young apprentices or those on work experience.
We also need to start earlier in inspiring young people to consider a career in the construction industry, and this is where education must play a key role. How can children choose a career if they do not have a wide view of what is available to them? At this point, I will highlight the fabulous work done in my constituency by Chelmsford city council, which for many years—under Liberal Democrat leadership—has been running a skills festival every summer for pupils in year 8. It is called a festival, because that is exactly what it looks and feels like, but instead of the marquees and tents being filled with musicians or stalls selling merchandise and pop culture paraphernalia, they are packed with interactive stands from local businesses and other organisations based in Chelmsford and Essex. They usually have hands-on activities for 12 and 13 year-olds and hopefully encourage them to consider choosing GCSEs in the coming months that fit well with what they see in front of them—in year 8 they will not yet have chosen their GCSEs.
However, this is about not just broadening the horizons of children, but strengthening and deepening the knowledge of their teachers and schools about what is out there, so that they can support the children going forward. The feedback from Chelmsford’s “Skills Fest”, as it is known, is fabulous, with many parents commenting afterwards that they have never seen their child so “brimming with enthusiasm” for something. That is a direct quote from a parent; their child was so enthusiastic about town planning, which they had never considered before. It is pretty inspirational to hear that.
This kind of inspirational, collaborative and innovative activity is the sort of thing that I would like to see and suggest that we need to see right across the country, learning from Chelmsford’s example and experience. In short, if we want to get Britain working again, it can never start too early, and it must start with supporting children. Indeed, it is these practical solutions that would offer young people from diverse backgrounds the opportunities to experience and begin successful, challenging and meaningful careers in crucial sectors such as construction.
Let me turn quickly to the issue of health. It is clear that we cannot get Britain working again if we cannot get Britain healthy again. On that subject, I am afraid that I continue to be dismayed by the state of Broomfield hospital, which is just outside my constituency but serves as Chelmsford’s main healthcare facility. I have held numerous roundtables and surgeries with staff and patients alike to hear from them directly about the challenges facing the Mid and South Essex NHS foundation trust, of which the hospital forms a part. That is easily one of the most concerning issues to local residents, myself included.
Like everyone else, I want to ensure that my friends and family know that they can trust the trust if the worst happens. That is why I was genuinely pleased in March, when the Health Secretary announced that our trust was being placed into an intensive recovery programme to ensure that swift action was taken to address its many challenges. However, almost two months on, I received word yesterday that the trust is yet to receive any details on what the recovery programme even entails.
It is almost unbelievable that a programme labelled “intensive” and announced in March to begin last month has given precisely zero details about what it means, even to the management of one of the five trusts singled out as desperately in need of support. Unfortunately, that is entirely symptomatic of a Government approach that has led to the rather precarious position that the Prime Minister finds himself in today—or possibly even worse. There are promises of swift delivery, meaningful change and competent leadership, then a failure to do any of those things.
Healthcare is essential to every one of us. Staff in the NHS do exhausting, incredible work and are definitely to be commended, but they cannot be expected to turn failing trusts around if the Government cannot begin to describe to them how they want to help them, what they want them to do or how they will be supported in doing so. Our NHS and my constituents deserve and need far better. I ask the Health Secretary—whoever that turns out to be in the weeks and months ahead—to communicate urgently the programme’s details with the relevant trusts, such as Mid and South Essex, so that work can begin right now.
Let me turn briefly to other matters. The previous King’s Speech promised a draft Bill to ban conversion therapy, but that did not happen. Here we are again, with a promise in yesterday’s King’s Speech, as has been mentioned by other hon. Members across the House, for
“a draft Bill to ban abusive conversion practices.”—[Official Report, House of Lords, 13 May 2026; Vol. 856, c. 3.]
As a slight aside, I know that I have spent quite a bit of time talking about the construction industry and I am now talking about conversion practices, but I want to be very clear that these two issues are very different. It was a bit strange to hear cladding remediation and conversion practices lumped into the same sentence in the King’s Speech. I wonder whether there was a bit of confusion in the Government about how wildly different those two issues are—we are not talking about converting buildings. Then again, perhaps that highlights the scale of the challenge and why the Government have not prioritised this matter; perhaps they truly do not understand the issue.
I must remind the Government that we have heard time and again of the impact that abusive conversion practices have on the LGBT+ community. Indeed, it was Theresa May’s Government in 2018 who first proposed such a Bill, yet here we are, almost a decade later, without even a draft in front of us. As other hon. Members have done, I ask the Government what assurances they can give that such a Bill will finally come forward, given that it has been promised before but did not happen. The LGBT+ community must not again be told to wait until the end of this Session only to see another promise broken. The Government must publish a trans-inclusive Bill to ban conversion practices as a matter of urgency.
The Government recognise a lot of the challenges that face our country, and I do not doubt their desire to improve people’s lives, but they either refuse to carry out the appropriate solutions or are too timid to make an argument for the bold change that our country has been crying out for, even if it is sometimes controversial. We are fortunate to live in an amazing country. We have wonderful people, world-class skills and expertise, globally admired institutions and businesses, a deep history built on the principles of fairness, tolerance and inclusivity, and enormous potential to lead the world in so many ways—politically, economically and morally. However, we need to do more than just recognise that it is not currently working for everyone; we need real, workable, practical and pragmatic ideas that can and must be implemented at pace.
We on the Liberal Democrat Benches want this Government to make positive changes. It matters for us and our constituents that they do that, so I encourage them to listen to the calls of Liberal Democrat Members, who are willing to work together to achieve the positive changes that we need to reduce inequality, increase economic security, and ultimately see off the politics of hatred and grievance.
-
Jayne Kirkham – 2026 Speech on Getting Britain Working Again
The speech made by Jayne Kirkham, the Labour MP for Truro and Falmouth, in the House of Commons on 14 May 2026.
A big part of why I became an MP was for the young people in my constituency. I have a 20-year-old Cornish son, and I want young people to have the choice to stay and work in Cornwall, and not be forced to go elsewhere and not come back. There are genuinely exciting opportunities for good, well-paid green jobs in the renewable energy sector in Cornwall, for example floating offshore wind. We also have a new Government critical mineral strategy, and an awful lot of lithium and other critical minerals under our feet—enough, apparently, for 20% of the needs of the whole of Europe. We also have digital, creative arts and our amazing hospitality sector.
I was a teaching assistant in a secondary school for seven years, and I saw the impact that successive covid lockdowns had on a generation of young people who missed out on the in-person, social interaction and developmental milestones. I know how much they suffered from a broken SEND system for a decade, and I realise how difficult it is to re-enter education after time away, or enter the workforce for the first time under those circumstances. We inherited nearly 1 million young people not in work or education across the country, and Cornwall is particularly highly represented in that. It is so important that we give those young people the skills and confidence they need to move forward with their lives. That is why the Government commissioned the Milburn review, to identify the root causes of youth unemployment and to make recommendations for how we can improve opportunities for our young people.
We have introduced some of those policies to support young people into work, backed up by funding. For example, the jobs guarantee will lead to the creation of 90,000 extra subsidised jobs over the next three years for those aged 18 to 24. New foundation apprenticeships, including in hospitality and retail, will help my area and provide employers with up to £2,000 to support 16 to 21-year-olds into work. The apprenticeship initiative will give SMEs £2,000 for each new employee aged 16 to 24, and the youth jobs grants provides £3,000 for a business that hires someone on universal credit for six months.
I am hopeful that those policies will complement and add to some of the brilliant work that Cornish employers are doing, particularly on apprenticeships. Cornwall Marine Network in my constituency plays a vital role in supporting SMEs in the marine sector to take on apprentices, and it delivers high-quality training, as does Truro and Penwith college in my constituency. Firms such as A&P, Pendennis and Cockwells provide fantastic apprenticeship schemes in the marine industries, and the Cornish Fish Producers’ Organisation has developed an 18-month level 2 fisher apprenticeship to equip young people with the skills and knowledge that they need for a career in fishing. I welcome the fishing and coastal growth fund, which will invest in skills and workforce development in the sector.
Furthermore, leaders of the world-class hospitality industry in Cornwall are keen to train more young people. For many Cornish young people, a job in a pub, café or restaurant provides a valuable introduction to the world of work, but it can also lead to a good career in hospitality. Cornwall is perfect for a pilot of the new foundation apprenticeship. I am pleased that the Government are transforming the apprenticeship levy into a new growth and skills levy. Some of that money could perhaps be used flexibly as training for employers in the hospitality sector and others who support apprentices, or by funding some of the skills courses at FE providers such as Truro and Penwith college in my constituency, or by looking at the way some of those apprenticeships are funded.
This is not only about supporting young people in their teens and their twenties, because we must also take steps to improve the lives of children from their earliest years, ensuring that a child’s background does not dictate their chances or leave them struggling to catch up. I am proud that this Government have introduced free breakfast clubs, state nurseries, 30 hours of funded childcare from the age of nine months, free school meals and Best Start family hubs. Those are a start to replacing Sure Start, which was a transformative thing for our families. A number of times I knocked on doors in my constituency and met women about my age who were accountants or who had a variety of jobs. They said that without Sure Start they could never have retrained or got that help—it was fundamental.
Matt Rodda
Is my hon. Friend aware of the good research which shows that £1 invested in early years education is worth £16 invested later in a child’s life? Does she agree that that wise investment by our Government is both taking the economy forward and supporting families in a meaningful way?
Jayne Kirkham
That makes perfect sense. Early years and education are pretty much the most important things that any Government can focus on, and I am so proud that that is what we are doing. The King’s Speech includes legislation to enable the delivery of this Government’s much needed SEND reforms. Parents of children with SEND in my constituency have made clear that the current system is not fit for purpose. I have shared their experiences and concerns as part of the consultation, and I will continue to do so. If young people cannot access education because their needs are not met, it can become harder and harder to get into work and back into society later on.
I recognise that for some people the barriers to employment, education and training can feel insurmountable right now. The Government are trying to take meaningful steps to remove those barriers and invest in those jobs, skills, apprenticeships, to reform and prioritise early years provision, and to address some of the failures in SEND provision. Taken together as a whole, moving forward, those measures represent a real commitment to our next generation, which I am hopeful will benefit young people in Truro and Falmouth, in Cornwall, and across the country.
-
Seamus Logan – 2026 Speech on Getting Britain Working Again
The speech made by Seamus Logan, the SNP MP for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East in the House of Commons on 14 May 2026.
I rise to address the issue of getting Britain working again, but also to make some observations on this Government’s chaotic performance since July 2024. The focus of today’s debate is on employment, and I will come to that, but so many Labour Members seem utterly preoccupied with the employment of one person: the Prime Minister. No vacancy exists, apparently, but at least one, maybe two, possibly three candidates may apply for said position. I am happy to provide a reference, but it will not be a good one.
This shambolic and unstable Government are in stark contrast to the political stability that we have enjoyed in Scotland since 2007. We will continue to enjoy that stability for another five years following our landslide victory in the Scottish parliamentary election on 8 June —a landslide victory bigger than Labour’s in July 2024, with 58 of our successful applicants being sworn in today in Edinburgh.
Prior to the election and over the last six months in particular, so many Labour MPs from Scotland used their valuable question time in this Chamber to attack the SNP. So many of them told us that the people of Scotland would reject the SNP, but last Thursday, the people of Scotland rejected the Labour party, rejected the Reform party and, indeed, rejected the notion that this is a United Kingdom.
Peter Swallow
The hon. Member said that the victory secured by the SNP at the elections earlier this month was bigger than the victory secured by this Government in 2024. Could he clarify whether the SNP won more or less seats at that election than it previously held? Has the SNP’s majority increased or decreased?
Seamus Logan
The plain fact of the matter, if we look at the percentages, is that it was a bigger landslide. Labour Members would also do well to take consideration of the now 73 MSPs in favour of independence for Scotland.
This Union has now been served with its redundancy notice, like so many workers in Scotland these last two years—like the workers in Grangemouth, who should have been treated in the same way as the steelworkers in Scunthorpe, the 1,500 jobs that could have been created at Ardersier, or the derisory coastal growth fund allocation to our precious fishing industry. Now this chaotic Government have turned on their leader, scapegoating him for their collective failures. The wonder of it all is that the branch manager of the Labour party in Scotland has not resigned, for he carries responsibility for this abject failure of the Labour party in Scotland.
We have not abandoned our pensioners, the vulnerable, the disabled, our young people, our students, our apprentices or our children. Unemployment is lower in Scotland than in the rest of these islands. Most of all, we have not demonised the many thousands of people who come from abroad to work in our essential services, or those who seek sanctuary from war, famine or persecution. They are not taking away our jobs, houses or GP appointments, as some populist politicians would have us believe. Years of austerity managed that and, sadly, Labour is continuing in that vein with its planned assault on the welfare system.
Is the former Health Secretary now ensuring that the King’s Speech included a relentless focus on the health service, on labour shortages in social care, on an end to the privatisation of our health service, on the availability of lifesaving drugs, and on reassuring this House about the hidden costs of the US-UK pharma deal by publishing his Department’s impact assessment? No. He focuses on his own personal ambitions to enter No. 10 Downing Street. He should not have been allowed to resign; he should have been sacked.
Finally, I wish to highlight the Palantir contract, which was discussed recently in Westminster Hall. Many Members from across the House spoke about it, and only yesterday I learned that NHS England has allowed staff from the US tech firm and other contractors to access patient data before it has been pseudonymised, despite internal fears of a
“risk of loss of public confidence”.
An internal NHS briefing has said that it would allow
“unlimited access to non-NHS staff”
to part of the NHS’s federated data platform, which holds identifiable patient information. That should concern everyone in the House, no matter their political persuasion. Indeed, it should concern everybody in the country. Members across the House have called for the Palantir project to be reviewed next year, and I urge whoever replaces the erstwhile Minister for Health Innovation and Safety to act on that misuse of our NHS data.
In conclusion, the Scottish National party will continue to have a relentless focus on matters relating to health and social care that are reserved to this Parliament during this Session, and on matters that adversely affect our small businesses. But the real solution to these issues is to give the people who live in Scotland the democratic right to bring this Union to an end, and allow Scotland to become an independent nation if it so chooses. The concept of Britain just is not working any more.