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Tag: Mike Kane

  • Mike Kane – 2023 Speech on the Budget

    Mike Kane – 2023 Speech on the Budget

    The speech made by Mike Kane, the Labour MP for Wythenshawe and Sale East, in the House of Commons on 20 March 2023.

    It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Hazel Grove (Mr Wragg). I look forward to catching up once again at our annual meet-up at the carnival in July, and I wish him all the best with his therapy.

    The Secretary of State mentioned the great British invention of tarmac. John Loudon McAdam was a Scottish engineer in the 17th and 18th centuries who added coal tar to stone surfaces. That became tarmac, or “tarmacadam”—that is where the name comes from. I thought it was an odd reference for the Secretary of State to make, though, as we cannot get enough money for our crumbling roads and the potholes that we all face.

    Every day, I hear residents and businesses in Wythenshawe and Sale East talk about the harsh realities of the cost of living at the moment: old-age pensioners are afraid to put on their heating; more and more working families are using food banks; nurses, teachers and firefighters are struggling with household bills as costs go up and their pay stays the same; people are unable to meet private rents or manage rising mortgage rates; and local businesses are closing down because of overheads.

    Last Wednesday, the Chancellor had a chance to show that he is on the side of Britain’s people and businesses with a Budget that offered real support and serious solutions, but that is not the Budget we got. Instead, what the Chancellor offered was a Budget that did worse than deny people’s realities: it insulted them, with a £1 billion pension cut for the richest 1%; a stealth tax freezing income tax levels, meaning workers will see their pay squeezed further; and an overarching message that the Government’s plan was working and the economy was not that bad, at the same time as the OECD announced that the UK will be the only—the only—G7 economy to shrink this year.

    Where the Chancellor came closest to offering real support, he did so by stealing ideas from others, yet bungled the detail. The hon. Member for Bassetlaw (Brendan Clarke-Smith) mentioned the expansion of free childcare. Sadly, we will not see that crucial support to help parents get back into work introduced in full until September 2025. As it stands, the subsidy from childcare providers is so high that it threatens to put them out of business.

    I welcome the extension of the help with energy bills. The Government again capitulated to what Labour and campaign groups have been calling for, for months. But with an extension of just three months and more limited support, what we are seeing is more sticking-plaster politics. Where is the investment in green energy, which is the only way we will achieve true energy security? Then there was more of the same, with recycled ideas and empty promises from the many Tory Chancellors and Prime Ministers of the past. To level up, the Chancellor announced plans for the Truss-Kwarteng “investment zones”. Forget HS2, Northern Powerhouse Rail or solid regeneration projects for Wythenshawe town centre and Sale town centre, all of which have been delayed or denied by the Government. Instead, they think these low-tax, reduced regulation, potential Canary Wharfs will generate jobs and skills in left-behind communities. These are far from the serious solutions that Britain needs. What the Chancellor put forward is a Budget that denies reality, delivers little and borrows heavily; a Budget from a Government who are out of touch, out of ideas and quickly running out of time.

    Under this Government, people are getting poorer. People are being supported into work, but getting paid less and taxed more, while public services struggle to cope—all the hallmarks of an economy in managed decline. Our people and businesses deserve more. We need a Budget that delivers for people, communities and businesses like those in Wythenshawe and Sale East: 1,600 homes for Wythenshawe town centre, if we had got our levelling up bid; 250 homes for Sale town centre; investment to regenerate Wythenshawe hospital, but with the hospital building programme stuck in the muck we could build 1,000 homes on that site with the right release of investment; an HS2 station near my constituency and an extended Metrolink loop line; a station on the mid-Cheshire line; scrapping business rates; and a proper plan to address skills gaps that are holding back our small and large businesses.

    What we need is a Budget that acknowledges reality and the scale of the challenge head-on, but meets them with the hope, ambition and determination needed to get Britain back on the path to growth. But for that style of Budget, it seems we will have to wait longer still.

  • Mike Kane – 2023 Speech on Lifeboat Services – Search and Rescue

    Mike Kane – 2023 Speech on Lifeboat Services – Search and Rescue

    The speech made by Mike Kane, the Labour MP for Wythenshawe and Sale East, in Westminster Hall, House of Commons, on 10 January 2023.

    As ever, it is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Davies, and I thank the hon. Member for Torbay (Kevin Foster), who represents a beautiful part of the world, for his excellent speech. My researcher indicated that 52 awards for gallantry have gone to the hon. Gentleman’s RNLI station alone.

    I shall be following the hon. Member for Totnes (Anthony Mangnall), who advocated for the National Independent Lifeboat Association, and the hon. Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire North (Gavin Newlands), in that we are not really having a debate, because there is consensus. The only note of division I think I heard was in the intervention from the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone) on the hon. Member for Moray (Douglas Ross). Perhaps we need a separate debate on what we call that firth; the name Inverness strait might help to sort this out. [Interruption.] I see I have caused complete division across the Chamber.

    Next year, it will be 200 years since William Hillary’s vision of saving souls at sea became a reality, and on 19 December 2022 the Minister and I were at the Dispatch Box for the Second Reading of the Seafarers’ Wages Bill. Today, we have heard the story of the Penlee lifeboat disaster, which was eloquently told by the right hon. Member for New Forest East (Sir Julian Lewis), and on 19 December, the 41st anniversary of the disaster, we were able to have recorded in Hansard our thanks to the crews who went out that night in 1981.

    The RNLI was formed to save souls at sea and the institution’s priorities were

    “the preservation of human life…assistance to vessels in distress…the preservation of vessels and property…the prevention of plunder and depredations in case of shipwreck…succour and support of those persons who may be rescued…the bestowing of suitable rewards on those who rescue the lives of others”.

    I want the debate to recognise those people as well and to be an acknowledgement of those who risk their lives to save those in peril on the sea.

    As shadow maritime Minister, I know only too well the sacrifices made by our seafarers, which we saw during the pandemic. However, professional seafarers are not the only people our lifeboats serve to protect. We have seen the small boats in the English channel, which, as has been mentioned, is the busiest shipping lane in the world. We have seen children, women, families and individuals being plucked from the seas by the RNLI and others, and we have heard testimony from those who are tasked by the coastguard to perform their rescue missions without prejudice and without judgment.

    There is nobody who is illegal. If people are in peril on the sea, we rescue them—no ifs, no buts. I thank those people for their service and for their determination to save everyone and anyone who gets into difficulty around UK and Irish shores. This is such a vital lifesaving service—so selfless—that, as has been mentioned, it is almost unbelievable that the RNLI receives no money from Government and is funded primarily by donations.

    My best man was rescued from a cliff by the RNLI, when he was a child and on holiday. We have been friends for 30 years, and he has fundraised for the RNLI all his life, even being in a landlocked constituency. Imagine how the course of my life might have changed, had that rescue gone wrong, so I, too, pay personal tribute to the RNLI.

    As I was preparing this speech last night, I noticed that at 6 pm lifeboats were launched from Hartlepool and Ramsgate. At 9.40 pm there was an incident that led to Tynemouth launching a rescue mission, with another one launching from Falmouth at 11 pm. Remarkable bravery takes place every day and every night. Since 1824 the RNLI has saved almost 143,000 lives. I go back to the original mission statement of Sir William Hillary, when he conceived the idea of the RNLI. I should add that the use of the word “men” is of its time, and not reflective of the nature of the RNLI, who for generations have had women launching lifeboats and working alongside crew to ensure that boats could set sail efficiently and speedily. More recently, they have crewed the boats and acted as shore crew. Now, the RNLI has more than 300 women crew and a third of their lifeguards are female, preventing accidents before they happen with good safety advice and keen stewardship of the shore.

    Sir William said that at the heart of this institution would be

    “a large body of men…in constant readiness to risk their own lives for the preservation of those whom they have never known or seen, perhaps of another nation, merely because they are fellow creatures in extreme peril.”

    Every lifeboat volunteer—whether they be a fundraiser, a coxswain or at the helm— exemplifies that mission statement, and I would like to thank them for their service and their contribution to search and rescue.

  • Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the potential role for the private sector in increasing birth registration in fagile contexts.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    Accurately recording births, deaths, adoptions, marriages and divorces will be critical in achieving the newly agreed Global Goals. In fragile contexts, registration is essential to enable refugees to obtain humanitarian services and protection under international law.

    Although globally, the births of nearly 230 million children under age five have never been recorded and almost two thirds of deaths are not counted at all, some progress is being made, largely in Latin America and Asia. The increasing use of technology and the private sector have played important enabling roles in building this momentum and will continue to be crucial to further progress.

    DFID supports statistical capacity building and implementation of national statistical plans in a number of countries through global programmes such as the Statistics for Results Facility Catalytic Fund (SRF-CF), implemented in eight countries. In Nigeria, for example, SRF-CF supported eight outreach birth/death registration centres. DFID also provides bilateral support to countries’ national statistical systems.

    At a policy level, DFID supports the Commission for Information and Accountability (COIA) where CRVS is one of ten priority areas. DFID also provides support to the UNHCR, the mandated UN agency to advocate for the protection and promotion of the rights of refugees, which plays a crucial role in assisting refugees in with documentation. To date, DFID has allocated over £44 million to UNHCR’s operations in Jordan and in Lebanon, of which a proportion will go to funding the registration and issuing of birth certificates for refugees.

  • Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the UK Embassy in Israel has taken to monitor attacks on Christian places of worship.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Our Embassy in Tel Aviv is in regular contact with representatives of churches on a range of issues, including to discuss concern about attacks on places of worship. The last attack occurred on 17 January 2016 where the Dormition Abbey compound of the Orthodox Church in the Old City of Jerusalem was vandalised with anti-Christian slogans. The ‘Tag Meir’ organisation has listed 44 cases of vandalism and arson on Christian and Muslim places of worship in Israel and the West Bank since December 2009.

  • Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government plans to publish a draft agenda for the Anti-Corruption Summit to be held in May 2016.

    Matthew Hancock

    Information about the London Anti-Corruption Summit can be found on the summit web pages of the GOV.UK website. Further details about the summit will be announced in due course.

  • Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to include producers of aviation fuel within the ambit of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department for Transport are assessing the benefits of making sustainable aviation biofuel eligible for certificates under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO). We aim to publish a consultation on legislative amendments to the RTFO later this year including proposals for aviation biofuels.

  • Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make it his policy to ensure that 15 per cent of the three million apprenticeships his Department plans to deliver over the next five years are taken up by disabled people.

    Nick Boles

    We are committed to reaching 3 million new apprenticeship starts by 2020. Thousands of disabled people have benefitted from apprenticeships. In the 2014/15 academic year 44,090 of those starting an apprenticeship declared a disability or learning difficulty (LDD). This is 8.8% of the total starts.

    Apprenticeships are jobs with training and availability is dependent upon employers offering opportunities. However, we believe that there is more that can be done to ensure that people from a diverse range of backgrounds are in the best possible place to apply for and secure an apprenticeship. Employers must fulfil their duties as set out in the Equality Act 2010 for apprentices as they would for other employees.

    An Apprenticeships Equality and Diversity Advisory group helps government understand and address any apprenticeship equality and diversity issues in order to reduce barriers and make apprenticeships as inclusive as possible.

  • Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development on the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, 12 January 2016, Official Report, column 248WH, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the Global Fund is addressing concentrated epidemics among key populations in middle income countries.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The UK is a key supporter of the Global Fund and pledged up to £1 billion between 2014 and 2016, subject to a 10% donor share cap. Approximately 50% of Global Fund resources are directed to Middle Income Countries (MICs) and the UK has asked the Global Fund to focus more heavily on marginalised groups in MICs where they do invest.

    The UK is working with the Global Fund and other partners to encourage MICs to develop their own self-financed programmes to combat concentrated epidemics, ensuring that investments are effectively reaching key populations and holding national governments to account so that vulnerable groups are not left behind.

  • Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether NHS England has placed a requirement on Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust to pay off its deficit.

    Alistair Burt

    We are advised that NHS England has placed no such requirements. These are matters for the Manchester Mental Health and Social Care NHS Trust and its commissioners.

    We expect all National Health Service trusts to use their resources wisely and within their statutory responsibilities, while delivering high quality, sustainable services to patients. It is for the local NHS to determine the provision of local health services.

  • Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether healthcare professionals in Greater Manchester expressed support for the introduction of charging for (a) primary care and (b) emergency care in response to his Department’s consultation, Making a fair contribution: consultation on the extension of charging overseas visitors and migrants using the NHS in England.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government is currently analysing responses to this consultation and will publish its response in due course.