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Tag: Mike Kane

  • 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 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department plans to continue to spend £500 million per year on tackling malaria.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The UK Government is committed to remain a world leader in tackling global diseases like malaria.

    In the recent Spending Review we announced the Ross Fund, which will provide £1 billion to support research and implementation to tackle malaria and other infectious diseases. This will be one part of DFID’s balanced portfolio of investments in malaria control, delivered through bilateral and multilateral channels, support to health systems and service delivery and support to research.

    The UK has pledged a contribution to the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria of up to £1 billion between 2014 and 2016, subject to a 10% donor share cap. This will dramatically improve the lives of millions of people, saving approximately 580,000 lives by preventing 8.4m new malaria, HIV and TB infections. Our future contributions to the Global Fund are being considered as part of the Spending Review.

    We will lay out further investment plans in the future.

  • 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 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what process was used for the appointment of Sir Jonathan Michael to lead the Independent Review to assess the potential benefits of aligning hospital services in Manchester.

    Ben Gummer

    These are matters for the local National Health Service.

    The NHS needs to ensure it is delivering the highest quality care and the best clinical outcomes for patients.

    Accordingly, the NHS in Manchester has commissioned an independent review of hospital services to identify where changes might be required to ensure consistently high standards of care.

  • Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the level of hotel use to house asylum seekers is in each local authority area.

    James Brokenshire

    Under the COMPASS contracts, providers are allowed to use contingency accommodation to cope with unanticipated increase in demand, but we have made clear to providers that this is only ever acceptable in exceptional situations and asylum seekers must be moved to appropriate longer term accommodation as soon as possible. Providers will inform local authorities about short term contingency accommodation prior to its use.

    Our records indicate that there are currently 22 hotels in use across 10 local authorities. This is provisional management information that is subject to daily change. It has not been assured to the standard of Official Statistics

  • Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) translation services and (b) other specialist provisions the Government provides to unaccompanied asylum seeking children from Eritrea.

    James Brokenshire

    All unaccompanied asylum seeking children, including those from Eritrea, are provided with an interpreter where necessary, access to legal advice, and are referred to the Refugee Council children’s panel.

    Unaccompanied asylum seeking children are placed in the care of local authority children’s services and have access to the same support as all other looked after children.

  • Mike Kane – 2022 Speech on the Expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone

    Mike Kane – 2022 Speech on the Expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone

    The speech made by Mike Kane, the Labour MP for Wythenshawe and Sale East, in Westminster Hall, the House of Commons, on 20 December 2022.

    It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hosie. I, too, congratulate the hon. Member for Dartford (Gareth Johnson) on securing the debate.

    I am going to scrap my speech for a second. One of the great honours of living in London for part of the week is understanding how absolutely fantastic the public transport system is. If you try to get back to Manchester today on an Avanti train, Godspeed to you all. If you have tried to get across the Pennines over the last few months, Godspeed to you all. I have had the great honour in my nearly nine years as an MP to spend one day a month walking in London. I have done the London loop, so unfortunately I have walked through most of the places represented by the hon. Members present, including Orpington, Petts Wood, Ruislip, Wallington and Watford. What a beautiful place London is. I am still astonished by the quality of the public transport system, which is second to none on this planet and the envy of everybody outside this great conurbation.

    Every year, 4,000 Londoners die prematurely due to poisonous air, and the greatest number of deaths are in outer London boroughs, with 11 Londoners dying prematurely every day. Air pollution is quite simply a matter of life and death; it makes our communities sick. Despite the Government’s promise that there would be no weakening of environmental targets post Brexit, it seems that they are refusing to match the EU standards, setting a weaker target while sentencing our children and communities to an unnecessary 10 years of toxic air.

    The challenge is threefold: we must tackle toxic air pollution, we must deal with the climate emergency, and we must deal with traffic congestion. I was at the Sutton Ecology Centre at the weekend, and I saw just how congested the A232 is and the problems there.

    Elliot Colburn

    Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the A232 is only congested because the Mayor of London has scrapped the A232 review that he promised to do?

    Mike Kane

    The A232 is actually congested because there are too many vehicles on it—that is what congestion is. London is a beautiful town, so I do not know why we allow it to happen. It is incredible to me.

    The Government’s own watchdog, the Office for Environmental Protection, says that the Government have failed to announce new targets, as they should have done under the Environment Act 2021, and that the new Government air quality targets are too weak and will condemn another generation to poor air.

    We know that around 85% of vehicles driving in outer London already meet the pollution standards. Mayor Khan has introduced the biggest scrappage scheme yet: £110 million in support for Londoners on low incomes, disabled Londoners, micro-businesses and charities to scrap or retrofit their non-compliant vehicles. He has extended the exemption period for them and for community transport. As the hon. Member for Orpington (Gareth Bacon) said, the scheme was devised under the last Mayor of London, but it has taken Mayor Khan to implement it.

    As was already pointed out, the Mayor also announced plans to add an extra 1 million kilometres to the bus network—much of that in outer London. Again, that requires leadership and support from central Government. The Government’s clean air fund excludes applications from London boroughs and the Greater London Authority. London’s share would amount to around £42 million, which would have gone a long way to expanding or supporting the Mayor’s £110 million scrappage fund.

    I am a Greater Manchester MP. We have had problems. There are nitrogen dioxide sewers—controlled by Highways England—going through my constituency. If those roads were factories, they would have been shut down. They are simply not acceptable in this day and age. Local authorities were given a legal direction to clean up the air by 2024, and like Birmingham, Bradford and Portsmouth, they had to act, but Ministers have comprehensively failed to provide the necessary funding. Ministers need to help families and small businesses switch to electric vehicles, and they must take action to expand charging infrastructure. Plumbers who use their vans for work are being priced out of this revolution. I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Fleur Anderson) for having two brothers who are plumbers—wouldn’t we all want that?

    This week, we learned that instead of charging ahead, the Government are slipping back on the charging infrastructure strategy. Rapid charging fund trials have been delayed, changes to planning rules have been kicked into the long grass, and take-up of the on-street charging scheme is anaemic. Labour’s plan for green growth will drive jobs, tackle the cost of living and help to clean up toxic air. There will be help for families with the cost of switching to electric vehicles, and we will provide the action we need to tackle toxic air. Britain is the only country in the developed world where private bus operators set routes and fares with no say from the public. That is not the case in London, but it is for bus services outside London. I was delighted to see the work that Andy Burnham has done as Mayor of Greater Manchester in setting the £2 fares, which the Government are now copying.

    I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Putney, who spoke eloquently about the problems of Putney High Street, which is one of the most polluted places in the country. As somebody who rides a bike to Richmond Park occasionally, I have to go and experience it. I also thank my hon. Friend the Member for Swansea West (Geraint Davies); he is in charge of his facts, and gave powerful personal testimony about asthma and his children.

    Let me say this to Conservative Members, genuinely and from the bottom of my heart: where there are low-traffic neighbourhoods, and where cars are tackled, electoral popularity rises. Tackling air pollution is electorally popular. I look at the percentage chances of Conservative Members winning their seats in the next election. In Dartford, they have a 64% chance of losing. The hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Dr Spencer) has a 57% chance of losing. The hon. Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (David Simmonds) has a 64% chance of losing. No wonder the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Elliot Colburn) is going on about the Lib Dems—they have a 52% chance of winning that seat.

    Stewart Hosie (in the Chair)

    Order. That is jolly interesting, but the topic is the ultra low emission zone.

    Mike Kane

    I can hear the Risographs of activists in London churning out leaflets about their Members of Parliament who do not want to support clean air. That is a clear divide, and I urge Members to get on the right side of it.

  • Mike Kane – 2022 Speech on the Sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory

    Mike Kane – 2022 Speech on the Sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory

    The speech made by Mike Kane, the Labour MP for Wythenshawe and Sale East, in Westminster Hall, the House of Commons, on 7 December 2022.

    It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Cummins. I congratulate the hon. Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham (Daniel Kawczynski) on securing this debate. Since becoming a Member of Parliament, it has been my great pleasure to get thoroughly involved with the Chagos community in my constituency, which numbers 300 to 400 people. What a wonderful community it is! They celebrate their annual mass on Chagos Day at St Anthony’s in Woodhouse Park, to which I am invited. The food is fantastic as well.

    What a wonderful community, but what a horror story. I describe the Chagossians’ removal from those islands in that era as the mother of all injustices. I have about 13 constituents who still remember the days and weeks that it happened; they have told me about having their crops burned and their animals shot, being forcibly lined up on a boat to sail 800 nautical miles away to wherever—the Seychelles or Port Louis, Mauritius—and having their way of life ripped asunder. They are some of the most horrific stories I have heard in my eight years in this place. Then, to compound what I have called the mother of all injustices, there was then the injustice of their treatment in Mauritius.

    We have had 50 years of systemic failure—failing these people who live in systemic poverty. It is passed on from generation to generation. The reason why so many Chagossians live in the constituency of the hon. Member for Crawley (Henry Smith), I would say, is because they get jobs at the airport, as they do in my constituency. We have to do more. We have to go further and faster to begin to break down the systemic poverty that the Chagossians have suffered generation upon generation. I think we can do it.

    The UK is subject to the rule of international law. The hon. Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham is right. We see at first hand China’s tentacles everywhere in my constituency and in my city. There is no need to tell that to a Mancunian at the moment—we see what China is doing in its consulate in my city, where the consul general came out and dragged in Hong Kong protesters, beating them up. A foreign state in my city is perpetrating this. We had a wonderful relationship with that consulate for 60 years, but, in the last five or 10 years, we have seen the change in the authoritative tone of the Chinese Government.

    But we are subject to the rule of law. This International Court of Justice ruling against us at the UN has forced us into a position. The UK has to enter some form of negotiations, and we should carry those out in a way that, as the hon. Member for Glasgow North (Patrick Grady) said, achieves good outcomes for the Chagos communities. Good outcomes mean the Chagossians getting British passports—how many of us who represent Chagossian communities have struggled, following the treatment of the Windrush generation in the past few years, to get them ordinary British passports? It means getting the right to remain to do that, to allow them to get better jobs and bursaries for education and to enable them to send back the natives who came here if they want a burial on those islands.

    I have, for all sorts of reasons, taken over the chairmanship of the APPG, on which I have sat for eight years. We have campaigned religiously to highlight the plight of this community. Next week, I will meet with Chagossian Voices again to hear at first hand their thoughts on these negotiations. In my first act as chairman, I wrote to the Foreign Secretary, who has now kindly agreed to come and address the group early in the new year, so we will get first-hand information about the stage of these negotiations and what the intent of the British state is.

    Many of us present have campaigned for years on this subject. Let us make sure that we put the Chagossians, their rights and their dignity at the heart of everything we do going forward.

  • Mike Kane – 2022 Speech on Anti-Fouling on Merchant Shipping

    Mike Kane – 2022 Speech on Anti-Fouling on Merchant Shipping

    The speech made by Mike Kane, the Labour MP for Wythenshawe and Sale East, in the House of Commons on 7 November 2022.

    It is a pleasure, as always, to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Murray. I had a few nice, dulcet things to say about the right hon. Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh), but we do not have him in the Chair, so thank you for stepping into the breach; it is good of you.

    I welcome the Minister to his place. North West Durham is a beautiful part of the world, and I know Lanchester well. I am sure Members agree that in his first outing at an SI Committee, the Minister has done extraordinarily well. I am also sure that we all came into politics to discuss statutory instruments about barnacles on boats. I might have to take some anti-fouling measures myself; I will check my deodorant, because the Minister is about the fourth or fifth on my watch as shadow spokesperson for aviation and maritime. I wish him well in his time in office.

    That is enough of the niceties. The implementation of the convention will protect United Kingdom waters from harmful effects occurring from the use of prohibited substances, not just on UK ships but on non-UK ships visiting our waters. We will be supporting the draft order, as it is vital to take every step within our power to reduce the leaching of toxins into water.

    There are two major and interlinked environmental challenges in the marine industry: reducing emissions, and preventing the transfer of invasive species through biofouling. The formation of barnacles and other unwanted attachments, such as molluscs and algae, increase the consumption of fuel and slow ships down. In order to address that, ships’ hulls are coated with anti-fouling paints. Historically, coatings such as lime and arsenic were used to coat the hulls, but advances in chemistry enabled that problem to be resolved in a modern and effective way using metallic compounds.

    Bulk carriers, tankers and general cargo ships can spend long periods in ports being loaded and unloaded. Some might also be prevented from berthing for long periods by neap tides. In such cases, shallow water and temperate environments can lead to accelerated fouling. Many shipowners must deal with those challenging operations on a regular basis. Only today, there was an interesting article in The Times about the sequestration of Russian yachts and the need to keep them moving to stop their deterioration.

    Many ships have unpredictable trading patterns and must find cargoes where they can. That can mean that after operating in an area such as the north Atlantic with a coating chosen for that environment, the ship is switched to tropical zones and operation in different climates. The lower the predictability in operations, the higher the risk for fouling on the ship’s hull, potentially leading to increased fuel consumption and higher environmental impact.

    Coatings are usually developed for specific operating conditions, meaning that their anti-fouling performance is highly problematic. Any changes to the expected operating conditions mean that the coating will not perform as expected. The main factors that increase the probability of fouling are unfavourable conditions such as location and duration during long idling periods. Modern coatings have also been proven to leach into water, and the results have been devastating for marine ecosystems.

    As people have tried to do the right thing by coating ships to prevent the formation of barnacles and the attachment of other undesirables, and thereby reduce fuel burn, the issue has recurred with the newer metallic compounds. Those compounds have been proven to cause sex changes in whelks and deformation in oysters, and they may have entered the food chain.

    Mr Khalid Mahmood (Birmingham, Perry Barr) (Lab)

    This issue has a huge effect on the environment and on those who reside in our seas, particularly turtles, whales and larger fish, as well as whatever is attaching to ships. Whatever we do in our seas will ultimately have an effect on the food chain, as my hon. Friend said, and on those who inhabit that environment. Perhaps the Government will come back with something more concrete on the environment and the seas.

    Mike Kane

    Pope Francis reminded us in “Laudato Si’” that we are leaving an enormous pile of filth on this planet, so anything that we can do to reduce that filth and to ensure that it does not leach into the food chain of marine life is extraordinarily important. My hon. Friend is right to intervene to make that point.

    Sir John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) (Con)

    With your indulgence, Mrs Murray, I want to identify the problem of industrial fishing, which you will know a great deal about. It has precisely the same effect on the ecosystem that the hon. Gentleman talked about, and particularly on smaller sea creatures of the kind he mentioned. That is an aside, but it is relevant, given what we are discussing. I know that you will want to bring us back to the subject in hand.

    The Chair

    Absolutely. I think the shadow Minister would like to stick to the confines of the draft statutory instrument.

    Mike Kane

    Indeed I would, Mrs Murray. The right hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings is right that marine life is important, and the draft order is part of that. The Minister knows of the marine biology problems along the coastline of North West Durham, although we do not know what the issue is just yet.

    A team at the University of Oldenburg’s Institute of Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment conducted a study on the matter, which was published in February 2021. The group is continuing its research, having found that most of the plastic particles in water samples taken from the German Bight—an area of the North sea that encompasses some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes—originate from binders used in marine paints. The hypothesis is that ships literally leave a kind of skid mark in the water, and that as a source of microplastics, it is of a significance similar to that of tyre wear particles from cars on land. I am sure that that will cross the Minister’s desk as part of his new portfolio with responsibility for roads.

    Of all plastic entering the ocean, 94% ends up on the seabed, where it will take centuries to degrade. In the process, it will release chemicals, microplastics and nano-plastics, all of which are harmful for marine life and for the ecosystem balance. With that in mind, will the Minister apprise me of which, if any, of the anti-fouling coatings are proven not to leach microplastics into the sea? We do not want to replace one pollutant with another.

    I notice that no consultation was done on this draft statutory instrument, but we broadly support its intention. However, we do not want to find ourselves here again in 20 years debating the leaching of microplastics into our waters.

  • Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2015-09-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of funding within police budgets to deal with non-crime demands, such as cases involving missing persons.

    Mr John Hayes

    Police and Crime Commissioners, working with their Chief Officers, are responsible for allocating funding according to local priorities. This includes providing resources for cases involving missing persons. The Government is clear that the way that funding is allocated is currently opaque and out of date and have consulted on a new model to ensure fairness and transparency. The consultation closed on 15 September and responses are being analysed. The consultation drew on the recently published College of Policing report “Estimating demand on the police service” which included analysis of non crime demand. The report is available on the College of Policing website.

  • Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will estimate the effect on demand on policing services of budgetary reductions in other government departments.

    Mike Penning

    Home Office officials are working with the police and other government departments as part of the Spending Review preparations. This work includes understanding of the interface between the police and other agencies. We encourage greater joint working to continue to reduce crime and manage demand. The Department also welcomed the College of Policing report “Estimating demand on the police service", published in January, which included analysis of non crime demand. The report is available on the College of Policing website www.college.police.uk

    “

  • Mike Kane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Mike Kane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2014-04-29.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support the Government is giving to credit unions to help extend access to fair credit.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government is supportive of credit unions and has taken a number of steps to assist them, most recently including:

    • The Department for Work and Pensions investment of up to £38 million in an expansion project for credit unions. The project aims to help credit unions expand and grow, enabling them to provide financial services to more people.
    • From 1 April this year the Government increased the cap on the maximum interest rate a credit union can charge for loans from 2% to 3% per month. This will allow credit unions to make more loans to their members without making a loss. Even if they choose to charge the higher rate of interest the cost of borrowing from a credit union will still be significantly cheaper than many high cost lenders.

    The Government intends that these measures will help the credit union sector go from strength to strength, so it can be a viable option for financial services provision for an even wider range of consumers.