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  • Neil O’Brien – 2023 Speech at Policy Exchange on Smokefree 2030

    Neil O’Brien – 2023 Speech at Policy Exchange on Smokefree 2030

    The speech made by Neil O’Brien, the Minister for Primary Care and Public Health, at Policy Exchange in London on 11 April 2023.

    It’s an enormous pleasure to be here today at Policy Exchange to set out the government’s next steps on vaping and smoking.

    Everybody agrees that we must do more to prevent ill health in the first place – not just treat it afterwards.

    Cutting smoking is one of the most evidence-based and effective interventions that we can make.

    That’s why in 2019, this government set the bold ambition for England to be Smokefree by 2030 – reducing smoking rates to 5% or less.

    Everyone knows about the health impact of smoking.

    It’s still the sadly the single biggest cause of preventable illness and death in England.

    Up to two out of three lifelong smokers will die from smoking.

    Cigarettes are the only product which will kill you if used correctly.

    The positive impact of stopping smoking is immediate. For those who quit, after just a few weeks lung function increases by up to 10% and circulation improves, and the risk of heart attack is half that of a smoker after one year of quitting.

    The person who quits today is the person who isn’t in a hospital bed next year. So, cutting smoking will help us hit the fourth of the PM’s five priorities – to cut waiting lists.

    But as well as the health impact, the economic impact of smoking is also huge.

    The excellent 2010 Policy Exchange paper ‘Cough Up’ noted that – “it is a popular myth that smoking is a net contributor to the economy”

    In fact new analysis from ASH on the costs of smoking in the UK in 2022 found that smoking has a £21 billion total cost to the public purse.

    To talk you through that – people used to argue that although there was a cost to the NHS from smoking, the taxes paid offset this.

    But this ignores the fact that smokers are more likely than non-smokers to become sick and be out of work, and more likely to stay unwell for longer. Smokers are absent for an average of 2.7 more days per year than non-smokers.

    Reducing smoking rates not only improves health outcomes and reduces the burden on the NHS, it also boosts productivity and economic growth too.

    Current smokers are 7.5% less likely to be employed compared to never smokers and ex-smokers are 5% more likely to be employed than current smokers.

    In places like Birmingham, an additional 6,000 people are out of work because of smoking. Quitting could help to put that right.

    As well as the productivity impact, quitting smoking would save the average person around £2,000 a year.

    In poorer parts of the country going smokefree could mean far more money circulating in the local economy. There is a positive productivity benefit but also helps to level up across the nation.

    Today, as well as tackling smoking, I also want to start to address a new threat… the growth of vaping among children.

    There has been a very sharp increase in children vaping – particularly disposable vapes. NHS figures for 2021 showed that 9% of 11- to 15-year-old children used e-cigarettes, up from 6% in 2018. That’s a rapidly rising trend we need to stop.

    Whether it’s disposable vapes marketed to kids with bright colours, or low prices, or cartoon characters or child-friendly flavours…

    …Or indeed products being sold that don’t meet our rules on content.

    Today we step up our efforts to stop kids getting hooked on vaping. My message is this: if your business plan relies on getting kids hooked on nicotine, we are coming for you.

    So today I will set out

    • What we will do to stop children and non-smokers from starting vaping…
    • How we will exploit the potential of vaping as a powerful tool to stop smoking.
    • … And how we will help more people quit smoking, particularly where rates are highest.

    I’d like to thank Javed Khan for his independent review which has helped inform many of our next steps.

    And I’d also like to thank Bob Blackman in his role as the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Smoking and Health, who has been a hugely positive advocate for keeping smoking on the public health agenda.

    Let me start with vaping.

    We need to do two things:

    On the one hand, stop children taking up vaping.

    On the other, exploit the huge potential of vaping to help adult smokers to quit…

    NHS figures for 2021 as I mentioned showed that 9% of 11- to 15-year-old children used e-cigarettes in 2021 – that’s a rising trend.

    Dr Mike McKean, vice-president of policy for the Royal College of Paediatricians and Child Health, has estimated that prevalence may well be even higher now.

    I think many of us as parents worry about our kids’ health, about them getting addicted to nicotine. The Chief Medical Officer who is here today has also raised concerns about children vaping. I also pay tribute to my colleague Caroline Johnson who highlighted this issue.

    That’s why today, as part of work on stopping people starting smoking and vaping, we are opening a specific call for evidence on youth vaping to identify opportunities to reduce the number of children accessing and using vape products – and explore where the government can go further. We will look at where we can go beyond what the EU’s Tobacco Products Directive allowed us to.

    This will explore a range of issues including how we ensure regulatory compliance, look at the appearance and characteristics of vapes, about their marketing and promotion of vapes, and the role of social media which is crucial. It will also seek to better understand the vape market, looking at issues such as the price of low cost products and disposables.

    We are also working closely with colleagues at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to consider the environmental impact of vapes – particularly disposable vapes which have become so appealing to young people. In 2022, 52% of young people who vaped were using disposable products, compared to just 8% in 2021.

    Over 1.3 million disposable vapes are thrown away each week. This accumulates to 10 tonnes of lithium a year, equivalent to the lithium batteries of a staggering 1,200 electric vehicles.

    The call for evidence will be open for the next 8 weeks.

    We hope that everyone concerned will take this opportunity to share their views to help shape our future approach particularly for our young people.

    We are already taking action to enforce the current rules.

    I was extremely concerned to hear of certain disposable vaping products that don’t adhere to our regulatory standards. There has been a particular issue about the Chinese-made “Elf Bar”.

    Working closely with the MHRA and Trading Standards we have agreed a voluntary withdrawal of some of these products from the UK market. Some large supermarkets like Tesco are setting a good example by working across their distribution network and ensuring all their products meet the requirements.

    I urge the rest of the retail sector and vape manufacturers to follow suit and to  our vaping product rules. If they do not do this, it could result in an unlimited fine. Companies failing to comply with the law will be held accountable.

    To that end today I can announce that we will go further to enforce the rules.

    Working hand in glove with our enforcement agencies and learning from our work with Trading Standards on illicit tobacco, we will provide £3m of new funding to create a specialised “flying squad” to enforce the rules on vaping and tackle illicit vapes and underage sales.

    This national programme will help share knowledge and intelligence across regional networks – including on organised crime gangs.

    It will bolster training and enforcement capacity in Trading Standards and undertake specific projects such as test purchasing in convenience stores and vape shops. We will produce guidance to help build regulatory compliance. We will remove illegal products from shelves and at our borders, and we will undertake more testing to ensure compliance with our rules.

    But while we want to make sure children don’t take up vaping, vaping can play an important role in helping the government achieve its Smokefree 2030 ambition.

    Vaping is effectively a double edged sword. On the one hand, we do not want children to develop an addiction to any substance at a young age.

    But on the other hand for adults, vaping is substantially less harmful than smoking and we now have high quality evidence from Oxford University that compared to nicotine gum or patches vapes are significantly more effective as a quit tool, but not more hazardous.

    This is particularly true when they are combined with additional behavioural support from local stop smoking services.

    Vaping is already estimated to contribute to about 50 – 70k additional smoking quits per year in England.

    However, vapes are not yet being used widely enough to reach their full potential as smoking quit aids, showing the potential power of it as a tool.

    A “swap to stop” partnership is a scheme where smokers are provided with a vape starter kit alongside behavioural support to help them completely stop smoking.

    There have already been successful local pilots of ‘swap to stop’ schemes in many areas, such as in Bath, Southampton, Sheffield, and Plymouth…

    Learning from these proven effective pilots, today, I am delighted to announce that we will be funding a new national ‘swap to stop’ scheme – the first of its kind in the world.

    We will work with councils and others to offer a million smokers across England a free vaping starter kit. Smokers who join this scheme which will run initially over the next two years must join on one condition – they commit to quit smoking with support. For our part we will make it as easy as possible, referring people to stop smoking services and developing a digital approach to help people quit smoking. Once that is done, we will offer support to those who want to go on to quit vaping too.

    We will target the most at-risk communities first  – focusing on settings such as job centres, homeless centres, and social housing providers. And we want to work with retailers on this journey too.

    Among the first of these exciting projects will be in the North East. I have already been working with local councils in Northumberland, Gateshead, South Tyneside and Hartlepool to start a joined-up delivery of a ‘swap to stop’ scheme in their most deprived neighbourhoods.

    This scheme represents an exciting opportunity to capitalise on the potential of vaping as a tool to help smokers quit.

    The latest international research shows that smokers who use a vape every day are three times more likely to quit smoking, interestingly, even if they didn’t actually intend to quit smoking.

    So we will offer a million smokers new help to quit.

    Let me now turn to other steps we will take to stop smoking and start quitting.

    And let me start with our next steps to tackle illicit and underage sales.

    Taking action against those who break the rules firstly protects legitimate shops from being undercut.

    But we also know that this is very important to stop underage people starting smoking, because illicit tobacco and underage sales are strongly linked.

    We’ve already implemented a successful new UK-wide system of track and trace for cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco to deter illicit sales.

    This system requires all cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco to be tracked right from the manufacturer to the first retailer using unique ID codes applied to the products.

    Track and Trace will be extended to all tobacco products in May 2024. This means not only will we track cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco but also cigars, cigarillos, shisha and other tobacco.

    ‘Operation CeCe’, a UK-wide intelligence hub between HMRC and National Trading Standards, has also bolstered our efforts against illicit tobacco, and we have given it long term funding.

    Operation CeCe resulted in more than £7 million worth of illegal tobacco products being removed from sale in its first year, and prevented far more illegal activity.

    HMRC are also introducing tougher additional sanctions to track and trace to deter repeat offending, including a new civil penalty of up to £10,000 for more serious offences.

    I can also announce that this year, HMRC and Border Force will be publishing an updated strategy to tackle illicit tobacco.

    It will lay out strategically how we continue to target, catch and punish those involved in the illicit tobacco market.

    If you supply tobacco for sale in the UK you must be registered for Tobacco Track and Trace and also obtain an Economic Operator ID.

    We want to start using this existing system in a new way – to help strengthen enforcement and target the illicit market.

    From now on where people are found selling illicit tobacco, we will seize their products, we will remove their Economic Operator ID and they will no longer be able to buy or sell tobacco.

    We are also exploring how to share information with local partners about who is registered on the Track and Trace system, so they know who is and who isn’t legally entitled to sell tobacco in their local areas, helping to drive enforcement.

    Now of course some would go further to stop people to start smoking in the first place. The Khan Review last year advocated the New Zealand approach – a full phase out of smoking, with the age of sale increasing over time to cover all adults.

    This would be a major departure from the policy pursued over recent decades which has emphasised personal responsibility and help for people to quit. And it is the help for current smokers to quit that we want to focus on.

    And, there is much more we can do to help people quit smoking.

    Over half of all smokers – that’s 3 million people – want to quit smoking. One million of these people want to quit in the next three months.

    But nicotine is highly addictive. We know that 95% of unsupported quit attempts relapse within a year.

    So we will do more to help people quit.

    First, we will use the latest treatments – proven to give smokers a much greater chance of quitting.

    Some of the most cost-effective treatments that we have are not currently available in England. We are working closely with suppliers to give access to prescribers, to put licensed medications in the hands of those who would benefit the most from them. For example, ensuring the availability of proven smoking cessation medicines such as Varenicline and Cytisine. We have been working urgently with business to unblock supply chain problems to support more people who want to quit.

    Second, we’ll join up services through the new Integrated Care Systems, to make the NHS more like a national prevention service.

    The pioneering work being done by the Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board – is leading the way in devoting local health service resources, organising the local system to have a local voice in driving down smoking rates in their most deprived communities.  In April – this month – they will ‘go live’ with their comprehensive tobacco control program. They will go first in implementing many of our national plans, including the provision of incentives for pregnant women to stop smoking, providing vapes as a first line quit aid in local stop smoking services, lung health screening and joining up local services to tackle illicit tobacco.

    I encourage all other ICBs to follow their example and develop similar partnerships with local authorities to create effective tobacco control programs. This is a really good example of integrated care systems working together to drive prevention.

    Third, we’ll help pregnant women quit. Nationally 9% women still smoke in pregnancy – but it affects as many as nearly one in four births in some areas. Of course smoking in pregnancy increases the risk of stillbirth, miscarriage, and sudden infant death.

    All maternity services in England are establishing pathways to ensure rapid access to stop smoking support for all pregnant women. We’ve already rolled out carbon monoxide testing widely to mothers.

    Recently financial incentive schemes have been proven effective to increase the number of pregnant women successfully quitting. In trials women receiving financial incentives are more than twice as likely to quit. The return on investment for these schemes is £4 for every £1 invested.

    These schemes have been effective in a number of local areas, including Greater Manchester, which has seen the biggest drop-in maternal smoking rates over the last two years.

    So today we build on that local evidence and I’m announcing that we will offer a financial incentive scheme to all pregnant women who smoke by the end of next year.

    This will unlock a lifetime of benefits for the child and the mother.

    Fourth, we will provide further help for people with mental health conditions to quit.

    Smoking is more than twice as high in people living with mental health issues. They will die 10 to 20 years earlier, and the biggest factor in this is smoking.

    It is a common misconception that smoking helps anxiety. Actually smoking exacerbates anxiety and depression. Quitting smoking has been proven to be as effective as taking anti-depressants.

    So we will work with mental health services to improve the signposting to evidence based support for smokers. At a minimum, all mental health practitioners will be able to provide signposting to specially developed, evidence based, digital quit resources.

    Fifth, to help people quit, we will use a new approach to health warnings.

    The front of cigarette packs has contained ‘smoking kills’ warnings since 1991. We will continue this, but we also want to give people hope and connect them in a hassle-free way to the best offer of support.

    We will consult this year on introducing mandatory cigarette pack inserts with positive messages and information to help people quit.  In Canada, health promoting inserts are required by law and have been in place since 2000. Evidence from the experience in Canada shows pack inserts are an effective measure to increase the number of people attempting to quit smoking.

    We have commissioned the University of Stirling to undertake testing with UK adult smokers and young people to help get this right.

    We are exploring how best we can use innovative approaches within this, such as the use of QR codes to make it as easy as possible for people to get help to quit.  You could take a pic with your phone and be taken straight to stop smoking support, the kind I’ve been talking about in this speech.

    In conclusion, the evidence is overwhelming that stopping smoking not only has major health and economic benefits.

    It is crucial to extending healthy life expectancy, particularly levelling up the places it is lowest.

    That’s why today we’re:

    • Stopping the growth of vaping among children
    • Introducing new help for a million smokers to quit.
    • Increasing enforcement of illicit sales
    • Expanding access to new treatments.
    • Backing joined-up, integrated approaches
    • Rolling out a national incentive scheme to help pregnant women quit,
    • Consulting on new pack inserts using modern technology

    All these are ways we will help people quit.

    These proposals to reach our goal of a Smokefree 2030 are some of the most innovative in the world.

    They will give more people the help that they need to quit smoking for good.

    So thank you to all of the experts in the room today that have fed in ideas to inform the speech today – and I look forward to your questions.

  • Liam Fox – 2023 Speech on World Down Syndrome Day

    Liam Fox – 2023 Speech on World Down Syndrome Day

    The speech made by Liam Fox, the Conservative MP for North Somerset, in the House of Commons on 23 March 2023.

    I beg to move,

    That this House has considered World Down Syndrome Day.

    I am grateful to have secured this debate, and I thank colleagues from all parties for their support in being able to do so. Two days ago I was honoured and privileged to be able to speak on behalf of the United Kingdom at the United Nations in New York on the 12th World Down Syndrome Day. It was an acknowledgement of the United Kingdom’s role as the country that has been the first to legislate in this area, of which we should be extremely proud. It was important that we took that opportunity to make the case.

    When we passed the Down Syndrome Act 2022, it was a recognition of the strength of our electoral system. With the first-past-the-post system, whatever its handicaps, we are real constituency MPs with real constituents, and the fact that we are exposed to the complex problems they have enables us to be responsive to their needs and them to know who to go to when they need help with the problems they face. I also think that passing this legislation was a recognition of something we do not always do as politicians. One of the intrinsic problems in a democratic system is that we tend to get more credit for dealing with a crisis than preventing one. One of the key elements of this legislation is that it shows that Parliament can anticipate problems before they become a serious crisis-ridden issue. I will come back to that, if I may.

    I thank all the charities associated with Down syndrome for the work they have done since the passage of the legislation, and I thank all those voluntary groups who helped with the consultation. I particularly thank the National Down Syndrome Policy Group, not least for its support for our function in Parliament, which I was unable to attend due to being in New York. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Meon Valley (Mrs Drummond) who stood in so expertly to chair such a successful event.

    The theme for World Down Syndrome Day this year was “With Us Not For Us”, and thinking about legal capacity and supported decision making is incredibly important.

    We all expect and take for granted that we can make decisions about our lives—from where we live and whom we live with to what we study and where we work—and because we take these choices for granted, we must not forget that other people do not necessarily have the ability to do so. It is therefore absolutely right that people with Down syndrome are involved in all the decisions that affect their lives.

    As I said when I was in New York, when a child is born with an extra copy of their 21st chromosome, they enter a different path in life from the rest of the population and so, inevitably, do their families, who will face different challenges. Those challenges come, as we all know, in the form of medical problems, educational needs and long-term care challenges. The consequential change in life expectancy was one of the main reasons that we passed the legislation in the first place. I believe that every individual with Down syndrome has the same right to life, quality of life, dignity and independence that the rest of the population take for granted.

    Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Ind)

    I congratulate the right hon. Member on today’s Backbench Business debate and the Act that he got through Parliament. Whether a child attends a special educational needs and disabilities-specific school or a mainstream school with SEND support is not dependent on any particular condition or diagnosis, but dependent on where the child’s needs can be best met. Children with Down syndrome can thrive in mainstream education, so does the right hon. Member agree that increasing awareness of the condition among education professionals, parents and all children is important in ensuring that children with Down syndrome have access to the right learning environment for them?

    Dr Fox

    I am grateful to the hon. Lady for making that point, because we can pass as much legislation as we like, but if the professionals at the sharp end, who are required to implement any changes or guidance, do not have sufficient understanding of the problem they are facing, we are all at a deficit in our response. I think the issue of professional education is so important not just for teachers, for whom it obviously is important, but for the medical profession, the social work profession and those involved in local government, who will deal with some of those issues relating to care, particularly long-term care. I think it is an extremely important issue.

    I was able in the UN debate to show how the United Kingdom has a very proud record in legislation in this general area. The UK has a long-standing tradition of ensuring that the rights and liberties of disabled people are protected. We ratified the UN convention on the rights of persons with disabilities in 2019. Internationally, our disability inclusion and rights strategy sets out the ambition to embed disability inclusion across all our diplomacy, policy and programmes. The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people in England, Wales and Scotland from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society. We also have the Mental Capacity Act 2005, covering England and Wales, to ensure that every attempt is made to support someone to make decisions about their own lives, and that of course includes people with Down syndrome.

    I would like, if I may, to say a word about the Down Syndrome Act and remind us why we passed this legislation. Primarily, it was about empowerment. The Act legislates not for Down syndrome, but for people with Down syndrome. It requires the Government in England to produce Down syndrome-specific guidance relating to health, social care, education and housing services. I hope that Members from Scottish and Welsh constituencies may be able to update the House on how this legislation is being adapted and implemented there. I will come back, if I may, to the point about its being Down syndrome- specific, because I have some concerns that that may be being lost in some parts of the consultation process.

    It is important to remind ourselves about the legislation. Under the Act, public authorities such as hospitals, schools or social care providers cannot ignore the guidance when commissioning and delivering services. The guidance must set out what the unique needs of people with Down syndrome are, and what public authorities should be doing to ensure that the support needs of people with Down syndrome are met to enable them to live fulfilling lives. I will come back to this element of the guidance, because one of the issues we discussed in Committee—this has been a controversial issue in this House in relation to other legislation—is when does the guidance become instruction. If Ministers are issuing guidance that is in effect instruction, surely that should be laid before the House of Commons so that we can recognise the importance of that and scrutinise how ministerial authority is being used.

    I think that for too long there have been too few levers available for individuals, families and their advocates, including us as Members of Parliament when it comes to getting fair treatment for our constituents with Down syndrome. After all, what is the point of rights in legislation if we cannot enforce them and if there is no mechanism to do so? That was one of the key elements we discussed during the passage of the legislation, and it led to two very important and, I think, innovative changes: the first is on parliamentary scrutiny, and the second is on individual empowerment.

    One of the problems we have faced before is that, when Ministers issue guidance, there is very little ability for parliamentary Select Committees to take direct oversight of it. One of the principles we established—and I am very grateful to my right hon. Friend the Member for Chichester (Gillian Keegan), who is now the Secretary of State for Education, for her support in establishing this principle—is that if the guidance is in fact instruction, the guidance would be laid before Parliament, which of course means that the Education Committee, the Health and Social Care Committee and local government can all look at it in real time.

    One of the things we considered was whether we would have to put a sunset clause on this legislation to enable Parliament to look at it again. The mechanism that we decided on—I think rightly—in this House and in the other place was that, in publishing the guidance, we would have real-time oversight, because when our constituents bring problems to us, we are all able to write to the Chair of whatever Committee it is and ask them to look into that particular aspect of how the Down Syndrome Act is functioning. That gives us, as Members of Parliament, a lever that we did not have before when we simply wrote a letter to a Minister and hoped for the best, which is not sufficient to implement the rights of our constituents in the way that I think we envisaged during the passage of the Act.

    Chris Stephens (Glasgow South West) (SNP)

    This will be very important for people in the Down syndrome community who believe they are being diagnostically overshadowed and that things are being missed. Does the right hon. Gentleman agree with me that that is particularly important when enforcing someone’s rights in relation to healthcare?

    Dr Fox

    It is. Diagnostic overshadowing is very important, in that we should not miss things in people with Down syndrome because we are looking the other way, or we are distracted by the diagnosis and not looking sufficiently at the person. Greater professional education—and this goes back to the point made by the hon. Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West (Margaret Ferrier)—is a key part of the empowerment of the individuals for whom this legislation was produced. I know from my own medical education that there was not a great deal of it that involved us learning about specific needs. For the medical profession, the sort of overlooking that the hon. Gentleman describes is a real risk if the thought is not there that someone may see a different position from the one they should because of the very overshadowing that he describes. I imagine he may enlighten us further on that particular issue, and I hope he will because it is a real issue that needs to be examined fully.

    The second important change in our legislation was that we included in it the need for a named individual on the new integrated care boards to be responsible for the implementation of the Down Syndrome Act. A very senior Member of this House said to me during the passage of the Bill in Committee, “Do the Government realise the floodgates that they may be opening in agreeing to this?” I said that I was not sure, but that it really was not my problem. I think this is a tremendous innovation, because all too often we have an anonymised bureaucracy when it comes to the delivery of the things that Parliament intends. We can vote for things in this House and, with taxpayers’ money, we can fund them, but if we do not know who is responsible for the delivery in our own locality, it becomes difficult for us as Members of Parliament to know who to get in touch with.

    The de-anonymisation of the civil service, which is something I have long and profoundly believed in doing, received its first outing in that Act. It may be a by-product —in my mind it was not that; it was an essential principle —but none the less it is extremely important. With this new system, for the first time, individuals, families and advocates for people with Down syndrome will know who is responsible. For once, there will be a named person in our system who people can turn to for either assistance or redress, depending on the nature of the problem. I hope we will extend that principle further in the provision of public services. For too long in this country, taxpayers have provided the funding, but they do not have accountability in the delivery mechanisms of those public services. It is, in many ways, a quiet revolution that I hope this Act will usher in. It is a principle and a precedent that has been much understated in the interpretation of what Parliament has done.

    The guidance itself has been subject to long and detailed consultation, and I look forward to the draft publication in the summer. The Government face a number of challenges with this, which are worthy of debate. One question that was frequently raised in both Committee and the House was, “What about those with problems similar to those with Down syndrome; are we effectively creating a ladder of preferment in the provisions of public services?” Quite wisely, the Minister at the time said that it would be reasonable to consider those with overlapping problems at the same time as we were looking at the implementation of the Act. I say gently, however, that while that is absolutely right, we must also remember that the Act is specific to Down syndrome. When it comes to Down syndrome there is no doubt about the diagnosis, and unlike many other conditions where there are overlapping symptoms and signs to consider, there is no doubt about it. Down syndrome is not a subset of other conditions or of learning disabilities, although on a Venn diagram there will be a huge overlap; it is a specific condition and we must regard it as such.

    I would like the Government to consider some specific areas, one of which relates to education rather than health. This is a formal request to Ministers to add Down syndrome as a separate category to the annual school census. Why? Because there is currently no Down syndrome-specific school data available, including numbers, location, or educational settings, because individuals with Down syndrome are included only in the general special educational needs and disability school numbers. If we are to have specific legislation, it makes sense to have specific data with which to interpret the success of its implementation. Children with Down syndrome in the education system will have specific speech and language issues, significant fine and gross motor delay, cognitive delay, hearing loss, visual issues—we detailed that on Second Reading—social and emotional needs, and specific and unique learning profiles associated with Down syndrome. Some of those conditions will be shared with other syndromes and medical conditions, but many will be specific to Down syndrome. If we are not to get the overshadowing problem, we must be clear about what we need to know about this.

    In New York I was able to set out the sort of cases and advances that we have made in this country by being able to utilise a range of tools that enable people with Down syndrome to make more decisions for themselves. As we have a better understanding, for example among social workers and community medical staff, we are increasingly able to deploy those tools to ensure that those who have a voice—a voice that would not necessarily traditionally be recognised in our system—are able to make more decisions for themselves. That was at the heart of what the UN 12th World Down Syndrome Day meant.

    I do not wish to speak any longer than necessary and take up colleagues’ valuable time, so I will end with this quote from Heidi Carter, who I have come to know increasingly well. She is a valiant campaigner for Down syndrome rights, and she states:

    “I have shown everyone that Down syndrome is not something to be scared of and that people with Down syndrome live happy, amazing, fulfilled and independent lives!”

    Congratulations to her and her husband on their marriage. I wish them well. She said:

    “We are not going to give up. I think that all human life is valuable and should be treated with respect however many chromosomes we have!”

    I do not believe there is a single one of us in this House who would not agree with that sentiment.

  • Marion Fellows – 2023 Speech on Post Office Horizon Compensation

    Marion Fellows – 2023 Speech on Post Office Horizon Compensation

    The speech made by Marion Fellows, the SNP MP for Motherwell and Wishaw, in the House of Commons on 23 March 2023.

    I thank the Minister for his statement. Of course, I welcome what he outlined, and, as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on post offices, I am very grateful to him for keeping me updated.

    We now have three streams for former postmasters and sub-postmasters who were affected by Horizon to claim compensation—that is really important. The Minister has talked about achieving parity, and I think he will agree that that must be done. I would be keen to for him come back to the House to tell us that it is happening and that the latest compensation scheme will not run out of time.

    I think it worth mentioning again the hard work done by the JFSA, by journalists such as Nick Wallis, by Members of this House and by former Members who are now in the other place. They have all been of great help to the APPG. I came into the House not knowing anything about Horizon—I wish I did not know what I know now. I congratulate the Minister and his predecessor, the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Scully), on grabbing hold of this matter and making things happen. So many people will be grateful.

    Kevin Hollinrake

    I thank the hon. Lady for her kind words and for all the work she does as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on post offices. She is right to say that there are three separate schemes, and there was probably a good reason for that at the time. It is not ideal to have three schemes, and Sir Wyn Williams referred to that in his comments, but we are all keen to see consistency across the three schemes. That is why I welcome the work of the advisory board, which will cover all three schemes to make sure there is consistency across them. I am determined to make sure that happens, and I will keep her fully informed on progress.

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2023 Speech on Post Office Horizon Compensation

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2023 Speech on Post Office Horizon Compensation

    The speech made by Jonathan Reynolds, the Labour MP for Stalybridge and Hyde, in the House of Commons on 23 March 2023.

    I thank the Minister for his statement and for advance sight of it.

    I too begin by paying tribute to Alan Bates and the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance, which has campaigned for decades for compensation, justice and the truth. In addition, I recognise the campaigning efforts of Members from across this House on behalf of their constituents, and join the Minister in paying tribute to my right hon. Friend the Member for North Durham (Mr Jones) in particular. There can be no doubt that he has played an instrumental role in helping to chart a route to justice for thousands of people. We all wholeheartedly thank him for that.

    The House is in unanimous agreement that the Horizon scandal has been a shocking injustice. Indeed, I think it is no exaggeration to say that it is one of the greatest scandals of modern times. As we continue to hear in the public inquiry the accounts of lives torn apart by the scandal, we can never lose sight of how devastating its impact has been on those victims. Today’s announcement of the group litigation order compensation scheme is very welcome. I was pleased to hear about the appointment of claims facilitators and external legal advisers—in the interests of full transparency, I declare that I am a former employee of Addleshaw Goddard.

    I thank the Minister and his predecessor, the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Scully), for their work on this matter. I am sure that the Minister will appreciate that I feel duty-bound to put on record the level of frustration that many people have felt about how protracted their fight for justice has been, particularly the 555 litigants excluded from the original historic shortfall scheme. Indeed, one of the first speeches that I made from this Dispatch Box as shadow Business Secretary was in support of calls for compensation to be expanded to them—a campaign that was established long before that exchange nearly 18 months ago. The most important step now is for that compensation to reach victims as quickly as possible, so may I press the Minister on the steps that we will all take to ensure that the process is completed as swiftly as possible?

    I am also grateful for the update on the historic short- fall scheme. The Government’s ambition was for that scheme to be completed at the end of last year, but in December, the then Secretary of State said that 93% of eligible claimants had been issued offers of compensation. The Minister has given the figure of 98% today, so can he confirm that the scheme’s completion is imminent? I also was pleased that he raised the tax issue. Will he commit to coming back to the House when he can to provide more information on the work that he said he is doing?

    Today’s announcement is certainly welcome, but as we all await the conclusion of the public inquiry, and its recommendations, surely this is one of many steps that we need to take to make amends for what has been the most insidious of injustices.

    Kevin Hollinrake

    I thank the hon. Gentleman for his words, and for welcoming the statement and the opening of the scheme. I absolutely concur that we should all be grateful for the work of my predecessors—not least, as he said, my hon. Friend the Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Scully).

    The hon. Gentleman is right to say that we want to do this as quickly as possible. I am very pleased with the work of the advisory board, which is helping with the scheme. The scheme is based on a set of principles that should mean that compensation is delivered more rapidly and that there is a clear route to claims being settled quickly. We very much hope that that is the case—we want to get those payments out of the door at the earliest possible opportunity.

    Again, we are working at pace on the tax issue. Clearly that is a matter of law as well as of tax policy, so getting that right is key. We have to work with the Treasury and HMRC to ensure that we get it right, but that is a determination and a commitment that I am very happy to make. We hope to make a further announcement on that work shortly.

  • Kevin Hollinrake – 2023 Statement on Post Office Horizon Compensation

    Kevin Hollinrake – 2023 Statement on Post Office Horizon Compensation

    The statement made by Kevin Hollinrake, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade, in the House of Commons on 23 March 2023.

    With your permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like to make a statement on the Post Office and compensation for the Horizon scandal.

    The Horizon scandal was a truly appalling episode in this country’s history. Our postmasters—those hard-working, thoroughly decent people, who give so much to our communities right across the country—were made to suffer horrifically and for many years. We want the postmasters who fought to expose that injustice through the High Court to receive compensation on a similar basis to their peers. I put on record our thanks to Alan Bates and the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance, and to many others, journalists and parliamentarians, who were key to the campaign.

    On 7 December we announced the outline of the group litigation order compensation scheme. I am delighted to tell the House that from today, the scheme is open to receive claims. Details of how to claim can be found on the gov.uk website. I am writing to GLO members today with further information and placing copies of that information, the scheme application form, scheme guidance and principles, and questions and answers for the scheme in the Library of the House.

    Our legal powers to pay compensation expire in August 2024. We certainly intend and expect to make payments much faster than that. We said in December that we would follow an alternative dispute resolution model. We have appointed Dentons as claims facilitators to promote the fair and prompt resolution of each case. We have also appointed Addleshaw Goddard as our external legal adviser on the scheme. They have been instructed to recommend fair offers.

    In December we also announced an independent advisory board to oversee the scheme. Reports of its meetings are available on gov.uk. I put on record my thanks to board members Professor Chris Hodges and Professor Richard Moorhead, as well as to the right hon. Member for North Durham (Mr Jones) and Lord Arbuthnot—who is in the Public Gallery—both of whom have long been tireless campaigners for the wronged postmasters. I am pleased to announce that the remit of the advisory board will be expanded to cover the historical shortfall scheme, postmasters’ suspension pay, and compensation for postmasters with overturned convictions.

    I am pleased to report that good progress is also being made by the Post Office on compensating other groups of postmasters. As of 20 March, the Post Office has paid out more than £17.6m in compensation to postmasters with overturned historical convictions, 79 postmasters have received interim compensation payments, and 49 non-pecuniary claims have been paid. The Post Office has reached full and final settlement in four cases.

    On the historic shortfall scheme, 98% of eligible claimants had been issued offers of compensation, totalling £90.2 million, as of 21 March. I recognise that in recent weeks concerns have been raised about the tax position of claimants in that scheme. It has always been the intention of the scheme to return postmasters to the position that they should have been in had they not been affected by the Horizon scandal. The Government want to see fair compensation for all victims, and my Department is working urgently to address that issue with the Post Office, the Treasury and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.

    As we talk about financial compensation schemes, we must never lose sight of the human cost of this dreadful injustice. That is why, as the House will know, Sir Wyn Williams is chairing a statutory inquiry to establish what went wrong, and to identify those responsible for what has happened so that, where possible, we can hold them to account. I commend this statement to the House.

  • Drew Hendry – 2023 Speech on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

    Drew Hendry – 2023 Speech on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

    The speech made by Drew Hendry, the SNP spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, in the House of Commons on 23 March 2023.

    I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Airdrie and Shotts (Ms Qaisar) on securing this urgent question. Clearly, settlement expansion is a major issue in the violence that is continuing to break out. This week, the Israeli Parliament voted to allow Israeli citizens to occupy four sites in the west bank evacuated in the 2005 disengagement. The High Court of Justice has already classified this as private Palestinian land. Clearly, the moratorium that the Minister mentioned is not being respected here.

    We know that this is not a simple situation, but there are some simple steps that we can take here to make a difference. Will the Minister support the UK banning trade in Israeli settlement goods? Will she include the UK Government’s own stated position that these settlements are illegal in any and all agreements with Israel and provide for consequences for breach of that? Will she also carry that forward into forthcoming trade deal discussions? Will she stop the export of equipment and arms proven to be repeatedly used in settlement expansion, and will she do it now?

    Anne-Marie Trevelyan

    The UK’s position on settlements is clear: settlements are illegal under international law and call into question Israel’s commitment to the two-state solution. We have urged Israel to halt its settlement expansion, which we believe threatens the physical viability of a Palestinian state. In February, we and our partners—the US, France, Germany and Italy—set out strong opposition to these unilateral steps. They are contrary to international law, and they undermine the prospects for peace.

    In relation to trade matters, our long-established position on settlements is clear: the UK does not recognise the Occupied Palestinian Territories as part of Israel, including illegal settlements. Goods originating from illegal Israeli settlements in the west bank, including East Jerusalem, are not entitled to tariff and trade preferences under either the existing trade agreement between the UK and Israel or, indeed, the agreement between the UK and the Palestinian Authority.

  • Bambos Charalambous – 2023 Speech on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

    Bambos Charalambous – 2023 Speech on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

    The speech made by Bambos Charalambous, the Labour MP for Enfield Southgate, in the House of Commons on 23 March 2023.

    The Labour party stands for international law, human rights and a negotiated peace based on a two-state solution, with a safe and secure Israel alongside a sovereign Palestinian state.

    At the last elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went into coalition with the far right and, under that new Government, an already fragile situation has worsened. His promotion of extremists Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich has put ultra-nationalism in key positions of the Israeli Government. I am sure that the whole House will have been appalled by Smotrich’s remarks in Paris this weekend, when he denied the very existence of the Palestinian people and their culture.

    Thus far, 2023 has seen one of the highest death tolls for Palestinians and Israelis in a long time, with more than 80 Palestinians and 14 Israelis killed this year. There has been a renewed assault on the rights of Palestinians, a ramping up of inflammatory rhetoric, and dangerous new moves to try to legitimatise illegal settlements, threatening the viability of a two-state solution. Israel has suffered from terrorist attacks and a new militant threat, and the Israeli Government are also taking steps that threaten to undermine Israel’s democracy. President Netanyahu’s attempts to undermine judicial independence and dispense with equality laws for the LGBT+ community are sowing division and deep unease. The weekly mass protests in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem demonstrate that Israeli society is now also deeply divided.

    What is the Minister’s assessment of the impact of what many in Israel see as fundamental attacks on their precious democracy? The Prime Minister has, in his meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu tomorrow, an opportunity to use Britain’s close relationship with Israel to take a clear stance on human rights, respect for international law and commitment to democracy. I am deeply concerned that the recently signed road map for UK-Israel bilateral relations dilutes long-standing UK positions, held by successive Governments, in relation to international law. The road map makes no mention of supporting a two-state solution, and it implies that settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories could be treated as part of Israel for the purposes of trade. Can the Minister tell the House whether the road map amounts to a change in policy, will she reiterate that the Government still support a two-state solution, and will she make it clear that the UK deplores the current escalation of violence?

    Anne-Marie Trevelyan

    It is always encouraging to hear both sides of the House agree that the UK’s position on the middle east process finding a resolution is that we want to see a negotiated settlement leading to a safe and secure Israel living side by side with a viable and sovereign Palestinian state, based on 1967 borders with agreed land swaps, with Jerusalem as the shared capital of both states, and a just, fair, agreed and realistic settlement for refugees. That remains a clear position and has not changed.

    The road map that the Foreign Secretary signed with his counterpart earlier in the week in London fulfils the commitments that were made in the November 2021 memorandum of understanding on strengthening co-operation across a range of relationships around our economic, security and technology ties and, importantly, advancing our co-operation on environmental and climate change issues, and leveraging our combined strengths in that area to address some of the global health challenges. It also contains provisions on the importance of regional co-operation in working together to expand the historic Abraham accords. That is a series of practical issues that we will work upon together with our Israeli friends, but it does not in any way change the UK’s position—it is good to hear the shadow Minister set out the same—on the agreed settlement that we continue to support.

  • Grant Shapps – 2023 Speech to the Offshore Wind Industry Seminar

    Grant Shapps – 2023 Speech to the Offshore Wind Industry Seminar

    The speech made by Grant Shapps, the Secretary of State at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, in South Korea on 10 April 2023.

    Hello.  Aha-nyong-ha-se-yo

    It is half a century since South Korea turned to the United Kingdom to help develop its first ever car.  That vehicle – the Hyundai Pony – was produced with the aid of a British chief executive, British parts, British engineers, and even British finance and of course, … Korean ingenuity and Korean hard work.

    But no-one involved with that fledgling project could have imagined what it might lead to.  Today, South Korea is the fifth largest automotive manufacturer in the world – and it all happened here.

    And Hyundai’s new, electric Ioniq 5 is the current holder of the prestigious World Car of the Year award.

    What an incredible catalyst that early collaboration between our two countries in the 1970s proved to be: the beginning of a success story that, 50 years later, goes from strength to strength.  And 140 years after Britain and Korea first established diplomatic relations, our two countries are closer today than they have ever been in the past.

    We have Korean students in our schools, Korean pop music in our charts – and, thanks to my teenage daughter, in my home – and Korean food shops on our high streets.  And the reason I am here today is because we have incredible opportunities to work even more closer together.

    On our energy transition, we can create the secure, clean and reliable power that both our economies need to grow.  Through the UK-Korea framework, signed last June, both governments reaffirmed commitments to tackling climate change, and co-operating together to enhance energy security, particularly on renewables.

    That’s why, as the new UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, I’m so excited to be in Korea this week, and why I’m delighted to be taking part in this fantastic seminar today.

    Thank you representative HAN for inviting me.

    Our two nations stand together as partners in the energy transition.  But we also stand together in condemning Putin’s abhorrent war on Ukraine. The measures we are taking to isolate Russia internationally, punishing it economically, and helping Ukraine defend its sovereign territory.

    But although Vladimir Putin’s weaponization of energy has had a huge impact on our markets over the past year, the truth is that Russia’s gas, just like the president himself, belongs firmly in the past.

    And our discussions here today is about seizing the future, not retreating backwards.  Our future in Britain will be built on renewables, nuclear power and greater energy efficiency, whilst ensuring that the gas used during the transition is from reliable sources – like our own North Sea.

    With both our countries recognise the need to speed up the global energy transition to keep 1.5C alive. The IPPC’s Synthesis Report has emphasised the dire consequences should we fail to act.

    So I would obviously urge South Korea to bring forward its coal phase-out from 2050, join the ‘Powering Past Coal Alliance’ and incorporate the COP26 ‘Global Coal to Clean Power’ statement into its energy planning.

    The UK’s own ‘coal-to-clean’ story has been powered by offshore wind and we are eager to share expertise in this field with you.  Electricity produced from coal in the UK has plummeted from 40% in 2012 to just 1.5% last year.

    As a result, we are generating record amounts of electricity by wind – over half our total electricity comes from wind power on a good day.

    The UK has established itself as a world leader in offshore wind.  Our offshore capacity of 13.8GW is the greatest in Europe, and only second to China globally.

    We have the three largest offshore farms in the world.  Soon, we will have the fourth too.  And we have globally-leading ambitions to deploy up to 50GW by 2030, which will include up to 5GW of floating wind platforms.

    So we’re scaling-up renewables, and the development of a competitive domestic supply chain, that will meet our decarbonisation objectives.  It will also make us more resilient to economic shocks and provide energy security for future generations.

    And then there’s the economic opportunities that the transition to clean energy will bring.  The tipping point, when holding on to coal and gas power will no longer make economic sense, never mind environmental sense is getting closer and closer.  So we are focused on leveraging private investment alongside the public investment needed to support our ambitions and deliver net zero.

    But just as crucial as these domestic priorities we need to collaborate with key international partners too – and that means places like the Republic of Korea.  We have so much to offer each other.  I would strongly encourage companies which have invested in the offshore wind sector to consider coming to the UK.

    In the UK, the Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme has made funding available to boost investment in major port and manufacturing infrastructure.

    One fantastic example this scheme has supported is a £512 million investment by Korean company SeAH Wind, a subsidiary of SeAH Steel whose CEO I am meeting this week, in a brand-new factory manufacturing offshore wind turbine monopile foundations in Teesside, England: a brilliant example of our two countries working together.

    I hope this is just the first of many successful ventures between the UK and the Republic of Korea and I would encourage interested companies to contact the British Embassy here in Seoul to better understand how the UK Government can help further investments.

    But the scope for collaboration goes beyond investment in the UK.

    The UK is an ally in South Korea’s offshore wind development.  You have set an impressive target of 12 GW offshore wind by 2030, with over 25 projects already in development. This includes huge floating offshore wind potential, which is already attracting UK players to your emerging market. As that market grows, the UK can become an even more trusted partner.

    Our expertise covers every phase of policy and project development.  We have established experience in oil and gas, marine and subsea, and can offer a unique combination of assets and opportunities to build on current ties between our countries.

    The British Embassy in Seoul is already starting this engagement, organising webinars to promote our offshore wind journey – and further areas of partnership.  Indeed, UK companies represent 60% of Korean offshore wind engineering contracts.

    I have been briefed on Corio Generation’s plan to build a 2.6GW floating wind portfolio of five projects, including working with Shell, on 1.5GW and 1.4GW of floating offshore wind in Ulsan.

    BP Renewables and Deep Wind Offshore recently formed a joint venture to develop offshore wind in Korea, with four projects across the Korean peninsula with a potential generating capacity of up to 6 GW.

    These examples show the value that the UK can bring to Korea – and what can be accomplished when we work side by side.

    So, on this 140th anniversary of UK/Korea diplomatic relations and, as we approach the 50th anniversary of the iconic Hyundai Pony launch, let us look forward to future success.  A future of greater energy security.  A future where clean renewables and nuclear power rapidly make fossil fuels obsolete.  And a future of close, mutually-beneficial collaboration between Britain and Korea.

    Working together, to power our success.

    Thank you.

  • Anum Qaisar – 2023 Speech on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

    Anum Qaisar – 2023 Speech on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

    The speech made by Anum Qaisar, the SNP MP for Airdrie and Shotts, in the House of Commons on 23 March 2023.

    I pay my respects to both Palestinians and Israelis who have been killed in recent violence. Ramadan Mubarak; today marks the start of Ramadan and I, like many Muslims, am fasting. Yet Muslims and those of other faiths or no faith in the occupied Palestinian territories have seen a significant increase in human rights violations perpetrated by Israeli authorities.

    More than 1,000 Palestinians are at imminent risk of forcible transfer from Masafer Yatta, an action that would amount to a war crime. The situation is rapidly deteriorating and Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, lands in the UK today on a state visit. During talks, the UK Government must call for a de-escalation of violence.

    Amnesty International concluded last year that Israel is

    “committing the crime of apartheid against Palestinians.”

    Will the UK Government raise those concerns with the Prime Minister? The Finance Minister recently stated:

    “There is no such thing as a Palestinian people”,

    and said he wanted to see the Palestinian village of Huwara wiped off the map. Will the Minister put on record her disgust at that type of language?

    The Israeli Government continue to push for the development of illegal settlements, despite promising not to do so. If that construction does not stop, will the UK Government commit to suspending trade deal talks with Israeli counterparts until we can ensure human rights are safeguarded?

    The UK Government must acknowledge the systematic and calculated discrimination against Palestinians in occupied territories carried out by the Israeli military and authorities. Will the Government finally halt their approval of the sale of arms to Israel and support the need for an independent investigation by the International Criminal Court into human rights violations?

    We are approaching the one-year anniversary of the murder of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. Al Jazeera has escalated her killing to the ICC after the Israeli defence force refused to investigate her killing and former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said:

    “No one will investigate IDF soldiers and no one will preach to us about morals in warfare”.

    Do the Government accept that, unless they urgently support the ICC investigation, they are turning a blind eye to blatant military impunity for murdering Palestinians?

    Anne-Marie Trevelyan

    I am happy to repeat that the UK condemned the Israeli Finance Minister’s comments calling for the Palestinian village of Huwara to be wiped out, and his recent comments denying the existence of the Palestinian people. We have condemned that absolutely, and I think that has been heard clearly.

    Prime Minister Netanyahu will visit the UK tomorrow, and has asked for a meeting with the Prime Minister. He will have a short meeting with the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary. I know that the Prime Minister will raise the issues that concern us—as all good, trusted friends and partners do. We are confident and always do so with all our partners, including Israel.

    The hon. Lady mentioned the anniversary of the death of respected Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. It seems extraordinary that we are already a year on. The UK is committed to working with both Israel and the Palestinian Authority to advance that peaceful two-state solution. We voted no on the resolution pertaining to referral to the ICC because we consider that is not helpful to bringing the parties back to dialogue.[Official Report, 27 March 2023, Vol. 730, c. 6MC.] As I set out in my answer to the urgent question, we continue to work with all parties to help find a way forward. We hope that the continuing role of talks will help to move that forward.

  • Rishi Sunak – 2023 Easter Message

    Rishi Sunak – 2023 Easter Message

    The Easter Message issued by Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, on 9 April 2023.

    Easter Sunday gives us a chance to reflect on the considerable contribution Christian communities make to our national life – offering support and a sense of belonging to so many across the country.

    Christianity and its values of tolerance, compassion and charity are embedded in our history and national fabric. Its values are British values.

    I would like to wish all those celebrating today a very happy Easter.