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Tag: Speeches

  • Christian Wakeford – 2022 Speech on the Cost of Living Crisis

    Christian Wakeford – 2022 Speech on the Cost of Living Crisis

    The speech made by Christian Wakeford, the Labour MP for Bury South, in the House of Commons on 17 May 2022.

    I listened with great interest to the Gracious Speech last week and was left bitterly disappointed. It will go down as a speech of missed opportunities, all through the choice of the Prime Minister. Under this Government, we are heading back to a time that was simply about the haves and have nots. People can either afford the basics or they suffer.

    Workers are seeing a decline in their living standards not seen since the Victorian era and the Poor Law of 1834. We are seeing a return to that miserable time, when volunteers pulled together to plug so many holes left by the purposeful underfunding of the state. Eighty years ago, Beveridge spoke of the five giant evils that plagued society, and I am afraid that Conservative Members are propping up and presiding over a return to those evils—or they would be if they were here today.

    Beveridge spoke of want, and this could have been a Queen’s Speech that addressed the concerns about the cost of living crisis that is currently gripping the nation through an emergency Budget or a Bill to propose a windfall tax on large energy companies. Instead, food banks boom while people make the choice between heating their home and feeding themselves and their children. Imagine a world in 2022 in which one in four parents are skipping meals because they cannot afford it. What solutions have Conservative Members come up with? Learn to cook. Work harder. Work longer. It is absolutely shameful.

    Beveridge spoke of disease. This was a Queen’s Speech that showed that there is no plan for our creaking health service and NHS waiting times. There is no plan to deal with access to NHS dentistry. There is no plan to increase the number of GPs. There is no plan to tackle either the stigma or the problem of addiction, which is a matter close to my heart, as Members will know, because no one chooses to be an addict.

    Beveridge spoke of ignorance—not the kind of ignorance shown by the Prime Minister and Chancellor while they put their heads in the sand; he was speaking about the education of our children. The attainment gap is widening further still and, yet again, there is no plan in sight. Our children cannot learn properly if they are hungry, and our teachers cannot teach properly if they are not supported, yet nearly 18,000 schools are facing brutal cuts to their funding. These children are the future of our country, yet they are treated like collateral damage by this Government.

    Beveridge spoke of squalor. We have people across the country trapped in their own homes, which are covered in flammable cladding, a full five years on from the tragedy of Grenfell. This was a Queen’s Speech where housing and planning policies were not even mentioned once. Social housing waiting lists are spiralling into the decades, yet we had merely rumours of a rehash of right to buy from a Prime Minister totally bereft of ideas and increasingly out of touch. We have properties riddled with damp and mould making people ill, here in the sixth richest economy in the world.

    Beveridge spoke of idleness. This could have been a Queen’s Speech where employment rights were boosted and the shocking practice of fire and rehire was finally brought to an end. Instead, the Government issue further flimsy guidelines that allow bosses to ride roughshod over the workers. More than 20 times we were promised an employment Bill, but this was yet another empty promise for the people of this country and another win for rogue employers. This was a Queen’s Speech that will not help those in need as our country lurches from crisis to crisis. It was a Queen’s Speech where this Government are increasingly out of touch with their own people, and I predict that it is one that will unravel before the year is out. I will be voting against the Queen’s Speech for those reasons.

  • Victoria Prentis – 2022 Statement on Food Security Following Russian Invasion of Ukraine

    Victoria Prentis – 2022 Statement on Food Security Following Russian Invasion of Ukraine

    The statement made by Victoria Prentis, the Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, at the UN Ministerial Meeting on Global Food Security on 18 May 2022.

    We are so grateful to the US for leading this week of action.

    Food security is now at the top of all of our agendas, since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    The effects of the war are brought home to me daily by the 25 year old Ukrainian woman who has come to live in our home. When we can find some phone signal, we talk to her grandparents, who are in occupied Kherson, about their daily struggles to find something to eat.

    Famine is once again being used as a weapon of war.

    This doesn’t just affect the brave people of Ukraine.

    Ukraine’s food and fertiliser exports were feeding up to 400 million people worldwide.

    The simplest solution is, of course, for Russia to end the conflict and allow Ukrainian farmers to care for their crops this year.

    We must urgently make multiple plans to export last years’ grain by both rail and sea. And I know that my friend, Minister Solsky, is full of solutions in this regard.

    We must collectively ensure that trade keeps flowing.

    I am pleased that over 50 WTO members have committed to keeping food markets open, predictable and transparent. We should agree to prohibit export restrictions on food bought for the World Food Programme.

    The G7 has a key role to play. Under our Presidency we secured the first ever famine prevention compact. I am delighted that Germany is now picking up the baton and taking this further with the Global Alliance on food security.

    We must all, including multilateral institutions, scale up our support.

    Over the next 3 years, the UK will send £3 billion worth of humanitarian aid to the most vulnerable countries, including in the Horn of Africa, Yemen and Afghanistan.

    And the World Bank must deliver the promised $170 billion over the next 15 months.

    We particularly think of small island developing states, who are so reliant on imports.

    We will continue to use British Investment Partnerships around the world to encourage the universal resilience of global food production.

    The need is urgent. We must act coherently and together, and, as they sing in the Ukrainian national anthem, ‘before the dew dies in the sunshine’. And, we need to ensure that the way we produce food remains sustainable in every sense.

  • Rishi Sunak – 2022 Speech to the CBI Annual Dinner

    Rishi Sunak – 2022 Speech to the CBI Annual Dinner

    The speech made by Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on 18 May 2022.

    Good evening everybody, it’s fantastic to be with you here today.

    It’s a great privilege to address this distinguished audience for the first time in fact since I became Chancellor two and a half years ago.

    So let me take this opportunity to say thank you.

    Thank you for all your support. Your advice. Your challenge.

    The country is not going to become wealthy and prosperous solely because of the things that I do.

    Change doesn’t happen behind a desk in Whitehall. Not even the Chancellor’s desk. It comes from all of you.

    When your businesses invest, things get built.

    When you train someone, they excel.

    When you invent new products and services that people want to buy, you change the world.

    That insight is at the centre of my economic outlook.

    Now I know there are sometimes frustrations and frictions. We won’t always completely agree or go as far as you would like.

    But you must never, ever doubt that I and the government on your side.

    You asked for more generous capital allowances.

    So we introduced the biggest two-year business tax cut in modern British history: the super deduction.

    You asked for more flexibility over apprenticeships.

    We’re delivering, with lots of improvements including new flexible training models.

    You asked us to cut business rates.

    We’re providing a discount of 50% for shops, restaurants, gyms; any business in retail, hospitality, or leisure.

    Of course, there’s more to do.

    But I do want to take this moment to celebrate the partnership between this Government and all of you.

    This is very personal for me.

    I remember my very early days as Chancellor.

    Sitting at my desk in the Treasury in those first few days and weeks, reading the daily Covid case numbers by the light of my desk lamp.

    I was feeling an almost overwhelming sense of responsibility.

    It was a privilege and a relief to be able to call people like Carolyn and Rain at the CBI for advice.

    Just as it is a privilege and a relief now to be able to call on Tony.

    Under yours and Karan’s leadership the CBI continues to be what it has always been: a vital role and voice in our public life.

    Please join me in thanking them for their extraordinary contribution.

    Rarely has your leadership been needed more than now.

    I hardly need to tell this audience that the economic situation is extremely serious.

    A perfect storm of global supply shocks is rolling through our economy simultaneously.

    Global demand – shifting last year from services to goods and exacerbating supply chain bottlenecks.

    Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – causing energy and commodity prices to spike severely.

    And now a fresh wave of lockdowns in China – disrupting industrial production and adding to widespread backlogs in freight and in shipping.

    Now while these are global forces, they are hitting families and businesses here at home.

    Just this morning figures show that in April, CPI was 9%.

    The Bank of England now expect inflation to peak at 10% later this year.

    And those inflationary pressures are starting to weigh on growth.

    Let me set out the way through this. Let me tell you the plan.

    A plan to help people with the cost of living. And a plan for growth.

    First, our plan to help with the cost of living.

    It is the Bank of England’s role to control inflation. And they are rightly independent.

    Over the quarter century since we took monetary policy out of the hands of politicians, inflation has averaged precisely 2%.

    And I know the Governor and his team are completely focused on getting inflation back to target.

    Our role in government is to help cut costs for families.

    I cannot pretend this will be easy.

    As I told the House of Commons yesterday:

    There is no measure that any government could take, no law we could pass, that can make these global forces disappear overnight.

    The next few months will be tough.

    But where we can act, we will.

    We are providing £22 billion of direct support.

    With fuel duty – cut by 5p a litre.

    Council tax – cut by £150.

    The Warm Homes Discount – increased to £150.

    We’re making work pay by increasing the National Living Wage and cutting the Universal Taper rate.

    And in just a few weeks’ time, we’ll increase the National Insurance threshold to £12,500 – a £6billion tax cut for 30 million working people.

    Because tackling high inflation is not just an economic necessity.

    It is a social and moral necessity.

    Those who suffer most are not the wealthiest, who can find ways to protect themselves.

    It is always the poor.

    Our policy to date has focused on supporting people in work and I make no apology for that.

    There is nobility in work. It is the best way out of poverty.

    And I’m proud that under this government, it always pays to work.

    But right now, we also have a collective responsibility to help the most vulnerable in our society.

    And so, as the situation evolves our response will evolve.

    I have always been clear, we stand ready to do more.

    At the same time, we need to be careful.

    As Tony rightly warned us this week, at a time of severe supply restrictions, an unconstrained fiscal stimulus does risk making the problem worse.

    By pushing up prices still further.

    Embedding high inflation expectations.

    And creating a vicious cycle of even higher interest rates and more pain for tens of millions of mortgage holders and small businesses.

    So even as we protect people from the worst of the crisis, we must continue to be responsible with the public finances and get borrowing sustainably under control and debt falling.

    So our plan will deal with the immediate impacts of inflation.

    Cutting costs for families. Cutting the deficit.

    And we are also growing the economy.

    Over the long-term, higher productivity is the only way to raise living standards.

    To do that, we will build on our enduring strengths.

    In the UK, our children are some of the best educated in the world.

    Our incredible universities produce the third highest number of publications worldwide and we have the second most Nobel Laureates of any nation.

    Our artists, musicians, game designers, and filmmakers are creating work that is defining our era.

    Our economy has decarbonised quicker than anyone else over the last twenty years.

    Our deep and liquid capital markets finance the world’s commerce.

    Our start-ups attract more venture capital than France and Germany combined.

    Our language is the international language of business.

    Our agile and flexible regulation is the model for others.

    I could go on and on.

    But we need to be honest.

    We also need to overcome our longstanding weaknesses in investment, skills, and innovation.

    Even in the decade before the global financial crisis, capital investment had weakened.

    Research from the Resolution Foundation and the LSE shows that lower capital per hour worked explains around half our productivity gap with France and Germany.

    On skills, our school and university performance has improved dramatically.

    But four in five of our 2030 workforce are already in work.

    So if we want to raise productivity in this country we need to do more to support those already in work.

    And, since the financial crisis, the rate of increase in innovation has slowed considerably.

    A weakness that explains almost our entire productivity gap with the United States.

    So why is this happening? The problem I don’t believe is any longer the government.

    Public sector net investment is reaching its highest sustained level since the 1970s.

    Yet capital investment by UK businesses, as a % of GDP, is a lot lower than the OECD average.

    Government funding for post-16 education is increasing, the Prime Minister has announced a lifelong learning entitlement, alongside a plethora of new skills initiatives like Skills Bootcamps and T levels.

    But UK employers spend just half the European average training their employees.

    And over this Parliament, we in government are delivering our pledge to increase public investment in research and development by 50% to £22 billion.

    But businesses investment in R&D, as a % of GDP, is less than half the OECD average.

    In other words, further government action can only take us so far. We need you.

    The wealth creators. The entrepreneurs. The leaders.

    We need you to invest more, train more, and innovate more.

    And as I’ve said previously, our firm plan is to reduce and reform your taxes to encourage you to do all those things.

    That is the path to higher productivity, higher living standards, and a more prosperous and secure future.

    One of the biggest debates in economics right now is about whether the world is facing a great slowing down.

    Will we ever see again the kind of transformation that came from the introduction of railways to transport people and goods and ideas;

    Cables and pylons to carry electricity into factories and homes;

    Machines that freed people from backbreaking labour?

    It is easy to look at the challenges we face now and feel disheartened.

    But I am not. I believe our most exciting companies are still to be founded.

    Our most talented people are still to be taught.

    Our best ideas are still to be discovered.

    Our best days lie ahead.

    Government alone cannot get us there.

    It will take all of us, together.

    But we can get there. So let’s get to work.

  • Mick Whitley – 2022 Speech on the Cost of Living Crisis

    Mick Whitley – 2022 Speech on the Cost of Living Crisis

    The speech made by Mick Whitley, the Labour MP for Birkenhead, in the House of Commons on 17 May 2022.

    In my constituency and in similarly deprived areas around the country, the Government have been remarkably silent about what they intend to do about the cost of living crisis in their legislative programme for the coming year. While some on the Conservative Benches have advised the poorest in our country to take up cookery lessons or scour the shops for the cheapest brands, the Government have offered little more than scraps from their table. A £200 loan here and a £150 rebate there—such measures give little comfort to people whose housing benefit has been frozen since 2020 while rents have skyrocketed. They offer no long-term solution to those whose benefits and pensions have been cut and pegged back, nor do they help those in work who face soaring prices and falling wages.

    Family budgets are at breaking point, and two in five people are now buying less food because of the cost of living crisis. In April, 2 million adults skipped a day’s eating to try to save money. The Resolution Foundation predicts that almost 1.5 million people, including half a million children, will fall into absolute poverty next year. This is what food inflation of 9% and rising means for millions, and it is what energy costs heading for a 54% increase are inflicting on the poorest and most vulnerable people in this country. It is a Sophie’s choice of heat or eat.

    The cost of living crisis is a war on the poor, and it is the scourge of countless working families. It is scandalous that the chief executive officer of Tesco has just pocketed a pay packet of almost £5 million for one year’s work. A customer assistant at Tesco would have to work for 267 years to earn the same as the CEO got for 12 months’ work. That should be a badge of shame.

    A Government who care about their people should be working towards both short-term and long-term solutions in their plans for the year ahead. Sadly, this Government plan for very little beyond their own self-preservation. In the short term, we can help people by introducing a windfall tax on the profits of the fuel giants. Two big oil companies coined in more than £12 billion in the first three months of this year. Let us tax them to help those who cannot afford to heat their home. Even top directors such as the CEO of Asda are calling for it now. Let us restore the £20 universal credit uplift to prevent the poorest from sliding into irreversible food and fuel poverty, let us immediately provide extra funds to hard-hit pensioners through extra warm home and winter fuel payments, and let us set a real living wage at a level on which people can really live.

    In the long term, we need to address the economic problems at the heart of our economy that are the legacy of industrial vandalism by the Conservative party over many years. We need to stimulate inward investment by recasting our economy through a green industrial revolution that can provide hundreds of thousands of well-paid jobs and can create industries, including vibrant, publicly owned ones, that meet our energy needs on a clean and green basis, helping to save our planet while overcoming the chronic failings of the current supply chain. We need a progressive wealth tax, and we need to close the loopholes that enable the rich and the corporations to evade the taxes they rightfully owe. Fair taxation can pay for the uplift and reform of the benefits system, which currently punishes the poor. Benefits and pensions must be substantially increased and inflation-proofed.

    Finally, where the Government control wages, they must scrap the miserly below-inflation pay limits that are really pay cuts. These cuts took, on average, £845 away from NHS workers last year. We clapped their efforts during lockdown, and then the Government slashed their wages during crackdown.

    These are the answers to the cost of living crisis, and they should be in the legislative programme for this year.

  • Fleur Anderson – 2022 Speech on the Cost of Living Crisis

    Fleur Anderson – 2022 Speech on the Cost of Living Crisis

    The speech made by Fleur Anderson, the Labour MP for Putney, in the House of Commons on 17 May 2022.

    The Queen’s Speech had two challenges. One was to tackle the cost of living crisis and the other was to tackle the climate crisis, but I feel, on behalf of my constituents in Putney, Roehampton and Southfields, that it does neither. The number of people in energy poverty across the UK has gone up from 4 million last September to more than 6 million today, and it will continue to rise. Pensioners are at the sharp end of the Tory squeeze on finances. They are paying twice as much for energy and facing the biggest real-terms cuts to the state pension in 50 years. On the other hand, energy companies have recorded record profits of £12.4 billion in the first three months of this year alone and petrol retailers are profiting from the cut in petrol and diesel duty, keeping about 2p of the 5p that should be passed on. The Government have not got a grip of these issues. We need a windfall tax on oil and gas producers’ profits to bring down bills, and an emergency Budget.

    Over the past few days, Conservative MPs and Ministers have been lining up to show how out of touch they are, and it really worries me that this kind of “on yer bike” thinking is still guiding decision making. Increasing poverty is not a failure of budgeting, it is not a failure of cooking skills and it is not a failure of magically being able to get a new job.

    Dan lives in Putney and he wrote to me last weekend about his dilemma. He has two young children and his wife stays at home to look after them. They cannot afford childcare. He works 40 hours a week for £9.50 an hour, and he has been offered additional hours. He could take those hours, which would mean he was working 60 hours a week and would not see as children very much. After the resulting cut in universal credit, that would give him only an extra £177 per month, the equivalent of £2.95 an hour. That is not a fair decision for him. He says that

    “the system is broken for people like me”.

    It is for people like Dan that the Queen’s Speech should have had more policies.

    A pensioner has contacted me. She has active Crohn’s disease and she cannot afford to turn on her heating. Steve also wrote to me. He is 77 and self-employed, and his energy bills have gone up from £246 to £890. He has no idea how he will afford that.

    They are just three people, but they are examples of so many among all our constituents. Wandsworth food bank says that six out of 10 parents have skipped meals in the last month to put food on the table for their children. People on the lowest incomes are the best at budgeting and the best at knowing how to make meals stretch. They cannot just work extra hours. In fact, half of all referrals to Wandsworth food banks are people in work. Their income just does not cover the essential bills. So where was the employment Bill in the Gracious Speech?

    We also need to see the green homes grant return in the energy Bill. We need to see a retrofit revolution really tackling the climate emergency—one that covers all homes and that will be there for 10 years or more. The current boiler upgrade scheme is the absolute least we can do. We should do so much more. On behalf of my constituents, I demand more action on the climate emergency, more action on employment rights and more action to tackle the cost of living crisis. I hope that all MPs will vote for the windfall tax tonight.

  • Ben Lake – 2022 Speech on the Cost of Living Crisis

    Ben Lake – 2022 Speech on the Cost of Living Crisis

    The speech made by Ben Lake, the Plaid Cymru MP for Ceredigion, in the House of Commons on 17 May 2022.

    It is a real pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Barnsley East (Stephanie Peacock), who made a powerful speech. Her constituents’ accounts sadly chime with those of many in Ceredigion. I also add my voice to those of others who have spoken of the pain that rising energy bills are causing to households the length and breadth of the UK.

    Sadly, the impact of the rises is being felt acutely in Wales, where even before the current crisis a third of children and a quarter of working-age adults lived in poverty. I regret to note that reports suggest that as many as 45% of households in Wales could now be in fuel poverty following the latest energy price cap increase. The experience of rural areas underlines the urgent need for action. In addition to the increases arising from a higher energy price cap, rural areas have seen large increases to already high standing charges. For example, the daily rates for households in my constituency of Ceredigion are on average 50% higher than those levied in London.

    Compounding the crisis for my constituents is the fact that some 35% of households are not connected to the mains gas grid, so rely on heating oil. On average, they have seen a 150% increase in the cost of their fuel deliveries—that is, when they are able to receive deliveries—as they are not protected by the energy price cap. Rising energy prices not only squeeze household budgets; coupled with higher fuel prices, they threaten the rural economy and risk stoking a wider social crisis. I take no pleasure in noting that Wales is the most car-dependent nation in the UK. We need significant investment in our public transport infrastructure.

    We sometimes forget that rising petrol and diesel prices have a severe impact on public services. When those prices increase, maintaining rural bus routes and school transport services becomes harder. Perhaps more worryingly, crucial workers, such as social carers, find it difficult to afford to work. In constituencies such as mine, with a higher-than-average number of retired and elderly people, that is a particular concern. Some short-term relief could be gleaned from the rural fuel duty relief scheme, which I urge the Government to extend to Wales.

    The crisis is having a real and immediate impact on people across the UK, and is among the most pressing issues requiring Government action. As chair of the all-party parliamentary group on fuel poverty, I urge the Government seriously to consider National Energy Action’s proposals for a new social tariff to enhance protection for the most vulnerable customers. Such a proposal should be accompanied by efforts to increase the visibility of, and support offered through, schemes such as the discretionary assistance fund, and by an extension of the warm home discount and winter fuel payment to all low-income households. That would address the short-term pressures emanating from higher energy prices.

    A long-term solution would be a significant increase in funding for energy-efficiency measures. In particular, the Government should bring forward ECO4—the energy company obligation—legislation without delay to ensure that insulation measures are installed for the poorest households as soon as possible. Reports, and the discussion this afternoon, suggest that the Chancellor may well be contemplating a one-off windfall tax on energy companies as a means of partly funding such a support package. I want to let him know that he would enjoy the support of many Members on both sides of the House should he decide to do that, because families in my constituency quite simply cannot afford the price of continued inaction.

  • Stephanie Peacock – 2022 Speech on the Cost of Living Crisis

    Stephanie Peacock – 2022 Speech on the Cost of Living Crisis

    The speech made by Stephanie Peacock, the Labour MP for Barnsley East, in the House of Commons on 17 May 2022.

    It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Withington (Jeff Smith).

    People across Barnsley East are really worried about the cost of living. The biggest concern for many is the rising cost of energy. A man from Wombwell wrote to me to say that he works two jobs and his wife works another. They live together in a terraced house with their two children, and they can no longer afford to heat it. A local business in Kendray has seen its energy bills rocket from £3,800 to more than £15,000 a year. It compared more than 16 suppliers, and that was the best offer it could find. A retired nurse living in Grimethorpe contacted me in great distress. She lives off her NHS pension of just over £16,000 a year and has seen her fuel bills double from £900 to £2,000. Being just over the qualifying mark for fuel allowance, she has no support, so she simply cannot afford the price rise. Having cared for others all her life, she is now being left uncared for.

    When ordinary working people and local businesses cannot afford heating and food, it is not the cost of living but the cost of simply surviving that has become too high. Today this House will vote on whether to introduce a windfall tax. We have a choice between letting gas companies keep the huge profits that they have admitted are more than they know what to do with, and helping hard-working people.

    Some of the most worried people are pensioners. Indeed, the basic state pension will be worth hundreds of pounds less in real terms this year, thanks to the Conservative Government’s decision making. The cut will be especially hard for Barnsley’s former miners, who worked in dangerous conditions to keep our country’s lights on only to have 50% of their pension pocketed by the Government. Just as Ministers broke their promise to protect the triple lock, they have failed to review the mineworkers’ pension scheme as recommended by the cross-party Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee report, which concluded that the Government

    “should not be in the business of profiting from mineworkers’ pensions”.

    At the last general election, the Prime Minister committed to action on the issue, yet the Government have taken £4.4 billion of miners’ money to date. The figure is set to rise to £6 billion, while the average miner receives a pension of just £84 a week.

    This Queen’s Speech is a missed opportunity to help those who are struggling. How high do prices have to rise, how many more pensioners must freeze and how many children must live in poverty before the Government finally step in?

  • Jeff Smith – 2022 Speech on the Cost of Living Crisis

    Jeff Smith – 2022 Speech on the Cost of Living Crisis

    The speech made by Jeff Smith, the Labour MP for Manchester Withington, in the House of Commons on 17 May 2022.

    It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas). I agreed with much of what she said.

    This is a Queen’s Speech from a Government who have the wrong priorities and are running out of ideas. Our constituents are struggling to get by, let alone live well, and the Government’s response has been a parade of out of touch and, frankly, insulting ministerial media appearances. There is a huge gap where there should be a strategy to tackle the cost of living. As many have said—not just in this Chamber, but in business as well —we need an emergency Budget, because we need immediate help for struggling families in Manchester, Withington and across the country. We need the windfall tax on gas an oil profits, and I am looking forward to voting for it tonight. We have heard warm words from a number of Conservative Members—they could join us tonight and make a difference by voting to give real help to people who need it at a time of crisis.

    Some important measures were not in the Queen’s Speech. It is disappointing that the fan-led review of football governance has resulted in only draft proposals rather than a Bill. We have been calling for a long time for the acceptance of the recommendations, and especially for the creation of an independent regulator. The Government have, in fairness, said that they will do that, but they have kicked it into the long grass. It is urgent for the future of our national game. Bury has already collapsed, Derby and Oldham have struggled, and we have seen in the media that more clubs across the country could be on the brink. Under the Government’s new timetable, a regulator would not be in place until at least 2024—although I think it could take longer than that—which for many clubs could be too late. We have already had extensive research, consultation and engagement with fans and stakeholders. We need to get on with it. Football clubs are at the heart of our communities, and we need a suitable governance system.

    A quarter of mental health beds have been cut. Right now, 1.6 million people are waiting for mental health treatment. We know that the pandemic has made the situation worse: depression has doubled and crisis referrals are up by 15%, including among under-18s. It is welcome that the Queen’s Speech committed to overhauling the Mental Health Act 1983 and to introducing a long-awaited mental health Bill, although again only in draft. That is overdue and I welcome the fact that the Government have accepted the recommendations of Sir Simon Wessely’s independent review. Alongside reform of the Mental Health Act, however, we must see real action on early intervention, to reduce the number of people becoming unwell in the first place and ensure that those who are struggling can access help early. We also need a proper workforce plan, as Labour has promised.

    After three years and many promises, where is the employment Bill? It is really disappointing. It could have addressed statutory sick pay, flexible working and the rights of people in precarious employment. A number of young people earning the minimum wage in the night-time economy would benefit from a specific measure that the Government have not introduced even though they promised to do so—namely, letting them keep their own tips. Lots of bars and restaurants are great employers, but some keep the discretionary service charge. The Government promised to sort this out, but they have not done so. That should have been part of an employment Bill.

    The climate crisis is urgent, but, as we have just heard, the Queen’s Speech sets out very little to address it. The draft energy security Bill will not address the short-term struggles with household bills or help improve energy efficiency, the most cost-effective way to reduce energy bills permanently. While sitting here waiting to speak, I received an email from my energy supplier telling me that my monthly direct debit payment is doubling. On my MP’s salary I can manage that—most people in this Chamber will be able to manage that—but so many of our constituents will not. They need our help, and they need it now.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2022 Speech on the Cost of Living Crisis

    Caroline Lucas – 2022 Speech on the Cost of Living Crisis

    The speech made by Caroline Lucas, the Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, in the House of Commons on 17 May 2022.

    We are in the grip of multiple crises: a cost of living scandal that is pushing millions of households into fuel and food poverty; a war in Ukraine with disastrous consequences; and the accelerating climate and nature emergencies. In the short time that I have, I want to outline their common roots in our fossil fuel-based energy systems.

    The cost of living crisis is the most visible part of a deeply entrenched social crisis that the Government have systematically not only ignored, but actively exacerbated. Even now, we get the ignorance and arrogance of Tory MPs lecturing about value brands and learning to cook “properly”. I sometimes wonder what planet they are on. In the sixth richest country in the world, more than 2 million adults did not eat for a whole day last month, because they could not afford or get access to food. That is not just a crisis; it is a scandal.

    The international price of energy and fuel, a global pandemic, the war in Ukraine and disruption to supply chains are all factors in what is happening to inflation and the cost of living, as is Brexit, but make no mistake: the associated social scandal is a direct result of this Government’s political choices, which include cutting universal credit and refusing to uprate benefits in line with inflation.

    The choices locking us into fossil fuel reliance and climate catastrophe are equally unforgivable. Companies such as BP and Shell are gambling on Ministers failing to rein in their deadly plans for more oil and gas production. They are deadly because, as the International Energy Agency has warned very clearly, there can be no new fossil fuel exploration and development if we are to keep global heating below the 1.5°C threshold, yet the fossil fuel giants are investing in carbon bombs that will accelerate climate breakdown, and the consequences will be felt heavily by the poorest and most vulnerable. That is nothing less than criminal.

    The Government’s choices have consequences for the war in Ukraine, too, and for Putin’s war chest. I welcome the consensus that we must stop financing his war crimes, and need to stop importing Russian oil and gas. However, I cannot welcome the fact that, for years, policies that could have brought us to a place of energy resilience have recklessly been torn up, with UK energy bills nearly £2.5 billion higher as a result; or the fact that the Government are about to deliver an unambitious, under-financed energy strategy that will leave millions in poverty and accelerate the climate crisis while doing nothing to reduce the UK’s dependence on Russian oil and gas.

    Here are five policies to help us rise to the challenge. The first is a street-by-street, local authority-led retrofit revolution. That is the cheapest, fastest and most effective way to cut household bills, reduce demand, cut climate emissions, and create thousands of jobs in the process. The second is a transition to the abundant homegrown renewables with which our nations are blessed. Those renewables are already cost-competitive; onshore wind is six times cheaper than gas. The third is a dirty profits windfall tax on the obscene profits of the energy giants, but it should not stop there; instead, it should pave the way for a carbon tax levied on every tonne of CO2 released. That critical lever would help to shift us fairly towards a clean, green economy. The revenue would contribute to free home insulation for those who need it, free public transport and a universal basic income.

    Fourthly, there should be no more subsidising of fossil fuels. The UK has one of the most lax regimes in the world for the oil and gas sector. For example, in 2019, companies got away with paying 12.5 times less tax for a barrel of oil produced here than for one produced in Norway. In 2020, Shell effectively paid no tax at all in the UK; it is the only country in which Shell operates where that was the case. Why does the Gracious Speech not include legislative proposals to kick these climate criminals out of Britain for good? Tell Shell that it is not welcome to relocate its headquarters to London. We should introduce laws that would allow us to put on trial not the peaceful protesters who are defending our futures, but the energy bosses who commit crimes against humanity by continuing to plan vast oil and gas projects that would shatter the 1.5°C climate goal.

    Finally, there should be no new oil, gas or coal licences. Every penny spent pumping oil from the North sea is making the future less liveable. That is absolutely unacceptable. It is criminal, and it has to stop.

  • Holly Lynch – 2022 Speech on the Cost of Living Crisis

    Holly Lynch – 2022 Speech on the Cost of Living Crisis

    The speech made by Holly Lynch, the Labour MP for Halifax, in the House of Commons on 17 May 2022.

    In the time I have, I will focus on two groups who have been in touch with me on the cost of living crisis. Many colleagues have outlined the scale of the problem facing the country. The latest Bank of England forecast is that inflation will peak at 10.2% in the fourth quarter of 2022. Alongside that, domestic gas prices have increased by 28% and electricity prices by 19%. The OBR expects that household incomes will not begin to recover until the second half of 2024. The devastating combination of increases amounts to such a battering on household incomes that the Resolution Foundation estimates an extra 1.3 million people will fall into absolute poverty in 2023, including half a million children.

    There is one group in particular who I know have felt particularly vulnerable to the increase in costs: those living with disabilities and families caring for loved ones with disabilities. I want to pay tribute to my constituents Nadia Clarke and her mum Katie, who are both inspirational and tireless campaigners. Nadia had to spend months challenging her care payments when they went up from £15 to £68 per week. Nadia is not alone. Too many are having to make substantial contributions to financing essential care, while also facing price increases across the board. The latest data from Citizens Advice is that 60% of those who contacted them with fuel poverty concerns in 2021 were disabled people. Research undertaken by the charity Scope demonstrated that the extra costs faced by disabled people add up to £583 a month on average. It stated:

    “Energy for powering essential equipment, such as hoists, beds, breathing equipment, powered chairs and monitors was already expensive.”

    It stressed that

    “these are not optional extras that can be cut back. This is vital, often life-saving, equipment.”

    In an online video that Nadia shared, she says:

    “it is not acceptable for disabled people to be forced to pay care charges and choose between the support they need and food on the table.”

    She is absolutely right.

    Similarly, last week I was contacted by a gentleman who raised concerns for his sister-in-law, who lives in Halifax. She is on oxygen for 16 hours every day. Her husband is her main carer, but he is also recovering from cancer. Faced with unavoidable additional electricity bills and heating costs, they were feeling desperate about their situation. Thankfully, they have been able to arrive at an arrangement on their electricity bill with the company that supplies the oxygen, but it is just one more example of how the cost of living is proving unbearable for those who have additional needs.

    Coming from a policing family, in my time here I have often sought to be an advocate for the men and women on the frontline keeping our communities safe. We hear just how badly the cost of living crisis is impacting even those working in our emergency services and on our frontline. That feels all the more shameful when we consider what we ask of them. In a recent Police Federation survey of its members in my area of West Yorkshire, 43% of respondents reported worrying about their personal finances every day or almost every day, and 12% reported never or almost never having enough money to cover all their essentials. A chief superintendent recently told me that PCs, and new recruits in particular, were increasingly seeking permission to work a second job on their rest days. One new recruit on a starting salary sought permission to work as a carer. It is perhaps no surprise that 94% of respondents said that they do not feel respected by the Government. The Government must do better.

    The windfall tax would be a straightforward, fair and appropriate intervention for the Government to make. BP and Shell alone are on course to make a combined profit of almost £40 billion this year, and there is widespread public support for a windfall tax.