Alex McIntyre MP: speeches

Speeches

• 18 Mar 2026 · Student Loans · Hansard source

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  I am always happy to be educated by privately educated Oxbridge graduates who did not pay a penny for their student fees. The right hon. Gentleman will find that employment levels have actually gone up. The number of people in employment has gone up under this Government— [ Interruption. ] Well, that’s the stat. If he wants to check, he is more than welcome to. I welcome the youth guarantee that the Government have talked about this week, introducing more apprenticeships and opportunities for young people and tackling the people in my constituency who have been furthest from employment. My hon. Friend the Member for Kettering (Rosie Wrighting) made a fantastic speech about some of the other things we are doing for young people. It is not just about education; it is about renters’ rights and expanding free childcare.

• 18 Mar 2026 · Student Loans · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman is making a very important point. The Conservatives talk about cutting public funding for courses such as creative arts, but that will not stop the wealthiest students from accessing those courses. Does he agree with me that all that will happen is that people from more deprived parts of our country will not be able to access them, and that there will be one rule for them and another rule for everyone else?

• 18 Mar 2026 · Domestic Abuse Survivors: Government Support · Hansard source

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  Before she moves on from the subject of housing, does the Minister agree that the partnership between Women’s Aid, Airbnb and the Mayor of London is a really exciting pilot project for those people for whom refuges might not be the right place?

• 18 Mar 2026 · Domestic Abuse Survivors: Government Support · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Gentleman for his support for my Domestic Abuse (Safe Leave) Bill, which he has backed from the start. He is making a very powerful point about the role that businesses can play in supporting victims and survivors of domestic abuse, who are the reason why we are all here and who we care so much about. Does he agree that we should be doing more to encourage businesses to support women fleeing from domestic abuse, such as through the roundtable that I hosted recently with Women’s Aid, Airbnb and AXA? Does he also agree that the response from Travelodge this week has been simply shameful and that, quite frankly, it has failed to tackle violence against women and girls in one of its properties?

• 18 Mar 2026 · Royal Mail: Performance · Hansard source

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  The service provided by Royal Mail in my constituency is simply not good enough. Hundreds of residents have written to me over the past year with shocking, but unfortunately almost identical, stories. In the worst-affected areas of Abbeymead and Abbeydale, most residents I speak to do not get post for three to four weeks, only for a pile of letters to arrive at once. I know that to be true because I live there, and my post arrives monthly as well. In Tuffley, Matson and Hempsted, they are experiencing similar issues: people are waiting on hospital appointments, new debit cards and other important post. I hope that most of the Mother’s Day cards have now arrived—I pray that all the Christmas cards have been delivered. Something has to change. I want to be absolutely clear that this poor service is not down to our hard-working posties in Gloucester. I visited the Gloucester North delivery office last week and spoke with them, and they are working really hard in difficult conditions. The post arrives late from the Bristol sorting office; the posties are waiting later and later in the morning for that delivery from Bristol, which impacts how many hours they can deliver for. Parcels are being prioritised over post—that is what the posties tell me, but management are still denying it. The posties also told me in detail about the two-tier workforce system, which means that most staff now leave in six months. To make matters worse, they are being undercut by other companies that pay their staff more. Amazon recently opened a large depot in Gloucester, and is paying £4 an hour more than Royal Mail offers. The Minister knows that I have been raising this repeatedly with the Department for Business and Trade. I have written to Ofcom, which still says that it is fining those companies and that will improve things. It will not; they are baking those fines into their business cases. Can we please give the regulator more teeth so that we can actually improve the service?

• 17 Mar 2026 · Youth Unemployment · Hansard source

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  I must admit that I am a little disappointed by those on the shadow Front Bench, who are sneering and suggesting that plunging 3,000 Gloucester children back into poverty will somehow solve long-standing issues with youth unemployment. That is not backed up by the facts, and, quite frankly, it comes across as quite nasty. The Conservatives promised to level up places like Gloucester, but they left the most deprived parts of my city, and the young people living there, without the opportunity to get on. I am really pleased to see Gloucester boy Tom Kerridge, who grew up in Matson in my constituency, backing the proposals that my right hon. Friend is putting forward. Can he explain to the House how more young people will be able to benefit from the Government’s reforms?

• 17 Mar 2026 · Jury Trials · Hansard source

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  Under the previous Conservative Government, criminal justice funding was cut by 23%, we lost 42% of our magistrates, half of our magistrates courts were closed and the number of sitting days in our Crown courts went down. That is the record of the Conservative Government. The only thing that went up was the number of victims waiting for justice. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the crocodile tears from the Conservative party today just show why the public should never put trust in arsonists to put out the fire?

• 16 Mar 2026 · Lord Mandelson: Response to Humble Address · Hansard source

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  Gloucester residents rightly expect that nobody be above the law, so will the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister update the House on what steps the Department is taking to ensure that the Metropolitan police have all the support they need for their investigation?

• 11 Mar 2026 · Royal Mail: Universal Service Obligation · Hansard source

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  Gloucester residents have been let down by Royal Mail for years; it is prioritising parcels over post and profits over our posties. I have a visit to Gloucester North delivery office on Friday, and I was shocked to find out from the frontlines that it is offering overtime to clear the backlog before I get there. Ofcom has proven to be utterly toothless in this matter; it is not regulating properly, and Royal Mail is baking the fines into its business plans. What more can we do to give Ofcom the bite that it needs to improve service for Gloucester residents?

• 10 Mar 2026 · Courts and Tribunals Bill · Hansard source

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  Has the shadow Minister seen today’s statement from the Institute for Government, which has backed the Government’s modelling and overturned its previous position? He might want to reflect that in his comments.

• 9 Mar 2026 · Support for NEET Young People · Hansard source

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  25. What steps he is taking to support young people into employment, education or training.

• 9 Mar 2026 · Support for NEET Young People · Hansard source

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  Gloucestershire Gateway Trust does vital work in my constituency, helping those not in employment, education or training back into work. It runs the Bridging the Gap programme, which provides an employability skills course and a guaranteed interview at the country’s best motorway services, Gloucester services. It also ran the Going the Extra Mile project, which supported over 2,000 local residents who were furthest from employment. It is exactly the kind of organisation we need to work with to tackle the challenges we face, but the GEM project was stopped under the previous Government due to a lack of funding. Can the Secretary of State visit my constituency to see the work that Gloucestershire Gateway Trust is doing, and to discuss how we can work with community and voluntary organisations to tackle these challenges from the ground up?

• 9 Feb 2026 · Violence against Women and Girls Strategy · Hansard source

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  11. What recent progress her Department has made on implementing the violence against women and girls strategy.

• 9 Feb 2026 · Violence against Women and Girls Strategy · Hansard source

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  I recently met a survivor of domestic abuse and stalking who has repeatedly moved home and then been followed by her perpetrator. She told me of the impact, not just on her but on her son, who has repeatedly had to move schools through no fault of his own. After the last move, her perpetrator was permitted to move to a caravan park just a few miles away from her new place of safety and within a few hundred yards of where her son plays football. Although an exclusion zone was put in place, her perpetrator was permitted inside it twice a week to attend parole meetings, because asking him to travel further would be “inconvenient to him”. Can the Minister give some detail on how this Government will support victims such as the one I met recently to live safely in their homes after experiencing domestic abuse?

• 9 Feb 2026 · Standards in Public Life · Hansard source

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  I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement. My biggest concern, and the biggest concern of my constituents, is that the impact of behaviour like Peter Mandelson’s undermines trust in our politics and our democracy. Quite frankly, all parties in this House have had scandals related to someone in their party, and it gives us all a bad name. I ask from the bottom of my heart: can this Government get a grip of this, and end the sleaze and scandal culture that has engulfed all our politics and all our parties, so that I can go back to my constituents and say, “No, we’re not all the same”?

• 2 Feb 2026 · US Department of Justice Release of Files · Hansard source

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  I thank the Chief Secretary for his statement. Gloucester residents will rightly be angry and incredibly disgusted by the revelations in the papers released by the American Government over the weekend. It is in the interests of the whole House that we get this place in order so that those who commit heinous acts, who align themselves with people like Jeffrey Epstein, are no longer in this place, and so the public can have trust that we are acting in their best interests. Will my right hon. Friend confirm that he and the Government will act at pace to ensure that that man is removed from the House of Lords? Will he update the House on the steps the Government have taken to improve the direct appointments process since Peter Mandelson was removed as ambassador?

• 28 Jan 2026 · Youth Unemployment · Hansard source

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  As my previous career was in advising businesses up and down the country, I take some issue with the hon. Lady’s point that there is no experience among Labour Members. She says that taxes, particularly the rise in national insurance, are causing the rise in youth unemployment, but does she know at what level of income young people, specifically those under 21, start to attract national insurance contributions?

• 27 Jan 2026 · Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill · Hansard source

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  You are not defecting?

• 27 Jan 2026 · Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill · Hansard source

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  I welcome this legislation. Does the Secretary of State agree with me that the fact that the Government have listened to the concerns of resident doctors about training places, and have acted at pace to bring forward the legislation, shows that we as a Government are committed to fixing the problems left behind by the Conservative Government? Does he agree that the BMA should consider that when thinking about going forward with any potential further action?

• 27 Jan 2026 · Business Rates · Hansard source

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  I note that Reform Members have already made it to the pub ahead of the statement, perhaps to celebrate the latest defection from the Conservative party, but I thank the Minister for today’s statement. Since I got elected last year, I have been running a campaign to open up our empty shops in Gloucester and show that we are open for business. May I ask him to expedite the high street strategy to make sure that we are capitalising on the fantastic opportunities in my city to turbocharge regional growth in my area and make sure that everyone can be proud of their high street?

• 13 Jan 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Last Friday, I went on a visit to my fantastic local GP service, Hadwen Health. The team there are already using technology and AI to make sure patients get the right care that they need, but they told me that there is currently no technological solution that allows patients to both be triaged and directed to their hard-working family doctor when booking online. What steps is the Department taking to support the roll-out of technology in GP surgeries like Hadwen Health in Gloucester?

• 5 Jan 2026 · HMP Leyhill: Offender Abscondments · Hansard source

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  I must have a bit of amnesia in the new year, because I cannot seem to recall any circumstances in which the shadow Secretary of State raised in the House the 143 abscondments that happened on his Government’s watch—perhaps it is only when a leadership bid is in the offing that he cares about this issue. Will the Minister set out what steps she has taken to ensure that these prisoners are returned to custody and what measures are in place to deter prisoners from absconding in future?

• 5 Jan 2026 · Asylum Hotels · Hansard source

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  A happy new year to you and your team, Mr Speaker. I welcome the Minister’s commitment to closing the Tory asylum hotel in Gloucester by the end of this Parliament. I have raised with him in the past the plight of families who live next door to that hotel, who are having to deal with an increase in antisocial behaviour, constant protests at their front door, and YouTubers turning up and trying to get a vox-pop reaction at 11 o’clock at night. What support can we give to those families, who are having to deal with a hotel on their doorstep that they did not plan for when they moved in?

• 16 Dec 2025 · Mandatory Mediation · Hansard source

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  Before entering the House, I was an employment solicitor, and I saw the impact that judicial mediation had in our employment tribunals. Will the Minister agree to meet me to discuss the role that expanding judicial mediation could have in bringing down the backlog in our employment tribunals?

• 15 Dec 2025 · NHS: Winter Preparedness · Hansard source

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  I thank the Secretary of State for his statement. Gloucester residents are rightly worried about the rising flu levels. I was struck down a few weeks ago and can attest to how tough the current strain is. Does he agree that in this context it is reckless of the BMA to be taking its members out on strike, and will he call for resident doctors in Gloucester to go to work next week to keep their patients safe?