Alison Griffiths MP: speeches

Speeches

• 24 Nov 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  T9. Flooding costs the UK economy up to £6 billion a year. Aviva estimates that 2,000 more homes will be at risk of surface water flooding by 2050 in Bognor Regis and Littlehampton alone, as well as 115,000 of the Government’s planned 1.5 million new homes. That is why flood resilience is a growth issue. Will the Minister tell me what he is doing to ensure that new homes are flood resilient, to protect both my constituents and the UK economy?

• 18 Nov 2025 · Northern Ireland Troubles Bill · Hansard source

  More

  Bognor Regis and Littlehampton is a coastal constituency with a strong forces tradition. Many of my constituents served in Northern Ireland and are now terrified of being pulled into a process that continues with no end. Does my hon. Friend agree that we owe those veterans a process that is fair, proportionate and final?

• 18 Nov 2025 · China Espionage: Government Security Response · Hansard source

  More

  The Minister stresses the importance of mindset, so can he tell me whether it was a failure of mindset that underpinned the failure to secure the prosecution of two alleged Chinese agents? Why should parliamentarians now trust that he has the mindset to keep us safe?

• 17 Nov 2025 · Official Secrets Act: Alleged Breach · Hansard source

  More

  Our judicial system is rightly rigorous and independent, which is why the Government’s handling of intelligence that is central to national security, and passing it to prosecutors, matters so much. As the Minister responsible for our state threats framework and domestic security, will the Home Secretary tell the House when she was first alerted to concerns that crucial evidence had not been passed to the Crown Prosecution Service? Does she agree that the public deserve a full and frank account of how two alleged Chinese spies were able to walk free?

• 17 Nov 2025 · Official Secrets Act: Alleged Breach · Hansard source

  More

  13. Whether her Department provided evidence relating to the alleged breach of the Official Secrets Act on behalf of China.

• 12 Nov 2025 · Energy · Hansard source

  More

  I will not, given the time constraints. Our cheap power plan would axe the carbon tax, scrap renewable levies on household bills and put money back into the pockets of hard-working people, because if we give families certainty and give businesses room to breathe, the growth will follow. This is how we build an economy that works for everyone, not just on paper, but on every high street and in every town.

• 12 Nov 2025 · Energy · Hansard source

  More

  My constituents are looking at their rising energy bills, already the second highest in the world, with a real sense of fear. People should not have to choose between heating and eating because of the direct choices—the political choices—of the Labour party. It is not just residents I am hearing from. Many local organisations, from hospices to food manufacturers to the local pub, are worried about the rising costs. The Secretary of State’s ideological attacks on North sea oil and gas production are devastating not just communities across Scotland but high streets right across the country. Businesses are already struggling with lower footfall as customers rein in spending, worried about the security of their own jobs. It is a doom loop and the Government simply do not get it, but our small businesses do—businesses such as Wicks Farm in my constituency. It produces some of the best strawberries in the country, which, Madam Deputy Speaker, I would love to invite you to try. David, its director of agriculture, feels that there is no plan and no support—not for energy, not for infrastructure and certainly not for growth. Rich and Mark, who run East Beach Guest House, a beautiful boutique hotel on the shoreline of Littlehampton beach, tell me they face a cliff edge of costs imposed by the Chancellor: the jobs tax, the family business tax and the costs of the Employment Rights Bill, as well as eye-watering energy bills. The Government are an existential threat to small businesses, and the families and communities they support. Enough is enough. The reality is that every pound spent just to keep the lights on is a pound not spent in our shops. When businesses suffer, we lose jobs, skills and the very places where people meet, work and build a community. That is why I welcome the work done by the shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Surrey (Claire Coutinho) in setting out what we on the Conservative Benches will do to support families and businesses right across the country.

• 11 Nov 2025 · Prisoner Releases in Error · Hansard source

  More

  On 10 October, Ola Abimbola, a violent Nigerian criminal, walked out of Ford open prison in my Bognor Regis and Littlehampton constituency. He has not been seen since. He is meant to be serving 21 years for grievous bodily harm, kidnap and possession of an offensive weapon. How many other prisoners are at large from Ford open prison and what offences were they imprisoned for?

• 5 Nov 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  Mr Speaker, last night I was honoured to speak at an event you kindly hosted with the Royal National Institute for Deaf People. I met Craig, the chief executive of Action Deafness, which delivers vital services across my constituency, as well as Stuart, an academic focused on the needs of deaf young people. They told me that deaf people too often navigate support from siloed health, education and welfare systems that create barriers. What steps is the Minister taking to co-ordinate cross-departmental support for deaf people to prevent them from falling between the gaps?

• 4 Nov 2025 · Supporting High Streets · Hansard source

  More

  I am going to keep making some progress. Secondly, let me turn to energy costs. Too many small businesses are paying bills far higher than they were just a few years ago. Green levies are a political choice and the result of the Government’s ideological pursuit of net zero by 2030. While big manufacturers get relief, high streets are footing the bill. The third factor is retail crime. There is more shoplifting and more harassment, leaving more staff feeling unsafe at work. Behind every incident—like Clarkes Estates in Bognor Regis having its windows smashed—is a real cost to the bottom line in stolen stock, lost hours and rising insurance. We have plans to crack down on retail crime with tougher penalties and real consequences. Finally, there is the family business tax and the Employment Rights Bill that will come back before the House tomorrow. These place unfair costs and uncertainty on the very employers, like Reynolds Furniture in Bognor Regis, that hold our high streets together. They are already under pressure, and we should be helping those who create jobs, not frightening them off. Yes, of course, workers must be protected, but those protections must not undermine the small businesses that provide the jobs in the first place. Today I join my right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition in urging Ministers to abolish business rates for retail, hospitality and leisure, to cut energy bills for all small businesses, to tackle retail crime with tough consequences, and to scrap the unemployment rights Bill. Do these things and we can begin to restore confidence in high streets. Fail to do them and we will watch shutters fall, more shops disappear and more communities lose the places that make them feel like home.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Supporting High Streets · Hansard source

  More

  Our high streets are not just places to shop; they are the hearts of our communities. Yet every business I speak to in Bognor Regis and Littlehampton tells me the same thing: they are unsure if they can survive another year of this Labour Government. Families are under pressure too, worried about keeping their jobs, paying their mortgages and affording the food shop. They are reining in spending: fewer coffees or pints, fewer meals out and fewer days out in venues like the brilliant Harbour Park in Littlehampton. Last Friday, I sat down with the owner of Richard Pearce Hairdressing in Aldwick. He has worked for years to train the next generation, giving young people their start in life, but the constant hammering on his overheads is relentless. He tells me that the current Government have lost all touch with local businesses and the impact of their policies. Under Labour: employer national insurance—up; cost of hiring—up; and energy bills—up. Let us be clear about what is driving this. First, it is business rates. For shops, cafés and pubs, like the William Hardwicke in Bognor Regis and the Beresford in Middleton-on-Sea, business rates are a tax on just showing up. They punish the visible, but leave online giants untouched. The Conservatives would abolish business rates for retail, hospitality and leisure; Labour will not.

• 30 Oct 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  At Prime Minister’s questions yesterday, the Prime Minister offered scant reassurance to business owners trying to create jobs and growth in the face of higher taxes, costs and regulations. The Institute of Directors warns that: “Business confidence has plumbed new depths”. Ahead of Small Business Saturday on 6 December, will the Leader of the House provide Government time for a debate to celebrate and recognise the business owners working so hard and making great personal sacrifices to support jobs and services in our communities?

• 29 Oct 2025 · Independent Lifeboats: Government Support · Hansard source

  More

  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Harris. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Hamble Valley (Paul Holmes), a fellow south coast MP, on securing this important debate. I am an avid sea swimmer and sailor who enjoys every opportunity to be in the sea, so it brings me great joy that more and more people are enjoying open-water swimming, paddleboarding, kayaking and coastal sailing. I am happiest when I am in the sea, but I am aware of the dangers of the sea: even on apparently calm and sunny days, it can be unpredictable and unforgiving. Tides change and winds rise rapidly, and that can turn a fun-filled day on the water into a tragic accident. When disaster strikes, it is our brave lifeboat crews, many of them volunteers, who launch into the sea to keep people safe and to save lives. My wonderful coastal constituency, Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, is lucky to be served by the incredible RNLI. There has been a lifeboat house in Littlehampton for more than 140 years—since 1884. Today, the RNLI’s inshore station on the bank of the river Arun provides vital lifesaving services along our beautiful stretch of Sussex coastline. This year, that crew has been called out more than 50 times. It supports yachts and fishing vessels in difficulty, and waders and swimmers caught in strong currents. It also rescues pets who have fallen into the water and become stranded. I was delighted to attended the christening of its new D-class lifeboat, Spirit of Fidelity, in September. I really cannot speak highly enough of the fantastic work that the RNLI and its many volunteers do to keep seagoers in Sussex safe. A true national treasure, the RNLI deserves all the plaudits it rightly receives internationally. But not every constituency is as fortunate as mine is to benefit from an outstanding RNLI lifeboat station. Maritime rescue off the coast of the British Isles is often provided by a remarkable network of independent lifeboats. Community-run and locally fundraised, these vital lifesaving organisations provide the same services as the RNLI, but often in areas far larger than they can reach quickly enough, with a fraction of the funding needed and without the same public and Government recognition of their work. The dedicated volunteers and generous donors who keep independent lifeboats afloat deserve acclaim equal to that of their RNLI colleagues. Last year, independent lifeboats attended more than 1,800 incidents and assisted more than 2,000 people in the UK. We cannot take them for granted and must support their efforts to keep people safe at sea. The rescue boat grant fund was a key source of funding for independent lifeboats between 2015 and 2020. I join my hon. Friend the Member for Hamble Valley in calling for the Government to reinstate it. To do so would not only celebrate the tireless dedication of the volunteers who run independent lifeboats but invest in the future of those vital lifesaving services. We would not settle for under-equipped ambulances, fire engines or police cars. We need to ensure that our lifeboats are properly funded, so that their crews can purchase the equipment they need and complete essential maintenance to keep their boats seaworthy and their stations fit for purpose.

• 29 Oct 2025 · Independent Lifeboats: Government Support · Hansard source

  More

  The hon. Member makes a good point. She would probably agree with me that asking the Government to reinstate the rescue boat grant fund is a first step in that direction. I hope the grant would include capital expenditure. This is not a topic for political point scoring; it is about saving lives. The reintroduction of the rescue boat grant fund would send a clear message that this House values the commitment and bravery of our lifeboat crews. I hope the Minister has listened carefully to the calls being made, led by my hon. Friend the hon. Member for Hamble Valley, and that she reaffirms the Government’s support for all those who risk their lives to protect others at sea.

• 29 Oct 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

  More

  Q11. Last weekend I spoke to Paul, who runs Bah-Humbug Sweets in Littlehampton, and yesterday I heard from Matt, a tech entrepreneur whose British company employs thousands worldwide. Their businesses could not be more different, but they both told me the same thing: this Government are piling on new taxes, regulation and costs that are making it harder to create jobs, invest and grow. So when will the Prime Minister stop choking opportunity and start backing the people who create jobs in the first place?

• 23 Oct 2025 · Alleged Spying Case: Role of Attorney General’s Office · Hansard source

  More

  The Sunday Times reported that, following a key meeting on 1 September, the Attorney General’s Office was asked to speak to the CPS. Did anyone from the Attorney General’s Office speak directly or indirectly to the CPS after that meeting?

• 16 Oct 2025 · Official Secrets Act Case: Witness Statements · Hansard source

  More

  Can the Minister tell us whether the Attorney General shares the concern of the CPS that there is not enough evidence to prosecute?

• 11 Sept 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  Two nights ago, a man in his 30s was stabbed in the centre of Bognor Regis, and that follows a fatal stabbing earlier this year. Will the Government bring forward a debate to consider how to make high streets safer and tackle the increasing prevalence of knife crime in small seaside towns such as Bognor Regis?

• 11 Sept 2025 · Non-surgical Aesthetic and Cosmetic Treatments · Hansard source

  More

  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bromsgrove (Bradley Thomas) for securing this important and increasingly pressing issue. I also thank the hon. Members for Putney (Fleur Anderson), for Strangford (Jim Shannon), for Calder Valley (Josh Fenton-Glynn) and for North West Leicestershire (Amanda Hack), who all made important contributions. A report by the British Beauty Council showed that spending on non-surgical cosmetic treatments totalled £10.1 billion last year. That includes the 900,000 botox injections that are performed in the UK each year, and other non-surgical procedures, which continue to grow exponentially in popularity. We are not talking about a minor issue here; this is a multibillion-pound industry, which is snowballing at breakneck pace. Yet this sector remains dangerously unregulated. Although there are training standards, such as the national occupational standards for practitioners in beauty aesthetics, there is no legislative framework to require all practitioners to meet those standards. As a result, some practitioners are not only unlicensed, but unqualified and inadequately insured to perform the procedures they are performing. We cannot sit back and allow patients of these procedures to entrust their safety to unlicensed cowboys profiting from the lack of regulation. It is time to call an end to this wild west free-for-all, and give patients in this industry, and the responsible operators, the protection they need and deserve. To that end, I am delighted that the previous Government kick-started this process, first by banning cosmetic fillers for under-18s in England under the Botulinum Toxin and Cosmetic Fillers (Children) Act 2021. That was followed by the Health and Care Act 2022, which gave Ministers the power to tighten regulations by introducing a new licensing regime. The current Government are slowly and finally getting into gear on that scheme, but when do they expect to implement this protection as a matter of public safety? What steps will be taken to raise awareness of new regulations to improve public confidence in the non-surgical cosmetic sector as these measures are introduced? Of the 27,462 procedures performed and recorded by the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons in 2024, approximately 93% were performed on women. Young women aged 18 to 25 years old also made up 48% of the 3,000 complaints to Save Face, a Government-approved register of medical aesthetic practitioners. That means that the Government’s failure to get on and implement regulations in this sector is disproportionately affecting a vulnerable group to a significant degree. Furthermore, the governing voice in this area is social media, again, disproportionately placing the burden of risk on younger people. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh interviewed female Instagram users aged 18 to 30. All of them had undergone, or hoped to undergo, cosmetic surgery, and all of them looked to Instagram influencers for information about cosmetic procedures. With nine in 10 children owning a mobile phone by the time they reach 11, and 75% of eight to 17-year-olds having their own social media account, there is a real danger that our children and grandchildren could be exposed to cosmetic surgery at a young age, unaware of the risks of a cheap bodily enhancement. Mental health struggles and body image challenges are unfortunately well documented, with almost 850,000 children accessing NHS mental health services in June 2025, and two in three children feeling negative or very negative about their body image, according to a survey commissioned by the Women and Equalities Committee from 2020. Social media, combined with heightened self-scrutiny on video calls since the pandemic, has sadly cast the way in which young people view themselves in an increasingly negative light. As such, the cosmetic surgery “boom”—as termed by the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, following a 102% rise in procedures in 2022—is alarming but unsurprising. A failed procedure can have potentially life-threatening repercussions, and an unlicensed practitioner’s lack of training, skills and experience significantly increases the risk of failure. We owe it to the livelihoods of patients, who are predominantly young women, to improve the safety of non-surgical cosmetic procedures as much as we can. Governments are there not to stifle growth and innovation—the kind that creates jobs, rewards entrepreneurship and helps businesses to grow—but to protect the interests of British citizens in times of need. This is one of those times. The safety, and even the lives, of consumers are at risk if we do not act. With that in mind, will the Government commit to swiftly implementing a licensing framework to combat such life-threatening risks? Furthermore, the problem in this area is precisely that unlicensed practitioners carrying out procedures are operating under the radar. How do the Government intend to support local authorities to actively and effectively enforce the licensing framework, to ensure that such practitioners are prevented from operating on patients in backroom shadows? The number of complaints from patients with failed non-surgical cosmetic procedures shows no sign of plateauing. Again, I refer to the figures from Save Face, which received almost 3,000 complaints in 2022, 35% more than in 2020. Complaints about dermal fillers—treatments to add volume, typically to smooth out wrinkles or enhance facial definition—made up almost 70% of that figure. As we debate this matter today, let us remember the enormity of the influence we are privileged to have. When they go wrong, cosmetic procedures can be life-changing for all the wrong reasons. I urge the Government to accelerate the licensing framework for non-surgical cosmetic procedures and treatments—therefore requiring practitioners to be licensed, qualified and insured—for the sake of public safety and the sake of saving lives.

• 10 Sept 2025 · Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

  More

  The hon. Lady and I share a huge concern for ensuring access to all types of transport, including buses, for the disabled of every kind. Does she agree that the strike in London, which is crippling transport services, is causing greater harm to the disabled community here than in any other part of the country?

• 4 Sept 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  In a week when the Liberal Democrat-run Arun district council has been found to have the worst possible grading for its social housing provision—including more than half of its homes being without smoke alarms—it is alleged that two senior directors, including one responsible for housing, have left the council with redundancy payments totalling £350,000. Can the Leader of the House advise me on how best to hold the council to account in this place for the benefit of taxpayers in my constituency?

• 1 Sept 2025 · Unemployment Trends · Hansard source

  More

  On the House of Commons dashboard, the data for my constituency shows that universal credit claims increased dramatically by 20% in just one month. Claimants increased by over 2,000—from 10,344 to 12,415—from May to June this year. Given this recent increase in economic inactivity, what evidence does the Minister have that the Government’s employment support programmes are successfully moving people from out-of-work benefits into sustained employment?

• 1 Sept 2025 · Unemployment Trends · Hansard source

  More

  1. What assessment she has made of trends in the level of unemployment.

• 15 Jul 2025 · Taxes · Hansard source

  More

  Will the hon. Member give way?

• 15 Jul 2025 · Taxes · Hansard source

  More

  Hard-working families and business owners in Bognor Regis, Littlehampton and our villages are feeling the squeeze as never before. Labour stood on a manifesto promise not to raise taxes for hard-working people, yet at the very first opportunity, in the autumn Budget, they raised employers’ national insurance. This is a tax on job security and job creation. It is a tax on growth and a tax on ambition. The jobs tax—one of the Chancellor’s flagship failures—has wrecked business confidence. It has made it more expensive to hire workers, stagnated the jobs market and threatens countless job losses and business closures. It falls on top of the Employment Rights Bill, which signals the return of 1970s-style employment laws that will further stifle growth, as well as the family business tax, higher business rates and higher wage bills. In small coastal towns like Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, where over 90% of local businesses have fewer than 10 employees, every cost increase and every job loss is keenly felt. Across our constituency, families, small businesses, hospices such as St Wilfrid’s and charities at the heart of our communities face an impossible position. In their short time in government, Labour has become the party of taxation. The Chancellor has backed herself into a corner, and more tax hikes are undoubtedly on the horizon. That is why I thank the Leader of the Opposition for tabling this important motion. Working people in Bognor Regis and Littlehampton and the businesses, charities and hospices that employ them need to be defended from this Government’s tax raids, and that is what I intend to do—to stand up for the people of Bognor Regis and Littlehampton today, tomorrow and throughout this Parliament.