David Reed MP: speeches

Speeches

• 12 Feb 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T3. The Prime Minister has just held talks for a UK-EU defence and security partnership, in which the development of artificial intelligence will have been a key theme. However, last night, the UK chose not to join EU countries in signing the international agreement on AI. Will the Secretary of State please explain the dissonance in the Government’s approach?

• 6 Feb 2025 · Budget: Impact on Farmers · Hansard source

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  9. What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the autumn Budget 2024 on business confidence among farmers.

• 6 Feb 2025 · Budget: Impact on Farmers · Hansard source

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  Farmers across Devon are rightly concerned about Labour’s planned changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief, particularly the serious impact on family farms and on the sustainability of rural communities. In early December I wrote to the Secretary of State to invite him to meet Devon’s farming community, at an event to be organised in conjunction with the NFU in Devon, to provide clarity on the policies’ objectives and to address their concerns. I am yet to receive a response. I ask him directly now: will he come to Devon, meet local farmers, and explain how these policies will not undermine their livelihoods and the future of British farming?

• 5 Feb 2025 · English Devolution and Local Government · Hansard source

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  I thank the Secretary of State for finally confirming that elections will go ahead in Devon. However, we had been told that, if we were not selected this time round, devolution would be imposed on us. Will the Secretary of State please give an explanation to my constituents in Exmouth and Exeter East of what that imposition will look like?

• 5 Feb 2025 · Chagos Islands · Hansard source

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  Will the FCDO team please confirm who is the lead Minister in these negotiations?

• 3 Feb 2025 · AstraZeneca · Hansard source

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  A pattern is forming around this not so new Government’s ability to negotiate effectively, from their disastrous approach to Chagos to the terrible deal with train unions and this latest debacle with AstraZeneca. Is it fair to say that when this Labour Government negotiate, Britain loses out?

• 22 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Before Christmas, I received nearly 1,000 handwritten letters from pupils at St Peter’s secondary school in Exeter. Each letter strongly advocated for greater support to tackle the mental health challenges faced by young people, with many sharing deeply unsettling personal stories. I am committed to improving local mental health services to help young people build the resilience they need to live happy and healthy lives. However, I know these challenges are not unique to my constituency and are being faced by children across our country. So can the Prime Minister please outline what steps his Government are taking to enhance mental health support for our children nationwide?

• 22 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 22 January.

• 16 Jan 2025 · Water (Special Measures) Bill [ Lords ] (Fifth sitting) · Hansard source

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  This is an active issue across many of our constituencies, and we have heard many personal stories. In my constituency of Exmouth and Exeter East, we have had a new town built called Cranbrook. A sewage treatment works was promised but has not been delivered. That has put pressure on systems elsewhere, and we have seen big sewage outflows in other parts of the constituency. We know that in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government there are big reforms coming for the national planning policy framework. Will the Minister please confirm whether her Department is having active conversations about what we are speaking about, and whether or not there will be changes in this space?

• 16 Jan 2025 · UK Air Defence · Hansard source

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  I thank my right hon. and gallant Friend the Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison) for bringing this important debate to the Chamber. From the discussions the Minister had at the E5 conference, does he think our allies are confident that we are playing our part in air defence?

• 14 Jan 2025 · Water (Special Measures) Bill [ Lords ] (Fourth sitting) · Hansard source

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  I agree with many of the points raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Epping Forest on debt. He raised the serious question of how much debt is too much. Does Ofwat have a firm number on how much companies should be borrowing, and at what point it should intervene?

• 9 Jan 2025 · Water (Special Measures) Bill [ Lords ] (First sitting) · Hansard source

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  I agree with many of the hon. Lady’s points. Many of our constituents are feeling the same effects, but does she not agree that the reason why the Bill has been introduced so quickly in this Parliament with so few new ideas in it is that most of the work was done by the previous Government?

• 9 Jan 2025 · Water (Special Measures) Bill [ Lords ] (First sitting) · Hansard source

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  There is a lot of additional work being pushed towards Ofwat. Could the Minister confirm whether Ofwat has the internal capacity to meet that workload? If not, is there a ringfenced budget in DEFRA to allow Ofwat to employ more people?

• 9 Jan 2025 · Water (Special Measures) Bill [ Lords ] (First sitting) · Hansard source

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  We have heard repeatedly that this is just the start of the legislative process to bring our water companies back to heel. Will the Minister please explain what she thinks the Bill lacks and what she hopes to do in the future to strengthen and add to it?

• 9 Jan 2025 · Water (Special Measures) Bill [ Lords ] (Second sitting) · Hansard source

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  I want to raise one minor point. Public confidence in us restoring our water systems is the reason we are here, scrutinising this Bill. Feargal Sharkey—a main campaigner who many people up and down the country listen to—recently wrote an article saying that no water boss would ever go to prison as a result of this legislation. Will the Minister comment on that to give confidence to people watching this proceeding?

• 9 Jan 2025 · Water (Special Measures) Bill [ Lords ] (Second sitting) · Hansard source

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  We talk about citizen scientists and the hard work they have to do to uncover what is going on within the data. We are talking about putting lots of different monitors on lots of infrastructure up and down the country, which is going to spew out lots of different information that is going to be quite hard to dig into. Could the Minister give a view on whether there will be an approach to the standardisation of data, to make it easier to view for people?

• 17 Dec 2024 · Old Oak Common Station · Hansard source

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  The key theme set out by hon. Members from across Wales and the south-west is that we are all being kept in the dark. What will the Minister do to engage with MPs from across the region and tell us what plans for mitigation are being put in place in our constituencies for the planned works at Old Oak Common?

• 16 Dec 2024 · Water (Special Measures) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for raising those points; this issue has affected our county, and I hope that members of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee raise it as fast as possible, to ensure that South West Water is held accountable and placed in front of them to answer questions about how that outbreak happened. I reiterate that our constituents deserve a solution that is ambitious but achievable. It was under the previous Government that the scale of the issue was truly identified—a point that has been raised repeatedly this evening.

• 16 Dec 2024 · Water (Special Measures) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  This is a major issue. We are talking about the sewage network for an entire country. The last Government pushed for storm overflows to be looked at, and I am glad that the Bill, which has been brought forward by this Government, will look at emergency overflows. As we know, the landmark Environment Act 2021 gave regulators stronger powers to tackle pollution and ensure greater transparency, holding water companies and polluters accountable. The last Government also set legally binding targets to improve water quality, reduce pollution and enhance biodiversity, while the plan for water took a systematic, local, catchment-based approach, requiring significant investment in storm overflow improvements. That was decisive action to hold water companies to account, linking performance to shareholder payments, banning bonuses for water bosses responsible for serious breaches, and empowering regulators to impose unlimited financial penalties on polluters.

• 16 Dec 2024 · Water (Special Measures) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  I thank the Government for introducing this Bill and the Minister for Water for meeting me last week. This is a vital issue, not least for my constituents in Exmouth and Exeter East. Across my constituency, from Cranbrook to Exmouth, we have felt the full force of South West Water’s neglectful and harmful behaviours. This year across the county of Devon, we have experienced the full gamut of the damaging effects of a water company that is crying out to be reformed, be it by legal or regulatory tightening. From cryptosporidium parasite outbreaks in the Brixham area to the closure of beaches in Exmouth, our county has had enough. Our local wellbeing, health and economy have been significantly impacted, and our beautiful home is starting to gain a national reputation for all the wrong reasons. We have a responsibility to ensure that the Bill is as effective and strong as it can possibly be, and that means listening carefully to voices from all parts of the House. Most Members will be familiar with the long history of this issue, so I will not relitigate arguments that have been made already, but it is important to reiterate that this is not a problem that has emerged overnight. We have collectively dropped the ball on this issue—from the last Labour Government under Blair and Brown to the Lib Dem-Conservative coalition and the last Governments, we are all in part complicit— [ Interruption. ] I think that is a very fair point. This has happened over many decades, and I would very much like to reiterate that point to Labour Members. Although it is absolutely right that we strive to end the unacceptable practice of sewage discharges, we must confront the hard truth that we cannot transform these crumbling systems overnight without disastrous consequences, such as sewage backing up into people’s homes, on to our streets and into our communities. That is why we must commit ourselves to the long haul. This will require sustained investment, careful planning and clear accountability, not short-term fixes or political point scoring.

• 16 Dec 2024 · Water (Special Measures) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman mentioned 2015, so let me return to the point I just made: these problems did not happen overnight. He will know that the Liberal Democrats were in coalition with the Conservatives until 2015. The previous Government took decisive action to hold water companies accountable, linking performance to shareholder payouts, banning bonuses for water bosses responsible for serious breaches, and empowering regulators to impose unlimited financial penalties on polluters. Those actions laid a solid foundation, and it is important to note that many elements of the Bill mirror work already undertaken by the last Government. For example, the confiscation of bonuses from water company executives responsible for pollution is already in motion under existing frameworks. Many measures outlined in the Bill were already being implemented and do not require primary legislation. To make real, lasting improvements, we need a more wide-ranging strategy, and I hope the Government will listen carefully to constructive criticism, because my constituents in Exmouth and Exeter East, like so many others, deserve nothing less. As I have emphasised, we are committed to collaboration on this issue, to ensure that we make vital progress on limiting water pollution.

• 12 Dec 2024 · Armed Forces Commissioner Bill (Third sitting) · Hansard source

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  I seek clarification on one of the points the Minister made about clearances, as I have not heard it in what he has said. Which level of clearance will the Armed Forces Commissioner be required to hold, and will the role be contingent on them holding it? If they cannot maintain clearance, will they lose their job?

• 12 Dec 2024 · Armed Forces Commissioner Bill (Third sitting) · Hansard source

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  The mechanics are different from those for a preferred candidate in other Departments, in so far as the candidate will have to go through top-level security clearance and presumably enhanced developed vetting. If they do not pass enhanced developed vetting, will they still be put forward as the preferred candidate? How will the mechanics work?

• 12 Dec 2024 · Armed Forces Commissioner Bill (Fourth sitting) · Hansard source

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  Would it be possible for the Minister to provide clarification on how sensitive information will be handled? I imagine that, with these extra powers, the new commissioner will be able to take both physical and digital sensitive information. Does that indicate that there will be a need for a new secure physical facility to allow those documents to be stored and a new digital network to allow those digital files to be handled?

• 11 Dec 2024 · Rail Services: Devon · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend—I will call him that, as he is my neighbour from Exeter—for securing this important debate. I want to take the politics out of all this. I know he is not raising this issue, but Old Oak Common will cause significant disruption to our county of Devon and the wider region. It is imperative that we work together to offset those issues as quickly as possible. He has spoken about the storms that we have every year. It is a cycle: we get cut off every year. I really fear, as I am sure that he does, that High Speed 2 and Old Oak Common will further compound those issues. Does he agree that we need to work together to get the best deal for Devon and the wider south-west?