David Taylor MP: speeches

Speeches

• 25 Feb 2025 · Defence and Security · Hansard source

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  I spent all last week in Ukraine, and had the opportunity to meet a Defence Minister and a number of soldiers on the frontline. The Defence Minister painted a bleak picture of the situation there, including the fact that Russian production of arms continues to go up and up and up. Meanwhile, the soldiers I spoke to on the frontline are facing unimaginable challenges, and need much more resources to win this fight. I strongly welcome the announcement that defence spending will reach 2.5%, that support for Ukraine will be increased and that defence spending will reach 3% in the future, because I am convinced that we face an existential crisis in the world. However, as one who founded the Labour Campaign for International Development, I am pained by today’s other news, and I hope we can get back on track for 0.7% as soon as possible. In that spirit, may I draw the Prime Minister’s attention to the last Labour Government’s record of thinking of innovative and different ways of securing development finance, and may I ask him to meet me, and other Labour Members with development experience, to consider alternative ways of financing support for development, such as special drawing rights from the International Monetary Fund and more debt relief?

• 12 Feb 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Yesterday marks the 20th anniversary of the launch of the Make Poverty History campaign and of a fantastic speech, remembered by all of us who were there, delivered by the late, great Madiba. That campaign inspired a generation of campaigners and a great Labour Government to deliver unprecedented action to tackle global poverty, lifting millions out of poverty. Will the Prime Minister join me in paying tribute to some of those campaigners and commit to doing all he can to ensure that Britain plays its full part in helping to eradicate global poverty today?

• 10 Feb 2025 · Armed Forces Recruitment · Hansard source

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  8. What steps he is taking to help increase recruitment to the armed forces.

• 10 Feb 2025 · Armed Forces Recruitment · Hansard source

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  West Herts college in my constituency offers a great selection of courses, including computing courses that offer a pathway to a career in cyber-security. For young people in Hemel Hempstead considering a career in that field to defend our country, can the Minister outline further details of the steps that he took last week to boost recruitment to cyber-security in this country?

• 3 Feb 2025 · Employers: Economic Growth · Hansard source

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  10. What steps her Department plans to take with employers to help increase economic growth.

• 3 Feb 2025 · Employers: Economic Growth · Hansard source

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  The last Labour Government reduced child poverty by nearly half, from 3 million to 1.6 million, and legislated to eradicate child poverty by 2020. Instead, under the Conservatives, the number of children in relative poverty significantly increased between 2010 and 2023. Does the Secretary of State agree that working with employers to help people, particularly parents, into decent, well-paid jobs, is essential not only to growing our economy, but to reducing poverty, including child poverty?

• 27 Jan 2025 · SEND Provision · Hansard source

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  17. What steps she is taking to improve SEND services.

• 27 Jan 2025 · SEND Provision · Hansard source

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  At a recent surgery, a constituent told me that she had fought Tory-led Hertfordshire county council to carry out an EHCP assessment for her son for well over a year. Since it concluded, she has been forced to go to tribunal six times in the past two years. She informed me that she met resistance from the school and the council throughout. After years of neglect by not only the previous Conservative Government, but Conservative local councils, I welcome the steps the Government are taking to reform the SEND system. What assurances can the Minister give to my constituent and others in Hemel that EHCP assessments will be a priority?

• 24 Jan 2025 · Antisocial Behaviour: Hertfordshire · Hansard source

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  There are people in Hemel Hempstead who live in constant fear; people who are too scared to leave their homes, or who fear for their children’s safety. Those people are not statistics, they are not numbers; these are their lives. I wish to tell the House about someone called Tom—I have changed names and places for people’s safety. Tom served in the emergency services for 20 years, putting his life on the line for others. He served our community and kept us safe, yet now he is the one who lives in fear. Tom, who lives with his wife and four children, told me that he lives near a house that is used for drug dealing. Over 90 separate drug deals have been reported to the police and, thanks to his diligence, that is backed by hundreds of hours of CCTV footage and photos. Drug dealing is a serious crime, but in its wake comes a wave of other antisocial behaviour, with the constant, endless noise of people coming and going at all hours, the slamming of doors, shouting, scaring children, motorbikes flying up and down the road, and the incessant smell of noxious drugs. Needles and paraphernalia lie strewn around the area that Tom is proud of—the area he protected for 20 years. Is that what Tom deserves, after protecting our community for so long? Tom is not alone. Let me tell the House a story about Cassy—again, not her real name. Cassy has an eight-year-old son. He likes maths, football and playing outside. In recent months, however, he has been too scared to play outside, and even if he wasn’t, other children have also stopped venturing outdoors. Why is that? Because the communal garden where he once played his favourite sport lies littered with dog poo. People have tried to clean it up, but large, aggressive dogs let loose act as a deterrent to any community-minded people. The green space, once a makeshift football pitch, has turned into a place for people to smoke drugs, play loud music at all hours of the day, and shout abuse at any passerby. Cassy’s son, at just eight years old, lives in fear. Due to the ongoing stress, Cassy is on antidepressants and her husband Gary is in therapy. Their son is so fearful that he cannot sleep alone, scared that the thugs outside will make their way into their home. It is not just drugs and aggressive behaviour, because another constituent at one of my surgeries, Maria, told me of her case. She and her partner, child and neighbours have been dealing with an abusive, unsafe and disruptive resident since June 2023, who has been letting intoxicated people into their building and threatening violence. Rubbish is piled high and attracting rodents, with smashed windows and alleged arson—those are just some of the things that Maria and her family have had deal with. When considering Tom, Cassy, Gary and Maria, and the other 55 constituents who have written to me about this, as well as the others who are too scared to report their cases to me at all, there is a theme, but antisocial behaviour sits in a grey area. The hard-working police are often not resourced. The council often relays that it is a police matter, and housing associations are often limited in how they respond. Meanwhile, residents suffer.

• 24 Jan 2025 · Antisocial Behaviour: Hertfordshire · Hansard source

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  I entirely agree, and I would point to some of the visits I have made to businesses in my constituency because, as the hon. Member will know, there are similar themes. It is a slightly different point, but I am grateful that this Government are planning to bring in new measures to crack down on shoplifting, which is also a big problem and often goes unpunished. Hemel Hempstead, my community, is in a tough position. In January 2024 we were the worst major town in Hertfordshire for antisocial behaviour, with more than 200 reported incidents. The town centre is one of the most dangerous towns in Hertfordshire. Local stakeholders told me just this morning that Dacorum has the highest number of vulnerable children at risk of exploitation from drug dealers and county lines in the county. The overall crime rate in 2023 was 95 crimes per 1,000 people. Damningly, between 2014 and 2024, the crime rate doubled. On the doorstep and at my surgeries, many Hemel residents have asked me why we are in this mess. I tell them that we had a Conservative Government and, until 2023, a Conservative borough council; we have a Conservative county council and Conservative police and crime commissioner, and we had a Conservative MP.

• 24 Jan 2025 · Antisocial Behaviour: Hertfordshire · Hansard source

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  I am doing everything I can to work with the Labour Mayor, but he is subject to the same national cuts in police numbers that we have seen elsewhere. We all have problems with police resources. As a candidate and again since my election to Parliament, I have been out with bobbies on the beat to see the issues that they face at first hand, as part of the Hertfordshire police ride-along scheme. After seeing them in action, I commend our police. I do not exaggerate when I say that they are heroes and heroines in our community. Thanks to the local police in Hertfordshire, we have seen some progress in tackling the plight of antisocial behaviour. I thank them again for their service. Operation Clear Hold Build in Grovehill and Operation Hotspot in the town centre have brought significant uplifts in patrols and prevention in both areas. PC Beresford and Sergeant Divney from the neighbourhood team have led the charge against antisocial behaviour from the front. They and their colleagues are an asset to their force. I also pay tribute to Hemel’s Chief Inspector Dave Skarratts. He has been exemplary in his role, and today happens to be his last day. I wish him well in his new role with Bedfordshire police. When tackling antisocial behaviour, the police are key, but they need tools and the resources to do their jobs. While many of us flee from an incident, they rush towards it; I ensure, in my conversations with the Police Federation, that they do so safe in the knowledge that they have the support they need and deserve. I have carried out an audit of the 55 cases that residents have reported to me so far. I have analysed them for themes, and one keeps emerging. Police are just one part of the jigsaw when it comes to tackling antisocial behaviour. There is a role to be played by local authorities and housing associations. In many instances, upstanding residents have gathered the information and evidence thoroughly, at their own risk and expense, and submitted it to the council or their housing association. However, in some cases they have seen no action. In some instances, the council has refused to re-add them to the housing list because they are adequately housed, yet it has not acted against the troublemakers nearby. In others, communication between police and council teams has been not consistent enough or, in some cases, completely absent. I have had reports of housing associations simply not replying to their residents. All Members of this House have a responsibility to do their bit to tackle this issue.

• 24 Jan 2025 · Antisocial Behaviour: Hertfordshire · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member knows that I try to work with him locally in a constructive way, and I will in future, but the problems that we have in Hemel Hempstead are 14 years in the making. Some of them go back 20 years, because of long-standing issues. It is fair to point out that the people in charge of those issues at the time could have done more to help resolve them. He will know that I am trying to find solutions together and not point the finger or look backwards, but the numbers do not lie. It is impossible to ignore the indisputable fact that in the time that the Conservatives were in power—14 years nationally and longer locally—local crime has skyrocketed. They ignored anti-social behaviour, cut our police force by 20,000 officers nationally and took 60p out of every pound from local authorities. Objectively, that is why we are where we are. It is their mess, and people in my patch are the ones dealing with it. In the time that the Conservatives were in power, crime in Hemel doubled. I defy anyone to defend that record.

• 24 Jan 2025 · Antisocial Behaviour: Hertfordshire · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for his point. I myself benefited from Hertfordshire youth services as a Member of the UK Youth Parliament, which is sadly something that has had to be pulled back by Hertfordshire county council because of cuts to youth services. That is just one example of the ways young people can be offered a chance to build their confidence and skills, and is partly why I am able to speak to hon. Members today. MPs have a duty to their constituents, the police and the many hard-working council officers who deal with antisocial behaviour, which is why I have made it a key priority. This week, I was lucky to have the opportunity to meet with the Minister for Policing, my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham (Dame Diana Johnson), where I raised Hosking Court, Livingstone Walk, Swallowfields and other hotspots across our area. I have also pushed for Hemel Hempstead to be considered as part of the pilot for the new respect order, which will give police new powers to crack down on yobs and thugs with zero tolerance and with 100% focus on victims. I have been out with police for ride alongs, the purpose of which is to see at first hand what our officers are seeing and understand further the tools they need to do their job. I have had regular meetings with the chief inspector to understand the whole picture and raise residents’ concerns. I have also met the Police Federation reps, who are best placed to tell me about the strategic issues faced by officers. I will continue to do all that and more to support those on the frontline facing antisocial behaviour. I have spoken today of the harrowing accounts of some of my constituents. I have set out why we are in this mess—because of 14 years of dereliction of duty by the previous Conservative Administration. Now, I want to talk about the way in which Labour is working to fix the problems we have inherited. I very much welcome the new respect orders, which will give police and local councils the powers they need to ban persistent offenders, and I hope my patch will be picked to join the scheme when it is launched. I also welcome the action on boy racers, with Labour giving police stronger powers to seize vehicles involved in antisocial behaviour. The forthcoming policing and crime Bill, which will partially replace existing civil injunction powers for adults, will hit nuisance off-road bikes hard—another issue affecting my residents. I am particularly pleased to see enhanced powers to complement the Government’s commitment to restore neighbourhood policing in England and Wales. For too long, people in Hemel have been let down. The new Government are showing leadership and, as the new MP for Hemel Hempstead, I pledge today to do all I can to ensure that these national changes are felt locally.

• 21 Jan 2025 · Official Development Assistance · Hansard source

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  To follow on from the Minister’s answer, Members will be reminded of the fact that ODA costs spent in the UK are now at record levels, thanks to the last Government. That should not be the case. ODA should be spent, as much as possible, in the world’s poorest countries. What steps are the Government taking to help the Home Office bring down those costs so that more aid can be spent where it is truly needed?

• 14 Jan 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T4. To follow up on the previous question, I am grateful to the Minister for coming to the event that I hosted for the Syrian diaspora yesterday. He will know that they are very keen to support their homeland to rebuild. Will Ministers look at ways to change the sanctions to ensure that ordinary citizens can send back remittances to help rebuild crumbling public services?

• 19 Dec 2024 · Knife Offences · Hansard source

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  Merry Christmas, Mr Speaker. I have had reports of people carrying machetes in Livingstone Walk, an area in Grovehill, Hemel Hempstead, with the Dacorum local crime unit investigating one incident of alleged robbery at knifepoint. Knife crime is not our only issue in Hemel; we have the highest rate of antisocial behaviour in the county, and we are the most dangerous town in Hertfordshire. That is a direct result of Conservative Governments taking 20,000 police off our streets nationwide, removing 60p out of every pound from local authority budgets and failing to act on antisocial behaviour. What further steps is the Solicitor General taking to ensure that violent thugs are not allowed to run riot and are brought to justice?

• 19 Dec 2024 · Knife Offences · Hansard source

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  1. What recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on prosecuting knife offences.

• 19 Dec 2024 · Syria · Hansard source

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  I commend the Minister for her statement, and for the additional £50 million in aid. I am particularly grateful for the extra £120,000 that has been given to the OPCW to help rid Syria of chemical weapons, which, despite the denials and downplaying by some people, including Members of this House, were being used by Assad. My question follows up on the one I asked last week about political prisoners. I am grateful that Sednaya prison looks like it has been cleared, but I hear from my Syrian friends that there are other prisons and secret detention centres across the country. What steps can the UK Government take to help support the Syrians to find any missing people and ensure that they are freed as soon as possible?

• 19 Dec 2024 · Ukraine · Hansard source

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  Merry Christmas to you and the team, Madam Deputy Speaker. As other hon. Members have done, I commend the Minister for the statement, and especially the funding announcements made today. I thank him for reminding my constituents and all our constituents of the urgent need to support Ukraine and for reminding us that our national security is very much bound up in Ukraine’s national security. It is fantastic that this new money has been announced. Do the Government have a further update on the proceeds of the sale of Chelsea football club and the £2.5 billion? I am sure that the Minister will agree that the sooner we can get that money unlocked, the more military and humanitarian support we can unleash.

• 18 Dec 2024 · Financial Assistance to Ukraine Bill · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton West (Phil Brickell). He has demonstrated why he will be such a valuable addition to the Foreign Affairs Committee, and I congratulate him on his election to it. I associate myself with his comments and those of other Members. We often find ourselves disagreeing over the smallest of details, so I am proud that we can all come together on an issue of such magnitude in unity with the people of Ukraine. Long may that cross-party support continue. Earlier this year, as some Members may know, I had the privilege of visiting Ukraine. I went over with an Estonian charity, driving a couple of military pick-up trucks over from the UK as part of a much larger convoy that went into Kyiv. Those vehicles were handed over to the Ukrainian soldiers, and it brought home that there was not only support and solidarity in this country for Ukraine, but solidarity across the whole of Europe. That is why we are coming together on the measures in this Bill. Hopefully we will have an opportunity to go again, and I associate myself with the comments of my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds Central and Headingley (Alex Sobel). We were both on a call earlier, and I know that he and other Members have also made trips to Ukraine and been part of aid convoys to help people, and long may that continue. This Bill is another tool in the arsenal when it comes to fighting one of the world’s greatest tyrants. Ukraine’s fight against Russian tyranny is not just for Ukraine’s sovereignty, but for the freedom and security of the whole of Europe. One striking thing in making that journey is realising just how flat Europe is. I know that seems a silly point, but it brings home that there is nothing stopping Putin at the borders of Ukraine if we do not stand up against him now. The fact that another of the world’s tyrants, Assad, is now cowering in Moscow demonstrates the importance of curtailing Russia’s aggression. I am proud that this Government and the Government before have stood foursquare behind Ukraine. As other Members have said, the Bill will land a deafening blow on Putin’s war machine and unlock a £2.26 billion contribution from the UK to the extraordinary revenue acceleration scheme, which crucially will not be paid by Ukraine or by British taxpayers. It comes from dodgy cash from profits owned by sanctioned Russian assets held in the EU. I associate myself with the comments of my hon. Friend the Member for Livingston (Gregor Poynton), who listed the various ways in which the previous Government and the current Government have supported Ukraine. Long may that continue. It is so important that we continue to stand four-square behind Ukraine for as long as it takes. I urge the Committee to do all in our power to ensure that the Bill receives Royal Assent as urgently as is feasible, especially as we approach winter, when the battle conditions will become even tougher. Finally, I use this opportunity to pay tribute to the Ukrainian forces fighting on the frontline, the British troops involved in training and equipping them and all those showing resilience in the face of Putin’s illegal war.

• 16 Dec 2024 · Poverty Reduction · Hansard source

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  In my constituency of Hemel Hempstead, according to figures given to me by the local charity DENS, there has been a 1,000% increase in the number of people needing to use food banks over the past 10 years. Meanwhile, another institution, the Hemel Hempstead community fridge, sees queues an hour before it opens, in scenes akin to something out of Soviet Russia. Does the Minister agree that there are few more shameful examples of the last Government’s record on poverty? [ Interruption. ] I cannot quite hear the mutterings of Conservative Members, Mr Speaker—I think the word they were looking for was “sorry”. Will the Minister also outline further steps that we can take to reduce the need for food banks to exist at all?

• 16 Dec 2024 · Poverty Reduction · Hansard source

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  6. What steps she is taking to help reduce levels of poverty.

• 9 Dec 2024 · Syria · Hansard source

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  I share the delight of my Syrian friends that Assad has gone. I only wish that the world had acted to support the Syrian people sooner, and that our dear friend Jo Cox was around to see this. I pay tribute to the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Lincoln (Mr Falconer), for meeting the Syrian British Consortium in Doha over the weekend, and I look forward to a further meeting with him and the group in due course. Despite the denial and downplaying of Assad’s crimes over the years, including by some Members of this House, it is undeniable that hundreds of thousands of people have been imprisoned by Assad, including in Saydnaya prison. There is an urgent need to release those prisoners. Some of them are several storeys down, and there are reports on the ground that people are unable to free them at the moment, such are the electronic locks that have been put on the gates. The White Helmets are on the ground, trying to unlock the gates so that people can be freed, but there is a real worry that they will not get to them in time, and that people will starve, or even run out of oxygen. What can the British Government and the international community do to ensure that, in the next 24 hours, more is done to get technical support on the ground, so that we can unlock the doors and free the political prisoners?

• 2 Dec 2024 · North-West Syria · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Minister’s statement and particularly the emphasis on protecting civilians. I associate myself with the remarks of my hon. Friends the Members for Rotherham (Sarah Champion) and for East Renfrewshire (Blair McDougall) in paying tribute to Jo. I am convinced that if she was still with us, British policy on Syria would have been markedly better than it unfortunately has been over the past few years. A particular concern over that time is that debates in this Chamber and beyond have not had Syrian voices. I was grateful to hear that the Minister, and the International Development Committee, will meet the White Helmets, which is fantastic. Would he also agree to meet me and the Syrian British Consortium—a group of Syrian activists in the UK—to discuss our policy towards Syria and how their voices can shape the debate going forward?

• 27 Nov 2024 · Respect Orders and Antisocial Behaviour · Hansard source

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  Hemel Hempstead has some of the worst antisocial behaviour in our part of the county. We have hotspots such as Livingstone Walk, Hosking Court, Waveney and Swallowfields, where there are issues such as drug use, boy racers with modified exhausts, abandoned vehicles, shoplifting and drunken noise; I have seen the evidence of that while out on the streets with local police. Fortunately, Hemel police are carrying out a great pilot project in Grovehill to try to clear the area, rebuild relations and deal with the thugs there. Could the Policing Minister kindly outline how the new respect orders will help Hemel police to do that great work, and will she join me in paying tribute to them for the work that they do to clean up our streets?