Gagan Mohindra MP: speeches

Speeches

• 17 Dec 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T3. My constituents were promised £300 off their energy bills by the Labour Government. Instead, they are having to fork out additional money for Great British Energy and to pursue net zero, while the Government take the winter fuel payment away from millions of pensioners. How can the Secretary of State justify increasing spending on net zero projects while his Government let pensioners go cold this winter?

• 16 Dec 2024 · English Devolution · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Minister to his place; this is the first opportunity I have had to do so. As the Department will be aware, both Dacorum borough council and Three Rivers district council in my constituency do not have a local plan in place. They are both controlled by the Liberal Democrats. Will the Minister confirm what would happen in the case of his proposed plans? Separate to that, we have local county elections next May. What are his intentions for them? Do they still go ahead? There is a lot of uncertainty. In 2026, how many mayoral elections does he anticipate?

• 12 Dec 2024 · Building Homes · Hansard source

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  As the Minister will know, Three Rivers district council, which has been controlled by the Liberal Democrats for many years, does not have an up-to-date local plan, and there is already a presumption for development. What would the Minister say to councils that either choose not to have a local plan or are unable to meet the housing targets?

• 11 Dec 2024 · NHS Waiting Lists · Hansard source

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  The disastrous record that the Labour party has in healthcare in Wales over the past 25 years is cold comfort to residents in South West Hertfordshire if that is the template the party intends to use across the whole of the United Kingdom. Does the Secretary of State agree that the key to reducing waiting lists in Wales and South West Hertfordshire is investing in our healthcare infrastructure and particularly new hospitals?

• 11 Dec 2024 · NHS Waiting Lists · Hansard source

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  4. What steps she is taking with the Welsh Government to help reduce NHS waiting lists in Wales.

• 9 Dec 2024 · Planning Committees: Reform · Hansard source

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  As the Housing and Planning Minister will be aware, both Dacorum borough council and Three Rivers district council in my constituency are Lib Dem-controlled; Three Rivers has been for over 20 years. Both councils do not have an up-to-date local plan. Can the Minister advise the House about what would happen if the Government imposed a local plan on an authority? Would those decisions be delegated to officers? If so, the process would have no democratic mandate at all.

• 2 Dec 2024 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  The dangerous proposed reforms to the NPPF are among the many things that the Labour Government have rushed through in the past five months. How will those reforms ensure that villages such as Kings Langley, and South West Hertfordshire, retain their individual character and identity, and do not have their green spaces re-banded as grey belt, concreted over and absorbed into an ever-increasing Greater London?

• 2 Dec 2024 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  5. What changes her Department is making to the national planning policy framework.

• 2 Dec 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T5. Given that the Government are already doing another relaunch, would the Secretary of State reconsider the fairness of housing targets, whereby poor delivery by Labour in London is awarded with lower targets to the detriment of areas such as South West Hertfordshire?

• 13 Nov 2024 · Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and International Committee of the Red Cross (Status) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Vickers. It is unusual for the shadow Whip to say anything during Committee, but I want to make a declaration of interest: I am one of the vice-chairs of CPA UK and a director and trustee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK branch. This is a non-pecuniary interest.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Income Tax (Charge) · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is spot on. [ Interruption. ] I hear comments from Government Members that it is not a reduction. My Government and my party’s manifesto committed to 2.5%. I look forward to the Government committing to that level in future spending reviews, and ideally going higher. The second local issue is independent schools. I believe that this is a policy of envy. When the Government are burdening independent schools with VAT and increases in business rates, they are forcing families who are just about affording current tuition fees to make the choice to go to the state school sector. Now, if there was capacity in the state school sector, I would happily applaud that, but when a shadow Minister confirmed during the general election campaign that class sizes would increase, that for me was a warning that the Labour party knew what it was doing. Unfortunately, residents of South West Hertfordshire will come to feel that in things such as SEND support—helping those who are most in need—which are subsidised by the private sector. Finally, on Watford general hospital, I look forward to the Health Secretary coming back in the spring with his review. Following on from my question at Prime Minister’s questions in October, that is critical for my constituents.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Income Tax (Charge) · Hansard source

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  I start by welcoming the fact that this is the first Budget presented by a female Chancellor. The House should be proud of that. I also send my thanks to the Prime Minister for acknowledging the former leader of the Conservative party and his heritage as a second-generation Indian. This place is symbolic not just here but around the world. I am going to shift tone, if I may. [ Laughter. ] The Budget is incredibly punitive for small businesses. I come from a small business background, and I applaud those who are brave enough to set up their own business. A lot of the time, those small businesses are one-man bands, reliant on family members or friends to support them. Today, I probably would not set up a small business, because off the back of this Budget we have destroyed ambition in our country. The Budget absolutely feeds into supporting public sector workers, but as Sir James Dyson said in The Times today, how can we encourage the entrepreneurs of tomorrow to start their businesses today? Politics is about choices. My party spent the summer trying to convince the electorate that Labour was going to raise their taxes—we thought that it was, and indeed we told the public that. The Budget raises taxes on working people, on pensioners, on wealth creators and on farmers. I think that farmers and the NFU knew there would be an issue when only 87 words of the Labour manifesto referred to farming. The Budget sends a message that ambition is something not to foster. With regard to the tax burden, we see an increase in capital gains tax and inheritance tax, the removal of stamp duty support for first-time buyers and the unfreezing of income tax bands. This is a Budget that penalises ambition. I am conscious of time, so I want quickly to focus on three local issues in South West Herts. On defence spending, I am lucky enough to represent Northwood NATO base in my constituency. While I applaud the Government’s investment in defence and supporting our Ukrainian allies, I gently point out that the Budget will actually see a decrease in the percentage of GDP spent on defence, let alone a pathway to spending 2.5%.

• 28 Oct 2024 · Leasehold Reform · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Minister to his place. The Labour party has proposed several reforms to the private rental sector, including to the leasehold system, which will only punish landlords, more of whom will sell up. At a time when people are struggling to get on the property ladder, why are this Government determined to drive out landlords and reduce the supply of available rental properties for those who rely on them?

• 21 Oct 2024 · Small Boat Crossings · Hansard source

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  As the House will be aware, there have been recent crossings. Is the Home Secretary considering reopening hotels to house asylum seekers, and if so will she commit to keeping the House informed about the methodology for choosing those hotels and ensuring that constituency Members are informed at the appropriate time?

• 17 Oct 2024 · Government’s Childcare Expansion · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for giving me advance sight of his statement. Labour Members may take this opportunity to create a fictitious narrative about the alleged failures of the former Government on early years and childcare, but it will not wash with us and it will not wash with the British public. That is simply because our record on childcare is strong, so let me take this opportunity to remind the Government and the House exactly what it is. In 2010, we extended the three and four-year-old entitlement, commonly taken as 15 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year. In 2013, we introduced 15 hours of free early education a week for disadvantaged two-year-olds. In 2017, we doubled the three and four-year-old entitlement to 30 hours per week for working parents, as well as introducing tax-free childcare, which meant that for every £8 people paid in, the Government would automatically add £2 to support childcare costs—on top of the free-hours entitlement. In March 2023, we announced the biggest expansion of childcare by a UK Government in history. It was intended to give working parents access to 30 hours of free childcare a week, from when their children were nine months old until they started school, and to save families an average of £6,900 a year. Our reason for doing that was simple: childcare is one of the biggest costs facing working families today, as well as one of the biggest barriers to parents returning to work if and when they wish to do so. I want to take this opportunity to thank early years providers, local authorities, membership bodies, and other key partners who have made delivering this possible. I welcome the fact that the Government have finally agreed that rolling out our childcare expansion will empower parents to make the choice that is best for them, and are committed to doing so. I am, however, disappointed that they did not do more to spread awareness among parents of the childcare entitlements that became available in September. Will the Minister tell us whether there was any unspent budget for this, and will he now commit himself to increasing the publicising of childcare roll-outs so that parents are rightly aware of their entitlements? Of course the Opposition welcome the expansion of childcare and support the idea of utilising unused space in schools, which provides a single point of contact for parents with multiple children, but will the Minister tell us how many childcare places the first 300 new or expanded nurseries will provide? The Government previously pledged to deliver 3,000 nurseries to support 100,000 childcare places. What will be the timeline for the delivery of the rest of those nurseries, and are the Government still committed to the creation of 100,000 childcare places across the country in the long term? The Education Secretary has confirmed that early years and childcare are her No. 1 priority, which I wholeheartedly support. However, the Government’s education tax will mean that children in classes in which one child is five years old, or is due to turn five by the end of the year, will be subject to the Government’s retrograde education tax regardless of their age. Will the Minister confirm that that is indeed a broken promise? How can the British public trust the Education Secretary’s word that she will prioritise early years and childcare when she has already broken a promise within the first 100 days of a Labour Government?

• 14 Oct 2024 · UK Defences · Hansard source

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  As the Minister will know, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary industrial dispute is putting our national security at risk. Does he think it is a betrayal of our defence that Labour puts generous settlements for their rail paymasters over the small number of seafarers who keep us safe?

• 9 Oct 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  The commitment of £400 million for a new hospital at Watford General was one of the many brilliant things that the last Conservative Government did, along with my good friend Dean Russell, the former Member of Parliament for Watford. It would have been life-changing as well as lifesaving for so many of my constituents. Why is the Prime Minister cancelling that funding commitment, and spending billions of pounds on giving pay rises to train drivers instead?

• 9 Oct 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 9 October.

• 9 Sept 2024 · Academic Freedom in Higher Education · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Secretary of State to her place. The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 would have ensured that universities in England had the tools they needed to deal with interference and threats to freedom of speech and academic freedom, wherever they originated. Now that the Government will no longer implement that Act, will she clarify her alternative plans to protect academic freedom in the higher education sector?

• 9 Sept 2024 · Student Mental Health · Hansard source

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  The previous Conservative Government introduced mental health support teams in schools, and the impact of the covid-19 pandemic is still being felt by students, particularly regarding mental health. Will the Secretary of State commit to continuing those mental health support teams to ensure that students can access the mental health care that they need?

• 3 Sept 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Chancellor to her place. Notwithstanding what she has just said, can she tell the House why she has made the political decision to scrap the commitment to spend at least 2.5% of GDP on defence, undermining our support for Ukraine, and has instead prioritised giving her union paymasters inflation-busting pay rises that have only led to more unions calling for more strikes and more pay?

• 3 Sept 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.

• 24 Jul 2024 · Education and Opportunity · Hansard source

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  Oh, I am sorry. Excuse me: I am a newbie at this bit. As for the hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Dr Pinkerton), you have some big shoes to fill in replacing my old boss, Michael Gove, but you have started very well. Your experience as a lecturer will be very helpful.

• 24 Jul 2024 · Education and Opportunity · Hansard source

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  Thank you for calling me, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is a real pleasure to have you in the Chair. This is a first time for both of us. I thank each and every Member for some awesome maiden speeches. I remember, four and a half years ago, how daunting it was. I still wake up today in a cold sweat thinking that I have to redo it. I will start with the hon. Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey), whose journey to this place is enlightening. This place is better when we bring our life experiences here to create better policy and to ensure that the next generation’s lives are better. I think that being honest about our own journeys helps others to feel as though they are part of our great country. One of the pleasures as a Member of Parliament is going into schools and speaking to school kids. I am dyslexic, and when I speak to them I ask, “Does anyone struggle to read or write?”—and I always stick my hand up. If someone like me can do this job, it hopefully gives the children I speak to the confidence to think high. There are a lot of Members here with an education background. I ask them to please bring that experience to the forefront. Every single Government, of whatever stripe, want to make sure that our children do better. Politics is a team sport. You are all critical friends—I can say that because I am on this side now—but as a former Whip I can also say that your ability to communicate is what differentiates you on the Government Benches from the Opposition: speak to your Whips; feed in your views. None of us wants to create bad laws or regulations. I say “Well done” to my hon. Friend the Member for Chester South and Eddisbury (Aphra Brandreth), because I thought it was only the other side that made politics a family business. I look forward to her own private Member’s Bill, which will be life-changing. I say to the hon. Member for Derby North (Catherine Atkinson) that I am not sure you are allowed to let your child abseil on behalf of Rainbows children’s hospice. I know the area well because I have family members from that part of the world, and I look forward to your legal skills being helpful.

• 24 Jul 2024 · Education and Opportunity · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member’s experience of being a professor will be very helpful to this place. My hon. Friend the Member for Solihull West and Shirley (Dr Shastri-Hurst) has significant experience of three separate careers, and I know he will be a strong advocate for his community. I applaud his focus on early years. I now come to the hon. Member for Harlow (Chris Vince). I was a councillor in the neighbouring area before I came to this place, so I know your patch well. Your experience as a teacher— [Interruption.] The hon. Member’s experience as a teacher will be extremely helpful. He highlighted the important issue of young carers. That is probably below the radar for many of us as constituency Members, and we all need to spend a bit more time focusing on it to ensure that our communities are supported properly. I now come to the hon. Member for Monmouthshire (Catherine Fookes). I applaud her ambition to have 50:50 in this place. When I speak to my nieces, and indeed my nephew, it is always a disappointment to us that while 51% of our great country consists of women, only about a third of my colleagues are women—although the proportion is probably greater now—and, similarly, many boardrooms throughout the country are still very male-dominated. The hon. Member for Derby South (Baggy Shanker) talked about Great British Railways. As my in-laws continually say, Derby remains the centre of the United Kingdom geographically, and I am surprised that neither of the new Derby Members mentioned that. As for the hon. Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Tony Vaughan), his Filipino heritage is a matter of passion and importance. When I was growing up and looking at Parliament TV—well, I didn’t really, but let us suppose that I did—this place did not reflect what I thought the country did, and today it does. We are on a journey towards getting better in that regard, and with his help and, hopefully, subsequent general elections and by-elections—and, also hopefully, with a few more Members elected to my side—this place will become truly reflective. The hon. Member for Dartford (Jim Dickson) spoke about the Rolling Stones. Music is a strong theme in Parliament; he will figure that out in the bars and the all-party parliamentary groups. his significant experience in local government will be very helpful. I offer the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr (Steve Witherden) my sincere condolences about his mother. We realise that we are all human. Sharing that personal background with this place humanises us and makes sure that we all have “more in common”. All of us will have had a difficult general election, and I hope that the tone of politics returns to what I thought it was meant to be about 20 years ago, when politicians were held in high esteem. When I speak to individual members of my community, they still seem to consider politicians to be public servants, but unfortunately social media may not always reflect that and unfortunately you will all experience that; so make sure you communicate with colleagues, because they will all be going through it as well. The hon. Member for Aylesbury (Laura Kyrke-Smith) spoke about Roald Dahl. I have the poem “If” on my wall at home, and I read it every single day. We have a really rich heritage in our great country, and when Members talk about things that inspire them, it will only inspire the next generation to be inquisitive. I hope that Stoke Mandeville will be improved, because it is a hospital that I will have to use, if and when necessary. I am conscious of the time and that the Minister will need to say a few words, so I am going to wrap up my comments on maiden speeches. I know that I have not addressed every single one, but I will buy Members a drink at the bar in the next few days, weeks and years. Please do enjoy this job. It is the best job in the world, and you really are life-changing. On that note, I welcome those on the Government Front Bench to what is a phenomenal brief, and I look forward to supporting them where they are changing people’s lives for the better.