Ian Murray MP: speeches

Speeches

• 21 Oct 2025 · Mandatory Digital ID · Hansard source

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  A full consultation will be launched by the end of this year. There are two options that the Government could have taken. We could have started from the position of a fully fledged programme, a fully fledged policy, and then taken that out to consultation; or we could take the approach that we are doing at the moment, which is to go out to consultation after we have had some initial consultation with people, so that the formal consultation is shaped by people’s views and the concerns that they raise. I will give two examples, which are from the island of Ireland and from Northern Ireland and in terms of the common travel area and the Good Friday agreement. These are things that have to be resolved. We now know they are big issues, and that will go into the consultation to try to resolve them. We cannot have it both ways. We have chosen to take this particular approach in order to develop a consultation—

• 21 Oct 2025 · Mandatory Digital ID · Hansard source

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  No, it is not. I cannot remember which hon. Gentleman made the point about over-75s not being digitally excluded. I do not know many over-75s who are looking for work, so if they do not want to have this, they do not need to have it. And for people who are particularly challenged in terms of mental capacity or otherwise, there will be a different system—

• 21 Oct 2025 · Mandatory Digital ID · Hansard source

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  It is, as always, a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. I thank the hon. Member for Perth and Kinross-shire (Pete Wishart) for his speech. It was a very good speech, but suffered from the big disadvantage of none of it being actually accurate in terms of what the policy is and what digital ID is supposed to be about. Let me start by saying—I mean this seriously and I mean it passionately in my defence of Parliament and Government—that it is okay to debate these things. There is a huge number of people in Westminster Hall today who want to debate this subject. An hour may not be enough, and no doubt we will come back to these issues on several occasions. But there is something that is really important. There is a real task for us all to do as custodians of democracy, which is to have this debate from the perspective of the facts that are out there and not to peddle myths. My hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur) said clearly in an intervention that all we have heard is the myths. I hope I can bust some of those myths to give comfort to some of our constituents that this scheme is not what is being portrayed by the hon. Member for Perth and Kinross-shire and what we have heard in many of the contributions. We have a real responsibility to make sure that we have proper debates—with the facts, not with what we read on social media.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Mandatory Digital ID · Hansard source

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  Let me finish the first point. There will be available a system that is non-digital for people to use in those particular circumstances. In terms of the way the law works now, it is illegal for an employer to employ someone who does not have the right to work in this country. There is already a process for people to use passports or driving licences to prove their identification. If the hon. Member for Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey (Graham Leadbitter) wants his passport or driving licence held in some dusty filing cabinet and photocopied 400 times, rather than just proving his right to work in this country on his digital ID, I would suggest that that is less secure than having it on a smartphone.

• 16 Oct 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  This Government applaud and support the role that museums play in educating and inspiring audiences, including in Cornwall and across every part of the country in every Member’s constituency. Last week the Government announced that 75 museum groups around the country will benefit from an additional £20 million of funding as part of the museum renewal fund, delivered by Arts Council England. Together with our new £25 million investment in regional museums via the aptly named museum estate and development fund, which is to be announced in the new year, that represents a considerable show of support for local museums across the country, on top of the £44 million allocated by Arts Council England.

• 16 Oct 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I can assure the hon. Gentleman that the DCMS ministerial team and the entire Government are fully committed to ensuring that there is full access to training and skills in the arts. I would be happy to meet him to discuss that project, but if any young person in any part of this land wants to get into the arts, this Government are for them.

• 16 Oct 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  There is no specific duty on owners to keep their buildings in a good state of repair, but local authorities have powers under legislation to take action where a listed building may be at risk, through urgent works notices and repairs notices. The Government also support local authorities by providing funding for conservation projects, and they are consulting on reforms to make it easier for homeowners to protect their historic properties while preserving their unique character. There is also the buildings at risk register, and I encourage my hon. Friend to speak to her local authority to see what can be done to help,

• 16 Oct 2025 · Grassroots Music Venues · Hansard source

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  Let me correct the record. I did not say that I was a musician; I said that I managed a band. I would not like that to be incorrectly recorded in Hansard . In any case, I thank the hon. Lady for the encouragement. This matter is a priority for this Government to try and resolve. It was mentioned in the UK-EU reset summit agreement. We are working hard with the Paymaster General, who takes forward those negotiations. I am already in touch with the European Commissioner for culture. I can assure the hon. Lady that we will do everything we possibly can to get the agreement and the commitment over the line.

• 16 Oct 2025 · Grassroots Music Venues · Hansard source

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  As someone who used to manage a local band called Squeezebox when at university—available at all bad record stores—I understand that grassroots music is the lifeblood of the music industry. The Government have committed to supporting the live music industry’s introduction of a voluntary levy on tickets for stadium and arena shows and that money will be ploughed straight into the grassroots music sector. The Government are providing up to £30 million for the music growth package, which will provide further Government support to grassroots venues by fostering domestic growth, talent development and music exports.

• 16 Oct 2025 · Grassroots Music Venues · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman lays out the difficulties, of which there are many, for the live music sector and potentially the venues, many of them in his constituency. We want to see 50% of all ticket sales for stadium and arena shows in 2026 enter that music levy; that is this Government’s aspiration and we encourage all ticket providers to do so. In the autumn 2024 Budget, as he suggests, the Chancellor set out plans to transform the business rates system over this Parliament. Those reforms will provide certainty and support to businesses, including music venues. The Government have been engaging with the live music sector on business rates reforms and will set out further policy details in next month’s Budget.

• 16 Oct 2025 · Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme · Hansard source

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  This is an incredibly serious issue, but the Conservatives did not allocate any funding for it at all when they were in government, and therefore we are left with the current situation. I reiterate to those who may wish to use the listed places of worship grant scheme that £13.7 million is left in that scheme. Grants are capped at £25,000, but the analysis from the Department is that 94% of all applications are unaffected by this change because most claims are under £5,000. There is plenty of money left in the pot for this year, and I would encourage them to use it.

• 16 Oct 2025 · Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme · Hansard source

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  On this issue, the Secretary of State met my hon. Friend the Member for Battersea (Marsha De Cordova) in her role as the Second Church Estates Commissioner and my right hon. Friend the Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry). In March 2025, my noble Friend the Minister for Heritage met the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Bristol, my noble Friend Lord Khan of Burnley, my hon. Friend the Member for Battersea and church representatives, as well as visiting Salisbury cathedral and St Michael Le Belfrey in York.

• 13 Oct 2025 · Heritage Sites: East of England · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention, because it is true: as we have already heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Colchester, our heritage is about our future, but it is also about learning about our past. It is good for social cohesion, but it is also tremendous for education, and Burghley House and the John Clare Cottage in North West Cambridgeshire play a vital role in that education. I am pleased to confirm that this year we continued Historic England’s Heritage Schools programme, which supports teachers to bring local heritage into teaching across the curriculum. I hope that that continues, because it is very much a passion of the Secretary of State and I; we really want to make sure that our heritage across the United Kingdom is shared by everyone. The Arts Everywhere project is so important for community cohesion and for young people’s learning about our history and shaping its future. As my hon. Friend the Member for Colchester set out, preserving and maintaining the rich heritage of this region or any region can be expensive and challenging. In addition to the funding that I have already mentioned, there have been many other interventions by the Government, the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England to make safe, to maintain and to preserve the region’s invaluable heritage assets. In 2023-24 alone, the National Lottery Heritage Fund gave £33.5 million for heritage in the east of England, including £13 million to Norwich castle, an iconic site in the city originally commissioned by William the Conqueror. Thanks to sustained investment in our heritage, we are seeking seeing at-risk heritage sites removed from Historic England’s heritage at risk register. My hon. Friend said that that is the legacy that we should leave for future generations because we are custodians of our heritage. That is what the risk register is there for, and I am delighted to see that sites are being removed from the register because of that investment. The register gives an annual snapshot of the health of England’s valued historic buildings by identifying sites most at risk of loss due to neglect. It lists 427 entries in the east of England alone in 2024, but by working closely with partners and communities, 14 sites have been removed from the register, with £800,000 in grants being awarded for repairs to an additional 25 sites last year. We are making progress, and we are also making it easier for communities to take ownership of the heritage assets they love by providing nearly £5 million through the heritage revival fund delivered by the Architectural Heritage Fund. In addition, we have changed the definition of an asset of community value to state clearly that heritage buildings are included in that, so that they can be assets for the community to take on. Maintaining our historic heritage does not necessarily mean preserving it in aspic as a relic of the past. In our towns and cities, old and new stand side by side, and our heritage has a key role to play in delivering the Government’s ambitious commitments to boost economic growth and build 1.5 million new homes alongside our existing heritage. There are examples up and down the country where growth and development can co-exist with our wonderful heritage. A local example is Lexden Gardens, which is in my hon. Friend’s constituency of Colchester. That development, which will see the creation of 120 new homes on the former Essex county hospital site, includes the restoration of the grade-II listed main hospital, which has deep rooted heritage connections and significance to the local community. To support our ambitions, we are working across Government to streamline the planning system, including the role of Historic England as a statutory consultee, to ensure timely, expert advice that supports high-quality development. The Government remain committed to protecting historic assets and will ensure that any changes to the planning system do not remove the quality of advice or heritage safeguards. My hon. Friend asked some questions. I think I have a few minutes to run through some of those. She asked whether we would address the issues with regards to enhancing the importance of heritage, culture and tourism within the ongoing devolution process in the east of England. I can assure my hon. Friend that there has been no change in position between the two papers that she cited. The Government remain committed to supporting local areas to deliver their own priorities, including widening access and participation to culture and heritage and harnessing their potential for community transformation and economic growth. The Department’s arm’s length bodies, such as Historic England, will continue to explore how to work in partnership with strategic authorities within the ongoing devolution process in the east of England. My hon. Friend asked about the local heritage architecture and the possibility of restructuring the mighty starting gates of the circus based on designs of others elsewhere. It is an incredibly interesting project. My hon. Friend Baroness Twycross in the other place takes the heritage portfolio, so I will ensure that my hon. Friend gets a meeting with her to discuss the project in detail. The scheduled monuments like the Roman circus are protected in the form they have been passed down to us by previous generations, but should a proposal come forward to reconstruct elements of the circus, as she has laid out, it would require careful consideration through the scheduled monument consent process. I understand Historic England continues to work with Colchester council on that exciting project. My hon. Friend also asked about synergies in the Department’s responsibilities for cultural heritage and media. I agree that virtual and augmented reality have great potential to bring our heritage to life. In fact, through programmes like the Audience of the Future and the creative clusters, we have demonstrated the value that immersive reality can bring to all sorts of experiences, including museums and storytelling. If she wants to take that particular issue to Baroness Twycross as well when we arrange that meeting, that is something she would be very much interested in hearing about in terms of how augmented and virtual reality could create a real benefit to the people of Colchester and, indeed, the Roman castle site. Finally, my hon. Friend asked whether the Government will create a dedicated regional heritage strategy for the east of England—one that can help shape the devolved strategy in itself. Our devolution reforms aim to put power back in the hands of local leaders and local people, and to support mayoral strategic authorities to lead strategies in the areas they want to prioritise to drive the change they want to see—I have no idea what that means either, but I think it basically means that the power of having the strategic authorities is from the grassroots up. Indeed, we should be working with our local councils, local members and the strategic authorities for that to happen. Again, Baroness Twycross would be happy to talk to my hon. Friend about that. I thank my hon. Friend for securing the debate and providing me with the opportunity to reiterate the Government’s commitment to protecting and enhancing our shared heritage. We will continue to invest in our heritage, to forge collaborative and collective partnerships and to approach development in a pragmatic way, ensuring that precious sites, many of which have been mentioned by hon. Members, such as the Roman circus and the Balkerne water towers, as well as sites in the east of England and beyond, are not only preserved but celebrated for generations to come. I look forward to seeing the ongoing positive impact of these heritage projects in Colchester and across the east of England as we continue to build a future where our rich history stands proudly alongside new growth opportunities in all our communities. Question put and agreed to.

• 13 Oct 2025 · Heritage Sites: East of England · Hansard source

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  I am pleased to respond to this Adjournment debate. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Colchester (Pam Cox) on securing it and wish her a very happy Essex Day. That is something I never thought I would say from the Dispatch Box, but I wish everyone a happy Essex Day none the less. As my hon. Friend laid out, the east of England has a unique and rich heritage. It is awash with nationally significant heritage assets such as the Iron Age neolithic flint mines at Grime’s Graves, Framlingham Castle and Tudor Lavenham, and historic houses such as Audley End House and Sandringham—and, of course, we heard about Knebworth House too. The region is also home to a rich Roman heritage, which is no more evident than in my hon. Friend’s constituency of Colchester, which is not only, as she said, Britain’s oldest recorded settlement, but the former Roman capital, with its iconic Roman circus. She called it “Ben-Hur” but in Essex—I am not quite sure what that film would be called, but perhaps we can leave that sticking to the wall, Madam Deputy Speaker. I want to take this opportunity to thank my hon. Friend for her work to preserve heritage in her constituency, including the grade II listed Balkerne water tower, which she also mentioned. I know that she has been involved in efforts to restore it and secure its future, and that exciting plans are in train. If there is anything the Department can do to help her with those plans, we stand ready to do so. As my hon. Friend said, our local heritage tells the story of who we are and forms the cornerstone of our communities in the present in order to preserve the past. The Government are proud to support communities to celebrate the heritage buildings and assets they value and ensure that they can continue to meet their needs in the present and into the future. Earlier this year, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State marked the 60th anniversary of the first ever arts White Paper and announced £270 million of funding to fix the foundations of our arts venues, museums, libraries and heritage sector in communities right across the country. That ambition is now starting to bear some fruit. My hon. Friend’s constituency has benefited directly from nearly £1.3 million of Arts Everywhere funding to protect Colchester castle for future generations, enabling urgent maintenance and roof repairs to ensure the landmark’s future. Furthermore, I am pleased to say that, as announced in August, through the Government’s heritage at risk capital scheme, 37 much loved historic buildings and sites in the places across England that need it most will receive funding to support repairs and restoration. That much needed funding will breathe new life into our heritage and, in many cases, help turn it into vibrant spaces that our communities need today. Over £2 million of that funding is going to projects in the east of England, including £700,000 to bring Lowestoft’s derelict town hall back to life as a fully accessible public space with an art gallery, café and events venue, and £137,000 for the Iron Duke restoration project in Great Yarmouth, which my hon. Friend mentioned, bringing the building back into use and creating 50 much needed new jobs for the area.

• 16 Sept 2025 · London Fashion Week: Cultural Contribution · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to speak with you in the Chair, Dr Murrison, for my first Westminster Hall debate in my new role. I thank the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup (Mr French), for his welcome. May I say that my hon. Friend the Member for Kettering (Rosie Wrighting), with her long track record and experience in the industry, introduced this debate with a wonderful speech? If that is her first speech in Westminster Hall, I look forward to many more in the years to come. I particularly liked the way she described how young people relate to fashion as a way of expressing themselves, and how young people should be able to get on to that fashion career path. It is a great passion of the Secretary of State and myself to get more young people from all over the country, particularly from working-class backgrounds, into industries that have been impenetrable for too many for too long. I am proud, in this debate, to celebrate the successes of Britain’s fashion industry and particularly London Fashion Week, which starts on Thursday. It will be the 41st showcase, and I am delighted to join my hon. Friend the Member for Kettering in welcoming the new chief executive officer, Laura Weir, who has such a busy week ahead but has taken the time to join us in the Public Gallery. As everyone in Westminster Hall can see with their own eyes, my fashion sense makes me perfectly qualified to reply to this debate—indeed, it has caused much consternation and hilarity in the Department that I am responding. I am responding to this debate, however, because Britain’s fashion is world leading. It is a cornerstone of our creative economy, as many hon. Members have said, with 800,000 people contributing to it. It puts nearly £30 billion into the UK economy, which is more than aerospace and defence combined, and it drives £16 billion of consumer spending in related industries, such as tourism. London Fashion Week stands at the centre of that success. It is far more than a showcase of style; it is an important driver of economic growth, cultural diplomacy and our national identity. Each season it generates substantial revenue through direct sales, international orders and high-value trade opportunities. The British Fashion Council estimates that orders placed during London Fashion Week exceed £100 million from overseas buyers alone. By drawing a global audience of buyers, media and investors, London Fashion Week reinforces the UK’s standing as one of the world’s leading creative superpowers. That is really important for the posture of this country, in terms of our creative industries. Moreover, as one of the big four fashion weeks, London Fashion Week puts Britain’s fashion on the global stage. It acts as a cultural ambassador, profiling British creativity, influencing perceptions and attracting tourism, trade and talent from across the globe. London Fashion Week is not just about London. The BFC’s City Wide Celebration takes the experience and excitement of the capital’s fashion week programme to other cities, such as Liverpool, Manchester—as we heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester Rusholme (Afzal Khan)—and Newcastle. Throughout this month, more than 100,000 activations and promotions are taking place all across the country as part of the City Wide celebrations. City Wide Liverpool took place two weeks ago, during which Liverpool ONE shopping centre saw a quarter of million visitors and a 14% uplift in sales. We have heard the voice of the Welsh fashion industry from my hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd North (Gill German), showcasing the Welsh creators and the contribution to our national fashion scene. It would be remiss of me, with my accent and constituency, not to mention Scotland’s contribution to the fashion industry. Not only are there great designers and great fashion innovators, but tartan itself is a great fashion icon. I recall a story from when I was in New York for Tartan Week this year. Anyone who goes to America or anywhere else in the world and wears their kilt will know that they often get asked what tartan it is. I said mine, which is the Murray of Atholl—a dark green colour with a red stripe—to this rather flamboyant chap who was marching down Sixth Avenue with us in the Tartan Day parade. When I asked him what his tartan was—it was yellow and black—I expected him to give me the name of some Scottish ancestral tartan, but he merely replied “Vivienne Westwood.” So our wonderful British fashion icons do span the globe. Alongside its impact in the realms of economics and soft power, as we have all discussed, London Fashion Week is a vital incubator for new talent, and that is really important. It is the only fashion week in the world to host a shared space for emerging designers. The British Fashion Council’s NEWGEN programme, which supports the best new fashion design talent, is now in its 32nd year. It has been the launchpad for the careers of some of the country’s most prominent designers, whose names we have heard in Westminster Hall this afternoon, including Alexander McQueen, Christopher Kane and Grace Wales Bonner. We need to continue to encourage that really important programme. We have recognised its importance, and the Government have supported NEWGEN designers in showcasing at London Fashion Week. It is right that the Government invest in the talent of the future in that way, and I am proud that we committed to continuing the funding for the UK’s fashion talent pipeline in the creative industries sector plan, which I hope all Members have read. The industry was heavily involved in making sure that fashion was a key part of that programme. Fashion is a cornerstone of the UK’s creative industries—an area of national pride and economic strength. Together, the creative industries contribute 2.4 million jobs to our economy and £124 billion in gross value added, while also shaping how we see ourselves and how the world sees us. My hon. Friend the Member for Kettering mentioned the recent activities on the streets of London and other cities and towns across the country. I firmly believe that the creative industries are the glue that binds our communities and us all together, so driving that innovation, investment and cultural influence is in all our national interests. The sector is an ecosystem—that is the most important word we can use for it—where designers, artists, businesses and freelancers inspire one another, and fashion plays a key and leading role. Sir Paul Smith is a powerful example of that. His designs are globally renowned, spanning clothing, furniture, cars and film. Through Paul Smith’s Foundation, he is also nurturing the next generation of creatives with mentoring and training and by giving opportunities to others. That contribution was recognised by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on a recent visit to the foundation. That is why the Government have put the creative industries at the heart of our plan for change. Our creative industries sector plan, launched in June, commits £380 million to extra support for innovation, skills, access to finance and regional growth over the next decade. That includes expanding the British Business Bank’s support to help creative SMEs to secure investment, new flexibilities in training to tackle the skills gap, refreshed careers services for young people, which is hugely important, and measures to boost exports. For fashion specifically, as well as backing NEWGEN at London Fashion Week, as I mentioned, and supporting British designers on the international stage, including through the British Fashion Council’s showroom at Paris Fashion Week, these initiatives connect emerging UK designers with global buyers and press, driving sales and raising the profile of our British talent worldwide. Of course, the creative industries do much more than enrich culture; they fuel progress across the wider economy. From video game technology advancing medical research to fashion materials supporting space exploration, creativity is powering innovation and shaping the future of our lives, our communities and the wider country. Like other creative industries, fashion is making an impact beyond its boundaries. The industry has led the way on sustainability by embedding circular design principles into businesses, adopting new low-impact materials, and innovating with production processes and waste reduction, as we heard eloquently from my hon. Friend the Member for South Derbyshire (Samantha Niblett), who encouraged us all to use Vinted and eBay more often. I am not sure that even on Vinted and eBay I could get a cheaper suit than I am wearing at the moment, but I shall try. She had a pitch to be the new CEO of an MPs’ catwalk next year; she might have dismissed the suggestion rather quickly, but it is in the mix none the less. The UK Research and Innovation circular fashion programme has provided a launchpad for all this work by facilitating collaboration across the UK fashion and textiles industry to produce a comprehensive national textile recycling infrastructure plan and a practical framework for extended producer responsibility, as well as further insights into the challenges and opportunities of sustainability in the fashion sector. London Fashion Week plays a key role in driving this agenda, and it is the first of the big four fashion weeks to have adopted sustainability requirements for exhibiting brands. Designers themselves are going further. This week will provide a platform for labels such as Patrick McDowell and Paolo Carzana to showcase designs based around innovative, low-impact and recycled materials. Similarly, the fashion industry has taken actions to advance equity, diversity and inclusivity across all its workforce, as we have heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford (Daniel Francis). London Fashion Week has been at the forefront of all this progress, driving change globally and pioneering representation by championing designers and models who reflect the richness and diversity of all of society—from designers such as Sinéad O’Dwyer, who focuses on size inclusivity, to disabled models such as Kelly Knox. This year’s show will feature Victoria Jenkins’s label Unhidden, which focuses on clothing for people with disabilities, producing stylish, inclusive and adaptive designs, and providing means of expression for the disabled and chronically sick community through fashion. It has been a privilege to participate in this debate and celebrate the cultural contribution of London Fashion Week. The Government are committed to supporting the fashion sector and the wider creative industries, as shown by the ambitious sector plan that we published earlier this year. I will attend London Fashion Week this week in some capacity, and I look forward to celebrating British creativity and innovation on the global stage. Once again, I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Kettering for securing the debate, and I am grateful to hon. Members for taking part and for all their excellent contributions.

• 11 Sept 2025 · Life Sciences Investment · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising those points. It is important to lay out to the public and to the House that MSD will continue to employ 1,600 people and be a key part of the life sciences sector. There are many companies that are investing in this country—Moderna, BioNTech, Isomorphic Labs—and in my own constituency, Roslin CT is expanding at such a great pace that it cannot keep up with the amount of space and the wet lab facilities it requires. Those are all the challenges that we have to try and deal with. I gently say to the hon. Gentleman: the second sentence of his contribution was about the national insurance increases for employers and the fourth was about spending more money on R&D and life sciences. They cannot both be true. If we want to spend money on our priorities—political parties will have different priorities—we have to raise that money. We cannot have it both ways. The message to the industry is: this is the best place in the world to invest. Bring your investment here and this Government back you through an industrial strategy and a life sciences sector plan.

• 11 Sept 2025 · Life Sciences Investment · Hansard source

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  I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for her work, unpaid, at the research institute. It will be good to hear from her about what she sees from inside the sector. She raises, I think, the most important point in any debate about science, research and development and life sciences in particular in this country: we have world-class institutions and companies and they are made so by the world-class scientists and academics that work within them. We should cherish that, we should grow it and we should have more

• 11 Sept 2025 · Life Sciences Investment · Hansard source

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  I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for his work with the university in his constituency in a whole number of areas. All who represent university towns— I do as well—know that there is significant investment going into research and development and the life sciences, because that is the future for this country. This country is committed to growth, and I assure my hon. Friend that I will do everything I can in this role to ensure that we invest in that. I gently remind the House again that the spending review saw the largest ever settlement for research and development in this country at £86 billion. That says to the industry: we are open for business; come and invest here and put life sciences at the top of that investment.

• 11 Sept 2025 · Life Sciences Investment · Hansard source

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  There is no doubt that spending on NHS medicines has fallen from 15% to 9%, which is part of the problems in the pharmaceutical industry. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care made a £1 billion offer to the pharmaceutical industry over the summer, but it chose not to vote on that, so he withdrew from negotiations. We are trying to clear up the mess that has been left after 14 years of Conservative government. The shadow Secretary of State should realise that that mess is deep and wide, and it will cause problems in the sector, but as the Health Secretary has stated a number of times, including when he made that £1 billion offer, he is trying to resolve some of these underlying issues.

• 11 Sept 2025 · Life Sciences Investment · Hansard source

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  I congratulate the hon. Gentleman’s wife on what she does in the sector—she is the only one in the family with a real job. That shows the depth and breadth of the sector across the country; everyone will know someone who works in it. We have £86 billion from the spending review going into research and development, and £2.5 billion backing the life sciences sector plan. Economic and geopolitical issues are of course affecting the pharmaceutical industry at the moment. As I said in my opening remarks, MSD’s quarterly report said that it had to take $3 billion out of operating costs over the next few years; unfortunately and regrettably, this decision is part of that plan.

• 11 Sept 2025 · Life Sciences Investment · Hansard source

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  Our workforce are the very best in the world, and our world-class institutions are made world class because of that world-class workforce. This is the best place in the world to invest at the moment. We are in discussions with the US in respect of the pharmaceutical industry and the tariffs in the EU-US economic deal. Lots of positive stuff is going on in the industry, and if we are to send out one message to the industry from the House today, it is that the industry is thriving. It is one of the eight key sectors in our industrial strategy and this Government back it. We are backing it with money, with our strategy, and as a whole Government.

• 11 Sept 2025 · Life Sciences Investment · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to the shadow Secretary of State for bringing the urgent question to the Chamber, as this is an incredibly important issue. Let me answer some of the questions—I think there were some questions in there. The shadow Secretary of State asked what message America has given to the Government, but the message was from Merck in its quarterly report just a few months ago, when it had to cut $3 billion a year from its operations. That is a significant amount of money, and the company’s share price reflected the significance of that announcement. There is no doubt that MSD makes the world’s most profitable and popular cancer drug, which goes out of patent in 2028. It said in the quarterly report that that is causing some pressure with its share- holders. The US trade deal, which the shadow Secretary of State mentioned, said that we would use best endeavours to improve the conditions for US pharmaceutical companies in the UK, and the tariff for pharmaceutical companies to the US remains at 0%. The EU has a 15% blanket tariff. In terms of NHS medicines, it is a common theme that shadow Secretaries of State come to this Chamber and bemoan the state of the economy and what has happened in the NHS. Waiting lists are falling from the record levels they were at. Satisfaction with the NHS when we left government in 2010 was at its highest level ever. It is now at its lowest—

• 11 Sept 2025 · Life Sciences Investment · Hansard source

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  Very simply, the life sciences sector plan has been set out to give the industry certainty over the longer term that this Government are serious about the investment that both we and the industry will make in the sector, with £2.5 billion a year from this Government and, at £86 billion, the largest settlement for R&D ever in the spending review. I hope that gives reassurance to my hon. Friend’s constituents and to the life sciences companies in her constituency and around the region that this Government are serious about backing them.

• 11 Sept 2025 · Life Sciences Investment · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member talks about yet more spending but with no idea of how the revenue would be increased. This Government had to make some incredibly difficult decisions in order to balance the books to give that stability in the economy so that we could invest in R&D, including in the life sciences. The NHS 10-year plan is moving from treatment to prevention, which require medicines; moving from hospital to community, which will require medicines; and moving from analogue to digital, which will enhance and better target medicines for patients. That is just one example of what we are doing in the NHS to improve our life sciences sector. It is a key part of the industrial strategy—one of the eight key sectors—and we intend to back it through the strategy.

• 11 Sept 2025 · Life Sciences Investment · Hansard source

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  I would say to life sciences students in the fledgling part of their career that it is a career they should be in for the long term. Life sciences is the future, which is why it is one of the eight key sectors in our industrial strategy. The news the Government have had today on MSD’s commercial decision is incredibly disappointing, but lots of wonderful stuff is going on in the sector, so we should not talk it down. Moderna is investing more, BioNTech is investing more, Isomorphic Labs is investing more, and RoslinCT in my constituency is investing more. Right across the Chamber today we have heard about the companies that are investing more in life sciences. It is a growing industry, so I say to fledgling academics and people who want to get involved in the industry: get in there.