Imogen Walker MP: speeches

Speeches

• 18 Jun 2025 · Post-industrial Towns · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Bassetlaw (Jo White) for initiating this important debate. My constituency contains both rural communities and towns with a proud industrial history. Members will be familiar with New Lanark, which is famous throughout the world as the place where Robert Owen championed better working conditions. He showed that productivity does not need to come at the expense of workers’ rights, and we have built on that legacy in this Parliament. Further west, Hamilton was a proud coalmining area for 200 years, with textiles and heavy industry making the town an economic and industrial force to be reckoned with. However, our towns are showing the neglect of 15 years of the Tories and 18 years of the Scottish National party. The work of the people who built our nation was not respected or rewarded by either Government, and the impact is there for all of us to see in the boarded-up shops in our high streets. But when it comes to demonstrating what our priorities are, what a difference a year makes! Following the spending review, the UK Government are providing £50.9 billion a year for the Scottish Government—the biggest settlement in the history of devolution—and there is more: there are trade deals, investment zones, city and growth deals, direct investment, and the strategic defence review. My constituents have told me time and again that they do not understand why they see services being rebuilt south of the border but not at home, and sadly I know the answer. Bad loans, bad deals, bad investments and bad decisions have taken money from where it needed to be. I see that no SNP Members are in the Chamber this evening, and I am sorry to say that does not surprise me, but it does send a clear message to my constituents. I know what my communities are capable of, given the chance, and that is why what we have done in just under a year of government is so important. The work of change has already begun, and we are here to see it through.

• 2 Apr 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q12. My constituents are struggling to gain access to the healthcare that they desperately need, and one in six Scots is on a waiting list. Meanwhile, in England, the waiting lists have been coming down for the last five months, and more than 2 million appointments have been made available. Does the Prime Minister agree that the SNP-led Government should stop blaming everyone else for their failures, when Scotland’s broken public services are their responsibility?

• 11 Mar 2025 · Employment Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  As per my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, I am a member of GMB. My union membership has given me reassurance for many years that I have backing if I need it. I am conscious that although in this place we may be listened to when we speak up, for too many people insecurity and lack of respect at work are an everyday experience. Businesses suffered under the failure of the previous Government to act when reform was needed. That was not in this area alone, of course, but today we are speaking about the relevant amendments. We can come back to their other failings another day—or perhaps on more than one other day—because this is the time for action and we are the party of business. Everyone should have a contract that reflects the hours that they work. There is a place for flexibility, but people need to sort out transport and childcare and plan their household budgets, so we will ensure that agency and low or zero-hours contracts work for both sides—for businesses and workers. For too long, zero-hours contracts have often been at the expense of people who are just trying to make a living for themselves and their families. We will put a stop to that. A day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay, and giving the Fair Work Agency the power to bring civil proceedings and issue penalties is an important move. The vast majority of employers respect the rights of the people who work for them and have nothing to fear from that. In fact, they will welcome the levelling of the playing field. As they tell us all the time, their good practice must not be undermined by the unscrupulous minority. We also say that everyone should be free from harassment when they are at their place of work. The message that Conservative Members send when they object to that protection—to, among others, the many thousands of young women who have been harassed at work—is appalling. In contrast, we believe that everyone deserves respect at work, whatever the industry they work in. I want to reassure, among others, workers in the hospitality and retail industries that they matter, they deserve better and we are on their side. Further, when issues happen, it is to everyone’s benefit to resolve them quickly. We will fast-track decision making and back that up with robust fines. That helps businesses and workers and it minimises stress, cost and delay. I am pleased that the Bill is welcomed by many of our leading employers, including Centrica, as already mentioned. I know Centrica well; it has a training academy in my constituency. Its chief executive, Chris, is fully supportive of the legislation as not just the right thing to do but as a foundation for a high-growth, high-skills economy and the progress that our country needs. A stable workforce will help both employers and workers. The chaos of repeated strikes has damaged businesses and services and left our country reeling. The Conservative party may be instinctively opposed to empowering ordinary people, but on the Labour Benches, we say that these are the people who keep our country going and they have the full support of this Government.

• 5 Feb 2025 · High Street Retailers · Hansard source

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  Thank you, Mr Turner; it is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship. My constituency is a mix of countryside towns and villages, so many of our shops are small businesses at the heart of our communities. But the last few years have been very hard on them: covid, the bungled implementation of Brexit and the stripping out of public services have all sadly revealed the weaknesses of the previous Government and taken their toll. In addition, the SNP cannot manage the finances and that has also had an impact on our town centres. Now, we are looking to the future. The UK Government have put an end to 14 years of austerity, begun to rebuild our economy and delivered a historic £5 billion extra to Scotland. The 40% business rates relief for the retail sector in Scotland will kick-start investment, get businesses into empty properties and support our hard-working entrepreneurs. However, despite their record settlement, the SNP Government have refused to pass that support on. It would cost them £22 million to support both leisure and retail with business relief—roughly half the cost of suing Rangers football club; that is their priorities in action right there. COSLA—the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities—has said that £300 million would help get our councils back on their feet, investing in our high streets and bringing our town centres back to life. That is less than the Scottish Government’s overspend on two ferries. For too long, Scottish businesses have paid the price of SNP failure. Our shops are competing against online giants; that is part of life now, but we must recognise the importance of thriving town centres. I certainly do, because the people in Hamilton, Lanark, Larkhall, Lesmahagow and across the constituency tell me that they want to go somewhere they can meet their friends, try on a pair of shoes and maybe have a cup of coffee. Why, in that case, is the support that the Government are giving our high street shops not being reflected in Scotland? Why can the SNP Government not help level the playing field and give our brilliant shops a fighting chance? I know that it will be hard for the Scottish Government to deal with their overspend and the chaotic management of Scotland’s money, mirrored terribly in the SNP’s own finances. But despite the problems that they have created for themselves, it is now time to do the right thing: to set out a long-term path to support local economies, start working across all levels of Government and stop wasting money. I know that we can get the boards down from the shop windows and that there is the talent, drive and energy out there to bring our high streets back to life. All people need is the opportunity to do what they do best. That is what we are here to deliver.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Public Services: Rural Areas · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend agree that the record settlement given to Scotland by this Government should be spent by the Scottish Government on vital infrastructure such as schools and transport for constituencies such as mine, which feel sadly neglected after 18 years of SNP Government? No SNP Members are here for this debate, unfortunately.

• 6 Jan 2025 · General Election · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Harris. I have the privilege of speaking in this Chamber today because, six months ago, the country voted for change—the biggest change, in fact, that this Parliament has seen in generations. We know why people voted for change. It was because, for 14 years, the Conservatives have been taking the country down a road that has left everybody worse off: NHS waiting lists spiralling out of control; no grip on the prison crisis; no plan for the economy; and no control over the cost of living crisis. We stood on a manifesto of setting that right. That is why the general election that we have just had reduced the Tories to the smallest number in their history. Ours was a message of hard work and of sorting out the mess they made that everyone could see. But for all their failures, I think one of the cruellest things that the last Government did was to take away hope and to take away the belief that things can be changed not by gimmicks or by slogans but by doing the work and doing the right thing, even when it is difficult.

• 6 Jan 2025 · General Election · Hansard source

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  I am going to finish soon, so I will make progress. When people have been let down so badly and for so long, they do not forget. They do not forget quickly—I understand that—but fixing this country is not a six-month job, and Conservative Members must be honest that it took them longer than that to get us into this mess. I know that people have had their hope trampled on, but better times lie ahead, and this Labour Government are here to see that we get there.

• 6 Jan 2025 · General Election · Hansard source

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  I am going to make some more progress. I know the frustration that people feel after years of chaos and neglect by their Government—in the case of Scotland, by two Governments, as a matter of fact—but I would say to everyone who feels let down by 14 years of broken promises: what the last Government did, lurching from crisis to crisis or from drama to drama, is not the way to make people’s lives better. They dodged the difficult decisions, and we are not doing that. It has been just six months since we were elected, and we have already increased funding to the NHS, protected the pensions triple lock, invested in housing and delivered the biggest settlement to Scotland in the history of devolution. We have also set a Budget that funded all that, while protecting the pay packets of working people. Our manifesto said that we would stabilise the economy and rebuild public services, and that is what we are doing. The job is far from finished, but we will get there. I ask Opposition Members, what has happened to their party? The Tory party we once knew was the biggest winner in Britain’s electoral history, but its Members now sit here diminished and looking around—as they always do—for someone else to blame. But of course, blaming the voters is never the right thing to do. I am not going to criticise the people who signed this petition, because we all feel the frustration of the last decade and a half of people not being able to get what they need for themselves and their family.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Town Centre Regeneration · Hansard source

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  4. What steps he is taking to support the regeneration of Scottish town centres.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Town Centre Regeneration · Hansard source

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  Hamilton is a brilliant place in which to live and work, but the boarded-up shops in Quarry Street tell a story of their own. What can this Government do to support businesses across Hamilton and Clyde Valley, and across Scotland, which have suffered so badly under the chaos and neglect of two Governments, Conservative and SNP?

• 21 Oct 2024 · Employment Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  It is an honour to speak for the first time as the MP for Hamilton and Clyde Valley. I am delighted to have the opportunity to declare that I am a proud member of GMB, which does so much for so many. My constituency has played an important part in the progress of employment rights, for reasons that I will come to shortly, so it is fitting that it is acknowledged here today. First, I pay tribute to Angela Crawley, who represented a large part of the area that I now cover and who has been so helpful in ensuring a handover; she was a dedicated MP and I am grateful to her. I also pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Rutherglen (Michael Shanks), who is always a source of good advice and good humour. His historic win in Rutherglen and Hamilton West was the first sign in Scotland that people were prepared to put their trust in us again. We will remember that. Hamilton and Clyde Valley is an extraordinary place. The ancient woods of the Clyde Valley are the oldest in Scotland. Entering them is like stepping into another world: you are as likely to meet a rabbit or a red deer as another human. You might see glimpses in the undergrowth of walls, buildings or just piles of stones. It is impossible to say how long they have been there, but they serve as a reminder that so many people have made their lives here before us. Most are long forgotten, but not all. The great Roman general Agrippa is thought to have set up camp just outside Lanark, but he did not stay. Opinions vary on how the Romans were ousted from Scotland: some that believe the Caledonians were just too much for them, while others say that the tribes were nowhere near as bloodthirsty as the midges. Either way, Lanark is a very welcoming place now. People come from around the world to see New Lanark, Robert Owen’s vision of decent working and living conditions. He believed that people deserve more than just the means to survive, that men and women are equal and that how we treat our children matters. Most importantly, he put his principles into practice. That is what we must do here, because the progress we have made is hard won. It takes courage as well as compassion, and it must never be taken for granted. In South Lanarkshire alone, nearly 5,500 people are paid at or below the national minimum wage. Many more have working conditions that can and will be improved by this Government. Across Hamilton and Clyde Valley, people need a Government who are back in the service of working people—from Hamilton, the fourth largest town in Scotland and home to 55,000 people, to Larkhall, Lesmahagow, ancient Lanark and our many villages, which all have their own character and close-knit communities. From the deep forests to farms, villages and towns, we truly have everything. From there to Westminster is quite a journey in so many ways. I will not forget that I made that journey to serve and to protect the things that people care about: their homes, their families and their jobs. I have been given the chance to do that because of the support of so many people, starting with my dearly missed mother Isobel. She would have been so happy to see me here. She, too, believed in the power of education, hard work and opportunity to transform lives. Every evening, the television would go off so we could do our homework in peace. I can tell you from the bottom of my heart, Madam Deputy Speaker, that that was incredibly annoying when I could have been watching “Dallas”, but of course she was right. On my father Jamieson’s side, generations across South Lanarkshire were shopkeepers and metalworkers, the kind of people who keep our country going and whose lives are changed by the decisions we make here—knocked back if we get it wrong and raised up when we get it right. I am the product of generations who sometimes thrived, often struggled and were ultimately given the opportunity to fulfil their potential through hard-won rights. I want that for everyone: the chance to make a good life for themselves and their loved ones. That is why I am here, and that is what this Government will do.