Jeff Smith MP: speeches

Speeches

• 5 Mar 2026 · Digital ID Scheme: Public consultation · Hansard source

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  10. What steps he plans to take to consult the public on the design of the digital ID scheme.

• 5 Mar 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T4. The Government deal with a huge number of arm’s length public bodies of variable value and success. What progress are Ministers making on tackling the number and effectiveness of arm’s length public bodies?

• 5 Mar 2026 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Sixteen banks have closed in Manchester Withington in the last five years, and the impending closure of the NatWest in Chorlton and the Halifax in Didsbury means there will be just one bank left in my constituency. Most of us bank online nowadays, but individuals and businesses still need to access local services. I do think there are questions about whether the proposed number of banking hubs is sufficient and whether the criteria are correct. It is good that a Westminster Hall debate on banking services has been scheduled, but can I ask the Leader of the House for a debate in Government time on the specific issue of banking hubs?

• 22 Jan 2026 · Infected Blood Compensation Scheme · Hansard source

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  11. What recent progress he has made on the delivery of the infected blood compensation scheme.

• 22 Jan 2026 · Infected Blood Compensation Scheme · Hansard source

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  I have a number of constituents affected by the infected blood scandal. Justice for them and for the other victims is long overdue, so I am pleased that the Government are making progress on this issue. May I ask how many interim £100,000 payments have been made to date to the estates of people who have sadly passed away?

• 20 Jan 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T7. It will be impossible to get the necessary aid into Gaza until the Rafah crossing is fully open. Will the Minister update us on progress in trying to persuade the Netanyahu Government to do the right thing and open the Rafah crossing?

• 20 Nov 2025 · Passenger Rail: Performance Improvements · Hansard source

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  17. What steps she is taking to improve passenger rail performance.

• 20 Nov 2025 · Passenger Rail: Performance Improvements · Hansard source

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  My constituents in Manchester are left constantly frustrated by delays and cancellations, not just on the west coast main line, which you know all about, Mr Speaker, but on our east-west routes, and on services all around Manchester. What are the Government doing, alongside partners, to drive improvements in services to our Manchester stations?

• 18 Nov 2025 · Flood Risk and Flood Defence Infrastructure: North-west England · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech and I agree with all the things that she has asked for. Perhaps I can add one more ask of both the EA and the Government, which is for more of a focus on the upstream prevention activity, so we can stop the waters coming down on the Mersey—a number of colleagues here are based on the Mersey, and she described the floods coming down so well. Perhaps we could work upstream in the Goyt valley and bring some of the longer-term measures forward to cut the problem off at source. Maybe we can all work together. The MPs who represent constituencies along the Mersey could talk to the EA about how we do that.

• 18 Nov 2025 · Great British Energy: Public Services and Renewable Energy · Hansard source

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  I warmly welcome the announcement of solar panels at Ladybarn primary school in Withington—it is great news for an excellent school in my patch and good news for the planet. I have also seen good investment in solar panels on hospital buildings in my patch, and we clearly need to scale that up. How can having Great British Energy as a publicly owned company help us to do that?

• 18 Nov 2025 · Great British Energy: Public Services and Renewable Energy · Hansard source

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  1. What steps Great British Energy is taking to help public services to use more renewable energy.

• 12 Nov 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q6. Last week I visited the new diagnostic centre at Withington community hospital, and as well as the 85,000 new appointments it is going to create, I was really pleased to see new solar panels and heat pumps being designed into the building. I thank the Prime Minister for his climate leadership and for attending COP. In the week of COP, what more can we do to ensure that new public buildings have green energy designed into them?

• 12 Nov 2025 · Independent Football Regulator · Hansard source

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  We now have an excellent, highly qualified individual who has been appointed to chair the football regulator, and we have an excellent Secretary of State who made a mistake for which she has apologised. Even the commissioner said that the breach of the code “was not a knowing breach.” What football fans want is not this debate in Parliament today; what they want is for the Secretary of State to get on with the job, to protect clubs and to protect supporters. Can I encourage her to ignore the Opposition, who are playing politics with our national game, and just get on with the job?

• 29 Oct 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q3. As Palestinians try to rebuild their lives amid the rubble of Gaza, last night once again dozens of innocent people were killed by Israeli airstrikes. What will the UK do, along with our international partners, to hold the Israeli—the Netanyahu—Government to account for their actions, and what more can we do to ensure that aid gets in as the Israel Defence Forces block aid in breach of both the peace agreement and international law?

• 13 Oct 2025 · Manchester Terrorism Attack · Hansard source

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  I thank the Home Secretary for her statement and her visit to Manchester immediately following the attack. In the Jewish community in my constituency in south Manchester, there is a real sense of anxiety and fear, and she is right to identify that. The message that needs to go out today, and that has gone out across Manchester, is that the people of Manchester are shocked and appalled by this attack and stand with our Jewish neighbours against antisemitism and extremism. A number of my constituents in Manchester Withington have asked me to press the Home Secretary to ensure that the Community Security Trust and other community organisations get the full support they need—not just security, which is obviously important, but trauma services and mental health support. Could she say a little more about that and give them that reassurance?