Joe Morris MP: speeches

Speeches

• 27 Jan 2025 · Storm Éowyn · Hansard source

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  I begin by paying tribute to all those across Hexham, including local authority staff and members of the community, who helped out during the storm. As the Government conduct the national resilience review, will my right hon. Friend ensure that the needs of our most isolated and rural communities are prioritised when considering these kinds of events, which are becoming far more common?

• 23 Jan 2025 · Relations with the EU · Hansard source

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  I am frequently contacted by businesses in my constituency who are deeply concerned about the trade barriers put up by the previous Government that are damaging growth in the north-east. May I urge my right hon. Friend in the strongest possible terms to prioritise pragmatism in our relations with the EU and to ensure that businesses in my part of the country can get the support they need and export the goods they manufacture?

• 23 Jan 2025 · Relations with the EU · Hansard source

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  5. What steps he is taking to improve relations with the EU.

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

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  I thank my hon. Friend for his powerful speech. I can tell him that people in the west of Northumberland share his frustration about the neglect and the contempt in which they seem to be held by the Conservative administration at county hall. I am delighted that he has picked up on the point about provision of SEN transport. Constituents visiting our surgeries are devastated by the challenges they face in getting their children into an appropriate educational environment. Does he agree that we must judge local government on the provision of those opportunities, and that residents of Northumberland will ultimately judge the Conservatives on that come the local elections?

• 16 Jan 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Despite community efforts from Hexham rotary club and the Hexham Wombles litter pick, the old bus station site in Hexham remains an eyesore, and the developer is sadly slow-walking on redevelopment. Can we have a debate in Government time on the need to make best use of disused sites on market town high streets, and on how we can improve them and boost town centres, which are crucial to our economy?

• 15 Jan 2025 · Rivers, Lakes and Seas: Water Quality · Hansard source

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  It is, as always, a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Dowd. I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Monmouthshire (Catherine Fookes) for securing this vital and important debate. The quality of our rivers, lakes and seas is a concern not just for my constituents in Hexham, but nationally. I am pleased to see so many hon. Members, from most parties, in the Chamber today to share our commitment to protecting and improving water quality throughout the country. The alarming and extremely dangerous threat of pollution and sewage not only harms our wildlife and ecological systems—our rivers are flooded with sewage on a daily basis, which cannot be ignored—but dramatically damages the tourism business in my constituency of Hexham, which is home to some of the most beautiful landscapes in the country and to most of Northumberland national park, which I invite all hon. Members to visit. I am extremely proud that the Government’s Water (Special Measures) Bill is taking the necessary first steps towards addressing the poor performance of our water companies by increasing regulation over them and criminalising the sewage pollution of our waters. The Bill is a vital step to effecting broader change across the sector. I know that the Minister sees it as a much-needed first step in challenging those practices after 14 years of neglect. I pay tribute to groups such as the Wylam Clean Tyne group, which found in 2022 that pollution in our River Tyne exceeded safe levels by over 15 times, a shocking indictment of the previous Government’s legacy. From the River Tyne to Kielder Water and Derwent reservoir, and hidden waterfalls such as Linhope Spout and Hareshaw Linn, near Bellingham, my constituency has some of the most idyllic waters in the country. We also have wildlife: woodpeckers, spotted flycatchers, wood warblers and badgers can all be seen in my constituency, as well as a number of freshwater fish—since I was elected, some Members have told me that they occasionally go fishing in my constituency. We need to protect the quality of those waters not only because it is the right thing to do but because of the fundamental difference that would make to my constituency and its local economy. I again thank my hon. Friend the Member for Monmouthshire for securing this debate, and thank the Minister for her work. I join all my constituents in calling for the Government to go further to make sure that our rivers are properly protected.

• 15 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Later this month, my constituency will mark the anniversary of the tragic murder of Holly Newton. Will the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary look urgently at the calls from Holly’s mother Micala Trussler to lower the age at which a person can be recognised as a victim of domestic abuse?

• 14 Jan 2025 · Community Energy (Review) · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to require the Secretary of State to conduct a review of the contribution of community energy to the Government’s Clean Power 2030 mission. The clean power mission and climate policy more generally are what brought me into politics. Ensuring that we have a world that is economically, ecologically and environmentally viable for future generations is one of the reasons that I am privileged to stand in this House today and that many people across the Hexham constituency put their faith in me. I thank local climate groups, such as the Hexham Climate Café, the North Tyne climate action group and Sustainable Haltwhistle for their engagement and feedback on climate issues. I have always committed to working with local charities and organisations throughout my constituency as we strive to protect our climate and our planet. I also want to pay tribute to the Co-operative party for constantly raising the issue on a national level. The country is on a vital mission to achieve net zero and to combat the immediate and very real threat of climate change. It is a mission that we can and must achieve. The British people deserve lower costs and secure power, with good jobs and a Government that protect them from the long-term threats posed by climate change. I am therefore glad the Government have committed to a clean power mission by 2030 that will achieve energy security, protect bill payers, create good jobs and help to protect future generations from the cost of climate breakdown. To ensure that this country is on the right path to becoming a clean energy superpower, it is essential that we unlock the full extent of renewable energy and conduct a necessary review of the contribution of community energy to the 2030 clean power mission. For decades, energy has been produced and, crucially, owned far away from this country. Many constituents pay their energy bills to a company based 600 miles and an ocean away. We know our energy system is broken, but for too long it has been too distant to fix. The Labour Government will do things differently. Great British Energy, owned by the British people, will invest in clean energy and ensure that our communities reap the benefits, not just through cheaper bills that families can afford, but through new jobs for our young people, bringing growth that will revitalise local economies. The local power plan, to be developed by Great British Energy, has the potential to facilitate that necessary drive towards community energy projects, ensuring funding is available to support local projects that could be transformational. Community energy offers a crucial opportunity of agency and empowerment within local communities to develop practical and long-term energy solutions. It will not only deliver key elements that are essential for reaching our net zero targets, but encourage local generation at household and community level, reducing the need for electricity to be imported into communities. It is necessary for individual houses to change their energy usage to make our net zero targets achievable. There are opportunities for community-owned power throughout the country. Indeed, we know what can happen when communities as a whole come together. We see the mutual support and care that constituents hold for each other. When a community has been left behind time and again, as is the case with many in the north-east, we know how to pull together. Community energy and engagement are essential for achieving the net zero transition. Individual households throughout the country can engage. Through both centralised generation and storage, houses can be powered locally, reducing demand for imports from the distribution network and cutting energy bills. As a leader in offshore wind power and research, the north-east is already a frontrunner in energy production, supporting more than 5 GW of offshore production, with a further 72 GW of potential production. My region can display leadership not only in production, but through infrastructure, and we can supply more than 130 GW of offshore power through the north-east local supply chain across all four of our nations. Supporting the green energy transition can start in the north-east. Not only is the region strongly placed to deliver offshore wind in the North sea, but we are in a strong position to install and maintain the growing pipeline of heat network projects that would support the supply chain in the north-east and foster highly skilled jobs that are vital to the region and necessary in ensuring that young people in the north-east can remain there and secure high-paying work. It is essential that the resources the country has at its disposal are properly recognised. Through community engagement and energy, effective solutions can be tailored specifically to regions and localities. Community-owned energy projects are, however, not new. They already exist and thrive across the country, thanks to the innovation and drive of individuals. In that regard, I want to acknowledge and highlight the phenomenal work of Humshaugh Net Zero, its founder Herbie Newell, and David Still. I thank them for their support and their commitment to delivering net zero emissions by 2030. One of my first meetings as Hexham’s MP was in the room above the Crown Inn in Humshaugh to talk about net zero, which I highly recommend to the Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, my hon. Friend the Member for Rutherglen (Michael Shanks) if he comes up to visit. Humshaugh Net Zero has already installed a number of low-carbon technologies, including solar, heat pumps, battery storage, electric vehicles and biomass. Its efforts to launch, this year, one of the first community-based solar farms in the north-east captures my constituents’ community spirit and drive. Its aim is to successfully deliver half of the parish’s electricity demand. I believe that the work of Humshaugh Net Zero would be of valuable interest to a review of community energy, informing how to unlock community energy at scale and how to support the development of other projects throughout the region and the country. It provides a strong example of community engagement and a model for how that can be achieved. Launching a review will assist the Secretary of State to understand how best to support the thriving community energy schemes that already exist, as well as to set up new projects that benefit new communities. A review could consider how to expand the availability of funding for local projects and examine how best to support community energy projects, specifically those in rural areas, to facilitate strong working relations with landlords and ensure that planning processes receive local support and consultation. Supply companies could be mandated to ensure that economic power is contractually negotiated on appropriate terms. A review could also identify how best to successfully expand and transform smaller projects into large-scale projects that respect local communities and interests. Smaller community projects face far higher financial challenges. A possible guarantee scheme could make considerable headway to successfully minimise the risk. Through conducting a review, solutions can be considered to tackle the two major challenges for community energy projects: first, ensuring that funding is available on competitive terms; and, secondly, ensuring that there is support for electricity to be sold to the community to maximise project revenue. Launching this vital review into community energy will support our mission to achieve net zero emissions by 2030. I am proud that throughout the Hexham constituency, local residents are already engaging in efforts to reduce their emissions and committing to green energy to achieve that 2030 mission. In Prudhoe, the Friends of Eastwoods Park and the Miners Lamp Cafe have introduced solar panels and battery storage. This has received vital funding from Northern Powergrid, and the drive of local residents has made sure that the building can still be heated, meals can be cooked and ingredients can be preserved through the local green energy supply. The Stocksfield community association has, similarly, transformed the local community centre into a crisis centre. By achieving a self-sufficient energy source, the community centre can operate as a support service for local residents during emergencies. Not only is this a valuable asset to the local community, but it offers a cost-effective solution. As Prudhoe, Humshaugh and Stocksfield represent, community energy provides more than just energy; it fosters community collaboration and cohesion. It is clear that we need to take community power seriously. Community energy is integral to our clean power mission. It is integral to ensuring that cheap and affordable power is accessible to local residents across the country, and it is essential for ensuring that this country utilises the valuable resources at our disposal. Conducting a review of the contribution of community energy to the 2030 clean power mission is vital for identifying challenges, threats and necessary solutions. I look forward to a future where my home and the homes of my constituents can be powered by green energy built and generated in the north-east. Question put and agreed to. Ordered, That Joe Morris, Emma Foody, Mark Ferguson, Ms Polly Billington, Maya Ellis, James Naish, Torcuil Crichton and Dr Simon Opher present the Bill. Joe Morris accordingly presented the Bill. Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 11 July , and to be printed (Bill 15 9 ).

• 9 Jan 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  The Leader of the House will know that I am frequently contacted by constituents from some of the most rural parts of my constituency urging the Government to move swiftly with the manifesto commitment to extend the ban on trail hunting, which is a blight on rural communities and encourages antisocial behaviour. May I echo that in the strongest possible terms and urge the Government to move on with that landmark legislation?

• 9 Jan 2025 · Public Finances: Borrowing Costs · Hansard source

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  Does the Chief Secretary agree that the Conservatives, having added gutter politics to their fantasy economics and unfunded spending commitments, can no longer call themselves the party of decency in public life, and of sound money?

• 9 Jan 2025 · Violence against Women and Girls · Hansard source

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  In my very short time in this place, I have always been conscious of the history of this Chamber and the speeches that have been made in the years and decades previously. However, this debate is the first time I have spoken where I have been aware that whatever I say will be dwarfed by what has been said in speeches previously by every Member who has spoken. The right hon. Member for Staffordshire Moorlands (Dame Karen Bradley) was absolutely right: this is the House at its absolute best. It is a privilege to speak in this debate. I will speak a little bit about some campaigners in my constituency. First and foremost, I will mention the families of Holly Newton and Joanne Tulip, and in particular Joanne’s mother, Doreen Soulsby, who has been a diligent and doughty campaigner for more than a quarter of a century. I also pay tribute to the work of Northumberland Domestic Abuse Services; in my first month after being elected, I was extremely honoured to be asked to become one of its patrons. I celebrate the work that Sharon Brown and her incredible team do in providing support to some of the most vulnerable people in England’s most sparsely populated county. One thing I would like to do as a result of this debate is to invite the two Ministers on the Front Bench, the Under-Secretary of State for Justice, my hon. Friend the Member for Pontypridd (Alex Davies-Jones), and the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Yardley (Jess Phillips), to come up to Hexham to see the work being done by NDAS. I would be absolutely honoured to welcome them and to celebrate the work Sharon and her team have been doing. Since April 2024 alone, NDAS has been into 23 schools across Northumberland and worked with almost 2,000 children on the perils of domestic abuse. Ultimately, as my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh (Chris Murray) was just saying, it can be tough to figure out our place in this debate as men. It needs to be led by women. However, if we do not stand up and speak, we are complicit in contributing to that culture of silence. I have only a minute left, so I will not detain the House’s attention for too long. I am aware that in this debate, as in so many others, we stand on the shoulders of giants. I was very pleased to be sent an email by my office manager during this debate from a constituent of mine, saying to my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Yardley just how supportive she is, and how supportive constituents across all our constituencies are, of her tireless dedication to women across the country and to safeguarding them.

• 8 Jan 2025 · Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill · Hansard source

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  It is a privilege to be called to speak in this debate. I will focus my remarks on the impact of this Bill on schools and parents in my constituency. However, first I pay tribute to the family of Holly Newton from my constituency, and to Northumberland Domestic Abuse Services, which campaigns tirelessly to provide protection for victims and young people in my constituency. This landmark legislation is a return to grown-up, sensible, solution-based politics and policymaking, which for 14 years this country has been denied. Unfortunately, all too often, parents in my constituency find the cost of uniform prohibitive. That additional cost places a burden on families who should be focused on sending their children to what will be, and in many cases are, genuinely world-class schools in my constituency. I was privileged to visit Acomb first school, Longhorsley Church of England first school and Hexham middle school before Christmas. I will be off on another school visit on Friday. The Bill is merely the start for this child-focused and child-centric Government. I am incredibly grateful to the Secretary of State for joining me on a pre-election visit to the middle school in Corbridge, where we met children and students, and where soon I will be pounding the pavements and knocking on doors for our excellent council candidate. I am probably the first Member to mention the local elections in 2025, so I guess it is now open season. Smaller schools across my constituency have really suffered from a county council that is not focused enough on the needs of parents and children. There is a lack of school transport provision, which I have spoken about in this place, and a lack of SEND provision, which I hear about at almost every single surgery that I hold. Genuine concerns have also been raised about Bellingham middle school. Parents and residents feel that the Conservative-run administration at Northumberland County Hall has simply abandoned the school and is content to let it wither. I am sure that there are some good-intentioned Conservative councillors at County Hall who would object to that, but that is the view of the community. In the 30 seconds that I have left, I would like to pay tribute to those on the Government Front Bench for their relentless focus on addressing the practical needs of my constituents. I thank the Secretary of State and the ministerial team for the time that they have given to me and to other Members from the north-east, for their focus on improving the outcomes for schools, and for the time that they have spent speaking about the challenges of smaller schools in my Northumberland constituency. I have finished my speech with five seconds to spare.

• 19 Dec 2024 · Syria · Hansard source

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  Does the Minister share my concern that the situation in both Syria and Gaza threatens stability in the wider region, and can she reassure me that the Government are acting urgently to support humanitarian needs in both Syria and Gaza?

• 19 Dec 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Merry Christmas to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and to all staff and Members of this House. Whether it is delays from Bardon Mill station or a patchy bus service cutting off villages such as Heddon-on-the-Wall in Ovingham, public transport in rural areas like the Tyne valley simply was not a priority for the previous Government. Can the Leader of the House assure me that we will make progress on this issue, and will she provide Government time for a debate on the importance of economic growth and commuter wellbeing in our most rural constituencies?

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

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  It is a pleasure to speak in support of this Bill, and to pay tribute to the Government for their support for Ukraine and to the consensus across the House that Ukraine must be supported against the barbaric and illegal invasion of a sovereign nation, as my hon. Friend the Member for Livingston (Gregor Poynton) said. The invasion of one European state by another in February 2022 was something I never thought I would see in my lifetime—we all thought that had been consigned to the history books, where it belongs. I am very pleased that we are backing the Ukrainian people in their struggle, and I hope that in time, the Russian people can vote in free, fair and democratic elections to choose their own path. I also pay tribute to the community of Northumberland, who have come together to welcome families from Ukraine in Hexham, in Riding Mill, and in other towns and villages across my constituency. When I am out and about in my constituency, I am always struck by the Ukrainian flags that I see, sometimes in the most incongruous places—on country lanes, on the sides of churches and in private homes. It really gives me a renewed optimism to see those flags flying beneath the beautiful Northumbrian sky. One question that has been put to me by constituents, and on which I would like to gently probe the Minister, is the future of the Homes for Ukraine scheme. Many families who have taken in Ukrainian refugees have asked me to pursue clarity on that scheme, so I would be grateful if the Minister could give some assurance about it, or some timetable for it. Ultimately, this short Bill is needed to promote and protect one of our sovereign democratic allies, to protect our institutions, and—as my hon. Friend the Member for Livingston said—to avoid the need for further conflict in the years to come. Putin’s war machine could quite easily continue to impinge on our lives and on people’s lives across the rest of Europe.

• 17 Dec 2024 · National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Gentleman for his guidance on the correct form of words to use. The reason that I used the term “ultimately” is that it is the fundamental goal of Government to improve the lives of our constituents. That is why I choose to use the form of words that I am using, and why I am focused on the eventual outcome for my constituents. As I said, we did not want to inherit the country in the circumstances that we did. That is fault of the Conservative party, its record and the inheritance it left. We need to bear in mind the context, because that shapes everything and how we go about this.

• 17 Dec 2024 · National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill · Hansard source

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  I have never turned down an opportunity to slag off the Opposition. I am always happy to do so. The ultimate reason that the Budget was necessary was to raise the extra money to invest into the NHS. The extra infrastructure investment will support our rural communities, our rural GPs and our care homes. That is the fundamental point of the Budget. It is a reset moment to properly support our public sector once more, which the Conservative party failed to do, as the right hon. Gentleman well knows. We need to restore faith in our NHS and our small businesses that were so badly let down. I have spoken to many across my constituency who share my optimism about this Government and who are convinced of the need for that investment. [ Interruption. ] Opposition Members can chunter all they like, but it is true. Ultimately, those businesses know that we need to invest in the state in order to drive up standards and confidence and provide the stability that the country so desperately needs.

• 17 Dec 2024 · National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill · Hansard source

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  As the hon. Lady well knows, when one inherits a difficult context, one has to take decisions that one did not want to take. The public understand that the NICs rise was important and was needed because of the circumstances that we inherited and to repair the black hole that we found in the public finances. Spending the national overdraft three times and not telling anyone about it is what has fundamentally undermined public trust.

• 17 Dec 2024 · National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill · Hansard source

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  I was not sure if the hon. Member would take interventions during that. Ultimately, we need to support the NHS, our care homes and our GPs. It is very rich of the Conservative party to lecture us on supporting GPs and care homes. I have been out speaking to GPs in rural communities, who have been consistently undermined by the Conservatives’ failure to appreciate the challenges facing the modern countryside. I have been out speaking to care homes; I spoke to the Charlotte Straker care home, which looked after my grandmother, to hear its concerns. I have had those meetings, as is my duty as a constituency MP. Ultimately, perhaps if more of the hon. Gentleman’s Conservative colleagues had done the diligent thing as constituency MPs, there would be more of them on the Opposition Benches.

• 17 Dec 2024 · National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend eloquently makes the point that I have been trying to make when I have tripped over my words. I am extremely proud that the Government are committed to achieving economic stability, being frank with the public about the choices that we face and not simply taking the easy options. We need to implement these tough measures in order to resolve the previous Government’s disastrous economic mismanagement and to restore our foundations. I will finish by saying that traditionally, as far as I am aware, it is poor form for the arsonist to criticise the actions of the fire brigade.

• 17 Dec 2024 · National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill · Hansard source

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  I rise to speak about the need for the Bill and the continued assault by the Conservative party on public trust and the public finances. When I go out in my constituency, I speak to people who are appreciative of the “bin fire”—that is the term that one of my constituents used—facing Treasury colleagues when we assumed office. Money for projects and half-baked plans was used more to launder the Conservative party’s reputation than to improve our public services. When someone comes into office and finds out that the job is not as had been advertised and that the previous person in post set fire to the office, they have to do things differently. They have to begin to rebuild trust with the people they serve and to have honest conversations with the public. That is what the Government are determined to doing. [ Interruption. ] Opposition Members can chunter as much as they like, but they know that they gambled with public trust and undermined every aspect of themselves and the institutions of the British state. That is not just a failure on their part but a failure on the part of everyone in their party and everyone who knocked on doors. Ultimately, they were judged harshly by the British public for that. The Bill is necessary to repair the public finances and rebuild public trust. We did not want to do this. We had to maintain our manifesto promise not to see tax rises for working people, but we must ensure that the country that we hand on is in a significantly better state than the country we inherited. That is the Government’s task.

• 16 Dec 2024 · Water (Special Measures) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Lady give way?

• 12 Dec 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I am frequently contacted by biodiversity, nature and climate groups across my Hexham constituency that are encouraged by our commitment to climate, nature and biodiversity. They are concerned, though, about the timescale for the Government’s ratification of the global oceans treaty. Will the Leader of the House give some clarity on the timeline?

• 12 Dec 2024 · Building Homes · Hansard source

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  Representing a large and rural constituency, I am constantly contacted by families who are concerned that members of their youngest generation are having to leave Northumberland to find the homes they need. That is just one example of the Conservative party’s war on the countryside. Will the Minister confirm that the new framework is the only way that we can get the homes that are needed, and ones that are appropriate, into our rural communities so that a generation is not forced out of rural Britain?

• 11 Dec 2024 · Financial Inclusion: Rural Areas · Hansard source

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  The hon. Lady is making an eloquent speech and has been generous with her time. I have talked before about the need for a banking hub in Haltwhistle, in the west of my constituency. It has, unfortunately, lost banking services. Local businesses tell me that the Post Office van that stops there infrequently is simply not enough to regenerate the local economy. I have been pleased to hear the hon. Lady speak about the need for banking hubs to be decided on slightly more loose criteria. Does she agree that for rural areas in particular, where central towns can be the linchpin of local economies, we should look at how we underpin their economic growth when we consider where we can bring in banking hubs?