Lewis Atkinson MP: speeches

Speeches

• 14 Oct 2025 · Northern Ireland Troubles · Hansard source

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  I thank the Secretary of State for his statement and for the way he and the Minister for the Armed Forces have engaged on this matter in recent months. I have many constituent veterans in Sunderland Central who served with distinction in Operation Banner; the Secretary of State rightly praised the professionalism and service of our armed forces in that operation, and I welcome the protections he has set out today. May I press him a bit more on the need for continuing work with veterans groups, so that as the protections are being implemented there will be a process of ongoing review to ensure that they provide effective protection from vexatious lawfare?

• 11 Sept 2025 · Driving Test Availability · Hansard source

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  Learner drivers in Sunderland are fed up of waits of around 22 weeks for a driving test. In that time, they are often facing higher costs and barriers in accessing job opportunities. Can the Minister tell the House what steps he is taking to reduce driving test waiting times in Sunderland, and when he expects those waits to fall?

• 11 Sept 2025 · Driving Test Availability · Hansard source

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  9. What steps she is taking to increase the availability of driving tests.

• 1 Sept 2025 · Borders and Asylum · Hansard source

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  We must stop criminal gangs launching illegal crossings from the French coast. Will the Home Secretary update us on her conversations with the French authorities to ensure that their tactics include intervening in shallow waters, so that they stop as many of these boats as possible at source?

• 22 Jul 2025 · Sir David Amess Summer Adjournment · Hansard source

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  It is a privilege to contribute to the Sir David Amess debate. Sir David proudly championed Southend and its people, and it is in that spirit that I would like to speak about Sunderland today. To start, Mrs Ann Blakey, the retiring headteacher of St Benet’s Roman Catholic school in my constituency, has for 20 years worked with love at the heart of that fantastic, warm community school. She is adored by pupils, staff and parents alike, and I pay tribute to her today and wish her a very happy retirement. I also want to take this opportunity to thank all teachers across Sunderland Central for the work they have done for our young people this year, and to wish them a well-deserved summer break. I said in my maiden speech in October that Sunderland was a city on the up. Well, promise made, promise delivered. It feels like it was yesterday that we were at Wembley watching Tommy Watson score the late winner in the play-off final, which means we are now on the eve of being back in the premier league. Sunderland fans are spending the summer pondering all the big questions. With our embarrassment of riches, who will we start on the right wing? When will Chris Rigg score his first premier league goal? And how loudly will Eliezer Mayenda’s views on Sam Fender echo around St James’s Park? I know that the Minister will not be able to answer all of those key questions, but I hope she will join me in wishing Sunderland AFC well for the new season and in celebrating the passing of the Football Governance Act 2025 to protect the health of our national game, despite the shameful opposition of Reform and Conservative MPs. Since I was elected, my priority has been investing in Sunderland. There is such a buzz around the city, with cranes in the sky, businesses announcing they are moving jobs to Riverside Sunderland, the new Keel crossing opening and the women’s rugby world cup. Government decisions are bringing further investment, rebalancing council and NHS spending. I will continue to work publicly and privately to bring further investment into Sunderland—in our neighbourhoods, in our music and creative industries and in our public services. One facility that has received investment, but that we have had incredible frustration with, is Sunderland station. Eighteen months after opening, the facilities still do not work, and it is simply not good enough. I eagerly await the work by Northern and Network Rail to deliver the improvements they have assured me will be made so that the station becomes rather less like an empty warehouse and more like the vibrant hub that our city deserves. With that, I wish you, Madam Deputy Speaker, all the House staff and colleagues a very happy summer recess.

• 22 Jul 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

• 22 Jul 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  There were 5,448 drug-related deaths in 2023—the highest figure ever—and an 84% increase from the number that led the previous Government to publish their drugs strategy, which was supposed to save lives. Does the Secretary of State agree that the existing drugs strategy is not fit for purpose, and will he urgently start work on replacing it with a public health-led drugs strategy to tackle this public health emergency?

• 17 Jul 2025 · High Street Businesses · Hansard source

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  16. What steps he is taking to support high street businesses.

• 17 Jul 2025 · High Street Businesses · Hansard source

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  In the last Budget, the Government committed to a fairer business rates system that protects the high street. Making sure online retailers pay a fair share of rates will help support businesses on the high street in Sunderland. Will the Minister update the House on the engagement and design work that his Department are carrying out so that that new fairer system can be announced in the Budget?

• 15 Jul 2025 · Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill (Second sitting) · Hansard source

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  Q Mr New, in your report you say that one of the key asks for industry is around confidence. We have talked a lot about revenue confidence today, but I want to go over that a little bit. You ask how the UK Government can demonstrate that they will stay the course, and I guess the core of that is political confidence. Since your report, of course, we have had a change in Government, and who knows if there might be another one over the investment cycles we are talking about here? Could you say a little about your assessment of how a Bill—putting something in primary legislation, as this does—helps to provide the political confidence that you believe investors are looking for, and also, frankly, helps to mitigate the actions of the varying parties in Parliament as we approach this issue? Philip New: There were two big pushes from the investment community when I was writing the original report connected with the RCM. The first was that it would just be nice to have that revenue certainty in the first place, and that is what we see in other parts of the green transition. The other speaks directly to this point. They were very nervous that there might be a change to the mandate design, the mandate targets or something at some stage in the future, and that that would so change the market dynamics and the pricing dynamics that all their assumptions would go out of the window. They were not going to be satisfied with any number of assurances from the Government, because Governments change their minds, so they wanted a bilateral contractual arrangement, which is another feature of the RCM. A big driver of its original definition was precisely to respond to that very concern.

• 15 Jul 2025 · Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill (Second sitting) · Hansard source

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  Q I am neither a chemist nor an aviation policy expert, so I will ask my questions from the perspective of my constituents in Sunderland. Looking at this policy area, they would be interested in the potential impacts on jobs and airfares. On jobs, could you say a little more about what you think the potential upside is in areas like mine? On airfares, can you confirm that clause 10, which deals with the payment of potential surpluses back to levy payers, creates the potential for downward pressure on airfares, depending on where the strike price ends up? Mike Kane: First, you have been a big supporter of sustainable aviation fuel in your constituency, because you have the Wastefront tyre-to-fuel plant, so your constituency is already benefitting from jobs that have been created by that company. The Bill also allows us to scale up the technologies that we want to use, which could be of particular benefit to the north-east. I am also the maritime Minister, and we have announced £1 billion investment at the Port of Tyne for LS Cables, and Teesport is about to announce big investments in sustainability as part of our clean energy mission. The mayor, Kim McGuinness, is absolutely tied into this agenda, and using the whole north-east coast to support our green energy mission is vital. You are absolutely right that the pressure on ticket prices could be downward. Very recently, there was an article in The Sunday Times by the International Airlines Group, which hedged its SAF supplies a long time ago in advance of this. It says that it will now, as an airline, have a competitive advantage in the price of ticketing over the next few years, because it got SAF at the right price at the right time.

• 15 Jul 2025 · Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill (First sitting) · Hansard source

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  Q Building on the point Mr Ervine made about the potential wider economic contribution of SAF, I am particularly interested in the jobs. We have heard that 70% of existing fuel is imported, and therefore a significant part of your economic supply chain is essentially providing economic benefit overseas. Could you say a little more about—if we get this off the ground, as it were—how far you think that value chain and economic benefit will shift into the UK from imports? In particular, could you talk about the potential regional economic benefits of SAF, as opposed to being concentrated on London and the south-east? Jonathon Counsell: From our modelling and analysis, we still want to have the flexibility to import SAF, because there is a global market there and we do not want to put ourselves at a competitive disadvantage by saying that all mandated SAF has to be produced in the UK. We still want access to imported SAF, particularly 1G SAF; we do not think the UK has much competitive advantage in producing 1G SAF. We think roughly 50% feels about right, and you have to compare it around that. Our view is that, of the mandated SAF, approximately 50% should be produced here in the UK—but, as I said earlier, not all of that will need the revenue certainty mechanism. One of the key points that I want to make is that the revenue certainty mechanism is for those plants that cannot get funding: they are early stage, first-of-their-kind technology, and cannot get tracker funding because it is perceived to be too high risk by the investment market, and they cannot get that revenue certainty through any other mechanism, so therefore they rely on this mechanism. We think that roughly half of that 50% will need the revenue certainty mechanism. A good example is LanzaJet in Teesside, the speedboat project that I mentioned earlier. That does not need the revenue certainty mechanism because we at IAG are providing the company with a long-term committed take-or-pay offer. We are giving the revenue certainty to LanzaJet, so that project does not need it; but other projects do, typically including the municipal solid waste projects that take black bag waste. They are at a very early stage, using less mature technology, and they are massively capital intense projects. They definitely need the revenue certainty mechanism, so we must ensure that it is targeted. As Luke said, we think that by 2030 there could potentially be 10,000 extra jobs in the UK from that UK production. We can share a piece of analysis that we did through Sustainable Aviation that showed what that looks like for each region of the UK. We think there is certainly potential to build plants in Wearside, Teesside, Humberside and south Wales; if we get the policy right, we think there could be up to 14 plants within the next 10 years, which will deliver £1.8 billion in GVA by 2030. However, the big prize will come in 2050: 60,000 jobs and £10 billion in GVA. We are creating a new energy industry for the UK. I have to congratulate the Government: we have potentially the most powerful package of SAF policy in the world, with the mandate, the revenue certainty mechanism and the advanced fuels fund. Taken together, they mean that we are the envy of the world and we have a huge chance to be a world leader on SAF production. Lahiru Ranasinghe: To add to that, it would also enable UK aviation to grow. Our estimates are that each aircraft based in the UK supports around 400 jobs and £27 million of GVA. We have over 150 aircraft in the UK as it is, we have three aircraft going to a new base in Newcastle shortly and we absolutely intend to continue with the growth in the UK. By having the RCM unlock SAF production and SAF supply, that opens the doors to us to continue growing, while also decarbonising. That is a massive part of the economic benefit that the RCM helps to unlock, beyond the obvious effects of supporting jobs and production on the ground in the SAF industry. Luke Ervine: Just to add a note on benefits, it is important to recognise the cost of not having the RCM. We have spoken a lot today about the buy-out. The UK is unique in its ambition to have a 2G SAF mandate, so the cost of not having the RCM is important. If we do not have it, we pay buy-out, and then we are going to lose out regionally to other areas, such as Europe and the US, that do not have those 2G SAF mandates, so it is important that we recognise that there is a cost of not having the RCM.

• 10 Jul 2025 · Resident Doctors: Industrial Action · Hansard source

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  Anyone who has ever worked in healthcare knows that it is a team sport and that delivering excellent care requires a range of staff across the allied health professions including nurses, doctors, administrative staff and estate staff. Does the Secretary of State agree that it is therefore essential that all NHS staff groups have confidence that their pay is being set fairly, and that going beyond the independent pay review body’s recommendations for one set of staff would undermine the “one NHS” team ethos that so many have worked to build?

• 3 Jul 2025 · NHS 10-Year Plan · Hansard source

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  It falls on each Labour Government to reform and renew the NHS in the service of patients, and that includes mental health patients; from my consultations, I know that they are a key priority for the people of Sunderland Central. I welcome the plan’s emphasis on empowering patients by providing them with information and choice through the NHS app, including on waiting times, but the Secretary of State will know that information about mental health waiting times is often poor, as are the waiting times themselves. In the 10-year plan, will he commit to making sure that empowerment applies equally to people seeking mental health services and those seeking physical health services?

• 3 Jul 2025 · British Film and High-end Television · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Lady for her statement and her Committee for its work on this important area. I also thank her for mentioning the Crown Works Studios site, which is in my constituency, so she will understand why I am such a proud champion of our regional film and screen industries. The Select Committee’s inquiry recommended some regional elements to tax incentives, and—understandably, I think—the Government response says that those will be considered at fiscal events. Does she agree that there is a very strong case for a specific regional element of tax incentives for the film and screen industry, given its current concentration in the south-east despite the potential for growth in areas such as Sunderland and the north-east?

• 3 Jul 2025 · Creative Industries Sector Plan · Hansard source

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  Thanks to a Labour council, mayor and Government working together, diggers are now in the ground at the Crown Works site in my constituency, preparing it for transformation into film studios. The selection of a private sector partner is now starting, so can the Secretary of State say how the Government’s industrial strategy for the creative industries, which specifically mentions this project, will ensure that the scheme is delivered, while also supporting the wider screen industry cluster in north-east England?

• 3 Jul 2025 · Creative Industries Sector Plan · Hansard source

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  11. What recent progress her Department has made on delivering the creative industries sector plan.

• 25 Jun 2025 · Armed Forces Recruitment: North-east England · Hansard source

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  I absolutely do, and that applies to both the regular forces and, for example, the cadets and reserves, as others have mentioned. The 6% pay increase last year and the 4.5% increase this year are hugely important to ensuring that serving personnel of all types receive above the national minimum wage, but equally important is action on housing, not only for serving personnel but for their families. We are talking about serving men and women. Historically, of course, personnel in the north-east and across the country were men, but the recruitment of talented, patriotic women into our armed forces is critical. We should not apologise for saying that for anyone, men or women, serving needs to be compatible with family life. Everyone who is inspired to serve understands that, at moments of conflict and crisis, they must be willing to go wherever our nation needs them to go, without notice and at significant cost to their families. The psychological bargain, as it were, is that in times of peace and for planned activities in the UK—for example training—the more certainty that we can give serving personnel about where they will be, the better. That allows them plan their lives, increases retention and, critically, increases attraction into our armed forces in the first place. I would be grateful if the Minister could update us on that. Finally, at the end of that cycle through from recruitment to retention is aftercare and care for our veterans. The veteran population in Sunderland is fortunate to have a fantastic veterans’ charity, Veterans in Crisis—it was an honour to host the Minister for Veterans and People there recently. Ger Fowler, the founder of the charity, says that people feeling they will be looked after when they leave is another advert for the forces.

• 25 Jun 2025 · Armed Forces Recruitment: North-east England · Hansard source

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  I absolutely share my hon. Friend’s sentiments. The strength of the veterans’ charities network also speaks to the wisdom of the Government’s approach to veterans. It is about building a network of support for veterans—on top of the fantastic work that our veterans charities do—through Operation Valour and the £50 million that the Government are investing, recognising the strength of community that already exists. It has been a really good debate this afternoon, and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to contribute. I hope that by giving people in our communities the opportunities that they need while strengthening our armed forces, we can make some changes in the coming years to strengthen recruitment under this Government.

• 25 Jun 2025 · Armed Forces Recruitment: North-east England · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under you in the Chair, Dr Allin-Khan. It is a privilege to participate in this debate in Armed Forces Week, given Sunderland’s proud tradition of military service and as a member of a serving armed forces family. My good friend Dr Dan Jackson, in his excellent book “The Northumbrians” on the history of the north-east, outlines in some depth the martial tradition of our region. His central thesis is that for a significant part of our history we were a border region and that over the centuries the north-east, through a range of different conflicts and wars, has contributed significantly to our nation’s defence. Men from Sunderland were traditionally recruited to the Durham Light Infantry, which I am sure my hon. Friend the Member for North Durham (Luke Akehurst) will speak about. Of course, Bernard Montgomery, having served alongside the DLI throughout the second world war, said: “There may be some regiments as good, but I know of none better.”

• 25 Jun 2025 · Armed Forces Recruitment: North-east England · Hansard source

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  I will absolutely do that. I commend the gentleman in the Public Gallery and all those who serve. The tradition of connection between place and service is so important and an asset that we must continue to use as we consider recruitment in the future. One in 20 of my constituents are veterans, probably one of the highest percentages in the UK. Sunderland as a whole—not just my constituency, but the local authority area—has 11,000 veterans. That is partly due to that proud military tradition, but also because, particularly in the ’80s during the period of deindustrialisation when the pits and the shipyards closed, young people lacked work opportunities and, naturally, they joined the forces. There are veterans alive today in my constituency who made incredibly significant contributions in the Falklands, Iraq, Afghanistan and other conflicts. As other Members have mentioned, the forces offered apprentice-style careers that gave people great life chances, apprenticeships and opportunities to travel around the world. They opened up opportunities and horizons for working-class men and women in the north-east. Our cadet units play a key part in that tradition. I will not repeat the points that my hon. Friends have made, but I want to pay tribute to the units in my constituency. For example, the excellent Southmoor academy, a local community school, has a combined cadet unit embedded in it, enriching the curriculum for those who participate and those who do not. It provides a pathway to options for further recruitment. There are also Territorial units and facilities in my constituency, in particular the Territorial Army centre in Seaburn, which is a base for the Rifles and a medical regiment. I will, however, refer mainly to issues regarding our regular forces. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor (Alan Strickland) on securing the debate and opening it, and, as he said, there has been a recruitment crisis in the wider country and particularly in the north-east of England. The most recent statistic available for Sunderland Central is that around 10 people per year have joined each of the services. If we contrast that with the 11,000 veterans across Sunderland as a whole, we can see the drop-off.

• 25 Jun 2025 · Armed Forces Recruitment: North-east England · Hansard source

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  I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. There are occasionally differences between the Tyne and the Wear, but this is absolutely not one of them. I think of the Royal Naval Association on Roker Avenue in my constituency, another representation of the community and the service of generations of seafarers and those who have served in the Navy, and I know that in his constituency HMS Calliope fulfils that role. As the Secretary of State reflected recently, the fact that three in four recent applicants for the forces gave up before they reached even the medical element or were rejected for any other reason is just not good enough. I am sure that the Minister will say more about the mobilisation of the new recruitment service, which I welcome. I understand that it will operate on a tri-service basis, which will be increasingly important as we seek to have multi-skilled forces that are able to work on that basis. It absolutely makes sense—including, presumably, economic sense—for recruitment to occur on a tri-service basis, so that different forces are not competing. Will the Minister say something about the mobilisation period, which I understand extends to 2027? How quickly does he expect the delivery of the training start date within 30 days of application? Terms and conditions are important for both attraction and retention, but when we talk about retention we sometimes miss the link back to attraction. There should be no better advert for joining the forces than current service personnel. If they are having a good experience, they are the best recruiters for others.

• 24 Jun 2025 · Middle East: British Nationals · Hansard source

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  British nationals in Israel, including the daughter of my constituents, remain concerned about their safety. The advice has been for British citizens to make their way to Egypt via the border, but there have been some reports that the Israeli Government have suggested those journeys would be unsafe. Can the Minister clarify the advice to British citizens in that situation?

• 24 Jun 2025 · Middle East: British Nationals · Hansard source

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  12. What steps his Department is taking to provide assistance to British nationals impacted by conflict in the middle east.

• 24 Jun 2025 · Department of Health and Social Care · Hansard source

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  I welcome the estimates and the CSR settlement from the Government —a record settlement for the Department of Health and Social Care and the NHS. Given the time constraints, I will focus on three key points: financial management, underlying demand and the prioritisation of spend in the estimates. We rightly focus on the headline settlements in estimates such as these, but what we do not talk about enough is the importance of good public administration in the Department. In the 19 years that I spent in the NHS before coming to this place, I saw how the previous Government had a sticking-plaster approach not just to politics, but to public administration. Budgets were confirmed at the last minute and planning guidance was outlined at the very last moment of the financial year, meaning that there was no opportunity for NHS leaders and health leaders to plan appropriately for resource spending. I particularly welcome the emphasis the Secretary of State for Health and the new chief executive of NHS England have put on restoring accountability through the foundation trust model and multi-year settlements that mean that, although I am sure NHS colleagues would like more, they at least know and can plan investment and spend-to-save decisions over that period. Secondly, Members have queried why the NHS seemingly continues to require increases. I draw the House’s attention to the Nuffield Trust’s work showing that this is about not health inflation but underlying health demand. The Nuffield Trust estimates that, as a result of population changes—mainly the ageing of the population—there is a 1.1% increase in demand every year. In addition, advances in technology add a further 1.8% increase in healthcare demand, so there is already a 2.9% increase in underlying demand before inflation, which highlights that the Government’s emphasis on reform accompanying investment is critical. Finally, to deliver that reform, the investment going in must be very carefully targeted. The evidence base is clear that investment in primary care—and we are fortunate in this country to have a world-leading gatekeeper system of healthcare through general practice—represents the best return on investment in health. Work done by Michael Wood and the NHS Confederation confirms that. Alongside investment in mental health services and wider public health, this creates the best chance for the health system to live within these estimates and to meet our constituents’ expectations.