Markus Campbell-Savours MP: speeches

Speeches

• 20 Mar 2025 · Flood-prone Communities: Cumbria · Hansard source

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  6. What steps he is taking to protect flood-prone communities in Cumbria.

• 20 Mar 2025 · Flood-prone Communities: Cumbria · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for her answer. Communities in Cumbria have seen many devastating floods over the last two decades, but flood action groups in Keswick have worked hard with United Utilities to develop a scheme that uses Thirlmere reservoir as a storm water store, helping to prevent flooding in the town. All agree that more could be done. Although I applaud their work, I note that there is no statutory requirement for water companies to use their assets as flood defences. Will the Minister look at how water companies’ assets can be used to prevent flooding across the country?

• 17 Mar 2025 · Welfare Fraud: Serious and Organised Crime · Hansard source

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  12. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to tackle fraud in the welfare system by serious and organised criminal gangs.

• 17 Mar 2025 · Welfare Fraud: Serious and Organised Crime · Hansard source

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  I welcome the new powers in the fraud Bill, and note the huge increase in pension credit fraud in recent years. Can the Minister explain how capital fraud and fraud in which recipients stay out of the country for longer than the rules require, which together account for 50% of all pension credit fraud, will be targeted under the new rules?

• 12 Mar 2025 · Sustainable Farming Incentive · Hansard source

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  Can the Minister confirm more about the timetable for SFI ’25 to provide some reassurance to my farmers in Penrith and Solway that we will deliver? Will he also explain a little more about how we can ensure that more of my hill farmers get into the SFI scheme, which the last Government failed to deliver on?

• 6 Feb 2025 · Financial Education · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend’s speech has made me laugh, as his speeches usually do. Through my family and the community in which I grew up, I have seen that many people who fall victim to scams were once extremely savvy about financial management. The people who fall into these traps once ran their own businesses or had quite a mature understanding of these things. Financial education has its limits, so we still need very strong protections. When many people have more than one insurance policy for the same thing, are we not failing them? They do not need education; they just need people they can go to who can protect them and give them advice on issues they may never fully understand.

• 27 Jan 2025 · Storm Éowyn · Hansard source

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  This weekend, Cumbria was hammered by Storm Éowyn. I must compliment the hundreds of local authority staff and contractors who worked day and night to deal with hundreds of incidents of fallen trees and damage to power lines and buildings, but I note that many of my residents are still waiting for power to be restored. Will the Government consider the eligibility criteria for the Bellwin scheme and whether it truly supports the emergency response costs, which will very likely run to seven figures for each of Cumbria’s two unitary authorities?

• 22 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q3. My right hon. and learned Friend will understand the importance of farming to the economy of my constituency of Penrith and Solway, and to Cumbria as a whole. With recent reports of foot and mouth outbreaks in Germany, and concerns being expressed over transmission to the United Kingdom, will the Prime Minister assure the House that all Departments are on high alert and vigilant in monitoring the situation, particularly at places of entry, including airports where meat import controls can be lax? We must avoid the disaster that this would bring to UK farming.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Farming and Inheritance Tax · Hansard source

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  I am glad that the right hon. Gentleman enjoyed my speech. Did he enjoy the bit at the end where I listed the abject failures of his Government?

• 4 Dec 2024 · Farming and Inheritance Tax · Hansard source

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  I must admit that, as a new Member and a novice when it comes to the fine details of parliamentary procedure, I am surprised that we are debating this issue in this way today. As the Opposition know, the agricultural property relief measures announced in the Budget were not included in the Budget vote last month. They also know that the measures will be included in a future Finance Bill alongside other measures that will be subject to the technical consultation in the new year. This decision is simply not being made today, despite the disingenuous social media posts that imply otherwise. This detail matters to me, because I have spent the last few weeks speaking to farmers in Penrith and Solway to try to understand the full impact of the inheritance tax proposals, knowing that I have months left to engage with DEFRA and the Treasury and to seek important amendments. Let me be clear: if today was the real vote, I would vote against the Government’s plans. I am no rebel—I am a moderate—but during the election, I read what I thought were assurances from my party that we had no plans to introduce changes to APR. On that basis, I reassured farmers in my constituency that we would not, and now I simply am not prepared to break my word. I am told that there is no Labour MP in the country with as many farms as I have in Penrith and Solway, and I hope my colleagues will understand my feelings on this. Today, however, we are debating a frankly irrelevant motion from the Conservatives. The motion fails to acknowledge how they failed to deliver for my farmers, how they failed to deliver on trade deals after Brexit, and how they set budgets for new rural payment schemes, but could not make the schemes accessible. They made manifesto commitments for the public sector to buy British that never materialised, and they failed to spend flood prevention money that is desperately needed by my farmers on the Solway plain. They failed to deliver reforms of inheritance tax rules that farmers know were being abused by non-farmers at their expense. I simply will not walk into a Lobby with people who talk a good game on farming but do not deliver. Their motion starts with the words, “That this House regrets”, yet 14 years of failure do not even get a whisper.

• 12 Nov 2024 · Pubs Code: Guest Beers · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for giving way, and I thank my constituency neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Carlisle (Ms Minns), for securing the debate. Although we might not be brewing beer in this place, we do consume some of it. In the spirit of shameless plugs that we have all participated in this evening, I would like to point out that my local brewery, the Keswick Brewing Company, is serving Keswick Gold down in the Strangers Bar. If it is slightly easier than travelling up to Cumbria, I wonder if the Minister would like to join us for a pint at some point.

• 31 Oct 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  In 2019, the Keswick Flood Action Group set out how Thirlmere reservoir could be managed to greatly reduce the impact of major flooding, like that seen in the town during Storm Desmond. Will the Leader of the House make time to debate how water companies’ infrastructure could be better used to prevent flooding in Penrith and Solway, and many other constituencies?

• 21 Oct 2024 · Employment Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

• 17 Oct 2024 · Business Property Relief and Agricultural Property Relief · Hansard source

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  I might have this wrong, but I understand that the Tenant Farmers Association has suggested that there could be scope for reforming these taxes in a way that is of benefit to long-term tenancies. What is the hon. Member’s view on whether such reforms would be worthwhile?

• 17 Oct 2024 · Government’s Childcare Expansion · Hansard source

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  I strongly welcome the proposed expansion of childcare, which I am sure will help many families in my Penrith and Solway constituency. Can the Minister outline how this measure will be targeted at the areas of the country with the greatest need, and at areas that are considered to be childcare deserts?

• 9 Oct 2024 · Renters’ Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  Penrith and Solway contains the Lake District national park and other tourist areas. Does the right hon. Lady recognise that the previous Government’s failure to introduce their promised reforms to section 21 has led to many private landlords moving from the private rented sector into the holiday let market? Her reasoned amendment says the Bill will “reduce the supply of housing”—

• 9 Oct 2024 · Renters’ Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  This issue of landlords removing themselves from the sector was also brought up in the speech of the right hon. Member for Witham (Priti Patel). What does the hon. Member think happens to properties when landlords remove themselves from the sector?

• 9 Oct 2024 · Renters’ Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  I asked this question before and did not get a successful answer. Perhaps the hon. Member can tell us what will happen to those properties when landlords pull out of the market.

• 9 Oct 2024 · Renters’ Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  Does the hon. Member agree that, as I think the shadow Minister alluded to in her speech, there have been attempts to use no-fault eviction as a way to deal with people who are at fault, and that the failure of that system has now become an excuse for not reforming this injustice?

• 8 Oct 2024 · Farming and Food Security · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for allowing me to intervene. I am a fellow Cumbrian MP and I grew up in the Lake district, so I was pleased to see the Prime Minister’s story of an area that I know and love as well. Does the hon. Member agree that while the shadow Secretary of State’s introduction to this debate challenged us over our budget, the real issue that I hear from farmers in Cumbria is that it is one thing to have a budget, but if we cannot get it out the door, it is pretty meaningless? Does he agree that that is the real challenge?

• 8 Oct 2024 · Farming and Food Security · Hansard source

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  My understanding is that the 2019 Conservative party manifesto said: “When we leave the EU, we will be able to encourage the public sector to ‘Buy British’ to support our farmers and reduce environmental costs.” What went wrong?

• 8 Oct 2024 · Farming and Food Security · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

• 7 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T10. I welcome the Government’s proposed fraud Bill. Can the Minister explain how it will claw back money from people who cheat the system, while also protecting privacy?

• 12 Sept 2024 · Short-term Lets: Regulation · Hansard source

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  Is the hon. Gentleman aware that planning authorities can barely wash their own faces, let alone take over the enforcement of thousands of holiday lets? Does he not think that that could be a huge challenge, which could perhaps be better funded through taking money directly from the holiday let operators?

• 12 Sept 2024 · Short-term Lets: Regulation · Hansard source

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  My constituency includes parts of the Lake District national park and I have been a councillor for the town of Keswick for a number of years, so this has been a big issue for me. It was interesting to hear my hon. Friend the Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell) talk about the number of holiday lets in her constituency, which I think she said was 2,000. The CA12 postcode, which comprises Keswick and the surrounding villages, has 1,000 holiday lets. The impact on a micro level is part of the issue. There will be people in some councils around the country who will listen to this debate and think, “What are they talking about?”, but others will know exactly what we are talking about and recognise the problems that it is causing for our people. I have followed this debate for a few years, and I appreciate the toolkit approach, but my worry is that that is throwing everything at it. We have to remember that some of our tourism economies are now quite reliant on this accommodation. We have even seen some traditional holiday accommodation, such as bed and breakfasts and guest houses, move away because people prefer self-catering options. For me, the question is how we remove the bubble, which is causing so much harm, without destroying our tourism economy. We need to look at the range of options and evaluate them by asking what we would really gain from them and what damage they would cause. I want to start with tax, which is a funny one. Some people have the idea—I have never bought into it—that if we throw taxes at people, eventually there will be a new equilibrium and all of a sudden we will hit a sweet spot where we have the right number of holiday lets and everyone is happy. Even if we were to achieve that in the Cities of London and Westminster or in Cornwall, it might not work in my area. I do not believe the tax system is designed in a way that will allow us to manage this problem. I appreciate the arguments about fairness and what is just, and whether it is right that, every time a property turns from a residential property to a holiday let property, the tax burden of the parish precept has to be put on the neighbours, because of the way that calculation is done. I get that parts of the tax system are unfair, but I still do not think it is the answer to our problem. There is also the registration system. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Rachel Blake) for bringing this issue to Westminster Hall. I used to be a Labour activist in her constituency and I remember it being talked about on the doorstep, but Westminster has a key thing that some other areas do not: the 90-day rule. It also has many people living in leasehold properties who are forbidden by their leases from offering short-term lets. The real issue in Westminster is the cat-and-mouse game whereby the leasehold block management companies chase people to try to prove that photographs on Airbnb are of the inside of their flat. Neighbours make complaints, but often enforcement is not possible. I can see the power of a registration scheme for enforcement by those companies and by councils. We have seen this problem on the Churchill Gardens estate, with chocolates on the pillows —the works. I can see why a registration system would work in London, but there is a big flaw in it. In my area, it would only allow us to do one thing: count how many short-term lets there are. I do not need to count them to know the damage they are causing. What we really need is caps. Some people say, “Well, use the planning option,” but that would see permission given in perpetuity under permitted development rights. It would be a disaster for my community if the 1,000 holiday lets were made permanent in that way. My hon. Friend the Member for York Central suggested a licensing scheme, and I think that is the way forward. That would allow us to build in caps. Importantly, whereas the planning system is under-resourced, does not have the funds and is front-loaded because people only pay for planning applications at the beginning, under a licensing scheme, owners would have to pay on an annual basis.