Melanie Onn MP: speeches

Speeches

• 28 Apr 2025 · Football Governance Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  For places like Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes, football is more than just a game; it is a source of pride, identity and belonging. Whether it is the roar at Blundell Park or the celebrations at the Linden Club, football unites our communities in a way few other things can. That is why my local clubs and I warmly welcome the steps that this Labour Government have taken to strengthen the Football Governance Bill and ensure the future of our national game. Football is nothing without its fans. The shadow Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for Daventry (Stuart Andrew) is not in his place, but he has previously been on record saying that this is “a good Bill to crack on with”. He said it had been pursued “crucially, for the future of football fans. They are the ones we have been thinking about through the whole process.” –– [ Official Report, Football Governance Public Bill Committee, 23 May 2024; c. 244.] What on earth has happened? The Conservatives say it is another Bill, but it is not. It is their Bill with a few additions. The Bill has not been changed. They have shifted their position and it is a shameful situation. By putting supporters back at the heart of decision making, this Bill honours the passion and loyalty that sustain clubs up and down the country.

• 28 Apr 2025 · Football Governance Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman will know that politicians are blamed for just about everything anyway, so it will not make much difference. This is a very tightly drafted Bill, and the role of the regulator is detailed in it. That is what the regulator will have to follow, and those are the parameters that have been set. While the very top of English football enjoys huge success, the financial foundations for many clubs in lower leagues are far too fragile. Bad ownership, financial mismanagement and unfair wealth distribution have pushed too many proud institutions to the brink. This Labour Government are taking action. We are delivering on our manifesto promise—and, in fact, the Conservatives’ manifesto promise—to establish a regulator to protect clubs, ensure sustainability and empower fans, in stark contrast to the Conservatives, who are now anti-regulation, preferring the continuation of the current wobbly, unfair system. They are taking a hands-off approach, reversing their previous policy and backing the elite premiership clubs at the expense of those in lower leagues. Our local clubs are adored, and with good reason. We have so much to celebrate. Cleethorpes Town FC have made my community proud, having been crowned champions with three games to spare, and securing their well-deserved promotion. Meanwhile, Grimsby Town are pushing hard for the play-off—although I remember that I said the same thing during the Westminster Hall debate, and then we lost, so we are still trying. I hope that Members will give us a cheer on Saturday if we get through. The success of these clubs is not limited to the pitch: initiatives such as Grimsby Town Foundation generate more than £4 million in social value in our area, which shows that clubs are not businesses but engines of hope for communities. We must never again allow them to be treated as disposable assets. They belong to the fans, and to the towns that they represent. The Bill introduces the protections that are needed if local clubs are to thrive and continue to bring enjoyment for generations to come.

• 28 Apr 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Has the Department made an estimate of how many children with SEND are at risk of losing therapeutic support as a result of the recent changes to the adoption and special guardianship support fund?

• 24 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating Labour’s brill and totally committed Greater Lincolnshire mayoral candidate, Jason Stockwood? He is truly putting Lincolnshire first, having just completed his countywide cycle tour, raising over £16,000 for charities across the area—and he is the only candidate to brave Lycra in public.

• 22 Apr 2025 · British Steel · Hansard source

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  I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe (Sir Nicholas Dakin) on his tireless advocacy for the steelworkers and his Scunthorpe constituents—it should be recognised. How has the Government’s decision to take control of British Steel been received by the workforce, customers and suppliers?

• 12 Apr 2025 · Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill · Hansard source

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  I am delighted to follow the right hon. Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh). Given his Damascene conversion to socialism today, he could be termed the new “Red Ed”. I welcome the Government’s decisive action to bring security for workers at Scunthorpe. They are grasping the nettle after the can has been kicked down the road for far too long. British Steel at Scunthorpe is not just of interest to that town; its importance emanates across northern Lincolnshire to my constituents in Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes. Whether directly or indirectly, the employment and training opportunities that come from that single site are so important to our local economy, and the product is, of course, nationally important. When I consider the businesses that operate across the Humber and northern Lincolnshire, I think the industries that are relevant to securing the future of steel seem strong. From the Siemens factory in Goole to the boatyards of Hull and the turbines off the Cleethorpes coast, the products that Scunthorpe could have a role in producing are plain for us all to see. The Government must turn their attention to the next steps, because the measures we are taking today are not without risk. Unless we set a course for steel in the UK that closely aligns with our industrial strategy, this will be only another sticking plaster for a site that has already been put through the wringer too many times over the years. The powers that the Government seek today will protect the workers at British Steel from any retaliatory measures that Jingye may have sought to take. That is welcomed by those workers, who have often felt at the mercy of the company’s owners and unseen by the Government.

• 12 Apr 2025 · Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill · Hansard source

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  I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for North Durham (Luke Akehurst); it is imperative that we tie up all the initiatives that this Government are bringing forward, whether in defence or other critical areas of industry, to make sure we can secure the long-term future of steel. To ensure the best chance of successfully securing a private partner or long-term commercial solution, the Government must take all actions available within their powers and do all they can to make British Steel viable. I wonder whether now is perhaps the time for the Government to look again at the carbon border adjustment mechanism. The EU has already brought in the adjustment mechanism to protect against international steel dumping. By doing all we can—whether by keeping down energy costs, as I know the Minister has sought to do, investing through the national wealth fund or, indeed, bringing in the CBAM—this is our chance to secure a genuine, long-term solution for the preservation of British Steel.

• 7 Apr 2025 · Road Maintenance · Hansard source

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  At my constituency surgery on Friday, my constituent Helen came to see me because she has had a terrible fall on a badly maintained pavement, and she has really been struggling to find out who is responsible for maintaining the pavement. Does anything in the funding brought forward by this Government enable quick and easy repairs to pavements, so that people like Helen do not have terrible accidents?

• 7 Apr 2025 · Scunthorpe Steelworks · Hansard source

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  The whole of northern Lincolnshire will feel the brunt of this British Steel decision, should the site close, and I urge Jingye to reconsider the Government’s generous £500 million offer. Support through the Department for Work and Pensions is really welcome but the truth is that people have been leaving British Steel for years because of the cycle of its uncertain future. I welcome the Government’s comment that no options are off the table. In the interim, are the Government considering ordering the raw materials to keep the blast furnaces burning?

• 1 Apr 2025 · Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund · Hansard source

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  I congratulate the hon. Member for Twickenham (Munira Wilson) on securing this really important UQ. I am the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on kinship care. I welcome the Minister’s confirmation that £50 million will be allocated this year to this incredibly important fund. That will end the limbo that families have found themselves in while they have experienced this unfortunate delay. It is essential that we give all kinship children the same opportunities to heal, to achieve and to thrive. This is the second service affecting kinship families that has received late confirmation in the past few months. I know that the Minister, as a former social worker, cares for and has a particular interest in this group of young people. Will she work with the APPG to support longer-term planning for funding for kinship families?

• 26 Mar 2025 · Fishing Quota Negotiations: Impact on UK Fleet · Hansard source

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  And Northern Ireland. I apologise to the hon. Gentleman—how could I be so remiss as to forget Northern Ireland the day after his birthday? I remind the Minister to celebrate the UK fishing industry, to stand firm and to promote the opportunities that come from the great-quality products we have in the UK, which I know members of the EU community want. We have quite a lot of strength in our fishing arsenal.

• 26 Mar 2025 · Fishing Quota Negotiations: Impact on UK Fleet · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Vickers. I congratulate the hon. Member for St Ives (Andrew George) on securing this important debate at a critical time in the EU negotiations. I had not intended to make a speech—I was just going to intervene—but I heard him lamenting the interventions. I will focus on a couple of points. The first is about science, and the second is about the EU negotiations. My constituency of Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes has a long-standing, proud fishing heritage. It had the largest fishing port in the world at its height, although things have moved on significantly since those days; what we have left is a single company that operates a fleet that largely fishes out of Peterhead, where the majority of the fish are at the moment. We have a significant fish-processing sector that employs around 6,000 people. The scope of the fisheries sector extends far beyond catching, and that is worth remembering in this debate: the number of jobs in the entirety of the sector is important all around the coast of this nation. I was struck by the comments made by the hon. Member for St Ives about the differences in expectations between supertrawlers and individual fishers. We talk about the fishing industry as if it is one industry rather than a collection of individuals, some of whom are self-employed or run small or microbusinesses. It is worth considering that there are differentials in size, scope and range of capacity between the businesses that operate around the country, as there are in other sectors, where there are large businesses as well as small and medium-sized enterprises. That may well assist with some of the issues the hon. Gentleman raised. What struck me from the speeches of the hon. Member for St Ives and the hon. Member for Gordon and Buchan (Harriet Cross) is that we talk about relying on science to drive our fisheries and to give us the scope of the TAC, but the science is often too slow. It does not meet the needs of fishers, who are looking not only for what they are going to be catching today, but, hopefully, for what they will be catching in six months or a year’s time. Although things have improved, there is still room to improve and speed up the flow of information from the scientific community to inform the fisheries community, to ensure that it is properly reflected in the amount and the species that fisherman are allowed to catch. It is not new that fishing is used as a negotiating tactic, particularly when it comes to defence. It was critical in the establishment of NATO, much to Grimsby’s misfortune in the 1970s. The agreement with Iceland that started the cod wars of the 1970s was purely down to the negotiations around the establishment of NATO and the United States having a base in Iceland. That impinged on the area in which Grimsby trawlers could go out and catch. This is not new, then, and it poses an inherent danger when the desire for safety and security in our nation is potentially weighed against livelihoods and an industry. When it comes to defence in these very insecure times internationally, we should be aware of the likelihood of the EU’s expectations, and we should go into things completely open-eyed but unafraid to defend what remains of our fishing sector, to give it the hope it needs to sustain and grow. It is important that we do not serve up too much politics in that effort. The conversations since we left the EU, with many years of the Conservative party wrangling over the issue of Europe, have been unhelpful when it comes to the practical manner EU member states tend to undertake their negotiations. It is important to have a level head and maintain a practical and clear-eyed perspective on the negotiations. Despite the noise we hear from EU member states, we must remember that it is a negotiation, so people will raise flags about the issues important to them. When it comes to exports to the EU, there is an opportunity for UK fisheries in much of what we catch and farm. With their slightly non-white-fish palates, EU member states will want much of the crayfish and speciality fish that do not tend to get eaten in this country. There is plenty of opportunity and not as much to fear as we have heard this morning. I wish the Minister and his colleagues all the best in the course of the negotiations, and remind him not be afraid to stand up for UK fisheries, whether in Scotland or Cornwall—

• 26 Mar 2025 · Fishing Quota Negotiations: Impact on UK Fleet · Hansard source

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  This is the point I wanted to make to the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Epping Forest (Dr Hudson). Does the Minister have a sense that great progress has been made, particularly on the Celtic sea and the Crown Estate’s approach to engaging with the fishing community at the earliest stage to try to minimise the impact of spatial squeeze?

• 25 Mar 2025 · Access to NHS Dental Services · Hansard source

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  18. What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of access to NHS dental services.

• 25 Mar 2025 · Access to NHS Dental Services · Hansard source

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  The Secretary of State and Ministers’ commitment to 700,000 more emergency dental appointments is already taking effect in my NHS area, with an extra 27,000 slots, and the feedback is excellent. However, constituents have told me that some dentists seem to be removing non-emergency patients from their lists. Can the Minister please reassure them that their NHS dentists will be there when they need them?

• 20 Mar 2025 · Coastal Communities · Hansard source

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  I congratulate the hon. Member on securing this important debate that affects so many constituencies around the country. In Sea View Street in Cleethorpes there has been a noticeable uptick in the number of Airbnbs. That street has a unique identity, and the Airbnbs are taking away from the impact of local businesses and the local tourist trade, because they are using those shop façades. Does he think that more should be done to reduce the Airbnbs and protect the unique identity of some of these shopping streets?

• 19 Mar 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T3. After an appalling rape incident on the Fuller Street bridge in my constituency, I was shocked to find that last year only 2.7% of recorded rapes in the UK resulted in a charge. What is the Minister doing to improve the charge rate and get justice for more survivors of this appalling crime?

• 18 Mar 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Carbon capture, utilisation and storage is the central plank of the Humber 2030 vision. Does the Secretary of State have any plans to meet the Humber Energy Board, and if he does not will he join me in doing so?

• 17 Mar 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Today’s Telegraph has done a right hatchet job on the most socially deprived ward in my constituency. The people of the East Marsh are sick and tired of journalists taking a day trip to write their poverty porn stories about people who are proud and keen to play their part in society in every way that they can. They have sought to pit older people against younger people, highlighting the NEET record. The young people in that ward are as keen to work as anyone else, but they need the jobs to do it. What discussions is the Secretary of State having about that?

• 13 Mar 2025 · Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [ Lords ] (First sitting) · Hansard source

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  I was asking the shadow Minister to clarify the numbers. He refers to the report and makes a sweeping generalisation about it, so what exactly were the numbers? What is the accuracy of the report?

• 13 Mar 2025 · Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [ Lords ] (First sitting) · Hansard source

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  rose—

• 13 Mar 2025 · Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [ Lords ] (First sitting) · Hansard source

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  rose—

• 13 Mar 2025 · Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [ Lords ] (First sitting) · Hansard source

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  The shadow Minister references the number of apprentices, and he pointed to the previous Government’s record on that, but, in my constituency, apprenticeship starts fell year on year under the previous Government. Lots of young people have been completely disenfranchised, having had their apprenticeships end early without getting to completion. There has to be some kind of change so that we are not failing young people. There has to be a review of the levy, which employers have said is far too restrictive. The hon. Member’s points do not actually bear scrutiny when we get down to constituency-level data, do they?

• 13 Mar 2025 · Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [ Lords ] (First sitting) · Hansard source

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  That is not what I am rising to my feet to say. It is interesting that the shadow Minister points out the differential rates of pay between young people and older people, because we have just had the Employment Rights Bill going through Parliament, during which Conservative Members were absolutely incandescent that we might seek to raise the pay of young people, equalise it and recognise fair rates of pay regardless of age. I am interested in that 2015 report. The hon. Gentleman said “a lot of people”; was that the actual wording in the report?

• 13 Mar 2025 · Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [ Lords ] (First sitting) · Hansard source

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  Will the shadow Minister explain why he does not think that the rationalisation of unelected and largely unaccountable arm’s length bodies—quangos—is a bad thing? Why should the Secretary of State not be the person who is held accountable for post-16 skills education?