Phil Brickell MP: speeches

Speeches

• 6 Feb 2025 · UK-EU Relations · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Paymaster General’s statement today. I notice that he said that there are currently no plans for a youth mobility scheme with the European Union. As a former Erasmus student myself, may I urge him to look at the schemes that are already in place with countries ranging from South Korea to Uruguay, Australia and New Zealand, and the immense cultural, economic and societal benefits that come from those schemes, which do not rub up against the Government’s red lines on single market access, customs union membership or freedom of movement?

• 6 Feb 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I would like to draw the Leader of the House’s attention to the experience of a constituent of mine who was a victim of domestic violence. The perpetrator, who went to prison for his violent crimes, is named on a joint tenancy agreement with a local housing association along with my constituent, yet my constituent has been told that there is no way to remove him from the tenancy without his permission, which he refuses to provide. Will the Leader of the House set aside Government time for a debate to discuss that extremely concerning matter, so that victims of domestic violence, such as my constituent, will not be put through further trauma?

• 6 Feb 2025 · Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories · Hansard source

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  Vast swathes of infrastructure in Gaza have been destroyed. What work are the Government undertaking on supporting the Palestinian people to rebuild their homes and communities, as is their right under international law?

• 5 Feb 2025 · Overseas Territories: Tax Transparency · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Kensington and Bayswater (Joe Powell) on securing this crucial debate on tax transparency in the overseas territories, which goes to the heart of three issues that I will cover. First, there is the matter of tax justice. Reporting from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism only last week found that sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich dodged up to £1 billion of UK tax by structuring the ownership of his fleet of yachts and his hedge fund through the British overseas territories. I will bring this to life with the example of Mr Abramovich’s mega-yacht Eclipse. According to corporate records, Eclipse was owned directly by Kane Global Holdings Ltd, which was incorporated in the British Virgin Islands. Kane was, in turn, owned by Lindeza Worldwide Ltd, incorporated in the BVI. Lindeza was owned by Electus Investments Ltd, held on trust in Cyprus and the BVI. Above Electus sat the Sara Trust, registered in Cyprus. Finally, there was the ultimate beneficial owner: Mr Roman Abramovich. Let us be clear. This is a complex web of deceit intended to prevent taxes from being paid where they are due. It is conducted on an industrial scale and involves an army of immoral corporate service providers, lawyers and accountants who are only too happy to facilitate such demands. But this is not just about Mr Abramovich. Indeed, journalists in the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project have reported on dozens of cases involving suspicious transactions linked to high-profile businesspeople from Bulgaria, Georgia and further afield, all systematically channelling money and assets into these jurisdictions to escape their tax liabilities in the UK and elsewhere. It is simply unacceptable—indeed, it is morally indefensible—that we find ourselves in a situation in which a number of British overseas territories continue to incorporate entities hiding behind the corporate veil of secrecy. All the while, our constituents pay their taxes in good order. Secondly, there is a corrosive impact on the social contract between British citizens and the state. If it matters so much to the UK Government that UK taxpayers front up to fund our public services, why does it not matter that the mega-rich are exploiting the overseas territories? How can we look our constituents in the eye and say in good faith, “We are pursuing every avenue to pump much-needed resources into our NHS, our police service and our schools,” when the mega-rich and multinational corporations can escape their taxes by squirrelling their money away in British territories offshore? Thirdly, at a time when the Government are focused on driving economic growth and unleashing the full potential of the private sector, we find ourselves in the bizarre situation that continued secrecy in the overseas territories places an immense regulatory burden on UK firms. As a former financial crime compliance officer in two UK banks, I know only too well the huge investment put into armies of due diligence professionals, who, unable to ascertain the ultimate beneficial ownership of entities incorporated in the overseas territories, spend an inordinate amount of time chasing their tails. That has a simple economic cost for UK businesses and consumers, and the British economy. That burden stands firmly at odds with the Government’s drive to deregulate and to drive up competitiveness. We have a moral obligation, a societal imperative and an economic impetus to act. That is why we must have publicly accessible registers of beneficial ownership in the British overseas territories. That certain overseas territories continue to hide, obfuscate and deny, and prevent long-overdue reform, is a stain on our collective conscience. The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff South and Penarth (Stephen Doughty), confirmed in response to a written question of mine: “We consider publicly accessible registers of beneficial ownership (PARBOs) a vital tool for combatting financial secrecy.” He went on to say: “I have been clear to OT leaders that full PARBOs are our ultimate expectation.” The Minister for Security confirmed in response to another written question I submitted that the UK Government “expects implementing legitimate interest access is an interim step to publicly accessible beneficial ownership registers”. I sincerely hope that the Exchequer Secretary can provide similar assurances today that His Majesty’s Government are committed to working across Government to drive transparency in tax matters, and that it remains the case that they expect publicly accessible beneficial ownership registers to be implemented in the overseas territories. Time is of the essence. We cannot allow secrecy to be used as a barrier to tax justice. That much I owe to my Bolton West constituents and we, as parliamentarians, owe to this country at large.

• 24 Jan 2025 · Climate and Nature Bill · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member talks about unelected and unaccountable organisations such as the assembly, but is that not also the case for the other place?

• 24 Jan 2025 · Antisocial Behaviour: Hertfordshire · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend agree that it is incumbent not just on us as Members of Parliament but on all constituents to work together to ensure that our young people growing up have positive role models around them in a community setting, so that they do not fall into a life of antisocial behaviour and they can see a way to get on in life?

• 23 Jan 2025 · ECO4 and Insulation Schemes · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Minister’s statement and, in particular, her remarks on consumer protection. Following on from the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Tom Gordon), a constituent recently told me at my surgery about work carried out on their home under the last Government’s green homes grant. Following spray foam insulation being put into their loft, they have a leaking roof that cannot be accessed, as well as damp that was not there previously. Those issues have had a huge detrimental impact on their lives. They find themselves unable to afford remedial works amounting to thousands of pounds. What message can the Minister share with my constituents? Will she meet me to discuss spray foam insulation installed under the green homes grant scheme?

• 22 Jan 2025 · Education, Health and Care Plans · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. From visiting schools across my Bolton West constituency, I know how much concerns around special educational needs and disabilities play on the minds of teachers, teaching assistants, parents and school governors. Only last week I was with Chris Howarth, the head at Washacre primary academy in Westhoughton, and Phil Orth, the chair of governors. They took me through a tour of their school and outlined the work they are doing to support children with special educational needs, and the challenges that staff manage in the classroom. I want to put on the record my thanks to Chris and Phil, plus all the staff and governors at Washacre primary, for their hard work. Bolton has 8,961 children and young people diagnosed with SEND, which is a 20% increase over the past seven years. The number of ECHPs has nearly doubled since 2018 to nearly 3,645 across the borough. The council’s compliance in issuing EHCPs within 20 weeks has increased from 38% in 2023 to 71% in 2024. Although the direction of travel is positive, that means one third of parents and children are being still being let down. With that in mind, I welcome the Government’s new investment in family hubs and early years, with the Chancellor’s autumn Budget in October setting aside £1 billion in additional funding for SEND support, and I thank the Minister for her continued endeavours in this regard.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Listed Places of Worship Scheme · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend agree that it is imperative that the listed places of worship scheme, or a replacement, is put in place in short order? This is not just about buildings; it is about supporting communities such as Horwich. Many worshippers from Horwich parish church have contacted me about making sure that places of worship are retained for future generations and to provide important spiritual and community support for people in my Bolton West constituency.

• 21 Jan 2025 · Armed Forces Commissioner Bill · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for her contribution, but I will not be supporting that amendment. I hope that we will be able to pass the Bill unamended, and I will defer to the Minister to address that question directly. I echo the sentiments of my hon. Friend the Member for Dunfermline and Dollar (Graeme Downie) about the independence of the commissioner, and particularly his comments on amendment 6. We live in a dangerous world, so when it comes to the men and women who are tasked with keeping us safe, we must ensure that we return the favour by making sure that they are treated with respect. We should not delude ourselves by seeing the Armed Forces Commissioner as a silver bullet. I welcome this Government’s commitment to a new strengthened armed forces covenant, which would enshrine in law the respect due to members and former members of our military. As many Members know, the military estate’s houses, barracks and other facilities are in an appalling condition and, frankly, unfit to house many of our servicemen and women and their families. I welcome measures from the Government to conduct a medium to long-term review, but I would simply urge Ministers not to kick the can down the road on an issue that has persisted for far, far too long. Financial wellbeing, gaps in medical discharge processes, mental health support failures—there is a lot to do, but the initial signs are good. As secretary of the all-party parliamentary group on Germany and someone with a number of family members in Germany, I would like to note that this position has been modelled on its long-established and successful German counterpart, as the hon. and gallant Member for Spelthorne (Lincoln Jopp) rightly mentioned. It is refreshing to see a Government seeking to improve life in the UK by drawing inspiration from the successful policies of our closest allies in Europe. I sincerely hope that we can pass the Bill today to provide the support our military personnel and their families so urgently deserve.

• 21 Jan 2025 · Armed Forces Commissioner Bill · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to speak in support of the Bill. I came into politics to improve people’s lives, and I believe that the introduction of an Armed Forces Commissioner will do just that by providing a voice to members of our armed forces community who have been ignored for far too long. As the Prime Minister said during the King’s Speech debate last year, this is not just a “name or a role”; it is a way in which we can show our respect for those who have committed their lives to the ultimate service. Indeed, my own father served as a gunner in the Royal Artillery, taking him to Northern Ireland, Germany, Cyprus and Canada, so I have some idea of the sacrifice made by our servicemen and women and their families. This is yet another instance of this Government delivering on their promises. We made a manifesto commitment to strengthen support for our armed forces personnel and the families who support them by establishing an independent Armed Forces Commissioner, and here we are now, getting on with it.

• 20 Jan 2025 · UK-Ukraine 100-year Partnership · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s statement and his announcement that the UK will continue to do all it can to keep Ukraine in the fight in the face of Putin’s unlawful war of aggression. He mentioned sanctions. Will he update the House about what discussions he has had with international counterparts on seizing and repurposing Russian state sanctions, to the tune of the £300 billion held in G7 countries, to finance Ukraine to keep it in the fight?

• 20 Jan 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T5. Transparency International recently reported that since 2010, £38.6 million of donations into UK politics have come from unincorporated associations, which are not required to report their source of income. With that in mind, will the Minister close political donation loopholes to protect our democracy from foreign influence by banning unincorporated associations and shell companies that have never turned a profit from donating to political parties?

• 13 Jan 2025 · Hospice and Palliative Care · Hansard source

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  I join colleagues in congratulating the hon. Member for Wimbledon (Mr Kohler) on securing this important debate. Bolton hospice had been facing a funding gap of £1.2 million, which could have meant cutting as many as a third of its beds. We should remind ourselves what each bed and every penny lost actually means: in many cases, the real-life impact of these numbers is the prolonged suffering of the most unimaginable kind for the individual, and the heart-rending experience of having to witness it for family and friends. Let us not forget that 300,000 people depend on hospices every year. Bolton hospice, in part following a fantastic campaign from The Bolton News and the huge generosity of the people of Bolton, was able to cut its deficit to £400,000—still a large amount. I did my level best to contribute to that campaign by traipsing up Mount Kilimanjaro. Frankly, hospices are so important to so many people that they should not have to rely on the kindness of strangers. That is why I was pleased to learn just before Christmas that Bolton hospice is in line to receive a slice of the once-in-a-generation £100 million national funding boost announced by the Health Secretary. Such investment pays for itself in many ways, by supporting the Government’s plan to shift more care into the community and keep people who need not be there out of hospital, and, importantly, by ensuring that people can die in a place of their choice with the care that they need. However, more funding will inevitably be required as we cope with an ageing population with increasingly complex care needs. Given the pressures on public finances and the cost of living crisis, we must look for creative and innovative solutions. With that in mind, I want to raise the work of my constituents Corin and Tricia Dalby, who, through tireless campaigning, have secured the support of 30 hospices, 36,000 petition signatures and more than 100 parliamentarians in raising the profile of hospices’ financial pressures, with a petition presented to No. 10 Downing Street last month. Corin and Tricia’s petition calls Government to redirect the first £100 million of fines levied by the Financial Conduct Authority on banks and other financial services firms to the hospice sector. Since April 2012, the money collected from FCA fines has gone to the Treasury, and can then go to charitable donations. We need to think carefully about how to ensure hospices are put on the sustainable funding platform they so desperately need, but I urge my colleagues, including the Minister, to carefully consider this proposal. Finally, it would be remiss of me not to mention the private Member’s Bill of my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley (Kim Leadbeater) on assisted dying. Palliative care provides the relief so urgently needed for hundreds of thousands of people around the country and their families, and we absolutely must make sure it is the best it can possibly be.

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

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  A number of my constituents have grave concerns about homes being repurposed into houses in multiple occupation without any requirement for planning permission. Currently, planning permission is not needed for homes in Bolton with six or fewer bedrooms, yet I know of three houses in Horwich that are being redeveloped into six-bedroom homes without any oversight, with concerns raised about parking and antisocial behaviour. Will the Leader of the House therefore make Government time available for a debate on this important issue, to ensure that there is a level playing field across the country on planning requirements for HMOs?

• 9 Jan 2025 · Road Safety: Vulnerable Road Users · Hansard source

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  St Helens Road in my constituency has regrettably become the site of numerous serious car crashes, and local residents have raised their grave concerns with me about both speeding and dangerous driving. How is the Minister working with local leaders in particular to drive improvements to road safety?

• 18 Dec 2024 · British Indian Ocean Territory: Sovereignty · Hansard source

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  What assurances can the Minister provide Parliament about the scrutiny that the agreements, which will be struck in due course, will receive?

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

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  I wholeheartedly welcome this Bill, which allows us, alongside our G7 partners, to provide £38.6 billion of loans to Ukraine to be repaid using profits from sanctioned Russian assets, and I wholly support this Government’s commitment to stand unequivocally with Ukraine. I believe that Putin and his cronies should be the ones who pay for the damage they have caused across Ukraine. To that end, while this is a very welcome first step, does the Minister agree that we should be doing all we can within the rule of law to seize frozen Russian assets, both private and state, and use them to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine? Moreover, may I gently suggest to the Minister that we must secure a swift resolution on the proceeds of the sale of Chelsea football club? In March 2022, Roman Abramovich pledged to sell Chelsea football club and donate the £2.5 billion—nearly seven times the value of the humanitarian assistance that the UK has pledged since the invasion in 2022—to support victims of the war in Ukraine. However, as I think all Members know, two years on from the sale, this has hit a stalemate, and regrettably no money has been delivered to the victims of the conflict. With that in mind, the Government should commit to a number of recommendations that the campaign group Redress has worked on, and all of which I support. The first recommendation is taking steps to ensure that the proceeds of the sale of Chelsea football club are swiftly transferred to a charitable foundation in the UK, or adopting other existing mechanisms set up to deliver reparations to victims of the conflict. The second is ensuring that a substantial percentage of the funds is used for reparations for victims of the conflict, particularly victims of gross violations of international human rights and humanitarian, such as survivors of conflict-related sexual violence. The third recommendation is to engage Ukrainian civil society, victims and survivors in guiding the repurposing of those funds. The fourth and final recommendation is to establish a working group between the Government, civil society and survivors to ensure that funds are distributed in an effective and timely manner. I very much welcome the substantial progress that the Government have made in the past few months in standing shoulder to shoulder with the Ukrainian people, including the recent announcement of a new anti-corruption champion, the further designation of vessels in the Russian shadow fleet and increasing collaboration across Government to tackle Putin’s war economy, bearing down on both the Kremlin and the wider network of cronies who enable his unlawful and persistent invasion of Ukraine. As my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds Central and Headingley (Alex Sobel) said, the Bill is an important step, and I welcome further initiatives to support the Ukrainian people as they continue their struggle to protect their sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Putin’s unlawful invasion.

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

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  Will the Leader of the House join me in celebrating the recent opening of two permanent banking hubs in my constituency—one in Horwich and one in Westhoughton—both of which I had the immense pleasure of opening? Will she join me in thanking the hard-working staff, including Jackie, Rabina and Ghulum in Horwich and Siraj in Westhoughton who provide a vital service to communities and businesses across the Bolton West constituency?

• 11 Dec 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q5. Places of worship are vitally important not just for practising one’s faith, but for local heritage. The Government’s listed places of worship grant scheme currently provides much-needed tax relief for religious buildings in need of renovation, but it is scheduled to end next year. What assurances can the Prime Minister provide my constituents that the Government will continue to support restoring our much-cherished places of worship, such as Holy Trinity church in Horwich?

• 5 Dec 2024 · Detained British Nationals Abroad · Hansard source

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  I, too, congratulate the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) on securing this vital debate. He is an impressive champion on this issue, as I know from my time spent serving as an officer with him on the all-party parliamentary group on Magnitsky sanctions and reparation. It should be a primary function of any given state to protect its citizens. It should not matter where in the world a British national or an individual with strong ties to the UK gets into trouble; we as a nation should be right alongside them trying to get them out. Arbitrary detention abroad and related human rights abuses, such as torture, are unacceptable. They often have profound, long-lasting physical, psychological and social impacts, not just on the individual concerned, but on their loved ones, friends and wider social network. Many Members have spoken in depth today about individual cases of British nationals or UK-linked individuals detained abroad, so I will touch just lightly on two that I have followed mostly closely. First, as the right hon. Member for Maldon (Sir John Whittingdale) has mentioned, there is the unacceptable continued detention of Dr Gubad Ibadoghlu in Azerbaijan, whose son, Ibad, I had the pleasure of meeting just last month. Ibad and his siblings are hugely impressive advocates for their father, and I know that he will be proud of the tenacity and dignity with which they have conducted their campaign for his release. Dr Ibadoghlu has spent more than a quarter of a century advocating for a democratic Azerbaijan. He has tirelessly fought for fundamental human rights and campaigned against corruption in Azerbaijan’s fossil fuel industry. He has been detained since July 2023 on clearly spurious charges, under threat of spending 17 years in prison, while contending with serious health issues. The European Court of Human Rights has demanded that he be transferred to a specialised medical institution so that he can receive the treatment that he so desperately needs. But, all the while, the Azerbaijan Government have denied this request, claiming spuriously that his health is “satisfactory”. I wish to place on record my support for the immediate release of Dr Ibadoghlu. As a British resident and visiting fellow at the London School of Economics, the UK should be standing by him and using all available diplomatic levers to show the Azeri Government that their flagrant human rights abuses will not be tolerated. Secondly, I wish to join the right hon. Members for Chingford and Woodford Green and for Maldon, and the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), in raising the case of Jimmy Lai. Jimmy has been held in solitary confinement in Hong Kong for over four years for publishing content critical of the Chinese regime. I have a significant Hong Kong community in my constituency of Bolton West, and I know from speaking to many of them that they worry that, if it is Jimmy detained today, it could be them tomorrow. Indeed, many of my constituents were effectively forced from their homes in Hong Kong due to China’s disruption of Hong Kong’s democratic freedoms, which we have heard about in this Chamber today. Only last week, in a debate on the status of Taiwan, we heard how Jimmy’s treatment is part of a broader pattern of behaviour, which is China’s consistent and blatant disregard for the international rules-based system. In both those cases, I fear that the UK Government have not done their utmost to fulfil that very central function of protecting our nationals. I share the view of colleagues that, unfortunately, the Foreign Office lacks a clear, centralised and proactive strategy for dealing with arbitrary detention of UK nationals. Given the severity of the issue, I believe that a dedicated UK envoy in this area, in a similar vein to the US role of presidential envoy for hostage affairs, should be considered very swiftly by the Foreign Office. While in opposition, the Foreign Secretary pledged to look at that, so I hope the Minister can give me an update on how this pledge will be realised in fairly short order. A good first step, however, would be to consider greater transparency in the Foreign Office. It could, for example, share with us information about how many British nationals are currently being arbitrarily detained. I hope the Minister will speak to that in his wind-up. At the very least, we should be able to hold statistical data on the number of victims of arbitrary detention, as the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green quite rightly said. I welcome this Government’s manifesto pledge to give British citizens the legal right to consular access when they get into legal difficulties overseas. I find it extremely concerning that that is not already the case. As colleagues have already attested to, consular assistance not only comes with protection against the very worst excesses of arbitrary detention, but is sometimes the only link between the individual suffering in absolutely harrowing circumstances and the outside world. It is no exaggeration to say that it can be life-saving, and I wish to go on the record to commend the work of dedicated officials in the Foreign Office when such assistance has been provided. Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish to say one final word on the diplomatic levers available to us. Magnitsky sanctions are a critical tool for ensuring that there is a cost to hostage taking and arbitrary detention, and they should be deployed in a consistent manner in cases such as those mentioned in the Chamber today. In addition, we know that asset freezes can be a very effective tool, as can denying sanctioned individuals access to London’s financial sector and property market. Sanctions must be used in a holistic manner against those responsible for arbitrary detention of British nationals. To deter states from engaging in arbitrary detention, we must also ensure that they bite as much as possible. On a related point, just last month, Financial Times analysis found that companies registered in the British overseas territories exported $134 million worth of goods to Russia in 2024, in an apparent breach of UK sanctions. The lack of open ownership records in our British overseas territories complicates efforts to establish who is involved in such shipments. The same principle applies to assets that we would seek to freeze. That matters for today’s debate, because without fully public registers of ownership, we will never be totally comfortable that we are not unwittingly allowing individuals who are subject to sanctions to evade them. I place on the record my thanks to the organisations campaigning on this issue, including Redress, and my deepest sympathy with the families of those who have been arbitrarily detained abroad. Their suffering, and of course the suffering of those detained, is why this debate needs to be had, and why the Government must act on the concerns raised by colleagues on both sides of the House.

• 28 Nov 2024 · Taiwan: International Status · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for East Renfrewshire (Blair McDougall) for initiating this important and timely debate. I particularly welcomed his comments about the long-standing work of other Members in support of Taiwan, and his remarks about this being a global conversation. I also congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire North (Alison Taylor) on her maiden speech and her focus on driving economic growth across her constituency. China’s increasingly aggressive behaviour towards Taiwan is yet another alarming example of its consistent and blatant disregard for the international rules-based order. As one who is proud to represent a significant Hong Kong community in Bolton West, I have heard at first hand about the devastating effects of Beijing’s authoritarian rule. Indeed, many of my constituents were effectively forced from their old homes in Hong Kong by the destruction of its democratic freedoms. Let us be clear: Beijing’s actions towards Taiwan do not exist in isolation. They are part of a broader pattern of behaviour, as I have described. We need only look at Tibet, where Beijing has systematically suppressed cultural and religious freedoms; at Xinjiang, where atrocities have been committed repeatedly against the Uyghurs; at Hong Kong, where the Sino-British joint declaration has been torn asunder; and, now, at Taiwan. Beijing has escalated its military posturing, imposed economic coercion and engaged in cyber warfare, all aimed at undermining Taiwan’s vibrant democracy and intimidating its people. China’s deliberate distortion of United Nations resolution 2758 is a prime example of the way in which Beijing disregards the international rules-based system to push its own narrative. Let me emphasise that, crucially, the resolution did not address the sovereignty of the island of Taiwan, or preclude it from having representation at the United Nations or other international organisations. Yet Beijing has sought to change historic documents and records, including at the UN, to allege that the resolution claims that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory. The blatant misrepresentation of resolution 2758 is not just an attack on Taiwan, but an assault on the integrity of the international system that we champion. This behaviour also stands in direct opposition to the UK’s long-standing position on Taiwan. For decades, the UK has maintained a policy that not only is in favour of Taiwan's participation in international organisations, but reiterates our clear interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan strait, considering the Taiwan issue one to be settled through constructive dialogue, not force or coercion. However, China’s actions continue flagrantly to contradict that principle and threaten the stability of the wider Indo-Pacific region. Tensions are increasing, with recent estimates suggesting that there has been a 300% increase in grey zone activity across the Taiwan strait, as well as incursions into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone. Beijing’s grey zone activity in the strait is making it very difficult to establish red lines around its behaviour. Normally, a maritime and air blockade would be considered an act of war in international law. Can the Minister confirm that a maritime and air blockade by Beijing around Taiwan would be a red line for the UK Government? I want to underline the clear public interest in de-escalation in the Taiwan strait. We depend on Taiwan for microchips, especially for the advanced semiconductors on which we all depend for our critical infrastructure. Two thirds of chips, and almost all advanced chips, are currently produced in Taiwan. As my hon. Friend the Member for East Renfrewshire outlined, Bloomberg has estimated that the conflict would cost the global economy $10 trillion—more than five times more than the Ukraine crisis. As we learned from Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, the failure to deter a conflict in the South China sea will have a high cost for all of us in this place and for our constituents. In 2023, the then Defence Minister Baroness Goldie confirmed that the UK Government were analysing the prospective economic impact on the UK of escalation in the Taiwan strait. Will the Government publish that assessment, given the clear public interest? Beijing’s pattern of behaviour is clear. Each time we fail to respond decisively to China’s disregard for democracy and the international rules-based order, it emboldens Beijing to continue to act with impunity. Taiwan is now at the frontline. We must stand with Taiwan—not only to protect its people and democracy, but to send a clear message to Beijing that the systematic erosion of freedoms and violation of international law that has taken place in Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong and now Taiwan will not go unchecked. By pushing back, the UK will defend our shared values, strengthen our global alliances and uphold the international laws that ensure peace and stability across the world.

• 28 Nov 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  A number of my constituents living on St John’s Road in Chew Moor have contacted me recently about flooding, potentially caused by ongoing work by Network Rail and its contractor on the nearby railway line. I welcome spades in the ground to improve infrastructure across the north—infrastructure that has been neglected for far too long—but will the Leader of the House find Government time for a debate on how we ensure that developers have to work with local communities to minimise disruption to local people’s lives?

• 28 Nov 2024 · UK Leadership on Sudan · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for her statement and for her leadership on the growing humanitarian crisis in Sudan. It all too often feels like a forgotten conflict, given the systemic human rights abuses we have heard about. With that in mind, does she agree that Russia’s veto of the joint UK-Sierra Leone UN Security Council resolution on protecting civilians is indefensible and will only extend the human suffering in Sudan?

• 27 Nov 2024 · Finance Bill · Hansard source

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  I thank the right hon. Member for his contribution, but I will return to the point I mentioned earlier about inflation at 11%. Frankly, the work was not done by the previous Government to mitigate that. I very much welcome measures in the Bill that will increase stamp duty on those who own a second home. The blight of second home ownership in certain parts of our country has destroyed the housing market for local people, massively inflating prices and denying those otherwise invested in the local area the ability to put down roots. I am pleased to see the Chancellor delivering on our election promise to scrap the non-dom loophole, which has been abused for far too long by those who wish to enjoy all the privileges of life in this country without paying into the system. I applaud the Chancellor’s commitment to delivering fairness into the tax system through the Budget and the Bill. In the light of the debate we have been having in the country at large over the past few weeks, I wish briefly to focus my comments on three key topics, which I hope the Government will soon revisit at some juncture during this Parliament. The first topic, tax justice, has been overlooked for far too long. According to His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, the tax gap—the difference between what it should collect annually and what it actually collects—is almost £40 billion. Let me repeat that figure—forty thousand million pounds. Closing that gap by just 20% could pay for 60,000 nurses, 40,000 teachers, and 40,000 police officers. Imagine the transformative impact that could have on our public services, on education, on health, and on tackling crime. Simply put, working people in Bolton West are expected to pay the taxes they owe, so why should big multinationals and the super-rich be able to avoid contributing their fair share? The renewed focus on tax avoidance and evasion in the Budget is much needed, but we sometimes have to spend money to make money. We all know that tough decisions about public finances have to be made, but that does not have to come at the expense of boosting enforcement through our public bodies, including HMRC, which should be self-funding, with a greater proportion of cash raised from fines, asset seizure and the like returned to the relevant agencies. Our enforcement agencies work incredibly hard to claw back billions of pounds that are lost every year to economic crime in the UK, but they do not have the resources to protect us from all manner of crimes from fraud to money laundering and tax evasion. It should be criminals who are made to pay, not the hard-working taxpayer, and for me, that would be a sensible way to both combat economic crime and bolster our public finances. We already know that every pound invested in the Serious Fraud Office returns three pounds to the Treasury—a 317% return on its budget—while every pound spent on the National Crime Agency’s international corruption unit results in £21 of illicit wealth frozen. As it happens, research published this month by Spotlight on Corruption—I hope the Minister will take note of this—found that just 17.6% of the £4 billion generated for the Government by law enforcement agencies and anti-money laundering supervisors between 2017 and 2024 was reinvested in those agencies or in crime reduction and community projects. If just 50% of those enforcement receipts had been reinvested, economic crime regulation and enforcement would have received an extra £233 million a year—nearly double the annual investment underpinning the 2023 to 2026 economic crime plan—at no cost to the taxpayer but with potentially substantial rewards. The second area of focus that I would like the Government to attend to during this Parliament is council tax. For almost three decades, successive Governments have sat on their hands when it comes to reforming the levy, which is regressive and disproportionately targets the wealth of lower-income families and the young, as well as affecting local authorities. Bolton council finds that it does not provide an adequate funding base to provide critical services for my constituents. Last year, a modest property in Hartlepool worth £150,000 would have been taxed at over 1% of its value, while the owner of an £8 million mansion in Westminster would have seen a bill equivalent to just 0.02%. The Fairer Share campaign has called for a proportional property tax, which would see homeowners pay a flat rate based on current and annually updated valuations, not the absurdly outdated 1991 numbers. It calculates that that would put an average of £600 into the pockets of households in Bolton West and leave 96% of people in my constituency better off. Indeed, in total, Fairer Share reckons that that reform could save households outside central London and the south-east £6.5 billion a year, helping to level up communities and genuinely boost local economies. Finally, I would very much like to see the spending commitment to 2.5% of GDP on defence reached as soon as fiscally possible. I welcome the Government’s commitment to that effect. The increase of £2.9 billion for defence already announced by the Government is indeed welcome. We must continue to invest in defence to ensure that the UK will have the capacity to keep us safe in what is becoming an increasingly dangerous world. This Finance Bill demonstrates that after 14 years of dither and delay, the Labour Government are taking the difficult decisions head on. With the measures announced last month by the Chancellor, I am confident that my constituents across Bolton West will be able to realise their full potential and that together we can build the healthier, more prosperous society that I want to see, with tax justice at its heart and those with the broadest shoulders paying their fair share to fix the crises in our schools, our hospitals and our prisons.