Polly Billington MP: speeches

Speeches

• 20 May 2026 · Processed Russian Oil Products: Sanctions · Hansard source

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  I am grateful for the clarity my hon. Friend provides for us on this issue, because it has been of extreme concern for a number of colleagues. Does he think that wider global insecurity around energy requires global co-operation and collaboration, and that the UK Government could lead on that? We are hosting the G20 next year. In the process of building up to that, could we consider ensuring that global energy security is the priority for the G20 summit?

• 19 May 2026 · Energy Security · Hansard source

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  I am comfortable with accepting that there has been a growing consensus about decarbonising our energy system over a period of time, starting with the Climate Change Act 2008, which only a handful of Conservative MPs voted against. However, I am puzzled that hon. Member thinks that the last Tory Government did that without any burden on the taxpayer or on bills, when the so-called energy savings package that Liz Truss put in place cost £44 billion and has left this country in profound debt.

• 19 May 2026 · Energy Security · Hansard source

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  I know that the hon. Lady’s party is not very keen on experts, but I would refer her to Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency, who has pointed out that expansion of production of North sea oil and gas does not significantly improve the UK’s energy security, will not alter the UK’s status as a net importer and will take too long to affect global prices. He says that global demand for fossil fuels has changed permanently and we should, therefore, be prioritising renewables, nuclear power and electrification over further fossil fuel expansion.

• 19 May 2026 · Energy Security · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Member give way?

• 19 May 2026 · Energy Security · Hansard source

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  Almost 15% of people in East Thanet are in fuel poverty—significantly above the national average of 11.4%. That is thousands of my constituents who cannot afford for their energy bills to go up, but who, because of international events completely out of their control, are now facing exactly that. Working people like them should not bear the burden of decisions made by Donald Trump or Vladimir Putin. That is why I am glad to see the Government’s focus on energy and energy independence in this upcoming legislative Session. There is no one silver bullet for achieving energy independence. It requires action to reduce energy usage, which is why the warm homes agency will be so important in order to give people trusted advice and access to grants and low-interest loans. It requires more generation of energy at home, because the more we produce domestically, the less exposed we are to volatile fossil fuel markets. It requires reform of the market and it requires diversity of supply. However, this new international situation is different from the circumstances we were previously considering when tackling the science of climate change and the failed energy market in this country. We now live in a situation where the global context is more volatile and more unstable than it has ever been. Therefore, the legislative programme that the Government have announced is absolutely necessary, but it may not be sufficient on its own. To secure the energy independence and resilience we require, the Government need to consider their role in establishing greater international agreements on how we increase the resilience of our global economy against our exposure to fossil fuel markets. I have called on the Government to convene an international energy summit with the same boldness and scope of Gordon Brown’s crisis summit in 2009 following the great financial crash. I saw at first hand then the role of Britain using its convening power to bring nations together, and we should look to do so again. I was delighted to hear in the King’s Speech that we will be hosting the G20 next year, and I hope the Government will put energy co-operation right at the heart of that summit. This is crucial because 20% of the world’s oil, 20% of global liquefied natural gas and one third of seaborne fertiliser pass through the strait of Hormuz every day. The economic pain of this has not yet hit us. People are already talking about the risk to family holidays, but there is a risk of food shortages and starvation, and of blackouts in countries that are vital to our supply chains. That is the seriousness of the situation we are facing, which requires an international solution. I am delighted that we have a deep, broad and integrated approach to tackling some of the most challenging elements of creating increased energy resilience, as outlined in the legislative plans, but the situation does need to be seen in the wider global context, and it demands global leadership from the British Government.

• 19 May 2026 · Energy Security · Hansard source

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  Specifically on the Southampton point, it was under the Tory Government that the Labour-run Southampton council wanted to clean up and install that grid connection to be able to decarbonise shipping in that port and specifically to tackle air quality in that city. The Tories had 14 years, and they did nothing.

• 19 May 2026 · Energy Security · Hansard source

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  Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

• 19 May 2026 · Energy Security · Hansard source

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  Will the right hon. Lady give way?

• 27 Apr 2026 · English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill · Hansard source

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  I am interested to hear the Minister explain how we can ensure that town and parish councils, particularly existing ones, are integrated into the new local government settlement. They are particularly important when unitarisation is happening, increasing efficiencies of scale and enabling more strategic deployment at the kind of scale that is important. However, there is a concern that if those local parish and town councils are not integrated into the local government settlement, we will have a reduction in democratic accountability.

• 27 Apr 2026 · English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill · Hansard source

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  The specific issue of licensing is important. Small venues in my constituency are vital for our visitor economy and in being part of the pipeline for developing enormous amounts of talent. It is worth pointing out that the UK representative at the Eurovision song contest comes from Ramsgate. If it were not for strong music venues such as Ramsgate Music Hall, as well as Faith in Strangers, Where Else? and Olby’s in Margate, the likes of “Look Mum No Computer”—our entry in the Eurovision song contest—might have had no prospect of being able to develop.

• 27 Apr 2026 · English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill · Hansard source

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  I want to reaffirm on the record what my hon. Friend has said. This is an important way of ensuring that we have a place-led way of shaping our communities; without that, we will not be able to get the homes that people desperately need in the places where they need them. Furthermore, we will not be able to ensure that those places are worthwhile living in because they have other things apart from homes. The cultural venues that we are talking about are so vital—not only to the economy, but to making sure that people actually want to spend their time in places. That balance is going to be required, and that is why the power needs to be there.

• 27 Apr 2026 · English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Government amendment to include a competence covering coastal communities, in addition to the existing Lords amendments on rural areas. As many Members have already mentioned, coastal communities have lagged behind the rest of the country when it comes to economic growth since the great financial crash. Our constituents have more physical and mental health needs, lower life expectancy and higher rates of major diseases, and they are generally older. On average, they have lower educational attainment and higher rates of school absences, and once they enter the workforce, they are paid less. Our coastal towns are also more likely than non-coastal towns to suffer from high levels of deprivation. Coastal towns face unique economic pressures, including seasonal economies, struggling industries such as fishing and hospitality, and acute housing crises caused by the spread of short-term holiday lets and a lack of social housing. Connectivity is also a major issue for our constituents. Along with a lack of quality public transport and less broadband availability, our constituents are at the forefront of the impact of the climate crisis and the sewage scandal. Renewing our coastal towns and their local economies will be crucial to ensuring that all parts of the country share in the national renewal that the Government are aiming to bring. That is why this amendment is so important. I hope that the Government will be clear in their expectations of what metro mayors with responsibility for coastal communities should do. There needs to be a strong economic focus, with an understanding of how public services and infrastructure underpin the ability for a community to prosper. Can the Minister confirm that one of the commissioners will have to have responsibility for coastal communities, if a metro mayoral area has a coast? Furthermore, I hope that the Minister will discuss with colleagues on the Treasury Bench how an economic strategy for the coast might be developed through the designation of a coastal economic area. That would complement the new competences outlined in this Bill to ensure not only that our national strategic priorities for growth reach the communities that could benefit from that investment, but that we can contribute to the economic health of the nation. Will my hon. Friend consider some of the perhaps unintended consequences of the local government reorganisation planned for the coming years? I am very much in favour of unitarisation, not only for efficiency, but for the ability for places like mine to come together to develop a strategic vision for the wider economy and society of east Kent. However, research I have commissioned suggests that there may be unintended consequences for coastal towns from the local government reorganisation as planned. There are 33 coastal towns and cities with a council’s main office, town hall or headquarters within their boundaries. Some 24 of those are going through the local government reorganisation process, and 22 have a proposal or multiple proposals that could result in their being dissolved in their current structure and merged with other councils into a larger unitary that covers a bigger area. If that happens, the new unitary will need to decide where they have their headquarters. Town halls in coastal towns or cities are at a particularly high risk of relocation because of their often peripheral location, their relative lack of proximity to the new, larger constituent population, their weaker transport links and other issues such as flood risk. Those relocations would have a detrimental impact on local economies, at a time when many of those 22 coastal towns and cities are already struggling. They would also lead to the those places being more cut off from public leadership, increasing that left-behind feeling. I remind the House that some of those high-risk areas include Clacton-on-Sea, Sittingbourne, Margate, Blackpool, Cromer, Grimsby, Southend-on-Sea and Eastbourne. It ends up being a list of exactly the kind of places that we should be helping, so mitigations should be put in place for precisely that. I will also refer to the parish and town council amendments as outlined. My hon. Friend the Member for Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton (Jim McMahon) said that there was a commitment to “hardwire community engagement and neighbourhood working” —[ Official Report , 2 September 2025; Vol. 772, c. 250.] into the new governance proposals. It is a shame, however, that parish and town councils are designated only to be important local partners, rather than there being a legal requirement for them to be consulted. I say that because the town councils in Broadstairs and Ramsgate are highly valued and complementary to the existing local authority structures of Kent county council and Thanet district council. We notice the difference between what we see happen in Ramsgate and Broadstairs, which have town councils, and in Margate, which does not. The reality is that Margate is about to secure its own town council thanks to fantastic, strong community campaigning by some of my good friends and allies in Thanet Labour party, and that will help to correct a democratic deficit that would otherwise occur. Indeed, Margate has always been short of democratic governance, and it will be needed all the more because of unitarisation. Can my hon. Friend the Minister reassure me and colleagues that town and parish councils really will be fully incorporated into the new settlement, and that, as outlined in the new Government amendments, existing town and parish councils will have a role to play? Can she also reassure us that those without existing town and parish councils will have the opportunity for strong neighbourhood governance? In summary, we need to ensure: that the commissioners who will be part of the metro mayoral settlement have an economic focus if they are responsible for coastal communities; that every metro mayor who has the power to appoint a commissioner and has responsibility for the coast ensures that one commissioner has that focus; that local government reorganisation factors in appropriate mitigations for when there are risks of reduction of local government presence in coastal towns; and, finally, that parish and town councils continue to be a vital part of the local government settlement.

• 27 Apr 2026 · English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill · Hansard source

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  I am pleased to hear my hon. Friend say that it will be necessary to have local consent to take these matters forward. In these conversations about devolution, I make the observation that lines drawn on maps in Whitehall rarely work. It is therefore extraordinarily important to have local and public consent to taking forward these kinds of devolutionary powers. Otherwise, we will end up with a local government settlement that does not meet the needs of local people.

• 23 Apr 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister for confirming that he will chair a new contingency planning ministerial group to develop resilience to the threats caused as a result of the conflict, which is not, of course, ours, but is having an impact on many other countries across the world, potentially resulting in shortages and inflation. Our resilience is dependent on their resilience. In that light, will my right hon. Friend agree to consider convening a global summit to increase resilience through co-operation and collaboration?

• 23 Apr 2026 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  St George’s day is an appropriate time to ask my right hon. Friend about progress in the implementation of the veterans covenant across the public sector. Thanet has a significant number of veterans who, despite the commitment to the ambitions of the covenant by the Government, still struggle to access public services in a way that meets their needs. This is of course a cross-departmental matter, so I ask him to raise the issue with colleagues across Government to see if and when we could have a progress report.

• 20 Apr 2026 · Apprenticeships · Hansard source

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  I appreciate the efforts that Ministers and the Government are making to offer apprenticeships. In coastal towns such as Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate in my constituency, the growth sectors rely heavily on non-graduates, including in clean energy, ports and logistics, creative and cultural industries, nature protection, tourism, and leisure and hospitality, as well as health and social care. Will the Minister outline how “mission coastal” in the Education White Paper could address some of the skills and training gaps that are currently limiting the unleashing of our amazing coastal talent?

• 16 Apr 2026 · Women’s Health Strategy · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for her announcement of this strategy. In particular, I welcome the fact that the strategy says that it will be made simpler and faster for women to access the care that they need the first time they ask for it. More than eight in 10 women say that there have been times when healthcare professionals did not listen to them. One such woman was my constituent Daizy Bing, who, at the age of 17, came to me to raise her concerns. She had been told by her GP that she was too young to have an endometriosis diagnosis. Thanks to my intervention, she got a gynaecological appointment, but we all know that an MP’s surgery should not be the gateway to decent healthcare. Daizy has turned her experience into academic research. Will my hon. Friend meet her, so that her insights can inform the delivery of this ambitious and game-changing strategy?

• 16 Apr 2026 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  My right hon. Friend will be aware that, in a couple of weeks’ time, Sir David Attenborough will celebrate his 100th birthday. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear!”] I am sure that my right hon. Friend shares my admiration for this national treasure and living legend, who has for decades brought the wonder of the natural world into our homes. Will the Government and Parliament consider how we might celebrate that moment as a nation, perhaps by instituting a David Attenborough day for us all to celebrate the natural world and the man who has enabled us to understand it better than we ever could have done without him?

• 16 Apr 2026 · British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme · Hansard source

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  I thank my right hon. Friend for this statement and, importantly, for recognising the energy-intensive industries, especially those that are essential for growth and without which we cannot prosper. It is a start, but can I make a plea for consideration of the sectors of our economy that do not so obviously sit in a globally competitive environment but are still vital for our economy, especially hospitality? Our restaurants and cafés are not able to move elsewhere, but are caught in a situation where there is no current help to support them to shift to clean or cheaper energy so that they can keep doing what they do well: making people happy. Would he agree to meet me and colleagues who are seeking to secure a stable future for this important sector?

• 14 Apr 2026 · Cancer Treatment · Hansard source

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  14. What steps his Department is taking to support the treatment of cancer patients.

• 14 Apr 2026 · Cancer Treatment · Hansard source

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  I welcome my hon. Friend to her place and congratulate her on her appointment. I noticed in the cancer plan the commitment to fill NHS workforce gaps in coastal towns such as mine—Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate—and to end the postcode lottery that means many patients in coastal communities are missing out on the best possible cancer care. Can my hon. Friend update the House on progress in closing workforce gaps in coastal areas?

• 13 Apr 2026 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to my right hon. and learned Friend for his statement and note the emphasis he has put on there being no return to the status quo, particularly in relation to the importance of energy independence. Will he acknowledge that we are now entering a new energy era, and perhaps he agrees with President von der Leyen, who today has said: “There is one thing that all these events are making clear: we are paying a very high price for our overdependency on fossil fuels. And the grim reality for our continent is: fossil fuel energy will remain the most expensive option in the years to come”?

• 24 Mar 2026 · Household Energy Bills · Hansard source

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  My right hon. Friend will be aware that this energy crisis offers the opportunity to shift further and faster on clean energy. Will he consider an energy social tariff linked to the warm homes plan to support those who are most exposed to the volatility of fossil fuel prices, not just those on benefits, but other vulnerable communities like the disabled?

• 24 Mar 2026 · Oil and Gas · Hansard source

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  Does the right hon. Lady agree with her shadow Energy Minister, the hon. Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine (Andrew Bowie), when he said: “Look, nobody’s saying that net zero was a mistake. Net zero in the round was the eminently sensible thing to do. We need to decarbonise and we need to have an ambitious target to aim for”?

• 16 Mar 2026 · Heating Oil Support · Hansard source

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  I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for his statement. Giving support to people who are off grid is vital; however, Thanet Earth, which is near my constituency and employs a number of my constituents, actually grows 20% of the tomatoes that are sold in this country. The business is profoundly energy intensive and is doing all the right things on decarbonising its energy supply, yet it is still profoundly affected by such fossil fuel spikes as those we are experiencing today. Will the Minister look at what is possible to support such energy-intensive industries through this energy crisis?