Yuan Yang MP: speeches

Speeches

• 21 Oct 2024 · Employment Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, in particular the perhaps interesting fact that, like the majority of journalists at the Financial Times , I am a proud member of the National Union of Journalists. I am able to enjoy that right to membership of a trade union, and the right to assembly and discussion that follows from it, because I am fortunate enough, unlike many of my aunts, cousins and uncles, to be a British citizen living in the UK who enjoys protection of not only my right to vote but my right to collective bargaining and representation in the workplace. It is fitting that, in this historic debate on this advance in workers’ rights, we in the mother of Parliaments defend not just the right to representation in Parliament through our electoral system, but the right to representation in the workplace through collective bargaining and union access, because strong unions are a workplace form of democracy. I have seen what happens when people are denied that right. I have reported on labour abuses and wildcat strikes—the desperate measures that workers across the international supply chains of Amazon and Apple have gone to when their ability to form a union and advocate for their rights has not been protected by the state. That simply pushes problems underground. Labour Members know that when workers have issues, there needs to be mediation and they need to be represented properly, through legal means. If that does not happen, it stores up long-term structural challenges for the economy. In the British economy, the wage share of our economic output has fallen since the 1980s. Union representation and density has also fallen throughout that time. It is no coincidence that the two things go together, in the UK and many economies across the OECD. There is a correlation between the strength of unions, and union density, and strong wage growth and worker protections in the workplace. Beyond the costs to the economy, there are costs to individual households. When I vote for the Bill, I will be thinking of residents and households in my constituency of Earley and Woodley. I will be thinking of the parents I have delivered food parcels to with Woodley Lunch Bunch, who, despite working multiple jobs, are still unable to make ends meet and must resort to using food banks. I will be thinking of the supermarket workers in the Lower Earley Asda, who are—like many of their colleagues across the country—concerned about the threat of fire and rehire. Above all, I will be thinking of frontline NHS workers in the Royal Berkshire hospital in the centre of Reading, who went to work day after day during the pandemic to clean up after people, suffering the threat of contagion. Many of them—especially those outsourced from private companies—were not afforded statutory sick pay because they were below the lower earnings limit. During the pandemic, the sick pay of many outsourced workers in the NHS was less than a quarter of the national living wage. That is a tragedy. Presenteeism caused by the lack of sick pay costs our economy by reducing productivity and increasing the likelihood of chronic health conditions. I am very proud to support the Bill.

• 17 Oct 2024 · English Football: Financial Sustainability · Hansard source

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  8. What steps she is taking to support the financial sustainability of English football.

• 17 Oct 2024 · English Football: Financial Sustainability · Hansard source

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  I associate myself with that tribute and thank the Secretary of State for her reply. My constituency is the proud home of Reading football club, which managed to stay up last season against the odds but which has been the victim of financial mismanagement by absent owners. We desperately need the Government’s football governance Bill, which will set up a regulator to safeguard clubs like Reading and prevent future abuses. Will the Minister meet local fans and me to discuss what we can do to protect the club?

• 17 Oct 2024 · International Investment Summit · Hansard source

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  By spring this year, financial markets had already priced in the fact that they expected a large Labour victory, and that was what gave businesses and the markets so much confidence in the future stability of our economy. Will the shadow Secretary of State explain why?

• 17 Oct 2024 · International Investment Summit · Hansard source

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  I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth West (Jessica Toale) on her wonderful maiden speech. I know that her international background and deep expertise in international development will add much richness to our new parliamentary Labour party, and I also believe that an international background is essential to enriching the perspectives on our side of the House. In my previous life, before coming into this place, I spent eight years interviewing the leaders of international businesses, many of whom had long-standing commitments to investment in the UK, but who repeatedly told me and my former colleagues at the Financial Times that political instability was putting them off making future investments. That is why I very much welcome the remarks of our Minister on the international investment summit and the importance of the private sector’s partnership with our Government. The 10-year project that we have for national renewal, along with our 10-year industrial strategy, shows our commitment to long-term economic ambition and planning. I congratulate the organisers of the summit, which brought together more than 300 industry leaders and secured more than £60 billion of investment. That is 60% more than was raised last year, and it will create nearly 38,000 jobs, one of which is bringing Elton John out of retirement. Unfortunately, private investment in the UK since the global financial crisis has been much less “Rocket Man”, and more “Tiny Dancer”. Over the last decade and a half, Britain has experienced a much larger slowdown in the growth of capital intensity than comparative countries such as the US, France and Germany, and it is that, alongside our skills growth, which accounts for our productivity puzzle. I very much welcome the appointment of John Van Reenen, the wonderful LSE economist, to our Council of Economic Advisors. He has done important work on productivity in the UK, and he suggests that our post-financial crisis fall in productivity growth is primarily due to a large fall in capital accumulation. In other words, British workers are being held back by low levels of public and private investment, and that is what our Government need to unlock to succeed in our growth mission. We will provide stability, but stability alone is not enough. In the 21st century we must do more to provide industry and business leaders with the leadership that they require to navigate our increasingly complex geopolitical world, in which there is fragmentation of supply chains across the world, as well as the green transition. That means an industrial strategy. I welcome the publication of our Government’s industrial strategy earlier this month, and particularly the focus on life sciences as one of the key eight sectors for investment. My constituency of Earley and Woodley in the Thames valley is a prime location for foreign direct investment, particularly in life sciences, and I am proud that the Thames valley is the fastest growing region in the UK outside London. I congratulate the Thames valley chamber of commerce, with which I have already worked in my first 100 days, on securing over the last decade more than 1,000 instances of foreign direct investment. We can measure the excitement of business and the private sector for our Labour Government by the amount of engagement I have already had from businesses in my constituency and through Thames valley chamber of commerce. The biopharmaceutical group Lonza, which is Swiss in origin, received a grant of £30 million over the summer to expand and relocate to my constituency in the Thames valley park, which is one of three business parks in the area alongside Thames Valley science park and Green park. I recently met Bayer, originally a German company, which employs hundreds of people at its headquarters in my constituency, and contributes to crucial health and life science research in the UK. Advancements in life sciences have fundamentally improved not just the economy and innovation of the UK, but the length and quality of life here and around the world. That is why I welcome the Health Secretary’s mission to ensure that the NHS receives the cutting-edge treatments being pioneered by companies in my constituency and beyond. Life science investment, if done correctly, can be a significant driver of growth and productivity—our central mission. I look forward very much to meeting the Minster for Industry next week to discuss how we can give full range to life sciences companies in our constituencies, and to the clinical research taking place in the Royal Berkshire hospital, which is at the forefront of much research in medical trials. That hospital will benefit greatly from private and public investment. Businesses do not exist in isolation, and what makes some countries prosper is the strength of their institutions. Responsible and highly productive businesses wish to retain their skilled workforces, who require countries with well-functioning public service provision, infrastructure and accessible housing. Those companies want political stability and a regulatory framework that works for business, workers, and the consumer. That is why Labour’s pitch to business does not end with the international investment summit, but continues with legislation that the Government are passing, such as the Employment Rights Bill. Providing the foundations for businesses to thrive means fixing the foundations of our economy and society, and that is what I am proud to say our Labour Government will do.

• 10 Sept 2024 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  My volunteers and I have been out speaking to residents across my constituency every weekend since the general election. Like many others, Earley and Woodley is a very diverse constituency with diverse needs. Last weekend we spoke to relatively well-off pensioners who told us that they feel it is right that winter fuel payments be means-tested and that, with their sense of dignity and generosity, they do not need state aid in this respect. Pensioners in other parts of my constituency are less well off, and I was shocked to find that one in three pensioners in my constituency who are eligible for pension credit, which is roughly 1,000 pensioners—as well as one in three across the UK who are eligible for pension credit, or 880,000—do not claim it. Over the weekend I held one of my first constituency surgeries at the Whitley community development association café. A staff member told me that they talk to the pensioners who come in about the struggles they face with the cost of living crisis that has unravelled over the last few years. They talk to them about support, but these elderly people respond, “No, I don’t need benefits. I don’t need help.” I recognise that as part of the broader societal stigma around being a recipient of benefits and state aid, which this Government must challenge and defeat. A compassionate, generous and dignified society recognises when people require help, when people do not require help and when people can help others, and accepts that people sometimes fall on hard times due to an accident, bereavement, illness or other reasons outside their control. For those who need help, it is not undignified to seek it. In fact, it is very important that every pensioner listening to my speech, whether they are in my Earley and Woodley constituency or elsewhere in the UK, knows how to seek help and can seek it if they need it. I am determined that we bring about a dignified and fair means-tested benefit and tax system. Fairness and dignity will keep that system functioning. Members on both sides of the House have talked about civility. We too often hear about individuals and societal groups being pitted against each other. Pensioners in Earley and Woodley are part of the broader community, and they have children and grandchildren who work in hospitals, who require care, who are supported by teachers, who take buses and trains and, yes, who avail themselves of all the means of support provided to maintain our flourishing and cohesive society. It is unacceptable—

• 5 Sept 2024 · Inward Investment · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for her remarks, and wish her the best of success on her trip tomorrow. One of Europe’s best-performing sites for foreign direct investment in the life sciences is the Thames valley, including my constituency of Earley and Woodley, and our local hospital trust—the Royal Berkshire NHS foundation trust—recently became the first in the country to be awarded for world-class excellence in its clinical research. Will the Minister meet with me, local life science businesses and hospital staff to discuss how to accelerate investment in our life sciences industrial cluster?

• 5 Sept 2024 · Inward Investment · Hansard source

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  7. What steps he is taking to attract inward investment.

• 30 Jul 2024 · Budget Responsibility Bill · Hansard source

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  First, I would like to congratulate my fellow Members on their wonderful maiden speeches. My hon. Friend the Member for York Outer (Mr Charters) made remarks about budget scrutiny that I agree with. My hon. Friend the Member for Wirral West (Matthew Patrick) spoke cinematically of his peninsula and about the role of reason in political debate. My hon. Friend the Member for Kettering (Rosie Wrighting) and I seem to share a birthday week, and I very much welcome the diversity of generations we see across the Chamber. The hon. Member for Ynys Môn (Llinos Medi) spoke powerfully about her experience of homelessness; I am glad to hear such testimony in the House today. I share a predecessor with the hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mr Reynolds); he displayed an exemplary knowledge of railway bridges, and we share concerns about Sonning bridge and the congestion on it. I welcome you to your place, Madam Deputy Speaker, and thank you for calling me in this debate on budget responsibility. During the Minister’s remarks, I strained to find a joke to make about national accounts, but I deemed that it would be too much of a liability. I then considered making a joke about fiscal take, but I thought that was too taxing. I assure you, Madam Deputy Speaker, there are no more jokes about economics in my speech. Joking aside, I first became engaged in politics while studying economics 16 years ago, and I very much welcome a change in the way that we manage our economy. I am proud to stand before Members today representing my home constituency of Earley and Woodley, a new seat on the east and south of Reading. Most of the households in my constituency have never been part of a Labour seat, so for many residents I am their first Labour MP in history. I will work hard continuously to earn the trust of every one of my constituents, although it may be some time before I win over the former Member for Maidenhead, Theresa May. I want to thank four of my predecessors. My hon. Friend the Member for Reading Central (Matt Rodda) is well loved by his former constituents in my seat. His hard work, alongside the work of his predecessors and our Labour group on Reading borough council, connected the Elizabeth line to Reading. My other predecessors have retired from the House of Commons. For Theresa May, that retirement is extremely well earned. She stepped up to lead our country at a time of crisis, proving the maxim that it takes a woman to clean up the mess the men have left behind. Even at the height of her national responsibilities, she was always present and well respected in her constituency. John Redwood, the former Member for Wokingham, was a man of conviction and authenticity. I respect that very much in a politician, even though I do not share many of his convictions. Finally, Alok Sharma, the former Member for Reading West, displayed international leadership, convening crucial climate talks as the President of COP. For the first time in history, we now have three constituencies in Reading and, what is more, three Labour MPs. Earley and Woodley has become a new constituency because of the families who have chosen to settle there, moving out from central Reading, London, the rest of the UK and, indeed, the rest of the world. It is a success story for house building as well as for multiculturalism. It is a beautiful area, stretching from Sonning, on the banks of the Thames, to Shinfield, on the banks of the Loddon. In Earley, my family and I live within dog-walking distance of four lakes and woodlands. I want to ensure that future generations have access to nature and to affordable housing, because both have been under threat for too long. Sonning has a long history, featuring in the Domesday Book, but most of the area in my constituency has been built more recently. After the first world war, Reading contributed to the national campaign to house returning soldiers, by building homes in Whitley and Whitley Wood. The area is now home to Reading football club. There is high-flying history in Woodley, too, which produced aircraft during the second world war. Most of the houses in Earley, including my own, were built from the 1960s onwards. At one point in the 1980s, the area was the largest housing development in Europe. Shinfield parish, which covers Spencers Wood, Three Mile Cross and Grazely, has had the most recent developments. Alongside Shinfield Studios, the largest new film studios in the UK, we have the Shinfield Players, a community theatre. However, our constituency is not without its challenges. In many parts of the constituency, the building of infrastructure has not kept pace with the needs of residents, and we need a new Royal Berkshire hospital. We need to ensure that new investments benefit local people. We face deprivation, too, and I will support our grassroots community organisations to work alongside local authorities on regeneration. For those living in our new builds, reform of the leasehold system is much needed, and I look forward to working on all these points with our new Government. At the heart of my constituency is the University of Reading, which does world-leading research into climate science and meteorology. We are also home to the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. Now, there has been much competition in the debate this afternoon about who has the sunniest constituency. Although my constituency may not enter that competition, it surely holds the power to adjudicate the winner. The research prowess of the University of Reading, as well as the Thames valley cluster of science and technology giants, has made our area prosperous as well as diverse. We are proud of our diversity; our diversity makes us stronger. Yet there are those who seek to divide us and to weaponise our country’s problems to turn us against ourselves. It is clear that we face many problems and that the politics of the past has failed to deliver, and in conversations with residents I have heard again and again the despair that has crept into our democracy, but I fundamentally believe that our democracy is worth fighting for. I was born in 1990 in China, a country without the right to vote. Three decades later, another crackdown on democracy has led to hundreds of thousands of Hongkongers seeking refuge in the UK. It is never easy to leave your home or to move countries. I came here with my parents as a four-year-old and it took them many years to find stable work. I still remember my mother, the evening before I started secondary school, telling me, “Don’t compare yourself to the other kids. Their families have money and connections. We don’t and we don’t know anyone in this country.” As a 10-year-old, I did not know what having connections meant, but I did learn not to compare myself to the other kids, and I think that my mother’s advice has stood me in good stead. I thank my parents very much for supporting me throughout my campaign, and I feel lucky that we call Earley and Woodley our home. To all those families arriving here, wherever they are from and wherever they started off in life, I want to say that wealth or connections should not be a prerequisite for your children’s success. I am proud to be part of a Labour Government who will do our utmost to break down the barriers to opportunity. I joined the Labour party after university, because I saw opportunities drying up for my generation. I studied economics during the financial crisis and graduated during the onset of austerity. While studying my masters in economics, I realised how much economic debate had become detached from the real-world crises around us. With fellow students, I set up Rethinking Economics, a charity that campaigns for better economics education. I have spent most of my career trying to make economics and business news engaging and accessible, starting at The Economist and then spending eight years at the Financial Times, where my colleagues taught me so much and supported me so well. I will miss them, but in the words of Cynthia Freeland: “I fully understand that I am now no longer part of the pack, but part of the prey.” And so it should be in a democracy with media freedoms—although less bloodlust would be welcome across this House, I am sure. I have worked in places without media freedoms. I have interviewed labour activists, protesters and fellow journalists who gave up their own freedom for their causes. Some are still in jail today. When I stood for election, some of my friends told me I was brave, given the abuse and violence against women and girls in our society and in politics, which I have suffered and which we must address, but I think I would be lucky to have a fraction of the bravery of some of my former interviewees. Their determination makes me even more determined to defend and improve our democracy, which has to be constantly renewed through our actions. Our democracy has to be renewed through reform—through empowering our communities, widening participation in democracy and ending the corrupting influence of money in politics. Our democracy also has to be renewed through delivery—through building a fair economy that can support people. It is my greatest honour to be part of a Government that will do both.

• 25 Jul 2024 · European Political Community · Hansard source

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  6. What assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of discussions at the European Political Community.

• 25 Jul 2024 · European Political Community · Hansard source

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  Many small business owners in my constituency of Earley and Woodley have expressed to me their strong need for smoother relationships with our closest neighbours. I welcome the fact that the Prime Minister held meetings last week with the Irish Taoiseach and the French President. Can the Minister set out how he will build on those relationships to improve trade ties and to boost British businesses trading with Europe?