partytracker.uk — a sourced record of what Britain's political parties say and do, party by party, with every entry linked to a primary source

12,868 spoken contributions under 12 words (interjections such as “Will the hon. Member give way?”) are hidden. Show them

1. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Harriet Cross

   Business of the House

   The right hon. Member for Makerfield (Andy Burnham) was elected less than a month ago. He will be Prime Minister on Monday, by which time we will be on an almost 50-day recess. He will be appointing a Cabinet in that time, some of whom will not have to come to this House to answer questions until the middle of October, after the conference recess. We do not know what his plan is. He was elected leader of the Labour party without a contest, and our constituents have the right to know. The point of our motion was to give them the opportunity to know his plans for the country. Why is that too much to ask?

   Hansard source
2. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Gregory Stafford

   NHS Workforce: Sickness Absence

   4. What steps he is taking to reduce sickness absence in the NHS workforce.

   Hansard source
3. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Gregory Stafford

   NHS Workforce: Sickness Absence

   As the Health Secretary is a numbers man, perhaps he will be interested in these figures. Research from Policy Exchange shows that sickness absence in the NHS costs £6 billion and removes 8 million clinician days from the frontline. What will the Secretary of State do to get staff back to work, to get patients treated, and to get this ridiculous level of staff absence down?

   Hansard source
4. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Greg Smith

   General Practice Partnership Model

   6. What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the partnership model in general practice.

   Hansard source
5. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Greg Smith

   General Practice Partnership Model

   I am grateful to the Minister for that answer, but GP partnerships across rural areas such as mine in Mid Buckinghamshire face considerable uncertainty as the Government review the model for practice funding. Can the Minister be really clear about when the next steps review of the Carr-Hill formula will be published, and that rural areas such as Buckinghamshire that are facing incredible housing pressure from other Departments under this Government will not be disadvantaged?

   Hansard source
6. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Greg Smith

   UK-Switzerland Enhanced Free Trade Agreement

   I welcome this deal, and I agreed entirely with the Minister when he said that when it comes to trade, the primary role of Government is to pave the way for UK businesses by taking down the barriers that prevent them from exporting their goods and services around the world—if only there were not so many domestic barriers being put up that were thwarting British business. The Minister is quoted in the press as saying that the negotiations around this deal descended into “shouting…across the table”. Will he tell the House where most of the compromise fell when that shouting stopped—was it on our side of the negotiations, or the Swiss side? Will he also say more could have been in this deal after that shouting?

   Hansard source
7. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Graham Stuart

   Support for Pig Farmers

   It is a great pleasure to participate in this debate, Sir Christopher, and to have the Minister in his place. I agree with practically every word that has been said by colleagues across the House about the importance of the pig industry. It is the largest agricultural output of Yorkshire and the Humber and worth more than half a billion pounds a year, but as colleagues have set out, there has been a gradual concentration into what is now no more than about four major processors across the United Kingdom. That puts up the costs of transport. More importantly still, it means a loss of competition and the potential for that imbalance in market power to be used in a way that is counter to fairness—as the hon. Member for South West Norfolk (Terry Jermy) mentioned when talking about Labour values—and to the interests of the consumer. If there is one thing the Minister needs to do, aside from keeping our pig industry safe from biohazards, it is ensure that there is healthy competition in the market so that the consumer is well served. Earlier this afternoon, I spoke to a local Holderness pig farmer who was at the Great Yorkshire Show. She told me that she has had notice on contracts for the processing of the pigs, and she no longer has anywhere to send her pigs from 13 August. The pigs are literally going to be backing up on the farm, with nowhere to go.

   Hansard source
8. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Graham Stuart

   Support for Pig Farmers

   I have represented pig farmers in Holderness for 21 years—it has always been volatile, and the farmers accept the volatility, but never has there been quite such a concatenation of issues all at the same time, including the introduction of the regulations and the closure of abattoirs. Scotland was hit first, as my hon. Friend will know, with the closure of abattoirs there. The abattoir at Spalding has now gone. This is a very serious issue, which I hope the Minister will be able to look at. Processors are also buying out the independents. Again, looking at the raw political elements of this situation, the truth is that independents who are struggling to find anywhere to have their pigs processed become more vulnerable and can be bought out, in which case competition will be further reduced. I ask the Minister to use his good offices to get his officials to engage with major processors to ensure that no independent farmer is left unable to have their pigs processed, because that would create not only an animal welfare crisis, but a financial crisis for farmers, making them easy meat—pardon the language, Sir Christopher—for others to buy them out. This genuinely is a crisis; the danger is that one hears that word too often, but this situation absolutely is one, not only for pig farmers, who are very important to my constituency, but for consumers in the long term. I hope the Minister will take that very seriously on board and will look to intervene, to ensure that every farmer has somewhere to have their pigs processed.

   Hansard source
9. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Graham Stuart

   Support for Pig Farmers

   I congratulate the Minister on the meeting he will have tomorrow and his offer to engage. I gently press him on reaching out. He has made it clear that he does not think that the current situation matches that of 2021. I accept that, but could he reach out and use his good offices to ensure that no farmer is left with pigs backing up on their farm? Could he lean, in the most genial manner possible, on the processors to ensure that farmers get those pigs off the farm and processed? They would be very grateful if the Minister could do so.

   Hansard source
10. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Graham Stuart

    Access to NHS Dental Services

    The hon. Member for Bishop Auckland (Sam Rushworth) is right about dentistry. We have had no clarity from the Minister as to the vision for the future. What should people expect? Is it the plan that most people should go private and not be able to access NHS dentistry? When I chaired a Holderness Health meeting on Friday, the ICB told me that just 39% of people were able to access NHS dentistry within two years. That is the reality for people in rural Beverley and Holderness today. What we would like to hear from the Minister is the vision for the future. What can we expect by 2029-30? Right now, all we get is words and no real clarity.

    Hansard source
11. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Graham Stuart

    Business of the House

    This is a humiliating day for the right hon. Gentleman. Like my colleagues, I have a great deal of respect for him, yet he has been asked to give this embarrassing performance in front of the House. We are talking about the new Prime Minister of this country, who will be taking command, as colleagues have said, of all the offices of state and making appointments. Mr Speaker, you know that over those 50 days of recess, the Government will have to go ahead, and decisions will be made, and that will not be done with the respect for this House that you champion on a daily basis to a Government who refuse to listen. I reckon that the right hon. Gentleman, like you and me, knows that the new Prime Minister should be setting out his plans, precisely because Secretaries of State will not all be able to come here super quickly. The Prime Minister can, however, and he should be here on Monday to set out to my constituents the reality of what he will be doing in government. The failure to do so is an embarrassment for this Government. I am just sorry that the right hon. Gentleman, who I respect, has to carry the can and pretend that this is about some Iranian debate tomorrow, which it is not.

    Hansard source
12. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Graham Stuart

    Points of Order

    The Leader of the House, in his reply to me, suggested that I had cost my right hon. Friend the Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Wendy Morton) her job as Chief Whip when, like him, I found myself embarrassed at the Dispatch Box because I was given an instruction. In fact, it came from No. 10 and told me that I must announce that, contrary to what had been said all day, the vote was—

    Hansard source
13. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst

    Business of the House

    I am normally a temperate man, but this is a farcical situation. I have huge respect for the Leader of the House, but I suspect that he has come here with gritted teeth, because the reality is that our constituents want to hear from the new Prime Minister. In fact, the Leader of the House has given a compelling reason for Parliament to sit for a further day next week. If the situation in the middle east is as precarious as he suggests, and if there are challenges facing our country, for us to have a Prime Minister who was elected not by the majority of this country but by one constituency, on a mandate that he has not set out, and through a leadership contest that has had no scrutiny whatsoever, is an affront to democracy.

    Hansard source
14. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Dr Luke Evans

    General Practice Partnership Model

    The previous Health Secretary told The Times before the election: “I’m minded to phase out the whole system of GP partners altogether and to look at salaried GPs working in modern practices alongside a range of other professionals.” He later clarified, saying he would “sort of” phase it out over time. He has now gone, but is that perspective shared by the new Health Secretary?

    Hansard source
15. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Dr Luke Evans

    General Practice Partnership Model

    I am very grateful to you, Mr Speaker, for giving the time. I thank the Minister for his answer, but he did not quite clarify the position. I have asked him this question before, in a Westminster Hall debate. He said: “I do not think it is right to say that there are any specific plans to change the partnership model, but we recognise that there are a number of other ways, and we will always keep the way in which the contract is delivered under review.”—[Official Report, 25 June 2025; Vol. 769, c. 293WH.] Given the profession is looking at balloting for a plan B for general practice akin to NHS dentistry, will the Minister clarify whether this model is under consideration by the Government?

    Hansard source
16. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Dr Luke Evans

    Business of the House

    On Tuesday 24 March 2026, the Leader of the House tabled a statement by the Chancellor on a Conservative Opposition day. So it does happen: he has done it himself. More to the point, however, I have always held him in high esteem for representing both sides of the House, and he has made it incredibly clear that this Iranian debate is super-important. Will he therefore undertake to write to the right hon. Member for Makerfield (Andy Burnham) to ask him to come to the House and take part in that debate, so that at least the country has a hint of an understanding of the momentous and important discussion that is to take place tomorrow?

    Hansard source
17. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Dr Kieran Mullan

    Coastal Communities: Isolation and Hidden Deprivation

    I thank the hon. Member for Isle of Wight West (Richard Quigley) for throwing the spotlight on the challenges that many of our communities face. More than 20% of Bexhill’s neighbourhoods are among the most deprived in England. Many of the speeches this morning have focused on what central Government can do, but I will use this opportunity to recognise and thank the organisations that do amazing work in my community to tackle the challenges we face, right here, right now. For example, funded by the previous Government’s levelling-up fund, Heart of Sidley has shown what can be achieved through years of grassroots work, local partnership and community leadership, developing a vision for a brand new community hub at the heart of Sidley. I thank Tanya and her team, the chair, Jay Carroll, and all the volunteers involved in that project. The Pelham is helping to tackle the causes and consequences of social isolation and poor mental and physical health through youth work, counselling and volunteering. It is also home to the suicide prevention-focused running group RunningSpace, founded by Jacky Youldon, who has direct experience of how exercise helped her. The Bexhill Family Collective provides a local nursery service, Dragonflies, as well as a community pantry, and outdoor learning and gardening activities for families. Bexhill Caring Community has for decades provided affordable and vital support to older, housebound and lonely residents. Freedom Church in Sidley provides a community marketplace, which redistributes food that would otherwise go to waste to households that are struggling. Many others, including Bexhill Foodbank Advice Service, Warming Up The Homeless, and Bexhill and Rother Homelessness Unity Group, are all doing their best to tackle the challenges in the community, and they provide hope, advice and support to so many people. The Government have a role and I echo the comments of the hon. Member for Isle of Wight West about the funding formula and the challenges it has created. Of course, as a coastal community with a lot of hospitality businesses, the damaging jobs tax and the increase in business rates have made things difficult. However, in Bexhill we are looking ahead to our £20 million town deal, which was awarded by the previous Government. I know that residents are excited about what we can achieve with that money, because Bexhill, at its heart, is a community of positive people who want to get things done and want to improve their lot in life. We will do everything we can with that money to support them in doing so.

    Hansard source
18. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Dr Kieran Mullan

    Coastal Communities: Isolation and Hidden Deprivation

    That is fantastic rhetoric, but the reality of the funding formula is that it does exactly that—it creates hierarchies, inefficiencies and unfairness in the funding. Given that so many Members have raised it in the debate, will the Minister pledge to look again at the funding formula and how it negatively impacts on so many of our communities?

    Hansard source
19. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Dr Kieran Mullan

    Public Office (Accountability) Bill

    Let me begin, as I have throughout the passage of this Bill, by placing at the forefront my admiration for the campaigners—the families and friends of the 97 who lost their lives in the Hillsborough tragedy. On 15 April 1989 their lives were changed forever. Nothing could be done to bring back their loved ones after they were gone. Anyone who has lost someone close to them suddenly like that knows the experience of their world changing in an instant, when at one point the person they care deeply about is there, and suddenly, in the next moment, they are not. Afterwards, everything—everything else—is different. While those deaths could not be undone, what could have changed and what could have been different was the truth about what happened to their loved ones being told to them, and it was not—not just as an act of omission, but as part of a deliberate cover-up by the police and others to protect themselves from the consequences of their failings. What might have been solely a tragic experience of grief that would of course never leave them, with a gap in their lives where their loved ones were supposed to be, was in addition turned into decades of torment as they fought so hard for that truth that was kept from them. The Bill is born of that fight and of that torment, and it is a tribute to their determination. That is why, when I faced the Prime Minister across the Dispatch Box eight months ago, I made clear the good-faith desire of the Opposition to engage constructively with the Government on this Bill. I have sought to live up to that throughout its passage, not just for the Hillsborough families, but for the many others let down by the state and its institutions—the postmasters, the infected blood scandal victims, and those lost in the Grenfell Tower fire and other tragedies and scandals, as Members across the House have highlighted throughout the passage of this Bill. I feel still the keen interest of the families as we reach Third Reading, but it is our job—mine, the Opposition’s and all MPs’—to both hold in one hand, sincerely and clearly, the experiences of all those people who have suffered so greatly and, on the other, our duty and responsibility to legislate carefully and in a considered way. I am deeply disappointed that this Prime Minister and this Government have made that task much, much more difficult than it needed to be. [Interruption.] I would challenge any MP—[Interruption.] Any MP, no matter—[Interruption.] I would challenge—

    Hansard source
20. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Dr Kieran Mullan

    Public Office (Accountability) Bill

    No. I would challenge any MP— [Interruption.] Not yet, not yet. No matter how supportive of this legislation, with far-reaching—[Hon. Members: “Give way!”] No, I will finish this moment. With far-reaching consequences—[Interruption.]

    Hansard source
21. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Dr Kieran Mullan

    Public Office (Accountability) Bill

    I would challenge any MP, no matter how supportive of this legislation—which has such far-reaching consequences for the operation of the Government—to say that its progress, particularly over the last 24 hours, is anything like careful and considered.

    Hansard source
22. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Dr Kieran Mullan

    Public Office (Accountability) Bill

    If the Prime Minister wanted to truly live up to that promise, he would not have introduced legislation with less than 24 hours’ notice on an issue of national security. As the House has alluded to, I would have wanted the opportunity to make this moment a purely positive one, but I am afraid that the Prime Minister has made it impossible for me to fulfil my duties to the House. To give less than 24 hours’ notice for consideration of a Bill before its Third Reading is simply unacceptable. The House, those families, this Bill deserve greater respect than that. There is simply no excuse for the series of mistakes made by the Prime Minister’s Government that have led us here—led us to a place where those of us who engaged in good faith, as I did, cannot possibly be expected to have any trust left on a Bill that has trust at its heart. The Prime Minister announced this Bill at his party conference in 2024. The media were briefed and told that the Bill and how it would operate had the full support of campaigning families and their legal advisers. They were so supportive, in fact, that they had released statements to that effect—and we now know that that was not true: they had already explained their misgivings. Then, after the introduction of the Bill, a Minister told me directly that the families were entirely happy with how the Bill was being legislated. And that also was not true.

    Hansard source
23. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Dr Kieran Mullan

    Public Office (Accountability) Bill

    I thank the right hon. Lady for raising that point. It was on that basis that I sought sincerely to engage properly with the Bill, and the Ministers and officials who met me repeatedly would be able to attest to that. That cannot be sustained when a Government bring forward legislation with 24 hours’ notice of important matters of national security. The Government say that they have now resolved the central tension that led to the Bill being pulled. After months of negotiations, the central claim made by their Ministers that it needed particular safeguards for the agencies working in national security has now disappeared—apparently no longer needed. A Government who have wilfully misled us repeatedly on this Bill now want us to set aside—[Interruption.]

    Hansard source
24. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Dr Kieran Mullan

    Public Office (Accountability) Bill

    A Government who have, inadvertently, repeatedly misled us on this Bill now want us to take them on trust. I heard personally and directly from Ministers and officials repeatedly that independent safeguards were needed, and now, apparently, they are not. Supposedly, over the weekend, those concerns have evaporated, and that is totally unacceptable. We are suddenly setting aside in a matter of days what the security services have told us for 18 months, in consistent, sober, professional warnings, which coincides perfectly with the Prime Minister coming here to give his final speech on this matter. Are we really going to suggest that that genuine professional opinion has changed overnight? I do not think that it has.

    Hansard source
25. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Dr Kieran Mullan

    Public Office (Accountability) Bill

    If the Government were so concerned about this Bill passing, they should have organised it. We have just listened to a raft of amendments to the Bill being nodded through in this House, with absolutely no scrutiny. [Interruption.]

    Hansard source
26. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Dr Kieran Mullan

    Public Office (Accountability) Bill

    As I have said, this could have been a Bill that we supported without reservation, but I am afraid that we maintain reservations about it, entirely as a result of its mismanagement by the Prime Minister. I want to conclude by saying that none of this takes anything at all away from the families. [Interruption.] Labour Members do not want to hear this. It does not take anything away from the Members who have done so much to bring this legislation forward, but what is clear is that the Bill is the legacy of the campaigners and MPs—nobody else is responsible for our being here. I welcome their campaigning over many years and thank them for it.

    Hansard source
27. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Dr Caroline Johnson

    Health Inequalities: Staffordshire

    One measure that can be helpful in tackling inequalities across the country is independent feedback. Currently, Healthwatch collects independent feedback right across the country. Does the Minister agree with this Government’s plans to abolish Healthwatch, or does she share the concerns of the right hon. Member for Makerfield (Andy Burnham) that it will reduce the independent voice?

    Hansard source
28. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Dr Caroline Johnson

    Health Inequalities: Staffordshire

    I am not sure that it is just Opposition Members who are saying this. In Staffordshire and right across the country, more doctors can help to reduce inequalities, and many Labour Members, from the Cabinet to Back Benchers, promised that this Government would double the number of medical school places. The former Secretary of State and the current Minister for Care repeated that promise at the Dispatch Box. We were then told in a ministerial correction that the Government had never committed to doubling the number of medical school places. How can this be accurate? Is it Government policy to double the number of medical school places, or is this a promise that they intend to break?

    Hansard source
29. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Dr Andrew Murrison

    Business of the House

    The middle east has been in a state of rolling crisis for months and months, yet the Leader of the House comes to this place and says that things have got so bad that we need to do this extraordinary thing—which is unprecedented in my 25 years in the House—in order to discuss it. This is from a Government who have a marginal impact on the conduct of affairs in the middle east. Will the Leader of the House commit to a very low bar for a recall of this House over the summer recess to discuss the middle east? What he is saying is that there is such a low bar, and that if anything happens in the middle east beyond background, we need to come back to this place to debate the matter.

    Hansard source
30. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Dr Andrew Murrison

    UK-Switzerland Enhanced Free Trade Agreement

    Obviously I welcome this deal, but the Minister recently told CNBC’s Ritika Gupta that he believed that this country’s “historic destiny” was to rejoin the European Union. Last December, the Deputy Prime Minister said that we should rejoin the customs union. Do either of those things represent Government policy?

    Hansard source
31. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·David Reed

    Topical Questions

    Air ambulance charities like Devon Air Ambulance are vital to easing pressure on ambulance trusts and A&E, yet they receive no direct Government funding and rely almost entirely on public donations. Their operational costs are rising—fuel duty alone adds over £200,000 a year to what they will now need to find. Does the Minister agree that services delivering NHS-level care should not depend on public generosity to survive, and will he commit to assessing how to support their continued sustainability?

    Hansard source
32. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Dame Karen Bradley

    Business of the House

    The Leader of the House knows that I have enormous respect for him, and I am sure that this is quite a difficult statement for him to make, particularly as the right hon. Member for Makerfield will face unfavourable comparisons with Boris Johnson, who did come to this House and make a statement before the summer recess. However, can I change the subject? We are expecting a statement on local government reorganisation on Thursday. Now that tomorrow is not an Opposition day, could the Leader of the House find a way for that statement to be made tomorrow, rather than on Thursday?

    Hansard source
33. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Caroline Nokes

    Public Office (Accountability) Bill

    Order. I think that the shadow Minister needs to be very careful in his use of language.

    Hansard source
34. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Caroline Nokes

    Public Office (Accountability) Bill

    Order. I will hear the shadow Minister. I appreciate that temperatures are running very high, but it is important that voices are heard in this House.

    Hansard source
35. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Caroline Nokes

    Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill

    I can inform the House that nothing in the Lords amendments engages Commons financial privilege.

    Hansard source
36. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Caroline Nokes

    Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill

    With this it will be convenient to discuss Lords amendments 2 to 18.

    Hansard source
37. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Caroline Nokes

    Future of Thames Water

    Order. The hon. Gentleman should be aware that interventions should be short, spontaneous and perhaps not pre-typed and three pages long.

    Hansard source
38. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Caroline Nokes

    Future of Thames Water

    Order. The hon. Gentleman means to say, “the former Secretary of State for DEFRA, the right hon. Member for Streatham and Croydon North (Steve Reed).”

    Hansard source
39. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Aphra Brandreth

    Support for Pig Farmers

    The hon. Member is making a really important point about the need for consumers to be clear about where their food is produced and reared. I draw his attention to my private Member’s Bill on that very topic. I hope that he and others across the House will support it.

    Hansard source
40. 14 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Aphra Brandreth

    Support for Pig Farmers

    It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Christopher, and I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Gordon and Buchan (Harriet Cross) on securing this debate. The financial pressures facing pig farmers—indeed, farmers in every sector of our rural economy—are serious. Independent producers have seen prices collapse and contracts withdrawn, and it is important that we take time to recognise those challenges. I will focus on something that is fundamental to the future of the pig industry and indeed to the health of our nation: biosecurity. Last month I asked DEFRA whether it had met the National Pig Association since the last recorded meeting, more than nine months ago, the response confirmed that Ministers have not met the NPA directly for a bilateral meeting. Perhaps if they had, they would be more aware of the NPA’s stark warning that the UK remains poorly protected when it comes to biosecurity. An outbreak of disease here would devastate British agriculture and our supply chains, impacting the taxpayer to the tune of billions of pounds. We must learn from the past. The 2001 foot and mouth outbreak cost the public and private sectors the equivalent of almost £15 billion in today’s money. An outbreak of African swine fever would immediately close export markets worth around £500 million each year. Yet despite those risks, the NPA warns that large volumes of illegally imported meat continue to enter the UK from countries where those diseases are present. I hope that the Minister recognises the severity and urgency of this matter. I urge him to set out what steps the Department is taking to ensure that staff at borders and checkpoints are appropriately resourced and trained to manage the risk of imports, and how DEFRA Ministers are working with colleagues from across Government, including the Home Office and the Cabinet Office, to ensure a cohesive and joined-up approach. As the Government negotiate a new sanitary and phytosanitary agreement with the European Union, we need reassurances from the Minister that the Government will not cave in any way on our world-leading biosecurity standards in an attempt to placate and pacify the EU. Reduced border checks under any future SPS agreement could undermine our market and increase the risk of animal diseases entering the UK. Does the Minister recognise that risk? Would he consider providing multi-year funding for the Dover Port Health Authority and other agencies that protect our borders, to strengthen enforcement and deter criminal activity? British pig farmers have shown real leadership: they have reduced antibiotic use by almost 70%, invested in higher welfare standards and continually improved animal health. They are doing their part. DEFRA must now step up, match their commitment to our food security and wellbeing, and act accordingly.

    Hansard source