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1. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Mims Davies

   Cross-border Healthcare

   May I take a moment to say how pleased and honoured I am to respond to this important debate—we have heard why it is important—on behalf of His Majesty’s loyal Opposition, as the shadow Secretary of State for Wales? It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. I sincerely thank the hon. Member for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe (David Chadwick) for securing this incredibly timely debate examining cross-border health services, constituents’ experiences of them and the wider challenges across the health service in Wales and Scotland. Some formal points have been put on the record about Wales in particular. There have been passionate and concerned approaches from Members this afternoon, particularly the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr (Steve Witherden). Today, the Chamber has heard pertinent and passionate contributions from across the political divide regarding disappointing healthcare affecting people, despite the best efforts of staff members, as has been drawn out in the comments today. These first-class, dedicated and hard-working teams are in essence grappling with the challenges of devolution. My hon. Friend the Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (John Lamont) rightly highlighted that before devolution, services were connected to people’s communities, places of convenience or connection and shorter car journeys. It led to services that actually worked for them, and that matters. The challenges of the reality facing our constituents and those we care for have been highlighted in today’s debate. The hon. Member for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe rightly mentioned the ridiculousness of “too quickly” and how some constituents looking for hospital care were asked to give slower responses. How on earth can someone receive that message and be able to manage it? That affects not only the staff on the ground. Lack of access and issues around medical records were raised today. The hon. Member for North Northumberland (David Smith) rightly talked about joined-up thinking. It is not clear where people will be sent and referred to, whether in Scotland or around the English border. We need a British healthcare system that works in the situations that people or their loved ones may find themselves in. Staff on the ground are putting in their very best efforts. It is simply not good enough to be still looking at this issue. Since taking up this role, one of the things that has been front and centre when meeting and listening to people is their experiences across the NHS in Wales as a whole: how they worry about their families and their care, the disjointed nature of the process and, frankly, what feels like a lack of interest and joined-up approach from Ministers. I ask that the Secretary of State for Wales takes note of what is said in this Chamber this afternoon—and indeed the Secretary of State for Scotland. Similarly, I hope that the Minister for Care, the hon. Member for Aberafan Maesteg (Stephen Kinnock) will take a similar interest, given that it is the Welsh NHS that delivers for his constituents. We know too many people, whether our family or friends, who are waiting in pain and in vain. Given the changes in the NHS in England, they want this Government to be interested in what happens in Wales and Scotland, and that they are using the fabled two Governments. I know the need for this debate, which in parts has been strident. We are here to make sure that this challenge is taken up and pursued in the places where it exists, by both Labour Governments in Cardiff Bay and in Westminster. Since I have taken on this role, I have continually pointed out that since 1999—yes, since Tony Blair was Prime Minister—the Labour Welsh Government have controlled the health service in Wales. Despite some pleasant colleagues from Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats, it is important to remember that parties there have been backing the Labour Government in Wales, and there has been far too little change. I was particularly pleased to hear the hon. Member for Ynys Môn (Llinos Medi) taking the opportunity, rightly, to point out that for her constituents, change needs to happen. The people of Wales and those using cross-border health services will not accept it if this debate does not lead to change. The answer is simple. People should not be holding their breath to see a change in their experiences; they should be seeing different outcomes. The Conservatives tried to take up this task, but as we heard today, the challenge around devolution has left it in a difficult state. During the last Parliament, the then Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, my right hon. Friend the Member for North East Cambridgeshire (Steve Barclay), reached out to the Health Minister in Wales—the now First Minister, Baroness Eluned Morgan —recognising the disparities. He asked that they bring officials together—as has been asked for again today—to see how all our UK nations could work together to reduce NHS waiting lists and support the people of Wales. It was bitterly disappointing to see that opportunity to engage not taken up. It was a vital and genuine offer, based on all the reasons that we have heard in the Chamber this afternoon. I would love to hear the Minister tell the House whether that decision is regretful. It seems short-sighted, especially given the ongoing messages in today’s debate. Can the Minister reveal whether she would like to do the same thing and reach out and offer to assist Welsh Government Ministers, as my party did? We would all be assured by that, and we would all assist in any way to make this change. We also committed in last year’s general election to accelerate investment into new hospitals in Llandrindod Wells, Flint and Newtown to improve cross-border services. Can the Minister commit to an update on that, as it will make a real difference in people’s lives? I was fascinated to hear from the hon. Member for South Antrim (Robin Swann), that where technology, co-operation and partnership is focused, it can change lives. That is the outcome we are looking for here. Despite the feeling that this issue is about funding, it feels more about delivering and making sure that cross-border services work, no matter what party someone belongs to or what part of the country they live in. Wales desperately needs more nurses and doctors, not more politicians in Cardiff Bay. My colleagues, the Welsh Conservatives, led a debate on this topic in July, making it clear that they felt some of the funding could and should have been redirected at cross-border waiting times. I will conclude by asking the Minister—given the cross-border experiences discussed and what hon. Members have pleaded for on behalf of their constituents—whether she will work with the Wales Office to deliver an inquiry into the preventable deaths, particularly those under the Betsi Cadwaladr university health board. David Jones from Flintshire and many others want that inquiry to be delivered under the Inquiries Act 2005. I look forward to hearing from the Minister on how, by delivering on our commitment and listening to what has been said in this debate, she can take forward people’s experiences so that they are at the heart of what Parliament discussed this afternoon, and real change can be delivered.

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2. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Matt Vickers

   Supporting High Streets

   I thank the shadow Business and Trade Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for Arundel and South Downs (Andrew Griffith), for ably setting out the Conservative case for restoring our high streets, and the costs and consequences of the Government’s decisions. As a former Woolies worker, and having chaired the all-party parliamentary group on the future of retail, I am particularly passionate about our high streets and their role as the lifeblood of our local communities. We have heard brilliant examples from right hon. and hon. Members of fantastic high-street businesses in their communities. Few will be as incredible as those in Yarm, Stockton and Thornaby, but valid points were made. We heard about the huge threat to the full English in greasy spoon cafés across the country, but price rises for mushrooms, tomatoes and bacon pale into significance when compared with Labour’s slashing of small business rates relief, its job tax and its unemployment rights Bill. From Bognor Regis to Windsor, and from Doncaster to Crewe, we see the butcher’s, the baker’s and—less frequently—the candlestick maker’s. Our high streets apparently offer everything, from wigs to corned beef and spam, and Members are rightly clearly proud of them. One of the messages we have heard today is, “Shop local and support local small businesses,” but another message was heard loud and clear. It probably came from Members on both sides of the Chamber. It is a message that is familiar to any Member who engages with local small businesses: our high streets face an existential threat, and the problem is compounded by the choices of this Government. We are a nation of shopkeepers.

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3. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Matt Vickers

   Supporting High Streets

   It is a clear message: “Stop scrolling through Amazon, and go buy local—it’ll benefit your local economy greatly.” High streets define places. Their success allows us to feel pride in our towns. They are a place where people come together. They help us to tackle social isolation, and they are often the place where people get their first job, and their last. The retail, hospitality and leisure sector employs 5.8 million people, and generates billions of pounds for our economy.

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4. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Matt Vickers

   Supporting High Streets

   My hon. Friend the Member for Arundel and South Downs made a very good point: we do not support workers by bankrupting their employer. In the nine months before this Government took office, 22,000 jobs were created in the hospitality sector, and in the nine months since the last Budget, 100,000 people lost their job—their ability to provide for their family, and to live out their aspirations and dreams. That is a disgrace. The sector is also the natural home of social mobility. It allows people to climb and achieve incredible things. There are so many stories of people who started by stacking shelves and serving coffee, and who went on to reach the boardroom. Without doubt, our high streets are really struggling. The truth is that they were battered by the Chancellor’s Budget last autumn—a £25 billion tax bombshell on British businesses and jobs, as a result of measures including the jobs tax and the slashing of small business rates relief. Conservative Members understand that businesses need to be supported, not tied up in red tape and taxed into extinction. If this Labour Government do not change course, we risk making our high streets unrecognisable and unrecoverable. The problems are clear for all to see: higher taxes, punitive business rates, soaring energy costs, rising crime and more red tape and paperwork for employers. The Government must take urgent action to fix that.

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5. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Matt Vickers

   Supporting High Streets

   Basically, Labour’s trade union paymasters seem to have written a large part of the Bill. In fact, we found a really rare thing today: one employer on the face of the earth who apparently supports the Bill was mentioned earlier, but of course, they were not British. In my constituency in Stockton, almost every time I visit a small business owner, they tell me the same story: since the Chancellor’s Budget, they have had to let staff go or reduce their hours; they have had to put up prices, and some are now considering whether there is any future at all for their business. As the chief exec of UKHospitality has said, pubs, bars and restaurants are already closing earlier because of the jobs tax, and more than 200 leading hospitality businesses have written to the Chancellor to warn that her decisions will force companies to cut jobs and reconsider investment. Too many businesses are closing. Too many jobs are being lost. Boarded-up high streets will eat away at the pride people can have in their communities and town centres. Throughout today’s debate, we have heard Labour MP after Labour MP—soon, I am sure, to be followed by the Minister—talk about the virtues of their Government’s policies. I have to ask them, have they seriously had a conversation with the small businesses on their local high street about the challenges they face? We are now just a couple of weeks away from the Chancellor’s next Budget. She has the opportunity to change course, yet this morning we heard the same old story, with the Chancellor laying the groundwork for more tax rises—another nail in the coffin of our high streets, alongside people and businesses across the country. But we on the Conservative Benches have a clear plan for stronger high streets. First, we would abolish business rates for thousands of retail, hospitality and leisure businesses. That would benefit a quarter of a million businesses—savings that would not only help them thrive, but could be reinvested in better premises, low prices, and more jobs. It would lift thousands of businesses out of business rates all together.

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6. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Matt Vickers

   Supporting High Streets

   They need to go back on YouTube—we’ll encourage a bit of online interaction—and listen to that fantastic speech from the Leader of the Opposition about the £47 billion of savings that can be made, that will be supported by the public, and that can help us balance the books and save high street businesses. Another issue facing businesses that has been highlighted by many hon. Members is the impact of energy bills. Britain has the highest electricity prices in the world. It does not have to be this way. The situation is making our high street businesses less competitive and stifling economic growth. That is why we would axe the carbon tax and scrap net zero subsidies to reduce the cost of electricity. That would of course benefit consumers, but also businesses; the average restaurant would save £5,100 a year. The third point in relation to our plan for stronger high streets is stronger policing. Under this Labour Government, crime is on the rise in high streets across the country, eroding community trust and public safety. It is having a huge impact on our high streets. Indeed, just a few weeks ago I met Costa Coffee, a well-known high street chain. Despite its huge resources, its representatives told me that they face constant thefts, and even ram-raids to steal sandwiches and drinks—an unbelievable situation. Even Greggs—one of the nation’s favourites, and mine—has had to start locking up its sandwiches, soft drinks and sausages rolls in some locations, because of prolific shoplifting. In fact, shoplifting has risen by 20% in this Labour Government’s first year in office. That is the highest figure since modern records began, but it is no surprise because police numbers are falling. There are 1,316 fewer police officers since this Labour Government came to power. As part of our plan, we will hire 10,000 extra police officers backed by £800 million in funding. We will end Labour’s early release scheme to keep criminals behind bars, introduce intense police hotspot patrolling in areas to cover serious violent crime and robbery, and treble stop and search to take knives and weapons off our streets. We will also redirect resources to catch real criminals, abolishing non-crime hate incidents so that police can spend 60,000 more hours policing our streets and not our tweets.

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7. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Matt Vickers

   Supporting High Streets

   That is a complete and utter myth. The hon. Gentleman will be able to check the Government facts and stats that will confirm that 90% of all cases of people charged with shop theft related to goods under £200—would he believe it? Indeed, I have a question for him and I will let him answer: could he name a single police force in the country that had a policy of not actioning thefts of under £200?

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8. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Matt Vickers

   Supporting High Streets

   Not a single police force in the country had that policy, and 90% of all cases with charges for shop theft involved goods under the value of £200. That is a fact, and what the hon. Gentleman says is a myth. At the heart of our high streets lies entrepreneurship—those incredible people who get up early, take the risks and build something. They create jobs, wealth and opportunity. This Labour Government have spent the last year making it harder to start a business. That means that now just one in four young people who want to start a business do so, as highlighted by the Federation of Small Businesses. We need to cut red tape so that our businesses can breathe again. We need to make it easier for entrepreneurs to open a bank account and engage with HMRC, and we need to expand business coaching in schools. It is no surprise that those on the Government Benches just do not get it; just one member of the Cabinet has started their own business, and less than half of them have ever worked in the private sector. Let me conclude with this point. The high street is suffering. As a result, people who have invested their lives in creating businesses are suffering, those youngsters who might have been able to get their first job on the high street are suffering, and those older people who felt pride in their town for years and decades are now watching as shops are boarded up and they are suffering too. Analysis of insolvency notices has revealed that businesses are closing at the fastest rate since the world economic crash, and as a result 17% more people are without a job. Tonight is a chance to join the Conservatives in backing the people who work hard and do the right thing. Any Member of this House who wants to support our high streets, the entrepreneurs who work hard and do the right thing, and more job opportunities for people—young and old—and any Member who wants to ensure that people can continue to have pride in their town centres should support the motion and our plan for stronger high streets. I commend the motion to the House.

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9. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Mark Pritchard

   Topical Questions

   Since the Chancellor delivered her speech this morning, the FTSE 100 has dropped by over £22 billion—the real £22 billion rather than the fantasy £22 billion black hole. What can the Chancellor say right now to steady the markets so that all our constituents’ pensions are protected?

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10. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Mark Pritchard

    Supporting High Streets

    My hon. Friend will know that cafés, including small cafés, play an important part on the high street and bring people to it. Is he aware that under this Government, mushrooms are up, bacon is up, eggs are up, sausages are up, bread is up, tea is up and milk is up? Therein is a threat to the full English breakfast. This Government might be forgiven for many things, but taking away the full English breakfast from the high street is not one of them.

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11. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Mark Pritchard

    Supporting High Streets

    I know that, as a London MP, the Minister spends a lot of time reading the Shropshire Star, so I am sure she will be aware of its recent report that, year on year, there has been a 15.5% increase in businesses in severe distress; across the west midlands, year on year, the figure is 11.9%. Does the Minister not finally get that raising taxes does not grow the economy?

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12. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Mark Garnier

    Banking Services: Rural Areas

    In this month of blaming everyone else for every woe that befalls the Government and using it as an excuse to bust manifesto pledges left, right and centre, it seems that the Government are claiming credit for more banking hubs, but we all know that the rolling out of banking hubs is a purely commercial decision by the banks. It is the banks that are choosing to do this, to serve their customers. Is it now the Government’s policy to blame everyone else for their own incompetences, and to claim credit for everyone else’s good ideas?

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13. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Lewis Cocking

    Topical Questions

    T8. In a new poll, FairFuelUK has found that three out of four road users who voted Labour want fuel duty to be kept frozen or reduced. Will the Chancellor listen to the people who put her into Government and ensure that that regressive tax, which hits low-income families and economic growth the hardest, is not increased?

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14. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·John Lamont

    Cross-border Healthcare

    It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Dowd. I congratulate the hon. Member for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe (David Chadwick) on securing the debate. I am going to give a Scottish perspective, similar to that of the hon. Member for North Northumberland (David Smith) but from the Scottish side of the border. My constituency runs along the border between Scotland and England, touching both northern English counties of Northumberland and Cumbria. To the east of my constituency, many of the people living in the southern Berwickshire towns and villages of Eyemouth, Hutton, Paxton, Burnmouth, Chirnside, Foulden and Lamberton look to Berwick-upon-Tweed as their economic centre for shopping, work and other services—I am pleased that the hon. Member for North Northumberland is taking part in the debate. To the far south of my constituency, residents of Newcastleton and Hermitage are drawn to Carlisle—similarly, I am pleased to see the hon. Member for Carlisle (Ms Minns) in her place. For generations before devolution, and certainly long before the SNP took control of the Scottish Government, patients from those areas were able to obtain NHS treatment in Northumberland and Cumbria without any difficulty—not because it was necessarily any better or different, but because it was more convenient. It was a reflection of the transport links that cross the border between those communities: the bus links, shorter car journeys and community ties. The border between Scotland and England is, for those communities, simply a line on the map. This is absolutely not a criticism of the quality of care provided by NHS Borders—quite the opposite. We have first-class NHS provision at Borders general hospital and across the Scottish Borders, provided by hard-working and dedicated health professionals, to whom I pay tribute. It is not about tearing up the devolution settlement. The NHS in the Borders is absolutely the responsibility of the Scottish Government, and no one is suggesting a retreat from the Scotland Act 1998 or taking powers away from the Scottish Parliament. But it is about recognising the day-to-day challenges that people face in terms of public transport links and fitting medical appointments around work and family life. It is also about highlighting the fact that since the SNP came to power in Holyrood, the real-life experience of many people in the Borders is that the option of cross-border healthcare has been diminished. It is about reaffirming that we are still part of one United Kingdom, and that the NHS is rightly an institution that we should be able to use regardless of which side of the border we live on. The easiest way to describe the challenges that people face in my constituency is to share some of the stories that have been told to me in recent weeks. Margaret Merry said: “I live in Eyemouth. Once I had to take a full day off work and 4 buses to travel to the Borders General Hospital for an x-ray, when I was working in Berwick, a 5 minute walk from where I could have had it done and only taken maybe 15 minutes out of my working day. It is ridiculous.” Pauline Hutton said: “I am currently under the care of BGH for cancer treatment and have to travel from Ladykirk to BGH daily for chemo. The treatment is excellent and I can’t praise the staff enough…but a simple thing like giving a blood sample means a 40 mile journey as I can’t give blood at our local surgery in Norham (1/2 mile away) because it’s in England and Borders General Hospital can’t access my results cross border. In this day of technology I can’t fathom out why medical records are all computerised yet one NHS trust can’t have access to patients medical records from another trust.” Dennis McKeen said: “Some patients in Newcastleton would also prefer to go to Carlisle rather than a 90 mile plus round trip to the Borders General Hospital...it’s ridiculous”. Brenda Walker said: “I am currently travelling from the east coast 3 times per week for dialysis at Borders General Hospital thanks to their transport system getting picked up at 6.40 am. The nurses do a brilliant job looking after us”. Trixie Collin said: “Currently I live in Scotland but was told that if I moved to England I would no longer be able to be seen by the consultant at Western General who had been treating me for 10 years.” The Brucegate dental practice in Berwick-upon-Tweed said: “As a healthcare provider in England it’s a daily problem on both sides of the border. I get rejections of referrals from both England and Scotland based on postcodes. Thanks for standing up for common sense.” Kirsty Jamieson from Berwick-upon-Tweed said: “We campaigned hard for reciprocal care between people living in the Borders and North Northumberland, during the 2018 A Better Hospital for Berwick campaign. No joined up thinking whatsoever.” Lastly, Kate Tulloch highlighted the fact that this is not just a Scotland-England problem. Kate lives in Cockburnspath, which is Berwickshire in Scotland. Her GP is in Dunbar, which is also in Scotland, but Kate cannot get NHS Borders results because the two health boards, despite both being in Scotland, do not communicate. So this is not just a cross-border issue for Scotland and England; it is an issue of different health boards in Scotland not communicating properly. All these stories clearly demonstrate the difficulties that my constituents face in accessing treatment across the border. I appreciate that this is not the Minister’s direct responsibility, but I would be grateful if she could relay my asks to her colleagues. First, will the Minister meet me to discuss how we can address the challenges that some of my constituents face when it comes to cross-border healthcare? Secondly, does the Minister recognise that we need to find a solution, and can she commit to working with the Scottish Government to overcome the perceived challenges that they are putting in place? This is not just about extra money or funding; it is about putting in place common-sense solutions. NHS Northumberland has indicated that it is more than willing to accept patients from the Scottish Borders and other parts of Scotland, and NHS Cumbria has indicated similarly and is, I think, currently doing that for some patients. We must break through the ideological barrier that many of us believe the Scottish National party Government have put in place to stop what has happened for many years—people accessing NHS treatment on either side of the border.

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15. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·John Glen

    Financial Inclusion Strategy

    When I was Economic Secretary, against the advice of officials I advanced something called the no interest loan scheme. I am given to believe that one of the Minister’s two predecessors since the general election may have suspended that valuable attempt to support the most vulnerable in society. Will she look at that again in advance of the Budget in three weeks? There really was wide cross-party support for it.

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16. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·John Glen

    Supporting High Streets

    When I visited Salisbury chamber of commerce on Friday, it gave me the example of a single mother doing 30 hours a week on the national living wage. As a result of the combination of the increase in the national living wage, the threshold changes and the rate changes on national insurance, that individual costs a business 11% more than they did last year. As a consequence, they cannot take on anyone else. What does my hon. Friend think about the impact that has on the economy?

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17. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Joe Robertson

    Employer National Insurance Contributions: Business Impact

    16. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the increase in employer national insurance contributions on levels of employment.

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18. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Joe Robertson

    Employer National Insurance Contributions: Business Impact

    According to the British Retail Consortium, the Chancellor’s last Budget caused a £7 billion cost to retail, leading to shop closures, declining high streets and job losses. If the Chancellor will not acknowledge the damage she has caused, how will she go about rectifying it? Can I recommend that she starts with the 100% business rate relief put forward by the shadow Chancellor?

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19. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Joe Robertson

    Supporting High Streets

    My hon. Friend is speaking eloquently about pubs. Does she agree that one of the best ways to support pubs is to give them a fair excise regime, and that that falls on the Government?

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20. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Joe Robertson

    Supporting High Streets

    The British Retail Consortium has warned that £7 billion of costs have been put on to businesses because of national insurance contributions levied by this Government, and the Chancellor’s attitude was to say, “Well, the NHS is working.” Does she really think that the hospital budget should rest on the entrepreneurs in our constituencies?

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21. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Jerome Mayhew

    Topical Questions

    Economists have told the Chancellor that stamp duty is a terrible tax because it damages growth. The Government’s response is to double stamp duty on a £300,000 house. Why?

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22. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Jerome Mayhew

    Welfare Spending

    The Minister talks about perverse disincentives and aspiring to be classified as sick. Does he accept that, with sickness benefits, someone will get £2,500 more than if they are on the national living wage full time? If that is the case, which it is, what is his plan to reverse that perverse disincentive?

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23. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Jerome Mayhew

    Welfare Spending

    The Minister for Social Security and Disability, who is no longer in his place, was in the extraordinary position of starting a debate arguing that he needed to save £4.5 billion and ending the debate saying he needed to spend an additional £300 million. Was that not a bit odd?

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24. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·James Wild

    Agricultural and Business Property Relief: Impact on Farmers

    This morning the Chancellor failed to take responsibility for her poor choices in a Budget that whacked up taxes, borrowing and spending, and made it clear that she would once again break her promises on tax. The farmers whom I have met have been in tears about the family farm tax, not because they are worried about losing their jobs but because the Chancellor is putting generations of farming at risk. Can the Minister tell the House whether the Chancellor has actually met any farmers, the NFU or other farming organisations to understand the impact of her policy and why she should scrap the family farm tax?

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25. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·James Wild

    Business Rates: Affordability for SMEs

    When the Chancellor imposed £40 billion of tax rises, she chose to double business rates for leisure, retail and hospital businesses—and she is going to come back for more. It may be in vain, but perhaps I can offer her a policy suggestion: scrap business rates for 250,000 shops, pubs and restaurants. Rather than hike taxes, will she adopt Conservative policy and control welfare spending so that we can back our small businesses?

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26. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·James Wild

    Welfare Spending

    A few hon. Members in this debate have mentioned the record of the last Government, so it is worth putting on the record that, under the last Government, 4 million jobs were created, youth unemployment was halved and a million more disabled people moved into work. Sadly, under this Government, we have already seen unemployment rise every single month that they have been in office. They are going to have the record that every Labour Government have had—of leaving unemployment higher than they inherited. The number of people on health and sickness benefits is also increasing significantly. Under this Government, 5,000 people are being signed on to long-term sickness benefits every day, which is double the rate pre covid. Simply put, our welfare system is not sustainable, nor fair. It is not fair for taxpayers and it is not fair for people who are left on benefits, without the support that they need. Yet Labour Members have blocked welfare reforms, and the Prime Minister and Chancellor clearly lack the backbone to get on with this urgent work. The Chancellor’s panicked speech this morning underlined that serious welfare reform is not any part of their agenda. It should be common cause across the House that we understand the value and dignity of work. The moral case for change mentioned in our motion could not be clearer: we must protect the vulnerable and help those who can work to get the support to do so, because work is not just about pay; it is about pride, personal responsibility and the health benefits that come from it. Yet this Government are failing to help people who want work to find it. A welfare system worthy of the name should help people up, not hold them down. We will judge this Government by their record. Unemployment, as I have said, is increasing, and sickness claims are going up. Helping people is why, when we were in government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) introduced universal credit to simplify welfare and reward work, which halved unemployment between 2010 and the pandemic. We were making real progress. Of course, the pandemic created a real challenge for us and we saw a rise in claims, particularly for mental health. The shadow Chancellor, whose name has been taken in vain, actually put in place a number of reforms that were going to drive down the claims that were coming through. He put in place universal support to help people. He put in place WorkWell, a great scheme that has been effective in Norfolk. The big point is that welfare spending on health and disability benefits is set to hit £100 billion by the end of this Parliament—a point made by the hon. Member for North Durham (Luke Akehurst)—which is twice what we spend on defence. Yet what do we see? We see a Government with no serious intent to bring the total down. Indeed, the PIP review that has been announced, which will not report for ages, specifically excludes savings from its terms of reference. Despite increasing taxes, the Government are apparently going to lift the two-child policy. My hon. Friend the Member for Bridgwater (Sir Ashley Fox) has already made a good argument for why that should not happen, so I will not repeat it, but it prompts the question of why the Government, despite critiquing the last Government for apparently spending too much on welfare, do not have a plan to do anything. They could look at the plan that the shadow Secretary of State has set out, which would deliver £23 billion across the board. We should be guided by Conservative principles: living within our means, protecting the most vulnerable, and making sure that work always pays and that those who can work do so. We have a duty to ensure that the system is fair and sustainable. From the moment that Labour Members blocked their own reforms, we have seen a Government with no ideas and a Chancellor who is clear that spending restraint does not form any part of her plans. Taxes are going up and welfare spending is going up, but there is an alternative: back our motion and build a welfare system that truly works for Britain.

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27. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Jack Rankin

    Remote Betting and Gaming Duty: Horseracing

    Both Ascot and Royal Windsor racecourses are incredibly important to my constituency. I have visited both, and I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. On this issue, I urge the Minister to heed warnings from across the House and, more importantly, the industry. I cautiously welcome the briefing to The Telegraph at the weekend. Racing should be treated very differently from online casinos and gaming. Can he assure the House that taxes on horse and greyhound race flutters will not increase?

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28. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Jack Rankin

    Supporting High Streets

    Every MP in this place thinks that they have the best constituency in the United Kingdom, but I am afraid that only one of us can be correct. Perhaps with the exception of Romsey and Southampton North, Madam Deputy Speaker, the best constituency must be Windsor, with its beautiful towns and villages. As well as our green spaces, including the Great Park, which has been in the news slightly more than we might like of late, and our heritage, we also have our high streets, our small businesses and our hospitality crown jewels, which range from Ascot racecourse, Royal Windsor racecourse and Legoland to smaller attractions, such as the Windsor Museum, French Brothers boat trips along the Thames, and Windsor Carriages. Because of the Windsor constituency’s exceptional features, it has some of the greatest high streets anywhere in the country. Our hospitality businesses turn over £600 million every year—one of the highest figures outside London—and the industry employs over 10,000 people locally. A huge part of that is down to tourism. People come from all over the world to walk through our town, and to enjoy refreshments after exploring Windsor castle or working up a thirst on a long walk. The most recent statistics from the excellent Visit Windsor team highlight that 12.2% of the borough’s population are employed as a result of tourism. It is no surprise that one in 10 people in Windsor rely on the industry to make a living. There is a whole ecosystem of retail, hospitality and hotels that makes up the economic background of my town. All that stimulates the brilliant high streets and venues that make up our towns and villages. They are the subject of the debate, and I am afraid that all of them are feeling the pinch under this Labour Government. My constituency goes well beyond its namesake town. That was evidenced in my most recent “best pub” competition. Over 32 pubs were put forward from across the constituency, and hundreds of my constituents voted. It is only right to give special mention to the winner, The Swan in Clewer village, which is a great example of a community-led pub. I will not have time to talk about everything that makes The Swan special, but it has the Green Room school for special needs pupils, the Windsor cycle hub, a “chatter and natter” to tackle loneliness and social isolation, board games, the Stitch Gang for knitters, and a dog walkers’ group. However, the landlord, Mickey Foden-Andrews, whom I have met multiple times, stressed that while The Swan is well loved and used by the whole community, it is feeling all the pressures on our treasured pub industry, including from increased VAT, beer duty, business rates and now the extended producer responsibility tax. I am sure that we have all been guilty of complaining about the cost of a pint, but we must recognise the huge overheads that pubs face just to keep their doors open, which include paying their staff, soaring electricity prices and alcohol duties. The increase in national insurance in last year’s Budget compounded all those pressures and hit the hospitality sector hard. The sector has suffered more than half—85,000—of all British job losses since the last Budget. Pubs like The Swan provide a public service by bringing people together, letting neighbours check in on one another, hosting events and being a place to hash out ideas or discuss the politics of the day. On all my visits to pubs, hospitality and other high-street businesses, I hear that they are struggling, and Windsor is a relatively prosperous place with a clear unique selling point, so I am sure that such businesses will be struggling everywhere. That should come as no surprise. The increase in the minimum wage and national insurance, and the so-called new workers’ rights that are being brought in, are all incompatible with thriving high streets.

    Hansard source
29. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Jack Rankin

    Supporting High Streets

    The point was well made by my right hon. Friend the Member for Tonbridge (Tom Tugendhat) that there are people who benefit from the minimum wage and new rights, but thousands of jobs will never exist as a result of the measures. We have to be cognisant of that in this House. All those measures are incompatible with a thriving high street and any aspiration to bring down welfare spending, as they are all job killers.

    Hansard source
30. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Jack Rankin

    Supporting High Streets

    My right hon. Friend is right, as always. The best way to back workers in this country is to back our small businesses, and our hospitality businesses in particular, which provide so many jobs to our constituents.

    Hansard source
31. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Jack Rankin

    Supporting High Streets

    I absolutely agree. It goes beyond that, because a lot of hospitality jobs are the first jobs that people do. We talk about youth unemployment; we need to get people into the pattern of earning a living, and to enable them to gain the softer skills of serving customers and getting up on time. As we all know, that is so important to young people’s development. That is a problem not only now but for the future. What do my landlords, hotel managers and businesses on the high street tell me their biggest problem is? Business rates. That is why I welcome my party’s commitment to permanently scrapping business rates for all retail, leisure and hospitality businesses up to a £110,000 cap.

    Hansard source
32. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Jack Rankin

    Supporting High Streets

    I am afraid that I do not have time. That would lift 250,000 businesses out of business rates altogether, and it would provide essential relief to keep businesses afloat and money flowing through the local economy. The proposal is fully costed and follows our new golden economic rule.

    Hansard source
33. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Helen Whately

    Welfare Spending

    I beg to move, That this House regrets the failure of the Government to get people off welfare and into work; believes that reforming the welfare system is a moral mission; and therefore calls on the Government to take urgent action to fix Britain’s welfare system by restricting welfare for non-UK citizens, stopping benefits for those with lower-level mental health conditions, increasing the number of face-to-face assessments, reforming the Motability Scheme so that only those with serious disabilities qualify for a vehicle, and retaining the two-child benefit cap, to get people into employment and build a stronger economy. All of us surely remember our first job and the moment we got our first paycheque. I was 16, I got paid £40 and I bought myself a pair of shoes. They were nothing fancy, but I remember that feeling. It was the first time I had money in my pocket that I had earned to spend how I pleased. It was a moment of liberation from which there was no going back. Of course, as we get older, it is not so simple. We have more obligations and bills to pay, but the basic fact is the same. Having a job and paying our own way is how we get independence, freedom and agency. We can make our own choices and have a chance to build up our financial security. Not every job takes us on a path paved with gold, but if we are not in work, we do not even have a chance of changing our fortune. Millions of people up and down the country know what I am talking about. They are the people who get up each morning and go to work, or the people who go to work every evening if they are doing a night shift, while some people are doing both to make ends meet. However, it is not everyone: in fact, it is not a lot of people. Let us look at the numbers. There are 6.5 million people of working age on out-of-work benefits, nearly 1 million young people are not in any form of employment, education or training, and every single day 5,000 people are signing on to long-term sickness benefits with no requirement to work. Those numbers should worry all of us in this place. They are not just statistics; we are talking about people—mums, dads, women in their 50s, young men in their 20s—who are missing out, sat at home rather than at work, and waiting for the handout to drop into their bank account rather than out there putting their shoulder to the wheel. For every person on benefits and out of work, there are many more who suffer the consequences of worklessness, such as the increasing number of children who are growing up in workless households. More than 1 million children across our country have neither the income nor the culture of work, so worklessness gets passed from one generation to the next, stunting life chances—opportunities, prosperity and longevity—in every sense of the word. This applies to entire communities: there are large parts of our country where being on benefits is not a rarity, it has become the norm. From our great cities such as Birmingham and Liverpool to historic seaside towns such as Blackpool, around a quarter of the population are in out-of-work benefits. Drop into some of the poorest areas of those cities and you will find communities where the majority of people are on benefits. Think what that means in practice along a street, door after door. And watch out if you are the odd one out actually trying to go to work, as I heard on one of my visits recently. A whole family were yelling at their son, who was trying to break the cycle of worklessness, because his 7 am alarm clock was disturbing their sleep. As shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, I travel the country talking to people and finding out the facts on the ground. One story that stuck with me is about a young man in his 20s from Bridgend in Wales. He is on benefits, but he got a place on a course at the local college—the exact course he wanted to do. It had the potential to give him skills and transform his life. It could have got him off benefits and into work at the job he really wanted to do, but it did not happen. Why? Because he was terrified of being worse off—that he would lose his personal independence payment and end up broke. That is wrong. And let us be frank: his story is not a one-off. It is going on all around the country. Everywhere, every day, people are deciding they are better off on benefits. Our welfare system should be a safety net but it has become a welfare trap, condemning people to live off the state rather than off their elbow grease. Of course, help should be there for people who are unable to work or who need a lot of support to do so. In fact, if the system worked better, it might be able to help some people—those who really need it—more. Instead, we have many thousands of people making rational decisions to claim benefits rather than work, the benefits bill rocketing, and still people who are disabled facing a struggle to get help and make ends meet.

    Hansard source
34. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Helen Whately

    Welfare Spending

    Of course I know that, but if the hon. Lady had talked to as many people who receive PIP as I have, she would know that many people worry that if they go into training or work, they will then, when they are reassessed, lose their PIP. Even though in theory, yes, you can work if you can while you are getting PIP, people worry that because they are working it will be then be seen as them not actually needing it and that they do not actually have that level of health problem. That is why at the moment it is acting, in the way in works, as a barrier and a disincentive to work, and that is why it needs reform. Reforming welfare is not cruel to people on benefits—quite the opposite. What is cruel is ducking the challenge, accepting the status quo and continuing to spend millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money on keeping people on benefits, but that is exactly what the Labour party is doing. Just a few months ago, the Prime Minister and the former Work and Pensions Secretary did have a go at doing something about it. They set out some welfare cuts—rushed and poorly thought-through, as I said at the time—but their Back Benchers were having none of it. We have never seen anything like it. It was the very definition of shambles in this Chamber. Right in the middle of the debate, their savings Bill became a spending Bill, with the Government frantically making concessions that we still live with, such as the Timms review into PIP. I have a great deal of respect for the Minister for Social Security and Disability, the right hon. Member for East Ham (Sir Stephen Timms), but what hope can we have for his review when it was conceived as a bargaining chip to buy off angry Back Benchers? It has taken months to even kick off the review and months to come up with the terms of reference. Now we have them, we see that welfare savings are off the table. And yes, I said “savings”, a word the Secretary of State was careful to steer clear of in questions last week. What a situation this is. The Chancellor keeps talking about welfare savings; she did so again this morning. However, the review by the Minister for Social Security and Disability ruled out making any savings. The Secretary of State will not even utter the word. Who will win this argument? Will it be the hapless Chancellor with her back against the wall or the wily Welfare Secretary playing a longer game? While Ministers spar behind the political scenes, the clock is ticking and the benefits bill keeps heading up and up towards £100 billion, with no prospect of the Government slowing that trajectory, let alone actually getting it down. Instead, as the Chancellor as good as told us this morning, the Government will turn to tax rises to fund welfare and more job-destroying, growth-killing policies, reducing opportunities and saddling future generations with the bill, leaving them to pay it off for decades to come. The Government have not only given up on saving money; they have given up on millions of people across Britain.

    Hansard source
35. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Helen Whately

    Welfare Spending

    The hon. Gentleman thinks he is so clever, but I am sorry to say this is a whole lot more serious than that. [Interruption.] I am glad Labour Members liked that. The fact is, if the hon. Gentleman looked a little further than his time in politics, back to 2010, he would know that the welfare bill and unemployment figures came down, and that we had the huge reform of universal credit, led by my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith), which made a huge difference. [Interruption.] As has been chuntered by those on the Government Front Bench, yes, of course, the pandemic made a difference. We had a set of reforms going on, and then those on the Front Bench and some of their predecessors—there has been a certain amount of turnover—came in and gave up on those reforms. Where are we now? There are no savings and no plans to get people off welfare and into work. However, it does not have to be this way. The country knows that this is not working, and people want change. They want a fairer system: one where people who do the right thing are rewarded; where work does pay; where people taking personal responsibility for themselves and their family makes sense; where there is help for those who need it, but not for just anyone who might fancy it; and where welfare is a safety net, not a way of life. It might be hard for Members on the Government Benches to hear, but this is what people out there want. They want it now—let us get on with it. The Conservatives have set out our common-sense proposals to start fixing the welfare system. We would stop sickness benefits for people with lower-level mental health conditions like anxiety and reform Motability, putting an end to taxpayer-funded cars for people who have conditions like ADHD and tennis elbow. We would bring back face-to-face assessments, which are going down under this Labour Government, and change the sick note system so that it does not just funnel people out of the office and on to benefits. We would prioritise Brits in our welfare system, stopping people with indefinite and limited leave to remain claiming benefits. Of course, we also believe in retaining the two-child benefit cap, because it is fiscally responsible and fair. Removing the cap would cost more than £3 billion and would be deeply unfair on families who are not on benefits—the couples who decide they cannot afford another child, but would pay taxes for someone else to do just that. The Conservatives are the only party fully committed to the two-child benefit cap—no ifs, no buts.

    Hansard source
36. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Helen Whately

    Welfare Spending

    I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that question. As he says, we have earmarked potential savings of £23 billion, and housing benefit is one area. There is the other set of savings that I have just gone through. I am very happy to go through some of our sums and how we have got to those figures with him. As I have said to him, I believe that this Government should be picking up on our suggestions, because that is how they could bring down the welfare bill and avoid what we saw the Chancellor clearly rolling the pitch for this morning: tax rises at the Budget. Times are hard. I do not want the Government to put up taxes. I do not want them to keep spending other people’s money on welfare, because we all know that one day it will run out. I do not want them to keep people living a life on benefits rather than being in work. That is why I have been so clear about what they could and should do. I have heard Labour Back Benchers say in this Chamber, “I didn’t come here to cut benefits”, and that is why we have offered to help. The Leader of the Opposition, the shadow Chancellor and I have made a big offer to the Government. We will help them make welfare savings, and we will work with them in good faith to get the welfare bill down and get people off welfare and into work. Labour Back Benchers do not want to make the tough decisions on welfare, but our door is open. We will work with the Government in the national interest. It is not too late to make those bold decisions and make serious savings. A vote for our motion is a vote to get Britain’s welfare system back on track, to get the welfare bill under control, and to set out on a moral mission to get millions off welfare and into work.

    Hansard source
37. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Harriet Cross

    Supporting High Streets

    Family businesses are crucial to our high streets, including mine in Inverurie, Ellon, Turriff and Huntly. Indeed, they are the backbone of our high streets, yet this Government’s national insurance contributions changes and Employment Rights Bill, and their slashing of business property relief, will have a huge impact on them and employment in them. What does the shadow Minister think of that, and what can we do to help our high streets and, in particular, family businesses in them?

    Hansard source
38. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Gregory Stafford

    Supporting High Streets

    Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

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39. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Gregory Stafford

    Supporting High Streets

    I have listened to the hon. Member’s speech very carefully, but I think I missed him mentioning the £19.5 million of levelling-up funding that Weymouth got in 2023 under the last Conservative Government.

    Hansard source
40. 4 Nov 2025·Parliament·Gregory Stafford

    Supporting High Streets

    I have a similar problem in Farnham. We are being hit by the headwinds of what is going on nationally, but the Farnham infrastructure programme means there is disruption locally. Now, we all welcome the outcome, but what we have a problem with is Lib Dem-run Waverley council whacking up car parking charges, which is deterring people. Can the hon. Gentleman have a word with his colleagues in Waverley to stop that?

    Hansard source