Labour Party MP for Coatbridge and Bellshill since (elected). An MP continuously since .
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83
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0
As currently published
| Party | Office | Area | Period | Began | Ended | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | MP | Coatbridge and Bellshill | – present | elected | — | Party history |
Parliament's party history for this member: Labour ( – present).
Every entry the member has in the Register of Members' Financial Interests, as Parliament currently publishes it. The wording and values are the member's own declarations; nothing here has been assessed by this site.
Totals add only the entries that declare an amount received: payments for work, donations, gifts, and funded visits (register categories 1.1, 2, 3, 4 and 5). Ongoing employment is listed but not added, because its figure is a rate rather than a sum received. Each entry is dated by when the benefit happened, not when it was registered, and placed under the party the member sat for on that date. A member who changed party therefore has a separate total for each.
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<Question HRSContentId="{FA1F143E-C2E7-434C-948E-769752644321}">2. <QuestionText HRSContentId="{6736BA25-01B0-4C9F-81A5-5E8A09441851}">What discussions he has had with the Financial Conduct Authority on the impact of the withdrawal of the family protection plan by CMutual and Maiden Life Försäkrings on policyholders. </QuestionText></Question>
I thank my right hon. and learned Friend for her response and her work on this matter. The most vulnerable families paid FPP funeral cover for 25 years because it was all they could afford, and data shows that since its withdrawal, only 3% of policyholders have been able to secure alternative cover and at least 61 people have died without funeral protection. Despite numerous industry forum meetings to explore redress, no solutions have been agreed, even for the oldest and most vulnerable. Will my right hon. and learned Friend meet me, MPs with affected constituents and the independent coalition of credit unions as a matter of urgency, so that we can try to identify any possible next steps?
I thank my hon. Friend for her statement. As I have mentioned in the House before, my constituent Mr Fraser served as a prison officer until he retired in 2020, yet six years on he is still waiting for his accurate pension. Like many impacted by the McCloud remedy, he has been met with barrier after barrier, with little to no explanation—as have I, when I met Capita as recently as the summer. Can she update the House on what specific steps are being taken to clear the McCloud cases so that Mr Fraser can receive what he is entitled to?
I pay tribute to my hon. Friends the Members for Redditch (Chris Bloore) and for Lichfield (Dave Robertson) for the work they have done on this issue over many months. On 11 September this year, my constituents Helen and Joe lost their bank cards in Coatbridge town centre. They promptly cancelled their credit and debit cards, requested new ones and were told that they would receive them within three to five days. More than three weeks later, they had not received anything. They went down to their local sorting office to find not only their four bank cards undelivered but no less than 22 other pieces of mail. They collected them and returned a week later to see if there was anything else. There were 11 pieces of mail undelivered. When they asked the sorting office for an explanation, they were told that parcels get priority. It seems that first-class letters, which should be delivered the next day, are not arriving for up to five days, and some second-class letters are not being delivered at all. Along with Helen and Joe, dozens of constituents have been in touch with me to say that they have missed interviews and failed to receive bank and other financial letters as well as legal documents due to the systemic issues. Critical hospital appointments have also been missed, as has been a theme of the debate. Some of my constituents have waited months or years for critical treatment only for the appointment letter to fail to arrive in time. In Scotland, 30,000 people have been waiting over a year for critical NHS treatment. Imagine the stress they would feel to discover that they have missed a letter telling them that they have an appointment on a specific day. This is really consequential for people in my constituency. I have heard from local businesses who have missed payments or had payments delayed because they have not received documents in the post on time. It is clear that we cannot go on like this. My constituents deserve better, and so do our postal workers. Over the last year, I visited Royal Mail delivery offices in Coatbridge and Bellshill and witnessed the excellent efforts of the dedicated staff there. Our posties are pounding the streets day in, day out in all conditions. The very least that they deserve is for those at the top of Royal Mail to get their bit right. Earlier this year I met with the CWU to hear of the issues that their members are facing. They spoke of the two-tier employment of Royal Mail workers. While Royal Mail has committed to equalising terms and conditions for employees hired post 2022, full equalisation has been left to the ongoing review due to Royal Mail’s claims that it cannot afford it—that is in the context of the company making operating profits of £294 million in the last two years.<span id="117" class="column-number" data-column-number="117"></span> We know that there is a high staff turnover in the business. Indeed, since 2022 across the country half of new Royal Mail workers left the organisation within a year, as my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow North East (Maureen Burke) has said. Such turmoil in workplace terms and conditions has serious consequences for staff morale. I met with the Minister’s predecessor, my hon. Friend the Member for East Renfrewshire (Blair McDougall), to raise these issues, and I want to place on record my thanks to him for all his work in his area. I also thank the Minister for her attention to these matters. I know that, like me, colleagues have taken their concerns directly to the chief executive of Ofcom, Dame Melanie Dawes. When she wrote back to me in March, she told me of Ofcom’s work calling on Royal Mail to publish a credible plan to improve quality and restore consumer confidence. That plan was published in April, with Royal Mail promising that it will meet Ofcom’s delivery targets by next April. That is far too slow. More so-called plans mean nothing to constituents like Helen and Joe, or the many others who have contacted me in recent months about missed mail, if they do not produce better outcomes. It is critical that Royal Mail gives evidence to MPs and engages fully in the upcoming summit. It is also important that Ofcom and the Government use all the powers that they have to make this service better for our constituents. The service is simply not good enough, and urgent action is required.
My hon. Friend knows that actions have consequences, but so does inaction. Ultimately, the consistent failure of the Conservatives over many years to address the challenges in the North sea has seen 70,000 jobs lost. I welcome the statement, which was clearly focused on energy security and jobs. As my constituency neighbour, the Minister knows the importance of supply chain jobs in Lanarkshire, not just in oil and gas but in clean energy projects such as RES, which we both visited recently. Does he agree that the new £2 billion energy wealth fund represents a serious step towards supporting our transition effort and delivering high-quality jobs in Lanarkshire?
Businesses such as Cairnhill Structures in Coatbridge play a critical role in supporting infrastructure repairs in Ukraine, including the rebuilding of bridges destroyed by Russian forces, to help reconnect Ukrainian communities. Does my right hon. Friend agree that our continued support for Ukraine can go hand in hand with strengthening Scottish industry, supporting skilled employment and driving economic growth? If he gets the opportunity, will he visit Cairnhill to see the work it is doing?
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Wishart, and I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Blaydon and Consett (Liz Twist). In my local authority of North Lanarkshire, we have suicide rates above the Scottish national average, and we know that young people face particular challenges. During 2024, 735 young people registered with the online mental health charity Kooth in North Lanarkshire alone, with 68% of logins outside normal working hours, demonstrating the importance of ensuring that support is available when young people actually need it. I commend the tremendous work undertaken in North Lanarkshire to confront that challenge. The community partners there have made suicide prevention a priority and are working to ensure early intervention. Just last week, 150 young people at Ravenscraig regional sports centre took part in a netball and football tournament to raise awareness of suicide prevention. These types of community partnerships can genuinely save lives, but local authorities and voluntary organisations cannot tackle this challenge alone, and often face difficult <span id="123WH" class="column-number" data-column-number="123WH"></span>financial settlements. I encourage the Government and the Scottish Government to provide additional support to local authorities and third-sector organisations to ensure they have long-term certainty and can deliver the support needed as early as possible—long before young people reach that desperate stage.
My constituent Mrs McNeally moved from England to Glenboig in my constituency in January. However, a lack of compatibility between the medical records systems of Scotland and England means that all of her records have to be compiled and transferred by courier. As a result, nine months on, Mrs McNeally’s records are still not with the NHS in Scotland or with her GP practice. Does my right hon. Friend agree that when it comes to the NHS, both in England and in Scotland—where there has been a lack of digital records, which presents a major problem—we must work constructively to ensure these types of issues are avoided in future?
<Question HRSContentId="{1396D8F1-F32C-4E3F-9286-208FCDD5C8C1}">T3. <QuestionText HRSContentId="{4C155770-6F1E-48A5-923D-A4906238AB91}"></QuestionText>It was a pleasure to welcome the Minister for Energy to Bellshill for the opening of the new RES maintenance facility last week. RES’ partnership with Scottish Power will support 15 windfarm sites, ensuring clean power for more than 400,000 homes. Does my hon. Friend agree that partnerships like that are important for our energy security, and help to ensure that communities such as Bellshill benefit from skilled industrial jobs?</Question>
<Question HRSContentId="{EA928AF7-D4C2-42C8-9CFB-21AAD737BBAD}">Q2. <QuestionText HRSContentId="{D0593D16-AD82-4FEA-ACDB-9395DD22F9B6}"></QuestionText>I am sure the whole House will want to congratulate Sir Kevin Sinfield on his knighthood, which is fitting recognition for his work on motor neurone disease.Another champion fighting for a cure for MND is my constituent Mark Sommerville, whom I have mentioned at Prime Minister’s questions in the past. Diagnosed in 2023, Mark fights with remarkable resolve and courage. I am supporting Mark and his foundation in pushing for a new national MND strategy, with an emphasis on finding effective treatments, enhancing access to trials and accelerating novel drug discovery. Will my right hon. Friend meet me to discuss the matter further, so that we can work to find a cure for this horrific condition?</Question>
Held . Recorded result: Lab Gain. Majority 6,344. 38,731 votes cast from an electorate of 72,667. Parties are as each candidate stood at the time.
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frank McNally | Labour | 19,291 | 49.8% |
| Steven Bonnar | Scottish National Party | 12,947 | 33.4% |
| Fiona McRae | Reform UK | 2,601 | 6.7% |
| Christina Sandhu | Conservative | 1,382 | 3.6% |
| Patrick McAleer | Scottish Green Party | 1,229 | 3.2% |
| Emma Farthing | Liberal Democrat | 671 | 1.7% |
| Leo Lanahan | Scottish Family Party | 429 | 1.1% |
| Drew Gilchrist | Communist Party of Britain | 181 | 0.5% |
| Seat | Dates |
|---|---|
| Coatbridge and BellshillElected 1 time | – present |
| Committee | Dates |
|---|---|
| Work and Pensions Committee | – |
| Procedure Committee | – |
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