Mark Sewards

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Parliament's party history for this member: Labour (4 Jul 2024 – present).

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Latest on this tracker 311

1. 29 Oct 2026·Parliament·Mark Sewards

   Business of the House

   I was shocked and appalled when a peaceful Hindu festival in Wakefield the weekend before last was attacked by masked individuals, leaving two people injured. Children and families were present, including 50 of my constituents. My hon. Friend the Member for Ossett and Denby Dale (Jade Botterill), in whose constituency this took place, has done sterling work in liaising with the police and the community. There is more work to come, but in the meantime, will the Leader of the House join me in condemning this kind of violence and the individuals who encourage it, and standing with the Leeds South West and Morley Hindus whom I represent? Will he also call for a debate in Government time on the need to protect all of our communities from abhorrent attacks?

   Hansard source
2. 29 Oct 2026·Parliament·Mark Sewards

   Budget Resolutions

   In the short time available to me, I will go through a few things in the Budget that will genuinely help my constituents, as well as a few areas where the Government should go further.<span id="537" class="column-number" data-column-number="537"></span> Let me start with household bills. I will certainly not be alone in this House in finding that most of my constituents are genuinely worried about the pressure of household bills. It is definitely welcome that standing charges have been scrapped from gas bills, that VAT on energy bills has been suspended for longer and that a new £100 household energy payment is being introduced. That will benefit 40,000 properties in my constituency alone. That is welcome breathing space, but it cannot be the summit of our ambitions on energy bills or bills more generally. That is why I welcome the long-term direction set out on energy by the Chancellor yesterday. However, I assure my constituents and give fair warning to Members on the Front Bench that I will be asking for more support if bills do not come down quickly enough in the short and medium term. I welcome the support given to businesses. Nearly half of all businesses in Yorkshire and the Humber will not pay business rates, following the announcement yesterday. Alongside that immediate support for families and businesses, the Budget made some investments in my home city of Leeds, not least the £200 million extra to transform Leeds train station. There is a lot in that, such as a new bridge over the platforms, three new entrances and bigger and better concourses, but when I went through that yesterday with my wife, Alice, she was very quick to remind me that the improvements to the lifts are incredibly overdue, and she is absolutely right. The lifts are so painfully slow that people have to factor an extra 15 or 20 minutes into their journey if they have a pram or a wheelchair. As somebody who has a five-year-old, a two-year-old and another one arriving in a few weeks’ time, I welcome that investment in our lifts, and I cannot wait to spend the money to make them that a little bit faster for anybody with a pram. I also welcome the £15 million being given to Leeds College of Building for its new campus on the south bank. That campus is going to be used by my constituents; it is going to benefit them and give them the chance to start a new career in an area where we already have skills shortages. In the very short time available to me, I will also say as chair of the all-party parliamentary group for Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire that we were about to put out a report calling on the Government to give fiscal devolution to the regions, to allow mayors to keep more of the tax revenue that we raise centrally. I was very pleased that the Chancellor beat us to the punch with his announcement. I know that the Prime Minister considers Lord Blunkett to be a personal mentor and hero to him, and he has also been a mentor and hero to our APPG, so I will just say that he took what was in our report and gave it to the Prime Minister, and that is how it ended up in the Budget statement. That is my story, and I am sticking to it.

   Hansard source
3. 28 Oct 2026·Parliament·Mark Sewards

   Rugby League Clubs

   I could not agree more with my hon. Friend’s point about Pride in Place. I commend his efforts with the Pride in Place board. I have done something similar in my constituency. Our Pride in Place Farnley East board is giving money to Farnley Falcons. The club is at the heart of our community, bringing in young people from across the constituency and further afield. Will my hon. Friend join me in encouraging all those with Pride in Place boards to give some money to local rugby league clubs?

   Hansard source
4. 27 Oct 2026·Parliament·Mark Sewards

   Strengthening Community Resilience

   I welcome the Minister’s statement. He will know very well that the “Protecting What Matters” strategy, which was announced to the House earlier this year, had some excellent proposals to strengthen community resilience. Will he update the House about progress on that strategy, and say exactly which proposals we have made progress on to date?

   Hansard source
5. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Mark Sewards

   Performance of Royal Mail

   The hon. Member has laid out a couple of options on the table. What does she make of the assessment that no regulator will solve the problem and the service has to be brought back into public control? Is that something she would consider?

   Hansard source
6. 22 Oct 2026·Parliament·Mark Sewards

   Saudi Arabia: RAF Support

   Thank you for granting the urgent question, Mr Speaker. For what it is worth, I support the Government’s decision to deploy this defensive operation against the Houthis. <span id="1285" class="column-number" data-column-number="1285"></span>The Minister will be aware that Britain’s former ambassador to Yemen has called for proscription of the Houthis, and I absolutely agree with him on that. That would allow us to criminalise fundraising and support for the Houthis and disrupt any operations on UK soil as well as freeze their assets. What conversations has he had with his counterparts in the Home Office about proscribing the Iranian-backed threat that is the Houthis?

   Hansard source
7. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Mark Sewards

   E-scooters and E-bikes: Regulation

   I thank the hon. Member for making such a strong argument. Along with other hon. Members, I recently met representatives of Guide Dogs for the Blind. They made a strong case for visually impaired and blind people, who are often put off going out on to their own streets, due to the silent nature of e-scooters and e-bikes. Does she agree that that point alone underscores the need to enforce the law properly in this area?

   Hansard source
8. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Mark Sewards

   Jackdaw Gasfield

   I welcome the Government’s pragmatic decision on Jackdaw; it makes sense to use gas from the North sea, rather than import it from abroad. I also welcome the Minister’s comment that the funds it raises in tax revenue will be used to support the green transition, hopefully with a view to bringing down energy bills in the future. However, my constituents know that their energy bills will go up in January, and they want help with that now. Given that the Minister has ruled out using those funds to support them through direct help with their energy bills, can I encourage him to use any mechanism available to him to get people the support they need with their energy bills in January, and possibly to have conversations with the Treasury too? As he knows, the cost of living crisis is biting now.

   Hansard source
9. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Mark Sewards

   Antisemitism in Schools and Colleges

   Antisemitism has swept across the UK and I am so sorry to see the report confirm what I think we already knew, which is that schools are yet another battleground against the world’s oldest hatred. That is why I commend the Government for their swift acceptance of all the recommendations set out in Sir David Bell’s review, as well as the Secretary of State’s excellent answer to the question from my hon. Friend the Member for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket (Dr Prinsley) on anti-Zionist antisemitism and why it should be condemned. On one particular recommendation, treating antisemitism in schools as a safeguarding issue will create an explicit duty on all schools to address it as they would a threat to any other child’s safety. How will the Government support schools to enact that duty and how will they ensure they are accountable for delivering it?

   Hansard source
10. 20 Oct 2026·Parliament·Mark Sewards

    Kinship Carers: Statutory Paid Employment Leave

    My hon. Friend is making a powerful argument and is a powerful advocate for kinship carers and the children they care for. When the Education Committee took evidence on this issue during our special educational needs and disabilities inquiry, Kinship stated that 47% of all children in kinship care have some sort of special educational need. That underlines that we should be giving kinship carers statutory paid leave so that they can meet the child’s complex needs.

    Hansard source

2024 General Election: Leeds South West and Morley

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