Richard Burgon

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Parliament's party history for this member: Labour (5 Feb 2025 – present); Independent (23 Jul 2024 – 5 Feb 2025); Labour (7 May 2015 – 23 Jul 2024).

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Latest on this tracker 135

1. 28 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Richard Burgon

   The Global Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Sanctions Regulations 2026

   It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stringer. These regulations are important in their potential and, of course, in their application. I very much welcome the Government’s recognition that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful, in line with the International Court of Justice’s historic 2024 opinion. I also welcome the associated sanctions package, including the regulations before us today, as an important first step towards meeting our obligations under that ICJ ruling.<span id="13" class="column-number" data-column-number="13"></span> These regulations add grounds for sanctions, including for serious violations of international humanitarian law, for serious breaches of liberty and security, and for aid obstruction. Used effectively and quickly, these powers can help to prevent further crimes and can help to ensure accountability for those crimes already committed. I have four key points for the Minister, and I would welcome a response. First, what counts as a serious violation of international humanitarian law? Will the Minister confirm that, as a minimum, the definition will follow that of the International Committee of the Red Cross? The ICRC’s role, under the Geneva conventions, makes it an authoritative voice on the rules of war. The ICRC states that “‘Serious violations of international humanitarian law’ are ‘war crimes.’ The two terms are…interchangeable”. Will these regulations apply when an occupying power transfers its civilians into occupied territory, forcibly transfers an occupied population or deliberately attacks civilians or civilian infrastructure? These are war crimes that Israel has repeatedly carried out. Will these powers cover international humanitarian law violations across all Israeli settlements, not just new ones, and be applicable to those financing such violations? Secondly, on aid, here—as with E1—urgent designations against those meeting the legal tests can make a real difference. Regulation 4(4) creates new grounds regarding aid obstruction. With winter approaching, aid is again being blocked when it comes to Gaza. Last week, Israeli political figures joined a blockade of aid trucks bound for Gaza. Without naming individuals here, will the Minister confirm that the Government are preparing sanctions against those obstructing or supporting the delivery of aid to Gaza this winter? Will the Minister confirm that these regulations can apply to officials, politicians and private entities, including UK charities responsible not only for physical blockades, but administrative obstruction of aid, including decisions on permits, crossings and those financing aid obstruction? Thirdly, these powers must apply to those funding and supporting violations. Regulation 8 makes it clear that an “involved person” includes those supporting IHL violations, as well as direct perpetrators. Back in March 2022, the Government targeted six banks in a package aimed at key industries supporting Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. We need the same determination to stop money flowing from or through the UK to sustain illegal Israeli settlements or the wider unlawful occupation. Will the Minister make it clear today that banks, charities, financiers, contractors, insurers and technology companies supporting these international humanitarian law violations risk sanctions? Finally, these regulations will need to be accompanied by additional Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office resources to tackle Israeli war crimes. Will the Government provide the staff, the legal expertise and the resources on a scale matching their work on sanctions against Russia?

   Hansard source
2. 27 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Richard Burgon

   Council Housing

   I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this vital debate; he is right. People in Leeds and across the country know there is a council house crisis and they support, I believe, Shelter’s campaign for the Government to make national council house building a mission, because building council houses not only provides homes; it is a bit like rent controls. An intervention in the private market can bring rents down because the private sector cannot solve the council house crisis and the housing crisis. Does my hon. Friend agree?

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3. 27 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Richard Burgon

   Topical Questions

   As winter bites and the humanitarian situation worsens, will the Secretary of State commit to supplying food aid to Gaza, at least to last year’s levels? Will he use his welcome new sanctions regulations, laid earlier this month, to sanction those Israeli figures blocking aid from getting into Gaza?

   Hansard source
4. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Richard Burgon

   Bank Windfall Taxation

   I rise to present this petition on a windfall tax on the banks in the autumn Budget, further to a corresponding online petition signed by over 13,000 people. This petition of residents of the United Kingdom states that a windfall tax on the super-profits of banks, like that introduced on energy companies, could generate £15 billion per year, providing essential resources to tackle the cost of living crisis affecting millions of people. The petitioners therefore request “that the House of Commons urge the Government to take into account the requests…and consider the resource benefits of a windfall tax on banks when allocating funds in the budget.” <em>Following is the full text of the petition:</em> <em>[The petition of residents</em> of the United Kingdom, <em>Notes that Britain’s largest banks are making unusually high profits from the higher interest rates that simultaneously have driven up rents and mortgages, and that experts estimate that a windfall tax in line with that introduced on the oil and gas firms would generate up to £15 billion a year, providing resources to fund emergency action to address the cost-of-living crisis.</em> <em>The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to take into account the requests of the petitions and consider the resource benefits of a windfall tax on banks when allocating funds in the Budget.</em> <em>And the petitioners remain, etc.</em><em>]</em> [P003251]

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5. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Richard Burgon

   Jackdaw Gasfield

   I am incredibly disappointed in today’s decision on Jackdaw; I believe that it flies in the face of all the evidence and will do nothing to lower people’s energy bills, create jobs or improve our energy security. The Minister has a strong record in making the case for Britain to be a renewable energy superpower, so can he confirm that today’s decision in no way implies or means that the approval of Rosebank will automatically follow?

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6. 14 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Richard Burgon

   Water Sector: Public Ownership

   It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Jeremy. I start by thanking the more than 200,000 petitioners across the country, as well as the hundreds of my Leeds East constituents, who have signed the petition. When discussing the arguments for public ownership, we need to start by staring the facts in the face. England and Wales are the only countries in the world to have fully privatised their water and sewerage systems. We are the odd ones out, and something needs to be done about it. The privatisation of our water system has been a catastrophic failure—not for shareholders, or for the chief executive of Yorkshire Water, but for the public, the environment and, as we have heard, even children. With climate change leading to further droughts and water shortages, the iniquitous role of the leaderships of private water companies, and the system they represent, will only get worse. We hear a lot about Thames Water, but we also need to talk about Yorkshire Water. Under Yorkshire Water, bills have gone up by over a third in two years, and every year it dumps hundreds of thousands of hours of sewage into our rivers and seas. It is performing so badly that it has been downgraded to a one-star rating by the Environment Agency. Yorkshire Water was recently hit by an £89 million performance penalty for under-delivering, yet its chief executive’s total salary is running at over £1 million a year, so privatisation has worked for some. That is rewarding failure—as long as the profits keep flowing. Enough of all this: full public ownership is what is needed. Let us get into step with the rest of the world, focusing on cleaner water, lower bills and a system that actually works and is fit for the climate challenges of the future. People out there in the country know this is a disgrace, and they know it needs sorting out now. We need public ownership of our water system now.

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7. 11 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Richard Burgon

   Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

   What we are considering today is not the general principle, “Do we or do we not agree with assisted dying?”; it is this Bill. We are not a debating society; we are a Parliament. I therefore ask my hon. Friend why it is the case that <span id="1321" class="column-number" data-column-number="1321"></span>virtually no disabled people’s organisation in this country supports the Bill. Disabled people often feel voiceless, and I think it is important that their voices are heard today. They are outside Parliament, so I would like her to address that point in her speech.

   Hansard source
8. 8 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Richard Burgon

   Israel and Palestine

   These sanctions on Israel for its illegal occupation are incredibly welcome as a step towards meeting our moral and legal obligations. Will the Foreign Secretary continue to resist pressure from those who say that he should not make international law apply to Israel? May I urge him to push forward and demand the full implementation of the ICJ ruling so that the Palestinian people can have justice?

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9. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Richard Burgon

   Business of the House

   Further to the earlier request from my hon. Friend the Member for Battersea (Marsha De Cordova), may I push the Government for a debate on the progress of their measures to tackle the ongoing failure of Capita to effectively administer civil service pensions? May I also urge the Government to publish the advice of Grant Thornton on a secondary recovery plan now that Capita’s own internal deadline for sorting it out has also passed? The matter has been raised by my constituents, by people across the country and by the Public and Commercial Services Union, and it would be great to see some progress.

   Hansard source
10. 2 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Richard Burgon

    Representation of the People Bill

    I rise to speak to my new clause 22, to stop oil and gas companies donating to political parties. The context is the extreme heat; there were tens of thousands of heat-related deaths in Europe alone this summer, as well as dangerous wildfires and the droughts. All these things give us a terrifying glimpse of what climate breakdown means, and they underline just how dangerous it is to deny climate breakdown or delay the action needed to tackle it. The reality is that climate breakdown will shape our country for decades. It will affect food prices, whether people can live and work safely, and the functioning of key public services, as well as our economic and national security. We must do all we can to tackle climate change and protect people from its increasingly severe impacts. However, if we are to have a fighting chance of preventing the worst of climate change, we need to rapidly cut fossil fuel use. That will mean breaking the vast power that oil and gas companies have over our politics. That is where my new clause 22 comes in. Fossil fuel giants have not only driven us towards climate disaster, but have done so knowing the consequences. They did their best to cover up the science, and used their vast wealth and power to distract, and to delay action, so that they could keep raking in obscene levels of profits—profits that have soared even higher in recent years, while people have been hit with horrendously high bills. The principle of my new clause is clear: those profiting from and helping to drive this crisis should not be using their wealth to pollute our politics, spread misinformation and delay the action needed. It would put a stop to any donations from oil and gas companies to political parties and candidates at elections. Of course, the problem goes way beyond direct donations, but my new clause can be part of the action needed to break the link between fossil fuel wealth and the influence it seeks to exert on our politics. For example, research by the environmental investigations group DeSmog and <em>The Guardian</em> found that when the previous Conservative Government were considering new North sea fossil fuel licences, the Conservative party received more than £400,000 in one year alone in donations from individuals and companies linked to the oil and gas industries. That was part of what DeSmog estimated was the over £2 million donated to the Conservative party by fossil fuel interests between the 2019 and 2024 general elections. DeSmog research has also highlighted what it describes as Reform links to oil and gas interests. Beyond party donations, there is a complex web of fossil fuel interests, climate deniers, donors, so-called think-tanks and other organisations seeking to shape our politics, and no doubt they were delighted with the Conservative party’s shift against climate action in recent years. Those interests, as we have seen, have had huge success in shaping US politics. We need to avoid there ever being that scale of influence here. For decades, across the globe, oil and gas money has sought to buy influence to help delay the action that we desperately need. My new clause 22 is one step towards ending that, and I thank the cross-party group of MPs who have backed it. I hope that we can continue to work together to stop fossil fuel money polluting our politics. The decisions we take on climate action should be driven by the public interest, not fossil fuel interests.

    Hansard source

2024 General Election: Leeds East

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