Rachael Maskell
MP for York Central · Labour (Co-op) · United Kingdom
“I welcome today’s statement and I welcome the Secretary of State to her place. York hospital was heralded as a cheap build, but we are paying a heavy price today. We know that heat in that hospital will have an impact on clinical outcomes as well as on staffing.”
“The conflict is moving beyond traditional warfare; we are now seeing extensive drone use, mercenaries being brought from Colombia, and the exchange of money too. We also know that Russia has its own interests in weapons and gold. We must look at the minimal interest in Sudan and the developments in Port Sudan at this time.”
“When we think about the fact that 33.7 million of the Sudanese population are in need of humanitarian assistance, 13 million have been displaced, 19.5 million are at levels of food insecurity and need urgent attention, and there are 8 million children who are not in the safety of school every day, getting their education, which will fuel…”
“Will the Minister tell us what progress has been made in that area, how that money has been spent and its impact to date? As we see increasing brutalisation in war, we have to focus even more on how we use international law to hold actors to account, and on the pace of that process, because it takes forever and a day to bring people to ac…”
“In the assault on El Fasher in particular, we saw the systematic raping of women, the burning of people and places, and the escalation in the next chapter of the civil war that has raged since April 2023.”
“It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Dr Allin-Khan. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Gillingham and Rainham (Naushabah Khan) on securing such an important debate.”
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“They are having to make those hard choices every day, making pristine accounts and budgets just in order to survive. One constituent debated whether she would end going to the day centre, her only social contact. Another said that, when she went to the food bank, she had to select foods that did not require cooking. Those are real choices that my constituents are making right now. If the bill drops through the door, and you dare to open it before reaching for help, your mind is in the echo room, with your mental resilience evaporated. That was the case for one of my constituents when they fell short by £3.45 on their utilities bill. That spiralled out of control and did not end well. That is the reality that people are living in. As many hon.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley Central (Dan Jarvis) for bringing forward today’s debate. I will always recall Mo Mowlam telling the story of a pensioner who came to her surgery, put their pension book in front of her and laid out the bills they had to pay—the sums did not add up. When Labour came to power, we restored respect and dignity to people and made a difference to them. We never thought we would return to the days in that story, but we have—and worse. When my constituents make hard choices because their bills and income do not add up, they too struggle to understand how they will get through the next three months, let alone the autumn and winter.”
“In response to the question put by my hon. Friend the Member for Wirral South (Alison McGovern), the Prime Minister said that he had not had time to apologise to the cleaning and security staff. Is he telling this House that Sue Gray and no official apprised him of one of the eight conclusions of this report prior to his coming to the House today—or are those staff just not his priority?”
“John Sudworth’s BBC report this morning was chilling, both in scale and in content. I have to say that the Minister’s response is woeful. The reality is that she is the person with the power that could make a difference to the genocide in China. What discussions has she had this morning with Chinese officials since the revelations in these papers? What was the response?”
“Although the Iranian regime is fully responsible for the plights of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori over the past six years, it is clear that the actions of the Foreign Office have not helped on many steps of their journey. Can we therefore have an independent inquiry into the actions and inactions of the Foreign Office that have hindered much of the progress that needed to be made?”
“I am grateful to the hon. Member for bringing forward the debate, which impacts on my city of York, as I have discussed with York City of Sanctuary. We are concerned about people’s access to vital infrastructure and services such as the NHS, which is based in the middle of my constituency. It is completely inaccessible outside of hours for people in Linton-on-Ouse without private transport.”
“When a child experiences deep trauma, it can escalate their vulnerability and can display itself in many ways, including harm to themselves and others. Early intervention is key, but when residential placements are required, it is inexcusable when there are no places available locally or nationally. How will the Secretary of State rectify that as a matter of urgency?”
“I truly welcome the report and thank Josh MacAlister for the work that he and his team have done on the review. The social cost of adverse outcomes reaches £23 billion a year, yet the recommendations looked at £2.6 billion over a five-year implementation period. They included bringing in regional care co-operatives, as has happened with adoption and permanency in the regional adoption agencies. Will the Minister ensure that the report is implemented in full—not bits picked out of it—and that the funding will be there?”
“The opportunity to make a seismic transition to cycling and walking in our towns and cities is simply not being realised in places such as York, the home of Active Travel England. “Gear Change” is the right ambition, but local plans and local transport plans are just not reflecting it. So how will the Minister ensure that this ambition is instituted in planning? Will she publish the Government’s funding plan needed by 2025 and 2030 to achieve this cycling and walking ambition?”
“When my constituent goes to Collective Sharehouse, she has to select items that do not need to be cooked, because she cannot afford to cook any food. She is therefore not getting a balanced diet, and we are going to see inequality grow not only economically but in terms of health outcomes. Will the Secretary of State go back to the Cabinet and speak to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to ensure that we see a proper increase, in line with inflation, in people’s social security and pensions so that they can eat?”
“The scale of the use of alcohol by young people, including in our public places, is deeply troubling. This week, I met the York Community Alcohol Partnership, which highlighted how the lack of youth services is leading to this crisis. So can we have a debate about having a statutory youth service and ensuring that every single local authority commissions youth services to help our children?”
“York’s rail supercluster is taking rail into the future. I would like to know whether the transport Bill will see investment in research and development to ensure that we can really build on the success of what has been created in York and go further, faster.”
“Turning to the east, better connectivity strengthens the economy and strengthens opportunity—Labour’s twin ambitions for Scotland. With York having such a pivotal role on the whole network, what discussions is the Secretary of State having about investing in rail north of York to ensure that connectivity right into the heart of Scotland?”
“With so much affluence in our country, poverty is a political choice—the choice of the Chancellor and his Government. In York this week, energy companies are cutting off people’s energy supply, landlords are evicting people, budgets do not balance, poor mental health is spiralling and fear is gripping people on low wages, ill and disabled people and the elderly. That is the Chancellor’s choice. Why will he not increase social security payments? Such payments should pay, not punish, and keep people safe and secure.”
“York is being overrun by investors hoovering up our new build by either leaving those properties empty or using them for Airbnb. That is causing the market to heat up, which is having a really disruptive impact and choking off opportunity for future buyers in my constituency. How will the Minister use his planning reforms to ensure we are not just building to numbers, but to local need?”
“The Secretary of State is talking about the best place for young people to grow up; will he explain why not a single placement of special provision for children at risk is available throughout the country, as my constituent is experiencing right now?”
“The Minister says there is sufficiency within the armed forces. However, we are in peacekeeping operations and security operations. We are not in combat in Ukraine. Therefore, if there is an escalation of risk, whether in Ukraine or as a result of food shortage elsewhere around the globe, that is seriously going to challenge our capability, is it not?”
“If it is in the hands of this Parliament to stop the extraction model, to stop evictions and exploitation, and to protect the existing stock and build a new generation for local people to have a safe and secure home, that would be a job well done by this Government. I fear that we will not get to that point, as our communities are under such pressure: food, energy and now shelter—the basic things that everyone should have as of right—are being stripped away. I want to see the Government’s response in the fine detail of that legislation, and I will be scrutinising it, because my community deserves so much better. The Government carry a heavy weight in this Parliament, and I trust that they will listen carefully and ensure that our communities are left stronger, safer and more sustainable.”
“However, with rents going through the roof as available properties are disappearing and with house prices rising so fast, landlords are simply able to name their price. That needs rent controls. Local authorities should be able to demand rent controls in places where housing costs are out of control. Leasehold properties are also dominating new build. Leaseholders need protection. As we have heard, leaseholds need to be something of the past, with people now paying extortionate amounts for services which, if needed, could be delivered locally for far less. Ending the leasehold model is crucial. All this comes back to planning and good housing legislation. We must protect our current stock and build to meet local need.”
“Things like infestations and damp—issues that come across my desk so often—must be able to be assessed by people inspecting these homes. We need a register of landlords, an inspectorate and enforcement. If landlords break the law, they should lose their right to rent on any of their properties—plain and simple. However, we cannot talk about standards if we do not talk about rents. Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 must be repealed. Its abuse is now widespread as it enables private landlords to repossess their properties from assured shorthold tenants without having to establish fault on the part of the tenants. No-fault evictions are seen as a way of getting more rent from their next tenants.”
“Those should demand full planning, with proper community engagement—I will be interested to see what the Government’s proposals are—and then licensing, with no weakening of permitted development rights. Local authorities must have the right to refuse. In some student areas, streets no longer have a mix of residents and communities are dying. Better regulation will bring better stability. As for standards in the private rented sector, I welcome today’s announcement to strengthen the rights of tenants and ensure better-quality, safer homes, but I want to see the detail. We need to up the stability of homes and the sustainability of homes. Minimum levels of energy efficiency need to rise. That is why Labour’s programme to retrofit 10 million homes is needed right now.”
“There must be regulations for councils to license all current and future Airbnbs and short lets, with full powers to refuse them or fine them for noise, as they do in Nice; restrictions on ownership and how long they can be let for, as in London, and on how a licence can be revoked; a doubling of council tax, as in Wales; and a right to place a blanket ban on certain communities, all with a licence fee to cover costs. That must be a major focus, or else my community will be destroyed—not just the community but the economy too. We all know that this is not just about party homes; landlords are also converting family homes into HMOs, and then very rapidly into Airbnbs.”
“Then comes a string of party houses, hosting maybe 30 guests, turning up the volume. Investors are buying up York’s housing stock where local families should reside. It is easy money. It denies local people a chance to live in their city, work in their city and contribute to their city, pushing up house market prices even further; in York Central alone they have increased by 29% since July 2019. That is destroying my community. These are not individuals letting out a spare room; they are organised businesses that are not paying their way through council tax or business rates. It is completely unregulated. That is why legislation, however we can find a way, must address this crisis. The Government need to get a grip on that, and not just register but license these places.”
“Take short-term holiday lets and Airbnbs: we must leave this Parliament with regulation on them, and I will do all I can to secure that. Imagine a beautiful city such as York, which I have the privilege of representing, now prey to the weekend stags and hens chasing local families out of our city centre, with tourists leaving in disgust. The city then spews out the crowds into our communities; every street fears the arrival of a party house, an Airbnb or a short-term let. We have 1,785 of them in my constituency alone and the number is rising sharply. That is why the legislation is so crucial. For some, the parties and antisocial behaviour are there all weekend, every weekend. These were once family streets, but no longer. Residents must live with the misery or sell up, and when they move, guess what happens to their home?”
“Families in York are being priced out of their community and we are regressing. The council is slow to build and the number of people now on waiting lists has tripled during my time in this place. Housing poverty is soaring. Leaseholders are becoming enslaved, renters are trapped and more and more people are forced to move away. Jobs are left vacant, with the local economy and public services understaffed and suffering. It feels as if everything is spiralling down and imploding. The system is broken and Ministers know it, but they need to put in place the frameworks to repair it—something Labour would do if we were in power now. Local plans are nothing if they are not prescriptive, especially regarding the tenure of housing that is needed. People and planning are not two separate entities, but must be together in one united purpose.”
“As things stand, developers and property tycoons have found ways to profit from virtually every scheme, sucking money and eventually people out of our communities while ticking Government boxes. Many people have nothing left in their pockets. For my constituents in York, housing is the greatest driver of inequality, yet a home can provide the greatest source of stability and security. The ownership generation may rest easy, but renters are at the mercy of their landlords extracting every last penny, causing house prices and rents to explode, with easy profit. Far too often, new-build developments are luxury apartments, which no one in my community can even think of affording, for investors to buy up and Londoners to find a bolthole. Existing stock is now being hoovered up for buy-to-lets, houses in multiple occupancy and Airbnbs.”
“We have heard many speeches in this place to confirm why: 4.3 million children in poverty, 2.1 million pensioners in poverty and 11 million people in our country overall in poverty—a number that, when we put in housing costs, rises to 14.5 million. This should have been a housing Parliament debating housing measures. For York, measures on housing and planning will be the most significant. Reforming the planning system and giving residents more involvement in local development will be important. In York, after 76 years without a local plan, the inquiry has commenced. We have a serious housing crisis, but the measures I have seen coming forward from Government will not address that.”
“The bare bones of a list of Bills has now been revealed to us all by what I call a skeleton of a functioning Government. Bill titles conceal their contents and aim, and this Parliament must ensure that they address the community’s greatest needs. Distracting attention with divisive laws will not mask the deep inequality we see across our communities or the cry of the people we represent—a cry that is getting louder day by day as they are plunged into abject poverty. I will reserve judgment until I see the detail of the Bills, but I will make the case for my constituents in this debate. In light of the economic crisis, where the few profit, and seriously profit, many of my constituents are paying, and they are seriously paying. This Queen’s Speech should have been a cost of living speech.”
“This evening’s debate has been excellent. In York, we had a company that was developing aptamers to be used in the diagnostic process. The Government did not have a grip on the governance or an understanding of what could be produced and the quality that that would bring. How is that mapping being done to ensure that every part of the manufacturing process is brought together?”
“The Archbishops of both Canterbury and York have, rightly, been outspoken about the plight of refugees. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that Church leaders have an important role to play in contributing a prophetic voice, a voice of conscience, as part of the process of providing checks and balances, advocacy and accountability to the nation, in respect of refugees and other vulnerable groups?”
“I, too, want to raise the issue of the bureaucracy that is putting women and children at risk. Why is the UK such an outlier when it comes to that? Ensuring that people have safe and expedient travel, and that they are not online trying to find a route to the UK, is important. Will the Minister speed up his processes and consider people being able to collect their visas in the UK rather than having to wait in other countries?”
“I beg to move, That this House has considered the future of rail. It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Charles. On 27 September 1825, as Stephenson’s Locomotion powered its way up out of Shildon towards Stockton, the eyes of the world marvelled at the height of British engineering. As we prepare for rail’s bicentenary against the backdrop of a different set of challenges, the excellence of British engineering can once again capture the imagination of what can be achieved and ignite a new transport revolution.”
“Today, York has over 100 rail companies, which are at the forefront of engineering, operations, software development, timetabling and planning, providing over 5,500 of York’s top jobs and 9,500 jobs in the surrounding region, and consolidating York’s rail cluster, which is the largest outside London and now eager to take us forward once more.”
“The partnership between York University and Leeds University centres the future of digital and advanced rail, including the Institute for High Speed Rail and System Integration at Leeds University, bringing together the very best of transport, academia and digital technologies with the 13 leading rail education providers in the region, including the Institute of Technology at York College, which I visited recently. We love our steam trains; whether it is the Mallard or the Flying Scotsman that fills people with greatest pride, our rail heritage is a natural draw for anyone across the network.”
“Today, I will set out why consolidation and intersection with other forms of transport and energy technologies is essential if Britain is once again to lead the transport revolution, and why it is vital that the Government invest in this unique global rail supercluster for rail’s bicentenary. I am ambitious for rail and I am ambitious for Britain. It will not be lost on anyone in this debate that York is where that revolution will occur. After all, York made the railways and the railways made York.”
“Post pandemic, the trains need to see patronage restored and advanced, better timetabling and intermodal end-to-end connectivity, not least connectivity from main lines to improved branch lines, to consolidate opportunity. The very best industry expertise across the railways in York is ready to rise to the challenge. With fuel prices escalating, the Government must seize the moment to achieve a sustained and sustainable modal shift. Although the integrated rail plan came as a bitter blow to us in Yorkshire, centring Great British Railways’ future on driving up patronage, accessibility, connectivity and reliability across the towns and cities of our region will address some of the Williams-Shapps plans. I know other colleagues will reinforce the point and urge the door not to be closed on our ambition.”
“Now that the Government are seeing such enthusiasm for BioYorkshire, Yorkshire’s green new deal and advancing a new generation of fuels, including links to the Teesside and Humber energy clusters, even more future technologies open up, with new innovations between transport and energy clusters. The electric vehicle revolution is too slow, too expensive, with too little infrastructure and too few people engaged, and it is not sustainable enough. We need travelling by train to be competitive with travelling by road. Pricing matters. Rail advancement will be far more efficient, faster, cleaner and greener, if we are to decarbonise and claim the climate dividend to keep the target of 1.5 degrees alive. That must be our bicentenary challenge. As a nation, there are significant challenges we need to address.”
“The institute’s £12 million programme leads global research to provide industry, regulators and researchers with guidance on assuring and regulating robotics and autonomous systems, including those on rail. York’s work is setting global standards and ensuring that such systems are safe. Taking the search for answers into applied testbeds, such as the advanced rail test facilities, widens possibilities and the collaborations between York, Leeds, Sheffield, Huddersfield and Hull. This is not just a rail cluster, but a transport cluster. Interlink that with the new headquarters of Active Travel England, and we will have end-to-end connectivity and endless possibilities.”
“I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his intervention. Where else can Great British Railways locate itself but in York if it is to level up the whole country? That really must be the argument we make. The York Rail Innovation Community already oversees the intersection of rail businesses and innovations, enabling the northern rail economy to generate over £42 billion, according to the University of Leeds. It draws on the University of York’s Institute for Safe Autonomy, bringing new technologies and robotics together, and opening up a new conversation for the future of rail and the future of transportation, and modernising how we think about rail and transport.”
“My hon. Friend is always to the point in expressing the frustration of his constituents, and detailing the opportunity that electrification of the Hull to Selby line would draw to the whole region.”
“When the network’s guiding mind is anchored and embedded in the midst of such developments, and the sparks of each rail entrepreneur are joined together, the future of our rail is set ablaze. That is why I am calling for investment for the rail bicentenary. The Minister will see its return. As for freight—perhaps the most challenging but neglected area of the network—investment in innovation has never been more needed. High Speed 2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail were partially about freeing up track for freight. That argument got lost as the debate turned to speed and costs. Our freight capability is woeful. Now coal remains in the ground, and while the likes of Drax see biofuels slowly chug their way from Liverpool docks to Selby, investment is urgently needed to drive freight forward.”
“Every inch of the network is mapped live, overseen and monitored across a series a sophisticated digital tools, which enhances rail operations. It is preparing us for the future, playing a key role in plans to introduce the next generation of digital signalling on the east coast and beyond. Network Rail’s training centre for professional development is already in the city and helping to take this revolution forward, with more than 1,000 Network Rail staff already working in York. Every time I meet York’s engineers, excitement for the next development greets me. My thinking is transformed, my mind left marvelling. This is what we can do when we build a sustained rail cluster.”
“Bosch has just made a significant investment in the city, building partnerships and integrating with other high-tech initiatives. The Government must invest if we are to move forward over the next 200 years of rail. York also stables the Network Rail trackside repair fleet. My recent visit to Holgate engineering works showed me how the most advanced trackside safety developments are being integrated into the fleet, with robotics, digital and high-end scanning equipment filling these yellow mechanical engines. That will give the UK the reputation for having the safest railway anywhere in the world. Again, that will be priceless when exporting our safety capability. York’s Rail Operating Centre—the largest in the UK—has tech that mirrors that of a spaceship.”
“My hon. Friend is right. I know his frustrations for Bradford, and the opportunity he wants to bring to his constituents and his city through greater connectivity. The reason for this debate is to lift the sights of the Minister beyond York and Yorkshire, and beyond even our railway nation. The UK could once again take pride of place in marketing the very best in railway planning, operations and engineering globally. If we are looking for a reason for global Britain, the operational and engineering expertise grown in our rail cluster in York, mixing the intermodal intersections with the next generation of energy, could be globally marketable and transformative. Already students from 120 countries study in Yorkshire. Global companies already understand the power of what is happening in York.”
“Our collective ambition will realise the potential power of York’s rail intersectional clusters to deliver the very best rail future—all delivered on the site of the old British Rail carriage works, adjacent to just about the best-connected station in the country. Great British Railways will be no add-on in York; it will anchor Britain’s rail future, ignite Britain’s rail ambition and deliver the next chapter of our Great British Railways revolution like no other place can. The bicentenary of rail gives the Minister the opportunity to invest in the future of passenger and freight. That will be the pride of my city, and that is our offer to the future of rail.”
“We believe that can be achieved only if Great British Railways is anchored in York and if investment in the sector’s research and development powers that opportunity. York has the very best of our rail past and present, but in politics we cannot change the past; it is the future that is placed in our hands. I look at the girls and boys in my city, who are all mesmerised by our rail story. The National Railway Museum’s new galleries will give them the first taste of rail engineering and spark their ambition to be the planners, operators and engineers of the future as they embark on their science, technology, engineering and maths journey.”
“We have difficult months ahead, but the Government must guarantee job security and good wages as staff work to rebuild the future of the industry to be even better than before. We need to enable all—from the station porter and train cleaner, to ticket office staff, trackside engineers, operators, designers, controllers, electricians and train drivers—to know that they are valued in our rail family, as they keep us safe and take our industry forward. Although consolidation of York’s rail cluster will level up our city, address the low-wage economy and accelerate inward investment for York and the region, it is what York’s rail cluster can deliver for levelling up across the whole country that excites our city the most.”
“If we get the engineering, logistics, planning and operations right on freight, we can be confident of export demand for another product from global Britain: not just capability, but know-how, too. That is the prize for the industry. The brilliant minds that serve our industry are the people who, at the height of the pandemic, got on our trains, repaired our tracks and advanced the network. Some, such as Belly Mujinga, gave their lives. We truly honour our transport workers and their unions—ASLEF, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, the Transport Salaried Staffs Association and Unite—who have worked tirelessly to keep staff and us safe, and to keep people in work.”
“To harness the opportunity provided by the bicentenary of British rail, investment in the freight industry will be the gamechanger for our logistics and transport. Those living in Kent are constantly reminded of the challenges of road haulage. However, the last couple of years have exposed the risks that the logistics industry is facing. Short-term fixes do not address the twin challenges of climate and workforce. As motorways turn into motels, a modal shift from road to rail for freight must be a priority. Cutting emissions, addressing the skills shortage and moving goods reliably is not only good for the climate, but better for business, which can become more dependable, meeting just-in-time demands that are essential in logistics. Moving goods from road to rail must be the rail cluster’s bicentenary challenge and the Minister’s focus.”
“Thank you, Sir Charles. I thank all hon. Members for their participation in today’s debate. We truly have debated the future of rail. It has been outstanding, with all of the contributions mentioning safety, stations, staffing and local services, as we try to grapple with the real challenges ahead of us around connectivity and the climate. Of course, centred in that is the opportunity that Great British Railways will bring to our network, to our country and to our future. I trust that, in today’s debate, not only was the case for York made so strongly, but also the plea to look to the next 200 years of our railways, using the bicentenary for real investment in our rail cluster, to ensure that we truly can be global Britain once more on our railways.”