Olivia Blake
MP for Sheffield Hallam · Labour · United Kingdom
“I thank the Minister for her statement. Despite what the shadow Minister said, this situation is unprecedented: the first time a severe drought has ever been declared in the UK. This is incredibly shocking for what has historically and famously been our wet island. Drought has just been declared in Yorkshire.”
House of Commons16 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Mr Evans applied for early release of his civil service pension on health grounds because of terminal illness in November 2025, but sadly passed away this May. His case is still not resolved, despite repeated urgent representations from my office. Capita has failed inexcusably.”
House of Commons6 July 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“In my constituency, the consequences of the system are painfully clear, as has been mentioned by my constituency neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield Central (Abtisam Mohamed).”
House of Commons2 July 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Under this system, people who have bought homes find themselves paying escalating service charges, opaque administration fees and arbitrary costs imposed by freeholders.”
House of Commons2 July 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“At present, leaseholders of houses do not have this right, while leaseholders of flats do. If a freeholder decides to sell the freehold of a house, the leaseholder has no guaranteed opportunity to buy it. They may learn of the sale only once it has occurred, several months later.”
House of Commons2 July 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I declare an interest as a leasehold homeowner, which is very common in Sheffield. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green (Florence Eshalomi) for securing this important debate. I agree wholeheartedly with the recommendations of her Committee, and of Lord Best, about a regulator.”
House of Commons2 July 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
The complete record
1,125 held · 592 searchable for Olivia Blake. The searchable lines are below in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 10 of 10.
This is not an official version of UK Parliament proceedings. It reproduces the published record and links to it; the official version is the one UK Parliament publishes.
“Despite the recent climbdown on what the Bill will cover, the truth is that it still hands power to Ministers to rewrite, revoke and replace hundreds of our vital laws on substantive issues. Without the Lords amendments, the Bill places our rights at work, our environmental protections and hard-won equal rights on a cliff edge. From working with my constituents on the Hallam citizens’ climate manifesto, our vision for climate action locally and nationally, I know the importance and appetite for democracy, especially around protecting our natural environment. Our response to the climate and nature emergency must be led by communities across the country who already feel the impacts of the climate crisis. That is why I have been working with campaigners to bring forward the Climate and Ecology Bill as a 10-minute rule Bill.”
House of Commons24 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I wish I could say I was happy to be called in this debate, but the truth is that I do not believe we should be having it at all. I am not sure that if I tried, I could design a worse way of withdrawing from a legal framework. Not content with crashing the economy, the world being literally on fire, and our food prices and energy bills being so high that people are no longer able to afford to eat or heat in many parts of the country, Ministers now want to waste our time and energy driving us off this regulatory cliff. I wonder how many civil servants have been drafted in and redeployed to deal with the legal consequences of the sunset clause—I am pleased the Government have now dropped it—which was ridiculous and absolutely unworkable.”
House of Commons24 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Lords amendment 15 stops regression on environmental standards and it is really important that it stands tonight. At the exact moment when we should be strengthening regulation to protect nature and biodiversity, the Bill does the complete opposite. I remember the debates on the Environment Bill and how we were repeatedly assured that there would be no regression on environmental standards. Without Lords amendment 15, the Bill will put all that at risk. The Government have refused to legislate to provide any guarantee that they will be protected.”
House of Commons24 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“For over a decade we have seen a decline in workers’ pay and conditions, and we have seen a cost of living crisis. People have rightly had enough, which is why we have seen rather a lot of strike action recently. Rather than address the root cause and improve pay and conditions in the workplace, the Bill puts basic workers’ rights, equality rights and paternal leave rights in the firing line.”
House of Commons24 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am not sure I totally agree. When I asked officials about the number of laws affected without the sunset clause, they could not give me an answer on even the number that would be affected. There is a lot more that underpins all the regulatory frameworks we work under when we are protecting our environment. I accept that the Act passed after we left the EU, but I do not believe that we are protected at the moment and that is why Lords amendment 15 is so important. If we do not act tonight to ensure we have those safeguards in place for our environmental protections, we will be undoing a lot of the good work that may have been done by the Environment Act. However, the nature emergency is not the only one that the Bill will potentially make worse.”
House of Commons24 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Thank you, Mr Gray. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship and to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Test. Having spoken to researchers at the University of Sheffield, and understanding that carbon capture and storage is more complicated than just the big carbon capture and storage programmes, I think his amendment is crucial. Modular and small carbon capture is really important, but where the captured CO 2 then goes is really important too. Having a CO 2 hub provider in this space is important for the circular economy of products, which, although not within the Bill’s exact remit, is fundamental to reducing carbon in the environment.”
House of Commons23 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“There are two points to this, are there not? There is a set amount of carbon at the moment, which is increasing annually. Usage allows us to reduce that—instead of new forms of carbon going into the atmosphere, we would reuse what we have. That is why the amendment is key. I hope that the Government take it away to look at again. It is also basic chemistry that if we are putting CO 2 into a chemical reaction, we will not get CO 2 coming out the other end until the product degrades, so it is a falsehood that it will all immediately leak—”
House of Commons23 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“How can Members hold the Government to account on the money they are giving to schools, where that is being directed, and whether those are the correct places? How can we have confidence in the surveys that we have? Parents have a right to know whether the school they send their children to is safe, and teachers have a right to know whether their workplace is at serious risk of collapse. I hope that the Minister will outline what immediate steps are being taken to ensure that the whole school estate is safe, commit to publishing that condition survey of schools and pledge finally to end austerity in our schools so that students in all our constituencies can receive the good-quality education they deserve in—importantly—a safe and supportive environment. Anything less is a complete dereliction of duty.”
House of Commons23 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Thirteen years of reckless Conservative cuts have left us with capital spending on schools cut by 50% in real terms between 2010 and 2022. Despite promises to end austerity in our schools, new capital spending pledges are a drop in the ocean. In my city, 153 of 163 schools face cuts in 2023-24 and are set collectively to lose about £7.7 million. What is worse is that Ministers are keeping parents in the dark about how bad the situation is. This is not about sowing fear; it is about sowing facts and informing people about what is happening in our education system. For more than a year, Ministers have known that school buildings have posed a risk to life, yet still the Government refuse to tell parents or the public where these dangerous school buildings are.”
House of Commons23 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I have been left with headaches, minor scarring around my eye and I am still waiting for an ENT referral for intrusive tinnitus. I know this accident could have been prevented and it was pure luck that no one died: 10 minutes after the accident, a classroom of children were filing out from where I had just been injured. We can’t wait until the inevitable happens before meaningful action is taken. Steps need to be taken now to ensure the safety of all children, teachers and staff.” Clearly my constituent has had to go through a lot, and it should shame us all. It is horrifying that we have got to this point. Our children’s school buildings are literally falling apart and, as Carla said, it is surely only a matter of time before something even worse happens. Carla is also right that this could have been prevented.”
House of Commons23 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am obviously pleased that two schools in my area are to receive funding, announced yesterday, for urgent safeguarding interventions, fire safety compliance and urgent drainage interventions, but I raise to speak not about those schools that received funding but an incident earlier this year where my constituent Carla suffered a serious head injury while dropping off her children at school. With your permission, Mr Deputy Speaker, I will share Carla’s message to the House. She said: “I have two boys, aged 9 and 10, at primary school in Sheffield. On the 12th of January a large strip of board around 15 ft long fell off the school and hit me in the face. I had a significant black eye and needed 3 weeks off work as I had no ability to concentrate.”
House of Commons23 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“(18) Proceedings to which this Order applies shall not be interrupted under any Standing Order relating to the sittings of the House. (19) (a) Any private business which has been set down for consideration at a time falling after the commencement of proceedings on this Order or on the Bill on a day on which the Bill has been set down to be taken as an Order of the Day shall, instead of being considered as provided by Standing Orders or by any Order of the House, be considered at the conclusion of the proceedings on the Bill on that day. (b) Standing Order No. 15(1) (Exempted business) shall apply to the private business so far as necessary for the purpose of securing that the business may be considered for a period of three hours.— (Mr Steve Baker.)”
House of Commons10 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“(d) The Question on such a Motion shall be put forthwith; and any proceedings suspended under sub-paragraph (c) shall thereupon be resumed. (e) Standing Order No. 15(1) (Exempted business) shall apply to proceedings on such a Motion. (16) (a) No dilatory Motion shall be made in relation to proceedings to which this Order applies except by a Minister of the Crown. (b) The Question on any such Motion shall be put forthwith. (17) (a) The start of any debate under Standing Order No. 24 (Emergency debates) to be held on a day on which the Bill has been set down to be taken as an Order of the Day shall be postponed until the conclusion of any proceedings on that day to which this Order applies. (b) Standing Order No. 15(1) (Exempted business) shall apply to proceedings in respect of such a debate.”
House of Commons10 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“83H (Programme orders: reasons committee) apply in relation to any committee to be appointed to draw up reasons after proceedings have been brought to a conclusion in accordance with this Order. Miscellaneous (13) Standing Order No. 15(1) (Exempted business) shall apply to proceedings on the Bill. (14) Standing Order No. 82 (Business Committee) shall not apply in relation to any proceedings to which this Order applies. (15) (a) No Motion shall be made, except by a Minister of the Crown, to alter the order in which any proceedings on the Bill are taken, to recommit the Bill or to vary or supplement the provisions of this Order. (b) No notice shall be required of such a Motion. (c) Such a Motion may be considered forthwith without any Question being put; and any proceedings interrupted for that purpose shall be suspended accordingly.”
House of Commons10 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Subsequent stages (10) (a) Any further Message from the Lords on the Bill may be considered forthwith without any Question being put; and any proceedings interrupted for that purpose shall be suspended accordingly. (b) Proceedings on any further Message from the Lords shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion one hour after their commencement; and any proceedings suspended under sub-paragraph (a) shall thereupon be resumed. (11) Paragraphs (2) to (5) of Standing Order No. 83G (Programme orders: conclusion of proceedings on further messages from the Lords) apply for the purposes of bringing any proceedings to a conclusion in accordance with paragraph (10) of this Order. Reasons Committee (12) Paragraphs (2) to (6) of Standing Order No.”
House of Commons10 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Consideration of Lords Amendments (8) (a) Any Lords Amendments to the Bill may be considered forthwith without any Question being put; and any proceedings interrupted for that purpose shall be suspended accordingly. (b) Proceedings on consideration of Lords Amendments shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion one hour after their commencement; and any proceedings suspended under sub-paragraph (a) shall thereupon be resumed. (9) Paragraphs (2) to (7) of Standing Order No. 83F (Programme orders: conclusion of proceedings on consideration of Lords amendments) apply for the purposes of bringing any proceedings to a conclusion in accordance with paragraph (8) of this Order.”
House of Commons10 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“(5) On a Motion so made for a new Clause or a new Schedule, the Chair or Speaker shall put only the Question that the Clause or Schedule be added to the Bill. (6) If two or more Questions would fall to be put under paragraph (4)(c) on successive amendments moved or Motions made by a Minister of the Crown, the Chair or Speaker shall instead put a single Question in relation to those amendments or Motions. (7) If two or more Questions would fall to be put under paragraph (4)(e) in relation to successive provisions of the Bill, the Chair shall instead put a single Question in relation to those provisions, except that the Question shall be put separately on any Clause of or Schedule to the Bill which a Minister of the Crown has signified an intention to leave out.”
House of Commons10 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“(4) For the purpose of bringing any proceedings to a conclusion in accordance with paragraph (1), the Chair or Speaker shall forthwith put the following Questions in the same order as they would fall to be put if this Order did not apply: (a) any Question already proposed from the chair; (b) any Question necessary to bring to a decision a Question so proposed; (c) the Question on any amendment moved or Motion made by a Minister of the Crown; (d) the question on any amendment, new Clause or new Schedule selected by the Chair or Speaker for separate decision; (e) any other Question necessary for the disposal of the business to be concluded; and shall not put any other questions, other than the question on any motion described in paragraph (15)(a) of this Order.”
House of Commons10 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Timing of proceedings and Questions to be put (2) When the Bill has been read a second time: (a) it shall, despite Standing Order No. 63 (Committal of bills not subject to a programme order), stand committed to a Committee of the whole House without any Question being put; (b) the Speaker shall leave the chair whether or not notice of an Instruction has been given. (3) (a) On the conclusion of proceedings in Committee of the whole House, the Chair shall report the Bill to the House without putting any Question. (b) If the Bill is reported with amendments, the House shall proceed to consider the Bill as amended without any Question being put.”
House of Commons10 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Northern Ireland (Interim Arrangements) Bill (Allocation of Time) Ordered, That the following provisions shall apply to the proceedings on the Northern Ireland (Interim Arrangements) Bill: Timetable (1) (a) Proceedings on Second Reading and in Committee of the whole House, any proceedings on Consideration and proceedings on Third Reading shall be taken at today’s sitting in accordance with this Order. (b) Proceedings on Second Reading shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion four hours after the commencement of proceedings on the Motion for this Order. (c) Proceedings in Committee of the whole House, any proceedings on Consideration and proceedings on Third Reading shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion six hours after the commencement of proceedings on the Motion for this Order.”
House of Commons10 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am delighted that so many members of local councils, including Councillor Georgia Gould, and local Mayors, including the Mayor of London, have recognised that and are backing the Bill. It is time that we got the action we need from the Government to ensure that we can survive. Question put and agreed to. Ordered, That Olivia Blake, Geraint Davies, Caroline Lucas, Colum Eastwood, Ed Davey, Wera Hobhouse, Liz Saville Roberts, Stephen Farry, Sir Peter Bottomley, Derek Thomas, Alan Brown and Brendan O’Hara present the Bill. Olivia Blake accordingly presented the Bill. Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 24 November, and to be printed (Bill 304).”
House of Commons10 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Clause 4 contains duties on the Committee on Climate Change and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee to evaluate, monitor and report on the implementation of the strategy. Clause 5 ensures that measures in areas of devolved competence would be agreed by the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly. As my hon. Friend the Member for Newport West (Ruth Jones) said so well during a debate on the principles last November: “We know that climate action must be nature-positive action and that we must halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity by 2030 for the benefit of all people and the planet.” —[ Official Report, 9 November 2022; Vol. 722, c. 150WH.] This Bill brings that vital issue to the fore.”
House of Commons10 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The climate assembly set up by six Select Committees that reported in September 2020, as well as the citizens’ assemblies that have taken place on climate and biodiversity in Ireland and the many others around the world, demonstrate the value of including citizens in the difficult decisions that we will have to take. From my work in Sheffield Hallam on the climate manifesto, which comprises ideas directly sourced from my constituents, I know the importance of democracy in the transition to net zero and in protecting nature. For that reason, clause 3 would provide for a representative sample of the UK population to consider expert advice and reports on recommendations for inclusion in the strategy as part of the temporary nature and climate assembly.”
House of Commons10 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The clause contains measures that must be met in achieving the Bill’s apex targets, including accounting for all of the UK’s imported emissions, as well as those that take place on UK soil, so that the UK is not offshoring our pollution; ending the exploration, extraction, export and import of fossil fuels by the UK as rapidly as possible; ensuring that all UK policies prioritise avoiding the loss of nature; and ensuring that the UK takes account of its entire ecological footprint and all the destruction to nature caused by the production, transportation and disposal of the goods and services we consume. The transition to a zero-carbon, nature-positive UK will affect how we all live, travel and work, so we should all have a role in planning how we get there.”
House of Commons10 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Bill’s holistic nature target would therefore see the health, abundance, diversity and resilience of species, populations, habitats and ecosystems visibly and measurably on the path to recovery by 2030, measured against a baseline of 2020. That is what this moment requires: to follow the science, to invest in nature and to restore our once-wild isles. Clause 2 is focused on the development of a climate and nature strategy. It states that the strategy must produce a just transition for all, by protecting vulnerable communities and providing financial support for workers transitioning from fossil fuel and ecosystem-intensive industries into the jobs of the future.”
House of Commons10 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“That is why the Bill’s nature target is to halt and reverse the UK’s overall contribution to the degradation and loss of nature in the UK and overseas. It is aligned with the international commitment to halt and reverse the destruction of nature by 2030, which the UK signed up to at the UN biodiversity conference, COP15, in 2022. Current legislation contains a target to halt the decline in the abundance of species by 2030, as well as a longer-term target to increase species populations. However, the absence of any concrete plan to address the current rate of decline means that the state of nature is on course to worsen considerably by 2030, which risks pushing ecosystems beyond danger points from which they may not be able to recover.”
House of Commons10 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“By transitioning to a renewable energy future, we would not only end our reliance on deadly fossil fuels, but create the jobs of the future and tackle the soaring cost of living crisis at source. Bridging the ambition gap between current emissions reductions and what is needed for 1.5°C is essential if we are serious about restoring the natural world, and it could not be more urgent. We know that human activities have already altered 70% of the Earth’s land, degrading up to 40% of it, and 87% of its oceans. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services has found that 1 million animal and plant species now face extinction and that mammal, bird, amphibian, reptile and fish populations decreased globally by 68% between 1970 and 2016.”
House of Commons10 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Bill also seeks to protect people by ensuring that no one is left behind via its fairness provisions and through the inclusion of a climate and nature assembly to incorporate public opinion in the unprecedented pace of change that is now required. Clause 1 contains the Bill’s apex climate and nature targets. Having a net zero date is an important marker, but we need to understand the area below the curve—in other words, how much carbon we can emit into the atmosphere before we breach 1.5°C. The Bill would limit the UK’s total carbon emissions to no more than its proportionate share of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s remaining global carbon budget for a 67% chance of limiting heating to 1.5°C.”
House of Commons10 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“By following the science and involving the British public, we can deliver the transition to a zero-carbon, nature-positive future, allowing us to live in harmony with nature. The ongoing Ukraine and energy crises remind us all too clearly of the need to transition fairly and rapidly away from fossil fuel dependency. We need to see action at home and abroad, and legislation is very much part of the solution. The Bill centralises the importance of social justice and the fact that the UK cannot and must not offshore environmental destruction at the expense of the global south. That means we must take responsibility for our emissions footprint and our overseas footprint, and deal with the root causes of climate and ecological breakdown.”
House of Commons10 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Alongside that, up to 300 million people face an increased risk of floods and hurricanes due to the loss of buffering coastline habitats, and the loss of pollinators is already causing some 430,000 deaths every year by reducing the supply of healthy food. It is clear that we must act with all urgency, at home and abroad, and stand united for nature. That is why the Bill is such an important piece of legislation. It is the only piece of proposed or existing legislation that would tackle the intertwined crises of climate and nature together to ensure a strong, integrated response. If enacted, it would create a joined-up plan to cut emissions in line with the 1.5°C target, while halting and reversing nature loss by 2030.”
House of Commons10 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“As Sir David Attenborough has shown us, nature is not a “nice to have”; it is all we have. As one of the world’s most nature-depleted nations, we must aim higher and we must do better. We cannot solve the climate crisis without saving our key ecosystems, restoring habitats and protecting our much-loved species. The UK’s critical carbon sinks and stores, such as peatland, woodland, soils, wetlands and seas, are deteriorating, reducing their capacity to absorb carbon. In some cases, they have even become net carbon sources rather than sinks and stores. Protecting nature must take equal priority with cutting emissions. Half of the world’s annual economic output, some $44 trillion, is being put at risk by the depletion of natural resources.”
House of Commons10 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Our ability to prevent temperatures rising by more than 1.5°C is in the balance. Now is the time not to give up on that aim, but to redouble our efforts to meet it. As the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, told us in Glasgow, 1.5 is the only way to survive. The double-headed climate and nature crisis is affecting people’s lives now, especially in the global south, but increasingly here in the UK as well. Just think of the climate change-triggered heatwaves in India and Pakistan, the floods we have seen worldwide and, of course, the floods and heatwaves of recent years here in the UK. There is no room for complacency and no time to waste. Nature provides our best chance to mitigate climate change and its worst impacts, such as extreme flooding and drought.”
House of Commons10 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am proud to lead this cross-party effort for the UK to embed in law the ambition and the action we need to tackle the environmental crisis. The Bill has been drafted and is supported by many of Britain’s leading climate and ecology scientists. We must align our policies with the latest science and with what the UK has agreed internationally. This is not a matter of partisan politics; it is a matter of survival. It is about providing a sustainable way of life for our nation today and for generations to come. I urge all colleagues to join the growing all-party cohort of Members from both Houses who back this Bill, and I am especially grateful to the hon. Member for St Ives (Derek Thomas) for supporting it so enthusiastically. This Bill is our chance to position the UK as a world leader on climate and environmental action.”
House of Commons10 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to require the United Kingdom to achieve climate and nature targets; to give the Secretary of State a duty to implement a strategy to achieve those targets; to establish a Climate and Nature Assembly to advise the Secretary of State in creating that strategy; to give duties to the Committee on Climate Change and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee regarding the strategy and targets; and for connected purposes. It is a great honour to introduce the Climate and Ecology Bill. I pay tribute to the Bill’s current sponsor and former promoter, the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas), who has long championed this Bill, as well as to Lord Redesdale, who did likewise in the other place.”
House of Commons10 May 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Does the Minister agree that we owe huge thanks to my hon. Friend the Member for Streatham (Bell Ribeiro-Addy) for her work as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Black maternal health? Secondly, black women are four times more likely to die during pregnancy and childbirth and 43% more likely to miscarry. The Women and Equalities Committee’s report highlights that the Government are failing to act. Ironically, the maternity disparities taskforce meets every nine months instead of every two months. Will the Minister commit today to setting a binding target and providing properly resourced solutions to end this scandal and these disparities?”
House of Commons26 April 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“They want to bypass the European Court of Human Rights and harm Britain’s standing in the world, eroding the foundations of the international refugee systems and the refugee convention, all to appease their Back Benchers and throw red meat to a small portion of their base.”
House of Commons26 April 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is clear that that has been an agenda long before this Bill was presented and that the Government are being pushed around by a very small and extreme group within the Conservative party, as we see when we look at Government new clause 22. It shamefully bars UK courts from interim measures to stop someone from being deported if they bring a legal challenge. The Government claim that they are considering fairness and the rule of law, and that that is a key British principle and value, but this measure sheds that. The Government are only too keen to undermine these principles if it helps them in the scapegoating of the most vulnerable.”
House of Commons26 April 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“But when the Government say, “Stop the boats”, it is not because they want to end the crisis in the channel, because they want to have safe borders where people do not die on them or because they want to end the suffering of people who are trying to come here to claim asylum. It is not even because they want to end the horror of people drowning as they attempt to reach refuge in the UK. It is because they are intent on vilifying people who have survived some of the most harrowing and worst things human beings can go through. I know that because I have spoken to many, many refugees and asylum seekers who have come here on boats. The Government are taking this approach because on these big issues they have no answers, so they are resorting to scapegoats.”
House of Commons26 April 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Lobotomies were once widespread across the globe too, but that does not mean they were scientifically valid, accurate or moral. Just because someone else is doing it does not mean we have to do it here, especially when the evidence for the accuracy of these tests is so poor. It is a damning indictment of this Bill that my hon. and right hon. Friends have needed to table this extensive list of new clauses. The protections they are attempting to introduce are outstripped only by the litany of rights that this Government are attempting to remove from some of the world’s most vulnerable people. The Government’s contemptible proposals have been tabled for entirely cynical reasons. We all want to stop the boats.”
House of Commons26 April 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I have spoken to people working on the frontline in detention centres who feel deeply uncomfortable and ill-equipped to deal with pregnant women in such settings, so these amendments are vital. In fact, every woman who arrives in a detention centre is given a pregnancy test because staff recognise that where they work is not appropriate for pregnant women. New clause 4 would support young people under the age of 18 in their interaction with the asylum system. This stands in stark contrast to the Government’s obsession with trying to discredit and dehumanise children, either by proposing bogus scientific assessments to determine their age—I say that as a biomedical scientist—or by bizarrely claiming that granting safety to children is some sort of pull factor.”
House of Commons26 April 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Before I begin, I direct the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, which outlines the support I received from the RAMP project. I support the amendments tabled by my hon. Friends the Members for Streatham (Bell Ribeiro-Addy), for Poplar and Limehouse (Apsana Begum) and for Walthamstow (Stella Creasy) and my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull North (Dame Diana Johnson). These amendments attempt to mitigate the damage the Bill will do to some of the most vulnerable people, by requiring reports on how it will affect the pregnant, victims of modern slavery and the health and human rights of refugees. New clauses 2 and 3 would safeguard pregnant women and girls from removal.”
House of Commons26 April 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“At the centre of this is a paradox: how can someone claim asylum if they are not on UK soil and they have to be on UK soil to claim asylum? How can they take a safe and legal route if there is no safe and legal route that works for them or is available to them? How can they claim safety in the first country they get to if that country persecutes them because they are LGBT, or they have a disability or religion—”
House of Commons26 April 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“What are people fleeing war and persecution in Sudan, or anywhere else, supposed to do with that? By the time anything comes from this report, it will be too late for them, they will be on their way. The amendments I cited earlier have been tabled because no serious attempt has been made in this Bill to ensure that vulnerable people are protected. That has been outlined well in the discussion we have had on modern slavery, so I will not add to that. The purpose of the Bill is the complete opposite of providing safe and legal routes for people to claim asylum. At their core, these proposals are not about helping anyone or making anyone safer, and they are not about making our borders safer; they are simply about attacking the rights of refugees, for the sake of electoral expedience and managing unruly Government Back Benchers.”
House of Commons26 April 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“My hon. Friend makes a good point. It is worth reflecting on the fact that in this week alone the horrifying news about Sudan has reached us and we have seen the horrific circumstances being faced by not only British and dual nationals, but everyone there. While Britain is working hard to evacuate our citizens, we are not talking about safe routes for Sudanese refugees or a homes for Sudan scheme, and there are no dedicated resettlement routes and no numbers confirmed in respect of what countries the UNHCR should be prioritising in trying to help with what the Minister was outlining earlier. Even with Government new clause 8, the best this Bill could offer is a commitment to a report on safe routes, but with no actual, tangible commitments to open new ones.”
House of Commons26 April 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Minister spoke of making policy on the hoof, so I wonder why the Government’s policy seems to be chasing a unicorn. What happens if the unicorn of carbon capture and storage turns out to be a donkey with an ice cream on its head? Would it not be better to unlock the stables of the reliable horses of home insulation, solar and onshore wind?”
House of Commons30 March 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“A start would be supporting and looking into the proposals of new clause 10, which builds on the proposals of the PCS union and Care4Calais, two organisations working at the frontline of the crisis. It offers a practical solution to a humanitarian crisis in the channel by creating a safe passage visa. The visa would give entry clearance to those already in Europe who wish to come to the UK to make an asylum claim.”
House of Commons27 March 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“What better example is there than the cruelty of stripping away the modern slavery provisions of asylum seekers who have survived human trafficking? This legislation, as it stands, would persecute the persecuted and criminalise the victims of crime. To be frank, I suspect there are some of the Conservative side of the House who think it is a good thing that the Bill violates the UN conventions on international human rights law. The Government’s credibility is so shredded that they believe the only route to future electoral success is to wage a culture war, gleefully reciting pre-rehearsed lines about lefty lawyers, while the situation of some of the most vulnerable people in the world gets worse and worse. However, the Government could prove me wrong, and I give them that opportunity.”
House of Commons27 March 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“They have brothers who have been arrested by the police on spurious grounds, or their parents have sadly been murdered as a result of their identity. We really must shine a light on how the Government’s strategy is doomed to fail and, perhaps more importantly, why the success of that strategy would be a horror. The only way that the deterrence framework can work is if the hostile environment it creates is worse than what people are running from. That is why I feel jaded. I do not think this is really about stopping the crossings and saving lives. These proposals are not about how people come here to claim asylum; they are about stopping people from claiming asylum at all. This is not about fairness. It is about populist electoral politics, throwing red meat to a section of hard-line, anti-refugee opinion.”
House of Commons27 March 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Nationality and Borders Act 2022 has become law and people continue to make these journeys. I am proud that my city, Sheffield, calls itself a city of sanctuary. The people I meet who support refugee rights often quote the lines of a poem called “Home”, by the Somali-British writer Warsan Shire: “no one puts their children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land”, and, “no one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark.” Those lines are important, because they explain why people attempt these crossings. We have heard a lot of talk about families today. I regularly engage with and talk to asylum seekers and refugees in the system, whose family members are being persecuted because of them leaving the country.”
House of Commons27 March 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Prime Minister even had it printed on his lectern. To be clear, it is a moral outrage that people need to get in a blow-up boat, risking life and limb, to exercise their rights under the refugee convention to claim asylum here. We need a solution to this humanitarian crisis in the channel, but that is not what the Bill offers. Instead, it doubles down on the same failed hostile environment framework that has characterised the Government’s approach to asylum and migration. It is simply not working. Since 2018, 56 people have tragically drowned in the channel—brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts and cousins to many families already in the UK—yet the number of dangerous crossings has risen, even after the Government’s Rwanda policy was announced, and that announcement in itself was deemed to be a deterrent.”
House of Commons27 March 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗