Phil Brickell
MP for Bolton West · Labour · United Kingdom
“On the occasion of the then Mayor of Greater Manchester, now the Prime Minister, visiting my constituency, I was proud to host him in Blackedge’s Brewery Tap on Market Street in Westhoughton.”
House of Commons27 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“My hon. Friend has spoken very passionately about the experiences of her constituents. My constituents have faced issues in which they have had mail only once every three or four weeks; one constituent did not receive 14 items of post.”
House of Commons26 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“My hon. Friend is making a passionate contribution about the experience of her constituents and the real-life impact of Royal Mail’s failures. Does she agree that this is yet another prime example of why it is important to properly regulate a public service?”
House of Commons26 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“With about 800 peers— 800—the House of Lords is larger than almost every comparable second chamber in the democratic world. When people talk about a bloated state, perhaps they should start by walking through Westminster Hall and turning right at Central Lobby.”
House of Commons20 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir John. First, I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Dr Opher) for securing this critical debate. He has been a champion in pursuing long overdue reform to the upper Chamber.”
House of Commons20 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Elsewhere, what progress has been made on the Government’s three other manifesto commitments: first, introducing new participation requirements; secondly, delivering a national and regional balance for the upper Chamber; and finally, and most importantly, reforming the appointments process?”
House of Commons20 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
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“I am very concerned about the potential knock-on effect of any reforms for teaching assistants. From visiting schools, I know how vital their role is in ensuring children can maximise the time they have to learn in classrooms, whether it be at Ladybridge primary, the Gates in Westhoughton or Beaumont Primary, to name but a few. I know from speaking to a local head just this morning that the current situation simply cannot go on. She told me that headteachers were having to go cap in hand outside the school to seek alternative funding and that she has never found it so tough in seven years of being a head. We owe it to all our children to give them the ability to realise their ambitions, so I hope the Minister can address my concerns and those of my constituents.”
House of Commons12 June 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“In Bolton alone, more than 9,000 young people have identified SEND needs, and over 20% of them rely on EHCPs, so I welcome the £1 billion increase to SEND and alternative provision that was announced for 2025-26 in the autumn statement last year. I commend the Chancellor for her announcement in yesterday’s spending review of another £547 million in 2026-27 and £213 million in 2027-28 to reform the special educational needs and disabilities system, to make it more inclusive and to improve outcomes ahead of publishing a schools White Paper in the autumn. However, can the Minister reassure my constituents and me that, whatever happens with EHCPs, parents and teachers will be closely consulted to ensure the best outcomes are secured for children across my constituency and up and down the country?”
House of Commons12 June 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is not the fault of the school, which is operating under challenging financial constraints; rather, it is a symptom of a system that fails to see autistic children as leaders or participants in national life. After all, as Jo reminded me, representation is not just about being present, but about being expected. Another mother, Victoria, wrote to me distraught about the possibility that education, health and care plans may soon be restricted to children in specialist settings. Her 10-year-old son, who has complex needs, is in mainstream education. He cannot learn without tailored support. His EHCP is not a luxury; it is a lifeline. Without it, he would not be in school; without it, he would not be learning.”
House of Commons12 June 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I congratulate the right hon. Member for Beverley and Holderness (Graham Stuart) on securing the debate. It is clear that the special educational needs and disabilities system is overstretched, underfunded and increasingly out of step with the reality faced by children, parents and schools. I will share with colleagues two local examples from Bolton West that illustrate the strife that the current system has caused parents. One mother, Jo, wrote to me after I visited her children’s school in Lostock. Her children are both bright, engaged, full of potential and autistic, but they are all too often excluded from the very activities designed to inspire them. When the school organised a high-profile enrichment trip to London, her eldest was not chosen.”
House of Commons12 June 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Of course the Government needed to act at speed—nobody denies that—but what went on is, in my view, inexcusable. Leading anti-corruption charity Transparency International UK produced a 2024 report, “Behind the Mask”, which found a total of 135 high-risk covid-19 contracts, totalling £15.3 billion. Many of those were awarded without competitive tender, and were rushed.”
House of Commons12 June 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We would be doing all those people who lost or risked their life a huge disservice if we did not learn the lessons of the pandemic, so I implore the Minister—I hope we will make progress on this—to look at how it was possible that our frontline workers were sent into battle against the virus without adequate personal protective equipment. There was PPE that was deemed unfit for purpose, PPE that was not delivered in a timely manner, and PPE that was not manufactured to NHS requirements. PPE contracts awarded by the previous Government meant that millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money were squandered through a cavalier approach to procurement, and serious questions were raised about integrity, probity, and value for money. Five years after covid first hit these shores, these issues continue to wind their way through our courts.”
House of Commons12 June 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for West Ham and Beckton (James Asser) on securing this debate. It may be five years since the pandemic began, but those years cast a long shadow. Regrettably, the effects will be felt for many years to come. Across my constituency in and around Bolton, the pandemic left a deep scar, with thousands of lives tragically cut short. Those were not numbers on a board or figures on a screen; they were neighbours, parents, siblings, children, mums and dads, aunts and uncles, family friends and loved ones. Their memory must be honoured, not just with fine words in the Chamber today, but in our commitment to learning the lessons from the covid pandemic, so that never again do we find ourselves wholly unprepared for a public health emergency.”
House of Commons12 June 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Indeed, some contracts were agreed at more than four times the average unit price. To close, in order to truly honour the legacy of the hundreds of thousands who tragically lost their life in the pandemic, we must act on the lessons learned during those awful few years. We must ensure that there is a proper Government procurement system that can secure public trust.”
House of Commons12 June 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I welcome my hon. Friend’s contribution. We should thank not just GPs, but all the key workers who were vital in ensuring that our country could keep going, and who kept us safe during those terrible years. Returning to the point about Government procurement, the VIP lane disproportionately favoured companies with political connections, rather than prioritising value for money or capability to deliver. The National Audit Office found that suppliers on the VIP list were 10 times more likely to secure a PPE contract from the Government than those who came through the ordinary lane. That would be all well and good if those contracts had provided any sort of value for money, but the Good Law Project revealed that such contracts were 80% more expensive than other suppliers were.”
House of Commons12 June 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I commend the hon. Member for securing this debate. He mentions the joys of spending time in the great outdoors, and I thank him for mentioning Patterdale Hall, which is a truly excellent outdoors centre that I benefited from a great deal. Last month’s Supreme Court judgment, upholding the right to wild camp on Dartmoor, shows just how precarious our rights of access to nature are. Following that landmark ruling, does he agree that the Government must urgently introduce primary legislation to expand the right to roam on land and water across England?”
House of Commons11 June 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I put on the record my thanks to the Prime Minister and the Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office for this landmark first step in the Government’s reset with the European Union. As the Government remove barriers to trade, what further information can the Prime Minister share with the House about how the deal will bring down the cost of living, including for my Bolton West constituents?”
House of Commons20 May 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It will empower the CPS to recruit from a broader talent pool, ensuring that cases are prosecuted more swiftly and reducing unacceptable backlogs, enabling the Government to finally ensure quicker justice for my constituents in the magistrates court and the Crown court at Bolton. Finally, I welcome the provisions in the Bill to close loopholes in the unduly lenient sentence scheme, which have been remarked on by the right hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Sir John Hayes). The Bill will ensure that the Attorney General will always have at least 14 days to consider a referral, even if it is made at the end of the 28-day limit. These provisions will guarantee that victims and the public are not denied proper scrutiny of lenient sentences due to late submissions. This Bill is thoughtful, robust and, above all, victim-focused.”
House of Commons20 May 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“In particular, I welcome the Lord Chancellor’s remarks on new powers for judges to compel offenders to attend their sentencing hearings. Too many families have watched in disbelief as those convicted of the most appalling crimes refuse to face the consequences of their actions in court. This legislation is about upholding dignity in the courtroom and giving victims the right to see justice done. Crucially, the Bill will also help to tackle the interminable delays and appalling inequality of access to justice left by the Conservatives, after 14 years in power, for this Labour Government to sort out. It will remove legislative barriers that prevent qualified practitioners from being appointed Crown prosecutors, thereby making our system more efficient, flexible and, crucially, diverse.”
House of Commons20 May 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is a privilege to rise in support of the Government’s Victims and Courts Bill, an important and overdue piece of legislation that puts victims where they should always be: at the heart of our criminal justice system. For too long, victims in towns such as Horwich, Westhoughton and Bolton in my constituency have been treated as bystanders—forgotten once the police investigation ends, let down by poor communication and denied a voice in the system that should be shaped to uphold their rights. I am pleased that the Bill will go some way to fixing those issues. Indeed, the Bill will give the Victims’ Commissioner tools to better hold the system to account and stand up for victims, and therefore to deliver on this party’s manifesto commitment made at last year’s general election.”
House of Commons20 May 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The hon. Member talks about the official Opposition’s motion being precise, but that is factually incorrect, in that the motion conflates freedom of movement with youth mobility. If youth mobility is good enough for Australia, Canada and Uruguay, it does not run against the red lines regarding freedom of movement. Does the hon. Member not understand that?”
House of Commons13 May 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Those new clauses will cut the asylum backlog and drastically save money for taxpayers. New clause 8 will, I hope, improve our approach to persons convicted of serious sexual offences, which my constituents have grave concerns about. It is right that foreign nationals who commit sex offences should not be able to claim refugee status in the UK. The UK is a welcoming and open nation, and we need a sensible, fair and caring immigration system to support our key industries. I am pleased that the Government are making moves towards that, and I will be pleased to support the Bill tonight.”
House of Commons12 May 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The fantastic trade deals that we concluded just last week with India and the US are vital recognition that putting Britain back on the global stage and tackling the gangs that are smuggling people into our country can go hand in hand. Crime does not respect borders, so it is quite right that we are prioritising strong international partners. I particularly welcome the new joint action plan with Germany and, through the Calais Group and the G7, the alignment of efforts across Europe to shut down smuggling groups, seize key equipment and bring gang leaders to justice. New clauses 6 and 7 set reasonable timelines for first-tier tribunal appeal determinations. Those are important clarifications, given the damage done to trust in our immigration system by interminable proceedings and delays.”
House of Commons12 May 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It allows for the seizing of electronic devices, such as phones and laptops, to help gather evidence and disrupt operations, and creates a new interim serious crime prevention order, which allows immediate restrictions on travel, communications and finances, so that we can stop criminals in their tracks before they escalate their activity. I am particularly pleased about the £150 million going into the new Border Security Command, and further National Crime Agency officers working across Europe—including, importantly, through Europol. It is not rocket science, but the National Crime Agency has said that these measures will give it what it needs to disrupt smuggling networks and dismantle their business model. Just as importantly, the Bill will put a stop to the Conservative party’s attempts to make us turn our back on the world.”
House of Commons12 May 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am pleased to speak in support of the Bill, because for far too long, criminal smuggling gangs have operated with virtual impunity, ruthlessly exploiting men, women and children and putting their lives at risk for profit. That is why I am encouraged to see a Government being honest with me and my constituents. No more gimmicks. No more wasting £700 million on unworkable and fantastical Rwanda schemes. They are just giving our law enforcement bodies the tools and resourcing that they need to intervene earlier and act faster. The Bill contains new offences targeting those who supply or handle boat parts used in crossings, with up to 14 years behind bars for those found guilty.”
House of Commons12 May 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“On Alex’s behalf, I praise the amazing work done by brain tumour charities, such as Brain Tumour Research, for all they do in raising awareness and funding research, and the staff at the Christie and Salford hospitals for their outstanding care, despite the constraints around treatment. Those charities clearly cannot do it all on their own, and the Government must support where they can. As well as increased, better-used funding, I would like to see more clinical trials and faster diagnosis and treatment by the NHS. That is vital given the speed with which the illness can take hold and the challenges associated with diagnoses. Finally, I echo calls by colleagues and the Brain Tumour Charity for a national brain tumour strategy, and I urge the Minister to give that serious consideration.”
House of Commons8 May 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We chose to drip-feed relevant information, allowing life to carry on, even during GCSEs. Whether that’s right or wrong, I don’t know, but we keep going and that’s what matters.” One in three people in the UK knows someone affected by a brain tumour. It kills more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, as the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) mentioned, but receives just 1% of the national spend on cancer research. Since his diagnosis, Alex has fundraised vigorously for Brain Tumour Research, and recently arranged for Bolton town hall to be lit up in honour of Brain Tumour Awareness Month.”
House of Commons8 May 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“In June 2023, Alex suffered a seizure at home and was initially diagnosed with epilepsy, but he was later diagnosed with a glioblastoma. Despite going through surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, a process that must have been incredibly difficult to bear for his wife, Emma, and children, Joseph and Eloise, the cancer returned. Alex has recently had his secondary surgery at Salford Royal and told me that, though the teams and lead doctors he has dealt with have been outstanding, the treatment available has hardly changed for 20 years, as colleagues have already noted. I will read some of Alex’s own words, as they speak much more eloquently than I can to the struggles that he has faced. He says: “The real challenge was knowing what to say to our loved ones, especially our kids.”
House of Commons8 May 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham and Morden (Dame Siobhain McDonagh) on securing this important debate. She is a tireless campaigner on this issue, which is clearly very close to her heart. I thank the hon. Member for Witney (Charlie Maynard) for co-sponsoring the debate. Their joint sponsorship demonstrates the cross-party nature of support for tackling this issue; no matter which party we belong to, we can all get behind that. My constituent, Alex, from Horwich, got in touch with me about his story. With his permission, I would like to share some of that with hon. Members today. Alex’s powerful testimony reminds us just how important it is that we support efforts to improve treatment for those suffering from glioblastoma and brain tumours more broadly.”
House of Commons8 May 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I commend the Minister for his statement, and I wish to put on record my thanks to him, the Prime Minister and our excellent trade negotiators. The Minister has spoken a lot about tariffs so far, but might he talk about the non-tariff and non-quota trade barriers to further economic development between the United Kingdom and the United States, and about where we will go in the ongoing negotiations?”
House of Commons8 May 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“My hon. Friend talks about commemoration. The Westhoughton branch of the Royal British Legion, set up in 1921 after 109 soldiers from the town died in the first world war, was one of the first of its kind in the country. With that in mind, will he congratulate the Westhoughton branch of the Royal British Legion on the excellent VE commemoration event that was hosted at the weekend?”
House of Commons6 May 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I welcome the statement from the Minister today. In light of the awful terror attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, what work are the Government undertaking to consult the Kashmiri diaspora here in the UK and identify their concerns?”
House of Commons29 April 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“May I put on record my thanks to the Minister for his statement today and commend him and the Foreign Secretary for securing this landmark memorandum of understanding with the Palestinian Government? Following my meeting yesterday with Prime Minister Mustafa, can the Minister tell this House how the MOU and the £101 million for the Occupied Palestinian Territories will allow the Palestinian Authority to reform and provide crucial public services to the Palestinian people?”
House of Commons29 April 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“That is why I firmly believe in a bright future for Britain as a nation that must grasp the opportunity on youth mobility with Europe. It is time to back British businesses, back British workers and back Britain’s rightful place as a key European nation.”
House of Commons24 April 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Let me repeat that: over half of our imports, seven years after the referendum result. Europe remains the bedrock of British trade. Yet, can we really say that we are currently taking full advantage of having such a huge market for British goods on our doorstep? Many British regions can have productive relationships with European partners. Look at Siemens, a major German engineering firm which has invested heavily in Greater Manchester’s advanced manufacturing sector. Instead of resigning from the challenge ahead and relitigating debates from a decade ago, we should be breaking down barriers that are causing friction and stunting growth. But we must go further than focusing purely on the economics. I benefited immensely from my own lived experience as an Erasmus exchange student at the University of Hannover in Germany.”
House of Commons24 April 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is a partnership that transcends political developments and is testament to our inescapable geography as a nation in Europe and as a large trading partner with the continent. Our best course of action must be to protect ourselves from the erratic and unpredictable global headwinds of Donald Trump’s America and Xi Jinping’s China. That must mean strengthening our trading relationship with our nearest and largest economic partner, the European Union, and the 27 countries that make up that bloc of 450 million people. Analysis from Frontier Economics has suggested that deeper alignment between the UK and the EU on goods and services could offset the impact of tariffs on the UK, and even help our economy grow by 1.5%. In 2023 the EU still accounted for 42% of the UK’s total exports and 52% of our imports.”
House of Commons24 April 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Jeremy. Before I begin, I declare an interest as the secretary of the all-party parliamentary group on Germany. It is our country’s relationship with Germany—seen through the prism of the UK-EU relationship—that I will refer to today. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Andrew Lewin) for securing a debate that is both important and timely, and hope that colleagues will join me in celebrating the 50th anniversary of Bolton being twinned with Paderborn in Germany, which occurred last week. That twinning is a symbol of the deep civic relationship between my constituency and our European neighbours.”
House of Commons24 April 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“As one of the individuals who was sanctioned yesterday by the Kremlin, I ask the Minister whether he agrees that if Putin is serious about securing any sort of lasting peace in Ukraine, he should stop the performative sanctioning of democratically elected Members of this House and focus on stopping the murderous, barbaric killing of civilians in Ukraine and the invasion of that nation, which we stand with in full support.”
House of Commons24 April 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“From conversations with my constituents, it is clear that after 14 years of Tory government there is a systemic issue of overcrowding in social housing. Under the Housing Act 1985, a living room is classed as sleeping accommodation, which means that many families in my constituency find themselves stuck on the housing register for extended periods, with no priority when bidding and often with teenage children having to share a bedroom with a complete lack of privacy. Will the Leader of the House allow a debate in Government time to address this critical issue?”
House of Commons24 April 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“2. What assessment the Committee has made of the effectiveness of the Electoral Commission’s powers to enforce compliance with political donation rules.”
House of Commons3 April 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Electoral Commission has the power to issue fines only up to the value of £20,000, so I welcome the right hon. and learned Member’s comments. I take it that he agrees with the report from the Committee on Standards in Public Life, which found that this threshold needs to be dramatically increased in order to safeguard our democracy and act as a deterrent against bad faith actors.”
House of Commons3 April 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“My first job was working at Bolton hospital, so will the Leader of the House join me in thanking the many staff at Bolton NHS foundation trust who, between October 2024 and January 2025, secured a drop in local waiting lists of 2,447 patients? After 14 years of neglect under the Conservatives, will she find Government time to discuss additional innovative solutions to bring waiting lists down even further?”
House of Commons3 April 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Green Book review must lead to real, tangible change that rebalances our economy and puts regions like ours at the heart of national prosperity. Never again should we live in a country where people’s futures are too often determined by their postcodes.”
House of Commons2 April 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“In my constituency, despite having a number of brilliant small and medium-sized enterprises, including the pioneering Blackedge brewery around the corner from my office in Horwich, I worry that many smaller firms still struggle to access the finance they need to grow. Too often, our local businesses struggle to secure the funding they need to expand, innovate and compete. We must ensure that businesses across the UK, including those in Bolton West, can access the capital they need to succeed. If we are serious about driving economic growth, Government must invest and build the appropriate infrastructure. We must also work with the private sector to empower our entrepreneurs and local businesses, and not leave them battling a system that is stacked against them.”
House of Commons2 April 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Crucially, investment in Greater Manchester cannot just mean investment in Manchester city centre; it must mean investment in the towns and communities that make Manchester the innovative economic powerhouse it has become. We are at the cutting edge of the cyber and digital industries in Greater Manchester, and Bolton is a key part of that, with a growth corridor that stretches out across to Wigan. Bolton and other surrounding towns, however, have yet to be given the tools to harness that immense opportunity. After years of the Conservatives failing to put their money where their mouths were, we now see more investment into connecting Bolton to these high-growth sectors through training, infrastructure and partnerships, which bring those opportunities to my constituents’ doorsteps.”
House of Commons2 April 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Despite the expensive self-congratulation from the previous Government, levelling up did not amount to all that much in Bolton West. Indeed, under the last Government, Bolton West simply did not get a fair deal on funding. Time and time again, our towns lost out—a situation played out across the north. The result is that inequality has become entrenched and high streets across the north-west have become ghost towns, with young people having to leave their communities to find work, just as many of my peers had to when I was growing up. The review is the perfect opportunity to fix this fatal, regressive flaw and ensure that investment decisions consider the wider benefits to our communities: job creation, skills development, better transport and improved public services.”
House of Commons2 April 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Pritchard, and I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Congleton (Mrs Russell) for introducing this important debate. I rise today to make the case for communities such as mine in Bolton West to be placed at the heart of the Green Book review. The Government’s laser-like focus on growth is welcome, but I know from talking to businesses in my constituency, such as Woodall Nicholson in Westhoughton, Scan Computers in Horwich and Cohens Chemist in Lostock, that they face real obstacles to expansion and job creation. Some of that is a result of a lack of central Government co-ordination. The Green Book has consistently reinforced an economic model that prioritises investment in parts of the country that are already more prosperous, such as the south-east, rather than constituencies like mine.”
House of Commons2 April 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Does the Minister agree that it is vital the UK Government fulfil their obligations under international law? Does he recognise that the January 2021 binding judgment of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea— [ Interruption ] — which was handed down under the Conservative Government, found that the UK’s current administration of the archipelago “constitutes a wrongful act…and…must be brought to an end as rapidly as possible”?”
House of Commons2 April 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Independent scrutiny bodies, including the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament and the Committee on Standards in Public Life, have repeatedly warned about the risks posed by opaque political donations. That is why we desperately need what I hope will be a forthcoming elections Bill. I urge the Minister, in her response, to provide a clear timeline for that piece of legislation. We desperately need to close loopholes, empower regulators and protect our democratic institutions from foreign influence.”
House of Commons31 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The issue has become so severe that I argue that the very integrity of our political system is under serious threat. Our constituents will not cast their votes if they do not believe that their vote makes a difference. Without voting, of course, they lose their stake in our politics. Who can blame them? For far too long, successive Governments have failed to act on political finance reform, leaving our system vulnerable to exploitation by those who seek to subvert our much-cherished democracy. I recently had the pleasure of meeting the Electoral Commission, which has warned that significant loopholes in our political finance laws allow money of unknown origin, and potentially foreign influence, to infiltrate British politics.”
House of Commons31 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Having pored over the petition data in granular detail, I know that this is one of the rare issues that cuts across north and south, blue and red, and urban and rural. We all want our politics to be clean and fair so that it can deliver the very best outcomes for our constituents. For me, that is the heart of the issue that we are discussing. Our democracy relies heavily on donations to provide funding for parties and candidates to engage with the electorate. However, recent scandals across all major parties involving donations being linked to criminal, unknown or potentially malign foreign sources have led to some of the lowest levels of public trust that we have ever seen. Only 12% of people trust political parties, and there is a corrosive view that politicians are all in it for themselves.”
House of Commons31 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Irene Campbell) for leading this important debate. I rise to speak on behalf of the 177 people in Bolton West who signed the petition. Before I came to this place I dedicated more than a decade of my career to tackling bribery and corruption in all its forms across the UK, India, the UAE and the US, so I have a professional imperative to speak out on cleaning up our politics, as well as a moral one. That is why I have been campaigning on the issue week in, week out since I was elected to this place in July of last year. I was pleased to attend the launch of Transparency International’s “Checks and Balances” report in the autumn of last year, along with the anti-corruption champion, Baroness Margaret Hodge.”
House of Commons31 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Transparency International UK has found that between 2001 and 2024, nearly £115 million in political donations came from unknown or questionable sources, with £1 in every £10 donated to political parties having an unclear origin. Reflect on that for a moment. It is simply unacceptable. The early signs are positive, and I thank the Minister for her engagement with myself and colleagues on this matter already. It demonstrates that the Government understand why today’s debate is crucial. Failing to act sends a dangerous message that British democracy is for sale; we cannot and must not allow that to happen.”
House of Commons31 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Tories neutered the Electoral Commission and stripped it of its independence in the Elections Act 2022. What better way to return politics to service than by equipping the commission to hold all parties, including my own, to account? We could start by increasing its capacity for deterrence, by putting up its fining powers. In this era of plutocrat donors, the current paltry fines that the Electoral Commission can impose are hardly going to put wrongdoers off. As I understand it, enhancements to the regime in that respect would not even require primary legislation. This is an existential issue for our politics. It is not about one person, one party, one donor or even one jurisdiction.”
House of Commons31 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The solution is simple: the Government should mandate that a UK-registered company can only donate from the UK profits that it makes. That seems like a principle we can all get behind, and it would go a long way to protecting our much-cherished democracy. Fourthly, as we have already heard, we must address the role of unincorporated associations, which provide a potential trapdoor for dark money entering our politics. Currently, candidates are not required to verify the ultimate source of donations received through these associations, effectively creating opaque slush funds. Forcing unincorporated associations to conduct better checks on the sources of the original donations would very quickly put an end to that risk. Fifthly, despite the current political financing laws being riddled with loopholes, they are not even enforced properly.”
House of Commons31 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“This approach would align with anti-money laundering practices already established in the private sector and mirror existing requirements in the charity sector. If charities must conduct due diligence on their donors, why should political parties be exempt? Secondly, has the Minister considered reducing the donation reporting thresholds to bring more donations into light? Coupled with the “know your donor” checks, I think that would improve scrutiny and put off lower-value donations from dubious sources. Thirdly, there is a glaring loophole around shell companies. Under current rules, companies that have never turned a profit in the UK can still donate to political parties. That is an obvious weakness for potential foreign influence, and I am yet to hear a convincing argument as to why it is permitted.”
House of Commons31 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗