Catherine Atkinson
MP for Derby North · Labour · United Kingdom
“We have tabled amendments to ensure that the offence of misleading the public and the two statutory misconduct in public office offences apply on a UK-wide basis. Those are amendments 40 to 42 and 70, and new clause 9 and amendments 44 to 51 respectively.”
“To be clear, those individuals will remain subject to the duty of candour, provided that an investigation or inquiry relates to their former role, and the offence of misleading the public will also still apply, even if they have retired. On subcontractors, the main contractors will be accountable for their subcontractors’ performance.”
“Friend the Member for Hammersmith and Chiswick (Andy Slaughter), we have taken steps to improve transparency in how we respond to inquiry recommendations.”
“I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for the time she has spent with me in raising this and other issues. Under our proposed expansion, multiple family members will be able to receive non-means-tested legal help to prepare for an inquest hearing where a public authority is an interested person, and that includes help with preparing docum…”
“I am going to make some progress, and then I will take interventions again. The amendments before the House ensure that the duty of candour and assistance applies to all individual intelligence officers, while establishing secure procedures for the disclosure of sensitive information.”
“We have heard many contributions about placing water companies under obligations of a code of ethical conduct, and although the code of conduct provisions do not apply to private water companies in England and Wales, the Bill contains a power to extend this. The Government will consult on that in due course. The hon.”
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“Instead, let us take inspiration from when Derby’s prototype high-speed train set a diesel-powered world record of 143 mph in 1973. This Bill is the embodiment of “move fast and fix things”. Once it is in place, we can start bringing services back into public ownership as they expire. I understand that the poor performance of the services could mean that happens faster. Can the Minister tell the House any more about that? I thank the Secretary of State for Transport for her support for the rail industry in Derby. She makes a great champion for the new publicly owned railway and can draw inspiration from Nye Bevan’s role when the NHS was brought into being, fighting off vested interests for the public interest. The public want to get off busy roads and they want to help the environment.”
“Can we set out in this Bill or the rail reform Bill the need for long-term funding for modernisation? I appreciate that, as the Chancellor set out earlier, this Government are inheriting the worst set of economic circumstances since the post-war Labour Government who last brought the railways into public ownership. One area of savings that will come from this Bill will be on management fees and dividends, which would be better used on new technologies to make our railways greener and safer. The last steam locomotive was still being repaired in Derby in 1963. That was after a man had gone into space and 15 years after the railways were brought into public ownership. I do not want to be looking back, 15 years from now, saying that we did not invest enough in developing new locomotive technologies, losing out on the advantages.”
“The commitment that publicly owned rail would deliver for passengers, taxpayers and rail manufacturers was huge, because it meant that when rail in Derby came together and spoke with one voice, it was listened to. This legislation is in no way anti-private business. What is anti-private business is privatisation projects doomed to failure. Dynamic private businesses are as important to rail now as they have ever been, with everything from maintenance and testing to digital, data, and finance all part of the east midlands railway cluster, which is the largest in Europe. They will be looking for answers on how, as private businesses, they will work with the public operator. Any more that the Secretary of State can say on that would be welcomed. Those businesses will be partners in modernising the railways.”
“This is a historic and significant Bill for the country, for the rail industry and for my constituency. The date of 25 April 2024 is one that I will not forget: it was when the Labour party published “Getting Britain Moving: Labour’s Plan to Fix Britain’s Railways”. The day after that, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister wrote a piece in the Derby Telegraph pledging that after “200 years…at the heart of our railway industry…Derby will be at the heart of our rail renaissance” with a bigger and stronger version of Great British Railways, headquartered in Derby. That came at what was an extremely difficult time for Derby, with train manufacturing in the city on the ropes.”
“Derby is the latest victim of a trend in the publication of unflattering depictions of towns or cities for clickbait. May I invite journalists to visit, with me, the Museum of Making, the Quad cultural hub and the Déda creative centre for dance, take a boat trip up to Darley Abbey, have lunch at Birds and dinner at Darleys, and see the progress that the Labour council is making on the Becketwell performance venue, Derby market hall and the Guildhall theatre? I think that when all that regeneration work is done, Which? should repeat its survey of UK cities in the interests of fairness. May we have a debate about city centre regeneration?”
“It is a power that could ensure that everyone in Derby North fulfils their potential, so it is with pride that I support the Government’s strong emphasis on education, skills and opportunity. That is what will bring real power to the people. I hope to play my part in bringing about the change that Derby North and this country voted for.”
“In Derby, Great British Railways will bring rail back into public ownership and help create the conditions for rail to thrive again. With its headquarters in Derby, Derby will be the rail capital of Britain. It is clear that we need an industrial strategy that commits to the midlands. The economy that was broken in Whitehall can only be rebuilt in the regions. The actor Robert Lindsay, who has supported me since I was a candidate in his home town of Ilkeston, is one of many who I need to thank for their enduring support. He congratulated me on my election using the words of his character Wolfie in “Citizen Smith”—“Power to the people.” There is no greater power that you can give to people than through education.”
“Now Labour represents every corner of Derbyshire, and I feel that the voters have sent me not as an individual, but as part of a team. There is also a proud tradition of rail manufacturing that I will champion too. Two centuries of train building in Derby ground to a halt this year. Jobs were lost and, at the train manufacturer Alstom, nearly 1,000 years of welding experience walked out the door in a single day. Workers, their representatives and many others, not least my right hon. Friend the Transport Secretary, called for action. There is now a new order for trains for the Elizabeth line. The Mayor of London called my lobbying for new trains “a little intense.” I am afraid that is something this House may have to get used to.”
“Wanting to give back is why I used to be a chair of governors at a nursery school and children’s centre. It is why I helped to lead the successful campaign to stop the closure of Ashgate nursery school. It is why I am committed to championing all the nurseries, schools and colleges and the university in Derby North. It is why I am so excited about the children’s wellbeing Bill that will break down barriers to opportunity for all our children and young people. The legendary Derby County manager Brian Clough summed it up: “I think everyone should have a book. I think everyone should have a nice classroom to go to. I think everyone should have the same opportunities…The chance to have a few bob and get on.” Who could disagree? Derby has a deep Labour tradition, returning the first Labour MP in England.”
“It is one of this country’s true community clubs that I hope will be protected for the future by the Football Governance Bill. Why have I described Derby North and its surroundings as if standing on top of the cathedral tower? Because I have been there. My nine-year-old son and I abseiled down it a year ago for the children’s hospice charity Rainbows. The reward was that awe-inspiring view, but the feeling was very similar to the fear I am experiencing now. People might assume that, after 17 years as a barrister, speaking in this place would be easy. They would be wrong. Speaking here for the first time, there is a very special sense of responsibility and humility, and neither role would have been possible without the good state education that I had.”
“You can see some of the sites where building work is regenerating the city, including the new Derby University business school. If you look over to the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Derby South (Baggy Shanker), you can see some of the industries in which many Derby North constituents work. Rolls-Royce, which my right hon. Friend the Chancellor rightly called “the very model of a great British business” when she was there a few weeks ago, is one of the businesses in Derby championing new technologies, excellence and expertise, and it is at the frontline in the fight against climate change. You can see Pride Park stadium, home of Derby County, back in the Championship, ready to bounce back like our city and our country.”
“Looking out from the top of the Derby cathedral tower, to the north you can see the River Derwent, which wends its way to Darley Abbey and the magnificent mills in the Derwent valley, the birthplace of the industrial revolution. You can see the communities of Mackworth, New Zealand, Mickleover, Littleover, Stockbrook, California, Chaddesden, Breadsall Hilltop, Normanton, Oakwood and Darley, each with their own distinctive character and with a wonderful diversity of faiths and backgrounds. My own background, a mix of Lancastrian and Mexican American, is perhaps an unusual one, but I have never felt out of place—many communities, but one Derby. You can also see the Royal Derby hospital and the medical school that my right hon. Friend the Health Secretary has visited, which will benefit from the doubling of medical school places.”
“Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I congratulate you on your new position, and I congratulate the hon. Member for Chester South and Eddisbury (Aphra Brandreth) on her first speech. I begin mine by paying tribute to my predecessor, Amanda Solloway, who was a committed advocate for those struggling with their mental health, and part of the generation of parliamentarians who have helped to make it acceptable to talk about. I also want to pay tribute to a woman who has been an incredible inspiration to me for her work representing our city and as the first woman leader of the Labour party and the first woman Foreign Secretary, the right hon. Dame Margaret Beckett. I am very pleased that we will continue to benefit from her wisdom in the other place.”