Luke Myer
MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland · Labour · United Kingdom
“Teessiders know what it looks like when Governments stand back and fail to protect steel jobs, so on behalf of the British steelworkers in my constituency who work at Special Profiles in Skinningrove and Teesside Beam Mill at Lackenby, I thank the Government for their decision to step in and protect primary steelmaking in this country.”
“Teesside is home to a world-leading maritime industry and an excellent further education landscape. However, one issue that the Tees maritime cluster has identified is a lack of join-up between the two and the fact that there are insufficient qualifications locally for young people to get into the industry.”
“I thank the right hon. Gentleman for making that point, and he is absolutely right. This issue was raised by my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Birmingham Selly Oak (Al Carns), who spoke about the threat of social media disinformation from hostile states such as Iran and Russia.”
“I wish to push the Minister on the point about social media disinformation. This is one of the biggest issues affecting our democracy, and western democracies around the world, when it comes to the threat from not only Iran but other hostile states.”
“I therefore support clause 11, but I also feel strongly that it ought to apply to all of us as politicians, and I am grateful to the more than 30 Members on both sides of the House who supported my amendments 13 to 18 to that effect.”
“It is a pleasure to follow my constituency neighbour and hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East (Andy McDonald). I share his views about the need for action on the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys inquiry.”
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“It also misses out several residents, of which one example is a lady called Norma Templeman who I promised I would mention in the House. She lives in North Skelton and is 87 years old. She said a few months ago: “You have no idea how isolated this makes us golden oldies feel.” I would never use such language to refer to her, because I think she is full of energy, even if she is 87. It should not fall to an 87-year-old lady to campaign to save and extend routes like the Stagecoach 1 and 2, or the demand-responsive transport service that she benefits from, which, again, runs out of money every few months, and there has to be a sustained campaign to try to save it. The entire model is inefficient. I hope that the mayor in our region will seek to use the powers in the Bill and introduce a franchising model.”
“I support clause 14 and the Government’s proposed measures. Good decisions depend on good information, and in the East Cleveland part of my constituency we have seen far too many decisions made in a black hole of information, which has seen many routes disappear over many years. I now have many villages left in isolation. It has fallen to local campaigners to step up and make the case that such routes are socially necessary, including through protests, rallies and so on, to try to save them. That is exactly what happened in the case of the Stagecoach 1 and 2 in my constituency, which was created as a result of a sustained campaign. However, that route is not sufficient, because it misses out certain villages and does not go down the high street in Brotton, for example.”
“I welcome the focus in this industrial strategy on the Tees Valley region and, in particular, our clean energy sector, which represents some 8,800 jobs today and will scale up dramatically into the future. As I said in September, this will only work if we have alignment on skills. When do we expect to see the clean energy workforce strategy? What steps will the Government take to align skills into the future?”
“Given the gravity of the emerging situation, I do not think there is anyone in this House who would begrudge the Minister for needing to return to be fully briefed on what is happening. But while he is here, will he confirm whether wider action will be taken to review security across all our bases in the UK from extremist threats in the light of last week’s incident?”
“I want to ask about our compliance with article 14 with regard to the fast-track justice system. My constituent, a woman with schizophrenia, has been convicted of not paying her TV licence during mental health difficulties sparked by her mum’s mental illness. Will the Solicitor General meet me to discuss the single justice procedure and the way it is used in cases such as that?”
“Can we secure some time to discuss the emerging risks to the bioethanol sector, which faces job losses across the north? I know that my hon. Friend the Member for Redcar (Anna Turley) has been lobbying hard for Government support on that issue.”
“I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) on securing the debate. I will be very brief. I just want to highlight an ongoing issue in my part of the world. I am deeply concerned about the case of Serren Bennett, an 18-year-old who has been missing from my constituency since 8 June, 11 days ago. She was last seen approaching Redcar beach, where an item of her clothing has been found. I hope Members across the House will join me in sending our thoughts to Serren’s family and friends at this difficult time. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”] I hope that the Government will be able to assure me that the relevant authorities will be working with Cleveland police to do everything possible so she can be found.”
“My community in East Cleveland was once home to the ironstone mines and the steelworks that helped build this great country, but I often speak to steelworkers who say that when they left school they had a guaranteed job for life and this is not the case any more. Does my hon. Friend agree that there is a role for our combined authorities to play not just in creating jobs but in having a skills strategy that guarantees decent, well-paid jobs for our young people years into the future?”
“As the debate is winding up, I just want to give the good people at Hansard an opportunity to record the fact that not a single Conservative or Reform MP was here in the Chamber to listen to this important debate.”
“On 12 June 1996, a Conservative Minister stood at the Government Dispatch Box and said: “Labour’s minimum wage would cost hundreds of thousands of jobs”. —[ Official Report , 12 June 1996; Vol. 279, c. 248.] They were wrong then and they are wrong now. With particular focus on the Teesside region, what steps are the Government taking to bring more well-paid jobs to people to make sure they can spend more in our local economy?”
“My constituents Peter from Liverton Mines and Morgan from Brotton are very keen to buy electric vehicles, but they are unable to because they do not have driveways on which to charge them. Will the Government take it upon themselves to make it easier for people to buy electric vehicles, and find solutions to pavement charging?”
“Many people across this House and this country will have stories like that. While we followed the rules, made sacrifices and lost people, others acted with impunity. I do not want to make my comments party political— I know that there will be Conservative Members who will also feel angry about what happened—but as we mark this anniversary, I hope all of us commit to ensuring that the bond of trust between politicians and the public is rebuilt, and is never again frayed and broken in such a fundamental way. In the remaining seconds that I have, I pay tribute to all our key workers, everyone in our NHS and all our communities, particularly those in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland. They came together during that pandemic, as we always have in times of hardship, but in a way that we have never seen before.”
“Hon. Members have mentioned the memorial wall on the banks of the Thames, opposite this place, on which 240,000 hearts denote individuals we lost during covid-19. I want to mention one of those individuals: my grandad Bill. We lost him in June 2020, five years ago next week. He went into hospital with something else, but he contracted covid on the ward and he passed away. He died on his own in a hospital bed. None of us was allowed to see him, because we were following the rules, and the next time I saw him, he was in a coffin, in an empty church. The reason I remember that date in June 2020 so viscerally is not only because we lost my grandad in a way that meant it was impossible to properly grieve, but because on that very same day, the then Prime Minister had a birthday party in No. 10.”
“Our area suffered industrial decline for many decades, but now we are seeing new life and new industry. Finally, Teesside is taking off.”
“I know that a number of the producers are keen to benefit from track 1 expansion, so producing those two things in train seems like a sensible thing to do, and I hope that there is cross-departmental engagement. Ultimately, I thank the Government and urge them to move at pace to deliver the jobs that we want for the industry in our region. I want to ensure that young people watching from working-class communities across Teesside know that these are not abstract opportunities that are distant from them, but opportunities for them that they can get into—like our expansion in skills training. This sector can be transformative for the Tees valley region—not only for Middlesbrough but for Redcar and Cleveland, Stockton, Darlington and Hartlepool.”
“Alfanar is not alone, however; we also have Iogen, Willis, Nova Pangaea, Abundia, Arcadia and many active producers or others looking to scale up—serious players with serious plans. I spoke to one earlier this week; it said that the Bill is exactly what the industry is looking for. May I put just a couple of questions to the Minister? What those producers need now is confidence that enabling work for final investment decisions can begin, ideally before the Bill completes its full legislative journey. Of course, there is a precedent for that in the Energy Act 2023. What engagement will the Minister have with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on the carbon capture track project.”
“I welcome the Bill, particularly the introduction of the revenue certainty mechanism, which is not only a sensible intervention but a timely one. It gives investors clarity, it gives producers confidence and it gives communities such as mine a sense that this transition will bring jobs rather than take them away. I thank Ministers for listening not only to the sector but to those of us who represent Teesside. In our region, we have a number of producers with an interest in scaling up SAF production—principally Alfanar, which has already invested £2.5 billion in our region and wants to go much further by building a brand-new plant that will create 2,300 construction jobs and 300 permanent jobs.”
“Does the Minister agree with me that Teesside International airport is a real gem in our region, and it is absolutely critical that it returns to profitability as soon as possible?”
“Facebook Marketplace is responsible for three quarters of the fraud on social media, yet it seems uninterested in doing anything about that. Will the Minister assure the House that he will take Facebook to task, in order to clamp down on that fraud and make sure that consumers are protected?”
“Next month I will meet the Safeguarding Minister alongside my constituent and a group of survivors of abuse and safeguarding failure within the Church. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Battersea (Marsha De Cordova) for the work she has been doing to push the case for fully independent safeguarding processes. Will she continue to impress upon colleagues the need for full independence in terms of operations and oversight within the Church?”
“I had not planned to ask a question, but I have to say that I was pretty surprised by the tone that the Opposition struck. I did a postgraduate degree in education, and I will never forget finding one of my professional mentors, who had been a teacher for years, crying at her desk because of the pressure that the then Government had put on her and other teachers. Is it not the case that the Conservatives left our teachers overstretched and undervalued, and this Government are taking a different approach?”
“There are thousands of decent, moderate Conservatives all across the country who will have seen the ridiculous spectacle today of the Opposition denigrating David Gauke—of all people—on the prison system. The review was absolutely clear that short sentences are driving reoffending—60% reoffend within the year. Will the Minister set out the steps that she will take to cut crime and create fewer victims?”
“Thanks to the decisions of this Government, NHS waiting times have been falling consistently month on month, but there are still some delays for specific kinds of treatment. My constituent, Alan, has been waiting over a year for the specialist corrective procedure he urgently needs. Does the Leader of the House agree that these delays in specialist treatment deserve serious parliamentary attention?”
“Last week I raised with the Minister for Social Security and Disability the case of a local disability charity being hit by increased bank charges, and the Minister committed to work with me on the issue. Will Treasury Ministers do the same so that we can take these banks to task and support fantastic local organisations?”
“I thank my hon. Friend for setting out how we are falling behind many of our allies around the world. Does he share my concern that, for the first time, the UK is the only country in western Europe to be rated amber rather than green? It was a Labour Government who took forward LGBT rights in the past, and this Labour Government ought to do the same.”
“Yesterday, a Conservative councillor in my constituency said that the Government were “dancing to the tune of warmongers” because of their support for British defence manufacturing, despite one of those manufacturers being in his ward. Do the Government believe, as I do, that we need to do more, not less, to support British defence manufacturing?”
“It is now nearly 13 years since the Institute for Public Policy Research North published its landmark report, “Northern Prosperity is National Prosperity”, which set out in black and white the evidence that investing in the regions—all regions across the UK—is one of the best ways to achieve growth nationally. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is long past time that we devolved power and funding in order to create jobs in all our communities across the UK?”
“Do the Government accept the subsidiarity principle wherein powers should not just sit at the mayoral level, but should be as close to the community as possible? That would empower our local authorities and communities themselves, rather than just creating structures that sit above communities and are distant from them.”
“I commend the Government on their work to change the local connection rules to ensure that veterans can access social housing. In our region, the local authority has come in off the back of that and given veterans the highest priority banding for social housing. Will the Minister take a moment to commend our local council for that reform, which comes off the back of the work that the Government are doing?”
“The north-east has never stood on the sidelines when it comes to national defence. Our proud industrial capabilities have always served this country well, in times of peace and conflict. Our region forged the steel that built the tanks, ships and munitions during those years. Our docks sent supplies to the front. Our communities gave sons and daughters to the war effort. That legacy is written in the fabric of the towns and villages in our region and it lives on today. In our region, there are some 2,500 jobs directly in the defence sector and many thousands more in the supply chain. There are large prime contractors—for example, BAE Systems, which has had a footprint in our region since world war one and today employs more than 400 staff in Washington, and the nearby Rolls-Royce, which runs excellent apprenticeship programmes.”
“I beg to move, That this House has considered Government support for defence industries in the North East. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Hobhouse. I am grateful for the opportunity to lead this important debate on how the Government can step up to support the strong defence industry in our region. I thank my hon. Friends here today and the many manufacturers, both big and small, from across the region for meeting me recently to discuss the issues that they face. This topic is of great importance to our constituents and to our nation, and I look forward to hearing colleagues’ contributions. Last week marked the 80th anniversary of VE Day. It was a moment to remember not only the courage of those who fought on the frontline, but the grit and sacrifice of the men and women who powered our industry at home.”
“I absolutely agree. The investment that is coming to Thales will mean thousands of advanced air defence missiles that will be supplied to Ukraine. That is a really important cause, and of course there will be a benefit to the entire supply chain across the United Kingdom as well. Strong national defence starts well before the battlefield. It is about the skilled workers in our factories—”
“I agree. The increase in defence spending an opportunity to uplift regional economies and tackle regional inequality. However, I do not want to talk down our region because we do have firms, large and small, that are contributing to our national security and industrial resilience, including Babcock in Newcastle, Nifco in Stockton, Merlin Flex in Hartlepool, Draken at Teesside airport, Tees Components in my constituency, and many others. I am proud to champion Tees Components, a family-run business based in the small village of North Skelton. It delivers world-leading precision engineering for projects including our Astute-class submarines. That is our region in action.”
“I called for better access for SMEs to the pipeline. I was therefore pleased to see the Government’s recent commitment to set direct SME spending targets, and I hope that the Minister will provide further clarity on when those will be published. As it stands, SMEs in the defence sector are often contracted for one-off, short-term jobs, and that can create challenges. The unpredictable, project-based nature of the contracts makes it difficult for companies to commit to the up-front capital investment needed to grow.”
“I recently met various manufacturers, both prime and SME, to discuss the issues that they face. They strongly welcome the Government’s decision to identify defence as one of the eight growth sectors in the industrial strategy. One manufacturer told me that it “puts defence in a different place” from where it was before. Manufacturers also welcome the decision to increase defence spending to 2.5%, the strategic defence review, the progress on trade with the US and the decision to step in to save British Steel. This Government are stepping up, not stepping back, and putting our strategic industries on a secure footing. Just four months ago, I spoke in this Chamber during a debate secured by my hon. Friend the Member for Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor (Alan Strickland) on the challenges that SMEs face in defence procurement.”
“I completely agree. I have one note of caution for our region: although we have fantastic manufacturers and SMEs, it is important for our regional economy—the one my hon. Friend and I share—to have a proper skills pipeline. There is a real job for our combined authority and our mayor to step up and work with education providers to ensure that proper planning is in place. My hon. Friend has a fantastic college in his constituency—Hartlepool college, which has inspirational leadership from its principal, Darren Hankey—but such colleges need to be joined up with local manufacturers, so that there is a proper skills pipeline. All those manufacturers are vital for delivering local skills. Many of them offer advanced training and apprenticeships and ultimately provide high-quality, well-paid jobs in the areas that need them most.”
“I agree. The best way to ensure that we are building the right approach to procurement is by listening directly to the SMEs that operate on the procurement frontline. I am grateful to the Minister for visiting Teesside to meet the defence and innovation cluster, and for visiting NETPark to meet other businesses. It is clear that she is listening, and that is welcome and appreciated.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. By boosting SMEs we boost not only the defence industry, but other sectors, because many of these SMEs are working on dual-use technology, which has a strong crossover with other areas. Ultimately, growing our sovereign capacity by building more in Britain is a smart and strategic move that will pay off in the long run, both for our national security and our economic growth.”
“In our region, the jobs in this industry are high-skilled, well-paid and secure, and many of the manufacturers invest strongly in skills and apprentices.”
“It is also time that we took a more intelligent and long-term approach to defence procurement—one that does not cost us more and builds the kind of capacity that we need here at home, especially in the current global climate. For industries to invest and grow, and train apprentices and support communities, we need to move away from short-term projects and annualised budgets. Businesses need long-term clarity. That will give them stability to plan for the future with confidence. One SME I spoke to feels that the industrial strategy will help with that, but we can do more to give further confidence to the supply chain, especially through rapid and clear decisions on projects and support for the up-front capital investments that they need to make. This is about investment not only in specialised equipment, but in people.”
“Time and time again, we have seen Conservative Governments make decisions on industrial policy that erode our manufacturing base, see jobs disappear overseas and weaken British industry. That Middlesbrough business was there to pick up the pieces and finish the job, but the delay was wholly unnecessary. It ended up costing the British taxpayer more than if we had simply built in Britain from the start. We need an approach that prioritises British values over mere price. This is about not just securing the cheapest deal but ensuring that every pound we spend strengthens our national security. We must grow our sovereign capacity and put British business first, and support our local economies in the process.”
“Absolutely. One of those innovative projects in my hon. Friend’s constituency is a semiconductor plant, which the Government stepped up to save with £20 million of investment. That is exactly the kind of active Government and leadership that we need. The previous Government set up procurement processes with a singular focus, which was awarding contracts to the lowest bidder. That may seem sensible on the surface, but in fact, it has stifled British growth and ultimately cost the taxpayer more. To give an example from Middlesbrough, a local company was forced to step in and finish works that were initially being done by a contractor in south-east Asia, which had been chosen purely because it was the cheapest at the time.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention, which just goes to show there is a false dichotomy between jobs and automation. A business can be grown well by embracing the future, so I commend Cummins on the work it is doing in her constituency. The industry needs a strong skills pipeline. There is a role for Government to support these businesses by making sure our workforce has the skills to meet the demands of the coming decades. As I mentioned before, there is also a role for our regional mayors to play in making sure there is a more joined-up local skills landscape and working with education providers and manufacturers to get the best people into the best jobs.”
“We have already seen the Government stepping up, with £20 million to save the Aycliffe semi-conductor plant, the £173 million contract for Draken at Teesside airport, the creation of steel jobs for Teesside, the £9 billion contract for Rolls-Royce to power Britain’s nuclear submarines, and the clarity brought by the strategic defence review and the industrial strategy. This Government are making significant investments in Britain’s security. By going further for British defence industries, we not only strengthen our national security, but support local jobs and regional growth. There is no better time to act than now, and there is no better place to invest than our region, where we have the track record, the potential and the drive to lead the way.”
“In my constituency I have recently seen the strength and tenacity of our veteran community. I am grateful to my hon. and gallant Friend the Minister for Veterans and People for coming to my constituency to listen to veterans, particularly on the issue of mental health. Operation Valour, which was announced last week, will help to join up employment, health and other services for veterans across the north-east. I believe that by trusting our veterans and giving them opportunities, we can contribute to their mental health and wellbeing and offer them purpose and community after their service, as well as strengthen our businesses. This is an important time for the Government to strengthen our defence industry in the north-east.”
“I agree with my hon. Friend. He and I both worked in the education sector prior to coming to this place and working in policy. It is about joining up those two things, and making sure that people have access to opportunity. So many people across our region have the can-do attitude to succeed, but they are held back by lack of opportunity. Through skills and training we can make sure that they can get into industries such as this, where there are decent well-paid jobs for the future. One group of people who can bring an extraordinary skillset to our workplaces is veterans. Not only can the defence sector support our armed forces but our armed forces can support the defence sector by establishing routes to civilian employment for those who have served.”
“The Middlesbrough Disabled Supporters Association does vital work to support disabled Boro fans, but it is currently being hammered by increased bank charges. Will the Minister for Disability work across Government to help take these banks to task so that non-profit disability groups such as the MDSA can continue their important work?”
“We also pay tribute to those who played their part on the home front, from the land girls in our North Yorkshire countryside to the women and men of steel, the shipbuilders and steelworkers who kept the country afloat. This made Teesside a target and it was one of the first places in Britain to suffer casualties in the blitz, but the industrial haze also clouded enemy targeting, with the smog protecting the Smoggies. That generation’s courage made peace possible. Their service shaped the world we inherited and their patriotism was unwavering. We honour them today not only in words but in the way that, as a society, we stand together for each other and stand up to fear and hatred wherever it rears its head. As we remember them, we rededicate ourselves to the values they fought for: democracy, peace and fairness.”
“Today we remember the extraordinary courage, sacrifice and service that brought about victory in Europe 80 years ago, and it has been a privilege to join VE Day commemorations right across my constituency this week. I am proud of our community for organising so many events to honour that brave generation. In our towns and villages, we remember all those who answered that call of service, many of whom would never return. We think of servicemen including Stan Hollis, a local lad from Middlesbrough who earned the only Victoria Cross awarded on D-Day for his sheer bravery in Normandy. We remember servicemen such as Harry Tout, a future mayor of Guisborough, who fought in north Africa and up the spine of Italy. And we remember the airmen, the mariners, the Green Howards and all the others who laid down their lives for freedom.”
“The Government’s laudable mission-led approach has seen NHS waiting lists fall for five months in a row. Like many public services, our NHS has been plagued by over-specified guidance and unnecessary targets for many years, so will the Minister assure the House that the mission-led approach will mean a focus on core non-negotiables to deliver for the British people?”