Julia Buckley
MP for Shrewsbury · Labour · United Kingdom
“Q12. Watching the Prime Minister secure his legacy this week, with the NATO summit and the Hillsborough law, I wondered if he wanted to make it a hat-trick, and support Shrewsbury college’s bid for a new construction skills centre?”
“In Shrewsbury, we regularly suffer flooding along the River Severn and Rea brook, so I really welcome today’s announcement. The measures proposed reflect the common-sense and long-term solutions that my colleagues and I set out in the Environmental Audit Committee’s report on flooding resilience.”
“That is a much more effective use of public money, and provides longer-term support. It is great news for my residents, but what advice can I give to a business that has the same postcode and the same flood risk as others, but which is being quoted £40,000 for flood insurance?”
“The hon. Gentleman is being generous in giving way. Does he join me in congratulating Barnsley market, a local market that is leading the way by bringing health services into the town centre, which is driving up footfall and has led to a thriving community?”
“This new clause calls for GBR to establish a department for the purpose of identifying areas underserved and unserved by railway services, and to assess passenger and community needs for adding services, routes or stations where they are missing.”
“The value of such a direct service is not just the obvious economic boost for jobs, education and tourism, or the improved accessibility of avoiding step-heavy connections, but the important investment in infrastructure that inter-city services could unlock at our station.”
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“The Minister very graciously gave her time to meet Harvey’s mum and listened carefully to some of those suggestions, such as additional training for young drivers and progressive licensing, and safety measures such as “Harvey’s hammer”, a device that could smash open a window if a car is trapped. That could save many lives. I know the Minister is working really hard to develop a road safety strategy. I hope she will hear the message that young drivers are three times more likely to die. We must consider them in those safety measures and, in so doing, understand that this has a stronger prevalence in rural areas. Members may be pleased to hear that today I have been granted a Westminster Hall debate on road safety measures, in particular to protect young drivers. I hope they will join me on Tuesday 29 January at 9.30 am.”
“Young drivers, aged between 17 and 24, are consistently over-represented in the statistics. Very distressingly, globally road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 15 and 29, and one in five drivers will crash within their first year on the road. A national campaign group called Forget-me-not Families Uniting brings together families who have lost young people. One of those campaigners, Crystal Owen, the mother of Harvey Owen, who is from my constituency, put together a petition with 22,000 signatures, asking Ministers to look at measures to protect young drivers in particular.”
“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Rossendale and Darwen (Andy MacNae) for securing this excellent and pertinent debate. All Members come with horror stories from our own constituencies, after families have been in touch with us. I mentioned that in Shrewsbury it was the family of Harvey Owen, who died with three other young children aged between 17 and 18 on a trip to Wales. The driver had been passed for one week. That story is not unfamiliar in rural towns and areas like mine, where public services have been decimated. We have lost 5,000 bus routes since 2010, which means that 17-year-olds find themselves with no alternative but to learn to drive in order to access education, sport and social activities. That experience is reflected across the country, but particularly so in rural areas.”
“On behalf of my frustrated residents and our otherwise beautiful river, I urge the Minister to not only bring forward the criminal sanctions and stronger regulation in the Water (Special Measures) Bill, but to ensure that the independent water commission into the water sector holds no bars in its examination of the privatised water industry, and explores all avenues to clean up our water and shake up the sector.”
“That is not acceptable and will be unaffordable for many, but it is also terrible value for money, given the disgraceful pollution of our river that has seen not just public health problems from infections as serious as E. coli, but devastating impacts on our ecology, including depleted fish, birds and flora along the banks of our river, which is now strewn with wet wipes and sanitary products instead of wildlife. In Shrewsbury we have a very large and active campaign group called Up Sewage Creek, which is ably led by Claire Kirby. Many of the group are citizen scientists who give up their time to test the water quality and highlight the deterioration of our most prized asset.”
“To top that off, we have now heard that customers’ bills are set to rise by 46% over the next five years. This is supposedly justified by investment in the long overdue infrastructure upgrades that we need in order to reduce the sewage pollution spills into our rivers. However, companies continue pay out dividends to their shareholders, while customers are aggrieved because they have been paying out for years while the pollution went ahead. Quite rightly, customers feel that they are paying twice to solve the problem. Has there ever been a worse case of paying more and getting less? Although we in this House welcome today’s watershed Bill, our residents are much more concerned with a different bill: the average annual water bill for Severn Trent Water customers is set to rise from £439 to £580.”
“In my rural constituency of Shrewsbury, we have England’s longest river, the magnificent Severn. It flows through our historic town centre and meanders through our outlying villages, but my constituents are running out of patience with the current privatised water company, Severn Trent Water. It is failing its customers, failing the environment and, according to last week’s “Panorama”, failing financially. Under the last Government, the whole water industry became a haven for profiteering. In the last four years, the boss of Severn Trent Water has been paid £13 million for “performance related pay”, yet in 2023 there were over 2,000 incidents of sewage dumping in my constituency alone—an increase of 42% on the previous year. My residents have their own words for that kind of performance, and they are not pretty.”
“We have an opportunity to learn the lessons from the past and ensure that strong recruits and excellent officers are supported and nurtured to reach their full potential and thrive in our armed forces. It is a matter of fundamental welfare for serving personnel and veterans to feel safe and valued. Indeed, as Claire Ashton, who will have the last word, reminds us: “That is all we want, to feel valued”.”
“Claire Ashton is here today, having travelled on the train at 5 am from Shrewsbury. She is in the Gallery, watching the debate, and I hope that she feels the respect and admiration of this House for her contribution to our armed forces. [Hon. Members: “Hear, Hear!”] I also hope she feels our earnest endeavours to put right this terrible wrong. I asked Claire Ashton if she had a message for the Minister and for this House. She asks that we understand that, in order to recruit and retain good recruits for our armed forces, we need to treat our veterans with the dignity and respect that they deserve. Serving personnel will ask, “What future do I have in our forces?” and new recruits will hesitate if they do not feel welcome.”
“Finally, ex-Gunner Ashton was recognised as a veteran and for her remarkable contribution to the Artillery. Claire joined the ex-service organisation that supports LGBT personnel, Fighting With Pride, and was given the honour of carrying its standard at last year’s Royal British Legion festival of remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall in front of the King and Queen, among 50 veterans from the organisation, standing shoulder to shoulder with thousands of our other veterans. Claire’s finest hour, however, was when, wearing her small veterans badge at the Cenotaph, a passer-by noticed the badge and said simply, “Thank you for your service.” That was the first person to do so; it had taken 51 years. I would like to be the second person to thank her for her service and to ask that it be recorded in the Houses of Parliament.”
“I am glad to say that that is not the end of the story. Gunner Ashton was courageous enough to seek help to become Claire Ashton, the same kind, compassionate and capable person that she has always been. When I met her in our constituency, I was immediately impressed with her dignified approach, her thorough and detailed account, her excellent service record and her steely determination to seek recognition for the thousands of her comrades who had suffered this injustice and who deserve our recognition. Finally, after 50 years, ex-Gunner Ashton heard the Prime Minister apologise to our LGBT officers last year and launch the reparations and compensation scheme. Finally, Claire received her veterans identity card and a small veterans badge.”
“He achieved top technical ratings as a surveyor, was tipped for promotion and spent four months in Northern Ireland at the border and by the Falls Road in Belfast, where he was shot at, bombed and saw his comrades fall: such bravery and courage, such distinguished service and commitment, such capability and achievement. May I place on record the pride and recognition that Gunner Ashton so richly deserves? Gunner Ashton, however, served three years before being medically discharged. Ex-Gunner Ashton disappeared back up north into obscurity, never knowing he was a victim of the gay ban, not knowing he was a veteran and, certainly, never having been thanked for his service. What a sad end to a promising career and a sad indictment of the armed forces’ disgraceful treatment of our LGBT officers at that time.”
“These are veterans deserving of our compassion for the adversity they have faced and the courage they have shown all while waiting to be heard and acknowledged. After all they have been through, it is quite remarkable that for most, their loyalty to the armed forces has endured and still today many simply seek acceptance and recognition amongst their comrades.” Today, I would like to tell the story of a brave and committed solider that I had the honour to meet. My constituent, a veteran from 50 years ago, carried the heavy burden of shame of being dismissed from the services for being who they are, rather than being thanked for all that they did. Gunner Ashton joined the Royal Artillery in 1969, became the best small arms shot and served in Germany, defending us from the cold war threat.”
“I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in this important debate. I welcome the Secretary of State’s announcement that, in response to the Etherton review into the treatment of LGBT veterans, additional amounts of compensation will be offered to all victims, and a second tier payment will be offered to those most severely affected. That is most welcome, but it is so very late and it will never be enough to compensate our LGBT veterans for the treatment they suffered while trying to serve our armed forces, and the abandonment they felt once they had left. As Craig Jones wrote in his book, “Serving with Pride”, which shares some of the tragic stories of LGBT lives blighted by this shameful period of military history: “With quiet dignity, most have endured.”
“Will the Minister please give us an update om the extent of the floods that resulted from the storm? Rural constituencies such as mine experienced a double whammy: we were battered by the storm, and then we were deluged once again by flooding. That double problem is also much more sustained.”
“Given the awful conditions that they have endured over the last few years, that immediate injection of funding and certainty is very welcome. Let us not forget that it was the main ask of the National Farmers Union in the weeks and months leading up to our Budget; we have delivered on its No. 1 request. However, what most pleased farmers—they were surprised to hear it—was our long-term plan in the new deal for farmers, through which we will protect farmers from being undercut, through trade deals, by those low welfare standards. We will also sign the all-important new veterinary agreement with the EU to cut red tape at our borders and get British food exports moving again.”
“1 concern, and ours. On every farm that I visit—I am sure that it is the same at every farm that hon. Members visit, whether arable or livestock—what comes up is the way that low product values, coupled with higher overheads, threaten not just farmers but all the supply chains that hold together the fabric of our rural communities, to whom we owe so much. I was therefore pleased to be able to remind farmers in my area that our Budget announcement —not much press coverage was given to it—delivered the greatest agricultural investment in our country’s history: £5 billion over two years. By the way, the fact that the commitment is over two years is welcomed by our farmers, who can finally plan, with security and stability, more than one season ahead.”
“All across the industry, farmers are telling us the same thing: British farming is no longer profitable. This weekend, like many Members, I was out visiting my local farms in Arscott and Yockleton, just outside Shrewsbury. I met fourth and fifth-generation farmers. Yes, they did have questions for me about the threshold for agricultural land, and I was able to sit with them and explain that the threshold for couples is £3 million. More importantly still, for true family farms—those that we wish to protect—where at least two generations are working side by side in partnership, they can share not just the workload but their assets by planning their financial future. That is manageable. What is not manageable is those farmers’ overriding concern about the ever-declining profits in food production in our country. That is their No.”
“They have been squeezed out of business due to ever higher overheads, low supermarket prices and creeping land values. Where was the support from the previous Conservative Government? Where was the post-Brexit funding? Where was the post-Brexit trading deal that was to have protected animal exports? Where was the support with customs red tape? Instead, there were the SFI and ELM schemes, which were rushed, complicated and too short-termist to be of any real use. It is no surprise that there has been an underspend of £227 million on those schemes in the past two years, as farmers could not respond quickly enough to the complex schemes, and the schemes did not match their need for longer-term planning. That underspend is criminal when we consider that one in 10 dairy farmers has gone under in the past two years.”
“I thank the Secretary of State for setting out, earlier today, the support that our Government have put in place for rural areas, and particularly longer-term planned policies that will bring much-needed sustainability to rural communities such as mine in Shrewsbury. There are more than 350 farms in the beautiful villages to the west and south of Shrewsbury town, where there are stunning views over the Shrewsbury hills; it is an area of outstanding natural beauty and a well-known hiking spot. Locally, as nationally, farmers and the wider rural community have been concerned for several years, because despite all the noise from Opposition Members, the previous Conservative Government left our farmers to struggle. In fact, they presided over a deterioration in the profitability of British farming that decimated most of our smallest farms.”
“Every farmer I have spoken to is delighted to hear that we have understood that the problem is the long-term profitability of farming, and that the Government are prepared to put their money where their mouth is to protect British farmers.”
“I am sorry, but I need to rush. Labour’s flagship policy, of which we are all so truly proud, is that we will underpin British farming with long-term sustainable contracts, by directing public procurement towards British suppliers. We will use the Government’s purchasing power to back British produce; 50% of food bought in every hospital, army base and prison will be locally sourced or certified to high economic standards. These are catering contracts that the Government are already funding. Now, thanks to our Labour Government, all that investment will benefit our local farmers directly, and for the long term.”
“Will the Minister join me in thanking our British personnel for the hard work they have done in processing the entitled Afghan personnel—for example, at the Nesscliffe Army camp in my constituency of Shrewsbury?”
“The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to work with Shropshire Council to safeguard the Darwin Oak tree as part of the North West Relief Road scheme and ensure its preservation for future generations. And the petitioners remain, etc. ] [P003010]”
“The petition states: “The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to work with Shropshire Council to safeguard the Darwin Oak tree… and ensure its preservation for future generations.” Following is the full text of the petition : [ The petition of residents of the United Kingdom, Declares that the Darwin Oak, a 550-year old oak tree, is threatened with felling by the proposed North West Relief Road scheme at Shrewsbury; further declares that the loss of large-canopy, open-grown trees like the Darwin Oak would amount to a significant loss of biodiversity and carbon sequestration capability; further that the proposed felling of hundreds of trees, including numerous veteran trees and the Darwin Oak, goes against the Government’s National Planning Policy Framework and the ‘Keepers of Time’ policy; and further that the proposed felling of trees would lead to a huge loss of green space used for exercise and the well-being of Shrewsbury residents.”
“This petition mirrors the one that I delivered to Downing Street yesterday, with 108,000 signatures. It seeks to protect the Darwin oak, a veteran tree which is 550 years old, at Shelton Rough, outside Shrewsbury, in a green space where Charles Darwin himself played frequently as a child. It is one of hundreds of trees that are threatened with felling should the proposed north-west relief road scheme go ahead in my constituency. That would not only lead to a significant loss of biodiversity and carbon capability, but would breach the Government’s national planning policy framework, and would also mean a huge loss of green space that is currently used for the wellbeing of Shrewsbury residents.”
“T6. Will the Secretary of State join me in congratulating the Shrewsbury Colleges Group in my constituency on yet another excellent round of results this summer, with A-level pass rates at over 98% and 210 vocational students achieving a triple distinction? It is a superb institution in our rural area, working to drive up engagement and standards for vocational qualifications, which are the bedrock of our industrial strategy and central to the Government’s mission to break down the barriers to opportunity. Will she join me in celebrating its success, and assure it that it has parity of esteem with its academic school counterparts, and will she perhaps book a visit?”
“This is mirrored by our inadequate bus services, with over 5,000 routes cut since 2010. Shrewsbury is dreaming of a Sunday service or a bus after 6 pm to support our young people and our night-time economy. Public bus franchises will make a huge impact on so many lives. We also have high hopes for Midlands Connect’s plans to electrify the train route between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton to boost our capacity.”
“Thank you very much, Madam Chair, for allowing me to make my maiden speech. What a privilege it is to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield Central (Abtisam Mohamed) and her moving story of her family overcoming racism and her personal passion for change. I am delighted to contribute to this afternoon’s debate on our plans to introduce Great British Railways and bring trains back into public ownership. Nowhere will these benefits be felt more keenly than in my constituency of Shrewsbury, where services are thin on the ground, lacking carriages and frequent and reliable services. Most residents and visitors to Shrewsbury would very quickly conclude that our town is a beauty spot with so much potential but cut off from the wider economic region by a lack of robust public transport.”