Jim Dickson
MP for Dartford · Labour · United Kingdom
“I thank the Minister for his statement and for his great work in securing the deal. I particularly welcome the fact that the call he received in Hyde Park while the Scissor Sisters were playing has enabled him to cut red tape in our trade relationship with Switzerland.”
“I thank the Foreign Secretary for her statement and for the work that she and the Prime Minister have done at the NATO summit. May I register my huge concern, and that of my constituents, that the ceasefire between the US and Iran appears to be over, due to the egregious breaches by Iran?”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Huddersfield (Harpreet Uppal) on securing this important debate. In Dartford and our towns and villages we have an increasingly youthful population, with a quarter of households in the constituency comprising a family with children.”
“It rightly promised a place-based approach to rebuilding a local offer for young people, and I hope that for Dartford it will mean more sports facilities such as a rebuilt Swanscombe Pavilion and more youth provision in the town centre. I hugely welcome the youth guarantee.”
“Ahead of the Government’s very welcome national youth strategy last year, it was a pleasure for me to work with the YMCA to host an event to discuss with our Dartford young people what they wanted to see in the strategy. The concerns they shared at the event were many and varied.”
“One of the great underacknowledged dimensions to young people’s excessive use of social media and its effect on their mental health is the loss of such opportunities. We owe it to young people in Dartford and across the country to give young people back the chance to grow, to take risks and to unlock their talent.”
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“The last Labour Government identified the need for a lower Thames crossing 15 years ago and the project has been in conception since, but, broadly speaking, it has been sat on for the last 14 years. The route has been subject to lengthy consultation—three separate consultations, to be precise. After years of engagement, legitimate concerns have been worked through, and the crossing is the best solution to the lack of road capacity across the Thames, which costs our economy £200 million a year in lost time alone. As a Government of growth, we now just need to get on with the job and get the crossing delivered. Why?”
“The hon. Gentleman seems to be saying that the lower Thames crossing project, which would take 20% of traffic out of the Dartford crossing and retain 14% of that reduction after 15 years—to get the figures right—should be bigger and wider. That is certainly a point of view. I am happy with the proposals as they stand. I would rather not make the crossing bigger and wider and therefore potentially create additional disruption and environmental impact. All those things are under control with this project, and I would not like us to go back to the drawing board and start the process again; that could take another 15 years. This is a long-term project.”
“I thank the hon. Member for her intervention. She is completely right. The project has the potential to really kick-start the growth in the Thames estuary that has started but needs extra investment in order to succeed. In addition to the points she makes, we should think about the Thames freeport in that context; it could generate £2.5 billion additional growth and attract £4.5 billion in public and private investment.”
“That means that the project is shovel-ready and could be under construction shortly after decisions on planning and funding are made. We could be reaping the benefits very soon after a May 2025 decision.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for pointing that out. The skills element is absolutely critical. The skills hub will be in Maidstone, but will be available to everyone across the region. The further education sector has come together as a consortium to make sure that 16-plus residents across the region benefit. I have spoken to at least one major construction business today that has been looking to start a skills hub in my hon. Friend’s constituency and would be very happy to do so upon the announcement of the start of this programme. There are lots of opportunities, both in Maidstone and in her constituency, for new jobs and new skills opportunities for residents. That is an extremely important point. The crossing has already been through the planning process and a delivery team is ready.”
“These clean energy initiatives will help transform our construction industry into a world leader in delivering low-carbon infrastructure.”
“It is leading the way in cutting carbon out of infrastructure, with its contractors already committed to reducing carbon by 50% with measures such as low-carbon concrete and steel, and eliminating diesel from the construction fleet. The crossing will replace up to 20 million litres of diesel with clean hydrogen power and ensure that its heavy machinery is powered in that way. The scale of hydrogen purchases will kick-start development of a hydrogen ecosystem in the Thames estuary, which the Thames Estuary Growth Board says has the potential to attract £2.2 billion of investment, create 9,000 new highly skilled jobs and 5,300 jobs in downstream automotive manufacturing, and boost the economy by an extra £3.8 billion.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention, and for her efforts to bring skills and opportunities together with the investment that we hope to see from the lower Thames crossing. She is absolutely right that there are numerous opportunities, including a dedicated T-level, apprenticeship and graduate set of schemes. Through the lower Thames crossing team, we are also developing the first green workforce in the estuary and helping the estuary in north Kent to become a high-skills economy, in contrast to the situation at the moment, where some parts do not have those skills and opportunities. Speaking of a green-skilled workforce, the lower Thames crossing will play a vital role in Britain becoming a clean energy superpower.”
“The lower Thames crossing will also create safer and stronger communities by increasing skills and job prospects, and it will contribute directly to the Government’s mission to reduce the cycle of crime and prioritise rehabilitation. Just last week, the lower Thames crossing, north Kent’s own Gallagher Group and Flannery Plant Hire launched a new skills hub—an initiative designed to tackle our construction skills shortage by engaging new people through pilot courses. The first pilot has started. The 20 individuals involved include six prisoners who, upon their release, will have a guaranteed interview in the construction industry. The aim is to expand that skills hub throughout the build. Think how much of a difference this project can make to a local community when it is actually engaged in the construction.”
“We cannot address a bottleneck such as the one at Dartford, where the air quality is terrible, simply by allowing the situation to continue. We need additional capacity to spread that vehicle movement across more than one part of the Thames. That is what this proposal is about. There are many plans within the lower Thames crossing project to mitigate any environmental impact, such as by more than replacing the trees that are lost. The hydrogen economy means that it will be a low-carbon project. The new habitats that are created as a result of the replanting will be bridged, and will therefore be able to spread across the north and south banks of the estuary; that will ensure that they are preserved.”
“Its impact in reducing congestion drastically will be felt by my Dartford constituents, who will not experience the everyday disruption to their lives that they do right now—”
“At the moment, the project is attempting to receive a development consent order from the Government; that will be adjudged in May. The project is a result of three separate consultations and something like 350,000 pages of a planning application, so it really is not for me to suggest changes, but it is important that local people not only feel the benefit in goods and vehicles flowing north and south more freely, but in skills and investment in their local communities. Finally, on the Government’s five missions, the lower Thames crossing will create a healthier and happier local population. In the long term, the growth generated will support our vital public services such as the NHS.”
“Tomorrow the Chancellor of the Exchequer will present her first Budget to the House, with growth and infrastructure at the fore as key themes—as, rightly, will be the financial challenges our Government face and the importance of leveraging private capital where we can. The Chancellor said last week that we need to: “invest in things to get a long-term return for our country and for taxpayers” when it comes to infrastructure. The previous Government spent 14 years talking about this project, for which there remains huge and increasing support. As a party of growth, Labour now needs to deliver. I and the consortium of businesses stand ready to work with the Government to get this vital piece of national infrastructure built as soon as possible.”
“I would like to make progress, because the Minister needs to speak. The project will tackle the air pollution, the missed hospital and GP appointments and the strain on wellbeing that being in constant gridlock brings. The case for the lower Thames crossing is compelling, and the merits are huge. It will relieve the congestion in Dartford, which has affected the local community and held back local trades and businesses—it simply cannot continue. The project has overwhelming support from the business community, as can be seen today. I am happy to confirm that, alongside the businesses represented in the Public Gallery today, I have formed a business consortium, which is working closely with the local community to do everything we can to get spades in the ground.”
“In Dartford, residents in new build estates in Ebbsfleet and elsewhere all too frequently experience opaque and unaccountable charging practices on the part of management companies, who seem far more motivated by making a profit than by providing services. What comfort can the Minister offer my constituents that these management companies will be brought within a fair and accountable legal framework in the near future?”
“Many of us in this House have encountered harrowing stories from constituents of the devastating impact of gambling suicide. The Gambling Commission estimates that 2.5% of the population meet the threshold to be categorised as suffering from problem gambling and in need of NHS treatment. My constituency is considered a high-problem gambling area, which means that we have a high number of people who meet the threshold. Are steps being taken to progress towards an independent statutory levy on the industry to fund the gambling treatment and independent information that so many people urgently need?”
“Darent Valley hospital in my constituency needs significant expansion. Quarter 1 figures indicate that more than 32,000 people are waiting for treatment, and the hospital cannot cope with the new homes being built in the area. Will my right hon. Friend schedule a debate about the need to expand hospital provision in Dartford and across the country?”
“I thank the Lord Chancellor very much for her statement. It is very clear, from everything we have seen over the past 14 years and since 4 July, that the previous Government completely failed to manage our prison estate. Does she agree with me and my constituents that it is really important that we maintain space in our prison system to lock up the most dangerous offenders? At the same time, we need to have a look at community sentences. Will she be doing that?”
“Given that last month was Sepsis Awareness Month, will the Minister join me in paying tribute to the courage of John Snow and his family in my Dartford constituency? Tragically, he has just experienced a quadruple amputation due to sepsis. He has received amazing support from the Dartford community, who have rallied around to help fund support for his family. Will the Minister use that as a spur to improve treatment for sepsis more generally across the country?”
“As a result of under-investment in the lower Thames crossing project, Dartford residents face a noxious cocktail of bad air quality and disruption, living as they do near the hugely over capacity Dartford crossing. Will my right hon. Friend consider making representations to the Treasury to ensure that the lower Thames crossing, which is a vital infrastructure project, is funded?”
“You are too kind, Madam Deputy Speaker. Residents in the town of Swanscombe in my constituency are having their lives blighted and made a misery by the diversion of large vehicles through their narrow streets due to the collapse of the A226 Galley Hill Road 17 months ago. A combination of Kent county council, Thames Water and the Department for Transport is needed to fix this. Might a debate be scheduled to debate this important issue?”
“Let us build on the amazing legacy of our elite sports teams and the huge commitment of our grassroots sports infrastructure, such as Dartford football club, Dartford Valley community rugby club, Dartford cricket club and our great basketball clubs, the Sharks and the Tigers, as well as Dartford’s Central park parkrun, which has just celebrated its 10th anniversary. Let us give our huge commitment to these grassroots sporting organisations to transform the UK into the fit, active and healthy country that we can and need to become.”
“To make those transformative steps forward a reality, we need, among other things, to protect public and national lottery funding for grassroots community sport, recreation and physical activity so that the sector can continue to focus efforts on driving up participation, supporting its volunteers and reducing inequalities. We need to incentivise growth in participation by simplifying and enhancing tax arrangements for sports clubs, gyms, pools and leisure centres. We need a new long-term, joined-up plan to give every child 60 minutes of sport and play a day, and we need to boost our workforce with locally led skills development that aligns with education provision, employee needs, local health and wellbeing, and economic priorities.”
“More important, we can take up the challenge laid out by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care by shifting the focus from treating disease to preventing it; moving from being an increasingly unwell population to being a healthier, happier and more prosperous one as a result. In that we must categorically include mental health and the huge wellbeing benefits to individuals from being fit and active, calculated at £71 billion per year but, in reality, priceless to the individuals concerned. Having served in local government for many years leading public health programmes to tackle health inequalities, I can vouch for the power of sport and physical activity to reach those who public services sometimes find it hard to support, and to promote attainment, inclusion and, above all, good health.”
“We should not be starting from a point at which school sport, for 90% of our population, has been decimated over the past 14 years, and nearly a third of children and young people are now inactive. We should not be starting from a point at which children and young people from the least affluent families remain the least active and are falling further behind, or a point at which more than a third of adults are not meeting the chief medical officer’s minimum requirement for physical activity, with obesity and cardiovascular disease the inevitable result. There are so many reasons why becoming a more active nation is vital for our country’s future. We can reduce the burden on the NHS by cutting spending on preventable disease by £1 billion per year.”
“I want to praise the national lottery for its continued investment in our Olympic and Paralympic athletes. It is truly the case—the evidence is clear—that this funding has transformed UK performance in the Olympics and Paralympics, and other international competitions, since the days of underachievement pre-2000. It is critical for this Government, working in partnership with sporting bodies, to build on that success and help to transform the UK into the most physically active nation in Europe. This has been called for by the newly re-formed all-party parliamentary group for sport, brilliantly supported by the Sport and Recreation Alliance—here I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley (Kim Leadbeater) for her amazing chairship of the APPG over many years—and it is important for us to get behind that call.”
“I know that she would want, like others, to offer congratulations to the GB Olympic and Paralympic teams, and also to the Three Lions squad—and not only on their successful performance at this year’s Paris games and in Germany, but on the inspiration that they provide for people throughout our country and beyond to explore their own potential for sporting achievement, physical activity and wellbeing, enabling them to unlock in themselves the life-changing satisfaction of competing, staying healthy, and being part of a wider grassroots sporting community. Let me also offer my congratulations to Liam McGarry from Dartford on his fine achievement in taking fifth place in the 107 kg powerlifting at the Paralympics, and on showing us the greatest example of someone who strives to be the best he can in his discipline.”
“I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Tom Hayes) for that moving speech, and indeed to all Members who have made such amazing maiden speeches this afternoon. I particularly associate myself with the tribute paid by my hon. Friend the Member for East Kilbride and Strathaven (Joani Reid) to Tessa Jowell, who was also an inspiration to me.”
“As the Minister has already pointed out, and others in this Chamber have said, bus franchising has clearly delivered fantastic results where it is already in operation in Greater Manchester and London, but it will not be right for all communities. In my constituency, there are often only two buses a day connecting the outlying villages to Dartford and other population centres. Does he agree with me that the upcoming bus Bill will be a fantastic opportunity to end the postcode lottery of bus services across the country, providing maximum flexibility to local leaders, such as those in Kent if they are prepared to use it, to choose the right system for their populations?”
“Will the Chancellor confirm that a state pension increase will be announced at the Budget and that it will be equivalent to wage growth, inflation or 2.5%—whichever is higher?”
“I thank my right hon. Friend the Chancellor for her excellent statement, putting public finances and public services back on their feet. Having seen how extensive this Tory cover-up has been, with unfunded commitments in multiple Departments, does she agree that it is not just her predecessor as Chancellor, but every member of the last Cabinet who is complicit in that cover-up?”
“The Darts—alongside Dartford cricket club, one of the oldest in the country, built and started in 1727 and about to have its 300th anniversary, and Dartford Valley community rugby club—are anchors of our community in Dartford, alongside our Orchard theatre, which is suffering from reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete and is currently closed, but which we hope to see reopened as soon as possible. Notwithstanding the need for those improvements, I look forward to being a strong voice in this place for Dartford, and to being a champion for the town, our villages and all our residents.”
“Residents of Swanscombe need action to restore the A226 Galley Hill Road, which is partially collapsed, and to end the nightmare of large vehicles diverting down its narrow streets. For the new communities living on estates run by management companies, reform of leasehold law and stronger regulation of management companies cannot come soon enough. To complete the picture, we also need Dartford and its Princes Park stadium back in national league south, and looking upwards to where they belong, following last season’s relegation to the Isthmian league. I fully appreciate that that may be beyond even your powers, Madam Deputy Speaker.”
“If the Government can help us set in place the infrastructure in new communities such as Ebbsfleet, including new hospital and GP capacity—our wonderful Darenth Valley hospital is overrun—investment in schools and the better transport that these communities need, as well as addressing the stubborn inequalities still felt by our long-term less affluent residents, Dartford can be a model—the kind of multicultural community that demonstrates just how our country can succeed. Regrettably, Dartford’s roads are frequently gridlocked. A new Thames crossing is needed to cope with the volume of traffic using the Dartford crossing, and to meet the requirements of the growing north Kent economy. Our station at Ebbsfleet must be given back its status as Ebbsfleet International, and cross-channel services should stop there once more.”
“We have a growing and much cherished Hindu community joining our Sikh and Muslim populations, an increasing African-Caribbean population, and a Nigerian and west African heritage community emerging impressively quickly. Many residents have recently arrived from Southwark, Lewisham, Greenwich and across the river in east London, seeking homes that they and their families can just about afford, and bringing their strong cultural influence to bear. However, action is sorely needed to make the new homes being built in the constituency more affordable and accessible to all. I strongly welcome the Government’s plans to address that issue.”
“It is where Henry VIII kept a grand residence, later provided as a home to Anne of Cleves, the wife who I think we can all agree had the good sense to get out early. It is also the location for much of the life’s work of Richard Trevithick, father of the steam engine, which powered the UK’s 19th-century industrial might; his presence is still commemorated in the Royal Victoria and Bull pub in Dartford. Even in the digital age, paper produced in Dartford, as it has been over the centuries, still sends vital information across the UK and around the world. Dartford and its people are a true marker of our past and our history. It is also the fastest growing town in the UK, with new residents arriving all the time from a multitude of places, making Dartford more diverse and bringing fresh energy and new ways of thinking to our town.”
“It is pleasing to note that, even as we speak, they are touring the United States. So Dartford remains a bellwether constituency and the Rolling Stones are still playing live—you could say, Madam Deputy Speaker, that those are two reasons why we can be confident that the sun will go down tonight and come up tomorrow morning. Their story, and that of Dartford, is not just one of continuity, but one that is very much about embracing new cultures and change. Dartford is a historic market town that, alongside its beautiful surrounding villages of Darenth, Longfield, New Barn, Joyden’s Wood, Greenhithe, Swanscombe, Bean, Stone, Ebbsfleet and Southfleet—I think I got them all in—has an unquestionable place in the story of our country.”
“When it comes to smoking, it is vital that we stop the start. It has been rightly observed that Dartford has at this election continued another tradition, which is the longest in the country: that of electing an MP of the same party as the Government. I know that Dartford residents are rightly proud of the canniness and common sense that that reveals in their outlook. It is a place where strong values co-exist alongside, thankfully, an openness to change. It is worth noting that it is nearly 63 years since two former pupils of Wentworth primary school in Dartford bumped into each other on platform 2 of Dartford station and began discussing their shared interest in black American blues music. The sequel to that chance meeting of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards is one of national and global success.”
“Among other things, I have spent many years both as a council leader and more recently as a cabinet member for health in the south-east London local authority of Lambeth, so I stand here as a passionate advocate for better public health and for central and local government action to prevent ill health for all our population. That is why, in addition to the really welcome steps that the new Government are taking to restore the NHS, I am particularly supportive of their decision to retain the Bill proposed by the last Government to prevent all those born after 2009 from starting smoking. In Dartford, nearly 10,000 people—almost 12% of the population—smoke, with resulting health and care costs of more than £24 million a year according to Action on Smoking and Health, and of course, tragically, many early deaths.”
“Gareth Johnson, who represented the constituency for 14 years until the recent election, is a former Dartford grammar school pupil whose commitment to the constituency and its residents cannot be questioned. To his great credit, he has already provided assistance to me as I start in this role. I really do wish him well. I first came to Dartford more than 20 years ago to knock on doors for the constituency’s last Labour MP, local GP Howard Stoate, a Member whose commitment to public service above all else is still warmly remembered by residents and whose example I will do my very best to emulate.”
“I welcome the priority given to education under this new Government. Investment cannot come soon enough, particularly at a time when Kent county council is looking at reducing the rights of parents of special educational needs pupils. Again, the arrival of a Labour Government could not come soon enough. I would like to say a very warm thank you to the electors of Dartford for placing their trust in me to represent them. It is truly an honour for me that they have done so. They do not change their Member of Parliament often—there have been as few as eight since 1945—and, needless to say, returning the same MP for many years is a tradition that I strongly approve of and hope to see continue long into the future. That prompts me to remember the contribution of two of my immediate predecessors as Member of Parliament for Dartford.”
“Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to make my maiden speech. I welcome you to your place. I commend the brilliant speech of my hon. Friend the Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Tony Vaughan). We envy his sea views, but it is great that he and I are part of a group of 12 Kent Labour MPs—up from one before the election—and I am delighted that my speech is likely to be followed shortly by that of my hon. Friend the Member for Gravesham (Dr Sullivan), who is also one of our number; it is brilliant to see her here as well. It has been said that when Labour is strong in Kent, we are strong in the country, and I think we are proving that with our presence in Parliament. I very much welcome the new team of Education Ministers, and particularly their promise of new investment and additional teachers for Kent and Dartford schools.”