Jas Athwal
MP for Ilford South · Labour · United Kingdom
“It must also mean understanding student loans, the first debt many young people will ever take on, so that they can make a genuinely informed decision about whether university is the right path for them.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir John. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Hertford and Stortford (Josh Dean) for securing this important debate on an issue that matters greatly to my constituents.”
“Young people seeking to go to university do not have a proper understanding of what they are signing up to. They are either unaware of the scale of the student debt they may incur or are misled into believing that student loans are not real loans.”
“If we are serious about improving financial inclusion, helping young people to save and building financial resilience, we cannot ignore their single biggest financial commitment, which many of them make before they have even entered the workplace and can end up feeling for the majority of their working lives.”
“It is cheaper to pick up from people’s doorsteps in a controlled manner than from the streets once the waste has been dumped. Redbridge council has implemented not only that policy, but the wall of shame, which is an approach that has been adopted by other councils: naming and shaming to expose the waste cowboys who impose their mess on u…”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stringer. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes (Melanie Onn) for securing this incredibly important debate. I pay tribute to the South Park Users Group in Ilford South.”
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“Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. In Ilford South we have many small businesses, ranging from restaurants like Delhi O Delhi, Mr Bunns Bakery, tea shops like Mi Chaii to local shops like the Chopra convenience stores. They make Ilford an amazing place to eat, shop and do business. Will the Chancellor join me in commending the local businesses that make the high street the beating heart of Ilford South, and will she lay out what steps she is taking to support these entrepreneurs?”
“I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s condemnation of the illegal actions and vile words used by the Israeli Government. It is heartening and humane to hold Israel accountable for its slaughter of innocent Palestinians, the withholding of aid, settler expansion and its shameless plans to “conquer, cleanse and stay” in Gaza. We need action to show that we will not tolerate this indiscriminate violence, which is effectively ethnic cleansing. Does my right hon. Friend agree that our next step should be to recognise the state of Palestine? Will he outline what actions he will take to stop the impending deaths by starvation?”
“That is why I feel it is so incumbent on me as a male Member to engage with this Bill and see it through. Sexual violence and domestic abuse are men’s issues as much as they are women’s issues. If I may speak candidly, my conversations with survivors in my work as London Councils’ lead on community safety and violence against women and girls have taught me that victim-survivors are often doubly traumatised—they are first traumatised by the experience of their abuse, then retraumatised by a justice system that is opaque, difficult to navigate and, quite frankly, not built for them.”
“Ilford South has been collectively traumatised by sexual violence and domestic abuse. Together, we have mourned the murders of Harshita Brella and Zara Aleena. Together, we are horrified at the cases of physical and sexual violence that women and girls face every day, many of which go unreported. That is why the Victims and Courts Bill before us today is so desperately needed, because it promises to help us bring justice and empower victim-survivors. I thank all those who have made the Bill possible, especially the victim-survivors whose voices gave it power and made it real. Although their work has been indispensable, I know that it must never fall on the shoulders of survivors alone to drive policy change. We must all come together to share the burden of fixing the violence that is so deeply embedded in our society.”
“Sexual violence against children is particularly vile and traumatising for families and survivors alike, with survivors taking an average of 22 years before they feel able to disclose their abuse. This Bill will prevent perpetrators from involvement in a child’s life, safeguarding children from further trauma and enabling them to start healing.”
“Certainly, as somebody who stands for justice, I will always support anything that would make it stronger. I welcome this Bill as a start to addressing the injustice that survivors face and a vital step in achieving our plan to halve violence against women and girls in a decade. Through the updated victim contact scheme and the new victim helpline, this Bill simplifies one aspect of the justice system that survivors must navigate. This single, harmonised scheme means that victim-survivors will have a clear route to requesting information about an offender’s release, should they want it, empowering those survivors. Another welcome aspect of the Bill is the automatic restriction of parental responsibility for perpetrators of child sexual offences.”
“That would further safeguard children, saving families the vast personal and emotional cost of navigating the family court system and ultimately preventing the retraumatisation of survivors and their families. I welcome the Government’s actions to begin building a justice system that finally centres survivors, rather than treating them like an afterthought, and I hope this Bill will empower those who have not been properly protected for so long. However, as we know, there is still so much further to go and so many more battles remain to be fought in order to prevent sexual violence and empower victim-survivors—online, in our schools, in our homes and on our streets. This Bill is a desperately needed first step, but it must be the beginning of our campaign to get justice for victim-survivors, not the end.”
“Certainly, coming from a local council that is strapped for cash, I agree with the hon. Member’s emphasis; we must look at that as we go forward. The Bill will prevent perpetrators from being involved in a child’s life, safeguarding children from further trauma and enabling them to start healing. This new restriction is shamefully overdue. Our current system is not built for survivors; it is full of gaps and loopholes for predators, reflects society’s biases and is perilously hard to navigate. To truly centre survivors, the Bill should go further. The automatic restriction of parental responsibility should be extended so that if an individual abuses any child, not just their own, their parental rights are automatically removed.”
“Some are now open from 6 am to 10 pm. We achieved that in the face of the past 15 years of Conservative austerity, which gutted our local budgets. As council leader, I knew that we had to be bold. From policing to parking, and from youth centres to libraries, we refused to accept decline.”
“What a pleasure it is to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Derbyshire (Jonathan Davies) for securing this important debate. When most people think of libraries, they picture buildings in disrepair—defunct, disused and on the verge of imminent closure. It should not have to be this way, and I am pleased to say that, in Ilford, it is not. In Ilford, we have protected our libraries. We have made them more than just places to borrow books; we made them places for families to come together, residents to exercise and communities to learn about our local history. Across the whole of Redbridge, our libraries are now state of the art, with air conditioning, refurbished reference areas, upgraded stock with 50% new titles, meeting spaces, modern public toilets, free wi-fi, and new computers and iPads.”
“Innovative solutions do exist; we just have to be bold enough to deliver them. When we are told to shut down, we have to say that we will invest. That is how we secured the future of our public libraries, and I hope that a similar solution finds its way into a national library strategy.”
“Our Woodford Green library is also a gym. The library’s health, fitness and diet books are strategically placed so that they are there to greet people as they walk towards the gym, and are there when people come out, so they can take books on all the exercise they have done. Redbridge central library, where I host my surgeries, is a museum and has a busy cafeteria. Hainault library is a children’s centre and community hub. These are models of good practice that could and should be shared under the type of national library strategy for which my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Derbyshire is asking. In Ilford, our libraries do more than just provide books and study spaces; they are community spaces to meet, learn about our history and exercise. That is what we can achieve when we put our residents at the heart of decision making.”
“Politicians have to realise that they are in control and can make decisions. Nobody comes into politics to manage decline; we come into politics because we want to make a difference. In 2010, when Redbridge council was run by the Conservatives, the first thing they put on the table for closure was Goodmayes library, which is open to this day, because we refused to close it. To some, what I have described may be small issues, but they are vital to the health and wellbeing of our communities and our children. That is why, despite relentless pressure to retreat and to do less with less, we chose to invest in rather than divest from our library services. We pioneered the co-location model, transforming our libraries into vibrant, multi-user community hubs, as the hon. Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell) just mentioned.”
“As someone with Indian heritage, born in India and whose parents were born in Pakistan, I know only too well that neither nation will take a backward step, so what can the Minister do to assure me and my residents in Ilford South that we will do everything possible to bring both the superpowers to the negotiating table to restore peace to this volatile part of the world?”
“Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for your advice on tempering our language in here, because words have consequences. I thank the Minister for his statement and the Foreign Secretary for all the work that they are doing in the background. Yesterday in this House, we celebrated the end of world war two and I commended the role of the British Indian troops—now known as India and Pakistan—who fought shoulder to shoulder, with their shoulder to the wheel, to ensure that we, the allied troops, won and world war two was ended.”
“I thank the Minister for his statement. It is crucial that there is recognition of the Palestinian state and that the Palestinian people are represented as equals at the negotiating table. Given what has gone on in the region recently, does the Minister agree that Israel must immediately lift all restrictions on aid and allow unfettered access to humanitarian assistance in Gaza? If Israel refuses, what levers can we use to save innocent lives?”
“I pay tribute to those brave men and women whose resilience and fortitude built this country, and whose shoulders we stand on as we enjoy the freedoms we enjoy today.”
“Through paying tribute to those stories of unity, we can fight the lies that tell us our perceived differences define and divide us. The second world war was bloody, brutal and barbaric, but within that violent context, there are glimmers of hope: stories of hope and unity, of togetherness instead of division, and of respect for our rituals over denigration of them; stories to drown out the nasty, noisy narratives that we see online and on our streets, which pit one religion against another, judge us by our skin, and dictate the respect we deserve based on religious identity; and stories to remind us that despite modern-day racial tensions, flashes of sectarian violence and religious hostilities, we can work together, we can stand united and we do have a shared history.”
“Growing up, my parents recounted stories about the sacrifices that my forebears made during both world wars, but I did not see those contributions recognised elsewhere—not in the history textbooks at school, the documentaries on TV or the films on the big screens. Although they have been mentioned today, some 2.5 million men were simply airbrushed out of history. Despite a valiant effort to expose that history, it remains all too easy to surrender to the fear and to forget our historic unity, especially during flashpoints of racial or religious division. This VE Day, we must remain firm in our pursuit for the truth of our past: the forgotten stories of how Christians, Hindus, Jews, Muslims and Sikhs rallied together to achieve a common goal.”
“I am grateful for the opportunity to participate in such a significant debate as we celebrate the 80th anniversary of the allied victory in Europe and the victory over Japan. Today, we honour all the men and women who gave us the freedom we enjoy today, and who fought against fascism for our freedom, dignity and liberation. Nearly a third of those men and women came from the Indian subcontinent: 2.5 million Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs—the largest volunteer army ever seen in history. One of those men was my grandfather, Nand Singh, who served in what was known as Malaya. Before him, my great-grandfather fought in Europe during the first world war.”
“We owe it to Jagdeep and to every other person battling this disease to match their courage with our action—by fighting for our NHS, by investing in our community care, and by ensuring that, regardless of a cure, no one faces Parkinson’s alone.”
“Jagdeep mentioned that a new attendee arrived at the class in a wheelchair as a result of his symptoms. By the end of his first session, he left the class on his own two feet. The camaraderie in the class gave him the encouragement that he needed to be able to stand up. I am glad that part of the Labour Government’s 10-year plan for the NHS is shifting care into the community. In his own corner of the world, Jagdeep is making that vision a reality. His classes demonstrate that although we may not yet have a cure for Parkinson’s, we do have the ability to improve people’s lives now, by building spaces, like the boxing club, to provide people with a sense of belonging, community and encouragement.”
“At home in Ilford he has achieved something even greater: he has built a community for those living with Parkinson’s. Having taught martial arts for 35 years, he launched the Dopamine Warriors Boxing Club, a free weekly boxing class designed specifically for those with Parkinson’s. Exercise such as boxing has been proven to slow down the progression of Parkinson’s. For the nearly 50 attendees coming to his classes from across east London, Jagdeep’s club has proved a lifeline. Attendees come from all walks of life, backgrounds and ethnicities. These classes have become a space without stigma—a space where having tremors does not set people apart, and a space where people can connect with one another. I have one story that particularly moved me.”
“He grew up in the east end and is tough as nails, but Parkinson’s broke him down that day. Parkinson’s Awareness Month provides a precious opportunity to raise awareness about these personal battles, to discuss how we can support our constituents with the disease and to spotlight the resilience of those with Parkinson’s. Today, I wish to share Jagdeep’s story. Although Jagdeep’s initial diagnosis was overwhelming, he told me how his faith anchored him and gave him the courage to turn this challenge into a mission of Seva, a Sikh principle of selfless service. In 2022, he raised £15,000 for Parkinson’s UK, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro with his daughter. Two years later, he trekked the Annapurna circuit in Nepal, and, most recently, he travelled to Uganda to support those with Parkinson’s. He has achieved great feats abroad.”
“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Dunfermline and Dollar (Graeme Downie) for securing this vital debate, for speaking so eloquently and for highlighting the work we still have to do and the shortcomings we still have to overcome. I also thank Members across the Chamber for making such moving and powerful speeches to make the point that we must do more. Every hour, two people’s lives are forever changed by a Parkinson’s diagnosis. That is some 18,000 men and women every year receiving a diagnosis that casts a shadow over their future. One of those people is my constituent, Jagdeep—a husband, a father, a son, a brother. He shared with me that when he received his diagnosis, he broke down right outside the hospital. Jagdeep is a strong personality with strong physical attributes, with a black belt in karate.”
“I thank the Minister for his statement. I would also like to associate myself with the condemnation of this horrific and cowardly attack on innocent people. Ilford South is home to a large diaspora of Indian and Pakistani descent. Following the horrific murder of the 26 tourists, whose only crime was being in the wrong place at the wrong time when the terrorists orchestrated their heinous attack, India points the finger at Pakistan and Pakistan denies any involvement. Both are nuclear powers. What steps are the Government taking to de-escalate this particular situation?”
“Getting a driving licence in Ilford South has become almost impossible. Learners are having to wait for more than 18 months to book their tests, because rogue individuals and unscrupulous driving schools are booking up the spaces and charging residents up to 10 times the cost of a single test. Learners are being exploited and honest instructors punished. Would the Leader of the House facilitate a positive outcome, including a meeting with the relevant Minister to discuss common-sense solutions for our constituents who are locked out of driving by these manipulative practices?”
“I share the anger of most Members of this House. It is completely unacceptable that two Members of this House were denied entry to the occupied territories in the west bank by the Israeli authorities. Does the Minister agree that more than ever, now is the time to be united and show solidarity across the House with our parliamentarians, whose only mistake was to do their jobs by representing their constituents without fear or favour in this House and holding Israel accountable for its actions?”
“The three key asks are for central Government to use updated and accurate data, such as that from the Office for National Statistics, on employment, income and homelessness, so that outer London boroughs can be more fairly served. We need to reform the funding formula so that updated data on deprivation and demands on services, particularly housing needs, are taken into account. Of course, we need to use the census data—”
“Yes, inner London has the ability to generate funds, and of course there is less ability for the outer-London councils to raise cash. That is equalised by residents from outer London having to pay more council tax to make up the services that the residents deserve. No one can tell me that residents in outer London deserve less money per head than people in inner London. We have heard that housing is one of the biggest decimators of finance at the moment. Homelessness is rife all over, exacerbated by the fact that more expensive inner London areas can buy up housing in outer London areas such as Redbridge, Waltham Forest and Havering. Therefore, at my weekly MP surgeries, many of my cases deal with inner London councils whose people are being housed in outer London boroughs.”
“Redbridge council’s children’s services have been rated outstanding for the second time in a row, and its adult social care is excellent. It has weekly bin collections and has built two new leisure centres and a new lido, with a climbing centre on the way. People might think that it is rolling in money—but that could not be much wronger. While it is a well-run and effective council, Redbridge is the 11th most deprived borough in London, with a core spending power of £904 per person. When we extrapolate that over the population, the council receives about £73 million less per year than it should—and yet it did not receive the recovery fund. That is a lot of money. We have heard the arguments about inner and outer London.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Lewell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Leyton and Wanstead (Mr Bailey) for securing this debate. Local government funding must be fair and must reflect the needs of the boroughs. As has been said by the two hon. Members before me, my hon. Friend the Member for Leyton and Wanstead and the hon. Member for Hornchurch and Upminster (Julia Lopez), the recovery grant offers some respite, but boroughs such as Redbridge —which should in our estimation have received £6 million —did not get a penny. Despite facing significant financial constraints, these boroughs, such as Redbridge, still managed to punch above their weight. That does not mean they do not deserve the money; it means they deserve even more money, because they are well-run, efficient and effective councils.”
“May I, too, offer my condolences to the shadow Leader of the House? Women’s rights have come a long way; indeed, we have had three female Prime Ministers, and we now have our first female Chancellor and a female Leader of the House. However, many women and girls in the UK are still being denied the right to feel safe in their communities, on the streets, in their homes and even online. Although charities and Governments continue to work tirelessly to combat sexual violence—indeed, our Government have a landmark mission to halve violence against women and girls—some of my constituents say that many agencies, including the police, still do not take sexual violence seriously, respect victim-survivor testimonies or take serious action to stop the harm. Will the Leader of the House provide time for a debate—”
“Safety is about not just theft of property but the right to go about our daily lives and walk our streets without fear or intimidation. When I was leader of Redbridge council, we took decisive action to make our streets safe for women and girls. We were the first council to use public spaces protection orders to punish those catcalling and harassing women and girls. I am pleased to see the strengthening of those protection orders in the Bill, and the introduction of respect orders, which will ensure that communities across the country have the power to tackle nuisance, harassment and intimidation on our streets. We all deserve to feel safe in our homes, on our streets, in our shops and in our schools. The Bill begins to turn our promise into reality.”
“They were also charged with a prior robbery incident at a nearby Tesco. That is what happens when we turn a blind eye to so-called low-level crime: it escalates, posing an even bigger threat to our communities. That is why I welcome the Bill. It makes a clear statement that antisocial behaviour will no longer be tolerated. I am particularly pleased to see the scrapping of the effective immunity for shoplifting of goods under £200, and stronger protections for retail workers against assault. When workers in our shops, supermarkets and local businesses cannot feel safe, and we cannot feel safe doing our weekly shopping, the system has failed. By ending the decriminalisation of so-called low-level theft, we are ensuring that our local town centres are protected to thrive.”
“It tackles a wide range of issues, from knife crime to terrorism, but I want to focus on a matter that affects our daily lives: antisocial behaviour. For too long it has been treated as low-level or even trivial crime, but in Ilford South and across the UK it is anything but trivial. It erodes community trust and often paves the way for more serious criminal activity. We see antisocial behaviour on the ground, in the nitrous oxide canisters littering our streets. We see it in our local shops, where retail workers face shoplifters daily. We see it on our streets, where young girls, often in school uniform, endure harassment from men much older than them. Antisocial behaviour is not just an inconvenience but a warning sign. Last year, two teenagers stabbed staff members at Goodmayes station.”
“I rise to support the Government’s Crime and Policing Bill. The last time I addressed the House on policing I shared the fact that the borough of Redbridge, which I led, once had five police stations, but after a decade of Conservative cuts only one remains standing. That is not just a fact but a direct reflection of how the Conservative party deprioritised policing and failed to protect our residents, friends and neighbours. When we deprioritise policing, we do more than weaken law enforcement; we allow crime to spiral out of control, we expose our communities to harm and we erode the very fabric of our society. The Bill is a crucial step in reversing 14 years of neglect and ensuring tougher consequences for criminal behaviour.”
“Every minute counts for overworked paramedics at breaking point and the patients who desperately need their care. I look to the Minister to do the heavy lifting and fix the broken system, which will be the difference between life and death.”
“When patients can be treated only once their condition has become an emergency, it is a failure of the system and it increases pressure on our emergency services. It is a bad deal for patients and for those working tirelessly in our emergency services—a deal made possible by 14 years of Tory mismanagement, underfunding and neglect. If we want better health outcomes and to meet our response time targets, we must make bold structural changes. We need to ensure that paramedics are not carrying the burden of overstretched services in every corner of the NHS. We must ensure that all parts of the NHS function well, from community screenings to adequate support for paramedics, who should be able to continue in their roles and not be driven out because the system has made it unbearable to stay.”
“Without enough staff, ambulances cannot operate at full capacity and response times suffer. In the current state of the NHS, paramedics are overworked, stretched to the limit and living with the consequences of underfunding and lack of support. Burnout is not just a risk; it is their reality. Who can blame paramedics for wanting to leave? Let us be clear: we have reached this point not because paramedics are not working hard enough, because they are, but because the emergency services have become a safety net. Without preventive measures such as screening, GP appointments or adequate social care, patients get treated only when their condition has escalated to a true emergency, putting undue stress on services.”
“We all want to see more beds, more timely treatment and a healthcare system that keeps our friends, neighbours and families healthier for longer. Last year, Labour’s Budget unlocked £22.6 billion in funding for the NHS over the next two years to pay our doctors fairly, to provide critical hospital beds, and to end the backlog, but for emergency services there remains a critical issue that pumping money into the NHS alone will not fix: staff shortages. Paramedics have one of the highest turnover rates of any profession. Although the number of paramedics has increased since March 2018, absence caused by poor mental health has also increased and so has the number of staff leaving the field all together. Between 2022 and 2023, nearly 7,000 paramedics left their jobs—a 51% increase in leavers from 2019-2020.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Jardine. I thank the hon. Member for Glastonbury and Somerton (Sarah Dyke) for securing this much-needed debate. It is incumbent on us to get the waiting times down to the level that we all expect because in a medical emergency every second counts. Every minute without the right care could mean the difference between life or death, independence or disability, full recovery or a lifetime of complications. Yet, across nearly all categories, ambulances are failing to meet their target response times. They are often stuck waiting instead of saving lives, held up by staff shortages or gridlocked outside hospitals with no beds to offload patients. I know this from personal experience because my health trust suffers from it more than most in London. We all have a stake in improving our NHS.”
“Given the Prime Minister’s and the Foreign Secretary’s meetings in the last 48 hours with the Indian Foreign Minister, will the Leader of the House provide time for an update on what steps are being taken to bring this British national—one of our own—home?”
“I wish to raise a case that has been highlighted by other Members, including my hon. Friend the Member for West Dunbartonshire (Douglas McAllister). In 2017, Jagtar Singh Johal, a British national from Dumbarton, was arrested in India just weeks after his wedding. He has been tortured, threatened to be burnt alive, and in arbitrary detention for seven years and four months. This week Jagtar was acquitted in the first case to come to court, as there was no credible evidence, and his lawyer has asked for all charges to be dropped because there is no new evidence. Many in the Sikh community, including my constituents, welcome this development, as well as the Government’s commitment to securing Jagtar’s release and return.”
“I thank the Lord Chancellor for her statement and for the record funding. It is just a shame that the shadow Justice Secretary, bereft of any policy ideas, has basically turned up today to tackle the man—or in this case the woman—rather than play the ball. A little humility, contrition and a wholesome apology would not go amiss. Does the Lord Chancellor agree that, in allowing the backlog to spiral out of control, the previous Government failed countless victims? Will she confirm that today’s announcement means victims can have more confidence in the justice system under Labour?”
“How many more Palestinian lives must be lost before we finally them afford them the same respect and dignity that is afforded to others? The next few days and weeks are crucial. We cannot allow this deal to break down. We must continue the fight for a two-state solution. The Father of the House, the right hon. Member for Gainsborough, is absolutely right when he says we must keep up the pressure. We must shine a light on this tragedy so it is never forgotten. Palestinians need a safe and secure state, alongside a safe and secure Israel.”
“Humanitarian aid falters, rebuilding efforts crumble and a return to the levels of bloodshed, violence and tragedy we saw just weeks ago looms closer. As my hon. Friend the Member for Stratford and Bow (Uma Kumaran) and the hon. Member for Leicester South (Shockat Adam) said, the stakes are so high. The degradation of the Palestinian people and the untold amount of bloodshed must not continue. We must call it out for what it is. More families are being torn apart. Children are left without vital food and water, and more lives are left in limbo with little relief in sight. Gazans are living with uncertainty on all sides. They are uncertain if Israel will allow aid in, uncertain if they will ever rebuild their homes, and uncertain if they will ever have a land of their own.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir John. I extend my thanks to the Father of the House, the right hon. Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh), for ensuring that this important debate took place. Gaza is not a political football. It is home to 2 million people, and the west bank is home to 3 million. Five million people’s lives are impacted. Gazans are not pawns to be used in any game. Gaza is home to millions of innocent people. Have they not suffered enough? This conflict in their homes has devasted communities, decimated entire areas and destroyed countless lives. Yet the first phase of the ceasefire has expired, weakening the hopes of innocent civilians because that process hangs by a thread. The coming days are critical. Every time progress stalls, the stakes grow higher.”
“When the right hon. Member for Richmond and Northallerton (Rishi Sunak) was Chancellor, he said that he had diverted public money away from deprived urban areas. In Ilford South, our local Redbridge council has been ranked among the most cost-effective council in the country, yet my neighbours are still suffering from the inequality of the politically motivated Conservative funding formula. Will the Leader of the House consider a debate on local government funding formulas to ensure that all areas receive their fair share of funding to deliver for local people?”
“This week’s sombre anniversary is a reminder of the suffering in Ukraine, the tragedy of imperialism and the necessity of taking a stand—of doing what is right, and confronting aggression head-on. On Monday, the Foreign Secretary announced the largest package of sanctions against Russia since 2022. On Tuesday, the Prime Minister announced an unprecedented increase in defence spending, the biggest sustained increase since the end of the cold war. We know the evils of imperialism, and we have learned from history that appeasing aggressors does not work. We will not stand by and allow the continued assault on a democratic nation. This House must remain united in its support for right over wrong. We will always stand with Ukraine.”