Maya Ellis
MP for Ribble Valley · Labour · United Kingdom
“The petition states: “The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to direct NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board to commit to a full reopening of the hospital to provide health services to benefit the community, and to promptly address fire safety concerns, providing a timeline to reas…”
“I am proud to present this petition on behalf of residents in Longridge in my constituency of Ribble Valley regarding the future of Longridge community hospital, which serves patients across a large semi-rural area, many of whom need health services within easy reach of their homes and families.”
“The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to direct NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board to commit to a full reopening of the hospital to provide health services to benefit the community, and to promptly address fire safety concerns, providing a timeline to reassure residents of when…”
“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Northumberland (David Smith) for securing this timely debate and welcome the Minister to his place. I asked local farmers in Ribble Valley what they would like to highlight in this debate about profitability. As hon.”
“I completely agree. The main point I want to make, alongside all the powerful financial and security arguments that have been made, is that we need farming to be financially sustainable because we want it to be sustainable. We want it to be part of what we prioritise as this country.”
“We need companies that have drive and that, with Government support and further investment in enabling infrastructure, could do 10 times what they are currently doing for our economy. As a Labour Government, we are great at helping people who are struggling and who do not have the opportunities they deserve.”
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“T8. As chair of the all-party parliamentary group on babies, I am delighted that the announcements on Thursday included a one-year continuation of the Start for Life programme, which provides funding for 75 local authorities. We would, however, very much like all authorities to be able to access this funding in future so that every child is guaranteed the best start. Is the Secretary of State willing to meet the APPG in the new year to outline her long-term vision for supporting child development at the youngest ages?”
“These are the kinds of farms we are supporting, and we must ensure that our strategies work for them in the long term. Butlers is a fourth-generation farm that would not be back on its feet today without the relationships and trust that are so embedded in our rural communities. I am excited for what Westminster can do, and is doing, for farmers. We can provide clarity on the mission. One of the best things about this new Labour Government is our focus on overall missions for this country, to be able to be clear to farmers and farming communities about exactly what this Labour Government plan to achieve over this decade of national renewal, with a clear ask for farmers on how they can contribute to that mission and how they can benefit. I heard about the need for such clarity time and again while campaigning.”
“There are endless examples of how farmers are the best examples of the community spirit that we are rightly so proud of in this country. I will share a quick story about a farm company in my constituency called Butlers farmhouse cheeses. Butlers produces the famous Blacksticks blue cheese and, I believe, is the second largest producer of cheese in the UK. Last year it suffered a devastating fire that completely destroyed its packing and logistics hub. Remarkably, the company rebuilt a whole building in a few weeks by using all of its supplier networks, and that was based on the faith and goodwill that farming communities engender. Butlers was able to retain the 95 staff it had, as well as supporting jobs in 20 to 30 local suppliers.”
“I represent Ribble Valley in Lancashire, one of the most beautiful constituencies in the country and one of the most rural. There are 820 farms on my patch, including 121 dairy farms. I single out dairy farmers as probably the most passionate and dedicated farmers I have encountered. The problem with this motion is that it ignores the wider context of what is happening in our rural economies, and I will briefly talk about how remarkable those rural communities are. Not only are our farmers vital to our food security, but they often do the intangible work that we do not see on a local authority balance sheet, including gritting and clearing smaller roads that councils cannot get to in winter, and maintaining all those beautiful countryside walking routes that we all enjoy for much-needed rest.”
“I came to Westminster as someone who is passionate about local leadership and devolution, and there is much that this Government can do to help farmers by taking decisions.”
“Indeed, it is that knowledge, passed down through generations and trained into children from the time they can walk, that ensures some of the efficiencies that keep our farms going. I am a huge advocate for devolution, especially for areas such as Lancashire, where Ribble Valley is located, that include vast rural areas, because it brings democracy and understanding closer to communities. That is a huge issue that the Government are progressing at pace in order to do right by rural communities. I am grateful to all the farmers who have been having open conversations with me about how past and future policy has and could affect them. Any new Government will take some time to unpick how relationships have worked in the past, and how they might want to change them.”
“I will come on to opportunities to increase the prosperity of farmers, which should be our mission. The second opportunity for farmers is around procurement and trade, and using the Government’s own purchasing power to back British produce, so that 50% of food brought into hospitals, Army bases and prisons is locally produced. We can protect farmers from being undercut by low welfare and low standards in trade deals, and we are seeking a new veterinary agreement with the EU to get our exports moving. I want to touch on devolution and its ability to empower local understanding. Anyone who lives in a rural community knows that part of its strength is a deep generational knowledge of the land and local area. Nowhere is that more evident than in generational farming.”
“If the hon. Lady will allow me, I will come to how we can help the farmers who will be affected by the measures. To finish my point about devolution, as an MP in an area with huge extents of rural economy, it is critical to me that devolution reflects our rural areas as much as our metropolitan ones. I look forward to seeing how the upcoming devolution White Paper addresses that challenge. Town and parish councils really understand our rural communities and can play a bigger role in local democracy.”
“However, if we are able to increase that farmer’s profits by £20,000 a year, by reducing energy prices, increasing British-supplied procurement so that 50% of public sector food comes from those farms, and providing a better health service that ensures all members of the family can be strong and well to work, that is the opportunity. Yes, we need to make our tax structures work better—that is fixing the foundations—but the real aim and prize is increasing the opportunity for farmers, so that they have the stability, investment and real sense of purpose and mission that allows them not just to survive, but to thrive.”
“As the Minister pointed out, many farms will not be affected by the measure and it will not have the impact that Opposition Members are leading people to believe. We have an opportunity to support our farmers, as I touched on in my response to the hon. Member for Upper Bann (Carla Lockhart). I have sat down with farmers in my community and worked through the issues. They have taken their own tax advice. For example, there is a farm in my constituency that is worth around £3.6 million, so it will be liable for around £12,000 a year in inheritance tax over 10 years.”
“I am sorry, but I will not. I spoke earlier about the strength and efficiencies in family farming. From everything that I have seen and heard from farmers so far, it is clear that while valuing embedded ways of working and learning is important, there is also much appetite for innovation and doing things better.”
“We, as a Government, are meeting that energy and have a similar level of ambition, vision and commitment. We are looking at how these pillars of our community can work with us to achieve what we all strive for: greater prosperity for every person in this country.”
“I will not, as I want to make progress. Just look at how farmers have led the way in restoring biodiversity and are diversifying into all sorts of new business ventures. The industry is not scared of change or opportunity, but much of it relies on and is driven by what Government determine is important through subsidies and trade agreements. After 14 years of uncertainty about what Government want from farmers, we must and will do better. Our farms are the lifeblood of this country, along with nurses, teachers, and, yes, train drivers. I know that farmers in my constituency of Ribble Valley are ready to do their bit to tackle the dire situation in which we find this country. I do not know a group more ready to pull up their sleeves and muck in than that lot.”
“We will respect them and make the most of them by providing long-term stability and a clear route for farmers to contribute to our national missions, and to benefit from them. Anyone who has waited 14 years for a Labour Government to come in and start to tackle the fact that a quarter of our children are living in poverty knows that getting the result they want takes time and hard work. We have been in desperate need of grown-ups to tackle what is coming down the line. I trust this Labour Government to do that and I will work hard with them to get it right. Finally, I pay tribute to all the incredible farmers across Ribble Valley for continuing the conversation with me, so that we can build the strongest possible vision for farming and the rural economy in the UK.”
“I am voting with the Government today because we can better push for that change with a Labour Government, as part of a wider plan to improve things for everyone—a plan that is truly ambitious for this country and makes the brave call to take the hard, unpopular decisions now, so that in 10 years something has actually got better for everyone. I would far rather have that than a Government who go for popular headlines today, but to find that in 10 years’ time we are still facing the same challenges that we always did, and that they are getting worse. I have a lot of faith that tomorrow, and over coming months, this Labour Government will set out an exceptionally clear and visionary plan for what our rural economies mean to Britain.”
“I am sorry, but I will not. The motion tabled by the Conservatives today is not clear or specific on what they would do differently to fix the economy. That, along with the continual lack of clarity and consistency on rural and farming policy when they were in power, suggests that they never had a vision of how they would support these communities well. It is easy to criticise; it is far harder to come up with a long-term vision and do the hard graft to make it a reality. I will be voting with the Government today, but not because we do not need to push for more understanding of rural communities in Westminster. Generally in the UK, we need a better understanding of the role that farms and rural communities play in our culture and potential prosperity, across all parties and among those who work for us.”
“Finally, I want to acknowledge that it takes a lot of bravery to be a girl or a young woman today; it always has. It is relentless, scary and exhausting, especially for those with caring responsibilities or facing additional prejudices. There are a million reasons to give up, and there were a million times I almost did, but please do not give up. I can promise you this: brave girls grow up, and one day you might stand here and be the one in charge.”
“Too many women are still unable to do this because their mental load fills every bit of additional brain space they have. We need the ideas and dreams of mothers and parents to propel our businesses, our public services and our society. I was delighted to join the campaigning organisations Pregnant Then Screwed and The Dad Shift earlier this month to try to shift the dial on parenting equality. I hope to see some truly ambitious step changes as our Government review paternity leave over this coming year, not only to create a new vision of fatherhood in this country, but to unlock the dreams and plans of mothers, which we have been so desperately lacking but which are so desperately important. I send a huge thank you to my incredible husband for holding the fort at home, and for being the foundation of my standing here today.”
“This meant that, when an election was called two days after I was selected as the Labour candidate, I did not have to spend a single second handing childcare over to him; he already knew how to change a nappy, what to pack in a bag and the books my children want to read at bedtime. I fully believe I would not be standing here now if he had not taken paternity leave. That opportunity should not be rare. Forgive me for speaking in a hetero-normative context, but that is my personal experience. We know that few dads take up paternity or parental leave, which means that many women cannot dream of putting themselves forward for political office, as I did. Knowing that my husband can confidently care for my children gives me time to think, to organise and to dream.”
“Before I finish, I will touch on my utmost priority as a Member of Parliament: working families. We need to make life much more tenable, more affordable and, dare I say, more joyful for parents, who want to contribute to our country while also raising good humans. It is also critical to me that we make sure the children have the lives, support and love they deserve. We have a vision for an innovative and high-growth economy, but we do not get innovation without diversity of thought. This Parliament is the most diverse in history, and I, as one of those new diverse Members, am able to be here with my mental health just about intact only because my husband took three months of paternity leave with both our children.”
“A lot of my career has involved working on innovation policy, which has collided over time with my passion for social justice. I think we all need a vision to look towards, and I want us to be ambitious that our rapid advances in technology and automation should translate into greater rewards for workers. I would like to think that it is not too utopian to hope that we will move to a standard four-day working week in my lifetime. So much of what our society needs does not necessarily cost money, but it does cost time—time to give our children focused play; time to truly rest our bodies so that they do not crumble far too early; and time to live slowly and to grow our own food, to reduce the huge demands on this Earth. Technology can give us time, if that is where we choose to channel the benefits.”
“The only person I know who loved Ribble Valley more than I do was my dad. He travelled the world, living in big cities and in communes, dreaming of new ways to live our lives, but I recently found a letter that he wrote to himself at age 21, in which he spoke of the strange pull back to our beautiful little corner of the world, where he chose to raise his family and, without knowing it, raised the Labour MP he dreamed of it having. It is my deepest sadness that my dad did not live to see me standing here, but I know that he relished every heated debate we had at the dinner table and, along with my mum—one of the most intelligent women I know—I think my dad had an eye to what he was preparing me for. He was the biggest feminist I have ever known, and, in me, I think he raised the second biggest.”
“Strong communities are so important to me, and both the rural and urban areas of my constituency are made up of villages that come together to create celebrations such as the Lostock Hall carnival and the Broughton scarecrow festival just last week. Right in the heart of my constituency is my home village of Ribchester, where my family have lived since 1961 and where I am now raising my family. I must pay a quick tribute to the people of that village. From the amateur dramatic society and the church to the Brownie unit and the parish council, the village showed me the best of what it means to be British. I look forward to this Government easing the burden on families, so that they can spend more time contributing to the amazing communities that we all need to thrive.”
“Its boundaries have changed over the years, but it currently reaches from the Lancashire-Yorkshire border, with picture-perfect villages such as Tosside, Rimington, Waddington, West Bradford and Chipping, through to the lively suburbs of Preston, taking in Fulwood, Bamber Bridge and Walton-le- Dale, and almost reaching the Ribble estuary at the Irish sea. I see the breadth of my constituency as its depth. We have wonderful places to live, though much could be done to keep them safer and kinder. We have great transport links, with the M6 running through, and it is only two hours to London on the train from Preston. We also have utterly stunning countryside, including a large part of the trough of Bowland, where the late Queen said that she would have loved to retire.”
“We remember the battle of Bamber Bridge, when locals stood up against white GIs to welcome black US soldiers into their pubs—a brilliant example of the inclusion and multi- culturalism that makes this country great. In Samlesbury, we have produced planes to protect the country since world war two, and I am delighted that progress on establishing the National Cyber Force in my constituency is well under way. It will lead our country’s research, develop our future security and build our skills in cyber. People are often surprised by the size of the Ribble Valley constituency.”
“I can already safely say that I will likewise show this incredible institution of Westminster and our strong democracy the respect and protection that I know we both value so highly. I am one of those exceptionally lucky MPs who have lived in their constituency most of their life. It means that I know it like the back of my hand. For better or worse, it also means that I encounter situations like I did the other day, when one of my old Brownie leaders called me over while doing the school run to raise an issue about local social housing—I am on it, Jan, I promise. My constituency of Ribble Valley is a patchwork of our country’s history and its future.”
“I have said it to many women, and I will say it to any listening now: you are as smart and as capable as you think you are; do not let anyone convince you otherwise. We need your fire. I have been in Westminster a few months now, and one thing I hear people say frequently about my predecessor, the right hon. Nigel Evans, is how much he loves and cares for this place that we stand in today. Mr Evans worked incredibly hard and diligently as Deputy Speaker and on the restoration and renewal programme board. We are very lucky to have this well-managed centre of debate and challenge in the UK, and I am grateful to Mr Evans, and to all those who work here, for upholding our exceptional standards of democracy. I promised Mr Evans on the night of the election that I would take care of the Ribble Valley constituency that I know we both love.”
“Anyone who has felt held back in their ambition will know that it can take just one or two people to believe in you, to make all the difference to whether you carry on or give up. I cannot possibly name all the people who helped me get here, but you know who you are, and it made all the difference that you never questioned for a second that I could do this. It is so easy to quickly take for granted that we are speaking in a debate on a Budget presented by the first ever woman Chancellor of the Exchequer. She will know as well as I do that as fairytale as our journeys may seem at their high points right now, the prejudices and obstacles that we faced, and that women face every day, are still far too high.”
“Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. My journey here comes via almost 10 years in local government, as an officer working on economic development and regeneration. I grew up among passionate socialists, but I also saw the investment that small businesses all around me put into their local areas, so I am delighted to be making my maiden speech, as the first Labour MP for Ribble Valley, in this debate on a Budget that truly harnesses the best of both social policy and great British enterprise. We need both, and we need them to work together. For a young woman, full of dreams and wanting to change the world, sometimes our day-to-day can feel a pretty restrictive place to be.”