Patrick Spencer
MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich · Independent · United Kingdom
“Member for North Cornwall; poaching; damaging heritage and historical sites; crime at logistics hubs and warehouses; and, awfully, hidden crime such as sexual exploitation and domestic violence, which have tragically become all too prevalent in rural communities.”
“It is wonderful to see you in your place, Ms McVey. I credit the hon. Member for North Cornwall (Ben Maguire) for securing this debate. I represent a predominantly rural constituency with low crime rates.”
“Will the Minister agree to publish the formula and methodology, and launch a consultation on reforming it, so that we can move on—and away from this iniquity? Secondly, the national rural crime unit was set up by the last Government and it has made great strides, along with the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023 that my hon.”
“By expanding its remit, and giving it extra funding, it could support rural police forces with intelligence on tackling problem areas. Finally, I ask the Minister what steps this Government are taking to invest in technology that will help deter and tackle rural crime? Yes, police forces do need cars and coppers. The hon.”
“As the hon. Member for North Cornwall said, the NFU estimates that the cost of rural crime increased by nearly 5% last year to £52.8 million. The situation facing rural police forces is indeed tough, so in the short time I have, I ask the Minister to comment or give a steer on this Government’s intent on the following.”
“The hon. Gentleman is making an interesting point about fly-tipping as an issue of organised crime. I suppose that Opposition Members would also include casual littering in the same bracket. We see that every day in towns and villages, but also on the side of motorways.”
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“It will be solved by investing in units in towns and cities, where young people really want to live and where footfall already exists. Such an argument ignores all the positive impact that many farmers have made, and it completely neglects the thousands of small families who are not rich and who may be forced to sell their farm despite having tended to the land for generations. The imposition of a new tax on inherited land will have a sad impact on family-owned farms, of which there are too many in my constituency to name. Many have spoken in recent years of the increasing difficulty of running their farms in the current economic climate.”
“To put it bluntly, I know that many people in the Treasury and Labour Members see landowners as rich rent seekers who invest in property to avoid IHT. But let us look at the contribution that people such as James Dyson have made to our food production industry by incorporating technology and environmental standards into the sector, or at the incredible impact of the Grosvenor group in restoring peatland and moorlands in parts of Cheshire and Lancashire. That will have a hugely positive impact on wildlife numbers and carbon emissions. If the Treasury genuinely believes that we should tax farmers in the hope that they will release land to housing and property developers—trust me, we are not going to solve the housing crisis by building houses on farmland in Suffolk.”
“My next-door neighbour is a relatively well-heeled farmer who also uses his land to provide a wedding venue and rental properties—that is something we have heard about. If we place farmers under more financial stress, they will simply have to close down those businesses. Let us not forget that many of those businesses provide really important jobs and incomes and, fundamentally, pay tax in our economy. We are taxing one half of the equation only to take away from the other. Thirdly, the proposal will yield an irrelevant amount of money in the long run. We have all read the report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies that says that agricultural relief costs the Exchequer £400 million a year.”
“As we have heard, the Government will fundamentally force many farms to sell off parcels of land, and when farm owners realise that it is hard to sell off small parcels of land, they will be forced to sell their whole holding. Don’t believe me? Eighty-six per cent. of respondents to a poll of farmers conducted by the Country Land and Business Association said that they would have to sell some or all of their land if they were faced with a new IHT obligation. Secondly, those who can shoulder the cost of a new tax on their farm and business will simply have to reallocate a lot of their capital away from more productive sources of investment, such as cattle, machinery and labour. That has grossly negative economic and social consequences.”
“One in seven jobs in Suffolk have some relationship to the food production industry. One only has to go to the Suffolk Show to see the importance of farms, farming and agriculture to our local economy. As a result, we have to take seriously the livelihood and financial sustainability of our farms. It is worth remembering that farms are, as many Members have said, small businesses with tight margins and high capital costs. One way we could greatly threaten the long-term financial sustainability of farms, which are so integral to our economy and community, is to threaten the owners with a tax if they pass the family farm down to the next generation. Let me explain why that is a bad idea. First, as with the taxation of many forms of capital, liquidity is being demanded from a resource that is fundamentally illiquid.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Huq. I join in the tributes to my hon. Friend the Member for Gordon and Buchan (Harriet Cross) for securing this important debate. Like many Members, I am motivated to engage in it because I represent a rural constituency that is made up of many small and large farm holdings. Without making this sound like my maiden speech, Suffolk is a beautiful rural constituency with a stunning landscape. It is known for its contribution to our food system, and it is home to many market towns where family-owned butchers, bakers and grocers source their produce from local farms. Even breweries do so. Adnams Southwold is in the next-door constituency, but it sources all the ingredients for its famous beers and other products from farms in the local area.”
“Last week, NHS Suffolk and North East Essex integrated care board announced plans to scrap the super-surgery in north Essex. To say that my constituents were incandescent would be an understatement; many of them have waited since 2021 for a replacement to closed surgeries in Bramford, Claydon and Great Blakenham. Many have to use Needham Market surgery, which is also awaiting plans to move to larger premises with increased capacity. Will the Secretary of State meet me to discuss how we can expedite plans to expand primary care in north Ipswich and the surrounding villages?”
“While I welcome the news that this Government plan to deliver 1,200 UK-made zero-emission buses to help local authorities deliver on their transport ambitions and seize opportunities to embrace zero-emissions transport technology, may I ask what consideration the Secretary of State and her Department have given to the much-needed expansion of electric vehicle charging networks in rural communities, specifically those in central Suffolk, to support the roll-out of the electric fleet?”
“I think all hon. Members are very disappointed not to see a proper impact analysis of this decision. Does my hon. Friend agree that the best way to analyse the impact of such a policy is to speak to the people who sent us to this place, as she is saying, and to hear the utter fear and concern they have about its impact?”
“I am sure my hon. Friend will agree when I say that the economic inheritance that the Government received is incredible, considering that we had to deal with the covid pandemic crisis as well as the Russian invasion of Ukraine. That put huge pressure on our economy.”
“There were reports in the press a couple of weeks ago that the Secretary of State took meetings with teaching unions who made the argument that multiplication times tables should be taken off the national curriculum. Given our stratospheric success in PISA—programme for international student assessment—numeracy ratings, thanks to changes introduced by the Conservative Government, can she give us a 100% cast-iron guarantee that she will not dumb down the curriculum in this country and will not take times tables off the national curriculum?”
“Before I give my Whips a heart attack, I should add: not to swap political allegiances, but as part of a Conservative party elected back into government, taking our place on the Government Benches. That was a Whip-issued line. In the meantime, though, I would like to thank my wife and my two little boys, Leo and Jasper, who I am sure are watching on BBC Parliament right now. I also thank the Doorkeepers and the Clerks. I also want to thank my mother, who has been a real trouper to sit through a nearly 3.5-hour debate. She looks brighter now than she did when I put her in a polling station as a teller. As I was saying, I look forward to working with Members from across the House in the pursuit of delivering for the people of this great nation.”
“He used his invaluable NHS experience when he was a junior Minister in the Department of Health, and when he was on the draft Bill Committee reviewing the Mental Health Act 1983 for the first time in 40 years. We felt the benefits of his healthcare expertise in Suffolk when he managed to save Hertismere hospital, which was previously in my constituency and is now in neighbouring Waveney Valley, and when he lobbied the Government for a new accident and emergency wing for Ipswich general hospital. As many people know, Dr Dan arrived in this House as a Member of my party and left as a Member of another, but I do not feel any ill will, for another political hero of mine, Winston Churchill, performed a similar journey over 120 years ago. I do not mind saying it here, Madam Deputy Speaker: I, too, hope one day to cross the Floor.”
“Believe it or not, the NHS, immigration, jobs, incomes and access to homes were all hugely important to the voters at this general election, but the most important thing to the people across my constituency—from Whitehouse to Whitton, Kesgrave to Claydon and Ringshall to Rendham—whether they voted for me or not, was restoring a sense of moral probity and public spiritedness to our political system. As we embark on this debate and others in this place, let us keep that in mind. Before I finish, I would like to pay tribute to my predecessor, Dr Dan Poulter. He was as dedicated a servant to the people of Suffolk and Ipswich as ever there was, both as an MP and in his second job as a consultant doctor.”
“At a time when faith and trust in politics is at an all-time low among those who feel locked out of our economy and our society, there is no more pressing cause than ensuring that Britain works for everyone. Today, we are debating the merits of allowing MPs to have a second job. Time and again on the doorstep during the election, and across dining tables for many years, I have heard from people—rich and poor, young and old, left and right—that they have lost faith in politicians doing the right thing.”
“By any measure, Ipswich is, like its football team, a huge success story, but large parts of it, including many families living in Whitehouse, Whitton and Castle Hill, have been left behind. The story is all too familiar: the failure to adapt in a post-industrial economy; generations of low-wage work, if not worklessness; the proliferation of crime; and high levels of immigration that have caused a degree of social polarisation. For however long the people of Central Suffolk and North Ipswich want me to represent them, I will fight in this place to empower those people who feel left behind, those who want to get on in life, and those who want to, and can, reach their potential.”
“In a previous life, before entering this place, I worked under my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) at the Centre for Social Justice, and then as an adviser in the Department for Education. In that time, I realised that the Conservative party and conservativism have a proud story to tell on the critical issue of helping those who need help—on offering the most vulnerable in our society not just a handout but a leg up, and on standing up for what is just and fair in society. More than anything, they are about giving people the opportunity to fulfil their potential. I count the wards of Whitton, Whitehouse and Castle Hill as part of my patch. Whitton and Whitehouse are two of the most deprived wards in our country. Castle Hill is probably one of the most unequal.”
“Friend the Member for Hinckley and Bosworth (Dr Evans) that give consumers in this country the opportunity to buy produce from producers in this country. The Suffolk farming and agricultural community are such an important part of our local society, and they are also emblematic of our local culture and identity, with their no-nonsense attitude to hard work, love for family and community, complete and utter ambivalence to the weather, and deep affection for our natural environment. I am sure that all Members have their bias, but I am of the firm belief that the people of Central Suffolk and North Ipswich are the finest our country has to offer. While I hope to be a voice primarily for the people of Suffolk and Ipswich, I hope to use my time in this place to speak up for another cause.”
“The other great contribution that I have always felt that Suffolk makes to our country is in food and drink. I have been told by my wife that it is certainly a domain in which I have more expertise and experience. Central Suffolk and North Ipswich is home to Aspall cider, manufactured for almost 300 years from apple trees in the grounds of Aspall hall. It is now one of the most recognisable brands in the global drinks market, exporting products to customers around the world. It is a great example of global success by a home-grown British business. We are great exporters of not only cider but sausages, spuds, chocolate and condiments. It is not uncommon to find Suffolk produce in shops across the country. It is for that reason that I have in the past, and will now in this place, support initiatives like that of my hon.”
“I am fortunate to have the beautiful market town of Framlingham in my patch. It is home to Framlingham castle, a former seat of the famous Howard family, and St Michael’s church, which contains the tombs of Tudor royalty and nobility, and which I love to take my two children to see. I also have Helmingham hall in my constituency, which has unbelievably hosted both Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Elizabeth II. It is unsurprising, given our ancient, lush and beautiful landscape, that we have a rich history of producing great artists who are inspired by those surroundings. Thomas Gainsborough, John Constable, Benjamin Britten and even Brian Eno and Ed Sheeran, to name a few, are all products of our wonderful county in some way or another. I am afraid to say that this child of Suffolk was not blessed with the same artistic talent.”
“My earliest and happiest childhood memories were spent falling in love with a country and a countryside that I still call home today, and a county and a people I am now humbled to represent in this place. Shock horror, Madam Deputy Speaker: I think Central Suffolk and North Ipswich is blessed with some of the most beautiful countryside in England, but it is the history of the area that makes it unique. The Anglo-Saxon King Raedwald was one of the richest and most powerful of his era. Consequently, Suffolk has become a treasure trove for archaeologists for nearly a century. My neighbour the hon. Member for Suffolk Coastal (Jenny Riddell-Carpenter) can boast of Sutton Hoo, but on my far-eastern border, just last year a 1,400-year-old pre-Christian temple was discovered. Experts can trace back human activity in the area almost 6,000 years.”
“Members for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh (Chris Murray), for Cardiff West (Mr Barros-Curtis), for Poole (Neil Duncan-Jordan), for Glasgow South (Gordon McKee), for Hazel Grove (Lisa Smart), for Lincoln (Hamish Falconer), and of course my neighbour, the hon. Member for Ipswich (Jack Abbott), whose great speech did justice to that town. I thank him for his kind words. He is no longer here, so I will stop the niceties there. I am in the fortunate position of having been sent to this place to represent a constituency and a people that have played a huge role in my life. My grandfather grew up in east London before moving to Essex to raise a family. It was in the 1980s, after retirement and with my grandmother Mary, that he made that all-too-familiar trip up the A12 to settle just 20 minutes outside Ipswich.”
“It is an honour to rise to make my first formal contribution as a Member of this House, and I start by congratulating you on your election, Madam Deputy Speaker, and on taking your seat in the Chair. I also start with a slight admission of honesty. Since arriving here, I have been nervous and anxious about making my maiden speech—we might even say that I delayed making my maiden speech for fear that my new colleagues were superb orators who would go on to make excellent speeches. I am happy to admit that that fear came to pass: there have been some superb speeches over the past couple of days. Even today, I pay tribute to my hon. Friends the Members for Spelthorne (Lincoln Jopp) and for Mid Bedfordshire (Blake Stephenson), and the hon.”