Danny Beales
MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip · Labour · United Kingdom
“Several of my constituents have been failed by Capita; with the support of my team, they have been battling to get the pensions that they are owed and deserve. Frustratingly, for some the June milestone has come and gone. Just last Friday I met Barbara, whose husband passed away in January.”
“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green (Florence Eshalomi) and the members of her Committee for their excellent pre-legislative scrutiny work, which we have heard about today.”
“As the Chair of the Select Committee has mentioned, leaseholders overwhelmingly responded to the survey that they want to see this change, and the Property Institute, RICS and even the managing directors of FirstPort and Rendall & Rittner are all supportive of the need for more effective regulation and a regulator of managing agents.”
“I understand that the Government are willing to move on mandatory qualifications for managing agents—again, that is welcome —but I am concerned that, without an independent regulator to enforce codes of conduct and ensure we can reap the benefits of those qualifications, that will be of little benefit to many leaseholders.”
“As Members have said, there are countless examples of service failure from managing agents. I welcome the Minister’s actions to date, and the proposals in the draft Bill to cap exploitative ground rents, which will save thousands of pounds over the lifetime of leases, pushing for service charge reform and transparency, and pushing for com…”
“There are significant costs and financial waste in the current system, and the leasehold brand has been exceptionally damaged by the poor behaviour of managing agents. A regulator has the chance to restore confidence in leasehold and commonhold in the future.”
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“I have given way a number of times already and I want to make some more progress, if the right hon. Gentleman will allow. It is a bit rich for the Conservative party to suddenly discover the charity sector and claim to be the party of the third sector. Having worked in the third sector for 10 years, I remember nothing but the Conservative party slamming the charity sector year after year after year. The charities I meet want us to fix the NHS, to fix homelessness, and to fix the social and economic problems we inherited from the previous Government. Locally in Hillingdon, the Conservative council has not been a champion; it has cut them to the bone. Most of the charities I meet have a handful of employees left, at best. Under this Government’s measures, they are likely to see support.”
“I would say £25 billion for the NHS, a record level of investment since the last Labour Government. I ask the Opposition: what would they do? Would they prefer to let NHS waiting lists grow, and inequalities widen between state and private education? Would they reverse our investment in neighbourhood policing, or our increased funding for social care? If not, what taxes would they raise instead to pay for those measures? They cannot continue to have it both ways. It is clear that the Opposition have not learnt any lessons. Their position continues to be founded on an economic fiction. They are the same old Conservative party that crashed our economy in 2022, and they would do it again. Well, this Budget and this Government will not. We choose investment, we choose our NHS, and we choose to balance our budget.”
“The parents simply say, “We share custody 50:50, so we need mechanisms to overcome that barrier.” Secondly, increasing numbers of families are in temporary accommodation outside their traditional borough, and they find it very hard to get continuity in school transport for their children. They still want them to go to their hard-fought-for special educational needs school, but that would require changes in transport, and authorities are slow to make them. I hope that the framework will reflect the increasing numbers of families who are, unfortunately, homeless and in temporary accommodation.”
“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock (Jen Craft) for securing such an important debate. In my casework, I have been inundated with issues around special educational needs, and transport is a major factor. I will make two quick observations that I hope the Minister will reflect on in any review of the framework. First, the nature of families today often does not reflect the assumptions of previous years. I have had cases where parents who co-parent and share equal custody across different boroughs are caught up in arguments between the two boroughs about who is the lead parent.”
“I beg to move, That this House has considered World AIDS Day. It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Mark. I am proud to have been elected on a manifesto commitment to end new cases of HIV in this country. Indeed, that goal, which crosses political divides, was a clear commitment from the last Government too. Only 20 years ago, that ambitious target would have been completely unthinkable. It has the power to change countless lives. That such a goal is even possible is a testament to the long, hard work of thousands of activists and researchers, going back over 40 years. We are living in an era when HIV is no longer a death sentence, transmissions can be prevented and people with HIV live long, happy and healthy lives. We all stand on their shoulders.”
“We need an opt-out testing programme that goes right across the health service and into primary care. Unfortunately, the reality is that despite the success of the testing programme, overall progress towards ending HIV transmissions has been far too slow. Recent figures suggest that this year we are potentially moving backwards. Recent data showed an increase in cases; we have seen poor outcomes around late diagnosis; and the disproportionate outcomes for women and people from black and Asian backgrounds continue. The gap has not closed.”
“Those are people whose lives have been changed and who now have access to vital treatment. The story is the same across all the hospitals delivering that amazing programme. The programme is working, but it is facing a funding cliff edge. I welcome the commitment to expand the programme further to other towns and cities, but I hope that the Government will commit to continuing the pilot where it is already in place and working. We now know for certain that opt-out testing works. We cannot find everyone with undiagnosed HIV if we rely only on a system of people thinking that they may be at risk and then actively seeking out a test, navigating the complex system and overcoming the stigma of HIV to ask for a test. Instead, we must test, test, test.”
“One of the independent commissioners was a little-known, shy and retiring Back-Bench Labour MP who is now my right hon. Friend the Member for Ilford North (Wes Streeting). He went on to somewhat bigger and better things in the world of healthcare. A lot has changed since 2021 when the report was launched. Unfortunately, when it comes to progress on ending transmissions, a lot has not. To their credit, the last Government should be proud of the investment that they made in piloting opt-out HIV and hepatitis testing in emergency departments in London, Manchester and Brighton—the one key action in the last HIV action plan that was delivered on. That investment has changed many, many lives. In my constituency, opt-out testing at Hillingdon hospital has picked up 15 new cases of HIV, 28 of hepatitis C and 140 of hepatitis B.”
“That life-changing development means that people I met during that campaign can now have a family. It is not often that we can say that children will be born because of a statutory instrument, but in this case it is true. I thank the Minister for his swift leadership and action on the issue and every single person who campaigned to make that possible—thank you. The first project that I worked on at the National AIDS Trust was a collaboration with the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the Terrence Higgins Trust: the independent HIV Commission. It heard from experts and from those with lived experience and toured the country to look at good practice. Its recommendations laid out a framework for turning into a reality the goal of ending new HIV cases in England by 2030.”
“I definitely pay tribute to Martyn Butler and to everyone like him who has tirelessly campaigned for change. It is the perfect example of progress being made through the sheer determination of those affected by HIV and of their loved ones—those who unfortunately they left behind. My hon. Friend and I have had the pleasure of meeting many tireless campaigners and fantastic organisations such as THT. Before entering Parliament, I worked for the National AIDS Trust, another fantastic organisation in the sector, campaigning to end new transmissions of HIV and improve the lives of those who are already living with HIV. That included working on a campaign for equal fertility rights for people living with HIV. I was delighted that just last month the law was finally changed to allow equal access to fertility treatment.”
“What test they get will vary depending on where they live. In vast swathes of the country, there is no option to test at home, although sexual health services are often inaccessible and chronically overwhelmed. Far too often, the individual has to fight for an appointment, and only those with the sharpest elbows, or persistence, get access to the sexual health services that they need.”
“We know from research that people have acquired HIV while waiting to access the drug. That is a significant failure that I hope the new HIV action plan will address, as well as turbocharging access outside sexual health services—the only place where it can currently be accessed. It is entirely wrong that NHS silos are holding back access to PrEP in primary care, including in pharmacy and other settings. It is also unacceptable that people cannot get a postal test for HIV and sexually transmitted infections in 30% of rural England. It makes no sense that my borough of Hillingdon—not so rural, but on the edge of London—has a completely different postal testing system from the 30 other London boroughs that have their own system. Far too often, the patient is left to navigate complex systems.”
“I have spoken before about how life-changing a drug it is in removing the fear and stigma of HIV. As a gay man who grew up in the 90s and noughties, the legacy of HIV has always weighed on me and, I am sure, on many others like me. Our sense of self, our sexuality and our relationships were always intertwined with the stigma and presence of HIV. Being able to take PrEP is game-changing, and not just for the individual and their wellbeing: it has a massive public health benefit. It has driven the significant falls in new transmissions, particularly among gay men, who have largely been the people who have accessed the drug to date. It is unacceptable that the drug is not being accessed by everyone who could benefit. The average wait list for this preventive medicine is 12 weeks.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for that vital point. HIV is a condition that knows no boundaries. It does not affect any one type of person: there is no one community that is alone affected by HIV. It knows no boundaries; it affects everyone. After 14 difficult years for the health service, we are not on track to reach the 2030 goal. At every single stage of the HIV treatment process, we are missing critical opportunities to get people on PrEP, test for HIV and ensure that everyone living with HIV has the support that they need. Pre-exposure prophylaxis—we can see why it is called PrEP for short—is an incredible advance in HIV prevention. It is a simple daily pill, now in generic form and therefore incredibly cheap, that prevents HIV completely if taken correctly.”
“We have some of the best—if not the best—HIV treatment and specialists in the world. HIV is now a treatable long-term health condition. “U = U. Undetectable = untransmittable.” We need to say that over and over again. In simple terms, it means that when someone is on HIV treatment, they cannot pass HIV on. That is a powerful and life-changing message. Despite the advances, 14,000 people living with HIV in England are essentially lost to the health system. They have been diagnosed with HIV but are not being seen by their clinic because of stigma, poverty and other barriers that are holding them back from getting that life-changing treatment.”
“I completely associate myself with my hon. Friend’s comments. Particularly in rural settings, if getting to a sexual health service means travelling for miles and sometimes for hours, a lot of people, especially on the lowest incomes, will put off getting the test until another day. Unfortunately, we are seeing persistent rates of late diagnosis and of undiagnosed HIV outside major cities. I completely agree with my hon. Friend. What about those who make it through the complex online systems—the 8 am call queues, only on a Thursday—and actively go out and seek a test, or those who are fortunately now being found in our amazing opt-out testing pilot? If they are diagnosed with HIV, they are not always getting the support that they need to access HIV treatment in the long term.”
“Now let us be a world leader on this too. One of this Government’s key missions is to rebuild our NHS so it is there for everyone when they need it. Fixing HIV care and ending new transmissions must be an integral part of that vision. I am pleased that the public health Minister is already working on a new HIV action plan. I have seen at first hand the passion and determination of those working to make this happen—from campaigners to clinicians and MPs across the House. We now need that same determination from the new Government. The Government have a unique opportunity to make history, and I hope that they will seize it.”
“I emphasise that it would be an incredible achievement to meet our 2030 goal and become the first country in the world to end new HIV cases. Of course, that achievement would occur in the context of a deeply concerning global picture—with 1.3 million new cases in 2023 and 650,000 deaths from what is now a treatable long-term condition, as has been said. Much more work clearly needs to be done on the international front, so international development funding is vital. Ending new cases in England would make a remarkable contribution to the global effort to eradicate HIV by providing a replicable road map to prevent transmission elsewhere—learnings that can be exported and shared. It would also simply show that it is possible. Britain has historically been a world leader on HIV treatment and sexual health.”
“Secondly, opt-out testing in all emergency departments should be expanded to other health settings, such as GP practices and termination-of-pregnancy services, and elsewhere so that we can find everyone living undiagnosed with HIV. Thirdly, we should broaden access to PrEP beyond sexual health services, starting with a digital service to ensure that those on long-term prescriptions get timely access to the medication. That will then reduce demand on sexual health services for appointments. Fourthly, we need an NHS England programme to find everyone already living with HIV and support them back into care, with proper care co-ordination, peer support and appropriately trained staff. None of this is unprecedented: it is happening or being piloted somewhere. We have all the tools we need; we must now implement them everywhere consistently.”
“This week, my old colleagues at the National AIDS Trust released a report with THT and the Elton John AIDS Foundation with some clear recommendations for the new HIV action plan in England. I am pleased that the Minister has already engaged with them, welcomed them and attended the report launch, which I am sure was much appreciated. It is a clear sign of leadership on the issue. None of this is rocket science. We are talking about simple, deliverable actions. First, there should be a nationwide, year-round online HIV and STI postal testing service, which would be cheaper than the current patchwork of services that vary from place to place.”
“The value of consistent peer support comes through, time and again, from people living with HIV. We must ensure that every HIV team is proactively finding everyone lost to care and supporting them in a holistic way to overcome the barriers to continue with HIV treatment. All of this, it must be said, takes place against the backdrop of a wider crisis in our national health service, which is putting historic strain on health services and affecting outcomes across the board. Our task is an immense challenge, but it is not insurmountable. Although we are not on track, it is still possible to end the epidemic in this country by 2030. We already have all the tools we need.”
“We have to take on that disproportionality, those inequalities and the stigma that persists in holding people and communities back from accessing those vital measures. From a public health perspective, the people who are not accessing successful treatment are potentially also passing on HIV and are at risk of getting seriously ill. Many already are. The rates of people not in treatment and not going to their clinic appointments have increased through the covid period. I hope that the future action plan will fill in the gaps in the last plan. One major omission was action on that very challenge. There are already lots of examples of successful local projects that we can learn from, such as amazing outreach services with nurses going out to find patients lost to care.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for that comment and for her leadership on the all-party parliamentary group on HIV, AIDS and sexual health, on which I know she has been championing that issue and many others; I think she helped to host the important meeting and discussion about the recent report on disproportionality by the One Voice Network and the National AIDS Trust. If we look at the figures, the disproportionality of HIV is stark. We have made so much progress, including in access to PrEP, testing or treatment, but not all communities are benefiting in the same way. Particularly among black African and Caribbean communities in the UK, the rate of late diagnosis is far too high and the rate of accessing PrEP is far too low. It is completely unacceptable.”
“Thank you, Sir Mark. I will be brief, because I have to be. I thank the Minister and everyone who contributed. It is clear there is cross-party support for this action. The Minister will have our full backing in taking this plan forward. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered World AIDS Day.”
“This morning I had the pleasure of meeting Sunny, the new store manager at the Hotel Chocolat in Uxbridge, which opened today. Unfortunately, during that joyous occasion, he told me all-too-familiar stories about the shoplifting and antisocial behaviour that blight our high streets. Will the Home Secretary assure me that the 19% of the Met Police’s time that is taken up with London-wide and national policing issues will be taken into account when allocating the Met’s budget, so that we have the resources we need and, crucially, the police we need back on our high streets?”
“T5. The military housing this Government inherited for families at RAF Northolt in my constituency simply is not good enough. Can the Minister set out how the improvements recommended in the Kerslake review will be implemented, so that the military families I represent and serve will finally get the decent housing they deserve?”
“I thank the charities for their fantastic work on this issue. They give much-needed support to families in our communities—Trinity Homeless Projects in my constituency does fantastic work—and provide advocacy and action in this space. I thank Members for their contributions. I look forward to hearing from the Front-Bench team and working with them to tackle this issue, deliver the change that people in this country not only want but desperately need, and end furniture poverty for good.”
“As has been said, we need to work with housing providers and registered social landlords to help them reach the key goal of 10% furnished social housing stock. We are rightly updating the decent homes standard, but it must include both the inside and the outside of a home. Furnishings are part of decent housing. I welcome the Government’s commitment to the homelessness strategy and the child poverty taskforce. Those welcome and much-needed pieces of work could play convening roles in tackling this issue. Tackling furniture poverty will also address the strain on the public purse. We know about the impact on poverty, health and education. Although there is a cost to tacking this issue, it will ultimately lead to savings for health, education and special educational needs bills and for the welfare state.”
“We need to empower and support local authorities to tackle this issue. There are many good local initiatives—we have heard about some in Liverpool—but we need more. We need to work with local and regional government on regional reuse hubs, so that furniture and appliances left behind in properties can be reallocated to the families most in need. Local recycling centres often have furniture that people do not want to see go to waste. Why can we not reuse it for those in social housing and furniture poverty? We need to look at the household support fund, to which the Government made a strong commitment of £1 billion in the Budget. Unfortunately, a lot of that funding is used not for household items, but for other issues. Can the guidance for the fund be strengthened to highlight the importance of tackling furniture poverty?”
“Great research from the End Furniture Poverty campaign, about which we have rightly heard fantastic things, shows that there is a significant extra financial impact on families, through their food and heating bills, if they are not able to afford those basics. Lacking the necessary furniture items is a trap. It often forces families already facing financial hardship and homelessness to approach unscrupulous loan sharks, take out further debt or borrow money from friends and family if they can, and that leads to a cycle of poverty and destitution, which leads to rent arrears and higher eviction rates—and the cycle begins again. The good news is that we can end furniture poverty. Since taking power, the Government have shown that they understand the importance of working with local government, where many of the solutions lie.”
“As we have heard, this issue affects 26% of people in social housing, and a significant group are in deep furniture poverty as they lack three or more essential items. That particularly affects the most disadvantaged, the disabled and people from ethnic minority communities, who have a higher rate of furniture poverty. The impacts of furniture poverty are scarring; they are often lifelong and life-changing. There is a health impact if a young family cannot get the nutrients they need from a balanced diet because they cannot afford an oven, or even a microwave to heat up a ready meal. If children are unable to get a good night’s sleep because they do not have a bed, or if they cannot do their homework because they do not have a desk like their peers do, there will be a lasting impact on their development.”
“Clearly, one bag of belongings will not contain a bed frame for their children to sleep on, an oven to cook their meals or a fridge to store their medication. These families are also clearly unable to afford storage, which is very expensive, or transport to move their belongings to whatever temporary accommodation they are eventually given. They have to throw away vital belongings or leave them behind, leading to further distressing and life-changing impacts, on top of their homelessness. Should a family eventually be fortunate enough to get a permanent house, as we have heard today and from the excellent work of charities, only 2% of social housing is furnished—significantly less than in the private rented sector. Many are left without the essential items that we all need for a constructive and healthy life.”
“For families like mine when I was growing up, who have been made homeless or squeezed out by the precarious private rented sector, it is rare to be able to afford to furnish a property. Colleagues will have seen properties in their constituencies with furniture dumped outside, as people have to quickly leave their private rented sector property with nowhere to go. That challenge has been compounded by the cost of living crisis: we have seen a 31% increase in the cost of furniture between 2020 and 2023. When my constituents in Uxbridge and South Ruislip are evicted from their homes—my inbox is a testament to the fact that that is an all too common occurrence—they have no idea where they are going to sleep that night. They are told by the council to fit all their belongings into one black bin bag and to turn up at the civic centre.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North West Cambridgeshire (Sam Carling) for securing this important debate. We can see from Members’ interest the importance of the subject to everyone. This topic is also quite dear to my own heart, as I have discussed before. Growing up, my mum and I were unfortunately homeless twice. After moving to hostels, B&Bs and temporary accommodation, we were finally given the keys to a new council house—but with no curtains to keep out the daylight and give us privacy, and no bed, only a duvet, and then eventually a shared mattress on the floor to sleep on, so although we had a roof over our heads, we certainly did not have a comfortable and warm home. Unfortunately, experiences like that are all too common in 2024.”
“This investment is transformative. I hope that some of this spending will be made available to primary care and to community pharmacy—the desperately underfunded front door of our NHS. I am really pleased that in recent days we have heard a commitment from the Front Bench health team of a further £2.5 million to support the development of proposals for Hillingdon hospital. I am sure that I will return to that issue and discuss it with the team in the days ahead. In summary, this Budget delivers on our promises on tax, on growth and on the NHS, and I am delighted to support it.”
“We have heard Conservative Members today continually make the tired argument that it is the private sector alone that drives growth. As Members have rightly said, economic growth relies on a strong public and private sector. Without a functioning public sector, businesses cannot thrive. If trains are late, people cannot get to work. If staff are off sick, they cannot pay tax and cannot contribute. If workers do not have the necessary skills, productivity and growth stall. This Budget addresses those issues and those determinants of growth, and that is why I am proud to support it today. Over 14 years, the Conservatives have starved our NHS of vital funding, but today we are talking about a vital £25 billion investment in our NHS—the biggest investment in it since the last Labour Government, excluding the covid years.”
“I am pleased that we have taken the tough and necessary decisions on spending and taxation to put our NHS back on a firm footing—tough decisions that any Chancellor and any Government would have to make. The Conservatives have continually shirked those tough decisions. This Budget ensures that no one will see higher taxes on their payslip; there are no increases to employee national insurance, income tax or VAT. Those are promises that I made to my constituents when going door to door, and promises that we are keeping today. The necessary tax rises in this Budget rightly fall on those with the broadest shoulders; we are asking the wealthiest and largest businesses to pay their fair share to help rebuild our NHS and public realm. This Budget is fundamentally pro-growth, and is focused on investment in our country’s future.”
“The last few years have been incredibly difficult for our constituents and our national health service. Public services are on their knees, a £22 billion black hole has been left in our public finances and there have been real-terms falls in incomes and living standards. The Conservatives, as we have heard today, are still labouring under the fantasy that no problem exists, and that they are sitting in opposition—well, a few of them are sitting over there—through no fault of their own, but through some sort of electoral dysfunction. They are entirely unwilling to say what they would do to fix the broken services and our NHS, and what they would do to close the financial gaps that they have left.”
“A hundred councils in England have come together to call for five key changes to unlock much-needed investment in new council homes. They will welcome the news of £500 million of additional grant and changes to the right-to-buy rules, but one issue they also raise is housing revenue account debt and finance. Will Treasury Ministers look specifically at debt allocations and how HRA debt is accounted for, to unlock much-needed investment in council homes?”
“I welcome that response. Eight per cent of families in this country are in deep furniture poverty. I have seen at first hand the impact of that: people are unable to have a hot meal without a microwave or a cooker and are unable to have a decent night’s sleep without a bed—they sleep on the floor with a mattress or a duvet. Will my hon. Friend meet me and the End Furniture Poverty campaign to discuss what more we can do as a Government locally and nationally to tackle this issue?”
“Hundreds of residents in Ruislip Gardens and Ruislip Manor in my constituency have been flooded in recent weeks. I have met many of them who have had to move out of their homes. They are frustrated by poor regulation and buck-passing between the water authority and the local council, the flood management authority. This welcome review, after 14 years of dither and delay, is good news for my residents, but will my right hon. Friend assure me and my residents that it will look specifically at the adequacy of governance and accountability mechanisms between flood management authorities and water management organisations, and will he meet with me and my constituents to discuss these issues?”
“I will end as I started: there is a lot to do to rebuild and reform our NHS, so that it is there when we all need it. We have done it before and we must do it again.”
“We have heard from Liberal Democrat Members, as well as Members on the Government Benches, about dental deserts and the need to improve access to dentistry. I welcome the Government’s commitment to engage with the British Dental Association. I know one of the Secretary of State’s first meetings was with BDA, and I look forward to hearing the outcome of those discussions. Lastly, on community pharmacies, I met representatives of local and national pharmacy groups in my first few weeks as an MP. Pharmacies are incredibly well placed to take the pressure off GP services. Pharmacists are trained, professional and ready to go. I welcome the Government’s plans to create community pharmacist prescribing services to utilise the skills of pharmacists.”
“These shifts will not only improve value for money in our health service but will ensure that everyone in our communities lives a longer, healthier life. We have heard today of the importance of GPs, particularly family GPs. GPs are seeing more patients than ever before, yet the number of qualified GPs relative to the population is falling. This strain will only be exacerbated as populations grow and age. I welcome the Government’s commitment to GP recruitment, with £82 million being invested in 1,000 more GPs. The shadow Minister spoke about the capital investment pressures on the Government, and we certainly want to see capital investment in hospitals—including Hillingdon hospital in my constituency—but primary care capital investment is also needed to unleash potential capacity.”
“Primary care, as Liberal Democrat Members have said, is the front door to our NHS, but that front door is increasingly being slammed shut in the face of our constituents, and the effects are being felt. Fifty years of progress on cardiovascular disease is in reverse, progress on cancer outcomes has stalled, and cancer survival rates in the UK are falling behind comparable countries. There is a lot to do, and it will take time to do it, but I am reassured by the Minister’s comments that this Government are taking the matter incredibly seriously. I welcome the Secretary of State’s focus on the three critical shifts needed to modernise our health service, and particularly primary care: from analogue to digital, from hospital to community, and from sickness to prevention.”
“The fundamental promise of our NHS is that it is there for all of us whenever we need it, no matter how much we earn, where we live, who we are or what part of the health system we need to access. Unfortunately, after 14 years of Conservative government, that promise has been broken. It was particularly disheartening not to hear any contrition or reflection from the shadow Minister. Despite the hard work of NHS staff, waiting lists are at record highs and patient satisfaction is at record lows. The NHS is near breaking point. We all knew this going into the election, as we heard it from our constituents— I certainly heard it from mine in Uxbridge and South Ruislip. Even so, the findings of the Darzi review are still incredibly shocking.”
“There is an even better birthday present than a question from the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon): theatre tickets to the Beck theatre in Hillingdon. That theatre is much loved by my residents and constituents, but unfortunately we face the real prospect of its closing in the coming weeks due to the inaction of the local Conservative council in Hillingdon. Would the Leader of the House make time in this place to discuss the real value created by arts, culture, and community theatres such as the Beck?”
“To finish as I started, the journey from homelessness to the House of Commons is one not too often made, but I want to do my bit so that every child in this country can follow in my footsteps, and no one is held back by the experience of homelessness in our country. I thank everyone who has supported me in some way. I thank the voters of Uxbridge and South Ruislip who have returned me as their first Labour MP. I want to reiterate to them that, in me, they have a local champion, a national voice, and someone working tirelessly for them to deliver our hospital, improve our schools and high streets and tackle our housing crisis, to ensure that we have even more to be proud of in Uxbridge and South Ruislip.”
“The challenges in the housing sector required national action. We need to deliver millions more homes across this country. I welcome this Government’s commitment to do that, and to develop the homelessness strategy. During my professional career in the health sector I worked to ensure that new diabetes technologies were available on the NHS, and to reduce new HIV transmissions. I have seen time and again the need to modernise and improve our health system so that it genuinely puts the needs of patient first, and promotes good health as much as it treats ill health. Those are the challenges I look forward to playing my part in tackling in the months and years ahead.”
“Despite those struggles, I have always been hugely appreciative of everyone who has supported and encouraged me and made today possible. There are far too many people to mention individually—I will not do what my hon. Friend the Member for Redditch (Chris Bloore) did and have a long list of people but forget some—but I thank my friends and family, in particular my mum, who is in the Gallery. She sacrificed so much to give me the chance to stand here today. I thank my former teachers, colleagues and councillors. My 10-year period in local government was an incredible opportunity and a privilege, allowing me to build the next generation of council homes, and to hand over keys to families and see their faces light up. During that time, it was clear to me that local action would never be enough.”