Ayoub Khan
MP for Birmingham Perry Barr · Independent · United Kingdom
“Thanks to the outsourcing of interpreter and translation services to private providers, qualified interpreters and translators are being exploited through lower pay and are often substituted by those providing substandard services.”
“I welcome the nationalisation of British Steel, not least because it protects critical infrastructure needs, as well as local jobs and neighbourhoods. On procurement and competition rules, what assessment have the Government made to ensure British Steel does not fall foul of regulations on supplying steel within the United Kingdom?”
“Although we do not yet have data from this summer, more than half of NHS trusts reported at least one overheating incident during the summer of 2022, and the number of NHS overheating incidents requiring risk assessments rose by 53% between 2016 and 2024. Hon. Members have spoken about schools and other public buildings.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Christopher. I thank the hon. Member for Waveney Valley (Adrian Ramsay) not only for securing this timely debate but for his detailed and comprehensive speech, which took me back a few decades to my school days, when my biology teacher talked about global warming.”
“I recently visited my local hospital—unfortunately, a family member needed emergency treatment, so I was in an A&E department—and it was shocking. Hospitals and A&E departments are already in crisis.”
“It is really shocking that, despite hospitals receiving an enormous amount of investment, they are simply not adequate for treating the most vulnerable and needy when they need critical support. That experience brought home a simple truth: extreme heat is not a minor inconvenience, but a public health emergency. As hon.”
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“I welcome the nationalisation of British Steel, not least because it protects critical infrastructure needs, as well as local jobs and neighbourhoods. On procurement and competition rules, what assessment have the Government made to ensure British Steel does not fall foul of regulations on supplying steel within the United Kingdom?”
“Thanks to the outsourcing of interpreter and translation services to private providers, qualified interpreters and translators are being exploited through lower pay and are often substituted by those providing substandard services. We have already seen the West Midlands police rely on Cintra for such services—to the detriment of the force, interpreters and my constituents—and NHS Birmingham and Solihull is now on the verge of doing the same through Word360. Will the Leader of the House consider setting some time aside to discuss these predatory practices?”
“We should create accessible community cooling centres and establish clear maximum safe indoor temperature standards. Extreme heat is already costing lives, and the Government must prepare for summer emergencies with the same seriousness with which we prepare for winter. Warm words and weather warnings will not cool a classroom, protect a hospital patient or prevent the next avoidable death.”
“Although we do not yet have data from this summer, more than half of NHS trusts reported at least one overheating incident during the summer of 2022, and the number of NHS overheating incidents requiring risk assessments rose by 53% between 2016 and 2024. Hon. Members have spoken about schools and other public buildings. During the recent heatwave, about 1,000 schools closed or shortened their days, and there were reports of teachers passing out in classrooms that reached temperatures in excess of 40°C. The answer cannot simply be to send children home or tell patients and workers to drink more water. We need a properly funded national heat resilience programme. We must audit every school, hospital and care home, and install effective ventilation, external shielding, reflecting roofs and energy efficient cooling where necessary.”
“It is really shocking that, despite hospitals receiving an enormous amount of investment, they are simply not adequate for treating the most vulnerable and needy when they need critical support. That experience brought home a simple truth: extreme heat is not a minor inconvenience, but a public health emergency. As hon. Members have said, during this heatwave alone, 2,700 people have died as a result of heat-related causes. That includes 368 deaths in the west midlands, which experienced its highest rate of deaths per head during the June heatwave. The buildings that are intended to protect us are unprepared.”
“I recently visited my local hospital—unfortunately, a family member needed emergency treatment, so I was in an A&E department—and it was shocking. Hospitals and A&E departments are already in crisis. I looked at the live data to see which hospital in the area has the lowest waiting time, and pretty much all hospitals serving the city of Birmingham had an average wait time of four hours, but that data was not live, and in fact people were waiting far longer than what it said online. It was shocking to see vulnerable people, elderly people and people with significant injuries sat in a sweltering waiting area, although the NHS staff were doing their level best by providing water and trying to assist the patients.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Christopher. I thank the hon. Member for Waveney Valley (Adrian Ramsay) not only for securing this timely debate but for his detailed and comprehensive speech, which took me back a few decades to my school days, when my biology teacher talked about global warming. The chickens have come home to roost. What is happening not just in this country but across the world, with additional flooding and a warmer climate, demonstrates that Governments of all nations need to react. It is interesting that there are no Reform parliamentarians and few Conservative MPs in the Chamber. They often use the phrase “Drill, baby, drill”, not realising that additional carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can increase heat across the globe.”
“Member for Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley, I was born in that region—I am more than happy to assist in mediation if our Government are in negotiations with the Pakistani Government, so that we can reach a sensible resolution.”
“I will not repeat what has already been set out. British Kashmiris can be found scattered around virtually every constituency in the United Kingdom, so it comes as no surprise that more than 70 Members of Parliament have signed a joint letter asking for diplomacy and dialogue. One of the biggest problems is that when there is a vacuum of information, we do not know what is happening. That has caused enormous anxieties for families that live in the United Kingdom and have heritage or family back in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Again, I am grateful to the chair of the APPG for his work. I have had several meetings with the acting high commissioner of Pakistan, who has been open and transparent about what they want to see and how they want to resolve matters. As someone who has direct heritage—like the hon.”
“Historically, it has been said that there are two nuclear power nations and that this is a bilateral issue. In my view, and I hope the Government can take away the position set out by several hon. Members in this Chamber, when there are two nations with nuclear capabilities, it becomes an international issue. In my respectful view, I suspect that if the British Government were to adopt a multilateral or international position, it would certainly help the region, which is the most militarised zone in the whole world. Torture, rape and extra-judicial killings frequently take place there. Coming back to what is close to home—I say home because we have all seen demonstrations here in London on multiple occasions—the United Kingdom is home to about 1.4 million British Kashmiris. They have heritage and family and friends in that region.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I thank the hon. Member for Bradford East (Imran Hussain) not only for his work on the APPG on Kashmir, but for securing this debate. There are two distinct issues: the first is around Indian-occupied Kashmir and the second is what we are now witnessing in the region of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. In so far as Indian-occupied Kashmir is concerned, the people in that region have been oppressed for decades. That issue has been raised on numerous occasions on very different platforms, including at the United Nations. We know that many resolutions have simply been ignored. My primary point, which follows on from the speech of the hon. Member for Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley (Tahir Ali), is about the British Government’s position.”
“The United Kingdom has many commercial agreements with India. Does the Minister agree that where the United Nations resolutions on human rights violations are not being followed, we should look at sanctioning it through our trade agreements?”
“I have spoken to many asylum seekers who have endured some of the most horrific and atrocious life experiences. The Minister will know that, historically, the courts have deemed an Army barrack unlawful because of the inhumane conditions within it. What assessment has the Minister made of the suitability of the new barracks being considered? Is not the real issue the processing of these asylum cases? I know that the Minister said that decisions are at a 24-year high, but there are no figures on how many applications have been processed and how many applications are waiting, not including those at the appeal courts.”
“I am confident that everybody in this House wants freedom of speech and freedom of expression. However, we are all against freely available misinformation and disinformation, whether it is about the lack of integration in certain neighbourhoods or international affairs. There is clearly distrust, so something needs to be done. I welcome the Secretary of State bringing forward a Green Paper, but how will the Government ensure that those with the deepest pockets do not get prevalence when we look at mainstream media?”
“The only place we could play snowballs was in the local park. That is the level of pride that we want to re-instil within our communities. It can be achieved only if we have a council that is able to effectively resource and tackle the fly-tipping. There needs to be a national campaign. I do not think this is a local issue for a local campaign. Education needs to be at the forefront: young children need to be taught at school and young people need to be taken out for regular sessions to clean streets and take pride in the local community. We also need methods to report people who offend. We need to embolden our communities. A lot of people out there take pride and want to report such problems, but fear that if they do so, they will be identified and there may be repercussions. It comes down to resources.”
“It is not an issue in silo, but needs to be dealt with across all departments within the local council. We often hear that CCTV or drones may assist, but all that comes with costs that cannot be met unless councils are resourced. Unfortunately, we had bankruptcy in Birmingham. We are out of that bankruptcy at present, but that does not mean that we have sufficient resources to be able to deal with the types of fly-tipping that we witness almost daily. Those regular hotspots are real eyesores. I reflect back on when I was growing up in a little town called Aston. As a kid, I used to relish the thought of playing snowballs with my siblings in the morning during winter. By the time we got up, the whole street was clean because every neighbour had got out in the morning and cleaned their front patch.”
“While they take pride in their neighbourhood, unfortunately the fact that they are old and vulnerable means that they cannot deal with the issues like fit and able people can. The ageing community owns properties that have private land at the rear, and unfortunately that has been abused. Not by them—they have been very proud of their back spaces—but by rogue waste collectors who have identified that particular location and regularly fly-tip there. Unfortunately, the local council cannot deal with it; they simply say that it is private land and that they are not able to touch the dumped rubbish. Local councillors have not been receiving any community chest award money to spend, so the rubbish is simply piling up, causing immense issues for vulnerable people. It really comes down to finances.”
“I thank the hon. Member for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes (Melanie Onn) for not just securing this debate, but articulating each and every point that impacts the agenda of fly-tipping. It is prevalent not just in my constituency, but across the whole city of Birmingham, and, as has been said, across the whole country. The hon. Member said that repetition makes any argument more persuasive, but she has touched on all the key points that I was going to speak about. Fly-tipping is an eyesore. It damages the appearance of streets, parks and green spaces. It attracts vermin, impacts on health and obstructs pavements. Children and vulnerable adults are all impacted. Within certain parts of my constituency of Birmingham Perry Barr specifically, there is an ageing community.”
“Anyone who claims that these donors receive nothing in return is being naïve. The transactional nature of donations applies no less to those in the highest echelons of our democracy. Just this year, Labour Friends of Israel, which funded many Cabinet members, was reported to the Electoral Commission over concerns about opaque funding arrangements. Ministers in this Government publicly identify themselves as members of that organisation, yet it is not registered as a Members’ association, and therefore avoids the further disclosure requirements that accompany that status. That cannot be right. More troubling still is the question of direct support from the Israeli state. Electoral records show that the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has provided financial support to UK parliamentarians. That must be transparent.”
“Continued arms sales amid mass extermination, the weaponisation of terrorism law to silence dissent, the welcoming of wanted war criminals on the steps of 10 Downing Street—with every decision this Government have made, it is not only reasonable to ask questions about political influence in Britain, but necessary. This is not about Jewish communities or Jewish identity, and it is not about denying anyone the right to advocate for Israel, Palestine or any other state. Lobbying is part of our democracy, but when such practices are shrouded in secrecy while shifting huge sums of money, we must ask, “Are this Government truly committed to cleansing our politics of foreign influence, or are they just concerned with blocking the foreign donations they do not get?” This is about more than simply election funds. It is about access and influence.”
“May I start with a preamble? It is important to say that this is not about the Jewish community; it is about the state of Israel. We must be careful in our words and ensure that we do not conflate the two. It is always said that the strength of a nation’s alliance is measured by how much it can endure. For two years, this Government have supported the state of Israel through the unimaginable: genocide in Gaza, illegal settlement building in the occupied west bank, and even war in Iran. It is also said that the power of a lobby group is measured by how far a Government can be pushed beyond the limits of policy making. I think it is fair to say that for millions up and down this country, the Government’s approach to Israel has defied the most basic logic, justice and humanity.”
“The hon. Member is clearly very emotional in delivering his points. Would he agree that, whichever nation is concerned, our responsibility to the millions of British citizens is to be transparent? Would he support transparency when it comes to donations of any kind?”
“Earlier, the Minister said that the premise of the petitioners and this petition falls foul of the IHRA guidance. He knows that this petition and its wording will have gone through the Petitions Committee. Does he agree that it does not fall foul, otherwise we would not be debating it?”
“At the last general election, British people were promised jobs and better workers’ rights, so I ask the Deputy Prime Minister: why are the Government pushing an agenda that will drive tens of thousands out of work, and will he arrange for a meeting so that we can have a discussion about this matter?”
“Q8. I echo the tributes to Jo Cox, Roy Hattersley and the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire. There are approximately 400,000 private hire and black cab drivers in the United Kingdom, and we rely on each and every one of them to keep our economy moving. It is concerning to hear that this Government are letting Uber deploy robotic minicabs across London, with the potential of them being rolled out across the country. Our drivers already face unsafe working conditions, discrimination and low pay, and now they are becoming casualties of this AI drive.”
“Across the communities of Birmingham Perry Barr, where knife crime, antisocial behaviour and gang violence are constant concerns, residents are not seeing enough police on their streets. The figures tell a grim story: compared with 2010, West Midlands police has 520 fewer officers on duty, on top of the 520 fewer police community support officers.”
“I beg to move, That this House has considered Government support for West Midlands Police. It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. As elected representatives we hold various obligations to our constituents, but I suspect that few are of greater importance than giving residents the right to feel safe in the places they call home. For that reason, we must do all we can to support the brave men and women of our police forces. This debate is more than about visible patrols that reassure parents taking their children to school, or swift responses to reports of crime. It is also about giving people the confidence that when something goes wrong, the police will deliver justice in a fair and proportionate way. In the west midlands, that basic promise has been undermined by years of budget cuts and neglect.”
“The hon. Member is far more learned than I am in this House, and he makes a very important point. Community policing is of course the optimum type of policing, and I will deal with that point later in my speech. To make matters worse, when we adjust for population growth, as we must, our area actually needs 640 additional officers compared with 2010. In real terms, then, we are not just 520 police officers and 520 police community support officers down; we are down by about 1,700 officers.”
“There was no conclusive DNA evidence, no proof that the men had bought the items in the bag, and no sighting of the men ever having had the bag, yet each of them was sentenced to between 15 and 20 years—”
“One concern raised by a member of one of the men’s families was that the entire case hinged on a bag containing incriminating items that was mysteriously found in Ali’s car on the first day he went to work, just an hour after he had given undercover officers access to the vehicle, and it is said that several more concerning revelations emerged during the trial. The undercover officers openly admitted to being accused of planting evidence in other cases, and later bragged about their “Oscar performance” while delivering evidence in court. Despite it being readily available, we understand that CCTV footage taken while an undercover officer was left alone with Ali’s car was withheld from the jury.”
“Public safety depends on public trust, and if that trust is broken, everyone stands to lose. The Government must not only help the police to reduce crime, but tackle corruption in the force and prevent any miscarriage of justice. Many of my constituents have expressed concerns about the case of the Birmingham Four. In 2017, Ali, Hussain, Rahman and Aziz were convicted of terrorism-related charges after an operation conducted by the police. The police created a courier business and enticed the four men into working as drivers, using vans supplied by the police that were pre-fitted with surveillance equipment. I understand that even though little evidence of criminal activity was found after months of surveillance, the four men were nevertheless convicted and sentenced to life in prison.”
“People should not have to campaign for more than a year to secure the basic police presence that every community deserves. But we can have that only when the people of the west midlands finally receive their fair share, and it is on the Government to deliver change. At the same time, we must be clear that support for visible policing is not the same as support for prejudice in policing. The majority of my constituents have welcomed Operation Fearless, but that does not mean they accept draconian stop-and-search powers, racial profiling or predictive policing. I am glad to say that we have had discussions with our police officers about such issues, and they are very alert and receptive to our history, including the Handsworth riots. Our communities know what happens when policing is done to people rather than with them.”
“It shows what can be achieved when the police work with communities, listen to local concerns and act on the priorities that residents themselves identify. Most of all, it works because people notice the difference. If we want to know how well we are tackling crime, we need to know whether people feel safe. I am afraid that if people have become so desensitised to seeing antisocial behaviour, fly-tipping and any other crime that they no longer feel reporting achieves a result, that leaves them feeling vulnerable. That is not acceptable, and we must not let that happen. Operation Fearless must not be the exception. It needs to be part of a wider approach across the constituency in places such as Aston, Lozells, Kingstanding and Perry Barr, and, in fact, across the west midlands.”
“Police funding needs to be fixed, and it needs to be fixed now. Because many forms of crime, including violence against women and girls, are on the rise, the need for visible policing is becoming ever clearer. Since day one of being elected, I have been campaigning to put more police officers on our streets and make our communities safer. I am proud to say that after almost two years of hard work with West Midlands police, local organisations and residents, we have finally brought Operation Fearless to the Soho Road and Handsworth triangle area. That means more police officers on patrol, more arrests and a restored sense of safety for residents. Operation Fearless is about more than just numbers. It matters because it puts officers where people can see them.”
“For years, successive Governments have known the challenge we face. They know that the system needs reforming, and to date they have done nothing about it. The Public Accounts Committee, the Home Affairs Committee, the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the chief inspector and even the previous Government all recognised that the formula is outdated and no longer fit for purpose, yet it remains in place. The Government’s new police reform White Paper was an opportunity to address the injustice; instead, it has become another missed opportunity. Although we welcome the steps to fix local government funding, the White Paper puts police funding reform—the single biggest obstacle to tackling crime in our area—on the back burner, with reports that change will not start until 2034.”
“For far too long, the West Midlands police has been set up for failure by the Government’s funding allocation, which leaves the force around £43 million short every year. That shortfall risks a further loss of another 80 police officers, with the situation becoming so dire that the residents of Birmingham are being asked for an additional contribution through their council tax. They have already seen their council tax increase by 24% over the last three years, and now they are being invited to make good the shortfall by paying more, which simply is not acceptable. What makes this failure all the more disappointing is that few areas are seeing their police presence eroded at the same scale as ours. While the vast majority of forces have as many personnel, if not more, West Midlands police continues to be left far behind.”
“The hon. Lady is an amazing advocate for her constituency. She mentioned Operation Fearless, which produced amazing results in her constituency, and, as she rightly points out, I am fortunate that it is now being conducted in my Perry Barr constituency, where it has already had an amazing impact. But this should not be a postcode lottery; it should be spread across the whole region and across the country. I want to give some figures, because it is very important for the Minister to understand the level of deprivation and decline. In real terms, the west midlands region is short of 1,700 officers: 1,200 police officers and 500 police and community support officers. I suppose one could ask for additional police and community support officers, because we have not adjusted that figure for population growth.”
“As I have said before, delivering on promises of safer streets, faster responses and support for victims must not become a postcode lottery. In practice, the message from my constituents is very simple: fix the funding formula, restore the officers we have lost, expand visible community policing, confront corruption, and rebuild the public trust on which all effective policing depends. The west midlands must not be treated as an afterthought. My constituents deserve so much more, and I urge the Government to deliver now. Before I finish, I will just say this: we have an amazing West Midlands police and crime commissioner, who works with grassroots communities. I know that the Government have plans to get rid of police and crime commissioners, but I am certain that, in my area, the Mayor of the West Midlands cannot simply do two jobs.”
“Before the suspension, I was referring to the injustice felt in respect of the Birmingham Four. I did not do that lightly, but because of the demands of vigilance required. We all know about the Birmingham Six, who were wrongly convicted on the basis of police lies and spent 16 years in prison before being exonerated. The families of the victims and the wrongly accused are still demanding an inquiry into police failings and evidence suppression that occurred; to this day, that wait continues. Of course we need more police on our streets, but we also need policing that is accountable, transparent and significantly worthy of public trust. The people of Birmingham Perry Barr are not asking for any special treatment; rather, they are asking for fairness and the police officers they were promised when Labour came to power.”
“Of course, that does not mean that we abrogate our responsibilities and do not support our armed forces in terms of personnel and the deterrence that we need, but does the Minister agree, unlike the Leader of the Opposition, that careful diplomacy and tackling the cost of living crisis, especially for the most vulnerable, do more to bring security than any bomb?”
“If the past few months have taught us anything, it is that military might is no guarantee of security. Trump deployed the full force of his military—dropping bombs and killing thousands in Iran—and it has brought nothing but mounting debt and a far worse deal than the one Obama struck without firing a single missile. In addition, Trump and Netanyahu have wiped more than $2 trillion from the global economy and brought energy price hikes that are thought to have pushed 100,000 Brits out of work.”
“Many families and parents will be relieved by the announcement today of the ban for those under the age of 16, but there will also be parents who will be frightened, to a degree, because of the repercussions from children who have addictions. The Secretary of State has stated that children will be given support. Will parents be given some support as well?”
“Q5. I am sure hon. Members will agree that I, as a person of colour in this House, cannot be held accountable for the vile acts of individuals who share my complexion or heritage. However, there are some in this Chamber who seek division to further their political ambitions—individuals who are fuelling hate against citizens of our own nation and causing hard-working, upstanding people to be afraid for their safety because of the colour of their skin. Teachers, doctors and nurses are afraid to go to work. Words have consequences, and with the eyes of the nation on us in this moment, what pure, cold actions will the Prime Minister take against those inciting and perpetrating violence and, more importantly, to support the victims following the brutal attack in Belfast?”
“May I wish you a happy birthday, Mr Speaker? I forgot to do that during Prime Minister’s Question Time. Let me also thank the hon. Member for Belfast South and Mid Down (Claire Hanna) for her very balanced question. Of course we recognise and commend the efforts of the individuals who intervened on Monday to help the victim and of those in the emergency services, who were no doubt confronted with very challenging scenes last night. My question is very simple: will the Minister be considering the use of special courts to expedite matters by giving rioters harsh sentences to act as a deterrent?”
“I echo the sentiments of other Members and send my thoughts and prayers to the victim of this horrific attack. May I also extend my gratitude to those in the local community who bravely intervened? We must all encourage calm at this most troubling time and prevent tensions from being further inflamed. To that end, does the Secretary of State agree that we must not let the heinous actions of one person be taken as an opportunity to taint an entire community? We should not and must not attempt to fill the gaps in the story while the police investigation continues to deliver justice to the victim and their family.”
“I do not seek to offend the Foreign Secretary, but how can we lecture businesses in the United Kingdom about morality when we are witnessing a genocide? Even if they are considering only the risk of a genocide, the Government should take steps to prevent that, such as cutting off all trade, and we still supply components to the F-35 programme. We recently witnessed five British citizens being tortured, sexually assaulted and dumped in Greece. A seven-month-old child was murdered in the hands of his mother, and no doubt an investigation will conclude that that child was a shield. Why does she not sanction the leader, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and what will the Government do to prevent this show business sale, in London on Sunday, of illegal properties there?”
“Now, after years of working, paying tax and contributing to our country, they are being told that they must do more to earn their future here.”
“The visa system is becoming too harsh on workers, too costly for employers and it is bringing too much uncertainty for families who came to this country in good faith. They followed the rules, paid the fees and contributed to our economy and our communities. The proposal to double the standard qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain from five years to 10 is particularly concerning. Roughly 2.2 million people with temporary visas that ended in 2024 were on a path to settlement and all of them have had the rug pulled from beneath them by this Government. People came to the United Kingdom under one set of expectations. They built careers, enrolled children in schools, rented or bought homes and made long-term plans.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stuart. I thank the hon. Member for Mid Bedfordshire (Blake Stephenson) for securing this debate. This debate is about more than simply improving the UK visa system; it is about creating an economy that delivers for families, workers and employers alike. It is crucial that we get this issue right. If we are serious about economic growth, supporting public services and helping British businesses succeed, we must be honest: the current direction of travel is deeply damaging. What is worse is that many people are either celebrating it or complaining that we are not moving quickly enough. Now is not the time to accelerate; it is time to slam on the brakes before we drive our economy off a cliff.”
“British Future’s latest immigration tracker survey has shown that more than 60% of the public support increasing or maintaining numbers of nurses, doctors, care home workers, engineers, seasonal agricultural workers, academics, teachers and IT experts, while more than half support increasing or maintaining numbers of construction workers, catering staff and lorry drivers.”