Finance (No. 2) Bill

Dawn Butler Excerpts

Committee of the whole House
Tuesday 13th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dawn Butler (Brent East) (Lab)]

I congratulate the Minister on the changes that the Government have made, on tackling online harms and on excluding bingo halls, as she says. Bingo halls are often a community, and they involve a lot of people. Does she agree that this issue is about not just online, but offline? Will she consider ensuring that we make our high streets safer when it comes to gambling? Will she look at erasing the aim to permit from the Gambling Act 2005 as a next step?

Regional Growth

Dawn Butler Excerpts

Wednesday 4th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Darren Jones]

The Government will be investing in every nation and region across the country. Further details will be published at the spending review next week. The announcements today are about particular investment in city regions with mayors, because we think that is an important driver for growth in those areas as well as for the wider regions in which they sit. I recognise the importance of the hon. Member’s region to the country, and there will be further announcements in due course.

[Dawn Butler (Brent East) (Lab)]

I welcome the Minister’s announcement. It is quite wonderful to hear MPs buzzing about the investment in their constituencies, especially after 14 years of neglect by the Tories and their short-term, insufficient funding. Will the Minister reassure the House that, when the spending review comes next week, London will be recognised for its economic empowerment of the country and that there will be a different attitude to London spending that will help with infrastructure projects such as the docklands light railway and its Thamesmead extension?

[Darren Jones]

I thank my hon. Friend for her question and for rightly recognising the importance to our country of its capital city, which has been at the centre of our engine of growth for many years. She also alludes to the fact that we have a brilliant Labour Mayor of London in Sadiq Khan, who strongly makes the case for investment in the capital. We will make further announcements next week that will bolster and strengthen London, and Sadiq’s leadership in London, to deliver for the whole country.

Public Spending: Inheritance

Dawn Butler Excerpts

Monday 29th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Reeves]

We have already created a national wealth fund, which will leverage in billions of pounds of private sector investment, including in carbon capture and storage, as well as green hydrogen and renewable-ready ports. We will set out all our spending in the spending review later this year.

[Dawn Butler (Brent East) (Lab)]

Congratulations on your appointment, Madam Deputy Speaker. It feels really good to be back on the Government Benches. The annual accounts of the Department of Health and Social Care show that £9.9 billion spent on personal protective equipment was written off. Does the Chancellor agree that we could claw back this money through the covid corruption commissioner, and then possibly use some of it to eradicate child poverty?

[Rachel Reeves]

I thank my hon. Friend for that question. It is to the previous Government’s huge shame that they spent billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money on VIP-lane contracts, and on PPE that was never used; in some cases, it has literally gone up in smoke and been burned. We are appointing a covid corruption commissioner because that money belongs not in the pockets of Tory donors, but in our public services, and we will do everything within our power to get their money back.