Tributes to Sir David Amess

Barbara Keeley Excerpts

Monday 18th October 2021 Commons Chamber

[Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)]

I join the tributes to the hon. Member for Southend West, who was a kind and generous colleague and a committed and conscientious constituency MP. Just how conscientious he was can be seen in his record of speaking and action in the House.

I recollect Sir David speaking in a pre-Christmas recess Adjournment debate back in 2009, when I was Deputy Leader of the House and it was my job to respond. We heard earlier about his performance in such debates. I remember him raising many, many points that day to be answered or sent for action in Departments, so I looked back and found this amazing list of matters that he raised with me: his view of the then Labour Government; the state of the economy; small shops, having visited every small shop in his constituency during the summer recess; the pay of public servants and the scrutiny of public sector pay; communications with his chief constable and decision-making structures in the police; our forces serving in Afghanistan; the Chilcot inquiry; solvent abuse; compensation for UK users of Vioxx; tax credits and the tax credits helpline; the Southend Association of Voluntary Services and its funding; services for people with rheumatoid arthritis; and seatbelts and the risks to people who do not wear them.

As it was the pre-Christmas Adjournment debate, he concluded that impressive list by talking about the issues of unwanted pets at Christmas and the work of the International Fund for Animal Welfare. I have to say to my hon. Friend the Member for Leyton and Wanstead (John Cryer) that that was 15 issues, not eight, nine or 10, which is the reason David beat him in these debates. That is why he won. [Laughter.]

I fast-forwarded to the most recent pre-recess Adjournment debate, on 22 July, to see whether there was a similarly impressive list, and there was: care costs, both for self-payers and council-funded costs; the accessibility of housing for people with disability; the use of tidal power; the safety of jet skis; single-use plastics; sewage discharge from storm overflows; the planting of trees in Southend for the Queen’s platinum jubilee; banning the live export of animals for slaughter; the pension ombudsman; approaches to working with vulnerable children; the public appeal for a permanent memorial in Dover to Dame Vera Lynn, which he helped to launch; good wishes for our Olympic and Paralympic athletes; praise for a constituent who had done a wing walk for charity; the centenary of the Royal British Legion; and, as ever, a plea to make Southend a city. How wonderful that his strongest campaign, for city status for Southend, will happen—it was the city he loved. Thanks to Her Majesty for approving that.

I will finish by saying this: there were so many causes that Sir David championed, and so many of us worked cross-party with him on issues such as support for people with endometriosis—there was going to be a debate on that today—and children with a learning disability. David’s family have asked us to renew our commitment to the many causes he championed. It is a heartwarming tribute to David’s work that Southend will become a city. We will continue that tribute by renewing and carrying on the work he started.

His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Barbara Keeley Excerpts

Monday 12th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab) [V]]

I want to join the tributes to His Royal Highness Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. His companionship and support of Queen Elizabeth throughout their lives together was extraordinary. Prince Philip gave our country distinguished service in many different roles, and today I want to pay tribute specifically to his service as the first chancellor of the University of Salford. For 24 years, from when the university received its royal charter in 1967 until he stepped down in 1991, Prince Philip served as a dedicated and active chancellor of the University of Salford, and he is the longest-serving chancellor that the university has had.

During his time as chancellor, Prince Philip took an active part in the life of the university. He was a frequent visitor to the campus and enjoyed talking to the students there. For example, in 1968, he talked to students who were disappointed with their representation on the university senate. In 1973, he discussed the anti-apartheid campaign with a group of students who were staging a demonstration. Discussing the prince’s role within the University of Salford, Professor Andy Miah, chair of science communication and future media at the university, said in 2017:

“What comes across to me was that, while figures like the Duke of Edinburgh have countless patronages and public roles, it felt like he truly cared about his contribution to our University. Salford was a place he could talk about with strong recollections and a sense of purpose about what the university could do.”

Prince Philip handed over his duties as chancellor in 1991, but he maintained a close interest in the university, with regular visits and occasional guest lectures. In 2012, Prince Philip returned to meet a new generation of students when he opened the university’s new building at MediaCity in Salford during the Queen’s diamond jubilee tour. The Queen and Prince Philip have also supported many creative projects in Salford. In 1980, Prince Philip opened Harold Riley’s famous “Salford 80” exhibition, which was described by The Sunday Times as

“the greatest photographic exhibition ever shown”

and involved 30 separate exhibitions. During another visit to Salford in 2000, the Queen and Prince Philip opened our wonderful and important arts centre and theatre The Lowry.

I send my deepest condolences to Her Majesty the Queen and her family. I know that Prince Philip will be missed greatly. As we have heard in the House today, the Duke of Edinburgh’s lifelong commitment to public service will be remembered in so many different ways. I pay tribute to his lifetime of service to our country, and as a graduate of Salford University and a Salford MP, I thank Prince Philip for his particular dedication to both the students and the University of Salford. May he rest in peace.

Covid-19: Road Map

Barbara Keeley Excerpts

Monday 22nd February 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend makes an excellent point. The difficulty is that, of course, there will be at least a significant minority who either have not taken up the vaccine in those vulnerable groups for the reasons that the House has been discussing or who, having had the vaccine, are not given sufficient protection. We believe that the protection is very substantial, but there will be a large minority who will not have sufficient protection. The risk is that letting the brakes off could see the disease surge up in such a way as again to rip through a large number or rip through those groups in a way that I do not think anybody in this country would want. I am afraid it is pure mathematics; there is still a substantial body of risk. We also need to wait and see exactly what the effects of the vaccine are. There is some promising data, but I think what the country would want at this stage is caution and certainty and irreversibility, and that is what we aim to provide.

[Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab) [V]]

Throughout this crisis, the Government have been slow to offer the financial support that people need. From 3 million people excluded from any support, to thousands of people failing to self-isolate because they cannot afford to miss work, it is clear that we need to do more. Will the Prime Minister confirm that, to get through the next few months, the Budget will bring forward adequate financial support for everyone who cannot work due to the pandemic, including those who are self-isolating, rather than the current system, which sees too many people fall through the cracks?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, I certainly can confirm that, and the hon. Member should wait to see what the Chancellor has to say next week. I think colleagues on all sides of the House would concede that the programmes of support that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor has brought forward have been extremely effective and generous by virtually all international comparisons.

Covid-19 Update

Barbara Keeley Excerpts

Wednesday 27th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend and I have visited wonderful schools in his constituency together; we know the fantastic job they are doing. I know from talking to those teachers and those pupils how much they will be looking forward now to getting back into school. I can tell my hon. Friend that we will do everything we can to speed it up, but we must be cautious; we must make sure that we do it in tandem—pari passu—with the roll-out of the vaccine.

[Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab) [V]]

The Prime Minister has talked about the important support from the British Army in the vaccination roll-out. Salford’s programme has been supported by troops from the Royal Lancers. We do appreciate that, but we have been told that this military support is being withdrawn next Monday, giving less than a week to recruit and train 30 people—and that would mean that Salford would be able to deliver 500 fewer vaccines a day. Delays to vaccinations cost lives, so will he ensure that this vital military support is not withdrawn from Salford?

[The Prime Minister]

I am very doubtful that the people of Salford would be deprived in the way that the hon. Lady describes, but I will of course look into it urgently and my hon. Friend the vaccine Minister will be taking it up immediately.

Covid-19: Winter Plan

Barbara Keeley Excerpts

Monday 23rd November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Alas, the virus is no respecter of borough boundaries, as I understand things. My hon. Friend is, of course, totally right in his analysis. The incidence is different in different parts of the city, but there are many things that unite London and encourage transmission across its vast network and I am afraid that is still I think the most sensible way of dealing with it.

[Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab) [V]]

People living in care homes need visitors. The plans to test family members so they can visit are welcome, but there is a big issue with insurance and the need for care homes to have indemnity if they experience a covid outbreak after visits. Care homes are already struggling financially and they should not be left facing ruinous legal fees because they tried to do the right thing and facilitate safe visits. So will the Prime Minister commit to extending the indemnity to care homes, which the NHS already has, plus financial support to help the care sector to pay for spiralling insurance premiums?

[The Prime Minister]

I will certainly study the hon. Member’s suggestion, but the best way forward is for care homes to take advantage of the testing system we have in place: not just lateral flow, but PCR—polymerase chain reaction—testing, too. That is the way to check that employees are not spreading it and of course to stop employees going from care home to care home. As has been pointed out throughout the pandemic, very often, it is not the visitors or family members who are importing the disease. Alas, I am afraid that sometimes it is the disease moving from care home to care home through employees and we have to stop that as well.

Covid-19 Update

Barbara Keeley Excerpts

Monday 2nd November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am really grateful to my hon. Friend, who is echoing a point that has been made by many hon. Members around the House. I would love to be able to exempt all sorts of activities, sporting or otherwise, but we must get the R down. This is the package that does it.

[Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab) [V]]

This pandemic has made the problems with our social care system clear. High staff vacancy rates and a reliance on agency staff contributed to the spread of the virus. Lack of funding meant a struggle to afford inflated prices for PPE. The weakness of our social care system ended up costing lives.

During the first wave, social care was an afterthought for the Government. To ensure that it is better supported in the second wave, will the Prime Minister confirm that the Government will consider investing the £3.9 billion in social care recommended by the Health and Social Care Committee, as a starting point for reform?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady makes an excellent point; I am glad that she cited the amount that we have already invested in social care. We do indeed intend to use this moment to deliver long-lasting reform of social care in this country.

Covid-19 Update

Barbara Keeley Excerpts

Monday 12th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

That is a very good question. A lot of people ask about the precise criteria. We look at a number of different measures. We look at the hospital admissions and the rate of transmissions in the community. A number of things are taken into account, but one thing that was clearly and particularly influential in the decision on Merseyside was the transmission, as has just been mentioned, into the over-60s group, which is obviously very concerning. As I just said to my hon. Friend the Member for Meon Valley (Mrs Drummond), when the R comes down, that changes it.

[Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab) [V]]

Under the initial furlough scheme, staff had 80% of their salary paid if there was no work for them, but the Chancellor’s new scheme pays only two thirds of wages, which for minimum wage staff can be as little as £5.80 an hour. And only those businesses forced to close will get support, even though supply chain businesses will also be hit. If we are going to beat this virus, we need a full package of financial support in all tier 2 and tier 3 areas that pays everyone affected 80% of their wages. Can the Prime Minister commit to providing that support?

[The Prime Minister]

I am proud of this Government’s record in raising the living wage by record sums. The hon. Lady will have heard what I said earlier about continuing with our support for universal credit—continuing with the uplift in universal credit—for the whole of this financial year.

Public Services

Barbara Keeley Excerpts

Tuesday 28th April 2020 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend is absolutely spot on. Of course, we recognise the competence of the devolved Administrations in their respective areas, but in dealing with the pandemic I have been impressed, cheered and reassured by the way in which Ministers in the Scottish and Welsh Governments and the Northern Ireland Executive have recognised that we are all in this together. As we seek to ease the restrictions there at the moment, the closer we can work together the better.

[Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab) [V]]

Local authorities like Salford City Council are on the frontline of fighting covid-19, from supporting our social care services to providing food for vulnerable people and supporting local businesses. The Chancellor of the Exchequer said the Government will do whatever it takes to defeat covid-19, but councils are now facing the prospect of not having all their additional costs covered. It is imperative that the Government fully fund the cost of this vital local response. Will the Minister assure me that the Government will do that for Salford City Council?

[Michael Gove]

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government has been in touch regularly with local authority leaders and chief executives to make sure they have the resources they need and that some of the administrative burdens that are not necessary at this time are lifted. I will pass on to him the particular concerns the hon. Lady expresses on behalf of the citizens of Salford.

G20 Summit

Barbara Keeley Excerpts

Wednesday 7th September 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am very pleased to say that we encourage companies to invest in the United Kingdom. There are some real opportunities here in the UK. We are a centre of excellence in certain areas of manufacturing. I referred earlier to the visit I made to Jaguar Land Rover. To see the investment coming into the United Kingdom to reinvigorate that company, to create jobs and growth, is a very good example of what can be done. I want to see that happening across a wide range of industries and across the whole country.

[Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)]

May I follow the question from my right hon. Friend the Member for Exeter (Mr Bradshaw) on imported labour and people who come to work here? Some 10% of doctors in the NHS are EU nationals and their position is now very uncertain. We know that since 23 June doctors who are EU nationals have been put off applying to work here. Since then, of course, we have had the vicious attacks and the increase in hate crime to which the Prime Minister referred. We need more doctors in the NHS. We have many unfilled training places. What is she going to say to reassure EU nationals working in the NHS, and to the people who should be looking at coming to work here, that we value them?

[The Prime Minister]

I am pleased to say to the hon. Lady that under this Government we have more doctors working in the NHS. The number of doctors in the NHS has increased since we came into government. On the position of EU citizens, I fully expect to be able to guarantee the status of EU citizens. While we are members of the EU their status does not change. I fully expect, intend and want to be able to guarantee the status of those EU citizens. The circumstances in which that would not be possible would be if the status of British citizens living in other EU member states was not guaranteed.

Record Copies of Acts

Barbara Keeley Excerpts

Wednesday 20th April 2016 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock]

I agree with the hon. Lady about the importance of our traditions. The Heritage Crafts Association, which she so ably spoke for, has for many years supported the skills needed to keep these crafts going. I knew its work when I was Minister of State for Skills and Enterprise, and am delighted to support the skills of those who make and print on vellum now.

Committing our laws to this robust material underlines the point that the law of the land is immutable and that the rule of law is steadfast. We should never take that for granted. To those who say that this is symbolism, I say yes, it is vital symbolism. What else are laws but symbols on a page? What are these symbols? They are symbols of great importance that make up and underpin the fabric of our society. The vellum record copies of Acts—signed in Norman French, no less, by the Clerk of the Parliaments—are part of the rich character of this House and of our evolving constitution, just like Black Rod’s staff or the colour of the Benches of this Chamber. The symbolic power of vellum is undeniable. After the public outcry that followed the proposal to scrap it, it is time to reconsider. As Burke said, the British constitution is like an ancient house that

“stands well enough, though part Gothic, part Grecian, and part Chinese, until an attempt is made to square it into uniformity. Then it may come down upon our heads altogether in much uniformity of ruin”.

Let us not make the mistake of trying to square this great tradition into uniformity.

That is the symbolic case, but let me turn to the practical case for vellum. By any measure, vellum is far more durable and far stronger than archive paper, lasting thousands of years. It is hard to destroy, and without vellum, would we today have copies of the Domesday Book, the Magna Carta, the Lindisfarne gospels, Henry VIII’s certificate of marriage or Charles I’s warrant of death? I doubt that we would. Portugal is this nation’s most long-standing ally, and since 1373, the Anglo-Portuguese treaty has held the force of law, and it can be read. Why? Because it was written on vellum. We used vellum even for the town charter of Grimsby.

[Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)]

I would like to take the opportunity to add to that list the charter for the Salford Hundred, a document showing that Salford was of greater cultural and commercial importance than its neighbour, Manchester. Even in times of austerity, documents like that, written on vellum, are so important to the people of Salford.

[Matthew Hancock]

And to places around the country: Grimsby, Salford, Chester—you name it. [Interruption.] Ebbsfleet—any more bids?

Let me deal with the costs. As has been noted, I bow to no one in my desire to save taxpayers’ money. For the first half of this decade, the drive for savings has been the backdrop to debate in this House, and I expect that to continue for some years yet. The Administration Committee estimates that the cost to Parliament of using vellum has been a little over £100,000 a year. Of course, any alternative would have its own costs, so all this amount could not be saved in any case.

Last year, the total costs of the House of Lords were around £100 million. If both Houses decide to sit for one extra day, the cost runs into tens of thousands. By comparison with the resources put into researching, debating and passing each Bill, the printing of an Act on vellum is negligible. Even my hon. Friend the Member for Mole Valley called the costs “not significant”. The savings proposed are just a tenth of 1% of the budget of the House of Lords, and one hundred thousandth of 1% of the total budget of the Government.

Vellum’s durability means that it is excellent value for money. At today’s prices, printing the Magna Carta on vellum would cost about £6 per century. I do not know of any other data storage system that can beat that, so I can give the House the commitment that, should there be any extra costs, taxpayers will be protected, and we will work with both Houses to find a solution that can work. I have heard the argument that there is only one printer and that it is being dismantled, but that is just not true. There are a multitude of printers; indeed, I printed the first page of my speech on vellum on a laser printer.

We have looked into the matter of suppliers, and one consequence of this debate and the scrutiny it has provided is that we can bring the costs of printing on vellum down. I have heard that we are running out of space for storage. That is not true. At the current rate, we could pass Acts for 500 years and there would be space enough in the Victoria tower for them. On the basis of symbolism, cost and practicality, therefore, we should continue this great and long tradition.