Oral Answers to Questions
Jen Craft Excerpts(1 day, 22 hours ago)
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Jayne Kirkham (Truro and Falmouth) (Lab/Co-op)
Jen Craft (Thurrock) (Lab)
Marsha De Cordova
The Church estimates that around 260 church buildings will be impacted by the changes to the listed places of worship grant scheme. Some 206 of those have multi-year projects already under way that will need to find further funding. I recently met representatives from churches that have been impacted with the Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley South (Stephanie Peacock), so that they could share their concerns with her. I hope, following the spending review settlement, that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport will clarify the support that churches will get and that will be available to them going forward.
Marsha De Cordova
I commend the work of the churches in my hon. Friend’s constituency. She highlighted St Probus and St Grace church, which was founded in 930 AD. I understand that it is a truly wonderful building and establishment, but it needs a new roof, and the fundraising is under way to try to ensure that it gets the funding. I highlighted earlier the Church Commissioners’ building emissions fund. This issue has been raised every time I stand here and respond to questions on behalf of the Church. It is vital that the listed places of worship grant scheme continues and that the Government provide clarity on the future of the scheme, so that all the wonderful listed places of worship in all our constituencies have certainty going forward.
Jen Craft
The changes to the grant scheme, and the uncertainty over its future, present significant challenges for historic churches in need of maintenance, as my hon. Friend has just set out so well. These include the grade I listed St Nicholas church in Ockendon, in my constituency of Thurrock, which, as the warden told me this week, carries a significant burden in repair work due to its age. Can my hon. Friend assist me to understand what support is available for parishes facing these challenges to ensure that they continue to thrive at the heart of communities, as they have done through hundreds of years of history? I will be lobbying DCMS as well.
Marsha De Cordova
As I highlighted, there are other funds, and I will write to my hon. Friend to set out some additional support that might be available. I understand that works at St Nicholas church will cost around £200,000, which is a great deal of money. I am very pleased to hear that she, too, will be lobbying the Department for Culture, Media and Sport for certainty about the listed places of worship grant scheme. I really think I have done my job in calling for that today.
Victory in Europe and Victory over Japan: 80th Anniversary
Jen Craft Excerpts(1 month, 4 weeks ago)
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Jen Craft (Thurrock) (Lab)
VE Day, especially this year, offers us a chance to reflect with gratitude on the sacrifices made by those in the armed forces and those on the home front to defend our way of life and freedoms from tyranny. A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of visiting Thurrock museum’s exhibition marking the 80th anniversary of victory in Europe, and it takes its jumping-off point from a picture taken at the time of a VE Day celebration in Grays. Visitors are invited to look at the joy on people’s faces and the celebrations—children dancing spontaneously, bunting up in the streets, cakes being served—but also to reflect on what is going on behind the picture: the fact that people in those photos would be awaiting the return of loved ones for some months and may be waiting for loved ones who were never to return. Also, visitors are encouraged to reflect on the extraordinary sacrifice of those on the home front and the changes it made to their way of life.
I took a moment to pause on some of the lyrics sung by Vera Lynn. We often think of them as upbeat, patriotic and bringing us all together, but looking behind the words of
“There’ll be bluebirds over
The white cliffs of dover”
she speaks about a return to normality. When she sings,
“And Jimmy will go to sleep
In his own little room again”
we can only think what that meant every evening when those sirens went off for parents to take their children down to an air raid shelter, wondering if they would ever emerge and what they would be emerging to. While it was a moment for celebration, it was also a moment perhaps to reflect on the great loss and sacrifice that people made.
At the exhibition, there is a set-up made to look like a VE Day celebration, and they have photos of those who might have been round the table. We are allowed to explore the stories of 10 extraordinary Thurrock residents and the lives they led during the war. I would like to highlight two that stood out to me: Charles Corder from South Stifford, a RAF navigator who was awarded the medal for conspicuous gallantry; and Vera Robertson, a civilian from Little Thurrock who assisted the Norwegian resistance by sheltering them at her flat in Norway.
The war definitely changed the course of people’s lives, and it also brought about social change. I would like to touch briefly on the fact that VE Day marked the return of over 300,000 disabled servicemen and women—something that led to the first ever piece of legislation considering the needs of disabled people. The war did act as a catalyst to change and learn. In that spirit, I hope that by commemorating the anniversary this year—one of our very last chances to join with those who served—we take a moment to learn lessons and the values of hope and freedom over evil and tyranny; to pledge to honour the values that those great servicemen and women fought to protect; to learn from the bravery, courage, compassion and sacrifice of those on the home front to face down hatred and division in our society; to support those in need; and to champion the values that bring us together as a nation.