Debate on the Address

Julie Minns Excerpts

Wednesday 13th May 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dr Savage]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. We must be telepathic, because my very next paragraph is as follows.

Five days ago, Sir David Attenborough celebrated his 100th birthday, and I am sure that colleagues would like to join me in wishing Sir David the warmest congratulations on his long, wonderful and highly influential life. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”] He has spent much of his century on this planet showing us what the natural world looks like, but in the course of that long lifetime the UK has become one of the most nature-depleted countries on earth. I am sure the House has heard these facts before, but I remind Members that we have lost 38 million birds in the past 50 years; wildlife abundance has fallen by a third since 1970; we have lost 93% of our wild flower meadows; and only 15% of our rivers are in good ecological health. I am sure that those statistics cause Sir David great distress and anxiety, yet we continue to treat nature as though it were expendable.

I would like to pick up on some aspects of nature that are particularly worthy of our attention. Rivers are the lifeblood of our natural world, yet too many of them are in an appalling state. I commend the clean water Bill mentioned in the King’s Speech, which is a good start, but it does not address the underlying problem. Water is a vital public good that should not be owned and operated primarily in the interests of shareholders, many of whom are based overseas, extracting returns from an essential service while communities downstream live with the polluted consequences.

It is promising to see reforms coming down the pipeline, so to speak, that would see Ofwat replaced—something the Liberal Democrats have been calling for since 2022. However, my constituents need to see that legislation enforced more rigorously. South Cotswolds is the ninth most polluted constituency in the country, so my constituents want real transparency on what is being discharged and when—not just for how many hours, but in what volumes. They deserve bathing water designation for the sites that they have swum in for generations, and a Government who are willing to ask the deeper question: is the ownership model fit for purpose? The Government have to get upstream of the problem and ask whether profit-making monopolies, focused on short-term gains, can ever serve the long-term greater good of customers and nature.

On energy security, instability in the middle east, gas price volatility and the direct hit on household bills demonstrate why home-grown renewables are the right choice for the climate while also paying a security and peace dividend. However, I would like to see the public brought with us on the transition, not pushed away. In my constituency, a huge solar farm has been proposed that would industrialise thousands of acres of farmland.

I absolutely support renewable energy—I have spent decades campaigning for climate action—but the transition works best when communities have ownership and agency. I would like the Government to address the barriers facing community groups that want to supply local customers directly. Liberal Democrats believe that communities should be able to generate clean energy, sell it to local households and keep the benefits locally.

Food security is national security. To quote again from the Joint Intelligence Committee report:

“Without significant increases in the UK food system and supply chain resilience, it is unlikely the UK would be able to maintain food security if ecosystem collapse drives geopolitical competition for food.”

Let that sink in for a minute. We are talking about the very real prospect of food and water shortages, not just in other countries but right here, if we carry on with the current trajectory.

What is to be done? Farmers are facing a tough time at the moment. Energy costs have risen sharply, fertiliser prices remain volatile, and rural crime is a growing burden. The abrupt cap and closure of the sustainable farming incentive was a decision that pulled the rug out from under farmers who had been planning to enter the scheme, with small-scale family farms being the hardest hit. That matters far beyond the farm gate.

Around 70% of the UK’s land is under the stewardship of farmers. If we want cleaner rivers, healthier soils and more pollinators, then farmers need reliable and well-funded support for environmental stewardship into the future. Disrupting that support harms not just farms but the rest of us. I would like to hear about a good food Bill. Food is essential and we need to secure its future.

The national security assessment is explicit that ecosystem collapse is potentially irreversible; once those habitats are destroyed, they cannot be recreated with an offset calculation on a spreadsheet. Degraded ancient meadows and woodlands, fragmented hedgerows and lost wetlands and peatlands cannot simply be replaced elsewhere. We will pay the cost of their losses for generations.

[Ms Julie Minns (Carlisle) (Lab)]

I agree with much of what the hon. Lady is saying, but I would like to highlight a little glimmer of hope. Last week I visited RSPB Geltsdale in my constituency, which has successfully rewiggled and restored an ancient landscape—it is wonderful to see it blooming. Does she agree that while it is difficult, it is not impossible to reverse many of the changes to our rural landscapes?

[Dr Savage]

Absolutely. Nature is very resilient; when we leave her alone, or give her a bit of a helping hand by rewiggling rivers, for example, or through rewilding projects, she does come back. We just need to stop pummelling nature from every direction with chemicals, and in the many other ways that we assault the world of nature.

There is a word that the Government’s national security assessment uses repeatedly: cascade. Ecosystem degradation creates cascading risks. Water insecurity leads to food insecurity, which leads to geopolitical instability, which leads to conflict and, yes, even immigration—the risks compound. However, the same logic can be applied in reverse. Investment in nature creates cascading benefits. Healthier rivers mean healthier soils, and healthier soils support pollinators; pollinators, in turn, support food production. Thriving ecosystems buffer communities against flooding and drought. This is not just idealism; it is the conclusion of the Government’s own intelligence analysts.

My asks of this Government are simple: restore proper funding for sustainable farming, bring in a good food Bill, and deliver a right to local supply for community energy. On the international stage, I ask them to implement the long-promised measures under the Environment Act 2021 to remove deforestation-linked products, such as unsustainable palm oil, from our UK supply chains. Britain signed international commitments to halt forest loss by 2030, and those promises now need action; 2030 is just around the corner.

My constituents are not asking for miracles, but they are asking for urgent and radical action to protect nature. They are asking for rivers that are safe to swim in, farmland that can feed us, landscapes that function and communities that are resilient in the face of a more uncertain world, all of which is eminently doable with political will. The cost of inaction will far outweigh the cost of action; nature is the foundation on which our present and future security, prosperity and wellbeing ultimately rest. It would be a fitting gift, on the occasion of Sir David’s 100th birthday, to hear that the Government had found the political will to do what is necessary for our national security, and for the security of future generations.

Ordered, That the debate be now adjourned.—(Deirdre Costigan.)

Debate to be resumed tomorrow.

Oral Answers to Questions

Julie Minns Excerpts

Wednesday 4th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Morgan McSweeney is an essential part of my team. He helped me change the Labour party and win an election. Of course I have confidence in him.

Whatever is slung across this Dispatch Box, I do not think it is right for the Cabinet Secretary to be denigrated in that way, or to suggest that he would be involved in a cover-up. There is the politics that comes over the Dispatch Boxes, but I honestly do not think it is right to impugn the Cabinet Secretary in that way. I suspect that, in their heart of hearts, many on the Conservative Benches would agree.

I am as angry as anyone about what Mandelson has been up to. The disclosures that have been made this week of him passing on sensitive information at the height of the response to the 2008 financial crash are utterly shocking and appalling. He has betrayed our country. He has lied repeatedly; he is responsible for a litany of deceit, but this moment demands not just anger but action, and that is why we have moved quickly by referring material to the police, publishing legislation so that we can remove titles from disgraced politicians, and stripping Mandelson of his Privy Counsellorship. That is what the public expect, and that is what we will do.

[Ms Julie Minns (Carlisle) (Lab)]

Q2.   Every month, people across our constituencies are injured by illegal e-bikes being ridden at 30, 40 and 50 mph through our town centres and parks, but for every illegal e-bike that the police seize and crush, another 10 hit our streets, because they are too freely available to buy. That is why Cumbria’s police, fire and crime commissioner and 28 other police commissioners across the UK are now backing my Bill, which would ban the sale of illegal e-bikes. Will the Prime Minister set out what action the Government will take to protect the public and ban the sale of these monster bikes?

[The Prime Minister]

May I pay tribute to my hon. Friend? She campaigns tirelessly to stop these antisocial, dangerous bikes terrorising communities. Our Crime and Policing Bill will mean that police can seize bikes without issuing a warning, and can destroy them. Product safety law means that authorities have the powers to intervene to stop the sale of unsafe e-bikes, but I share her determination to get these bikes off our streets.

Oral Answers to Questions

Julie Minns Excerpts

Thursday 22nd January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dan Jarvis]

I am grateful to the right hon. Member for the important points he raises, and I completely understand and agree with his point about rurality. I have heard the point he made about BT, and I know that the Department has been engaging closely with the company. I will look carefully at what he has to say and come back to him.

[Ms Julie Minns (Carlisle) (Lab)]

I recently met representatives of Cumbria Council for Voluntary Service and ACTion with Communities in Cumbria to discuss community resilience in Carlisle and north Cumbria. One of the challenges we face in geographically remote areas such as mine is the speed with which local authorities and other agencies are able to deploy staff to close floodgates and shut roads when we have an area affected by flooding. Will the Minister set out what steps the Government are taking to encourage statutory bodies to train and equip community emergency volunteers to carry out those vital tasks?

[Dan Jarvis]

I can do that, and I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising it. I know that her constituency has suffered from significant flooding in the past. The Environment Agency, local risk management authorities and the local resilience forum have worked hard to deliver new flood schemes, and improve the warnings and information to communities so that they are better prepared. The Government are considering both regulatory and non-regulatory options to integrate the vital work of the voluntary, community and faith sectors and statutory emergency responders. I will soon be meeting the flooding Minister, the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice (Emma Hardy), to discuss this further.

Oral Answers to Questions

Julie Minns Excerpts

Wednesday 19th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I did not realise the hon. Gentleman was quite so good at stand-up comedy. He talks about dog whistles. Last week, the leader of his party, the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage), said that he did not have time to condemn the racist comments of his fellow MP, the hon. Member for Runcorn and Helsby (Sarah Pochin); he also said he did not have time to condemn members of his party calling children in care “evil”. He did not have time for that. I wonder if the hon. Member for Ashfield (Lee Anderson) could ask his party leader, sitting just next to him, whether he has time to give an explanation of the stories in today’s papers.

[Ms Julie Minns (Carlisle) (Lab)]

Q14. Over the summer, large quantities of illegal cigarettes were seized in shops in my constituency. However, many of those shops were reopened the very next day. Does the Prime Minister agree that we have to make it easier to shut these shops down permanently so that we put these criminal networks out of business forever?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this matter. There has been a surge in response to illegal shops selling products they should not be selling and not paying their taxes—this is very important. Raids in October saw more than 900 arrests, almost £11 million of criminal profits seized and almost £3 million-worth of illegal gear destroyed. We need to go further to protect our high streets, which is why we are giving councils powers to prevent certain shops from even opening, supporting them to deal with unwanted shops and, through the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, cracking down on rogue retailers who break the law.

Public Office (Accountability) Bill

Julie Minns Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 3rd November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Catherine Atkinson (Derby North) (Lab)]

I pay tribute to the families of victims, and to the campaigners who have fought for decades, following the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, for this legislation. They have fought to prevent state cover-ups such as the one that they experienced. In the years since Hillsborough, far too many other families have not only endured the grief of losing people they loved, but had their grief compounded by injustice. Instead of answers, they got obstruction and obfuscation.

[Ms Julie Minns (Carlisle) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend makes a very powerful point about the obstruction that families and individuals still face. A family in my constituency have for the last 18 months methodically uncovered failings in the care of their father in hospital. He sadly died, yet the failings that they uncovered were ignored by the medical examiner and in the pathology report, and they were not adequately addressed by the hospital trust. As a result, the family have been unable to secure the accountability that they seek for their father’s death. Does my hon. Friend agree that the duty of candour that this Bill compels will begin to rebalance the relationship between individuals such as my constituents and public bodies?

[Catherine Atkinson]

My hon. Friend makes a powerful point. There are still so many families fighting for justice, and the persistence of families who have been fighting for justice has brought us to this moment. We all owe them our thanks and our action. I feel privileged to have so many colleagues who fought alongside them for so long.

I welcome the expansion of legal aid in the Bill; after years of cuts to legal aid, it is heartening to see the extension of legal aid to all families at inquests in which public authorities are involved. As a barrister, I have represented parties in inquests, including families, and I know how difficult inquests can be for families, even when they have legal representation and get answers that help them to come to terms with what happened. For too long, families have faced an inequality of arms when they have sought to understand and navigate the coroners court, and to secure the information and documents needed, and have sought the confidence to ask questions without legal representation. Meanwhile, they see the public authorities from which they are trying to get answers being supported by their legal teams.

This is not just about funding; it is about fairness. This Bill helps to correct the balance, so that families at least have representation. It gives them an advocate, a guide and a voice. That is not just compassionate, but essential to justice. I fully accept that injustice can still happen even when there are lawyers, but not having representation in those circumstances is an injustice in itself, and this Bill changes that. I also welcome the fact that the Bill introduces new statutory criminal offences. That sends such a powerful message that cover-ups will no longer be met with dismissal; they will be met with criminal sanctions. That is a vital deterrent and a long-overdue shift in accountability.

Mistakes are made, and humans err in the moment, but later on, there are choices. Are the errors acknowledged, or do people attempt to double down and persist in a false narrative? If somebody acknowledges the error, they may be sacked, but if they cover it up, they will not just be sacked; they will face going to prison. This Bill empowers the frontline of our public service to say no, and to report it if they are pressured to participate in a cover-up.

This Bill reflects the hard-won lessons of decades of campaigning. It will not undo the pain of the past, but it will help prevent future injustice by strengthening legal aid, empowering grieving families, and introducing meaningful criminal sanctions for cover-ups. This legislation begins to rebalance the scales. It sends a clear message that truth must come before reputation, and accountability must come before self-preservation, and it ensures that families will not be left to fight alone.

Oral Answers to Questions

Julie Minns Excerpts

Thursday 23rd October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Darren Jones]

The hon. Member seems to be confused by his list of institutions. The only relevant institution in this case is the Crown Prosecution Service. It is the CPS that independently decides whether to bring forward these cases, and it was the independent decision of the Crown Prosecution Service not to proceed. Might I just point out that the Opposition’s arguments over the last few weeks have been quite bemusing? They started with an accusation that there was political interference in a Crown Prosecution Service case. That was proven not to be the case, so they changed their argument and are now asking, “Why did you not politically interfere, because that is the way we do things in this country?”

[Ms Julie Minns (Carlisle) (Lab)]

T2. Storm Benjamin is mercifully not forecast to affect my Carlisle constituency today. However, when storms do land, storm-related power cuts can last hours, and quite often days, in north Cumbria and can include the loss of power to mobile phone masts. Fixed telecoms operators are under a licence obligation to ensure that they have power back at their key infrastructure points, but no such obligation applies to the mobile operators. What assessment has been made of the resilience of mobile networks in the event of a prolonged power cut?

[The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Dan Jarvis)]

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for her question. We absolutely recognise the impact that the loss of communication services can have on constituencies like hers. The Cabinet Office is responsible for the co-ordination of resilience and crisis management across Government, and I have seen at first hand the diligence and professionalism of crisis teams in Cobra. I would be more than happy to discuss this matter with my hon. Friend further, and to represent her concerns to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

Oral Answers to Questions

Julie Minns Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Ms Julie Minns (Carlisle) (Lab)]

My constituent, who had been the victim of historical domestic abuse by both her partner and her children, recently raised with me the need for a clearer understanding and definition of child-to-parent abuse. At the time of her abuse, she did not know that what her children were doing could be classified as domestic abuse, and both the police and social services failed to understand that she was the victim, not her children. Will the Minister provide an update on the work to reach a legal definition of child-to-parent abuse.

[Alex Davies-Jones]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that vital point. She will, like me, be horrified by the results of the Femicide Census report this week, which show a rise in mothers being killed by their sons. We must tackle that as a society. She will be pleased to know that what she is talking about will be in the upcoming violence against women and girls strategy.

UK-EU Summit

Julie Minns Excerpts

Tuesday 20th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The deal does allow us to move forward on renewables and carbon capture as part of the package around renewables, which is why it is so important across the United Kingdom, but particularly in Scotland because of the potential for job opportunities there, so of course we will press on in that regard. I would gently ask the right hon. Gentleman to consider again why he should not support this deal for the benefit of the whisky sector in Scotland, and given that yesterday Salmon Scotland came out hugely in favour of it. He should stand up and support the work that we are doing.

[Ms Julie Minns (Carlisle) (Lab)]

My constituency is home to the world’s oldest biscuit factory: Carr’s has been making Table Water crackers, ginger nuts and custard creams for many decades, and in about 15 years’ time it will celebrate 200 years in business. Can the Prime Minister say more about the importance of this deal to food and drink businesses such as pladis, which owns and operates the Carr’s biscuit factory?

[The Prime Minister]

For food, for biscuits and all the content covered by the SPS agreement, this deal is a massive step forward. It gets rid of the red tape and bureaucracy that cost each business thousands upon thousands of pounds. This is good for biscuits, good for business.

Oral Answers to Questions

Julie Minns Excerpts

Wednesday 30th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Ranger (Wrexham) (Lab)]

5. What steps she is taking to strengthen the Union.

[Ms Julie Minns (Carlisle) (Lab)]

11. What steps she is taking to strengthen the Union.

[The Secretary of State for Wales (Jo Stevens)]

In Wales, the partnership between our two Labour Governments is delivering on the people’s priorities. NHS waiting lists have fallen for three consecutive months. We are creating tens of thousands of jobs in every corner of Wales through our freeports, investment zones, support for steelworkers, inward investments and thriving green industries.

[Jo Stevens]

Many congratulations to Wrexham. I am delighted to see them promoted, and very sad to see Cardiff relegated. My hon. Friend is right: the Government understand that work is crucial not just to our health and wellbeing, but to improving our living standards. That is why we announced last week a £10 million pilot in Blaenau Gwent, Neath Port Talbot and Denbighshire to support people back into work. We will not sit by and let the Tories’ broken welfare system continue, which has condemned people to a life without work. These Trailblazer projects will help more people in Wales back into secure, well-paid jobs.

[Ms Minns]

Since this UK Labour Government were elected, more than 2 million extra GP appointments have been delivered in England, and thanks to a record- breaking £21 billion Budget settlement, waiting lists in Wales have gone down three months in a row. Does the Secretary of State agree that our NHS and our country are safer and stronger when we have two Governments working together to make devolution work, not to tear our Union apart?

[Jo Stevens]

I could not agree more with my hon. Friend. Driving down NHS waiting lists is a shared priority for both the UK and the Welsh Labour Governments. As she says, waiting list have fallen for three consecutive months as a result of our two Governments working together. Meanwhile, the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru voted against an extra £600 million for the Welsh NHS, and Reform would sell off the NHS to the highest bidder.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Member for raising this important issue with us. We will always stand up for those who served our country, and I pay tribute to Pauline for her service. I will ensure that she gets the appropriate meeting that she wants and needs to discuss her specific case.

[Ms Julie Minns (Carlisle) (Lab)]

This week, thanks to this Labour Government, hundreds of free breakfast clubs have opened across our country. Will the Prime Minister join me in sending good wishes to the staff and pupils at Castle Carrock, Yewdale, Longtown, Inglewood, Brook Street, Blackford, Hallbankgate and Bishop Harvey Goodwin schools in my constituency, which are among the first to benefit from this important scheme? Will he confirm that this is just the start of Labour’s plan for change to deliver for working parents?

[The Prime Minister]

Let me pay tribute to all the staff in her constituency working in the breakfast clubs, which of course deliver free breakfasts and 30 minutes of free childcare, saving working parents £450 a year. We have opened the first 750 across the country, and there will be many more to come. We of course also are saving parents £50 a year by making school uniforms cheaper—something the Leader of the Opposition ordered all her troops to vote against.

Oral Answers to Questions

Julie Minns Excerpts

Thursday 24th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Pat McFadden]

It is important that we have good dialogue between all the devolved Governments and the UK Government. I believe that we do have that good dialogue in place at the moment. There are always different political parties represented around the table, and people will come at things from a particular angle, but when it comes to this kind of agenda, the questions are: how do we get the best value for money for people, how do we get waiting lists down, and how do we make sure that the taxes that people pay get the best possible public sector productivity? There is a common agenda there, and I see no reason why we cannot keep working productively together on that.

[Ms Julie Minns (Carlisle) (Lab)]

3. What steps he is taking to strengthen emergency preparedness.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon and Consett) (Lab)]

16. What steps he is taking to strengthen emergency preparedness.

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Ms Abena Oppong-Asare)]

The Government are introducing a range of measures to strengthen our emergency preparedness. We hold regular cross-Government planning exercises for a range of scenarios. Later this year, we will undertake a pandemic response exercise, and we will also undertake a national test of our emergency alert system. Next week, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster will open the new UK Resilience Academy, which will train over 4,000 people a year.

[Ms Minns]

I thank the Minister for her response, and I particularly welcome the proposed test of the emergency alert system. The demise of landlines and the switch off of the public switched telephone network means that residents—particularly those in areas that suffer prolonged power outages, such as parts of my Carlisle constituency—now rely on their mobile phones more than ever in emergency events. Does the Minister share my desire to see Ofcom expedite its work on the radio access network resilience project so that we can move towards a position where the networks put in place emergency generators to switch the masts back on in the event of a prolonged power outage?

[Ms Oppong-Asare]

This is an issue that I recognise, and I reassure my hon. Friend that my colleagues in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology are working very closely with telecoms companies and Ofcom to ensure that consumers are protected throughout the public switched telephone network migration. As she mentioned, that will include provisions to protect access to emergency services during power outages.

--- Later in debate ---

[Ms Julie Minns (Carlisle) (Lab)]

T2. Will the Minister join me in congratulating the seven schools in my constituency that launched breakfast clubs this week? Does she agree that breakfast clubs are a fantastic example of this Government’s plan for change and reform of public services in action?

[The Minister without Portfolio (Ellie Reeves)]

I am pleased to hear about the seven new free breakfast clubs in Carlisle, and I am delighted that Brent Knoll school in my constituency also has a new free breakfast club. With our plan for change, we will give children the best start in life, breaking down barriers to opportunity and putting money back in parents’ pockets by saving them up to £450 with the roll-out of free breakfast clubs.