Oxford to Cambridge Growth Corridor

Rosie Wrighting Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd December 2025 Westminster Hall

[Rachel Hopkins (Luton South and South Bedfordshire) (Lab)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Cambridge (Daniel Zeichner) on securing this important debate. I welcome the Labour Government’s commitment to the Oxford-Cambridge corridor. After years of underfunding and neglect from the previous Conservative Government in constituencies such as mine, this investment will reap significant economic benefits for my constituency and the wider region, with the proposals forecast to contribute £78 billion to our economy by 2035.

I also welcome the further £500 million investment package recently committed by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor to deliver growth in the Oxford to Cambridge corridor and cement its status as a global innovation hub. Working people in my constituency will benefit from access to thousands of new jobs, improved regional connectivity and more opportunities.

As has been mentioned, Luton is located at the heart of the golden triangle of London, Oxford and Cambridge. My hon. Friend the Member for Cambridge and others have noted that the publicly owned London Luton airport is a key entity in ensuring economic growth in our region, contributing £1.8 billion to the UK economy each year and £830 million annually to Luton.

The airport also has the most densely populated catchment area of any UK airport. It serves London, the midlands and the east of England, and is one of the best connected airports by rail and road. Its prime location will help to support the delivery of other regional projects, including the East West Rail line. It is one of the most significant transport projects and of course links into the proposals for the Universal UK theme park near Bedford in the constituency of the hon. Member for Mid Bedfordshire (Blake Stephenson), with Luton airport acting as a key driving factor in Universal’s decision to invest in Bedfordshire.

There are also significant redevelopment and regeneration projects under way in Luton. The football club’s new stadium at Power Court, which will be based in the heart of our town centre, includes plans for a 25,000-capacity stadium, as well as an adjacent hotel, music venue and housing development. Work on the Stage development at the old Bute Street car park will also soon be under way; it will be a major mixed-use destination with nearly 300 flats alongside commercial units, a multi-purpose food and events venue and new public garden square. The delivery of the Oxford-Cambridge growth corridor will be key in widening the reach and impact of redevelopment projects in Luton, drawing more footfall to our town as a hub for sporting and leisure events and contributing further to economic growth there.

Crucially, Luton is a thriving and young town—in fact, the third youngest in the UK—

[Rosie Wrighting (Kettering) (Lab)]

Will my hon. Friend give way?

[Rachel Hopkins]

I will happily give way to my hon. and young Friend.

[Rosie Wrighting]

I will take that. The Bedford College Group has campuses in both of our constituencies. Does my hon. Friend agree that that is crucial in delivering the high-quality technical skills needed to deliver the growth corridor?

[Rachel Hopkins]

I thank my hon. Friend for making a brilliant point about the contribution that further education colleges make to the agenda for skills, apprenticeships and ultimately good jobs for our young people.

The delivery of East West Rail, improving connectivity with Oxford and Cambridge as world-class education and innovation hubs, will be vital in providing more opportunities for young people in my constituency for study, apprenticeships and jobs that previously would have been out of reach.

Pride in Place

Rosie Wrighting Excerpts

Wednesday 15th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Miatta Fahnbulleh]

We would have loved to have had funding for every part of the country. Sadly, because of the inheritance—the hon. Member has encouraged me to raise this again—of 14 years in which the public finances were decimated and the Conservatives crashed the economy, we are having to navigate through that situation. However, alongside the investment in the places that have been chosen because of deprivation, we are giving all places the tools and the levers to reclaim their high streets and invest locally.

[Rosie Wrighting (Kettering) (Lab)]

It is a damning legacy of the Tories that being born in Avondale Grange in Kettering rather than three minutes down the road means that people’s opportunities are less, they face more health inequalities and, under the last Government, they were told to accept decline. This £20 million funding shows that this Government believe that no matter where someone is born, they deserve to have pride in their community. While Reform continues to seek division, can my hon. Friend outline how people having pride in their home and bringing communities together is a real example of true patriotism?

[Miatta Fahnbulleh]

My hon. Friend is completely right, and she put it incredibly eloquently. We can change the country by bringing our communities together and giving them the tools and agency to change their place so they have pride. Labour Members are on the side of unity, and of bringing communities together to drive renewal. I note that there are no Reform MPs here, but they are on the side of dividing, and of simple slogans and simple answers that—to be candid—will not change the lives of people in our communities.

New Homes (Solar Generation) Bill

Rosie Wrighting Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 17th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Rosie Wrighting (Kettering) (Lab)]

I thank the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Max Wilkinson) for bringing forward this Bill, which deals with an issue that matters deeply to my constituents and to me. This winter we have seen the devastating impact that climate change can have on communities, and colleagues and I have watched in horror as wildfires have spread through California and flooding has impacted my constituency and many areas across the UK. Now, more than ever, we must find ways to weave the pursuit of clean, home-grown energy into everything we do, and solar power will make a vital contribution.

I have had the pleasure of visiting many local schools in Kettering since being elected. On every visit, children have told me that they are worried about our local environment and the future of our world, and I feel those worries too. I was proud to stand on a manifesto that promised to make Britain a clean energy superpower, and which pledged to double onshore wind, triple solar power and quadruple offshore wind by 2030. I am even prouder to see the progress that this Labour Government have already made in delivering on those pledges.

Only two weeks after the election, when most of us, including me, still did not know the way from the Chamber to Portcullis House, the Secretary of State lifted the ban on onshore wind, established the 2030 mission control centre and consented to solar projects that will generate more than 1.3 GW—enough to power almost 400,000 homes. This is clearly a Government of delivery, who are working to drive forward and increase rooftop solar, which, where appropriate, will help accommodate the Government’s 2030 clean power mission.

The potential for rooftop solar is huge, especially in constituencies such as mine, which is one of the fastest-growing areas in the UK and, of course, where the sun always shines. I have been contacted by many constituents about this issue, and they support the Government’s aim to achieve 95% clean energy by 2030. I understand their desire for solar and the need for it on new builds, warehouses and the ground, so I am glad that this Government have committed to ensuring that local communities continue to have a voice in planning matters, and that communities hosting clean energy infrastructure will benefit from it.

The speed of house building in Kettering means that we are no strangers to irresponsible and difficult developers, so our commitments to the environment must go hand in hand with planning. I know that the Government will introduce standards on house building this year to ensure that our new homes and buildings are fit for a net zero future, but we also need to ensure that developers cannot shirk their responsibilities to the environment and to local residents. Our house building needs to be sustainable so that local people can trust that their needs, and the needs of the environment, are being met.

The Government’s national planning policy framework is a lesson in how we can deliver the biggest boost to social and affordable housing in a generation while unlocking green energy and recognising the benefits of our best agricultural land, and all while making vital commitments to use planning to enhance the natural and local environment, protect valued landscapes, and recognise the character and beauty of the countryside.

I am grateful to have had this opportunity to put on the record my support for rooftop solar and for this Government’s commitment to our environment in Kettering and beyond.

Absent Voting (Elections in Scotland and Wales) Bill

Rosie Wrighting Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 17th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Tonia Antoniazzi]

I welcome that intervention, especially because we are talking about many groups who do not access their right to vote. I am proud of the fact that in Wales and Scotland people can vote from the age of 16. I used to be a schoolteacher, and I know how important it is to have that democratic conversation with young people so that they understand their rights. It is important for a strong message to come from both the Welsh Senedd and the Scottish Government, because their voices need to be heard, and the same applies to people who are unable to vote because of a disability. It is incumbent on our other Parliaments to proceed with what is a very big piece of work.

As it stands, my constituents in Gower—a rural constituency containing many remote areas—who wish to vote via post or proxy in the upcoming Senedd elections in 2026 will still be required to fill out a paper application form and physically send it to be processed. That is time-consuming and people do not always do it. This lack of parity is unfair to electors in Wales and Scotland who should have the option of a digital route for absent voting arrangements in their devolved parliamentary or local elections. It is also not good for overall democratic health. We know that some people are deterred from voting if they encounter barriers in the run-up to an election or polling day.

That inconsistency presents a barrier to voting that would, in some cases, contribute to people not voting at all. I welcome the Bill because it seeks to end that disparity and give voters in Wales and Scotland equal choice in how they can apply for an absent vote in devolved and local elections. With both the Senedd Cymru and Scottish Parliament elections coming up in May 2026, we should be doing all that we can to remove disincentivising barriers and to make the process of electors exercising their right to vote as smooth as possible.

[Rosie Wrighting (Kettering) (Lab)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that we should be doing everything we can to encourage political participation across the UK, to maintain our reputation as one of the world’s strongest democracies?

[Tonia Antoniazzi]

That really is true. In the seven years I have been in this place, I have found that people sometimes shut the door in my face and say, “You’re all the same.” There is a growing disrespect for parliamentarians, which I find hard to understand. Our democracy is the backbone of the United Kingdom and of our devolved countries, and I think it is really important for us to be positive and engaging and to let people know that their voices are heard in this place, whoever they voted for.

I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh North and Leith for how she has worked on the Bill. I understand that the measures within it have been discussed with Welsh and Scottish Ministers, and that is a wonderful way to make change happen. The Bill is also very carefully drafted to emphasise the importance of devolution and to respect the devolved nations’ responsibility for their local and devolved parliamentary elections. The manner in which she has approached that, as well as the Bill itself, firmly aligns with the Government’s intention to re-set the relationship between central and local governments as partners in delivering better outcomes for the communities that we, collectively, represent. The Government have already made welcome significant progress regarding that re-set. They have also noted how supporting the sector to modernise democratic engagement is key to that re-set. That is what the Bill does.

My constituents would really welcome the choice that the changes in the Bill would grant them in local and devolved elections. I thank the returning officers in Swansea and Gower for their hard work and for the even more hard work they will have with the upcoming Senedd reform in 2026. My constituents welcome the Bill and I thank my hon. Friend for bringing it to the House.

Employment Rights Bill

Rosie Wrighting Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 21st October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Angela Rayner]

I agree with the hon. Member and thank her for her work in that area. We must ensure that workplaces have a good culture that does not tolerate any form of harassment, including sexual harassment, because that is bad for business as well.

The major achievement of parts 1 and 2 of the Bill will be to strengthen rights for working people. That is personal for me: I started my working life as a carer on casual terms, not knowing if there would be a pay cheque next month. The fear of not being able to provide for my young family, and of losing everything, stuck with me. Now that I am at the Cabinet table, I am determined to deliver for the millions of people in the position that I was once in, and to bring all companies up to the standard of the best when it comes to workers’ rights. The Bill is a recognition and celebration of the many employers that are already implementing such measures and, in many cases, go much further.

[Rosie Wrighting (Kettering) (Lab)]

I welcome the new Labour Government’s approach to ensuring that my constituents feel the benefit of economic growth. As my right hon. Friend will know, more than 1 million people on zero-hours contracts will benefit from her guaranteed hours policy. Does she agree that the Bill will raise living standards across the country?