Covid-19: Support for Rugby League
Debate between Yvette Cooper and Tracy Brabin(3 years, 6 months ago)
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Yvette Cooper
I agree, and in the end that was the purpose of calling for this debate. We welcome the loans that the Government provided earlier in the year, the work that was done between the Government and the RFL, and the support for our clubs. That has been really important, but our rugby league clubs are under huge pressure now and they need more support. We need a new action plan going forward; the bills still have to be paid.
Tracy Brabin (Batley and Spen) (Lab/Co-op)
My right hon. Friend is making a fantastic case for rugby clubs up and down the country. Castleford Tigers are fantastic. In my constituency we have the Batley Bulldogs, and we have seen the work that they are doing at the heart of our community during the pandemic. Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is quite simple—we could turn the £16 million loan into a grant, and we would save the clubs overnight?
Yvette Cooper
My hon. Friend is right, because the challenge is that the loans need to be repaid. The expectation has been that they need to start being repaid next year. Well, we are not through the covid crisis yet. We still do not have the supporters back in the grounds and there are still huge financial pressures on our clubs. It is simply not realistic, and not good for the sport or our communities, to insist on those loans being paid back. The point that she makes about grants is exactly one of the things that I want the Government to consider.
Crime and Antisocial Behaviour: Small Towns
Debate between Yvette Cooper and Tracy Brabin(4 years, 11 months ago)
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Tracy Brabin
I thank my hon. Friend for highlighting antisocial behaviour, which I will come to. The cuts certainly have an impact on our streets.
The funding cuts to West Yorkshire police would be worse were it not for the action of the Labour police and crime commissioner, Mark Burns-Williamson, who raised the police funding element of council tax to stem the loss of officers and restart recruitment in the face of cuts to the central grant. I am not a spokesperson for the police, and, let us be honest, many people in my constituency are frustrated with police services, but it is important to acknowledge the context of what they have faced in recent years, because it has an impact on their ability to respond to and deter crime.
Yvette Cooper (Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford) (Lab)
As a fellow West Yorkshire MP, I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing the debate. I strongly agree that West Yorkshire police has faced major cuts, which are hitting our towns. Does she agree that towns have often been particularly heavily hit by austerity, because overstretched police forces have been forced to concentrate many of their resources in the bigger cities? In Knottingley, there have been recent reports and challenges regarding antisocial behaviour, and in Normanton, there have been attacks on shopkeepers in the town centre. We need neighbourhood police officers in our towns, as well as the crime prevention work, to keep people safe.
Tracy Brabin
My right hon. Friend makes a fantastic point. We need the community presence, as well as the intelligence that comes from relationships with communities. That can stem the flow of antisocial behaviour, because the police know where it is coming from and because they know the families.