Thank you, Mr Speaker it is a great privilege to be called to make my maiden speech in this
most important of debates, and I congratulate many others who have made outstanding maiden
speeches today.
I am sure that many right hon. and hon. Members will claim that their constituencies consist
of two halves or numerous parochial parts; I am another in that respect, and Batley and
Spen is very much that kind of constituency. It is a joy to represent such a diverse community.
Batley and Spen is a gathering of typically independent, no-nonsense and proud Yorkshire
towns and villages. Our communities have been deeply enhanced by immigration, be it of Irish
Catholics across the constituency or of Muslims from Gujarat in India or from Pakistan, principally
from Kashmir. While we celebrate our diversity, what surprises me time and time again as
I travel around the constituency is that we are far more united and have far more in common
than that which divides us.
My constituency is also home to Fox’s Biscuits and Lion Confectionery, so I am sure you will
not think it an indulgence, Mr Speaker, if I describe Batley and Spen as a constituency
with an industrial heart wrapped in a very rich and pleasant Yorkshire landscape, geographical,
historical and cultural.
The spirit of non-conformity is as prevalent now in my part of west Yorkshire as it was
in the time of my two immediate predecessors, Mike Wood and Elizabeth Peacock. They were
both known for offering their own brand of independent, non-conformist service, albeit
in very different ways. I intend to maintain that established tradition in my own unique
style.
Of course, Batley is a town that has sent Labour MPs to this place for the best part
of a hundred years. One of them, Dr Broughton, is of course famously credited with bringing
down a Government, so I respectfully put the right hon. Members on the Front Bench opposite
on notice. The Spen valley has a far more chequered political history, alternately sending
Labour and Conservative MPs here to Westminster for much of the 20th century. Nothing made
me prouder on 8 May than to be sent to this place with an increased Labour majority, proving
again that in my neck of the woods non-conformity is what we do best.
As I have already alluded to, we make things in Batley and Spen; we do so now, just as
we did historically. Batley and Spen has a high proportion of people working in manufacturing,
and we can boast the full range of industries, including high-skilled, precision engineering.
We manufacture all sorts, from beds to biscuits, and from carpets to lathes. We also have some
of the best fish and chips in the country, and some of the best curries in the world.
However, what many of our businesses are lacking is confidence: confidence to expand; confidence
to borrow; confidence to grow; and the confidence to fuel a real economic recovery that benefits
everybody, offering decent jobs, paying decent wages and bridging the skills gap. Key to
changing that situation is a fundamental shift in attitude towards regional economic regeneration.
It is time to give city and county regions the powers and resources they need to promote
growth, and I will happily work with all of those who are genuinely committed to building
an economic powerhouse in the north. This agenda has to have at its centre a commitment
to connect towns and villages in constituencies like mine to thriving city hubs, and to deliver
a financial offer in the forthcoming July Budget that gives this worthy goal a real
chance of success. Yorkshire folk are not fools: talk about devolving power to cities
and regions, while simultaneously stripping them of the resources to deliver and subjecting
northern councils such as Kirklees to the harshest of cuts, is not compatible with a
worthy commitment to building a northern powerhouse to drive growth and prosperity.
Businesses in my constituency want help to address the skills mismatch at local level
which leaves employers with staff shortages and young people without jobs. They want access
to reliable sources of finance, including a network of local banks. They want to connect
to a regional infrastructure that works for them, not rail price hikes of more than 126%
and endless delays to key transport projects such as the electrification of the line from
Manchester to Leeds. Many businesses in Yorkshire want the security and stability of Britain’s
continued membership of the European Union, a cause I look forward to championing passionately
in this place and elsewhere.
The key question is: will the Government’s actions match their northern powerhouse rhetoric?
HS2 is not the only acid test. There are two bigger challenges. First, will the Government
really devolve all the powers and decisions that could and should be taken locally and
regionally? My test will be this: if there is a compelling reason for this to be a national
decision then so be it; if not, it should be devolved. Secondly, will the Government
really take the whole range of their decisions—on transport, research and development, planning,
education and skills, in the interests of rebalancing the economy and growing the north?
I am Batley and Spen born and bred, and I could not be prouder of that. I am proud that
I was made in Yorkshire and I am proud of the things we make in Yorkshire. Britain should
be proud of that, too. I look forward to representing the great people of Batley and Spen here over
the next five years.