Corby and East Northamptonshire MP Lee Barron celebrates return of ‘number 50 bus’ and pledges to ‘always stand up for Corby’ in maiden parliamentary speech
Corby and East Northamptonshire MP Lee Barron celebrated the return of the ‘number 50 bus’ and pledged to ‘always stand up for Corby’ in his maiden parliamentary speech this afternoon.
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00:00Maiden speech, Lee Barron. Thank you, thank you Madam Deputy Chair. Can I just start off by saying
00:08it's great to to follow the Member for Worsley and Eccles and just congratulate everybody who's
00:14done their kind of maiden speeches today because this is the first time that I've done it which I
00:18suppose is why they're called a maiden speech. I'm proud to speak here for the first time
00:27especially in this debate as well where facilities in Corby were used by athletes to train for the
00:34Olympics. Kieran Riley who lives in Corby won silver at the BMX freestyle and Adrenaline Alley
00:41was the venue that he used within the constituency, a terrific venue that many use. I'm delighted to
00:50be here as the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Corby and East Northampton.
00:55I'll start off by paying respect to my predecessor Tom Pursglove who had the honour to
01:04represent Corby and East Northampton for nine years. He became a Minister during that time and I know
01:10for a fact that he was very proud to serve his constituency. I always found him extremely
01:16constructive, extremely cordial and I know that now after Parliament he's looking at doing work
01:22with disabled people and looking at getting disabled people better access to work and I'm
01:27hoping that I'll be able to work with him because I'm now chairing an all-party parliamentary group
01:32on modernising employment and one of the areas we're going to look at is how disabled people
01:37can access work so I hope our paths will cross again. I also want to say to another predecessor
01:44of mine Andy Salford, the last Labour Member of Parliament for Corby and East Northampton. He
01:49continues to be a good friend to our constituency, somebody that I seek wise counsel from and I'm
01:57fortunate enough to say that I get that rather cheaply because he runs a political consultancy
02:03so if you ever ask him his opinion it's going to cost you a lot of money but whenever I do I get
02:09it for free so thanks Andy for being there for us as we move on. Corby and East Northamptonshire
02:18is a large constituency which I've had many many years dealing with. I represented Corby's postal
02:25workers for over a decade and I can tell you now a finer group of workers you'll never be able to
02:31meet. My daughter Hannah was married at the wonderful venue at the Stannock Hotel and my
02:37father was for a time a boot and shoe worker in the town of Rawnes. Indeed Rawnes has its place
02:44in history for fighting for fair wages and good pay. Next year marks the 120th anniversary of the
02:52Rawnes strike of 1905 which saw workers who made boots for the army march to parliament to demand
03:01better pay. The War Office agreed and set a minimum rate for their job. The case for fair wages and
03:08good pay is as relevant today as it was then. Work should be the route out of poverty
03:15not a lifetime trapped in it yet 40 percent of children living in Corby and East Northamptonshire
03:21who live in poverty have at least one parent who are working. We need to reshape the world of work
03:27so that it pays and our economy is better shaped so it is always better to have the dignity of a
03:33job than not a job at all and in work poverty should be eradicated and chucked into the dustbin
03:41of history. Today we celebrate the new deal for working people being laid before this house
03:48that I believe will have the foundations to ensure that there is a better future for working
03:54people and I want to be around to make sure that we can do that. Other parts that make up my
03:59constituency include the market town of Thrapston which boasts its own livestock market and I
04:06recently was delighted to join Thrapston's Mayor Andy McGovern at his recent service to celebrate
04:12his term of office. East Northamptonshire is also home to the town of Owndall where I work with
04:19Owndall school and Prince William school two out of three of an open partnership of education.
04:27Independent and state schools coming together to share their facilities and their best practices
04:32and I'm delighted to be able to support that and to facilitate it. Corby is a town that is built
04:38on steel. Back in the day many travelled down from Scotland as steel workers and the steel works were
04:44built and residents are rightly proud of their heritage which they celebrate each year with a
04:50weekend of Highland games and many Burns suppers. It has a proud history and a spirit which has seen
04:57them rise against any adversity that they've faced. That's why after fighting against the
05:03steelworks closure in the 1980s which saw over 10,000 people thrown on the dole they rebuilt
05:11their town, they rebuilt their communities and they wouldn't be beaten. That spirit was captured
05:18during my time on the campaign trail. I knocked at the door of a lady she came to the door and
05:25she said and I said I'm standing to be your member of parliament at the next election.
05:30She said that's amazing she said my mum would really love to meet you could you come back in
05:33half an hour because we've got we've got guests at the minute. I said yes so I went back it turned
05:39out her mum had just stopped taking treatment for stage 4 cancer and wanted to live her days
05:46and she said to me she said I want you to do two things first of all she said always speak up for
05:52Corby we're good people she said we're proud people she said and the second thing I want you to do
05:57is get the number 50 bus back. I said okay what's the number 50 bus well the number 50 bus
06:04was the direct bus that went from Corby to Kettering General Hospital and she said when my
06:09husband was in hospital she said that was my lifeline to get to see him she goes and I want it
06:15I want it back. Anyway I'm going to pop round to see her daughter because on the 2nd of November
06:21the number 50 bus is back. It'll take people directly from Corby to Kettering General.
06:28The only thing that they can't do is give us the number 50 back it's now called the number two
06:34because the number 50 goes to Peterborough and apparently it cost
06:38it would cost money to get the number back but I think the principle
06:42I think the principle has now been been established. I've spent my adult life representing
06:48working people from the start when I took on an apprenticeship in the Royal Mail
06:52and I joined my union the Communication Workers Union. A lot of people talk about their schooling
06:58their university their training well the CWU was my schooling was my university was my training
07:05and without a shadow of a doubt I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for them and the journey here
07:10has been somewhat interesting to say the least. It started in the back of a taxi with me and
07:16Frances O'Grady talking about the importance of working class people entering our politics
07:22because we was on our way to the funeral of Jack Dromey a dear friend to this place to this party
07:28and to our movement and I want to place on record my thanks to the TUC for what they did
07:33for me in supporting me during my time as the candidate. So it went from the back of a taxi
07:40with Frances to driving around Corbyn and Vauxhall with Eamon Norton and Mark Pengelly
07:45trying to knock on the doors of about 600 Labour Party members to convince them that I was the
07:50candidate they should all vote for. I mean anyway we we did the best we could. I became the candidate
07:57and now I represent that constituency. I know it's not going to be easy to do that. I'm determined
08:05to make a difference. There are issues that I want to get involved with and want to see
08:12changes to. A difference that I want to see in the world of work by making sure
08:17that work really does pay and is a route out of poverty. I want to make a difference to give a
08:23voice for so many families with children with special educational needs who are being denied
08:29the basic right to education and every child has the right to education and special educational
08:35means should not mean that you're denied that fundamental right. I also want to talk as well
08:41about dignity in dying which we're going to discuss but there's another aspect to it. It's
08:48legal in this country to sack a worker when they've got a terminal diagnosis on the grounds
08:54of capability. That is fundamentally wrong. We need to close that loophole and we need to make sure
09:00that the last thing people worry about when they've got a diagnosis like that is the future
09:06of their job. We shouldn't be treating people like that and we need to make the changes
09:10accordingly. The last thing I'd like to do is to thank my family for their support. I'm a proud
09:16father, grandfather, son and brother to a family that's always been strong in values, principles
09:23and I thank them all. My mum couldn't be part of this journey here with me because she died
09:29several years ago but I want to say her name Patricia Eileen Lillian Barron because now I've
09:36said her name they'll write it down, it'll be in Amsterdam, no one can erase it and a bit of her
09:41is going to live forever and I'm proud to be able to do that. We've much to do to make the change we
09:47need to give people back a future they can once again look forward to and I for one will do all
09:52I can to make it happen. Our unity is our strength, our solidarity, that is how we'll
09:58get there and I intend to make the most of the time I have in this place.