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.