March 2026

Parliamentary appearance by Jo Stevens

I will make a bit of progress, but I can assure the right hon. Gentleman that I will give way later. As you know, Madam Deputy Speaker, I am a pedant for procedure in this House, but I have forgotten something: I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Rotherham (Sarah Champion), and my right hon. Friend the Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry), for securing the debate. I am sorry that I did not thank them at the beginning of my remarks, but the shadow Foreign Secretary tempted

My hon. Friend is giving a powerful and important speech. Half the residents in my constituency are served by Basingstoke hospital, which was included in the now infamous promise of 40 new hospitals by 2030. Now it seems completion could be as late as 2046. The delay means another 20 years of spending taxpayers’ money on a building with leaking windows, exposed wiring, an uninsulated roof and countless other physical problems, with a bill that goes up and up every year to maintain that crumbling

As Home Secretary, I delivered the National Security Act 2023, largely because of the threat posed by China. If media reports are true, does the Minister agree that the perception of conflict of interest, compromise and bias are just as damaging as actual conflict of interest, compromise and bias? Will he reassure the House today that the Labour party will do everything and take appropriate measures to protect the probity of the investigation and maintain public confidence?

I thank the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee for his question. As I set out at the beginning of my speech, the announcements will be made shortly. I want to expand on some of the points that have been raised by the right hon. Member for Maldon, among others. We are developing a soft power strategy to try to reverse the decline on the UK’s role in soft power. There have been four meetings of the Soft Power Council since January 2025, so I reassure the right hon. Gentleman that we are still

indicated assent.

I congratulate the Chair of the Select Committee, my right hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North (Liam Byrne), on securing this important debate. I wish to align myself with the remarks he made about the need for a steel strategy to be published soon for clarity on how we will continue to support the steel industry of this country, given the difficult news coming out of the European Union and the difficult circumstances that the industry faces. As a proud metals MP