The toll it takes: Looking back at the times MPs cried in the Commons amid mystery over Chancellor Rachel Reeves' tears during PMQs
Watch below for a round-up of the times MPs were overcome with emotion.
Tears roll down Chancellor Rachel Reeves ' cheek during PMQs
Tears rolled down to Chancellor Rachel Reeves' cheek during PMQs yesterday as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer refused to say she was secure in her job, as he was battered over his welfare surrender.
She is said to have admitted to Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle that she was 'under so much pressure' minutes before taking her seat in the Commons.
Disabled Labour MP's emotional reaction to Welfare Reform Bill
Disabled Labour MP Marie Tidball broke down in tears as she urged the Government to reverse proposed cuts to PIPs on 1st July, saying she was voting against it with a 'heavy and broken heart'.
She said the payments 'helped build the bridge to the deinstitutionalisation of disabled people'.
DUP MP breaks down recalling his mother-in-law's death
DUP MP Jim Shannon could not hold back his tears, recalling how his mother-in-law died alone during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The emotional moment came about as he asked if a 'full and complete disclosure' of information would be made to police, who were then investigating the 'Partygate' scandal, in January 2022.
Rosie Duffield moves MPs to tears sharing domestic abuse story
MP Rosie Duffield delivered a poignant speech on her domestic abuse ordeal, moving colleagues to tears, in October 2019.
She spoke during a debate about the Domestic Abuse Bill, revealing how she suffered verbal abuse and financial control.
Rachel Reeves bursts into tears paying tribute to MP Jo Cox
Rachel Reeves, was overcome with emotion as she paid tribute to MP Jo Cox, who died after being shot and stabbed multiple times, ahead of a constituency surgery.
Reeves burst into tears as she spoke about how the slain MP's children would not be able to see their mother again, in June 2016.
MP struggles to speak after hearing story about starving child
Heidi Allen, then Conservative MP, was visibly emotional and struggled to speak after hearing Labour's Frank Field talk about a young boy who was 'crying through hunger'.
She told MPs that she 'doesn't know where to start after that' as she stood up to respond, in March 2018.
Mark Francois' tearful tribute to Sir David Amess MP
Conservative MP Mark Francois paid a tearful tribute to his friend, Sir David Amess MP, who was murdered at a constituency surgery by a British ISIS sympathiser Ali Harbi Ali.
Francois choked up as he said Sir David was the 'best bloke he ever knew', in October 2021.
Labour's Naz Shah in tears during Gaza debate
Labour MP Naz Shah wiped at her eyes with a tissue in the Commons after telling MPs of the plight of children in Gaza and calling on the UK to 'ramp up its effort to end the bloodshed'.
The Bradford West MP, who was a shadow Home Office minister at the time, then watched on with a solemn look as the Government responded to her question, in November 2023.
MP's emotional speech about the loss of her baby
Labour MP Vicky Foxcroft delivered an emotional speech, opening up about the loss of her newborn daughter Veronica, at five days old.
Speaking during a Baby Loss Awareness Week discussion in October 2016, she said it was 'the hardest speech she has ever had to write'.
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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
We have only ourselves to blame for the UK's land monopoly
While we might fume at the eviction of a whole village by its landlord, we only have ourselves to blame for allowing such power to remain in the hands of so few (An entire village in Dorset is facing eviction – proof that private money holds all the power in rural England, 28 June). Even socialist governments have balked at dealing with the issue of land monopoly, and we have failed to hold them to account. In 1909, when landed power was largely synonymous with the aristocracy, Tom Johnston, later to become secretary of state for Scotland, noted that land titles had originally been created 'either by force or fraud'. He urged the people to 'shatter the romance that keeps the nation numb and spellbound while privilege picks its pocket'. As George Monbiot's article shows, land monopoly today is not confined to the aristocracy. The most effective way to neutralise its power would be through land value taxation, which would ensure that those who claim to own the country bear its running costs. In 1910, the Inland Revenue initiated a full survey of land use, value and ownership across Britain. It was completed in five years, but the outbreak of war and a change of government meant the proposed tax measures were never implemented. Our present Labour government has four years to repeat the exercise and reform our broken tax system. It should start DigneyStirling The eviction of the inhabitants of Littlebredy in Dorset by their new owner Bridehead Estate Ltd, excoriatingly exposed by George Monbiot, has a strong historical echo from the 1770s at Milton Abbas, less than 30 miles away. Lord Milton bought Milton Abbey, near Dorchester, in 1752. Capability Brown was brought in to 'improve' the surrounding landscape. He faced the problem of what to do about the unsightly medieval village of more than a hundred households. The solution was to move it. In 1774 Brown drew up plans for a new 'model village' of new homes. Over the next decade the villagers were decanted, some against their will, to new homes in Milton Abbas. Barely a trace of the old village exists. Lord Milton is often cited as one of the worst examples of the callous ostentation common among the English landowning Whig oligarchy of the 18th century. But at least he felt obliged to rehouse his tenants. Judging from Monbiot's piece, it seems that a corporate landowner in today's Britain is not even obliged to do that when it decides to socially engineer an inconvenient community out of house and GutchLondon Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
- The Herald Scotland
Scotland's Housing Crisis: McAllan to deliver emergency plan
In an interview with The Herald, Ms McAllan also said she is 'unashamedly' making eradicating child poverty her top priority after taking up the portfolio last month. Her comments come as, over a year ago, a national housing emergency was declared in the Scottish Parliament. READ MORE: Plan to use student flats to house homeless approved but 'is not long-term solution' 'People will die': Housing Secretary urged to end 'political choice' of homelessness John Swinney creates new role for Mairi McAllan in cabinet reshuffle There are currently over ten thousand children stuck in temporary accommodation, the highest since records began, and over 250,000 people stuck on social housing waiting lists. Announcing her intentions to deliver a plan to tackle this, Ms McAllan told The Herald: 'I'm still working with senior officials to get the lay of the land and what now can be stepped up. 'I can't tell you today exactly what my plan is, but I do intend to set out a plan as soon as I can with some enhanced and expedited action which will respond, as I see it, in an emergency fashion." Asked about when to expect this action, the cabinet secretary said: 'Parliament needs to be back because it will need to be announced in parliament then scrutinised - but that's the timeline I'm working on because we don't have a lot of time.' The cabinet secretary said the capital position in Scotland is 'very difficult' at the moment, when asked if this plan will include more investment. Ms McAllan said: 'If there was no shortage of public money, I would want to see it put into housing. There is a shortage of public money so I have to think creatively about that because we still need more.' A Scottish Government investment taskforce is currently considering how much public money could leverage private money into the housing sector. The expected post-Scottish Parliamentary recess plan comes as house building numbers in Scotland are plummeting, with nearly 4,000 fewer homes in supply in 2023-24 compared to the year before. Ms McAlllan said these figures are 'concerning' but insisted they do not present an 'unbridgeable gap'. The cabinet secretary said: 'The stats that we have had on the all ten year builds, they showed an 11% decrease in starts, and a four per cent decrease in completions and that is of course the wrong direction, particularly when we have such high demands but it is not insurmountable.' In 2021, the SNP set themselves a task to build 110,000 affordable homes by 2032. Opposition parties and the outgoing chief executive of the Scottish Federation of Housing Association have said they will fail to meet this target. The cabinet secretary, however, said she believes they can meet this target and she intends not to rollback on it. Ms McAllan said: 'These are challenging targets but I think the public expect their governments to challenge themselves. I'm absolutely not intending to roll back on any of that." Asked if the 2032 target is still credible, she said: 'I think it is. I think that it will require things to step up. It's challenging for a number of reasons, not least costs.' The cabinet secretary cited inflationary costs that have been 'bearing down' on construction since Covid as well as rising demand for housing. Housing charity Shelter Scotland recently named John Swinney's legislative agenda a 'Programme for Homelessness' as they argued it failed to provide a significant increase in plans for social home building or extra budgets or investment in housing services. The Housing Secretary accepted more action is needed but believes "real effort" from the government is currently taking place. She said: 'I think there is more that we can do but I wouldn't agree with that assessment [from Shelter Scotland] because I see real effort being made on that foundation programme of housing delivering as well as trying to look at all these labours for empty homes.' Ms McAllan said the 'core' of action to tackle house building would be the Affordable Housing Supply Programme which the government is investing £768 million this year. The housing secretary said she is told this will translate into 8,000 affordable homes. However, she admitted this is not enough to solve the crisis situation. 'Houses need to keep on being delivered but that's not enough because that will take 18 months," she said, "So I also need to understand what levers can be pulled to bring empty homes back into use to turn around social voids. 'The challenge is now so stark and there's a number of reasons for that and we just need to demonstrate that we can step up. 'We've got a Scottish election next year. I have come quite late to this brief but if I had to say what's one of things I'm focused on achieving is bringing down the number of children in temporary accommodation. I can't abide the idea that they do not have a permanent home." Earlier this week, The Herald revealed additional empty homes officers are being recruited to bring more privately owned houses back into use as part of a £2 million fund. Stalled developments is also an 'untapped area', according to Ms McAllan, and she said the government is 'brokering' those issues with developers to 'unlock tens and thousands of houses'. An area the cabinet secretary also wants to focus on is supporting people to buy their first home as thousands of people are currently priced out of the market due to bidding wars, rising costs, a lack of government support and demand outstripping supply. Ms McAllan said she is considering introducing schemes to help first time buyers but could not give details on what this would look like or when this would be introduced. 'I'm looking at all of that." the cabinet secretary said, "It's incredibly difficult and yet it means so much in terms of financial security in somebody's life so I want to help bridge that gap and I want to be fleet of foot on that as well.' Ms McAllan also said the Lands Building and Transaction Tax, described as a 'highly economically damaging tax' by the Institute of Fiscal Studies, could be an 'important tool' for first time buyers if 'carefully handled'. Anas Sarwar claimed the planning system is holding back the Scottish economy. (Image: PA) The housing secretary also said she is looking into the practice of 'flipping' - taking accommodation labelled as temporary and making it permanent. 'It's worth saying that a lot of the families in temporary accommodation just now, it's not necessarily unsuitable," she said, "A lot of it will be council or social housing but by the very nature of being temporary, it's not acceptable so that will be something that I'm really focused on. 'We've also got the Housing Bill going through just now so I'm challenging my team to say we've got the opportunity of primary legislation here. 'I don't want to get to the other side of this bill and be told we needed primary legislative power for other measures we wanted to put in place.' Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar recently claimed the planning system is holding back the Scottish economy as he pointed to development applications taking 58 weeks on average to be processed in Glasgow but only 18 weeks in Manchester. READ MORE: Responding to his comments, Ms McAllan said she understands how planning can be both an 'enabler and inhibitor of action'. 'I want it to be an enabler and my colleagues and I are doing a lot of work on planning reform and looking at support needed for local authorities to clear backlogs', Ms McAllan said, adding that she does not think it is appropriate for the Scottish Government to 'go over the head of local authorities' when it comes to planning application decisions. Working alongside her colleague and public finance minister Ivan McKee, the cabinet secretary said they are developing a plan to provide more support to local authorities to help them move through planning applications more quickly. The Scottish Government has invested £40 million this year into supporting councils to acquire homes in order to get people out of temporary accommodation. The cabinet secretary hopes this will free up 1,000 homes in Scotland this year alone. Ms McAllan said she is 'proud' of the government's record on housing. She said: 'We have consistently invested highly in affordable homes in Scotland to the point now where proportionately the availability of social homes in Scotland is 47% higher in England and 73% higher in Wales. 'But the situation that we are in just now is extremely strained."
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Family hubs to open in every council in England
Family hubs offering parenting support and youth services will be rolled out across every local authority in England, the government has announced. The £500 million plan aims to support 500,000 more children in the most disadvantaged areas. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said the "Best Start" family hubs would "give a lifeline" to Conservatives said there was "little clarity on what's genuinely new and what simply rebrands existing services". The idea of a family hub dates back to the early 2000s when New Labour introduced "Sure Start" centres - focused on supporting young families with early education, childcare and health advice. Many closed after 2010 when funding was cut by the Tories. But last year the Conservative government under Rishi Sunak rolled out 400 new "family hubs" offering a wider range of services across 75 local authorities. Now Labour say the hubs will be in every local authority by April 2026, before expanding them to up to 1,000 by the end of 2028. They will offer services ranging from birth registration and midwifery support to debt advice and youth clubs. Officials hope the spaces will also provide families access to other services and social Phillipson said: "It's the driving mission of this government to break the link between a child's background and what they go on to achieve - our new 'Best Start' family hubs will put the first building blocks of better life chances in place for more children."Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott said the lack of clarity about what was actually new was "part of a wider pattern"."This is a government defined by broken promises and endless U-turns," she Save The Children has said it is "pleased" to see the government "making it easier for families to get the help they need".Dan Paskins, executive director of policy, advocacy and campaigns at Save The Children UK, said: "We know from our work in local communities that bringing together parenting, healthcare and education support services in one place is an approach which works, so we are pleased to see the UK government making it easier for families to get the help they need."
