Speeches and Articles - Hilary Benn - Member of Parliament for Leeds Central

Hilary’s Article for South Leeds Life – September 2019

Motorways don’t generally run through the middle of residential areas, so doing repairs and maintenance work isn’t usually an issue when it comes to noise. But the M621 in South Leeds is completely different. It cuts right through the heart of our community and in recent weeks life has been…

Hilary’s Article for South Leeds Life – August 2019

Someone asked me the other day why MPs use the term advice surgery. Well, I replied, we do give advice but we’re not doctors. But that’s not how one person saw it. The first person who turned up at my very first advice surgery as a councillor many years ago…

Hilary’s Article for the Yorkshire Evening Post

There are moments when you can glimpse what the future will look like and I had one of those last Friday. You might not necessarily associate such a revelation with sewage, but in this case it’s true. I was visiting Knostrop in Leeds where Yorkshire Water has its biggest sewage…

Hilary’s Article for South Leeds Life – July 2019

It is hard to believe that the Beeston Festival has just celebrated its 25th year. Always a highlight of the summer, I swear it’s getting bigger every year. Once again, the weather was kind and the crowds flocked into Cross Flatts Park to enjoy the music, delicious food and the…

Hilary’s Article for South Leeds Life – June 2019

For the second time in recent years local residents and I have found ourselves dealing with a particular problem. Companies that start operating and causing disturbance in buildings when they don’t have planning permission for what they are doing. In the first case, a quiet residential block by the river…

Hilary’s Article for South Leeds Life- April 2019

A couple of weeks ago, I attended the climate emergency rally on the steps of Leeds Town Hall. There were hundreds of school students there from across our city. They had decided to come together to speak as the next generation about the huge risks of dangerous climate change. Ever…

Hilary’s Article for South Leeds Life – March 2019

First of all, some good news. Royal Mail has dropped its proposal to close the Holbeck delivery office. I was delighted, if to tell the truth a little surprised, when I heard news, but this has been a wonderful victory for local residents and Royal Mail staff. They ran such…

Hilary’s Article for South Leeds Life – February 2019

A journalist asked me the other day how my constituents are feeling about Brexit. I replied that judging by my inbox they are pretty much split down the middle. On the one hand, people say ‘I just want out’ while on the other people plead ‘Can’t you stop Brexit?’ And…

Hilary’s Article for South Leeds Life – December 2018

Between April and September this year, the Trussell Trust – the UK’s largest emergency food provider – gave 658,048 food parcels to people in crisis. If someone had suggested, say, 40 years ago that so many of our fellow citizens would need to go up to a complete stranger and…

Hilary’s Article for the Yorkshire Evening Post

Nowadays, barely an advice surgery of mine goes by without someone asking for help with their personal independence payment (PIP). PIP has replaced the old disability living allowance and as a result many people are going through new assessments. Mainly, people come about decisions to refuse them PIP or to…