Speeches by Cox.

“I welcome today’s debate on road safety, which is a subject of deep concern in Colchester and across Essex. In our county, we have seen a year-on-year increase in deaths on our roads, rising to 58 in 2025—too many of those have been young lives. In Colchester, we are marking a terrible anniversary at present: the momen…”

“Like many colleagues, I believe we need a migration system that is robust and fair. It must be robust because, like any sovereign state, the UK needs to be able to exert control over its borders. However, it also needs to be fair, because we are a state that defends and cherishes a rights-based order. I wanted to speak…”

“You were talking about stitching mail bags. We visited Buckley Hall, where they were not stitching mail bags, but there was a very high-tech textiles workshop where they were stitching other products. What is your experience of a large employer—and that was a large local employer using the prison workforce there—being …”

“For all offences?”

“Is there a list anywhere of large employers that work both in prison and on the outside? I know Timpson does, but is there a list?”

“Good afternoon. I am the MP for Colchester. My interests are as declared on the register and I am the Chair of the APPG for penal affairs.”

“Sure. We are in a situation where we need to maintain criminal records, but that need not have a cumulative disadvantaging effect on people over time. That is where I guess we want to get to. What two or three headline reforms do you want to see?”

“Good afternoon. I am the MP for Colchester. My interests are as declared on the register and I am the Chair of the APPG for penal affairs.”

“This is more of an observation. Thank you so much for your testimonies. It seems that one challenge for this sector is that the criminal justice sector focuses on criminal justice clients. From a local MP’s perspective, I am thinking about the employer networks I am already trying to build up for apprentices, for veter…”

“Is there a list anywhere of large employers that work both in prison and on the outside? I know Timpson does, but is there a list?”

“I completely agree.”

“You were talking about stitching mail bags. We visited Buckley Hall, where they were not stitching mail bags, but there was a very high-tech textiles workshop where they were stitching other products. What is your experience of a large employer—and that was a large local employer using the prison workforce there—being …”

“I was struck by something you said, Paula, that all these agencies like the police and other agencies come to Unlock for guidance. Why do they not go to the Disclosure and Barring Service, which is a Government agency?”

“What advice does it give?”

“Chair, I would quite like the Committee to write to the service to find out what its role is relative to what we are hearing here.”

“That would be interesting to know, given the scale of the challenge. If one in four people have a criminal record, as we are told in the brief and by you, some people must function with a criminal record. How does that happen? Where are the stories where people have been able to negotiate? It is important for us to be …”

“Chair, I would quite like the Committee to write to the service to find out what its role is relative to what we are hearing here.”

“That would be interesting to know, given the scale of the challenge. If one in four people have a criminal record, as we are told in the brief and by you, some people must function with a criminal record. How does that happen? Where are the stories where people have been able to negotiate? It is important for us to be …”

“What advice does it give?”

“Sure. We are in a situation where we need to maintain criminal records, but that need not have a cumulative disadvantaging effect on people over time. That is where I guess we want to get to. What two or three headline reforms do you want to see?”