Bailey also spoke at length about his RAF service and lived experience of knife crime in his maiden speech to parliament on Wednesday, reports Marco Marcelline
Calvin Bailey, the newly-elected MP for Leyton and Wanstead, said populism represented the “greatest threat to democracy” in his maiden speech to parliament on Wednesday (24th July).
His ten-minute speech also saw him talk at length about his Royal Air Force (RAF) service and experience of carrying a knife in the wake of the 1994 murder of Stephen Lawrence.
The former RAF commander began his speech by joking that “for once” his sense of timing had been “impeccable” by sequencing their maiden speech in a parliamentary debate about military aircraft.
Bailey then paid tribute to his predecessor John Cryer, who served Leyton and Wanstead from 2010 to June 2024. Calling him a “fine parliamentarian and socialist” he congratulated Cryer’s “incredible commitment” to Labour as its parliamentary chair for nine years. He said: “While he now moves on to the [House of Lords], I am certain that his children, and his family’s legacy, will follow in his footsteps in years to come.”
In his speech, Bailey said he would make the rebuilding of Whipps Cross Hospital central to his tenure as a MP, calling its current state “emblematic of 14 years of failed Tory commitments and lack of investment.”
He also said the creation of job opportunities for young people in his constituency would be “central” to his service in Westminster.
Bailey also paid tribute to community groups in Leytonstone who “seek to heal” the “financially deprived” constituency. He said: “Community leadership from Cann Hall mosque ensures the provision to all local people of a much-needed food bank and a youth group. Similarly, at St Margaret with St Columba, others gather to preserve a sense of community despite their obvious hardships.”
Bailey, who hails from a mixed Zambian – British background, said that the low number of Black men in politics needed to be addressed so that young Black people can see themselves in power.
He also spoke of carrying a knife when he was growing up in South London, saying that Westminster “need[s]” people like him to “translate those experiences into policy”.
His choice to carry a knife was borne from being “scared” following the murder of his friend’s brother Stephen Lawrence, he said, adding: “Mistakenly, I assumed that I could look after myself similarly, but sadly, we know that is not the case, and that those who carry knives are more likely to be killed themselves.”
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Bailey added that his anger and upset at Lawrence’s death “was channelled by populists who manipulated” the 18-year-old’s murder “for their own political ends”.
He continued: “Those voices are present in our House and vocal in our politics, and we must challenge them openly to prevent those actors from fostering anger, hate and division within our communities. I fear it is our greatest threat to democracy, and we must be fundamental in our moderation. We must challenge those behaviours without fear, openly, separating them from the underlying issues.”
Following his speech, Bailey received complimentary comments from parliamentary colleagues from all sides of the house including the Liberal Democrat MP for Honiton and Sidmouth Richard Foord, who said: “[Bailey] made a tremendous speech, and the whole house will have heard him talk about the importance of a new hospital to his constituency, and about the scourge of knife crime, and his own personal reflections on why young people carry knives.
“We will all reflect on his thoughts and comments as he makes them in the months and years to come.”
The Conservative MP for Rayleigh and Wickford Mark Francois was also moved to compliment him, saying: “May I also thank Mr Bailey for a fine, fluent and – if I may say so – at times poignant maiden speech? He spoke well on behalf of his constituents.”
On Tuesday (23rd July), Bailey joined the vast majority of his Labour colleagues in voting against the scrapping of the two-child benefit cap.
The SNP motion, which was an amendment to the King’s Speech, sunk by 363 votes against to 103 for.
The two-child benefits cap was introduced by the Conservatives in 2017. It limits state benefits – Universal Credit and child tax credits – to two children per family.
Amid local criticism, Bailey defended his voting choice saying: “Nothing [since the election] had materially changed that warrants a change of position” from what was in the manifesto.
While admitting that the manifesto “does not go as far” as the party would like, Calvin told the Echo that voting for the SNP motion would have constituted going against the manifesto he stood on.
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