Andrew Mitchell MP: speeches 2026

Speeches

• 9 Feb 2026 · Jimmy Lai: Prison Sentence · Hansard source

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  Now is the time not to lambast the Chinese Government for the wider issues between us, but to focus 100% on securing clemency for Jimmy Lai. Surely the granting of clemency and a one-way ticket back to the UK and to his family would be a win for everyone, including the Chinese.

• 2 Feb 2026 · China and Japan · Hansard source

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  In spite of the somewhat thin economic gruel with which the Prime Minister has returned, he was absolutely right to visit China. If I may return to the issue of human rights, particularly Jimmy Lai, did the Prime Minister say, as the whole House would have wished, that this British citizen—nearly 80 years old, held in solitary confinement and denied the chance to practice his religion—should surely receive clemency and be returned to the United Kingdom? Or did the Prime Minister merely deliver a written note?

• 26 Jan 2026 · Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill · Hansard source

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  The Minister, who is normally a reasonable fellow, always makes the point that the last Conservative Government started the negotiations. Does he now understand that, first, we were unable to conclude them and that, secondly, we would never have agreed or concluded the very one-sided deal that he and his colleagues have so naively and mistakenly agreed?

• 26 Jan 2026 · Police Reform White Paper · Hansard source

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  It must be right to look at this White Paper with an open mind, and I commend the Home Secretary’s willingness to listen. I will make two points for her to consider. First, in Royal Sutton Coldfield we are most concerned that neighbourhood policing—community policing—should be accountable, dependable, reliable and accessible. We know that all policing is, above all, local. Secondly, will she bear in mind that strong leadership is the key to policing? We need to find ways of bringing in fresh blood at senior levels. Will she make it easier for that to happen? In particular, there should be a way of encouraging senior officers in the armed forces to look at transferring to senior positions within the police.

• 20 Jan 2026 · Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill · Hansard source

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  Following the excellent point made by my hon. Friend the Member for North Dorset (Simon Hoare), does the Minister realise that the President of the United States, following his perspicacious comments last night, has had a chance to examine the deal in full? Does he therefore understand why the last Conservative Government, of which I was a part—indeed, doing the job the Minister is doing now—would never ever have got this deal?

• 20 Jan 2026 · Official Development Assistance · Hansard source

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  As the Minister will know, part of the official development assistance budget goes to investment in businesses creating employment in the poorest parts of the world, such as British International Investment, which is now undoubtedly the best development finance institution in the world. Will the Minister continue to ensure that BII receives injections of capital so that it can go on doing that brilliant work and earning a decent return for the British taxpayer?

• 14 Jan 2026 · West Midlands Police · Hansard source

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  I thank the Home Secretary—who, like me, is a local west midlands Member of Parliament—for her well-judged statement, but is not one of the villains of this piece the police and crime commissioner himself? When we, in government, set up the PCCs in 2010, the aim was that they should represent our constituents to the police. Sadly, the reality has been the reverse, and nowhere more so than in the west midlands, which is why I strongly support the Government’s decision to abolish the PCCs. Can we please ensure that this is not yet another policy announcement upon which the Government will U-turn?

• 13 Jan 2026 · Iran · Hansard source

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  I thank the Foreign Secretary for her statement to the House. She is surely right that there are things that we can do to help the desperately brave people on the streets who want their country back. Should we not make it clear that the UK and all Europeans will impose every possible further sanction and restriction on this neanderthal pariah regime? Should we not help to break the communications blackout through Starlink, satellite and other technology, and ensure that details of the regime-led barbarity on the streets is widely known? Finally, as her colleague, the hon. Member for Liverpool Walton (Dan Carden), said a moment ago, we should stop ignoring Reza Pahlavi. His is a name that is being chanted on the street. He is not seeking a restoration of the Peacock throne; he wants to help to usher in a new era. Will she and her colleagues at least meet with him?

• 5 Jan 2026 · Northern Ireland Troubles Bill: Armed Forces Recruitment and Retention · Hansard source

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  Have there not already been numerous investigations and inquiries, and while old wounds are being reopened, is it not the case that little new evidence is emerging? The Minister, who is my parliamentary neighbour, is a most distinguished soldier. Surely he must be concerned that the circumstantial evidence about the impact on the health and wellbeing of veterans is clearly impacting morale, retention and recruitment elsewhere.

• 5 Jan 2026 · Venezuela · Hansard source

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  Of course quite a lot depends on what now happens, but Mr Maduro stole the elections in Venezuela in plain sight, is a narco-terrorist and has destroyed the lives of tens of thousands of American citizens and of those more widely and made huge amounts of money out of it. Is not the world a better place with him before the courts in New York, and in this case do not the ends justify the means?