Bridget Phillipson MP: speeches

Speeches

• 24 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  South Wales police has paused its plans. It is right that it has done so. There are no blasphemy laws in this country, but it is right that we take action against hatred, prejudice and racism wherever we find it. We have seen shocking examples of Muslims in our country being targeted on the basis of their faith and because of who they are. We need look no further than the shadow Justice Secretary, the hon. Member for West Suffolk (Nick Timothy), who engaged in appalling racism towards Muslims in our country and, rather shamefully, was not sacked by the Leader of the Opposition for those comments.

• 22 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I have just described the action that we are taking. This is extremely serious, and it was an urgent priority for the incoming Government to update legislation to ensure that we do everything in our power to keep children safe. I have described the action that will follow, and I am glad that justice has been served. We cannot bring Preston back, but we can ensure that we do everything within our power to stop this happening to other children in future.

• 29 Apr 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  No one should face pressure or undue influence around their voting behaviour; let me be absolutely clear on that point. But let me also be clear to the House that I am fed up to the back teeth of Opposition politicians coming here time and again to sow division across our country. I am proud of the tolerant, compassionate and respectful nation that we are, and the shadow Justice Secretary should have been sacked for his shocking and shameful racist comments against Muslims in our country.

• 29 Apr 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I completely agree that we must ensure that women and trans people feel safe and are protected from harassment. We will treat everyone with the dignity and respect they deserve, because those are our values, and that is made clear in the Equality Act 2010. We have also been clear that we expect duty bearers to follow the Supreme Court ruling, and to seek legal advice where necessary. I recently received an updated code of practice from the EHRC. I am grateful to it for its work. My intention is to lay the draft code before Parliament in May, as soon as possible after the election period.

• 2 Mar 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I thank everyone for their support on the publication of the “Every Child Achieving and Thriving” White Paper and the special educational needs and disabilities reform consultation. From the reception that it has received, it is clear that we are on the right track to reform the system. I look forward to working with Members across the House, education and health staff, parents and children to build a future in which every child can achieve and thrive. Last week, I was shocked by posts on TikTok encouraging violence by schoolchildren. TikTok must take urgent steps to address that and support firm action being taken by schools, local authorities and police to respond. From September, children will learn about staying safe from violence in the new curriculum.

• 10 Dec 2025 · “Break Down Barriers to Opportunity” Mission · Hansard source

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  The hon. Lady raises an important issue, and we are doing lots of work across Government to make sure we have better outcomes for care-experienced young people, who are sadly more likely than other young people to experience mental health difficulties or even end up in prison. I lead that work together with the Deputy Prime Minister to make sure that the voices of care leavers are heard. It is why, for example, with the introduction of new targeted maintenance grants and the wider reforms that we are bringing to the higher education system, we are working right across Government to make sure that all Departments are pulling together.

• 10 Dec 2025 · Transgender People: Safe Spaces · Hansard source

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  I have said many times in this House, I welcome the clarity of the Supreme Court ruling, and providers should follow it. The EHRC has given me a draft code of practice. We are working through it—it is a lengthy document—and we will take this further as soon as we can.

• 4 Dec 2025 · Camden Nursery Sexual Abuse Case · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to the right hon. Lady for her response. I know she shares my commitment and determination to make sure that our early years settings are safe for our children, as parents and children rightly expect them to be. She has raised important areas related to policy. I will answer her points as best I can; she will appreciate that there may be limitations on precisely what I can say, but she raises important questions that will need to be considered through the work of the local review. The right hon. Lady has rightly asked about the time it took for images to be looked at. That question will be considered in the local review, and I will of course discuss the point about children with colleagues at the Home Office. She also asked about the use of CCTV and devices—again, she is right to do so. To be clear, we believe that it may not have been the case that CCTV was in operation at the nursery—that came to light subsequently—but we will make sure that the review considers that important question. On the wider point about the use of CCTV and devices in early years settings, some of these settings already use CCTV, as she noted. Sadly, we know that it can never entirely prevent the prospect of abuse, and there may well be differing views among parents, carers and those in the sector about CCTV use in those settings. However, I appreciate that the issue has been raised as a concern in a number of ways, so I intend to appoint an expert advisory group to develop guidance for the sector on the safe and effective use of CCTV and digital devices. This guidance will set out best practice, technical information and clear expectations, and I will provide updates as that work progresses. The right hon. Lady asked other questions; they are the right questions, and the local review will consider them further. She will understand that I cannot expand on many of the facts, but I appreciate the care and sensitivity that she has shown in her approach to this issue. I know that today, the focus of everyone in this House will be on the families—those who are suffering because of these despicable acts. We across this House stand with them as they get the support they need and the justice they deserve, and we as a Government will continue to take whatever steps are necessary to keep children safe, root out abuse wherever it hides, and rid our society of this evil.

• 4 Dec 2025 · Camden Nursery Sexual Abuse Case · Hansard source

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  With permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will now make a statement regarding the sickening case of child sexual abuse at a nursery in Camden. Before I go further, I want to remind the House that a live police investigation is still under way and that the perpetrator is awaiting sentencing. All Members and people across our country will wish to join me in expressing our horror at hearing of these appalling crimes. A 45-year-old British man, Vincent Chan, has pleaded guilty to 26 offences, which include multiple counts of sexual assault on a child by penetration, assault of a child by touching, and taking and making indecent photographs of a child, including category A images depicting the most serious abuse. He was employed by a nursery setting in Camden between June 2017 and May 2024. On 8 September 2025, he was arrested after evidence was uncovered on devices seized in a previous police investigation and was charged with the 26 offences in question on 9 September. Yesterday, Vincent Chan entered a plea of guilty, and sentencing will take place on 23 January. In the meantime, the Metropolitan police have met families of all the children they have identified as victims of contact offences. In addition, the Met has written to the other families whose children attended the setting in question while the individual worked there to reassure them that where there is evidence of offences, the affected families have been contacted. Local children’s social care services are providing emotional and practical support to families and signposting them to specialist support services. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has been commissioned to set up a bespoke helpline as the first point of contact for anyone affected by these horrific acts. Details of the helpline can be found in communications from Camden council and the Metropolitan police. Specialist support is available for victims from the NSPCC helpline. People affected can be supported directly or referred to the right source of support to meet their needs, and the Government have provided funding to ensure there is sufficient capacity to support families. Following a notification of a serious incident, the police, the integrated care board and the local authority completed a rapid review to establish the facts. That meant setting out a clear timeline of the events leading up to the incidents, the incidents themselves, the roles played by different agencies, and the safety of children at the nursery at each stage. Those initial findings are now being worked through quickly, but I can confirm to the House that the rapid review has concluded that a full local child safeguarding practice review is warranted. That wider review is being set up immediately. I am clear that it must shine the strongest possible light on these horrifying incidents, and that we must learn every lesson we can to make sure that crimes like this are guarded against at every step and every stage. It is critical that local safeguarding partners can continue their investigations, but I will work closely with them, with the child safeguarding practice review panel and its chair Sir David Holmes, and with Home Office colleagues to make absolutely sure that we have the most robust safeguards possible in place. We must do everything in our power to protect children. I take my responsibilities as Secretary of State for not simply Education, but children, with the utmost seriousness. However, preventing cases like these requires everyone to believe in, and act on, the fundamental principle that safeguarding is everyone’s business. It is the duty of all of us right across our society to report abuse if we see it, and if we see or hear something that feels wrong, to question and challenge it. All of us owe it to our children to do the right thing. Keeping children safe is one of the most important duties of any society, and I thank our early years staff and wider children’s services workforce—those who work so hard, day in and day out, to give the children of this country the best start in life. I know that all committed early years and children’s services professionals will be just as horrified as we all are to hear about what has taken place, and just as distressed to think that something like this could happen in a place that should have been dedicated to keeping children safe and helping them thrive. The defendant has now pleaded guilty to these sickening crimes and will be sentenced, but my thoughts this afternoon are not on him; they are with all the child victims of these vile and abhorrent crimes and their families, who are now trying to recover from the suffering and pain he has caused. My promise to them through these darkest of days, and my promise to Members in the Chamber today and to families across the country, is that not only will justice be served, but we will strengthen the ways in which we keep children safe. We will root out abuse wherever it hides, and we will never stop working to rid our society of this evil. I commend this statement to the House.

• 4 Dec 2025 · Camden Nursery Sexual Abuse Case · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Gentleman raises a number of important points, and he is right to thank the police for their thorough work in what has been an extremely complex and harrowing investigation. I pay tribute to all those who have been involved to this point in supporting the victims and families, and to those who will be involved in taking forward further work in this area. The right hon. Gentleman is also right to draw attention to the scale of child sexual abuse that we still sadly see in our country. Before I came to this House, I worked with many of those who had been affected by child sexual abuse, and I understand the lifelong impact it can have on many people. I understand also that for a very long time, we have not been serious enough as a society about encouraging those who have experienced appalling abuse, including in childhood, to seek the support and advice that they will need, often for many years into the future. A key issue that we have often faced in that regard has been the fact that children, when they have come forward to report abuse, have not always been believed by those in positions of authority, and that has to change. The culture shift that is required is as important as any legislative measures that we need to take, so that children are believed when they report abuse. We need action to follow so that those in positions of authority face consequences for their actions and their failure to take forward allegations by children and others. The right hon. Gentleman also refers to the appalling scale of what we see online. We will continue to work with Home Office colleagues on this issue, and I will look carefully at what he said about the development of the child protection authority. We will set out more details to the House in due course and update Members in this area, alongside a consultation that will allow views about the best way forward to be aired.

• 5 Nov 2025 · Curriculum and Assessment Review · Hansard source

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  The hon. Lady asks many constructive questions. It is important that all young people have the chance to study triple science, and we will work with the sector on the implementation of that. We are seeing big increases in the numbers of teachers in initial teacher training, including in physics, but there is more to do; we will work on this carefully with the sector. I do not think we can continue to defend a position where young people from disadvantaged backgrounds do not always have the chance to study triple science; we know that if they have that opportunity, they are more likely to be able to go on to study A-level science subjects, so there is an important social justice consideration that we have to take into account. Teacher numbers are up and continue to go up, and teacher retention numbers this year are also moving in the right direction. All children and young people should have equal access to development opportunities to help them to succeed, which is why we are setting out a core enrichment offer that every school and college should aim to provide. The offer will be part of our enrichment framework, which we will develop with a group of experts across education, youth, sports and arts sectors to set out benchmarks for schools and colleges to build that offer. I know that many schools already do this very well, and we want to build on the best success out there. We will also support the wider provision through dormant assets, our music hubs, PE and school sport partnerships and much more besides. This is a real opportunity to deliver a step change in ensuring that all children get a firm foundation in the basics and a wide and broad education. I encourage the hon. Lady to look at the document that we have set out explaining the recommended Progress 8 changes, which we will go on to consult on.

• 5 Nov 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  If I may, Mr Speaker, I would just like to say how moved I was by the interview that the right hon. Lady gave to The Times about her experience and that of her son. I am really pleased that both of them are doing so well and that she is back with us in this House today. We are committed to protecting single-sex spaces. As I set out in this House, I welcome the clarity of the Supreme Court ruling and providers should follow it. The EHRC has given me the code of practice and we are working through that. It is a lengthy document covering all the protected characteristics. Any suggestion of delay is simply wrong. The EHRC should know that I am legally required to consult the devolved Governments. The EHRC has not been asked to carry out a full regulatory impact assessment, but instead a minimum assessment.

• 3 Sept 2025 · Support for Trans People · Hansard source

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  I recognise the importance of gender recognition certificates. Let me be absolutely clear to this House, as I have been on many occasions: no one, including trans people, should suffer indignity or a lack of respect. They must of course have access to safe provisions and appropriate services. However, the Supreme Court ruling was clear that biological sex is the means by which single-sex provision will be delivered.

• 3 Sept 2025 · Support for Trans People · Hansard source

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  Trans people deserve dignity and respect. The Government are upholding the legal protections that Labour’s Equality Act 2010 put in place, ensuring that trans people can live free from discrimination and harassment. Work is already under way to fulfil our manifesto commitments, including the delivery of a full trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices, the equalisation of all strands of hate crime, and a review of health services to ensure that trans people receive appropriate and high-quality care.

• 3 Sept 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The hon. Lady will know well that I cannot comment on live police investigations, as the police operate independently of Government, but the Home Secretary has been clear that her priority and the priority of this Government is that the police focus on tackling antisocial behaviour and making sure that people can walk our streets free from fear.