Freddie van Mierlo MP: speeches 2026

Speeches

• 1 Jun 2026 · Health Bill · Hansard source

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  All too often in my role as a local MP, I have been frustrated by the buck-passing in the NHS. My local ICB cuts a service, pleading no money, or refuses to fund a new one. It tells me to ask the Government, the Government tell me it is a local decision for the ICB, and the cycle goes on. With this Bill, I welcome the accountability conferred on the Secretary of State, but I am slightly gobsmacked that he has agreed to it. Every Back Bencher should be rubbing their hands with glee. This legislation makes the Secretary of State personally responsible for commissioning arrangements in all ICBs. I look forward to sending him a letter on the day the Bill receives Royal Assent listing every change I want him to make. My ICB has one of the worst offers on IVF, it has been far too slow to adapt to new dynamics in ADHD and autism, it has left commissioning gaps in palliative care and closed down step-down beds, and now it wants to close down child and adolescent mental health services. I make this prediction: the office of the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care will balloon under this legislation, because every Back Bencher will appeal to him to make sure that they get their local commissioning arrangements sorted. This reform is, of course, fully in line with the UK’s overly centralised Whitehall system, but it is not in line with the Government’s supposed devolution agenda. Mayors could be the answer, but the Government have been too timid about the role of mayors, who merely sit as members of the ICB. What of areas that have been slow to get mayors? Although the Bill addresses ICBs, there is no reform of the sclerotically slow-to-act Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation or UK National Screening Committee; they have been painfully slow to act on spinal muscular atrophy screening. Although I welcome the single patient record, I would like to raise a serious concern. In my constituency, I was recently made aware of a case of a patient’s record being accessed multiple times, unrelated to their care. In fact, they were not receiving care at the hospital at the time; instead, they were campaigning on maternity care. Clinicians had no business looking at the record. Although a single patient record of this scope is welcome, it opens up the abuse of data privacy on steroids. What steps will be taken to protect data and confidentiality? Finally, I want to discuss how the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommendations are implemented. Trusts have 90 days to implement NICE technology appraisals, yet this Bill confers on the Secretary of State the right to change that. How will that be handled? It should definitely be considered further in Committee.

• 1 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  RAF Benson primary school in my constituency is struggling with a temporary reduction in its rolls as a result of the scrapping of the Puma fleet. Will the Secretary of State meet me to discuss how the school can continue to thrive into the future as we anticipate the new medium helicopter coming online?

• 19 May 2026 · High Speed 2 Reset · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for delivering this really important update in the House, rather than at party conference as the previous Tory Prime Minister did. What has really struck me about this statement is that the cost of HS2 is now measured in the hundreds of billions, but what we are spending on active travel is measured in the hundreds of millions. I think the Government previously committed only £600 million until 2030 on active travel. Projects such as the Thame to Haddenham greenway would deliver an enormous benefit to my constituents. Will she reflect on the differential between how much is being spent on active travel and this project?

• 28 Apr 2026 · Park Home Owners · Hansard source

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  Speaking of idyllic rural areas, there is none more so than my constituency of Henley and Thame. The average house price is more than half a million pounds, so park homes offer an affordable alternative, yet the 10% charge when people come to sell the homes makes it really difficult. Does the hon. Member agree that it is a good thing that the Government have launched a review, but that more detail is required on the timeline?

• 22 Apr 2026 · Mountain Rescue · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend will know that down in leafy Oxfordshire, we have far fewer mountains in our proximity than she does, but we do have rolling countryside and hazardous waterways. Lowland rescue plays a really important role as the counterpart to mountain rescue. It is also a charitable, volunteer-led organisation. Will she join me in praising its work to find vulnerable people and make sure they come home safely?

• 22 Apr 2026 · Mountain Rescue · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Gentleman for outlining those additional benefits, which would definitely be useful for mountain rescue teams. Does he agree they should also be extended to lowland rescue?

• 14 Apr 2026 · Eating Disorders · Hansard source

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  Young girls are particularly vulnerable to eating disorders, which are a parent’s worst nightmare. We are seeing social media companies push content on to young girls that encourages eating disorders. What is the Minister doing with Cabinet colleagues to take on this problem?

• 25 Mar 2026 · Foreign Financial Influence and Interference: UK Politics · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Secretary of State’s reference to the rights of British overseas electors and the cap on donations as a proportionate response, yet their right to cast their vote is constantly stymied by late arrivals of the post. While the Secretary of State is considering amendments to the Representation of the People Bill, will he meet me to consider my amendments that would address that issue and seek to secure the voting rights of overseas citizens?

• 25 Mar 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Thames Water is lurching from crisis to crisis. Last year, it was let off record fines for pumping sewage into rivers by Ofwat. Ofwat is allowed to do that, under rules laid out in the Water Industry Act 1991. Will the Prime Minister consider scrapping those rules, to stop Ofwat letting water companies off the hook?

• 10 Mar 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T10. The £100,000 tax trap means that some residents, if they have a student loan, are paying 71% marginal rates. That is one of the reasons why salary sacrifice is so popular—but those people want to use that money in the economy now. What is the Chancellor doing to address the tax trap at £100,000?

• 10 Mar 2026 · Youth Unemployment: Autumn Budget 2025 · Hansard source

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  I first entered the job market in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, and it was a difficult time for young people, yet today they face even more difficult and uncertain times. The Chancellor’s jobs tax is bearing down on opportunities, and AI is making this worse by potentially pulling up the ladder on graduate jobs that previously included things such as note taking and supporting senior employees in meetings. Will the Chancellor correct course on the unemployment of young people and do more to support their career progress?

• 10 Mar 2026 · Youth Unemployment: Autumn Budget 2025 · Hansard source

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  11. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the autumn Budget 2025 on levels of youth unemployment.

• 9 Mar 2026 · Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill · Hansard source

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  The Government already had an opportunity to raise the age of digital consent from 13 to 16 with the amendments put forward to the Data (Use and Access) Bill by the Liberal Democrats, but they are dithering yet again while children could have been benefiting from that change. Why does the hon. Member think the Government are continuing to dither on this issue?

• 9 Mar 2026 · Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Lady give way?

• 24 Feb 2026 · Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill (Seventh sitting) · Hansard source

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  I beg to ask leave to withdraw the clause. Clause, by leave, withdrawn. Bill, as amended, to be reported.

• 24 Feb 2026 · Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill (Seventh sitting) · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to the Minister for his reassurances on the ongoing review of the Computer Misuse Act. On that basis, I would like to say that I will withdraw the new clause.

• 24 Feb 2026 · Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill (Seventh sitting) · Hansard source

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  New clause 18 would place a duty on the Government to review within 12 months whether our over-30-year-old Computer Misuse Act is holding back the very cyber-resilience that the Bill seeks to build. The Government’s own impact assessment for the Bill identifies a key market failure: imperfect information. It states that businesses lack awareness of their own cyber-risks, leading to under-investment in security. We must ask why that information is imperfect. We believe that it is partly because the Computer Misuse Act 1990 prevents cyber-security professionals from undertaking legitimate public interest activity to identify those risks, so ethical hackers cannot provide the necessary information. New clause 18 ties the review specifically to the security and resilience of network and information systems regulated by the Bill. It asks a simple question: does the Computer Misuse Act 1990 help or hinder the resilience of our critical infrastructure? For that reason, I wish to seek a vote on new clause 18.

• 24 Feb 2026 · Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill (Seventh sitting) · Hansard source

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  The thresholds have been set out in the new clause. Australia already provides support for small businesses during and after attacks. The clause would simply bring the UK up to speed with international partners, ensuring our businesses are not at a competitive disadvantage on cyber-security support. If Australia can support its SMEs, why can we not? It is only fair that if we are increasing the regulatory burden, the Government provide the support required to navigate it. I will press the new clause to a vote.

• 24 Feb 2026 · Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill (Seventh sitting) · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

• 24 Feb 2026 · Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill (Seventh sitting) · Hansard source

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  I rise to speak to new clauses 13 and 15, standing in my name. New clause 13 would require the Secretary of State to publish, within 12 months, a comprehensive statement on how the Government intend to manage the risks of foreign interference in our critical systems. It calls for steps to be taken to assess the need for a digital sovereignty strategy. We need to know not just how we will fight cyber-threats but whose technology we will rely on to do it. The new clause would force the Government to set out a plan to explicitly assess risks in hardware, software and supply chains. We should ask what is being done to support UK tech and home-grown cyber-security. We cannot claim to be serious about national resilience if the very infrastructure protecting our critical systems is outsourced abroad to vendors we cannot fully trust. New clause 13 would require the Government to explain how they intend to mitigate the risks associated with reliance on foreign technologies. It would also require the Government to assess the need to encourage and support the use of domestic technologies. That would turn cyber-security into an engine for growth. By identifying high-risk foreign vendors, and pivoting to trusted, home-grown alternatives, we could improve our security and create high-skilled jobs here in the UK. For those reasons, I will press new clause 13 to a vote. I now turn to new clause 15. How can we be serious about national resilience when the very infrastructure protecting our critical systems could be entirely outsourced abroad? New clause 15 would ensure transparency and force the Government to look at the threat of foreign ownership. The threat to British democracy from foreign interference is clear and present. From Russian money flooding into politics, and Chinese surveillance and intimidation, to foreign oligarchs buying influence, our democratic institutions are under sustained attack. The previous Conservative Government failed the UK. They failed to take the threat posed by Russia seriously, they weakened the Electoral Commission and they allowed foreign money to distort our politics. They withdrew from international commitments at precisely the wrong moment. This Government have made some welcome moves, but they do not go far enough. Over the last few years, we have seen a rise in cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure. Across the country, schools have closed, airports have been shut, local councils have been hacked and retail stores have been crippled. New clause 15 would require the Government to review the security risks posed by critical suppliers and essential service providers, and to flag which of those are linked to foreign states. It would also push the Government to evaluate whether current powers are sufficient to address these threats. I intend to push new clause 15 to a vote.

• 24 Feb 2026 · Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill (Seventh sitting) · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time. The new clause would place a statutory duty on the Secretary of State to establish a support service dedicated to improving the resilience of small and medium-sized enterprises and, crucially, to provide them with assistance when the worst happens. SMEs are the backbone of our economy. Their growth and continue operation are essential to a strong economy. We heard evidence that even large corporations find it hard to justify the investment in cyber-security and resilience when faced with competing priorities and investment needs. It forms the rationale of the Bill putting this need on a statutory footing, but small and medium-sized businesses undoubtedly find it even harder to make the investments required in cyber-security. I know from having worked in SMEs at the start of my career that companies experience growing pains and need support in navigating complex statutory requirements. It is not just support for SMEs before an attack takes place that the clause would provide for, but also after. For SMEs, a cyber-attack is not just a disruption; it can be an existential threat to their existence. The clause would ensure that when an SME is hit, they have access to the support they need.

• 24 Feb 2026 · Menopause Diagnosis: London · Hansard source

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  Hormone replacement therapy is a godsend for many women experiencing menopause, but there is a dire shortage of HRT implants. These are unlicensed medicines, but they are absolutely essential for treatment, particularly for women for whom other treatments do not work. There are women in my constituency who are suffering very badly with poor mental and physical health impacts as a result. I have submitted a number of written questions and received responses from Ministers, in particular the Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, the hon. Member for Glasgow South West (Dr Ahmed). We really want to know when action will be taken on this, and when we can get the implants that these women so desperately need.

• 24 Feb 2026 · Local Transport: Planning Developments · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Harpenden and Berkhamsted (Victoria Collins) for securing the debate. I have listened with great interest to many of the speeches given today, including from my near neighbours. It has been interesting to hear a run through of their constituencies and I will give a bit of a run through of some of the issues in my constituency as well. Many Members have spoken to the issues of bolt-on developments and so-called ribbon developments where we get additional speculative developments extending villages and towns beyond their infrastructure capacity. That is true for a village in my constituency called Chalgrove, which is at risk of becoming one of the longest villages in the country. If the developers get their way, it will eventually look a bit more like Chile when we look at it on the map. Developers are seeking to take advantage of the B480 without delivering any infrastructure alongside it. As a councillor, I have fought against developments that seek to do that. I also want to speak to badly planned development in particular. That is nowhere more true than in Chalgrove, which has an airfield that was sold by the Ministry of Defence back in, I think, 2001 to Homes England. Chalgrove is in the middle of nowhere and I do it no disservice by saying so—it is a lovely village in a rural setting. It has no mass transit system; there is no railway and there is a very limited bus service. It is a car-dependent community and there is no getting away from that; it is purely the geography of where it is. Yet Chalgrove has been assigned 3,500 new homes in the local plan that was forced through by the former Conservative Government and, indeed, by a Member who no longer sits on the Conservative Benches but sits with Reform UK. Residents are wholly opposed to that, as am I, because it requires massive road building to facilitate it. It requires bypasses at the villages of Chiselhampton, Stadhampton and Cuxham, even though Homes England is trying to row back from that. We will also get bottlenecks at Little Milton as residents try to move from that car-dependent, dormitory town to the M40 and onwards to London, Oxford or beyond for work. We need to move beyond car-dependent communities for the reasons that many, including my hon. Friends, have outlined. Elsewhere in my constituency, bypasses—so-called edge roads—are still required to facilitate developments, and I have been supportive of the Watlington relief road. That is an example of a community that has embraced development. It actively sought the development of new homes that it did not have to take on in the local plan. It put them into its neighbourhood plan so that it could get a relief road, because the historical nature of the town means it has a choke point that was previously used only by horse and cart, but is now used as the main through route to the M40. It has therefore been incredibly frustrating to see homes being built ahead of the relief road, to the point where we are now seeing intense difficulties navigating the town. Even where we have communities that embrace development, we are betraying them by not delivering the infrastructure alongside it. I want to see more investment in infrastructure for those communities that get new developments.

• 24 Feb 2026 · Local Transport: Planning Developments · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is right to point out that developers have armies of lawyers, and one of the most frustrating things for local authorities is when they come back again and again. Even when planning authorities reject an application, developers will take it to appeal, and even if the appeal is rejected, they will wait a short period and then come back again. They only have to win once, which is incredibly frustrating for the communities that face the threat.

• 24 Feb 2026 · Online Harm: Child Protection · Hansard source

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  What the hon. Member has just said suggests that she might actually support the Liberal Democrat policy of age-rating social media platforms. That might lead to a new ecosystem of genuinely peer-to-peer, lower-harm products, which would be a good thing for young people.