Jayne Kirkham MP: speeches 2026

Speeches

• 15 Apr 2026 · Strategic Defence Review: Funding · Hansard source

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  I am on the Armed Forces Bill Committee. We have heard terrible testimony about the state of military housing, but we have also heard that it is already improving. Does the Minister agree that the £9 billion investment that we are making in military housing to deal with the botched privatisation can only be a good thing, and will raise the morale of our troops?

• 15 Apr 2026 · Single Status of Worker · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the arguments against single worker status is that of flexibility, particularly for young people who want to work seasonally, as happens in my constituency in Cornwall? I therefore ask the Minister to confirm that that option still remains open if a person remains an employee under our new Employment Rights Act. There is misunderstanding about that, and it is really important that people realise that there is the option under the Act to retain flexibility without the need for self-employment status.

• 14 Apr 2026 · Armed Forces Bill (Fifth sitting) · Hansard source

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  I feel I should say something about this, as I started it. I did so because I consider Falmouth to be the home of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s Bay class ships, as it is where they are maintained and repaired, so the RFA personnel are in great part my constituents. RFA personnel are fundamental to the Navy and to the military. In many cases, as has been pointed out, they allow them to do their job. Recently, they worked on operations relating to the shadow fleet and protecting cables. One of the Bay class ships became a hospital ship off the west coast of Africa during Ebola. The RFA has played multiple roles, often as the forgotten service; it slips between the civil service and the military. Many in the RFA feel that their work has not been appreciated, so I am pleased that the Government have picked up on that and put this clause in the Armed Forces Bill—it is much appreciated. It is the start of work on building recognition of the RFA and on retention and recruitment within the service, which has struggled of late. I appreciate this measure and am very pleased that it has been included.

• 13 Apr 2026 · Short-term Holiday Lets: Registration · Hansard source

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  The Minister will be aware that Cornwall has the second highest number of short-term lets in the country, after London. I understand that DCMS has responsibility for the scheme, but will the Minister discuss with his opposite number in DCMS the possibility of uploading things such as fire and safety certificates and checks to the register, so that it is not just a simple light-touch registration scheme in the future, if not during this round?

• 13 Apr 2026 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I send my thanks and thoughts to our military personnel, particularly those on the Cornish Merlin that has been supporting our jets to defend British citizens since the Saturday after the conflict started. The strait of Hormuz issue has underlined the massive importance of energy independence in this country. Will the Prime Minister outline how we are seeking to solve that crisis in the short, medium and long term, particularly considering the wealth of natural resources we have in critical minerals and energy in Cornwall?

• 26 Mar 2026 · Armed Forces Bill (Third sitting) · Hansard source

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  Having had years of personal experience, I think it is a shame that the modernised accommodation offer did not go through, because that would have dealt with these situations. We are back to square one. The Minister will be aware that specific contact orders will have to be maintained, but we will have to build from a standing start after the disaster of the modernised accommodation offer.

• 26 Mar 2026 · Prison Officers: Mandatory Body Armour · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Betts. I thank the right hon. Member for New Forest East (Sir Julian Lewis) for securing the debate and for writing to tell me it was happening—otherwise I would not have known. I am here mainly because I have a very good friend who was a prison officer. A number of years ago, he received an award for exceptional service. He took along his young daughter, and I think the video of what happened must have been shown, because afterwards she begged her dad to give up that job, and he eventually did. That stayed in my head for a very long time—what she saw had happened in the prison that day—so I have taken an interest in the issue since. I have been in this place for only 20 months, but I have met the justice unions parliamentary group secretary and gone to HMP Wandsworth. When I went round the prison, it was obvious that the cuts over the last decade mean that a large number of officers have gone and there is a lack of experience on the landings. There are now perhaps just half the number of officers. When I was there, the alarm went off, and it amazed me how all the officers literally ran towards the violence—that is what they have to do—and locked all the doors behind them. It was an education for me. There are examples of good practice at Wandsworth: I saw the new neurodivergent wing, which was working extremely well. There are positive things, of course, but what I saw there stayed with me. The officers and the governor are doing the best they can with what they have, but the lack of experience, and the fact that that will need to be rebuilt over a number of years, is telling. Like a number of other hon. Members, I am asking the Minister to mandate stab-proof vests across the entire adult male closed estate, not just the separation centres. When the new uniforms come out from August, the heavy belts could be replaced with the more practical vests, so that the weight can be distributed around the prison officer’s body.

• 26 Mar 2026 · Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Craniocervical Instability · Hansard source

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  I understand that the Department will be looking at it further, but will it be looking at it further with the intention to create a pathway for CCI?

• 26 Mar 2026 · Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Craniocervical Instability · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Ms Furniss. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Cannock Chase (Josh Newbury) for securing this debate, which I have been asked by a number of constituents to attend. I would like to talk specifically about what it is like to live with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome in Cornwall, a rural and coastal area with the sea on three sides and only one acute hospital, which is in my constituency. One constituent described moving from Kent to Cornwall a few years ago and finding that the services for patients with EDS in Cornwall were “virtually non-existent”. They were initially able to access care at the dysautonomia clinic in Derriford in Devon, but that has since closed with no successor. That has meant that my constituent has spent nearly £1,000 since December on appointments and travel to see private consultants. Many constituents told me that physiotherapy has helped them, but they have experienced long waits and found that there is a shortage of professionals experienced in the condition in the duchy. One told me that because of the lack of occupational therapists in Cornwall, he can have an OT appointment only every six months. Another said that they simply could not get treatment by a physio equipped to deal with EDS. That lack of service leads patients in Cornwall to rely on their GPs, who may have patchy knowledge of the condition and are not necessarily equipped to deal with such complex issues. The lack of provision for EDS patients in Cornwall has even led some to move or consider moving up-country. Our peripherality does not help with diagnosis times either, which is the second thing I want to touch on. Many constituents have written to me describing years of misdiagnosis and missed opportunities. One woman waited 10 years from the start of her symptoms and was finally diagnosed in London. A constituent with CCI was diagnosed by surgeons as far away as Spain and New York. A third constituent was diagnosed at 48 after many years of unexplained symptoms. Echoing what we heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Cannock Chase, she said: “Over the years it took to get my diagnosis I felt that I was viewed as a hypochondriac or overanxious patient. The combination of multiple GP visits and not being believed had a…detrimental effect on my wellbeing and mental health. Even after diagnosis I continue to be frustrated by trying to engage with a…system that doesn’t work for people with this condition”. A key issue highlighted was disjointed care. As EDS is a multi-system condition, every time a new body system develops an issue, the patient needs a new referral. As there is no care pathway for EDS and patients generally do not have access to a specialist, who could consider their symptoms as a whole and provide a joined-up treatment plan, that means multiple referrals, extra appointments, more travelling and more time off work—and therefore, more patients seeking private care. My constituent Carley, who has EDS and CCI, had to fundraise and take out loans for her private surgery to relieve the pressure in her brain that was forcing the back of her cerebellum to herniate down into her spinal canal. She had been experiencing severe and progressive neurological symptoms, but was unable to access appropriate assessment and treatment through current NHS pathways. In her words: “I developed intense pain in my head and neck that would make me physically sick, trouble standing, walking, swallowing, breathing, I was losing my vision. I was choking on food…as it was getting stuck in my throat due to my swallow reflex being affected. When I tried to lay down my skull would slide backward, and I would stop breathing. It was terrifying. I was getting intermittent body paralysis and many more equally terrifying symptoms. My bladder and bowels were not working properly & in most cases this condition then leads on to seizures. Nobody knew what it was or how to help me.” I want to show a picture of the operation Carley had to secure her spine, because it is so shocking. It would help all of my constituents considerably if the Department looked at developing a clear, accessible and appropriate pathway for patients. Does the Minister accept that patients with EDS and suspected CCI are in reality unable to access appropriate assessment or treatment through current NHS pathways? Will the Department commit to developing a clear, accessible and clinically appropriate pathway for those patients?

• 25 Mar 2026 · Public Baths and Lidos · Hansard source

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  I cannot let a debate on swimming pools go without mentioning Falmouth, which is on a peninsula with sea on three sides. The children of Falmouth have lost the swimming pool, as it was shut by the Conservative council in 2022. We have been campaigning rigorously, including with a petition to this House, to try to reopen it. In the meantime, community organisations, Falmouth town council and Pendennis Leisure have taken on the site to try to keep it running. I pay tribute to those organisations.

• 25 Mar 2026 · Voluntary Groups and Community Centres · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend agree that for those places that have not yet had Pride in Place funding, bodies such as the National Lottery Community Fund, Sport England, the Arts Council and the National Lottery Heritage Fund are also great sources of funding and could be encouraged to do things in a simpler way? In Cornwall, our town councils are growing and taking on more responsibilities, as the unitary has shed them during austerity. Does he agree that town councils have had a really big role to play in helping communities and community centres?

• 25 Mar 2026 · Nuclear Test Veterans · Hansard source

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  There is obviously a terrible history going back a number of years of cancers and other illnesses caused by exposure in this case. I wonder whether my hon. Friend would forgive me for raising a similar but more contemporary situation: that of aircrew on military helicopters who are developing blood cancer. I have been struggling to get data from the MOD on numbers of cases and testing of helicopter emissions. We want to raise awareness for others now flying those helicopters, in particular the Sea King, because blood cancers, particularly myeloma, seem to be arising in young people when that is normally not the case at all. We want to encourage those people to seek testing for unusual symptoms such as blood clots and to request that the MOD dig deeper for that data.

• 24 Mar 2026 · Endometriosis Services · Hansard source

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  indicated assent .

• 24 Mar 2026 · Endometriosis Services · Hansard source

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  I understand exactly what the hon. Member is saying about the waits; the average waiting time for a diagnosis has now gone up to nine years and four months. Where I am from in Cornwall, an endo café has been set up. I went to it once, and it was heartbreaking to be told so many stories about waits for surgeries and diagnoses. One issue that they raised was that we have only one specialist endometriosis nurse in Cornwall. Does the hon. Member think that having more specialist nurses would help?

• 24 Mar 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for his focus on securing UK private investment in critical minerals—it is fantastic to see. I know the Secretary of State agrees that Cornwall is vital for future UK energy security. One test and demo model in the Celtic sea has come forward in auction round 7, but I want to ask the Secretary of State about the timing of AR8, and whether he will look again at test and demo models in the Celtic sea, so that we can really use that energy base.

• 24 Mar 2026 · Armed Forces Bill (First sitting) · Hansard source

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  I have great sympathy with what the right hon. Member is saying. We face this issue all over the country, particularly in Cornwall. However, he will be aware that the amendment may be out of date soon because the Government are introducing new SEN reforms that will introduce national standards, so hopefully it will no longer be needed.

• 24 Mar 2026 · Armed Forces Bill (First sitting) · Hansard source

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  Will the right hon. Member give way?

• 24 Mar 2026 · Armed Forces Bill (First sitting) · Hansard source

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  Looking at amendment 11’s proposed new section 343AZC of the 2006 Act, I am not sure whether there may be a drafting error. EHCPs are normally given to the child, not the parent, and the proposed new section is drafted as if the plan will be awarded to the parent.

• 23 Mar 2026 · Rail Connections to London: Rural Towns · Hansard source

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  I wonder whether the hon. Gentleman would spare a thought for those even further south-west—nearly 1 million people in Plymouth and Cornwall struggle when there is a storm that affects their one line in and out of Cornwall. Would the Minister consider Great British Railways, when it is set up, having recourse to look at transport strategies for local authorities in places like Cornwall, which have such good transport plans, to make that a thing of the past?

• 23 Mar 2026 · Rail Connections to London: Rural Towns · Hansard source

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  Of course, superfast satellite wi-fi has been tested on our part of the line. Although we have slow trains, we have the opportunity for fast wi-fi to be rolled out, so that while people will be sat on their trains for five and a half hours, they can at least work or watch a film.

• 16 Mar 2026 · Heating Oil Support · Hansard source

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  It is really good to see the Government prioritising people in distress in rural and coastal areas. My question is slightly separate. It is about listed buildings and conservation area properties, and how those people struggle to insulate their homes because of planning rules. Does the Department have any plans to do something about that?

• 16 Mar 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The Office for National Statistics has confirmed that it is considering taking the veterans question off the census for 2031. Witnesses before the Select Committee on the Armed Forces Bill clearly thought that question provided important data about where our veterans are. Will the Secretary of State engage with the ONS to emphasise the importance of the veterans question?

• 12 Mar 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

• 12 Mar 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Soul Farm, which delivers organic and sustainable food, is an example of a co-operative business in my constituency that benefits its community. I also have the “Save the Stag” campaign in Ponsanooth, which is trying to take over and run the local pub, as has already been done at the Ship Inn at Portloe. Setting up or transitioning to a co-op model can be difficult. Will the Minister update me on what support the Government are providing to help new co-ops to start up and existing businesses to transition to employee ownership?

• 10 Mar 2026 · Extreme Climate and Weather Events: National Resilience · Hansard source

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  I agree; the fire service is absolutely fundamental, particularly in Cornwall, where it did amazing work during Storm Goretti. In its response to the UK’s third national adaptation plan, the Climate Change Committee called on the Government to urgently refresh NAP3, as it fell short of preparing the UK for the climate change that we are experiencing, and adaptation progress is too slow, has stalled or is sometimes heading in the wrong direction. We are still reliant on short-term emergency measures, which cost more in the long term.