Jessica Toale MP: speeches

Speeches

• 29 Jan 2026 · Economic Growth: Coastal Communities · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for that answer. Bournemouth and Poole rightly have reputations as premier tourism and leisure destinations, but less well known is our leadership in the digital and creative industries. Two businesses in my constituency, Content Ignite and Iplicit, have been ranked in the top 50 fastest- growing tech businesses in Britain by The Sunday Times . Could the Minister please expand on how this Government are supporting fast-growing high-value industries in coastal towns such as mine?

• 29 Jan 2026 · Economic Growth: Coastal Communities · Hansard source

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  4. What steps he is taking to help increase economic growth in coastal communities.

• 27 Jan 2026 · Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill · Hansard source

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  This Bill matters enormously in my constituency. The NHS is one of the largest local employers. Our hospitals, community services and care settings are the backbone of our local economy. We also have outstanding institutions—Bournemouth University, Bournemouth and Poole College and the Health Sciences University—ready and willing to provide a strong local pipeline of medical and health professionals. I have met professors at the school of midwifery at BU worried about whether its graduates will get a first placement, specialist nurses unable to progress their careers, and early-career psychiatrists forced to look for work far from home. That is not through a lack of demand for these services in the local area. If we train doctors here, fund their education through British taxpayers and ask them to commit their lives and careers to the NHS, we owe them a fair chance to build those careers within it. The shadow Health Secretary, the right hon. Member for Daventry (Stuart Andrew), has said that we should not play politics with people’s jobs. I agree, but we must recognise that the situation we are in now is a direct result of the Conservatives’ ill thought-through visa changes in the wake of the mess left by their post-Brexit settlement for the UK. The fact that we now have more than double the number of overseas-trained applicants than UK-trained applicants for a limited position is a consequence of that. Under the Conservatives, we became too reliant on pulling the immigration lever to solve our workforce shortages. Their policies meant that UK graduates are being squeezed out, with too many lost to the private sector or overseas not because of a lack of talent or commitment, but because the system did not work for them. I was proud to campaign on a commitment to train more local young people and to encourage companies to hire locally before looking overseas, and the same should be true for the NHS, so I am pleased that the Bill is doing that. This is not about blaming or disrespecting migrant workers. International doctors and those from our immigrant communities who work in all elements of our NHS are valued and respected. Immigration has enriched my town. The people who have come to the UK to care for our elderly, nurse our sick and heal our injured are important parts of the vibrant and diverse community that we have in Bournemouth, and I thank them for their service. We should also be proud that the NHS is a world-renowned employer and a real part of our soft power influence. Countries around the world aspire to the type of universal healthcare offering that we have in the UK, and our specialists train health professionals around the world. For many doctors around the globe, time spent working in the NHS is a badge of honour, but poaching doctors from countries that desperately need them while UK-trained doctors cannot progress is morally wrong. It undermines global health equity and erodes trust here at home. It is right that we prioritise skilling our own people; other countries recognise that reality. The United States, Canada and Australia prioritise domestic graduates for training opportunities. The Bill is consequential for me, as a Labour MP for a constituency that has never voted Labour before. Bournemouth and Poole are often seen as affluent areas, but they contain real inequalities and serious barriers to social mobility. In places such as West Howe and Alderney, parents tell me that they feel forgotten. They worry that their children do the right things, work hard and get the right grades, but are constantly told that they cannot compete or are locked out. If we want young people from council estates to believe that they belong in medicine, we must back that belief with opportunity. We cannot claim to be the party of social mobility and dignity in work if we do not put the ladders in place. The Conservative record is clear: expanding medical places without expanding training posts, liberalising visas without the workforce planning and leaving UK graduates to carry the cost. The Bill is a necessary correction. It is fair, responsible and morally right for our NHS, communities and the next generation. To any students or recent graduates considering Australia, I say this: if we get this right, we have beaches that are just as impressive in Bournemouth, even if I cannot always guarantee the weather.

• 27 Jan 2026 · Commonhold and Leasehold Reform · Hansard source

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  I have heard too many horror stories from leaseholders in Bournemouth West. One constituent, Jeremy Green, described feeling like a second-class citizen subject to the total autocratic control of his freeholder landlord and its managing agent. Will the Minister assure me that this Labour Government are getting on with reform and giving leaseholders the protections and dignity that they deserve?

• 19 Jan 2026 · Business Rates: Retail, Hospitality and Leisure · Hansard source

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  Most fair-minded businesses recognise that covid-era subsidies could not last for ever, yet many in hospitality, including in my constituency, are worried about what bill will come through for their rates in April. Can the Minister reassure those businesses and outline what transitional support we are putting in place in the short term and how we are reforming rates in the long term?

• 12 Jan 2026 · Social Media: Non-consensual Sexual Deepfakes · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Secretary of State’s serious and rapid action to tackle non-consensual sexual deepfakes on social media, which we know have generated child sexual abuse images and have been weaponised to abuse and silence women, including many in the House. We also know that AI’s capabilities are growing and it is becoming more widespread. How are the Government monitoring these evolving AI models to prevent them from causing harm in the future?

• 8 Jan 2026 · Local Bus Services · Hansard source

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  The subject of improving local bus routes, particularly those that connect the town centre, station and airport, frequently comes up in my conversations with Bournemouth West residents. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council has received £6 million from the Government to sustain and improve bus services, but despite that, it is threatening to cut vital routes, such as the No.36, on which lots of elderly and vulnerable residents rely. Will the Minister join me in condemning that decision, and call on the council to protect the vital routes on which residents rely?

• 8 Jan 2026 · Local Bus Services · Hansard source

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  16. What steps she is taking to help improve local bus services.

• 17 Dec 2025 · Points of Order · Hansard source

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  On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I seek your guidance on a matter relating to access to the House. Unison had arranged, today, a lobby day for migrant care workers to meet their Members of Parliament and discuss concerns around care worker visas, exploitation and support for the sector. Those attending came from across the country, including from my constituency, and some came from as far as the Scottish highlands and Northern Ireland. The event was originally intended to take place on the parliamentary estate, either in Westminster Hall or in Committee Rooms, giving some of the hardest-working and lowest-paid workers in our country a valuable opportunity to visit and engage in this place of democracy. Many workers took time off at an incredibly busy time and arranged cover to enable them to attend. However, I was shocked to learn that they were informed late on Tuesday evening that they would no longer be permitted to use the facilities in the House. They were instead moved to a venue off the estate, meaning that the majority were not able to visit Parliament at all. Madam Deputy Speaker, I would be grateful for your guidance on how such decisions are made; how Members can raise concerns with the House authorities; and whether you would be willing to join me in apologising to these key workers, and ensuring that they will be able to visit the House and meet Members properly at a future date.

• 16 Dec 2025 · Jury Trials Proposal: Impact · Hansard source

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  Victims must be at the forefront of our minds when thinking about reforms to our justice system. Many of them wait years and are often retraumatised by going through the process of a criminal court trial. Can the Secretary of State tell me how these changes will ensure that we bring criminals properly and promptly to justice, to bring matters to a close for victims?

• 16 Dec 2025 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  I recently attended the launch of a development site for 32 new affordable family homes in Bournemouth town centre. That is fantastic, but we need much more of it, because there are still 535 children in temporary accommodation in my constituency, many of them under the age of 10. House prices and rent costs are higher than the national average, whereas wages are not, because the previous Government failed to get a grip on the housing crisis. I welcome this decisive action to build more homes. Will the Minister condemn the last Government’s failure to deal with this crisis and the hundreds of thousands of children we still see in temporary accommodation?

• 10 Dec 2025 · Tackling Violence against Women and Girls · Hansard source

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  Shut It Down is an organisation set up by two teachers at Glenmoor and Winton Academies in my constituency. It aims to prepare teachers for tough conversations and work with male pupils to tackle misogyny, and to promote positive masculinity and healthy relationships. What more can the Minister and her Department do to support such projects, and to tackle the culture of violence against women and girls at the earliest possible stages?

• 10 Dec 2025 · Tackling Violence against Women and Girls · Hansard source

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  8. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle violence against women and girls.

• 9 Dec 2025 · Creative Education · Hansard source

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  SoundStorm is a multi-award winning lead partner in the music hub in my constituency. It has helped more than half a million young people since being founded in 2002, but like any publicly funded body, it is worried about future funding, so I welcome the Education Secretary’s commitment to working through music hubs. Does my hon. Friend agree that we must continue to support music hubs in their work to teach teachers and get music into schools, so that kids at all ages can have a great music education?

• 9 Dec 2025 · Railways Bill · Hansard source

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  I thank the Secretary of State for joining me at Branksome depot in my constituency to launch Great British Railways. It was welcomed by engineers, passengers, railway operators and local schools. I have a very different experience from that of the hon. Member for Twickenham (Munira Wilson), so will my right hon. Friend tell us how the Bill will benefit constituents and passengers across the rail network?

• 2 Dec 2025 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Gentleman reflect on the OBR saying that a decade of austerity and the impact of Brexit have had a much more pernicious effect on productivity than we believed before?

• 2 Dec 2025 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

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  Although he is not in his place, I thank my right hon. Friend the Health Secretary for the investment in local hospitals, the 11 GPs across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, the 13,000 emergency dental appointments that we have had across Dorset, and the £1.3 million that my constituency of Bournemouth West has received to reopen the Winton health centre, which closed under the last Government. This is the difference that a Government who prioritise investment can make. Before I was elected, I met a couple whom I will never forget. He was a refuse collector for the local authority who was at risk of being fired and rehired on less pay, and with less job security, for the very same job that he had been doing for a decade. She was a teacher at an independent school, and they had two young children in our primary schools. They told me with absolute honesty what it felt like for them—the cost of food rising, energy bills creeping higher, the dread of their fixed-term mortgage coming to an end, and not having the time or money that they could use to treat their children. They were doing everything that society asks of them—working hard, raising children and contributing to their communities—yet they felt that they were slipping backwards. Let me enlighten any hon. Member who asks, “How is that family better off under this Budget?”, because they are at the forefront of my mind. They will be better off because of the £150 cut to their energy bills, because of the freeze on fuel duty, prescription charges and rail fares, because of the bus service subsidies that we are maintaining, and because the national living wage has been raised. In fact, wages have gone up more in one year under this Government than they went up in the previous decade under the Conservatives. Interest rates have come down five times, which will help with the family’s mortgage. Inflation will be down because of this Budget, and these changes come alongside major investments in our energy infrastructure. Last week I visited a school that is one of the first to have public investment in solar panels, which will save it £8,500 a year. For our roads, my local authority is getting £38 million, double what it got last year. There is investment in our NHS and cultural values. No Budget sits in isolation. This Budget comes alongside a wider programme, including a new EU-UK deal to stabilise prices and support jobs, renters’ rights and employment rights, extending free school meals and free breakfast clubs, and reforming the planning system, along with investment in house building, to deliver the affordable homes that we so desperately need. Why have we focused so much in this Budget on cutting the cost of living? Because when households feel pressure, our whole economy feels it: local hospitality businesses have fewer customers, bus companies have fewer passengers, and our creative venues suffer when families can no longer justify the cost of tickets. As we have heard so powerfully, poverty also has a knock-on effect on children’s ability to learn, their behaviour, their health and their life chances. Some 2,000 children in my constituency will benefit from the removal of the two-child limit. Tackling the cost of living is an investment in people, their quality of life and their opportunity to contribute to our communities and economy.

• 2 Dec 2025 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

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  I am sure that the Chancellor appreciates the hon. Gentleman’s input into the Budget, given that the public roundly rejected your approach to our economy just a year and a half ago.

• 1 Dec 2025 · National Curriculum Reform · Hansard source

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  6. What steps she is taking to reform the national curriculum.

• 1 Dec 2025 · National Curriculum Reform · Hansard source

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  Last week during UK Parliament Week, I visited LEAF Studio, a specialist sports and performing arts school and sixth form in my Bournemouth West constituency. While all schools have welcomed the curriculum modernisation, I have a specific question from Mr Jones at LEAF Studio: will drama be made more accessible for children in the curriculum?

• 19 Nov 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Based on their reaction today, Conservative Members may not care or remember, but every day I see the cost to my constituents in Bournemouth West of years of cuts to public services—youth services gone, neighbourhood policing decimated and no NHS dentist appointments. Can the Prime Minister confirm that there will be no return to austerity under this Labour Government?

• 18 Nov 2025 · Northern Ireland Troubles Bill · Hansard source

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  I have spoken to many veterans in my constituency who are understandably concerned about the repeal of that law, and the vacuum that it leaves. Can the Secretary of State set out how the Bill supports our veterans?

• 13 Nov 2025 · Police Reform · Hansard source

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  I associate myself with the Minister’s comments on recognising the commitment of PCCs across the country. Despite being from different parties, the Dorset PCC David Sidwick and I have always worked constructively together, and he has been a doughty advocate for the funding we need to police the county effectively. On that note about funding, can I ask the Minister to look again at the police funding formula? Not only does it fail on rurality, as the hon. Member for North Dorset (Simon Hoare) says, but it also fails on the summer seasonal pressures facing my constituency, where upwards of 10 million people visit every summer.

• 3 Nov 2025 · Public Office (Accountability) Bill · Hansard source

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  I would like to start by paying tribute to the many hon. Members and campaigners who have never stopped fighting for truth and accountability. We have heard many powerful contributions today, outlining a painful litany of cover-ups and scandals, where individuals and families have been betrayed by the very institutions that were meant to protect them. This Bill is also for those who are suffering, but who only now we are beginning to see and to recognise. My constituent, Jan Hall, is a diethylstilbestrol—DES—daughter. DES was an anti-miscarriage drug invested here in Britain and prescribed between 1939 and the late 1970s. It was marketed as a wonder drug, but even as evidence that the drug caused harm emerged in the 1950s and after it was linked to cancer in the 1970s, it continued to be prescribed to women. This is potentially one of the biggest pharmaceutical scandals in British history, and something upon which this Bill will, no doubt, shine a light. Jan’s mum, Rita, was prescribed DES. She died of breast cancer at the age of 32, when Jan was still a toddler. Jan has suffered from health problems for her whole life, including cervical cancer, and now her daughters, Beth and Hannah, have had a series of gynaecological problems. We know that women who took DES face around 30% higher risk of breast of cancer. Their daughters who were exposed to the drug have 40 times the risk of rare vaginal and cervical cancers, and also face infertility issues. On top of that, their sons show increased risk of genital abnormalities and infertility. This is an intergenerational issue and we are now seeing grandchildren, like Beth and Hannah, suffering from complications, with research only beginning to uncover the scale of the inherited harm. These women have fought for decades for the recognition and justice that they deserve, but for too long they have been ignored. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has admitted that it misled the public for more than a decade. Imagine if a duty of candour had existed for DES victims. Imagine if the MHRA, the Department of Health and pharmaceutical companies had been compelled to disclose what they knew and when they knew it: generations of women might have been spared devastating illnesses, families would have been spared grief, and trust in our institutions might have been preserved. The Hillsborough law is not only a matter of legal reform, but a matter of trust. If the public cannot trust the state to tell the truth when things go wrong, then the social contract is broken. The Hillsborough law gives us a way to rebuild it. I welcome the Prime Minister’s personal commitment to the issue and the reaffirmation that he will not water down the principles that give the Bill life. To all the families still waiting for justice—this Bill is for you. Let the Hillsborough law mark the moment when we say, finally and decisively, that justice delayed must never be justice denied.

• 29 Oct 2025 · Asylum Seekers: MOD Housing · Hansard source

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  The Conservatives left our asylum system in an absolute mess, and now they claim to care about consultation and community impact. Where was that when my community got two asylum hotels more than 10 years ago? This Government, by contrast, are bringing the number down while increasing the number of people with no right to be in the country who are returned, which shows how seriously we take the issue. Can the Minister please tell my constituents what more the Government are doing to close every single asylum hotel?