Jessica Toale MP: speeches

Speeches

• 23 Oct 2025 · Strengthening National Security · Hansard source

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  Later today, my hon. Friend the Member for South Dorset (Lloyd Hatton) and I will meet small and medium-sized enterprises in the defence sector and skills training providers to discuss how we in Dorset can benefit from the Government’s defence industrial strategy. Can the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster tell me how this Government’s commitment to increasing defence spending to 2.5% by 2027 will create jobs and growth in my constituency of Bournemouth West?

• 23 Oct 2025 · Strengthening National Security · Hansard source

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  12. What recent progress his Department has made on strengthening national security.

• 20 Oct 2025 · Post-16 Education and Skills Strategy · Hansard source

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  My constituency is blessed with two world-class universities and an excellent further education college that provide a range of degrees, apprenticeships and qualifications. I recently met the Samee charity, which provides a structured training programme for young people with learning difficulties to get into self-employment. Can the Secretary of State tell me how this White Paper supports those types of training programmes and supports those young people to thrive?

• 20 Oct 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Last week I visited Oak academy’s new building—a net zero, solar-powered, inspiring environment for young people. I would love young people across my constituency, and across the rest of the country, to have the opportunity to learn in such environments, so can the Secretary of State tell me what her Department is doing to improve the environmental performance of our schools?

• 16 Oct 2025 · Community Relations: Impact of Church Leaders · Hansard source

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  Bournemouth has been made richer by its diversity and the communities that have chosen to make it their home, yet tensions rose over the summer due to protests about asylum seekers. I pay tribute to our local churches, particularly Lansdowne church and Gateway church, for the vital work they do to welcome asylum seekers and build community connection between our many communities. How can we do more to support those churches and the vital work they do?

• 16 Oct 2025 · Community Relations: Impact of Church Leaders · Hansard source

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  4. What assessment the Church of England has made of the potential impact of church leaders on community relations.

• 4 Sept 2025 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source

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  Opposition Members seem to want lots of reassurances for the people who feel they are born to rule. Can the Minister tell me what reassurances the Government can give my constituents and young people in Kinson and West Howe that they will have equal right to be part of this legislative body?

• 4 Sept 2025 · Early Education and Childcare · Hansard source

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  I recently visited Leaps and Bounds nursery in Winton, and it was clear that the women who work there strive to create a safe and enriching environment for all the young people, so that they are ready to start school when they go. Can the Minister tell me how this Labour Government are making early years education—this critical time in a young person’s life—more accessible and affordable for parents in Bournemouth West?

• 1 Sept 2025 · Borders and Asylum · Hansard source

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  This summer, my community has been deeply divided by misinformation about asylum hotels and local crime rates. This has been exploited by parts of the national media and, frankly, Conservative and Reform politicians and local activist groups seeking simply to stoke fear. Like everyone on the Labour Benches, I stood on a manifesto to end hotel use, so can I thank the Home Secretary for getting on with the job of restoring order to our asylum system to address the chaos left by the previous Government? Can she reassure my constituents that we remain committed to tackling the vile organised crime gangs that drive the boats, to clearing the asylum backlog to give those who are seeking asylum the chance to restore their lives here and give them certainty, and to ending hotel use in communities like mine and across the country?

• 21 Jul 2025 · Infected Blood Inquiry: Additional Report · Hansard source

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  The Minister knows that I have raised the case of my affected constituent Ronan, whose mother Jane died from hepatitis C after a blood transfusion she was recommended following an ectopic pregnancy. I welcome the announcement on the affected estates, but when will the affected, particularly parents and partners, be invited to start their claims? Many have been waiting decades for justice and are concerned that they will not see it in their lifetime.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Victory over Japan: 80th Anniversary · Hansard source

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  I pay tribute to the father of my constituent Sally Hedges Greenwood, Lance Sergeant Frank Jeremy Hedges, who served in the 135th Field Regiment. He was captured at the fall of Singapore and served on the infamous Burma railway. While the nation celebrated VE Day and continues to do so every year, Sally’s family and many others like them feel forgotten. Does the Minister agree that these VJ Day celebrations will give those men and women and their families the honour they deserve?

• 15 Jul 2025 · Women and Girls with Autism: Mental Health Support · Hansard source

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  Absolutely. There are now more than 2,000 people with learning disabilities and/or autism detained across the UK in in-patient units similar to the one that Lauren was held in. They are often far from home, cut off from their families and placed in highly restrictive environments that frequently do more harm than good. Lauren’s case is heartbreaking, but it must also be a turning point, which is why Lindsey is campaigning for Lolly’s law and why I am bringing this campaign to the House today. Lolly’s law proposes four urgent reforms that could prevent future tragedies. The first is mandatory retraining for psychiatric professionals and support staff so that they have a proper understanding of how autism presents in girls and women. Too often those young women are misdiagnosed with personality disorders or wrongly pathologised.

• 15 Jul 2025 · Women and Girls with Autism: Mental Health Support · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That this House has considered mental health support for women and girls with autism. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Edward. I am grateful to have secured this debate today to discuss a matter of deep importance for one of my Bournemouth West constituents, Lindsey Bridges, as well as the thousands of families across the country affected by the failings in our mental health and autism care system. I rise today not only as a Member of Parliament, but as a voice for Lindsey and her daughter Lauren, known as Lolly to her friends and family, who is no longer here to speak for herself. Lauren was just 16 when she died. She was a bright, compassionate young woman, and a straight A student who dreamed of being a doctor or a paediatric nurse. She was also autistic, and like many girls and young women with autism, she faced serious challenges getting the support she needed. In 2021, Lauren was detained under the Mental Health Act 1983. She was placed in an in-patient unit in Manchester six hours from her home in Bournemouth. As a result, her mental health deteriorated severely. In February 2022, Lauren went into cardiac arrest and died in that unit. Her mother Lindsey had begged for her to be moved closer to home, but her pleas went unheeded. This is not an isolated incident. Like too many others, she was let down by a system that promised care but failed in that promise.

• 15 Jul 2025 · Women and Girls with Autism: Mental Health Support · Hansard source

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  Clearly, we need better training across many of our institutional settings. This is in part where Lindsey has put together the training course, which I hope she will be able to discuss with the Minister at some point. Lindsey is also backed by the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition, Emotional Dysregulation Autism, the Abbey clinic and many other respected voices in this space. Let me be frank. The current system is failing young people with autism. The number of people in long-term institutional care remains stubbornly high. It fails to distinguish between autism and other mental health illnesses. It overuses restraint and seclusion and separates children from their families, often for extended periods. It is a system that punishes difference rather than supports it. It is indefensible. Families are exhausted. Parents like Lindsey are forced into campaigning roles they never asked for, because they have been let down so completely by the very institutions meant to protect their children.

• 15 Jul 2025 · Women and Girls with Autism: Mental Health Support · Hansard source

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  I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. There are far too many families across the country left fighting for their children and, like Lindsey, having to take up campaigning roles, which are clearly exhausting. Will the Minister and the Government back Lolly’s law and commit to a formal review of autism diagnosis pathways for girls and women, with particular attention paid to those currently diagnosed with personality disorders? Will the Department of Health and Social Care mandate anti-ligature safety standards across all NHS and private health in-patient units, and develop specialist suicide and self-harm prevention teams in children’s in-patient care? If not, will the Minister consider piloting some of those schemes? Will she agree to meet Lindsey Bridges, hear her proposals directly and consider supporting the formal introduction of Lolly’s law as part of a broader strategy to transform in-patient care? Finally, will the Government review the current use of out-of-area placements and set targets for their reduction? Lolly’s law is not radical; it is responsible. It is about safeguarding and justice for those families. It is about listening, learning and delivering reform, so that nobody is failed again like this and no more lives are lost. It is within our power to build a system where care means connection, not containment, and one that understands autism rather than punishes or isolates those living with it. It would be a system where families are partners in care, not visitors trying to navigate a maze of red tape, and where features such as anti-ligature doors are not considered nice to have but essential. Lindsey’s courage in the face of unimaginable loss is truly moving. I am here to stand beside her in calls for change. Lauren should still be here and we owe it to her and every young person like her to build a system that sees, supports and safeguards every child, not just in words but in actions.

• 15 Jul 2025 · Women and Girls with Autism: Mental Health Support · Hansard source

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  It is obvious that women tend to mask symptoms of autism more and that they present very differently from men. Our medical system is not set up to properly diagnose it in women. The second proposal of Lolly’s law is a reassessment of personality disorder diagnoses where autism might be missed. There needs to be a national reassessment programme to identify cases of misdiagnosis and provide appropriate support for those affected. The evidence already shows that where female in-patients are diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder and/or eating disorders and are reassessed for autism, 100% of them receive a diagnosis for autism. Thirdly, specialist suicide prevention and self-harm teams must be available in all mental health units for vulnerable young people. These should be multidisciplinary teams trained specifically in females with autism. Finally, anti-ligature doors and safety infrastructure must be mandated across all in-patient mental health facilities. These are basic safeguards that can and do save lives. Lindsey has set up a petition for Lolly’s law, which has already gathered 225,000 signatures—clear proof of the public demand for action. She has also developed a training course for child and adolescent mental health services professionals, solicitors and others involved in mental health decision making, which has been positively received by those who have seen it.

• 7 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

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  I thank the Secretary of State and her Department for rightly putting a spotlight on the early years. Before coming to this place, I led a global campaign to ensure that early childhood development was included in the UN’s sustainable development goals, and I worked with the late, great Tessa Jowell to highlight the UK’s global leadership on this subject. It is great to see a Labour Government stepping back into that leadership role, because we know that early interventions are critical, especially for children with additional needs. On that point, will the Secretary of State confirm how SEND provision will be embedded in Best Start family hubs to support parents and children in my Bournemouth West constituency?

• 3 Jul 2025 · Access to Sport for Young People: Dormant Assets Funding · Hansard source

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  10. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of dormant assets funding on access to sport for young people in Bournemouth.

• 3 Jul 2025 · Access to Sport for Young People: Dormant Assets Funding · Hansard source

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  The Henry Brown centre in West Howe, in my Bournemouth West constituency, runs a range of activities for the community, including the Changes Are Made boxing club, which provides positive sport activities for local young people and aims to raise awareness about the dangers of knife crime. Like many community centres and clubs, it would like to expand but struggles to find the funds to do so. Will the Minister tell me how CAM and the Henry Brown centre can access the dormant asset funds to expand the amazing work that they are doing in the local area?

• 3 Jul 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  On Monday, around 300,000 people visited Bournemouth beach, many from out of area. The vast majority were there to enjoy the good weather and our fabulous beach, but others came with the explicit aim to start fights and cause general disorder which resulted in three of our police officers being assaulted. It is completely unacceptable that people treat our town with such flagrant disrespect. It has caused great worry in the local community and I know that ours is not the only coastal community that feels dismayed at the additional pressure put on our police forces during the summer months, having to police vastly increased numbers of visitors without the people or the money to do so. Will the Leader of the House pass on my concern to the Home Secretary and consider time to debate how we can adequately address the issue of additional pressures, including looking again at the policing funding formula?

• 1 Jul 2025 · Ten-year Infrastructure Strategy · Hansard source

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  I was pleased to see that the creative and digital industries, financial services, and clean energy were all included as priority sectors in the Government’s industrial strategy. Those sectors have huge potential in my constituency of Bournemouth West. Focusing on the latter, as a fellow south-west MP, what assessment has the Minister made of the Dorset clean energy super cluster’s potential for growth, jobs and bringing people’s bills down, not just in Bournemouth West but across the region?

• 1 Jul 2025 · Ten-year Infrastructure Strategy · Hansard source

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  13. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the 10-year infrastructure strategy on economic growth.

• 30 Jun 2025 · Welfare Reform · Hansard source

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  I welcome the clarity that my right hon. Friend has set out, particularly for existing PIP claimants and those with severe conditions, but my constituents who I met this weekend want to have an active part in designing the changes that affect them. Can she confirm that my constituents will be able to feed their direct lived experience into the PIP review?

• 26 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Last Saturday, I launched the first Bournemouth town centre citizens panel, which brings together 50 local residents and the council to co-create an action plan for our town. Will the Leader of the House join me in thanking the more than 250 people who applied, and the participants for their energy and ideas to restore pride in our town? Will she also consider making time to debate how we can support more meaningful engagement on the future of our town centres and high streets?

• 24 Jun 2025 · National Security Strategy · Hansard source

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  Unlike the right hon. Member for Tonbridge (Tom Tugendhat), I welcome the focus on science and technology in the national security strategy. A new innovation quarter is being developed in Talbot village and the local council aspires to be an AI growth zone, so will the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster tell me how this strategy will support growth and security in my constituency and across the south-west of England?