Josh Fenton-Glynn MP: speeches 2026

Speeches

• 15 Sept 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T2. The Government have promised to halve violence against women and girls. In the context of the charging and conviction of perpetrators falling sharply over the past decade, which has affected the confidence that victims have in the justice system, what measures are the Government taking to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice?

• 11 Sept 2026 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

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  Not just now. Our Committee asked our independent expert panel to look into the quality and availability of palliative care, and the results should give everyone in this room pause for thought, because we do not have a universal offer of palliative care in this country. The report points to a postcode lottery of provision. Hospices are largely funded through charitable donations, which means that in better-off areas there is better care. The Committee hears constantly about the social determinants of health. Let us not have one of them be that those in wealthy areas have the choice of a comfortable death, while the poor must choose an early one. Furthermore, there is a workforce crisis in palliative care. There are 700 palliative care doctor posts, but 70 vacancies. Add to that 130 doctors expected to leave the profession in the next five years while, to make matters worse, training bottlenecks mean that there will not be specialist doctors trained to replace them. All that is in a landscape where we expect demand for palliative care to increase by 55% in the current decade. I want a safe Bill that takes all those things into account. A safe Bill would give some discretion to the Health Secretary on when they implement it. This Bill does not.

• 11 Sept 2026 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

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  I have struggled with this vote perhaps more than any other in Parliament. Had I been asked at any time in my life whether I was for or against assisted dying, I would have said that I am in favour of it. I believe that people have autonomy over their own bodies as a fundamental liberal principle. But we do not vote on principles here; we vote on legislation, and this Bill at this time is not one I can support. I do not believe that it is safe. I do not believe that it addresses the very legitimate concerns raised by disabled voices, and I do not believe that it has come at the right time. In my speech, I will cover the state of palliative care and fears of coercion, but first, I thank my constituents for the role that they have played in this, coming to meetings, speaking to me at surgeries, writing me emails in a respectful way—the way that we should conduct our politics in all things but particularly those that are so serious. I bring professional and personal experience to this debate. I have been a council cabinet member for social care, sitting on a safeguarding board, I have worked for the General Medical Council and for the past two years I have sat on the Health and Social Care Committee. Like many people, I have also sat with a loved one as they died. Ultimately, my experience means that I do not for one minute believe that this is simple. I know that if we do not pass this Bill, some number of people will die in preventable pain and suffer a painful death. I also know that if we pass any Bill, there will be some number of people who are coerced into taking their own lives. If you have moral certainty—

• 11 Sept 2026 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

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  I will not give way just now. If you have moral certainty on this question, I honestly envy you. On the state of palliative care, we are told that this Bill is about giving our constituents more options—a choice between good palliative care or an assisted death. But in a world where there are such gaping holes in our health, social care and palliative care system, that is simply not the case.

• 11 Sept 2026 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

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  I am sorry; I will not just now. This Bill has an auto-commencement clause, which means that within four years of the passage of this Bill—whatever the state of our health service, of our social care, or of our palliative care; even if there has been another pandemic—it will come into force. That brings me to our safeguards. I cannot vote for a Bill that does not sufficiently guard against coercion. That is what my constituents with disabilities say they fear the most and, having been in charge of social care, I know what that looks like. Let me be clear: the safeguards in this Bill are not enough. If the Bill in its current form passes, a patient would be subject to more scrutiny to give up a kidney than to give up their life. The ultimate weakness of this Bill is that the question being asked when a patient goes to the panel is a medical and legal one, not a social and psychological one. The main judgment will be an assessment of whether they are likely to die in the next six months, not of why they have chosen to die or whether there is a risk of coercion. Coercion is not always committed by the traditional villain; it is not someone who wants money. It is often committed by a loved one at the end of their tether, as support falls away, money drains, options narrow and people’s sense of what choices they have narrow, too. Without improving palliative care, we will put far too many people in that heartbreaking position. As MPs, we are used to being forthright in our opinions and advocating for ourselves and our constituents. On our Select Committee, we constantly hear from vulnerable patients who say that they are frequently ignored, talked about or talked over by medical professionals. They feel talked at, not talked to. When considering this legislation, I do not ask whether it will work for people like me; I ask whether it will work for the most vulnerable—those whose voices are rarely heard and who are most dependent on the state for protection. They rely on us to be their voice. The Bill comes from a place of compassion, but it could lead to a place where a disabled person feels that they are less. It could lead to a place where poor social care means that people do not feel that they have a choice between a comfortable life and an early death. That is why I say, with a heavy heart, not this Bill and not at this time.

• 10 Sept 2026 · Government Contracts: Small Businesses · Hansard source

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  21. What steps she is taking to help ensure small businesses have improved access to Government contracts.

• 10 Sept 2026 · Government Contracts: Small Businesses · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Government’s commitment to helping SMEs to access public contracts. In Calder Valley—or valve valley, as we often call it— small manufacturing firms contribute to nationally significant projects through supply chains, but are often left out of the conversation about national procurement. How can we ensure that these smaller manufacturers have the opportunities created by Governments to create a new generation of skilled manufacturing jobs?

• 8 Sept 2026 · Israel and Palestine · Hansard source

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  I welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement. Violence and intimidation carried out by settler extremists and the expansion of settlements mean that there cannot be a two-state solution. Yet illegal settlements and outposts targeting Palestinian civilians would not happen without the collusion of the Israeli army. Will my right hon. Friend please confirm that he is making representations at the highest level to say that collusion with extremist settlers must stop?

• 7 Sept 2026 · Health Bill · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for making such a powerful speech, and for all the work that she does in this regard. These long waiting times are particularly difficult when children are involved, because a child's life is so attenuated. If a parent is waiting for 18 months, that amounts to one and a half or two school years. Does my hon. Friend agree that the key to prevention is to ensure that these matters are dealt with as quickly as possible?

• 7 Sept 2026 · Health Bill · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for his powerful speech, and for bringing his personal experience to the Chamber. I am sure that he will agree with me that the ‘H’ in EHCP stands for health; we need to see the health service doing its part. Does he agree?

• 3 Sept 2026 · Vaccination Rates: England · Hansard source

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  It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mrs Barker. I thank my Health and Social Care Committee colleagues for bringing forward this debate. One thing we learned during the pandemic was just how much we all rely on each other. Vaccines were a huge part of helping us get back to seeing our families and taking part in our communities. We got through that period because we recognised that looking after each other meant looking after ourselves. At the same time, we saw a growth of misinformation online. Many of us spent more time online during the pandemic and, too often, social media algorithms pushed people towards content that reinforces fear rather than answers questions. There is a fundamental problem with misinformation, which is that science is evolving and lives in the grey area; it is much easier to be wrong with certainty. Diseases that once killed and disabled huge swathes of our population have been brought under control because of generations of vaccines. That is something we should never take for granted. Vaccines do not cause autism; they cause healthy children. Yet we are seeing a worrying decline in the uptake of vaccines, which is the reason for this debate. In England, less than 84% of children have received both doses of the MMR vaccine, well below the 95% target that gives us the best protection. The consequences are not theoretical—we are experiencing them now. The growth of misinformation and the anti-vax movement puts children’s lives at risk. The majority of measles cases since the start of this year—61%—have been in children under 10. Most of those children were unvaccinated. Tragically, two children have died—of a preventable disease for which there is a safe and effective vaccine. That is two families suffering an unimaginable loss. The irony with vaccines is that the lives saved never make the headlines—the children who do not get sick, the hospital admissions we do not have. The families who never experience that terrible loss will never know that it was vaccines that spared them from it. At the core of this debate are trust and responsibility. The Government have a responsibility to champion the benefits of vaccines and to set out a clear path to 95%. We have a responsibility to take up those vaccines, but the Government must act. If social media companies do not stop the harmful content we have talked about, we must act to make sure they do. I once again thank my fellow Health and Social Care Committee members for bringing forward this debate. We need to make sure we have a clear plan and clear action so that we can solve this problem.

• 3 Sept 2026 · Bluetongue Virus in Livestock · Hansard source

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  I welcome the new Minister to his role, and thank our DEFRA Parliamentary Private Secretaries for their typically diligent work in briefing us ahead of this urgent question. While taking part in the NFU’s excellent food and farming fellowship, I have seen how precarious profit margins are for our livestock farmers, both in Calder Valley and beyond. What steps are we going to take to support farmers managing the costs of bluetongue, including vet bills, vaccinations and fallen stock disposal?

• 1 Sept 2026 · Criminal Justice Reform · Hansard source

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  We know that these decisions are not easy and that they reflect the state that the system was left in, but I have concerns, as do charities, about domestic abuse survivors, because perpetrators are going to be let out as early as next month. It is clear that we need to do more to support these victims, so can the Minister please tell me what services will be put in place to ensure that there is adequate support for victims of domestic abuse whose perpetrators are being released?

• 1 Sept 2026 · Direction of Government · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Prime Minister’s commitment to grasp the nettle of social care reform. At Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS foundation trust, which is a well-performing trust, about 20% of beds are filled with people who should be getting better at home, but with a 10% vacancy rate in social care, we cannot fix the problem without having high-quality jobs and progression in social care. Will the Prime Minister direct Louise Casey to look at that area of social care so that we can build a national care service that people want to work in?

• 14 Jul 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The public must have confidence that where there is clear misconduct, action will be taken by medical regulators. However, freedom of information requests that I submitted to the General Medical Council found that only 6% of doctors accused of rape were suspended or erased from the register. My FOI request to the Nursing and Midwifery Council found that about a quarter of those accused of rape or sexual misconduct were suspended or erased from the register. Does the Minister agree that the priority for regulators must be patient safety and not protecting their registrants?

• 13 Jul 2026 · Seasonal Worker Visas · Hansard source

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  11. When she plans to announce the number of seasonal worker visas available for 2027.

• 13 Jul 2026 · Seasonal Worker Visas · Hansard source

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  I am currently taking part in the excellent National Farmers’ Union food and farming fellowship. On a recent visit to a vegetable farm, I was told that the numbers of seasonal worker visas are announced far too late in the farming cycle for farmers to be able to plan in advance. If we are to have domestic agriculture, we are going to need some seasonal workers. Will the Government look at working with the industry so that we can plan in advance and actually run our farms and agriculture sector properly?

• 13 Jul 2026 · State of Climate and Nature · Hansard source

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  I represent a constituency at the frontline of the climate and nature emergency. Flood risks are part of our daily life. Moors for the Future has demonstrated that restoring peatland can slow waterflow on hills; water passing over restored peat goes 670 times slower than it does over degraded peat. Moors for the Future is working on projects with the Highways Agency to stop roads flooding. That is a win-win initiative that helps nature and infrastructure. Will the Government continue to support healthy peatland across the country?

• 6 Jul 2026 · Civil Service Pensions · Hansard source

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  I have been contacted about this issue by 14 constituents and have raised their cases. Only three of them have been resolved; the unresolved ones include bereavement cases, which we were told would be prioritised. I went to the drop-in for MPs, but I sat there for 40 minutes and then left because nothing had happened. It beggars belief that this company has ridden roughshod over people who have been public servants for years. Can the Minister say what will it take for us to take the contract off Capita?

• 1 Jul 2026 · Flood Insurance: Reform of Flood Re · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for her statement and for her ongoing commitment to flood defences—both the natural flood management in which organisations such as Slow the Flow in my constituency specialise, and the more traditional types that have just been signed off for the town of Hebden Bridge. More than half the homes in Calder Valley are in council tax bands A and B, and many of their residents live with the risk of flooding. In my community, the memory of the devastating Boxing Day floods in 2015, followed by those in February 2020, still loom large in people’s minds, and cause a great deal of anxiety. The lowering of the flooding element of their household insurance to just £25 will make a real difference to families with modest incomes. What practical steps will the Government take to encourage people to take up that offer, and to ensure that they understand what changes have been made?

• 30 Jun 2026 · Family Justice System · Hansard source

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  Will the Minister reassure me that we remain committed to repealing in this Parliament the presumption of contact in family courts, to bring full justice to the 67 children murdered at the hands of abusive ex-partners with whom contact should never have been granted?

• 30 Jun 2026 · National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation · Hansard source

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  I echo what was said by my colleague from the Health and Social Care Committee, the hon. Member for Oxford West and Abingdon (Layla Moran). Baroness Amos pointed to workforce challenges and their impact on care and safety, and she noted that 67% of midwives reported burnout. Meanwhile, a General Medical Council survey found that 63% of obstetrics and gynaecology trainees had a high or very high workload. That is higher than the 42% average. The workforce plan has to address those problems—but will it?

• 25 Jun 2026 · Steel Trade Measure · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Minister’s statement, and particularly the decision to remove products where there is no domestic production. That will make a real difference to specialist manufacturers in Calder Valley, but they are understandably worried about what the tariffs will mean for their businesses. Will the Minister clarify whether galvanised wire products, which I have written to the Secretary of State about, are covered by the exemption? Companies in my constituency such as Siddall & Hilton, which makes specialist fencing, cannot get UK-produced supply and therefore get inputs from the EU, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Nottingham Maternity and Neonatal Services · Hansard source

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  In her remarks this morning, Donna Ockenden noted that maternal deaths are at a 20-year high, and total clinical negligence costs are greater than the money spent on maternity services. That should give us pause for thought. It is a national emergency, one that is causing unimaginable pain. The failure of the regulation is stark, so will my right hon. Friend confirm that we will tackle the culture of defensiveness across medical regulators that has caused such harm?

• 10 Jun 2026 · Child Contact Arrangements · Hansard source

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  It is true that the Government do not recognise parental alienation and the syndrome, but courts too often do. In fact, a report released just yesterday by the campaign group Right to Equality that analysed language used in family court judgments found that over 70% of those judgments used victim-blaming language. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need to open up the Judicial College to some scrutiny if those are the kinds of judges that it is producing?