Laura Kyrke-Smith MP: speeches

Speeches

• 18 Mar 2026 · Representation of the People Bill (First sitting) · Hansard source

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  Q I think that you have welcomed votes at 16 as a major opportunity for democratic renewal, and I agree. I hope that the Bill will make it not only possible for 16 and 17-year-olds to vote, but as easy as possible. Can you say more about how the Bill will do that? Dr Garland: Automatic voter registration is hugely important. We know that 16 and 17-year-olds and younger people are less likely to be registered, so that is absolutely crucial. As we heard earlier, that lead-in time —the timetable—can make sure that there is enough time to inform young people, educate them, give them the tools they need, and ensure that they understand the process of how to go about voting as well. The more we build things around the Bill to make that a success, the better.

• 17 Mar 2026 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I thank the Foreign Secretary for her statement and in particular for her commitment to Lebanon, which does not want this war any more than we do. Others have also noted that while the world is focused elsewhere in the middle east, Israeli forces have stepped up their deadly attacks on Palestinians in the west bank. The accounts of the killing of the Bani Odeh family in the village of Tammun are utterly harrowing. One witness described to the BBC the little kids crying before they were killed in their car on the way back from their family shopping trip. Can the Foreign Secretary reassure me that she will keep calling out these crimes and make it clear to the Government of Israel that this cannot continue?

• 12 Mar 2026 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Lots of us in Aylesbury and the villages have watched the Channel 4 drama “Dirty Business”. One resident described it to me as harrowing, powerful and emotive, and they are right. The Government have made some good progress in tackling the crime of sewage in our waterways through the Water (Special Measures) Act 2025, but will the Leader of the House ensure that further parliamentary time is allocated to debate and advance our long-overdue reforms to the water sector?

• 12 Mar 2026 · Parental Rights at Work · Hansard source

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  1. What recent progress he has made on improving parental rights at work.

• 12 Mar 2026 · Parental Rights at Work · Hansard source

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  The Government are making great strides in improving parental rights at work, but for kinship carers it is still tough. In Aylesbury, I met a wonderful lady who has become the kinship carer for her baby grandson, but she was given only 10 days of paid leave from work. She now has to take unpaid leave to care for him, which is causing serious financial strain. Will the Minister join me in paying tribute to all our kinship carers for their remarkable work and outline what discussions she is having across Government to ensure that kinship carers get the support that they deserve?

• 9 Mar 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I know that the Minister has been making progress with the review of the personal independence payment assessment. I hear from many people who struggle with the complexity and mistakes in the current system, including one lady with severe spinal and nerve conditions who had her payments reduced after the DWP did not receive the medical evidence that she had sent. Does the Minister agree that any changes to the system must be humane and fair, and that it must become easier to navigate and easier for people to trust?

• 2 Mar 2026 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I thank the Prime Minister for his statement and his clarity on our adherence to international law. From Somalia to Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, history shows us that military interventions do not always lead to peaceful political transitions and often have wider regional and global repercussions. Can the Prime Minister reassure me that his focus will be on encouraging a peaceful transition for the people of Iran and de-escalating the situation regionally and globally?

• 11 Feb 2026 · Hughes Report: Second Anniversary · Hansard source

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  This is about so many different aspects of support. One of the recommendations in the Hughes report that has been drawn to my attention is the one on housing, which is so crucial. My constituent was prescribed sodium valproate during pregnancy. Her son, who is now 25, lives with foetal valproate syndrome, requires 24/7 support, and will do for the rest of his life. My constituent said that even relatively modest adjustments to their home and some specialist equipment could make a real difference, but she has not found any way of getting funding for that. Does the hon. Member agree that housing is also a really important area for us to look at?

• 5 Feb 2026 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Churches are at the heart of our communities, and I have heard from residents who go to St Peter and St Paul’s in Wingrave, St Michael’s in Aston Clinton and St Mary’s in Aylesbury, among others, about the importance of the listed places of worship grant scheme in helping to preserve historic church buildings. Can the Leader of the House therefore confirm whether that funding will be continued? What steps will be taken to protect smaller congregations if so, and can he ensure that this House debates the importance of churches in our communities?

• 4 Feb 2026 · Armed Conflict: Children · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech on an important topic. She talks about the trauma of children living in war zones. According to UNICEF, 100% of children in Gaza face mental health challenges, and are in need of mental health and psychosocial support. Does she agree that that is a crucial part of protecting children during conflict and helping them to recover from it?

• 3 Feb 2026 · Town and City Centre Safety · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Dowd. Aylesbury has much to offer and huge potential, but we will fulfil that potential only if people feel safe when they are in town. Our police do a really good job, as do wonderful organisations such as Street Angels, but we have got to be honest about the challenges, of which I will briefly mention three. First, the threats faced by our retail workers have surged in recent years. I met the assistant manager at one of the retailers at the shopping park in Aylesbury, and she showed me harrowing footage from her bodycam during a recent shoplifting incident. She kept remarkably calm and professional, but she was dealing with not just one individual, but a whole crowd of shoplifters who threatened her, surged the exit to the store and attacked her physically as well as verbally before making a dash for it. That is far from the only time this has happened recently, and no retail worker should ever have to deal with that. I support the measures in the Government’s Crime and Policing Bill, which will introduce a new standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker, but I would like to hear more from the Minister about that. Secondly, I want to highlight the persistent antisocial behaviour we see in our town. I met representatives from our local Pubwatch group, who described the antisocial behaviour that deters paying customers from coming into their premises. I hear from women in particular who say they do not feel safe walking down certain streets at night. I know that the Crime and Policing Bill includes measures to address this, such as the introduction of new respect orders, but I would be grateful if the Minister shared more about plans to continue tackling that blight on our town centres. Thirdly, I want to make a point about root causes. While it is right that we tackle these threats to safety in our towns, we will not get far without also looking at what is behind them. We know that antisocial behaviour is often linked to drug and alcohol use, but it is also driven by lack of opportunity and hope. In my view, measures such as the Government’s youth strategy, which sets out a long-term plan to invest in safe spaces and opportunities for young people, will ultimately reduce the incentives for people to get into the kinds of activities that make our town centres unsafe, and instead give people a sense of hope and opportunity. I would like to hear more from the Minister on that.

• 26 Jan 2026 · Police Reform White Paper · Hansard source

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  I thank the Home Secretary for her action. One local farmer described to me the crime he has been experiencing, with gates cut open, crops damaged, and quad bikes and 4x4s stolen. Because he lives close to the Bedfordshire border, the criminals just flee over the border, and Thames Valley police finds it very difficult to follow that up. Can she say how these reforms will improve the police presence and their response times in rural areas, and in particular how they will solve the problem of police forces not collaborating across borders?

• 21 Jan 2026 · Animal Welfare Strategy for England · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for South Derbyshire (Samantha Niblett) on securing the debate. Animal welfare is one of the biggest issues people write to me about, and I am glad when they do, because the way we treat our animals matters and says a lot about what kind of country we are and want to be. I see every day in Aylesbury and the surrounding villages how much people care about animals. We are fortunate to have local charities doing brilliant work with and for animals. I think, for example, of Horses Helping People, a charity in Ledburn, where I met the most beautiful, well cared-for horses and heard about the role they play in helping people who are neurodivergent, have learning disabilities or anxiety, or are experiencing other mental health challenges. We are fortunate to have local farmers like Nick, who I met on his beef farm near Wingrave, who are determined to give their animals the best quality of life. They know what a difference that makes to consumers. I am also fortunate in my patch to have people who feel passionately about this just on a personal level and write to me about all sorts of things, some of which we have discussed today, whether it is banning electric-shock collars for pets, ending the cruel use of snare traps, or banning illegal puppy and kitten smuggling—I was pleased to support the law on that that passed last year. I want to touch briefly on three recurring themes that come through most strongly from my constituents. The first is the use of cages for hens. We have heard a lot about chickens and the industrial scale of the chicken farming industry in particular. My constituents are really clear that animals should receive care, respect and protection, whatever farming system they are kept in, and I agree. I welcome the fact that the animal welfare strategy commits to phasing out cages for laying hens, alongside farrowing crates for pigs. Those will be fantastic steps, and I hope the Minister will work at pace, in consultation with all relevant stakeholders, to drive them forward. I would love to see an end to male chick hatching, too. We have the technology; we just have to adopt it, and others have covered that well. The second point that many people write to me about is animal testing. Personally, I want to see that phased out as quickly as possible. We have made a great commitment—a £60 million investment—to accelerate the development of alternatives, alongside further funding to advance human relevance testing models. We have a serious science-led road map in the animal welfare strategy, and it has been welcomed by organisations such as the RSPCA and Cruelty Free International, but I hope we can keep going further and faster to advance the scientific alternatives in areas where they do not yet exist. The third point, which has not yet been raised in detail, is food labelling. Many constituents have told me that they want clearer animal welfare information on the food they buy so they can make the right purchasing decisions that align with their values. It can also really help the farmers who invest in higher welfare standards to differentiate their products and be fairly rewarded for them. It is really important for young people as well; we want them to have a better relationship with food and animals than we do, and knowing where their food comes from and seeing it on packaging could help. I have seen commitment from the Government in this area and I hope we can progress that quickly. The direction of travel set out in the animal welfare strategy sets a really positive path ahead of us. I hope we can continue to move at pace to implement it. The UK’s proud reputation for high animal welfare standards is deserved, and if we can move the strategy forward, we can ensure that further improvements become a legacy of this Government.

• 20 Jan 2026 · Mobile Phones and Social Media: Use by Children · Hansard source

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  I really welcome the Secretary of State’s leadership and commitment. I run a work experience programme, “Your Voice, Your Future”, which encourages young people to get involved in politics and government. Some of the participants produced a powerful campaign called “Rise above the rumours”, which was all about how the rapid spread of misinformation online is harming young people’s mental health and fuelling division. Can the Secretary of State say how young people in my constituency and across the country can get involved?

• 19 Jan 2026 · Sale of Fireworks · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine, and to contribute to this important debate. I enjoyed my close-up view of the hon. Member for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Moore) introducing it, but I am glad to be back on the right side of the Chamber. More than 740 constituents across Aylesbury and the villages have signed petitions raising these concerns, and I am grateful to them for doing so. That shows clearly how important this issue is to people, and to their pets, farm animals and other livestock, as we have discussed. I also pay tribute to charities such as the RSPCA and Dogs Trust, which have worked tirelessly to highlight the impact that fireworks can have. In their survey, 45% of surveyed dog owners report that their dog has been negatively affected by fireworks. During the bonfire night and Diwali period, Petlog, the UK’s lost and found microchip database, recorded an 81% surge in missing dog reports compared with the prior two weeks, showing the devastating impact that fireworks can have on animals and on the households that own them. At the same time, I acknowledge that for many families across the country—and for me—fireworks are a source of joy and celebration that mark new year, Diwali, bonfire night, Chinese new year and many other special occasions. In no way would I want to discourage those important moments where our communities come together and celebrate. We do not have enough of those. However, I recognise that the majority of people in Aylesbury and across the country want to celebrate and enjoy those moments responsibly, and I am glad that they do. The questions seems to be how to strike the right balance between safety and welfare on the one hand and celebration on the other. The Government have done some good work to build on; restricting the sale of fireworks to licensed traders and for certain occasions, alongside the public safety campaigns that we have seen, is a good start. I welcome the Government’s ongoing engagement with consumer groups, businesses and charities to keep gathering the evidence that we need—but for many of my constituents, the evidence already feels clear and they want more action. One constituent, Patricia Walker, wrote to me describing the distress that her household experienced on new year’s eve. She said, “Fireworks from 4 pm til 3 am, some sounding like missiles, nobody using fireworks wisely there. My dog shook for hours and was sick. I was up all night. Not responsible or appropriate”. I ask the Minister to look at three points that have been raised with me. First, as we have heard from others, there is a strong case for reviewing the maximum permitted noise level for consumer fireworks. At present it stands at 120 dB, but that is far louder than is necessary to enjoy the visual celebration. Campaigners and petitioners have called for a reduction to 90 dB; since low-noise fireworks are already widely available, that would not stop celebrations, but it would significantly reduce the harm to animals and the distress to people. Of course, we would need to make sure that that limit was enforceable online as well as in shops. Secondly, I ask that we look again at how the existing limits on times and days are enforced and whether further clarity might be needed. Many of the most distressing experiences arise from not just one evening, but fireworks being set off repeatedly over several days or late into the night. Clearer enforcement and better public awareness around permitted use would help ensure that more responsible behaviour becomes the norm. Thirdly, there is more we can do to improve predictability and consideration for others, particularly people who live near farms, stables and animal sanctuaries. Stronger guidance on, or encouragement of, advanced notification of firework use would allow animal owners and vulnerable residents to take simple steps to prevent harm to them. That is already happening in some areas, but it could be promoted much more widely, including in Aylesbury and the villages, and would go a long way to help. I am grateful for the Minister’s consideration—I know she has been listening carefully during this long debate—and I look forward to hearing her responses.

• 19 Jan 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Alex Foster, a 17-year-old from Aylesbury, has shared his experiences of social media with me. He says that “thankfully I was one of the very few who had my phone checked”— by his parents—but “my friends told stories of watching beheadings, terrorist material, explicit photos of them being shared”. Does the Minister agree that we must go further to protect and educate young people when it comes to online harms?

• 15 Jan 2026 · Gambling Harms: Children and Young People · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. It is vital that gambling companies come off football shirts, and I am so pleased that that is happening. I have a constituent, Chloe Long, who tragically lost her brother Ollie to gambling-related suicide. He was a big football fan, and she has spoken so powerfully about how ubiquitous the problem is, as my hon. Friend has said. She worries about young people growing up exposed to so much gambling advertising as a result of watching sport. My concern is that just asking clubs to look at this on a voluntary basis will not be enough. Does my hon. Friend agree that we may need to look at tougher action and clamp down on this link between gambling companies and sport on more than just a voluntary basis?

• 13 Jan 2026 · Maternity and Neonatal Care · Hansard source

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  9. What steps his Department is taking to improve maternity and neonatal care.

• 13 Jan 2026 · Maternity and Neonatal Care · Hansard source

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  I welcome the new maternal care bundle and its ambition to drive consistently high standards of care for every pregnant and new mum. It is great that maternal mental health is one of the five elements prioritised; I am grateful to the Secretary of State for his focus on that. The challenge now is to drive forward its implementation. Can he say more about how he intends to do that, and in particular how he will ensure that NHS staff are trained and confident enough to better screen and support women who are struggling with their mental health?

• 5 Jan 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  In the light of the appalling antisemitic terror attack at Bondi Beach, the faith communities in Aylesbury are scared. I welcome the Government’s funding to protect places of worship, but it does not extend to my local Jewish community, who do not have their own synagogue. What further measures will the Minister consider to ensure that all faith communities, even those without their own premises, are well protected?

• 5 Jan 2026 · Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief · Hansard source

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  I hugely welcome these changes, which have been met with real relief by the farmers in my constituency, and I am grateful to the farmers who fed in their perspectives to me over the last year and allowed me to pass them on to the Treasury. Can the Minister reassure me and my local farmers that he will continue to listen and engage with our farming communities in this way, recognising the inherent value of farming, but also the great contribution it makes to the economy and our food security?

• 15 Dec 2025 · Sudan: Humanitarian Situation · Hansard source

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  I welcome the additional funding and the sanctions that the Minister has updated us on. There is currently a rapid escalation of violence in the Kordofan region, with a repeat of the tactics seen in El Fasher, including siege and sexual violence. What will the Minister do to protect civilians and prevent future atrocities in the Kordofan region?

• 8 Dec 2025 · Digital ID · Hansard source

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  I will make progress. People are right to be cautious about handing over their personal data, and they are right to expect a firm commitment that Government will do everything in their power to protect them. Can the Minister provide some reassurance on that point? Secondly, I have heard from people who believe that introducing digital credentials is the right step, but who are concerned that their elderly relatives, people with disabilities or people without smartphone access, for whatever reason, will not be able to participate. Can the Minister also provide some reassurance that no one, regardless of whether they own a smartphone or have internet access, will be left behind in this scheme? I know that other countries have rolled out digital credentials very successfully. Estonia’s model is very interesting; users still have a lot of control over their data, and they can see what it is being used for and who has accessed it. As we look at our options, I hope that we will learn from what works in other countries and ensure that we put the same protections in place so that people can remain in control of their personal data as best they can. I know that we have a long way to go with the consultation, but I really welcome the fact that it is happening. I encourage my constituents to feed in their concerns, and it is really important that this policy lands in the right place. I welcome the Minister’s feedback on the points that I have raised about data privacy and security, as well as digital inclusion.

• 8 Dec 2025 · Digital ID · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Edward. As we rightly modernise the way people interact with public services, introducing a new digital credential offers real opportunity. I can envisage it making everyday tasks much more convenient, whether that is proving your age, opening a bank account or completing right-to-work checks, and I can see it doing so in a more tailored and personalised way. I can also see there being quicker remedies if things go wrong, with the possibility of current credentials being lost or stolen. If we had a digital credential, it could be revoked and reissued more quickly. I would, however, like to raise two concerns that have come through quite strongly from my constituents. The first is about the security of data that people will be required to share. One constituent told me that they are fearful of their data being put at risk, particularly through the creation of a honeypot for hackers and foreign adversaries. My constituents rightly want to know that only essential information would be shared in each transaction; that data would be encrypted and securely stored; and that the system will be able to keep pace with the many evolving cyber-threats out there.

• 4 Dec 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  In Aylesbury, the average waiting time for a driving test at the local test centre is now 19 weeks. One constituent told me about the substantial financial toll, which can run into the thousands of pounds and places an unreasonable burden on families—that is not to mention the stress. I welcome the Government’s action, including deploying more driving examiners and reducing the ability of bots to book test slots, but driving instructors tell me that the problem is not solved yet. Will the Leader of the House advise me on what more I can do to ensure that we get new drivers on to the roads?