Louise Sandher-Jones MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 2 Sept 2025 · Sudan · Hansard source

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  El Fasher has been under siege for over 500 days, and famine and cholera—all man-made problems—are rife. It has been described as the “epicentre of child suffering”. What is the UK doing to protect civilians and ensure that humanitarian aid can reach those who need it?

• 2 Sept 2025 · Sudan · Hansard source

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  2. What assessment he has made of the humanitarian situation in Sudan.

• 1 Sept 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  The famine in Gaza is clearly man-made and it is abominable. That tens of thousands of civilians have been brutally killed is abominable. The retention of the hostages by Hamas, and even the retention of the bodies of those who have passed away, is equally abominable. We can all see what is happening in Gaza and what is happening in the west bank, and this cannot be allowed to continue. What more messages can we send to Netanyahu and the Israeli Government to say that the two-state solution is the only way forward? It is the only way to guarantee peace and security in the middle east, which every single innocent civilian deserves, and to stop the increased illegal settlements in the west bank.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Independent Water Commission · Hansard source

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  Just this morning, I was absolutely disgusted to see reports of a sewage leak in the River Hipper in my constituency, so I welcome the Secretary of State’s ambition to tackle this issue. That leak is particularly galling, because it comes after massive hikes to the bills of those who, like myself, live in North East Derbyshire. Can the Secretary of State explain how the new water ombudsman will help us when we seek to challenge unfair bills?

• 15 Jul 2025 · Afghanistan · Hansard source

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  As a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, I was appalled to watch the chaotic mismanagement following the fall of Kabul that left Afghans who served alongside our troops and who worked so hard for a better Afghanistan, dangerously exposed. This was a situation that I feared would happen and could see coming even when I served in Afghanistan in 2017. The fact is that the previous Government had plenty of warning that that situation could happen and failed to plan properly for it. This data breach joins a litany of other data breaches, delays and failures of our allies. Does the Secretary of State agree that we must give our fullest support to those Afghans, so they can rebuild a new life in the UK?

• 14 Jul 2025 · Northern Ireland Veterans: Prosecution · Hansard source

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  I will give way to the hon. Member for Tiverton and Minehead (Rachel Gilmour), if she would like to jump in.

• 14 Jul 2025 · Northern Ireland Veterans: Prosecution · Hansard source

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  I agree with the hon. Lady. I am a former officer, and one thing that was really drummed into us at Sandhurst is the responsibility we have for those who serve under us. It is often the lot of those of lower ranks to make the most difficult of decisions, and the responsibility is on officers to make sure that when soldiers go into a difficult situation, they have the training and the cover that they need. It is right that officers be held to account for any role that they play, and it is definitely something that I will be keeping a close eye on. I say, as a proud veteran of the British Army, that we do ourselves a huge disservice if we do not hold ourselves to the highest standards and ensure accountability when or if a comrade has failed those tests.

• 14 Jul 2025 · Northern Ireland Veterans: Prosecution · Hansard source

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  I will make some progress and then come back to the right hon. Gentleman. It was a law that was forced through to try to curry favour in a desperate attempt to save the dying Administration of Boris Johnson. Among all the complicated arguments around how best to properly deal with the impact of the troubles, there is one huge, incontrovertible fact, which was ignored in the previous speech, and which no amount of clever talk or posturing can obscure: the legacy Act, as it stands, gives immunity to terrorists. That is abhorrent.

• 14 Jul 2025 · Northern Ireland Veterans: Prosecution · Hansard source

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  I say to anybody who signed the petition or is here today because they fear the raking over of every firefight, weapon discharge or contact from 50 years ago: that fear is false. I say again: it is complete scaremongering spread by people who are at best naive—perhaps they do not know the details of the legislation or are ill informed on the content.

• 14 Jul 2025 · Northern Ireland Veterans: Prosecution · Hansard source

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  I will make a little progress, and then I will. The hard truth to acknowledge here, as others already have and others no doubt will, is that a very small number of military colleagues did commit a crime. None the less, it is a central belief of mine that it does not matter who you are or what you do, you should be held accountable without fear or favour if you commit a crime. That is a hard truth. I know that every single veteran here would say that any person who has been a member of the military and committed a crime should be held to account.

• 14 Jul 2025 · Northern Ireland Veterans: Prosecution · Hansard source

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  I think that is a bit of a moot question when we are debating repealing the Act. The right hon. Gentleman is asking me if we opposed it in Parliament before I got elected—I am stood right here making the case to repeal parts of the Act and replace it. [ Interruption. ]

• 14 Jul 2025 · Northern Ireland Veterans: Prosecution · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member is welcome to check Hansard after the debate, but I was referring specifically to people—we all know they exist—who are scaremongering without knowing the details of the Bill and naively making up things that are not based on evidence. At no point did I say that any veteran is naive, and I know that he has too much respect for our procedures and for colleagues to keep repeating that when it is not true.

• 14 Jul 2025 · Northern Ireland Veterans: Prosecution · Hansard source

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  I thank the right hon. Member for making that point. It is important to note that only one soldier has been convicted in the past 13 years. I do not have time to go into the details of that case, but I urge him and anybody present to look into them. Whether or not a prosecution was in the public interest there, I note that he served only a suspended sentence. The legacy Act has been found to be unlawful. It gives immunity to terrorists. No more needs to be said: it gives immunity to terrorists, and it denies justice to the families of the 200 service personnel who were murdered by terrorists during the troubles. It is not supported in its current form by victims, it is not supported by any Northern Irish party and many veterans are troubled by it. It must go and be replaced. Again, I call on the Minister to outline how we can protect veterans from malicious lawfare in relation to any conflict.

• 14 Jul 2025 · Northern Ireland Veterans: Prosecution · Hansard source

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  I have said—the hon. Gentleman can read back—that scaremongering has been spread by people who should know better. They know fully the details of the legislation and the context of Northern Ireland and have gone out to these veterans and said, “There’s going to be lots of malicious lawfare against you if this Act is repealed”, when everybody here knows that is not the case at all. They are pushing a cynical political agenda. I and my colleagues who are veterans are vehemently opposed to spurious prosecution, to dragging people through the courts where there is absolutely no case to answer and to malicious lawfare. I cannot repeat that enough. I do not want to see a single veteran who has not committed a crime in any sense being hounded. Op Banner was an incredibly complex campaign. I find abhorrent the idea that any veteran should be at risk of malicious lawfare simply for doing their job on a very difficult operation. I call on the Secretary of State to explain how we will protect any veteran who is accused of any wrongdoing in Northern Ireland.

• 14 Jul 2025 · Northern Ireland Veterans: Prosecution · Hansard source

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  To address that point, the head of the Police Service of Northern Ireland said that the letters that the right hon. Gentleman refers to grant no immunity. The only thing that grants immunity to former members of the IRA is the Northern Ireland legacy Act as it stands. That is a simple fact. If we want to protect veterans—I know that everybody in this room wants to—we must remember those who were murdered in cold blood by terrorists. Those terrorists now sleep soundly in their beds, free from the threat of prosecution—the threat of justice—precisely because of the Northern Ireland legacy Act. They were given that by a British Government. A British Government have given terrorists who have murdered British personnel complete immunity. There was an article in The Guardian today about the family of Tony Harrison, a British para who was murdered in east Belfast. He was shot while at home with his fiancée. He was not on military operations—there was no firefight. He was shot in the back in his own home. He was just 21 years old. Under the Northern Ireland legacy Act as it stands, there is no route for his murderers to be held to account. No wonder his family have now launched a legal challenge to the Act, because they refuse to have Tony be denied justice. We must never forget, but always remember, the 200 personnel whose families are being denied justice because of this Act and how it stands. That is fundamental to why the legacy Act must be repealed and replaced.

• 14 Jul 2025 · Northern Ireland Veterans: Prosecution · Hansard source

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  No, I really must finish. I end by remembering all the victims of the conflict in Northern Ireland. Far too many innocent lives were lost and families changed forever. The peace process and the Good Friday agreement stand testament to the immense courage shown every day by communities in Northern Ireland—communities who every day choose peace. We have a huge duty here in Westminster to work with those communities, not against them, and I hope all Members present will reflect on that important undertaking.

• 14 Jul 2025 · Northern Ireland Veterans: Prosecution · Hansard source

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  All I have heard is a very strong defence of the Act as it currently stands. I more than welcome a discussion about how we can move forward and repair what several Members have already said are the inadequacies in the current Act. That is the key point: there are inadequacies in the current Act.

• 14 Jul 2025 · Northern Ireland Veterans: Prosecution · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Mundell. I begin by acknowledging the outstanding service of the many British service personnel who worked so hard on an incredibly difficult operation to protect the communities of Northern Ireland. We should be in no doubt that they upheld British military ethics to the highest standard and rigorously trained, with operations carefully planned and professionally carried out. As a veteran, I was honoured to serve with other veterans of that conflict, albeit at a later time. We must never forget the 722 veterans who paid the ultimate price and did not return. We must never forget their sacrifice, or that of those who were injured. We must remember them and honour their service with pride. The Northern Ireland legacy Act is a prime example of how to get legislation very wrong. In 2014, as part of the Stormont House agreement, the UK and Irish Governments agreed a way forward to deal with legacy investigations, which had broad support from—crucially—victims and political parties. Instead, in 2020, the Conservative Government decided to push on, by themselves, in a completely different direction, and introduced legislation that made false promises to veterans that could not be kept, introducing chaos to the system, and which has immediately failed in the courts.

• 3 Jul 2025 · NHS 10-Year Plan · Hansard source

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  My constituents raise issues with accessing the NHS, particularly local GPs and primary services, at every chance they have. I welcome the bold, big ambition of this 10-year health strategy. Can the Secretary of State outline how it will make a big difference in our small towns and villages?

• 3 Jul 2025 · Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme · Hansard source

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  In North East Derbyshire, we are proud to have many historic, beautiful churches that reflect the many broad traditions within Christian faith in this country. Can my hon. Friend please provide clarity on the future of the listed places of worship scheme so that we can continue to treasure these places for many generations to come?

• 3 Jul 2025 · Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme · Hansard source

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  3. What assessment the Church Commissioners have made of the potential impact of the £25,000 cap in the listed places of worship grant scheme on levels of church repairs.

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

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  Many of my constituents who live in park homes have been in touch. They have worked really hard all their lives, and they love and value living in these communities. They are responsible for the upkeep of these homes, which are not holiday homes—these are their homes—and for upgrading their properties where they choose to. However, if they wish to sell these homes, they are subject to a 10% charge on the sale of the property, due to the owner of the site. That seems unfair. What will the Government do to fix this problem?

• 25 Jun 2025 · Nuclear-certified Aircraft Procurement · Hansard source

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  May I say how much I welcome this announcement, and the extra capability that it will bring? Will the Minister outline how this decision will support jobs across the UK, particularly for those in my constituency of North East Derbyshire who work in defence?

• 24 Jun 2025 · Flood Defences: Chesterfield · Hansard source

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  In my constituency, which borders my hon. Friend’s constituency of Chesterfield, we are affected by exactly the same issues that he has been outlining with exactly the same rivers. I note how interlinked all this is—my hon. Friend has spoken previously about getting people round the table. One of the things I found frustrating was coming up time and time again against the issue of riparian owners and the vital role they play in maintaining water courses. Many riparian owners do so very diligently, but others are not even aware of their responsibilities. What should be the Government’s way forward on that?

• 24 Jun 2025 · China Audit · Hansard source

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  May I say to the Foreign Secretary how much I welcome this China audit? I would like to highlight one aspect in particular. As someone who studied Chinese at university and lived there for a year, I know how complex and different China can be, and the many misconceptions and ignorance around China have been a source of frustration for me. Whatever anybody thinks of our relationship with China, it is absolutely vital that we have clear communication and that we deal with China from a position of knowledge. Does the Foreign Secretary agree how important it is that the FCDO is upskilled to ensure that we have that knowledge of Chinese culture and language skills, so we are fully prepared for the years ahead?