Matt Turmaine MP: speeches

Speeches

• 10 Sept 2026 · Fathers and Positive Male Role Models · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Hobhouse. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland (Sam Rushworth) on securing this important debate, and I thank those who have given such meaningful and touching speeches. The role of fathers and positive role models is more important than ever in our society. Our country has so many things better than it used to years ago. We have better housing, physical healthcare and quality of life than previous generations. However, it is also a country in which old certainties are being eroded. The challenges include, of course, social media and the toxic constant of online harms, and there is also the challenge to young people of finding secure, meaningful work and somewhere to live and maintaining good mental health. The way societal developments impact our children clearly demonstrates the need for positive male role models and parenting provision in Britain and around the world. So what can we do to help make fathers more present and engaged in the lives of our children? Better paternity pay would undoubtedly feature. The report “Economic and Social Benefits of Enhanced Paternity Leave” was published this week. As we have heard, the UK’s statutory paternity leave is the worst in Europe, with two weeks’ leave paid at less than half the minimum wage. That is truly shocking. The evidence is mounting that substantial, well-paid paternity leave is the key to unlocking better outcomes in the UK. Better paternity leave reduces postpartum depression rates and the gender pay gap in the workplace, improves children’s performance at school and enhances fathers’ wellbeing. British parents deserve to be accommodated and supported in the workplace and have the opportunity to equally share parenthood between them, leading to a more prosperous country for us all. We cannot discuss the importance of male role models and present fathers if we do not discuss the measures we can take to facilitate that. Improving paternity leave is the first step towards recognising fathers as equally important parents. The challenge to our young people and the risk of becoming NEET—not in education, employment or training—has become ever more worrying for young fathers and those they parent. Alan Milburn has recently published a report diagnosing the problem, and it makes for very concerning reading. The Centre for Social Justice reported back in April that a lack of male role models is partly responsible for teenage boys’ collapsing happiness and wellbeing. The report found that the number of male volunteers in sports and leisure clubs is falling, and that there are now 1,000 fewer youth clubs than there were 15 years ago—something I have seen in my constituency of Watford. The report also found that, tragically, more young boys in the UK today grow up with a smartphone than with a father figure in the home. Is it any wonder that young boys are turning to alternative male role models online and falling down the toxic manosphere rabbit hole? We cannot rescue this generation from online extreme hate and declining school performance without filling the gaps that have been created in their lives. We must invest in more clubs, sports teams and youth centres so that our boys get the same socialisation and learning opportunities as previous generations. Fathers and positive role models have a vital part to play in ensuring the physical and mental health of our children and their ability to experience high-quality education and find meaningful work.

• 8 Jul 2026 · NHS Corridor Care · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Tooting (Dr Allin-Khan) for securing this important debate. The previous Government wreaked havoc on the NHS, with waiting times at an all-time high even before covid-19 hit a bruised and battered system. Under-investment and undelivered promises saw corridor care become commonplace, with its subsequent indignity and risk. It is a clear visual demonstration of a system on its knees. This Labour Government are determined to act. The urgent and emergency care plan for 2025-26 provided more than £450 million of investment in urgent and emergency care. Additional millions of pounds of capital investment, reaching £1.9 billion over the next four years, will help to deliver it. Links between hospitals and social care are clear and critical, which is why the Government are working to implement a national care service and initiatives such as the first-ever fair pay agreement for adult social care staff. Watford general hospital in my constituency is on the new hospitals programme, but it was previously delayed endlessly under the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition Government and subsequent Conservative Governments. However, under this Labour Government, it is seeing tangible action in preparation for the rebuild. West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has worked incredibly hard in my constituency to deal with corridor care, and I am delighted to say that corridor care has been eradicated altogether at Watford general hospital. It has not had a single incident of corridor care for six months. How has it managed that remarkable achievement? First, the hospital has taken a whole-hospital approach to flow, making it everybody’s business and therefore everybody’s concern. The trust states: “The simple rule is we don’t accept corridor care in our wards. We find other solutions.” Secondly, the hospital has embraced data, embedding it into everything that it does to manage the flow of patients. It has real-time data tools such as electronic bed management, e-whiteboards and a digital command centre. Six key measures have been identified, which staff are using and which are easy to understand. Thirdly, the trust has engaged in partnership working—it could not tackle corridor care in A&E alone. There is a care co-ordination centre to reduce the number of ambulances coming into A&E for those who do not need emergency treatment; a multidisciplinary team to advise paramedics on where people should be treated; and close working with social care, treating people away from hospital, as is included in the NHS 10-year plan. In conclusion, I place on record my thanks and admiration for the staff at the trust. Their hard work has paid off, and it demonstrates what can be achieved when working together as a team to deliver for their patients and population.