Melanie Ward MP: speeches

Speeches

• 20 Jun 2025 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

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  Will my hon. Friend give way?

• 20 Jun 2025 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

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  Will my hon. Friend give way?

• 13 Jun 2025 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

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  I am almost in my 13th hour of trying to speak on this topic, so I hope Members will understand that I am not going to take any interventions. I rise to speak in support of new clause 4, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Peterborough (Andrew Pakes); amendment (b) to new clause 14, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Rochdale (Paul Waugh); and amendment 13, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow West (Patricia Ferguson). Let me start by saying that ending suffering is a shared goal of all Members across this House. No one has a monopoly on wanting to end suffering; the question is how best we do it. As a former aid worker and someone who has risked my own life in order to alleviate the suffering of total strangers in war zones, I promise the House that I am motivated to end suffering at least as much as the next Member. It is worth the House knowing, too, that my darling dad died of terminal cancer in a hospice that was run and funded by a charity, because the NHS does not have that provision. New clause 4 matters, because we do not live in an equal society, although many of us—particularly on the Labour Benches—seek to bring one about. This is a deeply flawed Bill, and the truth is that in seeking to give choice to some, it risks causing new harm to a much larger, vulnerable group of our citizens. The safeguards, which were watered down in Committee, will not prevent this. Indeed, this week, we have seen a letter from over 1,000 doctors saying that the Bill will “widen inequalities” and that it is “simply not safe”. Earlier, we heard a powerful speech from my hon. Friend the Member for Rochdale about the impact of advertising on the most vulnerable. New clause 4 would increase the collection of data about the impact on the most vulnerable and bring in proper oversight from the chief medical officer, including in relation to those with protected characteristics. Last time we debated the Bill, we heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford (Daniel Francis). We are in the shared situation of having close and dearly loved family members who have complex disabilities. My hon. Friend and our families know how it is to have to struggle—to fight every week for the access to basic state services that our loved one is entitled to but cannot access. Those services and precious state resources would increase their equality and ability to live well, but were stretched beyond breaking point by successive Tory Governments. It is that experience that brought me into politics and into the Labour party, and to this day—away from my day job as a Member of this House—I still have to fight on behalf of my loved one, who has significant physical impairments as well as learning difficulties, for them to access the healthcare and support that they desperately need. Vulnerable people do not always make decisions in their own best interests, and I also know from my family experience that they can be highly susceptible to pressure from others who do not have their best interests at heart. That is why the transparency created by new clause 4 matters. I remind the House, too, that the Royal College of Psychiatrists has described the so-called safeguards in the Bill as “inadequate”, and that in Washington state, almost two thirds of those who had an assisted death in the last year for which data is available cited fear of being a burden on their family, friends or caregivers as a reason for doing so. I do not want that to happen in our country. Over 350 disability rights organisations oppose the Bill as it stands, and one of my constituents has told me that the Bill contributes to a sense among disabled people that “We are disposable.” Amendment 13 and new clause 4 both make important changes to the role of the voluntary assisted dying commissioner. I ask my hon. Friends on the Labour Benches whether they have questioned the wisdom of the Prime Minister himself having to personally appoint the death tsar—as the media have christened that role—shortly before the next general election. Finally, earlier this week, I heard an hon. Member say that he believes the Bill is flawed, but plans to vote for it anyway so that it becomes law and we would have to sort out the problems later—we have heard more of that today. The hon. Member did not specify how he thought this would happen, or when. He is right that the Bill is flawed, but he is wrong that we can ignore those problems. To do so would be to fail in our job as legislators. Being in favour of these amendments and against the Bill does not mean accepting the status quo, as some have tried to suggest. It means that we choose, instead, to protect the NHS and to work, to fight and to battle for a palliative care system that is worthy of those we represent, rather than diverting time and energy into helping people to kill themselves.

• 19 May 2025 · Mental Health Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend mentioned men’s sheds. I was delighted to visit the Kirkcaldy men’s shed in my constituency recently to see the amazing work that the people there do. Listening to this debate, I have been struck by the positive changes that this Bill will bring, and by the contrast with Scotland. The people I speak to from almost every local service raise the issue of the mental health crisis across Fife, be they from the NHS, charities or the police. NHS Fife has asked for funding from the Scottish Government to sort out our mental health crisis and was told to not even ask. That is such a contrast with where we are in this place, and I am sure my hon. Friend agrees that action needs to be taken in Scotland and in Fife.

• 19 May 2025 · Mental Health Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for giving way. He is talking, rightly, about the importance of the implementation of legislation. He will be aware that new measures came into force two months ago under the Online Safety Act 2023, which introduced legal powers to remove online content that promotes suicide. Ahead of this, I wrote to Ofcom about a platform that is actively promoting suicide and suicidal ideation, and has been linked to the deaths of almost 100 young people and adults. The Ofcom chief executive replied to say that Ofcom was opening an investigation. Does the Minister agree that it needs to get on and remove this kind of content across the UK?

• 16 May 2025 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

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  I wonder if the hon. Gentleman has the experience, as I and the relatives of many disabled people up and down this country have, of having to fight the medical profession to get the attention and the worth that a loved one deserves when the medical profession is not listening to us or to what that loved one needs. That is the experience of many people up and down this country.

• 16 May 2025 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

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  Will the right hon. Member give way?

• 23 Apr 2025 · Hospitals · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is talking about the important work done by Lord Darzi, and the findings on crumbling hospitals in England. He may be interested to hear that recent figures show that the bill for the high-risk repairs needed to Scottish hospitals stands at £64 million. Those repairs have not been carried out under the SNP. They include two high-risk repairs that are badly needed, and have been outstanding since 2016, at Cameron hospital in Fife, which is used by some of my constituents. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Scottish Government should use some of the record funding provided to them by this Labour Government to fix our hospitals in Scotland?

• 22 Apr 2025 · “For Women Scotland” Supreme Court Ruling · Hansard source

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  Following the welcome clarity from the Supreme Court that Labour’s Equality Act has always contained the right to single-sex spaces for women as well as protections for trans people, does the Minister agree that the SNP Scottish Health Secretary must urgently get a grip and ensure that the NHS is upholding the law, especially in my area of Fife where it appears that a nurse, Sandie Peggie, was disciplined by NHS managers for trying to exercise her right to use a single-sex changing room?

• 27 Feb 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  The Leader of the House may be aware of the ongoing tribunal case of Sandie Peggie, a nurse at my local hospital in Kirkcaldy. Women’s sex-based rights are hard fought and we give them up at our peril. The UK Health Secretary is right to support the need for single-sex spaces and sex-based rights for women in the NHS. Of course, every citizen must be afforded safety, respect and dignity in the work place. While the Leader of the House may not want to comment on an ongoing tribunal, does she agree with me that single-sex spaces must be protected, and will she make time for a debate on how we can best do that?

• 15 Jan 2025 · Health and Social Care: Winter Update · Hansard source

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  At the Victoria hospital in Kirkcaldy, paramedics have had to establish a makeshift ward outside as ambulances queue up outside A&E. The number of people presenting in December 2024 was roughly the same as in December 2019, but there has been an increase of almost 300% in those waiting over four hours at A&E. Does the Secretary of State agree that this is a dreadful indictment of 18 years of SNP rule in Scotland, and that the SNP Government must use some of the additional £4.9 billion from the UK Labour Budget to get a grip? My constituents deserve so much better than this.

• 29 Nov 2024 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

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  Earlier this week, colleagues and I met two eminent doctors who were former presidents of the Association for Palliative Medicine, and they raised serious concerns about the Bill, including that the doctor or medical practitioner who makes the assessment need never have met the person they are assessing, or been involved in their care at all. What does the hon. Gentleman make of that?

• 29 Nov 2024 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

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  On that point, will my hon. Friend give way?

• 29 Nov 2024 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend briefly mentioned coercion, and the well-held fears of many of us in the House about the risk of coercion, particularly for vulnerable people. What does he make of the fact that in Washington state, where the relevant law is restricted to terminally ill people like this Bill, last year 59% of those who went through with an assisted death did so because they feared being “a burden” to “family, friends or care givers”? In Oregon, the proportion last year was 43%. [ Official Report , 6 December 2024; Vol. 758, c. 6WC.] (Correction)

• 25 Nov 2024 · Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme · Hansard source

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  My constituent Dr Lubna Hadoura is an NHS consultant who desperately wants to be able to care for her 80-year-old mother, a refugee displaced from Gaza earlier this year who is now alone in Egypt and unable to care for herself. Will the Minister assure me that her application for an adult dependent relative visa will be carefully, humanely and properly considered?

• 19 Nov 2024 · Occupied Palestinian Territories: Humanitarian Situation · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Roger, and I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow West (Patricia Ferguson) for securing this important debate. As we meet today, there is increasing evidence that what is being done to the Palestinians of Gaza will come to be understood as crimes of historic magnitude. Our response to them and our efforts to stop them should be of a gravity that is equal to the moment we are in. The last time we spoke on the issue in the Chamber, I expressed grave concern that Israel was preventing aid from entering Gaza, and that it might even go as far as preventing the UN from carrying out its duties in the provision of humanitarian assistance. Since then, the Knesset has passed a Bill banning UNRWA from Israeli territory and occupied Palestinian territory, and it has even banned the UN Secretary-General. I spoke about the situation in the north of Gaza, including at Kamal Adwan hospital, where the Israeli military’s actions were endangering the lives of children in paediatric intensive care. Some of those children were killed after the hospital was besieged and many medical workers were abducted. They must be released. How will the Government help to ensure those responsible are held accountable? The denial of humanitarian assistance has been accompanied by what Human Rights Watch referred to last week as “massive, deliberate forced displacement of Palestinian civilians in Gaza”. Human Rights Watch made it clear that the Israeli authorities are responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said: “We are facing what could amount to atrocity crimes, including potentially extending to crimes against humanity.” One person who is similarly clear is the Israeli National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir. In the summer, he said he wanted to “encourage emigration” from Gaza and replace the population with Israeli settlers. I remind the House that forced displacement constitutes a crime against humanity. Finally, I share the words of my friend Moe, a doctor and aid worker in Gaza. He is Palestinian. Last night he said: “I’ve started to feel like the world has forgotten about us. It’s been over a year now and it feels as though no one is paying attention anymore, as there is no change at any level. I’m still displaced here in Khanyounis...The situation is getting more dire. At times, it really starts to feel like this is the ‘new normal’ we’re going to have to endure for years to come. Death and destruction might never end. I have been once to the North, where my home is, and I think only that day I understood what this war is about—it is about the Land.” Therefore, I ask the Minister what fresh action the Government are taking to pressure Israel into complying with the ICJ’s multiple binding orders? In light of Ben-Gvir’s many statements of intent, and as part of a wider package of measures, will the Government now announce sanctions against both Ben-Gvir and Smotrich?

• 12 Nov 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source

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  It is a pity to interrupt the hon. Gentleman when he is in such a state of excitement about his work, but it is difficult to take a lecture from him on delivery when this Labour Government have delivered so much in just a few short days. He may want to talk to his colleagues in the Scottish Government about their delivery on, for example, the state of the health service in Scotland. What is the hon. Gentleman’s stance on the multiple occasions in recent years when senior figures in his party have approached friendly peers to table amendments to legislation on their behalf? It seems that those senior figures are quite happy to use the other place when it suits them.

• 30 Oct 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q4. Last month the Scottish Government Health Minister was forced to apologise for waiting times in my area of Fife, where some patients wait more than two years for treatment. My constituents deserve so much better than this. Does the Prime Minister agree that the Scottish National party must take responsibility for 17 years of failure and that, if today’s Budget delivers a bigger block grant to Scotland, the SNP must sort out the mess it has made of Scotland’s precious NHS?

• 12 Sept 2024 · UK Shared Prosperity Fund · Hansard source

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  I, too, congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Rochester and Strood on securing this debate and thank her for doing so. This is such an important moment. We heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow South West (Dr Ahmed) about the importance of the UK shared prosperity fund for his area. I was really glad to welcome the Deputy Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Angela Rayner), to my constituency during the general election campaign, where she saw the need for that funding. Fife has benefited greatly from more than £13 million from the fund in recent years. In my constituency, that includes projects such as Step On, which is run by LinkLiving with Raith Rovers Community Foundation. It provides targeted help for young people to improve their mental health.