Rachel Taylor MP: speeches

Speeches

• 30 Jun 2025 · Welfare Reform · Hansard source

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  Last week, I spoke to one of my constituents, Mike, a disabled person who speaks on behalf of many disabled constituents across Warwickshire. He is really pleased that he will have the right to try work, and he is also really pleased that disabled people will be treated with dignity and will be part of the co-production of the new proposals. However, he is still fearful that these changes may mean losses and difficult situations for disabled people like him. Can the Secretary of State reassure Mike that one of her Ministers will meet him to discuss these changes? In particular, how will we look at fluctuating conditions such as ME and MS, which my partner suffers from, so that such people do not lose out and so that we make the changes positive for every disabled person up and down the country?

• 26 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Yesterday’s resignation of the Reform leader of Warwickshire county council and his replacement with an 18-year-old will be of real concern to my constituents. We desperately need a functioning council to fill in potholes, deliver our care services and end the crisis in education for those with special education needs and disabilities. While I am sorry to hear about Councillor Rob Howard’s health challenges and wish him and his family well, questions remain about how he came to resign after just six weeks in the job, and about the qualifications of his 18-year-old replacement. Will the Leader of the House make time for a debate on the need for competent and effective local government that delivers for communities around the country?

• 25 Jun 2025 · Haemochromatosis Screening · Hansard source

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  I am a member of the all-party parliamentary group on genetic haemochromatosis, and my constituent Lorraine asked me to attend the debate. She suffers from the disease, and has found a way to manage it by donating blood regularly. She is pleased that genetic testing enabled her to know about her condition so she did not suffer severe organ damage, which can affect many people with the disease. Does my hon. Friend agree that genetic testing for those who are more likely to be diagnosed is essential if we are to help people lead healthy lives without the need for medical intervention?

• 24 Jun 2025 · War Memorials · Hansard source

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  What a pleasure it is to serve under your chairmanship for the first time, Mr Stuart. In my constituency, Bedworth is rightly called the town that never forgets. On 21 September 2021, the Bedworth Armistice Committee unveiled the Bedworth peace podium, to mark the international day of peace. Hundreds of children submitted poems and words as part of the project, an important reminder that we must ensure that the next generation learns and understands our country’s history. Does my hon. Friend agree that we must continue to invest in war memorials, and ensure that our young people never forget the sacrifices made by our armed forces and the wars that this country has fought?

• 23 Jun 2025 · UK Modern Industrial Strategy · Hansard source

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  This morning, I visited Horiba Mira, which employs thousands of people across the west midlands. It was a privilege to visit with the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State and the Chancellor. I am sure that the Secretary of State will agree that one of the highlights of that visit was the excitement on the apprentices’ faces. After 14 years of low investment in the west midlands under the Conservatives, does he agree that this industrial strategy will deliver opportunities for young people and the manufacturing industries in North Warwickshire and Bedworth?

• 23 Jun 2025 · Pride Month · Hansard source

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  I want to take the time to pay tribute to the Minister for her unwavering support throughout what has been a very difficult year so far for LGBT people, and for the trailblazing work that she and my hon. Friend the Member for Rhondda and Ogmore (Chris Bryant), who is sitting next to her, have done for our community.

• 23 Jun 2025 · Pride Month · Hansard source

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  I just want to say how proud I am that my hon. Friend is here in this Chamber as an LGBT MP. Does he share my pride in everyone who is here taking part in the debate this evening?

• 23 Jun 2025 · Pride Month · Hansard source

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  It is unfortunate that there are not more Conservative Members here this evening taking part in this debate. That speaks volumes. I welcome the hon. Lady’s warm words and the warm words of her colleague in his opening remarks, but those words will sound hollow unless they start challenging their leader to do what is right for LGBT people up and down this country.

• 23 Jun 2025 · Pride Month · Hansard source

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  In 1986, I went to my first ever Pride. It is hard to believe, but that was nearly 40 years ago. I remember being struck by how much of a celebration and a protest it was. I remember how important it was to be visible. I felt proud of who I was for the first time. I hope people feel that this year when they attend their first Pride event. I could not have predicted what was to happen just two years later. In 1988, section 28 was enacted. That year, I attended Pride alongside many angry and distraught friends. I remember section 28 vividly. It was more than a law: it was an attack on the right of people like me to live openly. It stigmatised lesbians, gays and bisexual people. It pushed us out of public life. I got into politics to fight that cruel law and everything it represented. The 1988 Pride was a protest. It was a reminder that LGBT people have always and will always exist, and we deserve to live our lives publicly and with dignity. My friends and I walked down the streets of London and made sure we were heard. We refused to be silent. This Labour Government have pledged to ban conversion therapy. Last week in the House, I encouraged the Government to fulfil their manifesto commitment. I made the case for aggravated offences to be treated the same for all people, regardless of what kind of hate it is. All hate should be treated the same. I was proud to see our Government reaffirm that that would be the case. Britain is a country that will not tolerate hate. All hatred is equal and all those who commit vile acts of hatred will face the same grave consequences. Today, I am concerned that the progress made by previous Labour Governments has been eroded. We are seeing rising transphobia everywhere and I, for one, will not stand for it. Pride flags are being taken down at county halls, and only last year an advertisement for my local Pride on social media was met with the response, “Gas the lot of them.” It is a reminder to all of us this Pride Month that we must stand together with trans people and reject transphobia with the same anger and passion that we rejected homophobia all those years ago. I will continue to stand proudly with all members of the LGBT community and our allies this Pride Month as we celebrate and protest.

• 23 Jun 2025 · Pride Month · Hansard source

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  I would like to put on record that I have never enjoyed a cigar, although I would dispute the fact that most lesbians do not enjoy tennis.

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

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  With the safeguards that have been put in the Bill, there will be a panel that looks at those issues and asks questions like, “Has your doctor persuaded you to do this?” Do we honestly think that a social worker, psychiatrist or lawyer is totally incapable of finding coercion? That is exactly what the panel is there to do, and that is exactly what those safeguards will provide.

• 18 Jun 2025 · HS2 Reset · Hansard source

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  My constituents know more than most about the daily misery of HS2 construction, particularly in the villages of Water Orton and Kingsbury and the town of Coleshill, and they will welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement. I met the new chief executive officer, Mark Wild, on Monday to discuss the reset, and I am delighted that he accepted my invitation to come to the Spud Club in Water Orton and talk to residents there. Does my right hon. Friend agree, however, that it is time we ended the failures of oversight, the scandalous overspends and the suggested fraud, and it is time the dust settled on this project rather than settling on my constituents’ clean washing, clean cars and clean windows?

• 18 Jun 2025 · Crime and Policing Bill · Hansard source

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  On 30 April 1999, three nail bombs went off in London, killing four and injuring 140. One of them exploded at Brick Lane, the hub of London’s Bengali community; one exploded in Soho, at the Admiral Duncan pub, the heart of London’s gay district; and one exploded in Brixton, in an attack on south London’s black community. The sick terrorist who committed those evil acts was motivated by hatred. He hated Bengalis and black people because of their race. He hated LGBT people because of who they love and how they live their lives. He hated those groups because they were different from him. He hated them because of who they are. I raise that appalling incident to remind the House that hatred comes in many forms, but whoever in our society it is against, we must all stand equally strongly against it. We must have hate crime laws that show that whether the hatred is for someone’s race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability, Britain is a country that will not tolerate it; that all hatred is equal; and that all those who commit vile acts of hatred will face the same grave consequences. I regret to say that that is not currently the case. Today the law recognises five categories of hate crime— race, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity and disability—but only two, race and religion, are treated as aggravated offences subject to stronger sentencing powers; the other three are not. That discrepancy cannot be right. We cannot say, as a society, that some forms of hatred are more evil than others. I was at university when section 28 was introduced—I remember it vividly. It was more than a law; it was an attack on the right of people like me to live openly. It stigmatised lesbians, gays and bisexual people; and it pushed us out of public life. I went into politics to fight that cruel law and everything it represented. Hate corrodes our entire society. It does not just harm the individuals who are targeted; it creates fear—fear to go outside, fear to speak up, fear to be seen. It silences people. It makes us all afraid. Research by Stonewall found that less than half of LGBT+ people felt safe holding their partner’s hand in public. That is the impact that the fear of hatred has on people. It makes them afraid even to show the world that they exist. Unfortunately, far too many recorded crimes never result in charges. Of 11,000 disability hate crimes recorded by police, 320 led to prosecutions. Of 22,000 homophobic hate crimes, 3,118 led to prosecutions. Of 4,000 hate crimes against transgender people, only 137 led to prosecutions. Behind those statistics are real people, whose scars may heal on the outside but who may never recover from the fear and trauma that they have suffered. In 2024, a teenage far-right extremist was jailed for targeting and attacking a transgender woman. Along with another young man, he kicked her to the ground in a park in Swansea and hurled transphobic abuse at her. In 2022, Cassie, a PhD student and wheelchair user, was waiting outside a shop when two drunk men grabbed her wheelchair, pushed her down the road and made sexual comments. She had to escape by rolling into traffic. We must fight back against this hatred. We must show that we are not content to stick with the status quo. The victims of these attacks deserve to live in a society that says that we take this hatred seriously and will not stand for it. Victims must be at the heart of our criminal justice system, and we must ensure that laws protect them. That is why my new clause 122 is so important. LGBT and disabled people tell me that they do not feel as safe as they used to. We are seeing rising transphobia everywhere. Pride flags are being taken down at county halls, and some politicians are openly questioning whether disabilities are even real. I am proud that Labour, in our manifesto, committed to equalising our hate crime laws by making hate crimes against LGBT people and disabled people aggravated offences. I am proud to be bringing forward that change through new clause 122. I hope that I can persuade all my parliamentary colleagues to support the new clause today, and to take this important step forward for equal rights. I thank my hon. Friends the Members for Burton and Uttoxeter (Jacob Collier) and for Penistone and Stocksbridge (Dr Tidball) for standing shoulder to shoulder with me throughout this process, and I urge the House to support the new clause.

• 18 Jun 2025 · Crime and Policing Bill · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for supporting the new clause and for signing it, along with other Members. Does he agree that our hard-working delivery drivers in the freight and logistics sector also need such backing, given that they often face attacks at knifepoint while delivering what our country needs?

• 16 Jun 2025 · School-based Nurseries · Hansard source

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  The Conservatives let down working parents by not having a plan for their pledge. I am proud of how this Labour Government have delivered to provide working families with 15 hours of Government-funded childcare and funding for new school-based nurseries, including at Keresley Newland primary academy in Bedworth, which I look forward to visiting in the autumn. I hope that the Secretary of State will be able to join me. Can she outline the role that school-based nurseries will play in ramping up to the 30 hours of Government-funded childcare this September, putting £7,500 back in the pockets of hard-working families across my constituency of North Warwickshire and Bedworth?

• 16 Jun 2025 · School-based Nurseries · Hansard source

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  11. What steps she is taking to expand school-based nurseries.

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

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  No, I will make some progress and expand on my point. Disqualifying retired and deputy judges would only shrink the pool of experienced candidates, and I do not believe that those changes would make the process safer, more effective or better. Instead, they would make it more difficult to appoint experts to allow the panel to function as the necessary safeguard that it needs to be. Finally, I turn to the most important aspect of the Bill, which is those who are affected directly. Opponents present hypotheticals, but I have heard real stories from my constituents who support the Bill. One constituent told me about her husband who died of metastatic prostate cancer. He wanted to die at home, and despite the efforts of a dedicated palliative care team, his final month was marked by excruciating pain. Our constituents deserve better. They deserve the choice to say goodbye in peace, surrounded by loved ones, without unbearable pain. For me, this debate is about whether the status quo is acceptable. After hearing these stories and listening to lawyers and doctors, I know that it is not. If we vote in favour of the Bill, our constituents must be able to expect that it will be brought into law quickly. I therefore oppose amendment 42. The British public overwhelmingly support the Bill. They are looking to this House for courage and leadership. That is why I will vote for the Bill, with the amendments that strengthen it. Let us bring dignity, peace and choice to those facing the end of their lives in difficulty and pain.

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

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  I begin by thanking my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley (Kim Leadbeater) who has exemplified the integrity and transparency that we need in public service. I will speak about amendments 82 to 86, which were introduced by the right hon. Member for Salisbury (John Glen) earlier, because as a former lawyer, they concern me. In Committee, the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Finchley and Golders Green (Sarah Sackman) was clear that the panel’s decisions will be subject to public law principles. That will include procedural propriety and an absence of bias, including the appearance of bias. My concern is that the panel is deliberately designed to be inquisitorial. It is intended to collect information; it is not meant to be adversarial like a court.

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

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  One of my constituents told me of her mother’s pain in her last few months of suffering. It was so painful that she could not bear to be touched by my constituent or her brother. Now, both my constituent and her brother are facing post-traumatic stress disorder because of the difficult situation they witnessed while their mum was dying. Does my hon. Friend agree that if they had helped her to die in the way that this Bill allows, they should not then be subject to a coroner’s investigation? It is not going to help them, and it is not going to help their mother.

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

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  No, I will make some progress. Requiring a judicial oath would be inappropriate because the panel is not performing a judicial function. It is a specialist, administrative panel whose first priority must be focused on safeguarding and the review of evidence.

• 10 Jun 2025 · Planning and Infrastructure Bill · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Gentleman for the entertainment he provided throughout the Bill Committee’s proceedings, and for his generosity in the Tea Room. Talking about reflection, however, would he agree that when one looks in the mirror, one does not always like what one sees? The Minister has reflected on many of the proposals that were brought forward in Committee and he has clearly decided that those things would be better left in the national planning policy framework, as opposed to being in this legislation. Would the hon. Gentleman also agree that we do not have more young people buying and owning their own homes now than we did in 2010, and that the reason for that is—

• 10 Jun 2025 · Planning and Infrastructure Bill · Hansard source

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  rose —

• 9 Jun 2025 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for his statement, which will be warmly welcomed by constituents, particularly pensioners who were just above the threshold and who lost out last winter. Does he agree that measures such as rolling out free breakfast clubs—I visited one this morning at Goodyers End primary school—are making a real difference by tackling poverty and that that is what this Government are doing across the board in all age groups?

• 4 Jun 2025 · Prosecutions for Violence against Women and Girls: West Midlands · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Jardine. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton West (Warinder Juss) for securing this debate. I am aware of his extensive knowledge of and passion for this subject. Violence against women and girls is a national emergency, rather than the inevitability that previous Governments treated it as. We are sick and tired of seeing women and girls facing the same threats of violence and abuse, generation after generation. I wholeheartedly support this Government’s mission to halve violence against women and girls, but that can happen only if the Government support police forces and the criminal justice system to prosecute perpetrators. In 2021, Warwickshire police had the lowest rape conviction rate in the country. Fewer than 2% of reported rapes ended with a charge, and just 1.3% led to a conviction. In 2025, Warwickshire police became the best performing police force in the country for charging cases of adult rape. Its charge rate is now 13.4%, compared with a national average of 7.1%. But let us face it: conviction rates are still woeful and would not be tolerated for any other offence. Let us look at what Warwickshire police changed, in the hope that other forces will adopt the measures and move in the right direction. It created a dedicated team of detectives investigating only rape and high-risk domestic abuse, trained frontline officers to respond to reports of rape, and involved the Crown Prosecution Service early in investigations to ensure a joint approach. The importance of the change in charge rates, from 2% to over 13%, cannot be overestimated. There is rarely an opportunity to talk about hope when discussing violence against women and girls, but the fact that Warwickshire police’s transformation was accomplished in less than five years gives me hope for victims. Of course, a national average charge rate of 7% is still shockingly low. Women are not safe in a society in which more than 90% of rapes reported to the police go without charge. How are women meant to feel confident in the criminal justice system? I thank the Government for the action they have taken so far, with new measures to tackle stalking and introduce Raneem’s law. I truly believe that we can halve violence against women and girls if we treat it as the national emergency it is. I hope that the example of Warwickshire police demonstrates that this is a possibility. We have a very long way to go, but I believe that ending violence against women and girls is a priority of this Government.

• 4 Jun 2025 · Swimming Facilities · Hansard source

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  The swimming pool in Atherstone, in my constituency, opened in 1969, and is where I learned to swim. Today it closes regularly because of boiler problems, and despite the swimming pool support fund, it is reaching the end of its life. If it closes and is rebuilt, it will inevitably be closed for around 18 months. There is a waiting list of more than two years for children to learn to swim. Does my hon. Friend agree that that is the legacy that the last Government left in terms of investment in swimming facilities, not the picture painted by the hon. Member for Isle of Wight East (Joe Robertson) in his opening remarks?