Rachel Taylor MP: speeches 2026

Speeches

• 9 Jun 2026 · Road Safety: West Midlands · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the hon. Member for securing this important debate. As a constituency neighbour in Warwickshire, I share her concerns. I have been out with my local Speedwatch groups in Warton and Water Orton. My constituents in North Warwickshire and Bedworth are fed up of dangerous roads simply being ignored by the Reform-led county council in Warwickshire. From the Woodford Lane junction, Grendon Road in Polesworth, No Man’s Heath Lane in Austrey, Marston Lane in Bedworth and King’s Lane in Newton Regis to Coventry Road in Fillongley, speeding is out of control and the lack of speed cameras is putting lives at risk. Meanwhile, Reform’s record on Warwickshire county council shows that it is spending less money on our roads. Does the hon. Member agree that communities such as mine in Warwickshire deserve safer streets, investment in road infrastructure and action on potholes from local government, not rhetoric about what information children can read in libraries or what flag can be flown from Shire Hall?

• 8 Jun 2026 · Digital Safety: Children · Hansard source

  More

  Parents and teachers across North Warwickshire and Bedworth are worried sick that tech companies are wilfully allowing young people to share and access explicit content on their platforms and devices, and they are crying out for help. Does the Minister agree that it is high time the tech giants were held to account and forced into action to keep young people safe, and will the Government legislate without delay?

• 8 Jun 2026 · Illegal Migration · Hansard source

  More

  13. What steps her Department is taking to help reduce levels of illegal migration.

• 8 Jun 2026 · Illegal Migration · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the Minister for his answer and for visiting my constituency of North Warwickshire and Bedworth recently. My constituents will strongly welcome the most recent data showing that small boat arrivals are massively down this year, but can the Minister confirm that this important progress is just the beginning of restoring order and control at our borders?

• 2 Jun 2026 · Armed Forces Bill · Hansard source

  More

  I reiterate the fact that there are no Members here from the party led by the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage), in particular because so many of the local authorities responsible for implementing the armed forces covenant are led by that particular party. It is grossly incompetent that they are not here to listen and learn.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Armed Forces Bill · Hansard source

  More

  I thank my hon. Friend for her valuable intervention and for sharing her experience, with so many military families living in her constituency, and I agree with her. New clause 13 focuses on single living accommodation, which is often of a relatively temporary nature. Our focus really needs to be on the catastrophic situation in family homes up and down the country, which we both saw on a visit down south. Service families deserve high-quality housing that meets military operational requirements while providing them with the comfort they need to support their family. The Bill’s establishment of the defence housing service will go a long way to meeting those needs with a generational renewal of more than 40,000 military homes, which will be modernised and upgraded, together with a historic programme of house building, with the potential for more than 100,000 new homes on surplus defence land for civilian and military families, with serving personnel and veterans coming first. This is the most significant plan in 50 years and a stark contrast with the scandal of the botched Tory privatisation that cost us billions, let military families down and left the country worse off. It was a real eye-opener to see at first hand the standard of accommodation that military families have been putting up with and the work needed to make those properties fit for our heroes and their families. I am immensely proud that in this Bill, we stand by our pledge to halve violence against women and girls. The service justice system is being modernised so that it can provide better victim support and ensure that the victims of the most serious offences have access to protection orders. Criminal behaviour does not belong in our armed forces. The UK has a strong record of cultivating the highest values and standards in some of the toughest conditions. We are bringing change to service justice, creating a victim-centred approach that will support personnel who are the victims of unacceptable sexual assault, domestic abuse, stalking and harassment. In a period of significant global instability, our commitment to the security of our country requires us to invest in our armed forces so that we can combat any challenges that we face as a country. Part of that must be about expanding our reserve forces. Individuals, including Members of this House, use their free time to make up an integral part of our armed forces, and I am incredibly proud when constituents of mine tell me that they are part of our reserves. Bedworth in my constituency hosts the largest and one of the most famous Armistice Day parades in Britain, held always on the 11th day of the 11th month. We truly are a town that never forgets. I pay tribute to all the veterans and service personnel in my constituency and all those who work in the defence industry supply chains. My constituents are proud that this Labour Government are backing our armed forces and improving the lives of our country’s bravest while putting our nation’s security first. I will continue to do what I can to support military families and veterans from my constituency, and I commend the Bill to the Committee. Before I close, I want to put on record at the start of Pride Month how proud I am to have seen the LGBT financial recognition scheme implemented, with a £75 million investment and a memorial, “An Opened Letter”, dedicated and unveiled by the King in October 2025. I recommend that everyone in this House and across the country makes a visit to the National Memorial Arboretum to see that memorial, which is a powerful reminder of the absolute injustice that was done to hard-working service personnel who were serving their country first to the best of their ability.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Armed Forces Bill · Hansard source

  More

  The right hon. Gentleman mentioned the Gurkha community. I want to pay tribute to the Queen’s Gurkha Regiment and the 30th Signal Regiment, based just outside my constituency. The Gurkhas who served are an essential and integral part of our community; they offer great value, and integrate into the community. I thank him for mentioning them, and for giving me the opportunity to pay tribute to those Gurkhas who live in or around my constituency.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Armed Forces Bill · Hansard source

  More

  It was an honour to serve on the Select Committee on the Armed Forces Bill and to help deliver on our general election promise to extend the armed forces covenant to every area of Government, to better support armed forces personnel and veterans. I was delighted to be joined on the Committee by so many veterans with experience, particularly the Minister for the Armed Forces, the right hon. Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mr Francois), my hon. Friends the Members for Halesowen (Alex Ballinger) and for South Ribble (Mr Foster), the hon. Member for North Devon (Ian Roome) and, not to forget, the hon. Member for Solihull West and Shirley (Dr Shastri-Hurst)—I would not want to upset him as he is almost a neighbour. Their input to the Committee and the work that we were able to do, across parties and with good temper, was extremely valuable, and the time spent was worth while. As the right hon. Member for Rayleigh and Wickford has mentioned, it was extremely helpful to visit veterans and armed forces housing, and to meet members of the armed forces justice system and ask them questions. While our recollections of some of those conversations may differ slightly, it was still extremely useful to see how that system works in contrast to how our non-military justice system works. I welcome this Government’s commitment to placing a legal duty on public services to consider the circumstances of armed forces personnel and their families. My constituents want veterans to be supported and for those who serve to be able to do so with dignity and respect. It was encouraging to hear evidence from representatives of armed forces charities, the service families federations, officials from the service justice system and personnel from across the armed forces and the Ministry of Defence. They all recognised the importance of the changes we are making to turn the tide after years of under-investment by the Conservatives. Our armed forces are a source of national pride, and I want younger generations to see the armed forces as a future for themselves and an opportunity to do more for their country and contribute to the security of our nation. To make that a reality, armed forces personnel and their families need our full support and respect as they make daily sacrifices in their service to our country. That is why I am pleased that after years of military families being forced to deal with the lowest level of satisfaction with service family accommodation on record, we have brought 36,000 family homes back into public ownership, with the savings being reinvested in fixing and improving forces housing.

• 29 Apr 2026 · Conversion Practices · Hansard source

  More

  5. What steps she is taking to ban conversion practices.

• 29 Apr 2026 · Conversion Practices · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the Minister for the comments that she has made so far. Conversion practices have devastated the lives of LGBT people for many years, making them feel ashamed of who they are and leaving them with long-term physical and mental harm. The upcoming King’s Speech marks eight years since a ban on so-called conversion therapy was first promised. Can the Minister reassure me that a Bill will come to the House early in the next Session, and that we will not be waiting any longer for these cruel and inhumane practices to be outlawed for good?

• 29 Apr 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  T2. Leaked guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission suggested that it would be lawful for transgender and gender non-conforming people to be excluded from changing facilities based on a perception that their appearance did not correspond with societal gender norms, irrespective of their actual sex. Can the Minister reassure the House that such an obvious licence for bigotry and discrimination will not be included in the final guidance when she publishes it next month?

• 28 Apr 2026 · Referral of Prime Minister to Committee of Privileges · Hansard source

  More

  rose—

• 23 Apr 2026 · Allied Health Professionals · Hansard source

  More

  I do not think that anyone could have better described the importance of AHPs than my hon. Friend the Member for North Durham (Luke Akehurst). I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley (Sonia Kumar) for securing the debate and for her tireless work as a physiotherapist; to my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock (Jen Craft) for leading the debate; and to my hon. Friend the Member for Stourbridge (Cat Eccles) for all her work as an operating department practitioner—a profession that is often overlooked. Allied health professionals are such an important part of our healthcare workforce, yet they are undervalued and poorly represented in NHS hierarchies. I am incredibly proud of the Government’s achievements within the NHS, including the £29 billion of additional funding—the largest injection of cash into our health service since Labour was last in government—a 320,000 fall in waiting list numbers, 5 million more NHS appointments, and the recruitment of 2,500 new GPs. In my constituency, we have started to see the benefits of that investment for local people. George Eliot hospital has eliminated corridor care despite a difficult winter. It has also seen a 5% improvement in waiting lists. GP surgeries in Polesworth, Bedworth, Coleshill and Keresley are all getting upgrades, so that more patients can see physiotherapists, occupational therapists and other professionals much closer to home. There is much more to do, of course, but we should be proud of the progress we have made in less than two years. These improvements would not have happened without the support of allied health professionals. Their workforce represents over 276,000 practitioners, aided by skilled support workers. The Government are right to be ambitious in their target to deliver more care in the community and invest in neighbourhood health centres across the country. To do that, we will rely on allied health professionals to support patients. We must embed dietitians, occupational therapists, osteopaths and physiotherapists into neighbourhood health if we are to succeed in treating more people closer to home. I commend the work done on frailty by the Hazelwood group practice in Coleshill as part of the Apollo primary care network. I also pay tribute to the work of paramedics, radiographers and physios. My constituency is semi-rural and without a hospital, so the quick work of paramedics is crucial in providing urgent initial care and supporting my constituents on their journey to hospital. Radiographers are vital in supporting patients through early diagnosis, as I found out myself a couple of weeks ago. Some 80% of hospital pathways require their skills for imaging to support a diagnosis. As part of this Government’s plans to bring care into the community, we must ensure that more radiographers are in community diagnostic centres like the one recently opened at the George Eliot hospital in Nuneaton or available through mobile services, to reduce pressure on hospitals. That way, patients can be treated faster and closer to home. On their behalf, I would like to ask the Minister to keep the chief allied health professions officer post in the Department of Health and Social Care and work with local ICBs to establish AHP director roles that have parity with medical directors and directors of nursing. In 2018 my father had a stroke. The staff at George Eliot hospital were wonderful and took really good care of him. I cannot thank them enough for the support they gave him, but there reached a point when I was wondering, why is my elderly father still stuck in hospital? Why can he not leave, so that we can help him get better from the comfort of his own home and my elderly mum does not have to travel 10 miles each day to see him? What is the plan for him and other stroke patients after they leave hospital? My dad, like many people recovering from a stroke, could not get the same support from speech and language therapy services at home or in his neighbourhood. Those are vital services that help patients learn to swallow and slowly regain their ability to speak and be understood. So my dad had to stay in hospital. He is definitely a fighter, and he regained his speech and his ability to sing in a choir. Patients like him deserve to be able to see speech and language therapists in their local neighbourhood, so that they can recover at home once they are medically fit to leave hospital. This is not about freeing up spaces in hospital; it is about giving patients choice and the best care we can, so that they can recover comfortably at home, surrounded by friends and family. I will continue to work with all allied health professionals and their representative bodies to ensure that they are a core part of this Government’s 10-year health plan. Finally, as a tennis player, I would like to thank the thousands of independent physiotherapists, support workers and students working in local gyms, on the high street, in professional sports facilities and at matches at weekends. Their support is vital to ensure that people can continue to play sport as they get older and that an injury does not stop them getting back on the court. We promised to deliver healthcare in the community, and with the support of allied health professionals, I am confident we will be able to do so successfully.

• 23 Apr 2026 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  I am proud today to celebrate Warwickshire day with colleagues from across this House, and I thank the Speaker’s Office for arranging an event this morning. It was a real honour to raise the Warwickshire flag on the flagpole here in Parliament. The Believe in Bedworth board manages the £20 million Pride in Place investment from the Government, and we are holding a St George’s day celebration this Saturday. There will be free activities for children, as well as food vendors and stalls. It will be a great day out for everyone, and I am really looking forward to it. Can I ask the Leader of the House if the Government will make time for a debate on the importance of community events like this for cohesion in our areas and to celebrate days like St George’s day and Warwickshire day?

• 23 Apr 2026 · Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency · Hansard source

  More

  My apologies. I think when most of our constituents think of the DVLA and the DVSA, they think of them as one and the same, but thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for correcting me on that point. I think it is still fair to say that young people need access to their driving licence, and that the many people with health conditions who might have to hand in their licence are reliant on it coming back quickly. My own mum has to take my dad around for hospital appointments; she cannot get to her nearest shop or go out to see her friends. There are real impacts here for people who have suffered minor strokes, for example, and have not had their driving licence returned. It is a situation that the Government need to look at, and I would be grateful for anything that the Minister can tell us to inform the situation. I thank the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole (Vikki Slade) for securing the debate.

• 23 Apr 2026 · Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend is making a passionate speech. There is a real danger, given that delays are having such an impact on our constituents, that they and others will be led to not being honest about medical conditions, so that they can keep their driving licences. The knock-on effect of that on safety on our streets is unimaginable.

• 23 Apr 2026 · Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency · Hansard source

  More

  In the west midlands, the average waiting time for a driving test is 22 weeks—nearly six months, up from 12 weeks in October 2022. That often means that young people are unable to take a driving test before taking their A-levels or leaving home for university. When I was growing up in Atherstone, getting my driving licence was a milestone for my independence. It meant I could see friends, share the driving with my parents when they picked me up at the end of term from university, and take up jobs that simply were not reachable by bus. And when I reached 21, driving the Leeds University night-time women’s minibus provided me with a good income and some great fun, and I was providing an excellent service. In fact, without learning to drive as a teenager and building up my confidence in driving, I would not have been able to drive a group of students from Leeds down to London, and also across to Manchester, to protest against section 28. That is why I find it so frustrating that so many young people in North Warwickshire and Bedworth are now stuck on endless waiting lists for their driving tests. In a rural area with poor bus connections and unreliable timetables, a driving licence is not a luxury—it is crucial. It gives young people the independence and confidence to pursue education, training and work in neighbouring towns and cities. I also want to talk about the freight and logistics industry. It is one of the largest employers in my constituency, offering excellent apprenticeships and training opportunities for school leavers ready to start their careers, but buses simply do not run frequently or at the right times for shifts at those hubs. My constituents who are waiting for driving tests are effectively locked out of those opportunities. An elderly constituent called me because her driving licence was stuck with the DVLA, preventing her from being able to get around. My team and I contacted the DVLA and spoke to a member of the team, who reissued her driving licence fairly promptly. She told me how grateful she was and how much it would help her, but it should not take MPs getting involved to deal with these issues. For people like my constituent, a driving licence is a lifeline, allowing her to get to appointments, shops, and nearby villages and towns to see friends and stop being isolated. The DVLA must process requests in a timely manner to ensure that people are not left isolated in rural communities. In 2021, the UK experienced a huge shortage of heavy goods vehicle drivers, which was compounded by the delays in tests for HGV licences. Luckily, that situation has improved, with current practical test wait times broadly acceptable at around three weeks; the real problem now is with the availability of theory tests for HGV drivers. As HGV candidates must sit multiple theory tests—

• 23 Apr 2026 · Civil Service Pension Scheme · Hansard source

  More

  4. What recent steps his Department has taken to help tackle issues impacting the civil service pension scheme.

• 23 Apr 2026 · Civil Service Pension Scheme · Hansard source

  More

  Happy Warwickshire day, Mr Speaker, and happy St George’s day. My constituent Jillian dedicated her life to public service for 34 years before retiring. She is owed more than £2,000 in a lump sum from her civil service pension. She has constantly tried to get in touch with Capita over the past six months. She has submitted online forms, rung multiple times and has been told that Capita is not hitting its complaints target. After being on hold for several hours, a call operator told her that they could not tell her when she would receive an answer. This is unacceptable. Can the Government tell me what they are doing to support retired civil servants who have been left in limbo by Capita?

• 23 Apr 2026 · Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023 · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the Minister for giving way. I pay tribute to the work of the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) and the organisations he mentioned. I, too, hear stories in my constituency of people who have been evicted from their supported housing when they have gone on to get work. They should be good news stories, but instead those people find it extremely difficult to get accommodation with other landlords. They cannot get a reference from the previous landlord, because they were kicked out for not paying over-inflated rents. It really is high time that this Government, with our values, does something about that appalling situation.

• 23 Apr 2026 · Housing Conditions in Temporary Accommodation · Hansard source

  More

  I thank my hon. Friend for her tireless work in this area and for her fantastic stewardship of the Select Committee. The report is harrowing to read. Such reports cannot be written without witnesses giving evidence, and very often in doing so they put themselves on the line and at risk, so I commend all the witnesses who wrote to or appeared before the Committee, or who participated in roundtables. It is a scandal that children and families are living in these conditions in Great Britain in 2026. Will my hon. Friend impress upon the Minister that we really need to see a change? That means every single local authority making that change and committing to it, in particular in rural areas such as mine, where temporary accommodation is really scarce, meaning that people are living many miles away in areas they do not know or understand and without family support networks.

• 22 Apr 2026 · Pension Schemes · Hansard source

  More

  I welcome the statement from the Minister. The way that Capita has treated my constituents, such as Jill and the many others who have contacted my office, who have dedicated their lives to public service is nothing short of shameful. This is yet another example of how this Government are sorting out the mess created by the last Government. Can the Minister update the House on the number of hardship loans that have been issued by the Government and the number of civil service pension scheme members who have already received the maximum amount, and how the Government will continue to help them?

• 22 Apr 2026 · Mountain Rescue · Hansard source

  More

  I join my hon. Friend in paying tribute to the many hundreds and thousands of volunteers up and down this country, some of whom I will be meeting again this weekend on Sunday as I join them on a training exercise in Warwickshire. I pay tribute not only to the work they do in the search and rescue, but to the other organisations that they get out for and help. They drove the vehicle for our local Father Christmas, who went round raising money for local charities in Bedworth this year; that is where I joined them for the first time. I thank the Minister for her kind words about the volunteers and the fantastic work that search and rescue does up and down this country.

• 22 Apr 2026 · Osteoporosis and Bone Health · Hansard source

  More

  As someone who is taking medication to ward off the progression of osteoporosis, I was delighted to welcome Bedford’s new state-of-the-art physical activity hub, which will help residents to stay active and stop their osteoporosis developing. I would like the Minister to explain how the Government will make better use of the growing physiotherapy workforce to deliver early intervention, fracture prevention and rehabilitation in the community in places such as the Bedford physical activity hub.

• 22 Apr 2026 · Osteoporosis and Bone Health · Hansard source

  More

  I thank my hon. Friend for securing this important debate. I was diagnosed with pre-osteoporosis when I suffered a minor injury from playing tennis, so for the last eight years I have been taking Adcal tablets regularly. I was proud recently to welcome a new state-of-the-art physical activity hub in Bedworth in my constituency, which will help residents to stay active and stop the symptoms of conditions such as osteoporosis. I would therefore like the Minister to address how the Government will make better use of our growing physiotherapy workforce—