Rachel Taylor MP: speeches

Speeches

• 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.

• 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.

• 2 Jun 2025 · Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  I thank my right hon. Friend for introducing the Bill. Sarah, one of my constituents, is here today. Her work with the National Federation of the Blind of the UK and its street access campaign has demonstrated the difficulty that blind and partially sighted people experience in accessing buses. They cannot make the choice that others make to pass their driving tests as soon as they reach the age of 17 so that they can travel to their local colleges, schools or hospital appointments. I want to draw attention to that fantastic campaign, and to ask for the Bill to make clear to local authorities that they must work to ensure that all buses are accessible—not just to people with sight impairments but to those who need to access a bus in a wheelchair, like my friends who cannot travel together and are often whizzed past by the driver, and have to wait longer than the rest of us.

• 20 May 2025 · Planning and Infrastructure Bill (Eleventh sitting) · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship once again, Ms Jardine. I welcome the clause. In the area where I live in Warwickshire, public transport is woeful, which means that children and young people are left behind because they cannot access school and college facilities. It also means that people are reluctant to make a trip to the hospital because they simply cannot get there. The clause means that young people can have aspirations for their future and live in communities that are connected. The powers will be very welcome in areas like mine where transport authorities seem reluctant to fulfil their functions. I really welcome it.

• 19 Mar 2025 · Supported Internship Provision · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour for securing this debate. Several of my constituents with special educational needs are taking part in the supported internship programme at George Eliot hospital in her constituency. I am delighted that they have been able to take up that opportunity to learn important skills and to engage in independent work. I was glad to hear that between 50% and 75% of people who undertake the internships get full employment afterwards. Does my hon. Friend agree that we should continue to support these internships to deliver opportunities for students with special educational needs and disabilities across the west midlands, and will the Minister highlight these excellent programmes, particularly to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions?

• 4 Feb 2025 · National Cancer Plan · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for his statement, and particularly for his deep understanding of women’s health issues and the difficulty that many women face in getting their GP to understand what they are going through. The Women and Equalities Committee has spent some time looking at that this year. The George Eliot hospital in my constituency serves many of my constituents, who often complain about the length of time it takes to get scan results. Between June 2023 and 2024, almost 12% of people waited more than 28 days to receive MRI results, compared with 6.5% nationally. I know that the team there are working very hard to bring the time down, but can the Minister reassure my constituents that the use of AI will speed up the time it takes for them to get their scan results and the treatment they need?

• 30 Jan 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  My constituent Clare Rogers came to my surgery after she lost her son to a ketamine addiction. Clare told me of the severe pain and neurological damage he suffered. A crisis of ketamine usage among our young people has become apparent, and we must look to mental health and addiction services because they are ultimately the ones that will treat addiction, prevent relapses and give people a chance to turn their lives around. Will the Leader of the House provide time for Members to discuss this issue, which goes across the Home Office, the Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care, so that our young people understand the harms of ketamine usage and so that we can put this issue to bed?

• 27 Jan 2025 · Speech and Language Therapy · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend the Minister for giving way, and my apologies, Mr Vickers; I had to leave earlier for a ministerial appointment. In 2018 my father suffered a stroke, and the staff at my local hospital, the George Eliot, could not do enough for him—they were absolutely fantastic. I know that my father stayed in hospital longer than he needed because that was the only way in which he could access the speech and language therapy that he needed, as well as the help to enable him to swallow. It was fantastic to see him recovering that speech because of their intervention. As he had served for nearly 50 years as a volunteer magistrate, it is wonderful to see him now being able to challenge my ideas and give his comments on my contributions in this House. Last week, I held a consultation event in my constituency where a dietician told me that she felt there was not enough ability for her and her team, as well as speech and language therapists, to give help in the community. She was quite excited about our ideas for virtual wards and asked me, on her behalf, to plead with the Minister to ensure that we give recognition to putting more speech and language therapy in the community. I know that my dad would have been very pleased to receive that.

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

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  I thank my hon. Friend for the powerful and moving stories she is telling. A constituent of mine watched her mum suffer from pancreatic cancer. Unable to keep any food down, she basically starved to death. Does my hon. Friend agree that that is no way to see a loved one die? Does she also agree that we did not come into this place to shy away from difficult choices, but to listen to our constituents and make better laws for everyone?

• 8 Oct 2024 · Farming and Food Security · Hansard source

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  The suicide rate among male farmers is three times the national average. The Conservative party left rural communities such as mine facing a mental health crisis. A close family friend of mine, Rocky Poulson, took his own life just four days after a farm inspection found that 18 of his sheep were tagged with the wrong coloured ear tags, leaving him facing criminal sanctions and the embarrassment of that among his friends and colleagues—

• 12 Sept 2024 · NHS: Independent Investigation · Hansard source

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  In my constituency of North Warwickshire and Bedworth, patients wait far too long for GP appointments. The Conservative party has presided over sticking-plaster solutions, papering over the cracks in our health service rather than making it fit for the future. Does the Secretary of State agree that today’s report is a chance to get the right diagnosis of the problems, so that this new Labour Government can come up with the right prescription, and my constituents can once again get the treatment that they so desperately need?