Sarah Bool MP: speeches 2026

Speeches

• 14 Apr 2026 · Armed Forces Bill (Fourth sitting) · Hansard source

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  If there is one phrase my father always says to me, it is “Sarah, you can’t teach experience.” We have talked about bringing retired officers back into the justice system; this is a very good example of what we can do to call on their experience. With jury service and jury trials, we try to get a range of experience from all types of peers. I know that there is an argument to say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” but we want to streamline and enhance our justice system to make it as effective as possible. I support amendment 9.

• 26 Mar 2026 · Armed Forces Bill (Third sitting) · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. I understand what the Minister says—that there may be extenuating circumstances where there may need to be flex within the budget—but the most important thing that we are trying to establish is that this money is absolutely guaranteed. At the Defence statement the other day, I asked what “flat out” meant when the Secretary of State was talking about finalising the defence investment plan. I was told it meant that they were “working flat out”, so the Minister will forgive me for seeking further reassurances. I would also be very interested to know whether he has indeed seen the defence investment plan, with this budget line item in it.

• 24 Mar 2026 · Armed Forces Bill (Second sitting) · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. New clause 6 would introduce a veterans commissioner for England. We have three excellent veterans commissioners —the commissioners for Northern Ireland, for Scotland and for Wales—but they represent just 15% of veterans living in the UK. Some 85% of veterans live in England, yet there is no equivalent dedicated commissioner. As Members will recall, when the Minister asked at our evidence session on 25 February whether there should be a veterans commissioner for England, the three commissioners all expressed their support for such an appointment. This is not a new campaign or issue. On 1 May 2024, after a campaign by the Royal British Legion, which included a petition that received 1,400 signatures, the Office for Veterans’ Affairs under the last Conservative Government said that it would appoint a national veterans commissioner. It started recruiting for the role, and the job advert stated: “This role will cover England and any veterans matters which are reserved to the UK Government and are not in the remit of the Devolved Administrations.” At the time, the RBL was delighted that England would have the same key public role of an independent advocate and voice for the armed forces community as Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, which have had veterans commissioners since 2014, 2020 and 2022 respectively. The national veterans commissioner was intended to replace the Government’s independent veterans adviser. The IVA was a UK-wide advisory role with informal influence; the national veterans commissioner, by contrast, was to be a public commissioner with formal oversight and scrutiny, looking at England and UK-wide reserved matters to improve veteran support and accountability. However, the post has never been filled. Following the general election in July 2024, the new Labour Government moved the Office for Veterans’ Affairs from the Cabinet Office to the Ministry of Defence. The Prime Minister explained in a written statement that the change would “enable the Minister for Veterans and People to have complete oversight for the entirety of service life; from training to veterans working with all government departments to deliver for our service personnel.” In February 2025, at Defence questions, I asked the then Minister for Veterans and People whether he planned to appoint a veterans commissioner for England. His response was: “I reassure the hon. Member that I work closely with my Northern Ireland, Welsh and Scottish commissioners. We are currently looking at the structures by which we support veterans across the whole tapestry of the United Kingdom, and we really want to put in place an institutional resilience system that gives the best care at the right time and in the right place to the right people. That primarily involves working with thousands of charities collaboratively and coherently to ensure that we can get the best bang for our buck from all the amazing volunteers and charitable services out there. A bigger review is going on. It is on hold at the moment, and we will let the House know more in due course.” —[ Official Report , 10 February 2025; Vol. 762, c. 16.] However, the new veterans strategy published in November 2025 made no reference or commitment to the creation of such a role. I appreciate that Op Valour is ongoing. It was announced last year and was described as the first ever UK-wide, Government-led approach to veterans support. It is said that the programme, backed by £50 million of funding, will deliver easier access to care and support for our veterans, connecting housing, employment and health services across the UK. It has three parts: Valour-recognised support centres, Valour field officers and the Valour HQ. However, it does not provide the single point of overarching advocacy that a commissioner would provide. Neither would the Armed Forces Commissioner, which was established in legislation in 2025. I note that there has still not been an official announcement, nearly a year after the application deadline closed, of who that will be, but perhaps the Minister can provide an update. The role of the Armed Forces Commissioner is to investigate general welfare matters in the armed forces. The office of the Service Complaints Ombudsman would be abolished, with its functions and responsibilities transferred to the newly established commissioner. A veteran would fall under the commissioner’s remit only where their complaint relates to their time in service when they were subject to civil law. There are time limits for submitting a complaint; only those veterans who recently left the armed forces will generally fall within the provision. New clause 6 proposes that a veterans commissioner for England be appointed within 12 months of the passing of the Act. We have used the word “appoint”, because this is not a statutory role but a public appointment. That would mirror the position for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, which all have non-statutory commissioners. I note that the Scottish Veterans Commissioner, while technically non-statutory, operates much closer to the statutory model than those in Wales or Northern Ireland. It is treated like an arm’s length public body, with a defined budget, a permanent staff, a published governance framework and annual reporting requirements. Although that is not the exact model proposed here, perhaps it is one that the Minister might consider. Proposed new section 366A(3) sets out the commissioner’s core functions, which are to “promote the interests of veterans in England…monitor the operation and effectiveness of the Armed Forces Covenant in England…review the effect of public policy and public services on veterans and their families…identify barriers faced by veterans in accessing housing, healthcare, employment, education, and other public services…make recommendations to the Secretary of State and to public authorities on improving support for veterans.” In doing so, the commissioner may “carry out reviews and investigations into matters affecting veterans …consult veterans, service charities, public authorities, and other relevant organisations…publish reports and recommendations.” Given the proposed extension of the armed forces covenant, and the issues and concerns that many people have, the oversight role of a commissioner is vital. To date, as the local government representatives indicated to us, the covenant has been delivered through enthusiasm, but we now need robust implementation. Any report prepared by the veterans commissioner would be laid before Parliament. The role would operate for three years at a time, with a further chance to be reappointed. I believe that all members of the Committee understand the value of a veterans commissioner for England. As the existing commissioners are calling for it, I implore everyone to consider carefully how vital it will be.

• 24 Mar 2026 · Armed Forces Bill (First sitting) · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. I want to add further weight to the points that colleagues have already made. Service personnel themselves have said that the armed forces covenant, while incredibly well meaning, needs to be enacted and enforced properly. It also needs to be explained to the forces themselves what it means and what is on offer to them. With the duty’s extension going as far as it does, we must be absolutely clear what it means in practice, in order to ensure its enforcement. I speak as a lawyer, too, and the enforcement issue is always the biggest problem with any legislation that comes out of this place. From the evidence sessions we know that the statutory guidance will be doing a lot of the heavy lifting, but we do not know what it will look like or what form it will take—that is not in front of us—so it is important that we discuss and consider the definition of due regard. Including a definition would bring more clarity to the Bill, as my right hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Rayleigh and Wickford said. During the evidence sessions, many Members questioned what due regard means, so it is really important that we ensure that our local bodies know, via a definition on the face of the Bill, what we are hoping and aiming for them to achieve.

• 24 Mar 2026 · Armed Forces Bill (First sitting) · Hansard source

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  The Minister talks about the definition being narrow, but it would actually be quite broad. The amendment says that “‘due regard’ means that specified bodies should think about and place an appropriate amount of weight on the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant when they consider all the key factors”. That definition sets out a framework, but it is not so narrow and specified as to be problematic. On the Minister’s point, we already have problems enforcing the covenant across three areas; now we are going to 12. Even the armed forces personnel I have been speaking to have said that they have severe concerns about that. Local councils also raised that issue in the evidence sessions. While the Bill is very well intentioned, I worry that we are setting up councils to struggle, and that the postcode lottery will get even worse.

• 23 Mar 2026 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  Much old ground has been gone over by the Secretary of State, but our service personnel live in the here and now. The defence investment plan is absolutely vital for their future, whether we are talking about operations in the field, or upgrading housing for their families—a subject that we are discussing in the Select Committee on the Armed Forces Bill. Given that he did not answer the question from my hon. Friend the Member for Dumfries and Galloway (John Cooper), may I ask if “working flat out” means that the DIP will be published in days, weeks or months?

• 23 Mar 2026 · Asylum Seekers: Accommodation · Hansard source

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  16. How many asylum seekers were accommodated in asylum accommodation on (a) 30 December 2025 and (b) 30 June 2024.

• 23 Mar 2026 · Asylum Seekers: Accommodation · Hansard source

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  Since Labour came to power, the number of people in asylum accommodation—be it in hotels or dispersal accommodation—is up by more than 6,000. With figures like that, no South Northamptonshire resident believes that the Government are tackling this issue, especially given the continued operation of the migrant hotel in my constituency. With better weather coming, boat crossings will increase, so what will the Government do differently to stop the boats, as they promised they would?

• 9 Mar 2026 · Type 1 Diabetes: Infant Testing · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Alec. I start by paying tribute to Lyla Story, a little girl whose death, aged two, from undiagnosed type 1 diabetes has brought us here today. I wish I could have been giving her a tour of Parliament rather than talking in this capacity, but her name will go down in the history of Parliament, in Hansard , because of the dedicated work that has been done. I pay tribute to her parents, Emma and John, who are with us in the Gallery and who have campaigned tirelessly to raise awareness of this condition. I commend their courage and determination in the face of such grief. I think they have much greater strength than many of us would have in a similar situation. If I had been asked about diabetes five years ago, on 9 March 2021, I would probably have said that my auntie had it, and that it was due to poor diet. If I had been asked the same question on 21 May 2021, I would have given a completely different answer. The change is that I was diagnosed as type 1 diabetic at the age of 33. In the space of 24 hours, from going for a blood test for something innocuous, my world entirely changed, and I was rushed into A&E to be given emergency care. Like many people outside this Chamber, I had little to no knowledge of type 1. The concept of the four Ts—“tiredness”, “thinner”, “thirst” and “toilet”—were unknown to me. The fact that I started losing weight quite quickly was a bonus, I thought. I did not realise what the signs meant. The fact that 400,000 people in the UK have type 1 was news to me, and that more than one in four children with type 1 diabetes are diagnosed when they are in diabetic ketoacidosis was shocking. What is diabetic ketoacidosis? It has been mentioned a few times today, and it is a complication that develops when the body lacks sufficient insulin, leading to high blood sugar levels and the breakdown of fat and muscle for energy. This produces harmful chemicals, known as ketones, that make the blood acidic, which is what proves fatal. The petition before us today seeks to make testing for type 1 diabetes in babies, toddlers and young children a routine part of medical assessments at the point of care. John Story is also seeking to have the NICE guidelines on type 1—NG17 for adults and NG18 for children—updated to include performing a finger-prick test on site at the initial GP appointment, with blood glucose tested using a glucometer. That would occur when a child or adult presented with any symptoms consistent with type 1 diabetes. He would like to see a “test, don’t guess” approach, which we have seen be quite effective for meningitis—we know the signs—and sepsis, so I fully support this concept. NICE has been receptive to making these changes, but ultimately it will be for the relevant NHS commissioning bodies to put the NICE recommendations into practice. We therefore have to look to NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care to take up this campaign around increased visibility and testing of diabetic ketoacidosis. I echo the question asked by my hon. Friend the Member for Bromley and Biggin Hill (Peter Fortune): with the disbandment of NHS England, what will we be doing in that regard?

• 9 Mar 2026 · Type 1 Diabetes: Infant Testing · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right that 90% of cases are actually type 2. That is probably also why we fail to understand the true signs of type 1, because there is real confusion and conflation of the two. I think it would actually give clarity if they were named slightly differently. My hon. Friend is also right that a tsunami of cases of type 2 will be hitting us in the years to come, and we have to do a lot more to raise awareness of that, whether that is about diet or by sharing the technology. Many of us are trying to be visible in wearing the technology and the patches, such as FreeStyle Libre and Dexcom. I think that is very good for removing the stigma and helping people to understand what we need to do in the future. We definitely need to see that tech rolled out for type 2, as well as for type 1. It can still be a bit of a postcode lottery for type 1 at this stage, which is something else that we have to work on. We must not just rely on some of the jabs that have recently become popular. They are a means of helping people to lose weight, which can be a significant part of type 2 diabetes, but they may not be the answer. There are events going on at the moment, saying that we should exercise some caution and make sure that any jabs that are taken are actually legitimate and proper, and not counterfeit. That is a sad side of this: people are seeking medical treatments that could also be harmful. To go back to type 1, I have managed to secure today that I will introduce a 10-minute rule Bill on Tuesday 14 April to make provision for a universal national programme of screening for type 1 diabetes in children, building on all the work that John has been doing. I am working with medical professionals and charities, including Breakthrough T1D—as it is now called—and Diabetes UK, to look into the Italian model that was mentioned, in the hope that we can one day establish a programme that would catch type 1 before symptoms appear, transforming how we diagnose the condition in the future and helping people to prepare earlier. A lot more research is needed, because the key thing is the age at which someone can be diagnosed. We are working on three potential age ranges at which there would be repeat tests. That is vital and fundamental for the future, to make sure that we do not have one in four children being diagnosed when in a state of DKA. In the meantime, I reiterate what the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Tom Gordon) said: we want to see the four Ts built into training and education for all healthcare professionals. The four Ts are very important, but that does not necessarily mean that someone has to have every single one of those symptoms. I did not obviously show the signs of all four Ts, but when I had an HbA1c of 95— [ Interruption. ] That reaction! To put that into context, a normal person might have an average HbA1c of 20, while the threshold for diabetes is 48; I was at 95 at that stage. My ketones at the point of diagnosis were 2.7. At 3, you are at risk of going into DKA, and anything higher—I understand that Lyla may have been at 6 at the point that she was diagnosed—is critical. Clearly, I was very ill, but I had not picked up on all of those signs; I was not aware. Nevertheless, it is important that we have the four Ts in mind, at least as a baseline. We also want to make sure that all GP practices actually have the finger-prick test—the glucometer—available. Numerous practices have been contacted and they do not always have that, which I think is quite shocking. As a baseline, we also need to make sure that provision is there. As John has been campaigning hard for, we want to see the NICE guidelines updated to make sure that this is in the mindset of all our medical practitioners. We also want to see it in the personal child health record—the red book—and within the digital Best Start programme. We the CQC’s role in diagnosing type 1 in primary care to be clarified and strengthened—for example, inspections could assess whether staff receive appropriate training. We want local commissioners to commit to learning from incidents where type 1 is missed. We want NHS England—or whatever the equivalent is when that is disbanded—to work on this further, and we want the Department of Health and Social Care to review opportunities for national initiatives to drive improvements, such as the Getting It Right First Time programme. Everyone should rest assured that there are many fantastic representatives in Parliament who are type 1, and we will continue to fly the flag: my right hon. Friend the Member for Louth and Horncastle (Victoria Atkins), who sitting in front of me, is type 1; Mr Speaker is type 1; and, of course, Baroness May in the upper House has been a fantastic advocate over the years. I hope that we can also work with some more celebrity figures, whether that is Nikita on “Strictly Come Dancing”, the actor James Norton, the rugby player Henry Slade or the comedian Ed Gamble. There are figures out there, and we just need to make it much more visible and approachable. Type 1 diabetes is not a scary condition—although it is a very difficult one, don’t get me wrong. We live with it 24 hours a day, whether we are too hot, too cold, tired, stressed or whatever. From what we are eating to when we are exercising, there is a lot we have to think about, but it is completely manageable with the right support. I want to end my speech with the memory of Lyla and say thank you to John and Emma for their efforts. I say to everyone: please remember those four Ts—“thirst”, “toilet”, “thin” and “tiredness”.

• 2 Mar 2026 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  Even if our military personnel are not deployed in offensive strikes, the additional air policing that the RAF is being committed to across the middle east means that it now has to do double the work, with no extra resources. What additional resources is the RAF being given to protect our service personnel in undertaking this activity?

• 2 Feb 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T3. The provisions of the Armed Forces Bill extend anti-drone permissions to the UK armed forces and UK bases. RAF Croughton is a US air force base in my constituency. Will the changes give US personnel the same updated authorities that are being extended to the UK armed forces?

• 27 Jan 2026 · Digital Exploitation of Women and Girls · Hansard source

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  In terms of social media, I mean platforms such as Facebook and Snapchat; I am not talking about WhatsApp, which is a communication platform that many families use, although we have to be careful how it is used, because images can be shared on it. A ban is about ensuring that children cannot access these platforms. The issue has been raised at different levels. The problem is the content that children can see, and especially the way the algorithms are used. I recognise that the companies also need to take responsibility for what is being accessed and how people are accessing it, because this is going on at a scale larger than any parent could imagine. This is not the social media that we grew up on, where we used to post a little note on a wall for our friend’s birthday or upload photos from a night out—that is definitely not what children are seeing.

• 27 Jan 2026 · Digital Exploitation of Women and Girls · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Jardine. Digital exploitation does not affect women and girls exclusively, but, given that four in five victims of online grooming are girls, it is an issue that we must focus on. As MPs, we are all aware of the risks and threats that women face in the online sphere. It is no surprise that the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children found that only 9% of girls feel safe in online spaces. The accounts of stalking given earlier are terrifying, especially those using Ring doorbells, which are designed to keep people safe; that they would be manipulated in that way is horrific. The case of Holly that involved Snapchat in the constituency of the hon. Member for Hexham (Joe Morris) is frankly horrifying. There is no doubt that the complexity of the online world has resulted in significant digital exploitation. At this very moment, online content is being produced that takes advantage of women for financial gain. That is particularly worrying given that, according to Ofcom’s 2025 report on the time people spend online, women are spending more time than men across an array of websites. The issues around the digital exploitation of women and girls are particularly prominent on social media sites: over half of girls and women report receiving sexist comments about themselves online. This is a problem on an industrial scale. The recent Grok sexual imagery debacle brought this into sharp focus. It demonstrated the dangers posed to women who had not even engaged with the technology. People merely used an existing image to take advantage of the technology and spread it using the power of social media. I welcome steps to stop it, but are we equipped to handle the changing digital landscape in the future? The Online Safety Act introduced key changes to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and criminalised sharing intimate images of another person without their consent. The Government are now adding provisions to the Act to make it a criminal offence to create non-consensual intimate images. Do the Government believe that that will be sufficient, and that Ofcom has the necessary powers to stop this abhorrent practice? What I have seen from the Government so far is a reactive approach to AI and how it relates to women and girls. The technology is undoubtedly here to stay, but given the uncertainty of its development, is the Minister confident that the Government’s approach is sufficiently agile to prevent people from taking advantage of the technology to exploit women and girls? As we have heard, AI is only one part of the problem: social media is driving much of the digital exploitation of women and girls. Data from 44 forces provided to the NSPCC showed that the police recorded 7,263 “sexual communications with a child” offences in the last year— a number that has almost doubled since the offence came into force in 2017-18. Data from the crime survey of England and Wales showed an increase of 6% in child exploitation offences compared with the previous year, and that comes on top of evidence that these platforms are linked to the fact girls are twice as likely as boys to experience anxiety. Recent data shows that girls who use social media at the age of 11 report greater distrust of other people at the age of 14. The problem is only growing. Every day that the Government delay is another day that millions of girls are left at risk. We do not need further reviews or consultations; we need a ban on social media for under-16s. It is time to grip this issue.

• 27 Jan 2026 · Digital Exploitation of Women and Girls · Hansard source

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  I agree, but we need to take action now on the ones that we are aware of. Our legislation absolutely needs to be much more agile for the future, and I am not saying that a ban will be a silver bullet, but it will protect many girls from digital exploitation. That is why I am asking the Minister to follow the policy set out by the Conservative party, which was accepted in the House of Lords, and prohibit those under the age of 16 from using social media. If we do not put our children into those arenas, they will be far less likely to experience the opportunities for exploitation that stem from the internet and target the young and the vulnerable. If the Government support those measures, they could move fast and take action without delay. Let me be clear: the challenges posed by digital exploitation will not vanish if we prohibit the use of social media, but that would be a bulwark against the dangers that social media poses, particularly to young people. If we allow people to access these platforms when they are more mature and more educated, we can hopefully achieve reductions in exploitation.

• 27 Jan 2026 · Business Rates · Hansard source

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  Labour’s response to high street struggles is a strategy later this year to look at “what more the Government can do to support our high streets.” Well, I will save them the trouble. They should adopt the Conservatives’ plan, and scrap business rates on those high streets.

• 26 Jan 2026 · Police Reform White Paper · Hansard source

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  My concern is about the regional and local levels. In South Northamptonshire, my villages already really struggle to get attention because it always goes to Northampton, Kettering and Corby. The regional system may make that worse, so how will the local areas actually work in practice? If they stick to existing sizes, I will have 96 parishes who still will not get attention, unless we exclude the major towns. Has the Home Secretary given thought to that?

• 20 Jan 2026 · Chinese Embassy · Hansard source

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  The Minister says that China continues to pose a risk, and yet the Government today welcome this Trojan horse of an embassy into the heart of our capital. Consolidation helps China, not us, and planning conditions deal with the establishment but not the actual, real use inside the building in years to come. This has been asked many times before, but I ask again: are the British people safer as a result of this embassy—yes or no?

• 13 Jan 2026 · Chinese Embassy · Hansard source

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  The Minister has recognised that China poses significant threats, yet this Government are prepared to welcome this Trojan horse of an embassy into the heart of our city, so close to the Link system. He talks about material planning considerations, but that means balancing developing needs with community impact and ensuring that development aligns with local and national policies and site-specific details such as heritage, which was mentioned by the Father of the House, my right hon. Friend the Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh). Not one contributor in this House can say that this embassy is not a threat to national security and that it is in any way a good and solid planning application. How can this Government be so naive as to accept it?

• 13 Jan 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  We have just been notified that William Blake House in my constituency—a residential home for people with severe learning disabilities—has been issued with a winding-up notice, and the court hearing is tomorrow. The families were given no notice of any of this, and no consultation was carried out, so naturally they are worried about what provision will be in place for their loved ones. Will the Minister meet me urgently to discuss putting a contingency plan in place for them?