Sarah Green MP: speeches

Speeches

• 11 Feb 2026 · Hughes Report: Second Anniversary · Hansard source

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  I do agree, and I thank the hon. Member for raising it. I know that many colleagues present have been championing this cause for years. There is a string of parliamentary questions going back to the launch of the report two years ago, asking for progress updates. The Patient Safety Commissioner herself used her statutory powers for the first time, in October last year, to ask for more detailed answers from the Department of Health and Social Care. The responses were published in November and just a few weeks ago in January. We now know that there have been meetings, roundtables and briefings, but no progress on redress. If I am reading between the lines of these responses correctly, it is the dead hand of the Treasury that is the issue. Before I conclude, I wish to mention Carol. I have shared Carol’s story before, and I return to it today because it lays bare the cost of years of Government inaction. When I first met her online—I hope she will not mind my saying this—she was a physical wreck. She needed assistance to get a visa to the US during the pandemic for urgent medical treatment following a hysteropexy and rectopexy using surgical mesh. A procedure that was intended to resolve her pelvic organ prolapse instead caused devastating harm. Carol was left with a serious autoimmune disease, struggling to walk and unable to live her daily life. Her prognosis was bleak, and she needed to have the mesh urgently removed. That treatment was not available to her on the NHS. While suffering from chronic pain, and with limited mobility, Carol accessed private treatment in the United States. A combination of determination, medical knowledge and personal resources allowed her to do so, and Carol is now mesh-free following a successful surgery. Carol attempted to pursue a clinical negligence claim against the surgeons who harmed her, but multiple law firms declined to act because the same surgeons were advising them on other cases. Those conflicts of interest blocked Carol’s access to justice. In one case, the surgeon who caused her life-changing harm acted as an expert witness in an unrelated mesh case. The judge in that case found that the surgeon selectively chose evidence supportive of the defence, failed to provide balanced evidence, and failed in his duty to the court. That finding is on the record. Such conflicts are not isolated. Conflicts of interest and the closing of ranks among professionals remain a structural barrier to justice for victims. That is just one of the reasons why an independent redress scheme is long overdue. The current system is failing these women, children and families. I have two questions for the Minister. What conversations are she, her Department and her officials having with the Treasury and Downing Street to make redress a reality for the victims? Will she meet some of the affected families to hear directly from them why redress is so important to them?

• 2 Dec 2025 · Ukraine · Hansard source

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  Point 24 of Russia’s peace plan proposes to establish a humanitarian committee to resolve outstanding issues, such as prisoner exchanges on an “all for all” basis and the return of civilian detainees and hostages, including children. That approach conflates prisoners of war with stolen children, who are afforded special protected status under the fourth Geneva convention. What guarantees can the Secretary of State provide that the UK will ensure that all Geneva convention signatories uphold their obligations in line with international law and the return of the stolen children?

• 2 Dec 2025 · Ukraine · Hansard source

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  7. What diplomatic steps her Department is taking to support Ukraine.

• 2 Sept 2025 · Gaza: Humanitarian Aid · Hansard source

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  10. What diplomatic steps he is taking to help ensure humanitarian aid can reach people in Gaza.

• 2 Sept 2025 · Gaza: Humanitarian Aid · Hansard source

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  The Minister will know that Médecins Sans Frontières has referred to the locations used by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation as sites of “orchestrated killing”. What pressure are the Government bringing to bear on both the Israeli and US Governments to stop using the foundation and reinstate the United Nations-led system of aid delivery?