Tessa Munt MP: speeches

Speeches

• 25 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Food security is national security, and I am glad that the Government recognised that earlier this year. It is critical national infrastructure. As the Government pursue their building of 1.5 million homes, with which I absolutely agree, can we make sure that the Minister’s Department talks to other Departments across Government so that we do not lose valuable agricultural land? We are already importing 55% of our food, and this house building could undermine the UK’s already fragile food sector.

• 18 Jun 2026 · Access to Music and Dance Training · Hansard source

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  2. What steps she is taking to help ensure that children from less privileged backgrounds can access music and dance training.

• 18 Jun 2026 · Grooming Gangs: Independent Inquiry · Hansard source

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  I echo the comments about how disgusting these particular crimes are. Lady Casey has identified how, in quashing convictions, the Government have failed to take account of the whole picture. Quashing convictions for under-age prostitution is laudable, but there are other convictions such as for possessing the drugs given to those who are abused by their abusers or carrying them under coercion. The Minister referred to professional curiosity. Could she encourage people around her to engage in exactly that, and to look further than just the very first or main conviction to sort this out?

• 8 Jun 2026 · Draft REACH (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2026 · Hansard source

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  Indeed I was.

• 1 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I wonder whether the Minister could tell me the date on which the very first documents relating to the Chinook air disaster were closed and why it is that Ministers seem to have absolutely no oversight, responsibility or accountability over when decisions are made to close documents to the public.

• 1 Jun 2026 · Child Sexual Offender Data · Hansard source

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  I cannot remember whether I mentioned this—my notes have gone, although I did not follow them anyway. I just want to draw the Minister’s attention to small religious groups, which is the terminology I use to describe what most of us would probably call “cults”. We should make sure that is a focus of some attention in the inquiry, because children of both genders and vulnerable adults are forced into situations over which they have very little control. It is that power dynamic.

• 1 Jun 2026 · Child Sexual Offender Data · Hansard source

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  indicated assent.

• 21 May 2026 · Small Businesses: Rural Areas · Hansard source

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  7. What steps his Department is taking to support small and microbusinesses in rural areas.

• 15 Apr 2026 · Regulation of the Marmalade Market · Hansard source

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  I am trying so hard to avoid more references to Paddington, but you are quite right.

• 16 Mar 2026 · Lord Mandelson: Response to Humble Address · Hansard source

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  It has been revealed that Peter Mandelson was given top-level briefings before his vetting was finalised. Who did that, and who will hold those people to account? Will the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister write to me if he is not able to answer that question now?

• 12 Mar 2026 · Carnivals · Hansard source

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  Almost the whole of the way east of Wells is without any wi-fi, even for those who live there. That makes things incredibly difficult. Does my hon. Friend agree?

• 12 Mar 2026 · Carnivals · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I do not know whether you have had the opportunity to visit any of the Somerset carnivals, but they are spectacular and huge. One of the magnificent seven is, of course, Wells, and the second in my patch is Shepton Mallet. As my hon. Friend was saying, they not only contribute to cultural life but have an absolutely huge number of volunteers. They work on making carnival carts all year round, engaging young people in the activity. It is fantastic that so many young people—literally hundreds and hundreds—get involved in building the carts. They really are a spectacle, and I invite you to come down to Somerset to have a look. You will not see anything else like it anywhere else in the country.

• 12 Mar 2026 · Carnivals · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is making a brilliant speech. I thank her and my friend the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare (Dan Aldridge) for bringing this debate to Westminster Hall, because it is a really important issue. I have been a carnival collector for years. I carry two buckets. In years gone past, it was almost impossible to carry them because they were so heavy with coins. Everyone used to save their pennies, tuppences and fivepence and tenpence pieces, but now there is very little of that money saved across a year. First, that is because things are tight: it is hard to live, so people need every penny that they can get. Secondly, as my hon. Friend mentioned, there is a lack of wi-fi. In fact, in parts of Shepton Mallet and particularly in the city of Wells—

• 11 Mar 2026 · Commonwealth Day 2026 · Hansard source

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  We are celebrating Commonwealth Week. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that it is absolutely shocking to discover that the Government made the decision to freeze UK state pensions for 430,000 British citizens overseas, of whom 90% are in Commonwealth countries? It is particularly cynical of them to have introduced the legislation enforcing that freeze last Friday, using a mechanism that does not provide for parliamentary debate or votes, although the policy affects so many people who live overseas.

• 2 Mar 2026 · Small Religious Organisations: Safeguarding · Hansard source

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  If I may, I would like to explore what happens with the Minister. There is mistrust of external agencies, and in a lot of these small, high-demand religious organisations—those that look like cults—people may not realise that they have any capacity or agency to report.

• 2 Mar 2026 · Small Religious Organisations: Safeguarding · Hansard source

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  I think it takes an average of 26 years for children to disclose that they were victims of sexual abuse, so it is absolutely critical that the provision on the reasonable suspicion of abuse is included in the Bill, as well as the trigger for the duty to report. In small, high-demand religious organisations, cultural norms prevent open discussion of sexual harm and discourage mandatory reporting. That needs to be overturned.

• 26 Feb 2026 · Bereaved Children: Government Support · Hansard source

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  In 2024, my constituent Claire lost her husband—a personal tragedy. Overnight, she became the sole parent to her three-year-old son. [ Interruption. ] Sorry, this is personal as well. I was going to talk about me, but I am not going to talk about me. She rightly points out that the fixed 18-month limit on bereavement support payments creates a financial cliff edge for widowed parents, to which my hon. Friend has already referred. Does she, and the Minister too, agree that the grief, permanent loss of income and parenting responsibilities to all children, particularly very young children, do not end at that arbitrary 18-month period, that cut-off point, and that it should be rethought?

• 25 Feb 2026 · Minister for Men and Boys · Hansard source

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  We need to do more than watch out; that is completely unacceptable. I know so many men who have been the victims of domestic abuse. That is shockingly bad.

• 25 Feb 2026 · Minister for Men and Boys · Hansard source

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  Does the Minister believe that men can bring up children really well as well?

• 25 Feb 2026 · Minister for Men and Boys · Hansard source

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  I am particularly grateful to the hon. Gentleman for making that point, because it is an area of interest to me. I have been a long-term supporter of Families Need Fathers, although not necessarily Fathers4Justice, which pinged off out of that. I tried to work out exactly how many times judges have allowed child arrangements orders to be given to fathers, but no data is kept. If we do not have data about how many children live with which parent—or about where there are shared parental orders, which in my view have to be the route forward, except in exceptional circumstances—how can we possibly know what is happening?

• 24 Feb 2026 · Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor · Hansard source

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  Will the Minister give way?

• 5 Feb 2026 · National Cancer Plan · Hansard source

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  I welcome the statement and the plan, and salute the Minister’s bravery; I wish her very good health. My constituents do not get a particularly good deal: when measured against the 62-day target, 47% meet the target for radiotherapy, 62% for drugs and 73% for surgery. However, looking at just the first treatment masks the true picture, as a combination of treatments is often crucial to survival, and if people wait six months for their second treatment, it is really poor. Will the Minister consider bringing in measurement of secondary treatments? We know that radiotherapy can reduce a tumour and that surgery comes later, but if someone has to wait six months for surgery, they are in trouble.

• 29 Jan 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The use of the toxic chemical paraquat was banned in the UK by the previous Labour Government in 2007. It is associated with the development of Parkinson’s and is deemed too dangerous for use on our own soil, but continues to be produced here and sent elsewhere, perpetuating harms that would not be tolerated at home. What is the policy on exporting UK-manufactured products such as paraquat to other countries?

• 19 Jan 2026 · Disclosure and Barring Service · Hansard source

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  rose—

• 19 Jan 2026 · Disclosure and Barring Service · Hansard source

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  The Minister refers to the fact that the DBS would be able to check whether somebody who was going to work abroad had a problem with their clearance. Will that work in reverse? For example, if someone is trying to employ an au pair from another country—I do not know if people can even do that any more—could the au pair be checked before they came in and worked with children?