Warinder Juss MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 28 Oct 2025 · Gaza Peace Plan · Hansard source

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  Despite the most welcome peace plan, we have already seen breaches in the form of Israeli air strikes, with the restriction of lifesaving supplies entering Gaza. What are we doing to ensure that sufficient humanitarian aid can get through to end the famine swiftly, and that the Israeli leadership is held accountable for violations of international law, so that we can finally see an end to the conflict, with no more innocent Palestinian or Israeli lives being lost?

• 28 Oct 2025 · Gaza Peace Plan · Hansard source

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  7. What steps her Department is taking to support the Gaza peace plan.

• 27 Oct 2025 · Prisoner Release Checks · Hansard source

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  It is deeply concerning that a dangerous criminal was released on to the streets—that should not have happened—but I thank the Deputy Prime Minister for his honest assessment of what happened and for acknowledging that it was wrong. Does he agree that we are dealing with 14 years of Tory neglect with overcrowded and understaffed prisons, and that when things go wrong—as they have done—it is essential that we take swift and decisive action so that the public’s trust in the justice system is maintained, and that that is exactly what we are doing now?

• 23 Oct 2025 · Work of the County Court: Government Response · Hansard source

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  I previously worked in the county court system, and the problem that my hon. Friend has highlighted is a long-standing one. The Government have accepted that the county court is where most of our constituents access the justice system. Does he agree that the county court cannot carry on as it is at the moment and that we need a fundamental reform of the system, which must involve a systematic and comprehensive review of its operations, because it is crucial that our constituents have access to swift and fair justice?

• 23 Oct 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Dementia is the leading cause of death in this country, and my constituents tell me of not only the mental decline but the physical conditions, poor mobility, infections and increased pain levels that sufferers experience. Does the Leader of the House agree that it is crucial to improve co-ordination between social care, community care and hospital services? Will he please consider asking the Department of Health and Social Care to treat dementia as a physical health condition so that sufferers and their families can receive the appropriate support they need?

• 23 Oct 2025 · Black History Month · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is making a powerful speech. He has mentioned people who have come to this country and contributed greatly. As he and other Members have said, the problems we face are ones that we did not think we would see in this day and age. Only last week, I posted a photograph of myself out door-knocking and speaking to constituents, and somebody posted, “Another foreigner representing Wolverhampton.” I grew up being racially attacked, including physically, because I wore a turban and because of the colour of my skin, but even so, the comment shocked me, because I did not expect to hear it in present times. When I was thinking of how I would respond to that person, I wondered whether I should point out that 60% of NHS workers were not born in this country. As I was formulating a response, somebody responded, “Well, why don’t you stand at the next general election?”. I thought that that was a really good way of countering the comment. Does my hon. Friend agree that we have to face these issues, and that we need allies—people who are not black —to take part in Black History Month? That is how we will tackle the racism that people like me still feel. Anybody in public service will feel vulnerable, so we need as many people as possible to take part in this movement, and in the celebration of Black History Month.

• 22 Oct 2025 · Mental Health and Hoarding · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend speaks very effectively about hoarding disorder. As she has explained, it is a mental health condition in its own right, although it is often confused with obsessive-compulsive disorder. One of my constituents spoke to me about her husband, who has completely filled the living room with items that he just cannot discard. Does my hon. Friend agree that whether it is related to OCD or to another condition, hoarding not only disrupts the lives of the individual who goes through the anxiety and trauma of the condition, but affects others around that individual? During Prime Minister’s questions this morning, we heard that one in four of us will suffer from a mental health condition. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need to increase mental health support to make it easily accessible and enable it to provide effective treatment, and that such earlier intervention can avoid the deterioration of the condition?

• 21 Oct 2025 · Sentencing Bill · Hansard source

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  I have visited Snaresbrook Crown court and I understand exactly what my hon. Friend is saying. He makes a valid point. The pressures on our courts system and our prison system are all interlinked. It is important that victims get the justice they deserve, that the courts are able to deliver it and that offender rehabilitation does not come at the cost of victim confidence. However, we must recognise that short-term prison sentences all too often do not work and instead merely cause disruption to people’s lives and kick-start a cycle of reoffending. Where the courts believe that justice is better served through community rehabilitation, we must empower them to do put that in place. Amendment 36 would require judges also to consider whether a community sentence was better than a prison sentence or a suspended prison sentence. I am proud to support this Bill because it centres on victims and allows them the protection and dignity that they deserve. The Bill and the amendment will also allow those on trial a proper consideration for rehabilitation and an opportunity to make amends and have a better life. I urge Members to support clause 1, to support amendment 36 and to support the Bill. It is a vital and crucial step forward for our courts, our prisons and our communities, and for a fair justice system that works for all.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Sentencing Bill · Hansard source

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  I understand and appreciate the effects of knife crime; we have all had cases in our constituencies that demonstrate the devastation that it causes. Does the right hon. Member agree that we should focus on rehabilitation, and on preventing people from carrying knives? Education on this issue is important. It is the way forward in ensuring that knife crime is decreased.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Sentencing Bill · Hansard source

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  As a member of the Justice Committee, it is a privilege to speak in support of the Bill. I welcome the much-needed reform that it will bring to our courts and prisons system. I wish to speak in support of clause 1 and amendment 36, relating to sentences of 12 months or less, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Colchester (Pam Cox). We are well aware in this House of the disastrous situation our prison system was left in by the previous Government and I am proud that this Government are now confronting the crisis head on. We are committed to not just short-term fixes, but long-term reform. The Bill will tackle the root causes of the issues that lead to the crisis in the first place and rebuild a justice system that delivers fairness, safety and accountability to all in society. Amendment 36 will do more than just reduce the pressure on our prison system; it will represent a vital cultural shift, placing rehabilitation and reintegration at the heart of our sentencing system. Since becoming an MP, I have visited several prisons and one thing that has become clear is how easy it is to fall into the reoffending cycle, especially for those who are serving short sentences. A minor offence can lead to a short prison sentence that can affect a prisoner’s entire life. They leave prison and they have no home, no connections and no job. When they are released from prison, they have no option but to fall back into the same behaviours that put them in prison in the first place.

• 16 Oct 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Penn cricket club in my constituency has been under an Environment Agency stop notice since July 2022, after soil was wrongly imported on to its grounds, and nothing much has happened since. Will the Leader of the House support my attempt to encourage the Environment Agency to complete its investigations so that my constituents can get their cricket club back?

• 15 Oct 2025 · Work for Serving Prisoners · Hansard source

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  The issue of work in prison is something we have considered on the Justice Committee. Separately, I have recently visited prisons, where I had the opportunity to talk to prisoners. Does my hon. Friend agree that meaningful work in prisons can not only erase the boredom that can lead to drug use but give prisoners skills that they can use to find employment when they are released from prison? It enables them to reintegrate into society, thereby reducing the risk of reoffending.

• 15 Oct 2025 · Knife Crime · Hansard source

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  Of course, it is the job of the state system to act as a deterrent, so I understand the hon. Lady’s point. I sit on the Justice Committee, and I have visited prisons and spoken to young people. Unfortunately, a lot of people do not think they will be sentenced to a long period in prison if they commit a crime—that is not in their minds. Does the hon. Lady agree that our focus should be on enabling the people who are likely to commit knife crimes to make the right choices in life? That is what we should focus on, rather than trying to get the message across that if they commit a crime, they will end up in jail. We need to be enabling our youth, our young people, to make the right choices in life.

• 15 Oct 2025 · Knife Crime · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend agree that, whether we like it or not, social isolation and a lack of opportunities are possible causes of knife crime? I am an OnSide youth zone champion, and my constituency has The Way youth zone. It is launching a comprehensive knife crime prevention initiative to tackle such issues. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need well-funded youth services that prioritise early intervention, empower our youth, foster community safety, and thereby help to achieve safer streets and stronger youth?

• 15 Oct 2025 · Knife Crime · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Lady give way?

• 15 Oct 2025 · Educational Assessment System Reform · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Hertford and Stortford (Josh Dean) for securing this important debate. I also thank the charity YoungMinds for its hard work and dedication to supporting young people’s mental health and wellbeing. I had the privilege of meeting its representatives at the Labour party conference, having previously attended its Missing the Mark event here in Parliament. It has become clear to me, especially since becoming an MP, how frequently mental health issues appear across many different areas of policy, and how poor mental health in childhood can have knock-on effects on a young person’s future life chances. The impact that school assessments have on the future of our children should not be underestimated. I look forward to considering the upcoming schools White Paper to see how we can implement the changes we need to help our children. In my constituency of Wolverhampton West, I hear time and again from parents and teachers about the need for improved SEND support. Almost 20% of pupils in our schools have identified special educational needs, and reports indicate that special educational needs are most prevalent in pupils as young as nine years old. Some 96% of headteachers have expressed concern that SATs have a negative impact on the wellbeing of their pupils. Is it not therefore time to consider whether we actually need these exams for our children? At secondary school level, 63% of students say that they struggle to cope in the lead-up to GCSEs and A-levels, and that figure rises to nearly 80% for those with special educational needs. Something needs to change. When we talk about early intervention to protect our children, we need to consider the reform of the educational assessment system that all our young people go through, which could also alleviate pressures on key NHS and SEND services. How many times have we heard the phrase, “Prevention is better than cure”? As parliamentarians, we have real opportunities to deliver change and make tangible differences to the lives of so many. We need to adopt a joined-up approach to supporting our children—one that links a reformed, child-centred educational assessment system with a holistic strategy for supporting the mental health needs of our young people. We can then provide a future from which we will all benefit.

• 15 Oct 2025 · Educational Assessment System Reform · Hansard source

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  Does the hon. Member agree that exams do not even test resilience? I consider myself to be quite a resilient person, but I used to hate exams. Even though I retook my A-levels and succeeded in getting them, for years afterwards I used to have dreams about not having passed my A-levels, and I do not think that is an uncommon story.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Postural Tachycardia Syndrome · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for giving way again. Like others in this room, I have had many constituents ask me to represent them today. One such constituent, Sophie Evans-Carey, has spent the last six months in hospital and just wants to get her life back. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need to increase support and services available for PoTS sufferers? The average time for diagnosis is seven years. We need faster diagnoses and proper funding for treatment to enable people such as Sophie to go back to work, and help the economy in the process.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Tackling Climate Change: International Co-operation · Hansard source

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  18. What discussions he has had with his international counterparts on tackling climate change.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Tackling Climate Change: International Co-operation · Hansard source

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  Young people in my constituency of Wolverhampton West are particularly concerned about protecting the environment and the future of our planet. I have been contacted by students at Wolverhampton girls’ high school and St Edmund’s Catholic academy, and recently I was proud to attend a climate justice art exhibition prepared by pupils at St Teresa’s Catholic primary academy. What steps are we taking to encourage international awareness of the dangers of global warming and the need to recycle and limit plastic waste, thereby also reducing marine pollution?

• 15 Sept 2025 · Children with SEND: Assessments and Support · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member is absolutely correct. What is more, when parents appeal, they succeed in the vast majority of cases. Why is that decision not made earlier to save the money, which could be used for the children? We also need to have that funding ringfenced so that the money directly goes to our schools. As parliamentarians, it is our duty to ensure that every child receives the support that they deserve. We can see from the many debates that we have had that the strength of feeling is immense. We need to make sure that our children not only get the childhood that they deserve, but also the future that they are entitled to.

• 15 Sept 2025 · Children with SEND: Assessments and Support · Hansard source

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  Recently, I held a roundtable for parents and carers, and we had a very moving discussion. One parent spoke about how her son had not been to school since January and had missed out on his GCSEs. Does the hon. Lady agree that we need a holistic procedure whereby schools and local authorities work with the NHS; that we should have dedicated special educational needs co-ordinators in schools; and that teacher training should include SEND so that teachers are equipped to deal with these children?

• 15 Sept 2025 · Children with SEND: Assessments and Support · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Allin-Khan. I thank the 123 constituents in my constituency of Wolverhampton West who have signed this petition for support for children with SEND. In Wolverhampton, nearly one in five is currently receiving SEND support or has an education, health and care plan, and that number is continuously increasing. We need the infrastructure and investment in place so that every child has the opportunity that they deserve to thrive in our country. Too many of our children are being let down. They are often waiting months or years to get the support that they need and they are stuck in an over-bureaucratic system. I welcome the Government’s extra £1 billion of funding. In my city of Wolverhampton, we are receiving £2.7 million of that funding. But the funding needs to go further and the money needs to be used in an efficient way. We need to reform an outdated system for SEND, so that parents and children are the ones kept at the heart of the debate. I often hear teachers say that they would rather have the money given to the school than to private providers, so that they could provide the provision that the children need. One of the major complaints that I receive is about a total lack of transparency and accountability in the provision of SEND support. It has already been mentioned that we need there to be early intervention. We need to provide support before students reach a crisis point. There should be a legal requirement for each school to have a dedicated SENCO, and SEND education needs to be mandatory as part of teacher training.

• 15 Sept 2025 · Provision of Council Housing · Hansard source

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  According to the charity Crisis, only 1.4% of one to three-bedroom properties in my constituency are affordable to renters who need housing benefits, while the number of people on the social housing waiting list in Wolverhampton has nearly tripled in three years and rents have surged by over 35% in the last five years. Does my hon. Friend agree that the housing emergency demands urgent and sustained action, and does he therefore welcome, as I do, this Government’s commitment to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable house building in a generation?

• 10 Sept 2025 · Equality Act 2010: Impact on British Society · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship for the first time, Dr Allin-Khan. I thank the hon. Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell) for securing the debate, although I have to say that I disagree with everything he said. The Equality Act represented a pivotal change in our society and in our law, to create a kinder, more inclusive and equal Britain. I am grateful that, by and large, our society continues to uphold those values 15 years after the Act’s initial creation. However, I am here today to speak about a form of discrimination that is only partially covered by the Equality Act: caste discrimination, which certainly should not exist in British society. In 2010, the Labour Government included the legal power in section 9(5)(a) of the Equality Act, as amended, to outlaw caste-based discrimination in the UK. In 2013, Parliament changed that to a legal duty on Ministers to outlaw caste discrimination. Five years later, the Tory Government decided to get rid of that provision, but successive Governments did nothing about it. Despite calls from authorities such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commission, and organisations such as the National Secular Society and the Anti Caste Discrimination Alliance, there has been no move to implement section 9(5)(a). Indeed, the Anti Caste Discrimination Alliance found that nearly one in 10 respondents in Britain say that they have experienced verbal abuse on the basis of caste discrimination, and that the same number report that they have missed out on promotion at work because of their caste. Despite its good provisions, the Equality Act does not explicitly list caste as a protected characteristic, despite the amendments made back in 2013, which would mean that caste discrimination is recognised as a form of race discrimination in the same way as discrimination based on colour, ethnic or national origin, and nationality. It is time for the Government to introduce the recommended secondary legislation to make caste an aspect of race—contrary to what the hon. Member for Romford said, I believe that the Equality Act should be expanded. We need to make caste discrimination illegal when it comes to employment and public services, including education. The provision is already in section 9(5)(a) of the Equality Act, but it needs to be implemented. I would be interested to hear the Minister’s response so that I can reassure my constituents in Wolverhampton West that we are doing something for them, as they have suffered from caste-based discrimination. Since 2013, numerous caste-based discrimination cases have been pursued in employment tribunals, and there have been other cases in which caste discrimination has been alleged—for example, in the NHS and, in one case, in a bakery—but the employers decided to settle out of court. The courts should not have to rely on case law to address caste-based discrimination, because that leaves the issue inconsistent and uncertain. I ask that the Government take initiative now, further to section 9(5)(a) of the Equality Act, to provide clarity to our courts. They should implement a clear structure of redress for those impacted and stand alongside other countries, businesses and trade unions in confronting caste-based discrimination, so that we send a clear message to everyone in this country that hatred and discrimination in any form have no place in Britain.