Liz Twist

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

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2,278 lines on record for Liz Twist, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, without an account. Most recent 500 lines shown. Search to find more. Page 4 of 10.

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1. “I thank my hon. Friend for that question. Certainly I agree that we must do all that we can. I hope that, in this debate today, we will be able to take steps forward to implement the standard. I want briefly to touch on the work that the British Standards Institution does. It plays a vital role in workplace standards of all kinds in this country. The BSI is 125 years old this year. I am sure the Minister will join me in congratulating the BSI on that achievement, and the enormous contribution it has made to businesses and the everyday life of people throughout the United Kingdom since 1901. British standards have helped with everything from saving lives with medical devices to air raid shelters during the war, crash helmets and now addressing suicide.”

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2. “With help from the Government and colleagues in this place, we can all work together to achieve our ambition of seeing fewer people die by suicide.”

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3. “First, will his Department help to promote this important standard with business, public sector bodies and throughout Government? Secondly, will he commit to jointly organising and attending a roundtable with me, the BSI, the Department for Business and Trade, key UK businesses, SMEs and the unions to discuss the roll-out of the standard across UK workplaces. Thirdly, will he say how the Government will ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises can access the trauma-informed training required to implement the standard effectively? We want to ensure that the standard not only raises awareness, but gives organisations the tools they need to reduce risk, intervene effectively and encourage conversations, breaking down the myths and the stigma that talking about suicide causes people to feel.”

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4. “Furthermore, the Department of Health and Social Care could work with the Health and Safety Executive to ensure that workplace first aid and safety guidance emphasises the importance of managing risks to mental health using the standard. I am pleased the Government mentioned the standard in the men’s health strategy earlier this year, and that was significant. That is a good starting point for ensuring that employers start to implement the standard. The focus of today’s debate is how the Government can help with that task and help BS 30480 contribute to the national suicide prevention strategy. April is Stress Awareness Month in workplaces, and I hope the Minister will agree to some actions today, maybe on behalf of his colleagues in the Department for Business and Trade.”

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5. “For example, Heathrow airport has publicly spoken about its adoption of the standard, and so has the Inclusion Education, in a recent BSI webinar in which I took part. Can we please encourage more to follow their lead? I believe we need the Government’s help to do this. As we have heard, the standard offers clear guidance for organisations of all sizes and sectors, including public bodies, charities, social enterprises, businesses and commercial enterprises. I hope the Government can actively promote it, especially within high-risk, male-dominated industries, by leveraging their new and existing partnerships, such as the upcoming three-year collaboration with the Premier League, aimed at improving men’s health, literacy and suicide prevention.”

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6. “I pay tribute to Professor Ann John, director of the National Centre for Suicide Prevention, who chaired the BSI committee, and within that, Marcus Long, who led the communications group, and Peter Kelly, who led the drafting panel. I also thank the BSI staff I have worked with over the past few months—Jane Packer, Lachean Humphreys and Robert Jervis-Gibbons—for their leadership on the standard. It has been a great pleasure working with all of them, but now we have to make sure that the standard is rolled out by employers. There has been a great deal of enthusiasm from employers to date, with 11,500 downloads of the standard so far. How can the Government promote the standard? I believe the standard will help many workplaces across the UK, and I am sure the Government will work with me and the BSI to promote it to businesses.”

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7. “I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. Indeed, the whole purpose of this debate is to encourage us to be proactive and work with other organisations and employers to ensure that the standard is implemented and lives are saved. Additionally, the standard encourages businesses to collaborate with workers to help design individual safety plans that outline coping strategies and emergency contacts at times when they need help or support. I was glad to work with the BSI on the standard. It represents the outcome of a huge amount of work involving employers, and mental health and suicide prevention organisations such as Samaritans, trade unions and BSI staff, some of whom are in the Public Gallery today. I was especially pleased that Mr Speaker granted permission to help launch BS 30480 in Speaker’s House last November.”

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8. “Can I tempt the Minister to go a little further? I specifically requested a roundtable to encourage take up of the standard. Is something that he can look at and mention to the other parties I discussed?”

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9. “Sarah’s law covers only convicted child sexual offenders and Clare’s law focuses on domestic abuse against an adult partner. Neither scheme protects a child in their own right from an adult with a history of non-sexual physical abuse, neglect or coercive control. Unlike the previous two laws, Maya’s law would place a statutory duty on multiple agencies, including the police and healthcare and social care providers.”

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10. “The system failed Maya. Her father, James, noticed bruises and approached Durham’s First Contact service with his concerns about the mother’s new partner, Michael Daymond. He was told to contact the police, who processed the matter under Clare’s law and Sarah’s law. However, an officer simply phoned Maya’s mother, who lied and said that the relationship was over. The police closed the case without even the courtesy of a single face-to-face visit or seeing Maya. The safeguarding review explicitly called out that lack of professional curiosity. Those failures clearly show that there is still a gap that needs to be addressed. That Maya’s case was reported under Clare’s law and Sarah’s law and there was still not a single home visit shows that there is more to be done. Both laws are police-led schemes.”

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11. “This is not only their campaign: it has brought together our local community in Consett and people across County Durham and from every constituency. It is a campaign that says, “This must stop.” We must not just learn from Maya’s death but act to protect vulnerable and at-risk children. This coming together is the tireless work of Maya’s great-aunts, Gemma Chappell and Rachael Walls. I pay tribute to them for drawing all of us into their campaign and working with other families who have lost children through abuse to achieve that change. There are too many children to mention, but Gemma and Rachael have worked with the families of Star Hobson, Daniel Pelka, Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Tony Hudgell, who survived but still bears the scars. I know the pain they have felt and are still feeling, and I commend them for their work.”

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12. “It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Mundell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Sunderland Central (Lewis Atkinson) for introducing the debate on behalf of the Petitions Committee and the petitioners, and for setting out clearly the need for a child risk disclosure mechanism for at-risk children. What happened to Maya Chappell was a tragedy. It was a failure across our public services that led to the death of a toddler. It should never have happened and must never happen again. I am here to speak as the constituency MP for Maya’s great-aunts, Gemma Chappell and Rachael Walls, and her many other family members, including her father, James Chappell, who have driven this campaign and have worked so hard to get more than 110,000 signatures.”

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13. “Will he take steps beyond data sharing between professionals to guarantee the right of the protective non-abusive parent to be informed of a risk that threatens their child? Will he introduce measures to ensure that information received by professionals in all agencies is acted on consistently and swiftly, and shared with protective parents or carers, to ensure that children are protected from harm? I hope that the Minister will continue to work so that tragedies like Maya’s murder never happen again. I know that hope is shared by the 110,000 petitioners, and by Gemma, Rachael, James and the whole community of Consett and County Durham. Our children deserve no less.”

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14. “With the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill in its final stages, there will be real improvements in child protection, with multi-agency child protection teams and other measures being introduced, but there is still a flaw within the Bill. Although clause 4 does, for the first time, require professional agencies such as local authorities, education providers and NHS trusts to share information, it misses the key point in Maya’s law—it does not mandate the disclosure of any information to the protective non-abusive parent. Sharing data between agencies does nothing—did nothing—to help a father like James Chappell, who was left in the dark while his daughter was murdered. The Minister has been very helpful over the last year, but I want to ask him some specific questions.”

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15. “Across the country, 35% of child homicides—the murder of someone under 16, with their whole life ahead of them—are committed by a parent or step-parent. Those are the people a child is meant to trust the most. More than 50% of serious case reviews cite communication failures as a primary cause of child deaths. That represents a serious and persistent failure to protect children in their own homes. In January, the Government formally responded to this petition, stating that they are “not minded to introduce the elements of a Child Risk Disclosure Scheme requiring police to disclose information to parents and guardians”.”

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16. “I agree with the hon. Gentleman. I know that Gemma and Rachael have worked very closely with Star Hobson’s family to ensure that lessons are learned and action is taken. That is why there is such widespread support for this proposal. Maya’s law would place a statutory duty across multiple agencies, including the police and healthcare and social care providers, proactively to disclose relevant risk histories to a child’s protective parent or guardian. Maya’s law could then trigger protective action based on documented patterns of concern, closing the dangerous gap where abusers hide because they do not yet have a formal criminal charge. The death of Maya Chappell is not, sadly, an isolated incident. It is part of a devastating national pattern, which is of great concern.”

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17. “For some patients, it can take between 10 and 23 years after the onset of symptoms to get a diagnosis—that is up to 23 years of pain and fatigue before they can even start to manage the condition.”

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18. “As we have heard, EDS has for a long time been considered a rare disease, which means that fewer than one in 2,000 people are either diagnosed or very likely to be diagnosed with it. As a recent former chair of the all-party parliamentary group on genetic, rare and undiagnosed conditions, I have had the opportunity to meet and speak to support groups for people with this condition about their experiences. However, a 2024 study of 300,000 GP patients in Northumberland found that as many as one in 250 people might have some form of hypermobility stress disorder—that is just those with a diagnosis. The true prevalence has been estimated at between 1% and 4% of the population. Getting a diagnosis is a massive challenge for those with EDS.”

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19. “It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Furniss. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Cannock Chase (Josh Newbury) on securing this important debate. Over recent years, I have been contacted by a number of constituents with EDS, many of whom have severe health issues because of the condition. Indeed, many constituents have asked me to speak in this debate. A member of my staff team suffers with EDS, and with her permission, I can say that I have seen over recent years just how it has affected her, and how it has progressed. Ehlers-Danlos syndromes, also known as EDS, have a profound impact on people’s lives, from chronic musculoskeletal pain and exhausting chronic fatigue to severe gut issues, allergic responses and immune system dysfunction.”

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20. “Finally, given the extreme complexity of the conditions and the risk of spinal fusion for EDS patients, will the Minister back the creation of a national multidisciplinary neurosurgery team for CCI to ensure rigorous peer review and safe patient care? We are talking about patients who have been suffering for up to 23 years before even getting a diagnosis. They have been repeatedly failed by a system that is not designed for them and does not understand them. It is time that this issue was treated with the seriousness it deserves.”

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21. “First, will she commit to commissioning National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines for Ehlers-Danlos syndromes, and will the Department look to the primary care pathway recently co-created in NHS Wales as a blueprint for England? Secondly, what steps is the Department taking to establish co-ordinated cross-speciality multidisciplinary teams in secondary care so that patients with complex overlapping conditions such as EDS, PoTS and ME-CFS are no longer left in limbo? Thirdly, what steps is the Department taking to reduce the waiting times for patients with suspected EDS and to get them support and mitigation while symptoms are still in the early stages, which would lead to a faster diagnosis?”

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22. “Under the current system, patients are bounced between different and disjointed secondary care specialties that do not communicate or understand the full breadth of the issue, having been forced to leave primary care practitioners who do not have the support they need to manage these complex patients. EDS UK has called repeatedly for a co-ordinated and multidisciplinary approach to this issue that is integrated across primary and secondary care to support both NHS staff and patients to manage the overlapping comorbidities safely and efficiently. I want to ask the Minister the following questions.”

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23. “I now know that what once seemed to be idiosyncratic physical movements are part of their long-term impact, affecting everything—even her eyes, ears and nose. In the past two years, EDS UK petitions have gathered more than 33,000 signatures. In Wales, that has led directly to the co-creation of a primary care pathway, and we are now asking that England follows that lead. EDS and HSD do not exist in a vacuum. Many patients find that the condition overlaps with other conditions, such as postural tachycardia syndrome, mast cell activation syndrome, myalgic encephalomyelitis, chronic fatigue syndrome and gut issues. Those overlapping conditions have an exponential impact on patients who are just trying to manage their everyday life.”

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24. “I will of course join the hon. Member in that, as he will hear at the conclusion of my speech. Because of those delays in diagnosis and the lack of early management, patients are deteriorating more quickly and ending up on neurosurgery waiting lists, when much more could have been done at an early stage. Patients are losing their ability to exercise, play with their kids, go out on a weekend or, in some cases, work altogether. There is a huge cost for those with EDS in not just physical terms but social and life terms, and there is a huge cost to our NHS and the local economy. I know from the experience of one of my members of staff the very real impact these conditions have on people’s everyday life.”

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25. “Will the Minister agree to meet with me and those parents to discuss the situation further? This is important to them; they have lost their children, and they want to do more to protect others.”

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26. “In December last year, not a single platform determined itself to be “high risk” for suicide or self-harm content. We cannot let companies mark their own homework. Platforms are systematically downplaying harms, and are incentivised to allow the problem to go on if advertisers still deem the platform safe. Ofcom needs to have the power to mark these companies honestly, and if they are failing, it needs to be able to act. Does the Minister believe that Ofcom has the powers that it needs to act and for that to be followed through on? Let me talk quickly about a meeting that the Molly Rose Foundation and affected parents recently had with Ofcom to highlight significant concerns, which included strengthening the Online Safety Act and extending it to cover children’s wellbeing. I am told that the meeting was very unsatisfactory.”

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27. “One specific pro-suicide forum has been linked to more than 135 deaths in the UK alone. That is 135 empty chairs at dinner tables. These are extreme forms of online harms, and I am glad that the National Crime Agency and international partners are taking them seriously, but do they have the powers and resources to protect young and impressionable people from serious online harm? This debate on online harms is not new. We have been talking about how to protect people from the online world over many years in this House, and there is a real danger that we are permanently running to catch up with online operators. Experts described the Online Safety Act as a ceiling for safety, not a floor. In many cases, social media companies are doing little more than their statutory duty.”

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28. “As Members know, Molly Rose tragically took her own life at the age of just 14, after social media algorithms continuously served her with self-harm and depression material, which created a rabbit hole for her to go down. She saw more than 2,000 harmful posts in the last six months of her life. The rise of forums where groups encourage extreme forms of violence, self-harm, suicide, animal cruelty and political extremism, is extremely worrying. They look to target impressionable young people, pipelining sadistic and hateful ideas and content straight to them. UK law enforcement identified several cases in which perpetrators coerced girls as young as 11 into seriously harming or sexually abusing themselves, siblings or pets. These forums encourage or blackmail users into committing serious acts of self-harm or suicide.”

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29. “We will not find an effective solution without including the young people who operate in this world and who are most affected, and we must look to social media companies to start getting their act together and protecting people. The links between young people using social media and increasing levels of loneliness and poor mental health are well documented. We have a youth mental health crisis, with nearly one in five children aged eight to 16 having a probable mental health disorder. That is a staggering number. As we have heard, the Molly Rose Foundation found that 95% of recommended posts on certain teenage accounts contained content related to suicide or self-harm.”

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30. “As it happened, it took place on the same day that the consultation was launched, and I thank my hon. Friend the Minister for attending our meeting. We heard from mental health experts, affected parents, the Minister and young people themselves. While views on “how” we should protect young people are diverse, the consensus on the “now” was absolute. There is disagreement about whether an absolute social media ban for the under-16s is the right answer. Should we have a more nuanced approach where we look at a wider range of issues such as the architecture of social media platforms? Following the consultation, the Government must design any proposed policy alongside young people.”

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31. “I congratulate the hon. Member for St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire (Ian Sollom) on securing the debate and I thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting it. Facing harm online is one of the biggest struggles that our young people face daily, from toxic influencers trying to push a certain way of life or ideology to those who encourage eating disorders. However, social harms extend a long way beyond that, from aggressive algorithms designed so that young people get addicted and trapped online, to forums encouraging self-harm and suicide. Many hon. Members will be aware that I have been raising this issue in this place over a number of years. Earlier this month, I chaired a roundtable with the Mental Health Foundation to look at the evidence about the banning of social media for under-16s.”

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32. “I congratulate my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour on securing this debate and raising this issue. He will have constituents, as I do, who have been writing to us on this issue and feel very strongly that an injustice has been done.”

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33. “I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Blyth and Ashington (Ian Lavery) for asking this urgent question because, as he will know, too many constituents are suffering this situation. When this first started, I asked Royal Mail why it was happening. I got polite replies, but frankly, at this stage, fine words butter no parsnips. We really need some action. May I urge the Minister to push Ofcom to take action on this issue?”

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34. “Earlier this morning, I joined Samaritans at Waterloo station for the launch of its “Small Talk Saves Lives” campaign, which encourages people to start simple conversations with those who look as though they may be in distress. Can we have a debate in Government time on the importance of mental health campaigning in helping to save lives across the UK?”

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35. “Transform Trade is a remarkable charity that promotes Fairtrade produce and supports producers and workers across the world, ensuring that trade is fair and respects both people and the planet. Founded in Gateshead as Traidcraft in 1986, the organisation will this year celebrate its 40th anniversary of campaigning for a fairer global trade system. Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating it on 40 years of vital work and allow a debate in Government time about tackling trade exploitation and poverty?”

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36. “The issues of speeding and unsafe junctions routinely come up in my constituency work, and they directly affect constituents, whether it is speeding on Lead Road in Greenside, through the village of Dipton, or along the A694, where residents in Ebchester have been campaigning for safer road crossings and better speed enforcement. These issues plague the daily lives of my constituents and cause real concern, so it is welcome that the road safety strategy will look at them. It would be great to know how residents can have a greater and more meaningful say on the concerns they have about the roads in their communities.”

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37. “I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Anna Dixon) on securing this important debate and thank the Backbench Business Committee for allowing it. With over 1,624 people killed in collisions on our roads in 2023, something simply needs to change, and today that has come to the forefront. I welcome the Government’s announcement of a new road safety strategy, which is much needed and has the potential to reduce deaths and serious injuries on our roads by 65%. The proposals in the road safety strategy will address a number of issues that my constituents raise with me regularly, particularly the new guidance on local speed limits and enforcement.”

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38. “While the deterrent of tougher action is welcome, that loophole still has the potential to cause irreparable harm on our roads. Online car sales are linked to crime, allow unsafe vehicles to remain in circulation, and enable people who do not have a licence to purchase and use cars on our roads. I welcome the fact that the Minister has met the Rowlands family, and will be doing so again shortly.”

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39. “Right now in the UK, car insurance costs £562 a year on average, while the penalty for being caught driving without insurance is only £300. The mismatch is simply outrageous. I welcome the announcement in the road safety strategy that the Government will look again at tougher action against those who choose to drive unlicensed or without insurance, and those with no MOT. A stronger deterrent will help to stop such unlawful practices, and go some way towards preventing further tragedies like Andrew’s. I believe, as do the Rowlands family, that to improve road safety we must also look at car ownership. Although the correct checks are in place within the car dealership industry, it is simply too easy to buy a car online, with no prior checks taking place on the person purchasing the vehicle or on the vehicle itself.”

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40. “Yes, of course. I believe that that is an important factor in setting speed limits, and it is certainly something that affects my constituents as well as those of the hon. Lady. There are also other places where we must take account of speed limits. I want to speak briefly about one particular aspect of road safety that was raised with me by my constituents, John and Karen Rowlands, who lost their son Andrew in a road collision in 2020. The driver of the car was underage, uninsured and unlicensed. Sadly, that situation is all too common, and families are left to pick up the pieces, while dealing with unimaginable grief, due to the fact that the laws of our roads, and those affecting vehicles, have not kept up with changing times.”

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41. “For 14 years under the last Government, my constituents’ living standards stagnated. Across Blaydon and Consett, we have many successful manufacturing and engineering firms such as Slaters Electricals and Petersen Stainless Rigging in Blaydon, Gardner Aerospace and CAV Systems in Consett, and many more. Can my hon. Friend set out how our modern industrial strategy will support businesses in my constituency to raise living standards for my constituents?”

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42. “T3. When shifts are cancelled at the last minute, too many of my constituents struggle to get by. That is why protections introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025 are so important. What steps is the Minister taking to ensure that all workers can access those rights, including a contract that reflects their regular working hours and compensation for cancelled shifts?”

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43. “I recently had the pleasure of visiting St Mary’s Catholic primary school in Blackhill to learn about its Solar for Schools project, and the children were really engaged in learning about solar power and saving energy. This is funded by Great British Energy and the Government through the Solar for Schools project. Can we have a debate in Government time to talk about the importance of extending such projects?”

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44. “I should declare an interest as a 1950s-born woman. This is a disappointing statement, and I can only associate myself with the remarks made by my hon. Friend the Member for Brent West (Barry Gardiner), which I do not always do. I take the opportunity to thank all the WASPI women who have been campaigning and working so hard on this issue with many of us. How has this decision been communicated to the WASPI group?”

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45. “Next Monday is Brew Monday, which Samaritans has reclaimed from the marketing myth that is blue Monday, when we are all miserable. May I invite the Leader of the House, all hon. Members and of course you, Madam Deputy Speaker, to join me and Samaritans in the Jubilee Room for a chat, a cuppa and to meet Samaritans and learn about their work? May we have a debate in Government time on the importance of talking with and listening to other people?”

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46. “Buses are hugely important to our communities and our transport network, so it is vital that Falkirk-based Alexander Dennis Ltd and its supply chain, including Dellner Glass in Consett in my constituency, are supported. It has taken the SNP First Minister over a year to recognise that. Can the Secretary of State set out how he is working with other Departments to ensure that jobs and the company not only survive, but thrive?”

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47. “I am glad to see the Government focusing so much on building social housing, including some in my constituency, but it will also be important to maintain the stock once it has been built and to look at existing stock. Can the Minister say when the issue of rent convergence will be resolved?”

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48. “T10. The recovery grant guarantee is a vital mechanism that protects the most deprived authorities. Will the Department commit to increasing the guarantee to match the national average core spending power increase, so that the areas that need funding most are fairly protected?”

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49. “I very much welcome the proposals in the strategy, which I have no doubt will save lives. May I thank the Minister for her statement on pavement parking earlier today? Many of us have raised that issue over many years. I am particularly pleased to see moves to crack down on unlicensed and uninsured drivers. The Minister will remember that she kindly met my constituents John and Karen Rowlands last year to talk about the death of their son Andrew. As the Minister knows, they want to see better oversight of insurance and licensing, especially in relation to car sales on social media. Would she welcome further representations on this issue as part of the consultation?”

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50. “Q5. In 2020, my constituents John and Karen Rowlands lost their son Andrew in a road collision. He was just 18 years old and a passenger. Like too many others, the driver of the car should never have been on the road. He was under age, unlicensed and uninsured, and he bought the car on social media using cash. Can the Prime Minister tell me how bereaved families like the Rowlands can have a meaningful say on our road safety strategy to ensure that the right checks are in place to prevent future tragedies?”

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