Natalie Fleet
MP for Bolsover · Labour · United Kingdom
“Friend mentioned how difficult it is for people like her to hold public office because of the challenges she has faced. Our democracy is richer with Members like her in this House. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”] Democracies across the world need women and survivors within them.”
“The pilot has seen more victims protected and perpetrators held to account, with prison sentences able to be handed down where breaches occur. We are rolling out DAPOs across England and Wales as soon as we can, so that more victims can benefit from the impact it is having in pilot areas.”
“If we are going to make real change in tackling VAWG, however, we need to transform how we work across the public sector and services. We need a whole-of-Government and a whole-of-society approach, so victims can access housing, health, justice and the support they need.”
“Thank you for your patience, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is the most incredible privilege to be here in this Chamber to hear how my hon. Friend triumphed against the most horrendous abuse and to see her surrounded by her colleagues in the most supportive way possible.”
“By raising awareness across our society, spotting those early signs, and teaching everyone to challenge those behaviours, I hope that we continue to reduce the shame and stigma that stop people seeking help early.”
“Friend that tackling VAWG is a top priority for this Government. We have made it a mission to halve these crimes in a decade. Domestic abuse and violence against women and girls are the source of untold harm.”
The complete record
Every one of 148 lines we hold for Natalie Fleet, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 3 of 3.
“They invested in brilliant education that I will forever be grateful for and supported me to get the grades that meant I could go to university with my second baby on the way. The first time I visited The Bolsover school, I asked where the teenage mums were, and I was told that they did not have them. I panicked, because I worried that teenage mums were being excluded from education. Instead, I was told that they did not exist, at least not in the same way that they used to, because the same Government who had supported me had also implemented a teenage pregnancy strategy. That strategy meant that my area, which had the highest teenage pregnancy rates in Europe when I had my baby, saw the biggest issue facing us and tackled it. That is incredible. I am here to make sure that we leave an equally impactful legacy for the next generation.”
“It is our job as a Government to put a world of opportunity in front of them, just like the last Labour Government did for me. I grew up seeing more people I know going to prison than to university. I was really lucky to have a Government with the slogan, “Education, education, education”—a Government determined to be ambitious for me before I even knew what ambition was. The Labour Government gave me opportunity that I never expected to need and smashed down barriers that I could not have anticipated. Instead of writing me off as a young mum, they paid for childcare for my newborn, meaning that I could drop her off at nursery and take the short bus ride to West Notts college.”
“A quarter of our residents only have GCSEs, but a quarter have no qualifications at all. On every measure I have looked at, Bolsover could and should be doing better. We have to give people the same opportunities that children living in larger towns and cities take for granted. The young people I see when I visit their schools blow me away. On a recent visit to Shirebrook academy, they told me that they did not want to be called disadvantaged because it is another label that holds them back. Instead, they are funny, they are polite, they are smart—and my God, they are full of potential. They make me so happy just being around them. Ridiculously, they treat me like I am a big deal. It is them who are the biggest of deals.”
“One of the brothers tried to run the five-and-a-bit miles to sixth form and back every day, but with a bag full of books, and winter weather and darkness, he could not sustain it. They have both dropped out of their level 3 studies, and we believe they are no longer in education at all. When we fail our children, there are lifelong consequences. Not having a sixth form is a large part of why only a quarter of 18-year-olds in Bolsover enrol at university, compared with the UK average of 36%. It is why, on education, skills and training measures, Bolsover is the 99th most deprived constituency in the country. It is also why people’s wages in Bolsover are £100 less per week than the UK average. Having less money and less education affects people’s ability to live long and healthy lives.”
“I thank the hon. Member for his intervention. Students are less likely to get A-levels in Bolsover than in any other part of Derbyshire. Some students do really well in their GCSEs and go on to a really good sixth form in Chesterfield, but it is more than 10 miles away. They have to get two buses: one to Chesterfield town centre and one to the Newbold area. The sixth form has a private bus, but it is £1,000 a year and takes about 50 minutes each way. That puts the school out of reach for students whose families cannot afford the travel, and the long travel times do nothing to encourage anyone to go there. I want to talk about two brothers who recently left The Bolsover school and started at the nearest sixth form. Both dropped out in the first year because of the cost of the bus.”
“I will speak to Government new clause 14. It means that rapists will no longer have access to children conceived by their crime. It puts the right of survivors above the rights of criminals. It protects mummies and their precious babies. It is not okay that it took so long for the law to change—to keep up with common sense—but to get this change the Government fought to get us on these Benches and into government, bringing with us our real-life experience and that of our community, supported by Ministers, right up to the Prime Minister, determined to tackle violence against women and girls.”
“Today, the Government have announced that they will take parental responsibility away where a child is born of rape. That will protect grooming victims. Children in this country will no longer be the only proceed of crime that criminals can have lifelong access to. Does the Minister agree that survivors were failed for too long by a Conservative Government who did not prioritise giving them justice? That party is led by the Leader of the Opposition, who did not mention grooming when she had the power to do something about it. Instead, survivors have had to wait for victims and activists to be on the Government Benches, and for the fiercest of advocates to be at the Dispatch Box.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for securing this debate. Ada Lovelace’s legacy is absolutely stellar, as everybody points out. I have the slightest link because I was lucky enough to get married in Newstead abbey, her father’s ancestral home—we all want a piece of Ada. Hers is a name that people recognise and her contribution is rightly credited. What concerns me is that the Lovelace report found that “80% of women surveyed have recently left or are interested in leaving their tech roles”. As has already been touched on, if you can’t see it, you can’t be it. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is an absolute travesty that only 20% of people in tech are women, and that we have to work to combat that?”
“I was recently lucky enough to visit Brigg infant school in South Normanton. It is a gorgeous school full of talented pupils and dedicated staff, but it has a problem: four and five-year-olds are being taught in a prefab building that is not fit for purpose. I love to see the way that we invest in education, but these children have been let down by the previous Government. Does the Minister agree that they deserve a classroom that is fit to be taught in, and will she look at this case?”
“My constituency is one of 15 in the whole of England that does not have a sixth-form college or a further education college. That has huge repercussions for local young people and their potential. I thank my hon. Friend for securing this debate and sharing her point on the impact on social mobility. I have been campaigning for a sixth-form college at the Bolsover school site since I was elected, after the last Government offered the sixth form but left no funds to pay for it. Does my hon. Friend agree that areas such as mine must be the priority for Government support for a sixth form?”
“When we speak of the mineworkers’ pension, we speak of everyone who has sustained our pits, such as my constituents Anthony Peck, who joined the scheme aged 17, and Kevin Jowle, automatically enrolled when he became a deputy, without any consultation. Does the Minister agree that everyone deserves a fair pension and compensation for the £3.2 billion that the Treasury has received to date?”
“The first constituent to reach out to me was a brave Bolsover mummy who had waited four years and five months, from rape to prosecution, with three postponements and multiple suicide attempts. I will do everything I can to use this Chamber to speak out for women who are being so badly let down. How will the Prime Minister support me to ensure that when these survivors—these formidable women—across the country come forward, they will get justice and there will be space in our prisons for the perpetrators?”
“But their brave mothers have hidden the story behind their existence throughout history—often even from them. The mums tell me about the struggle to bond with a baby who looks like the man who hurt them. They tell me about the pain of loving their children and also wishing that they did not exist. They tell me about living with the threat of their rapist being part of their life forever. One survivor said that she could not report the crime because the perpetrator had parental responsibility, and told her that he would use it if she reported it. Being charged, going to prison—nothing would take away his rights around the child who was conceived when he raped her. This Bill is our opportunity to change that. I call on our Government to remove parental responsibility where a child is conceived via rape.”
“That was the case for another of my constituents, who went four years and five months from rape to trial, with multiple suicide attempts. I am so pleased that this Government are doing something about this, and are treating violence against women and girls as the national emergency that it is. The measures in this Bill mean that victims of crime will finally be put first. The Bill is also our opportunity to put a full stop to a lifetime of ongoing trauma. I will keep speaking about the 10 babies born every day to their mummies who have been raped—six children in my constituency every year, and in every constituency across England and Wales. We see those children hidden in plain sight on our school visits; we see them as adults in the workplace; they drink among us in the pub.”
“She said, “I was spiked in a hotel and sexually assaulted in my room where I thought I would be safe.” As a result, she says, “I lost my job, my marriage nearly crumbled and I lost six of my son’s most formative years because my brain shut down completely…and I went into survival mode.” She continues: “We need to raise our boys better, to respect and work alongside women without judgement or expectations around sex”. She is right, but this is not just a Bolsover problem; this is a society issue. Rape is a part of our national story—a part that we are not telling—and we cannot continue with a culture where he did it and she hid it. Women do not report because they have been let down by the courts for too long.”
“I declare an interest as a member of the Women and Equalities Committee. Rape survivors are too often hidden in plain sight. In Bolsover, my constituency, 10,554 women will have been raped or sexually assaulted since they were 16—a third in their own homes—in Shirebrook, Tibshelf, Wessington, Barlborough and every village and town in between, and 5,277 of them will have been raped more than once; 880 will have reported it, and if we are lucky, 26 will have seen a charge brought. I have permission to share the experience of one of the wonderful constituents who reached out to me.”
“The lack of sixth form provision is undoubtedly one of the main drivers of low aspiration and academic achievement. It sets our young people on a path to deprivation, poverty and poor health. It limits their earning potential and their opportunities in their professional and personal lives. Bolsover has plans for a new sixth form, which the Department for Education, wonderfully, is considering. Access to further and higher education is essential to removing a preventable barrier to our incredible young people achieving their ambition. I call on the Minister to prioritise our young people, just like the last Labour Government prioritised my education, which meant that I could be here today. I want us to smash down barriers to opportunity and approve Bolsover sixth form.”
“Bolsover is one of only 15 constituencies in the whole of England to be without a sixth form. Our incredible and inspiring young people live in small towns and villages, and they have to rely either on parents to give them a lift or on barely existent public transport. One village, Morton, has just had its bus service cancelled, cutting it off entirely. Residents tell me that it is now impossible for young people to get to Chesterfield college. The lack of a sixth form, combined with poor transport, means that far too many do not attend sixth form at all. In places such as Shirebrook, 7% of young people do A-levels, compared with 52% nationally. Across our constituency, fewer than one in four 18-year-olds go to university, and fewer than one in five have a degree—half the national average.”
“Rural communities rely on buses for growth, for work and for leisure. Conservative Derbyshire county council are letting us down. Bolsover deserves better and I urge anyone who agrees to make that known at the ballot box on 1 May.”
“From South Normanton to Barlborough, transport issues affect growth and have a huge impact on everyday life. People in Clowne are desperate for a bus to Chesterfield royal hospital. Just last week, Morton was cut off completely from public transport after its bus was first cancelled and then reinstated, but with Morton taken off the route. How can people get to work if there is no bus service to take them? How do parents get their little ones to childcare? Why would a business invest in areas where people cannot get to their employer? Who is to blame? Derbyshire county council must take responsibility. The Conservative-run council has a bus service improvement plan, but buses continue to fail residents across Bolsover. Bus services are reduced, villages are cut off and buses are either late or do not turn up at all.”
“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Gedling (Michael Payne) for securing this debate. I can assure him that potholes are as bad in Conservative-run Derbyshire as they are in Nottinghamshire. Our area has been shut out of the conversation around economic growth for too long. I am excited to see the change with a Labour East Midlands Mayor and a Labour Government, who recently confirmed £15 million for Bolsover district council. That will see eight projects delivered to boost business and tourism across Pinxton, Shirebrook and Bolsover. However, one area desperately needs investment so that we can unlock our economic potential: transport. Some 80% of residents in Bolsover live in transport-related social exclusion. That compares with 18% of residents across England. It is the second-highest figure in the whole country.”
“We have no idea how many people in Bolsover this issue affects, because the very nature of it means that they cannot speak to me about it as their MP. The Can’t Buy My Silence campaign has found that the issue affects five times as many women as men, so does my right hon. Friend agree that addressing it has to be considered as essential to tackling violence against women and girls?”
“Ten births happen every day from rape. There is no charity to support those women and no advice on the NHS website. The men can access those children at any time they like. Every single one of us has either been raped or knows someone who has been raped. Rape is a part of our story as women, yet it is a part that we do not tell. I want to tell you about rape and being an MP. Rape threats are an accepted part of the job. I thank the Minister for speaking up about this disgusting truth. I am the 690th woman MP. Rape Crisis estimates that a quarter of women have been raped or sexually assaulted. If we apply that data to MPs, that means that 172 of us have been raped, and half of them—86 woman MPs—will have been raped more than once. Statistically, 28 of them will have reported it.”
“Fishing was five times more likely to be mentioned than menopause. This historic House, which women died to get us into, spent more time discussing football than rape. My daughter—she is brave and wonderful—tells me, “Mum, every time you talk about rape, every time you say the word, I bristle. Please do not stop.” My baby—my little baby—is about to start big school. The data tells me that while she is there, she will witness sexual harassment and potentially be sent dick pics, and there is nothing that I can do to protect her from that. This is not a class or age thing; it does not matter how far we go back. It is an accepted part of the story of Mary Queen of Scots that the nobles chose among themselves who was going to rape her with the intention of impregnating her. Yet we still do not accept that that happens in the UK.”
“It is an honour to be here today as the first MP to represent Bolsover who is a woman. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear!”] Thank you. I am surrounded by fantastic women not only here, but in Bolsover—women who run businesses and nurture our next generation, such as foster carer Sonja Dayson in Creswell, women who inspire us as community leaders, such as Helen Marriott of Pinxton scouts, with nearly four decades of dedication, and women who support charities to thrive and fight to make a difference with tenacity, like Edwina Cant of Bolsover Woodlands Enterprise. I will spend this week celebrating them all and more. Today I want to talk about the hidden issues that affect us women—too often our private burden. If we look at the last Parliament, the BBC was discussed more often than childcare.”
“If you are one of the colleagues, friends or constituents who have told me about your rape, I ask you to tell each other. You will be surprised how many people believe you and then share their story with you, too. I am the very proud nana of a beautiful granddaughter. She is four weeks old and named after one of the suffragettes who helped me to get here today. I genuinely believe that if we are brave now and make speaking out the norm, we can have a world in which she tells her grandchildren about the fact that they did it and we hid it. I want that to be the part that her grandchildren do not believe. There is a lot to do and it can feel overwhelming, but let us put our arms around each other and use our power to force that shame to change sides.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention. I am proud to be part of a Government who have set out an unprecedented ambition to halve violence against women and girls, but what I want us to think about on this day is how we tell our story. I have spoken publicly about giving birth after being the victim of statutory rape, and I am sick of being told I am brave. I do not want to be brave; I want it to be expected that we tell our truth. Courage calls to courage everywhere. Let us make it normal to talk about rape—in workplaces, in kitchens, with friends. Instead of bristling, let us talk about it like we talk about football; let us talk to our boys about consent and celebrate the men who are our allies. Most importantly, listen to her, support her and, for God’s sake, believe her.”
“Women are over-represented in informal and vulnerable employment. Does my hon. Friend agree that the protections afforded in the Employment Rights Bill are really important for those women?”
“A Labour Government backed by a Labour county council is our only chance of seeing real improvement in special educational needs provision for Bolsover and beyond.”
“When those who care for our babies are made to feel like that, how can our children’s special educational needs ever be met? Be under no illusion: politics does matter. This is the best example of the difference it makes to all our lives. For Bolsover residents—for Derbyshire residents—this is the negative impact that politics can have. Our children are being failed by Conservative politicians at Derbyshire county council with a £16 million underspend, long waiting lists, failed Ofsted inspections, schools drowning, kids suffering, families in crisis. The Conservatives have had their chance, and they have failed. The only way to change this is for Labour to win control of the county council in May.”
“They do not have enough staff, and they do not have enough resources, so that child has no school place. He has not been at school during the current academic year, and has no tutor allocated. His parents are doing what they can to ensure that he does not fall behind. His mother has turned down two jobs to stay at home and educate him. The parents are angry and frustrated with the council’s lack of communication or concern for their child’s education. Every one of those stories is a personal tragedy for the people involved. Childhoods are being lost. Family finances are put under strain. Relationships are breaking down. In a battle to help special educational needs children to reach their potential, parents and teachers are hitting a brick wall. A headteacher told me that they thought the Conservative county council saw them as the enemy.”
“One school had 200 students on the SEND register, but had to park those who did not qualify for additional provision because it did not have the capacity to give those children what they needed. Another had five children who needed a special needs school place but had been unable to obtain one, with one of those children remaining in the nursery class for several years as a result. A local family moved to Bolsover from Essex, bringing their autistic son’s EHCP with them. Conservative-controlled Derbyshire County Council lost the paperwork. It does not respond to emails and it does not respond to my staff. The six schools consulted said that they could not accommodate the child because they already had too many SEN children on their registers.”
“Sixteen million pounds underspent by Conservative-controlled Derbyshire county council: they repeated that to me time and again. This was never about lack of money; it was always about local Conservatives choosing to fail our young people. Bolsover residents knew that the Conservatives at Derbyshire county council had £16 million with which to support them and their little ones, and chose not to spend it. It is therefore no surprise that Ofsted found widespread and systemic failings, with families waiting too long and feeling ignored, and children missing large amounts of education. Conservative failure has hit Bolsover very hard. One in six pupils there receive SEN support, and far more need it. When I met heads from across Bolsover last year, special educational needs failure was the first issue that they raised.”
“Special educational needs provision across Derbyshire is dire. I am thrilled that my hon. Friend the Member for Amber Valley (Linsey Farnsworth) has secured the debate, but I am horrified that special educational needs provision is so awful that it has come to the attention of Parliament. To those who live in Barlborough, Pinxton, Calow, Pleasley or anywhere in between, that is no surprise. A mum from Shirebrook was in tears on the doorstep because her baby had been let down so badly; a teaching assistant in Creswell told me how overwhelmed she was because the demand for resource was so high and the resource available so low; and a little boy in Clowne is self-harming because he just wants to go to school like all his friends. All those people knew why things were as bad as this. I did not have to tell them.”
“The harm that that access can cause must be recognised to protect the young people and their mothers from violent offenders. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need a change to the law?”
“I thank my hon. Friend for raising this very important issue. Everybody in this room wants children to be born with two loving parents, but that is not possible for everybody, and it is definitely not a luxury that every child enjoys. Currently, when a woman is raped in this country, and she gives birth as a result, the rapist can apply for access to the child throughout their life. A woman in my constituency, and women beyond, talked to me about the trauma inflicted on them not only at the point of the attack but as they raise their child. The law now acknowledges that children born from rape are victims of crime, but it is vital that perpetrators are not given access to those children, continuing their unwanted presence in the victim’s life.”
“As the junction 28 parliamentary champion, I report that residents across Bolsover are really frustrated by congestion. Can we have a Government statement on what we are doing to tackle congestion across Bolsover?”
“I welcome this action from a Government who see violence against women and girls as the national emergency that it is, with a Prime Minister, Home Secretary and a Safeguarding Minister with records of taking action to deliver for victims like me and many in my constituency. Giving birth as a result of grooming is a story that far too many of us share. There are so many reasons why children and the women that they grow into do not speak out. I want to share one particular story today. It is about the victim who told me that the perpetrator has threatened that if she speaks out, he will have access to her child, which is something he has not done so far. That means she has to work so hard to hide his crime in order to protect herself and her baby.”
“Fourteen years of Conservative rule meant that we all saw child poverty levels rise. One in five children across the country now grows up in scarring poverty. A quarter of all children in Bolsover live in poverty. Can the Minister please set out the measures that this Labour Government will take to end this travesty?”
“I will believe you, I will support you, and I will fight to make sure that we can all tell our truth, backed by a Government who will make it easier for us to get justice, determined to make sure that our daughters grow up safer.” Being able to speak your truth until you can—that is privilege. So, to the people of Bolsover, I say that I am thrilled to be here, for my family and for yours. I will not let you down.”
“It is my duty to speak up for the women in my constituency whose stories are not being told, even when it is difficult to do so, and even when I wish they were stories that they did not have—like those women who have been raped and are having to wait years for trial; attempting suicide as they fear that nobody will believe them. I have a moral obligation to speak on behalf of the women who have been hurt in the worst possible way and then told that it is their own fault. So, to the women in my constituency, who I represent, who will be raped today, raped tomorrow and raped every day of this Parliament, I say: “I do not know where you are, I cannot find you, but you can find me.”
“They were women like Gloria De Piero, who showed me that we are not all the same, and who proved to me that we can carry the scars of poverty and still belong in this House; Bess of Hardwick, who never took no for an answer, built the best of Tudor England and put her initials on the top of her house for us all to see; Margaret Cavendish, who was not mad but a difficult woman ahead of her time; and Arkwright’s Norma Dolby, who kept her community together during the strike, faced police intimidation and made sure the miners’ families were fed. Being the first woman to stand in this post is a huge privilege, but it comes with a greater responsibility.”
“Families in Clowne will get access to dentists, and entrepreneurs can succeed in Wessington, with global companies investing in Markham Vale. My daughter can start her own family in Pinxton, making me the world’s proudest Nana, knowing that this Government will make getting childcare that much easier. For my daughters and my soon-to-be granddaughter, and for your daughters and granddaughters, I stand here proudly as the first woman MP for Bolsover. It is a privilege to be a part of the most diverse Government in our country’s history, because representation matters. I stand on the shoulders of the women who came before me, and who raised, supported, educated and mentored me. They threw that ladder down and would not take it up until I had grabbed it.”
“The reason I am here—the reason I leave my family every week to do this—is because I feel so deeply about the difference that politics can make. Things have been better before, and they will be again. That change has begun. I am here to make sure that this powerful state has the most positive impact on lives in Bolsover. This Great British Energy Bill will mean that less children in Pleasley have their lights switched off as they are doing their homework. Kids in Holmewood can start the day with full tummies because they will have free breakfast clubs. Children in Glapwell will not have to feel the shame of asking their parents to pay for their school trips, because those parents will have good jobs, and great terms and conditions.”
“I always felt like the exception, but I am seeing more families struggle than ever before. That is why it has been so heartbreaking to see the state ripped back again. A care home in Shirebrook and a day centre in Bolsover face closure. Kids in South Normanton are waiting years for special educational needs support. Some 52% of children in Carr Vale live in poverty although their parents work hard to earn. It is not just our most vulnerable who are struggling. Professionals in Creswell are accessing food banks that never used to exist. There is more antisocial behaviour in Whitwell because there are less police. Mortgages are up in Barlborough. The amount that people can buy with their money in Tibshelf has gone down.”
“My community grieved, and I grew up seeing more kids like me go to prison than to university. In place of industry, mine is a story of the state—stepping in, once again, to pick up the pieces and make sure that every child can reach their potential. I was really lucky to have a Government that prioritised my education, and that gave teachers like Mrs Gregory the opportunity to nurture me, as she did. When my home was dangerous, there were police to keep us safe. When I did not have a home at all, the state stepped in. When I was pregnant at 15, I had a Government that wrapped their arms around me in the form of Sure Start. Better still, they implemented a long-term strategy that meant that when I visit schools in Bolsover now, there are less children facing parenthood. That is really cool.”
“Mark saw that kids in Bolsover were 10% less likely than those in the rest of England and Wales to get higher education qualifications, and he fought to change that. He worked so hard to get us our own sixth form within Bolsover. I am also passionate about smashing down barriers to opportunity, so that is a fight that I am delighted to take up. Mark made the most of his time here. He appreciated the privilege of serving and continues to show that there is more that unites us than divides us. I wish him so very well. In his maiden speech, Dennis spoke about the more than 10,000 working miners he represented. I do not have that pleasure. Born at the start of the strike, I grew up seeing our pits go. I had to stop visiting the canteen that my Dar took me to on the way to race the pigeons, because it closed.”
“It is the honour of my life to be in this Chamber as the Member for Bolsover, a seat made famous by the legend that is Dennis Skinner. From Calow to Pilsley, they tell me stories of him singing to them on the phone, and they remind me of his witty one-liners. He showed the very best of politics: what can be achieved when we send one of our own here to fight for us. I accepted a long time ago that I will not fill his shoes, but when I feel like I do not belong here, I remember that I am following in the footsteps of a “beast”, whose legacy is that kids like me can be here against the odds. Dennis famously praised half the Members on the Conservative Benches for not being crooks, and I like to think that he would have included his successor, Mark Fletcher, in that group.”