Tom Hayes
MP for Bournemouth East · Labour · United Kingdom
“Building on the intervention by the right hon. Member for Wetherby and Easingwold (Sir Alec Shelbrooke), is the issue not as simple as this: in recent years, although Presidents have called on European Union countries and Britain to spend more on defence, we have not done so because America would fund the defence of the western world?”
“I thank the hon. Member for giving way as he is about to close. He talked about the importance of international co-operation to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear capability; I completely agree with him. Where the UK has had success before, that has been in concert with the French and the Germans.”
“The hon. Member is 12 minutes into his speech, and we have not yet got into a debate about Iran. As he has said, there is a one-sided dimension to the US-UK relationship, in which the US is vastly stronger than the UK at this moment. If he were he Prime Minister—just imagine—and he had to deal with President Trump, what would the hon.”
“My Jewish constituents will be watching this debate, so I put on record my support for the Government’s ban of supporters of the IRGC. I also welcome the fact that the Government have sanctioned that organisation and 500 Iranian-linked entities and individuals. The hon.”
“I inherited three asylum hotels in Bournemouth, and I know that the Home Secretary is working through a complicated process to close those hotels. I have asked on 5 January, 9 February, 9 March and 8 June whether the Government have positive news about the closure of any of the asylum hotels in Bournemouth. I ask again today.”
“I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests as a GMB member. I recently met coastguard rescue officers in my office, and they told me how they respond in all conditions and at all hours. They drop everything to save life, and providing that public service often leaves them out of pocket.”
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“Often, a fight for something entails a fight against something, but I want to be clear to my constituents that in fighting for Charminster library, fighting for library users and fighting for Bournemouth East, I am not fighting BCP council, I am not fighting the Liberal Democrats and I am not fighting their independent allies. Charminster library’s closure lies in 14 years of austerity that cannot be reversed in five minutes. The neglect that ensued was exacerbated by Conservative council leaders burning through £90 million of reserves on vanity projects. In our politics, there is so much to feel angry, feel upset and feel let down by, all at once. That is made worse by a technological revolution that puts the world’s information in the palm of our hand and simultaneously spreads fear, fake news, bile and hate.”
“I am fighting alongside Labour councillor Sharon Carr-Brown, Louise Norman, who is the secretary of the Friends of Charminster Library, and our community to reopen that library. There was a successful and packed demo there recently. In February, Labour’s plan to put £500,000 into Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole libraries was put to the administration. Every party but Labour voted against it. Now, those parties campaign to reopen Charminster library without saying how they would make the money available, although there is now £5 million in extra council tax flexibility for BCP council because of the Government’s support.”
“I have doubled the number of those debates. This is just the fifth Commons debate on libraries since 2008. When I banged the drum for playgrounds in this place, we began to make progress, with smoke-free playgrounds enshrined in law, protected playgrounds codified in planning policy and the first dedicated funds since 2008. In two years, this Labour Government have made better half the number of playgrounds made worse by Conservative Governments over 14 years. I know the positive steps that can arise when I bring my constituents’ hopes to Parliament, and I hope for the same for libraries. I wish to begin, here in Westminster, with Charminster. Charminster library, which opened on 7 January 1932 and closed on 22 December 2025, has now been padlocked for six months.”
“I beg to move, That this House has considered the future of public libraries in Bournemouth East constituency. It is an honour to speak under your chairpersonship, Mr Turner. This debate is the third that I have called since my election. My first was on playgrounds all over our country; my second was on playgrounds all over my constituency. Sadly, today is not the third playgrounds debate, but just like “Back to the Future”, that trilogy will conclude. Playgrounds are a lot like libraries. They take us back to the future. They are two sides of the same coin of a healthy and happy childhood. In my constituency, many families visit Springbourne library and the play area beside it, bringing a packed lunch in the summer. That is so important for our families. Since 2008, playgrounds have been debated four times in Parliament.”
“The Conservative Government commissioned the Cass review. In their 2024 manifesto, the Conservatives committed to implement the review in full, which would include a trial. However, as my hon. Friend is saying, they now propose in this motion to stop the trial. Is that not proof that we actually need to have a trial? We need to take the party politics out of this matter, stop politicians from being the lead commentators and put it in the hands of the families and the clinicians.”
“We are a patient people and a compassionate community in Bournemouth, but there is a feeling in town that, with our three asylum hotels, we are being asked to do more than our fair share. Will the Minister please set out for my constituents that Bournemouth is uppermost in his mind as he closes hotels and that Bournemouth’s asylum hotels are being prioritised for closure?”
“Had the 8.3 GW of offshore wind secured at the start of this year through allocation round 7 been in place last year, we would have seen gas generation cut by a third, and wholesale prices down by 13%. It is clear that we have to double down on the clean energy revolution. We cannot be distracted by yet more fossil fuel work. Will the Secretary of State outline how we will push forward the clean energy transition, and offshore wind in particular?”
“On the topic of giving younger people access to AI and digital skills, Charminster library in my constituency of Bournemouth East has been closed indefinitely by the Liberal Democrat-led council, which does not have a plan to repair or rescue the library. That library could provide a space for younger people to acquire those critical AI and digital skills, so does my hon. Friend agree that our community is only as strong as the space that we have and that we need libraries, like the one in Charminster, to be reopened, so that younger people can have access to such skills?”
“Beaufort community centre in my constituency has had its doors closed. Employees have been made redundant. For them, it was more than just a job. It was a team; it was a dedication to their community. Children have lost out on their early years and childcare support, and families are having to look around to find alternative provision. Does my hon. Friend agree that our community is only as strong as our spaces, and that as a consequence, the Liberal Democrats should take control of that site, reopen the doors and provide what the community needs?”
“Bournemouth is a footballing town, and we are so excited for the Cherries, who are in pole position to qualify for European football for the first time in our history. That being so, does my hon. Friend also welcome the measure in the King’s Speech to curb ticket touts, especially ahead of Euro 2028?”
“The right hon. Gentleman is talking about bringing younger people together. My constituent Caroline is watching this debate from Meon Road in Littledown and Iford in my constituency, where, as it happens, last Thursday a Labour councillor won for the first time ever: Councillor Patrick Connolly. Caroline wants to bring younger people together and she welcomes the Government signing the UK back up to Erasmus+. Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that it is a good thing for British young people to mix with their European counterparts and welcome this move closer to Europe?”
“I feel that we are slightly misrepresenting the argument. There is no debate about choosing between food security and energy security. The National Farmers Union states that if solar capacity were to increase fivefold by 2035, we would still only see 0.5% of UK agricultural land covered by ground-mounted solar farms. Is it not the case that we are creating a false debate, or does she think that the National Farmers Union is wrong?”
“I do not want us to keep talking around each other, but the hon. Lady is missing the point again about the quantity of agricultural land that can be taken out of agricultural use. Reference has been made to the idea that the UK would be carpeted with ground-mounted solar panels. That is not going to happen. We can support the goal of food security and we can support the goal of energy security, but we do not need to misrepresent the extent to which agricultural land will be taken out of use for that purpose.”
“I thank the hon. Member for giving way. I am a fan of his work, but I do have to ask this question. The Conservatives and Reform would have joined the American-led war of choice without any questioning of the reasons for it, and the Conservatives and Reform want to leave the UK reliant on fossil fuels and overly exposed to energy price shocks. Can he please tell me what the difference is between the Conservatives and Reform?”
“I think the point that my hon. Friend the Member for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy (Melanie Ward) was making is that, contrary to what the hon. Member said, the majority of parents of children who are disadvantaged by the two-child benefit cap are working. They are grafters; they are the hon. Member’s constituents, who are often working multiple jobs just to make ends meet in the difficult cost of living crisis that we inherited. Surely he is not calling the parents who will benefit from the lifting of the two-child benefit cap, including his constituents, workshy.”
“The Government have learned from the missteps of Iraq, whereas the Conservatives and Reform would repeat them. The Prime Minister is de-escalating in line with the national interest, whereas the Conservatives and Reform would blindly follow President Trump into a war of choice. Will the Minister state for my constituents that he will continue to de-escalate this conflict and to bring down the cost of living, and that he will do that by keeping to the path that the Government have set, which has brought inflation down from 3.4% to 3% and put it on track to hit 2%?”
“Will the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister outline when we might hear about the next steps and the release of those questions and answers? I think we should be reserving judgment until we see the totality of the evidence; as politicians, we are here to be led by the evidence.”
“For five years before my election, I led services for adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. It is a cause that means a lot to me, and I know it is a cause that means a lot to the Prime Minister too. We on the Labour Benches are furious with Peter Mandelson; he hoodwinked left, right and centre, requiring the Prime Minister to ring him up in the embassy in the middle of the night to fire him. The Prime Minister has said that if he had known then what is now known, he would not have appointed him. There is a criminal investigation under way that we cannot cut across, and there are critical pieces of information that have not yet been disclosed, including the follow-up questions and Peter Mandelson’s answers to them.”
“As the Labour Member of Parliament for Bournemouth East, I stand by my posties here in the House of Commons and thank them for their dedication and diligence, which stands in sharp contrast to the management of the Royal Mail. The trial that is under way has failed, and the new approach will spectacularly fail if it is put into effect. When the Minister meets Ofcom later, and when he meets the Royal Mail, will he say that he will not stand for the Royal Mail becoming yet another gig economy parcel courier that exploits its employees and lets down customers?”
“I thank the 143 constituents who signed this petition. I am representing my constituent David. His son fell unwell, but the GP surgery did not recognise the symptoms and he had to be blue-lighted to a hospital the same evening. He has now recovered—in fact, he has now raised £500 for Breakthrough T1D and Diabetes UK. David wanted me to give a special thank you and shout-out to the children’s unit at Poole hospital and the children’s diabetes team at University Hospitals Dorset. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need all GP surgeries around the country to recognise the symptoms and to take all necessary action when they are detected?”
“Some say that this Government are controlling our borders in spite of our progressive values, but no, we are securing our borders because it is in line with our Labour values. In my constituency, residents want to feel safe, and they do not feel safe with our borders not yet controlled. In wanting to tackle illegal acts, will the Minister set out what this Government are doing to stop illegal working, particularly within Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats?”
“I respect the Conservatives who are calling for de-escalation, but they need to have a word with their leader, who wanted to sign Britain up to a war of choice with changing goals and no clear timescales, thereby contributing to the chaos and the worsening cost of living crisis. The Chancellor has a plan, and we are seeing inflation, interest rates and Government borrowing falling as a result. Will she commit to keeping to that plan to keep bringing down borrowing so that the country can live more within its means and get rid of the awful inheritance left by the Conservatives?”
“The EU’s carbon budget amendment mechanism came into being on 1 January. It affects the IFA2 interconnector between Britain and France, which I visited recently. CBAM is a trade block for UK electricity exports to the EU, imposing costs on exporters of £2.2 billion, and it robs the Treasury of up to £8 billion at a time when we need that money to invest in our public services and to have a stronger buffer against external shocks. Does the Minister agree that we should not be shooting ourselves in the foot and throwing away money, as the Conservatives would do, and that we should instead be boosting trade, boosting energy security, boosting our national security and seeking an exemption from CBAM?”
“T5. Will the Minister join me in congratulating Ryan Cornish and Elliott Prentice, who are the Members of Youth Parliament for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, and their deputies, Ruth Simpkins and Lilee Bedwell, on a fantastic year? They have not just participated in our democracy; they have strengthened it locally. I know that the Government would support that.”
“Will the Leader of the House support me in facilitating conversations with the Treasury and the Department for Transport, taking the conversations I have already had further so that we can achieve a step-free Pokesdown station once and for all?”
“Instead of fighting for Bournemouth in Poole-led Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council, Liberal Democrats in Southbourne and—proving they are just like the rest—independents in Muscliff and Strouden Park voted to kill off a shovel-ready rail project that would have given disabled people, parents with prams and elderly people equal access to Pokesdown station. The independents and Liberal Democrats running BCP council voted to end their long and oft-repeated promise to fund a step- free Pokesdown station despite this Labour Government paying off £165 million of their historical debt, despite the fact that they have increased council tax to raise a further £5 million, and despite their core spending power going up by £56 million. I have been working with the community campaign to rescue this project.”
“On behalf of my constituent David, I want to ask: has the ETA regime created a de facto UK passport requirement for British citizens? I also want to ask a question on behalf of my constituent Dolores, whose son, Tommy Roberts, an aspiring Royal Marine, was murdered in Bournemouth, aged 21, by somebody I will not name in this Parliament, who should not have been in this country. I thank the Minister for Border Security and Asylum for meeting me recently about this matter. We are not past Brexit, because that murder was possible as a result of a lack of intelligence sharing. Will the Minister share how, through these changes, the Home Office is taking action to stop illegal migrants and foreign criminals coming into our country?”
“I welcome the announcement of £483 million to invest in our post offices around the country, and I join the Minister in thanking our postmasters and postal staff, particularly those at the Southbourne Grove, Malmesbury Park, Hengistbury Head and Sea Road post offices in my constituency. What happens at Royal Mail affects our postal services—it is unavoidable—so I am concerned about the adoption of the optimised delivery network in Bournemouth and more broadly. The Minister and I were recently at a meeting with the Post Office in which we had a private discussion about its future. Does he agree that the work of the Government in this area is key to building pride in our communities, tackling antisocial behaviour and having a diverse mix of offer on our high streets?”
“My hon. Friend makes a really important point about the restriction of phone use in schools, and he mentions pouches. I met Naomi from Smartphone Free Childhood Dorset last week, and she is concerned that the use of pouches reinforces the idea that children can have smartphones at school. Although access is mediated, this approach still accepts that smartphones can be present. She would prefer children to have brick phones at school. Will my hon. Friend comment on that?”
“I thank Bournemouth’s parents and teachers for shaping this plan—I can see their views in it. I thank in particular Andrew, Claire, their lovely son and his lovely grandparents. Teachers in Bournemouth have been calling out for national support, and now they have it. Some £165 million of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council’s debt is being paid off, there is the return of Sure Start, £1.6 billion has been promised for mainstream education, and now there is £1.8 billion for educational psychologists. Will the Secretary of State set out how quickly we will recruit and train those educational psychologists and get them into the system? If we support our school system, we help to fix our SEND system.”
“The hon. Lady makes an important point about it not being a child’s fault that they are growing up in poverty. I grew up in poverty, caring for two disabled parents, and I would also say that it is not the parents’ fault; it is society’s fault. When we say that people should be poor, and we create the structures and systems that enable that, we are all responsible. The Bill is just one way in which this Parliament can say to the country, “We will not put up with poverty for anyone ever again—it is not people’s fault.” Does she agree?”
“At the last minute, with spades set to go in the ground this summer and the design works within the financial envelope, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council is axing the money to improve safety and accessibility at Pokesdown railway station. I am left wondering what it is about Pokesdown, Boscombe, Southbourne and Bournemouth generally that means the Lib Dems constantly take money and opportunity away from us. I grew up caring for disabled parents, so making that station accessible means a lot to me. This decision also undermines safety and the growth sectors on which Bournemouth depends. Does the Secretary of State agree that the Government will not look kindly on councils, such as BCP, that withdraw funding from key infrastructure that could unlock growth?”
“I hope that all politicians in this place will be led by the science and by compassion. I hope that with this Labour Government, we will see not just the conversion practices ban come forward in the time before the next King’s Speech, but, over the course of the first term of this Labour Government, a movement towards a trans persons’ civil rights Act.”
“In clinical medicine, it can never be known for sure what an outcome will be for patients. Medicine is always a field of probabilities, not certainties, and that will be true of puberty blockers. It is because they are so hotly politicised that we have to be careful to hold puberty blockers to the same standards as all other medication; we cannot allow the debate to fixate only on the risks and unknowns from medications that are emotionally charged and heavily politicised in our country. We need to do that, because gender dysphoria is real. It can show up in serious ways, including eating disorder symptoms and other mental health struggles. When we allow younger people and children to experience those harms, we are doing them and our society a disservice.”
“I said that we need to think about the science; at least eight recent studies have linked pubertal suppression to improved mental health, including a UK study that found improvements in overall psychological functioning. Those who oppose or query what I say should look at Rosalia Costa’s piece in the Journal of Sexual Medicine from 2015. Similarly, a study by a Harvard medical school research group found that adolescents who received puberty blockers had lower odds of experiencing suicidal ideation later in life compared with those who desired blockers but were unable to access them. There was an article by Jack Turban in Pediatrics in 2020 that is comprehensive on that point. This goes to the point that we need all policy decisions to be led by the clinical evidence, but we also need to be clear-minded about what that means.”
“That is why it matters that young people do not miss the window in which blockers can prevent the irreversible physical changes of puberty while simultaneously extending the diagnostic period. In other words, blockers are a way to buy time and enable young people to have the choice and freedoms to explore their identity without the added stress of pubertal changes. With blockers, children report feeling less anxious and more comfortable with themselves. Liberated from the constant dread of puberty, they can bring their focus back to the things that matter in childhood and everyday life—learning, socialising and simply being kids. We know that pubertal suppression can help the mental health of trans children.”
“When we do not, it continues a problem that we have in our society of ignoring young people full stop. Whether it is about sexual orientation, gender or something else entirely, younger people go unlistened to. When that happens, it has a hugely negative impact on them. We should all choose to support trans and gay young people, but we should especially choose to support children and young people. If we listened to many young trans people and enabled them to choose, we would listen to what they have to say about puberty blockers. Puberty blockers are reversible, but puberty is not. Puberty blockers can stop the harms of an unwanted, irreversible puberty, as children watch their bodies change in ways that might be difficult or impossible to undo later.”
“We’re not a cult or a freak show.” In the words of Mich, “The phobia whipped-up towards the trans and gender non-conforming is so disproportionate to the small numbers of us and how unthreatening we are — we’re just trying to live our lives”. On its own terms, the argument falls apart. When trans people are attacked, it is not just harmful to trans people; it is about attacking trans people today, potentially with a view to attacking other minorities tomorrow. History warns us what happens when the way is paved and the bar is lowered for all minorities to be attacked. Too many of us who are not trans or gay simply are not free in our society and our country to choose themselves in their everyday life, and that is a problem. We must all support trans young people.”
“When politicians in this place, on issues affecting trans people, divide us with rhetoric that inflames, unconcerned by whether the things they say can be backed up by evidence, they are pursuing a politics based on scapegoating, not science. Those who say that this move can be contained to trans people should know this: trans people can never be sidelined or sacrificed, because every human is entitled to dignity and respect. That comes through in the words of my constituent Antonia, who says: “As a trans woman all I want is to receive the same health care, freedom and be able to live my life the same as everyone else. We work, pay bills, go shopping, watch TV and have friends.”
“Just as they would not see that forcing a gay person to be straight is dangerous and will not work, so they do not realise it about transgender people. I choose to support trans young people in making their own decisions about transition, from early and more reversible options such as changing a name or pronouns, or starting puberty blockers, to less reversible options such as surgery, which usually come later. I choose to support trans youth in deciding their own identity and future, because it is wrong to force them to identify with the sex they were assigned at birth. In fact, all of us here would choose to support anyone and everyone, in deciding their identity, to choose themselves, whatever that means and whatever it may be.”
“When our opponents try to make the cost of choosing yourself too severe to bear, when they try to make transgender people cisgender by denying them care or surgery, when they say that they seek to spare young people from medical care or surgery, they are effectively implying, although they do not say it, that people can be cured of being transgender—that all it takes to convert them is the denial of gender-affirming medical care or surgery. That is important to dwell on given that Parliament will—very soon, I think—be considering a ban on conversion practices. We can ban the practices, but we have to realise that the rhetoric itself can be used to attempt to convert. Opponents do not care at all about the danger involved in forcing a transgender person to be cisgender, and they do not care that it will not work.”
“I want them to know that I am listening to their views, just as I am listening to the views of their trans children. That is particularly important because, although we do not choose our sexual orientation or gender identity, being openly gay or trans very much is a choice. I could no more be straight than a trans person could make themselves cisgender. The alternative is to stay in the closet and feel shame wash over you—a shame that can lead to anxiety, depression and sometimes even suicide. Being gay or trans is about choosing yourself—that is the choice.”
“Susannah, who lives in my constituency, said: “I am a very happy person leading an ordinary, productive and caring life. I am loved by my family, loved by friends. Trans people are doctors, accountants, crafts people, nurses, teachers, pilots, shopkeepers, carers… we are good and decent people spread across the country, leading productive lives.” When we tell stories like my constituent’s, we are telling stories about real people and real families, and we are talking about the harms and the opportunities that society chooses to prevent or permit. In telling these stories, I also want to pay tribute to the parents of trans children; when society at large seems to have it out for their kid, that often takes a toll on them. They have fierce, unwavering love, but often that is ignored and their concerns go disregarded.”
“In turn, that made me realise that, although Pride is primarily of, by and for the people who dance under the same rainbow, it is also about liberation for everyone from prejudice. Really, we can only open our eyes to a safe and more compassionate society if we listen to trans people and protect them. I want to reflect what some of my constituents who are trans have said to me. They have told me that they believe that too often their identities, their rights and the care that they receive are separated completely from what they need, and politicians do not listen to what they have to say. We do not realise that, although we talk in debates about the difficulties that trans people face, the predominant narrative is not universally true. It is not the case that all trans people are constantly suffering, depressed or impoverished.”
“In other words, LBGT+ characters were presented but their storylines were never developed. Later, there would be some exploration, but typically there would be a tragic ending and the character would die. Later still, a gay or LGBT+ character might be explored, but only after the watershed, and really only to be embraced by an LGBT+ audience. In more recent years, we have seen the creation of queer shows, which may be targeted at younger people to tell them that everything is going to be okay, or, as we saw with “Heated Rivalry”, something altogether different—I think I will leave my description at that. In thinking about that, I realised that what we are talking about are largely lesbian and gay TV shows, not trans TV shows.”
“It is a pleasure to speak in a debate that was opened with such excellent speeches by my hon. Friends the Members for Nottingham East (Nadia Whittome) and for Jarrow and Gateshead East (Kate Osborne). It is also an honour to speak having listened to my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow North (Martin Rhodes), whose mention of “Beautiful Thing” got me thinking about the different ways that queer culture has been depicted in our culture. He reminded me of a social media post a few weeks ago by the TV critic Scott Bryan, who said that over his lifetime, LGBT+ and queer storylines have gone from “being a rarity or…too controversial” decades ago, to being in soaps, where they were often depicted as a moral outrage, “to being occasionally mentioned but never explored (aka the gay best friend)”.”
“The shadow Minister is talking about the introduction of same-sex marriage, and I want to emphasise that that was a moment of cross-party history. The Liberal Democrat Baroness Featherstone worked as part of the coalition Government with the Conservatives to introduce that legislation, which was carried overwhelmingly by Labour MPs. Does the shadow Minister recognise that as an example of cross-party consensus behind LGBT rights, which we should celebrate?”
“Over the weekend I went on a walkaround with my local police officers in Boscombe and Springbourne, and they were talking about the need to make sure that, particularly over the summer months, neighbourhood police teams were not seeing—in their words—significant abstractions of police officers from our communities into the seafront and the town centre, because Bournemouth particularly sees very high levels of tourism and large numbers of people coming in from outside who sometimes cause criminality. They also welcome the neighbourhood guarantee, which will see an increase in neighbourhood police forces. Does the hon. Member agree that we need to ensure that we keep our neighbourhood police forces in their neighbourhoods?”
“War may not be declared as before and warfare may not be defined by the weapons of old—we may not, for instance, have Russian bombers over the skies of London—but does the hon. Member agree that this country is being forced to fight back against Russian disinformation, spying and sabotage every day? If she does, does she not see Russian financial interference in our democracy as a weapon of war? And if it is, is our country therefore in a form of warfare with Russia?”
“My hon. Friend is making an eloquent point about how Reform’s Nathan Gill, who has been jailed for 10 years, was pushing out Putin propaganda in return for funding, and Reform has the most worrying of relationships with Russia. Is it also the case that Reform will ultimately do whatever its paymasters want? For instance, 50% of its income last year came from fossil fuel firms or climate change deniers—no wonder it is not in favour of net zero. Similarly, it is a fan of crypto chiefs and is embracing crypto donations, and as a consequence its policy would be to support cryptocurrency. Reform says it is on the side of ordinary people, but its Members voted against the Renters Rights’ Act 2025 and the Employment Rights Act 2025—historic Acts that shift power back to people. Is it not the case that Reform is just siding with vested interests?”