Laura Kyrke-Smith

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

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357 held · 331 searchable for Laura Kyrke-Smith. The searchable lines are below in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 4 of 7.

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1. “I thank the Prime Minister for his commitment to keeping our country safe and for his effective diplomacy to that end. While our international aid budget is now diminished, it remains my belief that the work we do to prevent and respond to humanitarian crises around the world plays a crucial role in global stability and security and, in turn, in our own. Can the Prime Minister reaffirm his commitment to that vital role for the UK in the world?”

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2. “Mussa Abu Darabi is just one of hundreds of Palestinians who have been killed trying to access food from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in recent weeks. Fifteen international human rights organisations have now warned that the GHF may face legal consequences for “aiding and abetting, or otherwise being complicit, in crimes under international law, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide.” Will the Minister join me in condemning the murder of desperate and starving people? What assessment does he make of the GHF’s legality?”

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3. “I commend the Foreign Secretary for urging calm and restraint at this troubling time. I know that he has been engaging with our European counterparts—notably with France and Germany as the E3—but as the positions of the US and Israel on Iran harden, does he agree that this is the moment when our relationship with Europe as a collective force for diplomacy and peace will be crucial?”

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4. “On Monday evening, two reckless individuals had their vehicles seized in Aylesbury town centre due to antisocial driving. I am really grateful to Thames Valley police, who acted quickly against them, and I am pleased that the Government’s Crime and Policing Bill will give the police stronger powers in this area, removing the requirement to issue a warning before a vehicle can be seized. Will the Leader of the House join me in thanking the Thames Valley police officers for their dedicated work and join me in welcoming this Bill?”

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5. “The HS2 line runs down the west side of Aylesbury. It will bring no benefits at all to my constituency, yet my residents have suffered years of noise, disruption, flooding, loss of access to the countryside and the destruction of their natural environment as a result of its construction. I am pleased that the Government are getting a grip on this issue, and I commend the Secretary of State for her honesty and focus, but my constituents will understandably be concerned by the news of further delays and potential further disruption. Can the Secretary of State confirm that she will do everything in her power to hold HS2 and its contractors to account in order to minimise the ongoing disruption for my long-suffering residents?”

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6. “I am delighted by the Government’s commitment to moving healthcare closer to the community, including through the establishment of neighbourhood health centres. That is exactly what we need in Aylesbury, and I am pleased that all our key healthcare providers, including the NHS trust and several GP practices, are already working together to better integrate their care, which is an important step in the right direction. Will the Minister update me on his progress towards the model of neighbourhood-based healthcare? Can he advise what more Aylesbury’s healthcare providers can do to ensure that my residents benefit from the Government’s work in this area?”

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7. “I welcome the clarity and focus on action that the Home Secretary has brought to the House. This morning I spoke to the father of a young woman in my constituency who was the victim of child sexual exploitation. He thinks that this is the right way forward, but his concern, and mine, is for those victims and survivors whose trauma will be opened up again by the process. As he put it: “When you open Pandora’s box, you’ve got to have the tools to deal with whatever comes out.” Will the Home Secretary say more about the tools that she will put in place to support the survivors at the heart of this issue?”

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8. “It would strip away legal risks, as we heard from my right hon. Friend the Member for Oxford East (Anneliese Dodds), and it would be free. It would also be popular, as we have heard. I hope that after today’s debate we can just get on with it. Legalising humanist marriage would have a transformative impact for humanist couples across the country, stripping away the awkwardness, inconvenience, cost and injustice of needing both an official ceremony and a moment of celebration. It would enable humanists to make their wedding day what it should be: the celebration of their commitment to each other, in line with their beliefs and values, and the legal recognition of that union once and for all.”

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9. “We felt somewhat resentful at the time, and still do to this day, because it came with extra costs, extra admin and that niggling sense that the wedding we had invited everyone to a few weeks later was somehow not the real deal. That is why I am so pleased that this debate is happening, and I am so pleased to speak in support of the legal recognition of humanist marriages. I want humanist couples to be able to marry with a British Humanist Association celebrant of their choosing, and for this to have the same status in law as any other wedding. We have heard from others about how possible this is; I understand that the law can be changed quite quickly and easily by laying down the order under the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013. No further legislative work is needed. I am so proud that Labour has long supported this.”

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10. “We had wonderful feedback from our guests, many of whom had never been to a humanist wedding before but found it to be a very open, inclusive and moving ceremony, from the songs to the vows and the readings, many of which we had written together. Although I could happily be sucked into reminiscing about my wedding, I will turn to the point of today’s debate. For me, that starts with the fact that, although this week is the time we celebrate our wedding anniversary each year, it is not in fact my official wedding anniversary, which comes at the end of May, marking the date that we went to an unremarkable registry office in London to do the official bit.”

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11. “I pay tribute to our incredible humanist celebrant, David Pack, who sadly passed away a few years ago, but will forever remain a central part of our special day. He helped us to create a ceremony that spoke to our values, and I want to borrow his words about why humanist weddings are so important. He said: “A lot of couples say they find it hypocritical to make promises before a god they don’t believe in…As humanists we believe that we can find a way of living and behaving decently without needing reference to any divine authority, drawing on our own human qualities: reason, emotion, experience and empathy”. That is what a humanist wedding enables a couple to express at that key moment in their lives.”

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12. “I had not really heard of a humanist wedding before I started planning one, but once we realised the constraints of a civil ceremony—the limits on readings, songs, numbers of guests and locations—we quickly decided that we wanted something else: a celebration of not just our formal commitment, but our beliefs and values. Personally, although I have every respect for people of all faiths and none, it is through humanist values that I try to make sense of the world. For me, this is the one life that I have, and I try to live in the here and now, making decisions on what I feel and see that are based on logic, reason and evidence, and rooted in compassion, dignity and respect for other people. Because my husband sees the world in the same way, a humanist wedding was the right choice for us.”

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13. “It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dame Siobhain. I thank my hon. Friends the Members for Tamworth (Sarah Edwards) and for Morecambe and Lunesdale (Lizzi Collinge), as well as the hon. Member for Henley and Thame (Freddie van Mierlo), for securing the debate. It is a timely debate for me, as it was exactly this week 11 years ago that I had my humanist wedding. It was one of the most wonderful days of my life—my husband and I, surrounded by family and friends, on a beautiful, windswept and, fortunately, sunny beach in Devon, marking and celebrating our decision to spend our lives together.”

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14. “In Aylesbury town centre, we have some fantastic businesses, from Darlington’s to the Rockwood pub and Nafees bakery. They provide an amazing service to the community, but with issues such as traffic, parking and antisocial behaviour, they can struggle to get customers into town and through their doors. I congratulate the Minister on the work he is doing, but can he tell us more about how his small business strategy will support our high streets and town centres, like Aylesbury, to thrive?”

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15. “I congratulate the Secretary of State on his excellent work. The Government’s decision to suspend their trade negotiations with the Israeli Government last month was absolutely the right one, but some constituents have been in touch in confusion after trade envoy Ian Austin’s visit still went ahead. Can the Secretary of State affirm that this Government’s position is that we will not be deepening our trade ties with the Israeli Government while the situation in Gaza and the west bank remains so appalling?”

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16. “I had an extremely harrowing meeting with a mum in my constituency. Her 12-year-old son had been groomed by an artificial intelligence chatbot through character.ai. It is utterly unacceptable that young people are exposed to the risks and harms of AI in this way. The Online Safety Act 2023 is a step in the right direction, but does the Leader of the House agree that we must do more? Will she make further space to debate this vital issue in this House?”

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17. “The hon. Gentleman is making an excellent speech. I have been in contact with the International Rescue Committee, my former employer, about the impact that the USAID cuts will have on it. It is estimated that the cuts to that agency alone will mean that 280,000 people in Yemen will lose access to primary care, mental healthcare and reproductive healthcare, and 3,000 people in Lebanon will be left without education. That is devastating not just in terms of the humanitarian impact; we need to think about it in terms of our own stability and security. It means diseases left unchecked, which cross borders and become pandemics, and it means young people left without education and opportunity and at risk of further marginalisation and radicalisation. Does he agree with that analysis?”

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18. “The approach of the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation flies in the face of every established principle of humane and effective aid delivery, as has become quickly apparent. The head of the organisation has resigned and at least 42 Palestinians have been killed—killed—for simply trying to feed their starving families. That is an affront to all of us and to the basic principles of human dignity and respect. Does the Minister agree that there has to be full accountability for these atrocities?”

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19. “I know Ministers are conscious of that, and a lot of vital work is under way, including more mental health support in schools, the recruitment of additional mental health support workers, and the roll-out of family and youth hubs. Such community provision and services are essential. The Bill is for those people who struggle with the most severe mental illness and require intensive, specialist support. For them, the Bill represents a crucial step forward, and I am proud to support it.”

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20. “Too often, however, whether or not a mum can access one of those units remains a postcode lottery. I believe we must get to a point where all women who have given birth within the 12 months prior to compulsory admission are given the option of being admitted to a ward where they can remain with their baby. I am so pleased to see the Secretary of State’s commitment to the mental health investment standard, and all the funding that will be needed properly to implement the measures in the Bill. I hope that provision for that group of women at severe risk of serious mental health illnesses will be considered. I will conclude by noting that for all those who experience milder struggles with their mental health, it is clear that there is a whole lot more we need to do beyond the Bill.”

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21. “Black people are more than three and a half times more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act than white people, and more than seven times more likely to be placed on a community treatment order. That has to change. The Bill introduces measures that should have a positive impact for people from ethnic minorities, for example through the introduction of advance choice documents, as well as by tightening the criteria for detention and compulsory treatment. I am conscious of the time, Madam Deputy Speaker, but I wish to make a point about the implementation of the Bill. For people experiencing severe mental illness in the period after birth, mother and baby units can be a crucial part of their recovery, as well as having significant benefits for the parent-infant relationship.”

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22. “Secondly, I am pleased that the Bill will make individualised care and treatment plans statutory. Every person is different—our attitudes to mental health have evolved a huge amount since the Mental Health Act was last updated—and ensuring that they have a personalised care plan that accounts for their particular circumstances is crucial. So too is the fact that the Bill creates a duty to inform and support patients in making advance choice documents before they become ill, from a place of good health. Thirdly, I am pleased that the Bill aims to reduce the significant racial inequalities that exist under the current Act. Those inequalities also drive significant differences in perinatal healthcare outcomes more broadly.”

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23. “Suicide, tragically, is the leading cause of death for women in that period from six weeks to a year after birth. I wish to highlight three aspects of the Bill that will be important for people who experience serious mental illness at that stage of their lives, and who will end up falling within the scope of the Bill. First, the fact that patients will be able to choose a “nominated person” to represent them is a vital step forward. It is crucial. I have seen at first hand how, at the point at which people are severely unwell, they are unable to make the best decisions for themselves. Formalising the ability of someone to play that role on their behalf, and with more powers to challenge the system, could make a positive difference to their care.”

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24. “I could go on, but this evening I will focus on how the Bill should improve the experience of pregnant and new mums struggling with severe mental illness. That subject is particularly close to my heart, as I lost one of my best friends, Sophie Middlemiss, to suicide shortly after the birth of her little girl—her third child. I speak to many parents about it, including the fantastic Amy Scullard, who runs the PANDAS perinatal mental health group in Aylesbury. In this period of pregnancy and the year after birth, almost one in four people struggle with their mental health. For many people, their experience is relatively mild and they will recover, but some people, often without any prior mental health challenges and without warning, will experience extremely severe mental illness.”

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25. “Mental health is a theme of so many of the conversations that I have—and of the support that I try to provide—in my Aylesbury constituency, whether with Fay, Tyler, AJ and Dhwani, the young people who joined my recent work experience programme and devised the fantastic “Breaking the Silence” campaign to improve mental health understanding for young adults; with the residents at Bearbrook Place, which is run by Connection Support and offers supported accommodation for adults facing homelessness, who told me that their mental health challenges contributed to them becoming at risk of homelessness, and that it was their ongoing mental health recovery gave them the most confidence that they could live independently again; or with the people who go along to the fantastic drop-ins provided by the Space charity in St Mary’s church, many of whom experience mental challenges as a result of unexpected life events, health struggles or social isolation.”

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26. “May I say how humbled I am to follow such powerful and personal contributions from many hon. Members? I welcome these long-overdue reforms of the Mental Health Act. I am extremely proud to be part of a Government who are moving so quickly to ensure that people who experience severe mental illness are given more autonomy and choice, are always treated with dignity and respect, and are given enhanced rights and support under the Bill.”

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27. “As of January 2025, 96% of the 156 target communities had access to vaccines—before the intervention, only 16% had—and the cost of delivering that was just $4 per person. That shows how, by institutionalising this model of providing doses and funding directly to frontline actors, we can reach people outside of Government control and deliver real impact, even in some of the toughest and most fragile humanitarian settings.”

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28. “When diseases are left unchecked in fragile states, they do not stay contained; they cross borders, they become pandemics, they threaten and harm us all as human beings, and they demand costly emergency responses here in the UK and abroad that could have been prevented through earlier interventions. I saw at first hand, particularly through the IRC’s partnership with Gavi, how Gavi and the Global Fund work in humanitarian crises. In east Africa, despite insecurity and limitations on humanitarian access making vaccine delivery difficult, the IRC was able to expand vaccine coverage. In 19 months, an IRC-led consortium funded by Gavi and powered by local partners administered 9 million vaccine doses and put nearly 1 million children on the path to full immunisation, including 376,000 zero-dose children.”

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29. “It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine, and I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes Central (Emily Darlington) for introducing the debate. I declare an interest as the former UK executive director of the International Rescue Committee. I will focus on why Gavi and the Global Fund are so critical in humanitarian crises. I also want to be clear about why this issue matters and why the role those organisations play in the world matters. I am extremely proud of the principled role that UK aid allows us to play, and that British NGOs play, in parts of the world that are riven by conflict, poverty and climate change, where we save lives and prevent future suffering. But this is not just about charity; it is about global stability and security and, in turn, about our own stability and security.”

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30. “I met Jess and Hannah from Aston Clinton in my constituency, who are doing brilliant work to encourage parents to delay giving their children smartphones. Responding on Second Reading of the safer phones Bill, the Minister for digital, my hon. Friend the Member for Rhondda and Ogmore (Chris Bryant), agreed that excessive smartphone usage is detrimental to the physical, mental and spiritual health of young people, and confirmed that the Government intend to act in this area. Can the Secretary of State share what his next steps will be?”

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31. “After 70 days of aid being blockaded, we are watching an entirely preventable famine unfold in real time in Gaza. Meanwhile, the Israeli Government’s anti-NGO Bill seeks to restrict the ability of lifesaving humanitarians to operate, and instead militarises aid delivery in violation of international humanitarian law. I thank the Minister for all his efforts and for his challenge on this point, but will he continue to challenge the Israeli Government on it, and does he agree that there has to be accountability?”

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32. “T4. I have been in touch with a constituent who has a disability and needs help with showering and dressing. She is concerned that, under our proposed reforms, she will not score enough points to continue receiving the daily living portion of PIP. I welcome the Secretary of State’s announcement that the Government are reviewing the PIP assessment, including the descriptors, but can she confirm that cases like that of my constituent will be considered as part of the review?”

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33. “Tomorrow is World Maternal Mental Health Day, recognising the particular challenges that some mums face from pregnancy to birth, and after birth. I commend the Secretary of State and his team for their rapid work to get the NHS delivering better for patients again. As they develop the 10-year plan for the NHS, what measures will be taken to ensure that all women facing perinatal mental health challenges can access the right psychological support, and that there is no postcode lottery?”

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34. “Like many colleagues in this House, I was appalled by the terrorist attack in Kashmir, and my heart goes out to the victims and their loved ones. What really worries me now is the hatred, threats and incitement we have seen online since the attack, which I know are deeply unsettling for many of my constituents. Does the Minister agree that the incitement of hatred online is completely unacceptable, and can he share what measures the Government are taking to monitor and act against it?”

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35. “It was a real honour to join the meeting with Prime Minister Mustafa in Parliament yesterday. I welcome the Minister’s hard work in the signing of the MOU. I desperately want peace for Palestinians and for Israelis, and I was touched by Prime Minister Mustafa’s gracious remarks that the way forward has to be peace for all, dignity for all and justice for all. Does the Minister agree that while we work through the short-term practical considerations of recognising the state of Palestine, we have to keep our eyes on that long-term prize of peace, dignity and justice, and that a state of Palestine is a vital part of that?”

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36. “Last week I caught up with SafeStep, a remarkable charity in my constituency that supports victims and survivors of child sexual exploitation and abuse. We discussed the many ways in which trauma remains with victims and survivors, and how important accountability is for them as they rebuild their lives. My constituents who have suffered this appalling abuse need closure and change. I pay tribute to the Minister for her vital and persistent work to that end, including the establishment of the five local inquiries. Will she give further examples of what areas such as mine can do to ensure that the vile perpetrators are brought to justice?”

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37. “I commend the Foreign Secretary for co-hosting the conference and for giving this situation the political and diplomatic attention that it warrants. The crisis in Sudan is awful. The UN has warned that “never in modern history have so many people faced starvation and famine as in Sudan today”. The UN puts that down to the deliberate starvation tactics by the RSF and the SAF. Can the Minister outline what further measures the Government are taking to end the deliberate obstruction of food aid by the warring parties?”

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38. “The new traffic calming scheme in Bierton has been causing chaos, noise pollution and danger in my constituency. Almost 2,000 people have signed Matthew Grolimund’s petition calling for an urgent review of the chosen layout. Will the Leader of the House join me in urging Buckinghamshire council to plan its road building and roadworks better, and will she reaffirm this Government’s commitment to improving our road infrastructure?”

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39. “As I have said in this place before, we face an acute challenge in Aylesbury with our GP surgeries. We had new housing estates built in a poorly planned way under the previous Government, without the necessary GP services being provided. We also have particularly high levels of deprivation in Aylesbury and the county of Buckinghamshire—it is really marked by inequalities—which contributes to the pressures on our GP services. The Government have already made significant progress in improving GP provision; 1,500 new GPs have been recruited, and successful negotiations with the British Medical Association have resulted in the biggest uplift in funding for GPs in years. I think that will start to make a real difference.”

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40. “People are back on their feet, back at work, and back being active parents and grandparents sooner than they could have imagined. This is politics that is delivering for people. It is not the politics of easy answers, but the politics of progress, and of change to people’s lives. I will highlight one change that will be particularly important in my constituency of Aylesbury as we continue the work of transforming the NHS, including through the new hospital programme: the need to better integrate primary and secondary care. There is great potential for savings there, if we think about the secondary and primary care estates in the round. More importantly, that will help bring traditionally hospital based-care closer to the community; it will be better care that has better outcomes for people.”

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41. “It is a pleasure to speak in the debate. The previous Government made off-the-cuff commitments to new hospitals that were never going to be affordable or deliverable; I am really proud to be part of a Labour Government who commit only to what we can afford. We stick to our promises and deliver them. The rapid progress that we have made towards improving the NHS, reorienting it towards frontline delivery, is a fantastic example of that. Over 3 million more appointments were delivered in the first nine months of this Government—that is well ahead of the target—and over 100,000 people have been treated on time. Those are great statistics, but when I knock on doors and meet residents, I hear about the difference that that has made to them and their families.”

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42. “Ultimately, that is what people want and what people need: a future healthcare system in which as many people as possible can access care close to home and manage their health in their own homes and their own communities as best as possible.”

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43. “In Buckinghamshire, and particularly in Aylesbury, all our key health organisations are coming together—including the acute and community NHS trusts, primary care, the local authority, public health, the mental health trust and voluntary sector organisations—to agree a collective plan for the next 10 years, which I think could be transformative. They are pooling their collective resources and teams across Stoke Mandeville hospital and three primary care networks, and looking not only at creating a centre in Aylesbury for shared delivery of services, but at providing better care out in the communities. As we build our hospitals of the future across the country, it is essential that we plan in that way—not just for in-hospital care, but for a joined-up approach across all our services, bringing that care closer to our communities.”

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44. “I am in regular contact with my GPs, and I know that they are really pleased, actually, with the uplift in funding that they have received through the contract, and with what they will be able to deliver with that. As we think about the future of hospital provision, we must think about our healthcare in the round—what each community needs more broadly, and how we join up hospital services with those provided by our GPs, and with other community services. I am really excited by the work already under way in Buckinghamshire to establish integrated neighbourhood teams and I am pleased at this Government’s commitment to neighbourhood health centres.”

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45. “I travelled to the west bank in November, and I heard from UN agencies and non-governmental organisations about their international staff being denied entry, restricting their aid efforts. That was alarming enough, but the appalling treatment of our brilliant colleagues is a new low, as it seems that it is not just the support to Palestinians that is being denied, but the right to scrutinise whether that support is getting through. Does the Minister agree that future access to the Occupied Palestinian Territories for aid and scrutiny must be protected?”

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46. “Last year, there were more than 4,000 incidents of fly-tipping in Buckinghamshire. I have been working with Thames Valley police, who are increasing patrols in affected areas such as Slapton and Ivinghoe Aston, but it is not enough. One resident has told me that it is beyond a joke. Does the Leader of the House agree that we have to do more to tackle fly-tipping, and will she make time for us to debate introducing tougher sanctions for those who continue to spoil our countryside and our villages in this way?”

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47. “I thank the Secretary of State for his hard work and for his calm and pragmatic approach. In my constituency of Aylesbury, there are almost 5,000 small and medium-sized businesses, several of which export to the US or have been seeking to do so. Will the Secretary of State set out what he is doing to protect our SMEs in his ongoing negotiations with the Trump Administration?”

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48. “It is shocking that one in eight of our young people is not in education, employment or training. I want this to be a country in which all working-age people, including young people, feel that sense of opportunity again. I know how important work is in lifting people out of poverty. I also know that it is in our DNA as a Labour party to be there for people who are disabled, vulnerable or not able to work. Will the Minister share how that £1 billion-a-year support package will help those who can work get into work? And does he agree that we will always have the backs of those who cannot work, and those who care for them?”

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49. “I am in touch with many parents and carers of children with special educational needs and disabilities who have to battle too hard with Buckinghamshire council to get their education, health and care plans, their school places and their home-to-school transport. Will the Leader of the House join me in recognising the extraordinary lengths to which parents have to go to support their SEND kids? Will she continue to ensure that this House prioritises the reforms to the SEND system that are desperately needed?”

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50. “T2. It was inspiring to meet Safran Electrical & Power and tour its site in Pitstone in my constituency earlier this month. Safran is celebrating a world first: it has obtained certification from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency for the first electric motor to power new air mobility. Will the Secretary of State join me in congratulating Safran and, given the crucial need to decarbonise aviation, will he assure me of our commitment to innovation in this sector?”

    House of Commons26 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗

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