Chris Coghlan MP: speeches

Speeches

• 2 Mar 2026 · Middle East · Hansard source

  More

  British Lance Corporal Brodie Gillon was killed by an Iranian ballistic missile in Iraq in 2020. When I arrived as a soldier three months later, our base came under attack from Iranian proxy militias eight times. The Iranian regime has gunned down tens of thousands of protesters in recent weeks. Morality is complex. I entirely support the Prime Minister’s view on the need for a negotiated settlement, given, sadly, the risks of regime change, but does he agree that any negotiated settlement needs to include protections against reprisals for protesters?

• 4 Feb 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

  More

  Q14. How we answer the call for justice of SEND families will be a measure of who we are. Christopher Laskaris, who was autistic, was murdered aged 24. His mother, Fiona, who is in Public Gallery, spent eight years begging authorities to protect him, but they refused because they presumed that he had mental capacity. Will the Prime Minister support Christopher’s law, which creates a duty to assess mental capacity where it is in doubt, to save the lives of others?

• 28 Jan 2026 · Education Funding: Distribution · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend is raising incredibly important points on the distribution of funding, but does she agree that the distribution of funding during life stage is also important? [ Interruption. ] According to the Early Intervention Foundation, the NHS is spending £3.7 billion a year on the cost of late intervention. In theory, the Government could spend an extra £3.7 billion on early intervention on SEND at no extra net cost to the Government.

• 28 Jan 2026 · Education Funding: Distribution · Hansard source

  More

  On the point about the terrible fight that families face, the Minister will know that I wrote to the Education Committee to pass on the testimony of 653 families from across 114 local authorities about harmful, unethical or unlawful behaviour by local authorities on SEND. These testimonies have 195 references to suicide. One of them said: “My child now has ptsd, has lost the full use of their arm, is covered in scars from failed suicide attempts”. The Education Committee wrote to me saying that these testimonies corroborated its findings about the failures in local authority governance. Does the Minister agree that, on SEND, there can be no case for weakening EHCP children’s rights, and that families’ trust in local authority governance has collapsed?

• 27 Jan 2026 · Research and Development Bonds · Hansard source

  More

  Will we invest in EU SAFE defence bond fund?

• 27 Jan 2026 · Research and Development Bonds · Hansard source

  More

  In the 1940s, refugees fled the Nazis and built the atomic bomb; they pioneered a method of public research and development that has powered US economic dominance ever since. The EU Security Action for Europe defence bond fund offers us a similarly transformative opportunity: £20 billion invested in defence R&D could expand our economy by £100 billion. Will we join our Canadian and European allies, end our economic stagnation, and together defend the—

• 27 Jan 2026 · Research and Development Bonds · Hansard source

  More

  1. If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of issuing research and development bonds of up to £20 billion.

• 19 Jan 2026 · Proposed Chinese Embassy · Hansard source

  More

  Foreign interference in British politics is of enormous concern to most Members, following the conviction of Reform politician Nathan Gill, who betrayed our country for a genocidal Russian dictator. In response, the Government announced the Rycroft review to investigate foreign interference, including by China. Will they delay the decision on the super-embassy until the Rycroft review has reported?

• 19 Jan 2026 · Iran: Protests · Hansard source

  More

  There have been many calls across the Chamber for sanctions and the proscription of the IRGC, which I fully support. I think we need to be honest and admit that those measures are unlikely to save the lives of protesters who are under a regime fearing for its survival, but I point out that the drone strike in 2020 against Soleiman, the head of the IRGC, did influence Iranian behaviour. These protests follow on from western military intervention. As was pointed out by the right hon. Member for New Forest East (Sir Julian Lewis), the United States President has explicitly called on the protesters to overthrow the regime. That reminds me of the 1991 Shi’a uprisings in Iraq; President Bush did exactly the same in the aftermath of the Gulf war, and left those people to be massacred by Saddam Hussein’s helicopter gunships. Is the Minister considering that legacy in his deliberations?

• 19 Jan 2026 · Arctic Security · Hansard source

  More

  Exactly two weeks ago, the Foreign Secretary told me that I was quite wrong to describe Donald Trump as a threat to liberal democracy. Since then, we have seen the horrifying shooting of Renee Good, trumped-up charges against the chair of the Federal Reserve, and direct threats to Denmark and this country. I understand that the Foreign Secretary cannot publicly agree with me, but if the Government are serious, why are we not seriously re-arming, especially when that will help our economy anyway? Is the Foreign Secretary worried that the hour is getting too late to act?

• 14 Jan 2026 · Ukraine · Hansard source

  More

  Last year in Ukraine, a Ukrainian MP told me that her husband had served on the frontline for eight years. She asked me if, in the event of a peace agreement, I would support British ground troops. I have, of course, questions about British ground troops, but I said that I would and that I am also potentially liable to serve myself. As a reservist soldier, I am proud to be under the same obligations to serve as any British soldier, because we live in times of enormous peril and we have a responsibility to lead. We are threatened in the east by dictators and in the west by autocrats. Indeed, it is an open question whether liberal democracy will succeed in this century as it did in the last. Ukraine has been bearing the brunt of that fight and its sacrifice has bought us time. Ukraine still has a credible path to a just peace. European NATO GDP alone is 10 times the size of Russia’s, yet Russia has been spending $40 billion a year more than Ukraine and her western allies on the war in Ukraine. If we closed and exceeded that gap today, by seizing the $300 billion in frozen Russian assets, then not only could Ukraine secure a just peace, but we would deter Putin from crashing into eastern Europe and testing article 5. With President Trump disgracefully threatening NATO allies as well, smaller democracies must ensure that we are economically and militarily strong enough to defend ourselves together. It is the example of the United States, a country that I love, that can show us how. In the 1940s, refugees fled from the Nazis to the United States. They built the atomic bomb and they won the war. In the process, they developed a method of public research and development that academics now acknowledge has powered US technological and economic dominance ever since. The Chancellor has recognised that. In the spring statement, she used the £2.2 billion increase in defence research and development to upgrade long-term UK GDP growth by £11 billion a year. The current and former Presidents of the European Central Bank called on Europe to borrow to invest in defence research and development not only to deter Russia, but to lift Europe out of the economic stagnation that has held back the continent and the United Kingdom since the financial crash in 2008. We can do this too. President Reagan described America as a beacon. Sadly, it appears that that light is now fading, but I believe it has burnt long enough for other democracies to see it. Now, it is up to us, the smaller democracies, to ensure that we are also humanity’s best last hope.

• 6 Jan 2026 · Less Survivable Cancers · Hansard source

  More

  I commend my hon. Friend for securing this invaluable debate. My constituent Billy was just four years old when he passed away due to DIPG—diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma—which is an incurable child brain tumour cancer. Every nine days a child is diagnosed with it. At the request of Billy’s parents I asked the Government whether there was any more they could do for brain cancer research. I am delighted that the Government have since announced that they have allocated £13.7 million in funding to the National Institute for Health and Care Research brain tumour research consortium. Does my hon. Friend agree that allocating research into rarer cancers not only benefits the children who suffer from these horrific diseases but enhances our research and development capability more broadly, clinically, which is also a vital industry for the UK?

• 5 Jan 2026 · Northern Ireland Troubles Bill: Armed Forces Recruitment and Retention · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the Minister for his engagement with the various associations, which I know is appreciated. I also welcome the improvement in recruitment. However, how are veterans meant to feel that there is anything other than persecution when incidents such as Loughgall—an exemplary SAS counter-terrorism operation—are granted a public inquiry, and incidents such as the 1987 IRA bombing of Enniskillen, which left 12 people dead and at least 60 people injured, are not?

• 5 Jan 2026 · Venezuela · Hansard source

  More

  Few of us regret the departure of Maduro, but many of us are alarmed by the breach of international law. However, I am most alarmed by Trump’s concurrent threat to Greenland and his previous threat to Canada. The Foreign Secretary says that she likes to deal with the world as it is, so precisely how many NATO allies does Donald Trump have to threaten until the Government recognise that he is a clear threat to the survival of liberal democracy in the 21st century?

• 5 Jan 2026 · Middle East and North Africa · Hansard source

  More

  I was extremely proud to serve on the anti-Daesh campaign in the Foreign Office and the Army. It is important to recognise that that campaign is just and represents the UK learning lessons from Afghanistan and Iraq in what has been a largely successful intervention. I strongly welcome the new Government in Syria, but it is concerning that there has been an increase in ISIS activity in the past year. In my experience, perhaps the most intractable issue with ISIS are the 27,000 ISIS members and their families in prison camps in Syria, including many children who are being radicalised. Can the Minister assure me that the Government and the global coalition are monitoring that risk and taking what practical measures they can to prevent the next generation of ISIS from emerging?

• 9 Dec 2025 · Northern Ireland Troubles: Operation Kenova · Hansard source

  More

  On Kenova, I can express only the horror experienced by some of the victims, but the wider context of our security services is very important. I worked in counter-terrorism in the Foreign Office, on the anti-ISIS campaign. The Secretary of State speaks about strict regulation, and that resonates. He speaks about “neither confirm nor deny”, and I entirely agree with his points. Does the Secretary of State agree that the ethics around the handling, protection and recruitment of agents are incredibly complex? It is all too easy to criticise our security services, which in my experience do an outstanding—and at times simply unbelievable—job in saving lives.

• 9 Dec 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  T4. Public research and development is so powerful for economic growth that US patents funded by it generate 12 times more growth than those that are not. But does the Chancellor accept the judgment of the OBR that UK public R&D will generate no additional incremental growth because we are not increasing it enough?

• 8 Dec 2025 · Ajax Armoured Vehicle · Hansard source

  More

  Defence innovation is vital in adapting our armed forces to the drone age and the war in Ukraine, but also to the Government’s economic strategy. What confidence can the country have in the MOD’s ability to deliver, given the debacle with Ajax?

• 2 Dec 2025 · Draft Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Prudential Regulation of Credit Institutions) (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2025 Draft Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) (ESG Ratings) Order 2025 · Hansard source

  More

  The Liberal Democrats welcome this measure, but what work have the Government done to ensure that the regulation will be in line with that of international regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, to reduce the burden on our businesses?

• 2 Dec 2025 · Draft Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Prudential Regulation of Credit Institutions) (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2025 Draft Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) (ESG Ratings) Order 2025 · Hansard source

  More

  The shadow Minister makes an interesting point about the personal views of some fund managers. What is his view on including defence stocks in ESG portfolios, given the change in the geopolitical situation?

• 1 Dec 2025 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the right hon. Member, a colleague on the Treasury Committee, for giving way. I agree with many of the things he is saying, but does he not agree that the Conservative party also has considerable responsibility for this situation, through Brexit?

• 1 Dec 2025 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

  More

  In February, Louise Holmes took me to her restaurant HolmeStores in Dorking, which was especially popular for brunch. It had fantastic food and a beautiful wood-panelled interior. Louise had 12 employees and was thinking about a second site, but she could not afford the employers’ national insurance increase, so today it is closed. Putting my constituents out of business through tax rises is no way to grow our economy. Americans are twice as rich as they were in 2008; why are we 10% poorer? This is called the productivity puzzle, but actually it is no puzzle at all. Decades of research, including by recent Nobel prize winner Philippe Aghion, show that productivity can be raised by policies that support innovation, such as public research and development. UK Government support for nuclear submarine technology has led to the development of Rolls-Royce’s small modular nuclear reactors for civilian use. The roadblock is that economic policymaking in this country is too often driven towards meeting the OBR’s fiscal rules, while the OBR uses flawed assumptions for growth, such as the assumption that public R&D has no impact on economic growth after five years. The Budget has been surrounded by controversy about the £16 billion productivity downgrade, but the more serious question is: why did the OBR downgrade productivity in the first place? In the 15 years since the OBR’s inception, it has consistently overestimated productivity, and has had to downgrade it when it has been wrong, which has created enormous volatility in economic policymaking. That is no way to run a G7 economy. The good news is that the Government have started to adopt some policies that raise productivity. London Business School’s Paolo Sirico—I introduced the Chancellor to his work last year—has quantified the stunning impact that public R&D can have on economic growth. Paolo has shown that from 1950 to 2015, US patents that had a publicly funded component generated 12 times the productivity of patents purely funded by the private sector. The most famous example of that is, of course, John F. Kennedy’s Apollo programme. Public funding of basic research in universities and laboratories is so powerful for economic growth because it de-risks the cost of developing new technology and generates the discoveries that attract private investment into start-ups and venture capital. In the spring statement, using Paolo’s model, the Chancellor was able to use £2.2 billion of extra defence R&D to upgrade long-term UK GDP growth by £11 billion a year. I therefore urge the Government to adopt a broad public R&D investment strategy for economic growth, like the US, Israel and South Korea. The investment needed is not actually that large—an extra £5 billion a year on public R&D would take us to US levels, as a share of GDP—and, if we borrowed to do that, debt-to-GDP would actually fall because GDP would rise faster than debt over the long run. I urge the Government to invest £5 billion in public R&D in our leading industries, such as finance, film, defence, healthcare and renewable energy. Then it might be possible to turn our country into one of the fastest-growing advanced economies in the world.

• 26 Nov 2025 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the hon. Member for giving way. She is a colleague with me on the Treasury Committee. In terms of the Government delivering hope, a key part of the Government’s economic forecasting comes, of course, from the Office for Budget Responsibility. A lot of what has driven the Budget today is the £16 billion productivity downgrade by the OBR. We heard in the Treasury Committee that there was very little basis behind that productivity forecast in the first place and that it was based purely on UK productivity pre-2008 and not much real depth beyond that. Does she agree with me that the OBR has serious work to do to look at the robustness of its forecasts?

• 11 Nov 2025 · Rural Railway Stations: Step Free Access · Hansard source

  More

  In my constituency, in Bookham, access to the train to London is via an uneven path through the woods. Network Rail has not prioritised accessibility upgrades. Does the hon. Member agree that the Government must do more with accessibility schemes, like those he just mentioned?

• 4 Nov 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  The Chancellor knows that I agree with her that the use of public research and development is one of the most effective levers for economic growth, but it will not significantly increase over the entire five-year spending review period. If the Government are serious about economic growth, they must find a way to increase public research and development. Does she agree?