Gill Furniss MP: speeches

Speeches

• 1 Sept 2026 · Climate Change: National Security · Hansard source

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  4. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of international action on climate change on national security.

• 1 Sept 2026 · Climate Change: National Security · Hansard source

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  My thoughts are with the victims of the flooding in Nepal and Tibet last week—a horrifying and pertinent reminder that climate change and its inevitable consequences are the biggest threat to our health, our homes and our way of life. Already drought and resource scarcity are actively fuelling regional conflicts around the globe and driving mass displacement. What diplomatic initiatives is the Secretary of State leading to combat climate change and prevent resource-driven conflict?

• 24 Jun 2026 · North Sea Oil and Gas · Hansard source

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  I thank everyone for a very respectful debate. It was important that it happened as it did. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered North Sea oil and gas.

• 24 Jun 2026 · North Sea Oil and Gas · Hansard source

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  I call the Minister. [ Interruption. ] Sorry, I call Pippa Heylings—I will learn how to do this one day; I blame it on the heat.

• 24 Jun 2026 · North Sea Oil and Gas · Hansard source

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  Thank you. I call Harriet Cross.

• 22 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T8. Earlier this month, I met Devon Andrews, whose daughter Cherish tragically passed away from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning while on holiday with her partner. In the wake of their passing, Devon is working tirelessly to raise awareness of the dangers of carbon monoxide, and is partnering with local organisations to educate children and others. Will the Minister join me in congratulating Devon on campaigning to save lives and ensuring that the memory of her daughter is not forgotten?

• 18 Jun 2026 · Infected Blood Compensation Scheme · Hansard source

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  We find ourselves at a critical juncture in time as we approach the laying of the final amendments to the scheme in the fourth set of regulations. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Eltham and Chislehurst (Clive Efford) for securing the debate and all the work that he and the all-party parliamentary group on haemophilia and contaminated blood have done. I also pay tribute to my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham (Dame Diana Johnson) who ably led the APPG previously for her years of tireless campaigning and to the Minister for the countless hours he has spent working on this issue and his willingness to engage with me and other hon. Members every time we speak to him. The infected blood scandal has rightly been described by the chair of the infected blood inquiry Sir Brian Langstaff as the worst treatment disaster in the history of our national health service. Between the 1970s and the early 1990s, tens of thousands of people were knowingly exposed to unacceptable risks and infected with HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C. More than 30,000 patients received contaminated blood or clotting products, many of which were sourced from high-risk paid donors in the US, including prisoners and drug addicts. The result was catastrophic, claiming at least 2,900 lives. In some particularly horrifying cases, children as young as two were used as guinea pigs in clinical trials without the knowledge or consent of their parents. Doctors, the blood services and successive Governments did not put patient safety first. Many of those affected have had to live with the consequences of those failures for decades. One such person is my constituent John, who I know will be watching the debate. Like many hepatitis C patients, John was initially unaware of his illness. Once he became symptomatic, he spent 40 years desperately trying to figure out what was causing myriad inexplicable symptoms. The impact that that search for answers has had on every aspect of his life cannot be overstated. It was only after a chance conversation several years ago when a doctor offhandedly asked if he had ever received a blood transfusion that the truth came to light. John’s story is tragically mirrored in thousands of households across the country. The survivors and bereaved families have battled for justice for too long, but in May 2024 hope was brought to many of those homes when Sir Brian Langstaff delivered his landmark report. The previous Government committed to providing compensation to those infected and affected by this catastrophe, and this Government, on its election six weeks later, rightly set aside nearly £13 billion for compensation and rapidly launched a compensation scheme. Yet as we stand here over two years on from that final report, that promise remains unfulfilled for the vast majority. The sense of exhaustion, anger and desperation within the community is palpable. These issues could have been mitigated if, as Sir Brian wrote, “decisions about those who should receive compensation are not made without them.” The minimal involvement of the people affected in the development of the compensation scheme has introduced problems and injustices. The most urgent issue is the pace of delivery, which remains glacial. Out of 18,000 registered claims, just over 3,000 people have had compensation paid. Even more are still waiting to be invited to claim compensation. This has left tens of thousands of individuals in a state of agonising limbo, often in poor health and at the end of their lives, without any guidance about when their claim will start, praying that their case will be processed before it is too late. This is a particular concern for affected survivors who are unmarried and childless. The rule that their claim dies with them if they pass away before an offer is made is a source of total despair, and we must change it so that these claims become part of their estate. We cannot forget the stigma of HIV during this period and the impact that it would have had on victims’ personal lives. Will the Minister look at this, pressure the Infected Blood Compensation Authority to rapidly increase claims processing rates or provide additional resources for it to do so, and ensure that compensation payments are paid in line with the CPI measure of inflation? I fear that there are a number of inequities in the composition of the scheme that must be addressed. Under a provision called the special category mechanism, people can claim additional compensation for the financial loss and care costs that they have occurred as a result of their infection. However, this additional compensation applied only from 2017—an arbitrary administrative date inherited from a previous support scheme. I strongly believe that people should be compensated from the day that their harm occurred. If the Minister could confirm whether his Department is looking into this matter, or provide the Government’s justifications for maintaining this cut-off either today or later in writing, it would be most welcome. Furthermore, the evidential barriers placed before victims are often cruel and unnecessary. It is heartbreaking to hear of elderly mothers being asked to find 40-year-old school reports or GP letters to prove that they lived with children who died in the 1980s. These records often simply do not exist, and families are stuck in a loop of searching for the impossible while they themselves age and fall ill. We need a common-sense approach that relaxes these requirements, particularly for proven family relationships. Again, I would welcome the Minister’s assurance that the evidence requirements will be permissive and flexible to ensure that those eligible are not unduly excluded and to avoid retraumatising claimants. In a recent report, the National Audit Office found that there is currently no dedicated team within Government that has central oversight or offers support to those setting up or administrating compensation schemes, and victims have no route for formal redress. I support the National Audit Office’s call for a central oversight body for compensation schemes, and I hope that the Government will respond to its report in due course. The need for change is clear. Ultimately, there is only one way in which we can prevent a repeat of this sorry saga. I agree with others that we desperately need a Hillsborough law with a fully-fledged duty of candour to prevent institutional scandals and cover-ups from ruining even more people’s lives and to ensure that victims of the state get the justice they deserve at the time they need it.

• 17 Jun 2026 · Job Creation · Hansard source

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  The UK Labour Government are investing across the UK in initiatives that are creating jobs and fuelling economic growth, such as Parkwood Springs and Special Melted Products in my constituency of Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough. Will the Minister update the House on the difference that UK Government growth funding is making in Wales?

• 17 Jun 2026 · Job Creation · Hansard source

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  2. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help create new jobs in Wales.

• 9 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Last year I had the opportunity to witness a transcatheter aortic valve implantation procedure, which is a groundbreaking procedure for people who require valve changes. What I saw was quite incredible, and I recommend that all hon. Members go and see the procedure in St Thomas’ hospital. The patient, who was 82, had been bedbound for weeks, but after that 20-minute surgery they were fit enough to be discharged later that day and to look after themselves. That has a massive impact, not just on the patient’s life but for our NHS and the wider economy, as illustrated by Heart Valve Voice’s optimal pathway report. What steps is the Department taking to ensure that NHS systems identify patients and treat them?

• 21 May 2026 · Family Justice System: Domestic Abuse and Safeguarding · Hansard source

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  Order. I remind hon. Members to bob if they wish to be called.

• 21 Apr 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  In my constituency, I recently met a young woman from Somaliland who in recent years has lost 14 members of her family to fighting in the region. She and other campaigners from Somaliland are understandably reticent to use the new e-visa system introduced by the Somalian Government due to fears about privacy and data protection. Will the Minister raise those questions with his counterparts in the Somalian Government to ensure that Somalilanders can travel to their country without fear?

• 26 Mar 2026 · Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Craniocervical Instability · Hansard source

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  We are doing quite well for time, but we need to finish Back-Bench speeches by 2.28 pm so that we can—as I am sure we want to—get the winding-up speeches and the Minister in.

• 26 Mar 2026 · Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Craniocervical Instability · Hansard source

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  Order. I remind Members that they should bob if they wish to be called in the debate. We are hoping to give everyone five minutes, but we will see how we go.

• 26 Mar 2026 · Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Craniocervical Instability · Hansard source

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  I call Josh Newbury, with two minutes to wind up.

• 17 Mar 2026 · Bailiffs · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Government’s commitment to legislating for a statutory bailiff regulator. Research by StepChange and others has uncovered shocking cases that show why that is urgently needed, including a bailiff pushing someone through their front door and then laughing when they said that they had mental health issues. Will the Minister tell the House when we can expect that legislation to reach the statute books?

• 17 Mar 2026 · Bailiffs · Hansard source

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  16. What steps he is taking to help improve standards in the bailiff industry.

• 22 Jan 2026 · Transport Connectivity: Midlands and North Wales · Hansard source

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  Order. I warn hon. Members that there may be a vote soon.

• 12 Jan 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T5. Every two hours, someone in the UK is paralysed as a result of a spinal cord injury. After treatment, there is a 20% chance of being sent to a care home due to a lack of suitable available housing. I cannot imagine how a young person feels when they are coping with one of the most traumatic moments of their life, and are literally left lying by themselves. That is unacceptable. Will the Minister meet me and the all-party parliamentary group on spinal cord injury to discuss the serious lack of suitable housing?

• 7 Jan 2026 · UK Town of Culture · Hansard source

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  Thank you all very much for a really respectful and interesting debate; it has been one of the best that I have chaired—and you all behaved and came in on time, which is always a pleasure. Question put and agreed to. Resolved , That this House has considered the UK Town of Culture competition.

• 7 Jan 2026 · UK Town of Culture · Hansard source

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  I can let you all have four minutes.

• 7 Jan 2026 · UK Town of Culture · Hansard source

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  I call Alex Ballinger to wind up quickly, because we expect a vote at 4 pm.

• 7 Jan 2026 · UK Town of Culture · Hansard source

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  I ask Members to bob so that I can see how many people wish to speak in the debate. To start the debate, I call Jim Shannon.

• 8 Dec 2025 · Digital ID · Hansard source

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  Order. The Minister has every right to speak, just as everyone else has had the right to speak. He does not have to take interventions.

• 8 Dec 2025 · Digital ID · Hansard source

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  I have to say that I could not hear him say that, mainly because everyone else was making so much noise, like now. [ Interruption. ] I did not hear him say that.