Natalie Fleet MP: speeches

Speeches

• 10 Mar 2026 · Courts and Tribunals Bill · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

• 10 Mar 2026 · Courts and Tribunals Bill · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Member for Hertsmere (Sir Oliver Dowden) is absolutely right to talk about confidence in public institutions, because that is what we are addressing today. I stand before the House as a victim who would not report because I do not want to be retraumatised over years. I speak on behalf of the victims in the Gallery and the victims out there in the country. That is where I want us to restore confidence. That is what we need to do today.

• 24 Feb 2026 · Access to NHS Dental Services · Hansard source

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  Fourteen years of Conservative rule has consequences for the children in my constituency. A quarter of them have tooth decay— [ Interruption. ] Conservative Members can shake their heads as much as they like, but this is the real-world impact of the decisions that they made. Those children are some of the most deprived in Derbyshire, and the integrated care board has found that they are more likely than wealthier constituents 3 miles up the road to have tooth decay. I am pleased that we are fixing dentistry. We are getting more urgent dentist appointments and we have the roll-out of supervised toothbrushing in schools, but we need to do more. What more are this Government doing to address this inequality and help the children in my constituency who are in pain?

• 24 Feb 2026 · Access to NHS Dental Services · Hansard source

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  23. What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of access to NHS dental services.

• 12 Feb 2026 · Healthy Relationships · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Jardine. A relationship that I admire for its equality is that of local constituents Mick and Jane Yates. They have been together for 16 years. To watch him go from being a councillor with many political demands, while his wife was not a councillor, to his wife not only becoming a councillor but leading Bolsover district council—a strong and inspiring leader whom he supports to thrive in her role—is just the best. Jane says they do not always agree on things, political or not, but does my hon. Friend agree that it is really important that, even when we disagree, we find ways in a healthy relationship to love and respect each other? That is what is at its core.

• 4 Feb 2026 · Lord Mandelson · Hansard source

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  Will the Minister give way?

• 4 Feb 2026 · Lord Mandelson · Hansard source

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  Does the Minister agree that we are here today because of the brave women who have spoken out and led us here? Does he agree that we have a responsibility—a shared responsibility as a House—to make sure that no stone is unturned, and that as a Government we will make absolutely sure that the victims at the heart of the paedophile Epstein’s crimes get the justice that they deserve, we will continue to call out this behaviour wherever we see it, and we will do everything we can, now that we are in government, to halve violence against women and girls? It is too little too late, but it is needed now more than ever.

• 4 Feb 2026 · Lord Mandelson · Hansard source

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  rose—

• 4 Feb 2026 · Lord Mandelson · Hansard source

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  Being a Member of Parliament is a huge privilege that brings with it a huge responsibility—a responsibility that Peter Mandelson made an absolute mockery of. He let down those on our Benches, this entire House, and the country more widely. His arrogance, sense of entitlement and abuse of power was disgusting to see, but what I am really worried about is this: this story of women and how they are let down is being watched by women across the world, and they are seeing their story of abuse through the lens of powerful men—Prime Ministers, former princes and politicians. Women victims must be at the centre of whatever happens next. I am glad that the paedophile Epstein’s files are being released, and I am glad that there is cross-party consensus that more information should be made public, and that anyone who knows anything should declare it. However, I will not lie; I am angry that victims and survivors have had their anonymity ripped away because of the careless way that their information was handled. I am angry that men trafficked, exploited and raped women, while others turned a blind eye at best, and covered it up at worst. However, I am also unbelievably, incredibly grateful. We are here today because women used their voice. They were brave. They are not alone, and they were never alone in their abuse. At the time when they were being trafficked in the most horrendous way, my community had the highest teenage pregnancy rates in Europe, often because older men thought that young, vulnerable women were absolutely fair game. I feel a huge responsibility to use my voice, and I encourage others to use theirs, but while speaking up is so important, it is sometimes so difficult that the cost is life itself. That stays with me. I want to use my platform to share the words of Virginia Giuffre: “I am sorry to say that for all that’s happened, more action is needed. Much more. Because some people still think Epstein was an anomaly, an outlier. And those people are wrong. While the sheer number of victims Epstein preyed upon may put him in a class by himself, he was no outlier. The way he viewed women and girls—as playthings to be used and discarded—is not uncommon among certain powerful men who believe they are above the law. And many of those men still go about their daily lives, enjoying the benefits of their power. Do you know why the world is as bad as it is? It is because people think only about their own business, and won’t trouble themselves to stand up for the oppressed, nor bring the wrong-doers to light…My doctrine is this, that if we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop, and do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt. I hope for a world in which predators are punished, not protected; victims are treated with compassion, not shamed; and powerful people face the same consequence as everyone else. I yearn, too, for a world in which perpetrators face more shame than their victims do and where anyone who’s been trafficked can confront their abusers when they are ready, no matter how much time has passed. We don’t live in this world yet.” I say: thank you. I thank her, and I know that we will use the power that we collectively have in this House to right historic wrongs, and that we can start talking about what is happening to women and girls across the world and challenge it together, because shame must change sides.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Prison Estate: Safety · Hansard source

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  The reason I use this powerful Chamber to speak about crimes like rape is that I am desperate to encourage women across the country watching us to use their voice to speak out and report. I am so determined to support the Government in their changes because I am desperate, when these brave women come forward, for them to have a system where they are supported every step of the way to get the swift justice they deserve. I am determined to do everything I can to play my part. When we make these changes and make it easier for victims to get justice, how will the Government ensure that there is capacity in our prisons to take these criminals?

• 8 Jan 2026 · Road Safety Strategy · Hansard source

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  This year marks 13 years since the most incredible bestie that anybody could wish for—the ray of sunshine that I was lucky enough to have in my life—was killed on our road, leaving her two young boys. Ashya Vanner, I think about you every day. I also pay tribute to Amie Pearson and Chelsea Carlisle, who were killed in Pleasley in November, with a nine-year-old boy being left with life-changing injuries. I thank the Minister for this work, but can we please get the legislation passed as soon as possible so that we can work on preventing unnecessary deaths?

• 7 Jan 2026 · Jury Trials · Hansard source

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  What has been missing from this debate is the word “victims.” We inherited a system in which there are criminals who will have chosen to spend Christmas at home with their children. They will still be at home with their children next year, and the year after that, because we have a system that allows them to kick justice down the road. Meanwhile, women will have been raped this Christmas, and they will have to wait half a decade for justice. How can Members defend that system?

• 7 Jan 2026 · Ukraine and Wider Operational Update · Hansard source

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  I welcome this statement from the Defence Secretary and I also welcome the comments from across the House about how the Prime Minister has been conducting himself in leading the coalition of the willing. At this time, we need consensus across British politics on how we support Ukraine. Does the Secretary of State agree with me that no British politician should ever be taking bribes from Russians, or advising Russian nationals on how to avoid sanctions in relation to money that should be used to support Ukrainian people?

• 17 Dec 2025 · Palliative Care: North Derbyshire · Hansard source

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  I have received so many emails from really concerned constituents about this issue. There was one that stuck out: it was from a serving member of the armed forces, who wrote to me about her elderly mother who recently passed away at Ashgate. She was stationed abroad, but flew home to be with her mum, and was able to spend five days and nights with her—her mother’s last moments. Does my hon. Friend agree that we should all be extremely thankful for the high-quality care that Ashgate hospice gives to our constituents and others, and that we should all be concerned about the reduction in beds and the loss of jobs?

• 16 Dec 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T3. I want to raise the case of my constituent from Pinxton. They were awarded a substantial amount of money at an employment tribunal over two years ago for unpaid wages. They have not been able to track down the company since then—it is using a shell address and is not responding to any correspondence. My constituent has paid a private company to try to find the company, but it has got nowhere. It has been two years of hardship and mental health issues, so will the Secretary of State outline what steps are being taken to make sure hard-working people get the money that is owed to them?

• 10 Dec 2025 · Conduct of the Chancellor of the Exchequer · Hansard source

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  Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

• 10 Dec 2025 · Conduct of the Chancellor of the Exchequer · Hansard source

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  I welcome the debate and I thank the shadow Chancellor for giving way on the point about women. We are here to talk about the conduct of the most powerful woman in this country, who used her Budget to remove the rape clause, to take children out of poverty and to give justice to miners in my patch. That never would have happened without her. I welcome this moment to celebrate our Chancellor, and I thank the right hon. Gentleman for it.

• 20 Nov 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  The food hygiene rating scheme means that we can celebrate five-star venues, like Alleppey Kitchen my constituency, and we can all avoid the ones with one star, if we choose. Councillor David Bennett from Clowne is running a campaign to make it mandatory to display those ratings in England, just as it is in Wales and Northern Ireland. Will the Leader of the House consider granting a debate in Government time to allow us to discuss that?

• 20 Nov 2025 · Migration: Settlement Pathway · Hansard source

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  In 2024, in the run-up to the election, I knocked on door after door where people told me that they were absolutely sick of our broken immigration system that we inherited from the Tories. They did not trust Reform, who are not here today, to tackle it. I welcome the intervention from our Home Secretary. Does she agree that to be the open, tolerant and generous country that we know we are, we must get order and control at our borders?

• 20 Nov 2025 · International Men’s Day · Hansard source

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  I am thrilled to be here to celebrate the incredible men among us, including my hon. Friend the Member for Cannock Chase (Josh Newbury). I thank him for sharing his story. Men need to be celebrated today—those who pick up the pieces, make our lives better by being in them and provide positive role models to our children. I want to speak about the most undervalued man in my life, my husband Ritchie Fleet. In March, it will be 25 years since we met, with me at 16 with a newborn and him ready to step up into a role that he chose and which he has absolutely smashed. He makes me feel supported and loved, and I am proud to see him growing from a caring and present father to an incredible grandad. I cannot wait to see his adventures with our granddaughter as he drops his hours to take on his share of her childcare. There is breaking news, Madam Deputy Speaker: all the toilet seats have been stolen from Scotland Yard, but police say they have got nothing to go on. Everyone loves a dad joke, but we cannot let paternity leave be the real joke. How we see it is really important. It is an important class issue, with 90% of paternity leave taken by the 50% of top earners, and dads in my area less likely to take paternity leave than those who live in London. The men’s health strategy, which I am thrilled that we are introducing, is right to identify that flexible working and sufficient paternity leave positively impact a father’s health, relationship with their partner and involvement with their child. When we get it right, it is not just better for men but better for women and children. I was honoured to be at the first ever International Men’s Day celebration in Downing Street last night. I could take a guest, and there were so many to choose from in my constituency, including: Kyle Barnes in Langwith, who set up a football team for his daughter; Andrew Joesbury in South Normanton, who spends so much time volunteering at the school; and Tony Mellors in Newton, who wants to ensure that our area’s history is passed on to the next generation. But the man I took was Paul Oxborough from Holmewood. Paul’s friend Dale Caffrey was a man we lost too soon. Suicide remains the biggest killer of men under 50, and the destruction left behind is immeasurable. Paul set up Mental Health Motorbike with Dale’s wife and best friend, which is a mental health charity that provides free online and face-to-face support. In five years, the charity has grown to 100 volunteers and is holding over 400 events this year, taking mental health peer support to the biker community across the UK. I am thrilled to have that national charity established in my constituency by that incredible bloke. As I saw Paul speaking to the Prime Minister last night about all that the charity has achieved, I thought about the suicides that could be prevented. There is so much to celebrate today, but there is also so much more to do. Let us show our boys that real courage is talking about men’s mental health. Strength comes from opening up when you need to. Let us make it normal that proper, brave men talk about how they feel. I will finish with the words of my friend Tracey about her late husband Kurt Hayes-Bradley: one life lost is one too many; each life saved is a blessing. It is definitely time to talk.

• 13 Nov 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Special educational needs families in Bolsover and across Derbyshire are let down by our dire education services that were ripped to ruin by the Tories and are now being failed by Reform. I met families earlier this year and heard heartbreaking stories of how they and their babies are being let down. It was horrendous. They are being ignored by the Reform council: letters are not being responded to and cases are not being progressed. Children are out of education as a result. Does the Leader of the House agree with me that Reform Derbyshire county council must improve its special educational needs services and deliver for children across Derbyshire?

• 11 Nov 2025 · Sixth-form Provision: Bolsover · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for his intervention. Students are less likely to get A-levels in Bolsover than in any other part of Derbyshire. Some students do really well in their GCSEs and go on to a really good sixth form in Chesterfield, but it is more than 10 miles away. They have to get two buses: one to Chesterfield town centre and one to the Newbold area. The sixth form has a private bus, but it is £1,000 a year and takes about 50 minutes each way. That puts the school out of reach for students whose families cannot afford the travel, and the long travel times do nothing to encourage anyone to go there. I want to talk about two brothers who recently left The Bolsover school and started at the nearest sixth form. Both dropped out in the first year because of the cost of the bus. One of the brothers tried to run the five-and-a-bit miles to sixth form and back every day, but with a bag full of books, and winter weather and darkness, he could not sustain it. They have both dropped out of their level 3 studies, and we believe they are no longer in education at all. When we fail our children, there are lifelong consequences. Not having a sixth form is a large part of why only a quarter of 18-year-olds in Bolsover enrol at university, compared with the UK average of 36%. It is why, on education, skills and training measures, Bolsover is the 99th most deprived constituency in the country. It is also why people’s wages in Bolsover are £100 less per week than the UK average. Having less money and less education affects people’s ability to live long and healthy lives. A quarter of our residents only have GCSEs, but a quarter have no qualifications at all. On every measure I have looked at, Bolsover could and should be doing better. We have to give people the same opportunities that children living in larger towns and cities take for granted. The young people I see when I visit their schools blow me away. On a recent visit to Shirebrook academy, they told me that they did not want to be called disadvantaged because it is another label that holds them back. Instead, they are funny, they are polite, they are smart—and my God, they are full of potential. They make me so happy just being around them. Ridiculously, they treat me like I am a big deal. It is them who are the biggest of deals. It is our job as a Government to put a world of opportunity in front of them, just like the last Labour Government did for me. I grew up seeing more people I know going to prison than to university. I was really lucky to have a Government with the slogan, “Education, education, education”—a Government determined to be ambitious for me before I even knew what ambition was. The Labour Government gave me opportunity that I never expected to need and smashed down barriers that I could not have anticipated. Instead of writing me off as a young mum, they paid for childcare for my newborn, meaning that I could drop her off at nursery and take the short bus ride to West Notts college. They invested in brilliant education that I will forever be grateful for and supported me to get the grades that meant I could go to university with my second baby on the way. The first time I visited The Bolsover school, I asked where the teenage mums were, and I was told that they did not have them. I panicked, because I worried that teenage mums were being excluded from education. Instead, I was told that they did not exist, at least not in the same way that they used to, because the same Government who had supported me had also implemented a teenage pregnancy strategy. That strategy meant that my area, which had the highest teenage pregnancy rates in Europe when I had my baby, saw the biggest issue facing us and tackled it. That is incredible. I am here to make sure that we leave an equally impactful legacy for the next generation. We must give Bolsover’s young people access to quality education in our area. I promise that I am not just being a difficult woman. In the last 12 hours, I have received well over 100 emails, messages and comments on this issue from parents, former pupils, current pupils and teachers who live in the area—anyone with a connection to the school, young people and education. They are desperate for this sixth form to go ahead. Sky, a former Bolsover student, said: “I finished Bolsover School in 2023 and had to move to another Sixth Form, but I didn’t think it was worth the experience. The education felt like a downgrade—if Bolsover School had a Sixth Form, I would have stayed and had a better experience, like I did in my secondary years.” Alysha, another former Bolsover student, said: “After my GCSEs, I would have loved to continue my studies somewhere familiar and local. I now travel over an hour each day to Sixth Form, but if Bolsover had one, I’d have stayed. I hope future children can have that chance”. Parents of young children are already looking for the best option for their child to gain a higher level of qualification, and they know that a local sixth form would help them to achieve those goals. Victoria, a Bolsover mum, said: “My daughter is a hardworking and bright child in year 8 at The Bolsover School. Her dreams and ambitions should not be cut short because Bolsover is deemed not to be worthy of such a basic requirement, the investment in education, by some.” Another mum said: “My oldest son is currently in year 10, he’s a high achieving pupil predicted 8-9 grades in all subjects. He does however have severe anxiety, particularly social anxiety. If he needs to get a bus to school for sixth form, he simply won’t go.” Other parents of children with special educational needs have echoed this sentiment, telling me that their children need the supportive and structured environment of a sixth form at the school they know and are familiar with in order to continue their education. However, this is not just an issue for SEND parents. A teacher from my area told me that many students feel daunted by travelling to a big college and often give up on their ambitions because there is no local option. That teacher said that a sixth form in Bolsover would be transformational: inspiring young people, raising aspirations and showing them that their community believes in their potential. Parents can see that the playing field is not level and that their children have an undeserved disadvantage because of where they live. One dad, Sammie, wrote: “The difference to growing up on the outskirts of Nottingham 20 years ago to living in Bolsover today is quite scary. The opportunities around Bolsover for young people to grow and develop are dire.” Another dad, who has two children, said: “The sixth form would raise aspirations, build on the strengths of one of the best schools in the area and ensure our children have the best educational start in life, so they can help contribute to the financial and economic prosperity of our district for generations to come.” That is key. If Bolsover people are already leaving the area to get their A-levels, they are more likely to move away to pursue a career, and a cycle of low attainment and low aspiration continues for those who are left. As a child of the last Labour Government, I am determined to deliver for the children of this Labour Government. I hope I have shown that what I speak of today is really personal to me. However, this is not just about me; I have a community behind me, and they are desperate for this to happen. This is important, and this is why politics matters. I leave that very special community and my family behind every week to be here because I cannot let it be only me who benefits from the last Labour Government’s investment in my education. I want these children—the children of this Labour Government—to benefit in the same way. I am thrilled to see us smashing down barriers to opportunity, making sure that no child is ever too hungry to learn and that our little ones are ready for school on that special first day. I have an extra ask of the Government, on behalf of the young people of Bolsover. Let us show these incredible children that we will not leave them behind any longer. I ask that we get spades in the ground and open the doors of North Derbyshire university academy.

• 11 Nov 2025 · Sixth-form Provision: Bolsover · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That this House has considered sixth form provision in Bolsover constituency. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Butler. Residents of Bolsover must feel like they have déjà vu. My predecessor, Mark Fletcher, first raised the need for a sixth form in Bolsover in Parliament on 2 March 2020. On 7 March 2023, he spoke in this very Chamber about the need for Bolsover to have its own sixth form. On 6 September 2023, the then Prime Minister congratulated Mark on getting a sixth form. So the question that residents rightly ask is: why are we here today? Why have I raised this issue in Parliament five times in the past year? Why have I met Ministers and the Education Secretary to make representations? Why are Andrew Burns, the chief executive officer of Redhill Academy Trust, and Richard Pierpoint, the regional director, here with us to see this debate today? As one resident succinctly put it, getting the promise is one thing, but making sure that that promise is delivered is another thing entirely. Despite Mark’s determined campaign and the tireless work of The Bolsover school executive headteacher Matt Hall, who sadly cannot be with us today because he has an Ofsted inspection, the previous Government’s promises have not been delivered. Although I wish I was here congratulating Mark as new pupils enter North Derbyshire university academy, I saw as soon as I was elected that I needed to take up the baton. I will not rest until the young people of Bolsover, Clowne, Shirebrook, Creswell and the surrounding villages have the sixth form that they so desperately need. Why is this so important? For far too many of our young people, Bolsover today is a story of unfilled potential. Bolsover covers a huge area, from Pinxton to Whitwell, Shirebrook to Wessington, yet there is no sixth form. When it comes to barriers to opportunity, surely one of the biggest is that the closest sixth form is a 30-minute bus ride away at a cost of £25 a week. The inability to access any form of education past the age of 16 without getting on one or two buses and travelling for up to an hour is why so few teenagers attend a school sixth form—only 25% from The Bolsover school, 13% from Heritage high school in Clowne and just 8% from Shirebrook academy do so. For those who live anywhere else in the country, the average figure is three times higher than for Shirebrook.

• 27 Oct 2025 · Victims and Courts Bill · Hansard source

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  I will speak to Government new clause 14. It means that rapists will no longer have access to children conceived by their crime. It puts the right of survivors above the rights of criminals. It protects mummies and their precious babies. It is not okay that it took so long for the law to change—to keep up with common sense—but to get this change the Government fought to get us on these Benches and into government, bringing with us our real-life experience and that of our community, supported by Ministers, right up to the Prime Minister, determined to tackle violence against women and girls.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Rape Gangs: National Statutory Inquiry · Hansard source

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  Today, the Government have announced that they will take parental responsibility away where a child is born of rape. That will protect grooming victims. Children in this country will no longer be the only proceed of crime that criminals can have lifelong access to. Does the Minister agree that survivors were failed for too long by a Conservative Government who did not prioritise giving them justice? That party is led by the Leader of the Opposition, who did not mention grooming when she had the power to do something about it. Instead, survivors have had to wait for victims and activists to be on the Government Benches, and for the fiercest of advocates to be at the Dispatch Box.