Oral Answers to Questions

Kim Johnson Excerpts

Monday 3rd November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Louise Sandher-Jones]

The hon. Member makes a good point, and as someone who had to wear the body armour, I am fully on board. Progress is under way to address the very points she mentions.

[Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside) (Lab)]

Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck committed suicide after being sexually assaulted and failed by the military. Can the Minister explain what is being done to ensure that women serving in our armed forces are protected from abuse and that complaints are handled with independence, compassion and the seriousness that they deserve?

[Louise Sandher-Jones]

My hon. Friend raises an important case, and I am sure that everybody who read the report into Jaysley-Louise Beck’s death would agree that it was a hugely tragic and deeply saddening case. There is a duty on me—one which I feel very deeply—to make sure that we do everything we can to address the behaviours my hon. Friend mentioned. The Raising our Standards programme is addressing cultural behaviours to strengthen leadership and ensure that when complaints like this are made they are dealt with appropriately. We are also establishing an Armed Forces Commissioner to make sure that where any investigation into these types of behaviours is taken out, we can have full trust in the service to do right by any service personnel, whether they are at the lowest ranks or the highest.