Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill

Lord Roe of West Wickham Excerpts

Wednesday 4th February 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Roe of West Wickham (Lab) (Maiden Speech)]

My Lords, it is the greatest honour to speak in your Lordships’ House for the first time. I thank my fellow noble Lords from right across the House for the warmth of their welcome, extended not just to me but to my family on my introduction. Equally, I thank all the staff, from Black Rod and the Clerk of the Parliaments to the doorkeepers, police and security staff—and, perhaps most importantly, as I have spent the past two weeks eating, to the caterers. I can say with some certainty that your Lordships’ House has some of the best work canteens I have ever encountered, and I have been in some over the years. Without wanting to labour this—pardon the pun—the ham, egg and chips in the Millbank basement is of particular note to a connoisseur of such matters. The professionalism and patient good humour of every single noble Lord towards a new Member of this House is a credit to the extraordinary place that they both protect and sustain.

I thank my sponsors, my noble friends Lord Kennedy of Southwark and Lady Twycross, who, alongside my noble friend Lady Smith of Basildon, have offered encouragement and support as they have guided me in the process of joining your Lordships’ House. In particular —and I am looking at her now—I need to thank my noble friend Lady Twycross, who was my deputy mayor when I was first appointed as London Fire Commissioner. She deserves particular thanks, as my noble friend is probably asking herself once again why she is having to keep me on the straight and narrow in a new job. It is also a particular pleasure to see in his place my old friend, my noble friend Lord Duvall, who also served London for so many years and was such a great supporter of the London Fire Brigade—my chosen profession—and to speak on the same evening as him. That gives me great pleasure.

I am very much a son of south London, and my journey here has been shaped by that, along with a lifetime in uniformed service, first in the British Army, coming from a long line of soldiers on my father’s side, and then in the London Fire Brigade, where I served at every rank from firefighter to commissioner.

I believe that I am the first firefighter in history ever to sit in your Lordships’ House. Serving for half my life in, and eventually commanding, the brigade, one of the world’s largest and busiest emergency services, and one of this country’s last great remaining working-class institutions, was the most enormous privilege. It gave me an education in life and membership of a club that you cannot pay to be part of. I hope that I can therefore give firefighters and their families some voice in my contributions here.

I would also like to speak to the role boxing has had in my life, first as a competitive fighter for many years, then as a coach, still now as a club chair and—unbelievably to me, as that young kid walking into a boxing club in south London all those years ago—sitting on the national board that supports our great British Olympic team. The support and the safe space that boxing clubs provide young people, particularly in some of the poorest places in this country, must not be underestimated. Boxing gave me confidence, fitness, discipline, purpose and a structure.

At a time when the politics of division seem to be painting a picture of Britain, characterising Englishness in particular in a way that, as a proud Englishman, I simply do not recognise, boxing clubs are still very much beacons of openness, tolerance and unity. I have fought and trained in clubs and halls the length and breadth of these islands, and I can say that without exception my experience is that in boxing your faith, race, background and nationality are irrelevant, as what is shared in a boxing club is a common respect for anyone who has had the courage to take that first step into the squared circle and face their own fears. In that sense, the sport and its spaces both epitomise and set the standard for true British values.

In respect of today’s debate, addressing the quality and accessibility of the training we give our doctors, I believe that my experiences bear some relevance. Having responded alongside so many medical colleagues over the years, I know that, like being a firefighter or a soldier, a career in medicine is profoundly rewarding and has the greatest benefit to both the individual and their community. It seems clear to me that, by ensuring that our graduates are given priority access to the best available training, we will help to sustain and protect our health service while also providing important opportunities to young British people of all backgrounds to make a difference.

Lastly, and perhaps most personally to me, in my working life, both as a soldier and as a firefighter, I have been repeatedly and directly involved in the tragedies that befall ordinary people when politics, institutions and systems simply fail to protect them, often with catastrophic loss of life. I have been a witness in those moments, standing on streets from Portadown to inner London—witness to the unbelievable heroism of my fellow soldiers and firefighters in their actions in responding to those failures. Some of them made the ultimate sacrifice, whether then or in later years. They are never very far from my mind, and I must pay tribute to them today.

Equally, I recognise the resilience, courage and decency of survivors and families, particularly those I saw suffer so much following the Grenfell Tower fire. In their continued drive for justice and a safer built environment for everyone, they provide me with a lesson in dignity, resolve and clear purpose every time I meet them. I hope I might give them a voice in your Lordships’ House too.

It is in that context that I understand my privilege and responsibility in the House, as what gets said and done here and in the other place can, for better or worse, have the most profound consequences for our fellow citizens. With that in mind, I hope I can contribute with some value, give voice to those I met on the way and avoid adding, in the powerful words of Bishop James Jones following the horror of the Hillsborough disaster, to

“‘the patronising disposition of unaccountable power”.

I thank noble Lords again so much for their warm welcome and this incredible opportunity.