Pathways Study: Puberty Suppression

Debate between Peter Swallow and James Murray

Monday 22nd June 2026 Commons Chamber

[James Murray]

I thank the hon. Lady for her question, which highlights the importance we all place on making sure that vulnerable children are protected in the way that the trial proceeds. Perhaps I can offer her some detail which might reassure her by explaining who is on the national multidisciplinary team. As I mentioned earlier, the national multidisciplinary team will have to give permission for young people to be involved in the trial, as will the NHS care team. That national multidisciplinary team has an independent chair and its membership comprises senior clinicians from a range of clinical backgrounds: paediatric endocrinology, general paediatrics, child and adolescent mental health, clinical nursing, safeguarding, adolescent medicine, allied health and service leadership. Those are the specialisms represented in the national multidisciplinary team, which means that those aspects of the child’s wellbeing are all being considered in that process.

[Peter Swallow (Bracknell) (Lab)]

On a quiet day in Westminster, I have had a chance to dive into the Conservative party’s 2024 manifesto, which promised:

“We will complete the implementation of the Cass Review”.

A similar commitment appeared in our own manifesto, which we are now cracking on with and delivering. Does my right hon. Friend share my concerns that the Conservatives seem to have abandoned their commitment?

[James Murray]

I share my hon. Friend’s disappointment that the cross-party consensus that was in place about the way to approach the issue does not currently seem to be holding. I urge Opposition Members who are not aligned with that cross-party consensus to reconsider their position, because that is the best way forward for our country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Peter Swallow and James Murray

Tuesday 9th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[James Murray]

I am aware of the issues at Eastbourne district general hospital. Patients, staff and visitors deserve better than power cuts and electrical failures, which is why this Government have set out a credible and deliverable plan to deliver the new hospitals programme. I would gently remind the hon. Gentleman and his constituents that many of the problems that the NHS estate faces today stem from its being starved of £37 billion of capital investment in the 2010s, when the Lib Dems were in government.

[Peter Swallow (Bracknell) (Lab)]

T2. One of the biggest barriers to accessing community healthcare in Bracknell Forest is constituents not being able to get routine diagnostic procedures done at their local GP or health centre, and instead having to travel. One constituent with cancer was told that he had to go to Guildford for a simple blood test. How will the introduction of a single patient record help to break down some of those barriers?

Office for Budget Responsibility Forecasts

Debate between Peter Swallow and James Murray

Monday 1st December 2025 Commons Chamber

[James Murray]

This Government take the role of the independent adviser on ministerial standards incredibly seriously and abide by his rulings. We know what damage the previous Government did to trust in politics. It would be foolish to suggest that no Government at any point in the future will ever face difficulties, but it is how the Government respond to those difficulties that matters. This Government have shown that we respond in a way that is transparent, fair and brings an end to any sense that people have behaved improperly.

[Peter Swallow (Bracknell) (Lab)]

On 3 September, the shadow Chancellor stood at the Opposition Dispatch Box and claimed that the hole in the public finances could be as much as £40 billion. As it happens, that was not the case, not least because of the Chancellor’s steadfast commitment to stabilising our economy. Does the Minister not agree that it is a bit rich for the Conservatives to go around claiming that people are talking down the economy and talking up the gap in our public finances, when the only people doing that are them?

[James Murray]

My hon. Friend is right. I do not hold out any hope that the Conservatives will speak with any consistency or do anything other than try to talk down the British economy. In stark contrast, we are cutting Government borrowing, increasing the headroom, and making sure we have stable public finances and a stable economy, because it is on that basis that we can boost investment and growth.