Speeches by Johnson.

“I beg to move amendment 47, in clause 11, page 8, leave out lines 15 to 30. This amendment prevents the Secretary of State from removing the Chief Executive of an integrated care board.”

“Clause 11 is particularly interesting. In August 2025, Alan Milburn was asked about the abolition of NHS England on the Health Foundation podcast. He said that the Government wanted to see a model that was “more delegated…more devolved” and “more diverse”, which necessitated the centre being smaller. Considering that h…”

“I beg to move, That this House calls on the Government to take steps to prevent the PATHWAYS clinical trial into the effect of puberty suppressing hormones on children with gender incongruence. Before I start, I declare an interest as an NHS consultant paediatrician, a member of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Chi…”

“This is not a form of gene therapy. It is a medication that is a GnRH analogue, and what it essentially does is delay puberty. It was designed as a drug to treat children who go into puberty much earlier than they would be expected to, and to delay it until, as it were, the right time. The effects of the use of puberty…”

“My hon. Friend raises a very good point, and I will come to the data linkage study shortly. What we do know from the Cass review is that the vast majority of children who went on to puberty blockers in adolescence went on to receive cross-sex hormones, which are known to have permanent effects. One fact that is crucial…”

“Well, one of the things with doctors is that if you ask two doctors, you might get two different opinions. I completely respect Baroness Cass. She has been president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, of which I am a member, and she has done great work on the report that we commissioned in the last P…”

“I am sorry, but I just do not support that. We would not give children cocaine on the basis that they wanted it and would get it illegally otherwise. These are not sweeties; they are powerful drugs and need to be treated with respect. Even if we accept the premise that a very small number of people might benefit from t…”

“The hon. Gentleman is exactly right, and he expresses my point succinctly. Why is the Secretary of State going ahead with a trial—experimenting on more children unnecessarily—when he has the data to analyse already? Why has he chosen to fund this trial? Is he worried about the children who will be put on a medical path…”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention on devolution, and I am sure the Secretary of State was listening and considering what he has said. To go back to the age of the young people, I am reminded of the judgment in Bell v. Tavistock, which says: “We do not think that the answer to this case is simply to give t…”

“I declare an interest as an NHS consultant paediatrician and a member of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. What does this trial do? Put simply, it takes physically healthy children with normal pubertal development and subjects them to powerful drugs that may weaken their bones, affect their ability to …”

““We are not going to look at changing structures. We want to work with the system that we have inherited.”—[Official Report, 3 September 2024; Vol. 753, c. 24WH.]”

“Shortly after this Government took office, it seemed that Ministers had listened and decided that they did not want a top-down reorganisation, and it was not on the cards. The Minister for Secondary Care said:”

““Just imagine if all the time, effort and billions of pounds wasted on dissolving and reconstituting management structures had instead been invested in services for patients—clearly, the NHS would not be in the mess it finds itself in today.”—[Official Report, 12 September 2024; Vol. 753, c. 984.]”

“I remind hon. Members of what the previous Health Secretary, the right hon. Member for Ilford North (Wes Streeting) said:”

“The workforce plan was promised for Christmas last year—for December. It was then promised for spring this year. We know from the weather today that we are now in summer and it still has not arrived. There is therefore an extent to which this reorganisation could be delaying rather than speeding up the improvements tha…”

“I do not always agree with the Minister, but she was absolutely right in that instance. As I have demonstrated, we have seen years of change, back and forth, and an evolution of structures that has not necessarily delivered what it said it would. In fact, it can deliver delay. We will no doubt talk later about where He…”

““The reorganisation of health services always distracts from people’s jobs, destroys morale and wastes money”—[Official Report, 22 September 2020; Vol. 680, c. 809.]”

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“The 2022 reforms were cautious. The Government reshaped systems and the Secretary of State was better empowered, but the reforms represented an evolution rather than a revolution. The Minister for Secondary Care previously said:”

“When Governments try to cut bureaucracy, they often create new types of bureaucracy in the process. Greater autonomy for the health service necessitated more structures and more staff. In 2022, the Government—including my right hon. Friend the Member for Melton and Syston—addressed some of the challenges with new legis…”