Speeches by Fenton-Glynn.

“Another issue that comes up, thinking about the victims here, is the long delays. There are also quite long delays for appeals. The average appeal wait is 406 days. Could more be done to support victims through that process?”

“I understand that is the civil standard, so it is the balance of probability.”

“We have this problem of powerful men—and yet 90% of complaints go nowhere. Could you be doing more?”

“You would expect claims in GMC tribunals to be upheld at a much higher rate than sexual assault claims in the ordinary courts, in terms of how many cases you take.”

“We can get that on the record before I get to my questions. I declare my interest that I worked for the GMC for five years. I found that everyone who worked at the organisation was committed to safe medical regulation, the best for doctors and the best for patients. My questions will primarily be about fitness to pract…”

“Going back to Alex’s points about interim orders, I will bring up a case of a doctor who has now been erased. Dr Emmanuel Hakem was a gynaecologist who practised with a chaperone for a year after being arrested for a sexual offence. Does that seem like an appropriate interim measure?”

“To move on to that, would you commit to publishing slightly more data on sexual harassment and misconduct in the workplace?”

“In terms of the high level of numbers that I was able to get after asking FOIs, there is nothing in there that could not have been in the public domain.”

“It should have been answered yesterday.”

“Charlie, you said that you take sexual harassment and misconduct incredibly seriously—you said that it was unacceptable. From my FOI, we know that between January 2018 and August 2025, 997 complaints linked to sexual assault were logged, but only 53 resulted in suspension or erasure. Is that good enough?”

“Thank you. To reiterate, I declared my interest earlier: I spent five years working for the GMC immediately before becoming an MP, although none of my role was about fitness to practise. Last year, I was interested to find out a bit more about how the GMC manages sexual harassment and misconduct claims, and I looked at…”

“To stick to that theme, from my FOI requests we found that 90% of complaints concluded with no formal sanction, but two thirds of those that you prosecuted ended up with a serious sanction. Does that suggest that you could perhaps prosecute more and you should think about a lower threshold for how many you prosecute?”

“Are you doing anything to check that you are not filtering out too many cases too early?”

“He had an interim measure and has since been erased, but he was allowed to practise for a year with just a chaperone. Does that seem appropriate for a gynaecologist?”

“I travelled through Manchester Victoria station on the day of the arena bombing and I saw the young people on their way into that concert. They were young, vibrant, excited, happy—all the things that they deserved to be, doing the most normal thing in the world: going to see a concert. It was one of the most shocking m…”

“I thank the Secretary of State for the strong statement she has made. I have been disappointed to hear so much politicisation of a national security issue in this House, but can she confirm that, just as the future of Ukraine should be determined by the Ukrainians, the future of Greenland should be determined by Denmar…”

“As a Yorkshire MP, I could not be more proud of the fact that it is a Labour Government who are delivering this change. I urge the Secretary of State to look again at the Calder Valley line. It needs electrification, perhaps as part of phase 3, which was promised by the Conservative party in 2015 but then dropped after…”

“When the Secretary of State was in front of the Health and Social Care Committee, he recognised that we will not solve the workforce problems in the NHS without solving the workforce problems in social care as well. There are 150,000 unfilled posts in social care—three times greater than in the wider economy. What are …”

“Do you think that auto-commencement puts that at risk?”

“As Health Secretary, do you think it is safe?”