Fathers and Positive Male Role Models

Matt Turmaine Excerpts

Thursday 10th September 2026 Westminster Hall

[Matt Turmaine (Watford) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Hobhouse. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland (Sam Rushworth) on securing this important debate, and I thank those who have given such meaningful and touching speeches.

The role of fathers and positive role models is more important than ever in our society. Our country has so many things better than it used to years ago. We have better housing, physical healthcare and quality of life than previous generations. However, it is also a country in which old certainties are being eroded. The challenges include, of course, social media and the toxic constant of online harms, and there is also the challenge to young people of finding secure, meaningful work and somewhere to live and maintaining good mental health. The way societal developments impact our children clearly demonstrates the need for positive male role models and parenting provision in Britain and around the world.

So what can we do to help make fathers more present and engaged in the lives of our children? Better paternity pay would undoubtedly feature. The report “Economic and Social Benefits of Enhanced Paternity Leave” was published this week. As we have heard, the UK’s statutory paternity leave is the worst in Europe, with two weeks’ leave paid at less than half the minimum wage. That is truly shocking. The evidence is mounting that substantial, well-paid paternity leave is the key to unlocking better outcomes in the UK. Better paternity leave reduces postpartum depression rates and the gender pay gap in the workplace, improves children’s performance at school and enhances fathers’ wellbeing.

British parents deserve to be accommodated and supported in the workplace and have the opportunity to equally share parenthood between them, leading to a more prosperous country for us all. We cannot discuss the importance of male role models and present fathers if we do not discuss the measures we can take to facilitate that. Improving paternity leave is the first step towards recognising fathers as equally important parents.

The challenge to our young people and the risk of becoming NEET—not in education, employment or training—has become ever more worrying for young fathers and those they parent. Alan Milburn has recently published a report diagnosing the problem, and it makes for very concerning reading. The Centre for Social Justice reported back in April that a lack of male role models is partly responsible for teenage boys’ collapsing happiness and wellbeing. The report found that the number of male volunteers in sports and leisure clubs is falling, and that there are now 1,000 fewer youth clubs than there were 15 years ago—something I have seen in my constituency of Watford.

The report also found that, tragically, more young boys in the UK today grow up with a smartphone than with a father figure in the home. Is it any wonder that young boys are turning to alternative male role models online and falling down the toxic manosphere rabbit hole? We cannot rescue this generation from online extreme hate and declining school performance without filling the gaps that have been created in their lives. We must invest in more clubs, sports teams and youth centres so that our boys get the same socialisation and learning opportunities as previous generations. Fathers and positive role models have a vital part to play in ensuring the physical and mental health of our children and their ability to experience high-quality education and find meaningful work.

[Wera Hobhouse (in the Chair)]

Thank you all for sticking so beautifully to the voluntary time limit. Everybody got in. I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson, Alex Brewer.

Oral Answers to Questions

Matt Turmaine Excerpts

Tuesday 16th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jake Richards]

No. Luckily, the Ministry of Justice and the Prison Service have robust and proper guidance and procedures for when such scenarios come to fruition. I am satisfied, and the Ministry is satisfied, that those procedures are being enacted, and we will continue to keep that under review.

[Matt Turmaine (Watford) (Lab)]

14. What steps his Department is taking to support magistrates.

[The Minister for Courts and Legal Services (Sarah Sackman)]

Our magistrates are the backbone of local justice, and I thank every magistrate the length and breadth of the country who gives their time to deliver that justice. In return, we need to support them. That is why we provide extensive training not just at the start of a magistrate’s journey, but on a continuing basis through mentorship. I recognise that we want to go further and provide stronger recognition for their service, and we will be looking in the new year at overhauling the expenses regime so that we can support magistrates.

[Matt Turmaine]

I thank the Minister for her answer. I recently had the opportunity to visit the county and family court in Watford, and while there I talked to them about the challenge of finding sufficient staff. Does my hon. and learned Friend agree that staffing is what makes magistrates courts and family courts work, and will she outline further what support the Government are offering to them?

[Sarah Sackman]

I agree with my hon. Friend’s point. I was glad to visit Barnet court in my constituency, which has newly reopened after a year. I noticed what many who cross the threshold into our courts see: the first welcome from court staff, which often allays nerves and anxiety in an alienating environment. That is critical, and it is why we want to support our court staff, we are investing in legal advisers who support our magistrates, and we are supporting all of them. I would be happy to visit my hon. Friend’s local court in Watford if the opportunity arises.

Oral Answers to Questions

Matt Turmaine Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Shabana Mahmood]

The hon. Member is right: this is one of the many difficult inheritances left for us by the previous Conservative Government. The contract with Serco was agreed by the previous Conservative Administration. We acknowledge that the performance of Serco has been unacceptable. We have already been closely monitoring—day by day—its performance and delivery under the contract, and we have imposed fines for poor performance. Some of the issues relating to the SDS40 emergency releases were ultimately dealt with after close oversight by officials and Ministers, and we continue to monitor the contract very closely. As I have said, should further fines or other measures be required, all options are on the table.

[Matt Turmaine (Watford) (Lab)]

15. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle intimate image abuse.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Alex Davies-Jones)]

We are introducing new offences of taking intimate images without consent and installing equipment with intent to commit such offences. We are also criminalising creating deepfake intimate images without consent. I proudly co-chair the violence against women and girls ministerial group, which oversees a cross-Government approach to tackling VAWG, including online abuse.

[Matt Turmaine]

I thank the Minister for her answer. Sexually explicit deepfakes are a scourge on our society, whether it is young boys in their bedrooms making them of their fellow pupils and teachers, or those who create explicit images of celebrities to order. How will the legislation the Government intend to bring forward on this help victims of this disgusting abuse and punish those who perpetrate it?

[Alex Davies-Jones]

I thank my hon. Friend for that question. This Government are committed to halving violence against women and girls over a decade, and that includes the horrendous, degrading and humiliating crime of taking intimate images without consent, as well as creating deepfake images without consent. For far too long, these crimes have gone unpunished, with perpetrators allowed to carry this out at will and to cover their sick behaviour under the rules of banter. We will not stand for it: we are legislating, and we are protecting women and girls.