Sureena Brackenridge
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Sureena Brackenridge (Wolverhampton North East) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Twigg. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth North (Amanda Martin) for securing such an important debate on the safety of emergency workers.
Violence, intimidation and hatred should never be seen as just part of the job, and must be called out, with the right legislation, so that perpetrators face real consequences. Like Members across the House, I have heard of incident after incident involving emergency workers with intimidation, threats, racism and discriminatory hatred, far too often involving physical violence, directed at people who are simply trying to do their jobs. I recently met colleagues from the Black Country integrated care board and heard deeply concerning accounts of the increasingly audacious abuse directed at NHS staff, particularly non-white and migrant colleagues on the frontline, who are caring for and helping our communities.
Nobody should feel unsafe or targeted because of the uniform that they wear, whether they are a police officer already responding to a violent incident, a paramedic attending an emergency call, a firefighter being pelted with bricks as they attend a dangerous situation, or an NHS worker attempting to treat a patient but facing a barrage of abuse. These are incredible people carrying out vital public service roles in difficult circumstances.
Parliament has taken important steps to strengthen the law, but the scale of the problem remains stark. A Royal College of Emergency Medicine survey of emergency department staff, published just this September, found that 96% had experienced violence or aggression from patients or the public, 73% had experienced or witnessed it daily or weekly, and 63% had faced discriminatory abuse, including racism. Just 4% always felt safe at work. Closer to home, 3,336 assaults on emergency workers were recorded across the west midlands in 2025-26.
The Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 created a specific offence, and the maximum sentence was subsequently increased to two years. Sentencing legislation also treats offences against emergency workers as an aggravating factor, and the Crime and Policing Act 2026 introduces further protections against threatening and abusive behaviour. Despite those changes, the scale of the problem remains deeply concerning. We have to ask: if Parliament has strengthened the law and increased penalties, why are we still seeing figures at this level? This damages morale, undermines staff retention and puts even greater pressure on already stretched public services.
The law must send an unmistakable message: violence, threats, racism and abuse against emergency workers will not be tolerated. Minister, will intelligence sharing help to ensure that perpetrators face real consequences, so that emergency workers can do their jobs free from violence, racism and discriminatory abuse? We cannot keep thanking these workers for their courage while expecting them to tolerate violence, intimidation and hatred simply as part of doing their jobs.