Zöe calls for the Prime Minister to act on Coroners’ concerns and protect vulnerable people
Guildford MP Zöe Franklin speaking in the House of Commons today (Wednesday 4th March) told the Prime Minister a young Guildford woman had taken her own life after a lack of regulation enabled her to buy poison online and import it from overseas.
Following the inquest into 22-year-old Hannah's death, Surrey assistant coroner Anna Loxton expressed concerns about the lack of measures in place to prevent people being able to buy the highly toxic substance and import it with no regulation.
In November 2024, Ms Loxton issued a Prevention of Future Deaths Report, containing specific recommendations.
Zöe Franklin told the Prime Minister that in the last 7 years, coroners have identified at least 65 similar cases and made recommendations to three separate Government departments.
Ms Franklin pushed the Prime Minister to commit to a strategy to track trends in preventable deaths so that future lives can be saved.
Reacting to the Prime Minister’s response, Zöe Franklin said: “Coroners have warned the Government about the increasing use of this substance for self-harm, and there is still no central monitoring system to record incidents of poisoning involving this substance.
Ms Franklin added: “The Prime Minister said the Government was ‘working on’ the issues I raised, yet there has still been no change.
“This is not good enough. I am hugely disappointed by the Prime Minister’s vague response to my question. Needless deaths can be prevented. The Government has a duty to act.
“I will continue to keep the pressure on the Government to take coroners’ recommendations seriously.”
The Molly Rose Foundation, established after the suicide of 14-year-old Molly Russell, is committed to ending preventable harm to young people online.
In a statement following Zöe Franklin’s question to the Prime Minister, a spokesperson said: “Since 2019, the UK has seen a sudden and then sustained increase in deaths by suicide attributable to a single poisonous substance and a pro-suicide forum that promotes it. Devastatingly, Hannah is one of at least 135 lives lost in the UK, yet the true figure is likely to be far higher.
“Despite coroners raising concerns a total of 65 times, multiple red flags have been missed, and we continue to lose young and vulnerable lives.
“A National Oversight Mechanism - an independent body with the necessary powers to investigate these deaths and join up dots - should be introduced urgently. This would ensure institutions act on coroner’s concerns, ultimately stopping future entirely preventable deaths.”