Dame Siobhain McDonagh

I congratulate the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Helen Maguire) on securing this debate. You can see, Mr Stringer, how big the issue is for constituencies across the country. In 2017, the London Fire Brigade attended just seven e-bike fires. Last year, the number reached a record 206. That is an e-bike fire somewhere in the capital every other day. Since 2023, six people have lost their lives in e-bike and e-scooter fires in London, five of whom were not themselves charging the vehicle responsible for the fires. They lost their lives because of a danger they had absolutely no control over, and they might not even have known existed. In my constituency alone, 14 homes have been lost to fires. Just last week at my advice surgery, I met Mr and Mrs Gifford, whose home was devastated by an e-bike fire on Lewis Road in Mitcham in October last year. They lived next door to the property where the battery was being charged. Almost a year later, they are still unable to return to their home. Imagine losing your home through no fault of your own—losing everything you own, all your memories and the place where your children grew up—and a year later, you are still unable to return. That is the lasting devastation that these fires can cause. The reality is that some people caught up in these fires never make it out of their home. At a roundtable that I also held last week, we heard the devastating story of Sofia Duarte. Sofia was just 21 years old when she died on new year’s day in 2023 as a result of spending the night at her boyfriend’s flat in Old Kent Road, where a converted e-bike charging in the communal area caught fire. Everyone else got out; she did not, and she did not see another year. That should not be the consequence for anybody who is not doing anything wrong, but is subject to an illegal and unauthorised battery exploding.