**John Kear** was a rugby league coach and broadcaster who died on **1 June 2026**, two days before this speech. The Rugby Football League (RFL) confirmed his death, and multiple news outlets (BBC, Yorkshire Post, Total RL) reported it. He was indeed a former athlete (played for Castleford), a distinguished coach (over 700 matches, Challenge Cup wins with Sheffield Eagles and Hull FC, coached England and Wales), and his wife's name is **Dawn**. All the factual details in the tribute are accurate. However, the specific claim being verified is: "The speaker and others were all deeply sad to hear of John's passing." The core assertion here is about an **emotional state** — that Starmer and others were "deeply sad." While the underlying fact of John Kear's passing is confirmed, the claim that the speaker and others experienced a particular emotional reaction (deep sadness) is a **claimed state of mind** that cannot be corroborated or contradicted by public evidence. We can confirm the death occurred and that a tribute was paid, but we cannot independently verify the internal emotional experience of the speaker or others in Parliament. Per the evidence rules, when a claim's truth rests on a claimed state of mind that cannot be publicly verified, the appropriate verdict is "not-enough-evidence." The factual scaffolding (John Kear's death, his identity as an athlete and coach, his wife Dawn) is all confirmed, but the central claim — the emotional response — is inherently unverifiable. Sources: Rugby Football League, https://www.rugby-league.com/article/64867/john-kear-1954-2026; BBC News, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg53v35nnjro; Total RL, https://www.totalrl.com/keir-starmer-pays-tribute-to-john-kear-at-prime-ministers-questions/; Yorkshire Post, https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/john-kear-obituary-the-legendary-rugby-league-coach-who-made-players-believe-they-could-achieve-the-impossible-8659763