Commons
Westminster Hall
22 June 2026
UK Politics: Pro-Israel Influence
On a point of order, Mrs Harris. This is no criticism of my hon. Friend the Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (John Lamont), who introduces the debate on behalf of the Petitions Committee, but am I alone in feeling distinctly uneasy about this debate? Why is Israel singled out in this wa…
Commons
Oral Questions
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
16 June 2026
Ebola Outbreaks
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for your wonderful words about Jo Cox and for the brilliant debate we had last Thursday as the main business of the House.
Following acknowledgment by the Development Minister, the noble Baroness Chapman, that Labour’s horrific development and aid cuts undermine the response …
Commons
Debate
11 June 2026
2 contributions
Legacy of Jo Cox
It is a pleasure to speak opposite the hon. Member for Birkenhead (Alison McGovern), with whom I have worked extensively over many years on international development, thereby demonstrating one of Jo’s core beliefs: more in common. The hon. Lady spoke so movingly about Jo and encapsulated perfectly t…
Yes, I agree with the hon. Gentleman. International development is the other side of the defence coin. The two work together, and the role of soft power is enormously important in preventing conflict and war. I see that the Leader of the House is with us today, and I hope very much that he will rest…
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 June 2026
Sir David Attenborough: Permanent National Monument
Thank you very much, Sir Roger, for the opportunity to contribute to this debate. It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Bolton West (Phil Brickell)—I agree with every word of his speech—and to congratulate the hon. Member for North Norfolk (Steff Aquarone), who introduced this debate, on wh…
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 June 2026
Summit on Illicit Finance
Thank you very much, Sir Roger, for the opportunity to contribute to this debate. It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Bolton West (Phil Brickell)—I agree with every word of his speech—and to congratulate the hon. Member for North Norfolk (Steff Aquarone), who introduced this debate, on wh…
Commons
Westminster Hall
28 April 2026
5 contributions
National Accident Prevention Strategy
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the potential merits of a national accident prevention strategy.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Murrison. Today, I want to draw the House’s attention to what can only be described as a silent and spiralling crisis in our country: th…
As the hon. Member will see as I develop my speech, I very much agree with him.
In Birmingham, we have the seventh highest number of accidental deaths in England. Each year, more than 550 families in our city lose a loved one due to a preventable accident. That is more than one death every day. Acr…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
21 April 2026
Topical Questions
Following the Minister’s answer to Question 1 on illicit finances, we still do not have publicly accessible registers of beneficial ownership in the overseas territories, nearly 10 years after this House passed the necessary legislation and made it clear that they must be set up. When will the Gover…
Commons
Debate
20 April 2026
Security Vetting
Further to the question asked by my right hon. Friend the Member for Hertsmere (Sir Oliver Dowden), is it not pretty poor form that the Prime Minister shovels the blame for this particularly on to Olly Robbins, a fine and experienced civil servant, who was appointed two days after the Prime Minister…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
13 April 2026
Middle East
I think the Prime Minister should acknowledge—I am sure that he does—that over the past 30 years our armed forces have been hollowed out by Governments of all parties as they have sought to take a peace dividend, but I am afraid that the chickens have come home to roost on his watch. Will he therefo…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
2 March 2026
Middle East
The Prime Minister’s reaction at the end of last week appeared to many to be both anaemic and disappointing, and at variance with the other Five Eyes nations. Will he read the analysis of the shadow Attorney General, my noble and learned Friend Lord Wolfson KC, which shows not only that British acti…
Commons
Oral Questions
9 February 2026
Jimmy Lai: Prison Sentence
Now is the time not to lambast the Chinese Government for the wider issues between us, but to focus 100% on securing clemency for Jimmy Lai. Surely the granting of clemency and a one-way ticket back to the UK and to his family would be a win for everyone, including the Chinese.
Commons
Debate
2 February 2026
China and Japan
In spite of the somewhat thin economic gruel with which the Prime Minister has returned, he was absolutely right to visit China. If I may return to the issue of human rights, particularly Jimmy Lai, did the Prime Minister say, as the whole House would have wished, that this British citizen—nearly 80…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
26 January 2026
Police Reform White Paper
It must be right to look at this White Paper with an open mind, and I commend the Home Secretary’s willingness to listen. I will make two points for her to consider. First, in Royal Sutton Coldfield we are most concerned that neighbourhood policing—community policing—should be accountable, dependabl…
Commons
Debate
26 January 2026
Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
The Minister, who is normally a reasonable fellow, always makes the point that the last Conservative Government started the negotiations. Does he now understand that, first, we were unable to conclude them and that, secondly, we would never have agreed or concluded the very one-sided deal that he an…
Commons
Debate
20 January 2026
Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
Following the excellent point made by my hon. Friend the Member for North Dorset (Simon Hoare), does the Minister realise that the President of the United States, following his perspicacious comments last night, has had a chance to examine the deal in full? Does he therefore understand why the last …
Commons
Oral Questions
20 January 2026
Official Development Assistance
As the Minister will know, part of the official development assistance budget goes to investment in businesses creating employment in the poorest parts of the world, such as British International Investment, which is now undoubtedly the best development finance institution in the world. Will the Min…
Commons
Debate
14 January 2026
West Midlands Police
I thank the Home Secretary—who, like me, is a local west midlands Member of Parliament—for her well-judged statement, but is not one of the villains of this piece the police and crime commissioner himself? When we, in government, set up the PCCs in 2010, the aim was that they should represent our co…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
13 January 2026
Iran
I thank the Foreign Secretary for her statement to the House. She is surely right that there are things that we can do to help the desperately brave people on the streets who want their country back. Should we not make it clear that the UK and all Europeans will impose every possible further sanctio…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
5 January 2026
Venezuela
Of course quite a lot depends on what now happens, but Mr Maduro stole the elections in Venezuela in plain sight, is a narco-terrorist and has destroyed the lives of tens of thousands of American citizens and of those more widely and made huge amounts of money out of it. Is not the world a better pl…
Commons
Debate
5 January 2026
Northern Ireland Troubles Bill: Armed Forces Recruitment and Retention
Have there not already been numerous investigations and inquiries, and while old wounds are being reopened, is it not the case that little new evidence is emerging? The Minister, who is my parliamentary neighbour, is a most distinguished soldier. Surely he must be concerned that the circumstantial e…
Commons
Proceedings
16 December 2025
Africa: New Approach
I absolve the Minister entirely from responsibility for this statement, as he is not the Africa Minister, but is the so-called new approach for Africa not rather like the old strategy—which was so well set out in the White Paper published by the former Prime Minister in November 2023, with its empha…
Commons
Debate
15 December 2025
Jimmy Lai Conviction
The whole House will welcome the Foreign Secretary’s words on the terrorist attack on Bondi Beach.
Without seeking to interfere directly in matters before the court in Hong Kong, we note that Jimmy Lai is 78, he is held in solitary confinement, his health is in sharp decline, he is unable to practi…
Commons
Proceedings
8 December 2025
Maccabi Tel Aviv FC: Away Fans Ban
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for West Suffolk (Nick Timothy) on securing an urgent question on this important matter. Does the Minister agree that it is not only the Jewish community who have been seriously let down by this sequence of events, but all of us in the royal town of Sutton Co…
Commons
Oral Questions
2 December 2025
Sudan: Ceasefire
I thank the Foreign Secretary for her answer, and for seeing the volunteers from the emergency rooms last week. We are advised that during his visit to the White House, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman asked President Trump to help stop the slaughter in Sudan and come up with a plan of action,…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
25 November 2025
COP30
If I may, I will focus on the international rather than domestic aspects. I welcome the Secretary of State’s ecumenical approach in respect of the work of the former Government. I have been going to COPs since Copenhagen in 2009, with the last one being COP28 in the UAE, and I do wonder whether, at …