Commons
Debate
3 September 2025
Hospitality Sector
The hon. Lady is trotting out a whole load of helpful suggestions, of which the hospitality Minister is no doubt taking careful note for the time when he makes his representations—which he said he would not be making—to the Chancellor. Does the hon. Lady agree that he could also make recommendations…
Commons
Proceedings
3 September 2025
Property Taxes
My right hon. Friend is explaining the situation in his usual powerful way. If, as seems likely, the Government impose capital gains tax on a person’s principal private residence, will he, as mitigation, consider whether there should at least be indexation allowance to provide some relief from the h…
Commons
Debate
2 September 2025
Speciality Steel UK: Insolvency
British warships are made with a mixture of UK and non-UK steel. What impact will this announcement have on that mix, particularly for the Type 26 frigate programme, about which we had some good news earlier this week?
Commons
Oral Questions
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
2 September 2025
Topical Questions
Despite the strategic dialogue referred to by the Foreign Secretary, the Government have decided to veto the UK-Morocco power project, so what are they doing in practical terms to maintain the momentum in our relationship created by the association agreement signed with Morocco in 2019?
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 September 2025
Ukraine
I, too, congratulate Admiral Sir Tony Radakin and Air Chief Marshal Sir Rich Knighton and wish them well. A big “Well done” is also due to all involved in the Type 26 deal, including my hon. Friend the Member for South Suffolk (James Cartlidge). I ask the Defence Secretary to cast his mind back to M…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 September 2025
Middle East
Happy birthday, Madam Deputy Speaker.
The law of armed conflict is hardwired into the behaviour of our military, and we should demand the same of our friends and allies. Israel is our friend and ally. What assurances has the Foreign Secretary therefore had from his colleagues in the Ministry of Def…
Commons
Debate
21 July 2025
Victory over Japan: 80th Anniversary
We have just been through the centenary of the great war. Does the Minister agree that the difference between 80 years and 100 is that we still have veterans among us? Sadly, when we come to the centenary of the events we are commemorating this year, that will not be the case. Will she therefore mak…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
21 July 2025
Middle East
The Foreign Secretary, at the beginning of his remarks, mentioned the savagery unfolding in southern Syria, and said that he had spoken to his Syrian interlocuter, Minister al-Shaibani, about it. Has he spoken to Tel Aviv about it, since the only country that has visibly come to the assistance of th…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
21 July 2025
Independent Water Commission
The Minister said he wanted nine more reservoirs, but can he say how many of that number are already under construction or in the planning process, when we can expect to see them and who will pay? Also, is it his view that Sir Jon Cunliffe’s predicted uplift of more than 30% in real terms for water …
Commons
Oral Questions
21 July 2025
SEND Provision: Funding
The Secretary of State knows that out-of-county placements are very expensive and highly unsatisfactory both for pupils and for families. Will she therefore confirm that the excellent news that we had last year about a new SEND school being built at Bitham Park in Westbury will go ahead to the advan…
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 July 2025
British Nationality (Irish Citizens) Act 2024
Mr Gregory Campbell will move the motion and the Minister will respond. I remind other Members that they may make a speech only with prior permission from the Member in charge of the debate and from the Minister.
Commons
Debate
14 July 2025
UK-France Migration: Co-operation
Does the Home Secretary agree with President Macron’s analysis last week that the reason people want to come here is that the UK is perceived as being attractive to illegal migrants—what President Macron referred to as “pull factors”, with one of his MPs referring to Britain as “El Dorado”? If the H…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
8 July 2025
Road and Rail Projects
The Secretary of State is a Wiltshire MP, so she will be very familiar with the town of Westbury, which has waited for decades for its bypass. Will she assure me that she is actively looking at proposals to bypass Westbury to the west of the town, including Yarnbrook, and does she agree that the nor…
Commons
Debate
8 July 2025
Government Resilience Action Plan
The tier 1 exercise that CDL mentioned in response to Baroness Hallett’s recommendation 6 in module 1 of her report on covid 19 is much to be welcomed. However, he will be aware that part of the problem with Exercise Cygnus in 2016 was that the results were not made public at the time, and a lot of …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
7 July 2025
Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life
Wiltshire is part of the f40 group, which means that we get less money than practically anywhere else, despite the extra cost imposed by rurality. We were delighted last April when it was announced that, as part of the safety valve programme, we would get a new SEND school at Bitham Park in Westbury…
Commons
Proceedings
7 July 2025
Actions of Iranian Regime: UK Response
The Defence Secretary has said, correctly, that Operation Midnight Hammer has alleviated a grave threat, but the Attorney General appears to be less clear and wonders if it was illegal, while the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary appear to sit on the fence. I am sorry to put the Minister on t…
Commons
Debate
2 July 2025
Armed Forces Commissioner Bill
What proportion of the commissioner’s time, and that of his or her staff, does the Minister envisage being devoted to individual matters of casework, of the sort he has just described, and what proportion will be around thematic investigations, such as the state of service housing?
Commons
Proceedings
2 July 2025
British Indian Ocean Territory: Sovereignty
After yesterday’s complete chaos, my constituents are bracing themselves for big tax increases in the autumn. How does the Minister think they feel when they see the Mauritian Government crowing about virtually abolishing income tax in Mauritius thanks to the largesse that he is about to pour on the…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 July 2025
Parental Leave Review
Having a child is a personal choice, and it is a blessing that I have enjoyed five times. Becoming old, sick or disabled are not personal choices, yet we have had cuts to the winter fuel allowance and we are about to discuss a controversial Bill that would remove a large element of the support that …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
30 June 2025
Glastonbury Festival: BBC Coverage
I congratulate the Secretary of State on her statement. History tells us that normalising, condoning and tolerating the kind of things that we saw at Glastonbury over the weekend never ends well—it ends extremely badly. As a neighbouring MP, I have written twice to Worthy Farm with my concerns about…
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
30 June 2025
Armed Forces Family Housing
With basing becoming longer-term and more predictable, and with most young people wanting to buy rather than rent their home, what assessment has the Secretary of State made of the success of Forces Help to Buy? What plans does he have to extend it?
Commons
Debate
25 June 2025
2 contributions
National Armaments Director
To what extent does my hon. Friend believe that the situation is even worse than he has outlined? Inflationary pressures bear far more heavily on defence than on, with the possible exception of healthcare, practically any other part of public spending, yet I see no evidence in the defence review or …
Would my hon. Friend comment on the Government’s enthusiasm or otherwise for the Haythornthwaite review of careers in the armed forces? It was put in train by and carried out under the last Government, but we hear tell that there has perhaps been some backsliding since. That is a pity, as Rick Hayth…
Commons
Proceedings
25 June 2025
Nuclear-certified Aircraft Procurement
Have any alternative platforms been considered for the potential delivery of a tactical nuclear weapon? In particular, have the Government looked at the Astute class attack submarine as an alternative or additional platform, or at its successor, the SSN-AUKUS?
Commons
Oral Questions
24 June 2025
Saudi Arabia
The creation of the Abraham accords was one of the achievements of the first Trump Administration, and the President of the US has said that he aims for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to join those accords. What are the UK Government doing to encourage that process, and what preconditions does he belie…
Commons
Proceedings
23 June 2025
Pride Month
The Minister is rightly pointing out where progress has been made nationally and internationally, but when he was cantering through those points of light nationally, he missed out one group: the men and women serving in our armed forces. I am particularly mindful of that because Saturday is Armed Fo…