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…
Commons
Debate
23 June 2025
UK Military Base Protection
My constituents in military establishments around Salisbury plain will not see this as an act of vandalism. They will see it as criminal damage. They will see it as sabotage. They will see it as terrorism. The Minister, who I respect, does himself no good by trying to downplay its seriousness.
Ther…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
18 June 2025
HS2 Reset
As a south-west region MP, does the Secretary of State agree that the west country has for decades been the poor country cousin of our rail network, and that money spent on HS2 is money not spent elsewhere? Will she do all in her power to ensure that the relatively small changes that are necessary o…
Commons
Statutory Instrument
13 June 2025
Business without Debate
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Mr Speaker said earlier today that a Minister would come to the House on Monday to discuss the middle east. Given the events overnight, which have continued to deteriorate during the course of the day, have you had any indication that a Minister will come t…
Commons
Debate
13 June 2025
2 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
Will my hon. Friend give way?
My hon. Friend was right to table his amendment, which I certainly support. Does he agree that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency would insist that a barbiturate or any other substance used in medicine should be approved for a specific cause? We cannot translate that to a comple…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
10 June 2025
Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories
It is a sad day when the UK Government and the Governments of New Zealand, Australia, Canada and Norway feel it necessary to sanction Government Ministers in the state of Israel, one of our closest allies, but it is the right thing to do. Can I, however, counsel the Minister, if I may be so presumpt…