Commons
Debate
8 July 2025
3 contributions
Football Governance Bill [Lords]
The Minister might be just about to say the thing I was going to ask her about, as she has addressed a number of the amendments that my colleagues have tabled, which is the issue of footballers suffering from neurodegenerative conditions after their time. I am sure she was about to say something abo…
In response to the shadow Minister’s point, having free-to-air coverage of premier league games puts the sport in the shop window, which is actually more likely to bring money in for non-free-to-air providers. We should also remember what football is all about. It is about community. A live televise…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
8 July 2025
Road and Rail Projects
A few weeks ago I was in Eamont Bridge and met a retired police officer, who shared with me his experiences of visiting road traffic accidents and, indeed, of having to break the news of the death of loved ones to countless people over his career. He begged me to carry on campaigning for the upgrade…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
7 July 2025
Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life
I really welcome the Secretary of State’s statement on Best Start family hubs. I draw attention to the words she said in her statement: she wants those hubs to be “open to all” and “rooted in disadvantaged communities”. Will she bear in mind the evidence from the Rural Services Network showing that …
Commons
Oral Questions
7 July 2025
Qualifying Period for Settlement: Impact on NHS Staffing
The Minister talks about concerns raised by the constituents of the hon. Member for Truro and Falmouth (Jayne Kirkham). They are concerns created by this Government not valuing people from different parts of the world who serve in our national health service and social care system in Cumbria and els…
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 July 2025
ECO4 Scheme Redress
My hon. Friend is making an important speech. One in six properties in Cumbria is more than 100 years old. Almost all of them will be single-walled properties, which are incredibly hard to insulate. Yet the award of grants through ECO4 always tends to favour large companies, not the smaller business…
Commons
Oral Questions
Treasury
1 July 2025
Poverty Reduction
Does the Chancellor accept that cancer is a major driver of poverty? That is not only because people who are ill cannot work during their treatment, but because sometimes people who are happily cured find that they have collateral damage that means they cannot work at a full level throughout the res…
Commons
Westminster Hall
1 July 2025
Refugee Citizenship Rights
It is a pleasure to serve under your guidance again this afternoon, Ms Butler, and a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Alloa and Grangemouth (Brian Leishman), who made a stunning and impressive speech on a matter he clearly cares about, as do I. I draw hon. Members’ attention to my entry …
Commons
Westminster Hall
1 July 2025
3 contributions
Hospitality Sector
It is a genuine pleasure to serve under your guidance this afternoon, Ms Butler. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Kingswinford and South Staffordshire (Mike Wood) for leading this debate so incredibly well.
It is my great honour to stand here on behalf of the communities of Westmorland and Lons…
I totally agree that we need to be really careful about piling extra costs, including the apprenticeship levy, on to businesses. I understand why the Government felt that they needed to make the national insurance rise, to increase the tax take to plug the hole that they inherited, whatever size it …
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
30 June 2025
Welfare Reform
I spoke to a resident—a friend—in my constituency over the weekend. She is a wheelchair user since a failed back operation some years ago. She currently gets PIP. She gets three points for dressing and undressing and two points for washing and bathing. She needs help with both, yet she fears, as do …
Commons
Oral Questions
Work and Pensions
23 June 2025
Child Poverty
Probably the largest single driver of child poverty in my communities is the enormous cost of housing. The average house price in my community is up to 13 times average household incomes. That drives grinding poverty, particularly among children. Will the Secretary of State have a word with her righ…
Commons
Statutory Instrument
23 June 2025
Draft Marking of Retail Goods Regulations 2025
It is a joy to serve under your guidance this evening, Sir Desmond. I thank the Minister very much for his introductory remarks. I support the draft regulations, which will provide the Government with a power to introduce “not for EU” labelling across Great Britain should it be needed to protect the…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
19 June 2025
UK Infrastructure: 10-year Strategy
I welcome the Chief Secretary’s comments on maintenance. He may be aware that a huge maintenance project is about to begin on the most beautiful stretch of motorway in the country, the M6 at Lune Gorge. Eight bridges under and over that motorway will need replacing in the coming years. Will he have …
Commons
Oral Questions
19 June 2025
Nature-friendly Farming
Lord Don Curry’s recent report on a sustainable farming model for the future was sent to the Secretary of State earlier this month. Have the Secretary of State and the Minister read it yet? Do they agree with me and Lord Curry that the UK is in a dangerously precarious position, given that we produc…
Commons
Oral Questions
Health and Social Care
17 June 2025
2 contributions
Mental Health Services: Staffing in Rural Areas
5. What steps his Department plans to take to ensure mental health services are fully staffed in rural areas.
I thank the Minister for his reply, but this month the Care Quality Commission found high levels of staff vacancies in the already understaffed psychiatric intensive care units and acute mental health wards in South Cumbria, concluding that this is putting patient safety “at risk”. Yet, worryingly, …
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
16 June 2025
School Estate
Small rural schools in Cumbria have some of the oldest buildings that are most in need of repair, but also some of the most pressured budgets. Will the Minister consider setting out a special budget aimed at making sure we tackle repair backlogs in small rural schools, such as those in my constituen…
Commons
Debate
13 June 2025
3 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
I am grateful to the hon. Lady for giving way; I want to support her in what she is saying. We are going through a process, as we consider the appalling situation of coercive control in domestic abuse cases, where a person who is a victim may not realise they have been a victim until years later. Ob…
I will not be the only person in this place who has lost someone they loved to suicide. In listening to what has been said recently by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, which is not opposed to the Bill in principle, the penny dropped for many of us that many people given a terminal diagnosis will …
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
11 June 2025
Spending Review 2025
My communities in Westmorland will be outraged by a 17% reduction in farm funding. We are perplexed, because we were told to expect a decision today on the vital scheme to dual the A66 from Penrith to Scotch Corner. That is crucial to east-west connectivity, to the northern economy and to saving liv…
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 June 2025
14 contributions
Outdoor Education
I beg to move,
That this House has considered outdoor education.
It is an absolute joy to serve under your guidance, Dr Huq. I am happy to take some interventions, but I shall do my best to leave at least 10 minutes for the Minister at the end.
It is my privilege to chair the all-party parliament…
It is vital to ensure that people have access to nature. As somebody who represents national parks, I always think that they are there for everybody, not just those of us who live there. The hon. Gentleman makes an important point.
Outdoor education is crucial to our economy, culture and communitie…
+12 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Energy Security and Net Zero
10 June 2025
2 contributions
Fossil Fuels
2. What steps he is taking to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
Happy birthday, Mr Speaker. Most of the 1,500 farms in Westmorland and Lonsdale have rivers or becks running through them. Since we are the most beautiful—and indeed wettest—place in England, that is an awful lot of potential, and mostly untapped, energy. Will the Secretary of State and the Minister…
Commons
Debate
9 June 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
I agree with the hon. Gentleman that local communities should have much more control over what happens to the housing stock in their areas. Will he reflect on his party’s opposition so far to the proposal from the Liberal Democrats for a different category of planning use for both short-term lets an…
Commons
Oral Questions
Housing, Communities and Local Government
9 June 2025
Council Housing Repairs: Funding
In Kendal on Friday afternoon, I came across a constituent in a Home Housing property who had been the victim of a house fire several months ago. Although they were still living in the property, it had not been fully restored or fixed. I am on the matter personally and dealing with the casework issu…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
4 June 2025
Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories
Securing a ceasefire is vital, securing the release of the remaining hostages is vital, and getting aid through to the suffering people of Gaza is an absolute moral imperative. The Israeli Government need to ensure the safe delivery of that aid, and if they do not, the members of that Government sho…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
4 June 2025
Regional Growth
People in Cumbria, North Yorkshire and Durham are deeply concerned to see no mention at all in the Chancellor’s announcement of the A66 dualling project, which is vital to boosting the economy of the north and, more importantly, to saving lives. There is not a penny for the northern two thirds of th…
Commons
Proceedings
3 June 2025
Thames Water
Under the Conservatives, Thames Water was allowed to pile up nearly £20 billion of debt while pumping sewage into rivers and lakes for 300,000 hours just last year, but rewarding its shareholders with £130 million of dividends. Today, Thames Water’s customers have been left in the lurch, and the Con…