Commons
Ministerial Statement
24 March 2026
Middle East: Economic Update
In an attempt to get some consensus here, I commend one part of the Chancellor’s statement, where she said:
“We must guarantee that our domestic oil and gas industry can…play a role in our energy system for decades to come”.
Is there not a sensible, middle-of-the-way approach here? We should by al…
Commons
Debate
23 March 2026
Hatzola Ambulance Attack
On an occasion like this, it is right that we should not apportion blame, but try to unite as the House of Commons and say that it is fine to be a critical friend of Israel, but it is not fine to go around fully masked up and call for the destruction of Israel and therefore the Jewish people. I thin…
Commons
Oral Questions
23 March 2026
2 contributions
Asylum Seekers: Recorded Crime
1. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the number of asylum seekers on levels of recorded crime.
The Home Secretary knows perfectly well how much it worries and infuriates people that people can enter this country illegally and commit crimes, and that there is no proper vetting procedure before they are unloosed on society. To reassure our own citizens, will she ensure that everybody who enters…
Commons
Debate
19 March 2026
UK Steel Strategy
I suspect that the problems of Scunthorpe, where many of my constituents work, are less to do with the anti-protectionist policies of Mrs Thatcher—given that she left office 36 years ago—and more to do with the fact that Scunthorpe is paying the highest energy costs of any steelworks in Europe. That…
Commons
Oral Questions
Solicitor General
19 March 2026
2 contributions
Courts and Tribunals Bill
10. Whether the Attorney General has advised the Lord Chancellor on the potential impact of the Courts and Tribunals Bill on the rule of law.
It is obviously outrageous that rape victims have to wait three years—we all accept that, and we have heard moving testimony on that. The problem is that the Institute for Government has found that abolishing jury trials may only get these rape trials on a week earlier. The Labour manifesto promised…
Commons
Oral Questions
18 March 2026
Topical Questions
T3. Will the Secretary of State commend the new nuclear fusion site at West Burton, just two miles from the town of Gainsborough, which, potentially, will unleash unlimited green energy as well as hundreds of millions of pounds of investment and thousands of jobs? Will she confirm that, when it come…
Commons
Westminster Hall
18 March 2026
4 contributions
Freedom of Religion or Belief in China
I congratulate the hon. Member for St Helens South and Whiston (Ms Rimmer) on her speech. Although I will talk primarily about the persecution of Christians in China, and particularly the intolerable position of the Catholic Church, I fully support what she and the hon. Member for Dewsbury and Batle…
The devil is in the detail. When it comes to China, everything is very complicated; there are no simple arguments or solutions. This is not an outright communist regime like North Korea. In theory, if someone is a Catholic, they are allowed to practise their faith, which is why my hon. Friend saw th…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
17 March 2026
Automated Enforcement Technology: Evidence
The Minister will have heard, as I did, the very moving speech of the hon. Member for Warrington North (Charlotte Nichols) last week. She really moved the House with her testimony of the terrible experience that she had had as a rape victim, and her experience of delays. She will also have heard her…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
11 March 2026
Protest Policing
I agree with everything the Home Secretary has said, especially as she is one of the best Conservative Home Secretaries we have ever had! Will she forgive me for asking her to stress just one part of her statement? I have noticed an increasing tendency to say that we should ban marches because we fi…
Commons
Debate
10 March 2026
8 contributions
Courts and Tribunals Bill
Quite unusually, I have served as a practising barrister in courts and have also served on juries. I never fail to be impressed by the extraordinary care that juries take in deciding a case. Undoubtedly, the stand-out speech of the debate so far has been by my right hon. and learned Friend the Membe…
Of course that is an important point—we are not debating that. Of course the backlog is wrong, but this is not the right way to correct it. The backlog is caused by administrative delays or, if hon. Members want, cuts to the judicial system; it is not caused by trial by jury. Of course we put defend…
+6 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
9 March 2026
Middle East: Economic Update
When we are in the middle of a war, I am not sure that it achieves much to be overtly party political. The past is where we were; we are now in the present. Just to be helpful, I agree with the Chancellor on de-escalation and on defending our interests, not pursuing regime change, but the fact is th…
Commons
Oral Questions
9 March 2026
Immigration Policy
May I quote approvingly the remarks of my constituency neighbour and Labour MP, the hon. Member for Bassetlaw (Jo White)? She said that if Labour is to win its battle against Reform, it has to do much more on illegal boats. I am sorry that she is not here, but I have warned her that I was going to a…
Commons
Oral Questions
Work and Pensions
9 March 2026
State Pension
I declare a similar interest to that of the hon. Member for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket (Peter Prinsley). I read this weekend that if we grapple with the increase in pensions and benefits, we might be able to afford 15 new frigates. It is easy for Opposition Members to attack in-work benefits; it…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
4 March 2026
China: Foreign Interference Arrests
The Chinese only represent strength, and for them everything is transactional, so I think the country would rejoice if the Government were to summon the Chinese ambassador and say to him, “This sort of behaviour is intolerable. You cannot build this mega-embassy in just about the most sensitive site…
Commons
Debate
2 March 2026
Representation of the People Bill
Clearly this was cynical, but judging by the by-election in Greater Manchester, perhaps the Labour party, when it comes to giving votes to 16-year-olds, should be careful what it wishes for.
Commons
Ministerial Statement
2 March 2026
Middle East
Although many of us believe that we should be guided by the law of national self-interest, rather than so-called international law, does the Prime Minister agree that we are right to be cautious in this matter? The British public will warmly support him in defending British people and bases, but the…
Commons
Debate
25 February 2026
Ukraine
I do not know whether President Putin follows these debates, but I would like him to know that the Secretary of State speaks for our entire nation. We are completely united on this. Will the Secretary of State make it clear that we are equally robust on not having any ceasefire on the basis that cur…
Commons
Oral Questions
25 February 2026
2 contributions
Diego Garcia and British Indian Ocean Territory
As always, this argument depends not on gimmicks but on a detailed examination of the law. On 22 May, the Government made it clear in an answer that they were bound by the international law of the sea. However, in answer to a written question on 12 February, they said that article 298 of UNCLOS—an o…
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. You or your advisers will be aware of a letter that I and my colleagues have sent to Mr Speaker about this issue, particularly pertaining to the apparent discrepancy between answers given in the House on 22 May and those to a written question on 12 February…
Commons
Debate
24 February 2026
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
I agree with everything that the Minister is saying, but what is worrying quite a lot of us, in relation not just to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor but to Mandelson, is that because of the ongoing police investigations and because the wheels of justice grind exceedingly slowly, it may be years before we…
Commons
Oral Questions
Housing, Communities and Local Government
23 February 2026
Antisemitism
Antisemitism is horrible, but will the Minister agree that there is nothing antisemitic in supporting the rights of the suffering Palestinian people and there is nothing antisemitic in opposing the actions of the present right-wing Israeli Government in making a two-state solution impossible? There …
Commons
Westminster Hall
23 February 2026
Firearms Licensing
On that point, does the hon. Gentleman agree that it is vital that we consult fully the farming community? Shotguns are not just a sporting accessory; to farmers, they are an essential aspect of their life in order to control vermin, so will he ensure that the debate carries on? The last Government …
Commons
Debate
12 February 2026
Rural Mobile Connectivity
I congratulate the hon. Lady on securing this important debate. I represent a rural area like hers—mine is in Lincolnshire—and in some Wold villages it is appalling: there is no mobile connection. All the red telephone boxes are being closed, and it is a tremendous struggle to persuade BT to keep th…
Commons
Oral Questions
Transport
12 February 2026
2 contributions
Rail Transport and Economic Growth
The Secretary of State probably knows what I am going to ask. The single best thing we could do to promote economic growth in North East Lincolnshire and Lincolnshire, and particularly in Grimsby, which is one of the largest towns in England without a through-train to London, is to get our through-t…
We were very encouraged. There is nothing party political about this; it is all about economic growth in an area that really needs it. I beg the Secretary of State; she just has to lift her finger and get our train. We have had a test run; it can happen now. Will she please do it?
Commons
Oral Questions
10 February 2026
Ministry of Defence: Palantir Contracts
Most British scandals are fairly pathetic by international standards—they are about things like serving a piece of cake to the Prime Minister—but this scandal is monumental because it involves somebody in service to the Government using his position for commercial gain. In my long experience of such…
Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
9 February 2026
Illegal Migrants: Pull Factors
One of the main reasons behind the false narrative that Britain is broken is people’s sense of despair that neither this Government nor the previous one could deal with illegal migrants. It is simply driving our people mad. Let me give this advice to the Government, if the Home Secretary will forgiv…