Commons
Westminster Hall
15 January 2026
Gambling Harms: Children and Young People
It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. You are a good friend to us all.
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey (Kevin McKenna) on securing this important debate. I thought his speech was great; it covered all bases in looking at where we are…
Commons
Oral Questions
15 January 2026
3 contributions
Gambling Advertising
We monitor a wide range of evidence to aid our assessment of gambling advertising and its impacts, including spend data provided by the industry and independent sources. We will continue to keep our policies under review in this serious context. There is a Westminster Hall debate on gambling harms l…
There are two ways to answer that question. The first is with regard to exposure to the world cup itself, and I want as many world cup games as possible to be on free-to-air television. When Scotland qualified for the world cup, it was on the BBC and brought the whole nation together, which is what …
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
15 January 2026
3 contributions
Creative Industries: AI
On 15 December we published a progress statement on copyright and artificial intelligence, as required by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025. By law, we have to publish an independent impact assessment before 18 March. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Science, Innov…
This is one of the most serious issues we have to deal with in this space. As a joint Minister in DSIT and the DCMS, I know this is something we are looking at, and we are very aware of all the concerns raised by creatives. We want to support rights holders in licensing their work in the digital age…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
8 January 2026
3 contributions
High Street Gambling Reform
I congratulate the Backbench Business Committee on allowing this debate to go forward, and my hon. Friend the Member for Brent East (Dawn Butler) on securing it. Many hon. Members from across the Chamber have talked about the harms of gambling. Although that is incredibly important in underpinning t…
I do not know if I have time, but I will give way.
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
7 January 2026
2 contributions
UK Town of Culture
As always, Ms Furniss, it is a great pleasure to see you in the Chair. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Halesowen (Alex Ballinger) for securing what I think has been a very enjoyable debate. It has not just been a debate about the town of culture; I think it has actually been the largest lobbyi…
I am very happy to take up that invitation to meet with my hon. Friend and representatives to see how that legacy is lasting, because the legacy is actually the most important thing from the city of culture scheme. I hope there are also huge legacies from the town of culture scheme, not just for the…
Commons
Debate
6 January 2026
14 contributions
Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.
A happy new year to you, Mr Speaker, and to all the House staff. This is the first opportunity I have had to say that to you.
On 3 June 2024, a busy Monday morning in south-east London, criminals attacked Synnovis, an organisation that proces…
I could not agree more. I gave the example of the Synnovis incident that brought blood transfusions in London to a halt, affecting thousands of patients. Our everyday lives are affected by this. As we modernise and digitise our economy and our Government, we have to ensure that our systems are as se…
+12 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
17 December 2025
Topical Questions
Space is fundamental to many civil and defence requirements. It is vital that we collaborate closely across Government and with our allies. Just last month, the European Space Agency Council of Ministers committed £1.7 billion of funding focused on just that: growth and national security.
Commons
Oral Questions
17 December 2025
6 contributions
Digital ID System
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and Cabinet Office Ministers are working closely to deliver the new digital ID scheme. The scheme will be inclusive, secure and effective. It will give the public more control over their data than they have now, and it will make public services easie…
Modernising government was at the heart of our manifesto, and the Government are proposing this national digital ID scheme to modernise our public services, improve security and streamline right-to-work checks. Since we introduced the digital veterans card, it has been downloaded 11,000 times, and 2…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
17 December 2025
3 contributions
Supply Chain Resilience
I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on his fantastic event in Parliament last week on this subject. I am delighted that Queen’s University Belfast is benefiting from £5 million in funding from the programme, which is part of a £13 million wider package from this Government to support making UK supply …
I think the hon. Gentleman acknowledges in his question the amount of funding that is going into the area that he represents and the wider Northern Ireland communities. UKRI plays a key role in strengthening supply chains, supporting regional innovation hubs and aligning research with local economic…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 December 2025
9 contributions
Online Safety Act 2023: Repeal
It is great to see you in the Chair, Sir John. I did not realise you were such a technophobe until we heard from the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Hornchurch and Upminster (Julia Lopez). I am disappointed that you were not able to contribute to this debate. I thank my hon. Friend the Member f…
My hon. Friend makes a good point; let me come back to him in detail on the VPN issue, as his question relates to what we are planning to do in our review of the Online Safety Act, including both what was written into the legislation and what was not.
My hon. Friend the Member for Darlington (Lola …
+7 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 December 2025
8 contributions
Local Media
It is brilliant to see you in the Chair, Dr Allin-Khan, and it is great to have this wonderful debate with you presiding over us. I thank the hon. Member for Bromley and Biggin Hill (Peter Fortune) for securing an important debate. We can see from the contributions that it has been an important one,…
One hundred per cent, and the hon. Gentleman has just secured a column.
We heard from many Members, including the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Isle of Wight East (Joe Robertson), about the Isle of Wight County Press , the Island Echo , the Isle of Wight Observer and OnTheWight . He hates ge…
+6 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 December 2025
4 contributions
Gambling: Regulatory Reform
It is great to have you in the Chair, Sir Desmond, for this important debate. I am pleased to respond to it. I congratulate—as all other hon. Members have—the hon. Member for Witney (Charlie Maynard) on securing this debate, and on the balanced way in which he presented his case, with the gambling i…
We talk to the gambling industry about that constantly. My noble Friend Baroness Twycross, the gambling Minister, is taking some of those discussions forward. We will continue to monitor it because a huge amount of sponsorship comes from the gambling industry. That is not a judgment on whether it is…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
27 November 2025
Topical Questions
I highly commend the festival in Huddersfield. As an Edinburgh MP who is always championing festivals, the more music festivals and other arts festivals we have across the country, the better. I encourage everyone to go.
Commons
Oral Questions
27 November 2025
4 contributions
Cities and Towns of Culture
Strong evidence from the city of culture programme proves that supporting local culture pays both economic and social dividends for those areas and the wider public. The town of culture is a new competition to ensure that smaller places can share that real impact, by shining a spotlight on places an…
Mr Speaker, I would never presume to know your diary, but I feel as if we should go together to the Piña Colada festival, just to take one for the team and see what that is all about. Since I gave my answer to my hon. Friend’s substantive question, I have been lobbied by both Wigan and Scunthorpe fo…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
27 November 2025
2 contributions
Music Recording Studios
It is of course important to support our music industry, including studios, and that is at the heart of what we are trying to do through the music growth fund, which has £30 million in it. The music levy goes straight into grassroots music, supporting studios.
The creative industries sector plan is right at the heart of this Government’s industrial strategy, and music plays a key part in that. We will have the music 10-point plan shortly, and the £30 million music growth fund will support grassroots music, including those kinds of studio. I was at Co-op L…
Commons
Oral Questions
27 November 2025
3 contributions
Future of TV Distribution
The stakeholder forum has made significant progress in its work to support the decision on the future of terrestrial television beyond 2034. The forum has gathered and presented evidence on many aspects of this very complex issue. The work of the forum will be vital in ensuring that we arrive at the…
Those are all considerations for the working group. It has met four times already and is due to meet again in December. I have met the group to discuss these issues since I have been in post. Digital inclusion and connectivity, as well as the cost, are all active concerns and they will be weighed by…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
12 November 2025
2 contributions
Topical Questions
The hon. Lady raises an important question about digital inclusion, which is right at the heart of the Government’s strategy. We just heard from the Opposition that they are against digital ID and digitalising this country— [ Interruption. ] I knew my answer would be popular, Mr Speaker. I am very h…
The ICO is operationally independent of Government and is accountable to this Parliament. The Information Commissioner can appear in front of Select Committees to discuss the ICO’s performance, and I would encourage my hon. Friend’s Select Committee to pursue that.
Commons
Oral Questions
12 November 2025
3 contributions
Mobile Phone Signal: Rural Communities
This Government believe that all communities must have the reliable mobile coverage that they need, whether it is for staying in touch with loved ones or for accessing healthcare online. We continue to work closely with the mobile network operators to remove barriers and support investment, and that…
The shared rural network has already delivered for 95% of the UK’s land mass a year early, and we are fully committed to making sure that 4G is available to all our populations. If the hon. Gentleman wishes to write to me, I would be very happy to meet him about the specific notspots in his constitu…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
12 November 2025
4 contributions
Broadband Coverage
According to independent analysis, more than 89% of UK premises can access a gigabit-capable connection. We have recently reconfirmed our commitment to achieving nationwide gigabit coverage and expect 99% of premises to have access to a gigabit-capable connection by 2032. In the period up to 31 Marc…
The date is 2032: the Government are committed to ensuring 99% gigabit coverage by 2032. We have just rolled out 30 new Project Gigabit contracts across England, connecting 850,000 homes. The Government are fully committed to delivering this, and 2032 is the target.
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
5 November 2025
4 contributions
Bronze-age Heritage: Cambridgeshire
It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg—particularly after last night’s result at Anfield, which will make you a happy Chair this morning. I am pleased to respond to this debate, and I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Peterborough (Andrew Pakes) on securing it and…
I do not know whether that is a reference to the site itself or to the right hon. Gentleman—we are about to find out.
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Statutory Instrument
28 October 2025
4 contributions
Draft Football Governance Act 2025 (Specified Competitions) Regulations 2025
I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the Draft Football Governance Act 2025 (Specified Competitions) Regulations 2025.
It is a great pleasure to serve with you as referee this afternoon, Ms Lewell. I am pleased to speak to the regulations, which were laid before the House on 13 October…
I will start where my hon. Friend finished. The whole point of the Football Regulator and this statutory instrument is to give power back to the fans, for the very specific reasons that he talks about at Sheffield Wednesday. We could all reel off a dozen clubs that have fallen into problems because …
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 October 2025
9 contributions
Mandatory Digital ID
It is, as always, a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. I thank the hon. Member for Perth and Kinross-shire (Pete Wishart) for his speech. It was a very good speech, but suffered from the big disadvantage of none of it being actually accurate in terms of what the policy is an…
A full consultation will be launched by the end of this year. There are two options that the Government could have taken. We could have started from the position of a fully fledged programme, a fully fledged policy, and then taken that out to consultation; or we could take the approach that we are d…
+7 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
16 October 2025
3 contributions
Topical Questions
There is no specific duty on owners to keep their buildings in a good state of repair, but local authorities have powers under legislation to take action where a listed building may be at risk, through urgent works notices and repairs notices. The Government also support local authorities by providi…
This Government applaud and support the role that museums play in educating and inspiring audiences, including in Cornwall and across every part of the country in every Member’s constituency. Last week the Government announced that 75 museum groups around the country will benefit from an additional …
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
16 October 2025
2 contributions
Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme
On this issue, the Secretary of State met my hon. Friend the Member for Battersea (Marsha De Cordova) in her role as the Second Church Estates Commissioner and my right hon. Friend the Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry). In March 2025, my noble Friend the Minister for Heritag…
This is an incredibly serious issue, but the Conservatives did not allocate any funding for it at all when they were in government, and therefore we are left with the current situation. I reiterate to those who may wish to use the listed places of worship grant scheme that £13.7 million is left in t…