Commons
Debate
15 July 2025
Welfare Spending
My hon. Friend talks about tough choices. Does she agree that families that are in work make tough choices every single day, about what they can afford and how they spend their money, and that those who receive benefits should really have to make the same tough choices?
Commons
Debate
15 July 2025
Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Regulation)
I beg to move,
That leave be given to bring in a Bill to make provision about the regulation of online providers of fertility and certain ancillary services by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority; and for connected purposes.
Having a child is variously viewed as one of the most life-c…
Commons
Debate
3 July 2025
Women’s State Pension Age: Financial Redress
The hon. Lady is making a powerful speech. What she says reflects some of the conversations I have had with WASPI women in my constituency about not only the distress this has caused them, but how so many of them simply did not receive the correspondence that they have been told they did receive ove…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
3 July 2025
7 contributions
British Film and High-end Television
I am grateful to the Backbench Business Committee for making time for this statement.
In April, the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, which I am very honoured to chair, published its report on British film and high-end television, and this sector is absolutely thriving. We have world-class facili…
The hon. Gentleman makes such an important point. We have remarkable skills around the UK, but when we go into sixth forms in any of our constituencies and speak to the young people there, we find few who are considering a career in film and TV. Yet if we look at the things they are studying, we see…
+5 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
3 July 2025
Major Sporting Events
I 100% back the words of the hon. Member for Gower (Tonia Antoniazzi) and send all our best wishes to the Lionesses as they start their competition shortly.
The Secretary of State will know that Royal Ascot last week attracted a viewing population of tens of millions, and “Glorious Goodwood” is abo…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
30 June 2025
Glastonbury Festival: BBC Coverage
I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I thank the Secretary of State for that strong and welcome statement. The BBC editorial guidelines on livestreaming are actually quite clear. They say,
“The level of monitoring should be appropriate for the likely conten…
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
30 June 2025
Defence Procurement: SMEs
Our UK defence industry can have few better ambassadors around the world than our Red Arrows. As the Hawk aircraft comes to an end, will the Minister look closely at the British-designed modular aircraft being developed by Aeralis, because it would support SMEs right across our country, including by…
Commons
Proceedings
25 June 2025
Nuclear-certified Aircraft Procurement
I also welcome this announcement, but can we talk about money? We already know that 20% of our defence budget is spent on the nuclear deterrent. It is disproportionately expensive. If we are now extending the nuclear capability with these airdrop weapons, what impact will that have on the budget for…
Commons
Oral Questions
Science, Innovation and Technology
25 June 2025
Online Safety: Children
As the Minister says, the Online Safety Act has passed into law and is being implemented, but parents in my Gosport constituency are still desperately worried about the scale of the inappropriate content that very young children can stumble across in the online world. Can she reassure us? When will …
Commons
Debate
18 June 2025
2 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
I have a similar concern about mobility scooters. Obviously, they are a fabulous tool, enabling so many in our constituencies to get out and about, but the number of serious injuries caused by mobility scooters has gone up by nearly 60% in the last 10 years, and the number of fatalities has doubled.…
I rise to speak to new clause 121, which is tabled in my name and supported by my hon. Friend the Member for Rutland and Stamford (Alicia Kearns) and, I am very pleased to say, by Members from both sides of this Chamber. It would extend the definition of extreme pornography to include depictions of …
Commons
Debate
13 June 2025
4 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
I intend to speak only briefly. We have to be really honest about where we are, and the current situation under the legal status quo is not working. It is failing terminally ill people who want choice, compassion and control at the end of their lives.
Right now, those with the means are travelling …
I certainly will read that report. The hon. Member makes an excellent point. Palliative care is really important and needs to be improved. In many cases it makes such a difference, but it is not the solution for everybody. There are the most heartbreaking cases—I have met people in these situations …
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
9 June 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
I rise to speak to new clause 59, in my name, which considers the impact of our planning system on our creative and cultural industries and infrastructure. These spaces are the foundation of our world-beating creative industries and are also very important for our local communities. They are the eng…
Commons
Debate
3 June 2025
6 contributions
Data (Use and Access) Bill [Lords]
Will the Minister give way?
If only I believed the Minister. I pick up the frustration in his tone, and I appreciate that this must be exhausting for him, because this is the fourth time that the Government have been defeated on this issue in the other place. I understand that he just wants to get this piece of legislation don…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
2 June 2025
Strategic Defence Review
My constituents in Gosport will be keen for the Secretary of State to clarify two points. First, the line on page 105 about reconsidering “training estate needs” will concern many, so will he confirm that the outstanding training establishments at HMS Sultan and HMS Collingwood, which employ so many…
Commons
Debate
22 May 2025
2 contributions
Data (Use and Access) Bill [Lords]
On that point, will the Secretary of State give way?
I appreciate the tone in which the Secretary of State has started his speech. Ministers keep repeating a mantra about “the uncertainty” of what our copyright law says about AI training. However, there is no uncertainty: commercial generative AI training on UK copyright work is illegal in the UK, but…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
22 May 2025
Business of the House
The Leader of the House may be aware that cheerleading is one of the fastest-growing sports in the UK, and that it achieves the remarkable feat of keeping young girls engaged in sport at an age when so many disengage from school sports. She might not know, however, that two of the best cheerleading …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
22 May 2025
Independent Sentencing Review
I welcome what the Secretary of State has said about female offenders, but I would like to know a little bit more. Hope Street in Hampshire, which offers residential alternatives to custody for women, has seen remarkable results, and of course it prevents those women from being separated from their …
Commons
Oral Questions
22 May 2025
UK-India Cultural Co-operation Agreement
Whether it is Bollywood, Hollywood or Borehamwood, I am sure the Minister will agree that our British cultural and creative industries are our global economic superpower. While the Secretary of State is AWOL today, rumours abound that the whole Department for Culture, Media and Sport is for the chop…
Commons
Debate
21 May 2025
2 contributions
Business and the Economy
My hon. Friend is so popular. I am interested by how he is starting this debate, because it chimes with what I am hearing in my constituency, where venues such as pubs, restaurants and cafes, which are such a vital part of the effort to regenerate our high streets and local community spaces, are see…
May I just take my hon. Friend back to what he was saying a moment ago about opportunities for young people? I recently met hair and beauty salons in my constituency. As he knows, they have historically been the most amazing employers of apprentices and have given such wonderful chances to young peo…
Commons
Proceedings
19 May 2025
NHS and Care Volunteer Responders Service
I pay tribute to some of the volunteers across my constituency, who make such a difference to people’s lives. The Minister will have noticed that polling by More in Common today found that more and more people feel disconnected from society. That is compounded by the fact that so many of our communi…
Commons
Debate
14 May 2025
3 contributions
Data (Use and Access) Bill [Lords]
rose—
Yesterday the Minister appeared before our Select Committee and said, “The best kind of AI is the kind of AI that is built on premium content, and you can’t get premium content without paying for premium content.” Now, as well as being concerned about the overuse of the expression “premium content” …
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
7 May 2025
3 contributions
Data (Use and Access) Bill [Lords]
I rise to support new clauses 2 to 5 in the name of the hon. Member for Harpenden and Berkhamsted (Victoria Collins); to pay tribute to Baroness Kidron, who has driven forward these amendments in the other place; and to speak in favour of new clause 20 in the name of the official Opposition.
I am b…
I thank the Minister for that reassurance. I did take part in a Westminster Hall debate on this matter a couple of weeks ago, but one of his colleagues was responding. I made the same point then. Quite often in the media or more generally, AI seems to be pitted against our creative industries, which…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Proceedings
7 May 2025
United States Film Tariff
There is no doubt that this speculation will cause huge worry to those working in British film production, but, as the Minister says, it highlights once again the importance of bolstering the British screen sector. We recommended steps to deliver that in a recent Select Committee report, yet within …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
6 May 2025
Trade Negotiations
The Indian Government have said that this deal will mean that
“immense opportunities for talented and skilled Indian youth will open up in the UK.”
Will the Minister please confirm that we have not signed a youth mobility scheme with India before his Government have agreed to one with the EU? He s…