Commons
Oral Questions
Health and Social Care
14 July 2026
2 contributions
Topical Questions
Is the number of patients waiting for admission for an operation or procedure today higher or lower than when this Government took office?
Well, that was clearly no answer to my question, so let me give it: the Government’s own figures show that the number is higher. Additionally, in response to concerns that I have raised, the Office for Statistics Regulation confirmed that the published figures do not clearly distinguish between pati…
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 July 2026
2 contributions
Heart Disease and Stroke: Premature Deaths
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dame Siobhain.
I congratulate the hon. Member for South Ribble (Mr Foster) on securing this important debate and talking about his personal circumstances. It is always a very moving moment when colleagues talk about things that are so very personal to…
My right hon. Friend is so right. When he was describing its importance, I was thinking about one of my very dear friends who suffered quite a debilitating stroke. I thought, “If only that had been available for him, how different his life might be now.” I thank my right hon. Friend for raising that…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
30 June 2026
National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation
I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of his statement, and I thank Baroness Amos and her team for their compassionate work. As I said last week, I pay tribute to the women and families who gave evidence and to the babies at the heart of the inquiry. Many revisited the most painful moment…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
24 June 2026
Nottingham Maternity and Neonatal Services
I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of his statement and Donna Ockenden and her team for the care and compassion with which they conducted the review. We had a meeting with her yesterday, and I have to say that it was probably one of the most difficult meetings that I have ever had. I p…
Commons
Oral Questions
Health and Social Care
9 June 2026
2 contributions
Topical Questions
I begin by welcoming the Secretary of State and the Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, the hon. Member for Birmingham Edgbaston (Preet Kaur Gill), to their places.
The Secretary of State was in the Treasury when it imposed VAT on compassionate access medicine programmes, which pro…
I am sorry, but that was simply waffle. This matter needs decisive action now; these drugs are absolutely critical to some children. This cancer drugs tax has already closed one scheme, and companies are making real-time decisions now about whether to continue programmes in the United Kingdom. The S…
Commons
Oral Questions
14 April 2026
2 contributions
Topical Questions
The latest industrial action by the British Medical Association has now ended, yet many will be appalled by reports of individuals boasting online that
“the ability to have 10 days off will make turnout quite high.”
Does the Secretary of State agree that this behaviour is indefensible and represen…
This is a rare occasion, as I agree with the Secretary of State. The increasingly militant stance adopted by the BMA is plainly out of step with some resident doctors, who continue to report for duty. The Government’s handling of this dispute has been marked by inconsistency. First, they attempted t…
Commons
Debate
26 March 2026
Resident Doctors: Industrial Action
I am grateful to the Secretary of State for advance sight of his statement. Only yesterday he was boasting about progress in the NHS. Today we are back here again, facing more strikes, more disruption and more uncertainty for patients—quite the contrast. In opposition, he made resolving these strike…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
17 March 2026
Meningitis Outbreak
I am grateful to the Secretary of State for advance sight of his statement and for the clarity that he has provided to the House this afternoon. Our thoughts are also with the families of the two young people who have so tragically lost their lives—I cannot imagine the pain that they must be going t…
Commons
Debate
5 March 2026
Palliative Care
May I begin by congratulating the hon. Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell) on securing this important debate, and the independent commission on palliative and end-of-life care on the amazing work that it has undertaken? Its report certainly provides an important contribution to the discussion …
Commons
Oral Questions
24 February 2026
2 contributions
Topical Questions
In the plan for change, the Government committed to meet the 18-week standard for routine operations, but the latest data suggests that the Government are not on track to meet that commitment by the end of the Parliament. In December, fewer people were treated within 18 weeks than in the previous mo…
Another leadership ambition, I see.
On 29 September, I wrote to the Secretary of State regarding the late Dr Susan Michaelis’s campaign for better research into lobular breast cancer, but sadly I still have not had a reply. She established the Lobular Moon Shot Project and the last Government commi…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
5 February 2026
National Cancer Plan
I thank the Minister for advance sight of her statement. May I say right at the outset that we share the ambition to improve cancer survival and outcomes? Almost every family in Britain has been touched by cancer, and patients deserve timely diagnosis, treatment and proper support. I also recognise …
Commons
Oral Questions
13 January 2026
2 contributions
Topical Questions
With one in five hospice beds no longer available because of increased costs such as national insurance contributions, it is hardly surprising that doctors are raising concerns about the increase in the number of end-of-life patients in our hospitals. It is therefore concerning to hear that the pall…
Capital funding is welcome, but we cannot pay doctors and nurses with bricks and mortar. Hospice UK has said that without additional support, there will be
“more unnecessary hospital admissions, more unneeded A&E attendances and more patients not getting the care”
they need, so I push the Secr…
Commons
Debate
15 December 2025
2 contributions
NHS: Winter Preparedness
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care if he will make a statement on winter preparedness in the NHS.
This winter, a serious flu wave and rising respiratory syncytial virus infections are pushing the NHS to its limits. Flu admissions, as we have heard, are up 55% in a week, and RSV cases are rising, especially in older people. However, the Government have failed to prepare, as we pointed out earlier…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
10 December 2025
Resident Doctors: Industrial Action
I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of his statement, and sincerely thank him for making me aware last night of his intention to come to the House today and make a statement. Given that the next set of planned industrial action is due just a few days before Christmas, and at a worrying …
Commons
Proceedings
2 December 2025
6 contributions
Budget Resolutions
This Government are trying to tell the public that this Budget was all about taking tough decisions to deliver change, about raising taxes to support the NHS and about pursuing growth and backing business. Those are commendable aims, but it is simply not the reality of what was delivered in the autu…
Well, we did not spend tens of billions of pounds in pay rises just for the same old problem to come back. There should have been proper reform, and conditions for those pay rises, but the Government did not make that happen, and here we are again.
The NHS Confederation has also warned that local s…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
25 November 2025
3 contributions
Topical Questions
Thank you, Mr Speaker. Can I ask the Secretary of State why he has not sorted out the strikes and disputes?
But, Mr Speaker:
“The power to stop these strikes is in the Government’s hands.” —[ Official Report , 6 February 2023; Vol. 727, c. 660.]
“They need to sit down and negotiate to end the strikes, but Ministers are too busy briefing against each other.” Those are not my words, but the Secretary of S…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
20 November 2025
3 contributions
Unpaid Carers: Inequalities
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this afternoon, Ms Vaz. I am pleased to respond to this important debate on behalf of the Opposition, and I thank the hon. Member for Shipley (Anna Dixon) for securing it and for her long-standing leadership on carers’ rights.
I acknowledge the cont…
It just shows how, when Parliament works well, it works exceptionally well.
I want to repeat some of the comments that have been made. The Government have launched a review of the potential benefits of paid carer’s leave, with the conclusions coming at the end of the year, I believe. As others have…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Statutory Instrument
19 November 2025
Draft Health and Care Act 2022 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2025
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. I am sure it will delight the Committee to know that I do not intend to detain us for too long. [ Interruption. ] I always get a cheer when I say that. I would like to begin by saying that I do not see anything particularly contentious in …
Commons
Proceedings
21 October 2025
Points of Order
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Before beginning my questions, I meant to pay tribute to our former colleague Oliver Colvile, who sadly passed away last night. He served as the Member for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport between 2010 and 2017 and was named by Conservative Home as one of a minority of …
Commons
Oral Questions
21 October 2025
2 contributions
Topical Questions
First, it is great to be in this new role. I genuinely want to be part of a constructive Opposition, but equally I want to do my role in holding this Government to account. I note the lack of detail in the Secretary of State’s answers on reorganisation, so can I ask the basics again? How many people…
Again, the Secretary of State cannot answer. His answers are too vague. He is very good at making promises, but the facts are that he is presiding over a reorganisation that has stalled, creating uncertainty for staff. Waiting lists are up 50,000 in the past three months, hospices are in crisis beca…
Commons
Debate
14 October 2025
Mental Health Bill [Lords]
I want first to recognise and thank everyone for the constructive debates we have heard here and in the other place throughout the Bill’s passage. In particular, I thank the shadow Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Hinckley and Bosworth (Dr Evans), for everything he has done on the Bill, espec…
Commons
Debate
14 July 2025
3 contributions
Royal Albert Hall Bill [Lords]
Marking its 150th anniversary in 2021, the Royal Albert Hall continues not only to host world-class performances but, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Maldon (Sir John Whittingdale) mentioned, to do a tremendous amount of outreach work and to do so, crucially, without drawing on public funding…
Nothing—it’s you!
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
3 July 2025
2 contributions
Topical Questions
I associate myself with the tributes to Diogo Jota. I understand that his brother was also killed in the accident, and my heart goes out to their family.
Since the Secretary of State’s statement on Glastonbury on Monday, it has come to light that the act in question had spouted equally vile rhetori…
I thank the Secretary of State for that answer. I have to say that I am as disappointed as she is that the BBC has not been able to come back with even basic facts. There were hundreds of BBC staff there, and it is not acceptable that it is unable to identify who ultimately had the final decision on…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
30 June 2025
Glastonbury Festival: BBC Coverage
I thank the Secretary of State for her statement, for advance sight of it and for her tone. I have always been a strong advocate for the BBC, which is a cornerstone of British public life with a proud history of cultural contribution. The events of the weekend, however, have made that incredibly dif…