Commons
Ministerial Statement
5 November 2025
Curriculum and Assessment Review
Later today, the Government will publish their financial inclusion strategy. I welcome the steps forward for financial literacy. Will the Secretary of State collaborate with the Economic Secretary and use the wealth of expertise and enthusiasm that exists among the banks and financial services indus…
Commons
Debate
4 November 2025
Supporting High Streets
When I visited Salisbury chamber of commerce on Friday, it gave me the example of a single mother doing 30 hours a week on the national living wage. As a result of the combination of the increase in the national living wage, the threshold changes and the rate changes on national insurance, that indi…
Commons
Oral Questions
4 November 2025
Financial Inclusion Strategy
When I was Economic Secretary, against the advice of officials I advanced something called the no interest loan scheme. I am given to believe that one of the Minister’s two predecessors since the general election may have suspended that valuable attempt to support the most vulnerable in society. Wil…
Commons
Debate
3 November 2025
2 contributions
Public Office (Accountability) Bill
On Saturday 15 April 1989, I visited my grandfather. I was a 15-year-old boy, and he had been taken into hospital a week or so before after a heart attack. He was a former chief constable in Wiltshire police. His immediate and clear response to what had happened that day was to say that the police w…
I absolutely do, and I sincerely believe that it is likely to achieve that, but we must not miss the opportunity to reflect on what is going wrong with this principle of not taking more proactive responsibility for wrongs that have happened.
My exposure through the infected blood compensation schem…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
30 October 2025
Infected Blood Compensation Scheme
I thank the Minister for his meticulous and thorough analysis of all the different strands of this challenging problem, and for the work he has done to deal with the complexity of different groups’ concerns over delivery of the compensation. I also thank Sir Brian Langstaff for what he has done.
Ho…
Commons
Proceedings
30 October 2025
Business of the House
May we have a debate on the regressive taxation of single parents? If we look at the costs for 2025-26 of employing a single parent on the national living wage for 30 hours a week, we find that the combination of the national insurance threshold going down 45%, a 6.7% increase in the cost of the nat…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
30 October 2025
Small and Medium-sized Businesses
I recently met with Discover Adventure, a small business in Coombe Bissett which is genuinely struggling to engage with Government over the recent package travel regulations. It sits ambiguously between DBT, the Department for Transport and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport; indeed, a ques…
Commons
Debate
28 October 2025
Stamp Duty Land Tax
My right hon. Friend is making a brilliant speech. On salience, does he acknowledge that stamp duty has had a particularly pronounced effect in the capital, particularly for those who come to this country to invest here and create jobs? One of the prime reasons we have seen such a significant number…
Commons
Oral Questions
Cabinet Office
23 October 2025
Topical Questions
I welcome the Paymaster General’s remarks on the acceleration of the delivery of payments in relation to infected blood. It is very welcome for one of my constituents who has had it. I also welcome his response to the additional report by Sir Brian Langstaff in July. Given that, can he update the Ho…
Commons
Proceedings
21 October 2025
Rape Gangs: National Statutory Inquiry
I acknowledge the Minister’s commitment to get to justice on this issue, and I recognise the frustration that she expresses, because I was responsible for the infected blood compensation scheme, which involved meeting a diverse group of 40 different charities and representative bodies that did not a…
Commons
Debate
14 October 2025
3 contributions
Mental Health Bill [Lords]
I rise to support new clauses 29, 28 and 39. First, I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Isle of Wight West (Mr Quigley), who mentioned my constituents and the tragic case of the loss of their daughter, Ruth. My experience of listening to her story has made me support the new clauses.
I want to fin…
Will the Minister give way?
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Justice
16 September 2025
2 contributions
Court Backlogs
9. What steps he is taking to reduce the court backlog.
I wish the right hon. Gentleman the very best in his new appointment, but he is presiding over a complicated system, in which, today, 74 out of 516 Crown courtrooms are empty. Will he comment on that, and on when the second part of the Leveson report will come into effect so that we know when action…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
11 September 2025
Business of the House
I welcome the right hon. Gentleman to his new role.
May I echo the hon. Member for Chelmsford (Marie Goldman) in drawing his attention to the reply that his predecessor gave to me on 27 February concerning the Government’s response to the report on valproate? It really is necessary that we get a re…
Commons
Debate
11 September 2025
Life Sciences Investment
At Porton Down in my constituency, there is a hub of life science businesses. I have listened carefully to what the right hon. Gentleman has said, and I recognise the difficult dilemmas that all Governments have in where to focus investment. However, the Minister must surely recognise that the addit…
Commons
Oral Questions
11 September 2025
Transport: Economic Growth
On Friday, I had the privilege of meeting Lawrence Bowman, the new chief executive of South Western Railway, who brings with him over 20 years of experience in the industry. We travelled from Salisbury to Tisbury. He says that he has to write a five-year plan. I am keen to ensure that that has the m…
Commons
Oral Questions
Treasury
9 September 2025
Financial Services Reform
I warmly welcome the new Economic Secretary to her role. Over the summer I looked at issues around liquidity in the London Stock Exchange and the deterioration that has happened. Given that only 15% of share trades attract stamp duty and much more trading is conducted in a dark environment, will the…
Commons
Proceedings
4 September 2025
Business of the House
A month ago, I met Oliver Robinson from the British Trout Association. The association has produced an excellent report on the trout farming industry in the UK, but Oliver is struggling to get engagement from Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Ministers. I tried to ask the Secretary …
Commons
Westminster Hall
4 September 2025
Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund
My hon. Friend is making a very powerful case, and I echo the sentiment that she has expressed so far. My constituent Sara Taylor came to me to make the case for the restoration of the fund. Her key point was that the economic and fiscal consequences, as Members across the House have said, are so ob…
Commons
Oral Questions
1 September 2025
Topical Questions
T5. Last week, Policy Exchange published a very insightful report, “Out of Control”, looking at the pathways to benefit entitlements. It made this point:“Fifty years ago, just one in 2,500 people was said to have Autism; today that has risen to one in 36 children”.Will the ministerial team undertake…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
17 July 2025
Topical Questions
T3. On Monday, Tina McKenzie, the policy chair of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “For the first time in the history of the Small Business Index more small businesses are predicting they will shrink than expand, meaning that as a country we are potentially facing a very dangerous situation…
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 July 2025
Freedom of Religion or Belief: UK Foreign Policy
It is a pleasure to speak in this debate. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for North Northumberland (David Smith) for the role that he has taken on and the work ahead of him, which he has set out. The whole Chamber and the whole of Parliament will agree that the tone and manner with which he is appr…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
16 July 2025
Financial Services Reform
I warmly welcome the Leeds reforms; they build on many of the things that were done under the previous Administration and I acknowledge the consumer-facing changes on mortgages and ISAs and the aspiration to get more people investing. Those are positive things.
I will just say two things. First, on…
Commons
Debate
15 July 2025
6 contributions
Taxes
The right hon. Gentleman is being generous in giving way. One area the Opposition would be looking at is a coherent reform of the welfare system so that, by changing the pathway to entitlement to benefits, we get that whole budget under control, which would make a meaningful difference to the fiscal…
A few months ago, I met a former civil servant. He told me that when he was working in government in the run-up to the ’97 election, Ed Balls would come into the Department and say, “Look, this is what our manifesto says, but here is the three-page memo on what we are actually going to do in governm…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
15 July 2025
2 contributions
Welfare Spending
Does my hon. Friend acknowledge the words of Richard Hughes of the OBR, who said in a report last week:
“The UK cannot afford the array of promises that it has made to the public”?
He also said that debt is on a trajectory that the UK “can’t sustain”.
Will the hon. Member give way?
Commons
Debate
14 July 2025
UK-France Migration: Co-operation
I always try to avoid rhetoric in this matter, and I fully concede—this bit is agreed—that my party lost a significant number of MPs because of our failure to deliver on a number of issues prior to the election. I listened very carefully to what the right hon. Lady said about stronger partnerships, …