Commons
Debate
6 July 2026
Environmental Protection
I welcome the robustness and energy that the Minister has brought to her task—it is very welcome. Inevitably, the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Chester South and Eddisbury (Aphra Brandreth), wants to revert to some kind of light-touch approach, but we need to make sure the communities we repr…
Commons
Debate
21 April 2026
4 contributions
Peter Mandelson: Government Appointment
There are many ways of developing a culture for how to run the Government in No. 10. I was a witness to that in the years from the financial crash through to the defeat of the Labour Government—between 2008 and 2010—when I saw a Prime Minister who would never have said in Parliament or privately tha…
Those two Prime Ministers in particular—the chaotic and the exotic—left this country in a disastrous situation. I do think that a Prime Minister who comes to the House and implies that he relies on a culture simply of process is mistaken. The Gordon Brown model, flawed as it was, will turn out to be…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
13 April 2026
Middle East
I echo the comments about the President’s statement on Easter Sunday, when he said that he could destroy a 2,500-year-old civilisation in an evening. Is it not clear that the strait of Hormuz was open before the President foolishly launched his illegal war? Will the Prime Minister say clearly that n…
Commons
Oral Questions
13 April 2026
2 contributions
Local Youth Services
12. What discussions he has had with local authorities on the adequacy of the provision of local youth services.
I thank the Minister for her response. In the austerity years, over £1 billion was taken out of youth services by the previous Government—that was shameful and damaging to the social fabric. The Minister has already indicated that we are beginning to tackle that legacy, but in mining communities, wh…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
25 March 2026
Engagements
Q7. Two members of the same family in my constituency recently suffered serious health problems. The NHS was there for them, as we would expect, and they are both hopefully on the road to recovery. The recently departed hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage) had a different idea, which was that we s…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
24 March 2026
Middle East: Economic Update
I welcome the Chancellor coming to the House as soon as possible to make a statement. On profiteering in the fuel sector, the last time there was a problem with oil prices was after the war began in the east, when the then Government, following their laissez-faire market policies, allowed prices to …
Commons
Debate
23 March 2026
Middle East
I join my right hon. Friend in paying tribute to members of the armed forces, and I acknowledge too the difficult path that he has to tread. The Government’s stated objective was to achieve de-escalation of this war led by diplomacy, yet the truth is that the US planes leaving British soil, which he…
Commons
Debate
10 March 2026
2 contributions
Courts and Tribunals Bill
When I was working for a living as a building worker, rather than being here, if there was a backlog of work, we were told to work through the night and at weekends, and on not very much additional pay. I wonder how it is that, today in our country, one tenth of all the courts are not even sitting, …
No. I have only five minutes, and I will have to move fast.
The Deputy Prime Minister did convince me, and I am sure all of us, that there is a backlog, and it is not reasonable or fair, in terms of justice, that people should wait so long. Obviously, today we have heard some very powerful speeches…
Commons
Oral Questions
Treasury
10 March 2026
Youth Unemployment: Autumn Budget 2025
The unemployment situation in my constituency and across the Yorkshire coalfield is becoming a crisis. There are 1,980 people out of work in my constituency and 70 job vacancies—that is almost 30 unemployed people pursuing every single job. No Labour Minister would ever say that employment is a pric…
Commons
Proceedings
5 March 2026
Business of the House
I welcome what the Leader of the House said about youth unemployment—it is essential that we tackle this problem. Unlike the Conservative party, which was happy to have 3 million people out of work under Mrs Thatcher, Labour must tackle unemployment. There is also the problem of graduate unemploymen…
Commons
Debate
23 February 2026
Schools White Paper: Every Child Achieving and Thriving
I heard today from one of my constituents who is struggling—in agony, almost—to get proper recognition of his children’s needs. When can he and everybody else expect to see results from the Secretary of State’s announcement? On the attainment gap, will she look particularly at the coalfield communit…
Commons
Oral Questions
23 February 2026
3 contributions
Labour Together and APCO Worldwide: Cabinet Office Review
May I put it to the Minister that a significant number of Ministers in this Government, including him, received large sums of money from Labour Together? I think he received almost £60,000.
The Minister is shaking his head. If what I have said is untrue, I withdraw it, but a number of Ministers did receive money. Did it not leave a bad taste in many people’s minds—if you can have a bad taste in your mind—that so many Ministers were standing in judgment on another Minister who had been …
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
10 February 2026
Ministry of Defence: Palantir Contracts
Given the scale of the contract—it is for almost a quarter of a billion pounds—and the fact that Mandelson had had a contract with Palantir, and attended a meeting in Washington with the Prime Minister and Palantir after he became the ambassador, questions inevitably arise. May I ask the Minister ex…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
29 January 2026
Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO Report
There are 300,000 WASPI women in Yorkshire and 6,500 in my constituency. In Yorkshire we believe that politicians should say what they mean and mean what they say. Labour opposed the proposal when it was first introduced. Our leading spokesman continued to say that Labour wanted to and would deliver…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
29 January 2026
Business of the House
I associate myself with the comments of the Leader of the House about Holocaust Memorial Day. Coming from a family with Jewish heritage, I feel that very strongly.
One of the worst aspects of the austerity years was the impact on young people. In a community such as mine of 23 separate mining villa…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
5 January 2026
Venezuela
The Foreign Secretary set three conditions for judging the transition: that it be peaceful, that it be compliant with international law and that it have the support of the Venezuelan people. All three of those conditions were broken by a lethal attack by a foreign power, planned not in Caracas but i…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
19 November 2025
Engagements
Q3. When the Conservatives were in government, they said that they would level up the country, but in fact they left the country divided. Austerity, de-industrialisation and stagnant wages all ripped the heart out of mining communities like the ones I represent. Everywhere we can see the legacy that…
Commons
Debate
13 November 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
The Minister is a very thoughtful individual, and he has a wide view of what is happening in the country. Housing is imperative, but in my constituency there was a proposal for 3,000 houses on what was effectively virgin land, and we established that the habitat of 32 rare and protected species woul…
Commons
Proceedings
16 October 2025
Business of the House
When a landfill operator fails to follow the rules that have been laid down to protect the environment and the community, it takes far too long for the Environment Agency to take enforcement action. In one case in my constituency, the company then declared liquidation in order, presumably, to avoid …
Commons
Oral Questions
16 October 2025
Topical Questions
I understand from a number of people who work at the National Coal Mining Museum for England in Wakefield that unfortunately there is an intractable dispute there. My constituents have asked me to put two questions to the Minister. First, will she say how proud we are as a country that we have a nat…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
15 October 2025
Pride in Place
The Featherstone people have great pride in their place, but they are also shrewd. They know that the Tories did austerity, trickle-down economics and cuts across the health service, so they will very much welcome this announcement. May I push the Minister a little bit further on the question of a n…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
10 September 2025
Engagements
Q8. This morning, I spoke to the parents of a young man who is unemployed in my constituency. There are 20 people on the dole in my area for every job that is advertised. Unemployment is a personal crisis and a social crisis. Will the Prime Minister join me in reminding the House that unemployment i…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
22 July 2025
Orgreave Inquiry
I very much welcome the Policing Minister announcing to the House the actions that the Government will be taking. I was active at the time of the miners’ strike, and I now represent 23 former mining villages. Many of the men I represent were at Orgreave, and if we were to take even a small sample of…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
21 July 2025
Independent Water Commission
It is correct to analyse the failure of the regulators and to seek to replace them, but I rather think the Secretary of State, or one of his successors, will be coming back to discuss ownership structures. After all, under Yorkshire Water—the first to pioneer hosepipe bans this year—the pipes are le…
Commons
Proceedings
12 June 2025
Business of the House
I very much associate myself with your comments about Kevin Sinfield, Mr Speaker, who is a hero for the whole nation and a great role model.
On the question of the north, the Leader of the House is right. In the great northern town of Featherstone, there is increasing irritation about the way in wh…