Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
2 July 2026
2 contributions
Topical Questions
There is a bit of an end-of-term feel in the House at the moment. I heard the Secretary of State set out his answer to his essay question, but I point out that UK business confidence is at a four-year low, unemployment is up, millionaires are fleeing, and the Department’s own figures show inward inv…
I do not know about you, Mr Speaker, but I did not hear a plan for improvement in that answer. I am afraid the mark is “must do better”.
Let us turn to another bit of the Secretary of State’s coursework in this failing end-of-term report. Will he agree today to compensate all the Horizon victims, a…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 July 2026
Flood Insurance: Reform of Flood Re
In West Worcestershire we have the River Severn, the River Avon, the River Teme and many brooks, so flooding is a perennial issue. Over the years, we have built many new flood defence schemes. I thank the Minister personally for her role in the Severn Stoke scheme, which is currently under construct…
Commons
Proceedings
30 June 2026
Steel Tariffs: Northern Ireland
I congratulate the hon. and learned Member for North Antrim (Jim Allister) on securing this urgent question. The Conservatives have made clear for a number of weeks how concerned we are about the incoming steel tariffs that will take effect tomorrow. We have heard from businesses, not just in Northe…
Commons
Proceedings
23 June 2026
3 contributions
Defence Spending and Readiness
Will the Minister give way?
Will the Minister give way?
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Proceedings
15 June 2026
Defence Investment Plan
On 1 July, the Trade Minister is slapping a 50% tariff on steel from many of our allies, much of which goes into the aerospace and defence supply chain. That will affect the cost of the defence investment plan. Will the Minister urgently review those tariffs and their impact on our defence spending?…
Commons
Debate
8 June 2026
4 contributions
Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill
I beg to move amendment 21, page 1, line 6, leave out “of or including” and insert “predominantly of”.
This amendment would narrow the definition of a steel undertaking so that it had to be a business consisting predominantly of the manufacture or processing of steel, or iron for the purposes or in…
If I may, I would also like to speak to the other amendments in my name and those of my hon. Friends, and, before I do that, approach the Bill with the serious concern it deserves. Today’s amendments reflect some of the points the Opposition made on Second Reading: that the Bill is a chaotic, unplan…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
21 May 2026
Steel Strategy
I will carry on with the same theme, because it is clear from all sides that there are real issues with the element of the steel strategy that imposes a 50% tariff on 1 July. It is affecting manufacturing businesses up and down this country, and it is being done in a way that not only threatens manu…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
21 May 2026
Employment Rights Act 2025
The Employment Rights Act is one of the reasons given by one in eight business leaders for considering leaving Britain. Indeed, 30% of the Sunday Times rich list have already fled this high-tax socialist Government. The family business tax is another. Will the Minister please lobby the Chancellor fo…
Commons
Debate
21 May 2026
Humble Address: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
I thank the Minister for advance sight of both the long and short versions of his statement. We support the Humble Address and continue to support full transparency in this matter. I have just a few questions.
I think the Minister said that this is just the start of a full disclosure. Will he share…
Commons
Debate
20 April 2026
Security Vetting
It seems to me that there are two different ways in which a Minister can inadvertently mislead this House: one is by the things that they say, and the other is by the things that they do not say. That is why I am particularly interested in the letter from Lord Case that my right hon. Friend the Memb…
Commons
Debate
13 April 2026
Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
I thank the Minister for confirming that this Parliament has not ratified the treaty. As Parliament and the British public heard more about the deal, one of the things they found most inexplicable was that it involved us paying a substantial amount of money—how much has not yet been confirmed to Par…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
13 April 2026
Middle East
When the Prime Minister was in the middle east, did the subject of the UK’s dependence on helium come up? It is an element that we do not produce in the UK, and it is vital for things such as MRI scans in the NHS.
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
25 March 2026
Engagements
Q9. The Prime Minister says that he is concerned about the cost of living, so can he explain why he allowed his Local Government Minister to give permission to Reform-led Worcestershire county council to inflict that 9% council tax hike on my constituents?
Commons
Ministerial Statement
24 March 2026
Middle East: Economic Update
Given the current crisis, does the Chancellor regret in her first Budget increasing unfunded borrowing by £150 billion over this Parliament, which the Office for Budget Responsibility said at the time was
“one of the largest fiscal loosenings of any fiscal event in recent decades”?
Commons
Debate
19 March 2026
UK Steel Strategy
I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of his statement. The Conservatives very much believe in a sovereign steel industry, but what we see today is a multibillion-pound shot in the dark, and it heralds the end of primary steel production in the UK. Just to set the record straight, there w…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
19 March 2026
International Development
Many of our constituents will want to react to this announcement today by increasing the amount of money they give. Will the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office continue to offer an aid match option? Given that 0.7% is still technically on the statute book, will the Foreign Secretary bring …
Commons
Westminster Hall
18 March 2026
Social Enterprises and Community Ownership
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir John. I, too, congratulate the hon. Member for Leigh and Atherton (Jo Platt) on securing this important debate.
I should declare that I was once on the board of the Social Investment Bank until 2012, and that my brother-in-law is chief executiv…
Commons
Westminster Hall
18 March 2026
2 contributions
Royal Mail: Performance
This has been an incredibly powerful debate. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Exmouth and Exeter East (David Reed) for securing the debate and my hon. Friends the Members for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Moore) and for Bromley and Biggin Hill (Peter Fortune) for their contributions. I also thank…
I look forward to the Minister responding to that, but I think we have heard today that even that weaker delivery obligation is not being met.
We also need to consider the wider business context that we are living in. Many businesses like Royal Mail have had to pay this additional jobs tax. The Emp…
Commons
Debate
16 March 2026
Heating Oil Support
I am curious about the details as I have been raising this issue on behalf of my constituents in West Worcestershire all week, many of whom rely on heating oil and liquefied petroleum gas. How much extra money is going into the crisis and resilience fund in West Worcestershire, and how will local au…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
12 March 2026
Job Creation
Of course, there are lots of well-paid jobs in the steel sector. In fact, the taxpayer is now subsidising every job at British Steel to the tune of £110,000. Can the Secretary of State update the House on how his negotiations are going with Jingye, and on when he will finally publish his long-awaite…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
12 March 2026
Private Sector Investment
There was a new private sector investor in the Royal Mail last year. As we heard yesterday in the House, the regulator has let the universal service obligation slip, so will the Minister update the House on how his colleague’s meeting with the regulator went yesterday?
Commons
Oral Questions
11 March 2026
2 contributions
Royal Mail: Universal Service Obligation
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for granting this urgent question. I congratulate the hon. Member for Blyth and Ashington (Ian Lavery) on securing it. We can see from the number of Members who are interested in this topic just how serious it is across all our constituencies. I can testify to the fact that I …
We can certainly now end by asking for the Minister’s plan in terms of—
Commons
Oral Questions
Treasury
10 March 2026
HMRC Approved Mileage Rates
The Chancellor will review mileage rates, but with her fuel duty freeze coming to an end in September and the next fiscal event not happening until later in the year, will she commit to review that decision at the end of this parliamentary Session if petrol prices are significantly higher than they …
Commons
Statutory Instrument
10 March 2026
2 contributions
Draft Employment Rights Act 2025 (Investigatory Powers) (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2026
It is an absolute honour to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stuart; you delivered the title of this legislation with a dryness that belies its purpose and impact on our economy. The instrument looks tiny—there is hardly anything in it—yet I am going to argue that the Committee should vote against …
I am genuinely shocked and surprised to hear the Liberal Democrat line, because I seem to remember when these investigatory powers—including the right to snoop on communications—were first brought in, the hon. Lady’s party was vehemently against them, yet here we are giving these powers to an agency…
Commons
Debate
9 March 2026
Middle East: Economic Update
The Chancellor has announced today that she is not really making any changes at this point, and that she is calling for a de-escalation. What would she say to my rural constituent who uses heating oil and has a virtually empty tank after a long winter, and is facing a 100% increase in the cost of he…