Commons
Ministerial Statement
15 January 2026
Business of the House
I thank the Leader of the House for this opportunity to ask a question about Bangladesh. The Chair of the Backbench Business Committee, the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman), has already referred to some of the issues. In the weeks leading up to the February 2026 parliamentary elections, th…
Commons
Proceedings
15 January 2026
Digital ID
Hopefully there will be easier questions for the Minister to answer in the time to come. This is issue is very important to my constituents; I get hundreds of emails about it. The response to the proposal of digital ID has been swift and intense, and the feelings on all sides of the community have n…
Commons
Oral Questions
Church Commissioners
15 January 2026
Christians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
It is important that worship is retained, but one of the reasons that people will stay is that they have jobs and opportunities. When I met some Church representatives last year, they said that people were leaving not just because of persecution, but because they had nothing to do work-wise. What is…
Commons
Oral Questions
15 January 2026
Youth Activities
It is important that we improve access to youth activities for young people, particularly because of the rise in their anxiety, depression and mental health—important issues. The rise in suicides among our young people worries me greatly, too, as I know it worries the Minister, and indeed us all. Wh…
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 January 2026
Food Inflation
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dame Siobhain. I say a big thank you to the hon. Member for Hornsey and Friern Barnet (Catherine West) for setting the scene, and to the right hon. Member for Salisbury (John Glen).
This is a very important debate, because so many families out there a…
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 January 2026
Gambling Harms: Children and Young People
It is a real pleasure, as always, to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I thank the hon. Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey (Kevin McKenna) for bringing this debate, for giving us lots of detail and information, and for giving us an opportunity to participate. I welcome the Minister and am gla…
Commons
Debate
14 January 2026
Oil Refining Sector
I also thank the hon. Member for bringing forward the debate. He is right to refer to the Lindsey oil refinery, but all of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is affected by the sector if we become vulnerable and reliant on foreign entities. Does he agree that for the nation’s e…
Commons
Debate
14 January 2026
Ukraine
Does the hon. Gentleman agree that there must be accountability for those Russians who have carried out massacres and raped, violently tortured and killed people, and they must be taken to court and put in prison?
Commons
Westminster Hall
14 January 2026
3 contributions
Horse and Rider Road Safety
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Dowd. I thank the hon. Member for Newbury (Mr Dillon), who I spoke to beforehand about the issue. He is absolutely on the button with what he has requested .
I am the MP for a rural constituency, and I live on a farm in the midst of the unmatchable…
Yes, but I will not give way again.
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
14 January 2026
UK-France Relations
I commend the hon. Gentleman on securing the debate. He talks about the relationship between the UK and France, and we have fought many battles against each other. However, we always remember that the last two battles we fought, we fought together, and we took on fascism across the world.
Does he a…
Commons
Westminster Hall
14 January 2026
2 contributions
Science and Discovery Centres
I apologise for not being here at the very beginning of the debate; as I explained to you, Mrs Harris, I was running late because I had a meeting with a Minister beforehand.
The hon. Gentleman is right to underline these issues, which affect not just England, but Scotland, Wales and Northern Irelan…
The hon. Gentleman is right to recall his youth and how his love of the countryside energised him to seek the job and life he wanted. Marine biology and local sea life can do something similar. In my earlier intervention on the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr (Steve Witherden), I mention…
Commons
Westminster Hall
14 January 2026
Factored Energy Arrangements: Pricing
I commend the hon. Gentleman for bringing forward this debate. He and I spoke beforehand, but he might not be aware that consumers with factored arrangements in Northern Ireland were historically vulnerable to high, unregulated prices, similar to consumers in GB, but the Northern Ireland Assembly mo…
Commons
Westminster Hall
14 January 2026
2 contributions
Ajax Programme
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stuart. I want to say a big thank you to the hon. Member for Huntingdon (Ben Obese-Jecty) for setting the scene incredibly well and providing lots of detailed information that is beyond my knowledge; hopefully he helped to set the scene for the Mini…
If he has not done the job, there should be no bonus. That would be the same for anybody, no matter who they are—you get a bonus because you do it right. But the Minister can perhaps answer that question better.
It is important that these issues have no knock-on effects on essential supplies gettin…
Commons
Debate
13 January 2026
2 contributions
Nigeria: Freedom of Religion or Belief
I commend the hon. Gentleman for securing this debate. The Government have made an excellent choice of him as their envoy, and God has chosen him for that position, which is more important than anything. Is he aware of the findings of the Global Christian Relief red list 2026, which identifies the t…
rose —
Commons
Debate
13 January 2026
Finance (No. 2) Bill
I appreciate the Minister giving way. I have noticed that more and more of my constituents are drinking non-alcoholic beer, and that there the number of people taking alcohol is reducing. That sometimes puts pubs under particular pressure, but people can still go out socialising and have a meal and …
Commons
Proceedings
13 January 2026
2 contributions
Storm Goretti
rose—
It certainly is, Madam Deputy Speaker. Last night you asked me whether I got home okay last Thursday—and I did, but by the skin of my teeth, because the winds were blowing the tail end of the plane. Although I got home from London City airport, many of my constituents did not get home from Heathrow,…
Commons
Proceedings
13 January 2026
Chinese Embassy
It is no coincidence that a week ago, a Protestant church in Chengdu, in Sichuan province in China, was raided by Chinese authorities. The pastor, the elders, and those who attended the church were arrested. What are the Government doing? The facts revealed in the plans for the embassy show a potent…
Commons
Westminster Hall
13 January 2026
4 contributions
Northern Ireland Political Institutions: Reform
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I thank the hon. Member for Lagan Valley (Sorcha Eastwood) for the way she presented the case. It is important that we do that in a measured way.
I was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for 12 years before I came to this place. Each of…
That is the issue; my hon. Friend puts it well. It is better to have it in the hands of local people.
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
13 January 2026
Arctic and High North
I commend the hon. Member for securing this debate. He is right to bring up the issue of melting ice: whether it be climate change or simply that the ice is melting, it is a key issue that cannot be ignored. The melting ice makes us more accessible, but we have forewarning, and to be forewarned is t…
Commons
Westminster Hall
13 January 2026
3 contributions
Airport Drop-off Charges
As always, Ms Vaz, it is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship. I thank the hon. Member for Bolton South and Walkden (Yasmin Qureshi) for leading today’s debate on this matter. It is an important issue, as others have said and will say after me.
Back home, this has been a topic of conversat…
I thank the hon. Member for sharing his experiences of Belfast City. It is a good airport, by the way. I am just saying, “Follow the rules, and make sure the timings are right.” The planes are sometimes cancelled, and more often than not they are delayed, which seems to be a fact of life now. Some m…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
13 January 2026
Academic Technology Approval Scheme
I thank the hon. Lady for always bringing forward incredibly important subjects, both to Westminster Hall and on the Floor of the House. Universities back home, such as Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University, have many ATAS students and researchers who study in sensitive areas such as scie…
Commons
Westminster Hall
13 January 2026
2 contributions
Universities: Statutory Duty of Care
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Christopher. I thank the hon. Member for Rushcliffe (James Naish) for setting the scene incredibly well. I want to give a Northern Ireland perspective to the debate. Education is devolved; the Minister is not responsible for it, but the issues are …
My hon. Friend is right. The best way to approach this may be in a pastoral way, reaching out and noticing things—not that I am better than anybody else, but I do tend to see the person and perhaps see what the issues are a bit more deeply.
In Northern Ireland, results day for the transfer test—the…
Commons
Debate
12 January 2026
Higher Education: Government Support
I commend the hon. Gentleman for securing this debate. I spoke to him beforehand to get the thrust of his comments. Does he agree that universities must cut domestic undergraduate numbers to absorb funding cuts, limiting local access to higher education, which is exacerbating the existing trend of y…
Commons
Debate
12 January 2026
4 contributions
Finance (No. 2) Bill
I thank the Minister for what he is putting forward. The OBR has said that some £55.5 billion will be raised, but the money is not coming from millionaires. It is coming from lower and middle-income families, which means that some 4.8 million more individuals will be paying the higher rate and some …
A valid point that my constituents have brought to my attention is that if they pay the higher rate of tax, tax on the interest from savings rises to 40%. Those who scrimp and save and put their money away for a rainy day will be penalised. Does the shadow Minister agree that that is absolutely immo…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
12 January 2026
Social Media: Non-consensual Sexual Deepfakes
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. The Secretary of State responded to another Member on the subject of Northern Ireland. Can she confirm that the Crime and Policing Bill will be modified to include Northern Ireland?