Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
2 July 2026
Topical Questions
T2. A small coach operator in my constituency of Blyth and Ashington has local authority school contracts, and he has seen the price that he pays for fuel increase by 38% per month, without any additional support from the council. What assessment has the Secretary of State made of the potential to e…
Commons
Westminster Hall
1 July 2026
MPs’ Second Jobs: Prohibition
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds East (Richard Burgon) for bringing this really important issue to the House. As ever, it is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Western.
Listen, it is not my intention to mention gold bullion dealers or Members who are making £22,500 an hour. …
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
22 June 2026
2 contributions
Teacher Recruitment and Retention
12. What steps her Department is taking to encourage teachers to remain in that profession.
The working lives of teachers and leaders study last year showed that almost three in 10 teachers were expecting to leave the profession in the next 12 months, and 90% of the people who have left or are intending to leave cite high workload and stress as the most common reason. There are more teache…
Commons
Debate
22 June 2026
2 contributions
British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme
A number of years ago, the Business and Trade Committee came forward with recommendations, which were totally ignored by the Government of the day. The Labour party has been in office for just under two years and has made tremendous strides, which has had a huge impact on members of both schemes. Do…
I should declare an interest, as probably the only deferred member of the mineworkers’ pension scheme left in the Commons. There is a perception that the Government treat the BCSSS differently from the MPS. There is a belief that some have received preferential treatment—better treatment than others…
Commons
Oral Questions
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
16 June 2026
2 contributions
Strait of Hormuz
10. What diplomatic steps her Department is taking to help ensure freedom of navigation through the strait of Hormuz.
They say the devil is in the detail. While we await the full details of the US-Iran agreement, does the Secretary of State agree that, had we followed the calls from Opposition Members to rush into war, it would only have prolonged the conflict and caused more financial misery to our constituents? D…
Commons
Debate
3 June 2026
2 contributions
General Strike Centenary Commemorations
I declare an interest, as I spent most of my life—31 years—in the coal industry before I became a Member of Parliament. I believe I am the only coalminer in the Commons who worked under the North sea. In this place, we had 70 to 80 miners representing the Labour party at one time—it is strange how t…
All they wanted was dignity, an existence, food and a roof over their heads:
“Not a penny off the pay, not a minute on the day.”
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 June 2026
Workplace Exposure to Silica Dust
Thank you, Dr Allin-Khan. As always, it is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship. I congratulate the hon. Member for Eastleigh (Liz Jarvis) on securing this timely debate on a really serious issue, and on making a very strong speech.
This debate is on silica dust in the workplace, which cause…
Commons
Oral Questions
23 April 2026
Business of the House
Changes to Northumberland county council’s council tax support scheme have left some low-income residents in my constituency facing unaffordable increases, some of nearly £100 per month. Those impacted are the most vulnerable in our communities. Can the Leader of the House imagine what it is like, w…
Commons
Oral Questions
23 April 2026
Contaminated Blood: Compensation
I thank my right hon. Friend for the sterling work he has done on this scandal. As mentioned by those on the Opposition Benches, there are still real issues that need to be worked on. The infected blood community have huge concerns about the stringent evidence required for severe psychological harm …
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 April 2026
3 contributions
Single Status of Worker
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, as ever, Mr Efford. I refer to my declaration of interests on my trade union membership and trade union support in the general election.
The Conservative ethos of unhindered market determination meant that historical antagonism to the trade unions,…
I fully agree with the sentiments outlined by my hon. Friend.
I will move on to a summary of the legal rights denied to people classified as workers under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 and the Employment Rights Act 1996: protection against unfair dismissal after six …
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
14 April 2026
Topical Questions
The infected blood inquiry recommended action to protect the safety of haemophilia care, but there is mounting concern among clinicians and patients alike that recommendation 9 is not being implemented. Will the Minister meet me and members of the all-party parliamentary group on haemophilia and con…
Commons
Oral Questions
23 March 2026
Topical Questions
T4. Northumbria police have announced that they had to close the custody suite in Bedlington in my constituency. That means that anybody arrested in south-east Northumberland will have to travel to the city of Newcastle for a custody suite. That will ultimately reduce frontline policing in the alrea…
Commons
Oral Questions
23 March 2026
Shop Theft
Last week, I met the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers, which informed me of increased levels of violence, abuse and intimidation in shops and the retail industry. That includes violence and spitting in people’s faces—horrible crimes. Will my hon. Friend say what measures the Government…
Commons
Westminster Hall
18 March 2026
Royal Mail: Performance
I want to put on the record my sincere thanks to the posties in my patch. The Blyth and Ashington sorting offices have been absolutely brilliant.
This issue has been raised before, and we are raising it again today. The people at the pick point—the people on the factory floor and the people in the …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
12 March 2026
Business of the House
Silicosis is a particularly nasty, debilitating respiratory disease. Alarmingly, it is on the increase in the UK, predominantly in young people between the ages of 20 and 30, so we really need to look at it. It is a preventable disease. The reason it is escalating is the increase in dry cutting of e…
Commons
Oral Questions
11 March 2026
2 contributions
Royal Mail: Universal Service Obligation
(Urgent Question): To ask what assessment the Minister has made of the impact of Royal Mail’s failure to meet its universal service obligation on service users’ wellbeing and on the company’s recent decision making, which has contributed to this situation.
I thank my hon. Friend for his answer, but this goes beyond the delay of a few inconsequential letters. It is not simply a case of receiving post; it is about that being timely and about sending post as well. In my constituency, these failures have led to people missing medical appointments and havi…
Commons
Debate
10 March 2026
Courts and Tribunals Bill
Many of my constituents tell me that they are disillusioned with politics and the institutions that shape their lives. They feel alienated, with the system appearing remote, unresponsive and unaccountable—here we are again. I fear that my right hon. Friend the Justice Secretary’s proposals to limit …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
10 March 2026
Digital ID: Public Consultation
The general public need to be on board with this or it will be a complete and utter failure. When it comes to the most deprived and those who lack the technological abilities to access these systems, what is my right hon. Friend going to do to make sure he can bring people onside, so that this schem…
Commons
Debate
23 February 2026
Schools White Paper: Every Child Achieving and Thriving
Every MP in the House will have had parents explain the difficulties they face accessing support for their children. They are on their knees; they are desperate; they are distraught. The system is adversarial and quite often has a negative end result. Will my right hon. Friend advise me and reassure…
Commons
Oral Questions
23 February 2026
Labour Together and APCO Worldwide: Cabinet Office Review
I am curious—I am not sure who Labour Together are, what it is, or what its purpose is. I have no idea whatsoever; however, if we believe—and I do not—everything that we read in the newspapers, there have been very serious allegations. It has been suggested that more than 100 Labour MPs have receive…
Commons
Westminster Hall
4 February 2026
2 contributions
Civil Service Pension Scheme: Administration
It is a pleasure, as ever, to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Lewell. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool North and Fleetwood (Lorraine Beavers) on securing this important debate. I declare my interest as a trade union member, and refer to the fact that I received support from t…
I totally agree with my hon. Friend. I will refer to three of my constituents. Mr Brown, from Bedlington, who retired in December and cannot get any response whatsoever to his inquiries. Mr Newell, who worked in the civil service for 40 years and has a number of questions regarding Capita, which I w…
Commons
Oral Questions
Justice
3 February 2026
Topical Questions
Prison officers face appalling levels of violence at work every day, but their hands are tied because of the Tory ban on any kind of industrial action—they cannot resist. Does the Minister agree that prison officers should have the legal right to withdraw their labour and to take industrial action t…
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 February 2026
Indefinite Leave to Remain
I was at the same conference. There is a real issue with certificates of sponsorship because of abuse and exploitation. Does my hon. Friend agree that the certificates of sponsorship should be decoupled from employers, to avoid any exploitation by bad employers?
Commons
Ministerial Statement
22 January 2026
Business of the House
Posties deliver our post and keep this country functioning. They do an absolutely tremendous job. It is an essential public service, and at the heart of it is the USO—the universal service obligation, which is a legal duty to ensure the delivery of mail to all UK addresses at the same price six days…
Commons
Oral Questions
Cabinet Office
22 January 2026
2 contributions
Government Decision Making: Transparency
5. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to improve transparency in Government decision making.
With public trust in politics at an all-time low, I am grateful that the Government are implementing the Hillsborough law, and clearly the duty of candour should be extended to all public servants. Speaking truth to power is central to our democracy and to global democracy. Does the Minister agree t…