Commons
Proceedings
10 June 2026
Defence Investment Plan
It is pretty extraordinary to see the partisan way in which the Minister has approached every single question. He has been completely incapable of giving this House, or indeed Mr Speaker, the assurance asked for on multiple occasions, and that only leads us to assume that he is hiding the untruth, w…
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
1 June 2026
Topical Questions
I associate myself with the words of the Chair of the Defence Committee on the need to get to 3%. Given that we are one of only two countries in the European continent to run a nuclear programme, does the Secretary of State agree that, if we knock out the nuclear programme, we are actually spending …
Commons
Debate
15 April 2026
5 contributions
Pension Schemes Bill
I am grateful to be called to speak in this debate. Sadly, it reflects the interests of Members that so few of us are here for a debate about one of the most important elements affecting the future of our constituents, friends, neighbours and, in fact, ourselves. Pensions are rather more than just a…
One of the challenges with defined contribution schemes is that so many of them are parcelled out in much smaller volumes than one would like, and when one compares them with, for example, Canada or Australia, we see superfunds in certain countries and not in the UK. While the Minister is correct th…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
15 April 2026
Strategic Defence Review: Funding
It is deeply unedifying to hear the Minister and others playing political games on a matter of national security. We can all look at the past; I can tell the Minister about the body armour that I had to give to somebody else for the invasion of Iraq because we did not have enough in 2003. I can poin…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
13 April 2026
Middle East
May I quote the Prime Minister? He told us just a few moments ago that energy bills will “stay down until July”. He also correctly said that
“we do not set the global price for oil and gas”.
Is the Prime Minister making an enormous gamble on the energy price? How much money has he set aside in ord…
Commons
Proceedings
24 March 2026
Oil and Gas
There seems to be a complete failure to understand how the gas market works. It works on piped gas, on local markets and on an integrated supply and consumption system, yet the Minister is addressing it as though it involves shipped oil. It is not the same market, yet he is dealing with it as though…
Commons
Westminster Hall
24 March 2026
4 contributions
Water Supply and Housing Targets: West Kent
I beg to move,
That this House has considered water supply and housing targets in west Kent.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir John—not for the first time or, I certainly hope, the last. What is less pleasurable is having no water coming out of your taps. Sadly, that could be …
It is no surprise to me that this issue applies across the whole of the United Kingdom. I very much welcome the hon. Gentleman’s intervention.
One thing that the Government have not changed, but ought to change, is the position of water companies in planning. Somewhat strangely, water companies are…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
23 March 2026
2 contributions
Puberty Blockers Clinical Trial
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Mundell. We should start off by recognising that the life choices that adults make, in whatever way they make them, are to be respected and not criticised. This matter is not in any way a criticism of anybody who chooses a trans identity or who iden…
I will not. Whatever the views of people in this room, there is a second element that this Government must consider. We are already seeing honourable individuals like Keira Bell who have raised the problem of detransitioning, and we are seeing the legal costs of their actions against the state. What…
Commons
Oral Questions
19 March 2026
Topical Questions
T4. I was wondering whether the Minister has had a chance to speak to her colleague the Housing Secretary about the different pressures that water is having on housing demand in Kent. If she had spoken to Tonbridge and Malling council and South East Water, she would have heard that the planned house…
Commons
Debate
17 March 2026
Middle East
I wonder whether the Foreign Secretary, in all her travels, has been considering the effects on the United Kingdom, and not just on energy prices but on fertilisers. Has she, by any chance, engaged in any conversations with countries that are some of the world’s biggest suppliers of fertilisers, suc…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
17 March 2026
Meningitis Outbreak
I thank the Secretary of State and the medical teams who have responded incredibly quickly, particularly UKHSA, which has done a phenomenal job in tracing and in making sure that we have preparations in place. There are lessons to be learned, but we will park that for a moment.
May I ask about the …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
12 March 2026
Defending Democracy Taskforce
I thank my friend the Minister for his kind words. I also extend praise to Lord Case, who was so important in setting this taskforce up as Cabinet Secretary. The Minister was absolutely right to mention Jo Cox and Sir David Amess, both of whom were in my mind at various different points when the tas…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
12 March 2026
2 contributions
Business of the House
Declare your interest!
Will the Leader of the House grant Government time to debate the state of our telephone networks? It cannot be only in Tonbridge that we have noticed that connectivity has gone down. While residents may see that they have full bars on 4G, they in fact have no ability to get any data. This problem ha…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
12 March 2026
Topical Questions
T7. Would the Secretary of State care to join me for a pint of Larkins in Kent, where we can discuss the effect of his business rate relief on small businesses? The high streets in Tonbridge, Edenbridge and Borough Green are doing as well as they can, but they are struggling, and one of the reasons …
Commons
Oral Questions
11 March 2026
Royal Mail: Universal Service Obligation
Just recently, Royal Mail in Tonbridge introduced a new working model that has been, quite frankly, an abject failure. I welcome the hon. Member for Blyth and Ashington (Ian Lavery) asking this urgent question, because this is quite clearly a matter for not just one constituency or community, but th…
Commons
Debate
9 March 2026
Middle East: Economic Update
Will the decisions that the Chancellor is making about the strategic reserve being used for defence include consideration about the availability of funding for the Royal Navy to prepare warships to go to sea? There has been rumour over the past few days that one reason why one of His Majesty’s ships…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
2 March 2026
Middle East
For those of us who were ready to go into Iraq just over 20 years ago, the comparisons between this situation and that vote are absolutely zero. The reality is that nobody is talking about ground troops or a land invasion; we are talking about striking those that are targeting our friends and allies…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
11 February 2026
Engagements
Does the Prime Minister share with me the concern that while some ambassadors retiring in disgrace get tens of thousands of pounds in pay-offs, many other civil servants are failing to get the retirement that they are due and are expected to turn to their old Departments for bridging loans? This is …
Commons
Oral Questions
9 February 2026
Jimmy Lai: Prison Sentence
Many of us in this House were sanctioned by China, and the Prime Minister went over and somehow managed to sell the partial un-sanctioning of a few of us as a victory. I would have welcomed a victory that was the release of Jimmy Lai, but sadly the Prime Minister conceded all his cards before gettin…
Commons
Debate
3 February 2026
4 contributions
Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill
I am slightly surprised that the hon. Gentleman is claiming that less is taken off them. Student loans, which could have received this £3 billion that this change will cost, are effectively taxing young people at 70% or 71%. Does he not think that that tax rate is high enough?
I have heard so many well motivated and moving stories about human misery, and the truth is those are the stories of our country. Those are the stories of a country that has tried for over 100 years to introduce a social welfare service to look after the poorest in our community and to do the best f…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
2 February 2026
US Department of Justice Release of Files
There are two issues here, one of which is the connection of a Member of the House of Lords to a convicted paedophile, but let us not forget that he is not the only recent Labour appointee who has been connected to a convicted paedophile; Lord Matthew Doyle, who was appointed only recently, has also…
Commons
Debate
2 February 2026
3 contributions
China and Japan
They went on their feet, not on their knees. [Laughter.]
I am sorry, Mr Speaker. I withdraw it.
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
26 January 2026
4 contributions
Armed Forces Bill
I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for those words. Will he associate himself with the Canadian, Danish, French, Australian and New Zealand armed forces, and those from many other countries around the world, who served alongside us in that NATO operation? They stood by us, even though article 5 do…
It is a great privilege to speak in this debate. Unusually, I pay tribute to the Minister for Veterans and People, the hon. Member for North East Derbyshire (Louise Sandher-Jones), who could be sporting the same colours as me. As a fellow veteran from the finest corps in the country, she will no dou…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Transport
8 January 2026
Topical Questions
I wonder whether the Secretary of State could update the House on the plans to connect Tonbridge to Gatwick through the rail network. As she knows, there have traditionally been links in that direction and it requires only a very minor change to the timetable to make it work. If she wanted, she coul…