Commons
Westminster Hall
20 January 2026
3 contributions
Water (Special Measures) Act 2025: Enforcement
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Allin-Khan. I congratulate the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Tom Gordon) on securing this welcome and—particularly in my constituency—timely debate on regulation, public trust and customers’ experience.
I am participating on behal…
The hon. Gentleman is making a speech that I feel I could make. I feel deep sorrow for him and for his constituents. Given the amount of outages, it is very surprising that the crisis communication does not get any better. Water companies should be experts in it, but are clearly not. My concern is t…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
15 January 2026
Business of the House
Ofwat has thankfully moved from being “concerned” about repeated and widespread water outages in Sussex and Kent to taking action. Once again, this has significantly affected my constituents for the last five days in East Grinstead, Ashurst Wood and many Wealden villages. My constituents have seen t…
Commons
Proceedings
12 January 2026
2 contributions
Water Supplies: East Grinstead
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the ongoing interruption to water supplies in East Grinstead and the surrounding villages and support for people affected.
My condolences, Minister.
Again, we have no water across parts of Sussex and Kent. That is expected to continue at the very least until tomorrow in my area. Again, we have a shambolic response, with more than 16,000 households in East Grinstead, Ashurst Wood and some of my Wealden villages affected…
Commons
Oral Questions
Women and Equalities
10 December 2025
“Break Down Barriers to Opportunity” Mission
The founders of the Cambridge University Society of Women—Maeve, Serena and Thea—are in the Gallery today. They are backing free speech in safe women-only spaces and discussing women’s concerns such as pornography, female genital mutilation and misogyny. Would the Minister agree that, if the Labour …
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 December 2025
Water Scarcity
Weir Wood and Ardingly reservoirs in my constituency are covered by South East Water, which, out of the blue, wants to build an overland emergency pipe to improve water resilience, but there has been no consultation or engagement with businesses and residents even though the pipe will affect 58 resi…
Commons
Oral Questions
Wales
3 December 2025
Job Creation: Wales
The Office for National Statistics has revealed that a scandalous 1,000 jobs are being lost every single day across the country, meaning that Aston Martin is not immune to this Government’s economic recklessness and could soon be forced to make over 100 job losses because of the poor trade deal that…
Commons
Oral Questions
Wales
3 December 2025
2 contributions
Economic Growth
On Monday, it was delightful to observe the Chancellor and First Minister enjoying themselves in one of Wales’s premier hospitality venues, but we had an invisible Secretary of State for Wales once again. That venue is the type of business that must thrive if this Government are to have any chance o…
Clearly something more important than economic growth in Wales came up for Labour’s Wales Office. Can Ministers explain? The biggest rise in unemployment in the UK was in Wales, at 1.4%. Frankly, that is no surprise, given the Governments’ joint refusal to build the M4 relief road or the north Wales…
Commons
Debate
25 November 2025
2 contributions
Uckfield Community Hospital Surgical Unit
I start by thanking, through you, Madam Deputy Speaker, Mr Speaker for granting me this Adjournment debate. I know that it is unusual to allocate Adjournment debates to members of the shadow Cabinet, so I am grateful. I am delighted to be raising this important matter on behalf of my constituents. I…
It is a pleasure to receive an intervention from the hon. Gentleman in an Adjournment debate, and I completely agree. That is exactly what tonight’s debate is about, and I thank him for adding to it.
Without a dedicated Uckfield hospital manager to pull it all together, the site has become fragment…
Commons
Debate
20 November 2025
2 contributions
International Men’s Day
I thank the hon. Member for Cannock Chase (Josh Newbury) for leading this debate on International Men’s Day. He focused on wellbeing and modern masculinity. He was hugely brave and absolutely right when he said that no victim should not be able to speak out and seek justice. It was wonderful to hear…
My dad suffered from a head injury, so I was struck by the contribution of the hon. Member for Hitchin (Alistair Strathern) about that being an unseen issue, and I thank him for raising it. Headway was particularly brilliant in my father’s case.
Turning to how we talk about masculinity in a positiv…
Commons
Petition
19 November 2025
Proposed Development and Road Layout Changes in Crawley Down
I rise on behalf of the 279 petitioners from Crawley Down in my constituency of East Grinstead, Uckfield and the villages, and the further 370 who have signed the petition online. I present the petition especially on behalf of Joy, an elderly constituent who risks being cut off and isolated should t…
Commons
Proceedings
19 November 2025
2 contributions
Flooding: Monmouthshire
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if she will make a statement on the recent severe flooding impacting Monmouthshire and what support will be made available for those affected.
This weekend, tragic and heart-wrenching floods affected families and their loved ones, resulting in evacuation from their properties in Monmouth after the River Monnow burst its banks. That, in turn, has blighted businesses with devastating consequences. This horrific experience also hit hard nearb…
Commons
Oral Questions
Women and Equalities
5 November 2025
Violence against Women and Girls
This Government talk about better protection for women and girls while actively passing changes to our sentencing laws that disgracefully mean that more than 90% of grooming offenders and 60% of rapists sent to prison will get their prison time cut. Was there an assessment of the impact of those cha…
Commons
Westminster Hall
4 November 2025
Cross-border Healthcare
May I take a moment to say how pleased and honoured I am to respond to this important debate—we have heard why it is important—on behalf of His Majesty’s loyal Opposition, as the shadow Secretary of State for Wales? It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd.
I sincerely thank the h…
Commons
Proceedings
29 October 2025
Asylum Seekers: MOD Housing
Well, what a bolt from the blue! There has been huge concern throughout the Wealden district since the news broke of a “boats to barracks” plan in Sussex. The council leadership urgently needs to speak to local MPs, as do many other councillors, to assuage deep concerns about hundreds of asylum seek…
Commons
Oral Questions
Wales
29 October 2025
Asylum Seeker Accommodation
After wantonly scrapping the Rwanda scheme, the Labour Government are now overseeing record-breaking figures of illegal immigrants. It is reported that the scandal is now engulfing north Wales, where more than 200 illegal immigrants have tried to gain entry to the country on ferries from Dublin to H…
Commons
Oral Questions
Wales
29 October 2025
Economic Growth
Under the watch of the current Secretary of State, opportunities for young people are now unbelievably dire. Despite what she says, unemployment is rising and employment is falling, and that situation is not good enough for the next generation in Wales. Last week, my colleague, Darren Millar, who is…
Commons
Oral Questions
Wales
29 October 2025
Farmers: Inheritance Tax
I note that it takes three women to take me on now, but I very much welcome the Ministers to their places. Charles Rees, a fifth-generation Pembrokeshire farmer, has bravely and moving shared his battle with cancer on the BBC’s “Countryfile”, and I know this House will send him and his family our be…
Commons
Debate
23 October 2025
5 contributions
Black History Month
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I am very proud of my constituency neighbour; it is wonderful to see you in the Chair this afternoon. I am pleased to speak in this debate on behalf of His Majesty’s loyal Opposition.
This year’s Black History Month theme is “Standing Firm in Power and Pride”. It in…
It is a pleasure to respond to the debate on behalf of my party. I thank hon. Members for their powerful, important and wide-ranging contributions. It is clear that we share a commitment across the House to recognise the achievements of black Britons and to address the challenges that remain.
The C…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Proceedings
21 October 2025
Points of Order
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Following the points made by my right hon. Friend the Member for Salisbury (John Glen), despite the Safeguarding Minister’s best efforts to explain whether she is involved concerning the response to the urgent question that you have granted, Mr Speaker, I am genuinel…
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 September 2025
3 contributions
Neurodivergent People: Employment
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms McVey, and very good to see the Minister in his place after last week, when there were lots of changes. I thank the hon. Member for Ely and East Cambridgeshire (Charlotte Cane), who gave a brilliant opening speech in this important debate. All Me…
As well as the expert panel and the updates from the Buckland review, will the Minister undertake to use his good offices in the DWP and across government, including the NHS and other public sector employers, to ensure that the learning is used? As we have heard, it is tough in the wider labour mark…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Women and Equalities
3 September 2025
Topical Questions
Writer and comedian Graham Linehan was apparently arrested by five police officers at Heathrow, then questioned about three tweets that he says were based on his gender-critical views, a belief protected by the Equality Act 2010. Despite this Government’s claim to protect free speech, Mr Linehan has…
Commons
Oral Questions
Women and Equalities
3 September 2025
Maternity Care
Once again, this Labour Government have failed women and girls through their inaction and blinkered mindset on safety in their communities and their slow action on the 2024 birth trauma inquiry report by Theo Clarke and the hon. Member for Canterbury (Rosie Duffield). That report recommended a natio…
Commons
Oral Questions
16 July 2025
Cross-border Rail Connectivity
Let us have another reality check. Information provided to us by the Department for Transport confirms that Conservative expenditure on Welsh rail exceeded £5 billion over our time in office, underpinned by our plans to deliver the north Wales main line. Yet in a January sitting of the Welsh Affairs…
Commons
Oral Questions
16 July 2025
Industrial Strategy
Let us have some reality. Today, inflation hit 3.6%, the highest across the G7. This UK Labour Government have a glossy shine on their so-called industrial strategy, but it is simply proving that their actions and ethos deliver only worse outcomes for Wales. Businesses across Wales are now facing a …
Commons
Proceedings
23 June 2025
4 contributions
Pride Month
I thank the many hon. Members in the Chamber for their swift and heartfelt contributions; everybody contributed brilliantly. I also wish everyone a very happy Pride Month, including my constituents in East Grinstead, Uckfield and the villages.
The ethos of the Conservatives is exactly about meaning…
I think that hon. Members heard from the Conservative Front Bench a young man from Anglesey—my right hon. Friend the Member for Daventry (Stuart Andrew)—speaking very much about what the challenges were for him living in an isolated, rural area, just as we heard from the hon. Member for Ynys Môn (Ll…
+2 more contributions in this session