Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
12 March 2026
Job Creation
Research from the Entrepreneurs Network shows that 54% of Britain’s 100 fastest growing companies have a foreign-born founder or co-founder. International entrepreneurs play a vital role in driving innovation, investment and job creation across the UK, yet this Government are recklessly introducing …
Commons
Westminster Hall
12 March 2026
Marriage Regulations
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Christopher. I congratulate the right hon. Member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (David Mundell) on securing this debate, which has made me reflect on the hurdles I had to overcome to get married.
I am a Roman Catholic; my husband is …
Commons
Oral Questions
11 March 2026
Royal Mail: Universal Service Obligation
In each year since 2023, Royal Mail has been fined by Ofcom over delivery delays, amounting to nearly £40 million. Following recent announcements, it would not surprise me if it were fined again in 2026. When Royal Mail was reprimanded in 2023 and 2024, its leadership promised that reforms would be …
Commons
Statutory Instrument
10 March 2026
3 contributions
Draft Employment Rights Act 2025 (Investigatory Powers) (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2026
I was not planning to make a speech, but since the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for West Worcestershire, said she plans to vote against this statutory instrument and invited me to join her, I feel I should get some remarks on the record on behalf of my party. I thank her for her kind invitation,…
I hear the hon. Lady, but I repeat what I said: the setting up of the Fair Work Agency is an important step towards ensuring that employees can assert their rights in the workplace and that employers will not be burdened unduly with the costs of tribunals. That is why the Liberal Democrats have supp…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
3 March 2026
Spring Forecast
In the three months to December, unemployment reached 5.2%, the highest rate for nearly five years, and youth unemployment has hit a staggering 16%. Training, hiring and retaining a skilled workforce are issues affecting businesses of all kinds across the country. The 2024 Budget added over £5 billi…
Commons
Debate
2 March 2026
Representation of the People Bill
I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way. Does she not agree that, since the House voted in favour of my Elections (Proportional Representation) Bill which I presented in December 2024, and since the Labour party voted overwhelmingly for a motion to bring in proportional representation at…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
2 March 2026
Middle East
The people of Iran have suffered decades of atrocities under the rule of an oppressive regime. However, as we have seen from Iraq and Libya, the removal of an evil head of state without a future plan for governance can lead to countries becoming failed states. While I welcome the Prime Minister’s re…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
25 February 2026
2 contributions
Post Office Green Paper
indicated dissent .
I thank the Minister for advance sight of his statement, and I promise to set a good example for colleagues by keeping my response brief.
As the Minister has laid out, the responses to the consultation underscored the importance of post offices as community hubs that provide vital services, not lea…
Commons
Oral Questions
23 February 2026
Labour Together and APCO Worldwide: Cabinet Office Review
The Liberal Democrats are appalled by reports of smear tactics being used by the party that came into government with a promise to clean up politics following a decade of sleaze under the Conservatives. Investigative journalists have a vital role to play in holding Governments and commercial entitie…
Commons
Oral Questions
Housing, Communities and Local Government
23 February 2026
2 contributions
Building Safety Regulator
10. What recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Building Safety Regulator.
The Mayor of London has set a target of building 88,000 new homes in London a year over the next decade. However, recent figures show that construction began last year on only 5,891. Over the past two years, construction of new builds has fallen by 85% for affordable homes and 94% for council housin…
Commons
Westminster Hall
12 February 2026
4 contributions
Onshoring: Fashion and Textiles
It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Ms Jardine—there is nobody better to chair a debate on fashion, if I may say so. I thank the hon. Member for Hornsey and Friern Barnet (Catherine West) for her excellent opening speech and all the wonderful points she made. I want to get slightly competitive…
The Minister’s sedentary intervention gives me a good opportunity to say that the hand knitting industry supports many jobs in many rural areas, right across the country, including Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. However, I have spoken to the people who own Knit With Me, the amazing knitting s…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
10 February 2026
2 contributions
UK Emissions Trading Scheme
5. If he will update the UK emissions trading scheme to reflect the carbon abatement costs of major projects.
Last week the Government updated their carbon values to reflect their latest net zero emission target, but the UK emissions trading scheme does not take into account the updated figures. In 2021, it was predicted that carbon abatement for a third runway at Heathrow would cost £100 million, and costs…
Commons
Debate
5 February 2026
2 contributions
Road Safety
I congratulate the hon. Member for Shipley (Anna Dixon) on securing this important debate and sharing her own family’s story. I dedicate my speech to a close and dear friend, a councillor in Richmond upon Thames, who lost her adult son in a road traffic collision on the A31 in Hampshire just before …
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman; it is tragic to hear about all those lives lost.
Consulting on measures to reduce the number of accidents involving young people is a really positive step. Not only is it vital for the obvious safety reasons, but it will make driving more affordable if insurance…
Commons
Oral Questions
5 February 2026
2 contributions
Water Bills
5. What steps she is taking to help reduce water bills.
Thames Water’s typical metered charges increased by 40.7% this financial year, and prices will rise again each year until 2030. While our water companies have been mismanaged and reform to bring down the cost of bills is needed, more can be done to encourage customers to meter their water usage. The…
Commons
Westminster Hall
4 February 2026
2 contributions
Postal Services: Rural Areas
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer. I thank the hon. Member for South Shropshire (Stuart Anderson) for securing the debate and for his excellent opening speech, which highlighted so many of the everyday frustrations and difficulties experienced by people who are not getti…
My hon. Friend is right. We have talked a lot today about the implications for individuals and I particularly want to highlight the example from my hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (John Milne). That was really appalling and I send my best wishes to his constituent who suffered that unacceptable i…
Commons
Oral Questions
Justice
3 February 2026
Topical Questions
T4. One of my constituents is the director of a small property company that commenced the eviction process nearly a year ago against a tenant who had not been paying their rent, but due to court errors, enforcement has not yet taken place. The delays have cost my constituent over £6,000. During a ho…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
29 January 2026
Hospitality Sector
The heavy burden of Labour’s national insurance contributions rise, compounded by high energy costs and the business rates increase, has raised alarm about the affordability of hospitality businesses’ monthly employment costs. Some 84,000 jobs in the hospitality sector alone have been lost since the…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
29 January 2026
3 contributions
Trade with the EU
Liberal Democrats are calling for a new UK-EU customs union—
Still! That would cut red tape for businesses across the country, boost growth by more than 2.2% and raise at least £25 billion a year in tax revenue. The Prime Minister’s chief economic adviser has recommended a customs union with the EU as one of the most effective ways of generating growth, the H…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
28 January 2026
7 contributions
Youth Unemployment
Youth unemployment has risen since Labour took power. The rate is now above 15%, which means that more than one in seven 18 to 24-year-olds are not in employment. That is a really troubling statistic, but it has its roots in the Conservatives’ dismal economic record. The economic challenges we face …
My hon. Friend is right. Young people face so many barriers to accessing both education and employment, and that is very much a legacy of the last Conservative Government and their mismanagement.
Young people are increasingly concerned about the fact that the links between education and employment …
+5 more contributions in this session
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
28 January 2026
Engagements
Q9. A month ago today, protests erupted across Iran. In response, the Iranian Government launched a deadly crackdown. They fired indiscriminately on protesters, and they shut off internet access to hide what they were doing from the outside world. In April 2024, the then shadow Home Secretary, who…
Commons
Oral Questions
Cabinet Office
22 January 2026
2 contributions
Topical Questions
T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
In his speech this week, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster set out his plan for the future of the civil service, in which he envisioned further sackings in a digital transformation. Last week, we saw the untested and potentially dangerous nature of artificial intelligence when the chief const…
Commons
Debate
20 January 2026
Sentencing Bill
I just want to take this opportunity to say my personal thanks to the Minister and everybody involved in bringing the legislation to this stage. I pay tribute once again to my constituent Juliana Terlizzi, who came to see me when she was charged £7,000 for the transcript of the trial that saw her ra…
Commons
Westminster Hall
20 January 2026
Domestic Abuse-related Deaths: NHS Prevention
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir John. I congratulate the hon. Member for Stroud (Dr Opher) on securing this important debate. He is a real champion for the NHS, and it is a benefit to all of us that he brings his former experience as a GP to bear in this debate.
The NHS has m…
Commons
Proceedings
19 January 2026
Business Rates: Retail, Hospitality and Leisure
The Government have already imposed additional employment costs on our small businesses and those on our high streets. They are still struggling with sky-high energy costs that the Government have yet to alleviate, and now we have these massive increases in business rates. Is there anything at all t…
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
19 January 2026
2 contributions
Children’s Care Home Providers: Financial Oversight
15. Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill on levels of financial oversight for children’s care home providers.
Last Friday, the Public Accounts Committee, of which I am a member, published its report into the financial sustainability of children’s homes. The report highlights that there is very little financial and governance oversight of private companies, which run 84% of children’s homes in the UK. Given …