Commons
Westminster Hall
19 January 2026
3 contributions
Sale of Fireworks
It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Jardine. You were not here at the beginning, so you will not have seen that this was the most crowded Westminster Hall debate I have ever attended. It is a bit of a blast from the past to see Labour Members sitting on this side of the Chambe…
My hon. Friend mentioned drones, which I know can provide really spectacular sound and light shows, but I would be slightly nervous about endorsing the use of drones instead of fireworks. Richmond Park has some of the most contested airspace of anywhere in the country. We are very used to the impact…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
15 January 2026
2 contributions
Covid-19: Financial Support
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Stratford-on-Avon (Manuela Perteghella) for securing this debate and for her excellent opening speech, and I thank the Backbench Business Committee for giving us the time to debate this important topic.
Small businesses and self-employed people played a vital r…
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I wanted to reflect the value of the self-employed to our economy, and to reflect on how, as we learn the lessons from covid, that group of workers can be supported more broadly. That is a pressing issue for now, but I accept that we are debating what happened six ye…
Commons
Westminster Hall
13 January 2026
Airport Drop-off Charges
The hon. Lady is making an excellent speech; I am grateful that she has secured this debate. Airports are imposing drop-off charges primarily to increase profits, despite their stated claims of environmental benefits. On the point about transparency, when I inquired of Heathrow how many cars are usi…
Commons
Debate
12 January 2026
Finance (No. 2) Bill
I want to speak to amendments 42 to 47. The Bill fails to recognise the specific way in which family businesses are different from businesses whose shares can be traded. The tax changes announced at the 2024 Budget treat family businesses as though they are a liquid asset or as if their underlying v…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
7 January 2026
Engagements
Q2. The period after Christmas can be a challenging time for many people, and consequently the month of January consistently sees higher rates of suicide than other times of the year, but suicide is preventable and lives can be saved. Education, raising awareness and targeting vulnerable groups are …
Commons
Oral Questions
Energy Security and Net Zero
6 January 2026
2 contributions
Topical Questions
Mr Speaker,
“We owe it to future generations not just to have good environmental principles but to act on them. That is why I will be voting against the third runway at Heathrow”—
not my words, but the words of the Secretary of State in 2018. Given that Heathrow is already the biggest single sourc…
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I asked the Secretary of State a direct question about his former statements and how they conflict with current Government policy. Would you agree that the Secretary of State should have directly answered me?
Commons
Westminster Hall
6 January 2026
Future of Thames Water
My hon. Friend is giving an excellent speech on a topic that is very close to every Liberal Democrat heart. Thames Water is in £17 billion of debt, yet the company continues to progress with the Teddington direct river abstraction in my constituency, with a plant that would be operational for just s…
Commons
Westminster Hall
6 January 2026
Therapeutic Play and Children’s Healthcare
I thank the hon. Member for securing this important debate. Last year, two important reports were produced: “Mental health inpatient settings: overarching report of investigations directed by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care” and “Improving support for people with complex mental hea…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
17 December 2025
INEOS Chemicals: Grangemouth
I thank the Minister for advance sight of the statement. I welcome the Government’s announcement that they are stepping in to offer support and protect jobs in this vital industry. We have a duty to safeguard our national security and economic prosperity, and to ensure a fair transition to clean ene…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
17 December 2025
Local Government Finance
I am really concerned that the Government’s fair funding formula sells many London councils short, such as Richmond and Kingston in the area that I represent. The majority of London boroughs already have lower core spending power per capita than the England average, and several are among the lowest …
Commons
Debate
15 December 2025
4 contributions
Employment Rights Bill
Today we are debating the fourth round of consideration of Lords amendments to this Bill, and this long and protracted process says a lot about the way the Government have approached this legislation. The Bill was initially put together at great speed, missing much of the detail; there was a long se…
I am glad that the hon. Member has raised that. I was coming to that in my speech. Perhaps he could listen with a little more attention.
Employers have finally been given the necessary clarity to make hiring decisions with confidence, and we have avoided the danger of unnecessarily slowing down the…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
11 December 2025
Economic Growth
Thank you, Mr Speaker—I appreciate you giving me the time.
I listened carefully to the Minister’s response to my hon. Friend the Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse). Some £90 billion is being lost every year in tax receipts, 20,000 small firms have stopped all exports to the EU and 33% of currently tra…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
11 December 2025
Energy Costs
I wish to come in after question 6, Mr Speaker—apologies.
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
11 December 2025
Small and Medium-sized Businesses
The Government have repeatedly said that they would introduce permanently lower business rates. We were pleased to hear the Chancellor announce lower multipliers in the Budget, but the recently announced higher valuations will wipe out any benefit that businesses will get from the lower multipliers.…
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 December 2025
3 contributions
Fairtrade Certification
It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mrs Hobhouse. I thank the hon. Member for Glasgow North (Martin Rhodes) for his work in securing this debate and for his authoritative opening speech, which set out the case for Fairtrade with clarity and thoroughness. It was very impressive.
Fairtrade is a…
rose—
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
10 December 2025
12 contributions
Seasonal Work
It is a pleasure to speak in this debate. Training, hiring and retaining a skilled workforce are issues that affect businesses across the country. Many businesses, such as those in the farming and agricultural sectors, depend on recruiting the right people at the right time. Obstacles to hiring seas…
It is tragic to hear of the closure of my hon. Friend’s local organisation. Not only will local people be deprived of the opportunity to enjoy the services it provided, but young people will be deprived of the opportunity to take on their first job.
On the Employment Rights Bill, the Liberal Democr…
+10 more contributions in this session
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
10 December 2025
2 contributions
Engagements
Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 10 December.
A couple in my constituency fled persecution from the Egyptian authorities, who accused them of being traitors and terrorists due to their work as professional journalists. They gained refugee status here in 2021 and are now three months away from being eligible for indefinite leave to remain. The U…
Commons
Oral Questions
Women and Equalities
10 December 2025
2 contributions
Tackling Violence against Women and Girls
11. What steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for the Home Department to help tackle violence against women and girls.
Today marks the final day of the UN’s 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, which focused primarily on ending digital violence against women and girls. The domestic abuse charity Refuge has experienced a 62% increase in referrals of technologically facilitated abuse from last year. That…
Commons
Debate
8 December 2025
11 contributions
Employment Rights Bill
It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Angela Rayner).
As this Bill has progressed through Parliament, the Liberal Democrats have welcomed many of the principles underpinning it, and we are keen to see it progress. We welcome the fact that the Bill increases support…
Nobody is keener to see the Bill pass than the Liberal Democrats, and we have repeatedly worked with the Government to try to express our concerns. We would support the motion were it not for the lifting of the compensation cap being snuck in at the last minute. This last-minute change has not been …
+9 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
3 December 2025
Pension Schemes Bill
Does my hon. Friend agree that, although it is certainly advantageous to encourage pension funds to invest in the UK, mandation creates the risk of reducing returns on investments? Would it not be better to incentivise pension funds to invest more productively—in housing and social care—through the …
Commons
Proceedings
27 November 2025
3 contributions
Budget Resolutions
Families and businesses across the country will have heard yesterday’s Budget and been disappointed that the Government missed their second opportunity to seriously address some of the key issues we are facing. Energy bills remain sky high, the cost of employment continues to rise, and, with no subs…
Will the Minister give way?
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
25 November 2025
2 contributions
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
My constituency covers two local authorities: the Royal borough of Kingston upon Thames and the London borough of Richmond upon Thames. For a number of years, they have both operated a committee system that works extremely well; it is well accepted by the local community and both local authorities f…
On that point, will the Minister give way?
Commons
Oral Questions
25 November 2025
2 contributions
Topical Questions
T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
I congratulate the Secretary of State and the Department of Health and Social Care on the launch last week of the men’s health strategy. My constituent Philip Pirie, who sadly lost his son to suicide, has been calling on the Government to launch a public health campaign to reduce the stigma of suici…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
24 November 2025
Critical Minerals Strategy
I also thank the Minister for advance sight of the statement. Critical minerals are vital to national security, economic development, the green transition and regional prosperity. The Liberal Democrats believe that the UK must strengthen and regularly update its industrial strategy. The 2022 plan an…
Commons
Westminster Hall
19 November 2025
5 contributions
Suicide: Reducing the Stigma
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the matter of reducing the stigma associated with suicide.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Mundell, in this very important debate; I am grateful that time has been found for it. Suicide can be an extremely difficult topic for peop…
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that encouraging example of how taking steps to reduce the stigma around suicide can have a positive impact, and how we need a community approach to help reach out to all those people who might be struggling.
Although talking about mental health is becoming more …
+3 more contributions in this session