Commons
Ministerial Statement
13 November 2025
Police Reform
In my constituency of Richmond Park, our policing force has been decimated. We used to have three police stations, and now we have none. The next nearest police station is facing the closure of its front counter, and the Royal Parks police force has been scrapped. People in my constituency have no f…
Commons
Debate
12 November 2025
Taxes
Does my hon. Friend agree that interest rates shot up in the way he has just described as a direct result of that mini-Budget three years ago, and that that is precisely why the taxpayer is now paying such large interest rate payments to the banks? Is it not therefore right that the Conservative par…
Commons
Debate
5 November 2025
6 contributions
Employment Rights Bill
It is a real pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Angela Rayner) and hear her passionate advocacy for this Bill.
The Liberal Democrats support many of the principles of this Bill. We have long advocated for strengthening employment rights in several ways, including by inc…
The point has been made on a number of occasions that it is always possible for employers to make mistakes in their hiring—for people to not be the right fit for the job. There should be a straightforward way for those employers to dismiss those people without being challenged on the basis that the …
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
4 November 2025
13 contributions
Supporting High Streets
The current landscape is extremely challenging for high street businesses. I am sure that Members across the House have heard from countless local businesses in their constituencies, on their high streets and in the hearts of their communities about the challenges they face—from the Government’s nat…
The Liberal Democrat plan aims to halve energy bills within the decade by scrapping the link between gas and electricity prices. We have a positive plan to make a real difference to energy prices for households and businesses.
I wonder whether the Conservatives have really learned the lesson from t…
+11 more contributions in this session
Commons
Proceedings
30 October 2025
Points of Order
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. In July, a Treasury Minister agreed to meet me about the closure of the Lending Standards Board ahead of the launch of the ethnicity code. This meeting was scheduled to take place in September, but was cancelled due to the Government reshuffle. Despite an i…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
30 October 2025
Topical Questions
Businesses across the country are struggling with unaffordable energy costs. The burden of this Government’s national insurance contributions rise and uncertainty over the Employment Rights Bill are compounded by the immense struggle caused by sky-high energy bills. I urge the Government to act with…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
30 October 2025
Industrial Strategy
I also welcome the ministerial Front Benchers to their new roles. The Liberal Democrats have long championed an industrial strategy. In government, we created the Green Investment Bank, the British Business Bank and the regional growth fund, and we opposed the Conservative Government’s damaging deci…
Commons
Westminster Hall
27 October 2025
2 contributions
Statutory Maternity and Paternity Pay
It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairmanship for the first time, Mrs Hobhouse. I thank the hon. Member for Burton and Uttoxeter (Jacob Collier) and the Petitions Committee for this debate. As a survivor of three maternity leaves—all on statutory pay—a c-section and a spell in the neonatal …
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. The Liberal Democrats support measures that work to strengthen employment rights. We welcome aspects of the Employment Rights Bill, such as boosting statutory sick pay, strengthening support for whistleblowers and increasing support for carers, all of…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
22 October 2025
Heathrow: National Airports Review
The DFT’s own updated appraisal report shows that the economic benefits of a third runway are either exaggerated or misguided. The Labour Government are yet to produce their economic analysis. Meanwhile, Heathrow Airport Ltd is in more than £15 billion-worth of debt and its own proposal has increase…
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 October 2025
2 contributions
Co-operative Sector: Government Support
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. I thank the hon. Member for Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton (Jim McMahon) for his work in securing this important debate. It has been a real pleasure to hear contributions from all the Labour and Co-operative party Members this afterno…
That is really good to hear, as it is a good example of how the co-operative movement promotes innovation, particularly in promoting wider social participation. However, the fact that we have to have innovative schemes driven by the co-operative sector points to the challenges that so many people fi…
Commons
Oral Questions
16 October 2025
Topical Questions
T5. People across the UK are suffering in silence with gambling addictions. The proliferation of online betting has only added to the issue, as people are able to wager more money than they can afford with just a click on their phone screen. Will the Minister speak to her colleague the Chancellor …
Commons
Debate
15 October 2025
Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill
New clause 2, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Didcot and Wantage (Olly Glover), would require the Government to publish a report within six months of securing the supply of bioethanol for sustainable aviation fuel production. The Government have repeatedly cited the increased use of SAF as t…
Commons
Westminster Hall
16 September 2025
Employment Rights: Impact on Businesses
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. I thank the hon. Member for Spelthorne (Lincoln Jopp) for securing this debate. The Liberal Democrats support measures that work to strengthen employment rights, so yesterday we welcomed aspects of the Employment Rights Bill, such as bo…
Commons
Debate
15 September 2025
11 contributions
Employment Rights Bill
It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Ellesmere Port and Bromborough (Justin Madders), and to hear his passion for the Bill; I wish him every success. I also welcome the new Secretary of State for Business and Trade to his place. I look forward to opposing him.
The Liberal Democrats suppor…
If the hon. Lady supported Lords amendment 1, the catering worker would have a right to request, and could get the certainty she requires. The amendment would very much offer that right, which she currently does not have, but it would also mean there was no requirement on the employer to maintain re…
+9 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
8 September 2025
3 contributions
Indefinite Leave to Remain
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Jeremy. I congratulate the hon. Member for South Norfolk (Ben Goldsborough) on his excellent opening remarks and welcome the Minister to his role. I hope he is enjoying his first day in the job.
Like many Members, I have heard from constituents…
My hon. Friend is exactly right. This is not just about the residents themselves; it is also about their employers, the places that they work and the wider economy.
My residents in Richmond Park are rightly concerned about how these changes could affect their lives, the lives of their children and …
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
4 September 2025
House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill
The Liberal Democrats welcome the Bill as a first step to giving the House of Lords a greater democratic mandate and entrenching its valuable role within the constitution and legislature of the United Kingdom. Our democracy relies on a Parliament that equally represents all citizens of the United Ki…
Commons
Debate
3 September 2025
6 contributions
Hospitality Sector
The economic landscape is extremely difficult for many businesses and industries, and hospitality is one of the sectors facing the most acute challenges. Pubs, restaurants, cafés and hotels are dealing with huge pressures—unfair taxes, soaring energy bills, skills shortages, and a broken business ra…
My hon. Friend gives a striking example of exactly what I was saying about the pressures faced by the hospitality sector. He is absolutely right that the Chancellor needs to hear these calls from the hospitality sector as she puts together her Budget, which we now expect at the end of November.
Sma…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
2 September 2025
Speciality Steel UK: Insolvency
May I start by associating the Liberal Democrats with the Minister’s remarks in support of the employees, families and communities who are affected by this latest development? We welcome the Minister’s coming to the House today to provide some clarity.
Steel is a sector of huge strategic importance…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
21 July 2025
Infected Blood Inquiry: Additional Report
I thank the Minister for his statement. We, too, pay tribute to Sir Brian Langstaff and his team for their ongoing work as they continue to investigate this appalling scandal.
Liberal Democrats know that the victims of the infected blood scandal deserve compensation. They and their families have be…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
21 July 2025
Independent Water Commission
From Saturday night to Monday morning, a mains burst on Richmond Hill in my constituency went unattended, resulting in residents being left without gas supply as water leaked into the gas pipeline. Burst-pipe sewage-dumping following storm overflows has now become customary. Last year alone, 119 hou…
Commons
Proceedings
21 July 2025
Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity
The scenes of violent unrest at the Bell hotel this weekend are deeply concerning. Liberal Democrats will always defend the right to peaceful protest, but what we saw went far beyond that. There is no place for that sort of violence and thuggery in our society. I thank the police and the emergency s…
Commons
Proceedings
17 July 2025
Strategy for Elections
We are very pleased that the Government have published the strategy, many aspects of which have the support of the Liberal Democrats. We have, for many years, championed votes at 16 and we are really glad that the Government have listened to those calls. We also welcome the measures to tackle dark a…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
17 July 2025
SME Operating Costs
The Liberal Democrats welcome the plans in the recently announced industrial strategy to reduce some of the world’s highest industrial energy prices. However, businesses across the UK, especially in hospitality and on our high streets, are still struggling with unaffordable energy costs. What steps …
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
17 July 2025
Hospitality Sector
The value that hospitality businesses bring to their local communities goes far beyond their economic contributions: they also provide a vital social value and essential entry-level jobs. Flexible hours and conditions in the sector help those with other responsibilities, such as carers and new paren…
Commons
Debate
15 July 2025
Taxes
Let me be clear: the legacy left behind by the last Conservative Government is one to be ashamed of. Their incompetence in governing left schools and hospitals crumbling, social care cripplingly underfunded, and record levels of sewage in our lakes and rivers. Their record is a dispiriting picture o…