Commons
Debate
17 November 2025
Budget: Press Briefings
There appears to have been a lot of speculation about this Budget, and it seems to have been the same measures that have been speculated on by a number of different news sources, which leads to suspicions of a leak. The Minister must surely recognise that there was a possibility of a leak, in which …
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 November 2025
3 contributions
Parkinson’s Disease
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Lewell. I congratulate the hon. Member for Colne Valley (Paul Davies) for securing this debate and I thank the charities and organisations including Parkinson’s UK and the Royal College of Emergency Medicine for meeting me and sharing the insight…
As I am a rural MP myself, the hon. Gentleman will not be surprised to hear that I agree with him.
The problem is with wider specialisms, too. According to the 2022 audit by Parkinson’s UK, just 40% of people with Parkinson’s had access to a speech and language therapist, 45% had access to an occup…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
11 November 2025
Prisoner Releases in Error
The ministerial code requires honesty and transparency. On 28 October, in a written parliamentary question, I asked how many of those released in error under this Government remain at large. On 3 November I received an answer, but it did not answer the question. Was that because the Government did n…
Commons
Westminster Hall
30 October 2025
Moles: Histological Testing
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Jardine. I congratulate the hon. Members for Isle of Wight West (Mr Quigley) and for South Norfolk (Ben Goldsborough) on securing this debate and on their very emotional speeches. I thank the hon. Member for South Norfolk for his bravery in talki…
Commons
Debate
28 October 2025
Stamp Duty Land Tax
My right hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. Does he agree that stamp duty also gums up mobility, so that people are unable to move, and if they lose their job under this Labour Government it will be more expensive for them to move to another house?
Commons
Westminster Hall
28 October 2025
2 contributions
World Stroke Day
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Vaz. I congratulate the hon. Member for Twickenham (Munira Wilson) on securing this important debate.
Strokes are life-threatening medical emergencies that affect more than 100,000 people in the UK every year, taking over 38,000 lives and leavin…
I am grateful to the Minister for answering the question and talking about universal services being available from next year. Can he confirm whether they will be 24/7 and what he means by “universal”? If someone is living in a rural area, what is the greatest distance or time they should expect to t…
Commons
Westminster Hall
28 October 2025
3 contributions
Obesity and Fatty Liver Disease
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this morning, Mr Efford. I congratulate the hon. Member for Worthing West (Dr Cooper) on securing this important debate, and I thank the British Liver Trust and others who provided information and reading material in advance of today’s debate.
Fatty…
I certainly think it is wise to ensure that people get off to a good start in infancy and that unhealthy products are not advertised as healthy if they are not, although the definition of healthy is somewhat elusive and difficult to pin down. It is also important that we do not routinely feed little…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
27 October 2025
Prisoner Release Checks
How many of those released in error under this Labour Government are still at large?
Commons
Debate
27 October 2025
North Sea Oil and Gas Industry
This Government like to tell people that growth is their first priority, but growth requires abundant and cheap energy. Does the Minister recognise that the only things they are growing by cutting the oil and gas industry are domestic prices, business prices and the number of job losses in the indus…
Commons
Proceedings
23 October 2025
Business of the House
Applications for battery storage sites are springing up all over the country, including in my constituency, and my constituents are certainly very concerned about them. This month the UK Health Security Agency wrote to my local district council raising concerns about one such application, discussing…
Commons
Westminster Hall
23 October 2025
2 contributions
NHS Workforce Levels: Impact on Cancer Patients
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this afternoon, Mrs Hobhouse. I congratulate the hon. Member for Wokingham (Clive Jones) on securing this debate.
Across the United Kingdom, an estimated 3.5 million people are living with cancer. We all know a friend, family member or co-worker who…
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Commons
Debate
22 October 2025
Procurement, Slavery and Human Trafficking Regulations: NHS
It is a pleasure to speak in this debate on the draft National Health Service (Procurement, Slavery and Human Trafficking) Regulations 2025. I thank the Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, the hon. Member for Glasgow South West (Dr Ahmed), for bringing forward the regulations and we…
Commons
Proceedings
21 October 2025
2 contributions
Rape Gangs: National Statutory Inquiry
The victims of these crimes were vulnerable children who were ignored, gaslit and dismissed. Two victims have now resigned because of the process, its failure and their lack of faith in it. Yet, I hear what appears to me to be an aggressive and defensive tone from the Minister.
She should remember that those people are watching. Will she listen to the victims and does she regret that those two individuals have resigned from the process?
Commons
Proceedings
21 October 2025
Points of Order
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I am concerned that the Health team may have inadvertently misled the House. In July, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation noted that respiratory syncytial virus vaccines were so effective that they should be extended to all those over 80 and those in …
Commons
Oral Questions
21 October 2025
2 contributions
NHS Reorganisation
I am concerned that the disruption caused by an uncosted, unplanned simultaneous reorganisation of NHS England and the ICBs is affecting patient care. Before the summer, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation recommended that the RSV vaccine should be given to those over 80 and those in…
I thank the hon. Lady for her answer, but I would like her to check and perhaps update the guidance for GPs and the websites that continue to say that it is only available to 80-year-olds who turned 80 after 1 September 2024, which is not all people over the age of 80.
Reorganisation is affecting d…
Commons
Debate
20 October 2025
Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
In this House, there is often talk about millions of pounds for this and billions of pounds for that. It is difficult sometimes to get in one’s mind the scale of the money. Last year, the Chancellor said that she was going to raise national insurance and lower the threshold. We know how much damage …
Commons
Westminster Hall
16 October 2025
World Menopause Day
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Betts. I congratulate the hon. Member for Neath and Swansea East (Carolyn Harris) for securing this important debate on an issue about which we know she is extremely passionate and has campaigned for a long time.
In recent years, our country has…
Commons
Debate
13 October 2025
2 contributions
Baby Loss
Let me first draw Members’ attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.
I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Member for Godalming and Ash (Sir Jeremy Hunt) and the hon. Members for Rossendale and Darwen (Andy MacNae) and for Sherwood Forest (Michelle Welsh) on securing …
My hon. Friend is, of course, right. Those certificates have proved to be of great comfort to many. The hon. Member for Washington and Gateshead South (Mrs Hodgson) talked about her work in that regard, and I thank her for it. I am also grateful for the work of my former colleague Tim Loughton.
One…
Commons
Debate
13 October 2025
Digital ID
This ID card is being touted as an idea to do mandatory work checks. It rather surprises me that the right hon. Lady, who until recently was in charge of the Department for Work and Pensions, is not aware that we already have mandatory checks in order to work. Her statement was contradictory: she sa…
Commons
Proceedings
11 September 2025
UK Ambassador to the US: Appointment Process
The idea that our country should be represented in America or on the world stage by somebody who tried to get a paedophile out of prison early will fill us all with revulsion. Can the Minister be clearer? He has said that the Prime Minister asked the Foreign Secretary to withdraw the ambassador. He …
Commons
Debate
9 September 2025
3 contributions
Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
The Minister seems to be arguing about exactly how much it will cost. My constituents just see that he is giving away British territory and paying rent for it, which is completely unacceptable to them. He talks about how it is good for the global south, because they agree with it; good for other cou…
Is my right hon. Friend aware of any of our allies who think that the insecure and expensive leasehold deal that we have now is better than the freehold sovereignty and security that we had before?
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
8 September 2025
Defence Industrial Strategy
In his opening remarks, the Minister mentioned the importance of the strategic defence review to the industrial strategy. When that strategy was announced, some unions, organisations and businesses were given preferential access to it, but the Minister has consistently refused to say who and when. W…
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 September 2025
Defibrillators
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer. I congratulate the hon. Member for Bishop Auckland (Sam Rushworth) for securing this very important debate. I declare an interest: as an NHS consultant, I have used defibrillators on patients from elderly adults to very young babies—alt…
Commons
Oral Questions
22 July 2025
Health Inequalities
Tackling health inequalities requires a strong workforce. I recently met a constituent who is about to qualify as a nurse, but she has been unable to find work. She is not alone; this is a widespread problem. The reasons she has been given include recruitment freezes to save money and nurses brought…