Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
5 January 2026
Ukrainian Refugees
Happy new year, Mr Speaker.
Bath Welcomes Refugees has supported more than 800 refugees to integrate and access vital services such as housing—indeed, Bath is another place where Ukrainian refugees have received a very warm welcome. The Public and Commercial Services Union report “Welcoming Growth”…
Commons
Oral Questions
16 December 2025
Topical Questions
One in three rape trials end up being postponed, in some cases more than six times, and 73% of rape survivors say that police treatment worsened their mental health during the process. What improvements will be made in how the police treat rape survivors?
Commons
Westminster Hall
16 December 2025
Grassroots Cricket Clubs
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Turner. I congratulate the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Andrew Lewin) on securing this debate. Cricket is not played much in Germany, so I had to come a long way when I married my cricket-loving husband who spent most of his summer weekends eit…
Commons
Debate
15 December 2025
Jimmy Lai Conviction
The politically motivated conviction of Jimmy Lai is yet another chilling sign of the breakdown of human rights and freedom of speech in Hong Kong. The Foreign Secretary will know that I was refused entry into Hong Kong to visit our son and his young family, and I never got any explanation why. Wher…
Commons
Debate
15 December 2025
Violence against Women and Girls Strategy
For many, Christmas is the season of joy and connection. But for victims of domestic abuse, it can be the most dangerous time of the year. Reports of domestic violence typically rise by around 20% over the festive period. How is the Department working with employers to ensure that staff are proactiv…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
11 December 2025
Economic Growth
The Minister mentioned earlier the disaster of Brexit, and I will add the loss to the UK economy of £250 million a day in tax revenue, according to research from the House of Commons Library. We Liberal Democrats want the Government to focus on a golden opportunity to grow the economy by considering…
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 December 2025
5 contributions
Fairtrade Certification
I remind Members that they should bob if they wish to speak. I am going to call the Front Benchers at 2.25 pm at the latest. I do not think I need to impose an official limit on speeches, but it would be brilliant if Members keep their remarks within eight minutes.
There is plenty of time, but I remind the Minister to leave a couple of minutes for the hon. Member for Glasgow North to wind up.
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
10 December 2025
Engagements
Q6. In Bath, parents of children with special educational needs, which are often very complex, are crying out for special school places. Funding to build a brand new special school at the Culverhay site in Bath was secured, but the Government have frozen the funding for almost 18 months without a…
Commons
Debate
9 December 2025
Railways Bill
Surely improving our railways should include the ambition of making our public transport cleaner and greener. In Bath, dirty diesel trains are still running through the city. Surely one of our first steps should be an ambitious electrification plan, reversing or addressing the years of failure of th…
Commons
Oral Questions
9 December 2025
2 contributions
Hospitality Sector and SMEs
20. What steps she is taking through the tax system to help reduce costs for small and medium-sized businesses.
May I give the Minister another example in which the numbers simply do not stack up? Mr B’s independent bookshop in Bath will see its business rates bill rise by more than 70% after factoring in changes to rateable value. The changes were packaged as a move away from short-term fixes, yet vital disc…
Commons
Oral Questions
Cabinet Office
4 December 2025
EU Youth Experience Scheme
In October, more than 200 UK and EU cultural and creative organisations issued a joint statement calling for the UK to rejoin Creative Europe and take part in its proposed successor, AgoraEU, giving lots of young people access to grants and cultural exchanges. What assessment have the Government mad…
Commons
Westminster Hall
4 December 2025
2 contributions
Acquired Brain Injury Action Plan
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Dame Siobhain. I congratulate the right hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Sir John Hayes) on securing this important debate. Every 90 seconds, someone in the UK is admitted to hospital with an acquired brain injury. Participation in spor…
I could not agree more with my hon. Friend. I congratulate her branch of Headway on its wonderful work and the award it is about to receive. What would we do without local charities leading the way and, often, guiding us?
In Bath, North East Fife and other constituencies across the country, Headway…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 December 2025
Office for Budget Responsibility Forecasts
While the detail of whether the Treasury was dealing with a fiscal black hole or a fiscal lack of headroom will be rather lost on most of my Bath constituents, does the Minister agree that the weeks of speculation leading up to the Budget were very damaging, particularly to businesses, and that his …
Commons
Oral Questions
1 December 2025
Post-16 Vocational Qualifications
In Bath, our economy depends on highly skilled workers in engineering, the creative industries and the digital sector. Employers tell me time and again that the current apprenticeship system simply does not deliver the pipeline they need. Will the Government be serious about growth by replacing the …
Commons
Oral Questions
25 November 2025
Mental and Physical Health Services
My all-party parliamentary group on eating disorders recently published a report on preventing eating disorder-related death. The report highlighted that eating disorders are not accurately recorded on death certificates. I was promised an update from the Minister for Women’s Health and Mental Healt…
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 November 2025
3 contributions
Immigration Reforms: Humanitarian Visa Routes
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Edward. I congratulate the hon. Member for Rushcliffe (James Naish) on his strong advocacy on this topic.
I welcome the Government’s confirmation last week that people with BNO visas will continue to qualify for permanent residence in the UK afte…
Will the hon. Lady give way?
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
24 November 2025
2 contributions
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Will the Minister give way?
The Minister mentioned the hospitality sector earlier, and I briefly want to come back to that. Bath council and I are seeking the power for local authorities to introduce a modest visitor levy, alongside our proposed 5% cut in VAT for hospitality. Does she agree that a visitor levy on overnight sta…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
20 November 2025
Business of the House
I speak today on behalf of one constituent, although there are many similar examples. My constituent, who does not want to be named in order to protect herself, is losing out quite substantially because the Child Maintenance Service is failing to enforce the regular payments that she is owed. The no…
Commons
Oral Questions
20 November 2025
Topical Questions
T3. Yesterday, I met Volkswagen. It stressed that to meet our electric vehicle targets the Government must provide long-term support and certainty through to 2030 and beyond, with sensible incentives, a supportive tax framework and more robust infrastructure. What steps is the Department taking to e…
Commons
Oral Questions
20 November 2025
2 contributions
Maritime Sector: Decarbonisation
3. What steps her Department has taken to help support the decarbonisation of the maritime sector.
UK ports are clear that large-scale electrification is essential for maritime decarbonisation, but the required grid capacity is severely lacking. The Transport Committee has urged the Government to provide planning authorities with clear guidance to facilitate grid and substation upgrades. Will the…
Commons
Westminster Hall
19 November 2025
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
I hear from so many constituents that, out of those suffering from any condition, people suffering from ME have the lowest quality of life. Is it not also the case that people simply do not understand what ME is?
Commons
Debate
12 November 2025
4 contributions
Energy
Is it not the truth that the reason energy bills are still so high is because we still produce a lot of electricity by burning gas? Burning gas, which is sold on the global market, keeps energy prices high. That is the main problem. We need to decouple electricity from gas prices, and particularly t…
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
12 November 2025
2 contributions
Drug Dealing on Social Media
6. What discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the effectiveness of the Online Safety Act 2023 in tackling drug dealing on social media.
Drug dealing is absolutely rampant on social media. The Minister might be aware of the campaign I lead, together with the University of Bath, against spice-spiked vapes in school and the terrible harm they are causing. We are increasingly frustrated that Ofcom does not use its power under the Online…
Commons
Debate
11 November 2025
BBC Leadership
There are certainly many questions—particularly for those who deliberately set out to destroy the BBC—but I want to ask the Secretary of State this one. In the absence of the ability to remove certain members from the board, will she make a commitment that all future appointments should be conducted…
Commons
Oral Questions
11 November 2025
Topical Questions
T4. Following on from that, still less than 3% of rape cases result in a charge. It takes 400 days for resolution—painful delays for the victims. We have talked about this for so long, so often. What are the barriers to change?