Commons
Proceedings
15 January 2026
Digital ID
Oh! Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker. We do not want digital ID. It will cost billions of pounds and it should be scrapped completely. Despite what the Minister said, I am concerned that digital ID will not be technically compulsory, but people will be blocked from accessing services if the…
Commons
Oral Questions
House of Commons Commission
15 January 2026
2 contributions
New Palace Yard Project
7. What assessment the Commission has made of whether the New Palace Yard project will be completed within its budget.
Frankly, a cost of £62 million for the New Palace Yard project is eye-watering. Most of our constituents will find that outrageous, particularly given that it is not fit for purpose—staff are having to queue for long times when leaving Parliament at the end of the day. What was the original budget f…
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 January 2026
2 contributions
Food Inflation
I congratulate the hon. Lady on securing this important debate. She is right to highlight the issue of inflation, especially food inflation, but does she also recognise that although the price of food is going up, the food producers, predominantly farmers, are not seeing a similar rise in the income…
During this debate, much discussion has been about food banks. It is important that we also recognise food larders—I have a number in my constituency —where large shops and supermarkets donate their food at the end of the day or before the sell-by date. They minimise food waste and enable people to …
Commons
Debate
13 January 2026
4 contributions
Finance (No. 2) Bill
It is a privilege to speak in this debate. I want to speak about the pub and hospitality sector in my constituency in the Scottish Borders, but also more broadly about the impact of these changes on an important industry that is the lifeblood of the Scottish economy. We are debating the hike in alco…
I am grateful to the hon. Member for making that point, but by any measure the Scottish economy is not doing well. Scotland is, by any definition, the most highly taxed part of the United Kingdom. While paying all this extra tax, none of my constituents—I am sure his constituents would agree—feel th…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
12 January 2026
Finance (No. 2) Bill
As the hon. Gentleman’s constituency neighbour, representing a similarly rural constituency, I know how strongly farmers on my side of the border feel—like farmers on his side. The word “betrayal” comes up time and again among my local farmers. The Labour party said that it would not introduce this …
Commons
Westminster Hall
12 January 2026
13 contributions
Call for General Election
I beg to move,
That this House has considered e-petition 727309 relating to a general election.
It is truly a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Edward. Democracy is fundamental to any free and functioning country. Every hon. Member in this House is here for one reason: our constituents …
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I am going to return to the word “betrayal” later, but there is a real sense that what was promised before the election has simply not been delivered.
During the 2024 general election campaign, Labour promised one thing above all else: change. We have certainly s…
+11 more contributions in this session
Commons
Proceedings
8 January 2026
2 contributions
Business of the House
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
Mr Speaker, may I begin by wishing you, the Leader of the House, right hon. and hon. Members and all staff of the House a very happy new year? I appreciate that the Leader of the House may still be recovering from the excesses of the festive season, so I will try not to add unduly to his discomfort,…
Commons
Westminster Hall
6 January 2026
BBC Charter Renewal
My right hon. Friend is making an excellent speech and demonstrating why he is such an expert in this policy area. I reiterate the point about turning off free-to-view terrestrial television, which is obviously a live part of the licence fee discussion. Some, such as ITV, are arguing strongly that t…
Commons
Westminster Hall
6 January 2026
Less Survivable Cancers
The hon. Member is making an excellent speech. My constituent Fiona Tweedie asked me to attend this debate because she sadly lost her husband to a brain tumour last year. She asked me to flag, in relation to the national cancer strategy, the fact that it is very difficult in Scotland to access clini…
Commons
Debate
5 January 2026
Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief
This partial U-turn on the family farm tax is undoubtedly welcome, but does the Minister understand the hell that he has put farmers through during the past 14 months, not just in my constituency but across the United Kingdom? He should do the right thing and scrap this dreadful, dreadful tax.
Commons
Debate
16 December 2025
2 contributions
Finance (No. 2) Bill
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of farmers in Parliament Square this afternoon, blasting their horns about the family farm tax. The shadow Chancellor and many other colleagues from the Opposition Benches have been out to meet the farmers to understand their concerns. Has he heard, like I have,…
My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. Is he aware of some research done by the National Farmers’ Union of Scotland, which shows that, under the current inheritance tax rules, farmers in Scotland typically pay a £20,000 inheritance tax bill, whereas under Labour’s current proposals the figure…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
9 December 2025
Grooming Gangs: Independent Inquiry
The Scottish Government have announced a review of the grooming gangs evidence in Scotland, but that falls short of a full inquiry and disappoints many of the victims. I have asked for this before. Please will this UK Government extend their inquiry to the whole of the UK so that the victims of thes…
Commons
Oral Questions
9 December 2025
2 contributions
Income Tax and National Insurance Threshold Freeze
3. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of extending the freeze on income tax thresholds on working people.
There seems to be only one word that the Chancellor understands: tax. Her decision to continue the freeze on income tax thresholds is a hammer blow to working people. In fact, even one of the Chancellor’s favourite unions, Unison, has said:
“Freezing personal income tax thresholds disproportionatel…
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 December 2025
7 contributions
Network Rail Timetable Changes: Rural Communities
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the impact of Network Rail timetable changes on rural communities.
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Stuart. This year marks the 200th anniversary of the first passenger railway services in our country. Railways have transformed trans…
The hon. Lady makes an excellent point. Many rural communities depend on train services, bus services and public transport links because there are no alternatives. If the timetables, trains and services do not run on time, they have an even greater impact because there is no alternative compared wit…
+5 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
8 December 2025
3 contributions
Digital ID
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Moore) for magnificently introducing this petition on behalf of the Petitions Committee. I also thank the more than 4,000 local residents in the Scottish Borders who have signed the petition.
This issue cuts to the very heart of the …
Will the Minister give way, please?
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 December 2025
Office for Budget Responsibility Forecasts
Andy Haldane, former Bank of England chief economist, has said that the Government’s “repeated mistakes” and misinformation about the public finances have sucked all the energy from the economy. Chief Secretary, the former chief economist is correct, isn’t he?
Commons
Proceedings
27 November 2025
3 contributions
Budget Resolutions
This Labour Government came to power with so many promises. The Chancellor promised to kick-start economic growth, and not to increase the taxes of working people. Now that Labour is in government, I am afraid that it is doing the exact opposite. If it can be taxed, the Chancellor will tax it—an ele…
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The intention may have been to force overseas investors, trust funds and others out of the farming sector, and to attack big landowners, but the tax is doing the complete opposite: it is destroying the family farm sector, forcing tenant farmers out, and seriously …
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
26 November 2025
2 contributions
Budget Resolutions
The hon. Lady is speaking about the measures that she supports in the Budget. I wonder about her views on the council tax surcharge. I had a quick look at the websites of estate agents in her constituency, and I can see that dozens—if not hundreds—of properties will be affected by the council tax su…
My hon. Friend is making a powerful speech about the flaws in this Labour Government’s Budget. Does he share my concerns about the many farmers who were outside Parliament today to express how strongly they are opposed to the impact of inheritance tax changes on their business? It is very telling. I…
Commons
Debate
18 November 2025
2 contributions
Northern Ireland Troubles Bill
We rely on British soldiers to keep our country safe—they put their lives on the line to defend our country, putting themselves in harm’s way to do so. However, a shadow hangs over our armed forces today, which is this Bill. As a member of the Petitions Committee, back in July I had the privilege of…
My hon. Friend makes an excellent pint. It is the fear—the prospect of being dragged through that process—that is causing so much anxiety. I suspect that is why so many veterans are so strongly opposed to this Bill.
We should also be clear about the difference between the actions of soldiers and th…
Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
17 November 2025
2 contributions
Grooming Gangs Inquiry: Remit
10. Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the remit of the national statutory inquiry into grooming gangs to include Scotland.
Last week, brave grooming-gang survivor Fiona Goddard spoke of how she was trafficked to Scotland as a vulnerable teenager. As she rightly said, the idea that this issue stops at the border is “insane”. Despite clear evidence from victims about grooming gangs operating in Scotland, the SNP Governmen…
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 November 2025
Parkinson’s Disease
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Ms Lewell. I pay tribute to my constituent David Reid, who has done a huge amount of work to promote this petition, including by wearing his Parky charter T-shirt around the Scottish Borders. I met him most recently at the Border Union show, where he …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
13 November 2025
Business of the House
My constituent Evelyn Armstrong, aged 104, has recently been awarded France’s highest military honour, the Légion d’honneur, for the vital role she played as a plotter and flight controller in the second world war, when she served in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. She is truly an amazing woman. Wi…
Commons
Oral Questions
Solicitor General
13 November 2025
Rural Crime
Rural and farm crime is a big problem in my constituency in the Scottish Borders which operates across the border between Scotland and England. What discussions has the Solicitor General had with authorities in Scotland to ensure higher prosecution rates for those operating cross-border?
Commons
Westminster Hall
4 November 2025
Cross-border Healthcare
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Dowd. I congratulate the hon. Member for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe (David Chadwick) on securing the debate. I am going to give a Scottish perspective, similar to that of the hon. Member for North Northumberland (David Smith) but from the Scottish…
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
3 November 2025
Topical Questions
T7. Last month, the SNP Government in Edinburgh released their latest independence propaganda paper. Unbelievably, it said that nuclear weapons would have no place in an independent Scotland. Does the Minister agree that Scottish independence would be a gift to Britain’s enemies and would put at ris…