Commons
Oral Questions
23 February 2026
2 contributions
Labour Together and APCO Worldwide: Cabinet Office Review
(Urgent Question): To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on the Cabinet Office review into Labour Together and APCO Worldwide.
Thank you for granting this urgent question, Mr Speaker. The details of this story are quite extraordinary, even by the standards of this Government. While he was the director of the think-tank Labour Together, the now Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, the hon. Member for Makerfield (Josh Sim…
Commons
Oral Questions
12 February 2026
4 contributions
Lord Mandelson: Government Response to Humble Address Motion
(Urgent Question): To ask the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister to make a statement on the Government’s response to the Humble Address agreed by this House on 4 February 2026, including on progress made, timescales for compliance and the Government’s approach to any material it proposes to withh…
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker— I could not have put it better myself.
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Northern Ireland
11 February 2026
2 contributions
Public Services
Over the past 10 days we have seen a number of revelations about the procurement of services and goods and the provision of sensitive information during Peter Mandelson’s time as a Government Minister and as an ambassador in Washington. Given that Mandelson was, for two years, Secretary of State for…
I am very grateful to the Minister for that direct response. Will he also commit to return to this House before Easter to update Members on the work that his Department has done and what it has found?
Commons
Debate
4 February 2026
20 contributions
Lord Mandelson
I beg to move,
That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty, that he will be graciously pleased to give directions to require the Government to lay before this House all papers relating to Lord Mandelson’s appointment as His Majesty’s Ambassador to the United States of America, including but …
I am glad that it is not my problem, Mr Speaker. My hon. Friend is right: the appointment of this man was absolutely the Prime Minister’s responsibility. Today we are trying to dig into exactly what the Prime Minister knew, whether any information was kept from him, and, if so, who kept it from him.
+18 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
2 February 2026
US Department of Justice Release of Files
I thank the Minister for advance sight of his statement.
The crimes of Jeffrey Epstein were truly terrible—paedophilia, sex trafficking, child prostitution. It was an awful abuse of power, and it is of course a great embarrassment to our country that its most senior ambassador should have been caug…
Commons
Oral Questions
Cabinet Office
22 January 2026
3 contributions
Topical Questions
At the risk of overworking the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, I would like to ask him a question. It is boring but important; my last boring question was to the Paymaster General. The Opposition have found that his Department often refuses to release information to Members in response to parl…
I am very grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for that reply; I really appreciate it. In his role as chief of staff to the Prime Minister—
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Cabinet Office
22 January 2026
2 contributions
UK-EU Relations
Since the Paymaster General was last in the Commons, the Health Secretary has said that Britain should rejoin the customs union, the Deputy Prime Minister has suggested rejoining the customs union, 13 Labour MPs have gone against the Whip and voted with the Liberal Democrats in favour of a customs u…
I certainly support the right hon. Gentleman in telling the rest of the Labour party that they are wrong, although, given the success of the Labour Back Benchers in forcing U-turns on the Prime Minister recently, I wonder how long that position will hold.
Earlier this month, the Prime Minister told…
Commons
Debate
21 January 2026
23 contributions
Northern Ireland Troubles: Legacy and Reconciliation
It is an honour and a privilege to speak in this important debate. It is particularly important because there are some people watching this afternoon who themselves were on the line of action in what was surely one of the most difficult operations that British armed forces have ever had to deploy in…
My right hon. Friend could not be more correct. It has always been one-way traffic, and whenever the Conservative party has tried to create equivalence for veterans, the Labour party has backed down. We saw that with the 2005 legislation, and I am afraid that it is what we are seeing now.
When we i…
+21 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
13 January 2026
3 contributions
Northern Ireland Political Institutions: Reform
It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Vaz. Hon. Members will be delighted to hear that I do not intend to speak for very long, but I congratulate the hon. Member for Lagan Valley (Sorcha Eastwood) on securing this debate, which has largely been conducted in a very civil manner and has…
It is dangerous that the hon. Lady encourages me to hurry through my speech to get to the point that she has raised but, given that my speech is highly flexible, I will try.
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Northern Ireland
7 January 2026
2 contributions
Northern Ireland Troubles Bill
Happy new year, Mr Speaker.
Over Christmas, seven former senior SAS officers wrote in The Telegraph :
“In this Troubles Bill, the Government is complicit in this war on our Armed Forces.”
A few days later, the Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner, appointed by this Government, said that the Bil…
I note that the Secretary of State was unable to give a single example. There is, I am afraid, an ostrich-like complacency in the Government’s approach to this legislation. Senior representatives of our armed forces are telling this House that the legislation is impacting on morale and effectiveness…
Commons
Proceedings
17 December 2025
2 contributions
Northern Ireland Troubles: Legacy and Reconciliation
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to make a statement on the draft Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 (Remedial) Order 2025.
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, for granting this urgent question, which I have asked because I think there is a very real danger that the Government may be about to break the law. It is very important that the House is aware that the Joint Committee on Human Rights was not in possession of all the…
Commons
Proceedings
9 December 2025
Northern Ireland Troubles: Operation Kenova
Thank you for granting this urgent question, Mr Speaker. I congratulate the right hon. Member for Belfast East (Gavin Robinson) on asking it, and on his excellent contribution.
This is a very significant and highly detailed report, which I know hon. Members will want to take some time to digest, bu…
Commons
Oral Questions
Cabinet Office
4 December 2025
2 contributions
Topical Questions
A few weeks ago I wrote to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster about Chinese ownership of critical national infrastructure, including the possible acquisition of Thames Water. I have not had a reply, but since then The Telegraph has been briefed by the Government that the Chancellor of the Duch…
Well, someone was briefing in the right hon. Gentleman’s name. I thank him for his answer, but on the same theme, the electricity distribution network for London and much of the south-east, as well as the gas distribution network for about 5 million people in our country and the water supply for abo…
Commons
Oral Questions
Cabinet Office
4 December 2025
2 contributions
EU Relations
I am sure people will be pleased to hear that the Labour party is going to honour some of its manifesto commitments.
Last week, it was announced that the Government’s attempt to join the new EU defence fund had failed. This is a major setback for our relationship with the EU, and it is a major emba…
I admire the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster’s chutzpah in answering. He pretends that this was in some way not a defeat, but a victory—many more such victories, and we are lost.
The House will remember that in May, No. 10 trumpeted a new agreement with the EU, which gave the EU privileged acc…
Commons
Proceedings
3 December 2025
2 contributions
Official Secrets Act and Espionage
I thank the Joint Committee for its work. Its report is a damning indictment of the Government’s handling of the China spy case. The investigation not only found
“serious systemic failures and deficiencies”,
but calls the Government’s handling of the matter “shambolic”, as the hon. Member for Warw…
You never answered.
Commons
Proceedings
24 November 2025
2 contributions
Ministerial Code
(Urgent Question): To ask the Prime Minister to make a statement on the ministerial code.
Thank you for granting this urgent question, Mr Speaker. I mean no offence to the Parliamentary Secretary, because I have been in his shoes, but when the Government send out a junior Minister to answer a very serious question, it is normally because they have something to hide. In this case, it is c…
Commons
Oral Questions
Northern Ireland
19 November 2025
2 contributions
Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023
On 15 August 1998 in Omagh, the Real IRA murdered 29 people, including a woman who was pregnant with twins. It was the deadliest attack of the troubles, and the most wicked. Following the 2021 recommendation of Mr Justice Horner, the last Conservative Government launched the Omagh inquiry into wheth…
I thank the Secretary of State for his answer, and I am aware that the Republic is sharing the information with our inquiry, but he will be aware that the Omagh inquiry is only capable of answering questions about what UK state authorities did and did not do. Four years ago, Mr Justice Horner said t…
Commons
Debate
18 November 2025
16 contributions
Northern Ireland Troubles Bill
I beg to move an amendment, to leave out from “That” to the end of the Question and add:
“this House declines to give a Second Reading to the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill because, by removing the conditional immunity scheme introduced by the last Government in the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legac…
It was never given a chance because this Government dropped their appeal—something I will return to shortly.
+14 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
3 November 2025
2 contributions
“Soldier F” Trial Verdict
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the verdict in the trial of Soldier F.
Thank you for granting this urgent question, Mr Speaker. I, too, begin with a thought for the families left bereft by the events of that day in 1972. It was a Conservative Prime Minister who, 15 years ago, said to the House that what happened on Bloody Sunday was both “unjustified” and “wrong”, and
…
Commons
Debate
28 October 2025
14 contributions
China Spying Case
I beg to move,
That this House calls on the Government to release the minutes of the meeting chaired by the National Security Adviser on 1 September 2025, at which the prosecution of the two alleged Chinese spies, since dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service, was discussed, including all actions …
My right hon. Friend makes a very pertinent point and is personally very experienced in such things. It has been reported that the National Security Adviser chaired that meeting. That is to say that he was taking a very active role in what was going on. That is why it is incredibly important that th…
+12 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Cabinet Office
23 October 2025
2 contributions
Topical Questions
I thank the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster for giving us a degree more clarity. Perhaps he will give us a degree more clarity again. Was he told that the alleged case of spying against Members of Parliament was due to collapse before the information became public and, if so, who told him?
I believe the right hon. Gentleman, but I find that answer extraordinary, and I think he should find it extraordinary, too. As we have already said, the right hon. Gentleman chairs the National Security Council. He oversees the Cabinet Office’s national security secretariat. The Prime Minister knew,…
Commons
Oral Questions
Cabinet Office
23 October 2025
2 contributions
Strengthening National Resilience
I would like to take this opportunity to welcome the new Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to his post. I know that he is one of the most able performers in the Government, and he is now in one of the most important and under- appreciated roles in Government. For the good of the country, I wish h…
Okay, I will repeat the question for the Security Minister, because either he did not hear it or he chose not to answer it. My question was very specific. We know that the Prime Minister was told on 13 September that the trial was unlikely to proceed—Downing Street has told us that. My question is: …
Commons
Oral Questions
Northern Ireland
15 October 2025
2 contributions
Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023: Replacement
This morning, unusually, I congratulate the Government on having admitted a terrible mistake. Earlier this year, we on this side of the House voted against Labour’s draft remedial order, which would have allowed Gerry Adams to sue the taxpayer, so we welcome the fact that Labour amended that order y…
I invite the Secretary of State to look at his own legislation, because clauses 89 and 90 are markedly similar to the sections that we left him. We on this side of the House may have won the battle over this, but we still have not won the war to protect our veterans from vexatious complaints. Is it …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
14 October 2025
Northern Ireland Troubles
I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of his statement.
The last Government legislated to draw a line under troubles-era litigation. That litigation was inevitably weighted against those who sought to protect our country from terrorism. It was inevitably weighted against those who keep r…
Commons
Debate
4 September 2025
20 contributions
House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill
No I haven’t.
It is a pleasure to debate this historic piece of legislation on an historic day; my hon. Friend the Member for Windsor (Jack Rankin) reminds me that it is the 1,100th anniversary of Athelstan being crowned King at Kingston, and I know there are a great many celebrations going on there today. The mo…
+18 more contributions in this session