Commons
Ministerial Statement
11 September 2025
Business of the House
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker—no pressure. Earlier this week, I was notified that Southern Gas Networks wants to dig up a major road in Reading for 18 weeks. This is the latest in a series of sudden and abrupt interventions by utility companies. Can we have a debate in Government time on the behav…
Commons
Oral Questions
11 September 2025
Topical Questions
T7. The £1 billion regeneration scheme at Station Hill in Reading is bringing large numbers of jobs and new housing to Reading town centre, and that is due to the Elizabeth line. Will the Minister update the House on the benefits of this wonderful railway line, both to Berkshire and across the count…
Commons
Debate
4 September 2025
BBC Monitoring Service
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for making such an excellent speech. Caversham Park sits in my constituency, and it was a wonderful facility. I pay tribute to those who worked there over many years, breaking vital news stories and providing information to the Foreign Office, such as the initial new…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
4 September 2025
Early Education and Childcare
I warmly welcome the Minister’s announcement today. Will he say a little more about the wide range of potential benefits to families, to children, in terms of their educational development, and to the wider economy as a result of helping parents to get back to work?
Commons
Debate
3 September 2025
2 contributions
Hospitality Sector
My hon. Friend is making an excellent point. Does he agree that confidence of consumers is also rising, with a number of cuts to interest rates, a rise in the minimum wage and many other benefits for working families?
The hon. Gentleman is making an excellent point about the importance of pubs as the heart of our local community life, and that is the case for towns as well as for villages. Does he agree that the measures announced by the Deputy Prime Minister yesterday to support community assets will help exactl…
Commons
Debate
22 July 2025
Sir David Amess Summer Adjournment
It is a pleasure to be able to speak in this afternoon’s debate. May I pay a heartfelt tribute to Sir David Amess? He was a wonderful man. I also pay tribute to Ian Gow MP for his vital work earlier in the history of this country.
I am very proud of our town, and want to speak about Reading and in …
Commons
Debate
21 July 2025
Victory over Japan: 80th Anniversary
May I ask the Chair of the Select Committee to mention some of the many diverse groups from across Berkshire, whom I know he is thinking of at this very difficult time, including our local Nepalese and Gurkha communities?
Commons
Ministerial Statement
21 July 2025
Independent Water Commission
I warmly welcome the Secretary of State’s statement and the tough action he has announced. Residents in my community have suffered appalling problems with sewage pollution in the Thames, the Kennet and many other waterways, as well as hours-long interruptions to supply. To make matters worse, reside…
Commons
Debate
16 July 2025
2 contributions
Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life
My hon. Friend is making an excellent point. As a fellow southern MP, I share his concern about the importance of explaining that there is real poverty across the south of England, as well as in many other parts of the country. He makes a point about the breakfast clubs, which are outstanding and he…
Is it not the point that there should be a shared national mission to invest in young people? As was rightly pointed out by my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes), the evidence is clear that £1 invested in a very young child, aged less than five, is worth £16 invested l…
Commons
Debate
15 July 2025
6 contributions
Welfare Spending
It is a pleasure to speak in support of the policies outlined by the Minister. I wish to discuss the crisis in the system, the situation in my constituency, and some of the important initiatives under way to get people back into work.
It is worth reviewing the scale of the crisis that the current G…
I will not, I am afraid. I need to make some progress.
In addition, one in eight young people were out of work due to long-term sickness and were on sickness and disability benefits. In short, the system that the Government inherited this time last year was in crisis and, moreover, trapped people i…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
7 July 2025
3 contributions
Pension Schemes Bill
My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. She has convened a very powerful group—indeed, the former City Minister played an active part in its most recent meeting. Does she agree that this Bill is particularly important for our high streets and many other entrepreneurs in our local communities, …
My hon. Friend is making a wonderful speech. May I also say that there is a wonderful pig from Berkshire as well, which has distinctive markings? However, moving away from animals, perhaps my hon. Friend wishes to say a little more about the success of the type of legislation she describes in Canada…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
2 July 2025
2 contributions
Corporate Businesses and Franchisees: Regulatory Environment
Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
I am very grateful to the right hon. Gentleman, who does the House a favour in his work tonight. I should first declare an interest, as I have a close relative who works for the Competition and Markets Authority. I do not wish to comment on competition and mergers, though I would like to ask the rig…
Commons
Debate
30 June 2025
Road Safety Powers: Parish and Town Councils
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for raising this important matter. On a more serious note, I offer my deepest condolences to two people who lost their lives in a road accident in Reading recently, although I do not want to comment on that because it is under police investigation.
I commend my hon. …
Commons
Debate
25 June 2025
Department for Transport
My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. My community, like hers, also depends on rail services running from London to south Wales. I want to underline the benefits she is outlining based on my own experience. Reading has benefited hugely from the Elizabeth line and the rebuilding of the station, an…
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 June 2025
2 contributions
Access to Banking Hubs: Hertfordshire
The hon. Gentleman is making an excellent point about the need for in-person banking services. In my constituency, we have experienced exactly what he has described in the south-east of England. My experience is that many who are vulnerable, or overwhelmed by getting into the town centre or have mob…
The hon. Gentleman is making an excellent point about this issue. My experience is that the criteria appear to be drawn too tightly, and that there is perhaps a lack of appreciation of the scale of need in some areas. In my own area, although there is frequent public transport from the Reading subur…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
18 June 2025
HS2 Reset
I thank the Secretary of State for the honesty with which she has addressed these very difficult issues. May I ask her to say a little more about the lessons that can be learned from the success of the Elizabeth line—both the far superior leadership and management of the programme, and the economic …
Commons
Westminster Hall
18 June 2025
Asbestos Removal: Non-domestic Buildings
My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech and I commend her for the honesty and sincerity with which she deals with these very difficult issues. She is right that, across the country, a large amount of building stock and commercial properties have this terrible material, and that a large number o…
Commons
Debate
17 June 2025
Crime and Policing Bill
The hon. Gentleman is making an excellent speech. This is, indeed, a serious problem across the country. In my constituency, many residents are concerned about speeding e-bikes of various types. I am pleased that our local force, Thames Valley Police, is taking more action, and I would urge it to go…
Commons
Oral Questions
Wales
11 June 2025
2 contributions
Clean Energy: Wales
13. What recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on support for clean energy projects in Wales.
Wales has an enormous role to play in the roll-out of green and clean energy, which will benefit all the residents of Wales and the UK. What steps is the Minister taking to roll out this important work in Wales?
Commons
Debate
9 June 2025
2 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
Will my hon. Friend give way on that point?
My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech, and he is clearly speaking on the basis of a great deal of experience as a former senior councillor in Oxford. I wonder if he would like to dwell on some other aspects of this, because in many ways, play also benefits children’s social development and th…
Commons
Proceedings
4 June 2025
2 contributions
Street Parking on Estates: Bracknell Forest
My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech, and I think he is about to describe the incredible pressure that many residents feel because of parking problems, whether that is difficulty parking near their home, difficulty walking along a pavement because of pavement parking, or one of many other pr…
Again, my hon. Friend is making an excellent point. May I remind him that there is a great deal of underused brownfield land that can sometimes be made available for parking? In my constituency, I worked previously as a councillor on a scheme to tarmac an unadopted road, which my hon. Friend the Mem…
Commons
Debate
3 June 2025
Dementia Care
My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. In particular, I commend him for the way in which he has talked about the support that relatives often give as caregivers. Will he elaborate a little further on the points he made about the need for more resources to be focused on less advantaged communi…
Commons
Debate
21 May 2025
2 contributions
Business and the Economy
Will the Minister give way?
I thank the Minister for giving way on that point. He is making an excellent speech, contrasting the 14 years of utter failure by the Conservatives with the quick start by Labour. He has been quoting statistics for the period since Labour was elected, but will he say more about the potential benefit…
Commons
Debate
20 May 2025
Victims and Courts Bill
My right hon. Friend is making an excellent and compelling speech. I warmly welcome what she is saying, which closely resonates with the feelings of many of my constituents in Reading town centre and elsewhere who have unfortunately suffered from antisocial behaviour in many different forms. I am su…
Commons
Proceedings
13 May 2025
UK-EU Summit
I am very grateful to the Minister for giving way; he is making an excellent speech. Like me, I am sure he is concerned about small businesses that could particularly benefit from an agrifood deal. Would he like to say a little bit more about the benefits for our small businesses?