Commons
Ministerial Statement
30 June 2026
National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation
I, too, thank Baroness Amos, her team and, most especially, the families who so bravely gave the evidence that has formed this report. Further to the conversation about accountability, the Secretary of State will have noticed that some families are concerned that the commissioner is just one person,…
Commons
Debate
30 June 2026
4 contributions
Department of Health and Social Care
I thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting this debate on the NHS estimates and, in particular, the impact of the UK-US pharmaceutical deal.
Let me start by briefly talking about the estimates themselves. I am sure that every Member has a copy of them; I have one every year. Given that w…
I believe that by the end of my speech, the hon. Gentleman and I will be in violent agreement, if we are not already. There is one more aspect of this, incidentally: the supply chains deal, which I understand is being crafted. We do not have time to go into that.
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
24 June 2026
Nottingham Maternity and Neonatal Services
I, too, pay tribute to those families who came forward with their stories, but also to the thousands, if not tens of thousands, of families across the country who are hearing these stories today and are triggered because it reminds them of their own, including in my area in Oxfordshire.
What struck…
Commons
Oral Questions
Health and Social Care
9 June 2026
Health Inequalities
The Health and Social Care Committee’s most recent report into healthy ageing highlights the unacceptable 20-year gap in healthy life expectancy between the most and least deprived areas of the country. It also points out that physical activity can be as effective, if not more effective, in treating…
Commons
Oral Questions
14 April 2026
NHS Waiting Lists
Making sure that our GP surgeries are revving on all cylinders is key to ensuring that people get the access to NHS treatment that they need. The Secretary of State will know of my campaign to get a new site for Summertown health centre—in fact, we have been trying to meet to talk about it for over …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
26 March 2026
3 contributions
Palliative Care
On behalf of the Health and Social Care Committee, it is a pleasure to present to the House our sixth report, which is on the subject of palliative care. This is the second report we are presenting to the House in as many weeks, because the Committee is in a hurry to play our part in fixing the NHS …
I commend the right hon. Gentleman for his campaigning on this issue over many years. Together for Short Lives was indeed a contributor to the two reports. Its specific recommendation on babies, children and young people’s care was that we need better specialist pan-ICB commissioning that is modelle…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
26 March 2026
Resident Doctors: Industrial Action
This is clearly the wrong move again. It is really stark; we keep hearing from patients across the country about how much they want the NHS to improve, but this is another blow to them, and they may even wonder if it is safe to go into their local hospital during the strike period.
I am grateful to…
Commons
Proceedings
19 March 2026
Climate Change
I completely agree with the hon. Member that this is exactly the wrong moment to turn our backs on the promises that this House made to the children of this country. He may remember that it was the Fridays for Future movement that had children literally coming out on to the streets, out of school on…
Commons
Proceedings
19 March 2026
4 contributions
Community Mental Health Services
On behalf of the Health and Social Care Committee, it is a pleasure to present to the House our report on the subject of community mental health services. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for allocating time for this statement.
Mental health services are failing too many people. As MPs, we …
I pay tribute to the hon. Lady, my fellow Health and Social Care Committee member, for how movingly she shared her personal story. That was pivotal in the shaping of this report. She has just demonstrated to this House the power of having experts by experience lie at the heart of design and these re…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
17 March 2026
Meningitis Outbreak
I share my condolences with those families and communities affected by this outbreak. I cannot begin, as the Secretary of State said, to imagine what they must be thinking and feeling during this time. I also thank those staff who have been involved in the response. I echo the Secretary of State’s h…
Commons
Debate
24 February 2026
Online Harm: Child Protection
In among the discussions around procedure, which are important in this place, I fear that we are missing the nub of what my hon. Friend is trying to get to, which is that this is a nuanced space. This is not a blanket “we say no to everything”. Some people are arguing that we should do nothing, and …
Commons
Debate
24 February 2026
8 contributions
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
May I ask for some clarification in respect of the police investigations? The Minister may have noted the intervention made by Gordon Brown on Sunday, when he asked constabularies to consider widening the probe on the basis of files that had been released as part of the data dump. I appreciate that …
I think the hon. Gentleman is trying to get to a point that deeply concerns me, which is that we need to understand the extent to which the then Prince Andrew was leaning on government for things he wanted. There is an example of this in the recent Epstein files, which contain an exchange between Gh…
+6 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
24 February 2026
Health and Social Care: Rural Communities
On Friday, I visited Young Devon, an early support centre in the heart of rural North Devon, where I met young people who told me heartbreaking stories of how they felt left out and let down by the system. Young Devon was quite literally a lifeline for them. It has an open-door, person-centred appro…
Commons
Debate
11 February 2026
Local Government Finance
My hon. Friend is giving a powerful speech outlining how Liberal Democrat councils up and down the country are doing their best in this cost of living crisis. Oxfordshire county council finds itself in a £24 million deficit as a result of the settlement. Meanwhile, residents on the doorstep are sayi…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
4 February 2026
Engagements
Q11. My residents are sick of being let down by Thames Water. Robert and Patricia were sent a £39,000 bill that they did not actually owe; Len and Jenny were forced to use a Portaloo for months as sewage filled their home; and parents still think twice about sending their children to swim in the riv…
Commons
Oral Questions
13 January 2026
Maternity and Neonatal Care
An Oxford midwife recently told me that sewage regularly rises through the floor and drips down through the ceiling on to a hospital maternity ward. This has become so common that it is now standard procedure for midwives to move the clinic whenever it happens so that patients are none the wiser. Ob…
Commons
Westminster Hall
6 January 2026
5 contributions
Future of Thames Water
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the future of Thames Water.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairpersonship, Mrs Harris, and I thank the Minister for attending this debate to listen to my constituents’ concerns. What better way to start the year than to debate the future of Tham…
Thames Water’s repeated mismanagement is why the Liberal Democrats have long called for all of the water company bosses not to receive that level of payout. We will continue to campaign in that vein.
Locally, we have been campaigning on the issue for many years. Along with Safer Waters, Thames21 an…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
17 December 2025
UK-EU Common Understanding Negotiations
Hallelujah! It feels like some common sense is finally re-entering this debate, and I warmly welcome the Minister’s statement. So do my constituents in Oxford West and Abingdon who wrote to me at the time. Many were literally in tears because they were worried that they would not be able to particip…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
10 December 2025
Resident Doctors: Industrial Action
This is just not the time for a strike. As much as we have huge sympathy with many of the grievances of resident doctors, we understand that the next few weeks will be critical for how the next few months will be for the NHS, so I echo calls for the BMA to listen to reason. However, I spare a though…
Commons
Debate
9 December 2025
Railways Bill
My hon. Friend talks about accessibility, and we cannot forget about disabled people in that. If I may, I will share a perverse peculiarity at Radley station near Oxford, which is considered a rural station. Disabled people can go northbound, but not southbound, because there is no step-free access.…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
3 December 2025
Engagements
Q11. Allison in Oxford is threatened with new service charges by her housing association, Green Square Accord, for shrubbery she happily cut herself for 22 years and for cleaning a communal area that simply does not exist. Meanwhile, Rebecca’s charges have more than doubled over the last four years,…
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 December 2025
2 contributions
Oxford to Cambridge Growth Corridor
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Jeremy. I thank the hon. Member for Cambridge (Daniel Zeichner) for securing this important debate.
It is a joy to represent the city of Oxford, particularly the university bits that I have inherited from my neighbour, the right hon. Member for Ox…
I absolutely agree that the Cowley branch line is amazing, but I underline the point that the right hon. Member for Oxford East (Anneliese Dodds) made about the Kennington bridge problem: there is a £70 million hole there. That matters, because the Oxford flood alleviation scheme will protect the Th…
Commons
Proceedings
2 December 2025
Budget Resolutions
The Secretary of State was absolutely right: the NHS does need to innovate and renew—and indeed any investment in any Budget is welcome—but how this renewal happens and what is prioritised also matters. While I of course agree that the focus on hospital waiting lists is right, I can also be concerne…
Commons
Debate
26 November 2025
Budget Resolutions
On mental ill health, the right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to point out that it is one of the drivers of people going on universal credit and that does need to be tackled. Does he share my alarm that today in the Health Service Journal it has been reported that the Government are planning to…
Commons
Oral Questions
25 November 2025
Health Inequalities
Diethylstilbestrol, or DES, was prescribed to women until the 1980s to treat miscarriage. Those who took it were themselves at greater risk of breast cancer, and their daughters have a higher risk of rare cervical cancers. It is estimated that a whopping 300,000 women have been affected. Two weeks a…