Commons
Oral Questions
Justice
30 June 2026
Women’s Prison Estate: Biological Males
Given that we are thinking about the women’s prison estate more generally, and given that the Swansea residential women’s centre was due to open in 2024 but now does not look like it will open at all, what steps is the Minister taking to ensure that Welsh women can access alternatives to custody?
Commons
Westminster Hall
22 June 2026
Spinal Muscular Atrophy: Newborn Screening Test
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Mundell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Sunderland Central (Lewis Atkinson) for leading this important debate on behalf of the Petitions Committee, and I thank the 306 residents of Newport West and Islwyn who signed the petition. I am delight…
Commons
Oral Questions
Wales
17 June 2026
Job Creation
I thank the Minister for her responses. I want to raise the issue of young people not in education, employment or training. We know that the Conservatives failed our Welsh young people for 14 years, so I am really pleased that this Labour Government are investing £2.5 billion in the youth guarantee.…
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 June 2026
Brain Cancer
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Barker. I thank the 54 constituents of Newport West and Islwyn who signed the petition calling for an increased focus on tackling brain cancer.
I will speak about Owain’s law, a campaign that seeks to end the postcode lottery across the UK in acce…
Commons
Westminster Hall
27 April 2026
2 contributions
Animal Testing
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship today, Mr Twigg. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Irene Campbell) for introducing this debate on behalf of the Petitions Committee. She is a fantastic, tireless champion of the rights of animals and does a great j…
I understand the timetable that the Minister is outlining, which is great, but there are still millions of tests being undertaken every year unnecessarily. We know about the forced swim and LD50 tests. Could the Minister outline a bit more the review of the generic project licences? How can we issue…
Commons
Oral Questions
22 April 2026
Defence Sector
The Welsh Affairs Committee has a great interest in the future of the defence manufacturing industry in Wales, because the defence sector is such a major driver of Wales’s manufacturing economy and provides many well-paid jobs, including at General Dynamics in Oakdale in my constituency. The sector …
Commons
Statutory Instrument
21 April 2026
2 contributions
Draft Chemicals (Health and Safety) (Amendment, Consequential and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2026
Thank you, Dr Murrison, for enabling me to speak even though I am not a member of the Committee. It seems like a long time ago, but I should declare that I was a shadow Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Minister and part of my portfolio included chemicals, so that is why I am here t…
I would very much welcome that opportunity to talk to the Minister outside this Committee. In terms of the UN alignment, that is fine, but what happens when the UN has countries that have lower and weaker chemical regulations than the EU and the UK? What happens with the alignment then? Do we align …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
13 April 2026
Middle East
I thank the Prime Minister for his statement. He will know that Yom HaShoah, a Jewish commemoration of the 6 million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, begins tonight. We must never forget. But as this powerful memorial begins, Benjamin Netanyahu continues to flout international law by bombing inno…
Commons
Debate
10 March 2026
Domestic Abuse (Pets)
I beg to move,
That leave be given to bring in a Bill to make provision for the application of non-molestation orders and occupation orders to behaviour relating to pets; to amend definitions of controlling or coercive behaviour and economic abuse to include behaviour relating to pets; to extend th…
Commons
Westminster Hall
10 March 2026
4 contributions
Fur: Import and Sale
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the import and sale of fur and related products.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship again, Ms Jardine. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for allowing a debate on fur today. I am grateful for the opportunity to lead a debate on a topi…
I could not have put it better myself. Let us be clear about what the fur trade involves. Each year, tens of millions of animals, including foxes, mink and raccoons, are still trapped solely for fashion. On farms, they are confined for their entire lives in barren wire cages, unable to run, dig, swi…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 March 2026
Type 1 Diabetes: Infant Testing
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship again, Sir Alec. I welcome the Minister to her place; it is great to see her. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Irene Campbell) for introducing this e-petition debate on behalf of the Petitions Committee, and the 240 of …
Commons
Oral Questions
4 March 2026
Family Farms
As you will be aware, Mr Speaker, the Welsh Affairs Committee recently published its report on farming in Wales. We welcome the Government’s reforms to inheritance tax, but call for further work on the impacts of the change on Welsh family farms to protect our culture, language and amazing farm prod…
Commons
Debate
26 February 2026
3 contributions
St David’s Day and Welsh Affairs
I beg to move,
That this House has considered St David’s Day and Welsh affairs.
It is a real privilege to open this debate as we come together to mark St David’s day and discuss Wales’s past, present and, critically, its future. I may not use my full 15 minutes to speak, because other colleagues w…
The hon. Member is quite right; we are always better together. As a Gaelic colleague, I welcome him to this debate today and I look forward to his contributions later on.
St David was known for his austere lifestyle, surviving on a vegetarian diet of mostly leeks and water. I am not necessarily adv…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 February 2026
2 contributions
Animals in Science Regulation Unit: Annual Report 2024
It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this afternoon, Sir John. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) for securing this important debate.
As the hon. Gentleman said, the 2024 annual report of the ASRU makes for very grim reading. The…
The Minister says there are not alternatives, but there are. The forced swim test is a classic, as is the LD50. These need to be phased out; we do not need them any more. I gently encourage the Minister to tell us how we can phase these out as quickly as possible.
Commons
Westminster Hall
26 January 2026
2 contributions
Animal Rescue Centres
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Alec. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Irene Campbell) for introducing the debate. I was privileged recently to meet the lead petitioners—Paul Watkinson and Niki Roe of Jack’s Giant Journey, who are in the Public G…
My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. This is about consistency, levelling up and ensuring that across the UK we are all operating to those standards, so I thank him for that intervention.
People need to know the animal they are adopting. A lack of screening also presents major biosecurity conce…
Commons
Oral Questions
Wales
21 January 2026
Minority Language Broadcasting
The Welsh Affairs Committee took evidence from the chief executive officer and chair of S4C last week, and it was good to hear their plans for the future. What discussions has the Minister had with S4C and other broadcasters to further the development of the Welsh language across Wales and beyond?
Commons
Westminster Hall
19 January 2026
2 contributions
Sale of Fireworks
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship today, Ms Jardine. I thank the hon. Member for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Moore) for introducing these important petitions, because the sale and use of fireworks is of great concern to my constituents and is frequently one of the top issues in my postb…
The Minister has explained what has happened in the past and what is happening now, but we are interested in the future. We need legislation, and we need it before 5 November this year. May I press her for a timeline for what is going to happen next?
Commons
Westminster Hall
14 January 2026
Ajax Programme
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stuart. I thank the hon. and gallant Member for Huntingdon (Ben Obese-Jecty) for securing this important debate.
I pay tribute to our armed forces and those who put their lives on the line to keep our country safe. We ask a great deal of our ser…
Commons
Debate
12 January 2026
2 contributions
Finance (No. 2) Bill
I rise to speak on schedule 12. I greatly welcome the Government’s changes to the proposed agricultural property relief and business property relief thresholds. As Chair of the Welsh Affairs Committee, I am proud of the work that my Committee has undertaken on reviewing the Welsh farming industry an…
Absolutely; the hon. Member makes a point that I am going to come on to later.
Welsh farms are typically smaller than those in England, with 55% being less than 20 hectares, and 66% of Welsh farms are cattle and sheep farms situated on hilly or mountainous terrain, compared with just 12% in England…
Commons
Oral Questions
Northern Ireland
7 January 2026
2 contributions
European Convention on Human Rights: Belfast Agreement
3. What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the UK’s membership of the European convention on human rights on the Belfast agreement.
I thank the Secretary of State for that response. The Good Friday agreement was indeed a proud legacy of the last Labour Government, so does he agree that the reckless approach adopted by Opposition parties towards the ECHR risks undermining the huge progress made since 1998?
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
11 December 2025
2 contributions
Advanced Manufacturing: South Wales
2. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the industrial strategy on advanced manufacturing in south Wales.
I welcome the Minister’s response and the additional support for the compound semiconductor cluster in my constituency. What conversations has he had with Welsh Government colleagues on delivering the joint objectives of the Welsh manufacturing action plan and the UK industrial strategy to attract a…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
8 December 2025
Ajax Armoured Vehicle
I am aware that the problems with the Ajax system have existed for years and that the Conservative party ducked the issues when they were in government. Given that the workers at the Oakdale site in my constituency are diligent and hard-working, and that Christmas is fast approaching, what assurance…
Commons
Oral Questions
Wales
3 December 2025
2025 Budget
The Welsh compound semiconductor cluster in my constituency is a real Welsh success story in terms of this year’s Budget. It has attracted more than £1 billion-worth of investment over the last decade and has supported almost 3,000 jobs, and plans to create 1,000 more jobs are well on the way. What …
Commons
Proceedings
2 December 2025
Budget Resolutions
This Budget is a good Budget, and as a proud Welsh MP I am pleased to say that this Budget delivers for the people of Wales. It cuts the cost of living, invests in frontline public services and strengthens our plan for growth. Wales’s frontline public services will be the big beneficiaries of the La…
Commons
Westminster Hall
13 November 2025
2 contributions
Modern Day Slavery: Pakistan
It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger—without you filling in, we could not have held this important debate, so thank you for your time. I also thank the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) for opening this debate with such clarity and compassion. His tireless advocac…
My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I hope the Minister will touch on that in her winding-up remarks. British firms sourcing bricks, construction materials or kiln-fired products from Pakistan must prove that they are not profiting from coercion. Ethical trade should be a condition, not a courte…