Commons
Westminster Hall
10 July 2025
Victims of Terrorism: State Support
It is a pleasure to have you in the Chair today, Ms Harris. As other hon Members have done, I congratulate the hon. Member for Rossendale and Darwen (Andy MacNae) on securing this important debate. The timing of it is perfect. I commend other hon. Members who have spoken for their thoughtful, powerf…
Commons
Oral Questions
Scotland
9 July 2025
2 contributions
Spending Review 2025: Economic Growth
7. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the spending review 2025 on economic growth in Scotland.
The jobs tax has decimated business confidence and has seen unemployment rise, and now—along with the Budget blow to Scotch whisky, the attack on family farms and the undermining of the oil and gas industry—the Scottish Hospitality Group has slated the spending review, saying it
“does absolutely no…
Commons
Debate
4 July 2025
Space Industry (Indemnities) Bill
It is a great pleasure to speak again on the Bill. It is a short Bill—it replaces just two words—but one with substantial implications. The meat of the Bill, if I can call it that, is to replace “may” with “must”.
I will briefly refer to some of the excellent contributions. I am relieved to have he…
Commons
Statutory Instrument
30 June 2025
2 contributions
Draft Contracts for Difference (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 3) Regulations 2025
The Minister says that making the transition by 2030 will be the best way to stabilise and reduce prices, but even if we go full steam ahead with SMRs, or large nuclear replacement of the ageing nuclear capacity at the moment, none of that will be onstream by 2030. What does she suggest will be the …
Not for 20 years—not yet.
Commons
Oral Questions
Transport
26 June 2025
2 contributions
Local Bus Services
The Government know that bus franchising is commercially risky and very expensive for any local authority. We know that because Transport for London costs taxpayers £650 million a year in subsidy, and Andy Burnham’s Bee Network in Greater Manchester is currently on course for an annual deficit of £2…
I am grateful for that answer, and we have four hours of Bill Committee later today to rehearse the arguments yet again. In an earlier answer, the Minister said that he is providing £1 billion of support for buses in this financial year, but surely he knows that £700 million goes to help local autho…
Commons
Committee Stage
26 June 2025
13 contributions
Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [ Lords ] (Third sitting)
It is jolly nice to see you in the Chair, Sir Desmond. As I spoke to the amendment before lunch, it falls to me now only to press it to a vote.
Question put, That the amendment be made.
I will start with clause 10, to which explicit reference has not yet been made, and under which section 123D of the Transport Act 2000, which refers to auditing, is to be amended in accordance with subsections (2) to (8). Subsection (2) sets out that a franchising authority may not proceed with a pr…
+11 more contributions in this session
Commons
Committee Stage
26 June 2025
12 contributions
Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [ Lords ] (Second sitting)
It is a pleasure to serve under you, Dr Allin-Khan.
Clause 5 deals with the minimum period before provision of services can be changed. It is not a difficult clause, but it is worth going into some of the subsections in a bit more detail. Subsection (1) omits section 123H(4) of the 2000 Act, which …
I beg to move amendment 46, in clause 7, page 3, line 23, at end insert—
“(1A) In subsection (5), omit from ‘and’ to end.”
This amendment seeks to simplify the process for granting service permits by removing the requirement that the proposed service will not have an adverse effect on any local se…
+10 more contributions in this session
Commons
Committee Stage
26 June 2025
25 contributions
Public Bill Committees
It is a pleasure to serve under you, Dr Allin-Khan.
Clause 5 deals with the minimum period before provision of services can be changed. It is not a difficult clause, but it is worth going into some of the subsections in a bit more detail. Subsection (1) omits section 123H(4) of the 2000 Act, which …
I beg to move amendment 46, in clause 7, page 3, line 23, at end insert—
“(1A) In subsection (5), omit from ‘and’ to end.”
This amendment seeks to simplify the process for granting service permits by removing the requirement that the proposed service will not have an adverse effect on any local se…
+23 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
23 June 2025
UK Military Base Protection
The Armed Forces Minister was asked a direct question by the shadow Secretary of State for Defence. It was simply this: do the Government support the United States’ actions in Iran over the weekend? The answer he gave was that he agreed that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon. That is not the ans…
Commons
Debate
19 June 2025
3 contributions
Water Safety Education
rose —
Firs, I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on his first outing on the Front Bench—he is doing a very good job. Secondly, I will not quibble over who it was who obtained the funding from the Conservative Government—the Conservative Member of Parliament or the Liberal Democrat district council—so let us …
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
19 June 2025
UK Infrastructure: 10-year Strategy
I cannot believe it, but I agree with the hon. Member for Walthamstow (Ms Creasy). It is a shock to the system, but the Chief Secretary has announced the return of the public-private partnership. The last Labour Government were a byword for disastrous contractual negotiations, and that led to the in…
Commons
Debate
17 June 2025
4 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
Will the hon. Lady give way?
Will the Minister give way?
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
12 June 2025
2 contributions
Employment Costs
20. What steps he is taking to help reduce employment costs for employers.
The Minister seems to be in denial. As a former entrepreneur, I visit lots of businesses in my constituency, and I talk to them about their fears. Not a single one has anything positive to say about the Employment Rights Bill—indeed, they are concerned that it will reduce employment, not increase it…
Commons
Westminster Hall
10 June 2025
3 contributions
Mass Transit: West Yorkshire
It is very good to see you in the Chair, Ms Jardine. As everyone else has done, I congratulate the hon. Member for Leeds South West and Morley (Mark Sewards) on securing this debate.
West Yorkshire and the city of Leeds have long been underserved by transport connections; that is common ground acro…
The answer is that this is spending from 2026 to 2031, so of course we do not have the allocation in 2023. We will have it in 2026, however, and it is part of the Government funding process. If the hon. Lady asks me where that money is coming from, it is from the savings made through the cancellatio…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 June 2025
2 contributions
Non-stun Slaughter of Animals
It is good to see you in your place, Mr Dowd, and it is a privilege to speak in this debate on a petition that has attracted over 109,000 signatures from members of the public across the country.
At the start of my comments, let me acknowledge the importance of this issue, which touches on two fund…
My hon. Friend has clearly been looking over my shoulder, because I was about to say that the last Government did undertake a consultation; it is very noticeable that there has been no official response from the Government. My next question to the Minister, who I know is keen to provide us with full…
Commons
Debate
2 June 2025
Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [Lords]
This has been a really enjoyable debate. One of the great benefits of winding up is that we are forced to sit and listen to absolutely everything. Most speeches I enjoyed, but there were one or two that I did not. It is up to hon. Members to work out whether I am talking about them.
The contributio…
Commons
Proceedings
2 June 2025
Government Announcements
The Leader of the House has just told us that the document was “trailed” to journalists, but at 10.41 this morning The Daily Telegraph published a long article in which its authors clearly set out that they had read the entire document. At the same time, the shadow Secretary of State for Defence was…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
22 May 2025
2 contributions
Diego Garcia Military Base
indicated dissent.
Thank you, Mr Speaker—I mean it this time. The Secretary of State has asserted from the Dispatch Box that it is the risk of an UNCLOS judgment that is requiring this capitulation of sovereignty. Can he therefore answer this specific question: is he aware of a single case that is live under UNCLOS at…
Commons
Debate
22 May 2025
Access to NHS Dentistry
The point has been made repeatedly that dentists can earn a lot more money in private practice than in NHS dentistry, and that is unlikely to change no matter what happens in the renegotiation. Does the hon. Member agree with the last Government’s review, which suggested that the roughly £300,000 co…
Commons
Debate
21 May 2025
Immigration
Will the Minister give way?
Commons
Debate
21 May 2025
18 contributions
Business and the Economy
Pubs are the lifeblood of communities, particularly in rural constituencies such as mine in Broadland and Fakenham. People could perhaps make an argument for individual tax rises, but it is the combination of three in particular that are hitting pubs so badly. It is the increase in the minimum wage—…
My hon. Friend will know that business confidence has plummeted since Labour came to power. Does he agree that one of the reasons it has plummeted is the loss of faith in this Government? Businesses were promised that their plans were fully costed and fully funded in advance and there would be no in…
+16 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
15 May 2025
2 contributions
Economic Growth
Greater Anglia supports economic growth in the east of England with modern, quiet, fast trains, paid for by £2 billion of private sector investment. Its service is the most punctual in the country, it is popular with its passengers, and it is run so efficiently that instead of costing the taxpayer, …
Perhaps the Secretary of State did not understand the nature of the offer from Greater Anglia. It was not expecting to be bought out; it was offering to continue its current arrangements for a couple of years.
In a previous answer, the Secretary of State said to me that the benefit of rail national…
Commons
Petition
14 May 2025
Permanent Post Office in Fakenham
Fakenham is the largest town in my constituency, and yet it has not had a permanent post office for more than five years. The town’s high street banks are also closing one after the other, leaving no access to cash deposits for local businesses. This paper petition for a permanent post office for Fa…