Commons
Debate
17 November 2025
Budget: Press Briefings
This urgent question is about Budget press briefings. The Minister has repeatedly said that he takes his responsibilities very seriously. He was asked by the shadow Chancellor whether he could rule out any of the ministerial team or special advisers having leaked any of the information out to the pr…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
13 November 2025
Business of the House
I wonder if the Leader of the House could help me. We have heard of the concerns about special education needs from Members across the House. My constituency has them, too—the issue fills my inbox. He mentioned that there will be a consultation and a White Paper; the problem is that there is anxiety…
Commons
Debate
12 November 2025
3 contributions
Energy
We saw this in the health service, with the private finance initiative; £13 billion of investment became £80 billion of public debt to pay back. Does my right hon. Friend worry that Labour seems to be following exactly the same principle by locking in these high future costs for our children and for…
rose—
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
12 November 2025
9 contributions
Taxes
To put it in simple terms for those listening at home, the Chancellor raised taxes by £40 billion, she spent £30 billion and she borrowed £70 billion. Cumulatively, that will make people think, “How am I going to get the return on that investment if we are not growing the economy? How do I ensure th…
Was my right hon. Friend as surprised as I was to hear the Prime Minister say again today at Prime Minister’s questions that his No. 1 goal is growth, when all the evidence is pointing against it?
+7 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
11 November 2025
Prisoner Releases in Error
Last week in Prime Minister’s questions, the right hon. Gentleman said:
“Get a grip, man! I know I am the Justice Secretary.” —[ Official Report , 5 November 2025; Vol. 774, c. 902.]
I am pleased he knows he is the Justice Secretary, and with that comes leadership, so can he guarantee to the publi…
Commons
Debate
4 November 2025
5 contributions
Welfare Spending
Will the Minister give way?
The Minister mentioned WorkWell, which is a fantastic scheme introduced in 2023 that dealt with 59,000 people through £64 million of Conservative Government investment. I am glad that the Government are taking that forward and looking to expand it. My concern as a GP is about trying to get more peop…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
4 November 2025
4 contributions
Supporting High Streets
Hospitality was hit particularly hard by that toxic concoction. A UKHospitality survey found that 76% of businesses put up their prices, one third restricted their hours and 63% had to cut their staffing as a result. Is that not the reason why we need this policy to try to improve our high streets?
The amendment contains a bit of an oxymoron, because it says that the Government’s plan for small businesses
“commits to cut the administrative burden of regulation for businesses by 25%”,
but it then goes on to mention the Employment Rights Bill. Will the 25% cut in regulation take place before o…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Proceedings
30 October 2025
4 contributions
Ageing and End-of-life Care
I yet again thank the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon). He should be proud of Mona Shannon, and she will be proud of him not just for raising this topic today, but for all the work he does across this House talking about health, because he is assiduous and dedicated to timely health interven…
The hon. Lady is spot on; that is exactly the point that I was getting at. While there is a legal duty in terms of palliation, what that palliation looks like is important. Her question was also raised by the hon. Member for Strangford, who asked whether it is now time to have a strategy dedicated t…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Proceedings
30 October 2025
Business of the House
Might we have a debate in Government time on mid-contract mobile phone bill increases, which is a concern I have been raising for a long time? I was pleased to welcome Ofcom’s changes at the start of the year, but it seems that companies such as O2 are finding new ways around them and increasing bil…
Commons
Debate
28 October 2025
10 contributions
China Spying Case
Is it therefore not incredible either way that the deputy NSA did not discuss the biggest spy case this century with his boss, the National Security Adviser, and was left to his own devices to provide the evidence?
Tony Blair was Prime Minister for a very long time. Did he amend the legislation?
+8 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
28 October 2025
9 contributions
Stamp Duty Land Tax
Is my right hon. Friend aware of the study by Jackson-Stops, which looked at people aged 55 and over to see how much abolishing stamp duty would help to move the market along? The study estimated that in the first year, abolishing the tax would allow 500,000 people to downsize to free up homes for f…
Another term for austerity is “living within your means”. That is what the British public understand, and that is the point we are trying to make in this debate. When the Government have needed to make difficult decisions, they have fallen short. Can the Minister explain why the Government are not l…
+7 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
27 October 2025
Prisoner Release Checks
There are almost a dozen pages in the statement and the Secretary of State has taken questions for almost an hour, but there is one word that I have not heard: “sorry”. That is really important, particularly for the 14-year-old victim and her father. The Justice Secretary has said a number of times …
Commons
Oral Questions
21 October 2025
2 contributions
NHS Trusts: Performance
With reports of over £1 billion in costs for integrated care board redundancies and the chief executive officer of NHS England warning that services could have to move to plan B, could the Secretary of State set out what plan B is?
I thank the Secretary of State for his answer, but waiting lists have risen for three successive months now, doctors are on strike, GPs are in formal dispute with the Government, and the ICBs are cutting 50% of their staff and do not have £1 billion to pay for it, all while the NHS 10-year plan has …
Commons
Debate
20 October 2025
10 contributions
Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
Does my right hon. Friend agree that under the Bill, if there is no agreement, although we can be first offer, Mauritius can decide simply to close and fold the base, leaving it completely void, so there is no protection against that?
This issue has been disputed. Is it not the point that the United Nations convention on the law of the sea cannot pass judgment on sovereignty because of the ruling that was made between Mauritius and the UK on marine protection back in 2015? That was under annexe VII, which was tried and tested. Br…
+8 more contributions in this session
Commons
Proceedings
20 October 2025
Alleged Spying Case: Home Office Involvement
I appreciate the Minister’s clarity, which he keeps talking about. On that basis, let me say this. The case collapsed. This is about leadership. He has seen all the evidence in public, and all the evidence in private. Was China spying on two Members of Parliament in this case—yes or no?
Commons
Debate
15 October 2025
Jhoots Pharmacy
Only this weekend, the National Pharmacy Association chief executive, Henry Gregg, said that he is concerned that
“reports of Jhoots Pharmacy branches across England failing patients risks damaging community pharmacy’s reputation and could imperil its ability to secure a good 2026-27 funding settle…
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 October 2025
2 contributions
Healthcare: Bolton
I too congratulate the hon. Member for Bolton North East (Kirith Entwistle). She covered a huge amount within her allotted time. The only sadness is that we have only an hour, and I have only a couple of minutes to try to address many of her points.
The biggest message that we take home today is th…
Hearing Leah’s story was very concerning and upsetting. When it comes to further online access, one of GPs’ biggest concerns is about what to do with the emergencies that may come in through a computer at 6.20 pm as a result of that access, having to make that assessment when the system is supposed …
Commons
Debate
14 October 2025
6 contributions
Mental Health Bill [Lords]
When we last debated the Bill on Second Reading, I said that protecting someone’s freedom for their own safety is not a licence to own their life, but a duty to help them find it again. That principle still guides us today, because good intentions alone do not mend a troubled system. Compassion with…
The Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee is absolutely right. A simple answer from the Minister today, on Report, would go a long way to alleviating those fears from the mental health sector. I look forward to his response on that.
Amendment 40 would add a simple but important requirement …
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
13 October 2025
Digital ID
I want to pick up the question about punishment, because I am confused. The Secretary of State says that, in order to work, someone will have to have a digital ID—it will be mandatory—yet she also says that the impetus will be on the company and not the individual, who will not need to have one. How…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
13 October 2025
Security Update: Official Secrets Act Case
The right hon. Gentleman is the Minister for Security. I have been here for almost an hour and a half, and I have not heard him answer this question: was China spying on Parliament, or is it even a consideration that it is spying on Parliament?
Commons
Oral Questions
13 October 2025
Topical Questions
We in Leicestershire have three, if not four, plans for our reorganisation, with no agreement. We also have a county council run by Reform, which has already had not one but two reshuffles, losing its cabinet leads for social services and finance. While 70% of its budget is spent on social services …
Commons
Debate
16 September 2025
10 contributions
Ambassador to the United States
Is my right hon. Friend aware that James Matthews, the Sky News reporter, cornered Lord Mandelson on 27 May to ask him specifically about staying in Epstein’s flat? Mandelson did not deny it, but simply said that he regretted having any connection with him. These are the kinds of questions that shou…
Will the right hon. Lady give way?
+8 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
15 September 2025
2 contributions
Employment Rights Bill
Will the Secretary of State give way?
I am grateful. The new Secretary of State has been asked this several times, but we never heard an answer: can he point to a small or medium-sized business that actually supports this Bill?
Commons
Ministerial Statement
15 September 2025
Official Secrets Act
The Minister has repeatedly said that it is not his job to speculate on the CPS. He is right, but it is his job to defend the security of this country and therefore to ask the CPS why it has not brought charges. Has he done that? Has he rung the CPS before he came to the House to speak to it and to …
Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
15 September 2025
2 contributions
Frontline Policing: Bureaucracy
9. What steps she is taking to help reduce levels of bureaucracy for frontline police officers.
I recently met the chief constable of Leicestershire, and he explained some of the red tape that his force faces. Between April 2024 and March 2025,
it used 14,769 “use of force” forms. These are for when people go into handcuffs. Some 6,500 of those were for people who were complicit and were happ…