Commons
Ministerial Statement
11 September 2025
2 contributions
Suicide Prevention
I thank the hon. Member for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme (Lee Pitcher). He honours John by securing the debate. All hon. Members who have spoken have honoured respectively the people they held so dear, in the most powerful way possible by turning personal grief into public purpose. I there…
I thank the hon. Lady for all the work she does with the APPG. I am looking holistically at the different parts of what we are trying to do in this space. I have already outlined all the funding that the previous Government put in, and I will come on to some of the other problems, such as the nation…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
11 September 2025
Business of the House
May I ask the new Leader of the House for some help? I have been working with the Hinckley school to try and get its science and technology building project sorted. That has been going on for a couple of years and we are at a crucial point with contractors. With the reshuffle, the Minister in charge…
Commons
Proceedings
11 September 2025
UK Ambassador to the US: Appointment Process
This is about the Prime Minister’s judgment. By Mandelson’s own admission, there is more very embarrassing information coming, so the Prime Minister could have said to the House yesterday, “I will suspend him, pending further investigation,” but he did not; he backed him. Can the Prime Minister be 1…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
10 September 2025
2 contributions
Engagements
Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 10 September.
One year on from the election, the country has seen a Transport Secretary resign over fraud, an anti-corruption Minister investigated for corruption, a homelessness Minister making tenants homeless, and a Housing Secretary not paying tax on her second house. We also have a Prime Minister who accepte…
Commons
Debate
3 September 2025
3 contributions
Hospitality Sector
One thing that is not picked up in the figures is the fact that cafés and businesses up and down Hinckley and Bosworth are having to reduce the man-hours that people are working to reduce their staffing costs because of the taxes that are being put in place. This is a real problem. Does my hon. Frie…
Will the Minister give way on that point, very quickly?
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Proceedings
3 September 2025
4 contributions
Property Taxes
Is not the difference now that we are seeing stagflation—high inflation and the economy not growing as it should be? We are therefore seeing job losses and unemployment going up every month under this Labour Government. Unless they do something drastically different, it will only get worse, and that…
Is that not exactly the point—that the top 1% of earners pay almost 30% of income tax? If we lose them, we damage the people who need the support and the investment from the very taxpayers we have just scared off. Should not the reverse be happening? We should attract more people into this country t…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
2 September 2025
2 contributions
Chagos Islands
4. What discussions he has had with his international counterparts on the Chagos Islands.
By not even trying to go to court or argue the case, the Government have cost the taxpayer £30 billion. Does the Minister agree with the Defence Minister who said that the deal represents “good value” for UK taxpayers?
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 September 2025
3 contributions
Eating Disorders: Prevention of Deaths
The hon. Member for Isle of Wight West (Mr Quigley) said that he wants to push for change, and he is a tremendous advocate for doing exactly that. We are six months on from a very similar debate on eating disorders. The fact that so many Members across the parties are here to support the debate show…
I thank the Minister for giving way. I am pleased that his Government have continued the roll-out, because we share the aim of trying to deal with this early. On that point, there was mention of the updated guidance, and clearly these hubs are going to need that guidance if it is updated. Will he se…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Proceedings
17 July 2025
Business of the House
On Tuesday, the second phase of health investment happened at the planning meeting in Hinckley. The planning for the £10 million day case unit was approved, but with a condition after a third party put in an appeal about a listing that had been declined twice before. Often when we come to this Chamb…
Commons
Proceedings
17 July 2025
2 contributions
NHS Pensions: Frontline Patient Care
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care if he will make a statement on NHS pensions and the impact of administrative delays on frontline patient care.
I declare an interest, for myself and on behalf of the shadow Front-Bench team, as we all have NHS pensions.
In April, Mr Speaker granted us an urgent question because the Government have no real plan for NHS pension statements. Today we return because the Government have now admitted in writing th…
Commons
Debate
15 July 2025
2 contributions
Taxes
I am grateful to the shadow Chancellor for making that point. Does he believe that a humble toolmaker who happens to own a small business is a working person?
The shadow Chancellor makes a very good point. Is he surprised by the Federation of Small Businesses, which has come out and said that for the first time ever in its index—since records began in 2008—more small businesses will contract than will grow? Is he as worried as I am about what signal that …
Commons
Debate
11 July 2025
4 contributions
Rare Cancers Bill
I rise to speak on behalf of His Majesty’s official Opposition in support of the Rare Cancers Bill, and to welcome its thoughtful and necessary intervention on behalf of a group of patients who have been under-researched, under-represented, and under-acknowledged for too long. I commend the hon. Mem…
If my hon. Friend bears with me, I will turn directly to his amendments. It is important to first set out the context, because we must understand the clauses if we are to debate the amendments to them.
Clause 2 makes crucial changes to the Secretary of State’s duty under the National Health Service…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Scotland
9 July 2025
2 contributions
For Women Scotland: Supreme Court Judgment
6. What assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of the Supreme Court judgment in the case of For Women Scotland v . The Scottish Ministers of 16 April 2025 on women in Scotland.
Joe Griffin, the permanent secretary to the Scottish Government, was asked when appearing in front of the Holyrood Finance and Public Administration Committee about action taken in relation to the Supreme Court judgment. When pushed, he said:
“Specific actions, I can’t give you that right now.”
Do…
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 July 2025
3 contributions
Glaucoma Awareness
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Pritchard. I, too, thank the hon. Member for Leicester South (Shockat Adam), who is a colleague both in my region and in primary care. His powerful testimonies about patients and what they suffer are exactly why he is an asset to this House. He p…
Is there a plan or a strategy for considering a glaucoma pathway? Will the Government also commit to the workforce? The Health Service Journal has noted that the plan, as it stands, has no delivery chapter. Where is the delivery chapter for the 10-year health plan?
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 July 2025
12 contributions
Neighbourhood Plans: Planning Decisions
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the role of neighbourhood plans in planning decisions.
When we come to this place as representatives of our communities, it is our job to hold the Government to account for things that really matter. I must admit that when I entered Parliament I never …
My right hon. Friend is spot on. That is why I wanted this debate, and many colleagues are here to raise that exact point.
+10 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
3 July 2025
Business of the House
In 2023, Twycross zoo and I secured £19.9 million from the levelling-up fund. I am pleased to report that, when I visited a couple of weeks ago, spades were in the ground for the global conservation centre. I thank Hinckley & Bosworth borough council, Dr Rebecca Biddle and the chief executive of…
Commons
Proceedings
2 July 2025
British Indian Ocean Territory: Sovereignty
In the Minister’s response, he quoted the answer from the Defence Secretary to my question, saying that he had no choice. But the reason for doing this deal is the worry about being taken to court—so the Government do have a choice, and that is what my constituents and Opposition Members are so upse…
Commons
Debate
1 July 2025
2 contributions
Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill
Will the Minister give way?
The last Government introduced WorkWell pilots in 15 areas for 59,000 people, providing a multidisciplinary team package to get them back into work. Am I correct in thinking that the £300 million the Secretary of State is investing is built off the back of that pilot? Are they planning to continue t…
Commons
Oral Questions
Treasury
1 July 2025
Transport Infrastructure Funding
The Prime Minister, the Business Secretary and the Chancellor had the joy of coming to my constituency to see the MIRA technology park last week. They will have come via the A5. The previous Prime Minister talked about the funding that would be submitted via the A5, but in the spending review that m…
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 June 2025
6 contributions
GP Funding: South-west England
It is a pleasure to serve under your leadership, Dame Siobhain, and to be here. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Newton Abbot (Martin Wrigley) for securing this debate on a topic that I am all too familiar with, having spent time as a GP. This place may not be so familiar with the inner workings…
The hon. Lady is spot on. I posed my question to the Government because we know that primary care is one of the most efficient parts of the NHS. Why? Because the people running those businesses—they are businesses, and we have to be open and honest about that—pay attention to where the money comes i…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
19 June 2025
2 contributions
Fruit and Vegetables Aid Scheme
4. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the closure of the fruit and vegetables aid scheme on fruit and vegetable growers.
In my constituency, I have Busby, the biggest strawberry and raspberry farm in Leicestershire. It uses the fruit and vegetables aid scheme, which is due to run out at the end of 2025, in order to invest and innovate. The Government have been in power for one year; they wrote to me in May, saying the…
Commons
Oral Questions
Women and Equalities
18 June 2025
2 contributions
Educational Outcomes for Boys
9. Whether she plans to take steps with Cabinet colleagues to develop a strategy to improve educational outcomes for boys.
The logic behind having a Women’s Minister was the idea that women present and have different problems in society. By that logic, men and boys do, too; we know about suicide, and we have just heard about educational attainment. We hear about help-seeking opportunities, and I welcome the men’s health…
Commons
Committee Stage
17 June 2025
19 contributions
Mental Health Bill [ Lords ] (Sixth sitting)
Can the Minister clarify where these powers are and what they look like? For example, if a 15-year-old decides to appoint someone who is 23—maybe a boyfriend, maybe not—the problem is that once they make that nomination, we are waiting for something to happen. The idea behind the clauses we have bee…
I would be grateful if the Minister pointed it out.
+17 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Health and Social Care
17 June 2025
2 contributions
Pharmacies
I am pleased to hear the Minister speak about Pharmacy First, which was brought forward by the previous Government and welcomed by communities, the public and the pharmacists. Although I am pleased to see the Government continue it, why have they decided to cap the number of consultations that a pha…
I am grateful to the Minister for his answer, but part of the problem is that once pharmacists hit that cap, they are no longer paid the £17 per consultation. In turn, that means that either patients will be turned away, or the pharmacist must take the hit and pay for it themselves. That disjoins th…