Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
6 July 2026
Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems
The money in the DIP is clearly not enough, but it is welcome that some money has been found for defence, and I particularly welcome the new drone facility that is coming to Swindon in Wiltshire. In a genuinely constructive spirit, can I ask the Minister whether she is content with the model of defe…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
30 June 2026
Defence Investment Plan
With this new money, the defence budget is due to rise by about £17 billion a year over the next four years. In that same period, the welfare budget is going to rise by about £60 billion. That is almost the whole defence budget just in the increase in welfare spending.
General Barrons, who co-autho…
Commons
Proceedings
15 June 2026
Defence Investment Plan
The defence funding is obviously very late and it will clearly be inadequate as well, but an even greater scandal is surely the fact that the spending itself is so poorly conducted. Our procurement system is slow, wasteful and outdated. The Minister praised them earlier, but does he not accept that …
Commons
Debate
21 April 2026
Peter Mandelson: Government Appointment
The Prime Minister came to this House only yesterday saying,
“I will now set out the full timeline”, —[ Official Report , 20 April 2026; Vol. 784, c. 23.]
and later insisting that he had come to
“give the full account to the House”. —[ Official Report , 20 April 2026; Vol. 784, c. 28.]
That foll…
Commons
Debate
20 April 2026
Security Vetting
If Olly Robbins could and should have provided this information to the Prime Minister at the first opportunity, as the Prime Minister has said today, surely the same applies to Cat Little, Antonia Romeo and the Cabinet Office officials who sat on this information for nearly a month before bringing i…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
13 April 2026
North Atlantic Submarine Activity
I pay tribute to the Royal Navy and echo the point made by the Minister in respect of our brave personnel. I agree with him that we have the best Navy in the world—I just wish it were larger. I am unclear from what the Minister has said about whether we have had more than a narrative of what has hap…
Commons
Debate
13 April 2026
Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
I very much welcome the Government’s withdrawal of the Bill. I have two questions about the future commitment of this country to the Chagossian people and the Chagos islands. First, will the Government commit that if there is to be any future constitutional change to the status of the islands, the C…
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 March 2026
2 contributions
Small Charity Sector
I have two quick declarations of interest. I am the founder and still chairman of a charity working in prisons. It is 21 years old this year. My second declaration of interest is the fealty I owe to the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith)—my original, and still…
This is such an important debate. I want to pick up on the suggestion of the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Gareth Snell). Although it is obviously very helpful if small charities, which do not have financial resources or indeed necessarily the right data, can demonstrate their value to the…
Commons
Debate
2 March 2026
9 contributions
Representation of the People Bill
Let me start by expressing my commiseration with my former hon. Friend—he is still my friend—the hon. Member for Mid Norfolk (George Freeman), who was inadvertently confused with somebody who might want to join the Reform party. It is difficult to imagine a Member less likely to want to do that, or …
We already prevent young people at that age from driving, from buying cigarettes and alcohol, and from standing for Parliament. We already conclude that they are not responsible enough in general. Obviously, many are far more responsible than adults, but the conclusion is that they are still childre…
+7 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
2 March 2026
Middle East
I do not know what is more humiliating for the United Kingdom: the moral weakness of a Government who cannot distinguish between right and wrong, and who cannot even take a sovereign decision without consulting international lawyers; or the material weakness of a country that has just decommissioned…
Commons
Debate
23 February 2026
Lord Mandelson: Government Response to Humble Address
I wish I had started counting at the beginning of this statement how often the Chief Secretary used the word “process”. The word that I have been listening out for and have not heard him say is “responsibility”. Does he accept that it is the job of the Prime Minister to make all these appointments w…
Commons
Oral Questions
23 February 2026
Labour Together and APCO Worldwide: Cabinet Office Review
The Government are hiding behind process as usual, even when the process is so clearly compromised, as in this case. First, we hear that the propriety and ethics team are looking at this matter even though we know that the leader of that team is a former Labour Together staffer who was appointed acc…
Commons
Debate
2 February 2026
China and Japan
The Prime Minister is very full of the abstract virtue of engaging with China and getting in the room with them. He used to say that Britain should not even sign a trade deal with China because of the persecution of the Uyghur people. Having now got into the room with the Chinese leader, can he tell…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
19 January 2026
Arctic Security
The Foreign Secretary is, of course, absolutely right to insist that the future of Greenland is a question only for the people of Greenland, but does she acknowledge that this crisis is the consequence of our weakness—of decades of failure on the part of Europe and the UK to invest in defence, and, …
Commons
Debate
13 January 2026
Nigeria: Freedom of Religion or Belief
I, too, think it is a very good thing that the hon. Gentleman has taken this role. He mentions the impact of this issue around the world. He is absolutely right to say that what is going in Nigeria is the worst example, but it represents a pattern of Islamist persecution of Christians. It is not jus…
Commons
Westminster Hall
7 January 2026
UK Town of Culture
It is a pleasure to listen to these wonderful encomia for our towns, and I am going to add my voice on behalf of Wiltshire, and particularly Amesbury. I would be delighted if Marlborough, the other big town in my constituency, were to win the competition, but I want to speak particularly for Amesbur…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
5 January 2026
Venezuela
The Biden Administration offered a $25 million reward for the capture and detention of President Maduro, and this country has passively supported regime change in Venezuela since we froze the gold reserves held at the Bank of England in 2019. Now that President Trump has followed through on the impl…
Commons
Debate
4 December 2025
Dawn Sturgess Inquiry
I, too, welcome the Minister’s statement, and indeed the additional sanctions that he announced. It is absolutely right that we do everything we can to resist Russia’s attacks on our security and its attempts to suborn our democracy, and I wholeheartedly agree with him. It is obviously right that th…
Commons
Proceedings
4 December 2025
Business of the House
I am sure the Leader of the House shares my concern at the recent abduction of over 300 children and teachers from St Mary’s Catholic school in central Nigeria. This is part of a pattern of Islamist persecution of Christians in Nigeria and, indeed, around the world. Does he agree that this pattern e…
Commons
Oral Questions
Church Commissioners
27 November 2025
2 contributions
National Church Governance Measure
2. What guidance the Church Commissioners have received from the Charity Commission on changes proposed under the draft National Church Governance Measure.
That was a very helpful answer, and I am grateful to the Leader of the House for it. The fact is, however, that the proposed new governance Measure that the Church is bringing forward substantially alters the charitable objects of the Church Commissioners, which is a body set up by this House to reg…
Commons
Debate
17 November 2025
Asylum Policy
I welcome the rhetoric in the Home Secretary’s announcement. In fact, I recognise her rhetoric. We have our plan for restoring justice, and she has announced a plan to restore order and control. However, before she puts in her application to join Reform UK—and I would very much welcome her doing so—…
Commons
Debate
11 November 2025
Remembrance Day: Armed Forces
It has been a great pleasure to listen to the very powerful tributes paid by Members to their constituents and their constituencies. Nobody can boast as much about the British Army as the Member for East Wiltshire, which is me, because I represent the super-garrison of Tidworth, Bulford and Larkhill…
Commons
Debate
3 November 2025
“Soldier F” Trial Verdict
Can the Secretary of State tell the House how it is compatible with the sovereignty of the United Kingdom to give the Irish Government an official role—effectively, a veto—over the new framework that the Government propose? Is he confident that the Irish state itself will do everything it can to ens…
Commons
Debate
20 October 2025
5 contributions
Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
I speak in support of new clause 1, which would ensure that this House had a vote before any money was paid to the Government of Mauritius under the treaty. I support the new clause because it demonstrates the important principle of this House asserting its rightful role as the guardian of both publ…
I understand, Madam Chairman, and of course you are quite right. The point I was making is that there has never been a Government who are so reluctant to govern as the one we have today. We have heard from hon. Members how baffling the decision is to surrender the Chagos islands. The only rational r…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
20 October 2025
Maccabi Tel Aviv FC: Away Fans Ban
What has happened is that a political campaign—led, I am ashamed to say, by Members of this House—has caused the police to change their decision and calculation. The Secretary of State is right to suggest that this is not simply an operational decision. She is talking a good game, but she also says …