Commons
Westminster Hall
14 July 2026
2 contributions
Support for Pig Farmers
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Christopher. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Gordon and Buchan (Harriet Cross) for securing this important debate.
The British pig sector is in crisis, and our pig farmers need our help. My hon. Friends the Members for Gordon and Buchan a…
Absolutely. There must be a UK-wide approach.
The warning signs have been there for months. Since last autumn, the sector has been hit by oversupply, stagnant demand, falling European prices, factory disruptions and rising costs all at once. At one point earlier this year, around 100,000 pigs were …
Commons
Westminster Hall
13 July 2026
Illegal Immigrants: Offshore Detention and Deportation
Does my hon. Friend agree that this issue is ultimately about fairness for our constituents, who are paying their taxes and are seeing someone who has come here illegally benefiting from services more than they may be able to, as residents who pay tax? Does he agree that we must absolutely consider …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
13 July 2026
State of Climate and Nature
I thank the Minister for advance sight of her statement.
I am sure that no one in this House disputes the importance of protecting our climate or restoring nature; the real question is whether this Government are capable of delivering both. The Minister speaks about climate and nature as priorities…
Commons
Oral Questions
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
9 July 2026
Farm Business Sustainability
Delinked payments dramatically reduced; SFI stopped and started and ultimately made competitive; targets to dramatically reduce livestock numbers recommended; the state given more power to buy farmland below market value; the fertiliser tax; the double cab pick-up tax; the introduction of family far…
Commons
Westminster Hall
8 July 2026
National Youth Strategy
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms McVey. I thank the hon. Member for Huddersfield (Harpreet Uppal) for securing this important debate. I am sure that all Members of this House will advocate for ensuring that the next generation has every opportunity to thrive, and to develop conf…
Commons
Proceedings
6 July 2026
Rochdale Grooming Gang: Offender Deportation
I cannot quite believe the words that I am hearing from the Minister. He says that all options are on the table, but the only option that the Government should be considering is deportation. He has the ability to bring through emergency legislation, which I am sure would get the backing of both side…
Commons
Debate
2 July 2026
Commonhold and Leasehold Reform: Managing Agents
I congratulate the hon. Member for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green (Florence Eshalomi) on her opening remarks, and on the work her Committee has done to produce its report. It was an exceptional read—I thank her and her Committee.
I am seeing increasing numbers of cases where leaseholders experience …
Commons
Westminster Hall
30 June 2026
2 contributions
High Street Regeneration and Unlawful Storefronts
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bromsgrove (Bradley Thomas) for securing this important debate. Our high streets are facing huge challenges at the moment. Nationally, fiscal pressures have been put on them—employer national insurance cont…
Then why on earth legislate and introduce further regulations that impose much more of a burden on our high street businesses? That is exactly what businesses are telling me, that this legislation is making it more costly to do business.
The tourism tax will tax businesses in Ilkley and Haworth, im…
Commons
Westminster Hall
30 June 2026
4 contributions
Financial Inclusion: Young People
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir John. I commend the hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford (Josh Dean) for securing this important debate, and congratulate him on his speech—I thought he made some excellent points. Many young people are entering adulthood without the knowledge…
I welcome the Minister to her place. On the issue of mental health, many young people in my constituency raise the challenge of getting into work. With youth unemployment now at record levels, does she realise that one of the best ways of tackling mental health issues is to enable people to get into…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Proceedings
29 June 2026
Prisoner Early Release
I welcome the news that Keighley and Bradford is finally getting an independent grooming gangs inquiry. It has been a long fight, but for survivors like Fiona Goddard, who I spoke to again last night, the news has been bittersweet. The fact that Fiona and many other victims and survivors of the most…
Commons
Westminster Hall
29 June 2026
NHS Breast Screening
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Vickers. I thank the hon. Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Irene Campbell) for introducing this important debate on behalf of the Petitions Committee, of which I am also a member. Cancer is an issue that touches most of us, nearly every singl…
Commons
Westminster Hall
24 June 2026
4 contributions
Farming: Financial Sustainability
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. I thank the hon. Member for North Northumberland (David Smith) for securing this important debate.
I welcome the Minister to his place. His natural passion and enthusiasm for this vital sector is evident in the zero parliamentary mention…
My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. On the day when the farming roadmap has been announced, this just shows the direction that the Government want to take: to destock and produce food less. The key question from the shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs that the Secr…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
22 June 2026
2 contributions
Spinal Muscular Atrophy: Newborn Screening Test
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Mundell. I thank the hon. Member for Sunderland Central (Lewis Atkinson) for opening this important debate on behalf of the Petitions Committee, of which I am proud to be a member.
I am grateful to everyone who signed this petition and I pay tri…
I absolutely agree with the hon. Member. The reality is that, when dealing with such rare diseases, we are better casting the net far and wide to get as much data as possible. That was one of the points made to me by the Leeds teaching hospital. Dr Anne-Marie Childs is advocating for West Yorkshire …
Commons
Statutory Instrument
17 June 2026
3 contributions
Customs (Tariff and Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 4) Regulations 2026
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Barker. My Keighley and Ilkley constituency is home to several businesses that have major concerns about the impact of this statutory instrument on them and their employees. Airedale Springs, Olicana Products and GESIPA have all been in contact …
Will the Minister give way?
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 June 2026
Brain Cancer
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Barker. I thank the hon. Member for Colne Valley (Paul Davies) for opening the debate on behalf of the Petitions Committee with his extremely well thought-through and detailed opening remarks. I pay tribute to the many individuals who have campa…
Commons
Oral Questions
Health and Social Care
9 June 2026
2 contributions
Care in the Community
6. What steps he is taking to increase access to care in the community.
Back in 2023, the Conservative Government signed off £3.4 million for Keighley to build a new health and wellbeing hub to improve care in the community. We have plenty of brownfield sites and funding is secured, but we are progressing at a snail’s pace, with progress being made incredibly slowly. We…
Commons
Debate
8 June 2026
Maternity Nurses, Nannies and the Infant Sleep Industry
I commend the hon. Gentleman’s excellent speech, particularly the three points that he has just made, with which I absolutely agree. I put on record my thanks to Maria Culley from the National Nanny Association, who has been working tirelessly on this issue, and who is a constituent of mine. I have …
Commons
Statutory Instrument
8 June 2026
Draft REACH (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2026
The draft regulations will extend the current legislative deadlines for registration to submit information to the Health and Safety Executive under UK REACH. They will also extend the period during which downstream users and distributors who were importing from the EU before the end of the EU exit i…
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 June 2026
2 contributions
Improving the UK Visa System
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stuart. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Bedfordshire (Blake Stephenson) on securing this timely debate.
We are here to talk about improving the UK visa system. That has to start with addressing one of the most cynical flaws in o…
I am aware of that, as it resonates with some of the casework I get in my constituency in Keighley. I am also aware of people being encouraged to fabricate false allegations by so-called online legal advisers. The scale of the problem has been amplified through a freedom of information request from …
Commons
Statutory Instrument
1 June 2026
2 contributions
Draft Agriculture (Delinked Payments) (Reductions) (England) Regulations 2026
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. It is perhaps not surprising that we are here talking about yet another piece of legislation that will impose further harm and unnecessary burdens on our farmers. We have already had the family farm tax, which has now regrettably come i…
If the Minister were speaking to a farmer, would she say that this is dancing on the head of a pin? We are talking about reducing an annual delinked payment to a farming business from a potential £30,000 to about £600. Given all the additional overheads placed on farming businesses that produce food…
Commons
Statutory Instrument
1 June 2026
2 contributions
Delegated Legislation Committee
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. It is perhaps not surprising that we are here talking about yet another piece of legislation that will impose further harm and unnecessary burdens on our farmers. We have already had the family farm tax, which has now regrettably come i…
If the Minister were speaking to a farmer, would she say that this is dancing on the head of a pin? We are talking about reducing an annual delinked payment to a farming business from a potential £30,000 to about £600. Given all the additional overheads placed on farming businesses that produce food…
Commons
Statutory Instrument
1 June 2026
2 contributions
General Committees
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. It is perhaps not surprising that we are here talking about yet another piece of legislation that will impose further harm and unnecessary burdens on our farmers. We have already had the family farm tax, which has now regrettably come i…
If the Minister were speaking to a farmer, would she say that this is dancing on the head of a pin? We are talking about reducing an annual delinked payment to a farming business from a potential £30,000 to about £600. Given all the additional overheads placed on farming businesses that produce food…
Commons
Oral Questions
23 April 2026
Business of the House
Last July, my constituent Caroline decided to take out her civil service pension after 37 years working in the tax office in Shipley. Nine months later and she has still not received a single penny of the tens of thousands of pounds she is entitled to, despite many emails, messages and phone calls. …
Commons
Westminster Hall
22 April 2026
Mountain Rescue
The hon. Member is making an excellent speech. I have participated many a time in the Allendale challenge up in Northumberland to raise money for the North of Tyne Mountain Rescue Team. I thank all the volunteers who get involved, wherever in the country they are helping out. Since it is volunteers …
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 April 2026
11 contributions
Wind Farms: Protected Peatland
I beg to move,
That this House has considered windfarm development on protected peatland.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Alec. I am glad to be introducing this incredibly important debate, which I have personally secured. It is particularly timely because, right now, Brontë…
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. He makes an excellent point: the developers have failed to ascertain that the positives of the project outweigh its negative impacts, including the impact on the ability of the peatland to sequester and store carbon. That is before even considering all the negativ…
+9 more contributions in this session