Commons
Oral Questions
13 November 2025
Access to Nature
The Secretary of State will know that farmers play a key role in enhancing nature and access to it, but that farmers can do so only when it is financially viable and their businesses have certainty from the Government. Yet with the sustainable farming incentive chopped, de-linked payments slashed, c…
Commons
Westminster Hall
28 October 2025
2 contributions
Family Farming in Northern Ireland
With over 26,000 farms in Northern Ireland, the value of farmland is incredibly high, if not higher, than in any other part of the United Kingdom. Does the hon. Lady agree that the negative impacts of changes to APR and BPR on Northern Ireland farmland will be much higher for those farming families …
A £1 million threshold is nothing when we take into account the value of farmland, a cottage, a farmhouse, growing crops, stocks in store, livestock and machinery valuations—all of which will be taken into account at the valuation of an estate on death. A £1 million threshold is nothing before a 20%…
Commons
Debate
27 October 2025
2 contributions
Regulation and Inspection of Funeral Services
On that point, will my hon. Friend give way?
My hon. Friend makes the point that many of our constituents across the country do not realise that anybody could set up and run a funeral director service. Sam Gallagher, one of the directors of Gallagher Family Funeral Directors in Keighley, wrote to me to advocate, quite rightly, that the Governm…
Commons
Westminster Hall
27 October 2025
3 contributions
Holidays During School Term Time
I beg to move,
That this House has considered e-petition 700047 relating to holidays during school term time.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Lewell. I am privileged to open today’s debate on behalf of the Petitions Committee. I thank not only Natalie Elliott, the creator of …
As a fellow Yorkshire MP, I absolutely agree with allowing time out of the classroom for children to go to really good education settings like those provided by agricultural societies and others. That can absolutely be a way of enriching a child’s experience and learning outcomes. If a school become…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Statutory Instrument
22 October 2025
Draft Control of Mercury (Enforcement) (Amendment) Regulations 2025
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Lewell.
The official Opposition recognise the need to keep our environment free from pollutants. We recognise that the use of mercury, and its impact on the environment, has increased in the industrialised age. It is right that we take steps to …
Commons
Proceedings
21 October 2025
Rape Gangs: National Statutory Inquiry
I have a copy of the Government’s response to the developments last night addressed to the Home Affairs Committee, and I find the response completely unacceptable. Are the Government seriously implying that Fiona and Ellie, who have been disbelieved and called liars by the British state their entire…
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 September 2025
Children with SEND: Assessments and Support
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Huq. Under the weight of surging demand, our system for handling special educational needs is crumbling. Since 2019, the number of new EHCPs year on year has almost doubled from 54,000 to 98,000. The total number of active plans has surged from 3…
Commons
Petition
10 September 2025
Keighley Picture House
I rise to present a petition to save Keighley Picture House from closure. When Bradford council announced its intention to sell the cinema building, there was deep concern that the Picture House cinema—a key landmark, open since 1913—would close with it, as it was advertised for a redevelopment oppo…
Commons
Proceedings
4 September 2025
Business of the House
Starting a family is a huge milestone for any couple but, crucially, it comes with a huge financial hit, as parents must scale back their working lives in order to care for their newborn. Ben Barnes in Keighley, the winner of best butcher across the whole of Yorkshire, has seen at first hand how, de…
Commons
Oral Questions
4 September 2025
Moorland Protection
The thanks of Conservative Members go out to all the emergency services, our mighty farmers and gamekeepers who have been consistently fighting the horrendous blaze on the North York moors. The Secretary of State is currently pushing a dangerous proposal to ban a vital conservation and land manageme…
Commons
Debate
3 September 2025
2 contributions
Hospitality Sector
Hospitality is under a huge strain. Pubs particularly are really struggling across the country, and indeed in my constituency of Keighley and Ilkley. Nationally, pub closures are estimated to be running at one establishment a day, thanks to this Labour Government’s hike in employers’ national insura…
As all of us know, I have been campaigning tirelessly to secure the funding to rebuild Airedale hospital, and it was finally announced in 2023, but it was very disappointing to many of my constituents when the completion date for the rebuild was pushed back by this Labour Government from 2030 to 203…
Commons
Debate
3 September 2025
4 contributions
Property Taxes
That is exactly the problem. Many businesses in my constituency—and, dare I say it, in others—are saying to us as Members of Parliament that they want to but dare not invest in growing their businesses, because they do not know what increases in taxes are coming down the line from this Chancellor. D…
Here we are, well over a year into this new Administration, this new Labour Government, and it is clear that they have fundamentally mismanaged the economy in their first year in office. What do we see? Borrowing costs up, growth flatlining, taxes rising and businesses being absolutely hammered. To …
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
2 September 2025
3 contributions
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Bringing decision making closer to local people and making it more accountable and more reflective of local needs is a laudable aim, but that is not what the Bill will do. Rather than bringing decision making closer to hard-working local people, it will cement the damaging present system of oversize…
I absolutely share that concern, and I will give my hon. Friend an example of what we face across the Bradford district; the people across Keighley and Ilkley have long known the dangers to smaller communities when such amalgamations occur. In 1974, their well liked and well remembered councils were…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
2 September 2025
Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse
Over the summer, Lord Cryer said that there was a deliberate attempt to silence his mother, Ann Cryer, when she first bravely raised the issue of grooming gangs in Keighley more than 20 years ago. Ann Cryer was, of course, one of my predecessors as Member of Parliament for Keighley.
Lord Cryer said…
Commons
Statutory Instrument
2 September 2025
Draft Free-Range Poultrymeat Marketing Standards (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2025
We should all be extremely proud of our animal welfare and food quality regulations. As a nation, we have a proud history of ensuring that food is as safe and high in quality as possible, and that it has not come at the unnecessary distress or harm of any animal. It is important too that our labelli…
Commons
Debate
22 July 2025
Sir David Amess Summer Adjournment
It is a pleasure to speak in the Sir David Amess summer Adjournment debate, which is one of my favourite debates of the year, because it gives all parliamentarians the opportunity to talk about the fantastic places and communities we represent.
We are blessed to have an excellent network of chariti…
Commons
Proceedings
22 July 2025
Points of Order
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I wonder if I could seek your guidance. It has now been 36 days since the Home Secretary came to the Dispatch Box to give a statement on the possibility of a national inquiry into the grooming gangs; indeed, it has been seven months since the Home Secretary…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
21 July 2025
Independent Water Commission
I am grateful to the Secretary of State for advance sight of his statement. I shall be responding on behalf of the shadow Secretary of State while she meets farmers at the Royal Welsh Show.
Let me begin by recognising the scale and seriousness of the work undertaken by Sir Jon Cunliffe and his team…
Commons
Debate
17 July 2025
2 contributions
Global Plastics Treaty
I begin my remarks by acknowledging an interest in this area: my family own and operate a plastic recycling business, though I make it clear to the House that I am not directly involved in the management of the business, nor do I have any financial interest in it.
I thank the right hon. Member for …
I will come on to those points, but I first wanted to outline the nature of the debate, because it is important to recognise the contributions that have been made.
We know that reducing our plastic use is vital for two key reasons. The first is the impact on the environment. It is estimated that as…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
17 July 2025
Ukraine
It has been three and a half years since Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, and we all know that there has been huge loss of life, and incredible disruption and pain caused to many residents, not only in Ukraine but across the world. I saw that for myself when I met the Keighley Ukrainian associa…
Commons
Proceedings
17 July 2025
Business of the House
In a few weeks’ time, more than 500 Kate Bush fans from up and down the UK and across the world will descend on to the moors near Haworth for what is billed as the “The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever”. This year, the mass wuther is doubling up as a protest against environmentally damaging proposals…
Commons
Proceedings
17 July 2025
NHS Pensions: Frontline Patient Care
The Daily Telegraph reported in April that a quarter of doctors have reduced their overtime to avoid potential five-figure tax bills, and NHS capacity has been reduced by about 10% as a result. This has been raised many times when I have been out and about door-knocking across Keighley and Ilkley. W…
Commons
Proceedings
17 July 2025
Strategy for Elections
Fair elections must be elections that we can all trust. The most important element of our electoral system is that it is a secret ballot and that it should be down to the individual to make up their own mind. I am therefore deeply concerned that the widespread use of postal voting across the country…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
17 July 2025
Independent Retailers
I recently met the owners of Bababing in my constituency, who have opened up new premises in Keighley. They want to grow and expand as quickly as possible, but they told me that this Government are stifling business growth for not only Bababing but many other SMEs across the country due to the decis…
Commons
Debate
15 July 2025
3 contributions
Taxes
In my constituency there are dozens of hard-working family businesses, which are the backbone of our local economy and key to our local identity. These business owners get up early, go to bed late, work weekends, employ hundreds of local people and contribute hugely to our local high streets, local …
I will take a quick intervention from the hon. Member, but I hope that he will justify why those hard-working family farms and businesses in Keighley and Ilkley, who get up day in, day out, have to shoulder the burden for the mistakes that this Labour Government are making. Will he answer that point…
+1 more contribution in this session