Commons
Westminster Hall
7 January 2026
2 contributions
Rural Fuel Duty Relief
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Ms Furniss. My constituency of Honiton and Sidmouth is predominantly rural. Residents live in villages, small towns and hamlets, rather than urban centres. It is classified as such by the Office for National Statistics—that is, as a rural or rural tow…
If the Minister will not consider the geographical expansion of the rural fuel duty relief scheme, with a view to the Government’s introduction of the electric vehicle excise duty in April 2018, might he consider a duty relief for the existing areas, but applying to the electric fuel duty?
Commons
Westminster Hall
7 January 2026
Meat Exports to the EU
In 2019, the amount of fresh beef exported to the European Union was almost 100,000 tonnes, whereas five years later it had dropped to less than 80,000 tonnes. Does the Minister suppose that a revised SPS agreement could get fresh beef exports to the EU back to where they were in 2019?
Commons
Oral Questions
Energy Security and Net Zero
6 January 2026
2 contributions
Energy Transition
1. What steps he is taking to help the transition away from fossil fuels.
The International Renewable Energy Agency reports that in 2024, China installed five times more renewable power than Europe and eight times more renewable power than the United States. In the same year, more than two thirds of our liquid natural gas in the UK came from the United States. In the diff…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
5 January 2026
Venezuela
This is about being principled. What if we were to learn from the White House that Greenland had been the source of cocaine or fentanyl flowing to the United States? Even if we do not expect a fabricated pretext on Greenland or imminent US intervention there, will the Government please condemn the u…
Commons
Debate
5 January 2026
Northern Ireland Troubles Bill: Armed Forces Recruitment and Retention
I carried out court martial duty while serving, and it gave me greater confidence in justice for accused serving personnel. Last week we learned that, as Prime Minister, Tony Blair supported the trial of British soldiers by court martial rather than by a civil court. When it was suggested that the c…
Commons
Debate
5 January 2026
Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief
The Minister said that this reversal of plans to introduce inheritance tax on many farming families has happened
“after listening carefully to feedback from the farming community”.
This news just before Christmas was indeed a massive relief, but given that the farming community did not say anythin…
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 December 2025
Housing Development: Cumulative Impacts
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair today, Mr Twigg.
We all recognise the need for genuinely affordable housing, but progress cannot be measured in house numbers alone if it leaves communities worse off. Wing Commander Ian Derbyshire from Payhembury recently contacted me after his wife,…
Commons
Debate
16 December 2025
3 contributions
Finance (No. 2) Bill
Will my right hon. Friend give way?
I suppose some in the farming community will not be taking up my right hon. Friend’s dating tips, but is he aware that 46% of farms are owned by single farmers and that a single farmer with 200 acres of land would have to pay 136% of their yearly profits to cover this tax bill?
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
15 December 2025
Sudden Cardiac Death in Young People
On the hon. Gentleman’s point about elite athletes being screened, in September I went to Sidmouth college, which was hosting the very elite Exeter Chiefs rugby team. They were being screened alongside pupils from Sidmouth college because of the great work of Marion Hayman, whose son died aged 27 fr…
Commons
Debate
15 December 2025
Sudan: Humanitarian Situation
When the House debated the conflict in Sudan on 4 November, we heard that some British arms and equipment had been found on battlefields in Sudan, and it was alleged that the RSF has been provided with arms by the UAE, which in turn is supplied by the UK. The Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Co…
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
15 December 2025
NATO: European Security
There is a mismatch between the rhetoric that we are hearing and the funding for defence in this Parliament. The NATO Secretary-General talks about preparing for war on the scale that our grandparents endured, while the US national security strategy states that it is a “core interest” of the United …
Commons
Westminster Hall
8 December 2025
Digital ID
When the last ID card scheme was cancelled by the Liberal Democrats in coalition in 2010, it had already cost £4.6 billion. Does the hon. Member share my view that the £1.8 billion cost associated with digital IDs could be much better spent?
Commons
Westminster Hall
26 November 2025
2 contributions
1994 RAF Chinook Crash
It is an honour to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Dowd, given your insight on matters of national security. I am grateful to the hon. Member for North Down (Alex Easton) for securing the debate today.
This summer, a constituent joined me in my surgery at Honiton and explained that she was the wido…
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that point. I understand that so many high-value, senior and experienced personnel would not be put on the same flight today. If we reflect on that collision in 1994, we have to ask why six inquiries have not brought clarity. Instead, families are left wit…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
25 November 2025
G20 and Ukraine
The Prime Minister welcomed the inclusion in the 28-point peace plan of security guarantees. Point 10 of the proposed plan says that if Russia invades Ukraine, it would lead to
“a decisive coordinated military response”.
Who would co-ordinate that response, and what does the Prime Minister anticip…
Commons
Debate
24 November 2025
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
During the debate on the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, the Minister for Housing and Planning said that the Government would use the devolution Bill to strengthen the status of assets of community value. Will the Minister confirm that this Bill will indeed strengthen that status, so that we do no…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
24 November 2025
Critical Minerals Strategy
The Minister mentioned that Devon is home to the world’s largest deposits of tungsten. Tungsten is used in medical devices, robotics and defence applications, yet 80% of global demand for tungsten is being met by China. Will any of the £250 million that the Government have announced in their defence…
Commons
Westminster Hall
20 November 2025
2 contributions
Unpaid Carers: Inequalities
It is an honour to serve with you in the Chair, Ms Vaz.
The Office for National Statistics estimates that around 130,000 people in Devon provide unpaid care. That is roughly one in six Devon residents. To understand what that means in real life, I want to share the story of Emma Donovan from Sidmou…
Can I ask the Minister what definition of neighbourhood he is using, and does it recognise communities such as market towns?
Commons
Ministerial Statement
18 November 2025
Gaza and Sudan
Earlier this month, the Foreign Secretary announced additional funding for Sudan, including £2 million for survivors of rape and sexual violence. However, yesterday, this House debated ending spending £2 billion on asylum hotels in the UK—that is what they cost the UK taxpayer. When might we get bac…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
18 November 2025
China Espionage: Government Security Response
According to media reports, administrators at Sheffield Hallam University told a professor of Chinese studies that she would have to abandon her research. That followed a separate defamation lawsuit against Sheffield Hallam University, as was reported by the BBC. I appreciate that the Minister canno…
Commons
Proceedings
17 November 2025
Illegal Waste: Organised Crime
Devon county council received almost 5,000 reports of fly-tipping last year. The police rural affairs team has supported East Devon district council and the Environment Agency in a fly-tipping engagement event, which saw examples of tyres and plastic wrap. Will the Minister please speak with her cou…
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 November 2025
Parkinson’s Disease
On early diagnosis, this is not just about GPs’ ability to diagnose, but about patients getting neurology appointments. Does the hon. Member agree that more people would be able to get the clinical care and support they need if they were able to get such an appointment within the first 18 weeks?
Commons
Debate
12 November 2025
Nolan Principles
The hon. Gentleman talks about people considering voting for parties on the far right; the former leader of Reform UK in Wales of course recently pleaded guilty to eight counts of bribery. Lord Nolan highlighted the need for openness; does the hon. Gentleman agree that, with £4.6 million in suspect …
Commons
Westminster Hall
12 November 2025
Carbon Budget Delivery Plan
The Climate Change Committee’s top recommendation was that the Government’s climate plan ought to remove policy costs from electricity bills. Does the hon. Lady think that the Government could seek to address that in the Budget?
Commons
Westminster Hall
5 November 2025
Financial Transparency: Overseas Territories
The Panama papers, released in 2016, were so-called because the company whose papers were exposed, Mossack Fonseca, was headquartered in Panama. Is my hon. Friend aware that one out of every two companies listed in the Panama papers was incorporated in the British Virgin Islands?