Commons
Oral Questions
Justice
16 September 2025
2 contributions
Court Backlogs
15. What steps he is taking to reduce backlogs in the criminal justice system.
Of 221 people arrested for supporting Palestine Action, 162 were arrested under section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000. This prohibits people from carrying articles in public which
“arouse reasonable suspicion that an individual is a member or supporter of a proscribed organisation.”
Even the protes…
Commons
Westminster Hall
16 September 2025
International Day of Democracy
I am grateful to the hon. Member for securing this debate on renewing our democracy. First past the post served Labour and the Conservatives well in the 20th century, but the blowing open of electoral politics by smaller political parties means that many more people are now feeling under-represented…
Commons
Debate
11 September 2025
3 contributions
Regional Transport Inequality
I was listening to Radio 4 yesterday evening, and I was hearing about transport problems in London. Let’s face it: when we hear about transport problems in London, we know exactly what they mean, but pity also the poor people in the provinces who rarely come to London but have to hear all about Lond…
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. He points to how it is much more affordable simply to dual a piece of track than it is to invest in new railway lines, as we talked about a lot in the last Parliament.
For students studying at Exeter college, for workers heading into Exeter and for businesses tra…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
11 September 2025
Biosecurity at the Border: Britain’s Illegal Meat Crisis
I should say to my right hon. Friend that I think it is an excellent report—I am amazed to hear that 235 tonnes of illegal meat were detained at the border. On 18 August, the Government announced they will pause the planned introduction of physical checks on live animals at the border with the EU to…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
11 September 2025
Business of the House
I would like to request a debate on rural broadband and rural 4G. Broadband coverage in much of Devon is poor, in spite of the last Government saying that they would spend £5 billion on it. These 4G notspots are widespread, but the Government scheme to get rid of them bears absolutely no relation to…
Commons
Debate
11 September 2025
Life Sciences Investment
I represent people who work at the excellent Living Systems Institute at the University of Exeter. The purpose-built institute was launched in 2017 to bring together physicists, mathematicians, biologists and biomedical scientists, with the expectation that the life sciences sector was going to enjo…
Commons
Proceedings
11 September 2025
UK Ambassador to the US: Appointment Process
On the Foreign Affairs Committee, we have seen the high calibre of career diplomats who usually take up the most senior ambassadorial appointments, so it is not obvious to me why the British ambassador to the United States was a former MP. In the emails that have leaked overnight, it appears that Lo…
Commons
Oral Questions
11 September 2025
2 contributions
Micromobility Vehicles
17. What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of passenger rail infrastructure.
Rail travellers are used to the excuse of leaves on the line, but travellers on the railway between Exeter and London Waterloo have recently encountered a new one: soil moisture deficit. Dualling the line on a three-mile section of the track near Whimple could give passengers travelling on the west …
Commons
Proceedings
10 September 2025
Russian Drones: Violation of Polish Airspace
The Russian drones over Poland were tracked by Polish aircraft but also by Dutch aircraft stationed in Poland. That reminds us that four years ago Putin sought a roll-back in NATO deployments from central and eastern Europe. In 2021 Russia outrageously demanded that NATO allies deploy no forces in c…
Commons
Proceedings
10 September 2025
Qatar: Israeli Strike
Qatar has used its good offices for diplomatic negotiations for many years. Taliban representatives secretly arrived in Qatar 15 years ago and subsequently attended peace conferences in Japan, Germany and France. If the UK and our allies let these strikes by the Netanyahu-led Government go, they cou…
Commons
Proceedings
9 September 2025
Jaguar Land Rover Cyber-attack
The Minister talked about a cross-Government approach, and last week the Ministry of Defence stood up the cyber and specialist operations command, building on the foundations of strategic command and bringing together more than 26,000 specialists. Can the Minister comment on what collaboration exist…
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 September 2025
2 contributions
National Trails
My hon. Friend talks about the economic benefits of national trails. In my constituency, we have the South West Coast Path, which attracts 9 million visitors every year and is reckoned to support them spending about £500 million. Does my hon. Friend recognise that a south-west inland path would main…
The King Charles III coastal path will be an impressive achievement, if we can make it happen. Would the Minister commend the section between Lyme Regis and Sidmouth in my constituency? Would she also pay tribute to the National Trust, which does great work in maintaining our coastal paths?
Commons
Debate
8 September 2025
Defence Industrial Strategy
Over the summer I joined the Chief of the General Staff on a visit to Supacat at Dunkeswell in Devon. I learned there that to keep supply chains active, manufacturers need continuous orders that keep British-made capabilities sharp. I am pleased to hear that Plymouth is going to enjoy a cut of the £…
Commons
Proceedings
8 September 2025
Palestine Action: Proscription and Protests
Mr Justice Chamberlain granted the judicial review on the basis that the Home Secretary had not consulted Palestine Action before proscribing it. The judge ruled that it was “reasonably arguable” that there was a duty to consult Palestine Action before proscribing it, as reported in The Guardian . I…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
2 September 2025
Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse
I am wholly supportive of this Government-commissioned report into group-based child sexual exploitation, but the Government must not be distracted from the places where child sexual abuse occurs most frequently. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children reports that 90% of youn…
Commons
Oral Questions
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
2 September 2025
Sudan
The Rapid Support Forces have trapped 260,000 civilians in El Fasher, half of whom are children, and many of whom are surviving on animal fodder. How are the Government working with allies to alleviate the effects on civilians of the terrible war in Sudan?
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 September 2025
Eating Disorders: Prevention of Deaths
A constituent got in touch with me because sadly his daughter did not see her 30th birthday owing to an eating disorder. The point that my constituent made was that that was in part because of a lack of adequate services for those affected by these life-threatening conditions. Does the hon. Member a…
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 September 2025
The Battle of Britain
It is an honour to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Desmond. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Tewkesbury (Cameron Thomas) for choosing and securing this debate.
In June 1940, with France fallen, Hitler expected Britain to negotiate a peace deal. When Britain made it clear that it woul…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 September 2025
Transnational Repression in the UK
It strikes me that this is an excellent report that has been presented to us by the joint Committee this evening. The report deals with SLAPPs—strategic lawsuits against public participation. I appreciate that the hon. Member was not able to get to that in his allotted 10 minutes, so I would like to…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 September 2025
Ukraine
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin is a fine example of public service, so I humbly agree with the Defence Secretary about the retiring Chief of the Defence Staff. When the CDS appeared before the Defence Committee in June, he said of NATO that
“The crucial thing is whether we are deterring Russia and whethe…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 September 2025
Middle East
In May the Government revealed in court that they, the Executive, had made recent assessments of the risk of breaches of international humanitarian law in Gaza. I say breaches, but the Government revealed that they had found only one possible breach of IHL among tens of thousands of airstrikes in Ga…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 September 2025
Borders and Asylum
When Labour was in opposition, it attacked the Conservatives on the small number of asylum seekers who had been removed to Rwanda as part of the Tory deterrent. Now that the Conservatives are in opposition, they are attacking Labour for the small number of asylum seekers who will be removed to Franc…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
21 July 2025
Middle East
The Foreign Secretary appeared before the Foreign Affairs Committee on 8 July, when he was asked what would happen if we did not see a ceasefire in Gaza in the coming weeks. He was also asked whether the British Government would take further measures against Israel. The Foreign Secretary was pensive…
Commons
Debate
17 July 2025
4 contributions
Global Plastics Treaty
The world produces over 460 million tonnes of plastic each year. On our current trajectory, plastic pollution is set to triple by 2040, and every year 11 million tonnes of plastic goes into our oceans.
In Devon, this picture is very obvious. According to the Marine Conservation Society’s data, an a…
The hon. Member makes a very good point. The business of our standards being very different is one we should look at first. These notes plainly need to be looked at, and we will have to go about some international negotiations to try to improve standards elsewhere. The UK has high recycling standard…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
17 July 2025
Ukraine
These plans for a so-called coalition of the willing are contingency plans. They are designed for a time when Putin agrees to a ceasefire in Ukraine, which, as the Secretary of State acknowledged, he shows no sign of doing. How does the prospect of Ukraine’s allies, such as the UK, deploying armed f…