Commons
Westminster Hall
13 November 2025
Rogue Builders
It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Ms Furniss. I congratulate the hon. Member for Wyre Forest (Mark Garnier) on securing this important debate.
Over the last year, I have been campaigning on behalf of homeowners affected by faulty spray foam insulation installed under the previous Conse…
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 November 2025
3 contributions
Autistic Adults: Employment
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Hazel Grove (Lisa Smart) on securing the debate. She outlined some fantastic best practice in Stockport, where I know she was a local councillor for many years. I am sure some of that work is down…
I am sure the hon. Gentleman is highlighting some fantastic work. I completely agree; there are great examples out there. What we need is a system that holds those up and champions them, and encourages people to do the same and do better across our country.
That brings me to Access to Work, a syste…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Petition
4 November 2025
Settlement route for British National (Overseas) visa holders
I present a petition on behalf of British national overseas passport holders in my constituency and beyond. The petition
“Declares that altering the 5+1 settlement route for British National Overseas (BNO) passport holders, which currently allows them to apply for Indefinite Leave to remain after 5…
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 November 2025
3 contributions
Video Games: Consumer Law
It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mr Mundell.
There have been a number of instances in this place where I have had to come out: first as LGBT, then as Parliament’s biggest Swiftie, and today as a gamer. I have been playing computer games since I was a little kid. I remember waking up e…
I completely agree. There has been a change in the way that people have been gaming—a silent, creeping approach over the years. When I started playing games, most of them were on CDs, which are now a thing of the past—we do not see those anymore, do we? There is a particular divergence between PC ga…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
28 October 2025
Support for Disabled Veterans
The armed forces covenant all too often does not live up to what people expect. I have a constituent who has struggled to access housing suitable for his needs. He has two children, but because he suffers with post-traumatic stress disorder and wakes up in the night with night terrors, the children …
Commons
Westminster Hall
27 October 2025
Holidays During School Term Time
The steps that the hon. Member is outlining seem clear and pragmatic. Local children used to take time off school to go to the Great Yorkshire Show. He talked about expanding horizons and the educational and vocational understanding of things. Does he agree that another pragmatic step would be allow…
Commons
Proceedings
23 October 2025
Business of the House
Last week I held a drop-in with the Great Start in Life Foundation, which supports health visitors and school nursing services across much of the north of England, helping children and families to get the best start in life. Will the Leader of the House congratulate that organisation on its work and…
Commons
Proceedings
23 October 2025
Alleged Spying Case: Role of Attorney General’s Office
I previously asked the Security Minister about the lack of inclusion of China on the enhanced tier of the foreign influence registration scheme. What input or advice has the Attorney General or the Solicitor General given to the Government on that? Given the ongoing situation, will she now reconside…
Commons
Westminster Hall
23 October 2025
2 contributions
NHS Workforce Levels: Impact on Cancer Patients
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Hobhouse. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (Clive Jones) on securing this important debate. It is unusual to be called so quickly; we are often oversubscribed, so it is a pleasure to be able to say something a little more s…
I thank the Minister for giving way. As ever, she is most generous with her time. She has outlined the positive steps that the Government are taking to address the workforce challenge. Could she elaborate on the points I made about the inequalities between the north and the south in the NHS and the …
Commons
Proceedings
16 October 2025
Business of the House
Rural families across North Yorkshire, including those in villages such as Killinghall and Hampsthwaite in my constituency, have been left stranded by changes to home-to-school transport rules, with children living in the same villages now set to go to different schools and parents facing having to …
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
15 October 2025
Engagements
Q7. Much like the hon. Member for Bishop Auckland (Sam Rushworth), my constituents are served by the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys mental health trust. They face travelling to York or Middlesbrough for local in-patient beds, with some people being sent as far afield as Glasgow or Southampton. This is c…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
15 September 2025
Official Secrets Act
The Joint Committee on Human Rights, of which I am a member, published an inquiry report into transnational repression earlier this year. It welcomed the introduction of a foreign influence registration scheme but expressed concern about the absence of China on the enhanced tier. Its absence risks u…
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 September 2025
2 contributions
Children with SEND: Assessments and Support
On exactly that point, the problem often starts earlier than that—in schools. My mum, a councillor in Wakefield, has been fighting to get my sister assessed for two years, but the school has lost the paperwork so we are no further forward. Does my hon. Friend agree, similar to what my hon. Friend th…
Will the Minister give way?
Commons
Debate
11 September 2025
2 contributions
Regional Transport Inequality
My hon. Friend makes a really interesting point about dualling of line. I have been campaigning in my constituency of Harrogate and Knaresborough to dual the line between Knaresborough and York for the exact same reasons and benefits that my hon. Friend is describing. Does he agree that, if this Gov…
Will the hon. Lady give way on that point?
Commons
Ministerial Statement
11 September 2025
Business of the House
Last weekend, I met residents of New Park, alongside local Liberal Democrat councillor, Monika Slater. Residents are frustrated about the new Tesco that has been built and its impact on local businesses, with contractors regularly flouting the planning rules to work outside permitted hours. Will the…
Commons
Debate
11 September 2025
Life Sciences Investment
This is just the latest in a series of blows to UK life sciences. Companies have been pulled towards the US with incentives and tariffs, while we have no detailed industrial strategy, an uncompetitive tax regime from the Treasury, and a Department of Health and Social Care that undervalues drug acce…
Commons
Proceedings
11 September 2025
UK Ambassador to the US: Appointment Process
It seems that there is a broad consensus across the whole House that this felt as though it was a question of when, not if. So during the extended vetting procedure, was there ever any interference or pressure from either No. 10 or the Prime Minister?
Commons
Oral Questions
11 September 2025
Topical Questions
In response to a recent written parliamentary question, the Department confirmed that it is shelving improvements to Skelton junction outside York. That will have an impact on the proposed improvements to rail services for commuters in Harrogate and Knaresborough. How does that align with the Govern…
Commons
Debate
10 September 2025
5 contributions
Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [Lords]
I will start by speaking to new clause 2, which stands in my name and is supported by over 70 colleagues from across the House. It calls for the removal of time restrictions imposed on disabled bus passes.
Under the English national concessionary travel scheme, eligible disabled people are entitled…
My hon. Friend makes an excellent point and I highlight the work that Liberal Democrat councillors, including him, have done over the years to ensure that such provision is made. That postcode lottery is completely unfair.
Economically, the argument is equally strong. We know that disabled people a…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 September 2025
2 contributions
Neurodivergent People: Employment
One of the things that constituents have to come to me with is worries about the proposed changes—which have now been shelved—to personal independence payments. Does the hon. Member agree that the rhetoric and language of Ministers has not helped people to want to go out and seek support to get into…
The Minister has outlined a plethora of different places he has visited. I invite him to visit some of the fantastic organisations in my constituency, such as the Artizan café, for people who have learning disabilities and neurodivergence; Horticap, a garden centre with a similar scheme; or Henshaws…
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
8 September 2025
2 contributions
Armed Forces: Recruitment and Retention
8. What steps he is taking to improve recruitment and retention in the armed forces.
I welcome the Minister to her place. Over the past year I have had the privilege of taking part in the armed forces parliamentary scheme, and have met people across the United Kingdom and beyond. One of the issues that arises when it comes to retention is that of the families of overseas workers in …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
4 September 2025
Early Education and Childcare
I welcome the positive step towards providing affordable childcare. Coppice Valley primary school in my constituency is part of phase 1 of the scheme that the Minister outlined. However, it worries me that what he has outlined might come at the expense of private and voluntary sector providers, whic…
Commons
Proceedings
4 September 2025
Business of the House
I sit on the Joint Committee on Human Rights. One of the issues concerning me is what scrutiny and accountability the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s new code of practice and guidance will have from this House. My understanding is that it will be laid before the House as a negative statutory …
Commons
Westminster Hall
4 September 2025
2 contributions
Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund
It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Lewell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Sussex (Alison Bennett) for securing this debate.
This is, I believe, the fifth time in as many months that I have spoken on the ASGSF. I reiterate that it is not a luxury but a lifeline for some …
In an Adjournment debate on 3 April, the Minister said:
“This debate has given me the opportunity to talk about our plans to ensure that all adopted children get the support they need”. —[ Official Report , 3 April 2025; Vol. 765, c. 558.]
Just a week and a few days later, she went on to cut the s…
Commons
Debate
3 September 2025
2 contributions
Diabetes in Sport
I am chair of the all-party parliamentary group for diabetes, and over the summer, we visited the Northern general hospital in Sheffield. We met healthcare professionals who spoke about their one-stop shop for people with diabetes. They want to deliver services in communities, and in places with gra…
I thank the Minister for being very generous with her time. One key point is that when it comes to exercise and sport, our most formative experiences are at school. When my sister was at high school, diabetes carried a massive stigma, and she was told that she would have to inject her insulin in a t…