Commons
Ministerial Statement
24 June 2025
China Audit
The Foreign Secretary mentioned Hong Kong in his statement. Would he consider speaking to colleagues in the Home Office about rethinking the changes to indefinite leave to remain, to ensure BNO passport holders do not end up facing questions about their status?
Commons
Debate
23 June 2025
2 contributions
Access to GPs
I have been working with Lib Dem councillor Hannah Gostlow to tackle some of the issues that local health services and GP surgeries in Knaresborough are facing. I recently visited a surgery and was told that it had the staff that it wanted to get in place, but did not have the consulting rooms. The …
I thank the Minister for indulging me again. Will he join me in congratulating the many fantastic GPs in my constituency and throughout the country? It is not an easy job; we hear of the flak that they get from patients day in, day out when they are working to tight timeframes. One such GP in my are…
Commons
Proceedings
23 June 2025
5 contributions
Pride Month
I will be brief, given the time limit that has been set. I must say I was slightly disappointed that there were not more musical numbers and puns from the Minister in his speech at the start—I am sure we will get some later.
I am really proud to represent Harrogate and Knaresborough. At the moment,…
My hon. Friend makes an excellent point, and I completely agree with him. I am amazed that in this day and age, there are still places in which we dispute whether or not we should fly flags or have Pride celebrations. In my view, that is not British.
I want to briefly mention that in the days follo…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
23 June 2025
UK Military Base Protection
Let me associate myself with the remarks about Armed Forces Week from Members across the House and the condemnation of the escalation of the situation in the middle east. Is the Minister able to explain to me if there will be any additional security measures at the Army Foundation College in Harroga…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
23 June 2025
UK Modern Industrial Strategy
I welcome the industrial strategy, but I want to push the Secretary of State on skills. Harrogate college often tells me that it struggles to access funding for technical and vocational training that meets the needs of local business. In the next academic year—in just a couple of months—it will face…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
19 June 2025
Warm Home Discount
The Minister knows that I have a lot of time for her, and I welcome her announcement today, but it will be of little relief to those who are living with spray-foam insulation that was inadequately installed, and there has been no support from the Government to fix that. Putting that aside, I wondere…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
19 June 2025
UK Infrastructure: 10-year Strategy
Last week something amazing happened: I actually found myself in agreement with the Labour Mayor for York and North Yorkshire, when he said that spending review
“announcements fall well short”,
and that this
“government had a real chance to show it was serious about rural…areas—but it missed it.”…
Commons
Debate
17 June 2025
Prostate Cancer Treatment
I thank the hon. Lady for securing this important Adjournment debate. We have heard from a number of Members who have constituents who are affected or have frustrations with the current system. I met a gentleman called David in the run-up to the general election who has metastatic prostate cancer an…
Commons
Oral Questions
Health and Social Care
17 June 2025
Cancer Diagnoses
Every 17 minutes, someone in Yorkshire is told that they have cancer. Tomorrow, I will be launching a report for Yorkshire Cancer Research, which is based in my constituency, that will set out key recommendations. Will the Minister meet us to talk about how we can feed them into the national cancer …
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 June 2025
Disabled People in Poverty
The hon. Member is talking about barriers to disabled people, particularly those in poverty. I am running a campaign calling on the Government to make sure that people with disabled bus passes can use them at any time of the day, rather than just after 9.30 am. Does he agree that that would be a gre…
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 June 2025
Genocide Convention: UK Compliance
Recently, the Joint Committee on Human Rights published a report about accountability for Daesh crimes, including genocide. A number of recommendations in that report pertain to issues applicable to other situations that have been referred to today. I want to press the Minister on the issue of unive…
Commons
Debate
13 June 2025
2 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
I rise to speak to amendment 3 in my name, which would do the exact opposite of the amendments of the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Adam Jogee)—in fact, it would see the commencement period reduced from four years to three years. As a member of the Bill Committee, when we had the initial con…
One of the key things that the Bill’s sponsor, the hon. Member for Spen Valley (Kim Leadbeater), has said throughout is that four years, in the Bill as it currently is, would be a backstop. Can that be the case if the Minister is talking about a requirement of four years and that it could not have b…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
12 June 2025
Spending Review: Health and Social Care
I welcome the funding announced to repair hospitals with RAAC, which will hopefully include Harrogate district hospital in my constituency. It has already received some money to remove RAAC in one building, which has since been demolished, but it still has a £15 million business case waiting with th…
Commons
Proceedings
12 June 2025
Business of the House
This weekend, with the team from my parliamentary office, I will be taking part in the Knaresborough bed race, a fantastic local community event, to raise money for Knaresborough Town AFC. Will the Leader of the House congratulate in advance all those who take part and hopefully finish, as well as t…
Commons
Westminster Hall
12 June 2025
Long-term Medical Conditions
It is an honour to intervene on the hon. Gentleman. I am the chair of the all-party parliamentary group for diabetes and I want to emphasise the point about early detection. A family recently got in touch with me who tragically lost their daughter because she had not been identified as a type 1 diab…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
10 June 2025
Nuclear Power: Investment
Happy birthday, Mr Speaker. I would like to ask the Secretary of State what guarantees are in place to ensure that these jobs go to local people rather than to overseas contractors? Also, what investment in training and skills will be provided to make sure that they go to local people on the ground?
Commons
Westminster Hall
10 June 2025
4 contributions
Mass Transit: West Yorkshire
It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Jardine. I congratulate the hon. Member for Leeds South West and Morley (Mark Sewards) on securing this debate on such an important topic.
The recent announcement of local transport investment marks a significant milestone for West Yorkshire—part…
I commend the hon. Gentleman for his campaigning on that issue, but I return to the point that we need a comprehensive integrated transport network that links up everything. What we have seen previously is a piecemeal approach that has not necessarily thought through how we would go about something …
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
20 May 2025
2 contributions
Adoption and Kinship Placements
rose—
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for South Devon (Caroline Voaden) for allowing me to intervene first. In the Adjournment debate that I held on this subject, the Minister responded,
“support for adopted children is critical. It can decrease the likelihood of adoption disruptions or breakdowns.” —[…
Commons
Debate
16 May 2025
10 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
I start by thanking the hon. Member for Spen Valley (Kim Leadbeater) for introducing the Bill and for giving me the opportunity to serve on the Bill Committee.
I rise to speak in favour of my amendment 4, which goes to the very heart of what the Bill is all about: dignity, compassion and choice at …
I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention. It was really interesting how the debate was conducted on Second Reading and in Committee, and how we were meant to be having that respectful debate, and it is disappointing to hear comments from opponents already.
Amendment 4 seeks a simple yet crucial …
+8 more contributions in this session
Commons
Proceedings
15 May 2025
Solar Farms
I have a solar development in my constituency, and there are proposals for a battery storage solution. The hon. Gentleman mentions safety. I am hoping to address that through an amendment to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill that would require relevant fire authorities to be statutory consultees.…
Commons
Proceedings
15 May 2025
Business of the House
A number of weeks ago, I mentioned the inaugural Harrogate town council elections. Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating all those who were elected? May we have a debate in Government time on local government reorganisation? Harrogate borough council used to receive 0.5% of profits …
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 May 2025
3 contributions
Accountability for Daesh Crimes
It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Jardine, and a privilege to speak on this important statement on the Joint Committee on Human Rights report “Accountability for Daesh crimes”. The report represents the shared conclusions of a cross-party group of parliamentarians from both Houses…
I thank my hon. Friend for that important question. Throughout our discussion, our deliberations and the formulation of the report, the Committee talked extensively about that. A number of issues pertain to the rights of a child, and one of the key structural points of the report is the deprivation …
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
14 May 2025
Infected Blood Inquiry: Government Response
A constituent of mine infected with hepatitis C and under the special category mechanism has written to express their distress that earlier this year supplementary regulations removed the provisions, which they had previously been promised, to bring their compensation in line with those with cirrhos…
Commons
Debate
12 May 2025
2 contributions
British Nationals Murdered Abroad: Support for Families
I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate. He eloquently outlined the steps that would ensure that people who suffer bereavement abroad receive justice. Does he agree that as well as having a framework for going forward, we also need the Foreign Office to look retrospectively a…
I have been helping a constituent whose relative was murdered abroad over 10 years ago, and it is still an ongoing issue. My constituent tells me that the responses from the FCDO have not always been prompt or clear, that there has not always been a named point of contact and that, sadly, in some in…
Commons
Oral Questions
8 May 2025
2 contributions
Climate Resilience Plans
11. If he will publish updated climate resilience plans.
With the effects of climate change already being felt, the Institution of Civil Engineers and others have urged the Government to prioritise infrastructure resilience. Following the Court ruling on the third national adaptation programme, the Government pledged to strengthen the approach, but the Cl…