Commons
Ministerial Statement
12 March 2026
Business of the House
Under regional devolution plans, MHCLG has told Gloucestershire to look to the north, with Herefordshire, Worcestershire and maybe Warwickshire, too. Our integrated care board is being merged with Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. Meanwhile, our police boundaries are being merged wi…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
12 March 2026
Topical Questions
High streets are a key concern for us all in this House. On the Promenade in Cheltenham we have Cavendish House, which was a cherished retail centre for 200 years. [Interruption.] The hon. Member for Rhondda and Ogmore (Chris Bryant) remembers it. Now it is empty; Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct left an…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
11 March 2026
Protest Policing
The Home Secretary is aware that we have concerns about her authoritarian tendencies. We have particular concerns about this Government’s enthusiasm for restricting the right to protest and their use of terrorism legislation to proscribe protest groups. The Liberal Democrats place a much stronger we…
Commons
Debate
11 February 2026
10 contributions
Police Grant Report
I would like to start by declaring an interest, in that my father-in-law is the police chaplain for North Yorkshire police and my brother-in-law is an inspector in North Yorkshire police. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”] Hear, hear, indeed, and I would like to segue from thanking them to thanking Inspe…
Absolutely. My hon. Friend makes an important point. When we call the police, we expect them to turn up. I do not blame the police officers for not showing up. If there are simply not enough of them to do the job, that problem is a hangover from the previous Government. This Government must go faste…
+8 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
10 February 2026
Topical Questions
Rendesco is a brilliant renewable energy business in my constituency. Just before Christmas, it was awarded a £2 million grant from UK Research and Innovation, but since then the phone has not been working at UKRI’s end. Can Ministers have a word to see whether this money can be unlocked, to ensure …
Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
9 February 2026
Topical Questions
In recent weeks, those warning that a rapid dip in net migration could harm public services and the economy span left and right, including commentators such as Fraser Nelson, not known for his softness on this sort of thing. It is no secret that the Government are struggling to deliver growth after …
Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
9 February 2026
Illegal Migrants: Pull Factors
British people have watched in horror over the past weeks as President Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement squads have murdered, kidnapped and oppressed people. Even infants and children have not escaped this rough treatment. The Conservatives have suggested that they would like to introduce…
Commons
Debate
2 February 2026
US Department of Justice Release of Files
The Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister and the shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster are right: we must start by remembering the many women and young girls who experienced unimaginable horrors at the hands of Epstein and his network.
We must also ask what it was that first attracted the po…
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
2 February 2026
2 contributions
Security Action for Europe Fund
6. What discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on UK access to the Security Action for Europe fund.
Does this not go back to the key problem that faces us as a nation, which is the failed Brexit bestowed upon us by the previous Government and their friends in the Reform party? Ministers have my sympathy as they try to unpick this mess, but they are going too slowly. Brexit is clearly the biggest b…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
29 January 2026
Trade with the EU
The Business Secretary raised some eyebrows at the weekend by suggesting that MPs’ pay should be linked to economic growth. Who does the Trade Minister think should get the biggest pay rise? Is it the Conservatives and Reform, who have probably knocked up to 8% off our GDP; Labour MPs, who are contr…
Commons
Oral Questions
Women and Equalities
28 January 2026
2 contributions
Health Inequalities: Women
4. What steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to help tackle health inequalities affecting women.
I am grateful to the Health Minister for coming to the House today. She is aware of the case of Cheltenham general hospital and the Aveta birth centre, which four years ago under the previous Government was closed temporarily to labour and births. There is a national rapid review, which Gloucestersh…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
26 January 2026
Police Reform White Paper
After a busy weekend policing Labour leadership rows, the Home Secretary is today in the House to announce reforms to policing. I think we all agree that we hope she is more successful with the latter than she was with the former.
This Government came to power with a pledge to increase police numbe…
Commons
Oral Questions
Work and Pensions
26 January 2026
Topical Questions
My constituent Sam has been failed by the Child Maintenance Service. Her ex-partner hid a load of his income. She knows that because the CMS sent her the evidence but then denied it. Any reference to onward referrals is denied, and she is stuck in the bureaucracy. This is an unacceptable situation. …
Commons
Oral Questions
Housing, Communities and Local Government
12 January 2026
Topical Questions
The Minister is aware of the parlous state of Gloucester city council’s finances. Can she reassure me that whether we agree or disagree with the local government reorganisation process, there will be no delays as a result of Gloucester’s money difficulties?
Commons
Oral Questions
Energy Security and Net Zero
6 January 2026
Topical Questions
Almost a year ago, the Housing and Planning Minister and I had a wonderful discussion about my sunshine Bill, which would require all new homes to include solar panels on their roof. I understand that the Government are on the cusp of making an announcement about that. Can we be reassured that this …
Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
5 January 2026
Topical Questions
The Home Secretary is turning heads by focusing on people arriving in this country, but the latest migration statistics show a worrying trend in the opposite direction. The number of working-age UK nationals leaving the country is concerning from an economic and a demographic perspective. Why does t…
Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
5 January 2026
Police Efficiency
Happy new year to you from the Liberal Democrats, Mr Speaker.
The Tories left us without enough police to tackle burglaries, car thefts and shoplifting. People voted for change, but between March 2024 and March 2025, that legacy and the new Government’s actions meant that we lost more than 4,000 fr…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
16 December 2025
Planning Reform
The Minister knows that I share his enthusiasm for speeding up housing delivery, but that can only happen if we get the right infrastructure. He is aware, as I am, of the pressure around certain motorway junction upgrades, including at junction 10, which is adjacent to my constituency. Can he give m…
Commons
Debate
15 December 2025
Violence against Women and Girls Strategy
Violence against women and girls is a stain on society. I know that the Minister shares the passion that we feel about the issue, and I know how much work she has done in this area. However, I want to follow up on some of the points made by my hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford (Marie Goldman) th…
Commons
Proceedings
11 December 2025
Business of the House
The health of democracy unites us all in the Chamber. Carnegie UK’s 2025 report gives the UK a score of just 41%. Separately, The Economist has a new model looking at election outcomes, and after looking at more than 10,000 scenarios it concluded that running the next election under first past the p…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
9 December 2025
Grooming Gangs: Independent Inquiry
The despicable, sickening crimes that we have heard about today were first reported in the press more than 20 years ago, and the victims have already waited far too long for justice, so we welcome today’s announcement. We also welcome other details in the statement, including reforms to ensure that …
Commons
Proceedings
8 December 2025
Maccabi Tel Aviv FC: Away Fans Ban
This has been a sorry saga from the very beginning. First, we were told that the fans had to be banned for safety reasons. Intelligence reports, we were told, said that Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were highly organised, skilled fighters with the serious desire and will to fight with police and opposing gr…
Commons
Proceedings
2 December 2025
2 contributions
Budget Resolutions
Just this weekend, The Telegraph reported a secret plot to reverse Brexit by taking this country into a customs union with the EU. Sign me up for that, because we would generate plenty of investment and renewal if we did. If only that were the case. As everyone on the Government Benches and in this …
He is making a lot of money on social media, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I am happy to clarify that.
To compound the problem, we have the sort of Budgets that this Government are giving the nation. Last year, they decided to make it more expensive for businesses to employ people. The Government also …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
2 December 2025
Angiolini Inquiry
All our thoughts today will be with the family of Sarah Everard. More than four years on from her horrific murder, too many women are still suffering life-changing crimes on our streets. The inquiry makes it painfully clear that women continue to feel unsafe. They change their daily routines just to…
Commons
Debate
26 November 2025
Budget Resolutions
Will the hon. Member accept that some of the blossoming of the public sector in this country is as a result of Brexit, for which he advocated over very many years?