Commons
Westminster Hall
5 January 2026
Length of the School Week
I wish you, Mrs Hobhouse, all Members, Clerks and staff of Parliament, and our visitors today a happy new year. I am pleased to respond to the debate on the length of the school week.
I thank the hon. Member for Lichfield (Dave Robertson) for leading the debate and I congratulate the young people b…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
17 December 2025
Engagements
Q14. Labour’s tax rises mean lower growth and higher unemployment, and the reason for the tax rises is Government spending. The Prime Minister personally promised the country that he would limit spending increases to £9.5 billion a year, so what mandate did he have in his first two Budgets to increa…
Commons
Proceedings
8 December 2025
2 contributions
Maccabi Tel Aviv FC: Away Fans Ban
(Urgent Question): To ask the Home Secretary to make a statement on the adequacy of the evidence on which West Midland police took decisions relating to the Aston Villa versus Maccabi Tel Aviv match.
I thank the Minister for that response, including the news of the HMICFRS report by the end of the year.
The police intelligence used to justify the ban on Israeli fans from Villa Park has fallen apart, and so has the evidence given to the Select Committee by Chief Constable Craig Guildford and Ass…
Commons
Proceedings
4 December 2025
Local Elections
In Suffolk, people are asking what on earth the Government are playing at. We are being asked to have county elections in 2026, unitary elections in 2027 and a mayoral election in 2028. That said, elected politicians in a democracy should never be afraid of the voters. Can the Minister say to the Ho…
Commons
Oral Questions
2 December 2025
Topical Questions
The White House has expressed concerns about sensitive cables that run under Royal Mint Court, as have the Dutch, Swiss and Swedish Governments. I understand that the Foreign Office has denied the presence of such cables to the US Government, and the Cabinet Office has denied it to the press. Will t…
Commons
Oral Questions
1 December 2025
Free School Applications
The special needs budget mess is not the only uncertainty caused by this Government. The special needs White Paper is overdue, and 44 approved mainstream free schools and a number of approved special needs schools are in limbo. Schools, trusts or councils that want to open new special needs schools …
Commons
Oral Questions
1 December 2025
Universities: Chinese Influence
We know that academics at British universities have been harassed by Chinese agents and pressured by their own administrators to censor their work. Sheffield Hallam, for example, blocked research by Professor Laura Murphy into the treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. Ministers make noises, but w…
Commons
Proceedings
24 November 2025
2 contributions
Maccabi Tel Aviv FC: Away Fans Ban
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department to make a statement on the intelligence used by West Midlands police that led to the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending Villa Park on 6 November 2025.
The ban on Israeli Jewish supporters was a disgrace and the justification given by West Midlands Police was, it turns out, based on fiction. The police said that their intelligence came from Dutch counterparts after the Ajax against Maccabi Tel Aviv match last year. West Midlands police called the I…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
20 November 2025
Migration: Settlement Pathway
I broadly welcome the changes to ILR, but I seek clarification about whether there will be revocation for those already settled who break the law. Why are the Government proposing making low-skilled workers who are net fiscal recipients wait for 15 years for ILR, instead of telling them to just leav…
Commons
Proceedings
20 November 2025
Russian Ship Yantar
We know, as the Minister has said, that Russia and China target undersea cables and interconnectors, which we rely on increasingly because of the Government’s energy policy. We know that the Russians put listening devices on our offshore infrastructure to monitor our submarines, and we know that Chi…
Commons
Oral Questions
18 November 2025
Clean Energy: Private Sector Investment
The Government seem to accept that China presents a range of threats against this country. There will be a statement later today about threats against Members of this place. We also know about China’s domination of the world market in cellular internet modules and the ability to insert kill switches…
Commons
Debate
17 November 2025
Asylum Policy
Most on the Government Benches disagree with us, but I share the Home Secretary’s admiration for the Danish model. The Danish Finance Ministry publishes data regularly on the fiscal contribution of different profiles of migrants. It shows in Denmark that migrants from MENAPT—the middle east, north A…
Commons
Debate
17 November 2025
Budget: Press Briefings
In some ways at least, this Chancellor is improving: her Budget last year unravelled within a day, and this year the Budget has unravelled before it has been announced. We know why the Chief Secretary is refusing to answer the question about the leak inquiry. It is because the Chancellor knows exact…
Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
17 November 2025
Asylum Hotels
The last Home Secretary said that we should judge the success of the Government in smashing the gangs by whether the number of channel crossings falls. By which date should we judge whether the Government have been successful? If the Home Secretary fails, will she resign?
Commons
Ministerial Statement
13 November 2025
Police Reform
In Suffolk, the police and crime commissioner’s powers will be transferred to a combined mayoralty for Suffolk and Norfolk; the mayor will be responsible for the two police forces. This is only one step away from a full-blown merger of the two forces, which local people are very concerned about. Wil…
Commons
Statutory Instrument
12 November 2025
2 contributions
Draft Immigration Skills Charge (Amendment) Regulations 2025
It is a pleasure to serve under you, Mr Turner, and I am pleased to respond to the regulations on behalf of the Opposition.
Increasing the immigration skills charge is a welcome move, and my party has no objection to the legislation. Our priority must be to ensure that every British citizen has the…
Is the number of channel crossings up or down in the last year?
Commons
Debate
11 November 2025
Prisoner Releases in Error
The Justice Secretary said that one of the prisoners accidentally released who is still at large is a foreign national offender. I know that, after PMQs last week, the right hon. Gentleman will be very well briefed this week, so can he say whether the prisoner was inside for aggravated burglary, dru…
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 November 2025
Support for Dyslexic Pupils
I am pleased to respond on behalf of the Conservative party on support for dyslexic pupils at school. I congratulate the hon. Members for Yeovil (Adam Dance) and for Broxtowe (Juliet Campbell) on securing such an important debate.
Probably every family in the country has been touched by dyslexia, a…
Commons
Oral Questions
4 November 2025
Topical Questions
From her CV to her tax promises, would the Chancellor know the truth if it stood right in front of her?
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
3 November 2025
2 contributions
Drone Procurement
7. What steps he is taking to reduce the time taken to procure drones for the armed forces.
I thank the Minister for his answer. The biggest drone manufacturer in Ukraine, Ukrspecsystems, is investing £200 million in Britain, opening a factory in Mildenhall in the west of my county and creating 500 jobs directly and through the supply chain. However, like all manufacturers, it is facing ri…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
30 October 2025
Industrial Strategy
Do you even know what the question was?
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
30 October 2025
Investment in Businesses
Every Labour Government in history have ended their time in office with unemployment higher than when they started, and this Government have made a record-breaking start. Businesses large and small in West Suffolk are putting off investment decisions, freezing recruitment and laying off staff becaus…
Commons
Westminster Hall
30 October 2025
Children’s Social Care
I hope my voice manages to survive this speech. I am pleased to respond to this important debate on behalf of the Opposition. I welcome the Minister to his new role. I know how knowledgeable and committed he is to the welfare of the children we are discussing today.
I congratulate the hon. Member f…
Commons
Proceedings
29 October 2025
Asylum Seekers: MOD Housing
The Minister has given us the usual Government lines on returns under this Government, when the majority of them are obviously voluntary returns. When it comes to enforced returns, the numbers are lower than in nine of the 14 years of Conservative Government, and 15% lower than the Tory average.
I …
Commons
Proceedings
23 October 2025
Alleged Spying Case: Role of Attorney General’s Office
To be perfectly honest, I do not know what the point is in me asking this question, because we have had two weeks of statements and urgent questions, and Ministers keep attacking straw men and answering questions that are not actually being asked. It is pathetic.
On Monday, the Security Minister ca…