Commons
Committee Stage
14 April 2026
5 contributions
Representation of the People Bill (Sixth sitting)
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Dr Allin-Khan. This discussion about part 4 feels slightly odd because we are having part of the conversation but will have a further conversation on Report, for all the good and understandable reasons that we have talked about, after the publication …
I welcome the shadow Minister’s intervention, and I think that we should talk far more than we do about domestic money in politics, as well as foreign money in politics. Power is concentrated in far too few hands. The price of elections is going up and up, and that is not good for democracy. I would…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
13 April 2026
Topical Questions
T4. Lib Dem-run Stockport is the MJ’s council of the year. It spends £3 in every £4 on adults and children, and it includes the most deprived part of Greater Manchester, yet the Government’s funding settlement leaves the borough receiving £52 million less each year than the average across equivalent…
Commons
Oral Questions
26 March 2026
Topical Questions
My constituent Nawaz has been in touch with me with real concerns about the financial impact that roadworks are having on his small business. He may be entitled to compensation if the roadworks are caused by gas or water companies, but not if they are works by telecoms or electricity companies. The …
Commons
Proceedings
25 March 2026
Foreign Financial Influence and Interference: UK Politics
I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of his statement. I was grateful to meet Philip Rycroft as part of this important and urgent work.
The threat that we face is not new. Back in 2020, the Intelligence and Security Committee said that Russian influence in the UK is the “new normal” and…
Commons
Committee Stage
24 March 2026
3 contributions
Representation of the People Bill (Fourth sitting)
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the chair, Dame Siobhain. The Liberal Democrats support clauses 15 and 16. I will speak to new clause 44, in the name of my hon. Friend the Member for Guildford. Her explanatory statement is clear that it
“requires the Government to report on proposals to suppo…
I very much welcome the Minister’s comments about how we need a whole-of-society approach to ensuring that young people are equipped to exercise their right to vote. She talked about devolved Administrations, schools and others. There are non-governmental organisations and charities working on that …
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Committee Stage
24 March 2026
2 contributions
Representation of the People Bill (Third sitting)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Allin-Khan. The Liberal Democrats support the general direction of the Bill and want to help the Government to get it right and, where we feel it falls short, be more ambitious. We remain particularly disappointed that the Bill contains no steps tow…
The Liberal Democrats believe that voting is a fundamental democratic right, not a privilege to be earned on release. We champion the right to vote, and we are opposed to this disenfranchisement. We also believe that every unnecessary restriction on the franchise weakens democratic legitimacy.
Pris…
Commons
Westminster Hall
18 March 2026
Cheadle Train Station
My hon. Friend and constituency neighbour is making a compelling case for the people of Cheadle to get the railway station they deserve. He mentioned Nathaniel Yates, who is a phenomenal campaigner in our region for accessibility at railway stations, and I visited Bredbury station and Romiley statio…
Commons
Debate
17 March 2026
2 contributions
Ministerial Salaries (Amendment) Bill
The Liberal Democrats believe that people should be paid fairly to do a job, and that it should not be only the wealthy who can afford to be a Minister.
Ministers will face enormous demands on their time, for there is much to be done, and the Government should prioritise finding talent across both …
The Minister of course will know that the Prime Minister is responsible for the contents of the ministerial code. While the ethics adviser can launch an investigation, the Prime Minister reserves the right to raise concerns about any such investigation, so that the independent adviser does not proce…
Commons
Oral Questions
17 March 2026
Topical Questions
T5. My constituent Simon came to see me about his concerns following his family’s journey through family court arrangement proceedings. He mentioned a Both Parents Matter statistic that has stayed with me: 40% of separated fathers experience suicidal thoughts. What more can the Government do to s…
Commons
Westminster Hall
16 March 2026
7 contributions
Member Defections: Automatic By-elections
I am loath to say that I am delighted to have you in the Chair, Sir Roger, because I feel we are all missing out on a good hour’s worth of content with you there rather than here, but it really is a pleasure to serve under you.
Since the 2024 general election, we have seen the start of a slow proce…
No. The Liberal Democrat position is that elections should happen on a regular basis. We would re-implement the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, because we think it is healthy for people to know how long they are electing somebody for, rather than leaving the power in the hands of the Prime Minister…
+5 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
11 March 2026
Lord Mandelson: Response to Humble Address Motion
In his remarks, the Chief Secretary mentions policy and process weaknesses in our political system, and he is right to do so, but surely the real failure is that of the Prime Minister’s judgment. He also talks about the depth of Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein not being known, but Mandelson’s …
Commons
Statutory Instrument
11 March 2026
Draft Procurement (Amendment) Regulations 2026
It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mr Twigg. Steps to improve transparency around public procurement are, of course, welcome. The granting of the federated data platform contract to Palantir and the scandalous covid personal protective equipment contract under the previous Conservative Govern…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
10 March 2026
Digital ID: Public Consultation
I am grateful to the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister for advance sight of his statement. Let us be clear about why we are here. Following collapsing public support, strong opposition from the Liberal Democrats, a petition signed by nearly 3 million people—including over 5,000 of my constituent…
Commons
Statutory Instrument
9 March 2026
Delegated Legislation Committee
It is a pleasure to have you in the Chair this evening, Sir Desmond. While the Liberal Democrats welcome the overarching free trade agreement and are in favour of opening up trade in the face of Trump’s trade wars, we believe that the agreement between the UK and India could have gone further in a n…
Commons
Proceedings
5 March 2026
Business of the House
Torkington Park, in my Hazel Grove constituency, is a beautiful place to spend time, but many of my constituents have been contacting me recently with concerns about raw sewage in the stream. They are really concerned about their children and their pets playing in there, and it appears that it is al…
Commons
Oral Questions
5 March 2026
2 contributions
Standards in Government
The creation of the Government post of special representative for trade and investment, and the appointment of Andrew Mountbatten- Windsor to that post, raises deeply alarming questions about how previous Governments treated powerful men who abuse their positions. Liberal Democrat Members are proud …
Government Ministers, including the Prime Minister, have repeatedly told the House that Lord Mandelson should lose his peerage, yet weeks on, no concrete steps forward can be seen. No legislation has been brought forward, and even in the face of the appalling allegations, Mandelson appears safe from…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
4 March 2026
China: Foreign Interference Arrests
I thank the Minister for giving me advance sight of the statement, even if at this stage he is rather limited in what he can say. He is entirely right to say that we must continue to allow the police to do their job and to do it well. We remain grateful to all those who are working to keep our count…
Commons
Westminster Hall
4 March 2026
NHS Capital Spending
My hon. Friend is starting to make a compelling point. In my local area, Stepping Hill hospital has a reported repairs backlog of £138 million. That means, in practice, that only four of the 14 lifts are working, staff are having to physically take meals upstairs to patients, and family members with…
Commons
Debate
2 March 2026
6 contributions
Representation of the People Bill
Our liberal democracy has become acutely vulnerable. Trust in our politics is being pulled apart at the seams. We face a flood of foreign money, and powerful men who hate our democracy, whether in silicon valley or the Kremlin, are working hard to undermine our social fabric and to interfere in our …
My hon. Friend is entirely right that one of the big ways foreign individuals can influence our democracy is through money. The other way is through influence, using money from companies, often not owned in the UK, that control a lot of the information that British citizens see. He is entirely right…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
2 March 2026
Topical Questions
The children of Banks Lane junior school recently visited the parliamentary education establishment, and kindly invited me along. They were fizzing with enthusiasm and excitement for their learning. We know that attitudes to money are embedded at a really young age, so it is welcome that financial e…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
25 February 2026
Post Office Green Paper
I do not think it will have surprised any of us to hear the Minister talk about the response from our communities, who say how much they value services in a physical post office. My constituents in High Lane and around the Fiveways in Hazel Grove still mourn the loss of their post office branch, but…
Commons
Debate
24 February 2026
11 contributions
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
We have had an extremely powerful debate. I will address a number of the points raised, but I want to start by talking about how the revelations of recent weeks and months have been shattering for the British public and deeply, deeply distressing for many of those directly impacted.
We have listene…
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for her intervention, and to her constituent who has contacted her about that important point. My view, and the view of the Liberal Democrats, is that we should get to the bottom of how this role was created and the vetting that was done before the appointment, in ord…
+9 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
9 February 2026
Standards in Public Life
I thank the Chief Secretary for advance sight of his statement. We must remember that we are having this debate today because of the courage of the women and girls who spoke out against Jeffrey Epstein and those connected to him. Their bravery has forced us to confront uncomfortable truths about pow…
Commons
Oral Questions
9 February 2026
Jimmy Lai: Prison Sentence
The whole House shares my horror and disgust at the politically motivated imprisonment, conviction and sentencing of Jimmy Lai. Last week, following his trip to Beijing, the Prime Minister suggested that he could change outcomes for Jimmy Lai and Hong Kongers by speaking softly with President Xi. It…