Commons
Debate
8 July 2026
2 contributions
Rearmament and Warfighting Readiness
The hon. Gentleman is making an excellent speech. The first four years—the near-term investment period—covers the period until the next election. The second half—the longer-term investment period—covers the next five years, all the way up to 2035. However, the DIP is a 10-year plan, so it should in …
The hon. Member is making a very important speech. I agree that there should be a life extension plan for the Type 45, but we know that there is not one. It is not costed, it is not in the DIP, and the plan is to take them out of service over several years from 2035. Does he agree that the common co…
Commons
Proceedings
6 July 2026
Rochdale Grooming Gang: Offender Deportation
Earlier this year I asked the Home Secretary at the Dispatch Box about the case of Fabian Henry, a child rapist who was removed from a deportation flight in 2021 after the Home Secretary herself, then in opposition, signed a letter calling for the removal of people from that flight. Last October, I …
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
6 July 2026
Topical Questions
The defence investment plan is split into two parts: the near-term investment plan, which covers the four remaining years of this Parliament, and the long-term investment plan, which covers the following five years, up to 2035. This is a 10-year plan, but that clearly only adds up to nine years—the …
Commons
Oral Questions
Justice
30 June 2026
Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation
I am hugely concerned about the manner in which SLAPPs are being used to intimidate and harass individuals in public service. In my constituency alone, I have seen two separate instances of parish councillors being bullied out of public office. Both Hemingford and Ellington parish councils have been…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
30 June 2026
Defence Investment Plan
RAF Wyton is in my constituency and I have a huge amount of service housing, both in the RAF Wyton and the former RAF Brampton patches, so service housing is extremely important to me. Will the Secretary of State confirm whether he is cutting £300 million from the service family accommodation budget…
Commons
Proceedings
29 June 2026
Prisoner Early Release
The Minister talks a good game about prison numbers, but he will know very well from the many exchanges we have had on the issue that there are a lot of prison places that this Government have yet to deliver. Prison contractor ISG went bust in September 2024, and because the Government sat idle for …
Commons
Debate
22 June 2026
Armed Forces Bill
I appreciate the hon. Member’s position and have previously spoken to her about new clause 4, which I tabled. The Government have been in power for two years, and nothing has yet been done on delivering their pledge. Why should Labour Members not vote for new clause 4, given that it will deliver the…
Commons
Proceedings
15 June 2026
Defence Investment Plan
The Minister will know that we have been stalling on signing the full international contract for the global combat air programme since last year, and in April we signed the interim funding contract for Edgewing, which was £686 million. That runs out in just two weeks’ time. Yesterday the Prime Minis…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
15 June 2026
Russian Shadow Fleet
I congratulate the new Defence Secretary on his battlefield promotion. He will remember from his time in command that the best way to prove himself to his new team is to take them out tomorrow morning and thrash and phys, so I look forward to that.
On the DIP, it was widely reported last week that …
Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
8 June 2026
Indefinite Leave to Remain: Skilled Legal Migrants
Last week, the Government voted against my amendment to the Armed Forces Bill, new clause 5, which would have waived visa fees for the spouses and children of armed forces personnel and veterans. That was, of course, a Labour manifesto pledge—as it was a Conservative manifesto pledge—to ensure that …
Commons
Oral Questions
Energy Security and Net Zero
2 June 2026
Topical Questions
By now, the Secretary of State will be well aware of my opposition to the 1,900 acre East Park Energy solar farm in my constituency. We are now at the business end of the planning process; the application is before the Planning Inspectorate, ahead of a decision by the Secretary of State later this y…
Commons
Debate
2 June 2026
2 contributions
Armed Forces Bill
I welcome the introduction of the strategic reserve in the Bill, but I would like clarity on how it will be paid for. Will it be via separate funding or will it come from the money already allocated to pay for the active reserve in the MOD budget?
The other day I had the opportunity to meet the Ministry of Defence Police and their chief constable at RAF Wyton in my constituency. I was impressed by the counter-drone capability that they are now equipped with; it is vastly in excess of what Home Office policing teams now have, and it is a simpl…
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
1 June 2026
Topical Questions
Last month, the Government announced that they had finally taken delivery of the 47th F-35B, thus completing our initial tranche of the order. However, that is not strictly true, because two of those planes, ZM177 and ZM179, are currently stranded in the Azores, where they have been since 9 March, w…
Commons
Debate
1 June 2026
Health Bill
I welcome the Secretary of State to his place. Hinchingbrooke hospital in my constituency is one of the new hospitals to be built as part of the new hospital programme—it is in wave zero—but it currently does not have an electronic patient record system, so we have the fragmented patient history tha…
Commons
Oral Questions
Justice
19 May 2026
Open Prisons: Policy on Convicted Paedophiles
As an MP whose constituency has a category C prison for male sex offenders that is almost at capacity—HMP Littlehey—I welcome the clarity from the Minister regarding paedophiles in the prison estate.
We know that the Minister is on the hook to deliver thousands of new category C and D prison places…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
18 May 2026
Youth Justice
I appreciate what the Justice Secretary wants to achieve on reducing the rate of recidivism. He said in his statement that
“custody will always be necessary for the most dangerous offences”,
but went on to say that there will be
“an intention to reduce the use of short custodial sentences.”
Will…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
14 May 2026
National Security
I want to touch on state threats. I appreciate what the Minister said about the enhanced tier of the foreign influence registration scheme as it applies to China. Could he inform the House whether Bill Yuen and Peter Wai were registered on FIRS for their role as Chinese state employees? On Russia, o…
Commons
Proceedings
14 May 2026
Getting Britain Working Again
The Secretary of State and many of his Front-Bench colleagues keep reiterating that point. He keeps saying that, but I do not believe it is true. Will he explain exactly what he thinks the Leader of the Opposition wanted to do in those circumstances?
Commons
Debate
28 April 2026
2 contributions
Referral of Prime Minister to Committee of Privileges
Trade envoy to Harlow, right there.
Madam Deputy Speaker,
“Why does the Prime Minister think everybody else’s actions have consequences except his own?” —[ Official Report , 20 April 2022; Vol. 712, c. 155.]
That is a question the country would like an answer to. It is, given the appearance of several recently defenestrated senior c…
Commons
Oral Questions
27 April 2026
Topical Questions
I am dealing with a constituency case in which an individual has paid £23,000 during a dispute about being the parent of a child. He was not on the birth certificate, and the mother refused a DNA test. After three hearings in the family court, the court has ruled in his favour. I am sure the House w…
Commons
Westminster Hall
27 April 2026
Animal Testing
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Twigg. I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests and to my role as an officer on the all-party parliamentary group on phasing out animal experiments in medical research.
The phasing out of animal testi…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
22 April 2026
Engagements
Q4. We know that the Prime Minister has been playing fast and loose with ministerial appointments in his chumocracy, so I want to ask him about the first one. [ Interruption. ] Labour Members’ boos mean nothing to me; I have seen what makes them cheer. Jonathan Powell was appointed the Prime Ministe…
Commons
Oral Questions
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
21 April 2026
Interpol: Red Notices
The Government recently informed me that they have received 64 category 2 type B extradition notices under section 70 of the Extradition Act 2003, of which 56 have been certified. Fewer than five of those come from Bangladesh. Can the Minister confirm how many of those relate to Members of this Hous…
Commons
Debate
20 April 2026
Security Vetting
On 4 February, Peter Mandelson was notified by the appointments and interchange officer from the FCDO that he required STRAP-level access in addition to his DV. He started the role on 10 February. On what date did Peter Mandelson receive STRAP-level access?
Commons
Debate
15 April 2026
Strategic Defence Review: Funding
This month marks 20 years since I returned from serving on Operation Telic 7 in Iraq. While I was there, we patrolled Basra in Snatch Land Rovers, and 34 British soldiers died in Snatch Land Rovers. They were called “mobile coffins” and “suicide wagons” for a reason. In 2006, it was highlighted to t…