Commons
Ministerial Statement
26 February 2026
Business of the House
The Leader of the House knows how proud I am to represent England’s most northerly city. It is a city that had not one, but two Roman forts. It has a wonderful Norman castle and a 900-year-old cathedral with the nation’s favourite stained glass window and retains its city walls and citadels. Nationa…
Commons
Debate
25 February 2026
Ukraine
The right hon. Gentleman makes a powerful point about the reconstruction that will follow the peace, and one of those areas will be mine clearance. It is estimated that about a quarter of Ukrainian land is now mined, which means that Ukrainian farmers are literally farming on the front line. We shou…
Commons
Oral Questions
Scotland
25 February 2026
2 contributions
Relations with Scottish Government
1. What discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on the effectiveness of their relationship with the UK Government.
One example of what might politely be called ineffective relations between the Scottish and UK Governments concerns bovine electronic identification, where instead of agreeing to adopt the same radio frequency as the rest of the UK and Europe, the Scottish Government have chosen to use a high-freque…
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 February 2026
Student Loan Repayment Plans
My hon. Friend is making a powerful speech, and he has set out comprehensively the issues that we look to the Government to examine. Does he agree that the Government have begun to take very welcome steps in reforming student finance, in particular the changes to the plan 5 loan system? We are looki…
Commons
Oral Questions
24 February 2026
Topical Questions
T7. A resident in my constituency was initially told to take a round trip of almost 200 miles to receive hospital treatment in Glasgow because he was registered with his nearest GP, which happened to be in Scotland. Can the Minister tell the House what progress is being made in reviewing and updatin…
Commons
Westminster Hall
23 February 2026
3 contributions
Firearms Licensing
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Alec. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for South Norfolk (Ben Goldsborough) for introducing the debate. I also thank the 323 residents of my constituency who signed the petition and the many more constituents who contacted me directly about the ma…
It is absolutely incumbent upon any Government to carefully consider any issue. In this regard, I urge the Minister to approach the consultation with an open mind and not to have a predetermined outcome for the conclusion.
For many, this proposal represents a far-reaching regulatory shift, with con…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
12 February 2026
2 contributions
Rural Mobile Connectivity
My hon. Friend is making a powerful point about the role of Openreach in this scenario. I have said for some time that its role is equivalent to that of electricity distribution network operators. Although we all pay our bills to an electricity company, it is the distribution network that is respons…
I thank the hon. Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan) for bringing forward this delayed but important debate. My constituency includes the very rural area of north Cumbria, bordering Scotland and Northumberland. It is beautiful, remote and, in parts, devoid of mobile coverage.
The lack of mob…
Commons
Proceedings
12 February 2026
Business of the House
Last week, the east window of Carlisle cathedral was voted the nation’s favourite stained glass window. May I invite the Leader of the House to join me in congratulating John de Salkeld, who in 1359 donated 40 shillings
“to make a window anew in the chancel”
of Carlisle cathedral; Ivo de Raughton,…
Commons
Westminster Hall
12 February 2026
Healthy Relationships
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Ribble Valley (Maya Ellis) for securing this excellent debate. One organisation that does really interesting work in this space—which, I am ashamed to say, I did not know much about until last year—is Soroptimist International, which has developed fantastic “Lov…
Commons
Westminster Hall
10 February 2026
Young Children’s Screen Time
I am at the other end of my parenting journey—my little girl is 24 today. She is a paediatric nurse and has drawn my attention to the “Cocomelon” channel on YouTube, which is a sensory overload. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is about not just the length of time, but the content—and sometimes the…
Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
9 February 2026
2 contributions
Illegal Migrants: Pull Factors
8. What steps her Department is taking to reduce pull factors for migrants seeking to arrive in the UK illegally.
Illegal immigration, illegal working and illegal trading frequently go hand in hand, and all too often manifest themselves in the proliferation of dodgy shops on our high streets. While I welcome the shop raids in my constituency last summer, without action to tackle illegality at source the police …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
5 February 2026
National Cancer Plan
The reality is that if someone lives in a big city with access to a university teaching hospital, their access to cancer treatment will be different from those who live in a town or small city like Carlisle, where we face challenges in recruiting and retaining specialist consultants. Does the Minist…
Commons
Oral Questions
5 February 2026
Business of the House
The last Labour Government lifted 600,000 children out of poverty and helped break down barriers to opportunity by introducing child trust funds, giving every single 18 year old savings regardless of their background. However, on turning 18, a disabled person will find that if they have a care packa…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
4 February 2026
Engagements
Q2. Every month, people across our constituencies are injured by illegal e-bikes being ridden at 30, 40 and 50 mph through our town centres and parks, but for every illegal e-bike that the police seize and crush, another 10 hit our streets, because they are too freely available to buy. That is wh…
Commons
Westminster Hall
4 February 2026
Postal Services: Rural Areas
The hon. Gentleman is talking about mobile outreach services. One of the things that concerns me is that when the Post Office closes a bricks-and-mortar branch, it is required to carry out a six-week consultation with the community, but when it closes a mobile outreach service, there is no requireme…
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 February 2026
Town and City Centre Safety
My hon. Friend makes the point about people needing to feel safe in their communities. One of the issues that many of us hear from our constituents about is illegal e-bikes speeding through our parks and town centres. Many reputable dealers, such as Bikeseven and Palace Cycles in my constituency, wo…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
29 January 2026
Business of the House
The Royal National Institute of Blind People’s 2024 report, “Turned Out”, found that disabled people face significant barriers when it comes to casting their vote, a finding echoed by the Electoral Commission in its report last year. Both those reports informed my ten-minute rule Bill on this subjec…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
29 January 2026
Encouraging Exports
Last week I visited the brilliant family-run Clark Door company in my Carlisle constituency. Clark Door designs, manufactures and exports right across the globe, and supplies venues such as the Tate Modern, the Qatar national centre and, topically as we approach next weekend’s super bowl, the Nation…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
26 January 2026
Police Reform White Paper
Last Friday I held a community meeting with Cumbria’s police, fire and crime commissioner, David Allen. Since his election just 20 months ago, he has been focused on taking those officers who were forced into the back room under the last Government and putting them back on the frontline. Can the Hom…
Commons
Proceedings
22 January 2026
Agricultural Sector: Import Standards
My hon. Friend mentions food imports and illegal imports. Next month will be the 25th anniversary of the devastating foot and mouth outbreak. Nowhere knows better than my Carlisle and north Cumbria constituency just what happens when foot and mouth takes hold. Does my hon. Friend agree that illegal …
Commons
Oral Questions
Cabinet Office
22 January 2026
Emergencies: Rural and Coastal Areas
I recently met representatives of Cumbria Council for Voluntary Service and ACTion with Communities in Cumbria to discuss community resilience in Carlisle and north Cumbria. One of the challenges we face in geographically remote areas such as mine is the speed with which local authorities and other …
Commons
Westminster Hall
22 January 2026
International Day of Education
The hon. Lady is making a powerful point about the number of children who are outside of the classroom globally and the impact that has, but it also happens in our own country. I recently visited the Gillford Centre pupil referral unit in my constituency. It does phenomenal work and, unlike other sc…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
20 January 2026
Mobile Phones and Social Media: Use by Children
It is 20 years since I co-authored the first code of practice on new forms of content on mobile. In the intervening 20 years, we have seen the proliferation of over-the-top services that bypass the network-level filters that we introduced as part of that code of practice. However, social media does …
Commons
Debate
19 January 2026
Local Elections: Cancellation
As the Minister has already mentioned, the previous Government postponed elections in 2021, including in my constituency. Does she agree with the words of the right hon. Member for Newark (Robert Jenrick), who was the Communities Secretary at the time—and whom I note is not in either of his recent p…
Commons
Westminster Hall
19 January 2026
Sale of Fireworks
My constituents, like those of so many of us, have written to me about this. I want to talk about Jessica, who wrote to describe how the impact that fireworks had on her father reduced him to a near panic attack. She also has a friend who served in multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a dog w…