Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
22 October 2025
Engagements
Q14. December will mark the 10th anniversary of the Storm Desmond floods that devastated my constituency and forced thousands of people from their homes. Despite promising us new flood defences, previous Conservative Governments left them unfinished. With climate-related rainfall forecast to increas…
Commons
Debate
21 October 2025
5 contributions
Sentencing Bill
I am going to speak in favour of Government new clause 1, but I first want to take the opportunity to mention the Conservatives party’s record in government. A lot has been made during this debate about the prisons that were built during the last Government, so let us place it on record that, betwee…
I think the hon. Gentleman is making a correction to the former Lord Chancellor, because those were his words. I am sorry that the Conservative party has moved so far in two years that you wish to disown the work of a Lord Chancellor who stood in this Chamber just two years ago.
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Proceedings
21 October 2025
Rape Gangs: National Statutory Inquiry
In 2012, a Bangladeshi national was sentenced in my Carlisle constituency for attempting to recruit four girls, aged 12 to 16, into prostitution. In his summing up, the judge described how the man’s conduct had corroded
“the foundations of decency and respect by which all right-thinking people live…
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
20 October 2025
Children with SEND: Mainstream Schools
I recently held two events, with professionals and with families, on the subject of SEND in my Carlisle constituency. Their concerns are very much backed up by figures that show that Cumberland is spending less per pupil on those with education, health and care plans, and that there are fewer specia…
Commons
Proceedings
16 October 2025
Business of the House
Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating Teresa Mulholland, who earlier this week was named Cumbrian woman of the year? Teresa is director of Carlisle United’s community sports trust and was recognised for her leadership, empathy, courage and determination to help others. In congratula…
Commons
Westminster Hall
16 October 2025
3 contributions
World Menopause Day
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Betts. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Neath and Swansea East (Carolyn Harris) for securing this incredibly important debate and speaking with the passion and verve that we have come to expect of her.
Menopause, as I am sure we will hear t…
I agree entirely. Menopause remains an area where many employers are still failing to support their staff in the way that they need. As my hon. Friend the Member for Neath and Swansea East said, one in 10 women who works during the menopause will leave their job due to their symptoms, and nearly a q…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
15 October 2025
Pride in Place
I warmly welcome the Government’s investment of £20 million in the Raffles and Morton neighbourhoods of my Carlisle constituency. As I am very fond of reminding Members, Carlisle is the most northerly city in England—120 miles north of Manchester, and a very long way from this place. Does the Minist…
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 September 2025
Children with SEND: Assessments and Support
The hon. Member touches on an important point about culture, which is borne out by my own experience as the parent of a neurodivergent child whose secondary school education was made all the more traumatic by a profound lack of understanding and training among the teachers in the school. It was also…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
11 September 2025
Suicide Prevention
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme (Lee Pitcher) for securing this very important debate.
May 1997 is etched on my memory for two very different reasons: first, the elation of 1 May and the election of the first Labour Government in 18 years, and then, just…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
11 September 2025
Business of the House
I welcome the new Leader of the House to his place and thank him for all the help and support he gave those of us who were newly elected to this place 12 months ago in his previous role.
Last Friday, Cumbria’s first community county flag was unveiled at a special service at Carlisle cathedral. Cumb…
Commons
Westminster Hall
10 September 2025
Stockton and Darlington Railway: 200th Anniversary Festival
I cannot claim that the Stockton and Darlington railway went anywhere near my Carlisle constituency, but I cannot let this moment pass without celebrating Carlisle and north Cumbria’s role in the heritage of that line. Indeed, the engine that was first used on that marvellous line was Locomotion No.…
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 September 2025
2 contributions
Free-to-air Broadcasting: Cricket Participation
It is a privilege to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey. I start by placing on record my membership of the all-party parliamentary group for cricket. I congratulate the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Max Wilkinson) on bringing this important debate. Although I share his love of the long-form game as …
I certainly agree with the hon. Member. It cannot be denied that participation shrank in that period. We also have to look at how accessible our schools are in making cricket available to our young people. Lastly, I invite all hon. Members to join me in placing on record our very best wishes to the …
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 September 2025
Neurodivergent People: Employment
I thank the hon. Member for agreeing to take an intervention when I spoke with her before the debate. She speaks very eloquently about the frustrations that we see in our constituency surgeries. I had a constituent’s mother come to see me; it had taken six months for Access to Work to be put in plac…
Commons
Proceedings
4 September 2025
Business of the House
Madam Deputy Speaker, I congratulate you on your very successful ice cream-inspired tour of your constituency during the recess.
I recently met a constituent of mine, Lou, who was part of a group that developed Turning Point and Learning Disability England’s information pack on “Do Not Attempt Card…
Commons
Debate
3 September 2025
Hospitality Sector
I do not want to rain on the hon. Gentleman’s pub parade, but my constituency has a proud history when it comes to pubs, as for 60 years it was the only place in the country where the pubs were nationalised—although I am not calling on the Minister to reintroduce nationalisation of pubs. Does the ho…
Commons
Oral Questions
Women and Equalities
3 September 2025
Domestic Abuse Aggravated Offences
My constituent, who had been the victim of historical domestic abuse by both her partner and her children, recently raised with me the need for a clearer understanding and definition of child-to-parent abuse. At the time of her abuse, she did not know that what her children were doing could be class…
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 September 2025
Eating Disorders: Prevention of Deaths
One of the issues in geographically remote areas like Carlisle and Cumbria is that, sadly, the in-patient treatment for young people with eating disorders is delivered by an out-of-area NHS trust. Tragically, the inquest into the death of a young woman from my constituency earlier this year found th…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 September 2025
Borders and Asylum
I welcome the Home Secretary’s statement and strongly welcome the enforcement action taken recently by UK Border Force, Cumbria police and local trading standards to crack down on illegal trading and illegal retail work in my Carlisle constituency. Will she reassure my constituents that there will b…
Commons
Debate
22 July 2025
Changing Places Toilets
There are four Changing Places toilets in my constituency, which, given that it is one of England’s largest constituencies, still feels very inadequate. Does my hon. Friend agree that one sector where we would definitely benefit from more Changing Places toilets is in our visitor attractions? Does h…
Commons
Debate
22 July 2025
Sir David Amess Summer Adjournment
It is an honour to speak in my second Sir David Amess Adjournment debate, and to speak of my constituency of Carlisle and the incredible Roman dig there that is rewriting our understanding of Britain’s ancient history.
Carlisle—or, as the Romans called it, Luguvalium—was no ordinary outpost. It was…
Commons
Oral Questions
22 July 2025
Electronic Patient Record Systems
My constituent Lee Armstrong contacted 111 when he was suffering from an Addisonian crisis. Lee and his partner provided full details about his condition to 111, and when his condition worsened, they called 999, but what neither Lee nor his partner knew was that the electronic record details given t…
Commons
Debate
21 July 2025
Victory over Japan: 80th Anniversary
It is my privilege to join colleagues across the House in marking the 80th anniversary of victory over Japan. It is a moment to honour the bravery, sacrifice and enduring legacy of those from our country and allies around the world who contributed in the Pacific theatre of the second world war. I ha…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
21 July 2025
Independent Water Commission
As someone who enjoys swimming in Cumbria’s lakes, rivers and tarns, I welcome the Secretary of State’s ambitious commitment to halving sewage pollution in them. Can he say more about how—unlike the Conservatives who did nothing for 14 years, and unlike Reform’s moon-on-a-stick approach to reform—wh…
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 July 2025
5 contributions
RAF Photographic Reconnaissance Unit
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the role of the RAF Photographic Reconnaissance Unit during the Second World War.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Vaz. I begin by placing on record my thanks to the Backbench Business Committee for granting me this debate, and for…
I completely concur, and I am delighted that we are here today talking about just such a national monument.
Tragically, the project has been able to confirm that 629 of those men— representing 45% of those who could be found—were casualties. Of those who were killed, a third are still missing in ac…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
16 July 2025
Further Education Institutions
Beaumont college in my constituency provides excellent specialist education for young people transitioning from a specialist school into adulthood. Does my hon. Friend believe that part of that funding must be available for colleges such as Beaumont so that we can support young people with special e…