Commons
Westminster Hall
29 January 2026
4 contributions
River Habitats: Protection and Restoration
Will the hon. Member give way?
At the risk of delivering more “flim-flam”, I should say that the hon. Member has just told us that it was the Water (Special Measures) Act that announced the ban on company bonuses. Would he concede that that was actually introduced, in regulations, by the last Conservative Government? In fact, his…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
26 January 2026
Police Reform White Paper
My constituents are already concerned that Avon and Somerset constabulary is dominated by Bristol and that far too few resources are devoted to Somerset’s smaller towns and villages. How will the Home Secretary ensure that her new, larger regional forces police our rural communities properly?
Commons
Oral Questions
Work and Pensions
26 January 2026
Youth Hubs
I wish the Secretary of State well with this initiative, but does he share my concern that as his Department seeks to reduce youth unemployment, the Chancellor is doing everything she can to increase it, with her jobs tax increasing unemployment? Of the 170,000 payroll jobs lost since the election, …
Commons
Debate
21 January 2026
National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill
Can the Minister explain what is pragmatic about withdrawing a 2p in the pound tax relief from a higher rate taxpayer without a student loan, while withdrawing a 17p in the pound tax relief from a basic rate taxpayer who happens to have a student loan?
Commons
Ministerial Statement
19 January 2026
Public Office (Accountability) Bill
I thank the Minister for her statement, and ask her for two points of clarification. Does she believe that it is appropriate for the heads of the intelligence services to determine what information is provided to an investigation, or should that be determined by someone else, and does she accept tha…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
15 January 2026
Business of the House
May I agree with the point raised by the hon. Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Rachel Blake)? In the village of Cossington, there is a small housing estate that had the misfortune to be managed by FirstPort. My residents had to put up with unexplained charges, poor service and a complete…
Commons
Proceedings
15 January 2026
Digital ID
My constituents are opposed to digital ID, and I welcome the Minister’s U-turn—I look forward to him being given responsibility for jury trials as well. The problem is that digital ID will have no effect on illegal working or illegal migration, because employers that ignore the system at the moment …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
14 January 2026
Offshore Wind
The Secretary of State is going to pay a floating wind farm £216 per megawatt-hour. Can he explain how that will lower fuel prices for my constituents?
Commons
Debate
12 January 2026
6 contributions
Finance (No. 2) Bill
Does the shadow Minister agree that the overall thrust of these clauses is to discourage saving and enterprise, and to hit the people who do the right thing, all to fund more welfare spending? That is not a recipe for growth, is it?
Does the hon. Gentleman believe that increasing taxation on dividends will result in more entrepreneurs taking risks, employing people and growing the economy, or fewer?
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
7 January 2026
2 contributions
Jury Trials
I do not agree that the Government should curtail our rights to trial by jury. Trial by jury is an ancient right in England and the very essence of our criminal justice system. Combined with the Government proposals for digital ID, it reveals a very authoritarian attitude. It marks a significant shi…
In my experience, staff absence is normally the result of poor management. I suspect that the Ministry of Justice is managing its staff significantly worse than the rest of the civil service if staff sickness is 30% above the public sector average, which is not great to begin with. With approximatel…
Commons
Oral Questions
16 December 2025
2 contributions
Jury Trials Proposal: Impact
23. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposal to restrict the right to a jury trial for certain offences on the rule of law.
When the Lord Chancellor made his statement on jury trials last week, he said that an impact assessment would be published with the legislation. Given how powerful a defender of jury trials he has been in the past, will he publish the evidence and the modelling that he has seen since coming to offic…
Commons
Debate
15 December 2025
2 contributions
Employment Rights Bill
Does the shadow Minister recall that in 1999 when the Blair Government increased the cap, they held a consultation beforehand, and that in 2015 when the coalition Government introduced a cap, they held a consultation beforehand? Why are this Government behaving differently?
Twelve months ago, the hon. Gentleman and I sat on the Bill Committee. This is the first time that the Commons has had the opportunity to debate this measure, courtesy of the House of Lords. The Lords have done us a favour, haven’t they?
Commons
Debate
10 December 2025
7 contributions
Seasonal Work
The Globe Inn in North Petherton is a fantastic local pub. This financial year, its business rates bill is zero. By 2029-30, it will be £5,000, thanks to this Government. That is an extra 10,000 pints it will have to sell to meet that extra cost. How is the Government’s strategy helping?
Will the hon. Lady acknowledge that under the last Conservative Administration, the minimum wage rose at the same time as we created 4 million new jobs and left unemployment at a record low? The difference now is that in only 17 months, unemployment has risen by 280,000 as a direct result of her Gov…
+5 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
9 December 2025
Railways Bill
One of the first acts of this Labour Government was to hose money at striking train drivers to buy them off. Does my right hon. Friend share my fear that we will see the cost of a publicly run railway increase dramatically at the cost of taxpayers, and that we will also see services get worse?
Commons
Oral Questions
9 December 2025
Topical Questions
T2. Unemployment is higher today than it was on the day the Chancellor took office. Will she tell the House why that is the case?
Commons
Oral Questions
9 December 2025
2 contributions
Income Tax and National Insurance Threshold Freeze
18. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of extending freezes on income tax and national insurance thresholds on working people.
Extending the freeze on income tax thresholds will cost working families £900 a year. It will also drag many pensioners into paying income tax for the first time. Why is the Minister hitting these low-income families to pay more for welfare?
Commons
Westminster Hall
8 December 2025
Digital ID
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Edward. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Moore) for introducing this debate on behalf of the nearly 3 million people who signed the petition to stop digital ID. Some 5,300 of them were from my constituency, and I…
Commons
Proceedings
3 December 2025
2 contributions
OBR: Resignation of Chair
For the first time in its history, the OBR was forced to correct the record about the forecasting process in the run-up to the Budget. Is not the reason that the Chancellor selectively leaked information from the OBR to mislead the public and justify tax rises?
I am grateful for your advice, Madam Deputy Speaker. Perhaps I can rephrase that: the Chancellor inadvertently misled the public to justify those tax rises.
Commons
Ministerial Statement
2 December 2025
Criminal Court Reform
In his report, Sir Brian Leveson made a number of recommendations to reduce the Crown court backlog. Many of those recommendations are welcome, but curtailing the right to a jury trial is not one of them. Will the Secretary of State instruct his Department to publish the modelling it will have under…
Commons
Proceedings
1 December 2025
3 contributions
Budget Resolutions
Will the Secretary of State give way?
Will the Minister give way?
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
18 November 2025
ExxonMobil: Mossmorran
The closure of the ExxonMobil plant is bad news for the whole of the UK economy, and it is the direct result of Labour’s economic and energy policies. Does the Minister accept that by pushing up taxes and energy prices, his Government are making the UK an uncompetitive environment for energy-intensi…
Commons
Debate
17 November 2025
Asylum Policy
I thank the Home Secretary for her statement. Labour’s change of course is most welcome, and she has outlined some useful steps. My constituents want to see the Holiday Inn in Bridgwater emptied of migrants and returned to commercial use. To achieve that, she will have to be bolder, so does she agre…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
13 November 2025
Business of the House
The decision by Liberal Democrats on Somerset council to cancel the Cross Rifles roundabout upgrade in Bridgwater has left residents facing severe congestion. Combined with a new one-way system on Salmon Parade and East Quay, it has left Bridgwater gridlocked, and my constituents now face longer and…
Commons
Debate
12 November 2025
5 contributions
Taxes
Would my hon. Friend agree that what has actually changed is the inability of the Prime Minister and the Chancellor to control their Back Benchers, who now feel free to demand whatever public expenditure they think is convenient?
During the general election, the Labour party said that it would not increase income tax, national insurance or VAT. It repeated that it would not increase taxes on working people. In its manifesto, it said it would increase spending by only £9.5 billion and that that was to be paid for by £7.3 bill…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
11 November 2025
Prisoner Releases in Error
Two days before Kaddour-Cherif was released, the Justice Secretary said he had
“introduced the strictest checks ever seen in our prison system to stop similar unacceptable errors in future.”
Were they not implemented, or are they not strict enough?