Commons
Oral Questions
Health and Social Care
14 July 2026
2 contributions
Access to NHS Dental Services
10. What steps he is taking to improve access to NHS dental services.
I thank the Minister for that answer. In the area that I represent, we have a problem. NHS dental practices in Shildon and in Bishop Auckland closed in the year before the general election, and recently another practice in West Auckland has been writing to patients to say that it cannot provide NHS …
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 July 2026
3 contributions
Lobular Breast Cancer: Moon Shot Project
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Hobhouse. I thank my friend the hon. Member for Horsham (John Milne) for the initiative to lead this debate. Although she is not present in the debate, I also pay tribute to the hon. Member for Maidstone and Malling (Helen Grant), who is a great…
My hon. Friend just made an excellent point. We know the research questions that need to be answered. Does he agree that it should not be beyond UKRI to put out a specific call asking people, through a competitive peer review process, to answer those questions?
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
15 June 2026
NHS Dentistry
I broadly agree with the hon. Gentleman’s list of demands. I wonder whether he could offer advice, based on the Liberal Democrats’ five years in government, on lessons learned about the NHS contract and its reform.
Commons
Oral Questions
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
4 June 2026
2 contributions
Food Welfare Labelling
7. Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of improving the transparency of food welfare labelling.
I like to buy British, because I know that our farmers have some of the best quality and welfare standards in the world, and I know that my constituents feel the same. However, that is difficult when everything is labelled with Union flags and fake farm names. May I invite the Minister to meet with …
Commons
Proceedings
14 May 2026
2 contributions
Getting Britain Working Again
rose—
I certainly do. It is this Labour Government and it is getting people off NHS waiting lists and back into work. However, it is not for me to answer the questions; my intervention was simply to give the hon. Lady another opportunity to answer the question that was put to her by my hon. Friend the Mem…
Commons
Debate
28 April 2026
17 contributions
Referral of Prime Minister to Committee of Privileges
rose —
A moment ago, the Leader of the Opposition talked about selective quoting. I am sure that she would not want to selectively quote Sir Olly Robbins herself, so could she tell us what the rest of that quote was? When he talked about pressure, was he talking about pressure to deliver a decision in time…
+15 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 March 2026
2 contributions
Public Baths and Lidos
I want to thank my hon. Friend for his speech that he is making and for bringing this matter to the Chamber. I am greatly enthused by what he has achieved because every time I visit Stanhope, I know that it is a great source of sorrow for people that our lido closed during covid and has never reopen…
I just want to extend the Minister’s invitation list: I invite him to see the lido that we want to reopen at Stanhope and to come to Crook, where the public baths closed 10 years ago. Will he write and let us know what opportunities there are for Sport England funding for that sort of project? At th…
Commons
Committee Stage
24 March 2026
Representation of the People Bill (Fourth sitting)
I am not trying to trip the hon. Gentleman up; I am just genuinely curious to understand this. Is his contention that having mandatory automatic enrolment will increase the number of people who are registered? [ Interruption. ] I see the shadow Minister shaking his head. If that is not the contentio…
Commons
Committee Stage
24 March 2026
5 contributions
Representation of the People Bill (Third sitting)
I smile at the idea that it is convenient for us to pass the law; it is never convenient to pass a law.
The hon. Gentleman has set out a number of ages at which people can do different things. Most people would agree that adulthood is not the flick of switch but a continuum. We do things at differe…
Every political party has equal opportunity to appeal to every voter. Why does the hon. Gentleman feel that Labour party politics is more attractive to younger voters?
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
16 March 2026
Heating Oil Support
I thank the Government for their engagement with Back Benchers who represent rural constituencies, and for bringing forward this support so swiftly—in marked contrast to the 200 days it took the Conservatives. However, I share some of the concerns that have echoed around the Chamber about the people…
Commons
Debate
9 March 2026
Middle East: Economic Update
Constituents in Weardale, Teesdale and Gaunless valley are already paying double what they would have paid for their heating oil a week ago, and some of them simply cannot afford to fill up their tanks. Thanks to the fiscal headroom that the Chancellor has created, there is money in the system to su…
Commons
Debate
4 March 2026
2 contributions
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Rotherham (Sarah Champion) for securing this debate. I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, because, like many here, I have extensive experience in this field.
I feel somewhat in an invidious position, if I am …
I knew that my hon. Friend could be relied on to talk about WASH. I also knew that I could rely on her to speak passionately about women and girls. Before my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham East (Janet Daby) even spoke, I knew that she, too, would speak passionately about that topic. I knew that…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
4 March 2026
Engagements
Q4. The surge in the global cost of oil and gas has the risk of pushing up food and energy prices, which is a real concern for my constituents in Bishop Auckland, just as we are turning a corner on the cost of living crisis. Does this not show the importance of ignoring the opposition parties, and o…
Commons
Debate
2 March 2026
4 contributions
Representation of the People Bill
rose —
On the basis of the argument that he is advancing, the right hon. Gentleman believes in children having sex, because the age of consent is 16—but I think that the mask slipped earlier when he said that this was gerrymandering and giving an electoral advantage. I wonder whether he will comment on why…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 February 2026
5 contributions
Minister for Men and Boys
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his excellent speech. On boys being seen as a problem in society, does he agree that if we are worried about boys being receptive to messages such as those that come from Andrew Tate, we need to ask what we are putting boys through that could make them fertile soil for…
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. I thank the hon. Member for Hinckley and Bosworth (Dr Evans) for securing this debate and for his excellent speech. Although we represent different parties, and although I believe he heckled me the last time I spoke in the Chamber, there i…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Housing, Communities and Local Government
23 February 2026
Topical Questions
I know that the people who elect us to this place believe that it is important for politicians to uphold standards, whether at a national or local level. There is growing concern about the public behaviour of the leader and deputy leader of the Reform-led council in Durham, but they have changed the…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
9 February 2026
Standards in Public Life
I thank the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister for his statement. It is refreshing to see a Government who are committed to making those in positions of trust accountable. [ Interruption. ] Opposition Members are clearly angry today. Maybe it is because this is in marked contrast to the record of…
Commons
Debate
3 February 2026
6 contributions
Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill
The hon. Gentleman mentions the local pharmacist. The local pharmacist in my constituency is my twin sister. She put herself through a degree in pharmacy while on universal credit as a single parent of three children. That was not her choice; it was a position that was thrust upon her. What would th…
I am deeply offended by the hon. Gentleman’s comment about people in the north of England, as though they are people who simply vote for their own welfare. That is not true. The people I represent are proud to be hard-working people in good working-class jobs, and many of them have children who have…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
22 January 2026
2 contributions
International Day of Education
It is a privilege to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Vaz. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Southgate and Wood Green (Bambos Charalambous) for his excellent speech and for the excellent event he hosted this week with Send My Friend to School. It was very moving to see so many young people and …
While the hon. Member is on that point, we are all aware of a letter that he wrote in 2020, in which he urged President Elect Joe Biden to do exactly what the Government are doing. Will the hon. Member say why his opinion has changed on the matter?
Commons
Ministerial Statement
20 January 2026
Mobile Phones and Social Media: Use by Children
As one of the Back Benchers pushing the Government in this direction, I feel that the Secretary of State is taking the right approach in looking at the evidence and having a broad consultation to make sure that we get this right. However, what we can do to ensure that the voices of children and youn…
Commons
Westminster Hall
20 January 2026
2 contributions
County Durham: Cultural Opportunities
I am delighted that my hon. Friend mentioned where it started. In Shildon we recently unveiled a world origin site plaque, showing that the world’s first commercial railway started in the Bishop Auckland constituency. Does she agree that we should do more to celebrate some of the world firsts in the…
I thank my hon. Friend for mentioning Bishop Auckland. On Friday, we are having a big meeting for people helping to launch our bid to be the town of culture. Does she agree that culture is what people do together? That is what makes County Durham such an incredible and vibrant place: the people who …
Commons
Debate
15 January 2026
New Towns
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker; I am often last with my contributions, but hopefully not least. I also thank my hon. Friend the Member for Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch (Katrina Murray) for an excellent opening speech, as well as other colleagues—in particular those from new towns—who have spoken. …
Commons
Westminster Hall
7 January 2026
UK Town of Culture
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Halesowen (Alex Ballinger) for securing this debate, and warmly welcome the opportunity for Bishop Auckland to bid to become the UK’s town of culture.
Bishop Auckland is the town that gave birth to the calendar. It was Bede who stood on a local hillside, looked…
Commons
Debate
8 December 2025
Child Poverty Strategy
I thank the Secretary of State for this strategy, which is what I came into politics for. I also thank her for the roll-out of Best Start family hubs. I appreciate that it is impossible to do everything all at once, given the state of our inheritance, but even with the measures announced, children i…