Commons
Proceedings
5 November 2025
Conflict in Sudan
I welcome the Minister’s acknowledgment that the need to stop the horror in Sudan is urgent, but while I hear much talk of continuing actions, nothing, other than an emergency meeting called today, seems to be happening urgently. What steps is he taking to change, to move forward, to try some new th…
Commons
Proceedings
4 November 2025
Sudan: Government Support
I thank my hon. Friend for bringing this really important topic. I suggest one additional thing he might feel that he needs to add: a sense of urgency to get this solution in place. Does he agree?
Commons
Westminster Hall
29 October 2025
Vehicle Headlight Glare Standards
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I congratulate the hon. Member for Crawley (Peter Lamb) on securing this important debate. I have worked on this issue for some time, and I am really pleased that the Government are picking it up. I thank the Minister for engaging with it f…
Commons
Westminster Hall
28 October 2025
Connected and Automated Vehicles
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I congratulate the hon. Member for West Bromwich (Sarah Coombes) not only on securing this debate, but on her positive and optimistic vision of the future, which I really like.
I think many of us have long had a vision of autonomous vehicles b…
Commons
Oral Questions
Work and Pensions
27 October 2025
2 contributions
Access to Work Scheme
11. What changes have been made to the Access to Work scheme in this parliamentary Session.
On 20 May, I met the Minister to speak about Access to Work claims that were being denied, changed or reduced, all contrary to the guidelines. The Minister assured me that it was a communications issue, that the guidelines had not changed and that officials were going to fix the problems by speaking…
Commons
Debate
21 October 2025
2 contributions
Social Housing: South Cotswolds
On housing stock, I am proud to have been the leader of Teignbridge district council—I draw the House’s attention to the fact that I am still a member—which has built council houses for the first time in 30 years. There are a number of adjustments that can be made, including increasing the number of…
I thank the Minister for giving way; she is being very generous with her time. The numbers have doubled in my district of Teignbridge; 40% of Teignbridge is within Dartmoor national park, the rest of the area is constrained by the coast, and houses become more and more expensive to deliver as the nu…
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 October 2025
5 contributions
Mandatory Digital ID
The Government say that digital ID will eradicate illegal workers in the UK. It will not. Mandatory digital ID will not stop any more unscrupulous employers than does the check for the right to work in the UK, which is already in place. It is a vanity project that will cost the taxpayer billions of …
I agree. Many of my local residents are still digitally excluded. Lack of mobile signal and in many places no fast internet access means that digital-only solutions leave too many people out in the cold.
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
15 October 2025
Ukraine
May I thank the Foreign Secretary for extending the Homes for Ukraine scheme by two years in her previous role? I welcome her to her new role. This morning, the Chair of the Rada spoke to the parliamentary group and talked of how Russian manufacturers are using advanced electronics from white goods …
Commons
Debate
13 October 2025
Digital ID
I fully agree with many of the points made so far, and I too have had many comments from constituents. This scheme will not help in areas of digital exclusion, especially where there is poor phone coverage, as there is in many parts of Devon, and neither will it stop rogue employers who currently em…
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 September 2025
Children with SEND: Assessments and Support
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Allin-Khan, and it is delightful to hear so many voices in agreement today. In my Newton Abbot constituency, we have helped nearly 100 families navigate the SEND EHCP system—families who are desperate to help their children, but who are met with del…
Commons
Petition
11 September 2025
No Limits Community Café and Hub closure
I wish to present a petition from my constituent Anna Todd concerning the provision of inclusive community spaces in Newton Abbot, which has gained hundreds of signatures. Changes to Access to Work, retail rates relief and employer national insurance contributions have seen the closure of Newton Abb…
Commons
Debate
11 September 2025
3 contributions
Regional Transport Inequality
I would like to highlight the deep inequalities in transport spending across our country and to speak specifically about the railways in the south-west. Per head of population, our region receives significantly less investment in transport than the average. In fact, the south-west region receives th…
I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend.
When we had the railway station defences rebuilt at Dawlish, we did get the benefit of a lift. Teignmouth still does not have that. Before the lift was put in, disabled passengers were put on what is called a barrow crossing—they were literally put on a troll…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
10 September 2025
Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [Lords]
In addition to the point about socially necessary routes, companies such as Stagecoach cut the frequency of essential buses—such as the No. 2 from Exeter through to Dawlish in my constituency and on down towards Paignton. That drives people away from the buses; when the frequency goes down from ever…
Commons
Proceedings
8 September 2025
4 contributions
Remote Coastal Communities
On transport links, does the hon. Gentleman agree that the final repair in phase 5 of the Dawlish rail resilience programme is vital to remote coastal communities in both Devon and Cornwall?
Does the hon. Member agree that the Government need to go further, and appoint a Minister for coastal communities?
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
8 September 2025
Indefinite Leave to Remain
Does the hon. Member agree that the Ukrainian situation is similar to the Hong Kong situation? People on Homes for Ukraine visas have now been here for more than four years. We should be considering including them in the five-year period for leave to remain in this country.
Commons
Westminster Hall
4 September 2025
Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Sussex (Alison Bennett) on securing this important debate and on the passion of her speech.
I would like to raise the serious challenges that adoptive families in my constituency face in acce…
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 September 2025
Pavement Parking
Does the hon. Member agree that this is almost a circular problem? The more people park on the pavements, the harder it is to walk, so the more they have to drive and the more they park on the pavements. By getting rid of it and having consistency, as my hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell (H…
Commons
Debate
2 September 2025
2 contributions
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests as someone who is still a sitting councillor. In fact, when I came into this place, I sat on three different councils, so I speak from a good history of local council knowledge.
This Bill focuses on mayors, yet…
I agree entirely with my hon. Friend. However, in my remaining minutes, I will focus on two or three other areas that were not covered by my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole (Vikki Slade). In all the powers and broad strategic aims of this Bill, the key roles played by town and …
Commons
Statutory Instrument
2 September 2025
Draft Online Safety Act 2023 (Qualifying Worldwide Revenue) Regulations 2025
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. I have a couple of questions about the SI. Having worked for a regulator that was similarly funded by a charge on those regulated and the ability to levy fees, I question what power we are giving Ofcom to collect the fees charged. Is it…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 September 2025
Middle East
The United Nations described the famine in Gaza as a
“deliberate collapse of the systems needed for human survival”
and
“a man-made disaster, a moral indictment, and a failure of humanity itself.”
Every day my constituents ask me, “What more would it take for the Government to recognise this as …
Commons
Debate
21 July 2025
15 contributions
Extending the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme
I am happy to have secured this debate on Homes for Ukraine and the Ukraine permission extension scheme.
The full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Putin’s Russia started on 24 February 2022, eight years after the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014. Now in its fourth year, this awful war has seen some 7…
I absolutely agree, and people in that situation are very worried—I have several in my own constituency. I have spoken to groups of guests in Newton Abbot, and they are mostly working, getting on with integrating into the local community and strongly supporting each other.
+13 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
17 July 2025
Global Plastics Treaty
I am delighted to hear about all the work going on in the hon. Lady’s community. That is also happening across the country; Dawlish Against Plastic and Plastic Free Newton Abbot are in my constituency However, the Marine Conservation Society wrote to me to say that plastic pollution on UK beaches ro…
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 July 2025
2 contributions
Freedom of Religion or Belief: UK Foreign Policy
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I thank the hon. Member for North Northumberland (David Smith) for securing this important debate on the role of freedom of religion or belief in UK foreign policy, and for his work as special envoy.
The ability to express one’s political …
Absolutely. The situation is very grave in many parts of the world. In fact, it is more than grave—it is intolerable. In our foreign policy, the UK must proactively seek to champion freedom of belief and religion. The hon. Member for North Northumberland, the special envoy, has identified 10 priorit…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
16 July 2025
Engagements
Q15. During my meetings with guests who are in my constituency under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, they have told me that they are worried about their visas running out, even with the 18-month extension. They see reports of Ukrainians being refused asylum in the United Kingdom because it is said to …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
14 July 2025
Future of the Post Office
I was slightly concerned that the franchising of Crown post offices, such as the one at Teignmouth in my constituency, has already gone ahead, prior to the consultation. Turning to a different issue, Royal Mail is obligated to provide a post box within half a mile of any house, but many new estates …