Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
6 July 2026
Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems
I add to the tributes to Sir George Howarth. All of us who served with him on the Labour party’s national executive committee very much admired his courage in taking on and rooting out antisemitism.
I welcome the success of our forces in the middle east in counter-UAS work during the recent conflic…
Commons
Oral Questions
Work and Pensions
29 June 2026
Supporting British Pensioners
Can the Minister set out what plans he has to make sure that today’s workers—tomorrow’s pensioners—enjoy a decent retirement?
Commons
Proceedings
23 June 2026
3 contributions
Defence Spending and Readiness
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Will the hon. Gentleman accept that welfare is only part of the story when it comes to where we might need to find the money? It would provide valuable revenue resource, but much of what we are talking about is an equipment programme that needs to be funded from capital. When I speak substantively l…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
22 June 2026
Armed Forces Bill
Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Commons
Proceedings
10 June 2026
Defence Investment Plan
Does my hon. Friend agree that the decision taken early in this Parliament to halve the overseas aid budget and put that into defence shows that this Labour Government are prepared to take the tough political decisions needed to fund rearming this country, unlike the Conservatives, who had 14 years …
Commons
Westminster Hall
10 June 2026
Myanmar: Human Rights
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for giving way as he is beginning to make a very cogent case about the human rights abuses happening in Myanmar. I intervene because he raised the issue of airstrikes. Since the last sanctions were imposed on Myanmar by the UK 591 days ago, there has been a significa…
Commons
Debate
2 June 2026
Armed Forces Bill
So that I can understand, could the hon. Gentleman explain slightly more carefully why he is proposing to remove the choice that the victim has? They can say which of the two systems—the service justice system or the civilian justice system—they have more confidence in. Why would it be better for th…
Commons
Proceedings
23 April 2026
Allied Health Professionals
I declare an interest as a member of the all-party parliamentary group on allied health professionals. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley (Sonia Kumar) on initially securing this important debate before her well-deserved promotion to Parliamentary Private Secretary, and thank my hon. Frien…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
22 April 2026
Engagements
Q11. One of the main concerns that North Durham residents raise with me is the vitality of local high streets, so I am delighted that in the last year, a series of new independent businesses has opened on Chester-le-Street’s Front Street, including Willow’s Bake House, Paper & Park bookshop, Pre…
Commons
Oral Questions
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
21 April 2026
Gibraltar: UK-EU Treaty
I congratulate the Government on this significant announcement. Does the Minister agree with me that the agreement provides additional safeguards to Gibraltar’s sovereignty, while creating new economic opportunities for its people? Does he agree that anyone in this House who has any concerns should …
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 April 2026
Access to Work Scheme
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I wholeheartedly commend the hon. Member for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe (David Chadwick) for securing today’s debate, for his eloquent description of the problems facing the Access to Work scheme and for allowing me a few minutes to contri…
Commons
Committee Stage
14 April 2026
2 contributions
Armed Forces Bill (Fourth sitting)
Has the hon. Gentleman made any assessment of whether the capacity savings from serving officers not having to serve on the court—because under the amendment they would be replaced by retired officers—are perhaps exceeded by the burden on the service justice system of having to track and maintain so…
I feel that the hon. Member is perhaps trying to fix something that is not broken. In the evidence we heard about the service justice system, was there anything that implied that there was a large-scale problem with delays and scheduling? I ask because I thought I was hearing about a system that was…
Commons
Oral Questions
13 April 2026
2 contributions
Social Homes: Furnished Tenancies
16. What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of furnished tenancies for social homes.
Karbon Homes, which is the dominant social landlord in North Durham, provides furnished tenancies to ensure that vulnerable low-income tenants can access essential furniture and white goods. What steps will the Minister’s Department take to ensure that other social landlords across the UK adopt this…
Commons
Westminster Hall
13 April 2026
Disclosure and Safeguarding: At-risk Children
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Mundell. I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Sunderland Central (Lewis Atkinson) for introducing the debate, and my constituency neighbour and hon. Friend the Member for Blaydon and Consett (Liz Twist) for her excellent speech. I pay tribute …
Commons
Debate
19 March 2026
7 contributions
Pre-1997 Pensions: Discretionary Increases
Across the country, an estimated 1 million pensioners are losing out on pension increases that they ought to be entitled to, simply because the hard shift that they put in to pay into their pensions happened to occur before an arbitrary date in a calendar. That is not good enough. I have secured thi…
I will give way to the right hon. Member for New Forest East (Sir Julian Lewis) first.
+5 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Work and Pensions
9 March 2026
2 contributions
Worker Protection: Hazardous Medicinal Products
14. What steps he is taking to improve the protection of workers against exposure to potentially hazardous medicinal products.
Will the Minister consider developing a clear statutory definition of “hazardous medicinal products” and subsequently mandate the development, publication and ongoing maintenance of a comprehensive UK list of hazardous medicinal products?
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 March 2026
Type 1 Diabetes: Infant Testing
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Alec. Does my hon. Friend agree that the ELSA study proves the need for wider screening, because of the 17,000 children screened, seven were already living with undiagnosed type 1 diabetes severe enough to require immediate treatment and a further …
Commons
Debate
4 March 2026
Ministry of Defence
I congratulate the Chair of the Defence Committee on securing this important debate. I find it disappointing that parties have been missing and have not contributed to it—Reform, which has an ambiguous position on the threat from Russia; the SNP, which does not support our nuclear deterrent; and the…
Commons
Debate
2 March 2026
3 contributions
Representation of the People Bill
Does the shadow Secretary of State not accept that 8 million people being either registered in the wrong place, or not on the register at all, is also an example of an inaccurate register? Would it not be better to have people over-registered—presumably they would then not turn out, because they had…
I would like the hon. Gentleman to elaborate on the absurdity that he sees in 16 and 17-year-olds being able to vote. What is it about them that he feels disqualifies them or makes them less able to make a democratic decision than an 18-year-old?
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
25 February 2026
Engagements
Q3. Residents in Stanley in my constituency are very excited about having their say on how to spend the £20 million of Pride in Place funding that Stanley South has received as one of the 250 most deprived neighbourhoods in the country. There are other villages and areas in North Durham that are too…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
29 January 2026
2 contributions
Modern Industrial Strategy
15. What steps he is taking to implement the modern industrial strategy.
County Durham has been home to proud British industries for centuries, but for decades they have been in decline, and communities such as mine in North Durham have paid the price. Our modern industrial strategy will work to fix that. It is going to invest billions in defence, advanced manufacturing …
Commons
Westminster Hall
28 January 2026
Defence Industry: Environmental, Social and Governance Requirements
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey. I thank the hon. Member for Windsor (Jack Rankin) for securing this important debate and introducing it so eloquently. It is an honour to follow the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), who always makes important contributions to debates…
Commons
Debate
26 January 2026
3 contributions
Armed Forces Bill
On the proposal to extend the age limit under which reservists can be called back, a small number of them might have attained the extremely high levels of physical fitness of the Minister for the Armed Forces and be suitable for a wide range of roles, but some could be called back for back-office ta…
It is an honour to serve under the right hon. Gentleman on the Finance Committee, where we look at slightly smaller-scale issues on spending. He appears to be questioning the Government’s political commitment to find the funding necessary for defence. Does he accept that the downpayment on that poli…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
8 January 2026
Myanmar: Religious Minority Persecution
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Betts. I commend the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) for bringing the crisis in Myanmar to our attention and I congratulate the other Back-Bench speakers in the debate so far on their eloquent and important contributions.
I declare my long…
Commons
Oral Questions
Northern Ireland
7 January 2026
2 contributions
Northern Ireland Troubles Bill
2. What steps he has taken to engage with relevant stakeholders on the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill.
No matter what unit they served in, veterans in North Durham are particularly concerned about the impact of the new legislation on those who served in the special forces. Can the Secretary of State reassure me that he has met the Special Air Service Regimental Association and is responding to its sp…