Commons
Oral Questions
20 January 2026
Topical Questions
Despite the Minister’s assertion that the Government are holding the Israeli Government to account, I would like to remind them that a tender has just been issued by the Israeli Government for a further illegal construction of more than 3,000 homes in the E1 project in the west bank, which will comp…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
19 January 2026
Arctic Security
I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement, but in all sincerity can I ask her how, as per her statement, she intends to have
“serious and constructive dialogue…built on respect”
and rules with a man who wants to drop peace and go to war simply because he did not win a prize?
Commons
Proceedings
19 January 2026
Business Rates: Retail, Hospitality and Leisure
One of the worst things for business owners in my constituency is the unpredictability of running a business. They need to know, and it is simply killing them. They already have to deal with poor parking, a rise in antisocial behaviour and rises in national insurance contributions, wage costs and en…
Commons
Oral Questions
15 January 2026
Gambling Advertising
Sitting down to watch a football game with my young family the other day, my wife commented, “Are you watching football, or are you watching a gambling show?” She had a point. Last October, a match between Man City and Wolves had over 5,000 visible gambling ads during the game. Gambling destroys liv…
Commons
Oral Questions
13 January 2026
Topical Questions
Failed private finance initiative schemes from the noughties in three Leicester hospitals resulted in the NHS being sued for almost £30 million, despite no work being carried out. Leicester hospitals are still without any new buildings. I ask the Minister that expensive, inefficient financial packag…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
8 January 2026
Road Safety Strategy
I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests as a practising optometrist. I thank the Minister for this wonderful statement. I wholeheartedly agree with it, especially the ambition to reduce road deaths by 65%. The Minister mentioned various figures, including 1,600 …
Commons
Westminster Hall
8 January 2026
2 contributions
Myanmar: Religious Minority Persecution
It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Betts. I thank the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) for bringing this vital and unfortunately forgotten issue to the fore with this debate. When we speak about conflict, we sometimes look at the numbers and forget the nuances and the pe…
On that point, will the Minister give way?
Commons
Debate
5 January 2026
Middle East and North Africa
More than 500 aid workers have been killed by Israel in Gaza since October 2023. Back in October 2024, our Prime Minister said to Israel that
“the world will not tolerate any more excuses on humanitarian assistance.”
Will the Minister please explain any tangible policy steps—not words or condemnat…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
5 January 2026
Venezuela
The Secretary of State justifies in her statement a flagrant breach of international law by citing Venezuela’s drop in GDP, narcotics trafficking and gold trading. These are issues that could affect countless countries around the world. But let me remind the Secretary of State of the words of the pe…
Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
5 January 2026
Police Efficiency
Happy new year to you, Mr Speaker.
In addition to police officers, our police staff play a vital role in fighting crime. However, a freeze in recruitment of those staff has led to police officers being taken off the beat to fill support staff roles, meaning fewer officers on our streets. Can the Se…
Commons
Proceedings
16 December 2025
Africa: New Approach
As Shakira once famously said, “This time for Africa.” Although I welcome the Minister’s statement, I am a little underwhelmed, especially by the constant cuts by successive Governments to the foreign aid budget. We know that 800 million Africans are living in countries where public spending on debt…
Commons
Westminster Hall
16 December 2025
Grassroots Cricket Clubs
It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. I thank the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Andrew Lewin) for securing the debate.
Cricket is our heritage. It has probably been played since the mid-1500s and was formalised in the late 1700s. The sport likely originated with shepher…
Commons
Debate
15 December 2025
Sudan: Humanitarian Situation
It appears that, once again, children are paying the price of man’s folly. According to Save the Children, over 1,200 children were killed in 2024, rising to 1,700 last year, mainly by explosive devices. At a hospital in Khartoum, one in six casualties are children with shrapnel to the head, limbs o…
Commons
Proceedings
11 December 2025
Business of the House
Earlier this week, Baroness Amos published her interim findings on maternity care in England. Unfortunately, some of the readings are absolutely harrowing, and I apologise for the graphic nature of the following accounts. Women were left for hours to bleed out in toilets, and their concerns about a …
Commons
Proceedings
11 December 2025
US National Security Strategy
The rhetoric coming out of the US is frightening people, even those in my constituency, because it is building a wedge between communities. The strategy cites “civilisational erasure” and says that several countries risk becoming “majority non-European”. They have also declared that the US must cult…
Commons
Westminster Hall
10 December 2025
AI Safety
It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Butler. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Dewsbury and Batley (Iqbal Mohamed) for securing this vital debate.
Artificial intelligence is here, and here to stay. It has the potential to do incredible good: it is going to save us time and menta…
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 December 2025
Creative Education
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stuart. I thank the hon. Member for Stroud (Dr Opher) for allowing me to say a few words in this important debate. I will keep my comments brief.
Art is intrinsic to humankind, whether it was our forefathers painting in caves or, as stated in the U…
Commons
Oral Questions
Cabinet Office
4 December 2025
Public Contracts: Trade Union Recognition
On determining awards for public contracts, what steps are being taken to prioritise UK firms in public procurement, especially for the provision of vital equipment, like personal protective equipment, in our NHS?
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
3 December 2025
Engagements
No religion, theology or philosophy is beyond critique or scrutiny, and we must protect freedom of speech at all costs. But Islamophobia is real, at least for Zainab Hussain in my city, who was run over not just once but twice, simply for being a Muslim. She survived. Not so lucky was Makram Ali, wh…
Commons
Proceedings
2 December 2025
Budget Resolutions
I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I welcome the Government’s abolition of the two-child benefit cap, but it should not have taken 16 months—it should have been the first act of a Labour Government.
I will speak first about the national health service. It…
Commons
Oral Questions
1 December 2025
Child Poverty Strategy
Teachers across Leicester South, where, in some areas, child poverty is unfortunately near 70%, tell me that student anxiety and poor health are rising, partly driven by insecure, damp and cold housing. Schools are unfortunately being forced to act as frontline welfare services, absorbing pressures …
Commons
Oral Questions
27 November 2025
Youth Services
Many youth services and clubs in my constituency rely on indoor sports facilities in the winter, but due to poorly maintained and financed buildings and decades of chronic underfunding, those youth buildings are now unsafe to use. For example, on St Matthew’s estate, the youth have been left without…
Commons
Westminster Hall
26 November 2025
Home Insulation
I thank the hon. Member for raising the issue of warm homes. Does she agree with my constituents who have formed the WarmHomesLeics Coalition that insulation is one of the most proficient and efficient forms of climate action that we can take locally?
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 November 2025
Violence against Women and Girls: London
It is a real honour to serve under your chairship, Mr Stringer, and I thank and salute the hon. Member for Poplar and Limehouse (Apsana Begum) for her bravery and determination in bringing this debate to this Chamber. That we are discussing violence against women and girls in 2025 is a sad indictmen…
Commons
Westminster Hall
24 November 2025
Gaza: Humanitarian Obligations
It is a real honour to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey. I thank all the individuals who signed the petition.
So much has already been said in this debate, so I will concentrate solely on the casualties of this horrendous conflict, particularly children. We have all heard powerful testimonies t…