Commons
Oral Questions
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
9 July 2026
2 contributions
Farm Business Sustainability
1. What steps she is taking to support the long-term financial sustainability of farm businesses.
Farmers across Lichfield, Burntwood and the villages know that one of the most important things for them to make their businesses work is access to fertiliser at a price that allows them to be profitable. What can the Government do to ensure that fertiliser prices do not spike, as we have seen in th…
Commons
Debate
9 July 2026
2 contributions
British Industry Supercharger: Ceramics
Will the Secretary of State give way?
I thank the Secretary of State for giving way, and I apologise to my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Gareth Snell) for not quite being able to get here for the kick-off. The Secretary of State talks about the importance of the ceramics industry, both in economic and heritage terms…
Commons
Westminster Hall
6 July 2026
3 contributions
Ceramics Industry
I beg to move,
That this House has considered e-petition 764785 relating to support for the ceramics industry.
It is a pleasure, as ever, to see you in the Chair, Dr Murrison. Before I get going, I declare that I am a member of the general, municipal and boilermakers union, the GMB.
It is a parti…
My good and hon. Friend is right to raise the importance of energy costs to industry across the United Kingdom. Ceramics, though, is the hardest industry to decarbonise. It is therefore right that the Government are looking at a specific carve-out for ceramics, especially given its geography.
Retur…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
8 June 2026
2 contributions
Mohamed al-Fayed: Alleged Abuse
12. What steps her Department plans to take to help support the response to alleged abuse at workplaces connected to Mohamed al-Fayed.
I welcome the new Minister to her place. I thank her for her work in facilitating the historic meeting last week, which was the first time a sitting Prime Minister has met a group of survivors in this space. It was a great meeting, but the survivors are understandably sceptical, because they have be…
Commons
Oral Questions
Justice
19 May 2026
2 contributions
Violence against Women and Girls
3. How he plans to work with the Prime Minister’s adviser on women and girls to help tackle violence against women and girls through the criminal justice system.
In March, the Prime Minister agreed to meet survivors of abuse by Mohammed Fayed, the former owner of Harrods, Fulham football club and other businesses. Almost 500 survivors have come forward, all of whom have been waiting for years, and in many cases decades, for justice. Can the Minister confirm …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
19 May 2026
High Speed 2 Reset
The Secretary of State will not be surprised to see me rise yet again to raise issues with HS2. She is right to be angry about the scale of the failings laid out in the reports published today. She is angry, and I am angry, but our anger pales into insignificance when compared to the anger of my con…
Commons
Debate
19 May 2026
High Speed 2: Impact on Communities
The hon. Member is being very generous with her time, and I appreciate that. In south Staffordshire we have had massive problems with HS2, and particularly with the route that it has had to take. It is on a very wide arc around the city of Lichfield, but because of the speeds it has to go at, the co…
Commons
Debate
22 April 2026
2 contributions
Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy
I thank the hon. Member for bringing to light the Clive Treacey checklist, because it is a really fitting way to remember Clive. It is important to remember, however, that although it is named after Clive, he is not defined by his epilepsy; he was not defined by his learning disability and he does n…
I thank the Minister for delineating everything that the Government are doing to support people with epilepsy. I was fortunate enough to secure an Adjournment debate a couple of months ago to talk about the Clive Treacey safety checklist. The Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, my h…
Commons
Oral Questions
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
21 April 2026
Topical Questions
T7. My constituents across Lichfield, Burntwood and the villages are obviously concerned about the situation in Iran, but they are also concerned about its impact on the cost of living at home. What steps is the Department taking to ensure that commodities such as fuel, including red diesel, and fer…
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 April 2026
Hammersmith Bridge
I thank the Minister for his work in setting up the structures fund, which is also important for a bridge in my constituency. That bridge is also grade II listed, but is older than Hammersmith bridge and is the largest cast iron bridge in the country. The Minister will be awaiting an application to …
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 April 2026
Wheelchair Provision: Independent Review Body
What a pleasure it is to serve with you in the Chair, Dr Murrison. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for scheduling this debate and my hon. Friend the Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford (Daniel Francis) for all the work he has done not only to secure this debate, but to champion wheelchair u…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
15 April 2026
Engagements
Q15. Tomorrow night I will be hosting a public meeting about the chronically delayed Burntwood health centre. For well over a decade, people in my town have been let down by the lack of a replacement facility. We thought there might be light at the end of the tunnel when we were promised it by the e…
Commons
Debate
26 March 2026
Business of the House
Not for the first time at business questions, I am raising the Arthur Terry Learning Partnership, which is a multi-academy trust in the west midlands that runs six schools in my constituency, and 24 in total. The trust found itself in significant financial distress at the start of this year, leading…
Commons
Oral Questions
26 March 2026
Topical Questions
I again thank the ministerial team for what they have done to get the midlands rail hub project so far along so quickly, with funding now unlocked for the west and central sections, but the east section is dragging ever so slightly behind. Will they look again at whether the south Staffordshire line…
Commons
Petition
25 March 2026
Walsall Road, Lichfield
I am sure that right hon. and hon. Members from across the House agree that one of the best things about this job is working with people in our constituencies who see something that they want to change and do something about it. I hold in my hands a wonderful example of 256 residents who want to do …
Commons
Debate
12 March 2026
3 contributions
International Women’s Day
Earlier, the hon. Member for Aberdeen North (Kirsty Blackman) mentioned that it can be difficult to advise people to come into the role that we all do. She would be well served just by playing people a recording of what we have heard in the House today. This debate has been of the highest quality, a…
Thank you for your guidance, Madam Deputy Speaker. That is really important, because there are some ongoing cases; I will talk about the Metropolitan police in a minute.
It is clear that we must do better. For far too long, survivors have been ignored. That cannot and must not continue. I am really…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
12 March 2026
Business of the House
Residents of St John’s Grange in Lichfield have serious concerns about the property management company, Remus, that is running their estate. Some residents have submitted formal complaints and had no reply from the company, and a promised meeting between the company and concerned residents has never…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
12 March 2026
2 contributions
Private Sector Investment
4. What steps he is taking to help increase levels of private sector investment.
The quantum technology sector is hugely important for the UK. We have world-leading researchers and businesses innovating in healthcare, defence and many more industries, but quantum firms tell me that as they grow, they find it harder and harder to secure the investment that they need to commercial…
Commons
Debate
11 March 2026
3 contributions
Commonwealth Day 2026
Will my hon. Friend give way?
I thank my hon. Friend and county colleague for giving way. I am listening intently because we are hearing of many of the wonderful things about the Commonwealth and much of what we have spoken about has been about the past and our shared sacrifice and the real history that we should celebrate. But …
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
11 March 2026
Royal Mail: Universal Service Obligation
My speaking notes talk about excuses from Royal Mail. Now that I am in the Chamber, though, I do not think that is the language I will use, because people across Lichfield, Burntwood and the villages are sick of being lied to by Royal Mail. I met Royal Mail just before Christmas to complain to it ab…
Commons
Westminster Hall
10 March 2026
Technology Sovereignty
It is a pleasure to take part in a debate with you in the Chair, Ms Vaz. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (Dame Chi Onwurah) for securing this debate. In my best Geordie, I will say that she’s done a geet canny job again. [ Laughter. ] That is the end of my …
Commons
Debate
9 March 2026
Middle East: Economic Update
I thank the Chancellor for her statement. She is absolutely right to take the action that she has on energy prices, particularly given that 20% of the world’s oil is transported via the strait of Hormuz. The strait of Hormuz also transports more than a third of the world’s urea, almost half its sulp…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
5 March 2026
Energy Markets
There is precious little good news around at the moment, but I may have some for the Secretary of State. I have listened to the contributions from those on the Opposition Benches, and I think I have discovered a new renewable energy source: the amount of hot air coming from that side of the House co…
Commons
Proceedings
5 March 2026
Business of the House
My constituents in Burntwood have been waiting for a new GP practice since 2009. Over 16 years of cancellations, missed deadlines and broken promises, people have had to visit their doctor in a temporary facility made out of portacabins in the leisure centre car park. We thought things were going to…
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
2 March 2026
Topical Questions
T5. The ministerial team will be aware that schools in the Arthur Terry learning partnership across my constituency and six others in the west midlands saw nine days of strike action in January and February. The trust was consulting on staff cuts because it had a multimillion-pound hole in its budge…