Commons
Oral Questions
Transport
12 February 2026
Passenger Railway Services
People across Lichfield, Burntwood and the villages are overjoyed that this Government are investing in the midlands rail hub project, but they are eager for more. Will the departmental team look again at the south Staffordshire line, which would reconnect Lichfield to Burton via Alrewas, and the po…
Commons
Committee Stage
5 February 2026
4 contributions
Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill (Third sitting)
I am taken by the hon. Member saying that every regulation is a harm; I cannot hear that and not intervene. Regulations do place burdens on businesses—that is absolutely a thing, and we all understand that—but we cannot afford to look at regulation as only negative.
The hon. Member is making a very…
I think your crystal ball is working today.
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Committee Stage
3 February 2026
3 contributions
Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill (Second sitting)
Q Thank you for coming in to talk to us this afternoon. The Bill includes a couple of backstop powers for the Government to compel information and things like that. Are those powers sufficient to guarantee national security?
Chung Ching Kwong: I think that to a certain extent they will. For hackers…
Q Thank you, Professor, for coming along. You said that when the Computer Misuse Act was written in 1990, not many people were doing cyber-security work. You attested that the criminalisation element was negative for a number of reasons. Obviously, since then, a private sector has grown up in this a…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Committee Stage
3 February 2026
Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill (First sitting)
Q I have a bit of a blended question. Earlier, Stuart, you said that some of the wording in the Bill says that only 11% of managed service providers are likely to be covered by the legislation, but in previous answers we have heard about skills shortages and where we will need to build those skills.…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
29 January 2026
Business of the House
The Arthur Terry Learning Partnership runs 24 schools in the west midlands, including six in my constituency. It is currently trying to plug a £6 million gap in its finances that was caused by what it characterises as an accounting error. The National Education Union has taken nine days of strike ac…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
29 January 2026
Topical Questions
I thank the Minister for Industry for his engagement with Ceramics UK this week, meeting the organisation and ceramics companies from across Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, the west midlands and further afield. He will have heard from them about the importance of getting ceramics firms into the super…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
26 January 2026
Police Reform White Paper
In my part of the world, people who get in touch with me about crime raise four major issues: car crime, county lines, antisocial behaviour and retail crime. The first two are often caused by criminal networks that extend beyond Staffordshire, and into the west midlands and further beyond. Will the …
Commons
Westminster Hall
22 January 2026
8 contributions
Transport Connectivity: Midlands and North Wales
Hear, hear.
The right hon. Member and I have both done some work on Chester Road—a place where one of my constituents lost their life a number of years ago. Is the right hon. Member able to update us on any conversations she has had with Walsall council about that area? I, and my constituents, would greatly app…
+6 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
14 January 2026
Northern Powerhouse Rail
For 17 long years, constituents across Lichfield, Burntwood and the villages have had to deal with the complete failure of HS2 Ltd while Ministers were asleep at the wheel. The chaotic Conservative cancellation of the scheme did nothing to alleviate those problems and instead replaced them with unce…
Commons
Proceedings
8 January 2026
Business of the House
My constituent Lisa has a severe condition that affects her nerves. She cannot stand, feed herself or use the bathroom unaided, she has a tracheotomy to help her breathe and, without the aid of a wheelchair, she can only leave her house for hospital appointments. In 2024 she was referred to AJM, a c…
Commons
Oral Questions
Transport
8 January 2026
2 contributions
Passenger Rail Services
9. What steps she is taking to improve passenger rail services.
People across Lichfield, Burntwood and the villages are looking forward to seeing the number of trains from Lichfield city to Birmingham double as a result of the midlands rail hub project, which this Government are pressing ahead with, after it sat on a shelf under the previous lot for far too long…
Commons
Debate
7 January 2026
2 contributions
Rural Communities
I thank my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour for his kind words and his campaigning on this issue. As I am sure he well knows, Rugeley Trent Valley train station serves a very rural area—the footprint of the station is mainly in my constituency—but it also provides access to the west coast main…
People would be forgiven, when reading the motion put forward by the Opposition today, for thinking that all was rosy in the countryside before the election in 2024, but in Lichfield, Burntwood and the villages—a countryside seat that is 85% rural—people know that that was not the case. They know ju…
Commons
Debate
6 January 2026
Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill
My right hon. Friend is right to mention the impact on supply chains. In the west midlands, we recently had the cyber-attack on Jaguar Land Rover. That had a significant impact not just on that company, but on the supply chain, which has its roots right through the west midlands. That essential part…
Commons
Debate
5 January 2026
2 contributions
Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief
I welcome the Government’s changes in their plans in relation to inheritance tax on farmers and family businesses. The current system does not work. We need a tax regime that protects genuine family farms but does not let the super-rich dodge tax by buying up land, and many farmers in my constituenc…
I will leave it there.
Commons
Westminster Hall
5 January 2026
3 contributions
Length of the School Week
I beg to move,
That this House has considered e-petition 727514 relating to the length of the school week.
It is a pleasure to take part in a debate in which you are presiding, Mrs Hobhouse, and to move this motion on behalf of the Petitions Committee, especially because I was a secondary school t…
My hon. Friend makes an important contribution. So often the system has been designed in one way and within it there is huge complexity, particularly when it comes to pupils with additional needs or special educational needs and disabilities. Redesigning the entire school week would obviously mean r…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
17 December 2025
Engagements
Q7. People throughout Lichfield, Burntwood and the villages will be looking forward to a very happy new year, not least because of this Government’s commitment to the midland rail hub project, which will revolutionise rail travel across the west midlands and further afield. As we are all eager to se…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
10 December 2025
Engagements
Commons
Debate
9 December 2025
Railways Bill
After years of falling standards under the Conservatives, this Labour Government are investing in our railways. Anyone who commutes from Lichfield to London, as I do every week, will have seen for themselves how sorely needed that is. We have all had trains cancelled and re-routed, and been crammed …
Commons
Oral Questions
9 December 2025
Topical Questions
Constituents across Lichfield, Burntwood and the villages will be pleased to see the Government taking action on the cost of living by reducing energy bills, but they want the benefits to be fair and felt by all bill payers. What steps will the Chancellor take with Cabinet colleagues to ensure that …
Commons
Proceedings
27 November 2025
Business of the House
In my constituency, residents living near the B5013 at Blithfield reservoir have raised serious concerns about speeding and dangerous driving. There have been multiple fatalities on this stretch of road, and in August a man in his 20s unfortunately lost his life. May I ask the Leader of the House if…
Commons
Oral Questions
27 November 2025
Topical Questions
T7. Mohamed Fayed, the former owner of Harrods, sexually abused hundreds of female employees over decades. Reporters tried to reveal his crimes, but it was only after his death that the true extent of the scandal began to emerge, because of media fears about strategic lawsuits against public partici…
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 November 2025
Violence against Women and Girls: London
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship this afternoon, Mr Stringer. Just before the debate started, the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Luke Taylor) light-heartedly said, “You do know this is a London debate?” He was right to ask the question, because my constituency is about 120 miles awa…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
20 November 2025
Business of the House
This weekend, a very special service will leave the station at Chasewater Railway in Burntwood in my constituency. The hospital Santa special trains are a Christmas service for seriously ill children, and are offered completely free of charge. This year, 1,300 kids and their families are expected to…
Commons
Oral Questions
20 November 2025
Transport Infrastructure Upgrades
The midlands rail hub project, which was funded at the spending review, will bring huge benefits to Lichfield, Burntwood and the villages, doubling the number of services to Birmingham per hour, but my constituents are wary about big infrastructure projects because they have seen the mess that HS2 h…
Commons
Oral Questions
18 November 2025
Energy Costs: Support for Businesses
The ceramics industry across the country is foundational to every single part of the Government’s industrial strategy. Ceramics is an energy-intensive industry. Can the Minister confirm whether recent discussions about high energy costs for business have made mention of ceramics, an energy-intensive…