Commons
Oral Questions
Science, Innovation and Technology
1 July 2026
Topical Questions
T6. I recently visited Northgate high school in Ipswich with the Children’s Commissioner. As ever, the pupils were thoughtful and articulate about what they needed for the future, but the subject of digital and AI came up a lot. They said that they need greater access to public services and skilling…
Commons
Westminster Hall
24 March 2026
4 contributions
Endometriosis Services
I beg to move,
That this House has considered access to endometriosis services.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. I welcome my hon. Friend the Minister to her place. Many people will recognise that she is a long-time champion of women and women’s health, so it is especial…
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention and completely agree with him. I have focused much of my speech on the lack of specialist care in Ipswich, but the postcode lottery is affecting people and communities across the United Kingdom, including in Northern Ireland.
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 February 2026
3 contributions
Minister for Men and Boys
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. I am grateful to the hon. Member for Hinckley and Bosworth (Dr Evans) for securing this debate and for his ongoing commitment to tackling the challenges facing men and boys.
Let me begin with the reality in my constituency. As has been sa…
I am delighted to do that. I know that my hon. Friend is a great mum to her little children. I will come to the really important issues that she highlights later in my speech.
As has been said, we need co-ordinated, well-funded action across Departments, across Government and across our country. We…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
3 February 2026
2 contributions
Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill
It is true to say that the Conservative party has been right about one thing today: this is about choices, and I am incredibly proud to be making the one that we are making.
The Conservative party did untold damage to our country, whether it was in hollowing out the criminal justice system, crumbli…
I was actually referring to the number of Opposition Members defending this policy here today. I do not think there is a single person in the country who will defend keeping hundreds of thousands more children in poverty. That is what we are getting rid of today, and that is what the hon. Gentleman’…
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 February 2026
Town and City Centre Safety
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Dowd. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Derby South (Baggy Shanker) for securing this important debate.
This issue comes up repeatedly with my local residents, who want to feel safe in our town—whether that is walking, shopping, eating or enjoy…
Commons
Debate
26 January 2026
2 contributions
Armed Forces Bill
It is a privilege to speak in this debate on the Armed Forces Bill. Every five years, Parliament is asked to renew its consent for the maintenance of our armed forces in peacetime. That constitutional requirement, dating back to the Bill of Rights in 1688, is more than a procedural necessity; it is …
My hon. Friend is completely right. What I was just about to say encapsulates what my hon. Friend says: stability at home underpins readiness, retention and morale.
Readiness itself is another core theme of the Bill. In an increasingly uncertain world, with evolving threats, rapid technological cha…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
26 January 2026
Police Reform White Paper
I warmly welcome the Home Secretary’s statement. I would like to highlight two Government initiatives—Clear, Hold, Build and Operation Machinize—with our hard-working police force that are making a real difference in Ipswich. I can see parallels with some of the proposals that the Home Secretary has…
Commons
Oral Questions
Work and Pensions
26 January 2026
Topical Questions
T8. This week has been an incredibly good one for jobs, investment and opportunity in Ipswich. Halo, one of the biggest tech firms in the UK, is moving its global HQ into the centre of town and creating 1,000 jobs, many of them for graduates. Sizewell C has unveiled plans for a new bus depot, which …
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 January 2026
11 contributions
Local Government Reorganisation: Referendums
It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Ms McVey. I thank the hon. Member for Mid Leicestershire (Mr Bedford) for securing this debate. It is always right that the House has the opportunity to discuss how local government works, how it can work better and how we ensure that it delivers for the peo…
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that correction from a sedentary position. The right hon. Member for Newark (Robert Jenrick), while Secretary of State for Local Government, when talking about postponements in places such as Cumbria, North Yorkshire and Somerset, said that elections in certain circums…
+9 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
20 January 2026
ADHD Diagnosis
Thank you, Ms Vaz. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Sefton Central (Bill Esterson) for securing this important debate. He spoke powerfully about the long and agonising waits that many people have to endure to get an ADHD diagnosis, but I want to focus on what happens next. For many people, rece…
Commons
Oral Questions
9 December 2025
2 contributions
Support for Entrepreneurs
8. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support entrepreneurs.
Over the last 18 months I have been working hard to drive investment into my town, county and region, and I was proud to unveil the east of England’s £4 billion investment prospectus at the UK’s Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum earlier this year. I am also keen to encourage our own ho…
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 December 2025
6 contributions
Pandemics: Support for People with Autism
I beg to move,
That this House has considered support for people with autism during pandemic-type events.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Vickers. I am grateful for the opportunity to secure this debate, and to discuss a matter of deep importance for one of my Ipswich constituen…
My hon. Friend has done a huge amount of work in this area and he is absolutely right. I pay huge tribute to all the people in our charity sector, and the many organisations that played such a crucial role in supporting people during the pandemic. However, this was a failure of the Government at the…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Proceedings
27 November 2025
Right to Trial by Jury
Is it not extraordinary that the Conservative party is still pretending to be the party of law and order, despite being the party that slashed police numbers, hollowed out our criminal justice system and failed victims time and again? In the years prior to covid, the Conservatives artificially cappe…
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 October 2025
Co-operative Sector: Government Support
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. I, too, thank my hon. Friend the Member for Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton (Jim McMahon) for securing this important debate, and Joe Fortune, general secretary of the Co-op party, in the Gallery. My hon. Friend has been a tireless champi…
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 September 2025
Children with SEND: Assessments and Support
I thank the 150,000 people who signed the petition. As I have said in previous speeches in this place, although SEND is very much now a national issue, we have been battling this crisis in Ipswich and Suffolk for a decade. Just last month, at my public event, I sat with desperate families who told m…
Commons
Debate
2 September 2025
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Devolution and local government reorganisation must not simply be a sticking plaster over the problems of today; instead, we must determine what we want the coming decade to look like for our local communities. We must ensure that people in places such as Ipswich and Suffolk have the resources, powe…
Commons
Oral Questions
8 July 2025
Topical Questions
T9. In a recent report, the Victims Commissioner said that she feared that the delay in victims getting justice “will drive some victims to give up on seeking justice altogether—a second injustice compounding the first.”This is completely unacceptable, and at Ipswich Crown court the backlog of open …
Commons
Debate
17 June 2025
Crime and Policing Bill
I will be speaking to a number of new clauses, but I will start by setting out a tiny bit of context and saying why the Bill is so important for my town. At the heart of Ipswich is a community—neighbours who support each other, and small businesses that serve us in the town centre and that are seein…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
11 June 2025
Spending Review 2025
I welcome the huge raft of announcements today, not least the announcement that we will expand free school meals, which will benefit 6,500 children in Ipswich. I also want to celebrate the enormous, multibillion-pound green light for Sizewell C. We all know its national importance, from energy secur…
Commons
Oral Questions
Treasury
20 May 2025
Topical Questions
T6. Labour-led Ipswich borough council recently announced investment to reopen the iconic Grimwades building in our town centre, which has been left vacant for more than a decade. This local ambition matches the Government’s national initiatives, but challenges remain, so what steps are the Governme…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
7 May 2025
Engagements
Q4. I refer the House to my declaration in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. For young people in Ipswich, there is no shortage of ambition, just a need for greater opportunities. That is why last autumn I was proud to sign an agreement with Sizewell C to guarantee 500 jobs for people in …