Commons
Westminster Hall
26 January 2026
Key Stage 1 Curriculum
My constituent Julia has been a teacher for more than 20 years. She wrote to me to share the benefits of play-based learning for children’s cognitive, social and emotional development. Given the increasing prevalence of cognitive and language disorders in young children, it is really important that …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
22 January 2026
Business of the House
Melvin Hall community centre has served the community of Penge for over 50 years and was home to incredible community initiatives and charities, such as the Beckenham and Penge Gateway Club, which supports adults with learning disabilities and their families. Sadly, just before Christmas, Melvin Hal…
Commons
Oral Questions
Housing, Communities and Local Government
12 January 2026
2 contributions
Social Housing: Damp and Mould
14. What steps his Department is taking to help tackle damp and mould in social housing.
Social housing disrepair and neglect is one of the most common issues in my inbox, particularly in Penge, Crystal Palace and Anerley. In one case, a mum in Penge saw her two children develop breathing problems and be forced on to inhalers due to persistent damp and mould. We know that the health imp…
Commons
Oral Questions
9 December 2025
2 contributions
Support for NHS Patients
10. What fiscal steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support patients in the NHS.
I thank the Minister for his response. When I was in sixth form at the end of the last Labour Government, I became one of the youngest people in Britain to have a hip replacement. I will always be grateful to the incredible NHS staff who cared for me. But between 2011 and 2024, because of savage Tor…
Commons
Westminster Hall
1 December 2025
3 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Ms Barker. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill is an important piece of legislation for this Government. Among other things, it will drive higher standards in our schools, put more qualified teachers at the front of classrooms, bring down the co…
Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
24 November 2025
2 contributions
Families in Temporary Accommodation
11. What steps he is taking to help reduce the number of families in temporary accommodation.
The number of people in temporary accommodation in my constituency soared during the last 14 years. Hundreds of families in Beckenham and Penge are stuck in unsuitable accommodation for months and years on end, and one in 50 Londoners are now living in temporary accommodation. From speaking to fanta…
Commons
Debate
18 November 2025
Northern Ireland Troubles Bill
May I start by thanking the right hon. Member for Skipton and Ripon (Sir Julian Smith) for his thoughtful contribution?
Ever since the Northern Ireland legacy Bill was introduced by the previous Government in 2019, thousands of innocent victims’ families have waited to see this day. Of the many rec…
Commons
Debate
17 November 2025
Asylum Policy
I thank the Minister for her statement. I was really proud of how my Beckenham and Penge constituency came together to welcome Ukrainian families after the conflict there, through schemes such as Homes for Ukraine. I am pleased that the Government have announced today that they will expand such safe…
Commons
Oral Questions
13 November 2025
2 contributions
Biodiversity
9. What steps she is taking to improve biodiversity.
Fourteen years of Conservative government have left the UK as one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, undermining our economy and food systems. I welcome the Government’s recent actions to reverse this, including the new guidance to protect bees from pesticides and the introduction o…
Commons
Debate
3 November 2025
2 contributions
Public Office (Accountability) Bill
I start by saying that it was fantastic to have Hillsborough law campaigners in the Gallery today. I worked for them for several years before I was elected to this place on behalf of victims of the Ballymurphy massacre—one of the worst atrocities of the troubles. I am a relative of one of the victim…
Does my hon. Friend agree that this will be particularly important for people who have been disabled by public gross negligence?
Commons
Westminster Hall
29 October 2025
3 contributions
Wet Wipes: Plastic Ban
In Beckenham and Penge, there were 167 call-outs related to wet-wipe blockages in 2024. Given the precarious state of our water sector after 14 years of Tory-enabled under-investment, does my hon. Friend agree that we should do all we can to reduce the number of unnecessary call-outs such as those i…
My hon. Friend is making an important point about community engagement; education is a really important part. Richard Barnes from the London Wildlife Trust is a constituent of mine in West Wickham in my constituency of Beckenham and Penge. He and the trust do fantastic work engaging local communitie…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
27 October 2025
Statutory Maternity and Paternity Pay
Another glaring missing piece is that, as well as supporting mothers and fathers, it is important that we support those who suffer the tragic loss of a baby. Will my hon. Friend therefore join me in welcoming our Government’s commitment to introduce a right for workers, including those who experienc…
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 October 2025
2 contributions
Ending Homelessness
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool Wavertree (Paula Barker) and the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) for securing this important debate. I thank the APPG for ending homelessness for its comprehensive recent…
I welcome the Minister to her place. Part of what she mentioned is subject to the ongoing fair funding review, and the index of multiple deprivation is part of that. Alongside a number of London colleagues, I would like that to fully reflect housing costs and the impact of homelessness. Once housing…
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 October 2025
2 contributions
Co-operative Sector: Government Support
As my hon. Friend will know, the co-operative movement is a pillar of ethical business in Britain—owned by its members, rooted in its communities and committed to fairness. It includes the multiple Co-op stores that we have in Beckenham and Penge, which not only provide good jobs and affordable food…
I have always wanted to intervene on the hon. Member—the shoe is on the other foot. He mentions Portaferry; my dad is from there. It is where he was born, went to school and learned his trade as a carpenter before moving to Britain. The project the hon. Gentleman mentions is very special—it is the f…
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
20 October 2025
Topical Questions
T8. I recently met dedicated parents from my constituency who choose to home-educate their children. They raised questions about duties on parents and providers to report details of their children’s education and recreational activities included in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. Could th…
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
20 October 2025
2 contributions
Childcare: Affordability
12. What steps she is taking to help increase the affordability of childcare.
I thank the Minister for her response and welcome her to her place. I recently had the pleasure of welcoming my right hon. Friend the Education Secretary to St Anthony’s Catholic primary school in Penge, where we saw preparations for the opening of its new school-based nursery. St Anthony’s is one o…
Commons
Westminster Hall
8 September 2025
Indefinite Leave to Remain
I have been contacted by many constituents across Beckenham and Penge, including Lachlan from Australia, who were en route to qualifying for indefinite leave to remain but now feel uncertain about their future. Does my hon. Friend agree that clarity on the Government’s earned settlement scheme and t…
Commons
Proceedings
4 September 2025
Business of the House
The Leader of the House might remember that back in March I informed the House about the search for funding and support for an incredible young man from Beckenham, Lucas De Gouveia. At just 14, he is already representing Great Britain in wheelchair tennis. I am delighted to update the House today th…
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 September 2025
2 contributions
Eating Disorders: Prevention of Deaths
Does my hon. Friend agree that, further to masking the scale of the crisis, excluding eating disorders as a contributing factor on death certificates also cruelly extends the pain that families feel, insinuating that otherwise healthy young people have died from organ failure?
It is an honour to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Desmond.
I will keep this fairly brief. Many of the points I was going to raise have been mentioned, but I want to say that tackling this issue is not new, and contrast the challenges we now face under this Labour Government compared with the prev…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 September 2025
Middle East
I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s announcements, in particular on support to get critically ill children out of Gaza and into the UK to receive specialist NHS treatment. Does he agree that the Israeli Government’s promises to carry on developing more illegal settlements in the west bank will further…
Commons
Westminster Hall
10 July 2025
2 contributions
Victims of Terrorism: State Support
It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I also thank my hon. Friend the Member for Rossendale and Darwen (Andy MacNae) for securing today’s debate.
This debate gives us an opportunity to consider the people impacted by acts of terror who are too often reduced to numbers and stati…
The hon. Gentleman is the Member of Parliament for a lot of my family, as he alluded to. They will be incredibly proud of him speaking up on this issue. I had the pleasure of visiting the WAVE Trauma Centre in Belfast, which the hon. Gentleman will know very well. It does fantastic work with survivo…
Commons
Debate
9 July 2025
Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill
I rise to disagree with Opposition new clause 12, which would indefinitely block the provisions of the Bill. I am speaking today not only as the MP for Beckenham and Penge, but from personal experience, as one of the few Members of this House who has been a recipient of the higher rates of the disab…
Commons
Westminster Hall
10 June 2025
7 contributions
Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme: Capital Disregard
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the potential merits of introducing a capital disregard for payments made to UK residents under the Republic of Ireland’s Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine, and to introduce this deb…
I completely agree, and it shows the power of film and culture to tell such stories.
Mother and baby homes were open in Ireland for more than seven decades until the 1990s. During that time, 56,000 so-called fallen women were sent to those cruel institutions, and 57,000 children were born or placed…
+5 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
3 June 2025
Dementia Care
The hon. Member speaks about community groups and their importance. In recent months I have had the pleasure of joining and supporting lots of dementia support groups, including South East London Mind’s young onset dementia activists group, Beckenham dementia café, and Beckenham and Penge dementia c…
Commons
Proceedings
3 June 2025
Thames Water
As a neighbouring MP, the Secretary of State will know the level of outrage in my constituency at the continuous failures of Thames Water, including the five-day period earlier this year during which residents were left without water. Given that this Labour Government have introduced measures to mak…