Commons
Westminster Hall
14 July 2026
Coastal Communities: Isolation and Hidden Deprivation
I thank the hon. Member for Isle of Wight West (Richard Quigley) for securing this important debate. I want to speak up for Ilfracombe in particular, and the challenges that will be familiar to coastal communities everywhere. Devon county council has identified Ilfracombe as one of the most vulnerab…
Commons
Debate
8 July 2026
Rearmament and Warfighting Readiness
I thank my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells (Mike Martin) for securing this debate. There are moments in politics when delay is not just a mistake, but a danger. This is one of those moments. The truth is that the world has become more dangerous much faster than Britain has bec…
Commons
Proceedings
8 July 2026
Maritime and Coastguard Agency
The MCA has told MPs that it has data to back its claim that CROs would rather be volunteers than employees. Can the Minister confirm that those findings can be shared? This has a massive bearing on the MCA’s decision, and may greatly undermine the essential lifeline that CROs provide to coastal com…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
30 June 2026
Defence Investment Plan
The defence investment plan includes an additional £100 million transformation of the Royal Marines commando forces, with a special focus on our allies in Scandinavia and the High North. As the Royal Marines Commando Logistic Regiment is based at RM Chivenor in my constituency, will the Secretary of…
Commons
Proceedings
23 June 2026
Defence Spending and Readiness
The Defence Committee has just come back from Norway. It worries me that some defence programmes may be withdrawn in the DIP. Does my hon. Friend agree that the defence programmes set out in the defence investment plan are important for not only our national security but maintaining and deepening th…
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
22 June 2026
2 contributions
Topical Questions
T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.
This year, two of Devon’s school food providers have shut down due to rapidly rising business and food costs. The Government school food standards consultation closed on 12 June, so will the Secretary of State now ensure that funding for school meals is sustained and that procurement supports health…
Commons
Debate
22 June 2026
2 contributions
Armed Forces Bill
We should not let everything that is happening in Westminster today distract us from the urgent need to safeguard our national defence. New clause 22 would highlight the result of the defence investment plan being long overdue. Does my hon. Friend agree that our understanding is that we still expect…
It is a big misconception that single living accommodation in the forces is primarily for those who are single; it is not. Even at the flag-raising ceremony here in Westminster today, most of those in uniform told me that their wives live in a different part of the country, and they are living in si…
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
1 June 2026
Topical Questions
Following the recent challenges with deploying HMS Dragon to the middle east at short notice, will the defence readiness Bill, which was mentioned in the strategic defence review, urgently review how our Type 45 destroyers can be made more readily available to defend against aerial attacks?
Commons
Oral Questions
27 April 2026
Topical Questions
One of my constituents in North Devon is a Royal Marines veteran who was just awarded over £2,700 in backdated universal credit, after the DWP failed to disregard his war pension from his monthly income. What can be done to ensure DWP staff understand armed forces pensions? Will the Minister assure …
Commons
Debate
15 April 2026
Strategic Defence Review: Funding
In the words of Lord Robertson, we are underprepared, underinsured and under attack. We are not safe. Britain’s national security and safety is in peril. I have asked over six times when the defence investment plan will be published. I now know the answer: “We are working flat out”. Will the Ministe…
Commons
Committee Stage
14 April 2026
5 contributions
Armed Forces Bill (Fourth sitting)
I beg to move amendment 6, in clause 12, page 29, line 6, at end insert—
“115C Duty to refer sexual offences and domestic abuse to civilian police
(1) This section applies where a service police force or the tri-service serious crime unit is made aware of an allegation that a person subject to ser…
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. Amendment 6 would introduce a requirement for the service police and the Defence Serious Crime Command to refer all allegations of sexual offences and domestic violence to the civilian police forces for investigation and subsequent trial …
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
13 April 2026
North Atlantic Submarine Activity
Back in February, former Royal Navy officers and other expert witnesses warned the Defence Committee that although tapping an undersea cable is very difficult, they are vulnerable to sabotage, and more than three quarters of the UK’s natural gas is imported via undersea pipelines from Norway. Given …
Commons
Committee Stage
24 March 2026
7 contributions
Armed Forces Bill (First sitting)
I would like to draw the Committee’s attention to the Defence Committee report on the armed forces covenant, which is based on evidence from witnesses. It says:
“As the current duty of ‘due regard’ is inconsistently interpreted, the extended duty must be accompanied by clear guidance so that the du…
It is nice to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. Amendment 5 would add a new section to the armed forces covenant provisions that were introduced in the Armed Forces Act 2006 to try to make access to services more consistent. This Bill requires specified persons to have due regard to the cove…
+5 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
16 March 2026
Topical Questions
T8. Last week, HMS Dragon left Portsmouth bound for Cyprus, having been prepared for deployment inside six days. The Royal Navy says that preparation would normally have taken six weeks. What can the Government do to ensure that more of our surface fleet is available when urgently needed?
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
16 March 2026
2 contributions
Defence Investment Plan
6. What progress his Department has made towards the publication of the defence investment plan.
We are still waiting for the defence investment plan, and according to the strategic defence review, items should be deleted from that plan only on the advice of the national armaments director; service chiefs must advise the Secretary of State if anything is to be removed from the defence to-do lis…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
12 March 2026
Topical Questions
T5. Many small businesses in my constituency are gearing up for the busy tourist season that is just around the corner. What steps are the Government taking to support small businesses in the south-west, to help them make the most of their biggest window of opportunity over the summer?
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
12 March 2026
Postal Delivery Services
Does the Minister agree that by being asked to focus on parcels over letters, and having overtime hours for deliveries restricted, many hard-working postal workers will feel that public trust in Royal Mail is being undermined?
Commons
Debate
4 March 2026
2 contributions
Ministry of Defence
I thank the Chair of the Defence Committee for securing this estimates debate on defence. Of all the demands on public finances, none are more serious than paying for this country’s defence. Recent years—even the last few days—have brought that into sharp relief. This time last year, at the spring s…
I am getting frustrated about the defence investment plan. Could the Minister, when he sums up, confirm whether it is stuck in the Treasury, and the two Departments are arguing about what it can and cannot include? What is the hold-up between the MOD and the Treasury?
Commons
Westminster Hall
4 March 2026
NHS Capital Spending
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Bobby Dean) for introducing this important debate. I thank the Minister for visiting North Devon district hospital to see the estate for herself and for listening to the passionate pleas from NHS clinicians serving on the frontline.
T…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
3 March 2026
Spring Forecast
The Chancellor refers to opportunities that young people deserve. However, hundreds of college students in my North Devon constituency have spent weeks unable to travel to college due to flooding and rail closures. Will the Government confirm that they will invest in their life chances by doing more…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
2 March 2026
Middle East
As a veteran, I agree with the Prime Minister that the safety of our armed forces and of British citizens should come first in any decision made in the future. Given the rapidly evolving situation, will the Ministry of Defence now expedite the promised defence investment plan, so that our industry c…
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
2 March 2026
Supporting Children with SEND
I thank the Minister for the Government’s decision to effectively write off about 90% of Devon county council’s SEND debts. I know that will reassure many parents in my constituency.
Will the Minister tell us how the new school curriculum will give schools the flexibility they need to support child…
Commons
Debate
25 February 2026
4 contributions
Ukraine
It gives me great pleasure to be one of the last speakers in such a unifying debate, in which Members on all sides of the House can agree on the same thing. I associate myself with the remarks of all those who have already spoken.
This country should be immensely proud of the support that we have g…
I totally agree with the hon. Gentleman that those people should be held accountable for the crimes they have committed. I am sure the Minister will take note of that.
On that same trip to Kyiv, we met many Ukrainian parliamentarians, including the Ukrainian Veterans Minister. That role is new to t…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 February 2026
3 contributions
New Medium Helicopter Programme
The new Chief of the Defence Staff told me, as a member of the Defence Committee, that the medium helicopter programme was still very much on the armed forces’ priorities list. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Government need to ensure that it is in the defence investment plan, because the service…
This is a really important programme, and I see that the official Opposition have not even bothered to turn up to the debate. I asked the Defence Secretary about the DIP, and he told me it would be out by the end of December. Now it is going to be March. Can the Minister guarantee that it will be Ma…
+1 more contribution in this session