Commons
Debate
9 July 2026
6 contributions
Israeli Settlements: Trade Ban
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the potential merits of a ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements.
I am grateful to the Backbench Business Committee for granting the debate, the Government for allocating time for it, Members from across the House for supporting the application,…
I agree with my hon. Friend; he makes a powerful point.
Some time ago, the Palestinian ambassador, Dr Husam Zomlot, reminded parliamentarians that Gaza, East Jerusalem and the west bank are not separate issues, but all parts of the same national story. They may be separated, occupied and besieged, …
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Proceedings
3 June 2026
Lebanon: Israel Defence Forces Operations
Some 125 health workers have been killed in Lebanon in the last three months alone. Today, an Israeli strike hit an ambulance in south Lebanon, killing two paramedics, which takes the death toll to 127. The November 2024 ceasefire agreement is barely worth the paper it is written on. The Minister ri…
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
20 April 2026
2 contributions
Cost of Living: Students
4. What steps her Department is taking to help reduce the cost of living for students.
A recent cost of living survey by Sheffield Hallam students’ union shows that 82% of students are struggling, and many are working more hours at the expense of their studies. Too many are skipping meals and going without essentials, harming their health and their participation in university life. Th…
Commons
Westminster Hall
18 March 2026
Royal Mail: Performance
I pay tribute to the dedicated postal workers in Sheffield Central, who work tirelessly to ensure that people receive their letters and deliveries throughout the year.
I have also been contacted by constituents in the Nether Edge area of Sheffield who have complained of delays and missing post. Som…
Commons
Debate
10 March 2026
2 contributions
Courts and Tribunals Bill
In my previous work as a solicitor, I represented women who had suffered terrible violence, and people who had been pushed to the margins of society. I have seen at first hand how fragile access to justice can be, and how years of under-investment have taken a wrecking ball to our justice system. Ch…
I do agree. The logical approach would be to treat this as a time-limited measure—or the Justice Secretary should consider a mandatory time-bound review, assessing the impact of these changes not only on the backlog but on trial outcomes, on equality before the law, on public confidence, and specifi…
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 March 2026
Environmental Protection and Biodiversity
I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate. He may know that Sheffield is well known for being the outdoor city and is one of the few major cities in the UK that has a national park within its boundaries. I support him in his red lines for nature campaign. Does he agree that pro…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
2 March 2026
Middle East
I have constituents and family in the region who are all terrified about what may come next. The world is an infinitely more dangerous place today than it was last week. Trump and Netanyahu chose to throw away diplomacy and launch a direct attack on Iran—an attack that, as the Prime Minister has sai…
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 February 2026
Student Loan Repayment Plans
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Ilford South (Jas Athwal) for securing the debate, which at its core is about fairness. In my Sheffield Central constituency, which is home to two major universities, I regularly meet with students and graduates, whether in surgeries or through meetings with stu…
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 February 2026
2 contributions
Indefinite Leave to Remain
I congratulate my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Tony Vaughan) on his expert advocacy on this issue.
As a former lawyer who worked in immigration before being elected to this House, I can say with confidence that the changes announced last year, and expected to emerge …
I agree entirely. Many people uprooted their lives, accepted jobs, bought homes, enrolled their children in schools and planned their futures in good faith, on the understanding that settlement after five years was the agreed pathway. They are now being told, midway through that journey, that the ru…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
21 January 2026
Water White Paper
The chief executive of Yorkshire Water said her bonus may
“feel like it’s a lot of money”
and that she gets “paid what the board decide” she “ought to be paid”; £1.5 million through an offshore company feels like a lot of money because it is a lot of money. She was rewarded for failure, and as my …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
21 January 2026
Warm Homes Plan
I, too, warmly welcome the plan and the investment that is coming with it, and I strongly commend the leadership of the Secretary of State in this area. It is great news that small businesses are the vehicle that will drive home the upgrades in our local communities, but they too have struggled. I h…
Commons
Oral Questions
20 January 2026
2 contributions
Yemen
1. What recent assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the situation in Yemen.
In the context of what the United Nations special envoy has described as a rapidly worsening humanitarian and economic crisis in Yemen, does the Minister welcome the forthcoming southern dialogue conference, led by Saudi Arabia and supported by the Arab League and the Gulf Co-operation Council? How …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
14 January 2026
Northern Powerhouse Rail
Like my Sheffield colleagues, I strongly welcome the Government commitment to upgrading our Sheffield station and putting in place faster and more frequent trains to Leeds and Manchester. This will increase our city centre regeneration, and will be of strong benefit to our universities and students …
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
17 December 2025
Engagements
Q13. England is the only country in the world with a fully privatised and monopolised water system, and it is broken. My constituents in Sheffield Central, like many across the country, continue to face burst water pipes, polluted rivers and rising bills—all while the chief executive of Yorkshire Wa…
Commons
Westminster Hall
10 December 2025
Kashmir: Self-determination
I commend my hon. Friend on his continued advocacy on this subject. Does he agree that international humanitarian law is clear that the protection of civilians is not optional, that the UK has deep and historic ties to Kashmir and its people, and that we are therefore not fulfilling our obligations?…
Commons
Debate
25 November 2025
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
I will address Government amendments 152 and 153. I thank the Minister and her predecessor, my hon. Friend the Member for Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton (Jim McMahon), for responding to our concerns at the outset of proceedings on the Bill.
As we reach the end of debate on the Bill, I am struck…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
25 November 2025
COP30
I thank the Secretary of State for his update and commend his continued leadership on this issue. I welcome the conference’s focus on strengthening multilateralism, including creating the Belém mechanism for a just global transition. But beyond the walls of the conference, here in the UK we need to …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
18 November 2025
China Espionage: Government Security Response
Sheffield Hallam University in my constituency is home to internationally respected researchers, including Professor Laura Murphy, whose excellent work on forced labour in China has been met with coercion, intimidation and attempts at interference linked to the Chinese state. At a time when universi…
Commons
Debate
17 November 2025
Asylum Policy
Under the previous Government, we had hostile policy after hostile policy, from the “go home” vans to the Windrush scandal and Rwanda, all of which failed to deter people from making dangerous crossings and failed to fix the asylum system. What is dividing communities is the constant anti-refugee rh…
Commons
Westminster Hall
12 November 2025
4 contributions
Carbon Budget Delivery Plan
I beg to move,
That this House has considered progress on the Carbon Budget Delivery Plan.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir John. This week marks the start of COP30 in Brazil, a moment when world leaders, scientists and campaigners come together, united in purpose, to confron…
The Government should consider how consumers’ bills can be reduced. I want to see the warm homes plan feature, and I want it published so that we can have appropriate conversations about what is in it. If the cut to investment without guaranteed funding from elsewhere goes ahead, billions of pounds …
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
3 November 2025
Public Office (Accountability) Bill
As the Member for Sheffield Central, I approach this Second Reading debate with pride that we have finally got here, but with the deepest frustration and sadness at the time that that has taken. Many of my constituents, like those of my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsboroug…
Commons
Debate
20 October 2025
Post-16 Education and Skills Strategy
I thank the Secretary of State for her announcement today, particularly the planned increase in tuition fees and maintenance loans, which will be warmly welcomed by students and the two world-class universities on my patch, the University of Sheffield and Hallam University. Will the Secretary of Sta…
Commons
Debate
14 October 2025
Mental Health Bill [Lords]
I will speak on new clause 35, which sets out the conditions under which community treatment orders can be extended beyond 12 months. Like many across my constituency of Sheffield Central, I know personally how overstretched our mental health services are. My brother lives with complex mental health…
Commons
Proceedings
10 September 2025
Qatar: Israeli Strike
The longer that Israel is allowed to act like a rogue state, bombing sovereign countries with impunity and expanding its war in the middle east, the weaker our words look—Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, Iran, Syria, Tunisian soil and now Qatar. Why are we meeting Israel’s President Herzog today, when his own …
Commons
Proceedings
8 September 2025
Palestine Action: Proscription and Protests
This weekend alone, almost 900 people—several of whom were from my constituency—were arrested. The Terrorism Act was not brought in to arrest vicars, retired grandmothers and NHS consultants for holding a placard, yet the police are now in the position where that is exactly what they are doing weeke…