Commons
Oral Questions
Scotland
15 July 2026
2 contributions
New Nuclear Energy Projects
6. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of new nuclear energy projects on economic growth in Scotland.
New nuclear in areas such as my constituency of North Ayrshire and Arran could bring much-needed skilled jobs and investment to the area, but yet again Scotland is losing out. Does the Secretary of State agree with me that the Scottish Government should review and consider their stance on nuclear, g…
Commons
Proceedings
8 July 2026
NHS Corridor Care
I would just like to highlight that the Scottish Government do not record or publish any statistics on the number of patients being treated in corridors. However, we know that it happens. The Crosshouse hospital, which serves my constituency, was recorded in January as having one of Scotland’s most …
Commons
Westminster Hall
29 June 2026
5 contributions
NHS Breast Screening
I beg to move,
That this House has considered e-petition 742179 relating to NHS breast screening.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Vickers. I would like to start by thanking the petitioner, Gemma Reeves, for all the hard work she has put into starting the petition and gatherin…
I thank the hon. Member for his intervention. I, too, look forward to hearing the Minister’s response on that issue.
Some 1.94 million women between the ages of 50 and 70 were screened in 2024-25, and almost 20,000 cancers were detected. Cancers were detected in nine in every 1,000 women, which is …
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
27 April 2026
14 contributions
Animal Testing
I beg to move,
That this House has considered e-petition 736578 relating to animal testing.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Twigg. I declare an interest as the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on phasing out animal experiments in medical research, for which Animal Free…
I agree with both my hon. Friend’s points. It is important that this issue is dealt with sooner rather than later, and I will say more about that later.
+12 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Scotland
15 April 2026
2 contributions
Pride in Place: Regeneration
2. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues through the Pride in Place programme to support regeneration in Scotland.
I am pleased to say that after a huge amount of hard work was put into a Pride in Place application, investment has been successfully allocated to the three towns of Ardrossan, Saltcoats and Stevenston in my constituency. Does the Minister agree that the £20 million of UK Government Pride in Place f…
Commons
Westminster Hall
10 March 2026
Fur: Import and Sale
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Jardine. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Newport West and Islwyn (Ruth Jones) for the excellent work that she has done and continues to do on this important campaign. I fully support her Fur (Import and Sale) Bill. I am pleased to say that …
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 March 2026
8 contributions
Type 1 Diabetes: Infant Testing
I beg to move,
That this House has considered e-petition 728677 relating to type 1 diabetes testing for infants.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Alec. I thank the petitioner, Mr John Story, for starting the petition and telling us the devastating story of what happened to hi…
I agree with the points that my hon. Friend raises. The research and emerging information from the ELSA study should be considered as soon as possible.
In Diabetes UK’s campaign, the four Ts stand for “toilet”, “thirsty”, “tired” and “thinner”. Recognising those symptoms is key to the campaign.
In…
+6 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
3 March 2026
2 contributions
Sudan: Humanitarian Situation
12. What steps her Department is taking to help tackle the humanitarian situation in Sudan.
We know that conflict can dis-proportionately affect women and children and exacerbate gender-based violence. We cannot let this crisis in Sudan be ignored. There has been an alarming rise in gender-based violence and sexual abuse against women and girls. Can the Foreign Secretary tell me what furth…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
25 February 2026
Engagements
Q11. In 2024, 2.64 million animals were used in medical experiments in the UK. As chair of the all-party parliamentary group on phasing out animal experiments in medical research, I think it is important to note that an estimated 92% of drugs fail in human clinical trials, even though they have pass…
Commons
Oral Questions
10 February 2026
2 contributions
Small Modular Nuclear Reactors: Jobs
6. What estimate he has made of the potential impact of the construction of small modular reactors on the number of clean energy jobs.
An SMR and new nuclear at Hunterston power station would make a huge difference to my constituency, given that nearly 650 people are already employed in highly skilled and well-paid jobs in the civil nuclear sector there. I was concerned to read a BBC article about a Scottish nuclear worker who relo…
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 February 2026
Animals in Science Regulation Unit: Annual Report 2024
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir John. I thank the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) for securing this important debate and setting out the arguments so well.
I declare my interest as chair of the APPG on phasing out animal experiments in medica…
Commons
Oral Questions
Women and Equalities
28 January 2026
2 contributions
Children in Poverty
10. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help reduce inequalities experienced by children in poverty.
In my constituency of North Ayrshire and Arran, healthy life expectancy is currently 52.5 years for women and 52.6 years for men. That is, shockingly, the lowest in Scotland and provides clear evidence of increasing health inequalities compared with other parts of Scotland. Years ago, the Glasgow ef…
Commons
Westminster Hall
28 January 2026
3 contributions
Animal Testing
Reports have shown animals accidentally crushed in a compacter, a primate dying after being trapped in a cage unnoticed, animals falling out of a vehicle and being lost, and many dying of thirst or hunger or drowning in flooded cages. Does my hon. Friend agree that those cases of non-compliance are …
I should have said this earlier, but I am chair of the all-party parliamentary group on phasing out animal experiments in medical research. Does my hon. Friend agree that the evidence is there, and that we can move much more quickly towards a place where animals are no longer needed in research?
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
26 January 2026
3 contributions
Animal Rescue Centres
I beg to move,
That this House has considered e-petition 718660 relating to the licensing and regulation of animal rescue centres.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Alec. I thank the petitioner Paul Watkinson and his colleague Niki Roe for their hard work in gathering almost 1…
I agree that that would be a good step forward. It is also important to strike an appropriate balance when setting regulations. If regulations are too exacting, people may begin to shop rather than adopt, possibly importing from abroad. Another common issue is that dog and cat homes often end up tak…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 January 2026
Animal Welfare Strategy for England
I thank my hon. Friend for securing this debate. An assessment of male chick culling found that the cost to introduce in-ovo sexing of eggs in this country would be approximately 1p per egg. I visited a facility in the Netherlands on Monday, and it costs approximately €0.01 per egg there.
Commons
Oral Questions
16 December 2025
2 contributions
Online Misogyny: Victims
4. What steps his Department is taking to help protect victims of online misogyny through the criminal justice system.
My constituent Dr Sam Rice has set up a grassroots charity called Kids For Now, which supports parents who want to delay smartphones for their children. There is much evidence to support that approach. For example, Ofsted has found that 80% of teenage girls are put under pressure to provide sexual i…
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
15 December 2025
Topical Questions
T8. Until the 1980s, my constituency of North Ayrshire and Arran was home to one of the world’s largest explosives factories, in Ardeer, Stevenston, which in its heyday provided employment for around 15,000 people. I welcome that Ayrshire has been identified as one of the 13 potential sites across t…
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 December 2025
Network Rail Timetable Changes: Rural Communities
The Largs to Glasgow line is a well-used service, especially in the more rural parts of my constituency. I have recently received many complaints from constituents on a range of issues: serious disruption with trains running late, being severely delayed, signalling issues and loss of power to the tr…
Commons
Oral Questions
Cabinet Office
4 December 2025
2 contributions
Devolved Administrations
17. What recent progress he has made on improving the relationship between the Government and the devolved Administrations.
Does the Minister agree that with a Labour Government at Holyrood working with a UK Labour Government, constituencies like North Ayrshire and Arran could be much better off, because nuclear policy in Scotland could change and sites like Hunterston, which is currently blocked from investment by SNP p…
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 December 2025
Terminal Illness: Mental Health Support
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Jeremy. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Altrincham and Sale West (Mr Rand) for securing this important debate and for his excellent speech sharing Sarah and Mike’s experience.
As a former manager in the NHS, I was shocked to read the recent …
Commons
Westminster Hall
24 November 2025
10 contributions
Gaza: Humanitarian Obligations
I beg to move,
That this House has considered e-petition 700682 relating to humanitarian obligations and Gaza.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey. The petition was started in January 2025 and is titled “Urgently fulfil humanitarian obligations to Gaza”. It reads:
“Act to ens…
I thank my hon. Friend for highlighting those important facts, and I agree with the points she raises.
I was contacted by a constituent on Friday who said:
“We are still not seeing enough food, medicine, tents or machinery required to clear roads, excavate bombed buildings to recover the dead, res…
+8 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Women and Equalities
5 November 2025
2 contributions
Violence against Women and Girls
1. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle violence against women and girls.
As a former chair of North Ayrshire Women’s Aid, I was concerned to read reports that sexual assault and harassment of women and girls on trains has risen by more than a third over the past 10 years. That adds up to 2,661 incidents reported across England, Scotland and Wales last year, with one in 1…
Commons
Westminster Hall
28 October 2025
World Stroke Day
Currently, no Scottish hospital offers 24/7 emergency thrombectomy. For example, there is no night-time provision of mechanical thrombectomy, and in Glasgow emergency thrombectomy is available only Monday to Friday. There are severe gaps in the system. Does my hon. Friend agree that that is just not…
Commons
Westminster Hall
13 October 2025
5 contributions
Bovine Tuberculosis Control and Badger Culling
I beg to move,
That this House has considered e-petition 700317 relating to Bovine Tuberculosis control and badger culling.
It is a privilege to serve under your chairship, Mr Stuart. The petition is titled “End the Badger cull and adopt other approaches to bovine TB control” and was created by Ro…
I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention but I have to say that I disagree. The evidence is there for the badger cull to end immediately.
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
11 September 2025
4 contributions
Male Chick Culling
I declare an interest: earlier this week, I hosted the “Ban Hatch and Dispatch” event in Parliament with the Vegetarian Society, as well as hosting a drop-in event the previous week. It was important to hear presentations from industry experts about the innovative and effective in-ovo testing labora…
I could not agree more.
+2 more contributions in this session