Commons
Ministerial Statement
15 October 2025
Pride in Place
I warmly welcome the £20 million for Old Farnley, but now is the time for action. Hundreds of people have already completed my survey. I have more than 100 volunteers for the neighbourhood board alone—it will not be that big—and we have plenty of ideas that we want to spend the money on. Given that …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
15 October 2025
Ukraine
The politicians, civilians and soldiers I spoke to last month in Kyiv were unambiguous when asked what was the best thing the UK could do to help them win the war. The hundreds of billions of dollars of frozen Russian assets that they currently cannot deploy could help them bolster their military an…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
13 October 2025
Manchester Terrorism Attack
I pay tribute to the Leeds Jewish Representative Council and the Jewish Leadership Council for organising moving tributes in memory of the victims of the Manchester attack. I also thank CST for its tireless work to keep the community safe. I am sorry to say that a few weeks ago a speaker on the stre…
Commons
Oral Questions
Justice
16 September 2025
2 contributions
Funeral Sector: Regulation
13. What steps he is taking to introduce statutory regulation of the funeral sector.
The Minister will be aware of the plight of Zoe Ward and Cody Townend, two mums from Leeds who tragically lost babies in different circumstances but who both went to the same funeral director, who did not treat their babies’ bodies with the dignity, care or respect that they deserved. Despite the sh…
Commons
Westminster Hall
8 September 2025
Indefinite Leave to Remain
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship today, Mr Pritchard. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for South Norfolk (Ben Goldsborough) on his opening remarks, and I welcome my hon. Friend the Minister to his place.
Earlier this year, I held a surgery with Hongkongers living in my cons…
Commons
Debate
4 September 2025
9 contributions
House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill
I rise to speak to all the Lords amendments, but I will go into more detail on Lords amendments 1, 2, 3 and 8. I am pleased that the Bill is making progress, and I look forward to seeing it on the statute book as soon as possible. We are one step closer to fulfilling yet another manifesto pledge.
I…
I congratulate the hon. Lady for having so many friends in the other place. I could not agree with her more—it is almost as if she has read my speech and hence made her timely intervention.
+7 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
4 September 2025
2 contributions
Early Education and Childcare
Listening to the Conservative Front Bench spokesperson, one would think that everything was fine and rosy in education before the previous election, and that everything would have been fine if only the Conservatives had been given one more chance. Compare and contrast that with what we have delivere…
Will the Minister join me in encouraging parents in my constituency of Leeds South West and Morley to take advantage of everything this Government have done to make the lives of parents and children easier?
Commons
Proceedings
4 September 2025
Business of the House
Cody Townend and Zoe Ward are two mums from Leeds who tragically lost babies in different circumstances. Cody lost Macie-Mae earlier this year, and Zoe lost Bleu four years ago. They both went to the same funeral director who, to their horror, kept their babies’ bodies in her private home without th…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 September 2025
Ukraine
I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement and reiteration that we will always support the people of Ukraine. Given Russia’s despicable attack against civilian targets in Kyiv, costing the lives of over 20 civilians including children and damaging a British Council building, it is quite clear that…
Commons
Proceedings
17 July 2025
Business of the House
Last Friday, I met business owners who operate in Morley Bottoms and who have managed to turn one of the most undesirable parts of our town into one of the destinations that people travel into Morley to experience. Madam Deputy Speaker, you have an invitation to come along and join me any time, as d…
Commons
Proceedings
10 July 2025
Educational Attainment of Boys
I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this incredibly important debate. In my eight and a half years as a maths teacher, teaching in inner city schools, I found that the problem was never just about a lack of aspiration but about a lack of access and a lack of knowledge; that goes for any group,…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
10 July 2025
Children’s Social Care
I am pleased to have contributed to this report as a member of the Education Committee, which is excellently led by my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes). I also thank the Clerks and staff for all their work on the Committee. It is good that the report has been welcome…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
7 July 2025
Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life
I warmly welcome today’s announcement. Sure Start was one of the greatest achievements of the last Labour Government, and these Best Start family hubs will build on that. As a member of the Education Committee, we have heard evidence that Sure Start was at its best when it was targeted and specific.…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
3 July 2025
NHS 10-Year Plan
May I briefly commend the Health Secretary for his comments on the morning media about events in this place yesterday? Empathy is in short supply in politics, and we could do with a bit more of it.
I really welcome the 10-year health plan, and specifically the focus on outcomes and the transformati…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
3 July 2025
Business of the House
The TV Harrison football ground in my constituency is a historic part of Wortley. It is known as Wortley’s Wembley, and Leeds United legends such as David Batty and Paul Reaney used to train and play on it. However, after being abandoned over recent decades, it was at risk of being lost forever. Aft…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 July 2025
Parental Leave Review
I warmly welcome the Minister’s statement. As a dad, I know from two very recent experiences how valuable paternity leave is for fathers. Good companies also know that, as Tesco and other good employers have already increased their employee paternity leave offers because they know that a good workfo…
Commons
Debate
30 June 2025
Road Safety Powers: Parish and Town Councils
My hon. Friend has done tremendously well tonight, and he has been so generous with his time.
I am fortunate enough to represent two parish councils, one town council and numerous residents’ groups. Across my constituency, I have got dozens of councillors in Gildersome, Drighlington and Morley who …
Commons
Proceedings
25 June 2025
Nuclear-certified Aircraft Procurement
I welcome the Minister’s response to the urgent question. The purchase of 12 new F-35A aircraft will increase our nuclear capabilities and shows that our commitment to NATO is unshakeable. As the chair of the Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire all-party parliamentary group, I am always on the lookout …
Commons
Debate
16 June 2025
Air India Plane Crash
I associate myself with the comments made by the Minister, the shadow Foreign Secretary and many others from across the House in expressing condolences. My thoughts have been with the families, friends and the people who have lost loved ones in the Air India crash. I represent a lot of people in Lee…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
16 June 2025
Iran-Israel Conflict
A full-scale war between Israel and Iran is clearly in no one’s interests, but neither is a nuclear-armed Iran, so what is the Government’s realistic proposal to return to diplomatic solutions as soon as possible and to get Iran to give up its nuclear weapons programme? How realistic is it that Iran…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
10 June 2025
Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories
I refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, having visited both Israel and Palestine just a few weeks ago. I welcome the Minister’s statement today, as sanctioning these two extremist individuals is exactly the right thing to do; they are enemies of peace, and no two…
Commons
Westminster Hall
10 June 2025
4 contributions
Mass Transit: West Yorkshire
I beg to move,
That this House has considered Government support for mass transit in West Yorkshire.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine. Last week, I was delighted to have secured this debate, and the confirmation of its date came through just an hour before the news that t…
I thank the hon. Member for his incredibly timely contribution—I could not agree more.
One reason that some residents of Leeds were sceptical last week was the repeated failures of previous Governments of different colours to deliver the transport improvements that we know we deserve. I am here to …
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Proceedings
9 June 2025
Chinese Embassy Development
I appreciate that the Minister cannot comment on individual planning applications from the Dispatch Box, but when I speak to Hongkongers in my constituency, they are seriously concerned about the risks that come with transnational repression and that might come along with the creation and constructi…
Commons
Debate
3 June 2025
Dementia Care
My hon. Friend is making a powerful speech. One of my constituents has a grandma who waited a staggering 18 months for a dementia diagnosis. The family did not have the £3,000 required to get a private diagnosis. My hon. Friend mentioned the need to increase the resources available to the NHS and ho…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
22 May 2025
Business of the House
As I am sure you know, Madam Deputy Speaker, it is time for trams in West Yorkshire. I want to thank all the colleagues across this House and the other place who have supported Tracy Brabin and I as we lead the charge to secure mass transit in West Yorkshire. The benefits are obvious: we know it wil…