Commons
Ministerial Statement
14 January 2026
Northern Powerhouse Rail
I welcome the Secretary of State’s commitment to improving connections to Manchester airport, and I hope she will support my calls for a direct line between Stoke-on-Trent railway station, which serves most of my constituents, and Manchester airport. As the Secretary of State has heard from my hon. …
Commons
Westminster Hall
14 January 2026
Horse and Rider Road Safety
I am grateful to the hon. Member for giving way; I will have to buy him a pint for making him wait.
Newcastle-under-Lyme is home to many rural communities where horse riding is a much-loved and much-enjoyed way to spend time. My constituent Carol Whitehouse took me out recently on her horse, and Sa…
Commons
Debate
13 January 2026
2 contributions
Finance (No. 2) Bill
For clarity, bet365 is based in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Gareth Snell), but—
It is one of the largest private sector employers in Newcastle-under-Lyme—that was not in my hon. Friend’s notes. [Laughter.] Can the Minister touch a little bit on the engagement with some of these companies to ensure that the workers, many of whom live in my constituency and the constituency of my…
Commons
Proceedings
13 January 2026
Storm Goretti
Storm Goretti had a big impact back home in Newcastle-under-Lyme, made all the worse by the disgraceful response of Staffordshire county council. I wrote to the council on 28 November, asking what plans were in place to ensure that it was prepared for bad weather. I was told on 18 December that it w…
Commons
Westminster Hall
13 January 2026
3 contributions
Airport Drop-off Charges
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for securing this important debate. I should declare an interest, because Manchester airport is my local airport and is used by many of my constituents in Newcastle-under-Lyme. In fact, I was there on Sunday: my poor wife had to wait because the flight from Northern I…
On a point of order, Ms Vaz. In the interests of getting home safely, I should say that my wife quite often says “I love you,” and I am very grateful to her for doing so.
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
7 January 2026
3 contributions
Bletchley Railway Station: Eastern Entrance
Will my hon. Friend give way?
I was about to be nice to my hon. Friend! I congratulate him on an excellent speech and on his dogged tenacity on behalf of his constituents in Buckingham and Bletchley. I saw that part of the world when he bought me a pint at his local in the summer, and I hope that he will extend an invitation to …
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
7 January 2026
Ukraine and Wider Operational Update
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. When I left home in Newcastle-under-Lyme on Monday to travel down to Parliament, the weather was already very bad after heavy snow on Sunday night. However, for the people of Newcastle-under-Lyme, the situation at home has got worse, thanks to both the weat…
Commons
Debate
6 January 2026
3 contributions
River Cherwell: Clearing Illegal Waste
I did not realise that the A34 goes through the hon. Gentleman’s constituency, as it does mine—we will have to do a road trip some time. I congratulate him on his excellent speech. The Minister will not be surprised to see me here, because in Newcastle-under-Lyme we lived with the very worst example…
I am grateful to the Minister for sharing with the House this important step forward. We are talking about these issues going back to 2018, and it just worries me that if this had been done before, some of the issues that I have hassled her about in relation to Walleys Quarry since I was elected to …
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
5 January 2026
Topical Questions
For my constituents back home in Newcastle-under-Lyme, a crime is a crime wherever it takes place. Can the Minister set out what steps she will take to ensure that rural crime in my constituency and across Staffordshire is always treated with the same urgency as crime that takes place in our town an…
Commons
Proceedings
17 December 2025
Northern Ireland Troubles: Legacy and Reconciliation
It is always important for Northern Ireland to be discussed on the Floor of the House—we are, after all, one United Kingdom—so I thank the shadow Secretary of State for securing the urgent question. We must never forget the people of Northern Ireland. Can my right hon. Friend say what recent engagem…
Commons
Proceedings
16 December 2025
2 contributions
Africa: New Approach
(Urgent Question): To ask the Foreign Secretary if she will make a statement on the Government’s new approach to Africa.
I am grateful to you for granting this urgent question, Mr Speaker. I declare an interest as chair of the all-party parliamentary group for foreign affairs and co-chair of the APPG for the Commonwealth.
The geopolitical challenges we face as a nation are acute and mounting and have real impacts on …
Commons
Westminster Hall
16 December 2025
Quarries: Planning Policy
Thank you very much, Dr Murrison. I am grateful to the hon. Member for South Leicestershire (Alberto Costa) for securing the debate and giving me the opportunity to speak about the impact of quarries once permission for them has been granted. Newcastle-under-Lyme has regrettably been tarnished in th…
Commons
Debate
15 December 2025
Sudan: Humanitarian Situation
People in Newcastle-under-Lyme are watching this crisis unfold with horror, and I congratulate the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) on securing this urgent question. I welcome the Minister to the Dispatch Box—it is the first time I have seen him—but I must say that a…
Commons
Proceedings
11 December 2025
Business of the House
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Further to the question from my constituency neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent North (David Williams), Staffordshire has been in the news this week not for the skills, smarts and successes of our wonderful people from Newcastle-under-L…
Commons
Proceedings
9 December 2025
Northern Ireland Troubles: Operation Kenova
I thank the right hon. Member for Belfast East (Gavin Robinson) for securing his urgent question. Like him and others across the House, I think today about the victims of terrorism who lost their lives, and their families. I want to acknowledge and commend Sir Iain Livingstone and Chief Constable Bo…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
4 December 2025
Northern Ireland: Legacy of the Past
I thank my hon. Friend for her excellent statement on our important report on the legacy of the past in Northern Ireland. I want to acknowledge the Committee staff, Chloe and Joe, who are sitting in the Gallery, who helped put our report together. The clear message from the families, the representat…
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 December 2025
4 contributions
Advanced Ceramics Industry: North Staffordshire
And Newcastle-under-Lyme.
I am grateful to my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour for securing this debate. I want to add my voice, and those of thousands of people back home in Newcastle-under-Lyme, in support of the excellent case she made that there is no better place to invest than our part of the world. The Minister …
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Proceedings
27 November 2025
2 contributions
Budget Resolutions
I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in this debate. Many of the measures announced yesterday will make a real difference to the lives of the people I represent back home in Newcastle-under-Lyme. To whom much is given, much is expected. The Labour party received a mandate and the trust of the …
I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who gives voice to the fact that we are one United Kingdom, and the same approach must be taken in Scotland as in the centre of our collective universe, Newcastle-under-Lyme. It is important to note that the challenges facing our farming industry did not start last J…
Commons
Westminster Hall
26 November 2025
2 contributions
Young People not in Education, Employment or Training
Thank you, Mr Dowd, for calling me to speak—and for saving the best until last. I am also grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Amber Valley (Linsey Farnsworth) for securing this important debate. Ensuring that young people in Newcastle-under-Lyme who are not in education, employment or training…
I am grateful to my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour for her intervention. She is absolutely correct to talk about the importance of not just our local college but of colleges generally in ensuring that we get this matter right for our young people up and down the country.
For young people af…
Commons
Debate
20 November 2025
Children with Serious Neurological Conditions
My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. May I put to him the importance of communication? He has just touched on the many cases of families going to a million and one different agencies to seek support. More often than not, when there is a need for those agencies to speak to each other and the…
Commons
Proceedings
20 November 2025
Ukraine: Forcible Removal of Children
Using children in this way is sick—there is no other word for it. The people of Newcastle-under-Lyme opened their homes, they spoke out, they spoke up and they stood with the people of Ukraine—and they still do. They raise money and deliver medical supplies, books and clothes. I thank them all for t…
Commons
Westminster Hall
19 November 2025
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way, from one Adam to another. I want to give a shout out to ME Group Staffordshire, which does wonderful work in supporting my constituents and people in the surrounding areas, and does so much to challenge the stigma that many people living with ME fa…
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 November 2025
2 contributions
Parkinson’s Disease
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Colne Valley (Paul Davies) on his excellent opening speech. In June this year, my father-in-law, Adrian Lawther, died after living with Parkinson’s for more than a decade. Adrian was a smart, decent and unassuming man, and very much lived the lessons of “…
I could not have put that better myself.
In Newcastle-under-Lyme, hundreds of local people live with Parkinson’s, and that number is rising. It is a life-altering disease that destroys personal autonomy; it affects someone’s ability to talk, swallow, move and write. Cruel is not the word. For those…
Commons
Debate
11 November 2025
2 contributions
Remembrance Day: Armed Forces
On that point, will the Minister give way?
I am grateful to the Minister for giving way. In the interests of peace and togetherness, I will not take it personally that he chose to take an intervention earlier from my hon. Friend the Member for Derby North (Catherine Atkinson), whose constituency is in the east midlands, rather than from me, …