Commons
Oral Questions
Restoration and Renewal Client Board
26 February 2026
2 contributions
Client Board: Progress
1. What recent progress the Client Board has made in its work.
The London 2012 Olympics took seven years to organise and cost £7 billion. The World Trade Centre rebuild in New York took seven years and cost $3.9 billion. The restoration of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris took less than five years and cost less than €1 billion, yet here we are, with the cheapest o…
Commons
Oral Questions
26 February 2026
2 contributions
Grassroots Sport
3. What steps her Department is taking to support grassroots sport.
Swimming is not just a sport, but a very important life skill, particularly for those of us who represent coastal communities. Unfortunately, over 1,600 swimming pools across the country are now more than 40 years old. The previous Government committed £80 million to renovating those swimming pools.…
Commons
Debate
23 February 2026
Schools White Paper: Every Child Achieving and Thriving
I welcome the ambition to look again at the funding formula that so disadvantaged children in my constituency. I also welcome the additional provision for children with SEND in mainstream settings, but for many children, that is not appropriate; they need a specialist setting. One of the biggest pro…
Commons
Oral Questions
Housing, Communities and Local Government
23 February 2026
Topical Questions
T6. From his time at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Secretary of State will be well aware of issues with agricultural planning, so will he guarantee to the House that he will take urgent action to unblock the system and unlock tens of millions of pounds back into the rur…
Commons
Proceedings
12 February 2026
Business of the House
In response to the question from my right hon. Friend the Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Sir John Hayes), the Leader of the House seemed to suggest that the Government are not undergoing a rebrand from “His Majesty’s Government” to “UK Government”. However, in response to a written quest…
Commons
Westminster Hall
12 February 2026
UK-EU Agritrade: SPS Agreement
I welcome the report and I reiterate the thanks to the Backbench Business Committee for giving us this opportunity. The right. hon. Gentleman will be aware of the report done by the Andersons Centre, on behalf of CropLife UK, which indicates that alignment could wipe out £810 million-worth of farm p…
Commons
Oral Questions
Northern Ireland
11 February 2026
Autumn Budget 2025
The increase in national insurance contributions is having a devastating impact on the hospitality sector in Northern Ireland, with over a quarter of businesses reporting losses and a further 20% only breaking even. How is the Northern Ireland Executive expected to achieve their target of doubling t…
Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
9 February 2026
2 contributions
Asylum Seekers: Hotels
1. How many asylum seekers were accommodated in hotels on (a) 30 September 2025 and (b) 30 June 2024.
The Minister has just made it quite clear that since the general election the number of individuals in asylum hotels has risen by 22%. That is clearly at odds with his party’s manifesto pledge. What further action is he taking to reduce the number of individuals in migrant hotels? Can he guarantee t…
Commons
Proceedings
4 February 2026
Points of Order
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. The Prime Minister, in response to my question, appeared to deny ever being instructed by the disgraced lawyer Phil Shiner, yet I have here the 2007 case of Al-Jedda v. the Secretary of State for Defence, where it quite clearly says that the appellants were instructe…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
4 February 2026
Engagements
Q4. I will give the Prime Minister some brief respite from Peter Mandelson. However, he will also be familiar with the name Phil Shiner, the disgraced lawyer who was struck off and convicted for repeatedly inventing vexatious cases against British troops in Iraq. It is something of a surprise that…
Commons
Debate
2 February 2026
China and Japan
Further to that point, Russia has been able to triple its ballistic missile production because it has access to Chinese rocket fuel, Chinese machine tools and Chinese microprocessors. In return, China is receiving vast quantities of discounted oil, gas, aluminium and other natural resources. China i…
Commons
Proceedings
22 January 2026
2 contributions
Agricultural Sector: Import Standards
I will start by setting the scene to explain why we import so much food and why we are not self-sufficient.
We are never going to be self-sufficient in food—certainly not in bananas or avocados, but not in some meat sectors either. Although we produce very large quantities of lamb and beef, we are …
The hon. Member highlights an important point about the challenges of potential welfare labelling. If imports are not labelled in the same way, as they probably would not be, British producers could be put at a disadvantage when it comes to what a consumer might think about how something has been pr…
Commons
Debate
22 January 2026
2 contributions
Fishing Industry
I thank the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) for applying for today’s very important debate. I would like to start by paying tribute to the fishermen and women of Bridlington and Hornsea in my constituency and to the RNLI and inshore rescue teams who keep our fishermen safe …
On that second point, we will have to agree to disagree, but my hon. Friend is right in terms of spatial squeeze. If it is not an issue, I do not understand why it takes up so much of the briefing from the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations; they, I suspect, are the real experts in thi…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
22 January 2026
Business of the House
My right hon. Friend the Member for Hereford and South Herefordshire (Jesse Norman) mentioned PFI contracts earlier—a particularly pertinent subject as many of them come to an end. That is impacting a number of schools in my constituency, where work is suddenly not being done and costs are going up.…
Commons
Oral Questions
Cabinet Office
22 January 2026
Topical Questions
The Paymaster General has told the House this morning, on more than one occasion, just how wonderful his new EU deal will be for British food and drink manufacturers, so why is he refusing to appear in front of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee to discuss the matter in more detail?
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
21 January 2026
Engagements
The Prime Minister may be aware that my local authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire is the lowest-funded per pupil for children with special educational needs and disabilities, and his local authority in Camden is the highest—an inequality that he has repeatedly pledged to end. Well, the results…
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 January 2026
Animal Welfare Strategy for England
My right hon. Friend has long been a doughty champion for animal welfare. The strategy includes other measures around slaughter, such as on the use of carbon dioxide stunning. The industry has looked at various ways to reform that, but it would be very challenging and potentially very costly. Like a…
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
19 January 2026
Topical Questions
T6. The Secretary of State and I have had a number of exchanges over the past 18 months about the historical formula that leaves children with SEND in the East Riding as the worst funded in the country. I am sure she understands my frustration about the latest settlement, which will increase that …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
15 January 2026
Business of the House
Local rugby clubs such as Bridlington, Driffield and Hornsea do an enormous amount to engage young men and women in sport, and 2026 is Driffield rugby club’s centenary. Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating Driffield on its first 100 years? Can I tempt him to don his kit when the Co…
Commons
Proceedings
15 January 2026
2 contributions
Digital ID
I must congratulate the Minister on doing an excellent job as a human shield for the Prime Minister. He says that this scheme will bring down the number of people crossing the channel on boats, but that is clearly a farce. You have just said that you will be able to access—
My apologies, Madam Deputy Speaker. The Minister has just said that once he has rolled out this digital ID scheme, we will be able to access certain things that we cannot currently access. Can he list exactly what services we will be able to access?
Commons
Oral Questions
15 January 2026
Topical Questions
T4. My local county football association has contacted me, deeply concerned about plans to remove Sport England as a statutory consultee on planning, a point raised earlier by my hon. Friend the Member for Droitwich and Evesham (Nigel Huddleston). I am not entirely sure that he got a full response, …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
13 January 2026
Iran
Not only is the despotic Iranian regime gunning down protesters in the street, but it continues to support terrorist proxies such as Hamas and Hezbollah, it provides drones to the Russian military in Ukraine and it remains a very real threat to this country. While I welcome the statement, will the F…
Commons
Debate
7 January 2026
Rural Communities
It very much feels like we are back to the future, and like the Minister is channelling her inner Charli XCX and just wants to go back to 1999, because 27 years later, here we are with a Labour Government who are at war with the countryside, discussing issues like hunting, potentially enormously dam…
Commons
Debate
5 January 2026
Northern Ireland Troubles Bill: Armed Forces Recruitment and Retention
The Government’s troubles Bill contains no provisions to prevent former members of the IRA or other paramilitary groups from sitting on their proposed legacy commission. Northern Ireland veterans and victims are rightly outraged, so will the Minister use this opportunity to assure the House that the…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
16 December 2025
Planning Reform
The Minister will be aware that in certain parts of the country the agricultural planning system has ground to a halt, preventing modernisation on farms, stifling investment and damaging British food security. I welcome today’s measures on biodiversity net gain, but may I ask him to go further by ta…