Commons
Proceedings
30 October 2025
Business of the House
I have had the pleasure today of hosting the Royal Welsh show rural leadership participants in Parliament; they are in the Gallery. We met in Committee Room 12, which, for those who do not know, was the very place where the Royal Welsh show was formed in February 1904, 121 years ago. Will the Leader…
Commons
Oral Questions
Wales
29 October 2025
2 contributions
Energy Infrastructure: Pylons
4. Whether she has had recent discussions with the Welsh Government on the replacement of overhead pylons with underground cabling.
My constituency is the location of two major infrastructure projects—a network of pylons of 97 km and 60 km, alongside 248 wind turbines that are 230 metres tall. The cumulative impact of these projects is significant, occupying land that could support other development, and it remains unclear wheth…
Commons
Westminster Hall
27 October 2025
Statutory Maternity and Paternity Pay
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Hobhouse. The UK’s statutory paternity leave offer is one of the least generous and lowest in Europe, at £187 per week. In fact, the TUC reports that half of families struggle financially when a parent takes paternity leave—as does research from…
Commons
Proceedings
23 October 2025
Business of the House
In 2020, my constituent Dorien Williams submitted a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman service about the professional conduct of his former legal representatives. It took the ombudsman four years to find in his favour. The delay took Mr Williams over the six-year limitation period, denying him the opp…
Commons
Proceedings
23 October 2025
Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund
Some 90% of our fishing fleet in Wales are small, under-10 metre boats. The Seafish “Economics of the UK Fishing Fleet” report for the last year found that while Scotland and England saw strong fishing income growth, profits in Wales fell by nearly 10%, despite more active days at sea. Does the Mini…
Commons
Westminster Hall
22 October 2025
8 contributions
Coal Tip Safety and New Extraction Licences
I beg to move,
That this House has considered coal tip safety and the prohibition of new coal extraction licences.
Diolch yn fawr, Gadeirydd. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg.
Just as coal ran in rich veins beneath the Welsh valleys and mountains, it also runs deep thro…
That is true. It is ironic that the two incidents happened on exactly the same date—a few years apart, but on 21 October. We must never forget either.
+6 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 October 2025
Electricity Infrastructure: Rural Communities
In my constituency, pylon proposals are causing huge distress among our rural communities. They will not bring any real benefit to those communities. In fact, developers often bypass the rights of landowners, and the proposed developments will ruin our beautiful landscape. Does the hon. Member agree…
Commons
Debate
20 October 2025
Post-16 Education and Skills Strategy
The Education Secretary’s focus today is on the new vocational qualification training, which will be welcome for students in England. In Wales, however, where her party has led the Government for the past 25 years, the apprenticeship budget has been cut by 14%. Will she be lobbying the Chancellor ah…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
14 October 2025
Middle East
The images of ceasefire and families reunited are deeply heartening and a moment of relief and celebration amid such immense suffering, yet this fragile peace remains vulnerable, particularly to the corrosive effects of misinformation. True and lasting peace must be built on openness, transparency a…
Commons
Westminster Hall
14 October 2025
2 contributions
COP30: Food System Transformation
COP30, as with past COPs, requires us to be more sustainable, and that includes food production, as the hon. Member said. In Caerfyrddin, we have a public farm producing vegetables for schools and residential homes, so public land is being used for public benefit. Why can all local authorities not f…
No, it is not a speech. Thank you, Mrs Harris; I appreciate your guidance. Does the hon. Member agree with that sustainable and seasonal way of reducing food miles by using public land?
Commons
Proceedings
4 September 2025
Business of the House
Diolch yn fawr, Madam Dirprwy Lefarydd. After the insolvency of Allied Steel and Wire, money that workers paid into their pension schemes before April 1997 was not fully inflation-proofed through the financial assistance scheme. The previous Work and Pensions Committee recommended that the UK Govern…
Commons
Westminster Hall
4 September 2025
Future of Terrestrial Television
Diolch yn fawr; it is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. As the right hon. Member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (David Mundell) has set out, the future of terrestrial TV is uncertain once current licences expire in the 2030s. While some industry figureheads advocate…
Commons
Debate
3 September 2025
2 contributions
Property Taxes
I begin by referring the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.
I represent a rural, agricultural community. As we look forward to a Budget for Christmas, this Labour UK Government’s last autumn Budget remains of significant concern. The wide divide between rural Wales a…
Absolutely, and I will come on to that in a minute. In Wales, between 75% and 90% of farmers will be affected by the policy, according to NFU Cymru and FUW.
It is clear that this Government’s APR changes will not hit tax-avoiding wealthy land hoarders. Instead, they will punish working farmers in W…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 September 2025
Middle East
Data from the Israeli military shows that 83% of people killed in Gaza since October 2023 have been civilians. Killing at this mass scale for months on end is unparalleled in modern conflict. Will the Foreign Secretary act to place far more pressure on Israel to end the mass killing of civilians by …
Commons
Proceedings
17 July 2025
Business of the House
Coming from a rural background and constituency, and having visited London only a handful of times before becoming an MP, it was a massive culture shock to come here last July. Representing our constituents would not be possible without the kindness and consideration of the whole of the House, inclu…
Commons
Debate
9 July 2025
2 contributions
Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill
I stand to support new clauses 8 and 11, and amendments 12, 38 and 39, among others, which I will mention as I go through my speech. I promise to keep to the unofficial four-minute time limit.
A week after the cruel Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill and its arbitrary eligibili…
I am just coming to the end of my remarks, if the hon. Member does not mind. I am keeping to my four-minute time limit.
The Bill should be scrapped. It is neither fair nor compassionate welfare reform. It is not fit for our constituents.
Commons
Ministerial Statement
8 July 2025
Road and Rail Projects
Spiralling costs mean that Wales is owed at least £4 billion from HS2, yet, as the hon. Member for Monmouthshire (Catherine Fookes) said, we are set to receive just £445 million over a 10-year period, which will be used for five stations, with nothing west of Cardiff. St Clears in my constituency ha…
Commons
Debate
1 July 2025
2 contributions
Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill
I have heard some really passionate, personal speeches in the Chamber today, and I thank all hon. Members for their testimonies and contributions.
The Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill is a direct attack on ill and disabled people, just to cut costs. Arbitrarily restricting el…
I will allow the Minister to answer that in his closing statement. I could not possibly comment.
My constituent Clare Jacques has several disabilities, including arthritis. She currently receives PIP, which has helped her to build on her master’s degree in equality and diversity in work and allowed…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
30 June 2025
Welfare Reform
The UK Government’s amendments to the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill were not included in the initial statement on the Bill’s compatibility with the European convention on human rights. Discrimination is a real concern, given that two people with the same condition could rec…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
19 June 2025
UK Infrastructure: 10-year Strategy
The Chief Secretary’s statement made no mention of rural areas. When it comes to infrastructure, Welsh rural communities have for decades lost out, with a lack of investment in both our physical and digital infrastructure. Unfortunately, the £445 million on rail does not come anywhere near rural Wal…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
18 June 2025
Engagements
Q9. Diolch, Mr Llefarydd. Welsh farmers are taking hit after hit, from Tory trade deals to Labour taxes. Now, on top of that, bluetongue restrictions affecting Wales and England will hamper cross-border trade. Over 550 farms on the border and key livestock markets rely on summer trading. Once-in-a…
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 June 2025
Disabled People in Poverty
Diolch yn fawr iawn. Analysis from Policy in Practice has found that four of the 10 UK local authority areas worst hit by the welfare cuts are in Wales—and we only have 22 local authorities—impacting 6.1% of our population at a cost of £470 million.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s “Poverty in Wale…
Commons
Proceedings
12 June 2025
Business of the House
My constituent Mr Wayne Arnold has compiled a dossier of faults following an ECO4 upgrade at his home last year. I have the lever arch file here—it is two inches thick and well worth looking at. It has taken 62 weeks for the works to be completed. Another constituent, Judie Haines, cannot find local…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
11 June 2025
2 contributions
Engagements
Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 11 June.
Diolch, Mr Llefarydd. My constituent Mr Michael O’Leary was brutally murdered five years ago, and his body was desecrated. Working alongside the hon. Members for York Outer (Mr Charters) and for Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr (Steve Witherden), I have made a number of requests to discuss the case of Mr…
Commons
Oral Questions
Wales
11 June 2025
Clean Energy: Wales
Diolch yn fawr, Mr Llefarydd. Green energy deserves green transmission, so will the Minister commit to undergrounding any new electric transmission in Wales?