Commons
Westminster Hall
15 July 2026
Regional Accents and Social Mobility
My hon. Friend is making an important and interesting speech. Confidence is incredibly important, especially for young people. We have a huge youth unemployment crisis in this country, and part of that is down to young people not having confidence. Does she agree, first, that we must ensure that the…
Commons
Oral Questions
Scotland
15 July 2026
2 contributions
City Region Deals
7. What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of city region deals in Scotland.
Cities such as Manchester and Liverpool have benefited enormously from their regional devolution. Greater Glasgow, 30 years ago, was split up into more than a dozen local authorities, so I ask the Secretary of State to press the Scottish Government to devolve power out of Edinburgh and into Glasgow.
Commons
Ministerial Statement
9 July 2026
NATO Summit
I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s statement. Recent events have underlined the need for us to co-operate much more closely with our European allies and partners, so what discussions did she have at the summit with her European counterparts on joint procurement between British and European defence in…
Commons
Proceedings
9 July 2026
Science, innovation and technology Committee
I welcome this very interesting and timely report, and I particularly welcome the recognition that one of the barriers to developing or strengthening our sovereignty is the lack of access to deep capital markets at the later stages of start-ups’ development. Will the Chair tell the House a little bi…
Commons
Debate
8 July 2026
Rearmament and Warfighting Readiness
My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. Does he agree that embedding that culture of innovation and iteration in the MOD is critical to ensuring that we can move as quickly as possible?
Commons
Proceedings
8 July 2026
NHS Corridor Care
My hon. Friend is being generous in taking interventions. There are few Members of this House, if any, who know about this subject in more detail than her. In Scotland, where my own constituents are facing the problem of corridor care, the Royal College of Nursing said a few weeks ago that we are “t…
Commons
Westminster Hall
8 July 2026
National Youth Strategy
My hon. Friend is generous in giving way, and she is making an important speech. The crisis of young people not in education, employment or training is one of the biggest problems we have in this country. Does she agree that youth clubs and the Duke of Edinburgh’s award scheme are part of how young …
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 July 2026
Heart Disease and Stroke: Premature Deaths
My hon. Friend is making an important and passionate speech, especially in the light of the personal circumstances that he mentioned. I agree with him about deprivation. Does he agree that access to fresh, affordable food is incredibly important, particularly in the most deprived areas? In Castlemil…
Commons
Westminster Hall
24 June 2026
Elections: First Past the Post
Like my hon. Friend, I have constituents who use proportional representation to elect people to local government or the Scottish Parliament. Does he agree that we have to learn lessons from both the positive and the negative elements in those electoral systems?
Commons
Westminster Hall
24 June 2026
Public Libraries: Bournemouth East
My hon. Friend the Minister is being very generous with taking interventions. Does he agree that SNP-run Glasgow city council’s decision to cut school librarians was a mistake and has a detrimental impact on kids’ education?
Commons
Westminster Hall
23 June 2026
Fly-tipping: Residential Areas
I feel honoured to intervene on the hon. Gentleman; it is often the other way around. Fly-tipping is a big issue in my constituency, as it is in his. There is frequent fly-tipping around the cemetery in Kilmarnock, for example. Does he agree that part of the problem with tackling this is a lack of p…
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 June 2026
Mental Health: Parity of Esteem
My hon. Friend is being very generous in giving way. I know that this is a topic she understands deeply and has campaigned on for many years. She is right to highlight the Milburn review. Does she agree that part of the response has to be developing a mental health support system that is preventive,…
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 June 2026
Abuse of Customer-facing Workers
My hon. Friend is being extremely generous with his time, and he is making an important speech. At a supermarket in Muirend in my constituency, there is a strong connection between other criminal actions—particularly shoplifting—and abuse of staff and sometimes physical violence towards staff. Do yo…
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 June 2026
Youth Mental Health Support
My hon. Friend is making an important speech about the state of child and adolescent mental health support in England. I will just make the point about what is happening in Scotland, which is also very poor. In January to March this year, almost 40% of referrals to CAMHS support were rejected by the…
Commons
Debate
3 June 2026
General Strike Centenary Commemorations
My hon. Friend is being typically generous in taking interventions, and I congratulate him on securing a debate on such an important topic. Will he join me in recognising the tradition of the Red Clydesiders in Glasgow, who were a huge part of the trade union movement and its history in this country…
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 June 2026
2 contributions
Glasgow City Region Economy
My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech and an important contribution. We have seen in other UK cities the difference that city region mayors can make, whether in Manchester or in Liverpool and whether on bus franchising or attracting investment. Does he agree that one of the things Glasgow nee…
The Minister is making an excellent speech. In the conversations that she has had with the Scottish Government, have they ever articulated a reason and an argument for not devolving that power to Glasgow? That devolution is what my constituents want. We can see from cities such as Manchester and Liv…
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 June 2026
Preparedness for National Emergencies
I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who is being typically generous in taking interventions. Last week, the director of GCHQ spoke about Russian hybrid warfare against the UK and how pervasive it consistently is. That is understood by defence experts, but is perhaps not well enough understood by the ge…
Commons
Debate
2 June 2026
Relationship between Social Security Scotland and the DWP
I congratulate the hon. Member for North East Fife (Wendy Chamberlain) on raising a very important issue that our constituents face. Does the Minister agree that the prolonged confusion and delay in Social Security Scotland taking over the administration of devolved benefits from the DWP has contrib…
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
1 June 2026
2 contributions
Russia: Level of Threat
17. What assessment he has made of the level of threat from Russia.
My hon. Friend the Member for Altrincham and Sale West (Mr Rand) mentioned the annual lecture delivered by the GCHQ director last week, which is important, and we should all reflect on the comments about Russia’s hybrid warfare. It is well established among security experts that Russia is conducting…
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 May 2026
Women’s Health and Wellbeing: Online Censorship
My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech on an important topic. She is very kind to give way. Does she agree with me that social media and the internet are great tools for people who suffer from unusual conditions or are a part of small communities? It is important that tech platforms do not pen…
Commons
Debate
20 May 2026
Banking Hubs
The hon. Member rightly talks about the lack of banking access in his constituency and in rural areas. I have noticed that there is now a lack of banking access even in my urban constituency in Glasgow, particularly in areas such as Castlemilk and Carnwadric. That is particularly bad because some of…
Commons
Oral Questions
18 March 2026
Topical Questions
T2. Britain has a world-leading creative sector and an AI economy second only to the US and China. Will the Secretary of State tell me how she is promoting and protecting both industries?
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
16 March 2026
2 contributions
Defence: UK Allies
13. What steps he is taking to improve defence relationships with the UK’s allies.
The war in Ukraine has shown that rapid innovation cycles are critical to success. Minister Fedorov and others in Ukraine have helped to build a defence technology ecosystem that connects start-ups, engineers and units on the frontline, even allowing some of those units to operate quasi-independentl…
Commons
Westminster Hall
10 March 2026
Technology Sovereignty
My hon. Friend is making an important speech on an important topic. She is right to talk about how the US and China dominate on technological sovereignty, and part of the reason it is very difficult for the UK to compete with them is, of course, the scale of those countries. Does she agree that the …
Commons
Debate
25 February 2026
Ukraine
Will the hon. Member join me in recognising recent opinion polling that has shown that the UK population remains steadfast in its support for the people of Ukraine? Part of that is about local associations of Ukrainians, like those in Glasgow, who promote Ukrainian culture and remind us all of the c…