Commons
Debate
5 March 2026
Palliative Care
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell) for bringing the debate to the House, and for all the campaigning that she does. She is a force for getting palliative care the funding that it truly needs.
Laura and Keith Turner and their daughter Kate are at the heart of the co…
Commons
Debate
5 March 2026
Commonwealth Troops: First World War
More than 1 million troops from Commonwealth nations died in the “war to end wars”. My thanks go to my hon. Friend the Member for Ilford South (Jas Athwal) for securing this important debate today to honour their service and the service of their comrades who did survive the first world war.
Anyone …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
5 March 2026
Energy Markets
It is interesting to note that, for the duration of this statement and the question and answer session, there has been zero participation from the SNP and Reform, which goes to show exactly how much both parties care about Scotland’s energy security.
I appreciate that the Secretary of State will no…
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 March 2026
Small Charity Sector
It is a pleasure to serve under you in the Chair, Sir Roger. I thank the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) for securing this important debate.
When times are hard, the charity sector is always asked to do more. The unholy trinity of austerity, which made mil…
Commons
Debate
23 February 2026
Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill
There are pockets of Grangemouth with the deepest poverty in Scotland. Tonight in Clackmannanshire, 29% of children will go to bed living in destitution. Hunger and hardship are becoming more common. That is why I support the new clause tabled by my right hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harling…
Commons
Oral Questions
23 February 2026
3 contributions
Labour Together and APCO Worldwide: Cabinet Office Review
When the Prime Minister came to power, promising to clean up politics, he declared:
“Journalism is the lifeblood of democracy.”
We all know that Labour Together helped to mastermind the Prime Minister’s rise to the highest office in the land, and that it stands accused of running an orchestrated c…
I withdraw.
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
10 February 2026
Topical Questions
T3. ExxonMobil has just closed the Mossmorran ethylene plant. ExxonMobil also paid out $17 billion in shareholder dividends. Scottish workers are being betrayed for corporate greed. Does the Secretary of State agree that we need Government ownership in vital industries, because private capital will …
Commons
Debate
5 February 2026
Occupied Palestinian Territories: Genocide Risk Assessment
I thank the hon. Member for Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber (Brendan O’Hara) for securing this debate and for so clearly and accurately setting the scene. The awkward truth for many in this Parliament is that genocide has occurred in occupied Palestine for decades, and the silence from the internati…
Commons
Debate
5 February 2026
Road Safety
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Anna Dixon) for securing this debate. I also thank Alan Faulds and Melanie Mitchell for inviting me to a Safe Drive Stay Alive event last week, where emergency service workers shared real-life experiences with local secondary school children about worki…
Commons
Westminster Hall
4 February 2026
2 contributions
Armed Conflict: Children
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Stringer. My thanks go to my hon. Friend the Member for Hyndburn (Sarah Smith) for securing this debate.
For me, the most depressing and terrifying departmental questions that we have in this place are Defence questions. We had a session on Monday…
I am in complete agreement. I have said that many times in Westminster Hall and the main Chamber, and in the media as well. My hon. Friend is absolutely correct: there is no justification for arms sales to Israel.
It is important to talk about that because, in the wider scheme of things, history wi…
Commons
Oral Questions
Justice
3 February 2026
Topical Questions
Violence against prison staff is at intolerable levels, with more than double the number of assaults today than a decade ago, all while prison officers are expected to work until they are 68 years of age. Does the Minister agree that this is unfair and unrealistic, and if so, what are the Government…
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 February 2026
Animals in Science Regulation Unit: Annual Report 2024
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Sir John. I thank the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) for securing this debate. I add my appreciation to everyone he mentioned at the start of his excellent speech. I do not know of a bigger animal lover than my hon. …
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 February 2026
Indefinite Leave to Remain
St Mark’s gospel says:
“Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”
With the political discourse of today largely focusing on blaming immigration for the societal ills our country faces, that commandment is sadly not in fashion.
The Government’s proposal for pathways to settlement introduces a new…
Commons
Westminster Hall
28 January 2026
Animal Testing
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend; he is making a powerful case, and a very traumatic one. Does he agree that if we are really to fulfil our 2024 manifesto commitment and enable a transition to more modern, human-specific technology, we should introduce Herbie’s law without delay?
Commons
Ministerial Statement
22 January 2026
Business of the House
Councillors across Scotland are preparing budgets and considering options, put forward by officers, that will mean cuts to vital public services. In Grangemouth, local residents are rightly worried about proposals to end maintenance of the beautiful Zetland Park, and for the closure of Grangemouth s…
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 January 2026
3 contributions
Waste Collection: Birmingham and the West Midlands
Good afternoon, Ms McVey. I thank the right hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Wendy Morton) for securing this debate.
I am a proud trade unionist, and I declare my membership of Unite the union. For generations, trade unions have fought for workers’ rights against right-wing Governments, which a…
I will.
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Proceedings
15 January 2026
Digital ID
When we look at the popular things that this Labour Government have done since coming to power—and I am talking about raising the minimum wage, raising the living wage and abolishing the two-child cap—we see that these decisions are rooted in Labour party values. Eroding civil liberties, as seen in …
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 January 2026
Food Inflation
It is a pleasure to have you in the Chair today, Dame Siobhain. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Hornsey and Friern Barnet (Catherine West) for securing this debate, and I thank the right hon. Member for Salisbury (John Glen) for his interesting, informative and considered contribution, especia…
Commons
Debate
14 January 2026
2 contributions
Oil Refining Sector
I thank the hon. Member for securing this debate and for his Westminster Hall debate. We sit on opposite sides of the Chamber, but I thoroughly respect how much he has stood up for his constituents and the wider oil refining industry in the United Kingdom, and I thank him for that.
I will speak abo…
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I was under the impression that the debate was on the wider UK refining sector. On that note, we talk about just transition—it is often mentioned in this Chamber—but job losses and no future jobs are the definition of a very unjust transition.
Commons
Proceedings
8 January 2026
Business of the House
The legendary Jock Stein famously once said that football without fans is nothing, and of course he was absolutely correct. I invite the Leader of the House to join me in recognising the fantastic Alloa Athletic football memories group, led by John Glencross, which meets up regularly to talk about a…
Commons
Oral Questions
Energy Security and Net Zero
6 January 2026
Renewable Energy Jobs
The Labour Government did excellent work just before Christmas in saving 500 jobs in the chemical industry at Grangemouth. That was real Labour party values in action, but we need to do more. How about investing in or, to be really radical, owning a sustainable aviation fuel-producing refinery at th…
Commons
Westminster Hall
6 January 2026
Less Survivable Cancers
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Efford. I thank the hon. Member for Wokingham (Clive Jones) for securing this debate. Even though health is a devolved matter under Holyrood control, my contribution today will be from a Scottish perspective, because I want to speak about the situat…
Commons
Debate
15 December 2025
Sudden Cardiac Death in Young People
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for securing this important debate; as the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) said, he is an absolutely fantastic representative for his constituents. Will he join me in thanking the family of Aiden Joyce from Clackmannanshire? Aiden was a serving police officer…
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
15 December 2025
Defence Investment Plan
In the Budget, defence received £25.9 billion for capital expenditure. In comparison, health and social care got £14 billion and housing got £9.6 billion. In the interests of democracy, I am going to put forward a different viewpoint from those we have heard so far. It is a fact that UK citizens are…
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 December 2025
2 contributions
Oil Refining Sector
It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair today, Mr Western. I thank the hon. Member for Brigg and Immingham (Martin Vickers) for securing this highly important debate, and I draw everyone’s attention to my membership of Unite the union.
Since coming to this place, I have repeatedly raised the issue…
I don’t know what you mean. [ Laughter . ]