Commons
Debate
5 January 2026
Northern Ireland Troubles Bill: Armed Forces Recruitment and Retention
I thank the Minister for his engagement with the various associations, which I know is appreciated. I also welcome the improvement in recruitment. However, how are veterans meant to feel that there is anything other than persecution when incidents such as Loughgall—an exemplary SAS counter-terrorism…
Commons
Proceedings
9 December 2025
Northern Ireland Troubles: Operation Kenova
On Kenova, I can express only the horror experienced by some of the victims, but the wider context of our security services is very important. I worked in counter-terrorism in the Foreign Office, on the anti-ISIS campaign. The Secretary of State speaks about strict regulation, and that resonates. He…
Commons
Oral Questions
9 December 2025
Topical Questions
T4. Public research and development is so powerful for economic growth that US patents funded by it generate 12 times more growth than those that are not. But does the Chancellor accept the judgment of the OBR that UK public R&D will generate no additional incremental growth because we are not i…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
8 December 2025
Ajax Armoured Vehicle
Defence innovation is vital in adapting our armed forces to the drone age and the war in Ukraine, but also to the Government’s economic strategy. What confidence can the country have in the MOD’s ability to deliver, given the debacle with Ajax?
Commons
Proceedings
1 December 2025
2 contributions
Budget Resolutions
In February, Louise Holmes took me to her restaurant HolmeStores in Dorking, which was especially popular for brunch. It had fantastic food and a beautiful wood-panelled interior. Louise had 12 employees and was thinking about a second site, but she could not afford the employers’ national insurance…
I thank the right hon. Member, a colleague on the Treasury Committee, for giving way. I agree with many of the things he is saying, but does he not agree that the Conservative party also has considerable responsibility for this situation, through Brexit?
Commons
Debate
26 November 2025
Budget Resolutions
I thank the hon. Member for giving way. She is a colleague with me on the Treasury Committee. In terms of the Government delivering hope, a key part of the Government’s economic forecasting comes, of course, from the Office for Budget Responsibility. A lot of what has driven the Budget today is the …
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 November 2025
Rural Railway Stations: Step Free Access
In my constituency, in Bookham, access to the train to London is via an uneven path through the woods. Network Rail has not prioritised accessibility upgrades. Does the hon. Member agree that the Government must do more with accessibility schemes, like those he just mentioned?
Commons
Oral Questions
4 November 2025
Topical Questions
The Chancellor knows that I agree with her that the use of public research and development is one of the most effective levers for economic growth, but it will not significantly increase over the entire five-year spending review period. If the Government are serious about economic growth, they must …
Commons
Westminster Hall
4 November 2025
Royal Mail: Universal Service Obligation
I fully agree with the USO, but in some postcodes in my constituency 20% of first-class mail is delivered late. In Buckland, there is no mail service at all when the postlady is on holiday. Does the hon. Member agree that the Government must work with Royal Mail to improve service?
Commons
Proceedings
29 October 2025
Gaza and Hamas
We all hope desperately for a just peace in Gaza. I served alongside the Minister as a diplomat in the middle east and as a soldier. Given that, I particularly welcome the proposed international security force, but it is essential that such a force includes troops from Arab countries and possibly fr…
Commons
Debate
20 October 2025
3 contributions
Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
The hon. Member just said that foreign policy should not be made by referendum. Does he disagree, then, with article 1(2) of the UN charter—that the right to self-determination is a core principle in international relations and that we should therefore have a referendum for Chagos?
I entirely agree with my hon. Friend on the importance of having a right of referendum. I have had Chagossian constituents contact me with their outrage about the compounding of injustice in the new treaty. How realistic does my hon. Friend think it is to find people eligible to vote in a potential …
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
15 October 2025
Ukraine
I welcome the Government’s progress on the frozen Russian assets, but it is disappointing that, as yet, they are allocated only to recovery and not military capability, because Russia is spending $40 billion more than Ukraine and her Western allies on the war in Ukraine. The courage of Ukrainian for…
Commons
Debate
13 October 2025
Baby Loss
I commend the hon. Members for Sherwood Forest (Michelle Welsh) and for Rossendale and Darwen (Andy MacNae) and the right hon. Member for Godalming and Ash (Sir Jeremy Hunt) for calling this important debate. I have seen at first hand the commitment of the right hon. Member for Godalming and Ash to …
Commons
Proceedings
13 October 2025
Education Committee
There is a 12-year-old child in Dorking who is autistic and has had two suicide attempts, the most recent within the past four weeks. They do not have an EHCP. As the Chair acknowledges in the report, there are serious concerns about local authority governance. I have received 120 family testimonies…
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 September 2025
2 contributions
Children with SEND: Assessments and Support
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Allin-Khan. In Dorking the other day, a mum called Jenny came to see me about her daughters, Isabelle and Sienna. They are severely learning disabled, epileptic, blind, non-verbal and tube fed. Isabelle and Sienna have difficult lives, but they t…
I entirely agree, because by the age of three a child has 1,000 trillion brain connections, but that declines to 500 trillion by adolescence. That is why the earlier the intervention, the more effective the outcome and the lower the total cost. That is even before we consider the cost of a parent wh…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 September 2025
Ukraine
First, I commend the Defence Secretary and Admiral Sir Tony Radakin for their commitment to a just peace in Ukraine. However, I agree with the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) that the most reluctant member of this coalition of the willing appears to be Pres…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 September 2025
Middle East
In hearing from the Foreign Secretary that 132,000 children are at risk of dying from hunger, one can only feel utter revulsion. I recognise what the Government have done, but in their public diplomacy with President Trump, their strategy appears to be to pander to him. Again, I understand why the G…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 September 2025
Borders and Asylum
I am proud that this country helps refugees, and I am intensely proud that I spent years building a charity working with Rwandan refugees from the genocide, but in Horley there have been two serious criminal incidents in the past three months relating to the Four Points hotel. My constituents have l…
Commons
Debate
7 July 2025
3 contributions
SEND Provision: London Borough of Barking and Dagenham
I hear the heartbreaking stories from Barking and Dagenham about the huge demand for SEND provision and the difficulty in meeting it. In Surrey, we have similarly heartbreaking cases of children with autism who cannot move out of mainstream school because the capacity is not there. As a result, one …
I was moved by the speech just made by the hon. Member for Dagenham and Rainham (Margaret Mullane) and heartened to hear about the effectiveness of SEND provision in Barking and Dagenham. It is so important that we have effective examples of that in the country—particularly at the moment, when the G…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
30 June 2025
Topical Questions
Do the Government know if the US Government are still providing technical military intelligence support, such as electronic or imagery intelligence for Ukraine? If that were cut off by President Trump, would the Americans effectively restrict our British military technical intelligence support to Uk…
Commons
Debate
23 June 2025
2 contributions
Access to GPs
On that point, 4,000 residents in Westvale Park, a new housing development in my constituency, were promised a GP, and they had legally binding section 106 agreements in place. The construction money is there for a GP surgery, but the NHS has not provided the operational funding required for a GP. D…
The big issue in my constituency is that I have constituents who are on the point of qualifying as GPs, but they do not have jobs as GPs to go into. What do the Government plan to do as part of their 10-year plan to fix the issue that we have people qualifying as GPs who do not have GP jobs to go in…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
16 June 2025
Iran-Israel Conflict
While I deplore the alleged Israeli war crimes in Gaza, that should not cloud our view of the Iranian regime. As a British diplomat covering Syria, I saw how the Iranian regime was directly complicit in the torture and murder of hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians. I was a British soldier in I…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
11 June 2025
Spending Review 2025
As the Chancellor knows, our economy will only escape its difficult place if we raise economic productivity. On the Treasury Committee, I introduced the Chancellor to London Business School’s Paolo Surico’s research on how using public R&D, and especially defence spending, can help us to do that…
Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
2 June 2025
Vehicle Nuisance
Many residents in my constituency complain about motorcycle noise from illegally modified exhausts. Can the Home Secretary inform me of her plans to help local police and local authorities address this nuisance?
Commons
Debate
19 May 2025
2 contributions
Mental Health Bill [Lords]
I thank my hon. Friend. As he knows, in my maiden speech eight months ago I pledged that Fiona Laskaris would succeed in changing the law that had prevented her from saving her autistic son, Christopher, from murder. Fiona is here today. Despite pleading for years, she was never able to obtain a men…
Eight months ago, in my maiden speech to Parliament, I said that Fiona Laskaris would succeed in changing the law that prevented her from saving her autistic son, Christopher, from murder. I am here today to honour that commitment. We are on the cusp of changing the law. We have got this far thanks …