Commons
Westminster Hall
14 January 2026
UK-France Relations
I thank my hon. Friend for securing the debate. On cultural relations, he may not be aware that the Festival Interceltique de Lorient, which celebrates the Celtic identity that is so strongly felt in regions of the UK and in Brittany, will this year focus on Cornish identity. Does he agree that cult…
Commons
Proceedings
13 January 2026
Storm Goretti
Meur ras, Madam Deputy Speaker. Jutting out into the Atlantic, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly have often found themselves on the frontline of nationally significant weather events. As my hon. Friend the Member for Truro and Falmouth (Jayne Kirkham) mentioned, the predictions are that storms like G…
Commons
Oral Questions
Housing, Communities and Local Government
12 January 2026
2 contributions
Social and Affordable Homes: Camborne and Redruth
9. What steps he is taking to build more social and affordable homes in Camborne and Redruth constituency.
Meur ras, Mr Speaker. With your good grace, I would like to take this opportunity to thank members of the emergency services, who responded so courageously across Cornwall during and in the wake of one of the worst ever storms to hit the duchy. I also thank the 600,000 people of Cornwall, who heeded…
Commons
Proceedings
8 January 2026
Business of the House
Meur ras, Madam Deputy Speaker. For decades, remote coastal areas such as Cornwall have seen education funding inexplicably lag well behind urban areas. Under this Labour Government, the particular challenges and costs associated with delivering services in deprived remote coastal areas have begun t…
Commons
Oral Questions
Transport
8 January 2026
2 contributions
Local Bus Services
6. What steps she is taking to help improve local bus services.
The recent Pretty Poverty report highlighted just how vital buses are to the daily lives of Cornish people, and given the massive lack of investment in public transport by the Conservative Government, it is no wonder that Cornwall suffers from one of the highest figures for car ownership per capita …
Commons
Debate
7 January 2026
2 contributions
Rural Communities
It is not just the constituents of Banbury who know they were let down by the New Zealand and Australia trade deals, but the Conservatives themselves. My Conservative predecessor said of the Australia deal that it was
“not actually a very good deal for the UK”. —[ Official Report , 14 November 2022…
On rural crime, earlier this week the Devon and Cornwall police and crime commissioner resigned from the Conservative party and is standing as an independent for the rest of her term. Does my hon. Friend agree that that is symptomatic of the Conservatives’ attitude to rural crime?
Commons
Oral Questions
Energy Security and Net Zero
6 January 2026
2 contributions
Energy Bills Reduction
5. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of reducing energy bills by £150 on family finances.
Kensa, based in my Camborne, Redruth and Hayle constituency, is the largest manufacturer of ground source heat pumps to neighbourhoods and council flats, and I know that the Secretary of State and the Chancellor have both visited that company. This technology delivers low energy bills for family fin…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
5 January 2026
Venezuela
I accept that Venezuela is a brutal, failed and highly dangerous state, but the implications of this action will be deeply destabilising across eastern Europe. In the Foreign Secretary’s discussions with the US Secretary of State about international law, did she reference the message that this actio…
Commons
Debate
5 January 2026
HMP Leyhill: Offender Abscondments
Once again, the Opposition have clearly absconded from reality. Will the Minister remind the House what the previous Government—of which the shadow Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for Newark (Robert Jenrick), was part—actually did to clamp down on absconds?
Commons
Debate
5 January 2026
Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief
I thoroughly welcome the increase in the threshold, and I remind the Minister that in terms of farming profitability, my Conservative predecessor—a former DEFRA Secretary —described their Australia deal as
“not actually a very good deal for the UK”. —[ Official Report , 14 November 2022; Vol. 722, …
Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
5 January 2026
2 contributions
Migrants: Safe and Legal Routes
12. What steps her Department is taking to introduce new safe and legal routes for migrants.
Meur ras, ha blethen noweth da—happy new year, Mr Speaker—and may I take this moment to thank the Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham North and Kimberley (Alex Norris), for, in his previous role, getting the Cornish language through part III status from that excellent organisation, th…
Commons
Debate
9 December 2025
2 contributions
Railways Bill
The Bill makes clear that GBR and the Office of Rail and Road would be required to have regard to local transport plans produced by mayoral combined authorities. However, that requirement does not apply to local transport plans produced by single strategic authorities outside mayoral combined author…
The desperately poor condition of our railway system is entirely symbolic of the wider decline in public services over the past 14 years. I regularly make the 10-hour round trip up to London from west Cornwall on trains that are often beset with delays, and a lack of water or heating. My constituent…
Commons
Debate
8 December 2025
Child Poverty Strategy
Meur ras, Madam Deputy Speaker. When the removal of the two-child benefit limit is considered chronologically, alongside the expansion of Best Start hubs, support for childcare, free breakfasts, free school meals and now the youth guarantee, does the Secretary of State agree that through the fog of …
Commons
Oral Questions
Work and Pensions
8 December 2025
2 contributions
Post-16 Skills Education
17. What steps his Department is taking to help to ensure that post-16 education provides the necessary skills to support the economy.
Cornwall has been identified as a strategically important region for renewable energy and critical minerals, but we currently have a worrying shortage of places at our outstanding further education colleges. Can the Minister reassure me that the necessary skills funding will be made available to sup…
Commons
Proceedings
3 December 2025
2 contributions
OBR: Resignation of Chair
The OBR leak was deeply disturbing, particularly in the light of international sensitivities. Can the Chief Secretary rule out foreign actors exploiting the OBR’s inadequate security at any point?
Selective amnesia.
Commons
Proceedings
27 November 2025
Budget Resolutions
Meur ras, Madam Deputy Speaker. I begin with some Kernewek, as I have done in pretty much every question in this Chamber, to reinforce the point about part III Cornish language status made by my hon. Friend the Member for South East Cornwall (Anna Gelderd).
Yesterday, the Chancellor announced a Bud…
Commons
Debate
24 November 2025
8 contributions
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
I wholeheartedly agree with my hon. Friend about the overnight stay levy, but I would like it to go further. Cornwall relies a lot on our tourism trade, but it brings with it a whole series of costs that are not recognised in any local government settlement. Cornwall is very long and thin, but by ge…
I rise to speak to new clause 70 in my name. The case for this new clause is clear, because Cornish national minority status must be respected and upheld. Article 16 of the Council of Europe’s framework convention for the protection of national minorities states:
“The Parties shall refrain from mea…
+6 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
24 November 2025
Critical Minerals Strategy
Meur ras, Madam Deputy Speaker. Anyone who has visited my Camborne, Redruth and Hayle constituency cannot have missed the signs of our industrial past, but after decades of post-industrial deprivation, global demand for critical minerals is surging to accelerate the transition to a clean energy futu…
Commons
Oral Questions
24 November 2025
Topical Questions
Meur ras, Mr Speaker. The whole of Cornwall, one of the most deprived regions in northern Europe, missed out on Pride in Place funding, which I can only assume was due to the “trusting your neighbour” indicator being treated as a marker of affluence rather than deprivation in the community needs ind…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
19 November 2025
Engagements
Meur ras, Mr Speaker. On 5 March at the Dispatch Box, the Prime Minister said these words:
“We do recognise Cornish national minority status—not just the proud language, history and culture of Cornwall, but its bright future.” —[ Official Report , 5 March 2025; Vol. 763, c. 278.]
Since then, I hav…
Commons
Oral Questions
Northern Ireland
19 November 2025
Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023
Yesterday, along with the Veterans Minister, I met a group of special forces veterans based in Cornwall. The legacy Act’s immunity scheme, which would have enabled immunity for terrorists and included other key provisions, was ruled against by our domestic courts. Is it not the case that any new Gov…
Commons
Oral Questions
18 November 2025
2 contributions
Clean Energy: Private Sector Investment
4. What estimate he has made of the value of private sector investment in clean energy since 4 July 2024.
Critical minerals are essential to power our renewable energy future. Since the general election, the National Wealth Fund has invested £28 million into the South Crofty tin mine and £35 million into Cornish Lithium, both in my constituency of Camborne, Redruth and Hayle. This is alongside major cle…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
13 November 2025
Business of the House
This week, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology made the very welcome announcement that animal testing in science is set to be phased out faster, delivering on the Government’s manifesto pledge to strengthen animal welfare. Does the Leader of the House agree with me that, as well as…
Commons
Debate
12 November 2025
8 contributions
Energy
Can the right hon. Member remind the House which party was in power when we reached cripplingly high energy prices that led to the cost of living crisis that we have today?
Robert Gordon University estimates that 90% of the UK’s oil and gas workforce have skills with medium or high transferability to the offshore renewables sector, making them well positioned for the transition. If the SNP does not want those jobs in Scotland, can the Minister please send them to Cornw…
+6 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
11 November 2025
Human Rights Laws
Meur ras, Mr Speaker. There are perhaps other unforeseen consequences of leaving the ECHR, including for the framework convention for the protection of national minorities. Does the Lord Chancellor agree that either the Opposition parties wishing to leave the ECHR have not considered the impact of l…