Commons
Ministerial Statement
11 September 2025
Business of the House
I have enjoyed many Bournemouth air festivals, so its cancellation has left a huge gap. I recently met an event organiser who has a plan, and I am open to meeting more organisers. The BH Area Hospitality Association, under the leadership of Rosie Radwell, has launched “Check In – Chill Out”, which i…
Commons
Debate
10 September 2025
Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [Lords]
In Bournemouth East, I am campaigning to get a better bus route to Bournemouth airport, to improve the No. 33 and to reinstate a service in Throop, where the community feel very disconnected. Does the hon. Lady agree that one benefit of this Bill is that it empowers local authorities to run their ow…
Commons
Westminster Hall
10 September 2025
3 contributions
Playgrounds: Bournemouth East
I beg to move,
That this House has considered playgrounds in Bournemouth East constituency.
Eight months ago, I stood just a few seats away from this spot to lead the first debate on playgrounds in eight years—the longest in 17 years. The previous debate, 17 years ago, saw the last Labour Governme…
I entirely agree; the hon. Gentleman pre-empts some of what I am about to say. Community infrastructure and accessible infrastructure are absolutely critical alongside playgrounds.
The public voted for change last year, and we now happily have a different Government. The question is whether this Go…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Proceedings
4 September 2025
Business of the House
I recently met grassroots football teams, including King Park Dynamos, Generation Elite Academy, Queens Park ladies and the AFC Bournemouth community sports trust Minikickers. They want more football pitches in Bournemouth, and Kings park would be the perfect place, but the athletics track needs fix…
Commons
Oral Questions
4 September 2025
2 contributions
Dorset Coast: Pollution
5. What steps he is taking to help tackle water pollution on the Dorset coast.
I thank the Secretary of State for his answer and for his two visits to Bournemouth. People still talk happily about his visit to the Hengistbury Head Outdoors centre. I met recently with constituents in Bournemouth East who are calling for nationalisation as a way to improve accountability and inve…
Commons
Debate
3 September 2025
7 contributions
Hospitality Sector
Bournemouth relies heavily on hospitality and tourism. In my constituency alone, hospitality generates £162.8 million in revenue and employs 3,700 people across more than 30 venues. The sector creates vibrant communities, accessible jobs and attracts investment. Take Kris Gumbrell, the CEO of Brewho…
I am astonished that nobody raised a point of order there. Of course Plymouth does not have the best beer in the country; Bournemouth East does. If not Bournemouth East, I am sure that many other constituencies would claim to, too. However, I agree with my hon. Friend that the hospitality sector has…
+5 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
3 September 2025
Property Taxes
The Conservative Government raised taxes 25 times in the last Parliament. How many of those tax rises did the hon. Gentleman oppose?
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 September 2025
Defibrillators
Will my hon. Friend join me in congratulating the work of Bournemouth Heart Club, which promotes good heart health, and also Regency Living, HENRA—Hengistbury Residents’ Association—and St Nicholas Church, which funded a defibrillator at St Nicholas Church that, just seven weeks after installation, …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 September 2025
Middle East
What happened on 7 October was inhumane: Hamas are terrorists and the hostages must be returned immediately and safely. Israel is behaving insufferably and what the Israeli Government are doing is unacceptable. The International Criminal Court has indicted Israeli leaders for the war crime of starva…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 September 2025
Borders and Asylum
Is it any wonder that an Opposition Member described the shadow Home Secretary’s asylum policy as “silly”, given that it was a Conservative Government who failed to process claims, filled up hotels, left people in limbo and broke the bank in the process, just as they broke the bank when it came to e…
Commons
Debate
16 July 2025
2 contributions
Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life
On Friday, I visited St Katharine’s primary school, where I met young people from my constituency who emphasised two really important points: first, that they want to be global citizens and a part of wider humanity focusing on the world, and, secondly, that they care deeply about nature and want to …
When I talk with parents and guardians in Bournemouth East, they described the EHCP process as being adversarial and almost designed to exclude. They want a greater role earlier on in the design of their child’s EHCP. Does the Minister agree that that is an important thing that we should be seeking …
Commons
Debate
15 July 2025
6 contributions
Taxes
Since working at Oxfam and campaigning for tax justice, I have admired the right hon. Gentleman’s work. Were the Conservative party to listen to him, the right hon. Member for Salisbury (John Glen) and the right hon. Member for Wetherby and Easingwold (Sir Alec Shelbrooke), it could find its way bac…
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
15 July 2025
5 contributions
Welfare Spending
Today, we have seen lots of colleagues taking interventions from each other. When I stand up to speak, particularly about poverty, I take interventions from another source—my mum. She will be sitting at home, watching the TV, and she will text me, because she knows that I am going to talk about my u…
I always agree with my hon. Friend, especially when she says that I should agree with my mum. I thank her for her intervention, and I agree that nobody’s background should shape their future. We are in this place to create a better social security system, a better NHS and better public services, so …
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
10 July 2025
Children’s Health
We know the problems facing children’s health, and we know the scale of those problems—there is more than enough evidence—so in the time I have I will focus on some of the solutions. I welcome the Government’s commitment to rolling forward youth hubs, to recruiting 8,500 mental health workers and, t…
Commons
Oral Questions
10 July 2025
Topical Questions
I welcome the UK-EU reset, which will help to bring down energy bills and grocery bills. I also welcome the Government’s new procurement plans. Bournemouth East has fantastic talent, particularly among our younger population. Will the Minister outline how the new procurement plans will both help to …
Commons
Oral Questions
10 July 2025
2 contributions
Visas: Schengen Area
2. What discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on visa rules for UK citizens visiting the Schengen area for 90 in 180 days.
Many thousands of constituents, including Philip and Kathryn in my constituency, live for part of the year in Spain. Prior to Brexit, they did so without restriction, but now they face limited visa options, resulting in more frequent flying. What conversations has the Minister had with Spain’s Gover…
Commons
Debate
9 July 2025
2 contributions
Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill
Last week we heard the Minister say, from the Dispatch Box, that descriptors, activities and associated points will all be subject to the Timms review, which will be co-produced with disabled people. Was the hon. Member listening to that statement, and does she accept that as a fact given at the Dis…
I recognise exactly what my hon. Friend is saying, because both my parents were forced out of work. They were unwell, and could not get the support they needed from the NHS. They could not get a foot in the door of the social security system and, as their health got worse, they got further away from…
Commons
Oral Questions
8 July 2025
2 contributions
Prison Capacity
10. What steps she is taking to increase prison capacity.
Every week brings new concerns about crime in Bournemouth, and I will pick up this issue with the police and crime commissioner for my area in my Boscombe office on Friday. Increasing prison spaces keeps dangerous people away from the public, and punishes serious crime. Increasing prison spaces stop…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
7 July 2025
Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life
One of the very best things that the last Labour Government did was the roll-out of Sure Start, and one of the very worst things that the Conservative Government did was the hollowing out of so many hundreds of Sure Start centres, so I am thrilled by today’s announcement. Play has been squeezed out …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
30 June 2025
Welfare Reform
I grew up caring for two disabled parents. As a kid, I saw at first hand the harms that happen when the British state routinely lets down disabled people. It is why disabled civil rights activists have a phrase, “Nothing about us without us,” and it is why I am looking for genuine and meaningful co-…
Commons
Debate
25 June 2025
2 contributions
National Armaments Director
I start by thanking everyone in our armed forces who serves, who has served, and who has fallen. Our country is safer and better because of their service.
In assessing the financial necessity of meeting our defence needs, it is important, first, to look at the state of our world—not only our real a…
No, I will not. Please sit down.
It is important that we bring the right scrutiny to our decisions and our defence strategy. It is important, too, that across the House we conduct ourselves in an appropriate fashion. In advancing our defence and security, with the decisions that are pursuant to tha…
Commons
Debate
25 June 2025
4 contributions
Criminal Justice
We who knock on doors week in, week out, know all too well the trend that has grown in recent years; every display of incompetence, every proof of national decline, and every sign of political self-interest from the Conservatives has damaged—indeed, hollowed out—public trust in the ability of our de…
I will happily do so if the hon. Gentleman will apologise for 14 years of chaos.
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Proceedings
23 June 2025
Pride Month
Today we raise a toast to Pride, and in so doing, we raise a toast to nothing less than life. We also recommit to liberation—the liberation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people. There is a particular quotation that I like, which is this:
“Queerness is essentially about the rejection of a here…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
23 June 2025
UK Modern Industrial Strategy
The CBI says that our net zero economy grew by 9% in 2023, and that it was 40% more productive and wages in the sector were 15% higher than the UK average, so I am pleased to say that this industrial strategy is betting on a winner with clean energy. I am also pleased to hear the announcement that t…