Commons
Proceedings
3 December 2025
2 contributions
OBR: Resignation of Chair
I find it rather curious that Conservative Members have a lot to say about Hugh Dalton’s Budget in 1947, but so little to say about Liz Truss’s Budget in 2022.
Exactly. It is very curious.
All the staff in my office diligently followed Mr Speaker’s advice on cyber-security and the threat of foreign intervention in our IT, and it is right that we take these matters seriously. However, based on the reports we have seen, I am not convinced that the OBR had t…
Commons
Proceedings
1 December 2025
3 contributions
Budget Resolutions
It would be interesting to talk through the implications of such a drastic cut to welfare in one single Budget, and what that would mean for people in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency, particularly the young people with children who will be lifted out of poverty by this Budget.
At the SNP conference, I think the First Minister said that he was keen to replace the energy profits levy, but he was not quite sure what he was going to replace it with. Does he know yet?
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
26 November 2025
3 contributions
Budget Resolutions
I thank my hon. Friend for her forensic analysis of our Budget. Will she take an intervention from the Leader of the Opposition, so that she can apologise for that awful policy and its impact?
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
20 November 2025
International Men’s Day
This debate is a chance to speak honestly about the pressures, expectations and challenges that too many men carry alone and in silence. My hon. Friend the Member for Cannock Chase (Josh Newbury) exemplified all that in his speech, and I thank him for it.
Across my constituency, there are organisat…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
18 November 2025
ExxonMobil: Mossmorran
I grew up just four or five miles from the plant, and I have to say that it is an area still recovering from Thatcher’s economic vandalism. I thank the Minister for his statement and for the work he has done over many months, as well as my hon. Friend the Member for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy (Melani…
Commons
Westminster Hall
18 November 2025
UNESCO: 80th Anniversary
What a pleasure it is to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Derbyshire (Jonathan Davies) for so ably introducing the debate. The old and new towns of Edinburgh are designated a UNESCO world heritage site. My constituency includes just a small corner of …
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 November 2025
3 contributions
Social Media Posts: Penalties for Offences
I thank the hon. Gentleman for bringing this petition to the House. On what analysis does he base his comment that people are more likely to be in prison for a social media tweet than for rape?
What a pleasure it is to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Roger. I thank the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone) for so ably introducing the debate. Although the hon. Member for Guildford (Zöe Franklin) described her speech as being a little off-piste, I thank her for…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
12 November 2025
2 contributions
Nolan Principles
Will the hon. Gentleman give way, on that point?
It will be very brief. The hon. Gentleman has mentioned tickets. As he will know, a Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary used a limousine to attend football matches. Surely that does not sit easily with him. Let me also point out that his party’s Government are running Scotland via Holyrood, and th…
Commons
Debate
12 November 2025
2 contributions
Taxes
This is a serious point. People who are worried about the financial situation in the country will save rather than spend, whether they are private individuals or business. But is not the very aim of this debate to fuel that speculation and make people feel more anxious?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way. My home town is Kirkcaldy, and a former MP for Kirkcaldy is Gordon Brown, of course. In the Blair-Brown Government, he did a lot of work to cut child poverty, which is something I am really proud of, and he cut pensioner poverty as well. Conservative Member…
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 November 2025
3 contributions
Support for Dyslexic Pupils
What a privilege it is to serve under you today, Ms Butler. I thank the hon. Member for Yeovil (Adam Dance) for introducing this debate, alongside my hon. Friend the Member for Broxtowe (Juliet Campbell).
As others have noted, dyslexia affects around 10% of the UK population, with 4% experiencing s…
Absolutely. Particularly if the condition is not understood, they just assume—let us face it—that they are not the smartest kid in the class, whereas often the opposite is true. Through working with dyslexic students in my job as a lecturer, I know they are often real problem solvers, as we have hea…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 November 2025
Alcohol Duty: UK Wine Sector
What a pleasure it is to serve under you this evening, Mr Turner. I thank the hon. Member for Farnham and Bordon (Gregory Stafford) for introducing the debate so ably, and I agree with much of what he said. He presented a number of questions to the Minister on the operation of alcohol duty, but one …
Commons
Debate
4 November 2025
Supporting High Streets
The hon. Member is talking passionately and making many points that I agree with, but which constituents would he tell that they will not get that rise in the minimum wage? Will he tell his constituents that he opposes their getting that rise?
Commons
Debate
3 November 2025
Huntingdon Train Attack
I thank the Secretary of State for her statement and for bringing it to us so promptly. I use LNER every week to come to this place; I always knew that the staff were great, but I did not realise that they were heroes. The response we saw from both the staff and the public on the train really was th…
Commons
Proceedings
30 October 2025
Sudan: Protection of Civilians
I thank the Minister for his statement—it is good to have somebody at the Dispatch Box who both understands and cares about this issue. We have spent no shortage of time in this Chamber talking about the conflicts in the middle east and in Ukraine, but I think all of us are guilty of not talking eno…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
30 October 2025
2 contributions
Investment in Businesses
7. What steps he is taking to encourage investment in businesses.
One of the great things about Edinburgh South West is that it has a flourishing renewables sector, which I think is reaching critical mass. A few weeks ago, I attended a fantastic roundtable that demonstrated the industry’s desire to work with the UK Government to make their industrial strategy a co…
Commons
Proceedings
29 October 2025
Gaza and Hamas
I thank the Minister for his statement and his focus on maintaining the ceasefire. I stand in solidarity with the many ordinary Palestinians living under Hamas and with the families in Israel waiting for their loved ones to be returned, but I cannot conclude that what Netanyahu has done in the last …
Commons
Westminster Hall
29 October 2025
2 contributions
Vehicle Headlight Glare Standards
I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing his first Westminster Hall debate. I thought this was an issue of personal annoyance until I met Alan, an old colleague from Heriot-Watt University, who said he found it difficult to go out in the evening and was not looking forward to winter. He is a young …
That is an interesting point. If most drivers think there is an issue, that means their cars are probably part of the problem. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that they should look at their own vehicles first before they start criticising other drivers?
Commons
Debate
28 October 2025
Support for Disabled Veterans
I thank the gallant Minister for giving way. On the point about the complex benefits ecosystem, I have fantastic charities in my constituency called Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans, which do an excellent job supporting veterans as they apply for welfare. Will the Minister join me in congr…
Commons
Debate
28 October 2025
2 contributions
China Spying Case
Perhaps the hon. Gentleman can clarify what is happening here. Is the issue that the Government thought that China was a threat to national security but did not declare it, or that they declared it but China was not a threat? I am quite confused about the point he is making.
I think the issue is that the Government in 2023 were not clear on whether or not China was a threat. Did they clearly make the statement that it was a threat, or was China a threat but the Government failed to make that statement?
Commons
Debate
28 October 2025
Stamp Duty Land Tax
Is not the reality that people cannot find homes in England because his Government failed to build them while in power?
Commons
Westminster Hall
28 October 2025
2 contributions
World Stroke Day
Will my hon. Friend give way?
I do. I thank my hon. Friend for giving way, and wish her husband well—I am sure that he is incredibly proud of her. In Scotland in 2024, only 212 thrombectomies took place, which accounts for 2.2% of all eligible cases. Those are statistics that should shame us. If we compare it with Ireland, a com…
Commons
Debate
27 October 2025
North Sea Oil and Gas Industry
I thank the Minister for his statement and the confidence that he is showing in those workers. We have heard from the SNP. The difference between Labour and the SNP just now is that the SNP wants to scrap the energy profits levy but does not know what it will replace it with other than something tha…
Commons
Westminster Hall
27 October 2025
2 contributions
Statutory Maternity and Paternity Pay
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Burton and Uttoxeter (Jacob Collier) for introducing this debate. Being a parent is the hardest job in the world, and I believe that the state has a duty to make it easier. With just 90 seconds, I want to focus on just one case study.
Blanche is a fantastic mum…
The Lib Dems may well have called for that in their manifesto, but when it came to a vote, they abstained on that very right for mothers. Does the hon. Lady now regret that?
Commons
Westminster Hall
23 October 2025
2 contributions
NHS Workforce Levels: Impact on Cancer Patients
You will not be surprised to hear, Mrs Hobhouse, that it is a pleasure to serve under you. I thank the hon. Member for Wokingham (Clive Jones) for securing this important debate. I declare an interest: my lovely wife has worked as part of the NHS workforce in Scotland for around 30 years, and on Mon…
I know that this subject is important to the hon. Gentleman. Pancreatic Cancer UK is a fantastic charity. Unfortunately, he could not make this year’s Labour party conference in Liverpool, although he is always welcome to attend—Labour MPs go free, so he is welcome to join up. However, Pancreatic Ca…