Commons
Debate
24 November 2025
HMP Downview: Female Prisoners
The Minister may or may not be aware that prior to coming to this place, I ran a homelessness and support charity for the general population, including young women. It was always possible in that context, even as a charity, to find support and housing for transgender women, as well as to incorporate…
Commons
Debate
18 November 2025
Northern Ireland Troubles Bill
Just over 20 years ago, in my red Vauxhall Corsa, I rounded the bend at the bottom of the Woodstock Road in Belfast and drove straight into a pregnant pause in the middle of a riot. To my left was a baying mob of young east Belfast men, and to my right was a baying mob of young men from the Short St…
Commons
Debate
17 November 2025
Asylum Policy
I thank the Home Secretary for her statement, and particularly for the commitment to new, safe, legal routes. There has been a lot of talk of morality, and there absolutely should be. This is too important to get wrong, so does she agree that tolerating a system where men, women and children are enc…
Commons
Oral Questions
4 November 2025
2 contributions
Agricultural and Business Property Relief: Impact on Farmers
1. What assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the report by CenTax entitled, “The Impact of Changes to Inheritance Tax on Farm Estates” published on 14 August 2025.
I am proud to support a Government who believe in progressive taxation, as I am sure the Minister does—that those with the broadest shoulders should bear the greatest burden. Under the CenTax minimum share rule proposal, farm estates where at least 60% of the estate is used for farming would receive…
Commons
Westminster Hall
4 November 2025
Cross-border Healthcare
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. I congratulate the hon. Member for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe (David Chadwick) on securing this important debate—one that is very important to my constituents in North Northumberland.
A constituent of mine recently visited friends in the …
Commons
Debate
3 November 2025
“Soldier F” Trial Verdict
Some quarter of a million people served in Operation Banner, and the vast majority did so with great distinction and huge bravery, leading to the peace that we see in Northern Ireland today. The number of prosecutions of Army veterans is vanishingly small, so will the Secretary of State join me in t…
Commons
Oral Questions
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
28 October 2025
Sudan
As we have heard, about a quarter of a million civilians, including 130,000 children, are trapped in the city of El Fasher, following a brutal siege that has lasted 18 months. This is a critical moment amidst the world’s greatest humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan. What can the UK Government do, with…
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 September 2025
Children with SEND: Assessments and Support
Three hundred of my constituents signed the petition. SEND is a major issue in North Northumberland and, over the summer, 130 families completed a consultation that I carried out on the issue. I will share the information with the Secretary of State in due course. The conclusion was unanimous: the s…
Commons
Proceedings
8 September 2025
Palestine Action: Proscription and Protests
I abhor the methods of Palestine Action, and indeed any violence in the course of protest, but I understand that four groups have been de-proscribed in the last 20 years. I am sure that the aim is for all banned groups to de-escalate and become legitimate protest groups, so what steps or evidence wo…
Commons
Oral Questions
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
2 September 2025
Topical Questions
I am grateful for the leadership that the Foreign Secretary and the Minister for the Middle East showed over the summer in their visit to Syria and in engaging with the Syrian Government, especially on the violence that took place in Suwayda. As UK special envoy for freedom of religion or belief, I …
Commons
Proceedings
17 July 2025
Business of the House
I am sure the Leader of the House will agree that grassroots community football clubs, such as North Sunderland and Berwick Rangers in my constituency, play a vital role in the development of elite footballers, such as Lucy Bronze, who hopefully tonight will go “Supersonic” in her game for the Lione…
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 July 2025
4 contributions
Freedom of Religion or Belief: UK Foreign Policy
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the role of freedom of religion or belief in UK foreign policy.
It is an absolute pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I am grateful to the Backbench Business Committee for granting the debate, and to all colleagues who have joined me to…
I thank the right hon. Member for that point, for his work as Foreign Secretary to bring about the role that I now inhabit, and for his focus on freedom of religion or belief. I agree—I will come on to say more about this—that we should be humble yet bold about what we can offer with our values and …
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
14 July 2025
2 contributions
Northern Ireland Veterans: Prosecution
Will the right hon. Member give way?
I have to declare, having set up another peacemaking programme in Northern Ireland myself and done a master’s degree in reconciliation studies, that the legacy Act was very much not a South African-style truth and reconciliation commission. The right hon. Member is talking about the equating of terr…
Commons
Debate
30 June 2025
Road Safety Powers: Parish and Town Councils
My hon. Friend is being very generous with his time. As hon. Members have said, it is a testament to the importance of the issue that we are all here this evening. The Minister can relax as on this occasion I will not talk about the A1—I will in future—but about the northern bypass in Morpeth, which…
Commons
Debate
20 June 2025
2 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
On Second Reading in late November, I wanted to express the concerns that I had with the Bill around coercion, commercialisation and the pressure on people who feel that they are a burden. Unfortunately, there was not enough time in that debate, and there is not much time today either.
During that …
I have nearly finished. For that matter, what will stop relatives anxious to receive their inheritance from subtly pushing the option of assisted death?
To conclude, as legislators the responsibility falls on us, in this place, to create outstanding legislation that provides clarity, certainty and …
Commons
Debate
17 June 2025
6 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
I rise to oppose new clauses 1 and 20 and to support new clause 106. All the new clauses concern the issue of abortion.
Through the process of decriminalisation, new clauses 1 and 20 will introduce the possibility of de facto abortion up to birth for any reason in this country, for the first time i…
I do agree. If something is absolute—in terms of the new clauses, as I understand them—it must cover all eventualities, and what we are trying to say is that we simply do not believe that it can.
I have heard it said that no woman would induce an abortion after 24 weeks, but we cannot introduce suc…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 June 2025
Transport Infrastructure: Cramlington and Killingworth
My hon. Friend is making an important and powerful speech about the significance of local road infrastructure. She mentions the A1, which is in my constituency, and I know Moor Farm roundabout well. Does she agree that as the Government make a massive investment in local transport, we really have to…
Commons
Debate
13 June 2025
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
I thank my hon. and learned Friend for giving way, given the time constraints. I have a simple but key question: does an advertisement include a leaflet on a GP’s surgery table or on a door going into the GP? It seems unclear to me what is information and what it advertisement.
Commons
Debate
10 June 2025
4 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
I am delighted to speak to this monumental piece of legislation, which is so necessary and so important. I cannot help but notice that many times in the debate a false dichotomy has been presented of a choice between nature and biodiversity net gain on the one hand and planning, infrastructure, hous…
All I can say is simply that I have been working with constituents who have been affected by the compulsory purchase orders, and I will continue to do so. The hon. Gentleman and I may disagree about whether that project should ever have gone ahead under the previous Government.
On rural development…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Scotland
4 June 2025
2 contributions
Local Authority Funding: Barnett Formula
10. What recent discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on the impact of the Barnett formula on levels of funding for local authorities.
The largest ever devolution settlement—£50 billion—is great news for Scotland and its local authorities, but under the SNP there are 840,000 cases on NHS waiting lists. This affects people in my constituency in North Northumberland, many of whom use cross-border healthcare and dental services, so do…
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 May 2025
2 contributions
Broadband and Mobile Connectivity: Rural Areas
Will the hon. Lady give way?
I thank the hon. Lady for giving way, especially on her last line. One of the key issues with rurality is that we often depend on mobile signal because of the sparsity of the areas we represent, such as my constituency of North Northumberland. We can be profoundly impacted by storms as a result, and…
Commons
Proceedings
20 May 2025
School Buildings: Northumberland and Newcastle
My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech—he is clearly a passionate advocate for his schools in Northumberland. Another school in Northumberland is Berwick Academy, which was Berwick community high school until it became an academy in 2011. Over the years it has been good, but it now requires im…
Commons
Debate
16 May 2025
4 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
I am sure that all of us in this place respect and value our medical professionals. The simple point to make is that not everyone who goes before the medical profession has the same experience or confidence as some of us in this place.
Will my hon. Friend give way?
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Proceedings
15 May 2025
2 contributions
Solar Farms
I am proud that Britain has set ambitious targets for clean energy. We want 95% of our energy to come from low- carbon power sources by 2030. The Government are changing the planning system, as we have heard, so they can deliver the renewable energy of the future.
It is important that the benefits …
I was just about to say that I welcome the Government’s proposed new land use framework, which I think is key. The land use framework, which no Government have had before, will help landowners make sensible and effective decisions with their land. I trust that will include a strong focus on both foo…