Commons
Debate
8 September 2026
Health Bill
I thank the Secretary of State very much for giving way, because I know time is short. She is talking about the various issues that have come up while the Bill has been debated. One of them is the most common cause of death in the UK: dementia. An amendment that I tabled with the Alzheimer’s Society…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
7 September 2026
Local Government Reorganisation
There have been lots of different views about reorganisation in my constituency, but one thing everybody is fully agreed on is that Kent county council is a failing organisation. It is too big to be effective, and it consistently lets down residents right across the county. It is critical that we ge…
Commons
Debate
3 September 2026
2 contributions
Sporting Events Bill [Lords]
I thank the Secretary of State for the points she is making about ticket touting. I have the good fortune this Saturday to be travelling with the Crystal Palace faithful to Craven Cottage in search of our first three points of the season. I paid £30 for my ticket—as a Crystal Palace season ticket ho…
Major sporting events are something that we do very well as a country—I think everybody in the House is agreed on that—and making it more straightforward for us to host them is vital. I therefore really welcome the Bill. I need to declare at the outset that I am a member of the England Supporters Tr…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 September 2026
Policing in Cleveland
I thank the Home Secretary for her statement. I echo her words about the two brave police officers who lost their lives in this collision incident on the A66. My constituency has experienced similar deeply antisocial and incredibly dangerous experiences of racing and speeding on our roads. Groups of…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
9 July 2026
NATO Summit
I thank the Foreign Secretary for her statement and for the work that she and the Prime Minister have done at the NATO summit. May I register my huge concern, and that of my constituents, that the ceasefire between the US and Iran appears to be over, due to the egregious breaches by Iran? The situat…
Commons
Westminster Hall
8 July 2026
National Youth Strategy
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Huddersfield (Harpreet Uppal) on securing this important debate.
In Dartford and our towns and villages we have an increasingly youthful population, with a quarter of households in the constituenc…
Commons
Oral Questions
Work and Pensions
29 June 2026
2 contributions
Youth Hubs
17. What recent progress he has made on the expansion of youth hubs.
Constituents in Dartford are also pleased that our area has been chosen as one of the local authorities to receive a youth hub. We have a growing population of under-25s, all of whom are talented and enthusiastic and want to get into the workplace. Will the Secretary of State set out when that hub i…
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
22 June 2026
2 contributions
School Food Standards
1. What steps her Department is taking to improve the nutritional standards of school food.
Mr Speaker, I know that looking at me you would never guess that my children are now well past school age, but when they were at school—long past Jamie Oliver’s campaign against turkey twizzlers—the school food served was still not as healthy as it should have been, so I am delighted by the Minister…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
22 June 2026
East Midland Railway Collision
I join the Secretary of State in sending condolences to the family of Shaun Burton, who died in the accident, in wishing those who are injured a speedy and full recovery, and in thanking the emergency services for their prompt action on Friday. It is important that we have heard from the Secretary o…
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 June 2026
High Street Shops: Illicit Activity
My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech on an important issue. As he will know, the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 recently came on to the statute book, which I hugely support as a member of the all-party parliamentary group on smoking and health. There is a licensing scheme under that Act, enablin…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
15 June 2026
Russian Shadow Fleet
I thank the Secretary of State for his update and welcome him to his place. I join him in paying tribute to the exceptional bravery and skill of those who carried out the recent operation on the shadow fleet. Does he agree that it is vital that we continue to squeeze the Russian economy in every way…
Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
8 June 2026
2 contributions
Antisocial Behaviour
9. What recent progress her Department has made on tackling antisocial behaviour.
Residents of Darenth and other parts of my constituency are facing persistent nuisance owing to the antisocial riding of motorbikes and quad bikes in local woodlands over the last few years. I know from my conversations with the new district commander for Dartford and Gravesham that the police are s…
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 June 2026
Small Towns: Transport Links
I thank my hon. Friend for the excellent speech that he is making on a really important debate. My constituency, similar to his, has a range of small towns with different access to modes of transport. One of them is Swanscombe, home to the collapsed Galley Hill Road, which I have mentioned several t…
Commons
Westminster Hall
28 April 2026
Park Home Owners
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for securing this debate and to the Backbench Business Committee for granting it. I have had the pleasure of visiting Stonehill Woods Park in my constituency, a wonderful park homes community where I heard residents’ huge frustrations about the regulation of park home…
Commons
Westminster Hall
27 April 2026
Animal Testing
I thank my hon. Friend for her great speech and her great work in this area, and I thank all the residents of my constituency who have signed the petition. I was pleased by the Government’s announcement of a long-term road map to reduce and phase out animal testing in scientific research, with key m…
Commons
Debate
21 April 2026
Middle East: Economic Update
I welcome the fact that in this time of economic shocks, the Government are playing their proper role in protecting UK households from the worst harms, and I thank the Chancellor for the work that she is doing with other Finance Ministers and Governments to bring about a de-escalation of the war—unl…
Commons
Debate
13 April 2026
SEND Provision and Reform
Last week I held a roundtable on the White Paper with Dartford residents. Although they welcome the greater focus on schools providing quicker and more flexible support, they are nervous about the level of resourcing that will be available to schools. They are also worried about the accountability o…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
13 April 2026
Middle East
I thank the Prime Minister for the positive steps that the UK is taking to promote a negotiated settlement to the war, and reassurance to shipping post-settlement through the straits of Hormuz, but it is clear that the war even thus far will have a significant impact on British consumers. He has tal…
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 March 2026
Voluntary Groups and Community Centres
I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate. On the point of under-investment over many years, he is making a really good case that community centres are places that bring people together and get them active and talking, resulting in improvements in mental and physical wellbeing. My consti…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
24 March 2026
Middle East: Economic Update
I thank the Chancellor for her statement. As she says, we have made good progress on stabilising our fiscal and economic situation since the 2024 election. Most notably, we have increased the headroom available on our public finances, but as a result of the previous Government failing to invest in s…
Commons
Debate
23 March 2026
Tobacco and Vapes Bill
It is a pleasure to have this Bill back before us today. During the many great speeches tonight, but also on Second and Third Reading, the great majority of people have agreed that we should feel proud of this world-leading piece of legislation. It will create that elusive thing: a smokefree generat…
Commons
Oral Questions
23 March 2026
2 contributions
Antisocial Behaviour
8. What recent progress her Department has made on tackling antisocial behaviour.
I am grateful to the Minister for her reply and for meeting me and others at the end of last year to discuss the troubling and growing trend of the use of catapults to target wildlife and people in Dartford and across Kent? I really appreciate the work she is doing to organise a roundtable soon, whe…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
17 March 2026
Meningitis Outbreak
I thank the Secretary of State for his statement, and I echo his words and those of other Members about the tragic loss of two young lives to meningitis as a result of this outbreak. Many Dartford residents remain understandably concerned, and I therefore welcome his assurance and those of the UKHSA…
Commons
Oral Questions
16 March 2026
GP Contract
I warmly welcome the Government’s reforms, which will ensure same-day access for GPs in urgent cases and will also make it easier to get an appointment online, finally moving towards ending the 8 am scramble. I recently visited Swanscombe health centre, where the brilliant team is under significant …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
12 March 2026
Business of the House
It has been a really big step forward to see the statutory levy on gambling operators up and running since April last year, with the money raised from it ringfenced for much-needed gambling-related harms research, prevention and treatment. However, with only three weeks until the new financial year,…