Commons
Petition
7 July 2026
Longridge Community Hospital
I am proud to present this petition on behalf of residents in Longridge in my constituency of Ribble Valley regarding the future of Longridge community hospital, which serves patients across a large semi-rural area, many of whom need health services within easy reach of their homes and families.
Th…
Commons
Westminster Hall
24 June 2026
2 contributions
Farming: Financial Sustainability
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Northumberland (David Smith) for securing this timely debate and welcome the Minister to his place.
I asked local farmers in Ribble Valley what they would like to highlight in this debate about profitability. As hon. Members would expect, the responses in…
I completely agree. The main point I want to make, alongside all the powerful financial and security arguments that have been made, is that we need farming to be financially sustainable because we want it to be sustainable. We want it to be part of what we prioritise as this country. A More In Commo…
Commons
Debate
17 June 2026
4 contributions
Private Sector Investment: Lancashire
I am grateful for the opportunity to debate Government support for private investment in Lancashire this evening. Lancashire is my home. It is also the home of some of the most powerful innovators that we have in this country. Often, they fly under the radar of both Government and private investors.…
I absolutely agree. As I will come on to, it is about ensuring that we make the most of all areas of our country. Some of those areas already have growth, and we need to ensure that we are expanding the growth that is already there.
Without a proper holistic look at how the Government can support b…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Petition
10 June 2026
Royal Lime Trees in Walton-le-Dale
I am delighted to present this petition on behalf of Walton-le-Dale residents in my constituency regarding the potential felling of the 18 royal lime trees that have stood for 112 years. In this petition, and in a similar, separate e-petition with almost 8,000 signatures, the petitioners believe tha…
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 June 2026
2 contributions
Water Safety
Will my hon. Friend give way?
A few weeks ago, 12-year-old Junior Slater tragically drowned in the River Ribble in the heart of my constituency. We will cover many things to prevent such senseless losses in this debate, but what struck me most in the village on the day that it happened was the hundreds of young people who were t…
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 June 2026
Preparedness for National Emergencies
We currently have a maternity inquiry addressing the fact that two thirds of maternity units are deemed unsafe in normal times, yet one of the clearest lessons from the covid-19 pandemic is how easily mothers and pregnant women can be overlooked even more when decisions are made at pace. As chair of…
Commons
Westminster Hall
20 April 2026
Maternity Commissioner
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Alec. I thank my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Tony Vaughan) for introducing this debate. A huge thank you to Louise Thompson, Theo Clarke and the 150,000 people who signed this petition, for keeping maternity serv…
Commons
Proceedings
5 March 2026
Business of the House
On Wednesday, I joined midwifery students protesting in Parliament Square. I spoke to Kelly McDermott, who is facing the reality that 31% of newly qualified midwives cannot find jobs, which the Royal College of Midwives puts down to poor workforce planning. Will the Leader of the House join me in co…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
26 February 2026
Business of the House
I recently visited the Lancaster University School of Mathematics, which is based in Preston on the edge of my constituency, a brilliant new place for 16 to 18-year-olds to take A-levels in maths and maths-based subjects. In a world where we desperately need more maths and technical skills, it was t…
Commons
Oral Questions
26 February 2026
2 contributions
Universal Youth Services
11. What assessment she has made of the adequacy of universal youth services.
I welcome the universal approach of our new youth strategy, but in my Ribble Valley constituency, in which communities are small and often far away from city-centre youth hubs, young people miss out on support. Their family may be just about managing, but dual-career households and long hours leave …
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 February 2026
2 contributions
Minister for Men and Boys
Does my hon. Friend agree that parents of men and boys are navigating a truly wild west? Although it is brilliant that the Government are committed to helping teachers to spot and navigate misogyny in schools, the fact is that parents are the ones at the coalface, especially in the early years. Will…
Does the hon. Member agree that one of the things that has caused a lack of male role models is the lack of third spaces and youth centres? The disinvestment in youth services, which I think averaged about 70% per local authority under the previous Government, has led to a lot of the reduction in ro…
Commons
Proceedings
12 February 2026
Business of the House
Two years ago, Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses in my constituency, which makes the famous Blacksticks Blue, suffered a devastating fire that destroyed all its storage facilities. The community rallied around the company, with local businesses and farms helping to erect temporary buildings and provide inte…
Commons
Westminster Hall
12 February 2026
4 contributions
Healthy Relationships
I beg to move,
That this House has considered Government support for healthy relationships.
It is a pleasure to be under your chairship, Ms Jardine. May I start by wishing you a happy Valentine’s day for Saturday?
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good …
I completely agree with my hon. Friend; she is right that both men and women want this. Everyone in society is demanding this, and I really hope that the Government will listen and take action. An even more critical point is that it is not just men and women but children who will benefit from this. …
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
5 February 2026
Sudan
I greatly welcome the statement made today and the actions the Government have taken in response to the conflict in Sudan, including sanctions against individuals linked to the most horrendous atrocities and sexual violence. The situation in Sudan is a devastating reminder of how often sexual violen…
Commons
Oral Questions
5 February 2026
Business of the House
With the cancer plan, we have made great progress this week on how we plan to tackle terminal illnesses in this country. On Tuesday, I had the privilege of visiting my constituent Alfred Whalley, who is currently living with terminal pulmonary fibrosis. After serving 20 years as a paramedic, he want…
Commons
Oral Questions
5 February 2026
Farming Sector Productivity
Last week, I visited Gisburn auction mart in my constituency, with my constituents John Alpe and Graham Young, where I heard the challenges that farms are currently facing with the rapidly dropping milk prices. Indeed, two farmers were there to sell up their farms entirely, while others are pushed i…
Commons
Debate
12 January 2026
3 contributions
Finance (No. 2) Bill
It is a delight to speak in this debate following what was possibly the best Christmas present that I have ever received: no shade to my parents or husband, but when we got the call from the Treasury on 23 December and heard about the raising of the threshold for agricultural property relief and bus…
I completely agree. That is why it is disappointing that the Opposition are looking at certain details, when all the farmers that I speak to desperately want us to focus on the next stages of how we support those farms. We have done the thing that we needed to do to protect the smallest ones.
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
11 December 2025
2 contributions
Paternity Leave: Low-income Earners
7. What steps he is taking to help increase the uptake of paternity leave by low-income earners.
I thank the Minister for how seriously she is taking this issue when, according to the latest analysis by the Dad Shift, 90% of paternity leave is claimed by fathers in the top half of earners, with almost a third of those being in London and the south-east. Anna Whitehouse and George Gabriel, who I…
Commons
Debate
25 November 2025
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
I come once more to this discussion with a huge passion for devolving power to local areas. The northern powerhouse promise encouraged me to move back home to the north from London in my 20s, and I am so proud to have spent most of my career since then working to grow the local economies in Manchest…
Commons
Oral Questions
25 November 2025
New Hospital Programme
My constituents in Ribble Valley have been directly impacted by the delays to the new hospital programme, with the rebuilding of Royal Preston hospital being put back by almost a decade. Just last week, I received the disappointing news that Longridge community hospital, which is much loved and valu…
Commons
Debate
20 November 2025
International Men’s Day
I gave my handyman a to-do list the other day, but he only finished items 1, 3, and 5. Turns out he only does odd jobs.
I know, that is a terrible joke, but as the Dad Shift and my colleagues across the Chamber are highlighting, paternity leave in this country is also a terrible joke, and it is let…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
20 November 2025
Business of the House
Preston-based KeTech in my constituency is a British-based and owned technology and engineering company that employs around 50 staff and provides the live update data and displays for almost 80% of all UK rail passenger journeys, including much of the London underground. Its biggest competitors —Hit…
Commons
Oral Questions
12 November 2025
2 contributions
UK Research and Innovation: Funding Distribution
7. What steps her Department is taking to ensure the equitable regional distribution of funding by UK Research and Innovation.
The £54 million UKRI global talent fund, which was designed to attract and retain international research talent, has excluded all northern universities from its funding. UKRI waived eligibility criteria to ensure that the devolved nations received some of the funding. Meanwhile, Lancaster University…
Commons
Oral Questions
4 November 2025
Agricultural and Business Property Relief: Impact on Farmers
As the Minister has just highlighted, the main argument against the CenTax proposals for APR now seems to be a fear that more people will be subject to inheritance tax under those proposals, even though most of those extra people are essentially private homeowners with agricultural fields. Does he a…
Commons
Proceedings
30 October 2025
Business of the House
This week, over 100 business owners and trade unionists sent a letter to the Secretary of State for Business to ask him to form a working time council to review the benefits of moving to a four day week nationally, which research now shows improves both productivity in business and overall wellness …