Commons
Westminster Hall
30 October 2025
Land Value Capture
As my hon. Friend has mentioned, land value increases exponentially if planning permission is granted or new public infrastructure such as transport links are developed. In my constituency of Ribble Valley, we have had lots of house building, which is largely welcomed as an affordable way for people…
Commons
Proceedings
16 October 2025
Business of the House
On Monday, Members spoke movingly in the Backbench Business debate marking Baby Loss Awareness Week, highlighting the vital, multifaceted role of midwifery in supporting bereaved families, and yet this week, the chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives announced that it has decided not to co…
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 September 2025
Pavement Parking
I thank the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Helen Maguire) for securing this critical debate, on an issue that is such a headache for so many of our constituents. As a mother to two little ones, I know only too well that getting out and about with two young children is hard enough as it is. Being h…
Commons
Debate
2 September 2025
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
I draw attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I have always been, and I remain, a vocal advocate for devolution and reorganisation. I got to witness the type of joy and hope I want every community to feel when I worked in Greater Manchester during the establishment of…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
9 July 2025
Engagements
I thank the Prime Minister for leading from the front in promoting the importance of his role as a father and keeping time for family life. I am delighted that in the past week, the Government have launched a review into parental leave and started to rebuild the legacy of Sure Start by launching our…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
7 July 2025
Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life
As chair of the all-party parliamentary group on babies, the most common refrain I hear is, “Bring back Sure Start.” I commend my right hon. Friend on focusing on learning from the past and looking to the future, and I thank her for showing the best of the Labour party by starting to restore the Sur…
Commons
Debate
1 July 2025
Infant Feeding
I am grateful to the hon. Member for the work we are doing together on the all-party parliamentary group for infant feeding and for her passion in this space. Breastfeeding is a full-time job. Only last week, Carrie Johnson, the wife of one of our former Prime Ministers, highlighted how easy it is t…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 July 2025
Parental Leave Review
May I first pay tribute to the Prime Minister and the Business Secretary, along with many others, for leading from the front on the importance of their role as fathers? I truly believe that paternity leave is the single most important area where the Government can improve the lives of families and w…
Commons
Oral Questions
24 June 2025
2 contributions
Rights of Women and Girls
5. What steps his Department is taking to protect the rights of women and girls globally.
Yesterday, we welcomed an ambitious and much-needed industrial strategy, which will rely on bold trade deals with countries around the world. Britain has a strong tradition of promoting human rights in its work around the world. How is the FCDO ensuring that we uphold our commitment to rights for gi…
Commons
Debate
19 June 2025
Water Safety Education
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) for bringing forward this critical debate.
We think a lot about water safety in the Ribble Valley constituency; indeed, the River Ribble is in its name. In the River Ribble catchment, which covers my constituency and some love…
Commons
Proceedings
19 June 2025
Business of the House
The battle of Bamber Bridge in my constituency, 82 years ago, was a powerful moment in history when local people stood in solidarity with black American soldiers against segregation. I am hugely grateful to councillors, like the wonderful Chris Lomax, who have worked so hard to keep the memory of th…
Commons
Westminster Hall
18 June 2025
Businesses in Rural Areas
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Western. I thank the hon. Member for North Norfolk (Steff Aquarone) for securing this brilliant debate.
My constituency is a fantastic mix of urban pockets and vast rural areas, with some incredible businesses, including Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses, …
Commons
Debate
17 June 2025
Crime and Policing Bill
I rise in support of new clause 1 and new clause 20. I am someone who chooses the spend the majority of my time in this place focusing on women, who make up 51% of the population —on mothers, parents, women’s health and maternity—and I would like specifically to address comments that have been made …
Commons
Debate
12 June 2025
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
To build on that point, I recently met the parents of a young man in his 20s who absolutely reinforced the need to get givinostat funded properly across the country. I was also struck by how the lives of both parents—they are teachers—and their other child were deeply affected by having to support t…
Commons
Debate
12 June 2025
Covid: Fifth Anniversary
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for West Ham and Beckton (James Asser) on securing this debate, so that we can learn from the covid years. I first pay tribute to the amazing health workers, volunteers and key workers who supported us through that turbulent time, and I will focus my brief co…
Commons
Debate
12 June 2025
SEND Funding
My constituency of Ribble Valley sits under Lancashire county council, which recently received a damning Ofsted report for its SEND provision. One parent, Selina Shaw, told me that her son Monty lost two years of education while the council spent more than £146,000 on a school he never attended, as …
Commons
Proceedings
12 June 2025
Business of the House
Government data released last year shows that homeschooling figures have doubled since 2019. Although I wholeheartedly welcome the measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to ensure that all children are safe, many parents in my constituency actively and positively choose to home-educat…
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 June 2025
Outdoor Education
I thank the hon. Gentleman for securing this important debate. Viki Mason is a forest school practitioner in my constituency who provides amazing outdoor education for primary schools, but the schools continually struggle to find funding for her services and those of providers like her. Does he agre…
Commons
Oral Questions
Energy Security and Net Zero
10 June 2025
2 contributions
Net Zero Transition: Rural Economies
9. What steps his Department is taking to ensure that the transition to net zero supports rural economies.
Many happy returns, Mr Speaker. Chipping Community Energy in my constituency is a brilliant ground source heat loop feasibility project. We know that grid infrastructure is weaker in rural areas, and there is a risk that more remote areas get left behind in the move to decarbonisation, in the same w…
Commons
Debate
15 May 2025
Youth Services
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon East (Natasha Irons) for securing this critical debate. Youth services are integral to enabling young people to live safe, healthy and happy lives, but we cannot deny that issues and policy relating to children and young people often get pushed aside. We…
Commons
Proceedings
15 May 2025
Business of the House
HARP—Haweswater aqueduct resilience programme—is a 10-year project about to commence for United Utilities to tunnel water through my constituency from the Lake district to Manchester. I recently met residents of the communities that this work will disrupt for a decade. Will the Leader of the House a…
Commons
Oral Questions
15 May 2025
Topical Questions
Economic growth requires people to be able to get to work. This morning, yet another road traffic accident happened on the stretch of M6 motorway that goes through my constituency and yours, Mr Speaker. This has a hugely disruptive impact on the mainly small roads around it in my constituency. Yet a…