Commons
Westminster Hall
1 July 2025
Refugee Citizenship Rights
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Butler. First, I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Alloa and Grangemouth (Brian Leishman) for securing this important debate.
I speak today as a member of the Citizenship Network, which was launched by Citizens UK last year. It is a cross-party g…
Commons
Westminster Hall
1 July 2025
ADHD: Impact on Prison Rehabilitation and Reoffending
Prisoners often leave the prison system with just one week’s worth of medication, and they then have difficulty getting back into the healthcare system. Does the hon. Member agree that we need a holistic approach to the Probation Service that co-ordinates the health and social care system to act as …
Commons
Debate
23 June 2025
Access to GPs
Does the hon. Member agree that we need to address the disparity he mentioned—the inequality in GP funding allocations—across the United Kingdom? Despite having some of the most deprived areas with a higher demand, the funding Wolverhampton receives is, on average, 10% less than more affluent areas.…
Commons
Debate
19 June 2025
Incontinence
I thank my constituency neighbour, hon. Friend the Member for Dudley (Sonia Kumar), for securing this important debate, and for attempting to remove the stigma and silence that too often surrounds this key area of healthcare.
As has been mentioned, in the UK over 14 million people experience bladde…
Commons
Proceedings
19 June 2025
Business of the House
Last Saturday, I was at the first ever national care leavers’ championship cup competition, which was held at Molineux, the home of Wolverhampton Wanderers football club in my constituency of Wolverhampton West. Care-experienced young people from all over the country came to play football. Will the …
Commons
Westminster Hall
18 June 2025
Political Prisoners
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Western. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Rachel Blake) for securing this important debate. I also thank my hon. Friend the Member for West Dunbartonshire (Douglas McAllister), sitting on my right, who is Jagta…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
16 June 2025
Child Sexual Exploitation: Casey Report
Does my right hon. Friend agree that there has been no vote on whether to have a national inquiry into grooming gangs—the vote was about the safeguards of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill—and that following the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse and the 200 pages that dealt specifi…
Commons
Debate
12 June 2025
3 contributions
SEND Funding
Over the past decade we have seen a 140% increase in the number of children identified as requiring an education, health and care plan. Today we have nearly 2 million pupils in England who are identified as having special educational needs. Unfortunately, the rise in demand has not been matched by a…
My point is that we have not had sufficient funding to provide our special educational needs children with the support they require. The National Audit Office has warned that without significant change, the current system is financially unsustainable.
The evidence is damning. Since 2019, we have se…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
12 June 2025
Spending Review: Health and Social Care
I thank the Minister for her statement and the excellent work that this Government are doing in bringing additional investment in the NHS and bringing waiting lists down. We have had to make really difficult decisions to clear up the mess left by the previous Government, and I am sure we all agree t…
Commons
Proceedings
12 June 2025
Business of the House
Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating the Woodlands Quaker care home, in my constituency of Wolverhampton West, on its work? It is an excellent non-profit residential care home, providing accommodation for older people so that they can live as well as possible. As a charity, it prid…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
10 June 2025
Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories
I thank the Minister for his statement and hard work, and I believe he is genuinely concerned about what is happening in Gaza. We all want a two-state solution, a safe and secure Israel, and a sovereign state of Palestine, and we have already said that the illegal settlements of Israel are something…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
9 June 2025
Winter Fuel Payment
Does the Minister agree that, given that ours is now the fastest growing economy in the G7 and interest rates have been cut four times, now is the time to ensure that our public services will be protected and that pensioners who do not need the winter fuel payment to heat their homes will not receiv…
Commons
Proceedings
5 June 2025
Business of the House
I was in the House during business questions on 9 January when my hon. Friend the Member for Slough (Mr Dhesi), Chair of the Defence Committee, referred to the storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar in June 1984, ordered by the then Indian Government. Documents revealed in 2014 showed that the Th…
Commons
Westminster Hall
4 June 2025
6 contributions
Prosecutions for Violence against Women and Girls: West Midlands
I beg to move,
That this House has considered Government support for prosecutions relating to violence against women and girls in the West Midlands.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine. I begin by declaring an interest as a member of the Justice Committee, and my wife is a s…
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I was about to say that I was so shocked to hear the statistic I just cited that I had to ask my parliamentary assistant to check the figure again, because I could not accept that it was so high.
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
3 June 2025
3 contributions
Dementia Care
One in four hospital beds are occupied by someone living with dementia, and there is a 50% higher hospital readmissions rate for those who have dementia than the general population, with one in three people living with the condition never receiving a diagnosis. Does the hon. Member agree that the ke…
I thank the hon. Member for South Devon (Caroline Voaden) for securing this important debate. As Members across the House have rightly highlighted, dementia remains one of the most urgent health and social care challenges facing our country. One in two of us will be affected by it in our lifetime, w…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
3 June 2025
2 contributions
Reoffending on Probation
3. What steps her Department is taking to help to reduce reoffending by people on probation.
Will the Lord Chancellor outline the steps being taken to recruit and retain probation officers, and to ensure that they have manageable caseloads and that their morale is improved? What programmes or partnerships are in place to help those on probation to access stable accommodation, and employment…
Commons
Debate
2 June 2025
2 contributions
Arms and Military Cargo Export Controls: Israel
A report in The Guardian last month suggested that despite the suspension of key arms export licences to Israel back in September, UK firms have exported thousands of military items, including munitions, to Israel.
The exports have included items such as bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, missiles and similar munitions of war. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is completely conceivable that those weapons have been used to kill and maim children in Gaza, and therefore the only humane and reasonable option is fo…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
22 May 2025
Independent Sentencing Review
I am grateful to the Lord Chancellor for her statement and for commissioning the sentencing review. Does she agree that this Government are now taking action, whereas this time last year, rather than sorting out the prison crisis—when we had fewer than 90 spaces, with a prison population of 90,000—t…
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 May 2025
Broadband and Mobile Connectivity: Rural Areas
My constituency of Wolverhampton West is residential, densely populated and urban. The area of Tettenhall has lots of elderly constituents, many of whom do not have a mobile signal, creating a dead zone. A recent investigation by The Observer said that, nationally, mobile coverage is more than 1,000…
Commons
Debate
20 May 2025
Victims and Courts Bill
Only this weekend, I was discussing with a district Crown prosecutor and another Crown prosecutor the backlog in our court system, and they expressed strong concern about the recruitment and retention problem in the Crown Prosecution Service. I welcome this new measure, which will go a long way to e…
Commons
Proceedings
19 May 2025
Pubs and Community Funding
The hon. Member has given an account of all the different pubs in her constituency, but these kinds of stories are happening across the country. In my constituency, we have the Royal Oak pub in Chapel Ash, which does great charitable work. It has the Midland Freewheelers Blood Bikes, who provide a c…
Commons
Westminster Hall
19 May 2025
2 contributions
Gender Self-identification
I have heard the argument that the Supreme Court interpreted the meaning of “sex” within the confines of the Equality Act 2010—I have inquired further into this as a member of the Justice Committee—and it is now for the Government to legislate further to protect trans people.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Mundell. I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I begin by expressing my full support for the trans community and their right to live openly and authentically. Every individual in our country must be allowed the freedom to live thei…
Commons
Debate
16 May 2025
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
Like my hon. Friend, I found the decision to vote for the Bill on Second Reading a difficult choice, as it was for many, but it was to improve the current situation and to have dignity in dying. Does he agree that we should not impose on the Bill significant restrictions that would render it ineffec…
Commons
Debate
15 May 2025
2 contributions
Coroner Services: West Midlands
In May 2024, more than 6,000 inquests in this country had been delayed by more than a year. As the hon. Gentleman appreciates, each of those inquests represents a grieving family unable to find closure, plan funerals or settle estates. Does he agree that this Government should now act to clear the b…
I am grateful to the hon. Member for allowing me to intervene again. Apart from him, I think I am the only Member from the west midlands in the Chamber; my constituency is Wolverhampton West. Does he agree that there appears to be a postcode lottery, as the time it takes to process an inquest ranges…
Commons
Debate
15 May 2025
Youth Services
Some 93% of young people who have attended a youth centre say that it has made a positive difference to their lives. They have come away happier, healthier and more confident in themselves and their futures. From reducing levels of knife crime and antisocial behaviour to improving the education atta…