Commons
Oral Questions
Cabinet Office
10 September 2026
2 contributions
National Resilience
5. What steps her Department is taking to improve national resilience.
I welcome the Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Gateshead Central and Whickham (Mark Ferguson), to his rightful place on the Front Bench. As Ministers may be aware, in late July there was a severe wildfire off Second Avenue in Harlow; I thank the fire servi…
Commons
Oral Questions
Women and Equalities
9 September 2026
2 contributions
Removing Children from Poverty
5. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help remove children from poverty.
Across my constituency, 18% of children live in poverty, which rises to 30% in areas such as Mark Hall and Netteswell. Around 12% of children in Harlow will benefit from Labour’s lifting of the two-child cap, which parents and I welcome. However, child poverty remains deeply uneven across Harlow and…
Commons
Oral Questions
Housing, Communities and Local Government
7 September 2026
Topical Questions
T7. Having previously worked for a homelessness charity, Streets2Homes in Harlow, I welcome the Housing First approach that this Government are taking to tackle rough sleeping. However, would the Secretary of State, or whichever Minister answers the question, agree with me that, along with that hous…
Commons
Oral Questions
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
1 September 2026
China: Threat to UK Interests
I thank the Minister for his comments about the terrible floods in Nepal. A number of residents in my constituency have lost family in the region, and they will be listening to what the Government have to say on the issue.
What work is the Minister doing with Cabinet colleagues to tackle the import…
Commons
Proceedings
1 September 2026
Speaker’s Statement
I thank the Minister for his comments about the terrible floods in Nepal. A number of residents in my constituency have lost family in the region, and they will be listening to what the Government have to say on the issue.
What work is the Minister doing with Cabinet colleagues to tackle the import…
Commons
Proceedings
14 July 2026
Future of Thames Water
I thank the hon. Gentleman for making his speech, because this is hugely important. Residents in Harlow are also fed up with their bills going up because of what appears to be Thames Water’s incompetence. Does he agree that that should not be the case, and that if Thames Water is so incompetent that…
Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
13 July 2026
Violence against Women and Girls
A report by the National Audit Office in January 2025 said that there was a lack of buy-in from other Departments when it came to the previous violence against women and girls strategy. We know that if we are going to tackle violence against women in my constituency of Harlow and across the UK, we n…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
13 July 2026
State of Climate and Nature
As you will be aware, Madam Deputy Speaker, Harlow is full of some incredibly beautiful areas of natural beauty, from Hatfield forest and Harlow town park to Parndon Wood nature reserve. I am determined that these beautiful areas will be protected not just for this generation but for generations to …
Commons
Debate
8 July 2026
Rearmament and Warfighting Readiness
My hon. Friend is making an excellent, well thought-out speech. He talks about the weapons that Russia is using. Will he also reflect on how we need to be alive to its use of disinformation on social media and the internet as weapons? We need to be alive to that. I look across to the right hon. Memb…
Commons
Westminster Hall
8 July 2026
National Youth Strategy
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms McVey. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Huddersfield (Harpreet Uppal) for securing this really important debate. I also thank my two work experience students, Nicoleta and Lyra. They are both from Harlow and are in the Public Gallery today. …
Commons
Proceedings
7 July 2026
2 contributions
Summer Jobs
Will the hon. Member give way?
The hon. Member nearly forgot which constituency I represent, which would have been disappointing.
I do not agree with some of the conclusions the hon. Member is making and will make—for example, young people being out of work has been an issue for far longer than two years—but on skills, where I t…
Commons
Proceedings
6 July 2026
Rochdale Grooming Gang: Offender Deportation
I thank the Minister for framing his comments around the victims of these terrible crimes, who should always be in our thoughts during such debates. I know that he is committed to doing everything that he can to ensure that foreign nationals who come to our country and break our laws, particularly i…
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
6 July 2026
Topical Questions
T7. May I welcome my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Leyton and Wanstead (Mr Bailey) to his rightful place on the Front Bench? I also welcome the publishing of the defence investment plan last week. Will the Minister outline how the additional £15 billion of Ministry of Defence spending will …
Commons
Debate
6 July 2026
4 contributions
Payment Scheme
I thank the Paymaster General for his speech and the way he is framing the debate by talking about the victims of this scandal, which is really important. Can he confirm the number of interim payments of £100,000 that have already been paid out?
On that point, will the Minister give way?
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
2 July 2026
2 contributions
Unpaid Carers: Workplace Support
9. What steps his Department is taking to help support unpaid carers in the workplace.
I thank the Minister for her commitment to unpaid carers. I speak to unpaid carers across my constituency all the time, and I personally thank them for all that they do in caring for loved ones and in the wider community. However, so many unpaid carers I speak to tell me that they struggle to hold d…
Commons
Oral Questions
Justice
30 June 2026
Jury Trails
There are concerns that the changes the Government have made will give more power to judges to make decisions on their own, so what is the Minister doing to monitor the impact of these changes and ensure that there is transparency at all stages? Can I add, following your comment, Mr Speaker, that we…
Commons
Proceedings
30 June 2026
Points of Order
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. In the previous statement, conversation was had about the future of the UK Health Security Agency. You will be aware that the Government last year made a decision that the new site of the UK Health Security Agency would be in my constituency of Harlow. It i…
Commons
Debate
30 June 2026
2 contributions
Department for Work and Pensions
As my hon. Friend is talking about local implementation, I will pay tribute to what is being done in Harlow, and particularly at Harlow college, through programmes to support people who are not in education, employment or training. That is really paying dividends.
I wonder whether my hon. Friend would like to touch on a point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Monmouthshire (Catherine Fookes). She was right to say that the Child Maintenance Service—
Commons
Oral Questions
Work and Pensions
29 June 2026
2 contributions
Youth Hubs
9. What recent progress he has made on the expansion of youth hubs.
As you will be aware, Mr Speaker, my Harlow constituency is full of incredibly talented young people, some of whom I had the pleasure to meet at a recent Harlow college awards ceremony. Alan Milburn’s report makes it clear that young people are being let down by a broken system and deep-seated barri…
Commons
Proceedings
29 June 2026
Prisoner Early Release
I thank the Minister for coming to the Dispatch Box and answering questions on a particularly important issue. I join my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Yardley (Jess Phillips) in being concerned not only about rapists being released early, but about the low conviction rates in rape cases. Wha…
Commons
Oral Questions
Cabinet Office
25 June 2026
National Resilience Planning
I would just say to the Minister: live long and prosper. This heatwave may be considered as much man-made as naturally occurring. I am really concerned about the heat, not just in Westminster but in my constituency of Harlow. What are the Government doing to ensure that the country is resilient when…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
25 June 2026
Draft Conversion Practices Bill
I thank the Minister wholeheartedly for her statement, and for the way in which she always carries herself at the Dispatch Box. I am very proud to call her my hon. Friend. I hope that one day I will be able to call her my right hon. Friend, but that is just my personal view and not that of the Labou…
Commons
Debate
25 June 2026
Neuropsychiatric Conditions: PANS and PANDAS
I thank the hon. Lady for bringing this important issue to the House. The Government are introducing guidelines on this in the autumn. Does she welcome the publication of those guidelines, and does she hope that they will get rid of the inconsistencies and postcode lottery that she is describing?
Commons
Proceedings
23 June 2026
Defence Spending and Readiness
I thank the Minister for giving way. She is giving a really passionate speech and talking about her personal experience of being in the armed forces. It is important that the Conservative party hear again the figures she quoted in respect of the number of armed forces personnel at the start of her t…