Commons
Oral Questions
Health and Social Care
14 July 2026
Topical Questions
T7. Our NHS is heavily reliant on penicillin-based antibiotics for many of its core functions, but close to 90% of global manufacturing capacity of an essential component of those antibiotics is now concentrated in China. The risks to our NHS are obvious. What steps are Ministers taking across Gover…
Commons
Petition
14 July 2026
Political Donations and Housing Developers
I rise to present a petition alongside a corresponding online petition signed by hundreds of my constituents in North East Hertfordshire calling to ban housing developers from donating to political parties. Developers are some of the largest donors in politics, pouring in massive sums to tilt the pl…
Commons
Petition
14 July 2026
Political Donations and Housing Developers
I rise to present a petition alongside a corresponding online petition signed by hundreds of my constituents in North East Hertfordshire calling to ban housing developers from donating to political parties. Developers are some of the largest donors in politics, pouring in massive sums to tilt the pl…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
13 July 2026
State of Climate and Nature
Our best hope in the fight to restore our environment is this country’s nature-loving public, but many across the House will be aware of the recent example of the Environment Agency threatening to take people to court for trying to clean up their dying river. What steps will the Minister take to ens…
Commons
Westminster Hall
8 July 2026
Societal Impact of AI: Government Policy
I apologise in advance, Ms McVey, that I need to go to a Select Committee so cannot attend the full debate. My hon. Friend is, as usual, right about everything. Does he agree that public resistance to the construction of data centres is due not just to concern about the impact on the environment, bu…
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
6 July 2026
Topical Questions
All the military hardware we can buy will not serve its purpose if our nation goes hungry, should our reliance on food imports be turned against us. What reassurances can Ministers give that they are leading conversations across Government to ensure that if push comes to shove, the UK has the necess…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
2 July 2026
2 contributions
Supply Chain Security
2. What assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the adequacy of the security of UK supply chains.
We have already seen the vulnerability of our economy to global supply chain shocks from the impact of wars on food, fuel and fertiliser prices, but scientists now warn that we are likely to be heading into a super El Niño—a global heating event that will trigger extreme weather around the world, th…
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 June 2026
HOUSING, COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE
I declare an interest as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on council and social housing. The affordability of home ownership is one of the biggest issues in our country. I welcome many of the recommendations in this report around tackling empty homes, reforming stamp duty and ensuring that…
Commons
Proceedings
8 June 2026
Water Companies
We come to the Chamber almost weekly to highlight the failures of the water sector in our constituencies, but I want to highlight a wider point today. For years, economic policy in this country has been based on trying to achieve growth by unlocking private capital, often from abroad. In this essent…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
21 May 2026
2 contributions
Industrial Strategy
4. What steps he is taking to develop an industrial strategy.
If climate breakdown accelerates, many of the international supply chains that we have relied upon for essential goods and resources for far too long will cease to exist. We are sleepwalking towards a situation in which this country can no longer guarantee the basic needs of its people. At that poin…
Commons
Proceedings
20 May 2026
Processed Russian Oil Products: Sanctions
I thank the Minister for clarifying that sanctions on Russia are tougher today than they were yesterday, but fundamentally the furore around licences to phase in the new regulations arises because we have an economy reliant on jet fuel, and as long as that remains the case these issues will continue…
Commons
Westminster Hall
27 April 2026
Animal Testing
It is an honour to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Twigg. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Irene Campbell) on an excellent opening speech.
All life is a miracle and every living creature has an intrinsic value that we cannot measure or put a price on, so I am n…
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 April 2026
2 contributions
Alternative Measures to GDP
Would the hon. Lady add to her list a request that the Minister consider a formal target to cut inequality in this country? We will never grow our way to a good life for all our citizens while we have a fundamentally unjust society; we will only break the environmental boundaries we are already rapi…
On the point about statistics and what GDP measures, I ask the Minister to take away the issue of imputed rent. A fairly strange part of GDP, it measures hypothetical rent on the value of existing houses, inflates the value of our GDP as a country, and could be part of what we are measuring when we …
Commons
Debate
20 April 2026
Security Vetting
In answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Congleton (Sarah Russell), the Prime Minister said that he delayed coming to this House so that he could answer, among other questions, why UKSV was overruled. It seems wholly incredible that this decision was made on a personal whim by a senior civil serva…
Commons
Debate
14 April 2026
2 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
There are many important proposals before us today, and I congratulate the Minister on bringing them forward. I wholeheartedly support the Government’s efforts to tackle antisocial behaviour, offensive weapons, fly-tipping, the exploitation of children, and appalling sexual offences. However, Lords …
Can I just seek clarity from the Minister? If Lord Macdonald comes forward with recommendations to go back in the opposite direction, will the Government then consider those and remove the restrictions they are currently proposing?
Commons
Oral Questions
13 April 2026
2 contributions
Social Housing Standards
22. What steps he is taking to improve standards for social housing.
More social housing is essential but, as Members across the House will know, increasingly distant housing associations are often far too quick to put up fees and far too slow to tackle damp, mould and disrepair. What more will the Minister do to ensure that future public funding comes with clear str…
Commons
Proceedings
25 March 2026
Foreign Financial Influence and Interference: UK Politics
I welcome this statement. The public must have confidence that political decisions are made in their interests, not those of wealthy donors. Nowhere is that more important than in relation to the housing crisis, where there are also significant concerns that vested interests are seeking to exert sig…
Commons
Oral Questions
19 March 2026
Topical Questions
There are widespread concerns that we are way off our national biodiversity targets. Does the Minister agree that there must be no further backward steps on environmental protections, and that we must set clear red lines for nature?
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 March 2026
Child Maintenance Service
I thank the Minister for setting the scene. Would he reflect back to the House that, notwithstanding what he has said, there is a clear pattern of a lack of reliable communication, a failure to enforce payments and what often seems like an inability to keep in line with legislation? Does he recognis…
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 March 2026
Rural Roads
I guessed that others would raise the issue of potholes and poor safety today, so I want to make another point about the state of our rural roads. To put it bluntly, they are filthy. Driving through the countryside should be a reminder of much that is best and beautiful about our nation. Instead, in…
Commons
Oral Questions
5 March 2026
2 contributions
Standards in Government
4. What steps he is taking to uphold standards in Government.
Over the last 25 years, companies that have donated tens of millions of pounds to political parties have been granted Government contracts worth more than £60 billion. It is pretty obvious to the public that these cosy, influential and lucrative relationships appear to be the precise opposite of hig…
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 March 2026
5 contributions
Environmental Protection and Biodiversity
I beg to move,
That this House has considered environmental protections and biodiversity trends.
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Roger. Unfortunately for everyone involved, this will be one of my longer speeches, so I had better not take too many interventions. Let me also say…
I completely agree with my hon. Friend. As I was saying, the ecosystem services—including water, food, clean air and critical resources—are all at risk. Even our soils, the very substance of growth, have lost around half their organic carbon, threatening the sustainability of our agriculture and our…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 February 2026
Student Loan Repayment Plans
As a plan 2 graduate myself, before the Minister proceeds will he put on the record an acceptance that, with the misstep on the tuition fee repayment level, the cat is out of the bag? We need to deal with it in this Parliament. I urge him to reject the tedious, time-wasting suggestions from the Lib …
Commons
Westminster Hall
24 February 2026
Local Transport: Planning Developments
It is a pleasure to serve under you in the Chair, Sir Desmond. I am afraid I have been lured into making some side comments before getting into the meat of my speech. This is in relation to the point about aggregate supply and meeting the housing needs of young people. It is really important that we…