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…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
12 February 2026
Social Rented Housing Sector
As the chair of the recently formed all-party parliamentary group for council and social housing, I welcome the report’s conclusion about the importance of boosting the supply of social housing to meet the huge demand for new, high-quality, genuinely affordable homes and to replace older, lower-stan…
Commons
Proceedings
12 February 2026
Business of the House
The disgraceful scandals of recent days have left what little remains of faith in our democracy hanging by a thread. One of the lessons has to be that, while inherited privilege is no basis for a second Chamber, neither is self-interested patronage by political leaders. Does the Leader of the House …
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 February 2026
Woodland Creation
It is an honour to serve with you in the Chair, Ms Lewell.
The state of England’s woodland paints a clear picture of national decline. The elms are gone, the ash is dying and even the English oak is at risk from the existential threat of climate change. We have far less woodland cover than many of …
Commons
Westminster Hall
29 January 2026
2 contributions
River Habitats: Protection and Restoration
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Ms Butler. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for South Dorset (Lloyd Hatton) on his well-made speech opening the debate.
The state of our rivers is a near-perfect metaphor for how badly we have got our priorities wrong as a society. Through a …
I am afraid the Minister has slightly walked into this. Previously in this Chamber, I extended an invitation to her to come and visit RevIvel in my constituency. That is a campaign to restore the Ivel chalk stream. It has a pilot project looking at taking the Chalk Streams First approach, which woul…
Commons
Westminster Hall
26 January 2026
Key Stage 1 Curriculum
It is an honour to serve with you in the Chair, Ms Barker. I congratulate the hon. Member for South Cotswolds (Dr Savage) on her excellent speech—although the “productive struggle” she referred to sounded rather like a slogan from my trade union days. I wholeheartedly support the petition, and I tha…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
22 January 2026
Energy Costs
There are two particularly important conclusions in the Select Committee’s inquiry: first, that reducing energy costs for everyone should be the top priority; and secondly, that there is no shortage of money in the wider energy system. Does the Chair of the Select Committee agree with me that GB Ene…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
22 January 2026
Business of the House
Liberal Democrat-run Hertfordshire county council has been looking at closing several village schools in my constituency, with a decision due soon on Albury primary school. I will not ask the Leader of the House to comment on a particular cases, but from speaking to parents and local communities, it…
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 January 2026
Dementia Support: Hampshire
The hon. Member is making a powerful speech about an incredibly important subject. It affects my constituency, too, where we have 1,500 people living with dementia. On top of that, as she was referring to, around a third of the people currently living with dementia do not have a diagnosis and, stagg…
Commons
Debate
15 January 2026
New Towns
The Government’s determination to deliver a new generation of new towns, with everything residents will need for a thriving and fulfilling life, offers a much more hopeful solution to the housing crisis in this country than the proliferation of overpriced and characterless bolt-on estates thrown up …
Commons
Proceedings
15 January 2026
Digital ID
I am pleased that the Government have dropped the plans for mandatory digital ID; it was always clear that the British public would heavily reject that idea, and it is our duty as Members to jealously guard our constituents’ civil liberties. Will the Minister convey the lessons learned from this dec…
Commons
Oral Questions
Church Commissioners
15 January 2026
2 contributions
Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme
4. What discussions the Church of England has had with the Government on when the evaluation report of the listed places of worship grant scheme will be published.
Whatever one’s faith, the historic churches in North East Hertfordshire are an incredible part of our local heritage. They are places of peace and beauty, ever-present reminders of centuries of our history and a focal point for village life, providing space for social activities and community life i…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
8 January 2026
Road Safety Strategy
As I have previously discussed with the Minister, the A505 is one of the deadliest roads in the country, and the stretch between Baldock and Royston in particular has seen tragedy after tragedy in my constituency. Will the Minister set out how the road safety strategy will empower local highways aut…
Commons
Oral Questions
Transport
8 January 2026
2 contributions
Rail Fares
1. What steps she is taking to help reduce rail fares.
The fact that this Labour Government have frozen rail fares for the first time in 30 years is hugely welcome, but for many of my constituents, recent years have felt like death by a thousand costs, and they desperately need to see rail fares come down even further. Would the Secretary of State meet …
Commons
Debate
7 January 2026
Jury Trials
I have great respect for what the Minister is saying, but I and many others on the Labour Benches still have questions. Will he agree to meet those of us who think, for example, that the proposals from the Criminal Bar Association deserve closer scrutiny, so that we can discuss those proposals in fu…
Commons
Debate
5 January 2026
Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief
I thank the Minister for listening and acting on the concerns that I and many other Labour MPs raised alongside our farming constituents. Now that a happier compromise has been found on inheritance tax, the issue remains one of securing a profitable future for nature-friendly farming in our country.…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
11 December 2025
National Plan to End Homelessness
I welcome the Minister’s work on this important subject. Just after we came into office, Ministers committed from the Dispatch Box to a revolution in council house building. I have welcomed and noted the Minister’s statements on social housing, but she will be aware that there are growing concerns a…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
11 December 2025
Topical Questions
T6. I thank the Minister for meeting me recently to discuss the campaign for Hugh’s law and the Government’s plan to consult on support for families with seriously ill children. One parent recently told me,“our savings disappeared under the cost of surviving”,while their disability living allowance …
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 December 2025
2 contributions
Water Scarcity
It is an honour to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Stuart. I begin by recognising that the Minister takes these issues very seriously, and congratulating the hon. Member for Horsham (John Milne) on securing this important debate. I agree with him that one would think it would take true organising ge…
Briefly, may I encourage the Minister to come to my constituency and see the incredible work being done by the RevIvel campaign, which is trying to restore the Ivel chalk stream? It has a brilliant proposal for a chalk stream-first approach that would restore not just that chalk stream but the whole…