Commons
Ministerial Statement
3 March 2026
Spring Forecast
Monkton Elm garden centre, with its 400-cover restaurant employing 120 staff, has been hit by a £70,000 increase in its business rates this year as part of £178,000 in costs put on by the last Budget. If the Government will not accept the 5% cut in VAT that the Liberal Democrats propose—we would fun…
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 March 2026
Environmental Protection and Biodiversity
My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. Does she agree that habitat loss will not be helped if the Government accept recommendation 19 of the Fingleton review, which will weaken the duty to support our national parks? Our national parks did not stop the building of Sellafield, or of Trawsfynyd…
Commons
Debate
2 March 2026
Representation of the People Bill
My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. Does she agree that we need a radical reset of democracy in our country to reinvigorate trust, which has recently been lost? We need to cap big donations, bring in fair votes, and abolish the ludicrous voter ID scheme from the last Government.
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 March 2026
Power to Cancel Local Elections
I congratulate you on securing quality, if not quantity, of speakers in this debate, Mr Mundell; it is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone) for introducing the debate, and the 262 of my constituents who s…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
26 February 2026
Business of the House
An important frontline healthcare company operating within the NHS in my constituency and across Somerset has relied on a certificate of sponsorship for a number of years to provide those services. An application to renew the certificate of sponsorship was made in the normal way, but because the com…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
25 February 2026
2 contributions
Grenfell Tower Annual Report
The Liberal Democrats’ thoughts, like those of everyone in the House, are primarily on the 72 tragic losses of life that occurred in the Grenfell disaster. I welcome the spirit of cross-party discussion that the Secretary of State and the Opposition spokesperson, the hon. Member for Hamble Valley (P…
I will, Madam Deputy Speaker. My second question is about those excluded from the building safety fund. Tens of thousands of families are in buildings under 11 metres or living with products that might last an hour in a fire under PAS 9980—that is the wrong standard. We need all highly flammable mat…
Commons
Westminster Hall
24 February 2026
EU Membership Referendum: Impact on the UK
The hon. Lady mentions the trade and co-operation agreement, which was of course meant to remove tariffs. Does she share my concern about companies, such as those in Taunton and Wellington, that do not have to pay tariffs but who have to pay £300 for every cross-border transaction, to have all the p…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
23 February 2026
Local Government Reorganisation
Liberal Democrats believe that all authorities in England should be enabled to have the devolution deal and local government arrangement that is right for them.
The shadow Secretary of State asked whether this was an isolated incident; in the context of top-down reorganisation, this definitely is n…
Commons
Oral Questions
Housing, Communities and Local Government
23 February 2026
2 contributions
Leasehold Reform
Many of the 5 million leaseholders were looking forward to being freed from the feudal leasehold system until they read the draft Bill, which left many disappointed. There is no restriction on the development value that leaseholders are going to be charged and no broadening of the mixed-use blocks t…
The Law Commission reforms are being enacted and there is no date yet for a Bill to be brought forward. I hope that the Secretary of State will provide one.
Moving on to leaseholders who are still living with unsafe cladding and building defects, hundreds of thousands of people in buildings under 1…
Commons
Debate
11 February 2026
2 contributions
Storm Chandra Flooding
I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate and on the amazing work she does on her side of the Levels and Moors that span our two constituencies—I hope I do similar work on my side. She may be coming on to this point, but does she agree that one of the key messages I hear most s…
The Minister is right to pay credit to the Environment Agency, which has rolled out pumps faster than ever before. One of the key questions I get asked is, could we not have permanent pumps? That would mean we did not lose five days bringing them down from Yorkshire. Apparently, the crane that puts …
Commons
Debate
11 February 2026
6 contributions
Local Government Finance
In our manifesto, the Liberal Democrats called for multi-year settlements for local government; for councils to be freed to generate more revenue, including by charging more council tax on second homes and from increased planning fees; and for an extra £2 billion on education, including for special …
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Conservative Members ask, from a sedentary position, who runs the council, but I use the phrase “inherited time bomb” advisedly. The well-respected Conservative former leader of Somerset county council, Dave Fothergill, was one of the first in the country to ident…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 February 2026
Indefinite Leave to Remain
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Edward. I thank the 344 and 511 signatories from Taunton and Wellington who signed the petitions, including Adekunle, who is in the Public Gallery today.
Everyone recognises that the immigration system needs to be controlled and workable, but thi…
Commons
Westminster Hall
28 January 2026
Local Authority Children’s Services
My hon. Friend is speaking about very serious issues, and I commend him for not apportioning blame to one side or the other; he understands that, in different circumstances, there are different reasons to blame. The Government’s removal of the funding uplift for the most remote authorities will have…
Commons
Debate
26 January 2026
4 contributions
Armed Forces Bill
I genuinely welcome this Bill. As an Army Cadet Force instructor, I also welcome the new unified organisation for cadet forces.
Somerset has a higher-than-average proportion of veterans and those in the armed forces community, including in Taunton and Wellington. At Norton Manor camp in Taunton and…
I certainly encourage President Trump to apologise. I invite him to listen to the relatives of those who died in Afghanistan, whom I talk with and listen to at remembrance services in Norton Fitzwarren, near 40 Commando camp, on a regular basis. Perhaps he would then understand the sacrifice that pe…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
21 January 2026
Engagements
Children with disabilities and special educational needs in Somerset will be severely hit if the Government go ahead with removing the remoteness uplift from authorities. Will the Government commit to ensuring that councils with the largest land areas—of which Somerset is one—are properly reimbursed…
Commons
Westminster Hall
20 January 2026
2 contributions
Water (Special Measures) Act 2025: Enforcement
It is a pleasure to serve under you in the Chair, Dr Allin-Khan. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Tom Gordon) on bringing to the Chamber an issue that has sparked vivid examples of the complete and abject failure of our privatised water companies. I welcome t…
That is absolutely right. Water companies should be run in the interest of the public, not of the private shareholders’ pockets. That would be a welcome reform for communities in Taunton and Wellington and, no doubt, across the country.
In Taunton and Wellington, Wessex Water needs to reform and pu…
Commons
Westminster Hall
19 January 2026
Sale of Fireworks
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Pritchard. Thank you for the innovative heads-up on who is next on the speaking list. I too extend my thanks to the hon. Member for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Moore) for opening the debate and taking so many interventions.
Noisy fireworks, especi…
Commons
Debate
15 January 2026
2 contributions
New Towns
I express my gratitude to the hon. Member for Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch (Katrina Murray) for a really engaging speech about how it is the people who invest their lives in the community who make it what it is—a sentiment that I am sure we all share. I have learnt a great deal more about new towns…
The Minister is always very generous with his time. Can I press him a bit further on whether the Treasury has ruled out the long-term loans that were there for the post-war new towns programme?
Commons
Debate
13 January 2026
Finance (No. 2) Bill
The hon. Gentleman is making a strong case for the whisky industry. Does he recognise that the cider industry in my part of the world in Somerset is deserving of good treatment because of its support for agriculture? It used to benefit from a duty of 40% that of the wider beer and drinks industry, b…
Commons
Proceedings
12 January 2026
New Medium Helicopter Contract
I congratulate my constituency neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Yeovil (Adam Dance), on bringing this vital question to the House. As a fellow south-west MP, the Minister will know the massive impact that this issue has not just on Somerset, but across the whole south-west. Given the answers…
Commons
Oral Questions
Housing, Communities and Local Government
12 January 2026
2 contributions
Leasehold Reform
Fully 5 million leaseholders were plunged into the dark before Christmas and thousands report feeling angry and abandoned. Why, then, are the Government choosing to delay their ending of the feudal leasehold system? Will they go further and follow the calls from Lib Dems and others to regulate prope…
Leaseholders are being hit increasingly with flood risk and difficulty in getting insurance. Rockwell Green in my constituency has flooded twice in the last seven years. Why are the Government proposing to weaken the rules preventing development in areas of high flood risk, and how many homes will b…
Commons
Debate
7 January 2026
2 contributions
Jury Trials
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
The hon. Gentleman is an expert in this area, but if every lever needs to be pulled, should not the cap on sitting days be removed? That would make a far bigger difference to the process of clearing the backlog than removing jury trials.
Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
5 January 2026
Care Companies: Exploitation of Migrant Workers
Health and social care workers fear not only exploitation, but that promises may be retroactively broken by the Government. Will the Minister confirm that the promise of indefinite leave to remain after five years for health and social care workers at Musgrove Park hospital in my constituency will b…
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 December 2025
2 contributions
Housing Development: Cumulative Impacts
It is a pleasure, as ever, to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. I congratulate the right hon. Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds) on securing this important debate. It is a truth universally acknowledged that an MP in possession of a majority, however big, must be in want of a debate, so…
My hon. Friend makes a massively important point—absolutely, they should be statutory consultees. He gives me the opportunity to raise an even more serious concern. From careful reading of the Government’s snappily titled consultation on statutory consultees, alongside the ministerial statement of 1…
Commons
Debate
16 December 2025
2 contributions
Finance (No. 2) Bill
In contrast to the Budget and its effects, so much about business in Taunton and Wellington is on the up thanks to the enterprise, community spirit and business nous of people there. In Wellington, the new community hub in the Kings Arms—with a café set to open in the new year—where I held my surger…
I agree with the hon. Gentleman. Small businesses are the backbone of the economy, and the promise to reform business rates made by the last Government needs to be delivered upon by this Government.
As I was saying, as a result of quantitative easing funds, the big four banks alone will make £50 bi…