Rachel Blake

70 parliamentary sessions on record in this archive

70 sessions page 3 of 3
Commons Westminster Hall 8 September 2025 3 contributions
Indefinite Leave to Remain
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Jeremy. I thank the Petitions Committee for scheduling this important debate, and I welcome the spirit in which it has been conducted so far: the original purpose of debating indefinite leave to remain has been respected and we have risen above the…
I thank the hon. Member for that contribution. I want to focus my remarks on those who have BNO visas and particularly on the importance of stability in that system. I first became particularly interested in the lives of people living in Hong Kong because of my constituent, Jimmy Lai, who is curren…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons Oral Questions Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office 2 September 2025
Topical Questions
T4.   I share the anguish and profound distress of my constituents over the conflict in Gaza. Many of them have friends and family in the region; they are living with that torment every day. The Minister will have seen hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens marching for a release of the hostages …
Commons Proceedings 17 July 2025
Strategy for Elections
May I put on record my profound thanks to the Minister for her personal commitment to ensuring that we renew confidence in democracy? I warmly welcome proposals around moving away from the first-past-the-post system in regional elections and restoring that part of our democracy. Will she outline how…
Commons Westminster Hall 17 July 2025
RAF Photographic Reconnaissance Unit
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Carlisle (Ms Minns) for securing this important debate. Last November, I visited war memorials across the Cities of London and Westminster. From Paddington and Marylebone stations to St Paul’s cathedral, w…
Commons Proceedings 16 July 2025
Sudan
I echo the words of my hon. Friends the Members for Stratford and Bow (Uma Kumaran) and for Sheffield Central (Abtisam Mohamed) about the terrible and desperate suffering of women and children. I thank the Minister for her update, in which she highlighted the outcome of the London Sudan conference a…
Commons Debate 15 July 2025
Taxes
On that point, does my hon. Friend agree that it is important for HMRC to work with local authorities to take action on tax evasion by high street stores that do not act fairly, like the awful Harry Potter stores in my constituency? I am worried about the impact that they have on the high street and…
Commons Oral Questions Housing, Communities and Local Government 14 July 2025
High Streets
Not far from here, on Whitehall and on Oxford Street, we have seen the proliferation of Harry Potter shops. These are not welcoming for our tourists and we do not believe that they are trading fairly. Will the Minister support me in encouraging His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs to work with Westmins…
Commons Westminster Hall 10 July 2025
London’s National Economic Contribution
I thank my hon. Friend for securing today’s debate. It is timely, both in terms of London’s potential and current contribution to growth and the fair funding review. He mentioned the £4 million per day that London local authorities spend on temporary accommodation. My own local authority, Westminste…
Commons Debate 7 July 2025
Government Performance against Fiscal Rules
Does the Chief Secretary to the Treasury agree that it is because of these fiscal rules that this Government have been able to establish firm foundations for future growth? Will he explain to the House how the Budget stability rule supports the Government with confidence of investors and businesses?
Commons Debate 18 June 2025
Right to Manage and Leasehold
I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to make provision about the definition of qualifying tenants for the purposes of claiming a right to manage; to reduce the proportion of qualifying tenants required to give notice of a claim to acquire a right to manage; to establish a duty on f…
Commons Westminster Hall 18 June 2025 4 contributions
Political Prisoners
I beg to move, That this House has considered the detention of Jimmy Lai and other political prisoners internationally. It is a real honour to serve under your chairship, Mr Western. I speak today on behalf of my constituent Jimmy Lai, who has been detained abroad since December 2020. Mr Lai was o…
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his support for our task today and for raising that important case. Despite Mr Lai’s being told that his trial would last only 80 days, today marks the 1,630th day of his detention. Every day that he is detained, his health deteriorates further and his family ri…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons Debate 16 June 2025
Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme
I declare an interest: I am a member of the House of Commons Commission, which has nominated me as a member of the independent complaints and grievance scheme advisory group, so I am a member of the group that we are discussing. When I was first elected, I attended the training on the ICGS, along w…
Commons Ministerial Statement 11 June 2025
Spending Review 2025
The spending review says that there will be a report from the Office for Value for Money on temporary accommodation and the terrible waste of money going into poorly procured temporary accommodation. Some 90,000 children live in temporary accommodation in London. Does the Chancellor agree that the £…
Commons Debate 9 June 2025 3 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
Will the hon. Member give way?
I am really moved by what the hon. Gentleman is talking about. Many of us will have had similar experiences. We have been hearing so much about the importance of local decision making. I cannot help but think if only there had been the necessary investment in skills in the planning team who made the…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons Oral Questions Church Commissioners 22 May 2025 2 contributions
Leasehold: Value for Money
7. What steps the Church Commissioners are taking to ensure value for money for leaseholders.
I thank my hon. Friend for the time she spent with me and my constituents of the Hyde Park estate to discuss tackling some of the high service charges they are facing. Does she agree that it is vital that the Government continue to make progress on the regulation of managing agents so that these hig…
Commons Westminster Hall 22 May 2025 6 contributions
EU-UK Summit
I have spent quite a lot of time in Spalding and Skegness, and I would be very happy to knock on thousands of doors there, but that is not what I wanted to ask about. Is the hon. Gentleman absolutely certain that there is nobody in his constituency who would like to take up the opportunity of having…
rose—
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons Oral Questions 22 May 2025
UK Artists Touring the EU
I thank the Minister for his encouraging remarks about the progress of the UK-EU deal. Does he agree that the changes that we are making will support the vitality of London’s west end, and provide a strong foundation for tackling the issue of carnets in our future negotiations with the EU, so that w…
Commons Proceedings 13 May 2025
UK-EU Summit
The Minister will have heard what the shadow Minister said about the Conservatives’ pride in Brexit. It seems to me that they are proud of the terrible Brexit deal that they delivered and completely unable to bring forward any constructive ideas. They have managed to set out five red lines, but does…
Commons Proceedings 8 May 2025
Business of the House
My constituency has the most leaseholders in the country. I commend this Government’s work to give leaseholders the accountability that they should have. Will the Leader of the House support me in inviting the Minister responsible to come and talk to the leasehold action group here in the Cities of …
Commons Oral Questions 8 May 2025 2 contributions
Water Bills: Limiting Increases
3. Whether he is taking steps to limit increases to water bills.
Roberto, one of my constituents, has seen his water bill go up by nearly 45% in the last two years, and other constituents have contacted me to say that their bills have nearly doubled in that time. I am pleased by what the Minister said about holding the previous Government to account for their fai…

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