Commons
Debate
10 September 2025
2 contributions
Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [Lords]
My hon. Friend may be aware that in East Sussex, where I am lucky enough to be an MP, the county council has already removed the restriction on timings. Indeed, he has met my former Liberal Democrat council colleague Sean Macleod to discuss that. Does my hon. Friend agree that that creates a postcod…
Day in, day out, I hear from people across my constituency—from Polegate to Plumpton—who want to use the bus but simply cannot do so. People must be at the heart of transport policy, so let me begin with one example from my constituency. I recently heard from a woman in Wilmington village who wants …
Commons
Proceedings
10 September 2025
Russian Drones: Violation of Polish Airspace
The Minister was quite right to describe this violation of Polish airspace as unprecedented, but I am sure he would agree that it is not isolated; in fact, it represents the latest escalation in Russia’s campaign of attacks on central and eastern European NATO allies. Just last year, shopping centre…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
4 September 2025
Early Education and Childcare
As chair of the all-party parliamentary group for early education and childcare, I speak frequently to representatives of the private and voluntary childcare sector, who tell me that they are in crisis. Staffing shortages and an unsustainable funding model mean that they do not know how they will de…
Commons
Oral Questions
4 September 2025
Topical Questions
T5. I recently spoke to David, who farms near the village of Berwick in my constituency. He told me that he has recently given up raising livestock altogether due to the lack of local abattoirs—his nearest option is well over an hour away. What action are the Government taking to support new and exi…
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 September 2025
Pavement Parking
Some see pavement parking as merely a nuisance, but in some parts of my constituency it is far more serious, affecting businesses and residents every day. Due to the time restriction, I will talk about just one community—the town of Polegate—where the crisis has become particularly acute.
People te…
Commons
Debate
2 September 2025
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
The Bill brands itself as “devolution by default”, but in practice it could be seen as centralisation by stealth. Real devolution shifts power out of Westminster and Whitehall to the people in local communities, but the Bill risks doing the opposite. For instance, clause 4 lets Ministers draw and re…
Commons
Oral Questions
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
2 September 2025
Topical Questions
I was pleased to read that the Government are finally taking steps to rejoin the Erasmus+ programme—something for which the Liberal Democrats have been calling for some time. Will the Minister now set out a timetable mandate and expected terms for UK reassociation with that programme?
Commons
Debate
22 July 2025
Sir David Amess Summer Adjournment
I speak today in the tradition of using these debates to highlight issues facing constituents. Sir David Amess set a high bar in making the most of his opportunity to champion his constituents, and while we came from different political traditions, I respect the example that he set.
Let us start wi…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
16 July 2025
Engagements
Q4. Severe pregnancy sickness—hyperemesis gravidarum, or HG—can mean vomiting more than 20 times a day. It causes physical discomfort, acute malnutrition and severe dehydration, which often leads to hospitalisation. It has profound and long-lasting mental health consequences. It was recently repor…
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 July 2025
SEND Provision: South-east England
Thank you, Sir Edward. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells (Mike Martin) on securing this important and timely debate. We all know that the SEND system is broken in this country—a point even acknowledged by the Prime Minister at a recent Prime Minister’s questions. Families …
Commons
Debate
3 July 2025
Women’s State Pension Age: Financial Redress
I thank the hon. Member for Salford (Rebecca Long Bailey) for securing this debate. She spoke superbly and with great passion on the subject.
December last year marked a shameful day for this Government, when millions of women born in the 1950s—women who have given a lifetime of service, hard work …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
3 July 2025
Business of the House
As my East Sussex neighbour, Madam Deputy Speaker, you are likely to be familiar with the issue that I want to raise. In Polegate in my constituency, there is a growing parking crisis. Local businesses and residents are suffering because of antisocial parking—often pavement parking—and a lack of eff…
Commons
Oral Questions
Church Commissioners
3 July 2025
Community Cohesion
A really positive example of community cohesion in action is the Rewild the Church project, with the Lewes Climate Hub and churches in Lewes joining forces to tackle biodiversity loss and bring people together through their parishes. They are working towards the inspiring goal of rewilding 30% of Ch…
Commons
Oral Questions
3 July 2025
2 contributions
Women’s Football: Financial Viability
6. What steps her Department is taking to support the financial viability of women’s football.
I thank the Minister for her response; I know she is aware of some of the financial challenges that my local club in Lewes faces. With England about to start the defence of their European title in Switzerland against France on Saturday, does she share my concern that, despite the phenomenal rise in …
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
2 July 2025
Engagements
Q3. On Monday afternoon, a four-year-old girl was seriously injured after being hit by a car on Lewes Road, just off the A259 in Newhaven in my constituency. I can report to the House that she is recovering well in hospital. Residents in Newhaven, Seaford and nearby Sussex coastal towns have been…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
25 June 2025
Engagements
Q3. The Government’s expansion of funded childcare from September is welcome, but early years settings face a critical staffing crisis that could make expanded provision practically impossible. Not enough applicants, a lack of qualifications, low salaries and high turnover mean that many nurserie…
Commons
Debate
24 June 2025
Department for Education
I declare an interest as the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on early education and childcare.
Early years providers are facing an escalating financial crisis. The Government’s latest tax increases will add an average of £40,000 a year to staffing costs for early years providers. Hopscot…
Commons
Proceedings
19 June 2025
Business of the House
There are newspaper reports this morning that the Attorney General has provided the Government with legal advice against engaging in the war between Israel and Iran. I am sure the Leader of the House recalls that the last time a Labour Government were contemplating joining the Americans in a middle …
Commons
Oral Questions
19 June 2025
Access to Nature: Young People
The rivers and coastline in my constituency are treasured by local families and children, including my own, whether they are kayaking and paddleboarding on the Cuckmere and Ouse rivers or swimming off the beaches of Seaford bay, yet they are regularly blighted by sewage discharges courtesy of Southe…
Commons
Westminster Hall
4 June 2025
Swimming Facilities
My constituency is home to a number of public swimming pools, including the remarkable Pells pool lido in Lewes. Opened in 1861, it is the UK’s oldest outdoor freshwater swimming pool still operating. Today, however, I will focus on another one of our local pools.
Back in the 1970s, the people of R…
Commons
Oral Questions
3 June 2025
2 contributions
HMP Lewes
12. What steps her Department is taking to support the operation of HMP Lewes.
The latest inspection of HMP Lewes found that levels of violence, self-harm and drug use remain notably worse than at other reception prisons, with just one third of prisoners engaged in education or employment and many spending as little as two hours a day out of their cells. While the new governor…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
22 May 2025
Diego Garcia Military Base
Liberal Democrats support the UK complying with international law, but the process for agreeing this deal has been more than a little bit bumpy. While the Conservatives have feigned anger, bordering on hysteria at times, despite it being their Foreign Secretary who first signalled the UK’s intention…
Commons
Westminster Hall
20 May 2025
Adoption and Kinship Placements
It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I congratulate the hon. Member for South West Devon (Rebecca Smith) on securing this important debate.
Around 157 children in my constituency are in kinship care. These are children being raised not by their parents, but by grandparents, au…
Commons
Debate
15 May 2025
Youth Services
I thank the hon. Member for Croydon East (Natasha Irons) for bringing this important debate to the Chamber today. Youth services are not a luxury; they are a lifeline. At their best, they provide young people with a safe place to go, trusted adults to talk to and opportunities to grow, learn and thr…
Commons
Oral Questions
15 May 2025
Condition of Local Roads
The previous Government spent £250,000 on a study of the A259 coast road in my constituency, yet residents have seen no improvement whatever to the road. The town of Newhaven is particularly badly affected; daily gridlock is affecting businesses and residents, to the detriment of the condition of th…