Commons
Westminster Hall
9 June 2026
6 contributions
Water Safety
I beg to move,
That this House has considered water safety.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship this morning, Ms McVey. I thank the Minister for attending to hear the points to be made. I declare an interest as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on water safety, and I acknowledg…
The hon. Member is absolutely right and makes an important point. Following a debate during drowning prevention week last year, I was pleased that it was confirmed that water safety education, including the Royal Life Saving Society’s water safety code, would be added to the national curriculum. We …
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Northern Ireland
3 June 2026
2 contributions
Defence Growth Deal: Economic Impact
3. What assessment he has made of the potential economic impact of the defence growth deal on Northern Ireland.
One of the many things I have learned on the excellent armed forces parliamentary scheme with the Navy this year is the importance of UK defence manufacturing for our economy and our national security. In Southampton we have Tekever and Leonardo, and of course in Northern Ireland there is Navy shipb…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
3 June 2026
Engagements
Less than 48 hours ago the family of Henry Nowak stood on the steps of Southampton Crown court and gave a courageous and dignified statement in which they said:
“We want to use Henry’s heartbreaking story to make change for the better. We do not want his death to be used to create further division,…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
2 June 2026
Murder of Henry Nowak
I thank the Secretary of State for her statement. Henry was a popular and much-loved student at the University of Southampton, and his murder has horrified our city. Both I and my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Test (Satvir Kaur) commend everyone at the university for their response and thei…
Commons
Debate
20 May 2026
Banking Hubs
The hon. Gentleman is being incredibly generous with his time. I share his frustration that from the northern parts of Scotland to Southampton, on the south coast, the criteria is completely inadequate. In fact, in its assessment for the Bitterne application, Link included bus times that simply did …
Commons
Debate
27 April 2026
2 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
I start by saying how proud I am of the Government in bringing forth a momentous Bill. Its Committee was only the second Bill Committee that I cut my teeth on, and it is a Bill of a generation. It breaks down so many of the barriers that were built up under the inaction of the previous Government. I…
It would be most welcome to hear the Minister’s reassurance about who this Government are acting for. The 21-month process may not serve young people growing up in Britain, or their parents, carers or teachers who are crying out for help. Will the Minister acknowledge that any delay past that minimu…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
25 March 2026
Engagements
Q4. May I associate myself with the Prime Minister’s remarks on the terrible Golders Green attack? Rebuilding trust and integrity in our democracy matters deeply to my constituents in Southampton. Shamefully, it does not matter at all to some, particularly the senior Reform UK politician who has bee…
Commons
Debate
23 March 2026
Middle East
May I associate myself with the comments by the Secretary of State when he commends our brave servicemen and women? Far from “hanging around”, which the Leader of the Opposition thinks they are doing, they are working night and day to protect us at home and abroad, and as one of many Members across …
Commons
Debate
11 March 2026
2 contributions
Commonwealth Day 2026
rose —
I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing the debate. He will know that in the history of the Commonwealth, many have gone to it and come from it through the port city of Southampton. As he speaks about the future value of the Commonwealth, does he agree that port cities like Southampton will play a…
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
2 March 2026
Topical Questions
Literacy levels among Southampton’s children remain a challenge, and I commend the work of so many teachers in attempting to close that gap. Can the Minister say how schools in my constituency can best engage with the National Year of Reading? Will she join me in welcoming plans for a Southampton li…
Commons
Debate
23 February 2026
Schools White Paper: Every Child Achieving and Thriving
I thank my right hon. Friend for a statement that not only tries to fix the deep cracks that have formed in this broken system in recent years, but sets out a wholesale vision for transforming it. This is long overdue and much needed by parents, students and teachers. She will know that although the…
Commons
Oral Questions
Housing, Communities and Local Government
23 February 2026
2 contributions
Building Safety Regulator
18. What progress his Department has made on reforming the Building Safety Regulator.
Tomorrow marks one year since the residents of Sundowner Court in Southampton were forced to leave their home because of serious fire safety defects. Two neighbouring blocks followed suit soon after, and no one expects to be back in their home for at least another year. The Government rightly priori…
Commons
Debate
3 February 2026
3 contributions
Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill
I am proud to support the Bill and do so with the families of Southampton firmly in mind. Those are families who fell foul of the last Conservative Government’s mission to make Britain Dickensian again.
Child deprivation in my city is among the worst in the country—worse than more than 83% of local…
I thank my hon. Friend for making that salient point, and I will come to that wider package of measures.
Of course, we have heard straw-man arguments, saying, “Well, this one thing will not solve child poverty.” No one is claiming that it will solve child poverty; it is one piece in the jigsaw of t…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Proceedings
19 January 2026
Business Rates: Retail, Hospitality and Leisure
We all know that we are where we are precisely because of the disastrous legacy that we were left by the Conservatives, who made unfunded promise after unfunded promise. I welcome the Minister’s reassurance about transitional relief and the caps on the increases, but cafés and small hospitality busi…
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
19 January 2026
2 contributions
SEND Support: Access
7. What steps she is taking to ensure that families of children with SEND have early access to support.
We all know that early support for children with SEND depends on getting the co-ordination right among parents, schools, local authorities and the NHS, but we also know that is not always happening. Some of the children I have been supporting in Southampton Itchen are spending months out of educatio…
Commons
Proceedings
8 January 2026
Business of the House
At a recent constituency coffee morning that I hosted on the subject of public transport, some disabled passengers told me about the specific barriers they still face when they choose to travel by rail. Woolston station has step-free access to only one of its platforms, so those with limited mobilit…
Commons
Oral Questions
Energy Security and Net Zero
6 January 2026
Topical Questions
Southampton is Europe’s leading cruise port and the second-biggest container terminal in the country. Our industry stands ready to invest millions in decarbonisation, but that is being held up by grid constraints at the Nursling supply point. Will the Minister meet me and local industry leaders to s…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
12 November 2025
Engagements
Q4. This is Care Leavers Month, when we remember the resilience and brilliance of our young people who have grown up in care, and I was delighted to welcome a group of Southampton’s care leavers to share their views with the Under-Secretary of State for Education, my hon. Friend the Member for White…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
5 November 2025
2 contributions
Curriculum and Assessment Review
I welcome a curriculum review that will break down barriers. It opens up so much of the digital and financial literacy that the Conservatives seem to think is unimportant to all, but which we know will raise aspirations by equipping young people from all backgrounds. I have two questions that I woul…
I will listen to the experts before I listen to the Front Bench any day—the Opposition Front Bench. [ Laughter. ] If the right hon. Member listens, she will hear that. Will the Secretary of State please look at the overall load throughout school, not just in GCSE year, and comment on how she sees th…
Commons
Debate
4 November 2025
Supporting High Streets
On the issue of shoplifting, does my hon. Friend agree that the Tories are having a bad day with their memory? Not only have they forgotten that next to my seat of Southampton Itchen is Madam Deputy Speaker’s equally fine seat of Romsey and Southampton North, where twice I failed to persuade the peo…
Commons
Debate
3 November 2025
Care Leavers
My hon. Friend is making an incredibly powerful point in this debate, which she has thankfully secured. Last week, a group of Southampton care leavers came to Parliament, and raised housing and accommodation as one of the most urgent issues they want us to tackle. I have heard her welcome, as I do, …
Commons
Proceedings
30 October 2025
Business of the House
My constituent Clive has a rare and incurable neuroendocrine cancer. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has recommended that selective internal radiation therapy could be used for people with his condition and would improve both life quality and expectancy, but that still is not h…
Commons
Westminster Hall
30 October 2025
Children’s Social Care
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq.
I thank and commend my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes), the chair of the Education Committee, for leading the inquiry, securing the debate and making an incredibly powerful case as to why, particularly as we b…
Commons
Westminster Hall
27 October 2025
Statutory Maternity and Paternity Pay
My hon. Friend knows that under the current system far fewer dads take parental leave, which worsens the gender pay gap. In the five years after becoming mothers, many workers lose up to £65,000-worth of earnings. It is clear that better paid, longer and more usable partner leave is beneficial for a…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
15 October 2025
Pride in Place
I am delighted that this Labour Government are investing £20 million into Weston and a further £1.5 million into the wider Southampton Itchen constituency. Ideas are already flooding in from a group of people who are relieved not to be overlooked yet again, as they were under the last Government. Do…