Commons
Westminster Hall
14 July 2026
Coastal Communities: Isolation and Hidden Deprivation
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Alec. I am so pleased that my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight West (Richard Quigley) secured this debate. Isolation and hidden deprivation in coastal communities is such an important issue.
Cornwall is not an island, like the Isle of Wigh…
Commons
Debate
13 July 2026
Immigration and Asylum Bill
Even in rural areas like Cornwall, community schemes welcoming Syrian refugees are working very well. They show that community sponsorship schemes can work well across the country.
Commons
Oral Questions
Energy Security and Net Zero
7 July 2026
Topical Questions
There is so much innovation going on in my constituency for floating offshore wind in the Celtic sea, including by companies such as Reflex Marine, but we need the test and demo models up in the Celtic sea to test the technology. The contracts for difference in the next auction will be crucial for o…
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
6 July 2026
Royal Navy Surface Fleet
The Royal Navy fleet obviously sits alongside the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. Will the Minister confirm that he is committed to the RFA and its fleet expansion?
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
2 July 2026
Topical Questions
The Government’s critical minerals strategy was a fantastic achievement, with clear targets, and it will kick-start a nascent industry. To take the next step to get the sector up on its feet and to a more competitive place, will the Minister support a Government price certainty mechanism for lithium…
Commons
Debate
2 July 2026
2 contributions
Access to Further Education
There is another further education college in Cornwall: Truro and Penwith college. Does my hon. Friend agree that transport, and getting children in rural and coastal areas to colleges and work placements, is a major issue?
I would just like to highlight a point of inequity. Mayors sometimes subsidise buses for young people aged 16 to 19, which means that young people in urban areas are better set than those in rural areas where the councils cannot afford to do that and young people have much further to travel.
Commons
Westminster Hall
30 June 2026
High Streets
In Truro, the city council has bought a property to convert to commercial and residential use. It is using some of its town deal—what would have been Pride in Place money—to invest in properties and restore some of the flats above shops that have been empty for so long. Does the hon. Member agree th…
Commons
Oral Questions
Cabinet Office
25 June 2026
2 contributions
Public Procurement: UK Businesses
13. What steps he is taking to prioritise UK businesses in Government procurement.
A&P Falmouth, now owned by Balaena, at Falmouth docks in my constituency, bid for a maintenance and repair contract for the Sir David Attenborough research vessel from UK Research and Innovation. Despite the company’s experience—the vessel was built at its sister yard, up in Teesside—and a stron…
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 June 2026
4 contributions
Ports and Port Connectivity
I beg to move,
That this House has considered ports and port connectivity.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine. As an island nation, our prosperity has always been closely linked to the strength of our ports. Towns have flourished where ports have thrived, and declined where…
Obviously, I agree. Places such as Cornwall will be fundamental to growth in renewable energy, particularly with the critical minerals strategy. The industrial strategy zones will be so important to unlock that potential.
I am grateful to the many hon. Members from across the House who supported my…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
24 June 2026
Topical Questions
T3. The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s guidelines were to provide clarity. However, washing facilities adaptations will be difficult and costly for businesses, and providers such as Girlguiding risk potentially being sued for being inclusive. Small vulnerable minorities need our protection. …
Commons
Oral Questions
24 June 2026
Discrimination against Trans People
T3. The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s guidelines were to provide clarity. However, washing facilities adaptations will be difficult and costly for businesses, and providers such as Girlguiding risk potentially being sued for being inclusive. Small vulnerable minorities need our protection. …
Commons
Westminster Hall
23 June 2026
Prison Safety
I thank my hon. Friend for securing this important debate. I, too, went to HMP Wandsworth not very long ago. There was an incident on the wing: something happened and the prison officers had to shut all the doors and run. That was a horrible example of what they deal with every day. The violence is …
Commons
Debate
22 June 2026
2 contributions
Armed Forces Bill
Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
It is not, actually, although I can always talk about the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in the context of clause 31, in which it is brilliantly included and which will give the RFA a commissioner at last, which is fantastic.
May I ask the Minister to confirm—because I have had some correspondence about thi…
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 June 2026
High Street Shops: Illicit Activity
Hotspot teams are looking at this issue in certain areas, but does my hon. Friend agree that it is also a problem in rural and coastal areas, such as mine in Falmouth? The problem is spreading across the country—he talks about it moving into the Black Country—so perhaps we should look at extending t…
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 June 2026
Abuse of Customer-facing Workers
This is a really important debate. In Falmouth and Truro, we have a lot of abuse of shop workers in connection with shoplifting. An issue in the past has been that people think they are immune if they shoplift something worth less than £200. That is changing and the police will now arrest those peop…
Commons
Proceedings
15 June 2026
Defence Investment Plan
This Government are not year zero. The 2.5% target has not been hit since 2010—the end of the last Labour Government—and there has been an extra £11 billion since the end of the last Conservative Government. I met my ex-husband in the Fleet Air Arm in 2003, just in time to witness some of the hollow…
Commons
Oral Questions
Housing, Communities and Local Government
15 June 2026
Topical Questions
T9. The King’s Speech contains proposals for an overnight visitor levy. The decision on whether to introduce it is to be devolved to mayoral strategic authorities and, potentially, foundation strategic authorities. Most coastal and rural areas that struggle with the impact of tourism are not in mayo…
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 June 2026
Rail Freight
We had a rail freight line going down to the docks in Falmouth, but it was closed about 20 years ago. I am trying to reopen it, and we are working with the docks and potential customers to do so. Does the hon. Lady agree that this is something that the Government and Great British Railways, when it …
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 June 2026
Seasonal Hospitality Businesses in Coastal Areas
I thank the hon. Member for securing this important debate. On support for young people, I will be talking to the Skills Minister soon about what the youth guarantee scheme could do in hospitality. Does the hon. Member agree that the two would be a perfect match?
Commons
Debate
1 June 2026
Coastal Communities: Government Support
Again, that sounds similar to Cornwall. Does my hon. Friend agree that speeding up a registration scheme for holiday lets would help to deal with all the second homes and holiday lets proliferating around our towns? Maybe if we had that, we could move towards more affordable housing.
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
21 May 2026
Topical Questions
Cornwall has so much to offer the UK—critical minerals, floating offshore wind in the Celtic sea, defence, geothermal energy—but infrastructure, particularly ports and rail, will be critical to enable growth. Cornwall is a perfect place to designate as an industrial strategy zone. Will the Minister …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
18 May 2026
Youth Justice
It seems clear that the lack of early-years intervention, the lack of SEND support and the cuts to youth services in the past 14 years have let down a generation of our children. How will the youth intervention courts bring together those agencies to tackle the entrenched root causes, including poor…
Commons
Proceedings
20 April 2026
Community-owned Assets: Government Support
Does the Minister agree that Pride in Place is a fantastic programme, which will help campaigns such as the Save the Stag campaign in my constituency to buy their local pub, but that it has not reached all corners of the country yet? Will she confirm that she will look at how Pride in Place extends …
Commons
Debate
20 April 2026
Security Vetting
The Foreign Office shared the outcome of the vetting process, but not the conclusions of the vetting reports—not just the detail, but the conclusions. If the Prime Minister is going to own a decision, he needs to know what is within it. What changes will he be making to stop this happening again?
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
20 April 2026
Topical Questions
I welcome the Experts at Hand service and the £3.7 million that has been given to Cornwall to set it up. We struggle, however, to get occupational therapists, educational psychologists and speech and language therapists in rural and coastal areas. What incentives are there, and what is the Minister …