Commons
Debate
8 July 2026
6 contributions
Rearmament and Warfighting Readiness
I thank the hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells (Mike Martin) for securing the debate. I was proud to join him, the hon. Member for Spelthorne (Lincoln Jopp) and Field Marshal Lord Richards of Herstmonceux in creating the all-party parliamentary group on rearmament. We are discussing a topic that we all…
I agree with the right hon. Member, but I am not sure whether his point is relevant to the one I was making about the broad context of defence procurement. There has been great cross-party consensus on what we are doing with Ukraine, and we should ensure that that continues.
I also want to comment …
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
25 June 2026
Draft Conversion Practices Bill
I congratulate the Minister on all the hard work she has done to bring this Bill forward—she should be incredibly proud of herself. It is particularly timely in the month of Pride. In 2026, we still have people who are questioning the need for Pride, including Reform councils and councillors. It is …
Commons
Proceedings
15 June 2026
Carbon Capture Pipeline Projects: Cheshire
As the Minister will know, the proposed route runs through Macclesfield, so I have a number of constituents and communities who are concerned about it. They have questions that we should accept in good faith—questions about the route, about public safety, which the Minister is coming to, and about t…
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 June 2026
Energy Costs
The Minister is making a powerful point about the investments that the Government are making in green and clean energy. In Macclesfield, families are suffering from high energy costs at the pumps or in making sure that their homes are warm when they need to be. Does he agree that tackling climate ch…
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 June 2026
Energy Costs
The Minister is making a powerful point about the investments that the Government are making in green and clean energy. In Macclesfield, families are suffering from high energy costs at the pumps or in making sure that their homes are warm when they need to be. Does he agree that tackling climate ch…
Commons
Debate
3 June 2026
Lord Mandelson: Response to Humble Address
The Minister is being incredibly generous with his time. As an aside, I think many hon. Members in this place—those on the Conservative Benches at least—would like to go back to the 19th century.
It is clear that officials have done a huge amount of work with regard to this process. Will the Minist…
Commons
Debate
3 June 2026
General Strike Centenary Commemorations
I am really grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Northfield (Laurence Turner) for securing this important Adjournment debate. I was very excited a few weeks ago when he told me that he had secured it. He has spoken really eloquently about the importance of the general strike to labou…
Commons
Debate
20 May 2026
2 contributions
Defence Readiness
I have spoken in this Chamber at some length about defence and the urgency of rearmament, and I was proud to join the hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells (Mike Martin) and Field Marshal Lord Richards in creating the all-party parliamentary group on rearmament.
Before I turn to what the Government are d…
I was in Bristol recently at the National Armaments Director Group, the renamed defence Government support group, and I was glad to hear that it is doing more on SMEs. Maybe the Government Front Bench will comment more on that later, but it is right to recognise that SMEs are crucial and that, in th…
Commons
Debate
28 April 2026
4 contributions
Referral of Prime Minister to Committee of Privileges
The appointment of Mandelson was a profoundly flawed process; it was also a profoundly flawed choice—it was the wrong choice. I think of the victims of Epstein; I also think of Alistair Darling, who was a fine, committed public servant, and what he would be thinking today.
This afternoon, we are be…
Because it is so evident that what the hon. Member is participating in this afternoon is partly political. In fact, he is partaking in a particularly dishonourable act in doing this in such a partisan way.
To carry on with the case that I was making, I do not believe that what has been presented me…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
15 April 2026
Strategic Defence Review: Funding
The Minister will have recognised the strength of feeling on both sides of the House about wanting to see the defence investment plan published as soon as possible, and I hope Treasury Ministers will share that understanding. I believe that history is important. When Russia annexed the Crimea, we sa…
Commons
Proceedings
18 March 2026
Student Loans
The Minister is making an important point. The economics of higher education are actually quite complicated; there is a great deal of cross-subsidy, with the humanities and the arts effectively supporting science, medicine and engineering courses and so on. Does the Minister agree that we should be …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
26 February 2026
Gibraltar Treaty
I put on record that I chair the all-party parliamentary group on Spain. I congratulate the Government on this significant agreement. Can the Minister confirm that it provides additional safeguards to Gibraltar’s sovereignty, while creating new economic opportunities? I think he was alluding to that…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
26 February 2026
Business of the House
Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating Dan Blackman and in thanking all others at the Silklife church food bank, along with the other food banks and community groups across Macclesfield, including Cre8 and the CORE pantry, for their extraordinary dedication in supporting people who f…
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 February 2026
Student Loan Repayment Plans
It is an uncomfortable truth that England now has the most expensive public university system in the world. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has told us that, while the taxpayer underwrites 45% of its cost, students and graduates cover 55%, which represents a profound shift in how we fund higher edu…
Commons
Committee Stage
3 February 2026
6 contributions
Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill (Second sitting)
Q I was reading the ICO’s response in December, as this legislation was proceeding, and it talks a little about having clarity around secondary legislation, the Secretary of State’s powers and the definition of “significant impact”. What are your concerns about the secondary legislation, or what you…
Q Is there anything that you would have preferred to see in the primary legislation, or do you think secondary legislation affords industry and Government flexibility?
Ian Hulme: There is a balance to be struck. When something is written on the face of the Bill and things change—and we know that th…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Committee Stage
3 February 2026
Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill (First sitting)
Q This question is mainly for Jen. Your colleague Jamie MacColl has made a series of forthright comments about the Bill and compared it to NIS2. How does the Bill compare to legislation worldwide?
Jen Ellis: As a starting point, I will clarify that I am a fellow at RUSI. I work closely with Jamie, …
Commons
Westminster Hall
29 January 2026
Ukraine: Non-recognition of Russian-occupied Territories
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds Central and Headingley (Alex Sobel) for securing this debate and the right hon. Member for New Forest East (Sir Julian Lewis), who made some very powerful points about parallels with the Baltic states that I completely agree with. I think all Members in at…
Commons
Debate
28 January 2026
5 contributions
British Indian Ocean Territory
I feel I should put on record at the beginning that I am not the Government’s trade envoy to Mauritius—[Hon. Members: “Yet!”] Hansard can record a diplomatic silence at this point.
This debate ultimately turns on whether we understand the world as it is, not as we might wish it to be, much as some …
I disagree with the hon. Member, because the two situations do have parallels. In the South China sea, people are challenging Chinese sovereignty, and it has been proved not to have standing in international courts. At the moment, ambiguity is starting to arrive in our position over the Chagos islan…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
15 January 2026
New Towns
In Macclesfield, one topic has dominated conversation for several months: the proposed new town at Adlington. It has been talked about on every street corner, in every coffee shop and at every parish meeting. Well, almost—for one glorious weekend, Adlington was briefly knocked off the top spot by th…
Commons
Debate
8 January 2026
Post Offices: Cheshire
Disley in my constituency saw its post office close in July last year in slightly dubious circumstances. The hon. Member for Chester South and Eddisbury (Aphra Brandreth) made the powerful case that post offices are really important in rural and semi-rural areas. Will the Minister join me in asking …
Commons
Debate
8 January 2026
Human Rights Abuses: Magnitsky Sanctions
I thank the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) for securing this debate and for being a doughty champion for British citizens unfairly imprisoned abroad. Colleagues have already made clear that Magnitsky sanctions are not an abstract policy instrument but a re…
Commons
Petition
17 December 2025
Proposed new town in Adlington, Cheshire
I begin by offering my deepest sympathy to the family of Ethan McLeod, who died tragically in a car accident yesterday. He was a brilliant footballer and an inspiration to young people across Macclesfield.
I am proud to present to the House a petition signed by 7,200 residents on paper, complemente…
Commons
Oral Questions
16 December 2025
2 contributions
Victim Support: Funding
10. What steps his Department is taking to provide adequate funding for victim support services.
I welcome the increased funding. Victim support and the commissioning of those services is incredibly important, and the operational independence of police and crime commissioners has been invaluable in that regard. What assurances can Ministers provide that, with the abolition of PCCs, victim suppo…
Commons
Debate
4 December 2025
2 contributions
War in Ukraine
I add my commendation to the hon. Member for Harwich and North Essex (Sir Bernard Jenkin) for securing this important debate. Hearing the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) speak reminded me of our trip to Ukraine earlier in the year. Thinking of surreal momen…
I completely agree. As the hon. Member for Harwich and North Essex (Sir Bernard Jenkin) raised earlier, it is the Baltic countries—Poland, Finland, those that have had direct experience of Russian aggression—that are most clear-eyed about the Russian threat. We do not want a wishy-washy peace that d…
Commons
Oral Questions
2 December 2025
Alaa Abd el-Fattah
Ryan Cornelius, a British citizen, has been unfairly incarcerated in Dubai for the past 17 years. His son was six when he went to prison; he is now 23 years old. Some 150 parliamentarians from both Houses wrote to the Dubai authorities asking for Mr Cornelius’s release on the UAE’s national day—toda…