Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
13 July 2026
2 contributions
Seasonal Worker Visas
11. When she plans to announce the number of seasonal worker visas available for 2027.
I am currently taking part in the excellent National Farmers’ Union food and farming fellowship. On a recent visit to a vegetable farm, I was told that the numbers of seasonal worker visas are announced far too late in the farming cycle for farmers to be able to plan in advance. If we are to have do…
Commons
Oral Questions
Justice
30 June 2026
Family Justice System
Will the Minister reassure me that we remain committed to repealing in this Parliament the presumption of contact in family courts, to bring full justice to the 67 children murdered at the hands of abusive ex-partners with whom contact should never have been granted?
Commons
Ministerial Statement
30 June 2026
National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation
I echo what was said by my colleague from the Health and Social Care Committee, the hon. Member for Oxford West and Abingdon (Layla Moran). Baroness Amos pointed to workforce challenges and their impact on care and safety, and she noted that 67% of midwives reported burnout. Meanwhile, a General Med…
Commons
Westminster Hall
10 June 2026
Child Contact Arrangements
It is true that the Government do not recognise parental alienation and the syndrome, but courts too often do. In fact, a report released just yesterday by the campaign group Right to Equality that analysed language used in family court judgments found that over 70% of those judgments used victim-bl…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
19 May 2026
High Speed 2 Reset
I welcome the clarity and determination to deliver on HS2. Rail investment is infrastructure investment, which drives growth, but may I urge the Secretary of State to look at driving growth between towns as well as between cities, for example by bringing lines such as the Calder Valley line into the…
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 April 2026
3 contributions
Wind Farms: Protected Peatland
My hon. Friend is giving a powerful speech. She is absolutely right that the Government are committed to helping with the rewilding and restoration of our peatland. It is probably worth noting that that is done by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the hon. Member for Keighl…
It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Alec. I wish hon. Members a happy World Curlew Day--tan, small, slender, often up to its knees in muck and at the risk of extinction in West Yorkshire--I also congratulate the hon. Member for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Moore) on securing the deb…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
16 April 2026
Women’s Health Strategy
I welcome this strategy, having worked on maternity and medical misogyny on the Health and Social Care Committee. I will bring up the thorny issue of sexual health. In a recent sitting of the Committee, we heard that a third of sexual health doctors are set to retire in the next three years and that…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
13 April 2026
Middle East
I commend our ongoing refusal to be drawn into this conflict. May I ask the Prime Minister what steps we are taking to ensure that UK bases are not used for offensive operations, and furthermore that they will not be used for any ill-advised US blockade of the strait of Hormuz, which would be econom…
Commons
Debate
25 March 2026
Victims and Courts Bill
I thank the Minister for going further in making these transcripts available. Will she let us know what the next steps in that process will be? How quickly will we see real movement to allow people to have access to their sentencing remarks?
Commons
Oral Questions
24 March 2026
Topical Questions
T2. Manufacturers have been grappling with energy costs long before the current Iran conflict, hitting Calder Valley firms. Siddall & Hilton, which makes fences, is seeing costs four times higher than European competitors, and finishing company H&C Whitehead has seen its energy bills double …
Commons
Debate
23 March 2026
Middle East
May I commend our current position of not being drawn further into the US and Israeli operation in Iran? Can the Secretary of State confirm that we will continue to avoid any escalation, and will act only in ways that are in defence of British personnel and interests?
Commons
Westminster Hall
18 March 2026
Domestic Abuse Survivors: Government Support
As a recovering councillor, I remember that my council used to commission a lot of these services through the WomenCentre in Calderdale, which was very good at preventing homelessness and other shocks. I often find—this might come back to the Home Office question—that a lot of post-separation proble…
Commons
Debate
17 March 2026
Youth Unemployment
I welcome this announcement. It will make young people’s lives and futures better. Calder Valley is famous for its world-class specialist manufacturing, but in the UK, one third of manufacturers are over 60. Can my right hon. Friend please confirm that this policy announcement will help us bring in …
Commons
Debate
16 March 2026
Heating Oil Support
In the rural parts of my constituency, one in 20 houses relies on heating oil. One of my constituents told me that his bill had gone up by 270%, while other constituents have had their deliveries cancelled. I welcome the £53 million of investment. I know it will be targeted through local authorities…
Commons
Oral Questions
16 March 2026
GP Contract
When this Government took office, the number of registered patients per GP in Calder Valley was much higher than the national average, with one GP surgery in Brighouse having 600 additional patients per GP. Given the new GP contracts and the new Carr-Hill formula, will the Minister confirm that the …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
12 March 2026
Business of the House
Last October I sent a number of freedom of information requests to the Nursing and Midwifery Council on sexual harassment and misconduct cases. However, I have still not received a reply. For these bodies to be trusted, they must be accountable. Will the Leader of the House please advise me on what …
Commons
Debate
10 March 2026
3 contributions
Courts and Tribunals Bill
Will the hon. Lady give way?
Will she please give way?
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
4 March 2026
2 contributions
Engagements
Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 4 March.
I echo the Prime Minister’s comments on Sarah Everard and the situation in the middle east.
From the sound mixing desks made by Calrec in Hebden Bridge which brought the world its winter Olympics coverage, to the valves made by Blackhall Engineering in Brighouse which bring water to New York city, …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
2 March 2026
Middle East
No one should shed a tear for the Iranian leadership; this was a brutal and oppressive regime. However, there are other brutal and repressive regimes in the world. A brutal and oppressive regime is never, in and of itself, a reason to attack a country. Can the Prime Minister please assure me that an…
Commons
Debate
23 February 2026
Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill
I am excited to hear that the hon. Member thinks work should pay. Can she tell us why, under the last Government, we went from one in three children in poverty having a parent in work to two in three children in poverty having a parent in work?
Commons
Oral Questions
Transport
12 February 2026
2 contributions
Calder Valley Train Line
2. What recent discussions she has had with stakeholders on improvements to the Calder Valley train line.
Plans for a disabled access lift at Todmorden station were first announced in 2019, yet six years later we are still waiting, with no lifts, no date and no accountability. When I knocked on doors at the weekend, a disabled constituent said she can get in a lift to travel only in one direction, becau…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
5 February 2026
National Cancer Plan
This Tuesday would have been my brother Alex’s 54th birthday, but sadly we lost him to cancer last year. That is why I am really proud that this plan will revolutionise treatment, care and research into cancer, as well as focusing on rare cancers, such as the one that killed my brother. Although I p…
Commons
Debate
3 February 2026
4 contributions
Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill
Consistently wrong.
You’re in trouble now, Madam Deputy Speaker!
The Bill will be remembered as one of the proudest moments of this Government’s first term. Before entering this place, I worked on policy around poverty, and it is something that motivates me every day. A constant theme that I have found, when looking a…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
29 January 2026
Topical Questions
Almost one in three pubs in this country is a tied pub. In Calder Valley, one such pub saw its payments to Stonegate jump from £800 to £1,700 a week, just days after the six-month probationary period ended. I welcome the Government’s support for pubs, but that pub will still be paying 17 times more …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
22 January 2026
Business of the House
A recent proposal, now dropped, for a merger between two multi-academy trusts in my constituency, the Pennine Alliance Learning Trust and the Trinity MAC, led to me getting over 100 letters, and over 2,000 people signing a petition in just a week. What can we do to ensure that parents’ voices are at…