Commons
Debate
20 April 2026
Security Vetting
I wonder whether the Prime Minister knew the difference between the due diligence information from the Cabinet Office and the security vetting that had not taken place when he appointed Peter Mandelson on 18 December.
Commons
Debate
26 March 2026
Local Government Reorganisation
The local government reorganisation consultation for Devon closes today. It has had many responses that have all been completed in good faith. Can the Minister reassure Devonians that responses to the consultation will be digested and taken fully into account, especially in the light of the strength…
Commons
Proceedings
24 March 2026
3 contributions
Defence
South West Devon is home not only to 42 Commando Royal Marines, but to Plymouth and South Devon freeport, with Langage and Sherford offering significant development opportunities, thanks to the previous Conservative Government, and plenty of space for defence. We have Turnchapel Wharf, home of the P…
My hon. Friend makes a really good point. That is exactly what I am beginning to hear in my constituency. I referred earlier to a queue of companies wanting to come to South West Devon. My concern is that the queue is going to get shorter if the investment under the DIP does not come forward.
Follo…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
23 March 2026
Puberty Blockers Clinical Trial
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Mundell. I have strong concerns about artificially delaying puberty, but at the same time, I also want high quality, holistic support for young people who question their gender. The Cass review recommended psychological care as the first port of …
Commons
Oral Questions
19 March 2026
Business of the House
My constituent John Mildmay-White, whose ancestor was a Member of this House over 100 years ago, has completed a 600 km run from Mothecombe in Devon to Westminster Bridge in aid of Wild About The Erme River, raising at least £25,000 for that cause. Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulat…
Commons
Proceedings
18 March 2026
2 contributions
Student Loans
I welcome support for people from the most vulnerable groups who are heading to university, but will the Minister acknowledge that by enabling those groups to take the maximum amount of support, the Government are also enabling them to have the maximum amount of debt at the end of their university c…
The hon. Lady is giving an excellent speech, but there is a whole cohort of plan 1 students who experienced the exact situation that she is describing. In 1997, Tony Blair said that he would not introduce tuition fees. In 1998, he did, and the Labour party then also scrapped maintenance grants. I wa…
Commons
Oral Questions
17 March 2026
2 contributions
Jury Trials
10. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of his proposed changes to jury trials on the criminal justice system.
About 6,200 cases are awaiting justice in the south-west. Sexual offences cases take about 320 days, but local victims and defendants deserve justice. The excellent example of Liverpool Crown court highlights how it is possible to tackle the case backlog and secure justice without impacting defendan…
Commons
Oral Questions
16 March 2026
GP Contract
The new contract has stated that GPs must offer on-the-day appointments for urgent requests—which they already do—and unlimited access during opening hours up to 6.30 pm, with no definition of “urgent”. Katrina, a constituent who messaged me today, said, “This will mean that those with complex needs…
Commons
Oral Questions
Women and Equalities
11 March 2026
Endometriosis: Workplace Rights
One in 10 women have endometriosis, seriously impacting their ability to work. What plans does the Minister have to ensure that employers have clear guidance about the reasonable adjustments that they should be offering, not just for endometriosis but for all gynaecological issues that impact women’…
Commons
Debate
9 March 2026
Middle East: Defence
We all agree that it is important to protect our overseas bases and personnel deployed on operations, and that must include Ukraine. Over the weekend, the MOD posted a video on social media from a British-run military repair facility in Ukraine. It has been taken down, reportedly because it revealed…
Commons
Oral Questions
Work and Pensions
9 March 2026
Support for NEET Young People
When the Secretary of State and I last met like this, he lauded the roll-out of youth hubs and the introduction of the youth guarantee as the solution to tackling the scale of young people not in education, employment or training. Since then, however, apprenticeship figures have been updated. The la…
Commons
Debate
5 March 2026
4 contributions
Commonwealth Troops: First World War
I congratulate the hon. Member for Ilford South (Jas Athwal) on securing the debate.
“Their name liveth for evermore”—
Those words are carved on to each stone of remembrance in large Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries and memorials right around the world. Today’s debate, ahead of Common…
The hon. Member is making a powerful speech. Does he agree that this is where the role of the public engagement co-ordinators at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission is so important, as they go out to tell those stories? We have graves right around the country of Indian, Muslim, Hindu and Sikh ser…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Statutory Instrument
3 March 2026
Draft Industrial Training Levy (Construction Industry Training Board) Order 2026
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms McVey. I rise to speak on behalf of the official Opposition.
The draft order that we are debating will allow the Construction Industry Training Board to raise one more year of levy on the construction sector for the specific purpose of funding t…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
2 March 2026
Middle East
Over the weekend, I heard from families in my constituency whose loved ones—also constituents of mine—are among the 300 service personnel in Bahrain who were within metres of the Iranian missile strike. Given that we have known for some time about the build-up of US forces in the region, why did the…
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
2 March 2026
Free Breakfast Clubs
The roll-out of free breakfast clubs and the Government’s wider child poverty strategy are supposed to be driven by data, yet the Department does not even hold information on which councils in England have implemented auto-enrolment for free school meals. If the Government do not hold that basic dat…
Commons
Westminster Hall
24 February 2026
3 contributions
Foster Care: Recruitment and Retention
I beg to move,
That this House has considered foster care recruitment and retention.
It is, as always, a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Jeremy. I want to start by talking briefly about why this subject matters to me personally. By the time I was 18—I had left home—my parents had st…
It makes a huge amount of sense that foster carers are considered a key part of that process. I am sure that in certain parts of the country they are, but it sounds from the hon. Member’s question like there are other parts where some work is needed.
Independent fostering agencies are responsible f…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
23 February 2026
7 contributions
Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill
I will speak in part to amendments 1 and 2, although we will not vote on them this evening. Essentially, I am speaking because we do not believe that scrapping the two-child limit and lifting it in this way is the way to tackle child poverty.
When the Conservatives introduced the two-child limit in…
We know that poverty decreased under the last Government; I will make some progress.
True compassion for families in poverty means offering sustainable solutions, not just sticking plasters. We need to tackle the root causes of poverty, rather than masking the symptoms. That means dealing with stru…
+5 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
23 February 2026
Schools White Paper: Every Child Achieving and Thriving
Schools right across my constituency already have inclusion bases, but often there is already tension between the schools and the parents, who want better support through EHCPs, which they are having to wait for. What is the Secretary of State’s thinking on ensuring that the relationship between sch…
Commons
Oral Questions
Transport
12 February 2026
2 contributions
Bus Fare Cap
8. Whether her Department plans to reinstate the £2 bus fare cap.
Young people in my constituency, many of whom have to travel long distances from rural areas, are concerned about the cost of bus fares, especially since the increase from the Conservative £2 bus fare cap to a £3 bus fare cap under Labour. In fact, many are supportive of the Transport Committee’s re…
Commons
Debate
11 February 2026
Local Government Finance
Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the problems with the current process for local government reorganisation is that there has been no direction on how the funding will work out? We have some proposals on the table that would leave enormously vast rural communities in constituencies such as mine …
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
11 February 2026
Engagements
Q2. Last year, Plymouth was named the national centre for marine autonomy and given a defence growth deal. However, the small and medium-sized enterprises in the unmanned surface vessel sector, many of which are based at Turnchapel Wharf in my constituency, are having their work held back because of…
Commons
Debate
10 February 2026
Pensions and Social Security
I wish to reassure the Minister about something that I said in last week’s debate on the two-child benefit cap. I shared something of my story, and said that we had lost child benefit as a result of the Labour Government coming into office in 1997. I was convinced I had said “family credit”, which w…
Commons
Committee Stage
5 February 2026
19 contributions
Railways Bill (Twelfth sitting)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Hobhouse. There is not much to say, except that the hon. Member for Didcot and Wantage raised a question about our amendments and what he called phantom paths. I think he may have been referring to ghost trains, as opposed to phantom trains—if y…
I thank the Minister for that. Yes, absolutely; I believe our amendments are much more about the infrastructure that GBR has responsibility for and about operators not having to pay if they are un able to operate their services. A natural disaster is probably a bit too extreme, but if, for example, …
+17 more contributions in this session
Commons
Committee Stage
5 February 2026
15 contributions
Railways Bill (Eleventh sitting)
I beg to move amendment 79, in clause 59, page 33, line 19, at end insert
“in addition to a subsequent right to appeal to the ORR”.
This amendment would enable a subsequent right of appeal to the ORR after going through the dispute resolution process.
It is a privilege to work under your chairmanship, Mr Western. I start by conveying the apologies of my hon. Friend the Member for Broadland and Fakenham, who is not able to be present today. Instead, I am standing in on his behalf.
The clause sets out that Great British Railways must issue documen…
+13 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
4 February 2026
2 contributions
Construction Industry Training Board: Funding
Does the hon. Member agree that losing the skills and expertise of local training groups, such as the Plymouth Construction Training Group, which was formed in 1977 and has been funded by the CITB, and instead having centralised delivery from CITB in London, would be a retrograde step that risks us …
I welcome the funding that the Minister has just outlined. Reference has been made to mayoral strategic authorities, but vast parts of the country do not have one yet and are unlikely to have one for some time. Indeed, my constituency and that of the hon. Member for Exeter (Steve Race) are in one of…