Commons
Westminster Hall
21 January 2026
2 contributions
Local Government Reorganisation: Referendums
The hon. Member is making a very powerful speech for an area of the country that is still two tier. However, having been a representative in a unitary council and lived in one for a number of years, it is worth putting on the record that being part of a unitary authority does not mean that potholes …
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms McVey. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Leicestershire (Mr Bedford) for securing this debate.
I have made no secret of my views, unlike some Members who have kept their views to themselves on the outcome they would like. That is because…
Commons
Oral Questions
15 January 2026
Town of Culture and City of Culture Competitions
Plymouth Culture has launched its bid for Plymouth to be the city of culture 2029, and I wonder if the Secretary of State realises that there has never been a southern city of culture, let alone a south-western city of culture. Does she agree that the city of culture 2029 would be the perfect opport…
Commons
Westminster Hall
14 January 2026
Horse and Rider Road Safety
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd.
Horse and rider safety is a matter of real importance to urban fringe communities like mine, and many of my constituents, both urban and rural dwellers, asked me to attend today. Whether it is the Dartmoor pony on Devon’s coat of arms, Wem…
Commons
Westminster Hall
14 January 2026
Ajax Programme
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stuart. I thank my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Huntingdon (Ben Obese-Jecty) for securing this important debate.
I want to briefly link the lessons of Ajax to wider concerns in MOD procurement. My hon. Friend has frequently mentioned t…
Commons
Oral Questions
Transport
8 January 2026
Local Bus Services
Straight after questions, I have a meeting with the managing director of Stagecoach in my region. I have worked closely with my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Torridge and Tavistock (Sir Geoffrey Cox) to mitigate the impact of increased prices for young people travelling to school from…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
17 December 2025
Local Government Finance
I represent a constituency with two district councils with prudently created reserves and a unitary council with high levels of debt. Understandably, residents in the district council areas are concerned that local government reorganisation will see their reserves usurped by any new unitary council …
Commons
Westminster Hall
16 December 2025
2 contributions
Transgender People: Provision of Healthcare
The NHS has finally issued a call for evidence regarding a clinical pathway for adults who wish to detransition. Does the hon. Lady agree that that is a welcome and long-overdue first step, and that the NHS must continue making serious efforts to improve care for detransitioners?
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. I will be brief because we are running out of time. Detransitioners are an often marginalised and misunderstood group. Ritchie Herron is a civil servant who underwent gender surgery in 2018 in order to live as a woman. That involved rearr…
Commons
Debate
15 December 2025
Violence against Women and Girls Strategy
The Minister knows of the Plymouth Violence against Women and Girls Commission, which highlighted the role of pornography in VAWG. It is my view that schools should be a place where pupils can concentrate on learning and not have access to social media, including abusive forms of online pornography,…
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
15 December 2025
Uncrewed Defence Systems
Turnchapel Wharf and the Cattewater in my constituency host many marine autonomous defence innovators, but the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s workboat code edition 3 is hampering the testing, development and utilisation of autonomous vessels. They cannot even get the licences to be out on the wate…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
11 December 2025
National Plan to End Homelessness
The excellent team at Plymouth city council work tirelessly to tackle homelessness, but pressures on the private rented sector in the city, increased because of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, has hindered the supply of permanent move-on accommodation. We know that it does not all need to be social ho…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
11 December 2025
Topical Questions
T10. What would the Minister say to businesses such as the Rusty Tractor Farm Café in my constituency? It is already paying long-term staff above the minimum wage, and it is now faced with an inflated wage bill, as it has to increase the minimum wage for its young staff, and potentially inexperience…
Commons
Oral Questions
Women and Equalities
10 December 2025
Tackling Violence against Women and Girls
The Government’s dithering on grooming gangs has gone on for so long that it is now unlikely that any report into what has happened will be published before the next general election. Does the Minister think that is acceptable, and will she commit to publishing interim findings before the next gener…
Commons
Debate
9 December 2025
2 contributions
Railways Bill
Great Western Railway fares are 2.2 times higher than those of European operators for similar lengths. Rail users in my constituency will be all too familiar with this reality, regularly paying more than £100 for a return ticket to London. Since the Labour Government came into power, we have seen th…
My right hon. Friend raises an interesting point, which is that the very good conditions that private companies have been forced into by trade unions will end up TUPE-ed across to these state employees and, ultimately, the best conditions will be the ones that get delivered to the most, all in that …
Commons
Debate
8 December 2025
2 contributions
Self-employed Adoptive Parents: Statutory Support
I am pleased to have secured this Adjournment debate on statutory support for self-employed adoptive parents. Self-employed adopters are currently excluded from any statutory parental pay. For far too long, this exclusion has been overlooked as too niche a problem, but in fact it exposes a much deep…
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his contribution and particularly for highlighting the case in Northern Ireland. Parental leave and shared parental leave for adopters was something that the previous Government fought hard to bring in, so I agree that that is something that should apply across all our…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
8 December 2025
Ajax Armoured Vehicle
Given the issues surrounding Ajax and the operational gap that this leaves in the Army, is the Minister confident that no capability and usability issues with Boxer or the Project Hunter alternative individual weapon system will come out of the woodwork? On Friday I met representatives of a local de…
Commons
Oral Questions
Work and Pensions
8 December 2025
NEET Young People
Since the Chancellor delivered her Budget, it has come to light that benefits have been extended for the parents of teenagers with disabilities or illnesses. Although on the face of it that may seem kind and compassionate, it is also contradictory. Parents and carers are no longer required to ensure…
Commons
Debate
26 November 2025
2 contributions
Budget Resolutions
It is important that we take account of the hard-working families who will be affected by Labour’s economic mismanagement, and that their voices are not drowned out by the political drama surrounding the Budget. To ensure that I heard directly from those I represent in South West Devon, I launched a…
Absolutely. Of course financial education in schools is important, as is a whole lot of education about life, budgeting and other things, but I am talking specifically about financial education for people in their professional years—in their 20s, 30s and 40s—who will be affected by changes to the IS…
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 November 2025
Pension Investment in UK Equities
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer, and I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Member for Salisbury (John Glen) on securing this important debate. Given his experience as a Treasury Minister for many years, it has been a pleasure to hear his thoughts on this issue.
My r…
Commons
Westminster Hall
19 November 2025
4 contributions
Specialist Manufacturing Sector: Regional Economies
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Harris. I welcome today’s debate. Plymouth and the surrounding area boast some of the finest examples of British advanced manufacturing. Babcock refits the Royal Navy’s frigates, maintains our nuclear deterrent and assembles the Supacat Jackal a…
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 November 2025
Parkinson’s Disease
Does my hon. Friend agree that the current pathway for innovative technology to be licensed is both costly and time consuming, meaning inventions that would help his constituents, such as BeechBand, which uses vibrotactile stimulation to decrease symptoms, face delays in testing and potential introd…
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 November 2025
2 contributions
Autistic Adults: Employment
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. I congratulate the hon. Member for Hazel Grove (Lisa Smart) on securing this afternoon’s very important debate, and I likewise welcome her constituents to the Chamber.
It is clear that we all have the privilege of representing autistic a…
I seek clarification on those numbers. When I have heard them in the main Chamber during questions and statements, I have wondered whether those people are new members of staff or existing members of staff who have moved into a slightly different role. When we say that there are 1,000—or the other n…
Commons
Debate
5 November 2025
Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill
I begin by echoing the thanks expressed to Members in all parts of the House and in the other place who have contributed to the Bill. In particular, I pay tribute to the excellent work of Baroness Finn, Viscount Younger and Lord Vaux, whose detailed and constructive engagement made the Bill stronger…
Commons
Debate
4 November 2025
5 contributions
Welfare Spending
I want to start the debate by acknowledging the fact that many Members here do not know that much about me. The debate so far, with this caricature of Conservatives who do not care, has saddened me. Like my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith), who is…
I am going to make some progress, if I may.
Youth unemployment had fallen by nearly 380,000, giving far more young people the security of a meaningful career. However, under this Government, the unemployment rate is set to reach 5% by next year, compared with 4.1% a year ago. We have already heard …
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
4 November 2025
2 contributions
Supporting High Streets
Will my hon. Friend give way?
Napoleon’s famous remark that “England is a nation of shopkeepers” was meant as an insult. However, for many of us up and down these isles, the high street and its many small businesses are a source of immense pride. My constituency is home to one of the highest concentrations of small businesses in…
Commons
Debate
3 November 2025
Care Leavers
I congratulate the hon. Member for Doncaster Central (Sally Jameson) and everyone who has intervened. I will keep my remarks even briefer than I said I would. We have already heard a huge amount about supported lodgings, and that is what I wanted to speak about briefly, as much as anything to highli…