Commons
Oral Questions
Cabinet Office
4 December 2025
2 contributions
Devolved Administrations
12. What recent progress he has made on improving the relationship between the Government and the devolved Administrations.
Does the Minister agree that in my constituency, where people are struggling to access healthcare, it is vital that the SNP Government make effective use of the recent funding uplift to finally deliver the long-promised elective treatment and diagnostic centre in Cumbernauld, so that we can cut wait…
Commons
Oral Questions
Scotland
26 November 2025
New Nuclear Sites
Does the Secretary of State agree that Scotland cannot meet its long-term energy security and net zero goals without new nuclear power, and that the University of Strathclyde’s internationally recognised power networks demonstration centre, whose expertise in grid integration and systems resilience …
Commons
Oral Questions
25 November 2025
Topical Questions
T4. There is a higher prevalence of multiple sclerosis in Scotland than in any other part of the UK. What steps is the Department taking to ensure that people living with MS can access both a timely diagnosis and equitable specialist care, regardless of where they live in the UK?
Commons
Debate
18 November 2025
Northern Ireland Troubles Bill
Kilsyth war memorial bears the names of the men of the town who lost their life in foreign wars—men whose service we recognise and remember every year on VE Day, VJ Day and Remembrance Sunday. On one face of that memorial sits a single, solitary name—a name set apart. The difference between that nam…
Commons
Debate
3 November 2025
“Soldier F” Trial Verdict
Some 53 years after the events of Bloody Sunday, and 15 years after the report of the Saville inquiry, it is becoming clear that future criminal cases will be few and far between, but every single day, this issue sits with the families who have lost loved ones. It affects every day of their lives, b…
Commons
Proceedings
30 October 2025
Business of the House
Cumbernauld theatre in my constituency is a modern, thriving community venue, but it faces closure after Creative Scotland refused it multi-year funding. The trust is fundraising for the £300,000 needed by mid-December to keep the venue open, but the Scottish Government could still step in and save …
Commons
Oral Questions
Cabinet Office
23 October 2025
2 contributions
Future Pandemic Preparedness
5. What progress he has made with Cabinet colleagues on improving cross-Government co-ordination on preparedness for a future pandemic.
Last week I had the pleasure of meeting the general manager of one of the major supermarkets in my constituency. We talked about our memories of the early days of the covid pandemic, with the rows and rows of empty shelves. All pandemic planning should build on the lessons learned from the last one,…
Commons
Debate
22 October 2025
3 contributions
Devolution in Scotland
I commend the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone) for securing this important debate.
Before devolution, Scotland-specific Bills in this place were few and far between—often single digits per year—even though our health, education and legal systems have been complete…
I refer the hon. Gentleman to my life experience before coming to this place as a member of staff within the health service. I worked through the pandemic when we used the red, amber and green statuses to indicate how waiting lists were. We did not just have red, amber and green stages. We created a…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Scotland
22 October 2025
Inheritance Tax Relief: Agriculture Sector
There are many factors that make family farms viable, including the ability to work the land and carry out what is a very physically demanding job. Does the Minister agree that tackling the fundamental problems in our NHS and the growing waiting lists in Scotland must be a priority when balancing co…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
14 October 2025
Northern Ireland Troubles
I welcome the statement and the progress made by both this Government and the Government of the Republic of Ireland. As my hon. Friend the Member for Gower (Tonia Antoniazzi) said, we on the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee have heard of the heartbreak of many of those who lost loved ones over the…
Commons
Oral Questions
14 October 2025
2 contributions
Great British Energy: Public Sector Renewable Energy Use
6. What steps Great British Energy is taking to help public services use more renewable energy.
Many leisure centres, such as the Tryst in Cumbernauld, which was built and opened in 1973, are desperate to decarbonise, but face huge costs and the practical challenge of retrofitting renewable technologies into older buildings. Will my right hon. Friend set out how Great British Energy will suppo…
Commons
Debate
15 September 2025
3 contributions
Employment Rights Bill
Does the hon. Gentleman not recognise that very few cases end up in a tribunal, particularly at a point where all due process happens? Not all dismissals are unfair.
I spoke to a hospital catering worker in my constituency who was contracted to work 12 hours a week, but she regularly worked 36 hours a week. However, when she took annual leave, she was paid for 12 hours a week. Does the hon. Lady not think that this catering worker deserves the respect of actuall…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
8 September 2025
Topical Questions
T7. We have already highlighted the welcome investment in shipbuilding on the Clyde and the Forth, which clearly demonstrates the real benefit of being part of the Union. What assessment has the Minister made of other potential export deals? What steps is he taking to ensure that the Ministry of D…
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
8 September 2025
4 contributions
Defence Sector: Innovation
17. What steps he is taking to increase innovation in the defence sector.
I recently had the pleasure of visiting Stewart-Buchanan Gauges, a proud employee-owned business in my constituency that supplies high-quality gauges and valves to clients in more than 50 countries. It even provides gauges for the SpaceX shuttle, and it exemplifies the world-class small and medium-s…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
3 September 2025
2 contributions
Hospitality Sector
It is a pleasure to speak in this debate. I am proud to be one of the vice-chairs of the all-party parliamentary group for the night time economy. Like all of us, it seems, I have been taking the opportunity to engage with all the hospitality businesses across my constituency and companies that form…
I respect the comment, but I had not heard it, because I have been looking at other things today. I am reflecting what businesses are telling me, and as I think the hon. Member will have found in his own constituency, they are talking to me about far more fundamental issues for the hospitality indus…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
3 September 2025
Engagements
Q13. My constituents have endured four major fires in recent months across our community, including one that caused the devastating destruction of Cumbernauld’s iconic St Mungo’s church, yet the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is consulting on downgrading Cumbernauld fire station, increasing resp…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
2 September 2025
Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse
I thank the Minister for her statement today and for the recognition that a process that is supported by those people who should be at the heart of it is always difficult. We must take time to ensure that any inquiry has the faith of the people at the centre of it, because it will never be possible …
Commons
Debate
21 July 2025
Victory over Japan: 80th Anniversary
Does the hon. Gentleman agree that for many of the veterans who came back, the point at which they remembered and relived their experiences was later on in life, as they succumbed to dementia? They had to go through and relive the horrors of their war experiences at that time.
Commons
Westminster Hall
16 July 2025
5 contributions
Credit Unions
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the role and future of credit unions.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Twigg. At the outset of this debate, I wish to place formally on the record that I am a long-standing member of the NHS credit union, an organisation I first joine…
My hon. Friend is reading ahead in my speech about some of the things that the Government could do to extend and support the sector.
Before joining the NHS credit union, I was a regular visitor to my local community credit union—staffed entirely by volunteers—until I moved house and moved out of th…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
15 July 2025
2 contributions
Clean Power: Jobs
10. What estimate he has made of the number of additional jobs that have been created in clean power industries since July 2024.
Will the Secretary of State join me in congratulating TK Murray Ltd—no relation, honest—an energy-saving contractor based in Kilsyth, on having already cross-trained more than half its workforce to become fully fledged installers of air source heat pump technology from gas boilers? This has been fac…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
14 July 2025
Future of the Post Office
This is an issue that has been highlighted by others in the Chamber, and my constituency is no different: it has been subject to a significant number of bank closures and ATM removals. In Cumbernauld, the precincts or the surrounding villages, the post office is the one place where people in local c…
Commons
Debate
11 July 2025
Unauthorised Entry to Football Matches Bill
I am pleased to support this Bill. A lot of the things I wanted to say have been highlighted by my hon. Friend the Member for Amber Valley (Linsey Farnsworth). It is clear that the numbers are stark, and there is an issue. The hon. Member for Christchurch (Sir Christopher Chope) asked why this legis…
Commons
Oral Questions
Scotland
9 July 2025
2 contributions
Spending Review 2025: Scottish Public Services
10. What discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on the potential impact of the spending review 2025 on Scottish public services.
I have previously praised in this Chamber the efforts of the fire and rescue service in responding to more than one major incident in Cumbernauld. Both my constituents and I are therefore concerned that the proposed cuts to Cumbernauld fire station will undermine its ability to respond to incidents …
Commons
Oral Questions
Work and Pensions
23 June 2025
2 contributions
Universal Credit: Support into Work
9. What steps she is taking to support people on universal credit into work.
My constituent Tracy is living in local authority temporary accommodation after fleeing domestic violence. She is currently trapped on universal credit because the cost of her accommodation is way beyond anything she could earn locally—by a factor of about 10. As a single young person, she faces yea…
Commons
Oral Questions
Health and Social Care
17 June 2025
Topical Questions
T4. One of the main concerns I have about assisted dying is that it should never be easier to help someone die than it is to help them live. If passed, the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill would make thousands of terminally ill people every year eligible to end their lives on the NHS. Does…