Commons
Petition
8 July 2026
Railway Station in Long Ashton
I would like to present a petition for a railway station in Long Ashton on behalf of North Somerset and the village of Long Ashton, which remains significantly underserved by public transport infrastructure, with no viable railway connection to Bristol and beyond.
The petitioners therefore request
…
Commons
Westminster Hall
30 June 2026
2 contributions
High Street Regeneration and Unlawful Storefronts
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. Before my election, I spent well over a decade working as a pharmacist on the high street. I stood behind my counter and watched the flow of the community come and go through the door. I challenged shoplifters, from which I still literally bear…
I have been a pharmacist and an employer for nearly two decades, and nearly every good business was already doing what is in the Employment Rights Act to recruit staff. Recruiters need to offer those things. It is simple.
Commons
Debate
30 June 2026
2 contributions
Department of Health and Social Care
I must declare an interest as a registered pharmacist for nearly two decades and an expert on pharmacy procurement.
Let be begin by saying that I welcome the UK-US pharmaceutical trade agreement, and also by saying something quite controversial: President Donald Trump is right. We do underpay for d…
I am not sure where the hon. Gentleman’s figures come from. When we look at the drug tariff reimbursement, which is the system that we use to pay, and compare it with the arrangements in other countries, it is clear that we underpay significantly. Perhaps he is referring to something of which I am u…
Commons
Westminster Hall
24 June 2026
Farming: Financial Sustainability
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. My constituency is built on the backs of family farms that I have visited, many of them run by the same family for generations. I have had the privilege of sitting around kitchen tables with farmers and the NFU, and I hear the same thing tim…
Commons
Westminster Hall
22 June 2026
Spinal Muscular Atrophy: Newborn Screening Test
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Mundell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Sunderland Central (Lewis Atkinson) for his impressive eloquence. Watching this debate today is my fantastic communications officer, who has spinal muscular atrophy and whose insight on this issue has b…
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 June 2026
Preparedness for National Emergencies
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Barker. I must declare an interest as a registered pharmacist. Before my election as an MP I worked in community pharmacy for nearly two decades and, crucially, worked on the frontline through the covid-19 pandemic. Like so many frontline healthcar…
Commons
Oral Questions
28 April 2026
2 contributions
Conflict in the Middle East: Cost of Living
8. What steps she has taken to help mitigate the potential impact of the conflict in the middle east on the economy.
I am grateful to my right hon. Friend the Chancellor for her efforts in what are far from ideal circumstances. Attacks on energy infrastructure and the effective closure of the strait of Hormuz are having real consequences here at home. Baker Hughes employs more than 300 people in Nailsea in my cons…
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 April 2026
Cost of Heating Oil
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Allin-Khan. In my constituency, 2,281 homes rely on heating oil as their only source of warmth. Those are not households with alternatives; they are off the gas grid entirely and, unlike the rest of us, they face a market that is completely uncap…
Commons
Westminster Hall
18 March 2026
Royal Mail: Performance
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Twigg. The performance of Royal Mail is an issue of significant concern across North Somerset. Issues with deliveries are having real consequences for residents and businesses alike. In the light of concerns highlighted to me, I launched a survey in…
Commons
Debate
9 March 2026
2 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
As a father of two young boys, I want to be clear that I have approached these Lords amendments, particularly Lords amendment 38, not only as a legislator, but as a parent. I have seen at first hand the pressures that social media places on children, and I have considered this matter with the utmost…
I will talk about that in a second, but I appreciate the hon. Member’s patience.
Social media was sold to us in that way, but these platforms have been driven not by connection, but by engagement algorithms optimised purely for profit—something altogether more troubling. Parents such as me are lock…
Commons
Oral Questions
Housing, Communities and Local Government
23 February 2026
2 contributions
Leasehold Reform
13. What steps his Department is taking to reform the leasehold sector.
I commend the Government and my right hon. Friend’s reforms to the leasehold sector, particularly capping ground rents, which will make a real difference to leaseholders across North Somerset. I have been contacted by numerous constituents in Portishead and across my constituency living in leasehold…
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 February 2026
Town and City Centre Safety
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Dowd. In my constituency of North Somerset and our amazing town centres, safety is an issue raised consistently by residents, and their concerns reflect a wider truth about communities across our country. Homicide rates in England and Wales have fal…
Commons
Westminster Hall
13 January 2026
2 contributions
Universities: Statutory Duty of Care
As a pharmacist, I remember when this news came out. My entire sector shares the grief of the family for the loss of a potentially amazing pharmacist. Does the hon. Member agree that pharmacy is a little lesser because of it?
Here with us in the Public Gallery is John, a constituent of mine from Nailsea. John’s beloved son Max devastatingly lost his life to suicide in 2017, at just 23. Max’s mental health difficulties emerged while he was studying for an economics degree at the University of Edinburgh. Tragically, Max is…
Commons
Debate
5 January 2026
Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief
I wish you, my constituents in North Somerset, House staff and hon. Members a happy new year, Mr Speaker. I welcome the Government’s decision to amend the thresholds for APR and BPR, as do rural communities in my constituency, and extend my thanks to the organisations that campaigned for this outcom…
Commons
Debate
25 November 2025
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
I would like to speak to new clause 34, tabled by the hon. Member for Mid Leicestershire (Mr Bedford), who rightly raises the issue of councillor standards and whose new clause calls for regulations to establish a recall process for councillors who breach their codes of conduct. Although a poignant …
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
3 November 2025
2 contributions
Defence Sector Innovation
4. What steps he is taking to increase innovation in the defence sector.
What pathways and training programmes are Ministers establishing to ensure that young people, such as those in my constituency, can develop the specialist skills that they need in order to become the defence innovators of the future? Is the Minister working with local colleges, universities and defe…
Commons
Oral Questions
Cabinet Office
23 October 2025
2 contributions
Future Pandemic Preparedness
17. What progress he has made with Cabinet colleagues to improve cross-Government co-ordination on preparedness for a future pandemic.
As a pharmacist who worked on the frontline throughout the pandemic, I would like to ask what discussions the Cabinet Office has had with local resilience forums to ensure that areas such as my North Somerset constituency have the local co-ordination structures needed to respond effectively to a fut…
Commons
Debate
15 October 2025
2 contributions
Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill
I greatly welcome the progress of this vital Bill, which will help ensure that the United Kingdom takes a genuine global lead in the development and use of sustainable aviation fuel. Sustainable aviation fuel is the key to solving many of the challenges we face today and those we will face in the de…
My hon. Friend is, of course, right to highlight such advocacy in the sector. I welcome his contribution.
The Exolum project is not just a boost for our regional economy; it is a clear signal that the UK can combine its climate ambition with a sound industrial strategy. The production subsidies for…
Commons
Debate
15 October 2025
Jhoots Pharmacy
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. As a pharmacist for nearly 20 years and the MP of North Somerset, I have the dubious pleasure of having two Jhoots pharmacies in the town of Portishead in my constituency. I cannot say two operating pharmacies, because they have shuttered their doors, with reports of…
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 September 2025
Children with SEND: Assessments and Support
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Allin-Khan. As a SEND parent myself, and an MP who has received extensive correspondence and held many face-to-face meetings on this issue, I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss the topic. The issues around SEND affect some of the most vul…
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 September 2025
2 contributions
Hydrogen Supply Chains
Does the hon. and learned Member agree that to provide certainty for long-term investment and strategic infrastructure development, and to support robust supply chains, we must invest in changing regulatory environments by working with and funding regulators—such as, for example, the Civil Aviation …
Will the Minister give way?
Commons
Debate
2 September 2025
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Having served as a town councillor and deputy mayor before my election to this House, I have witnessed at first hand the critically overdue need for reform of our local and very local council systems. Town, parish and very local councils have been plagued by inefficiencies and toothless standards fo…
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
30 June 2025
2 contributions
Defence Procurement: SMEs
8. What steps he is taking to ensure that SMEs are able to participate in defence procurement contracts.
In my constituency of North Somerset, many small and medium-sized enterprises are springing up to support our country’s rearmament efforts. In Nailsea, one such company, 1415 Industries, was recently blocked from opening a business bank account due to blanket prohibitions and excessive delays by ret…
Commons
Oral Questions
Health and Social Care
17 June 2025
2 contributions
Medicine Supply Chain: Community Pharmacies
3. If he will undertake a review of the potential impact of medicine supply chain shortages on community pharmacies.
Having worked in community pharmacies for nearly 20 years, I have witnessed at first hand the pain that medicine shortages can cause North Somerset patients and their loved ones. Will the Minister meet me, along with my hon. Friend the Member for Exeter (Steve Race) and other members of the all-part…