Commons
Debate
13 July 2026
Embodied Carbon: Buildings
The hon. Lady is making a very compelling speech about the importance of thinking on a whole-life basis about the carbon in buildings. Does she agree that we should think about the whole-life carbon impact of new buildings, and does her argument support the view that we have an opportunity to design…
Commons
Oral Questions
Science, Innovation and Technology
1 July 2026
2 contributions
Astronomy and Space Science: Funding
5. What steps her Department is taking to maintain levels of funding for astronomy and space science.
I thank the Minister for his answer. My Oxfordshire constituency is home to Harwell campus, the UK’s largest concentration of space and science organisations. Despite what the Minister said about the budget, the need for £162 million of savings by 2030 that was imposed on the Science and Technology …
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 June 2026
National Lung Cancer Screening Programme
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Alec. I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (Clive Jones) on securing this debate, and on his tireless campaigning both on lung cancer and on cancer more widely. I also thank the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) for his passiona…
Commons
Westminster Hall
24 June 2026
Farming: Financial Sustainability
Thank you, Mr Turner—I am in a state of astonishment at being called first. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship once again. I thank the hon. Member for North Northumberland (David Smith) for his articulate opening speech. Most of what I am going to say follows a recent farm visit and farm…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
22 June 2026
East Midland Railway Collision
May I start by thanking the Secretary of State for advance sight of her statement? I wholly associate myself with her remarks. Our thoughts have to be with the driver who lost his life and the many passengers who were injured, particularly those still in hospital, and all their families. From my pas…
Commons
Oral Questions
Culture, Media and Sport
18 June 2026
2 contributions
BBC Funding
6. What steps she is taking to help ensure the sustainability of the BBC’s long-term funding.
Yesterday, as part of £500 million cuts, the BBC announced the scrapping of BBC Radio 4’s “The World Tonight” programme after 56 years, among others. It is very welcome to hear the Secretary of State’s support for the BBC, but can she say a little more about what she is going to do to protect the fu…
Commons
Oral Questions
Transport
11 June 2026
Topical Questions
The current cycling and walking investment strategy includes a target for 55% of trips to be walked, wheeled or cycled by 2035. Is the Secretary of State confident that there is a realistic plan with sufficient funding to achieve that target?
Commons
Oral Questions
Transport
11 June 2026
Passenger Rail Services
Young people in Oxford, Bicester, Winslow, Bletchley and Milton Keynes are sitting their exams, but they continue to not be able to use a train to get to school or for leisure, despite this phase of East West Rail opening 18 months ago. I have a little exam question for the Minister. What timescale …
Commons
Westminster Hall
4 June 2026
2 contributions
High Street Businesses: Government Support
I beg to move,
That this House has considered Government support for high street businesses.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. For decades, centuries and even millennia, towns and their high streets have been the focus of commercial and community activity—not just for the …
I agree that such a VAT cut would help, because it is not just business rates that small businesses on high streets are facing. On top of business rate increases and the burden of value-added tax, they are also paying for increased labour and payroll costs, including the higher national living wage …
Commons
Oral Questions
Energy Security and Net Zero
2 June 2026
2 contributions
Household Energy Bills
7. What steps he is taking to help reduce household energy bills.
The energy price cap increase is estimated to cost each household an extra £18 every month, which is the price of a regular essential food shop at a discount supermarket. I note the measures that the Minister says the Government are taking, but in addition will the Government urgently bring forward …
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
21 May 2026
Topical Questions
Small businesses in Didcot’s Broadway are struggling with energy and staff costs, business rates and a rising tax burden, and the older town centre would benefit from investment and rejuvenation. For areas, such as Didcot, that did not receive Pride in Place funding, what suggestions does the Secret…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
20 May 2026
Engagements
Q5. This month’s local elections saw the biggest ever gap between votes and seats in England, with five parties estimated to have won more than 15% of the vote. It is increasingly clear that the public have had enough of Westminster business as usual. Does the Prime Minister still have full confiden…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
19 May 2026
High Speed 2 Reset
I thank the Secretary of State for her candour on the scale of the HS2 disaster and for the specificity of the range of dates she provided. The Liberal Democrats certainly agree with her intent: we need to make the most of this shambles, and it would be better to do something with what has been buil…
Commons
Statutory Instrument
19 May 2026
Draft Merchant Shipping (Port State Control) Regulations 2026
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond.
We Liberal Democrats also support this legislative tidying up. I hope the Minister is grateful for the opportunity to talk about what I know is his favourite mode of transport, ships, rather than dabbling in railway tedium. I have only on…
Commons
Statutory Instrument
19 May 2026
Delegated Legislation Committee
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond.
We Liberal Democrats also support this legislative tidying up. I hope the Minister is grateful for the opportunity to talk about what I know is his favourite mode of transport, ships, rather than dabbling in railway tedium. I have only on…
Commons
Petition
18 May 2026
East Hagbourne Post Office
I present on behalf of 175 constituents a petition regarding the closure of East Hagbourne post office. This is in addition to a non-parliamentary petition signed by 1,100 members of the local community.
The petition states:
The petition of residents of East Hagbourne in the constituency of Didcot…
Commons
Oral Questions
28 April 2026
Topical Questions
T3. At a recent meeting with members of Wantage chamber of commerce, local businesses were united in their concerns about business rates and unconvinced by recent Government tweaks that Ministers have just alluded to. Page 31 of Labour’s manifesto states:“The current business rates system disincenti…
Commons
Westminster Hall
27 April 2026
Animal Testing
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Twigg. I thank the hon. Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Irene Campbell) for her passionate introduction of the topic. I also thank the 238 of my constituents who signed the petition, the many who have written to me about it, and those who I hav…
Commons
Debate
23 April 2026
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole (Vikki Slade) for securing a debate on this important topic, and the Backbench Business Committee for choosing it.
We have heard from many hon. Members the important reasons the DVLA needs to improve. I do not have time to mention all…
Commons
Oral Questions
23 April 2026
2 contributions
Ministerial Code
1. What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the ministerial code.
I was reading the ministerial code just yesterday evening. Paragraph 2.1 states:
“The Prime Minister is the ultimate judge of the standards of behaviour expected of a minister and the appropriate consequences of a breach of those standards.”
That provides clarity on how Ministers can be held to ac…
Commons
Debate
22 April 2026
6 contributions
Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy
In the United Kingdom, more than 600,000 people—one in a 100—live with epilepsy and every day around 80 people are diagnosed. Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy, abbreviated as SUDEP, is the term used when a person with epilepsy dies suddenly and unexpectedly. At least 21 people die every week in t…
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention and pay tribute to his constituent and their family. I am going to be talking quite a lot about what we can do to prevent such occurrences in the future.
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
22 April 2026
2 contributions
Mountain Rescue
I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Hazel Grove (Lisa Smart) for her passionate, articulate exposition of the great work that mountain rescue does in her constituency. We also heard the passion for mountain rescue and the great outdoors from the hon. Members for Bolton West (Phil Brickell), for …
The hon. Gentleman’s ask is entirely legitimate and justified. We hope that the current Scottish Government will, in the first instance, build on the wonderful achievement of the Scottish Liberal Democrat-Labour coalition in 2003 of introducing a Scottish Mountain Rescue grant.
In terms of our asks…
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 April 2026
Hammersmith Bridge
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship on consecutive days, Sir Alec. I commend the proposer, the hon. Member for Putney (Fleur Anderson), for articulately outlining the long-running saga of the closure of Hammersmith bridge, and a saga it is: the closure of this bridge has outlasted a pa…
Commons
Westminster Hall
20 April 2026
Maternity Commissioner
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Alec. I thank the hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Tony Vaughan) for introducing this important and sensitive debate with his customary eloquence.
I thank the 464 of my constituents who signed the e-petition, placing my constituen…
Commons
Westminster Hall
16 April 2026
2 contributions
NHS Federated Data Platform
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dame Siobhain. I commend the determined and forensic work on this topic by my hon. Friend the Member for Newton Abbot (Martin Wrigley). The key reason I am attending and speaking today is because we love our national health service. For all its challen…
I very much agree with my hon. Friend that accountability to this House is always a critical consideration.
The second concern is Palantir’s track record and motivations. I shall not repeat too much of what others have said, but its close ties with the US Government and US Immigration and Customs E…