Commons
Oral Questions
26 March 2026
Topical Questions
An October 2024 Active Travel England analysis of case studies found that walking and cycling schemes typically generate a benefit-cost ratio of between 3.5:1 and 19:1. Given the plans for significant devolution of transport funding, how will the Government ensure that local authorities deliver cons…
Commons
Oral Questions
26 March 2026
Pothole Repairs: Government Funding
Road Emulsion Association research has found that 57% of UK drivers experience fewer and less severe potholes on Europe’s motorways compared with ours. That was confirmed by Office of Rail and Road benchmarking, which identified that the Netherlands’ strategic road network had double the high standa…
Commons
Petition
25 March 2026
Flooding in Ladygrove, Didcot
I wish to present a petition, signed by 65 residents of Derwent Avenue, Thurne View and Eden Court in Didcot, relating to years of flooding on their street, and the perennial risk of flooding to their properties. I hope that Thames Water and the Government will take note.
The petition states:
“The…
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 March 2026
2 contributions
Rural Roads
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stringer. I thank the hon. Member for South Shropshire (Stuart Anderson) for introducing this very important topic. He made some important points in his speech, and he was on to a strong one when he talked about the importance of remoteness and rura…
Councils certainly can do more to better spend the community infrastructure levy, but that partly takes account of the wildly complicated planning system and the negotiations that are needed with developers for both that and section 106.
Perhaps the Minister could share what the Government are doin…
Commons
Debate
5 March 2026
Women’s Health Strategy: Endometriosis and Fibroids
I thank the hon. Member for taking time for this intervention on her passionate speech about the huge number of women who suffer from endometriosis. Given the challenges with diagnosis, and the enormous pain and suffering that she has outlined, does she agree that far more money and Government suppo…
Commons
Debate
3 March 2026
Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill
Even taking into account the Lords amendments, we continue to welcome steps to decarbonise our aviation industry, including investment in sustainable aviation fuels. I repeat the Liberal Democrat point from Second Reading that SAF is just one step in that direction; in the longer term, it needs to c…
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 March 2026
Environmental Protection and Biodiversity
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Roger. I also praise the hon. Member for North East Hertfordshire (Chris Hinchliff) for his passion for nature and the topics we are discussing.
My constituency has seen some of the fastest housing growth in the country: 8,000 new houses added bet…
Commons
Debate
2 March 2026
Representation of the People Bill
There is much that is positive in the Bill. I want to touch briefly on one point that we have not discussed much so far, which is strengthening protections for staff who work on elections. They are critical to the safe and transparent delivery of our democracy. As hon. Members have said, what is mis…
Commons
Debate
26 February 2026
2 contributions
AEA Technology Pension Scheme
Let me start by setting out some context and background to how we got to the AEA Technology pension scheme scandal. I will set out the moral case for redress, sum up some of the independent evidence supporting the pension campaigners’ cause, and address some previous comments made on the issue by th…
I understand what the Minister is saying about pre-1997 indexation, but that is not the primary issue. The calculations by the campaigners about the difference this makes to their losses is that it is trivial—very small. I do not have the exact percentage, but it is probably a 5% difference, or some…
Commons
Oral Questions
26 February 2026
2 contributions
Arts and Culture: Local Government Support
10. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to encourage local governments to support arts and culture.
Local councils in my Oxfordshire constituency work hard to secure public arts funding through developer contributions for our growing population. However, some existing cultural venues are struggling. The much-loved Vale and Downland Museum in Wantage is having to rely on one-off grants to plug fund…
Commons
Westminster Hall
26 February 2026
2 contributions
Eating Disorders Awareness Week
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse) for introducing the debate and for her enormous dedication and hard work on this vital issue over many years.
I would like to talk about the themes that have arisen from constituency c…
My hon. Friend again shows her wealth of knowledge and experience of this topic. Some of the cases that my team and I have supported have involved people who have been living with eating disorders for decades. I have also seen cases where the transition from support services for children and young p…
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 February 2026
2 contributions
Student Loan Repayment Plans
I was not intending to intervene, but I am afraid what the hon. Member said is not correct. Tuition fees were first introduced by the Conservative Government in the early 1990s and then by the Labour Government in 1998, with top-up fees in 2004. Will he accept that and then proceed?
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I thank the hon. Member for Ilford South (Jas Athwal) for introducing this debate.
I would like to use my limited time to tell the stories of two of my constituents. One of them is Rebecca, a health worker who is an NHS band 6 employee. For…
Commons
Debate
24 February 2026
4 contributions
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
A powerful illustration of my hon. Friend’s point is that oral questions to the Minister for Women and Equalities is compressed into just 30 minutes before Prime Minister’s questions every few weeks. Does she agree?
This motion is first and foremost about the victims of the appalling crimes of Jeffrey Epstein and his many associates, as well as the importance of protecting people from abuse of power. It also has significant implications for wider political culture.
As my hon. Friend the Member for North Shrops…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
23 February 2026
2 contributions
Firearms Licensing
Will the hon. Member give way?
My hon. Friend makes a compelling point about the UK’s successes in controlling gun crime to date. Does he agree with the hon. Member for South Shropshire (Stuart Anderson) that the August 2021 murders in Plymouth highlighted significant problems with the implementation of the current regimes around…
Commons
Oral Questions
Transport
12 February 2026
Topical Questions
The Government have big ambitions for active travel, but their targets in the third cycling and walking investment strategy are neither bold nor measurable. Over 40 organisations, including some Labour mayoral authorities, have called for a target of 50% of short urban journeys being walked, wheeled…
Commons
Oral Questions
Transport
12 February 2026
Support for Road Users
Over 130,000 motor vehicles are now stolen every year in the UK; there has been a 75% increase in England and Wales in a decade. Much of that theft happens through the exploitation of weaknesses in remote key fobs. Does the Minister agree that this crime trend is a major risk for users of motorised …
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
11 February 2026
Engagements
Q4. My Oxfordshire constituents are sick of widespread potholes, particularly at Milton interchange, in Didcot and along the A417 serving Challow and Stanford in the Vale. Yet the Government are cutting funding for Oxfordshire county council by £24 million over three years, which is equivalent to it…
Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
9 February 2026
2 contributions
Domestic Violence: Victim Support
16. What steps her Department is taking to support victims of domestic violence.
After years of enduring domestic abuse, a constituent of mine came forward to Thames Valley police. She was badly let down by process and communication failures, resulting in the perpetrator avoiding prosecution despite a positive charging decision. She is now worried for her personal safety and has…
Commons
Debate
5 February 2026
Road Safety
May I start by thanking the Backbench Business Committee for granting time for this debate? I congratulate the hon. Member for Shipley (Anna Dixon), who secured it, on her powerful speech. She, like many other Members, rightly focused on the appalling human cost when road safety goes wrong. So many …
Commons
Committee Stage
5 February 2026
Railways Bill (Twelfth sitting)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship once again, Mrs Hobhouse. Our amendment 212 relates to what the Minister said: it would remove the restriction on the ORR’s ability to impose fines on GBR for licence breaches. I am hoping that we can find some agreement or that the Minister can improve…
Commons
Committee Stage
5 February 2026
6 contributions
Railways Bill (Eleventh sitting)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship once again on the Committee, Mr Western. I will no doubt be told off for getting her title wrong, but I agree with the Conservative spokesperson, the hon. Member for—
I knew the hon. Lady’s seat; it is just that I got told off the other day by the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Broadland and Fakenham, for calling him the spokesperson instead.
Carrying on, I agree with the hon. Lady’s comments on the Opposition’s amendments. I think most of them are sound a…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Committee Stage
3 February 2026
6 contributions
Railways Bill (Tenth sitting)
If the shadow Minister is talking about 235, that is one that he tabled, not me.
I beg to move amendment 142, in clause 39, page 21, line 19, at end insert—
“(1A) The Passengers’ Council must not investigate a matter unless the matter has been considered first by Great British Railways and is subject to an appeal for further consideration.”
This amendment makes Great British R…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Committee Stage
3 February 2026
7 contributions
Railways Bill (Ninth sitting)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Barker. I have some brief comments on the Conservative spokesperson’s amendments.
Apologies. One recognises one’s status.
We agree with the shadow Minister on the principle that it should not be about ideology between the public and private sectors. We have argued that consistently in the past. If it was so simple that nationalising train operators would lead to transformative p…
+5 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
2 February 2026
High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill
I thank the Secretary of State for clarity on what the this is and what it is not. It is welcome that it is about Northern Powerhouse Rail and its Manchester to Liverpool core—a scheme that the Liberal Democrats continue to support. We hope this time that the dreams for Northern Powerhouse Rail will…