Commons
Proceedings
9 December 2025
Northern Ireland Troubles: Operation Kenova
I thank the right hon. Member for Belfast East (Gavin Robinson) for his question, and I thank the Secretary of State for his answer. I have three questions. First, do the Government accept the Operation Kenova report’s findings of “serious organisational failure” on the part of MI5, and if so, what …
Commons
Proceedings
8 December 2025
Restriction of Jury Trials
I have some sympathy for the Minister. We all know that the Tories fiddled, leaving our criminal justice system to burn. As the Law Society president noted earlier this year, we are still not using our courts efficiently, despite what the Minister says. What steps have been taken to increase court s…
Commons
Proceedings
24 November 2025
Maccabi Tel Aviv FC: Away Fans Ban
According to the response to the Home Affairs Committee by the West Midlands police and crime commissioner, the Home Office was fully briefed in advance on the likely recommendation to ban visiting fans from the match, so can the Minister explain why the Government failed to offer additional support…
Commons
Oral Questions
Northern Ireland
19 November 2025
Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023
As I hope that the Secretary of State knows, my party and I are hugely supportive of his efforts to move beyond the Tories’ failed legacy Act, provided the legitimate concerns of our veterans are fully met. Will he detail specifically, either now or in writing, which veterans’ groups he has consulte…
Commons
Debate
18 November 2025
4 contributions
Northern Ireland Troubles Bill
Although I have not held this spokesperson role for long, I have met veterans, victims and survivors, academics and Members from across this House and the other place. Those conversations have been humbling and instructive, reminding me of the horror that Northern Ireland endured and the courage of …
I absolutely agree. The Bill will have profound implications for both service morale and future recruitment, particularly with respect to our special forces. That is why it must go further.
With more than 10% of the Lib Dem Benches made up of former members of the armed services, my parliamentary p…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
17 November 2025
Asylum Policy
I welcome a sizeable amount of what the Home Secretary has said and is trying to do. Earlier this year the immigration and asylum chamber of the upper tribunal in the case of IX reiterated the established administrative law requirements that Government decision making in asylum cases be proportionat…
Commons
Westminster Hall
5 November 2025
Council of Europe and the European Convention on Human Rights
It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mr Mundell. I congratulate the hon. Member for Stourbridge (Cat Eccles) on securing this debate.
I am pleased to speak about the ECHR and the UK’s membership of the Council of Europe. Across the political spectrum, parties are flirting with withdrawal.…
Commons
Proceedings
29 October 2025
Asylum Seekers: MOD Housing
My colleague on the Home Affairs Committee, the hon. Member for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh (Chris Murray) made an excellent point. The asylum accommodation contract signed under the previous Tory Government gifted scandalously high profits to private providers. Frankly, it is a PPE-type scandal.…
Commons
Debate
27 October 2025
2 contributions
Victims and Courts Bill
My new clauses 15 and 16 concern restorative justice. They are supported by the charities Why Me?, for whom I am an ambassador, and Calm Mediation, as well as the Restorative Justice Council and others who work every day with victims and offenders. I thank hon. Members from my own party and from the…
Well, of course, restorative justice is not right for every victim. I have said to the hon. Member that it is right for many victims, including myself. I do not begin to understand why he finds that a difficult point to understand.
As I know from personal experience, when my wife, eldest daughter a…
Commons
Debate
27 October 2025
Prisoner Release Checks
As the Justice Secretary admits, there is a staffing crisis in our prisons that his Government inherited from the brass-necked Tories. Over a third of prison officers now have less than two years’ experience. With too many officers leaving the profession and too few joining, is it any wonder that mi…
Commons
Debate
21 October 2025
4 contributions
Sentencing Bill
rose—
I say to the right hon. Gentleman and many hon. Members that the prison population is a supply-led industry. If we build more prisons, we will just get more prisoners. It does not address the issue. All history tells us that—look at America. We imprison more people in this country than is done in Eu…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
20 October 2025
Asylum Seekers: Support and Accommodation
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir John. I congratulate the hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Tony Vaughan) on leading this important debate. I begin by declaring an interest: a previous donor to my election campaign has an interest in Stay Belvedere Hotels, a sub-co…
Commons
Oral Questions
Northern Ireland
15 October 2025
Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023
Further to the Secretary of State’s comments on the adequacy of the legacy and reconciliation Act, I would like to turn to the role of the European convention on human rights. As he will be aware, the Leader of the Opposition seems more interested in the views of the Member for Mar-a-Lago and Moscow…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
14 October 2025
Northern Ireland Troubles
I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of his statement. As this is my first statement as the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Northern Ireland, I want to begin by recognising the deep scars left by the troubles on families and communities across the island of Ireland and these islands. T…
Commons
Debate
16 September 2025
Sentencing Bill
Does the Lord Chancellor agree with my concerns that neither the Bill nor the excellent report that preceded it make any mention of restorative justice—a process that truly puts the victim at the heart of the criminal justice process? Will he pledge in future legislation to address that omission?
Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
15 September 2025
Topical Questions
I would not be here today without Wimbledon police station; in 2014, two brave officers from that station saved me from a murderous attack. Wimbledon police station is now under threat, with its front counter due to close. Does the Home Secretary agree that local police stations such as Wimbledon’s …
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 September 2025
Children with SEND: Assessments and Support
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Allin-Khan. I congratulate the many petitioners from Wimbledon and beyond, and my hon. Friend the Member for South Cotswolds (Dr Savage) for securing this important debate.
As we have heard throughout the debate, children with special educational n…
Commons
Debate
11 September 2025
Regional Transport Inequality
I was all too conscious at Transport questions this morning not only to ensure that I did not, after last night’s scolding, repeat the heresy of “you” or “yours”, Madam Deputy Speaker, but to keep my questions brief. Consequently, I did not have time to put on the record—for the third time in less t…
Commons
Oral Questions
11 September 2025
Transport: Economic Growth
A transport system can support economic growth only if it provides a reliable service on which businesses and passengers can depend. According to the Evening Standard , there have been 149 incidents of industrial action on TfL since Sadiq Khan became Mayor, with millions of people inconvenienced and…
Commons
Oral Questions
11 September 2025
Bus Services
As I am sure the Minister knows and agrees, improving bus services must include making them safer for women and girls. Concerningly, sexual offences on the UK bus network have increased in recent years; for example, they increased by 13% on London buses in the first six months of this year. What is …
Commons
Debate
10 September 2025
8 contributions
Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [Lords]
I thank the Minister and commend him for his constructive engagement throughout the passage of this Bill on the Floor of the House, in Committee and via the usual channels.
Let me make it clear from the outset that my party supports the basic tenets of this Bill. The Tories’ ideologically driven de…
Those are exactly the issues that the Bill should and could address if the Minister took the bold steps we are asking of him today. In its passage through the other place, the Bill was clearly strengthened through constructive engagement across the political divide. The Government have been willing …
+6 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 September 2025
Eating Disorders: Prevention of Deaths
I congratulate the hon. Member for Isle of Wight West (Mr Quigley) on securing this vital debate.
As has been said, early intervention is vital—but sufferers and their families invariably face an overstretched and underfunded system, with services unable to meet demand and treatment offered far too…
Commons
Westminster Hall
16 July 2025
Blue Badge Eligibility
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Christopher. I congratulate the hon. Member for Maidstone and Malling (Helen Grant) on securing this debate, and her constituent, Sandy, on bravely campaigning on this issue. It is people like her who make a real difference to this world—thank you.…
Commons
Proceedings
9 July 2025
Trial by Jury: Proposed Restrictions
I sympathise with the Minister’s frustration at the Tories’ brass neck. There is clearly a crisis in the criminal justice system, and it is clearly of their making. However, rather than undermining the jury system, we need to invest in our courts. Does the Minister agree that this is all about prior…
Commons
Statutory Instrument
9 July 2025
2 contributions
Draft Transport Act 2000 (Air Traffic Services) (Prescribed Terms) Regulations 2025
rose—
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Jeremy. We welcome steps to better co-ordinate the fractured and complex system of managing airspace. It is important to bring it into the 21st century by delivering flight paths that cut emissions and ensure that journeys can be quicker, quieter a…