Commons
Oral Questions
15 January 2026
Town of Culture and City of Culture Competitions
As well as putting in an early bid for my town of Woking—the home of H.G. Wells and the birthplace of science fiction—to be our new town of culture, I want to ask the Secretary of State a slightly more serious question. The previous Government’s towns fund was widely criticised for channelling money…
Commons
Debate
14 January 2026
West Midlands Police
The recommendation by West Midlands police to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans was clearly an incredibly serious mistake. That has been shown in evidence by Sir Andy Cooke’s damning report. Not just the decision but how it was made and the fact that misleading statements were covered up is damning. The lat…
Commons
Debate
12 January 2026
Social Media: Non-consensual Sexual Deepfakes
I have been contacted by a significant number of constituents, who are appalled that Grok and X are being used to create and then disseminate child sexual abuse. One issue that they have raised is the length of time it has taken us to act, as opposed to other countries. Malaysia and Indonesia have a…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
8 January 2026
Road Safety Strategy
Road safety in Woking is regularly raised with me by my constituents, so I am pleased that the Government have announced ways to toughen up our drink-driving laws. However, police forces, including mine in Surrey, cannot adequately police the drink-driving laws as they are, and these changes will be…
Commons
Oral Questions
Transport
8 January 2026
Topical Questions
One of my Woking constituents is a nurse at Great Ormond Street hospital. Due to her long hours and shift patterns, she is unable to use a return ticket to go to and from work, which means she has to spend more money to give vital care to children. Will the Transport Secretary agree to look into thi…
Commons
Westminster Hall
8 January 2026
2 contributions
Glasgow Safer Drug Consumption Facility
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Vickers.
Every single death linked to drugs is a human tragedy, as we have heard from Members who have spoken already. It destroys families, shatters communities and places immense pressure on our health services and the emergency services. In my c…
I am a member of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, and we have found the Housing First programme—with which there are some parallels in this debate—very important and useful. As the hon. Lady said, it is not just about tackling drug use; we need to tackle homelessness for hous…
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 December 2025
Housing Development: Cumulative Impacts
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Twigg. I thank the right hon. Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds) for securing the debate.
The subject of cumulative development has reared its head in my constituency very recently. On Saturday, I hosted a public meeting about plans by Martin…
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 December 2025
Asylum Reforms: Protected Characteristics
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. I thank the hon. Member for Aberdeen North (Kirsty Blackman) for securing this important debate and for the passionate way in which she introduced it; it is clear that this matter is close to her heart.
Refugees are some of the most vulnerable…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
16 December 2025
Planning Reform
In my constituency there is planning permission for over 2,000 new homes in and around the town centre alone, yet developers are not building those much-needed homes. What steps are the Government taking to tackle developers that are land banking instead of building homes, and are they continuing to…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
16 December 2025
Electoral Resilience
The Secretary of State is right to highlight the appalling case of a senior UK politician being convicted of bribery for taking money from Russia. I am also concerned about a UK political party getting a donation—the largest single donation from a living person—from money abroad, from cryptocurrency…
Commons
Oral Questions
16 December 2025
Magistrates
I am pleased to hear from the Minister how the Government are supporting magistrates and that she visited a recently reopened magistrates court. The biggest single thing that the Government could do in my constituency in my county of Surrey is reopen Woking magistrates court, which was closed by the…
Commons
Debate
15 December 2025
Jimmy Lai Conviction
Following the appalling show trial of Jimmy Lai, I have already had correspondence from members of the strong and growing community of Hongkongers in Woking. They are terrified about the signal this will send to people from Hong Kong who now live in the UK. People are facing intimidation in the UK f…
Commons
Debate
15 December 2025
Violence against Women and Girls Strategy
Last year, over 50,000 women and girls in Surrey were affected by violence against women and girls, yet 49% of respondents to a recent survey about the issue in Surrey said they had never reported the issue to the police or other authorities. Will the Minister confirm how the Government’s new strate…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
9 December 2025
Grooming Gangs: Independent Inquiry
I welcome the Home Secretary’s statement and the progress on this inquiry. My local authority, Surrey county council, has at best been slow to acknowledge its failures in child abuse and child safeguarding in the case of Sara Sharif from Woking. How will the Government ensure that both police forces…
Commons
Oral Questions
9 December 2025
Support for NHS Patients
Ashford and St Peter’s hospital, which serves my constituency, has an £80 million repair backlog. When will the Government allocate sufficient funding to fix our crumbling hospitals, including Ashford and St Peter’s?
Commons
Westminster Hall
8 December 2025
Digital ID
The hon. Gentleman says that this system will be free. I believe the OBR says that it will cost the taxpayer £1.8 billion; I do not believe that that is free.
Commons
Debate
4 December 2025
Dawn Sturgess Inquiry
I thank the Security Minister for speaking for the whole House when he gave our sincere condolences to Dawn Sturgess’s family, paid tribute to the emergency and security services, and conveyed his thoughts to those affected in the Novichok attack.
Government’s primary role is to keep our country sa…
Commons
Proceedings
4 December 2025
2 contributions
Local Elections
Last month, the Secretary of State clearly said to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee that elections, both local and mayoral, will go ahead. He did not equivocate. He did not say that there were ifs or buts; these elections were going ahead. Can the Minister confirm why the Secr…
Inadvertently mislead. What steps will the Minister take to ensure that MPs can trust and believe what her Department says in future communications?
Commons
Ministerial Statement
2 December 2025
Criminal Court Reform
I have previously raised the case of my Woking constituent Dani, a victim of grooming and sexual abuse, who is having to wait more than six years for justice. Although I am concerned about these proposals from the Justice Secretary, I and others can probably be convinced if they do genuinely put the…
Commons
Westminster Hall
1 December 2025
3 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
I thank my hon. Friend for the way he is introducing this petition. I am sure he is aware of the case of my murdered constituent, Sara Sharif from Woking, who was abused, tortured and murdered. The safeguarding report that came out last month highlighted the failings in the home schooling system and…
The hon. Member heard me talk earlier about safeguarding concerns. Although home education can have huge benefits to families, does he agree with the Children’s Commissioner, who has said that the proper oversight of children being educated at home is important, and that councils should be required …
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
27 November 2025
Packaging: Extended Producer Responsibility
Thank you, Ms Lewell; I will endeavour to keep to five minutes. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship. I thank the hon. Member for Gower (Tonia Antoniazzi) for securing this timely debate so soon after the Budget.
As the hon. Lady said, there is growing concern about the extended producer …
Commons
Westminster Hall
27 November 2025
2 contributions
Domestic Abuse: Children
It is a pleasure to serve under your leadership, Ms Jardine. I sincerely thank the hon. Member for Isle of Wight West (Mr Quigley) for securing the debate. I had thought that I might need to intervene on him to allow him to catch his breath, but he managed to share some deeply emotional stories very…
Surrey is further advanced than Sussex in local government reorganisation. Something I am experiencing in my constituency that I fear my hon. Friend will soon see in hers is that charities such as Woking’s Your Sanctuary women’s refuge are really nervous about LGR. We do not yet have multi-year sett…
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 November 2025
2 contributions
Immigration Reforms: Humanitarian Visa Routes
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Edward.
The Liberal Democrats have long campaigned for safe and legal routes for refugees. That is how we, as a country, can stop the dangerous small boat crossings, which put lives at risk, and provide sanctuary for those who are fleeing their…
My hon. Friend is a passionate advocate not just for his West Dorest constituency but for the refugees who have made it home. The previous Conservative Government deliberately ran up a huge asylum backlog of 90,000 cases, which now results in £2 million a day being spent on asylum hotels. They did t…
Commons
Debate
20 November 2025
2 contributions
Injury in Service Award
Police officers, firefighters, paramedics and members of other emergency services and public services face real risks every day to keep people safe. When those risks lead to life-changing injury, it can bring a sudden and permanent end to a career built on service. We need to show our support and ap…
My hon. Friend is completely right. Being injured in the line of duty needs to be about physical and mental health, and we have heard many examples of that so far. Debbie reminded us that what might be five minutes on the news becomes a story that affects an individual for the rest of their life.
L…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
20 November 2025
Migration: Settlement Pathway
The Home Secretary announced a consultation on a five-year pathway to settlement for those who work in the public sector to recognise the particularly valuable role they play in society. Will she please put that to the vote, so that MPs can ensure that those who work in organisations that are fundam…