Commons
Proceedings
14 July 2026
9 contributions
Future of Thames Water
I will discuss the future of Thames Water, starting with Thames Water’s record of pollution and environmental failure, and how it impacts everyone in my Witney constituency. Thames Water serves the constituency and embodies the systemic failure of the national water sector. Last year, Thames Water p…
I completely agree, and Thames Water’s full-year accounts are out at 7 am tomorrow morning. We will see just what they tell us. It is going to be ugly, not least because the company’s equity is worthless. The largest equity shareholders wrote down their shareholding to zero value and withdrew their …
+7 more contributions in this session
Commons
Proceedings
9 July 2026
Iran Conflict: Ceasefire
Iran is continuing to hold the global economy to ransom through its reckless strikes in the strait of Hormuz—we all agree on that. Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s continuing tit-for-tat retaliations risk dragging the whole region back into a full-blown conflict. This would threaten the lives of citizens a…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
9 July 2026
NATO Summit
On behalf of my hon. Friend the Member for Bicester and Woodstock (Calum Miller), I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of her statement. As we have come to expect of all major international summits, NATO’s meeting in Ankara was taken over entirely by Donald Trump’s tantrums and threats. …
Commons
Oral Questions
Energy Security and Net Zero
7 July 2026
Topical Questions
Regarding contracts for difference, will the Government now consider moving from a 100% revenue guarantee model to a partial coverage model, along the lines of what Australia now has?
Commons
Debate
24 June 2026
Taxation (Energy and Vehicles)
The electricity generator levy is a windfall tax on UK electricity generation from nuclear, renewable and biomass sources, and it raised £0.7 billion in the last financial year. The EGL is a revenue-based tax that currently applies at a rate of 45% on exceptional generation receipts above a benchmar…
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 June 2026
State Pensioners: Personal Allowance
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. The Liberal Democrats have said clearly that we think it is both wrong and unfair that the Government have implemented a stealth tax grab that will hit some of the lowest-paid and most vulnerable the hardest, by maintaining a freeze on income t…
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 June 2026
Brain Cancer
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Barker. I thank the hon. Member for Colne Valley (Paul Davies) for speaking on behalf of the petitioners, and I thank the petitioners, who are in the Public Gallery today, for all the work they have done. A particular shout out goes to Sarah—I am t…
Commons
Proceedings
8 June 2026
Water Companies
Thames Water, which serves my constituency, embodies the systemic failures of the sector. The company is in breach of its licence conditions by not having held any investment grade credit ratings for nearly the last two years and by failing to inform Ofwat and the Government of the change of control…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
22 April 2026
Pension Schemes
I thank the Minister for his statement. We have learned today that this contract was awarded two and a half years ago. Capita had two and a half years to prepare for taking on the administration of the civil service scheme. As has been mentioned, the Public Accounts Committee warned in October that …
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 April 2026
Cost of Heating Oil
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Allin-Khan. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Norfolk (Steff Aquarone) for securing this important debate. We have all received casework on this issue from so many residents who are so worried and have been impacted by what has happened as…
Commons
Debate
23 March 2026
2 contributions
National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill
The Liberal Democrats have been clear throughout the Bill’s stages that we think the Government would be misguided to make this change. While it may raise some tax revenue in the medium term, in the longer term it discourages pension saving. It also puts an extra cost and admin burden on small busin…
I completely agree. It sends the wrong message and puts in place the wrong incentives, and that is a real problem.
Ministers will have seen the analysis produced by the Office for Budget Responsibility in response to the former Lib Dem Pensions Minister, Steve Webb, highlighting the flaws in the Go…
Commons
Westminster Hall
18 March 2026
2 contributions
Royal Mail: Performance
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Twigg, and I thank the hon. Member for Exmouth and Exeter East (David Reed) for securing this important debate.
I also thank my hon. Friends the Members for Sutton and Cheam (Luke Taylor), for Eastbourne (Josh Babarinde) and for Yeovil (Adam Dance)…
I have been here for 17 months. We could rehash things from 14 or 17 years ago. I believe that in 2009 the Labour Government sought to take a 30% stake out of the Royal Mail, but I am not interested in going back through that because we are where we are. Let me try to finish my speech, and I will ta…
Commons
Oral Questions
17 March 2026
2 contributions
Violence against Women and Girls
2. What steps his Department is taking through the criminal justice system to help tackle violence against women and girls.
I welcome the new legal adviser service as a first step towards levelling the horribly unequal access to legal services available to victims as compared with suspects. However, only £3 million has been provided a year for the next two years to fund that service. Given the record highs of more than 1…
Commons
Debate
11 March 2026
5 contributions
Finance (No. 2) Bill
The Bill, and the Budget it derives from, demonstrates clearly that the Chancellor has implemented stealth tax grabs that will hit some of the lowest paid the hardest, through extending a freeze on income tax thresholds and the national insurance contributions increases which suppress employment and…
I completely agree. The stress of that is horrific, so the more it can function effectively would be appreciated.
The Government have said that people whose only source of income is the state pension will not pay any income tax over this Parliament, but no details have been provided on how they wil…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
24 February 2026
Charter for Budget Responsibility
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I will not burden the House with too long a speech.
There are a lot of issues with the Government’s and the country’s economic policymaking process, but there are good arguments for reducing the number of fiscal events, which create artificial cliff edges. Howev…
Commons
Debate
23 February 2026
2 contributions
Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill
It has been a very painful path to get to this point, but I simply want to welcome what the Government are bringing in. Reversing the decision on the two-child limit will lift 540,000 children out of absolute poverty, and it is unquestionably the right thing to do—certainly for those children and fo…
Yes, I am. I congratulate the Chair and members of the Work and Pensions Committee on doing all that good work; many thanks to them.
Assessing the wider issues may encourage the Government to take steps beyond this welcome but narrow Bill to support children and their families who are struggling to…
Commons
Westminster Hall
23 February 2026
Firearms Licensing
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Barker. I thank the hon. Member for South Norfolk (Ben Goldsborough) for introducing this important debate so well and with such balance—I really appreciate it.
I am proud and relieved that we live in a country with some of the strictest gun laws …
Commons
Westminster Hall
10 February 2026
3 contributions
Independent Water Commission: Final Report
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Jeremy. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for West Dorset (Edward Morello).
I am going to move very quickly. I thank Sir Jon Cunliffe and all the campaigners in my constituency. I note that Blake primary school had to close on Friday because of se…
We have four minutes to go, including a wind-up speech. I wonder whether the Minister is going to get to my point.
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Proceedings
9 February 2026
2 contributions
Brain Tumour Survival Rates
I thank the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden (Dame Siobhain McDonagh) for securing this really important debate. She has been excellent in driving forward this issue, and is so determined. She demonstrates how to go after an issue and pursue it relentlessly. That is great, but ultimately, as she p…
I thank my hon. Friend for that excellent intervention. I am going to talk out of two sides of my face here, because on the one side, the UK has a lot going for it, but on the other, it does not. Since Brexit, clinical trials in the UK are down 60%, which is really bad news. That is just business lo…
Commons
Debate
9 February 2026
6 contributions
UK-India Free Trade Agreement
I refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests regarding the business that I founded in 1996, BDA partners, in which I still hold a stake but have no role or responsibility.
Economically, this agreement offers some benefits. As per the Government’s impact assessment, an…
The National Bureau of Economic Research, in the United States.
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 February 2026
2 contributions
Indefinite Leave to Remain
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Edward. I thank the hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Tony Vaughan) for securing this important debate.
This morning I met a constituent, Petra, who has been in the country for three and a half years. She works in the care secto…
I thank the hon. Member for that intervention.
The situation I described is obviously cruel, and this moving of the goalposts will make it miles crueller. To the point made by the right hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell), I really hope that the Minister is reading the room, becau…
Commons
Debate
21 January 2026
3 contributions
National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill
My chief concern with this Bill is that, like a lot of the measures that the Chancellor announced in the Budget, it looks like it may be a route to some medium-term increased tax revenues, but it gives no thought to longer-term consequences. That will help the Chancellor meet her fiscal rules, but I…
I absolutely agree—well said.
The Government may well say that the Bill will not affect low earners, who are likely not to be saving £2,000 in a given year, as the hon. Member for Harlow (Chris Vince) has just said. However, that is too simplistic a way to look at this issue. The impact assessment …
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
21 January 2026
Water White Paper
I welcome the White Paper and thank the Secretary of State and her team for their work. I am keen to understand how it will work in practice. As the Secretary of State will know, Thames Water’s largest equity shareholder wrote down its shareholding to zero in May 2024, so the equity is widely regard…
Commons
Debate
12 January 2026
7 contributions
Finance (No. 2) Bill
Farmers up and down the country should be really proud of the campaign that has forced the Government to rethink the completely short-sighted and ill-thought-out policy that has threatened the future of family farms up and down the country. I congratulate them on the result that they have secured. I…
I guess we will have to check our social media accounts.
+5 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
7 January 2026
Rural Fuel Duty Relief
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Furniss. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Devon (Ian Roome) for securing this important debate and everybody who has spoken in it. There is a very strong message coming through about how much rural communities need this relief and how muc…