Commons
Proceedings
19 January 2026
Iran: Protests
My British-Iranian residents are deeply worried about their families. The Minister has said that he hopes the embassy will reopen soon, but time is not on the side of the Iranian people. When is “soon” likely to be? How quickly should we expect the proscription of the IRGC?
Commons
Westminster Hall
14 January 2026
Horse and Rider Road Safety
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for bringing forward this debate and his Bill. Does he agree that it is not just about bridleways? Forestry England has recently introduced quite substantial fees for carriages, which are used by a lot of disabled people, to use their paths, and complex paperwork more…
Commons
Oral Questions
13 January 2026
Maternity and Neonatal Care
I recently visited the Dorset breastfeeding network at the Purbeck community centre, and it was fascinating to hear about the work that the team there are doing, but they told me that since covid, standard NHS antenatal classes have stopped and have never returned. As a result, women are not getting…
Commons
Debate
12 January 2026
3 contributions
Finance (No. 2) Bill
I completely recognise that the extension of the frozen tax threshold will not be felt immediately. We are all here worrying about it, but most of our residents will not see the difference probably until the next general election. However, it is on us to resolve this issue once and for all.
In the …
I will be honest and say that, not having been to university, I do not know the details of the different groups. My students are all very recent graduates, so they went in knowing that they would have enormous debt and recognising that they would be more than £50,000 in debt, with probably no prospe…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
7 January 2026
Ukraine and Wider Operational Update
President Trump is supposed to be working on a peace deal for Ukraine, but he has been so much more focused on invading Venezuela and making threats against Greenland. What assurance can the Secretary of State give to the House on the US’s continued commitment to getting a deal in Ukraine? What cont…
Commons
Debate
7 January 2026
Rural Communities
Wessex Internet, which was founded by the late James Gibson Fleming, has done some great work in Dorset, Wiltshire, Hampshire and Somerset, but the vouchers that are given out to areas that are not included are not available in Dorset. We have challenged that many times with the Ministry. Would the …
Commons
Debate
7 January 2026
Jury Trials
Does my hon. Friend agree that there is a slight confusion? The Minister consistently referenced the importance of this review and how independent and important it was, but then has thrown out the central tenet of it, which was to introduce a court that has a judge and two magistrates. That would pr…
Commons
Westminster Hall
7 January 2026
2 contributions
UK Town of Culture
I thank the hon. Member for Halesowen (Alex Ballinger) for his passionate pitch for his area.
I welcome the Government’s announcement of the competition for the town of culture 2028. The nature of a community is defined by three things: its landscape and architecture, its hospitality and retail sec…
I thank the hon. and learned Gentleman for raising that. Speaking of towns with incredible historical ports, much of the training for the D-day landings took place from Poole harbour. We now have the incredible Lighthouse cultural venue in Poole, where residents have mapped the town’s history, its l…
Commons
Debate
6 January 2026
River Cherwell: Clearing Illegal Waste
I am fascinated and happy to hear what is being proposed. Will it be possible for members of the public to check an online database for that permit? When somebody picks something up from a house and shows their permit, people can feel quite vulnerable. Being able to go online and check the permit ag…
Commons
Oral Questions
Energy Security and Net Zero
6 January 2026
Topical Questions
T5. My constituents welcome the £150 saving on energy bills, particularly as it is now snowing, but Andrew from Arrow Energy Solutions is worried. Some 35% of his heat pump and solar installations were through the energy company obligation. Although he says it needed reform, he is worried about what…
Commons
Westminster Hall
6 January 2026
Less Survivable Cancers
I thank the hon. Member for Southport (Patrick Hurley) for that really moving account. We know that cancer affects us all. In my family it claimed my mum Lin; my sister-in-law Lisa and my stepmum Sally have both beaten it, and now my dad Ray is living with terminal cancer. One of my team is also und…
Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
5 January 2026
Care Companies: Exploitation of Migrant Workers
I am disappointed to hear that the Minister is not looking at a common certificate of sponsorship. Has he made a decision, with his colleagues, on whether care workers will be considered in the same group as NHS workers in relation to the faster route? Otherwise, we are going to end up with a massiv…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
17 December 2025
Local Government Finance
I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.
I welcome the Government’s announcement of a cap on social care placements, but some special schools are making unreasonable charges. One school in my area that is offering places to neurodiverse children who are struggl…
Commons
Oral Questions
17 December 2025
Modern Industrial Strategy
Thank you, Mr Speaker—what a lovely birthday present.
Last week I met my constituent Kevin, the programme lead for TESTBED Dorset. He told me that although life sciences is one of the key sectors in the modern industrial strategy, none of the seven projects is in the south-west, and there is not a …
Commons
Oral Questions
16 December 2025
Court Backlogs
When this Government came into office in July 2024, magistrates were dealing with cases that had a potential sentence of up to six months, but that has now gone up to 12 months and by next year it could be two years. There is already a backlog of 361,000 cases in the magistrates courts. In my meetin…
Commons
Westminster Hall
16 December 2025
2 contributions
Transgender People: Provision of Healthcare
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Turner. I thank the hon. Member for North Warwickshire and Bedworth (Rachel Taylor) for such a passionate, incredible speech. Although she focused on adults, I would like to talk more about young people.
I am not sure whether the recent outrage ab…
I thank my neighbour for his intervention. Of course they are people; they are our friends, family and neighbours. Puberty blockers are of no use once someone reaches 16 or 17, as by that time the damage is done. The hon. Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Dr Johnson) may pull a strange face at …
Commons
Debate
15 December 2025
Sudan: Humanitarian Situation
I do not want to labour the point, but whether or not UK arms are being used by the UAE in Sudan is not relevant. It would be horrendous if they were, but the Minister has repeatedly said that they are not being used. Nevertheless, everyone seems to accept that UAE arms are being used, so I repeat t…
Commons
Debate
15 December 2025
NHS: Winter Preparedness
More than 34,000 residents of Dorset are over the age of 80 and therefore excluded from the RSV vaccine. They have been told that it is too dangerous for them to take, but they are now extremely worried because cases are going up. Will the Secretary of State sit back round with the Joint Committee o…
Commons
Oral Questions
Women and Equalities
10 December 2025
“Break Down Barriers to Opportunity” Mission
Earlier this year, I attended an amazing event at the Dorset Museum called “In My Shoes” for care-experienced young people, who explained the importance of making care experience a protected characteristic, as we have done in many councils, including mine in Mid Dorset and North Poole. Will the Mini…
Commons
Oral Questions
Work and Pensions
8 December 2025
Support into Work: Health Conditions
I have been assisting several constituents who are deaf and need the support of British Sign Language interpreters and face-to-face appointments. There are only five BSL interpreters available to cover the whole of Dorset, and as a result people are waiting extremely long periods not only to get app…
Commons
Proceedings
4 December 2025
Local Elections
The Minister knew from day one that local government reorganisation and the introduction of mayors were taking place simultaneously; she knew that throughout the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill Committee, so it is simply not credible to make this announcement now. Areas with delaye…
Commons
Debate
3 December 2025
2 contributions
Pension Schemes Bill
I welcome the overall thrust of the Bill. Measures such as the pension pot consolidations are long overdue and will make a real difference to savers, particularly small savers. Every new year, I try to tidy up the numerous tiny pensions from jobs I had in my 20s and 30s, but the pots are so small th…
I thank my right hon. Friend for his intervention—he has stolen my next line.
John, who works at the BP depot at Wytch Farm, which is the largest onshore oil site in England in Poole harbour, told me that his pension has been eroded by 11%—he probably got the same letter as my right hon. Friend’s c…
Commons
Proceedings
2 December 2025
Budget Resolutions
Bearing in mind that we are talking about investing in the future, I would like to focus my comments on young people.
Last week I held a youth conversation and was so impressed with the focus of the young people on broad issues including housing and their fear of the far right. I look forward to he…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
2 December 2025
Criminal Court Reform
Juries are not the cause of the court backlog; if they were, we would not see similar extended delays in the magistrates courts, which have a record backlog of 361,000 cases. The cause is not just pupillages, but legal advisers in magistrates courts. Given that some of these cases with potentially l…
Commons
Oral Questions
1 December 2025
2 contributions
SEND: Classroom Accessibility
20. What steps her Department is taking to make school classrooms more accessible to children with SEND.
Over the last 16 months, I have visited most of my 42 schools—some more than once—so I have seen some really effective use of occupational therapy principles, such as removing sensory triggers and updating lighting and layouts. At Colehill first school, the staff have simplified and rectified the dé…