Commons
Westminster Hall
7 July 2026
6 contributions
Future of British Horseracing
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the future of British horseracing.
It is an absolute pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Harris. I am very grateful to hon. Members for attending this debate. I will be very generous with interventions, but I hope that hon. Members will not …
My hon. Friend makes two outstanding points. The race commentary I read out is just the tip of the iceberg. Sitting underneath that, in order to produce a race, is a whole ecosystem and industry of equine specialisms, including stables, stable lads and trainers. The whole thing culminates in a race,…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Proceedings
6 July 2026
Rochdale Grooming Gang: Offender Deportation
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Weald of Kent (Katie Lam) on securing this urgent question and thank you, Mr Speaker, for granting it, because Shabir Ahmed is a vile individual and his continued presence at liberty on our streets is an affront to every single value that we hold dear. Th…
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
6 July 2026
Topical Questions
On Armed Forces Day, I had the huge honour of unveiling a veterans’ buddy bench in Sunbury Park in my Spelthorne constituency. The idea is that the bench is dedicated to veterans; veterans go there, and members of the public are encouraged to go and sit with them. As the Front Benchers go around the…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
30 June 2026
Defence Investment Plan
More money for defence is a good thing, so I welcome the Secretary of State’s defence investment plan. He has just said that he is confident that we will make good on the commitment to 3.5% in the next spending review. I do not know why he is so confident about that. The current Prime Minister will …
Commons
Proceedings
23 June 2026
2 contributions
Defence Spending and Readiness
Will the hon. Member give way?
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way. Given what he is saying about Northern Ireland, would he support a private Member’s Bill that would set out in law that there should be no further investigations, inquiries, inquests or prosecutions unless, in the view of a Supreme Court judge, new…
Commons
Oral Questions
Transport
11 June 2026
Topical Questions
T6. The Secretary of State will be aware of the provision in the national planning policy framework that if a proposed development is within 800 metres of a train station, it is a presumed yes from the planning inspector’s point of view. However, that creates a planning loophole in my Spelthorne con…
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 June 2026
2 contributions
Freedom of Religion or Belief: Sudan
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Barker. I thank the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) for securing the debate, and Members from across the House for their thoughtful and heartfelt contributions. The hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Dr Pinkerton) has actually been to Sudan, wh…
When these things take place, it is abhorrent to the whole House.
Laws mean nothing when the state lacks even the most basic capacities to enforce them. Among this chaos, bad actors are thriving. We have long known that Russia deploys mercenaries in Sudan in return for a free hand to smuggle gold a…
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 June 2026
2 contributions
Freedom of Religion or Belief: Sudan
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Barker. I thank the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) for securing the debate, and Members from across the House for their thoughtful and heartfelt contributions. The hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Dr Pinkerton) has actually been to Sudan, wh…
When these things take place, it is abhorrent to the whole House.
Laws mean nothing when the state lacks even the most basic capacities to enforce them. Among this chaos, bad actors are thriving. We have long known that Russia deploys mercenaries in Sudan in return for a free hand to smuggle gold a…
Commons
Oral Questions
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
4 June 2026
Clean Waterways: Thames Valley
One of the sources of contamination that the Minister did not mention is human waste being discharged over the side from slum boats on EA land. The EA claims that its statutory obligation is only to register boats on its land when an application is received, and that it is discretionary. It basicall…
Commons
Oral Questions
Northern Ireland
3 June 2026
2 contributions
Replacing the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023
6. What steps he is taking to replace the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023.
In the Secretary of State’s wide consultation, did he consult General Sir Nick Parker, who suggested that there should be no further criminal investigations, inquests, inquiries or prosecutions unless there is new and compelling evidence that was not available at the time of the event?
Commons
Debate
2 June 2026
Armed Forces Bill
I am grateful to my fellow member of the Defence Committee for giving way. If he supports new clause 5, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Huntingdon (Ben Obese-Jecty), will he vote for it?
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
21 May 2026
Topical Questions
The pubs in Spelthorne are under the cosh. The Minister, in answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Broadland and Fakenham (Jerome Mayhew), said that a review of pubs and how they are valued for business rates purposes is ongoing. She will know that the review will not be relevant until 2029. Pubs a…
Commons
Debate
20 May 2026
Defence Readiness
I heard something this morning that I could scarcely believe. I heard that neither the Armed Forces Minister nor the Veterans Minister—notably, the two military veterans on the MOD’s ministerial team—have actually seen the defence investment plan. If he can, will the Secretary of State confirm or de…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
18 May 2026
Youth Justice
I thank the Secretary of State for his statement. Is he concerned that by reducing the relative punishment for youth offending relative to adult offending, he may inadvertently be making the young people of Spelthorne and across the country more attractive to be recruited by county lines gangs? That…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
14 May 2026
Supreme Court Dillon Judgment
I thank the Secretary of State for his statement. Unlike others, I have not had the benefit of reading it beforehand, so I hope that he will forgive me when I say that it is very high protein and will take a little while to process. To pick up on the remarks he just made to the hon. Member for Plymo…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
14 May 2026
National Security
I thank the Minister for his statement today, and for the gravity with which he has approached this statement and his job while others in Westminster are being distracted by noises off. I completely agree with him that it is totally unacceptable for a foreign state to be conducting shadow policing o…
Commons
Debate
27 April 2026
2 contributions
Northern Ireland Troubles Bill (Carry-over)
Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
My right hon. Friend is incredibly well informed on this subject. In his research, has he found any justification for public money being used in that way?
Commons
Debate
27 April 2026
Lord Mandelson Humble Address: Government Response Update
I thank the Minister for his statement, in which he said that
“the Government will not publish information that undermines or threatens our country’s national security or international relations.”
My question is: in whose judgment? Ultimately, is that the judgment of an official or of a Minister? …
Commons
Debate
27 April 2026
Dunmurry Police Station Attack
It is hard to believe that it was 34 years ago that one of these proxy bombs was driven into my checkpoint in west Belfast. I remember it like it was yesterday. I agree with the Secretary of State that we must find the perpetrators of this evil act, and I, too, encourage the community to come forwar…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
23 April 2026
UK Biobank Data
I thank the Minister for his statement and for prior sight of it. This is indeed a serious breach. In another life, I was the chief operating officer of a tech company and we, too, had data breaches. We found that the best way to deal with them was to have developed a culture of openness and honesty…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
22 April 2026
Engagements
Q8. Last Thursday, a man was arrested in Laleham in my constituency. He had been approaching children at the primary school, having been warned by the police not to do so. He was taken into police custody and, after further examination, detained under the Mental Health Act. Unbelievably, he was livi…
Commons
Debate
20 April 2026
Security Vetting
We have now established that the Prime Minister did indeed know that Peter Mandelson had been a director of Sistema when he appointed him. Why on earth would the Prime Minister be so reckless with our national security as to do that?
Commons
Debate
15 April 2026
Strategic Defence Review: Funding
On 6 March, the Minister kindly allowed the Defence Committee into the Ministry of Defence for a secret briefing. I would obviously never refer to the information that we received in that briefing, but it is telling that later that day, the Labour-dominated Defence Committee insisted on issuing a st…
Commons
Statutory Instrument
15 April 2026
Draft National Employment Savings Trust (Amendment) Order 2026
If we are going to offer flexi-access drawdown, does the Minister agree that it would be better if members of defined contribution schemes had greater awareness of what their pension schemes were invested in? The latest research suggests that more than 50% of people in DC schemes do not know what th…