Commons
Debate
22 October 2025
5 contributions
Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund
When the Committee held its one-off session on investment in life sciences, did it unearth the reasons why Sanofi, Eli Lilly and Merck have recently chosen to disinvest in life sciences in the UK?
Will the Minister give way?
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
22 October 2025
Heathrow: National Airports Review
I sympathise with the right hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell); my Spelthorne constituency is on the southern side of Heathrow airport, and the residents of Stanwell Moor, a village of some 520 homes, are half a mile away from the southern perimeter. They have put up with a lot, i…
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
20 October 2025
Children with SEND: Mainstream Schools
The previous Schools Minister, the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne North (Catherine McKinnell), was so excited to hear from me about Manor Mead special school in my constituency that she undertook to visit it. Sadly, she had to cancel that visit and has now clearly moved on to other things, so w…
Commons
Westminster Hall
20 October 2025
6 contributions
Asylum Seekers: Support and Accommodation
The hon. and learned Member said he met an asylum seeker at Napier barracks who said that they just wanted to be safe. Assuming that they had come from France, did he investigate with that person why they were unsafe in France?
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison.
In my constituency we have the Stanwell hotel, which is currently an asylum hotel. From correspondence in my mailbag, I had heard there was the potential for the Home Office to change its policy on use. Hitherto, the capacity for famil…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
16 September 2025
Ambassador to the United States
I thank and congratulate my right hon. Friend the Member for Goole and Pocklington (David Davis) on securing this emergency debate.
The focus of the debate thus far has been primarily on three areas: the victims of Jeffrey Epstein’s appalling crimes, the conduct of Lord Mandelson prior to his being…
Commons
Westminster Hall
16 September 2025
7 contributions
Employment Rights: Impact on Businesses
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the impact of employment rights on businesses.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. Members across the House will know that I have the distinct honour of being the Member of Parliament for Spelthorne, which is not in Lincolns…
My right hon. Friend makes a very good point. When these measures kick in, we could see the law of unintended consequences playing out, with a series of compound impacts.
The RPC said that the fundamental basis for the creation of the Bill in the first place had not been made, and that there had be…
+5 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
15 September 2025
Neighbourhood Policing
Very simple question: why are police numbers coming down under a Labour Government?
Commons
Debate
9 September 2025
5 contributions
Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
Will the Minister give way?
I am grateful to the Minister for giving way on the negotiations. He is making great play of the fact that the previous Government started the negotiations and that there were 11 rounds of them. Is he not aware that, in 1965, the United Nations passed a resolution saying that we should enter into co…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
4 September 2025
Early Education and Childcare
I visited a nursery in Staines in my constituency, and the head there reported to me that, because of the charging regime and what they can and cannot charge for, every Saturday morning she ends up doing many hours of work on education, health and care plans, for which she cannot pass on the cost. D…
Commons
Debate
2 September 2025
Solar Development: Newark
It is a pleasure to come in on the side of David versus Goliath. Is my right hon. Friend aware that the 10,000 acres being proposed in his constituency could be replaced by 5,000 acres of floating solar on the reservoirs of this country? In my constituency, I have 2,000 acres of raised reservoirs. T…
Commons
Oral Questions
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
2 September 2025
Topical Questions
T9. It has been more than a fortnight since the Alaska summit, and the deadline set by President Trump at that time has now passed. What diplomatic efforts are the Government making to maintain US focus on the Ukrainian theatre of operations in the face of Russian intransigence?
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 September 2025
Borders and Asylum
The Stanwell hotel in my constituency is being used to house asylum seekers. I wrote to Home Office Ministers on 24 July, again on 25 July, and again on 29 July, and I have had zero responses to any of those letters. Please will the Home Secretary show some respect to my constituents and the people …
Commons
Oral Questions
22 July 2025
Topical Questions
Spelthorne residents Emma and John lost Holly to cancer in October last year. They set up the charity Holly’s Heroes in her name. Before she died, Holly was given a wheelchair by the NHS, and Emma and John cannot now give it back to the NHS for love nor money. I have raised this with the chief execu…
Commons
Oral Questions
21 July 2025
2 contributions
Children with SEND
13. What steps she is taking to support children with SEND who do not have an education, health and care plan.
I thank the Minister for that answer. On Friday, I had the opportunity to visit the outstanding Springfield primary school in my constituency. It has 500 pupils, 30 of whom have education, health and care plans, with six applications in currently. Can the Minister reassure the parents of those six c…
Commons
Proceedings
17 July 2025
Business of the House
The Leader of the House mentioned the statement by the Secretary of State for Defence about the super-injunction. The Defence Committee will undoubtedly embark on an inquiry, but before we do, can the Leader of the House state very clearly the Government’s position? Is it ever right to use a super-i…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
16 July 2025
2 contributions
Engagements
Q11. I can see why you call these sessions Prime Minister’s questions and not Prime Minister’s answers, Mr Speaker.
Thank you, Mr Speaker. Following the magnificent success of the England cricket team earlier this week and the triumphal return of Mr Jofra Archer, does the Prime Minister agree that what he needs from his Ministers over the next 12 months is more pace and less spin?
Commons
Ministerial Statement
15 July 2025
Afghanistan
I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement and the tone of voice with which he delivered it. I commanded the Scots Guards in 2010 in Afghanistan, at the high watermark of violence. I was very well served by Naz and Mukhtar, and I will always be grateful both to the Ministry of Defence for getting …
Commons
Oral Questions
15 July 2025
Topical Questions
We have been using floating solar technology in this country since 2016. Last month, the French started the largest plant in Europe, producing 74.3 MW. The Chinese have single plants that produce 350 MW. Given the scale of its use across the world, bar Britain, why did the Secretary of State refer t…
Commons
Westminster Hall
14 July 2025
3 contributions
Northern Ireland Veterans: Prosecution
Will the hon. Lady give way?
The hon. Member is giving a powerful speech. Will he put on record whether he thinks that any of the 500 veterans who he has met are naive?
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
8 July 2025
Football Governance Bill [Lords]
We had a long discussion in Committee about assessing how much this regulator was going to cost and how big it was going to be, but all the amendments we put forward were voted down. When will the Minister know that this thing has grown too big and costs too much?
Commons
Debate
8 July 2025
Government Resilience Action Plan
The first line of defence in national resilience is us, the citizenry. The Health Secretary and the Education Secretary wrote recently lamenting the absence of much-needed grit among many of our young people. Now that that risk has been identified at the highest level of Government, does it appear o…
Commons
Debate
7 July 2025
3 contributions
Pension Schemes Bill
The way in which the Minister is talking about insurance buy-out suggests that, in the Government’s mind, insurance buy-out is still in some way a gold standard. Can he reassure the House that he is seeking to flatten the playing field, such that the increased choice available to defined-benefit pen…
I was just googling “dirigiste” and my right hon. Friend’s everyman quote. Will he comment on the fact that OMERS, which he would probably agree is one of these megafunds that he thinks are slow and unwieldy and invest in infrastructure and illiquids, returned a 7.1% net return over the last 10 year…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
7 July 2025
Government Performance against Fiscal Rules
Before the general election, the Chancellor said that this would be the most pro-business Government ever. She spoke recently at The Times CEO summit. Before she was introduced to the CEOs, the host asked how many of them thought that this Government are still pro-business, and not a single hand wen…
Commons
Oral Questions
7 July 2025
Topical Questions
The Mercure hotel in Stanwell in my constituency is used to house asylum seekers, and I have had multiple reports of asylum seekers there working illegally. Will the Department please put that on immigration enforcement’s radar, so that it can take the appropriate action?