Commons
Westminster Hall
14 July 2026
Coastal Communities: Isolation and Hidden Deprivation
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Alec. Time and again, everybody in this debate has come back to the word “community”, and I believe that coastal communities do it like nobody else. Although my Chichester constituency is affluent, that affluence often means that funding does not m…
Commons
Proceedings
8 July 2026
Maritime and Coastguard Agency
The CROs I have spoken to in Selsey in my constituency do their job out of a real sense of duty. Many of them have done it for many years. It is not actually at all about the remuneration, but the reality is that some of them will have to take on additional paid work if they lose the very small amou…
Commons
Statutory Instrument
7 July 2026
Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (Temporary Class Drug) Order 2026
To follow on from the point made by the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Stockton West, the ACMD recommends that orphines should be classed as class A, whereas under a temporary class drug order, they can be placed only within class B boundaries. My understanding is that the Minister has accepte…
Commons
Oral Questions
Justice
30 June 2026
Topical Questions
The Guardian reported last week on the case of a US air force officer accused of drugging, strangling and raping a British woman in his apartment. Although the incident took place off duty, off base and on English soil, the case was removed from the jurisdiction of the English courts and was instead…
Commons
Oral Questions
Justice
30 June 2026
Court Transcripts
Charlotte Meijer will never have access to her transcript, because her case was heard in a magistrates court where no recording was made. The Government are seeking to address that, but Charlotte has continued to campaign for all victims of crime so that they can gain access to free transcripts, giv…
Commons
Proceedings
29 June 2026
Prisoner Early Release
I pay tribute to the victims and survivors of some of the most appalling, heinous crimes for their bravery in speaking out about the fear they have felt after receiving letters from the Ministry of Justice informing them that their perpetrators might be let out early. I understand that the purpose o…
Commons
Debate
29 June 2026
Home Office and Ministry of Justice
The hon. Gentleman is making an excellent point about the ability of prison governors to spend money. I was speaking to a prison governor recently, who said that because of the amount he is allowed to spend, when the washing machine breaks, he cannot purchase a commercial one. He keeps buying ones f…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
25 June 2026
Draft Conversion Practices Bill
The Liberal Democrats welcome the draft Bill, because conversion therapy is not a thing of the past. One in six LGBTQ+ young people today have been offered it in an attempt to cure them. The Minister referred to the Galop report. That is an important piece of reading, and I recommend that all Member…
Commons
Debate
25 June 2026
Windrush Day
I thank the hon. Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes) for bringing forward this important debate, as I know she does every year on behalf of her constituents. I also thank her for setting the scene so beautifully as we celebrate Windrush Day.
It is a pleasure to speak today to celebrat…
Commons
Westminster Hall
16 June 2026
3 contributions
Access to Dental Services: West Sussex
I beg to move,
That this House has considered access to dental services in West Sussex.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond, to have secured this debate—on Sussex Day, no less; I am confident that the Minister will have some excellent responses on behalf of all constitue…
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his passionate advocacy for NHS dentistry in West Sussex. I am grateful to him for caring about access to NHS dentistry across the whole country. He is a fierce advocate for Strangford and makes the important point that the situation we are in is a damning indictment o…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
10 June 2026
2 contributions
Local Government Reform
The hon. Gentleman is making an excellent argument for councils to be more accountable to local residents by being closer. The Government responded to Sussex’s proposals by redrawing the red lines they had originally set and putting forward a third proposal. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that that j…
The hon. Gentleman makes an excellent point about local government finances. My constituency currently sits in two different district councils. The Government’s proposals would mean that my residents in Pagham and Bersted will end up in a coastal authority that will be bankrupt on day one; the rest …
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 June 2026
Water Safety
The story the hon. Gentleman tells of his constituent echoes that of mine. In 2023, Ryan went into the sea with his friend, and they both got caught in a riptide. Ryan’s friend knew what to do in that situation—he knew to float—but Ryan did not. He was not discovered until four days later. His mum, …
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 June 2026
Sir David Attenborough: Permanent National Monument
For most people, illicit finance is most prevalent on our high streets, when they see illegal vape shops or barbershops that do not have any trade but seem to be doing quite well. Does my hon. Friend agree that illicit finance is not necessarily always in big mansions, and can often feel very close …
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 June 2026
Summit on Illicit Finance
For most people, illicit finance is most prevalent on our high streets, when they see illegal vape shops or barbershops that do not have any trade but seem to be doing quite well. Does my hon. Friend agree that illicit finance is not necessarily always in big mansions, and can often feel very close …
Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
8 June 2026
Antisocial Behaviour
In my constituency and across the country we have seen a troubling rise in violence towards wildlife, often with the use of catapults. Wildlife crime is not an isolated incident; it is usually related to something else. Studies have shown that seven out of 10 victims of domestic violence who owned p…
Commons
Proceedings
8 June 2026
Water Companies
I refer members to my registered interest as chair of the all-party parliamentary group for infant feeding and inequalities. With water scarcity prevalent across the south-east and poor management of water companies leading to outages across the south, will the Minister consult with her colleagues i…
Commons
Oral Questions
Justice
19 May 2026
Jury Trial Proposals
I come with good news: with increased funding from the Government, uncapped sitting days and improved disposal rates, backlogs in the Crown courts are falling. At the Old Bailey in 2025, the backlog fell by a quarter, in Chelmsford it fell by 10%, and Maidstone saw a 5% reduction. The truth is that …
Commons
Oral Questions
Justice
19 May 2026
Reoffending
The Government are talking a good game on reducing the cycle of reoffending, but meaningful prison education plays a key role in that objective. Recent analysis has found a significant decrease in the core education hours in public sector prisons. That has been seen most acutely in female prisons, w…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
18 May 2026
Youth Justice
The Government’s White Paper represents a truly critical opportunity to transform the youth justice system and, importantly, reduce lifetime offending. We know that most offenders in our prisons today are repeat offenders and that persistent offending often begins early in life, with eight in 10 pro…
Commons
Oral Questions
28 April 2026
2 contributions
Conflict in the Middle East: Cost of Living
17. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the conflict in the middle east on energy costs.
In my constituency, the owner of a haulage business—a vital industry that keeps our economy moving—has reported a 40% increase in the cost of diesel. It is at risk of going bust, while companies like BP are reporting record profits. Given that the impact of the conflict will be felt up to eight mont…
Commons
Debate
27 April 2026
Public Office (Accountability) Bill (Carry-over)
First, I want to set out that the Liberal Democrats are supportive of the Hillsborough law. We have only ever sought to strengthen the legislation, not to undermine it, and we will be supporting the carry-over motion this evening. But it is frustrating for everyone involved that we have reached this…
Commons
Oral Questions
23 April 2026
Business of the House
I had the opportunity to test out my hand-eye co-ordination recently by joining Chichester Centurions hockey club. We have a thriving hockey community in Chichester, and Chichester hockey club has more than 650 members. They are at risk, however, of losing their pitch provision because the pitches a…
Commons
Debate
22 April 2026
2 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
The shadow Minister is absolutely right. The inboxes of all Members across the House have been filled by parents who feel passionately that they need help to be able to control their children’s use of things online. They need the Government to step in and say, “You are actually not allowed those app…
Chichester high school in my constituency has introduced Yondr pouches—I imagine there are many similar pouches. Children can take their phones to school, but then they have to put them in those lockable pouches. They do not have access to them throughout the day, and they can unlock the pouches whe…
Commons
Debate
20 April 2026
2 contributions
Victims and Courts Bill
I begin by thanking Members from across both Chambers for their work in getting this legislation to where it is today. I especially thank the Government for their engagement with me and my colleagues in the Lords, in particular the Minister, who I have met multiple times to discuss various issues in…
I am pleased to hear that the Minister will be attending because I know that the organisers were keen to engage with her so that they can continue to see progress.
I turn now to Lords amendments 5B, 5C, 5D, 5E, 5F, 6B and 6C, all of which impact the unduly lenient scheme. Again, I thank Baroness Br…
Commons
Westminster Hall
20 April 2026
2 contributions
Maternity Commissioner
The hon. and learned Gentleman is making an important point about the disparity in the guidance. If there is someone at the top of an NHS trust who is passionate about maternity care, that is more likely to trickle down, but that is not the same in every trust, and therefore we can end up with a pos…
The hon. Member is making a powerful speech, and she is absolutely right. We had the Bill Kirkup review, which made multiple recommendations; across all parties, the House said, “Now we need to implement those recommendations,” but that never happened. Then we had the Donna Ockenden review, which co…