Commons
Westminster Hall
14 January 2026
Horse and Rider Road Safety
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Dowd.
I want to share with hon. Members and the Minister the case of Susi Rogers-Hartley from Wiggenhall St Mary in my South West Norfolk constituency. Susi is an accomplished lady: she is a horse rider, military veteran and GB Paralympic athlete.…
Commons
Debate
7 January 2026
3 contributions
Rural Communities
I may be biased, but I believe Norfolk is a beautiful place to grow up and grow old in. It is the place where I was born and raised, and it is where I call home. Like so many rural communities, it is a place that values co-operation, community and compassion, but for so many years those values were …
I completely agree with my hon. Friend. That is telling—no wonder the Tories do not want to speak about their record on public services and the NHS. I can point them to the first league table for hospitals, which was published last year. My local hospital, the Queen Elizabeth in King’s Lynn, was at …
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
5 January 2026
Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief
This is very welcome news, and many farmers in my constituency will be delighted. May I acknowledge the Minister’s engagement on this subject and the many conversations he has had with myself and other Labour party representatives from rural communities? I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member fo…
Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
5 January 2026
2 contributions
Rural Crime
18. What recent steps her Department has taken to help tackle rural crime.
Waste crime—an increasing concern in rural areas—often has links to serious and organised crime. Just last week, the Eastern Daily Press revealed that although there were nearly 1,300 reports of waste crime in Norfolk in a five-year period, just two people have been convicted for such offences in th…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
16 December 2025
Planning Reform
I particularly welcome the comments about social and affordable homes in rural communities, and the commitments around swift bricks and chalk streams. In many areas, including in my county of Norfolk, the environment so often is the economy, whether that is through farming or tourism. Does the Minis…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
16 December 2025
Electoral Resilience
I welcome the statement and the leadership that the Secretary of State is showing on this issue. Our democracy is important and requires our active protection. Does he agree that as well as actions that the Government can take, there is far more that individual political parties, particularly Reform…
Commons
Proceedings
11 December 2025
US National Security Strategy
The United States is a long-standing and important ally. We very much recognise that in my constituency, where there are two large American military bases on the Norfolk-Suffolk border. I invite the Minister to recognise the significant contribution that thousands of American service personnel make …
Commons
Proceedings
2 December 2025
2 contributions
Budget Resolutions
In my maiden speech, I said that one third of all children in my constituency live in poverty. I reflect upon that often, and it causes me great concern. In among the fields, trees and pretty villages, poverty is a real issue. There are many reasons that poverty might exist, but not a single one of …
My hon. Friend is right that Government policies do not always fall equally across the country, and I absolutely welcome the idea of a rural strategy.
Importantly, if the changes to APR go ahead, they will fail to address one of the key issues, because after 1 April it will still be financially adv…
Commons
Westminster Hall
18 November 2025
2 contributions
Land Use Change: Food Security
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Murrison. I thank the right hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Wendy Morton) for securing this debate.
My constituency consists of many acres of high-quality farmland. I am proud to be a Labour MP representing such a vibrant rural community with …
I agree. That is the point my hon. Friend the Member for Cambridge (Daniel Zeichner) made earlier. That is a long overdue measure on a long list forgotten under the previous Government, but it is essential.
I am sure we will be reminded that, overall, only a very small proportion of solar is to tak…
Commons
Debate
13 November 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
The natural environment in my constituency is fantastic. It is of huge value to my constituents and it underpins Norfolk’s greatest economic driver, tourism, which is fundamental to rural areas like mine. I am especially proud that we have so many beautiful chalk streams and rivers, the most impress…
Commons
Oral Questions
13 November 2025
Farrowing Crates and Cages
So often, farmers are the best conservationists. Many want to do even more to support the environment and animal welfare, but profitability and sustainability are key. Will the Minister confirm whether the Department will consider financial support for farmers to move towards more sustainable and st…
Commons
Oral Questions
4 November 2025
Topical Questions
So often the farm is the very core of a rural economy. Could my hon. Friend confirm what assessment has been made about the impact of proposed changes to agricultural property relief on growth opportunities in rural areas and the viability of rural communities?
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
30 October 2025
2 contributions
Investment in Businesses
3. What steps he is taking to encourage investment in businesses.
A report by the Rural Coalition highlights that with the right policy framework, the rural economy could increase productivity, leading to an additional £19 billion a year. Will the Secretary of State outline what steps the Department is taking to help to support businesses in rural areas, such as m…
Commons
Westminster Hall
28 October 2025
World Stroke Day
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Ms Vaz. I thank the hon. Member for Twickenham (Munira Wilson).
As it is for a number of speakers today, this debate is deeply personal to me. My dad had a severe stroke with no warning in 2013. He was just 55 years old. He lived with the aftermath o…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
15 October 2025
Pride in Place
I am thrilled that my hometown of Thetford in rural South West Norfolk is to receive a share of this funding. Just last week I was at the board meeting where we made our first funding commitments to increase capacity and reopen a derelict medieval church in Thetford town centre as a community space.…
Commons
Westminster Hall
14 October 2025
COP30: Food System Transformation
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. This is an important and timely debate, coming on the back of one of the worst harvests on record in this country. We must discuss how the Government prioritise the transformation of food systems in this country and globally, as well as how…
Commons
Debate
2 September 2025
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
I refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I am in my 18th year as a member of Thetford town council and I serve as a director on the Charles Burrell Centre committee, a community benefit society in my hometown. I have served on the town council, the district counci…
Commons
Westminster Hall
16 July 2025
Blue Badge Eligibility
It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Sir Christopher. I thank the hon. Member for Maidstone and Malling (Helen Grant) for bringing forward this debate today. It is lovely to see cross-party working on such a serious issue.
I am not from Kent—I am from Norfolk—but from listening to the debate, …
Commons
Debate
9 July 2025
Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill
I was keen to speak in the debate, to share with hon. Members my own lived experiences of our current welfare system and to explain why I support a number of the amendments.
My dad worked hard from the day he left school, at age 15, right the way through to the age of 55. He was an engineer. He pai…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
19 June 2025
UK Infrastructure: 10-year Strategy
I warmly welcome this statement. After years of neglect, it is quite clear that our infrastructure has been creaking and that opportunities have been missed. That is particularly the case in the east of England, where the Government inherited a per head of population spend that is £1,000 less than t…
Commons
Proceedings
19 June 2025
Business of the House
The Health Secretary has rightly described Norfolk as
“the Sahara of dental deserts” —[ Official Report , 23 July 2024; Vol. 752, c. 506.]
I very much welcome the 700,000 extra dentistry appointments since Labour took office, as well as the money for supervised toothbrushing, but East Anglia is th…
Commons
Westminster Hall
18 June 2025
Businesses in Rural Areas
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Western. I thank my Norfolk colleague, the hon. Member for North Norfolk (Steff Aquarone), for securing the debate.
One of the real pleasures of being a Member of Parliament is visiting businesses across the constituency. That is something I aim…
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 June 2025
Disabled People in Poverty
There is a clear link between disability and poverty, particularly in rural communities such as mine, where poor public transport adds to difficulties accessing basic medical appointments and makes it either really difficult or really expensive.
I wanted to ask the Minister about the PIP process. I…
Commons
Westminster Hall
16 June 2025
2 contributions
Farmed Animals: Cages and Crates
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Mundell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Irene Campbell) for opening the debate on behalf of the Petitions Committee.
The debate has attracted a lot of interest in my South West Norfolk constituency, where we care…
I entirely agree. It is through the good work of organisations like the RSPCA that we can increase awareness of those improved standards.
As I have mentioned in this Chamber recently, and as was reported in The Guardian last week, through freedom of information requests I have found that industrial…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
12 June 2025
Spending Review: Health and Social Care
I warmly welcome the news that waiting lists are continuing to fall, not by chance, but because of the choices made by this Government. As the Minister will know, both the hospitals that serve my constituency have reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, and both have received funding, but as I visit…