Commons
Debate
16 September 2025
Ambassador to the United States
I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for giving way and for the case that he is making. I wonder whether, while he is dealing with the influence of Russian oligarchs in British politics, he will opine on the suitability of British political parties accepting donations from Russians, and the imp…
Commons
Proceedings
16 September 2025
Points of Order
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Last week, the House debated the incursion into Polish airspace by Russian drones, and there was clear cross-party unity on the need for the UK robustly to support our NATO allies. It is therefore deeply disappointing that the Secretary of State for Defence chose to …
Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
15 September 2025
Antisocial Behaviour
Residents of Long Hanborough in my constituency have described to me a summer of misery characterised by antisocial behaviour in the local playing field. I understand that the local rural policing constabulary does not have sufficient vehicles for all its officers to be out at any one time. Is the M…
Commons
Proceedings
10 September 2025
2 contributions
Qatar: Israeli Strike
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs to make a statement on the implications of Israel’s strike in Qatar for peace and stability in the middle east and for UK foreign policy.
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for granting my application for an urgent question. I am grateful to the Minister for his statement.
Last night’s Israeli strikes against Hamas officials in Qatar heralded a new and grave escalation in this terrible conflict. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s willingness to strike D…
Commons
Debate
9 September 2025
5 contributions
Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
I thank the Minister for his statement and congratulate him on his new appointment. On 3 November 2022, the right hon. Member for Braintree (Sir James Cleverly), as Conservative Foreign Secretary, stated that
“the UK and Mauritius have decided to begin negotiations on the exercise of sovereignty ov…
Will the right hon. Lady take an intervention?
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Women and Equalities
3 September 2025
2 contributions
Domestic Abuse Aggravated Offences
1. What recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Justice on the potential merits of creating new domestic abuse aggravated offences.
I am sickened by the frequency with which I hear from victims and survivors of domestic abuse about the ways in which the criminal justice system has aggravated their trauma. One constituent recently told me that she was living in fear after her abuser was released early and the Probation Service fa…
Commons
Oral Questions
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
2 September 2025
Topical Questions
The Business Secretary is due to travel to China next week to restart trade talks. His trip will fall 50 days after Beijing announced its latest round of extraterritorial bounties, targeting 19 pro-democracy Hongkongers, including several more UK-based activists. In an earlier answer, the Minister l…
Commons
Oral Questions
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
2 September 2025
Gaza: Humanitarian Aid
One hundred and sixty-eight days ago, the Foreign Secretary described the Netanyahu Government’s aid blockade of Gaza as a “breach of international law”, before correcting himself to describe it as only risking a breach. Yesterday, the Foreign Secretary told the House that Gaza faces a “man-made fam…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 September 2025
Middle East
I thank the Foreign Secretary for advance sight of his statement. I welcome the robust approach of the E3 in initiating the snapback mechanism in response to Iran’s nuclear ambitions and programme, which are in breach of its undertakings.
The Foreign Secretary’s statement on 21 July shocked this Ho…
Commons
Oral Questions
22 July 2025
Health Inequalities
Does the Secretary of State agree that public health is at the heart of addressing the long list of inequalities he has just highlighted? I am deeply concerned that a major reorganisation of local government and the cutting of budgets to the integrated care board will undermine the co-ordination tha…
Commons
Debate
21 July 2025
Extending the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for securing this debate, and for his excellent remarks. I am aware of two cases in my constituency in which, as he says, constituents have only been allowed to apply 28 days before the deadline for extension, yet UK Visas and Immigration gives itself a standard servi…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
21 July 2025
Middle East
I thank the Foreign Secretary for advance sight of his statement. I welcome his commitment to a diplomatic resolution in Syria, and to holding the Governments of Syria and Israel accountable for protecting all civilians, especially minorities.
The Foreign Secretary is right to say that the situatio…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
21 July 2025
Independent Water Commission
I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the register as I am an office holder on the all-party parliamentary water group. Last year, at the first Prime Minister’s questions of the Session, I drew the Prime Minister’s attention to the fact that Thames Water had pumped sewage into the River Evenlo…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
15 July 2025
Afghanistan
I thank the Secretary of State for his statement. He said: “When this nation makes a promise, we should keep it.” I agree. In the chaos of withdrawal, my constituent who left under ARAP was made a promise by British officials that his pregnant wife could follow him. Two years later, we have still no…
Commons
Oral Questions
15 July 2025
2 contributions
Electricity Grid Capacity
5. What steps he is taking to increase electricity grid capacity.
In my constituency of Bicester and Woodstock, the local plan anticipates significant new employment sites to create jobs and growth. Tritax Big Box tells me that it wants to put solar panels on 100% of usable roof areas on the buildings that it intends to create. Local planning policies would suppor…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
14 July 2025
State of Climate and Nature
The impact of climate change is being felt today in my constituency. At Pegtop farm, there is a race to bring in the harvest after such a dry, hot spring, and yields are expected to be less than half of what they would normally be. On 23 and 24 September last year, we had extensive surface flooding,…
Commons
Oral Questions
Housing, Communities and Local Government
14 July 2025
Homelessness Prevention
Homelessness is a huge issue in my constituency, where housing costs are among the highest in the country and people cannot find social and affordable housing. The business rates reset proposed under the fair funding review would potentially lead to a 42% decrease in the net resources available to t…
Commons
Proceedings
10 July 2025
2 contributions
UK-France Nuclear Partnership
The Liberal Democrats have consistently said that the UK’s security depends on deeper defence co-operation with our European allies, so we welcome progress but urge the Government to go further. Nuclear co-ordination between the UK and France can help to deter Putin and support Europe’s collective s…
The coalition of the willing.
Commons
Debate
9 July 2025
Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill
The hon. Member is making a powerful and compassionate speech. I recently knocked on the door of one of my constituents who suffers from fibromyalgia, and it happened to be the day that she received a letter telling her that she was expected to up her working hours by six hours following an assessme…
Commons
Proceedings
2 July 2025
British Indian Ocean Territory: Sovereignty
The shambolic process of securing this deal has left many questions for the House, but the glaring omission at the heart of that negotiation has been the failure by successive Governments to properly consult the Chagossian people. For much of their history, Chagossians have been denied consultation …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
30 June 2025
Welfare Reform
I recently met a support group in my constituency of those who suffer from ME, chronic fatigue syndrome or long covid. Their description of the devastating impact of those variable conditions was very affecting. If one of those people were to have an improvement in their condition, meaning that they…
Commons
Debate
24 June 2025
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
I welcome the opportunity to contribute on the important matter of how we spend money on local government, given the huge range of services it provides to each of our constituencies. The residents of Bicester and Woodstock share the pressures that many areas face when it comes to housing and homeles…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
24 June 2025
China Audit
I thank the Foreign Secretary for advance sight of his statement. For years, UK Governments have failed to take seriously the challenge posed by China. The Conservatives failed to deliver even the semblance of a coherent approach to dealing with Beijing. Today, after months of waiting for this audit…
Commons
Oral Questions
24 June 2025
Frozen Russian Assets
Over the weekend, while the world’s attention was fixed on the escalating conflict in the middle east, President Putin restated publicly his desire to conquer the whole of Ukraine and his readiness to use nuclear weapons against Kyiv. I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s assurance that he is maintainin…
Commons
Oral Questions
24 June 2025
Gaza: Humanitarian Situation
On Thursday, I received a message from Mohammed, an NHS doctor with family in Gaza. He wrote:
“My 16-year-old nephew was missing for five days after heading out to retrieve humanitarian aid at a location announced by Israeli forces. We found him dead yesterday; his body mutilated, eaten by stray do…