Commons
Oral Questions
Cabinet Office
10 September 2026
2 contributions
Job Support: Public Procurement
14. What recent steps she has taken to use public procurement to support jobs.
Procurement matters because, done well, it supports local jobs in Gloucester and in communities like mine. Together Gloucestershire is a local organisation that is an excellent example of how procurement can be done differently. It works with local businesses and the public sector to showcase the ta…
Commons
Debate
10 September 2026
Social Housing Bill [Lords]
While we are talking about statistics, between April 2012 and March 2024 there were over 124,000 right-to-buy sales and fewer than 48,000 homes built to replace them. Which party was in charge during that period? [Interruption.]
Commons
Oral Questions
Treasury
8 September 2026
2 contributions
Regional Funding
5. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to regional funding arrangements on the economies of local communities which either are not part of a combined authority or do not have a metro mayor.
I thank the Minister for her answer. I fully support the Government’s exciting agenda of devolution, which takes power out of Whitehall and puts it into the hands of residents and communities like mine. However, my constituency of Gloucester does not have a metro mayor, and we are not part of a comb…
Commons
Oral Questions
Housing, Communities and Local Government
7 September 2026
Urban Housing: Densification
The gate streets in Gloucester city centre are in urgent need of regeneration. Does the Minister agree that one way to breathe more life into our city centre is to convert the empty upper floors of shops into good-quality housing? What steps are the Government taking to unlock those opportunities?
Commons
Ministerial Statement
7 September 2026
Local Government Reorganisation
Most Gloucester residents are not interested in the detail of who is running what services. What is important to them is: will their services improve, will we feel the benefits of devolution, and will we reverse the years of cuts under the previous Government? Can the Secretary of State confirm that…
Commons
Oral Questions
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
16 June 2026
2 contributions
West Bank: Settler Activity
19. What diplomatic steps her Department is taking in response to settler activity in the west bank.
Last week I signed a letter to the Foreign Secretary, along with 140 colleagues, asking the Government to take further action in response to settler violence and the rhetoric used by two far-right Israeli Government Ministers. Over the last two years, I have heard from hundreds of my constituents ex…
Commons
Oral Questions
Energy Security and Net Zero
2 June 2026
Topical Questions
The River Severn holds incredible potential for tidal energy, with the Severn Estuary Commission finding that it has the potential to generate up to 7% of the UK’s electricity. Will my right hon. Friend meet me to discuss how the Government plan to take that forward, and how we can ensure that some …
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
1 June 2026
2 contributions
Defence Procurement: SMEs
11. What steps he is taking to ensure that defence procurement supports SMEs.
May I associate myself with the remarks of the Secretary of State about Romania? Last week I visited Romania through the armed forces parliamentary scheme, and met armed forces personnel who are part of the NATO air policing mission. The Russian drone incident showed how important that mission is, a…
Commons
Oral Questions
Justice
19 May 2026
Topical Questions
T2. Last Friday I met a constituent whose child was fatally stabbed five years ago. As a parent myself, I cannot begin to imagine what the family have gone through and the trauma they have faced since. Concerningly, the killer of that child has repeatedly accessed social media while in prison to cru…
Commons
Committee Stage
14 April 2026
7 contributions
Courts and Tribunals Bill (Fourth sitting)
This morning, we heard a passionate and important contribution from my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Erdington about monitoring the proposals’ impact on minority communities. She has tabled an amendment so that we can discuss that question, and I look forward to debating it. Although I under…
I want to correct the record. This morning, I understood the Conservative party position to be that we are not allowed to call them victims at that point.
+5 more contributions in this session
Commons
Committee Stage
14 April 2026
2 contributions
Courts and Tribunals Bill (Third sitting)
The shadow Minister is making an articulate argument about how the criminal justice system might deal differently with different types of offenders, but would he not agree that someone’s background should not determine their guilt? They have either done it or they have not. Actually, someone’s good …
While we are on the subject of British values, is the Green party in Westminster’s position that criminals should go to jail? A Green party candidate in Scotland has said that they should close all the prisons in Scotland. Can she clarify the Green party’s position on that for the Committee?
Commons
Debate
13 April 2026
SEND Provision and Reform
For too long, parents and carers in Gloucester have had to fight a broken system that was not delivering the best chance in life for their children. This Government inherited a SEND system that did not include parents and carers in the conversation, did not value their children and had led to a comp…
Commons
Proceedings
18 March 2026
2 contributions
Student Loans
My hon. Friend is making an excellent point about how, when the Opposition say they are going to cut funding for certain courses, they really mean that those courses will be available for wealthier students who can afford to pay for them without a Government subsidy. Does he agree that that will lea…
Labour Members have asked Conservative Members repeatedly if they can name a course or an institution that they would cut. The hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Dr Spencer) had to make up a course in David Beckham studies—as far as I understand, that never existed—to make the point. Does the …
Commons
Proceedings
18 March 2026
6 contributions
Student Loans
The hon. Gentleman is making a very important point. The Conservatives talk about cutting public funding for courses such as creative arts, but that will not stop the wealthiest students from accessing those courses. Does he agree with me that all that will happen is that people from more deprived p…
It was not in the manifesto.
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
18 March 2026
2 contributions
Domestic Abuse Survivors: Government Support
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his support for my Domestic Abuse (Safe Leave) Bill, which he has backed from the start. He is making a very powerful point about the role that businesses can play in supporting victims and survivors of domestic abuse, who are the reason why we are all here and who we …
Before she moves on from the subject of housing, does the Minister agree that the partnership between Women’s Aid, Airbnb and the Mayor of London is a really exciting pilot project for those people for whom refuges might not be the right place?
Commons
Westminster Hall
18 March 2026
Royal Mail: Performance
The service provided by Royal Mail in my constituency is simply not good enough. Hundreds of residents have written to me over the past year with shocking, but unfortunately almost identical, stories. In the worst-affected areas of Abbeymead and Abbeydale, most residents I speak to do not get post f…
Commons
Debate
17 March 2026
Youth Unemployment
I must admit that I am a little disappointed by those on the shadow Front Bench, who are sneering and suggesting that plunging 3,000 Gloucester children back into poverty will somehow solve long-standing issues with youth unemployment. That is not backed up by the facts, and, quite frankly, it comes…
Commons
Oral Questions
17 March 2026
Jury Trials
Under the previous Conservative Government, criminal justice funding was cut by 23%, we lost 42% of our magistrates, half of our magistrates courts were closed and the number of sitting days in our Crown courts went down. That is the record of the Conservative Government. The only thing that went up…
Commons
Debate
16 March 2026
Lord Mandelson: Response to Humble Address
Gloucester residents rightly expect that nobody be above the law, so will the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister update the House on what steps the Department is taking to ensure that the Metropolitan police have all the support they need for their investigation?
Commons
Oral Questions
11 March 2026
Royal Mail: Universal Service Obligation
Gloucester residents have been let down by Royal Mail for years; it is prioritising parcels over post and profits over our posties. I have a visit to Gloucester North delivery office on Friday, and I was shocked to find out from the frontlines that it is offering overtime to clear the backlog before…
Commons
Debate
10 March 2026
Courts and Tribunals Bill
Has the shadow Minister seen today’s statement from the Institute for Government, which has backed the Government’s modelling and overturned its previous position? He might want to reflect that in his comments.
Commons
Oral Questions
Work and Pensions
9 March 2026
2 contributions
Support for NEET Young People
25. What steps he is taking to support young people into employment, education or training.
Gloucestershire Gateway Trust does vital work in my constituency, helping those not in employment, education or training back into work. It runs the Bridging the Gap programme, which provides an employability skills course and a guaranteed interview at the country’s best motorway services, Glouceste…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
9 February 2026
Standards in Public Life
I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement. My biggest concern, and the biggest concern of my constituents, is that the impact of behaviour like Peter Mandelson’s undermines trust in our politics and our democracy. Quite frankly, all parties in this House have had scandals related to someone in …
Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
9 February 2026
2 contributions
Violence against Women and Girls Strategy
11. What recent progress her Department has made on implementing the violence against women and girls strategy.
I recently met a survivor of domestic abuse and stalking who has repeatedly moved home and then been followed by her perpetrator. She told me of the impact, not just on her but on her son, who has repeatedly had to move schools through no fault of his own. After the last move, her perpetrator was pe…
Commons
Debate
2 February 2026
US Department of Justice Release of Files
I thank the Chief Secretary for his statement. Gloucester residents will rightly be angry and incredibly disgusted by the revelations in the papers released by the American Government over the weekend. It is in the interests of the whole House that we get this place in order so that those who commit…