Commons
Proceedings
11 March 2026
Points of Order
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. During Cabinet Office questions on 5 March, the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister informed me that the appointment of the new director general of the propriety and ethics team was made on an interim basis and in line with the rules. However, I have now …
Commons
Oral Questions
5 March 2026
Topical Questions
A few moments ago, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster indicated to me that the appointment of the head of the propriety and ethics team was done by an external recruitment process. Will he tell me how many other people were interviewed?
Commons
Oral Questions
5 March 2026
2 contributions
Peter Mandelson: Release of Information
19. What recent progress he has made on implementing the humble Address of 4 February 2026.
Can the Minister confirm whether the head of the Government’s propriety and ethics team was appointed without an external recruitment process or written ministerial sign-off, in an apparent breach of its own rules? If so, is this further proof of a lack of transparency and accountability, and of a f…
Commons
Westminster Hall
5 March 2026
4 contributions
Local Museums
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Lewell. What an inspiring tour we have had of museums up and down the nation. I am grateful to the hon. Member for Thurrock (Jen Craft) for securing the debate and inspiring speeches about so many opportunities. She mentioned everything from Zepp…
I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention. It is rare that we agree on anything, so she will be slightly disappointed now. There is a distinct difference between looking back at movements and discourse that happened in the past and what that museum was doing: promoting a political cause of the mome…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
4 March 2026
China: Foreign Interference Arrests
The name of the Labour Member of Parliament whose husband has been arrested is circulating widely via the media. I do not intend to name that Member of Parliament, but if the reports are true, that Member of Parliament sits on a Select Committee that would have sensitive, maybe even secret, informat…
Commons
Westminster Hall
4 March 2026
Healthcare in Rural Areas
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Huq. I am extraordinarily grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Bedfordshire (Blake Stephenson), who has campaigned tirelessly for a GP surgery in Wixams in his constituency. I was delighted to hear that his campaigning is beginning to be…
Commons
Oral Questions
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
3 March 2026
2 contributions
Jimmy Lai
7. What recent discussions she has had with her Chinese counterparts on the release of Jimmy Lai.
Jimmy Lai now faces a jail term described by Ministers as an effective life sentence. It is clear that his life sentence directly reflects this Government’s weak policy on China, so will the Minister tell us what clear steps she and the Prime Minister are taking, and—more importantly—what sanctions …
Commons
Debate
2 March 2026
Representation of the People Bill
Why, if the Secretary of State is allowing 16-year-olds to vote, is he not allowing them to stand for Parliament? If somebody can vote for the lawmaker, they can be a lawmaker. That is the logical incoherence in his argument.
Commons
Ministerial Statement
2 March 2026
Middle East
I associate myself with the Prime Minister’s comments about our service personnel in Bahrain and Akrotiri, which I had the pleasure of visiting in the summer. It is difficult to know where to start with the confusion and cognitive dissonance shown in the Prime Minister’s statement. He is against att…
Commons
Oral Questions
Scotland
25 February 2026
2 contributions
Energy Profits Levy: Gas Sector
4. What discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential impact of the energy profits levy on the oil and gas sector in Scotland.
It is clear that the Secretary of State is totally uninterested in the reality of what is happening in the industry because of the EPL. A thousand jobs a month are being lost as a direct result of the Government’s decision, all the while we are importing more at a higher cost with high emissions, jo…
Commons
Oral Questions
24 February 2026
2 contributions
Disabled Women: Maternity Care
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.
Seven months ago, the NHS 10-year plan promised a maternity taskforce. May I ask the Minister how many times it has met?
The fact that the taskforce has not even met, seven months later, tells us everything we need to know about how urgent and important the Government consider this issue. In Leeds, families are losing faith in the failing maternity services. The Secretary of State said that he takes the matter “extrem…
Commons
Oral Questions
10 February 2026
2 contributions
Energy Infrastructure Technology: Chinese Imports
17. What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of energy infrastructure-related technologies imported from China on security.
Given reports from Norway and Denmark that Chinese-manufactured electric buses contain remote kill switch technology, and that the recent UK-China engagement appears to have delivered an embassy for the Chinese and little more than a Labubu for the United Kingdom, how can the Minister be confident t…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
9 February 2026
Standards in Public Life
Let me go back to the process that the Prime Minister followed. He received information from the vetting and security services that Peter Mandelson might have had an ongoing relationship. He then questioned Peter Mandelson about that. Did he then test the answers that Peter Mandelson gave with the v…
Commons
Debate
4 February 2026
2 contributions
Lord Mandelson
Given that—rightly, I think—the hon. Gentleman would not have appointed Peter Mandelson ambassador to the United States of America, does he think that the Prime Minister made the right decision, and will he ever again have confidence that the Prime Minister can make the right decision on any other n…
I thank the hon. Member for the tone of his speech. I agree with him about the need to use moderate language and be representatives of our constituents, but in addition to that, we are elected to this place—I would hope—because of our judgment and the trust of our electorate. Whatever the outcome of…
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 February 2026
8 contributions
Taxation: Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the impact of taxation on small and medium-sized enterprises.
It is a pleasure as always to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd, and I am grateful to colleagues for attending this debate. Small and medium sized-enterprises are the backbone of our ec…
I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. Like him, I have held roundtables with hospitality businesses, which are saying the same thing as others: they want to see a cut in business rates. The Conservative pledge to entirely scrap business rates for businesses with bills under £110,000 is the right ste…
+6 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
2 February 2026
China and Japan
The Prime Minister mentioned his previous meeting with the Chinese President at the G20 in Brazil. One day later, 45 pro-democracy Hongkongers were sentenced. Uyghurs, Falun Gong, Tibetans, unregistered religious groups, human rights lawyers, pro-democracy campaigners, Hongkongers in this country an…
Commons
Westminster Hall
28 January 2026
3 contributions
Firearms Licence Holders: Mandatory Medical Markers
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms McVey.
I usually respond to matters related to the Department of Health and Social Care, but it is a pleasure to be here to debate a more rural point. I represent Farnham and Bordon, which is a semi-rural seat. It will be no surprise to hon. Mem…
My hon. Friend is entirely right. It seems to me that this is a knee-jerk reaction from the Government, without them understanding the logistics or the mechanics of the difference between the long-range rifles and shotguns used by our rural communities— [ Interruption. ] And, as my hon. Friend says …
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
26 January 2026
Police Reform White Paper
The Home Secretary quoted Sir Robert Peel at the top of her speech, saying that he was “speaking at this very Dispatch Box”. She clearly has not realised that those Dispatch Boxes were donated by New Zealand after the second world war. Even if she was talking more figuratively, this whole Chamber wa…
Commons
Debate
22 January 2026
3 contributions
Local Government Finances: Surrey
I thank my hon. Friend for his impassioned and powerful speech on this matter, with which I wholeheartedly agree. I think he is being somewhat polite in the way he describes what this unitary authority is going to be. Essentially, if it is saddled with the debt from Woking and a number of other boro…
From what the Minister says, it sounds as if she accepts that the remaining debt is still unsustainable to be dealt with at a local level. Is she teasing us with a future announcement of further moneys, or is it more of a general ambition?
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Cabinet Office
22 January 2026
Topical Questions
T7. Last week, the Government briefing suggested that the security services were “relaxed” about the proposed Chinese mega-embassy, yet this week, we have learned that MI5 has been asked to reroute sensitive financial cables because of it. Will the Minister for Security explain how both those statem…
Commons
Westminster Hall
20 January 2026
Domestic Abuse-related Deaths: NHS Prevention
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir John. I congratulate the hon. Member for Stroud (Dr Opher) on securing this important debate and his characteristically well-informed speech. His passion and knowledge as a GP bring a real benefit to this Chamber. I also congratulate the hon. Me…
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
19 January 2026
2 contributions
SEND Funding Shortfall
10. What plans her Department has to tackle the special educational needs and disabilities funding shortfall identified in the Office for Budget Responsibility’s “Economic and fiscal outlook” of November 2025.
In Surrey, the high needs block deficit is forecast to rise to £165 million by 2027. Although Conservative-run Surrey county council has earmarked £144 million in reserves to ease that pressure, that cannot be a long-term solution. Can the Minister confirm whether and when Surrey’s safety valve agre…
Commons
Oral Questions
13 January 2026
Puberty Suppressants
Part of the trial is to ask the child participants the Avon longitudinal study of parents and carers romantic relationships questionnaire. Is the Minister as concerned as I am that children under the age of 13 will be asked sexually explicit questions?
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 December 2025
Housing Development: Cumulative Impacts
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. I am grateful to my right hon. Friend the Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds), my constituency neighbour, for securing this debate.
Housing and planning are among the issues I hear about most from my constituents across Farnham, Bord…