Commons
Oral Questions
16 December 2025
Topical Questions
T2. The Justice Secretary’s plan to slash jury trials without any guarantee that the backlog of cases will fall has not survived first contact with Labour Back Benchers. The backlash has forced No. 10 to reassure Labour Members that legislation will not be introduced until October next year, but the…
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
15 December 2025
2 contributions
Defence Investment Plan
19. What discussions he has had with service chiefs on the proposed level of spending in the forthcoming defence investment plan.
When Labour published the strategic defence review, the independent authors wrote in The Telegraph that the commitment to spending 3% of GDP on defence was “vital” to establishing the affordability of that review. Now the Government’s own service chiefs are voicing their concern over funding. Is the…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
10 December 2025
Resident Doctors: Industrial Action
These strikes will have a massive effect on my constituents in Farnham and Bordon. I am already getting emails from constituents who are concerned about the fact that their operations will be cancelled. The BMA is being entirely irrational and it holds the lion’s share of the blame for this situatio…
Commons
Westminster Hall
8 December 2025
2 contributions
Digital ID
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Edward. I apologise for the fact that I may not be here for the wind-ups because of the business in the main Chamber.
I begin by restating my firm opposition to the introduction of mandatory digital ID. I opposed it in this Chamber only a month…
I am afraid I will not; sorry.
I want to raise a specific issue that was touched on by my hon. Friend the Member for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Moore), but that is often missed in this debate: the provisions in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill that would mandate the NHS number as a single…
Commons
Proceedings
4 December 2025
Local Elections
To describe this situation as a “dog’s dinner” is offensive to the makers of Pedigree Chum. The deferral of the elections in Hampshire will delay major strategic infrastructure planning, such as the Wrecclesham bypass in my constituency, and deprive the people of Hampshire of an excellent mayor in D…
Commons
Oral Questions
Cabinet Office
4 December 2025
2 contributions
Proposed Chinese Embassy
13. Whether the Prime Minister has had discussions with the Chinese Government on the proposed Chinese embassy.
On Tuesday, my hon. Friend the Member for West Suffolk (Nick Timothy) raised with the Foreign Secretary concerns expressed by the United States, Dutch, Swiss and Swedish Governments regarding the reported presence of data cables running beneath Royal Mint Court. I note that the Cabinet Office has si…
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 December 2025
Local Media
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for mentioning the Farnham Herald . The Tindle group also includes the Haslemere Herald , the Liphook Herald and the Bordon Herald . Does he agree that local papers keep politicians honest, weigh behind the key issues that matter to our local communities and deliver r…
Commons
Westminster Hall
1 December 2025
4 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
I thank the hon. Gentleman for outlining the Government’s supposed intention for the Bill, but is he aware that Amanda Spielman, the former Ofsted chief inspector, said that this Bill was “very likely” to have a detrimental effect on children’s education?
On the point about branded school uniforms, headteachers in my constituency have often bulk bought school uniforms through a supplier, so it can be more cost-effective to buy the uniform through the branded supplier than to buy it on the high street. Surely what the hon. Gentleman suggests could hav…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
25 November 2025
2 contributions
Palliative Care Strategy
13. If he will publish a national strategy for palliative care.
There has been cross-party and cross-charity campaigning for this strategy, so I welcome the fact that the Minister has announced it. However, hospices across the country and especially in my constituency are telling me that their biggest problem is the national insurance rise. For example, a childr…
Commons
Westminster Hall
20 November 2025
World COPD Day
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. I am grateful to the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) for securing this debate the day after World Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease day. He gave an excellent speech, although I think he was being characteristically modest whe…
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 November 2025
3 contributions
Parkinson’s Disease
I congratulate the hon. Member for Colne Valley (Paul Davies) on introducing this debate.
Every hour, two more people in the United Kingdom hear the life-changing words, “You have Parkinson’s.” As I have said before, for me, this is personal. A close family member was first diagnosed with Parkinson…
I have also been approached by BeechBand. I hope the Minister agrees that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the Government must ensure that where there are new, innovative technologies that could help sufferers of Parkinson’s or any other disease condition, they can get to …
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
12 November 2025
8 contributions
Taxes
On that point, will the hon. Gentleman give way?
To bring the hon. Member back to the controlling of spending, may I ask him a question that other Members on his side have failed to answer? Would he be in favour of keeping or scrapping the two-child benefit cap?
+6 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 November 2025
4 contributions
Alcohol Duty: UK Wine Sector
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the impact of alcohol duty on the UK wine sector.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. I am grateful to colleagues for attending this evening’s debate. A bit of background and heritage: the United Kingdom has long been a global…
My hon. Friend is absolutely correct, and he pre-empts something I was going to say later about the inconsistencies and unfairness in the current system. Small producer relief is capped at 8.5% ABV, and the Government should look at what they can do for the smaller producers that he mentions.
The T…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
4 November 2025
6 contributions
Supporting High Streets
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
I have listened to the hon. Member’s speech very carefully, but I think I missed him mentioning the £19.5 million of levelling-up funding that Weymouth got in 2023 under the last Conservative Government.
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
3 November 2025
Public Office (Accountability) Bill
As a six-year-old, I remember the death of Joe McCarthy, who lived on my road in west London, so it is not just about those who lived in Sheffield or elsewhere. It affected everyone across the country, and this Bill is so important for that reason.
Commons
Debate
28 October 2025
2 contributions
China Spying Case
Will the Minister give way?
I would urge the hon. Gentleman not to misquote the two right hon. Members that he has just quoted. Even if the quotes that he gave were whole and full—which they are not—the DPP has categorically said that it was not about policy; it was about whether China was an actual threat at the time. Is the …
Commons
Debate
28 October 2025
10 contributions
Stamp Duty Land Tax
Today the state of our economy is laid bare: growth has flatlined at just 0.1% in August; inflation remains at almost twice the Bank of England’s target; and long-term borrowing costs are at their highest since 1998. When we left office back in July 2024, we had the fastest growing economy in the G7…
I have literally only been speaking for 30 seconds, so I think the hon. Member can bear with me for a minute or two.
The Government’s inexperience shows in the policies that they pursue—policies that make it harder for businesses, homeowners and first-time buyers to thrive. Now, just weeks before t…
+8 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
27 October 2025
North Sea Oil and Gas Industry
Can the Minister explain to my constituents how banning new drilling for oil and gas while importing gas from other countries at a higher cost will bring their bills down by £300, and can he say when that will happen by?
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 October 2025
3 contributions
Mandatory Digital ID
My hon. Friend mentions digital exclusion. Some 28% of people over the age of 75 do not have a smartphone. How are they going to access digital ID?
I recently conducted a local survey after being contacted by hundreds of constituents about this digital ID issue. The results were clear. Over two thirds of respondents opposed the introduction of mandatory digital ID, with the majority of them being “strongly” against it. Over 80% of respondents s…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Proceedings
20 October 2025
Alleged Spying Case: Home Office Involvement
I am going to give the Minister a fifth chance to answer. Did the Home Secretary make representations when she discovered that the case was about to collapse—yes or no?
Commons
Ministerial Statement
15 October 2025
Pride in Place
The Minister described those receiving the money as “true patriots”, but in my constituency we have not received a single penny of this funding. Are my constituents not true patriots? There are plenty of places in the north of Farnham and potentially in Bordon that could really do with using this mo…
Commons
Oral Questions
Northern Ireland
15 October 2025
2 contributions
Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023: Replacement
10. What steps he is taking to replace the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023.
On 25 September, the Prime Minister assured the BBC that veterans would receive protections not afforded to paramilitaries, so can the Secretary of State confirm which of the statutory protections will apply solely to veterans? Or is it the case that they will also extend to paramilitaries?
Commons
Debate
14 October 2025
2 contributions
Mental Health Bill [Lords]
As a member of the Bill Committee, I had the opportunity to closely examine the development and scrutiny of this Bill alongside my Opposition colleagues. We sought to strengthen the legislation, particularly in relation to safeguarding children and ensuring robust protections for those admitted unde…
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Both he and I made those points in Committee. I am surprised that the Minister does not see the risks here. The safeguard that my hon. Friend talks about must be beyond any doubt. The amendment in his name provides exactly that clarity. It would prevent unrelated …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
14 October 2025
Middle East
I associate myself with comments on the warm and welcome news of the ceasefire, and I hope it leads to a lasting peace. What assurances has the Prime Minister received from neighbouring partners, particularly Egypt, and what specific actions will he take, first to ensure that humanitarian aid can re…