Commons
Westminster Hall
24 February 2026
2 contributions
Banking Hubs: Rural and Post-Industrial Communities
Will the hon. Lady give way?
In my rural constituency, mobile banking hubs, including mobile vans and post offices, are absolutely vital, especially for older constituents who still prefer to use cash, and for rural businesses that need to pay in cash. Recently, services in Hullavington and Minety were suspended, which was a re…
Commons
Westminster Hall
24 February 2026
2 contributions
EU Membership Referendum: Impact on the UK
Will the hon. Lady give way?
With the President of the United States threatening a 15% blanket tariff on all trade with the US, does my hon. Friend agree that a closer relationship with the EU should be at the top of our priority list?
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 February 2026
Rural GPs: Funding
Sherston in South Cotswolds is in imminent danger of losing its surgery. There is an enormous local strength of feeling, with 2,850 out of 3,000 patients signing a petition. As the right hon. Lady mentioned, people who need doctors’ surgeries by definition tend to be elderly, ill or parents with sma…
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 February 2026
2 contributions
Woodland Creation
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Ms Lewell. I congratulate the hon. Member for Milton Keynes North (Chris Curtis) on securing this timely debate and his thoughtful and heartfelt opening speech.
Who does not love trees? They enhance our lives so much. In the past 18 months, morning w…
I thank the hon. Member for her intervention. I am a member of the Environmental Audit Committee, and we are launching an inquiry into the importance of air quality, which needs to be addressed when we take a holistic view of how energy, humans and nature can thrive alongside one another.
COP30 off…
Commons
Westminster Hall
10 February 2026
Independent Water Commission: Final Report
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Jeremy. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for West Dorset (Edward Morello) for introducing this important debate—I have to say, it feels like the nth debate that we have had on this issue. I am getting a very strong sense of déjà vu from standing h…
Commons
Debate
3 February 2026
Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill
There are many reasons people end up on universal credit and in family situations with more than two children. It is because of those blended families that Cotswold district council chose not to apply the two-child limit in its welfare support scheme. Does my hon. Friend agree that such councils—whi…
Commons
Debate
2 February 2026
2 contributions
Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill
The Liberal Democrats strongly welcome the Bill, and it is wonderful to hear support for it on both sides of the House.
The global ocean treaty is one of the most significant environmental agreements of our time. It is currently the world’s only viable pathway towards meeting the global 30 by 30 ta…
I thank my hon. and gallant Friend for his intervention. The treaty does not yet go far enough on plastic pollution, and I hope that the countries of the world will bring their best endeavours to achieving an international agreement in that regard. So far, sadly, those negotiations have not succeede…
Commons
Westminster Hall
26 January 2026
6 contributions
Key Stage 1 Curriculum
I beg to move,
That this House has considered e-petition 729440 relating to play in the key stage 1 curriculum.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Barker, and a real privilege to present this important debate on behalf of the Petitions Committee. Before I turn to the detail, I want…
Woods for Learning sounds marvellous. We know that time spent in nature punches above its weight in terms of psychological and physical benefits for children, so I absolutely agree.
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
20 January 2026
Water (Special Measures) Act 2025: Enforcement
I thank my hon. Friend for his impassioned speech on this very important subject. My constituents in the South Cotswolds will be deeply disappointed by this White Paper. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Government need to get literally upstream of this question, and address the question of water c…
Commons
Debate
12 January 2026
2 contributions
Finance (No. 2) Bill
The farmers of the South Cotswolds warmly welcome this increase in the threshold—better late than never—but does my hon. Friend agree that this Government need to move beyond not punishing our farmers and instead actively support them in being the stewards of our countryside and protecting our futur…
I thank my hon. Friend for her determined and dedicated advocacy on behalf of the farming community, especially around mental health. Although my farmers and I welcome this U-turn, I wonder how much damage has been done, not just to the farming sector directly but to the many businesses that surroun…
Commons
Debate
7 January 2026
Rural Communities
The wording of the motion seems to imply that the Conservatives are against any and all renewables in the countryside, but even the most ardent opponents of an oversized industrial-scale solar farm in my constituency of the South Cotswolds would still support rooftop solar. Could the hon. Member ple…
Commons
Westminster Hall
6 January 2026
Future of Thames Water
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Oxford West and Abingdon (Layla Moran) for securing this very important debate.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and perhaps we can now see clearly that privatising water companies in a monopoly situati…
Commons
Debate
16 December 2025
2 contributions
Finance (No. 2) Bill
Just yesterday, I was talking to a pub landlord who wants to expand his business and has acquired a new building. He has found that even though the new building is derelict, his business rates on it have increased by 89%. He is eager for his pubs to continue to be the heart of the community, but he …
Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Commons
Ministerial Statement
25 November 2025
COP30
Like the Secretary of State and the hon. Member for East Thanet (Ms Billington), I am a survivor of COP15 in Copenhagen. I have seen just what hard work it is, and I commend the cross-party delegation for representing our country so well in Belém. However, environmental campaigners have raised conce…
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 bringing this important debate to Westminster Hall. The number of competing demands on Britain’s land is growing rapidly. To put that into context, Britain has about …
We are calling for more affordable houses and social housing. I stand by that commitment. What we are seeing at the moment is a free-for-all for developers. Unfortunately, now that we no longer have the five-year housing land supply, we cannot be sure that we are going to build the right kinds of ho…
Commons
Debate
17 November 2025
2 contributions
Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Ghani. I am honoured to support the passage of this Bill, along with my Liberal Democrat colleagues. It is a real pleasure to see people across the House who have been long-time champions for the ocean. Many people would have liked to have been h…
I agree with my hon. Friend that the treaty can help to provide clarity about previously unregulated areas. Many countries have already ratified it, which shows that ocean conservation really can unite us where, in the past, there has been disunity.
While I welcome the speed with which the Governme…
Commons
Debate
13 November 2025
2 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
I share the right hon. Gentleman’s concern about the impacts on neighbourhood development plans of the new housing targets. In my constituency, those plans were blown out of the water by the new targets. In the Cotswold district, 80% is protected landscape and of the remaining 20%, half is floodplai…
On behalf of many of my constituents, I rise to speak in strong support of Lords amendment 40. Nature unites us in a way that few other things can. Even the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage) told me of his love for nature after the Second Reading of my Climate and Nature Bill. Our love for the …
Commons
Oral Questions
13 November 2025
Biodiversity
This afternoon, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will return to the Commons. I share the concern of many of my that the Bill seeks to rip up environmental rules to boost growth. Will the Minister urge her colleagues at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to support Lords am…
Commons
Westminster Hall
12 November 2025
Carbon Budget Delivery Plan
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir John. I thank the hon. Member for Sheffield Central (Abtisam Mohamed) for securing this debate. I welcome the publication of this plan; on paper, it marks an important step in bringing our climate ambitions into alignment with our responsibiliti…
Commons
Oral Questions
11 November 2025
2 contributions
Environmental Crime: Victim Support
11. What steps he is taking through the criminal justice system to help to support victims of environmental crimes.
Daniel’s Well in Malmesbury is a much-loved local swim spot, but last week the Environment Agency warned swimmers to stay away due to “strong currents”. However, Surfers Against Sewage have provided evidence that there have been a number of illegal sewage discharges and that a number of swimmers hav…
Commons
Westminster Hall
27 October 2025
Statutory Maternity and Paternity Pay
I have heard from many parents in the South Cotswolds whose recent experiences do not fit neatly into the Government’s model of pregnancy. Whether it is having twins, post-natal depression or managing debt, every family’s situation is different. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Government’s curren…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
22 October 2025
2 contributions
Engagements
Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 22 October.
I associate myself with the Prime Minister’s sympathies extended towards Claire, and I commend her for her bravery.
I regret to inform the House that yesterday there was a very serious breach of national security, when my Prime Minister’s question was photographed heading into No. 10 in a transpare…
Commons
Debate
21 October 2025
7 contributions
Social Housing: South Cotswolds
I am grateful for the opportunity to raise the issue of social housing in the South Cotswolds, and I thank the Minister for being here this evening.
Across our towns and villages, from Biddestone to Barnsley and Hullavington to Hillesley, the story is the same. The need for genuinely affordable, sa…
That does indeed sound like an excellent idea.
+5 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 October 2025
Mandatory Digital ID
I have three key questions. Will ID cards reduce illegal work? Probably not. Secondly, what price are we willing to pay for convenience? This seems a very high one. Thirdly, should we wonder when a prominent advocate of digital ID receives large donations from silicon valley, which has already shown…
Commons
Debate
16 October 2025
Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill
The oceans have long struggled to get the attention they deserve—there are no voters out there on the ocean. Thanks are owed to Sir David Attenborough and the many filmmakers and photographers who, over the years, have brought the oceans into our living rooms and helped us to get to know them and ca…