Commons
Oral Questions
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
9 July 2026
Topical Questions
My constituent Guy Smith runs Sky Birds Sales, which successfully imports budgies. The Animal and Plant Health Agency has drastically changed its approach to batch testing, which is devastating his business. Will one of the Ministers meet me and my constituent to discuss this issue?
Commons
Oral Questions
Energy Security and Net Zero
7 July 2026
2 contributions
Large-scale Solar Farms
5. What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the development of large-scale solar farms.
My apologies, Mr Speaker; my voice is going—it has nothing to do with England on Monday.
These large solar schemes will need battery energy storage systems, but there are growing concerns about the safety of these systems. Other countries are looking at more prescriptions, whether through more regu…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 July 2026
Flood Insurance: Reform of Flood Re
I think this is an important moment for us to remind all our constituents to check their insurance policies and make sure that they have sufficient cover, but on a practical note, may I ask whether the Minister expects the flood protection certificates to have the same status as energy performance c…
Commons
Westminster Hall
24 June 2026
Farming: Financial Sustainability
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner.
The farming sector is vital. I know that because 88% of my constituency is agricultural land. Farms are a unique sort of business because they not only have to make our food and protect our countryside but, like all businesses, have to m…
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
1 June 2026
Topical Questions
The SDR acknowledges that a significant proportion of the reserves work in the NHS and that, if they were to be deployed, there would be significant issues. Given that defence medical services and the NHS have to work together, will the Government set out what plans they are putting in place for thi…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
21 May 2026
Topical Questions
Back to the 1 July tariffs: the quotas are too small and the commodity codes are too broad. The steel required for aerospace can come only from, I think, SSUK, which is currently in liquidation. That grade of steel cannot be produced elsewhere—that is for commercial steel. Businesses will be bankrup…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
19 May 2026
High Speed 2 Reset
Many farmers, small businesses and residents have had access to their properties disrupted by the construction of HS2. The Wilcoxes in my constituency have been battling for more than five years to get a simple deed of easement to guarantee access to their property. As a former property lawyer, I kn…
Commons
Debate
19 May 2026
High Speed 2: Impact on Communities
The communication element is certainly important. Villagers in Greatworth and Radstone in Northamptonshire have been massively isolated by the works that have been carried out, while the active travel route that Brackley residents wanted has not been possible because it is bypassed by HS2. Does my h…
Commons
Debate
28 April 2026
Referral of Prime Minister to Committee of Privileges
The Prime Minister came to this very Dispatch Box and said that “No pressure existed whatsoever” in relation to the Mandelson case. I recall Her late Majesty famously saying, “Recollections may vary”, but even from the Prime Minister I think that that is stretching the phrase, given the evidence tha…
Commons
Debate
20 April 2026
Security Vetting
The Prime Minister is repeatedly telling us that either he was not told, or he was not allowed to be told, but what culture has he created around him and across the civil service that meant that no one felt that they could or should tell him this sensitive information?
Commons
Oral Questions
16 April 2026
Business of the House
It has just been announced that the last NHS dentist provision in Towcester in my constituency will be withdrawn on 1 August 2026. That represents a significant loss, especially in a rapidly expanding town, with no other NHS dentistry provision around for miles. I have written to the integrated care…
Commons
Debate
14 April 2026
Type 1 Diabetes Screening (Children)
I beg to move,
That leave be given to bring in a Bill to make provision for a national programme of screening for type 1 diabetes in children; and for connected purposes.
We have all just returned from the Easter recess, and I am sure that, given the number of chocolate eggs that have been consume…
Commons
Westminster Hall
14 April 2026
11 contributions
Ground-mounted Solar Panels: Alternatives
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer. We are focusing on the concept of floating solar, which I am entirely behind. One of the drivers for that is the proposal in my constituency for the Green Hill solar farm, which will be enormous. It will be 1,200 hectares of agricultura…
I entirely agree, and we have been trying to promote that argument. It has unfortunately been claimed that Northamptonshire could become the warehousing capital of the UK, but we should be using the roadsides. We sometimes see airports using the side banks for solar panels. Solar panels should be in…
+9 more contributions in this session
Commons
Committee Stage
14 April 2026
2 contributions
Armed Forces Bill (Fourth sitting)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship again, Mr Efford, after the Easter recess. I believe that the Minister clarified this point, but I ask for confirmation: will the extension of anti-drone permissions extend to US bases such as RAF Croughton in my constituency?
If there is one phrase my father always says to me, it is “Sarah, you can’t teach experience.” We have talked about bringing retired officers back into the justice system; this is a very good example of what we can do to call on their experience. With jury service and jury trials, we try to get a ra…
Commons
Committee Stage
24 March 2026
Armed Forces Bill (Second sitting)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. New clause 6 would introduce a veterans commissioner for England. We have three excellent veterans commissioners —the commissioners for Northern Ireland, for Scotland and for Wales—but they represent just 15% of veterans living in the UK.…
Commons
Committee Stage
24 March 2026
2 contributions
Armed Forces Bill (First sitting)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford.
I want to add further weight to the points that colleagues have already made. Service personnel themselves have said that the armed forces covenant, while incredibly well meaning, needs to be enacted and enforced properly. It also needs …
The Minister talks about the definition being narrow, but it would actually be quite broad. The amendment says that
“‘due regard’ means that specified bodies should think about and place an appropriate amount of weight on the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant when they consider all the key fa…
Commons
Debate
23 March 2026
Middle East
Much old ground has been gone over by the Secretary of State, but our service personnel live in the here and now. The defence investment plan is absolutely vital for their future, whether we are talking about operations in the field, or upgrading housing for their families—a subject that we are disc…
Commons
Oral Questions
23 March 2026
2 contributions
Asylum Seekers: Accommodation
16. How many asylum seekers were accommodated in asylum accommodation on (a) 30 December 2025 and (b) 30 June 2024.
Since Labour came to power, the number of people in asylum accommodation—be it in hotels or dispersal accommodation—is up by more than 6,000. With figures like that, no South Northamptonshire resident believes that the Government are tackling this issue, especially given the continued operation of t…
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 March 2026
2 contributions
Type 1 Diabetes: Infant Testing
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Alec. I start by paying tribute to Lyla Story, a little girl whose death, aged two, from undiagnosed type 1 diabetes has brought us here today. I wish I could have been giving her a tour of Parliament rather than talking in this capacity, but he…
My hon. Friend is absolutely right that 90% of cases are actually type 2. That is probably also why we fail to understand the true signs of type 1, because there is real confusion and conflation of the two. I think it would actually give clarity if they were named slightly differently.
My hon. Frie…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
2 March 2026
Middle East
Even if our military personnel are not deployed in offensive strikes, the additional air policing that the RAF is being committed to across the middle east means that it now has to do double the work, with no extra resources. What additional resources is the RAF being given to protect our service pe…
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
2 February 2026
Topical Questions
T3. The provisions of the Armed Forces Bill extend anti-drone permissions to the UK armed forces and UK bases. RAF Croughton is a US air force base in my constituency. Will the changes give US personnel the same updated authorities that are being extended to the UK armed forces?
Commons
Ministerial Statement
26 January 2026
Police Reform White Paper
My concern is about the regional and local levels. In South Northamptonshire, my villages already really struggle to get attention because it always goes to Northampton, Kettering and Corby. The regional system may make that worse, so how will the local areas actually work in practice? If they stick…
Commons
Debate
20 January 2026
Chinese Embassy
The Minister says that China continues to pose a risk, and yet the Government today welcome this Trojan horse of an embassy into the heart of our capital. Consolidation helps China, not us, and planning conditions deal with the establishment but not the actual, real use inside the building in years …
Commons
Proceedings
13 January 2026
Chinese Embassy
The Minister has recognised that China poses significant threats, yet this Government are prepared to welcome this Trojan horse of an embassy into the heart of our city, so close to the Link system. He talks about material planning considerations, but that means balancing developing needs with commu…
Commons
Oral Questions
13 January 2026
Topical Questions
We have just been notified that William Blake House in my constituency—a residential home for people with severe learning disabilities—has been issued with a winding-up notice, and the court hearing is tomorrow. The families were given no notice of any of this, and no consultation was carried out, s…