I join the Leader of the House in his comments about Ukraine. It is clear that Vladimir Putin underestimated Ukrainians’ resilience and Europe’s willingness to stand by Ukraine. He will find out that we will all stand by Ukraine right to the end of this war. The cost of living has been piling pressure on… people for years, and people have been plunged into debt. Bodies such as Citizens Advice and StepChange offer advice on how to get out of debt situations, and one thing they commonly raise with me—I see it in my inbox as well—is the aggressive debt recovery actions of those in the public sector. If people fall behind on council tax payments, councils are often quite quick to cancel their existing payment plans and order them to pay a fine. They also get to a stage involving bailiffs quite quickly—often within six weeks. This is different from what happens in the private sector, which is more heavily regulated and where there is a need to show more meaningful engagement with residents, offer payment plans, and get to court action much later. I see this again in the case of the Department for Work and Pensions. We have spoken in this place about the carer’s allowance overpayment scandal and how those people were chased for payments, but in the last couple of weeks I have had examples in my inbox of somebody whose debt with the DWP rose to £10,000 due to errors on the Department’s part, and started being chased aggressively for that. Of course, the DWP can automatically deduct payments of up to 15% from someone’s universal credit almost immediately, leaving them with no understanding of what happened in the past, let alone how they will manage going forward. The Government are seeking new powers to go into bank accounts and take payments directly, which is extremely worrying given the errors that the DWP has made in the past. This relates not only to the DWP, but to all public sector bodies, so I am not sure who is the relevant Minister, but I would appreciate it if th
Hansard · 26 Feb 2026 · parliament.uk
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the acting shadow Leader of the House.
JM
Joy Morrissey
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
AC
Alan Campbell
The business for next week includes: Monday 2 March —Second Reading of the Representation of the People Bill. Tuesday 3 March —My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer will make her spring forecast statement, followed by consideration of Lords amendments to the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill. Wednesday 4 Ma…
JM
Joy Morrissey
It is a pleasure to be doing business questions and responding to the right hon. Gentleman. He was a Chief Whip—a Whip, like me, but more grand—and he was much respected, revered and sometimes feared by Members of this House. I will be honest and say that even I was terrified of him, and we are not even in the same par…
AC
Alan Campbell
I thank the hon. Lady for her questions and for her warm welcome, but let me gently warn her that soft soap will get her absolutely nowhere. Let me join the hon. Lady in expressing our continued support for Ukraine. This week marks four years since Putin’s full-scale invasion. The Government remain steadfast in our sup…
Miscellaneous24 Feb 2026
BD
Bobby Dean
There seems to be great confusion in the Chamber, even though the Liberal Democrats have time and again set out our proposals quite clearly in different places. I find it fascinating that the official Opposition accuse us of politicking when they probably agree with the substance of our proposals. They are contorting themselves to find… a way not to support the motion, which is about urgency and acting more swiftly than the Government propose to do—I, for one, think that is a good thing.
Hansard · 24 Feb 2026 · parliament.uk
JS
Jim Shannon
I thank and commend the hon. Lady for initiating the debate, and for her devotion to this subject. Does she agree that we should consider education and the role of school principals? In Northern Ireland the Education Minister, Paul Givan, has introduced a pilot scheme on phone-free schools, and I have held an event in …
MW
Munira Wilson
It is always a pleasure to give way to the hon. Gentleman, who is the first to intervene in the debate, and I entirely agree with him. I will touch on the point about phones in schools later, and I believe that we will have a chance to vote on that specific measure shortly, when the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bil…
AD
Anna Dixon
The hon. Lady is making her case very personally and passionately, describing the harms to young people’s mental health that result from the predatory algorithms that the tech giants have devised to create addictive content for children. I, too, think that there is cross-party agreement on the need to look very careful…
MW
Munira Wilson
I hope the hon. Lady will not mind if I call her my hon. Friend, although we are on opposite sides of the House. I thank her for her intervention, and I take her point, which I have also heard the Government express. I agree that we need to consult, but I think we should be consulting on how we implement some of these …
GS
Gareth Snell
I am sympathetic to all the hon. Lady’s arguments. However, it appears that we are about to have a Second Reading debate on an as yet unpublished Bill, when the motion on the Order Paper is about whether we have a day for that Second Reading debate. I am conscious, because I have been to the Vote Office, that the Bill …
BD
Bobby Dean
The hon. Lady is making an excellent speech. Should one of those principles be related not only to content but to the addictive nature of these platforms? One of the changes I have witnessed on social media over time is algorithmic addiction. The greatest minds in the world are now working out the circuitry of our brai…
Lord Mandelson: Government Response to Humble Address Motion12 Feb 2026
BD
Bobby Dean
The events of recent weeks have substantially diminished people’s faith in politics, when it was already at an all- time low. It has confirmed the worst of people’s suspicions about how everything works and punctured the optimism of those who believed in better. At the centre of all this are the victims, and their bravery… is twofold: first, by retelling their trauma, and secondly, by taking on the world’s most powerful men and all those who aided and legitimised them. The Humble Address passed by this place stands as a test of transparency and a test of parliamentary authority. People demand answers, and they deserve them swiftly. They will not stand for endless consultation, reviews and deliberation. Can the Government therefore confirm when they will bring forward legislation so that Peter Mandelson’s peerage can be revoked? What is their deadline for releasing the necessary files? Who in the Government will be held responsible if that deadline is not met?
Hansard · 12 Feb 2026 · parliament.uk
AB
Alex Burghart
(Urgent Question): To ask the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister to make a statement on the Government’s response to the Humble Address agreed by this House on 4 February 2026 , including on progress made, timescales for compliance and the Government’s approach to any material it proposes to withhold or delay.
CW
Chris Ward
Last week, the House made a Humble Address to His Majesty for the Government to disclose material surrounding the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the United States of America. On Monday, my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister updated the House on further action that the Governmen…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Now that you have brought me into it, I will just say that the Intelligence and Security Committee is private and independent, and therefore I would not like to see that it was blocked from information. It would not affect any police investigation, because that information would not go into the public arena. I just wan…
AB
Alex Burghart
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker— I could not have put it better myself.
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
But I am sure you will have a go. [Laughter.]
Business of the House12 Feb 2026
BD
Bobby Dean
Over the last few weeks, there has been a national debate raging that, so far, this place has been pretty silent on. It is on the matter of student loans. I know what some on the Government Benches may be thinking, but I am not prepared to duck difficult subjects. Let us face it: the… student loans system has changed beyond recognition since its introduction, and that is one of the key complaints of graduates. Maintenance grants have been scrapped in favour of loans, which means that the poorest students now arrive at university with the largest debt. Interest rates, tied to inflation, have soared in recent years; following the period of high inflation, people have been saddled permanently with much larger debts than they expected. Thresholds have been repeatedly frozen, including by this Labour Government at the last Budget, which the Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates will add around £3,000 on average to people’s debt pile. All that means that the agreement that students struck has been repeatedly, and unilaterally, changed by the lender after the agreement. I do not believe that would be tolerable in any other walk of life. When the Chancellor was challenged on this last week, she said that the system is “fair and reasonable”. I do not agree, and I think many graduates do not agree, so will the Leader of the House organise a debate in Government time on the changes that have been made to the student loans repayment system?
Hansard · 12 Feb 2026 · parliament.uk
JN
Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
AC
Alan Campbell
The business for the week commencing 23 February will include: Monday 23 February —Committee of the whole House and remaining stages of the Industry and Exports (Financial Assistance) Bill, followed by Committee of the whole House and remaining stages of the Universal Credit (Removal Of Two Child Limit) Bill. Tuesday 2…
NG
Nusrat Ghani
Tuesday 1 September clashes with my birthday, but we can discuss that later. I call the shadow Leader of the House.
JN
Jesse Norman
On behalf of all Members, I thank the Leader of the House for giving us those recess dates, which will be widely welcomed. Today is the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, perhaps the greatest of all United States Presidents, so perhaps this is a fitting moment to talk a little bit about public service. I congratulate the Cha…
AC
Alan Campbell
First, I am sure that the thoughts of the whole House are with the two children stabbed in the horrific attack at Kingsbury high school in Brent. My heart—and I am sure the hearts of the whole House —goes out to those affected by this tragedy. I also send my condolences to those affected by the horrific attack in Tumbl…
Backbench Business - Brain Tumour Survival RatesBackbench Business9 Feb 2026
BD
Bobby Dean
My hon. Friend is talking about the importance of research and the low survival rates. This is, of course, a global problem and a global battle, but Britain has a unique opportunity to lead on this. Just last week, a £1 billion project was approved at the London Cancer Hub, centring around the Institute of… Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden, two world-leading operators that want to expand this. Can he talk a little bit about how Britain has the opportunity to lead the world in discovering solutions to rare blood cancers?
Hansard · 9 Feb 2026 · parliament.uk
NG
Nusrat Ghani
I call Dame Siobhain McDonagh, who will speak for up to 15 minutes.
SM
Siobhain McDonagh
I beg to move, That this House notes that survival rates for brain tumours have seen little improvement in decades and that brain tumours remain the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40; expresses concern at the limited availability of clinical trials for brain tumour patients; calls on the Government …
MW
Munira Wilson
The hon. Lady is making a very powerful speech, and I pay tribute to her for all her efforts in this area. I have a dear friend who was diagnosed with glioblastoma last summer, who has been through surgery and radiotherapy, and who is now in a clinical trial at the Royal Marsden hospital—I am not sure if it is the tria…
SM
Siobhain McDonagh
Together with a number of Members here, I met representatives of Servier, and people are now in receipt of vorasidenib. I would be happy to talk to the hon. Lady about how we went about that. On its own, foundational research is not enough for the people who will be diagnosed with glioblastoma this year, next year or i…
CM
Charlie Maynard
I thank the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden (Dame Siobhain McDonagh) for securing this really important debate. She has been excellent in driving forward this issue, and is so determined. She demonstrates how to go after an issue and pursue it relentlessly. That is great, but ultimately, as she points out, words are…
Business of the House5 Feb 2026
BD
Bobby Dean
I agree wholeheartedly with the comments of the shadow Leader of the House about Jeffrey Epstein and his relationship to Peter Mandelson. I do not intend to repeat those words, but as the political discussion intensifies in the coming days, we must not forget the victims, who are at the centre of all this, and… their bravery, not only in retelling their trauma but in risking taking on powerful men—possibly some of the most powerful and connected men on the planet—and all those who serve to protect and legitimise them in those behaviours. I feel a duty to raise some under-discussed issues, including Storm Chandra and its devasting impact on communities, particularly in south-west England, where flooding has damaged homes and a road has collapsed into the sea. It is difficult to know when these storms will hit, but we know that they are going to happen more frequently. That has put more intense scrutiny on the role of the Environment Agency, and I fear that it has been found to be lacking. Last year, the EA gave up on main rivers maintenance, saying that it could no longer afford to do it. That is just part of a pattern of the EA not being equipped any more to do its job. In my constituency, I can think of at least two major failures in the last couple of years. This time last year, there was a major diesel spill in my local river, the River Wandle. Some 4,000 litres were spilt, which were suspected to be from a nearby bus garage. The EA was sent to investigate, but one year on, we still do not have its report and nobody has been held to account. We also host an incinerator in my constituency. If regulated properly, an incinerator is better than landfill, but over the last 18 months there have been hundreds of emissions breaches, and the EA has failed to punish the operators sufficiently. In fact, the EA says that it is minded to approve an expansion in the capacity of the incinerator, despite strong opposition from me, the local authority and apparently the Government
Hansard · 5 Feb 2026 · parliament.uk
JN
Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
AC
Alan Campbell
The business for the week commencing 9 February will include: Monday 9 February —General debate on the UK-India free trade agreement, followed by debate on a motion on increasing survival rates of brain tumours. The subject for this debate was determined by the Backbench Business Committee. Tuesday 10 February —Debate …
JN
Jesse Norman
I do not think that this is a moment for normal business. I am sure that you, Mr Speaker, and the Leader of the House and all Members, will join me in taking this moment to remember the victims of Jeffrey Epstein: the young women and girls who were systematically trafficked and abused by him and his associates over man…
AC
Alan Campbell
I thank the shadow Leader of the House for the way he has addressed these matters this morning. He is fully entitled to do so. In fact, I would go so far as to say that he is right to do so, because I agree that there is palpable anger, outrage and a degree of sadness about the way these events have unfolded. I would n…
AH
Amanda Hack
I have been working closely with driving instructors who provide tuition to learner drivers in North West Leicestershire. One of them reached out to me earlier this week to share that they had got up at 5.45 am to book a test for a student in Loughborough, but no tests were available. What work is being done to increas…
R&D Defence Spending: Economic Impact2 Feb 2026
BD
Bobby Dean
What assessment he has made of the potential impact of research and development defence spending on the economy.
Hansard · 2 Feb 2026 · parliament.uk
LP
Luke Pollard
To deter and defeat aggression, this Government are investing in innovation in the latest capabilities for our forces. R&D is critical to maximising defence ability to be an engine for growth. It is this Government who have ensured that 10% of our equipment plan must be spent on novel technologies, and we have introduc…
LP
Luke Pollard
The hon. Member is absolutely right to say that defence innovation has considerable positive spill-over effects for the wider economy. That is one of the reasons why this Government are investing in technologies that have dual use potential—not just to give our fighting forces the equipment they need but to provide ben…
LH
Lloyd Hatton
For the past few months, my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth West (Jessica Toale) and I have been campaigning for a new drone centre to be designated at the Dorset Innovation Park. The park already hosts a strong defence ecosystem for testing, developing and researching drone technology. Alongside this, the count…
LP
Luke Pollard
As a fellow west country MP, I recognise my hon. Friend’s ambition and determination to see more of those innovative technologies—autonomy, drones and other types of novel technologies—creating good jobs in his community. He has been speaking not only to me but to the Minister for the Armed Forces, who leads on drones,…
BD
Bobby Dean
The Minister will know that investment in defence R&D has tremendous impacts on the UK economy, not only through jobs and crowding in private investment, but through the spill-over effects of new technologies helping Britain to prosper. Is it therefore not clear that if the Government were to issue defence hypothecated…
Business of the House29 Jan 2026
BD
Bobby Dean
I associate myself with the comments made by the Leader of the House about Holocaust Memorial Day and the tributes he paid to the people we have lost. Last weekend, all the plotting and deceit finally reached a climax. I have to say that the man from the north who I wanted to win that… battle did not quite make it. Still, Faraaz played a good game and I thought that Stephen and Rachel were worthy winners of “The Traitors”—[Laughter.] I thought that deserved more. Moving on, I think the whole House can agree that the world has become less safe. Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and the instability that Trump has brought to the NATO alliance has focused minds across Europe. We all know that we now need to find a way to increase defence spending as quickly as possible. This week, the Liberal Democrats put forward an idea about the possibility of issuing defence bonds. That would raise funds not only via the financial markets but allow ordinary Brits to take part. We could issue them on a fixed-term basis and hypothecate them specifically to capital spending on defence. We believe that that could help us achieve 3% of defence spending by 2030 and allow everybody to participate in the effort. Pension funds and investment portfolios allow people to select the style of portfolio that they would like. Sometimes people tick a box to say that they want to invest in environmental, social and governance measures. We believe that if there was a UK-focused portfolio, many people would choose to opt in. In fact, research suggests that Brits would be willing to see lower returns on their investment if they knew that their money was going to a good cause, and to British assets in particular. Could we have a debate in Government time on just how we can get to that 3% target as quickly as possible? We need to build cross-party consensus on that.
Hansard · 29 Jan 2026 · parliament.uk
JN
Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
AC
Alan Campbell
The business for the week commencing 2 February will include: Monday 2 February —Consideration of Lords amendments to the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill, followed by motions relating to the High Speed Rail (Crewe-Manchester) Bill. Tuesday 3 February —Second Reading of the Universal Credit (Removal of Tw…
JN
Jesse Norman
I thank the Leader of the House very much for the business. As the House will know, this is the week of Holocaust Memorial Day, and I am delighted that we will be debating it in this Chamber later today. I am sure colleagues will have visited the extraordinary exhibition of shoes in Portcullis House. I visited Auschwit…
AC
Alan Campbell
First of all, through you, Madam Deputy Speaker, may we send our best wishes to Mr Speaker and wish him a speedy recovery from his recent injury? As the shadow Leader of the House said, Tuesday was Holocaust Memorial Day. During Cabinet we heard from Mala Tribich, who shared her testimony. She actually sat in the Cabin…
JT
Jon Trickett
I associate myself with the comments of the Leader of the House about Holocaust Memorial Day. Coming from a family with Jewish heritage, I feel that very strongly. One of the worst aspects of the austerity years was the impact on young people. In a community such as mine of 23 separate mining villages, all isolated, th…
Topical Questions27 Jan 2026
BD
Bobby Dean
Ten years ago, this place introduced legislation preventing banks from applying tax deductions after paying compensation for wrongdoing. Now lenders are set to pay out billions of pounds in connection with the motor finance scandal, but they will be able to reduce their tax bills because most of those companies have channelled their money via… subsidiaries. Does the Minister agree that that is not in keeping with the spirit of the law, and will the Government do something about it?
Hansard · 27 Jan 2026 · parliament.uk
PB
Paula Barker
If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.
RR
Rachel Reeves
This Government have a plan to grow the economy and reduce the cost of living, and it is the right plan for Britain. We are cutting the cost of living and the national debt and creating the conditions for growth in all parts of our country. We have had six cuts in interest rates since the general election, reducing typ…
PB
Paula Barker
While I am looking forward to the statement a little later from the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, I would like to push him, if I may. I recently visited one of my local pubs, the Masonic Arms on Lark Lane—which is a fantastic venue—and met Guy and Amelia. Currently, the overall sector picks up 2.8% of UK busines…
RR
Rachel Reeves
As my hon. Friend knows, we have permanently reduced the multiplier for business rates for retail, hospitality and leisure, but my hon. Friend the Exchequer Secretary will set out the support for pubs in more detail later today. We are determined not only to support pubs, which are the lifeblood of so many communities,…
MS
Mel Stride
Mr Speaker, I begin by associating Conservative Members with the Chancellor’s comments about your leg—we wish it well. We are waiting with interest to hear the details of the latest U-turn on business rates this afternoon, but if the briefing is to be believed, it will be far too little, too late. The Chancellor simply…
Business of the House22 Jan 2026
BD
Bobby Dean
Before I begin, I have to pull the Leader of the House up, because he did not respond to one of the critical points that the shadow Leader of the House made. I, for one, would like to hear what the Leader of the House has to say about the feud in the Beckham family.… St Helier hospital is older than the NHS itself, is sited in the heart of my constituency and is crumbling. It was placed within the new hospitals programme set up by the Conservative Government, but they totally failed to deliver on it. This Government put it on a new timetable, stretching out delivery over the coming decades. Last week, the National Audit Office published an assessment of how the Government have performed so far. There is some good news for the Government: the NAO said that they have put the programme on a firmer financial footing for the long term, but the NAO warns of potential further delays, particularly to those hospitals with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, which look set to miss their deadline in 2030. I have also heard that some of the phase 1 schemes have not kept pace with the programme and not drawn down on all the capital allocated to them. That could present an opportunity for other trusts perhaps to do smaller projects in the interim, such as the extension of the emergency department that my local NHS trust is asking for, or possibly even to move our scheme from phase 2 into phase 1, if the trust can prove that it is ready to go. It has been about a year since we have had a substantive update from the Government on the new hospitals programme. The National Audit Office report last week raises lots of questions, so will the Leader of the House ask the relevant Health Minister to come to the Dispatch Box to answer them?
Hansard · 22 Jan 2026 · parliament.uk
JN
Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
AC
Alan Campbell
The business for the week commencing 26 January will include: Monday 26 January —Second Reading of the Armed Forces Bill. Tuesday 27 January —Consideration of an allocation of time motion, followed by all stages of the Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill. Wednesday 28 January —Opposition day (16th allotted day). Deb…
JN
Jesse Norman
I thank the Leader of the House for that update. The House will know that I am obsessive about improving education, skills and life opportunities for young people; I know that the Leader of the House, with his own background, shares that passion. I cannot let this week pass without noting that on Tuesday our new specia…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I am going to speak first. I want temperate language, and I am sure you would love to withdraw that little message you had for us.
JN
Jesse Norman
I thank you, Mr Speaker, for allowing me to exercise my quadriceps on several occasions. Yes, of course I unhesitatingly withdraw that appalling term from the record. All this, I should say, comes from the hon. Member for Clacton after a lifetime spent denouncing Davos as a hub of evil globalist elites where, in his wo…
Water White Paper21 Jan 2026
BD
Bobby Dean
I welcome many of the measures in this White Paper. More regulation will help, but—let’s be honest—it does not get to the heart of the problem: the failure of the privatisation of the water industry. We need to be talking about ownership, but that is absent from the White Paper. I have heard the conversations… in the Chamber today about nationalisation, and I agree with the Secretary of State. There would be some drawbacks to a model of nationalisation. It would put substantial liabilities on the book and would put sewerage infrastructure investment up against investment in schools and hospitals in every Budget. But there is another model, which the Liberal Democrats are putting forward: the co-operative or mutualisation model. Will the Secretary of State take that into serious consideration?
Hansard · 21 Jan 2026 · parliament.uk
ER
Emma Reynolds
With permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like to make a statement on the publication of the Government’s water White Paper, “A New Vision for Water”. The paper sets out once-in-a-generation reforms, putting consumers and the environment first and building a water system fit for the future. For too long, the last …
NG
Nusrat Ghani
I call the shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
VA
Victoria Atkins
I thank the Secretary of State for an advance copy of her statement. Indeed, I welcome the Secretary of State to the Chamber. It is not often that she puts in an appearance, from the publication of the Minette Batters report to the animal welfare strategy, which was published two days before Christmas eve, to the famil…
ER
Emma Reynolds
Oh my gosh! Well, I say to the right hon. Lady that I will not take any lectures from the Conservative party. Not only can they not be bothered to turn up for the statement, which shows an absolute disregard for the concerns of the public about the levels of pollution in our waterways—[Interruption.] I will answer her …
JN
Josh Newbury
I welcome the White Paper because customers right across the country have been failed by their water company, and all too often, when turning to Ofwat for support and to hold executives to account, they have been met with bureaucracy and a weak response. Will the Secretary of State confirm that the creation of a new co…
Business Rates: Retail, Hospitality and Leisure19 Jan 2026
BD
Bobby Dean
As has been mentioned, in its manifesto Labour committed itself to reforming the business rates system, and the Red Book for the Budget referred to “permanently lower business rates for retail, hospitality and leisure”. That will have given business owners the impression that their bills would be lower. The Government’s get-out about the rates being… low, when they knew that transitional reliefs were being phased out and rateable values were rising substantially, is not cutting it with businesses that made plans accordingly. Last week, we on the Treasury Committee heard from the Valuation Office Agency that the Government had known for more than a year about the size of the increase in rateable values, so why has this backlash taken them by surprise?
Hansard · 19 Jan 2026 · parliament.uk
MS
Mel Stride
(Urgent Question): To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if she will make a statement on the planned changes to business rates for the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors.
DT
Dan Tomlinson
Colleagues will have heard what the Prime Minister and the Chancellor have said on this matter in recent days. I will not add further comments on the specifics in responding to this urgent question. When there are further comments to be made, I am sure they will be made in the usual way. At the Budget, the Government a…
MS
Mel Stride
That was a complete non-response. The Minister says he will make a statement in future in the usual way; we can only assume that that will be via the media, not this House. Of all the excuses for a U-turn that we have heard from the Government, this one beggars belief. The Minister expects us to accept that the Governm…
DT
Dan Tomlinson
The shadow Chancellor said that I was dragged to the House, but that is very much not the case; I am very happy to take questions from him and from Conservative and Government Members.
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
May I help the Minister a little bit? I did grant this urgent question. This discussion would not have happened if I had not done so. I am not quite sure that his statement and mine are compatible.
Proposed Chinese Embassy19 Jan 2026
BD
Bobby Dean
I think this House has grown tired of the Government’s insistence on framing this as a mere planning application —as a quasi-judicial process about which national Government can do nothing. That is simply not the case. This is a test of this Government’s resolve to stand up to the threat that China poses to the… UK. The Prime Minister clearly thinks that handing this gift over to the Chinese in Beijing will strengthen his hand in trade negotiations, but I believe that China will just smell weakness. I challenge the Government to reject the mega-embassy, cancel the visit, and not go back there until Jimmy Lai is back on these shores.
Hansard · 19 Jan 2026 · parliament.uk
SC
Sarah Champion
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs if she will make a statement on representations made to Five Eyes partners on the potential risks posed by the proximity of sensitive cabling infrastructure to the site of the proposed new Chinese embassy.
SM
Seema Malhotra
I thank my hon. Friend for her question, and I am grateful for the opportunity to respond to it. She will know that discussions with Five Eyes partners relating to domestic security matters are primarily a responsibility for the Home Office. The decision on planning permission for the proposed Chinese embassy at Royal …
SC
Sarah Champion
I hear what the Minister has said, but I am not reassured and neither are our partners. We have now had interventions from the Dutch Government, the Swiss Parliament, and the Swedish Parliament, and we have had two interventions from the White House on the risks posed to UK infrastructure by the cabling that runs along…
SM
Seema Malhotra
I thank my hon. Friend for her remarks. I reiterate that our intelligence services have been involved throughout. A range of measures have been developed and are being implemented to protect national security. She will also know that the Government are still to make a decision. That planning decision will be made indep…
AK
Alicia Kearns
I congratulate the hon. Member for Rotherham (Sarah Champion) on her question. One could be excused for feeling that this is groundhog day, because once again the House has gathered to share our collective concern about plans to approve the Chinese Communist party’s mega-embassy and once again the Home Office has decli…
Digital ID15 Jan 2026
BD
Bobby Dean
Another day, another U-turn. Have you ever seen a new Government so lacking in conviction? When they announced their plan for change, I do not think anybody in this place realised that it was a plan to change every single one of their policies. This is becoming a shambles. The Liberal Democrats lack no conviction… on this issue—we have been opposed to ID cards for over 20 years. The Minister said repeatedly that digital ID will save people money, but this is a multibillion-pound project, and taxpayers’ money is being spent on it. Will he confirm how much has been spent on the scheme so far, and how much the Government intend to spend on it?
Hansard · 15 Jan 2026 · parliament.uk
MW
Mike Wood
(Urgent Question): To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on mandatory digital ID.
JS
Josh Simons
Following my appointment as a joint Minister across the Cabinet Office and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, I would like to respond to Members’ concerns about the digital ID policy. The programme has two core objectives. The first is to transform the state and make it work better for ordinary work…
NG
Nusrat Ghani
Order. I assume that the Minister is about to come to a conclusion as he has overrun his two minutes.
JS
Josh Simons
I am, Madam Deputy Speaker. I am proud that this Labour Government are building this vital public infrastructure to make Government work better for everyone.
MW
Mike Wood
The Minister read his speech beautifully, and with a straight face. In September, the Prime Minister tossed this mandatory digital ID on to the table as a classic dead cat distraction, purely to keep Andy Burnham off the front pages as the Labour party conference started. Now it is left to a junior Minister to come to …
Business of the House15 Jan 2026
BD
Bobby Dean
There are rumours circulating around Westminster of a Bobby about to join the Reform party. I just want to clarify that it is not me. I am staying put. I quite enjoy watching the numbers to the right of me dwindle. We talk a lot in this place about the Home Office, immigration and asylum.… Mostly, we talk about people’s right to come here and the shameful asylum backlog. We talk much less about the people who are already here—the ones who have built their lives, held down jobs, paid taxes, raised a family and contributed. I think the story of immigration in this country is largely a positive one, and it is sad that that is not said enough in this place. If you have worked hard and played by the rules, you deserve to be treated with respect. Unfortunately, the Home Office is treating many visa holders seeking to settle here with disrespect. People who have lived here for years—sometimes over a decade—are being made to wait years, sometimes subject to indefinite service standards, for answers about their future in this country. Recently, the Home Office has even taken to lecturing people with the line that citizenship is a privilege and not a right, as if to say how dare they ask about remaining in a country they have contributed to for so long. Will the Leader of the House bring this to the attention of Home Office Ministers and urge them to review their service standards and treat these people with a bit more respect?
Hansard · 15 Jan 2026 · parliament.uk
JN
Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
AC
Alan Campbell
The business for the week commencing 19 January will include: Monday 19 January —Remaining stages of the Public Office (Accountability) Bill. Tuesday 20 January —Consideration of Lords amendments to the Sentencing Bill, followed by consideration of Lords amendments to the Holocaust Memorial Bill, followed by considerat…
JN
Jesse Norman
I thank the Leader of the House for the clarity he has given us on the business of the House, and in particular for the rescheduling of the Diego Garcia Bill immediately after it was going to be debated, following the changes made to the Hillsborough law. I know the whole House will want to join me in expressing our co…
AC
Alan Campbell
I certainly join the shadow Leader of the House in sending our thoughts to the people of Iran and the region at this very difficult time. I also send our congratulations to Lord Forsyth, who was announced as the new Lord Speaker earlier this week, and I pay tribute to Lord McFall, the outgoing Lord Speaker, for his ser…
MH
Meg Hillier
I am sure that, like me and others, the Leader of the House will be pleased to learn that NHS waiting lists continue to drop. I am also sure he will agree that Homerton hospital, which has seen productivity on operations increase by more than 11% year on year, is a beacon of what can be done. I hope he will join me in …
Justice Committee15 Jan 2026
BD
Bobby Dean
I thank the Committee for its investigation into this important topic. The Chair spoke a bit about the shocking developments in the supply of drugs into prisons, but can he expand on the demand for drugs, and on the availability of rehabilitation services and other forms of support for addicts in prisons?
Hansard · 15 Jan 2026 · parliament.uk
JC
Judith Cummins
We now come to the Select Committee statement. The Chair of the Justice Committee, the hon. Member for Hammersmith and Chiswick (Andy Slaughter) , will speak for up to 10 minutes, during which time no interventions may be taken. At the conclusion of his statement, I will call Members to ask questions on the subject of …
AS
Andrew Slaughter
I thank the Backbench Business Committee for allocating time for me to make a statement on behalf of the Justice Committee on the Government’s response to the Committee’s sixth report in this Parliament, “Tackling the drugs crisis in our prisons”. The report was published on 31 October 2025 , and the Government respons…
NS
Neil Shastri-Hurst
Does the hon. Gentleman share my deep disappointment and concern about the position that the Ministry of Justice finds itself in? The research and development phase for counter-drone activity has not been strengthened, and we have frequent episodes of drones bypassing prison security.
AS
Andrew Slaughter
I think it is particularly demoralising for prison staff and governors to see drones coming and going almost casually. The point I often make is that if this was happening around civil airports or military facilities, it would be stopped immediately. The problem, which is not unique to this Government and is in some wa…
WJ
Warinder Juss
I remember walking around Featherstone and Oakwood prisons, near my constituency of Wolverhampton West, and seeing how well the incentivised substance-free living units appeared to be working. The Government’s own data suggests that prisoners on such units are 30% less likely to be involved in violence or self-harm. Do…
Chinese Embassy13 Jan 2026
BD
Bobby Dean
I am exasperated by the Government’s response to this urgent question. They are treating this development as a mere wrinkle in a bureaucratic planning matter, which is simply not the case. If this embassy is granted, it will be one of the largest and most prestigious embassies held by any country in Europe, and that… has huge diplomatic consequences. Will the Minister reassure us that it is not merely planning considerations that are being taken account, but those of national security and diplomatic importance as well?
Hansard · 13 Jan 2026 · parliament.uk
AK
Alicia Kearns
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government if he will make a statement on the release of unredacted plans for the proposed Chinese embassy.
MP
Matthew Pennycook
This question relates to the proposals for a new Chinese embassy at Royal Mint Court. It is a decision to be taken by Planning Ministers, independent of the rest of Government. As I have said before in the House, this Government are committed to the probity of the planning process at all levels, to ensure robust and ev…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
In fairness, you brought me into this by saying that I would know about planning—absolutely—but I did not choose for you to be the Minister who answered this. I would have thought it would have been someone from the Home Office, and the Minister for Security. I call Alicia Kearns.
AK
Alicia Kearns
Thank you, Mr Speaker. It is very disappointing to get a technocratic history lesson rather than an answer to the meaningful question. Two hundred and eight secret rooms and a hidden chamber, just 1 metre from cables serving the City of London and the British people—that is what the unredacted plans tell us the Chinese…
MP
Matthew Pennycook
I thank the shadow Minister for her questions. I am obviously not going to comment on speculation in the press. On the specific case before Ministers, at the application stage it was a matter for parties what information was put forward for consideration, and it was a matter for Tower Hamlets what information was put o…
Business of the House13 Jan 2026
BD
Bobby Dean
I thank the Leader of the House for his statement. The whole House wants to get the Bill right, and if a delay is what is required, I think the House will support that. I am glad that the Government have had the humility to withdraw it from tomorrow’s business, even at this late stage,… in order to get it right. However, it does seem extraordinary that it would be withdrawn at this very late stage, and it raises serious concerns about what kind of ongoing engagement there has been with key stakeholders up to this moment. Will he assure us that what needs to be worked out can be done meaningfully in less than a week? Will he also commit that the Government will deliver the Hillsborough law as previously promised, and not just a Hillsborough law in name only?
Hansard · 13 Jan 2026 · parliament.uk
AC
Alan Campbell
Madam Deputy Speaker, in the light of continuing discussions about tomorrow’s legislation, I am announcing the following changes to business. The business tomorrow, Wednesday 14 January , will now be a general debate on Ukraine. The remaining stages of the Public Office (Accountability) Bill will now take place on Mond…
NG
Nusrat Ghani
I call the shadow Leader of the House.
JN
Jesse Norman
I thank the Leader of the House for his statement and for advance notice of it, but I think it should be noted by the House that this—I am sure he would agree—is a bit of a mess. The Public Office (Accountability) Bill was in Committee in December, and amendments should have been filed by the Government on Wednesday of…
AC
Alan Campbell
I appreciate the shadow Leader of the House’s comments, not least because we spoke earlier at the earliest opportunity. He will be aware, as will the House, of the importance and sensitivity of the Public Office (Accountability) Bill. I recognise that it is not ideal for Members when we have to change business at short…
KJ
Kim Johnson
I welcome the statement from the Leader of the House. However, I am concerned that the Bill has been pulled from tomorrow’s business and that there will be amendments. Watering down the duty of candour, especially for intelligence agencies such as MI5 and MI6, is completely unacceptable. Including the duty of candour i…
Business of the House8 Jan 2026
BD
Bobby Dean
Happy new year to you, Mr Speaker, and everybody in the House. To respond briefly to something the shadow Deputy Leader of the House said: I sincerely hope that Arsenal do not win the league. Over Christmas, some people have had the unfortunate experience of finding themselves in their local hospital, and they will have… been met by a packed emergency department and possibly treated in the corridor. New statistics from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine this week show that over 1.5 million people had to wait longer than 12 hours in emergency departments last year, with over 16,000 excess deaths as a result of those long waits. At my local hospital, St Helier, the situation is worse than the national average, with over 80%—the vast majority —of people remaining in the emergency department for longer than is deemed medically necessary. This is, of course, down to a multitude of reasons, including the inadequacy of social care, bed capacity in hospitals, which we know is worse in the UK than in comparable economies, and the condition of the estate. The many delays in the new hospital programme mean that my local hospital is having to close wards and do repairs and maintenance, which is exacerbating the problem. When corridor care first came up in my inbox, I was shocked by it. I understood how tragic the situation was and how undignified it was for patients and families, but I hoped it was a temporary, urgent measure that would resolve itself in time. That is not proving to be the case, so can the Leader of the House ask the Secretary of State to make a statement on the matter of corridor care and how we can hasten its end immediately?
Hansard · 8 Jan 2026 · parliament.uk
JL
John Lamont
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
AC
Alan Campbell
The business for the week commencing 12 January includes: Monday 12 January —Committee of the whole House of the Finance (No. 2) Bill (day 1). Tuesday 13 January —Committee of the whole House of the Finance (No. 2) Bill (day 2). Wednesday 14 January —Remaining stages of the Public Office (Accountability) Bill. Thursday…
JL
John Lamont
Mr Speaker, may I begin by wishing you, the Leader of the House, right hon. and hon. Members and all staff of the House a very happy new year? I appreciate that the Leader of the House may still be recovering from the excesses of the festive season, so I will try not to add unduly to his discomfort, but I will start wi…
AC
Alan Campbell
I wish you, Mr Speaker, and everyone across the House a happy new year. I congratulate parliamentarians past and present who were recognised in the new year’s honours. It is right and proper that people who make an exemplary contribution to public service are recognised, like so many others across our country. I was sa…
BG
Barry Gardiner
Happy new year to you, Mr Speaker. Delays in the court system mean that one of my constituents has been in prison on remand awaiting trial for over a year. She is in New Hall Prison, 200 miles away from her mother, who is disabled and cannot make that journey. She has requested a transfer to Bronzefield Prison, so her …
Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy8 Jan 2026
BD
Bobby Dean
I thank the Committee for its work. The hon. Gentleman mentioned the restrictions of international law, but could he explain what evidence the Committee took about the need for international co-operation? It seems evident to me that the nature of subsea cables means that international co-operation is required to protect them sufficiently. Are there any… mechanisms with which the UK should be engaging better?
Hansard · 8 Jan 2026 · parliament.uk
NG
Nusrat Ghani
We now come to the Select Committee statement on behalf of the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy. Matt Western will speak for up to 10 minutes, during which time no interventions may be taken. At the conclusion of the statement, I will call Members to ask questions on the subject of the statement. These…
MW
Matt Western
It is a pleasure to present the first report of this Parliament of the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting time for this statement on the United Kingdom’s resilience and crisis preparedness in relation to subsea telecommunication cables. Subsea cables…
JL
Julian Lewis
I congratulate the Committee on its report, and I know that it took evidence from authoritative experts, such as the excellent Elisabeth Braw. Can the Chair explain to the House whether his findings were compatible with the alarming headline in today’s Daily Mail about another report from the Council on Geostrategy thi…
MW
Matt Western
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his service on the Committee over so many years, which was hugely valued, and his point is absolutely fair. I have not seen the specific report that was published today, but it echoes the points that we have made in this report. We do not want to be alarmist, but we cannot accept an…
TD
Tan Dhesi
I congratulate my hon. Friend on his statement, and commend the hard work of other members of our Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy in helping to compile the subsea telecommunications cables report. The number of recommendations agreed to by the Government demonstrates that our detailed analysis in the …
Human Rights Abuses: Magnitsky Sanctions8 Jan 2026
BD
Bobby Dean
The hon. Member is making an excellent contribution to the debate. The Treasury Committee heard evidence last year about the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation. It appeared to me that it is far too small for the job that it has to do, especially compared with equivalents overseas in the US and Europe. Does he… think that part of the solution is also funding OFSI properly, so it can be proactive in its monitoring of sanctions, and not only reactive?
Hansard · 8 Jan 2026 · parliament.uk
NG
Nusrat Ghani
I call Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who will speak for about 15 minutes.
IS
Iain Duncan Smith
I beg to move, That this House is concerned that serious human rights abuses, including crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture, together with widespread grand corruption, continue to escalate in an increasingly unstable global environment; notes that global human rights and anti-corruption sanctions, commonly …
MF
Mark Francois
I apologise for intervening on my right hon. Friend so early on, but he has mentioned Russia several times. He will be aware that there has been much talk about ceasefires, but there is no sign of one yet, because Putin still thinks he is winning in Ukraine. Would he agree with me that, if we really want to compel Puti…
IS
Iain Duncan Smith
I absolutely agree with my right hon. Friend. We have a tool here that can be used to drive back those who act badly—in this particular case, against a country illegally invading a neighbouring democratic state—so we should use this ability to sanction those involved and to increase such sanctions dramatically. I know …
BJ
Bernard Jenkin
I congratulate my right hon. Friend on obtaining the debate and on highlighting how the Magnitsky sanctions could be used more effectively. Could he explain to the House, and for my benefit, what effect, if one applies sanctions to some foreign leader, dictator or person who is in a completely different jurisdiction, d…
High Street Gambling Reform8 Jan 2026
BD
Bobby Dean
The hon. Member is making a really powerful speech. We had representatives from the gambling industry in front of the Treasury Committee recently, and that revealed to me that such stories are not tragic by-products of an industry that is actually okay, but actually part of the business strategy of that industry. The gambling industry… receives 60% of its profits from 5% of its customers. It needs people like the ones the hon. Member refers to, in the circumstances that they are in, in order to make the profits that it survives on. Does the hon. Member agree that it was a disgrace that the representatives in front of the Treasury Committee said that there is no evidence of social harm related to gambling?
Hansard · 8 Jan 2026 · parliament.uk
JC
Judith Cummins
I call Dawn Butler, who will speak for about 15 minutes.
DB
Dawn Butler
I beg to move, That this House believes that the aim to permit principle in planning policy erodes the ability of local communities to shape their neighbourhoods; further believes that planning decisions should be made in the public interest, not skewed towards automatic approval; and therefore calls on the Government …
IS
Iain Duncan Smith
I apologise that I will not be able to stay for this debate because I have to follow up with the family of Ryan Cornelius—they were in the Gallery earlier —whom I referenced during the previous debate. As the hon. Member knows, we on the all-party parliamentary group on gambling reform have taken very seriously the les…
DB
Dawn Butler
I thank the right hon. Gentleman, who chairs the APPG on gambling reform, of which I am a member, for his intervention. Brent is a solid example of why change is needed. Another shop—a double-fronted shop—is due to open. On it has been written what I call conscious graffiti: “Stop opening gambling shops in deprived are…
JP
Joe Powell
I thank my hon. Friend for giving way and for her visit to Kensington and Bayswater, where she herself enticed me into an adult gaming centre to show me how it is set up to keep people in there. Machines could even be reserved, so people could go away and come back. That is preying on the addictive mentality. And these…
Business of the House18 Dec 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
May I associate myself with the comments made by the Leader of the House about the victims of the Bondi Beach attack? Antisemitism has no place in our society and I am glad that the House is united against hate. Mr Speaker, I join in the well wishes to you and to all the House… staff at Christmas time. The Government have been engaging in another Christmas tradition this week: rushing out lots of statements in the final week before recess. I calculated that we are up to double the normal rate, with 13 and a half statements per day this week—I will let you decide what half a statement constitutes, Mr Speaker! We had the statement on local government finance yesterday, and it seemed that many Labour Back Benchers seemed to have had access to the figures for each local authority in advance, in a way that we had not. Our spokesperson, my hon. Friend the Member for Guildford (Zöe Franklin) , searched the internet for the figures in advance but could not find them, so will the Leader of the House ask the Minister for Local Government and Homelessness to clarify whether those figures were made available to Labour Back Benchers in advance? Moving on to more serious Christmas matters, the BBC reported this week that Father Christmas’s pay has flatlined this year. There is good news for the elves, as thanks to the national minimum wage increase, their pay is on the up. However, this wage compression is apparently demotivating for Father Christmas and some garden centres across the country are struggling to get him to turn up. As it happens, he is also upset about the Employment Rights Bill, because it has made it much more difficult for him to get the sack—ba-dum tish. [Interruption.] Oh, come on! Another important Christmas matter is the ongoing bitter dispute about Christmas films. The Liberal Democrat Chief Whip, my hon. Friend the Member for North East Fife (Wendy Chamberlain) , insists that “Die Hard” is a Christmas movie; she even has a “Die Hard”-themed advent calendar
Hansard · 18 Dec 2025 · parliament.uk
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I wish all Members all the best for a restful Christmas, and let us hope for a more peaceful new year. I thank all the staff of the House, particularly my own team. They have been wonderful and they look after us. To those who are working over the Christmas period to keep this House safe, we must thank them as well. As…
JL
John Lamont
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
AC
Alan Campbell
The business for the week commencing 5 January 2026 will include: Monday 5 January —Debate on a motion on mobile connectivity in rural areas. The subject for this debate was determined by the Backbench Business Committee. Tuesday 6 January —Second Reading of the Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Sy…
JL
John Lamont
I thank the Leader of the House for giving us the business for the start of the new year. I begin by expressing my deepest condolences and sympathies to the victims of the Bondi Beach attack at the weekend. I am sure that we were all horrified to see the events unfold, with innocent Jews murdered as they enjoyed Hanukk…
AC
Alan Campbell
First, I join the shadow Deputy Leader of the House, and the whole House, in sending our thoughts and condolences to those affected by the terrorist attack in Bondi Beach. Hanukkah should be a time of celebration; instead, it has become a scene of horror and violence. Antisemitism has absolutely no place in our society…
INEOS Chemicals: Grangemouth17 Dec 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
The Minister mentioned in his statement the £200 million for projects in Grangemouth from the National Wealth Fund. I would like to raise with him a concern that was raised in evidence to the Treasury Committee, which is that the National Wealth Fund has to operate on the riskier end of project proposals because it… does not want to crowd out private investment, but that means necessarily that many projects will fail. The worry is that politicians will not be ready to defend projects that fail under the National Wealth Fund. Does the Minister agree with that assessment, and is he willing to accept that, given the risk profile of the National Wealth Fund, some projects will fail as part of the deal?
Hansard · 17 Dec 2025 · parliament.uk
CM
Chris McDonald
With your permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish to make a statement on the agreement the Government have secured to protect vital chemical production and hundreds of jobs at the INEOS ethylene cracker in Grangemouth. Three quarters of Grangemouth’s ethylene production is consumed domestically by our key industries, …
AB
Andrew Bowie
I thank the Minister for the advance copy of his statement. The steps announced today by the Government to secure the ethylene plant at Grangemouth are welcome news, especially for the workers at the site who can now look forward to the new year, assured that their jobs will remain at the strategically vital site—and G…
CM
Chris McDonald
I start by thanking the hon. Gentleman sincerely for welcoming the support for Grangemouth—it really must be the season of good will. On this occasion, I can assure him that he is correct: this is the last ethylene plant, so we can agree on that this time. The hon. Gentleman talked about the business environment for th…
PF
Patricia Ferguson
I thank the Minister for his statement, I thank him and the teams across Government who have worked so hard to secure the deal to protect jobs at Grangemouth. I also want to commend all those in Government who have worked so hard to ensure that Babcock flourishes, Methil stays open, and BAE Systems secures contracts wi…
CM
Chris McDonald
My hon. Friend is quite right, and I would also like to thank her for her engagement on these subjects as well. She rightly pointed out what a vibrant industrial community there is around the Grangemouth area. Already we have companies, such as Babcock, that are keen to recruit people in that local area and that recogn…
Topical Questions11 Dec 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
Hansard · 11 Dec 2025 · parliament.uk
CB
Chris Bryant
I apologise on behalf of the Secretary of State, who is striking deals in the United States of America. In recent weeks, we have announced £2.5 billion of investment in the UK’s first small modular reactor site at Wylfa, launched a critical minerals strategy and done a deal with the US on pharmaceuticals. Mr Speaker, i…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
In which case, Bobby Dean will be.
JK
Jayne Kirkham
I welcome the Chancellor’s announcement of the £30 million Kernow industrial fund, and the fantastic critical minerals strategy. With the pipeline of floating offshore wind projects in the Celtic sea, it is vital that we invest in Cornish supply chains and infra- structure. In my constituency, we have brilliant supply …
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Order. One of us is going to have to sit down. Please, it is topicals and I have some Members who did not get in before you. You’ve got to help them, please.
CM
Chris McDonald
I thank my hon. Friend for her question, and for so kindly hosting me on a trip to Falmouth port, where I saw for myself the great potential in her constituency for critical minerals and floating offshore wind. I recognise the skills issue, and the Government are supporting the sector through the Government’s clean ene…
BD
Bobby Dean
Thank you, Mr Speaker. As you probably know, south London is wonderful, but you may not know that it is one of the UK’s largest regional economies. Last week my local council, the London borough of Sutton, launched its economic growth plan, inviting businesses to take advantage of opportunities in the area. Will the Mi…
BD
Bobby Dean
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. The Minister indicated to the House that the Liberal Democrats were against the national minimum wage in the ’90s. My own memories are hazy, but I am reliably informed that that was not the case, so I hope the Minister will correct the record.
US National Security Strategy11 Dec 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
I do not think we should tiptoe around this issue. The section on Europe talks of “civilisational erasure”. It says that the continent will be “unrecognizable in 20 years”. It says that they want “Europe to remain European”, and that within a few decades NATO members will be “majority non-European”. We need to recognise this… for what it is. It is a document rooted in racist, white supremacist ideology, and it should be called out accordingly. The Minister has talked about respect, but they are currently showing us none. Mild disagreement will not cut it. History is watching us, so will the Minister take this opportunity to call that language out?
Hansard · 11 Dec 2025 · parliament.uk
MW
Matt Western
(Urgent Question): To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on the United States national security strategy and its implications for the United Kingdom’s relationship with the United States.
SM
Seema Malhotra
I thank my hon. Friend for his urgent question. I am sure that the whole House will agree that the UK-US relationship has delivered security and prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic for more than a century. The special relationship we share with the US is built on a foundation of deep defence, security and trading …
MW
Matt Western
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for granting this urgent question. Last weekend, the US Administration published its national security strategy, and it is the clearest articulation yet of President Trump’s ideological foundation. The whole House should be under no illusion. The United States consensus that has led the western w…
SM
Seema Malhotra
As my hon. Friend and the House will know, national security is our first priority. It is important that we continue to discuss all national security issues on an ongoing basis with all our allies, and particularly with the United States. Ultimately, it is for the United States to set its strategy. When it comes to Eur…
MW
Mike Wood
The US strategy makes it even more important that the UK remains a cornerstone of European and global defence. With threats to us and our allies only growing, the Conservative party is clear that it would hit 3% of GDP on defence spending by the end of this Parliament. As it is abundantly clear that we need to step up …
Business of the House11 Dec 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
Before I begin, I join the tributes to Lance Corporal George Hooley. His tragic death reminds us of the courage of all our armed forces in their determination to protect our country. My inbox, like those of other Members, I am sure, has this week been full of correspondence from demoralised businesses, after they were… hit by yet another tax rise. We have spoken a lot about the cost of living crisis, but we are now experiencing a cost-of-doing-business crisis, too. Nowhere is that felt more than in the hospitality and retail industries. We in this House are quick to talk about such businesses being the heart of our communities, but they have suffered a lot in recent years. They closed during the covid pandemic, have suffered the rise of the online competition, and were hit by employer national insurance rises last year—those industries were particularly hit by that change because they employ many of the low-paid and young first-jobbers in our economy. They were promised good news on business rates in the Budget, in the form of a fairer system and lower rates, but the revaluations, combined with the tapering of reliefs, have meant that many bills are set to rise. Businesses in my Carshalton and Wallington constituency, such as Wallington Cycles and the Sun pub in Carshalton, have sent me pretty desperate emails setting out their worries for the future. I have tried to reassure them about the transitional relief that the Government have put in place, which should offset some of the damage, but that is small comfort against the backdrop of so many rising costs. We talk about fairness, but Harrods’ bills are set to fall by over £1 million, while the bill of the average pub will go up by £1,400 every single year. The Government gave themselves powers to offer a discount of 20p in every £1, but so far they have offered discounts of just 5p. Will the Leader of the House ask the relevant Minister to make a statement to clear up all this confusion and reassure businesses that
Hansard · 11 Dec 2025 · parliament.uk
JN
Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
AC
Alan Campbell
The business for the week commencing 15 December will include: Monday 15 December —Consideration of a Lords message to the Employment Rights Bill, followed by Second Reading of the Industry and Exports (Financial Assistance) Bill. Tuesday 16 December —Second Reading of the Finance (No. 2) Bill. Wednesday 17 December —I…
JN
Jesse Norman
A key theme of business questions has been the need for the Government and, indeed, the whole country to be resolute in the face of Russian aggression in Ukraine. In that context, I know the whole House will want to join me again in expressing our profound sorrow for the death of Lance Corporal George Hooley of the Par…
AC
Alan Campbell
First, I join the shadow Leader of the House in sending our condolences to the friends and family of Lance Corporal Hooley, who died while serving our country and in the cause of keeping the flame of freedom alive. As we approach Christmas, I want to recognise the contribution that charities make across our country. Ho…
SN
Samantha Niblett
At one second past midnight tonight, the race for the Christmas No. 1 begins. My constituent Andrew Horth, of HorthWorld, will be in that race, with his incredible Christmas song “Merry Christmas (Make Amends)”, which was written in support of men’s mental health in the wake of our having lost Mikey Heald, another cons…
Business of the House4 Dec 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
I join the Leader of the House in his tributes to Sir John Stanley and Paul Barwell. He referred to the Christmas spirit getting going in and around the House, and I ask him to spare a thought for the Lib Dem staffers clutching coffees this morning after their Christmas party last night. I cannot… confirm or deny whether I joined them. Earlier this week, the Government announced a trade deal between the US and the UK on drug prices and medicines. Having reportedly rejected a price increase of £2.5 billion earlier this summer, the Government’s negotiators went back to the table and will apparently now pay £3 billion more instead. There is a live debate over how much the NHS should pay for drugs, which I respect. Big pharma has always wanted to drive up prices and has clearly not liked the purchasing power of the NHS, but the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence thresholds have not changed for some time, and there are some who argue that that means we are missing out on particular medicines. Others make the alternative argument that the opportunity cost of that spending in other areas of healthcare means that the thresholds should stay where they are. Wherever we stand on that debate, two things are clear. First, this considered debate should not be settled by the bully-boy tactics of President Trump. He introduced 100% tariffs, breaking the World Trade Organisation rules on tariffs over this, and has come out with the explicit intention of putting Americans first. Secondly, the Government should explain how this huge price increase will be paid for. Daniel Elkeles, the chief executive of NHS Providers, says that “it is not yet clear how it will be paid for”, and there are fears among GPs, dentists and community pharmacists that they will be the ones who will suffer as a result of the increase in prices. Will the Leader of the House urge a Health Minister to come to the Dispatch Box to answer questions about the impact of this new deal?
Hansard · 4 Dec 2025 · parliament.uk
JN
Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
AC
Alan Campbell
The business for the week commencing 8 December will include: Monday 8 December —Consideration of Lords message to the Employment Rights Bill, followed by consideration of Lords message to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, followed by consideration of Lords message to the Mental Health Bill [Lords]. Tuesday 9 Decem…
JN
Jesse Norman
If I may, I would like to express my personal sorrow at the death of Sir John Stanley this week. The House may not know that he was the first person to reach and to comfort the dying Airey Neave, after Neave had been the victim of a bomb from the Irish National Liberation Army, a spin-off of the IRA. Sir John was also …
AC
Alan Campbell
First of all, I join the shadow Leader of the House in paying tribute to Sir John Stanley, who was a committed and long-standing Member of Parliament and a highly respected Minister. He gave 41 years of continuous service to this House and to his constituents. Let me also congratulate one of our senior Doorkeepers, Pau…
JB
Jonathan Brash
Last week was Parliament Week, and like Members across the House I had the chance to visit some of the brilliant schools in my constituency, to hear from Hartlepool children about the things that matter to them at St Teresa’s, St Peter’s Elwick, West View, and Eldon Grove academy, where pupils showed me their brilliant…
Income tax (charge)1 Dec 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
The right hon. Member mentions that bet365 is based in Stoke. Could he explain to us why it is also based in Gibraltar and Malta?
Hansard · 1 Dec 2025 · parliament.uk
EM
Ed Miliband
It is a privilege to open this Budget debate on a theme of paramount importance to our country: the cost of living crisis facing Britain’s families. Whatever our party, we should take a step back and think about the history of the last two decades since the financial crisis, during which we have seen: the stagnation of…
LE
Luke Evans
When it comes to making decisions about poverty, it is difficult, so I would be grateful to understand the Secretary of State decision to change the winter fuel payments, which the Government’s own analysis said put 100,000 people into relative poverty and 50,000 people immediately into absolute poverty. Those are deci…
EM
Ed Miliband
Well, the hon. Gentleman’s question is out of date, because, in case he had not noticed, we changed the policy on winter fuel payments. Let me just say this to him: he will have to answer to his constituents. Some 1,500 children in his constituency will be helped by our changes to the two-child cap, and he is saying, “…
AF
Ashley Fox
Will the Secretary of State give way?
EM
Ed Miliband
I will in a moment. On the one hand, 60% of these people are working—and the Conservatives do not really want to explain why they want to cut help for those people. But let us discuss the 40% of households that are not working and will be impacted. What we are seeing here—I am old enough to remember—is a re-run of the …
BD
Bobby Dean
When we cut through it all, the central choices in this Budget were to increase the fiscal headroom and spend more on welfare, and to pay for it via an income tax threshold freeze. I am not sure why Labour Members are reluctant to describe it in that way, because it does contain some legitimate political choices. I wel…
Business of the House27 Nov 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
First, I associate myself with the comments made by the Leader of the House about the fire in Hong Kong. I have many constituents from Hong Kong who will be thinking about their family and friends. I also note that this is UK Parliament Week. I know you are very actively involved, Mr Speaker, and… I thank you for your organisational efforts on that front. It will have been a relief to you, Mr Speaker, to hear the Budget officially delivered on the Floor of the House yesterday. I know that all the leaks over the past few weeks have been a source of frustration, but it did make that long list of taxes a little easier to digest and comprehend. It felt at one point as though almost every section of the economy was getting its own special tax, except of course for those in the banking industry, who, we hear, were popping champagne corks yesterday about avoiding the windfall taxes that the Liberal Democrats were calling for. It just goes to show that all their lobbying efforts have paid off. According to reports, they got away with no new taxes because they are going to be nice about the Budget on behalf of the Chancellor, so let us see if that holds. One under-reported bit of the OBR analysis yesterday—in the final pages of the Blue Book—is the potential danger to the UK economy of a major correction in the global stock market. There has been lots of talk recently about the potential for an AI bubble, with price to earnings ratios being comparable with those of a dotcom bubble. JP Morgan has done an analysis of current valuations and the physical limits to investment because of the need to build data centres and so on, and it thinks we could be up to about $5 trillion of investment by 2030. That means AI products will need to create an additional revenue of $650 billion a year to give a reasonable return to their investors. To put that into context, that is about 150% of the revenue that Apple makes, or the equivalent of about $35 a month for every customer it has in the
Hansard · 27 Nov 2025 · parliament.uk
JN
Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
AC
Alan Campbell
The business for the week commencing 1 December will include: Monday 1 December —Continuation of the Budget debate. Tuesday 2 December —Conclusion of the Budget debate. Wednesday 3 December —Remaining stages of the Pension Schemes Bill. Thursday 4 December —Debate on a motion on the war in Ukraine. The subject for this…
JN
Jesse Norman
I am sure colleagues across the House will want to join me in wishing a very happy Lancashire Day to Lancastrians everywhere, and perhaps most especially to the only Lancastrian Speaker of the 158 people to have held that office—there will have to be three more before it reaches the number of Herefordians who have held…
AC
Alan Campbell
I join the shadow Leader of the House in wishing everyone a happy Lancashire Day. I am sure the House will join me in sending our condolences to those affected by the fire in Hong Kong. The tragedy that is unfolding is deeply saddening, and my thoughts are with all those impacted. I am sure that the thoughts of the Hou…
NS
Nick Smith
May I thank the Leader of the House for his kind words about those of us who campaigned for miners’ pensions justice? There is real momentum for new economic opportunities now that Labour-led councils, the Welsh Labour Government and the UK Labour Government can work in tandem. In Blaenau Gwent, the council has applied…
Ministerial Code24 Nov 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
It seems that the urgent question has been in part fuelled by rampant pre-Budget briefing, but I would argue that it is a symptom of wider dysfunction in our Budget scrutiny process. Parliament is generally relegated to the sidelines and has no real power to challenge or amend the Budget, unlike in other democracies. Will… the Minister look to review the UK Budget scrutiny process and see what we can learn from other countries? More broadly, will he look to enshrine the ministerial code into law? Will he also look at the role of the ethics adviser and ensure that it is truly independent, able to initiate its own investigations, come to its own conclusions and publish reports in its own time?
Hansard · 24 Nov 2025 · parliament.uk
AB
Alex Burghart
(Urgent Question): To ask the Prime Minister to make a statement on the ministerial code.
JS
Josh Simons
Trust in Government and in politics is at an all-time low. For my constituents in Makerfield, Wigan and for others across the country, there is a crisis of faith and trust, and it is incumbent on all of us across this House to fix and restore it. The Prime Minister has always been clear: serving this country is what we…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Order. I thank the Minister who has been sent here, for coming to the House. Once again I must remind Ministers of the requirement in the Government’s own ministerial code that major announcements should be made in the House in the first instance, not in the media. I understand that media announcements must be managed …
AB
Alex Burghart
Thank you for granting this urgent question, Mr Speaker. I mean no offence to the Parliamentary Secretary, because I have been in his shoes, but when the Government send out a junior Minister to answer a very serious question, it is normally because they have something to hide. In this case, it is clear that the Govern…
JS
Josh Simons
I thank the hon. Member for his series of questions—connected, I think, by virtue of being in relation to the ministerial code. Things happen in politics. Things go wrong and people misbehave. But the difference between us and the Conservatives is that whenever something has come up, we have always followed processes a…
Business of the House20 Nov 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
I join the Leader of the House in thanking Mr Speaker for the seriousness with which he is taking Chinese interference in our democracy. I represent many Hongkongers in my constituency, and they are deeply concerned about this issue. It was a relief to hear confirmation that the Budget will be taking place on the… Floor of the House next week. I am sure it is also a huge relief to advisers in the Treasury, who have just days before they start leaking the 2026 Budget. One thing that people will be looking out for in the Budget next week is the provisions that will be made for children with special educational needs and disabilities. I am fully aware that this is a crisis that was inherited by this Government, but it was not an unforeseen crisis. Eighteen months into this Government, we hear that their major reform plans have been pushed back again, which is a disappointment to us on the Liberal Democrat Benches. We are seeing councils go bankrupt, teachers in despair and families held in legal limbo—and ultimately, children being failed. I appreciate that there are some really tricky issues to resolve—balancing legal entitlements on paper with quality provision in reality, and adjusting to a world with higher diagnosis rates—but there are some actions that the Government could take right away, in particular in relation to private placements. Those have trebled in the past decade, and they cost more than double a state placement—about £60,000. We know that private equity is really aggressive in this space; it is taking on institutions and eating up market share, and its profit margins are reportedly around 20%. In the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, the Government introduced the idea of profit caps on those who are being exploitative in the children’s social care sector. Will the Leader of the House ask the relevant Minister whether that can be extended to SEND schools?
Hansard · 20 Nov 2025 · parliament.uk
JN
Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
AC
Alan Campbell
The business for the week commencing 24 November will include: Monday 24 November —Remaining stages of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (day one). Tuesday 25 November —Remaining stages of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (day two). Wednesday 26 November —My right hon. Friend th…
JN
Jesse Norman
May I start by recording my thanks to the Leader of the House for agreeing to the request to have the Ukraine debate on 4 December ? I think we all feel warmly about that decision. Politics at the present moment may not be enormously pretty, but it has been a week of triumph in the sporting world. We have had the joyou…
AC
Alan Campbell
I thank the shadow Leader of the House for his questions. Can I first, through you, Madam Deputy Speaker, thank Mr Speaker for his timely reminder this week of our responsibilities in this House regarding national security? As the House will know, the Security Service issued an espionage alert to Parliament, highlighti…
BG
Barry Gardiner
The speedy passage of environmental legislation through this House is not often a feature, so I thank the Leader of the House for the speedy way in which the biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction treaty was dealt with by the Government. In contrast, I remind him that in 2023 our party said that we would bring forwa…
Migration: Settlement Pathway20 Nov 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
I thank the Home Secretary for her confirmation about the five-year pathway for Hongkongers—that is a promise kept to them. The statement was otherwise a series of push measures. I am always fascinated by how much more difficult it gets, when it comes to the individual decisions made within the system. To push the Home… Secretary on the Boriswave, which she has criticised, the vast majority of those figures were made up of Hongkongers arriving here under the BNO scheme, Ukrainian refugees, and deferred student visas after the covid pandemic. Which of those measures does she think was a mistake?
Hansard · 20 Nov 2025 · parliament.uk
SM
Shabana Mahmood
With your permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will make a statement on a fairer pathway to settlement for migrants. The story of migration in this country is woven through my own. My father came here in the early ’70s, my mother a little less than a decade later. Both came to seek a better life, and they found one here…
CN
Caroline Nokes
I call the shadow Home Secretary.
CP
Chris Philp
As always, I thank the Home Secretary for advance sight of her statement. She has had a busy week. I wonder whether this burst of hyperactivity has anything to do with her leadership bid. As her shadow, I will say this: I am rooting for her in her tussle with the Health Secretary as to who gets to replace the Prime Min…
SM
Shabana Mahmood
I am pleased to see that the Leader of the Opposition let the shadow Home Secretary have a go today. He seems overly concerned about my personal future, but he should worry about his own and that of his party. One good way to secure the future of the Conservative party would perhaps be to start with an open and honest …
MH
Meg Hillier
I applaud my right hon. Friend on many points, not least for debunking the idea that a cap will solve anything or is even achievable. There is a lot of detail in this statement, but one issue is that people going through the system have to apply repeatedly to extend their discretionary leave to remain until they reach …
Budget: Press Briefings17 Nov 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
The Minister is right to point out that speculation ahead of a Budget is not abnormal, but we have had speculation throughout most of this year. I wonder whether he will accept that part of the reason for that is how the Chancellor has both constructed and applied her fiscal rules. She set them up,… with good intentions—we do need fiscal rules in place—but left herself with minimal headroom in a pretty volatile global economy, which has driven speculation all year round about how she would fill the gaps that have emerged throughout the year. Does he think that was a mistake?
Hansard · 17 Nov 2025 · parliament.uk
MS
Mel Stride
(Urgent Question): To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if she will make a statement on briefings to the press about the contents of the Budget.
JM
James Murray
Every Minister in this Government takes their obligations to this House very seriously. There has been much speculation, as is usual ahead of a Budget, but the Chancellor will come to this House on 26 November and deliver a Budget that will protect the NHS and public services. It will support growth and enable business…
MS
Mel Stride
Given that response, the right hon. Gentleman might try a bit of stand-up in his spare time. The process around the Budget is meant to be the most closely guarded secret in Government, but in recent weeks, we have barely been able to pick up a newspaper without reading a fresh report of the latest policy movements. On …
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Minister, it is not normal for a Budget to have been put in the press. This is the hokey-cokey Budget: one minute something is in, the next minute it is out. I am very worried. The previous Government also had to be reprimanded for leaking. It is not good policy. At one time, a Minister would have resigned if anything …
JM
James Murray
Thank you, Mr Speaker; I can reassure you that every Minister in this Government takes their responsibility to this House very seriously. I will not engage with speculation or comment on the ongoing Budget process, but everyone in this House and beyond can be very clear of what the Chancellor’s priorities are going int…
Illegal Waste: Organised Crime17 Nov 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
Residents in the Woodcote area of my constituency have been living with the misery of being opposite an illegal waste dump for years. Despite all the photographic and video evidence that they produce, nobody seems to be able to shut the site down. Can the Minister look into what level of proof is required to… take action, because it seems obvious to everyone that what is going on is wrong, but nobody seems to be able to put an end to it?
Hansard · 17 Nov 2025 · parliament.uk
CM
Calum Miller
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the powers, funding and staffing of the Environment Agency to tackle the work and impact of organised criminal gangs illegally dumping huge quantities of waste in the countryside.
EH
Emma Hardy
Let me first convey apologies from the Minister for Nature, my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry East (Mary Creagh) . She would have loved to be here for the urgent question, but she is currently attending COP30 in Brazil. In her absence, I will be doing my absolute best to answer all the questions from Members about…
CM
Calum Miller
I am grateful to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and to Mr. Speaker for granting the urgent question. I recently knocked on the door of Billy Burnell, the chair of the Kidlington Angling Society in my constituency. Billy showed me photographs and videos that took my breath away. They revealed the obscene scale of the illega…
EH
Emma Hardy
The Government are aware of the appalling case of illegal dumping in the hon. Member’s constituency, and I absolutely share his constituents’ anger. I, too, have seen the photographs and videos, and it is no wonder that he feels moved to bring forward this urgent question. There is a criminal investigation under way, a…
HD
Helena Dollimore
I thank the hon. Member for Bicester and Woodstock (Calum Miller) for bringing forward this urgent question. As the Minister knows from her visit to my constituency last week, millions of plastic beads recently washed up there. After initially denying any involvement, Southern Water has admitted that it was responsible…
Business of the House13 Nov 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
Thank you, Mr Speaker. May I join the Leader of the House and the shadow Leader of the House in thanking you and all the staff for playing a role in organising the remembrance events of the past week? I, too, would like to focus on Ukraine this week. Russia’s war is rumbling on and… we are about to enter a long and cold winter, in which it looks like temperatures will drop below minus 20°C. We hear that Vladimir Putin has a vicious plot to attack the energy infrastructure of Ukraine, threatening the heat supply to the very homes in which families are trying to survive. As Russia makes advances, it feels like Britain and its allies have reached a bit of a stalling point. We are standing around worrying whether it is legitimate to seize Russian assets, and we are worried about potential future legal claims by the Russian state. All the while, Putin is pouring petrol into his war machine. I feel that the time for deliberation is surely over. Several legal routes have been proposed, and it is now time to act. In the meantime, one of the weapons that we have in our armoury is the sanctions regime against Russia. It is important not only to impose these sanctions, but to enforce them. It was quite shocking to learn this week that the Government were unable to explain why over £30 million-worth of Russian planes were imported into the UK. I note that the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation is much smaller than its equivalents in the US and the EU. In the debate that we may have about Ukraine before the end of the year, I wonder whether we could focus on the role of OFSI and determine whether it is adequate, and whether it has the resources to properly deal with the scale and importance of the UK sanctions regime.
Hansard · 13 Nov 2025 · parliament.uk
JN
Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
AC
Alan Campbell
The business for the week commencing 17 November will include: Monday 17 November —Committee of the whole House and remaining stages of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill. Tuesday 18 November —Second Reading of the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill. Wednesday 19 November —Consideration of Lords amendments …
JN
Jesse Norman
I am sure I speak for many Members when I thank you, Mr Speaker, and the whole of the Speaker’s Office for the work you have put in to make this past week of remembrance so memorable. The gardens of remembrance, the projection of images from the second world war on to the Elizabeth Tower, the wreath laying in Westminst…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the Leader of the House.
AC
Alan Campbell
Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker—[Interruption.] Mr Speaker, sorry. It is very early in the day. I thank the shadow Leader of the House for his remarks. I join him in thanking you, Mr Speaker, and indeed all House staff, for this week’s work on remembrance events, which provide an opportunity for us, not just as a House bu…
Business of the House30 Oct 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
I associate myself with the comments about hurricane victims and, indeed, with the comments about Prunella Scales. Earlier this week, we were treated to the delight of a Conservative Opposition day, and the main thing we learned is that the Conservatives do enjoy being in opposition. We had the shadow Housing Secretary, the right hon.… Member for Braintree (Sir James Cleverly) , decrying the housing crisis that their Government left behind, and the former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the right hon. Member for Central Devon (Sir Mel Stride) , committing to reducing the welfare bill that went up on their watch. We hear that we are to get yet another Conservative Opposition day next week. The Conservatives are set to get 17 days to the Liberal Democrats’ three in this parliamentary Session. We would just gently suggest that, if we want to elevate the debate in this Chamber, we may want to redress that balance in the next Session.
Hansard · 30 Oct 2025 · parliament.uk
NG
Nusrat Ghani
These questions will last around an hour. Members will have to police themselves over the length of the questions that they wish to deliver. I call the shadow Leader of the House.
JN
Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
AC
Alan Campbell
The business for the week commencing 3 November includes: Monday 3 November —Second Reading of the Public Office (Accountability) Bill. Tuesday 4 November —Opposition day (12th allotted day). Debate on a motion in the name of the official Opposition, subject to be announced. Wednesday 5 November —Consideration of Lords…
JN
Jesse Norman
I thank the Leader of the House for that update. I know the whole House will want to join me in sending our very best wishes to the victims of the hurricane in Jamaica, and now also Cuba, Haiti and the Turks and Caicos Islands. I want to pay a personal tribute to Prunella Scales, who died this week. She was a magnifice…
AC
Alan Campbell
Let me begin by joining the shadow Leader of the House in his tribute to Prunella Scales, who was a fantastic actress, and in his remarks about the effects of Hurricane Melissa. The UK is offering full support to Jamaica and many Caribbean countries in the aftermath of the hurricane. The Foreign Office is delivering hu…
BD
Bobby Dean
Moving on to fraud—speaking of— I would like to focus on how fraud destroys lives. It eradicates people’s savings, it plunges people into debt and it diminishes people’s faith in human nature. Fraud is on the rise—it is up by almost a fifth—and it makes up nearly half of all crime in the UK. I know that the Government …
Foreign Affairs Committee30 Oct 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
I thank the Chair for her Committee’s report. She mentioned the possible determination of genocide and said that, in her personal view, that is what has taken place. Of course, a UN report has reached that conclusion as well. I am fairly certain that that should place certain obligations on the UK, so will the… Committee commit to investigating exactly what the UK’s obligations are to any kind of international accountability process?
Hansard · 30 Oct 2025 · parliament.uk
NG
Nusrat Ghani
Emily Thornberry will speak for up to 10 minutes, during which time no interventions may be taken. At the conclusion of her statement, I will call Members to ask questions on the subject of the statement, and these should be brief questions, not full speeches. I emphasise that questions should be directed to the Select…
ET
Emily Thornberry
I must confess that, in the 20 years I have been in Parliament, I have never done one of these before; it is all entirely new to me. If I am doing anything wrong, please, Madam Deputy Speaker—and I am sure you will—put me back on the straight and narrow. The situation in Palestine is a humanitarian catastrophe, an inju…
JL
Julian Lewis
I congratulate the right hon. Lady on her Committee’s report. In response to the seventh recommendation about a Palestinian state, the Government state: “Our message to the terrorists of Hamas is unchanged and unequivocal. They must immediately release all the hostages, sign up to a ceasefire, disarm and accept that th…
ET
Emily Thornberry
At the moment we find ourselves in a vacuum where there is no plan for what is to happen to the strip now. In a lawless situation, it is extremely challenging. That is why we have to keep moving forward. The ceasefire is not the answer but only the first step. There is some work being done, but I would like to be reass…
UK
Uma Kumaran
I thank the Chair of the Committee for her statement and her recognition of the Committee’s members. On recommendation 6 on the reconstruction of Gaza, Gaza is still the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. Over 64,000 children are reported to have been killed or injured, and nearly the same number have los…
Property Service Charges30 Oct 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
The hon. Lady is making some excellent points. I really think it is the radical solutions that we need to consider. I should probably declare an interest as a director of a right-to-manage company—we got so fed up with the freeholder failing to manage our building properly that we took back control. However, as she… points out, that is not the end of the story, and we still need to get a lot of people to agree on a lot of things, and building up the reserve fund is particularly difficult. I encourage the hon. Lady to keep coming up with ideas that are bolder than the ones that are out there at the moment, because it is a sticky problem to fix.
Hansard · 30 Oct 2025 · parliament.uk
RP
Rebecca Paul
I beg to move, That this House has considered property service charges. It is a privilege to bring this important debate to the House today. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting it. I remember vividly the day, over 20 years ago now, when I picked up the keys to my first flat in south-east London. It to…
JS
Jim Shannon
I commend the hon. Lady for securing this important debate—the fact that so many Members are present is an indication of its importance. In my constituency I have seen an increase in the number of people who bought their house or flat many years ago and are now facing difficulties with the level of charges, unexpected …
RP
Rebecca Paul
I completely agree. To add insult to injury, Alfie told me that FirstPort charges an £80 administration fee if payment is not made within 30 days of demand. In 2023 he received his fee on Christmas day while in discussions about a payment plan to settle outstanding fees. FirstPort refused to remove the charge despite h…
SC
Sam Carling
The hon. Lady highlights the problem of residents being charged late payment fees. I have a number of constituents who never received an original letter demanding payment, but who are then charged late payment fees despite not knowing a payment was due. Does she agree with me that the lack of communication is another c…
RP
Rebecca Paul
I thank the hon. Member for raising that point. I completely agree that is very much an issue, as I have heard that too. Alfie and Louise, sadly, are not alone. So many other people on Park 25 find themselves in the same situation: trapped, unable to sell and move on with their lives, and wishing they had never bought …
Stamp Duty Land Tax28 Oct 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
Ask any economist, or indeed most Members in the Chamber today, and they would say that stamp duty is a bad tax. It creates friction in the market, whether we are talking about someone in a one-bedroom flat who is trying to take the step up to a family home, but who finds that their… savings goal is now that much more, or whether we are talking about someone whose kids have flown the nest, and who is considering downsizing but finds the bill a disincentive. It is important that we do not overstate what abolishing stamp duty will do. There have been lots of claims about how it will help millions of young people on to the ladder. For most people, this would not be the case. There is an exemption for first-time buyers of properties worth up to £300,000, and a further discount all the way up to half a million. It is important that we recognise that the proposal would not make a difference for huge numbers of people, including young people. I appreciate the points made about the fluidity of the market as well, but that is not the critical point. The central problem in the housing market is the disparity between people’s wages and house prices. People have said to me, “I had to save hard to get my home,” and “You should have seen the interest rates back in the day.” I have no doubt that it has always been hard and a struggle to save up to buy a property, but the extent to which it has become out of reach today is not properly understood. Around the time I was born—1990, if Members are interested—the difference between the average wage and the average house price was about three times a person’s income, but today that average difference is eight times a person’s income. I represent a London constituency, and for people in London, that difference is 15 times the average income. That means that people in the top 10% of earners in the capital cannot afford the average home. It is an absolute disgrace that we have allowed ourselves to get to this situation.
Hansard · 28 Oct 2025 · parliament.uk
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I inform the House that I have not selected the amendment. I call the shadow Chancellor to move the motion.
MS
Mel Stride
I beg to move, That this House calls on the Government to reduce public expenditure to fund the abolition of stamp duty land tax on primary residences purchased by UK residents, in order to get Britain working, to grow the economy and to give people a stronger stake in their communities through the security of home own…
RT
Rachel Taylor
Would the right hon. Gentleman agree that Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-Budget impacted on working families up and down this country, resulting in the astronomical mortgage interest rates that they are still struggling to fund?
MS
Mel Stride
We will take no lessons from the Labour party when it comes to the mismanagement of our economy. What I have just set out has led to a Chancellor who had a Budget in October last year in which she blew all the headroom and more, rebuilt it in the spring and is now, as we all know, heading into the Budget on 26 November…
WM
Wendy Morton
Does my right hon. Friend agree that, even in such a short period of time, this Government are showing that it is they who cannot be trusted with the economy and the future of this country? Is it not time they woke up to the reality?
BD
Bobby Dean
Surprise, surprise, I do not. I will come on to the reasons why. Mortgage companies will lend around four times someone’s income, so we can see how big the problem is. A couple may stand a chance of getting a mortgage; someone on their own has no chance. The other problem with house prices accelerating away from wages …
BD
Bobby Dean
I think the hon. Member will find that across the country there will be opposition politicians opposing developments. In Sutton council in my borough, where we are in control, we are outstripping all of London in house building, and I am very proud of that record. In order to fix the housing crisis, we need sustained w…
BD
Bobby Dean
I thank the hon. Member for bringing me on to my next point early. I want to address this proposed £47 billion in public spending cuts. If the Conservatives were to hand over that proposal in its current form to the Office for Budget Responsibility, it would laugh them out of the front door. Those cuts are not credible…
BD
Bobby Dean
When the hon. Gentleman refers to covid, I think he is referring to total debt, which has increased. We are talking specifically about why the civil service has increased in size. A lot of that can be attributed to the new functions that the UK Government have had to take on. On the welfare budget, yes, the Government …
BD
Bobby Dean
I wholeheartedly agree with my hon. Friend. I made the point earlier that the welfare bill went up on the Conservative Government’s watch, not least because they cut back NHS funding.
BD
Bobby Dean
I will make some progress; I have been intervened on quite a few times. In the Chamber, we may agree on the analysis of stamp duty’s failings, but the Liberal Democrats cannot support the motion, because it is not a credible plan. Also, if a stamp duty cut were made in isolation, it might not deliver what Conservative …
BD
Bobby Dean
Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
BD
Bobby Dean
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for giving way after his fantastic punchline, which everybody really enjoyed.
BD
Bobby Dean
Exactly. He obviously was not paying enough attention to our argument. Yes, we did agree with the analysis that stamp duty is a poor tax, but we could not support the motion, because we do not think there is a credible plan for abolishing it. We would like to see a much more holistic review of property taxes, alongside…
Access to Work Scheme27 Oct 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
What steps his Department is taking to assess the effectiveness of the Access to Work scheme in helping to enable long-term career progression for disabled people.
Hansard · 27 Oct 2025 · parliament.uk
MC
Marsha de Cordova
What steps he is taking to improve the Access to Work scheme.
MW
Martin Wrigley
What changes have been made to the Access to Work scheme in this parliamentary Session.
ST
Stephen Timms
Access to Work does an important job, but current delays with the scheme, and our ambition for an 80% rate of employment, point to the need for reform. The consultation, launched in the “Pathways to Work” Green Paper, closed on 30 June . We are reviewing all aspects of the scheme in the light of the responses that we r…
ST
Stephen Timms
The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. Obviously, I do not know the details of the case that he refers to, but it is important that Access to Work and our wider employment support enable people not just to get into work, but to thrive once they are there, exactly as he says.
MC
Marsha de Cordova
The Access to Work scheme provides vital support, and it is one of the best forms of support for blind and partially sighted workers, but when their awards come up for review, they find that their support and awards are being significantly reduced. Given the Government’s commitment to keeping Britain working, will the …
BD
Bobby Dean
A constituent came to my surgery the other week who felt pretty frustrated that the Access to Work scheme, which once supported him, was pulling the rug from beneath his feet as he progressed in his career. He has been a model example; he has not let his multiple neurodivergent diagnoses hold him back. He has worked ha…
Business of the House23 Oct 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
First, I associate myself with the comments made about Oliver Colvile’s passing and the Aberfan disaster. I wonder if we can have a debate about rhetoric colliding with reality. Earlier this week, we had the Chancellor, after years of telling us that we can make Brexit work, finally concede that things are not going so… well on that front. In the same week, our resident patriots—people who are so passionate about Britain that they seek to import American politics to our shores—discovered that their latest pet project has hit the buffers as well. Reform’s department of government efficiency—or DOGE, as I hear teenage boys call it—has succeeded only in cutting the number of Reform councillors in Kent from 57 to 50. The latest spate of losses has come after Reform’s Kent county council leader conceded that there is not much waste to cut in local government and that it will probably have to put up council tax, just like everybody else. As much as I enjoy watching populist promises go pop, there is a serious point to be made about local government being on its knees. As real-terms budgets have been cut year after year, demand has continued to rise. More elderly people require social care, there are more children with special needs, and more families are turning up at the council’s front door after becoming homeless. For many local authorities, the vast majority of their budget is now spent on services for these vulnerable people, leaving little left for the services that residents expect to see across their communities. The Government’s fair funding formula was supposed to fix all this, but in some places, including my London borough of Sutton, it seems like it is set to make things worse. That is in no small part down to the fact that it utterly fails to take account of the real cost of housing, particularly in London and the south-east. Can the Government give us assurances that they intend to fix the problems with their current proposal, that they are going to listen t
Hansard · 23 Oct 2025 · parliament.uk
JN
Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
AC
Alan Campbell
The business for the week commencing 27 October will include: Monday 27 October —Remaining stages of the Victims and Courts Bill. Tuesday 28 October —Opposition day on a motion in the name of the official Opposition—subject to be announced. Wednesday 29 October —Remaining stages of the Sentencing Bill. Thursday 30 Octo…
JN
Jesse Norman
In addition to the tributes that were paid earlier this week, I believe I will be speaking for all Members in mourning the death on Monday of our former colleague Oliver Colvile. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”] Oliver entered the House with me in that glorious parliamentary generation of 2010. He was nationally famous fo…
AC
Alan Campbell
I am pleased to see the shadow Leader of the House back in his place this week. I just inform him, if he did not already know, that last week we discovered in his absence that he has a highly capable deputy in the hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (John Lamont) , who may or may not be joining us in del…
CN
Charlotte Nichols
Last week, the Office for National Statistics published its latest report on drugs-related deaths in England and Wales. Sadly, for the 12th consecutive year, drugs-related deaths have increased, with a harrowing 5,565 people losing their lives to drugs in the last year. A key finding of the report is that almost half t…
Business of the House16 Oct 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
I thank the Leader of the House for his warm welcome—it is a warmer welcome than I received online, where somebody compared me to a failed contestant on “The Apprentice”, which is a good start. I share the right hon. Member’s sympathies expressed about the synagogue attack in Manchester, as well as his tribute to… Ming Campbell, which is greatly appreciated by Liberal Democrat Members. I also thank my hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford (Marie Goldman) for her service in this role, and I wish her well in her new job. This past week we have been digesting news of the ceasefire in the middle east which, despite reporting, has nothing to do with President Trump’s candidacy for the Nobel peace prize and is all about the welfare of the people living in that region. There is indescribable relief that the hostages are now heading home and the bloodshed can come to an end. The immediate concern is that the ceasefire holds, and the hope is that there will be a just and sustainable peace in the region, including a two-state solution. As we look to the future, it is also important that we do not forget what happened before. A few weeks ago there was a UN report that a genocide had taken place in Gaza, and it is the international community’s obligation to establish the truth and hold those responsible to account. Will the Government, at the appropriate time, make a statement about how Britain will contribute to such an international process, so that justice and accountability for what happened in Gaza can be served?
Hansard · 16 Oct 2025 · parliament.uk
JL
John Lamont
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
AC
Alan Campbell
With permission, I shall give the business for the week commencing 20 October , which includes: Monday 20 October —Committee of the whole House and remaining stages of the Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill. Tuesday 21 October —Committee of the whole House of the Sentencing Bill. Wednesd…
JL
John Lamont
I thank the Leader of the House for the forthcoming business. I want to start by paying tribute to Lord Ming Campbell, a former Member of this place and former leader of the Liberal Democrats. He was a hugely respected parliamentarian, and I know he will be much missed. I would also like to express my deepest sympathie…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Order. Mr Snell, I thought you were the man who had sent me a letter about going on the Chairmen’s Panel. This is not the way to get a good interview.
JL
John Lamont
How embarrassing for the Labour party. I am sure the Leader of the House is relieved to no longer be the Government Chief Whip, although perhaps he thinks he could have done a better job than his successor at attempting to manage the increasingly rowdy mob lurking behind him. The Labour party conference was also deeply…
Security Update: Official Secrets Act Case13 Oct 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
I admire the Government’s attempts to pin this on the previous Conservative Government. It is an endeavour in which I would usually join them, but on this occasion I cannot, because the argument simply does not stack up. The argument seems to hinge on the Conservative Government’s classification of China as a threat to national… security. That is not a formal classification, but one that needs to be substantiated. The Government seem to be arguing that it was not because, for instance, in the integrated review refresh of 2023, China was merely described as an “epoch-defining…challenge”. However, the same paragraph in that report talks about the Chinese Communist party as presenting “state threats to the UK’s democracy, economy and society”. Reports by the Intelligence and Security Committee of the same year talk about how China’s “ambition at a global level…poses a national security threat to the UK.” We have heard other testimonies today from MI5 and others. My question to the Government is: was this the sort of evidence that was provided to the CPS? If not, why not? Whose decision was it not to present that kind of evidence?
Hansard · 13 Oct 2025 · parliament.uk
DJ
Dan Jarvis
With your permission, Mr Speaker, I want to update the House on the facts surrounding the collapse of the trial of Christopher Berry and Christopher Cash. However, following the Home Secretary’s statement, I also want to take the opportunity to express my deepest sympathies for the victims and families of those affecte…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Order. I say to both Front-Bench teams: please, this is a very important and serious matter. We could do without the side chatter.
DJ
Dan Jarvis
Despite the evolving nature of the state threats that we face, the DPP has given his assurance that the CPS was not influenced by any external party, any member of this Government, or any senior civil servant or special adviser working within it. I want to be clear again today, as the Government have been before, that …
KB
Kemi Badenoch
May I associate myself with the Minister’s remarks about Heaton Park synagogue? I thank Mr Speaker for all his work on Members’ security. No one has worked harder to protect the integrity of our Parliament. The Security Minister is very well regarded, so I am sorry to see that he has been sent here again to make these …
DJ
Dan Jarvis
I find it genuinely astonishing that at no point did the Leader of the Opposition acknowledge that all the acts that we have been talking about this afternoon happened when she was in government, on her watch. I believe that it is important to discuss these matters in a fair and reasonable way, so I particularly made s…
Baby Loss13 Oct 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
I thank the co-sponsors for securing the debate and for all colleagues’ powerful contributions so far tonight. Many of those contributions have focused on preventable baby loss, calling for lessons to be learnt and for more to be done, which I fully support. However, I would like to take this opportunity to shine a light… on the many occasions when baby loss is not preventable, but where I believe there is still more that could be done as a society. Earlier this year, my wife and I had an early miscarriage. It was our first pregnancy and we were extremely excited when we got the positive test result. We were very quick to tell all our friends and family. We had no negative signs ahead of our 12-week scan, but during that scan it became quickly apparent that something was not right. We were asked whether it was possible that it could have been nine weeks. Then a second staff member came in and shortly after we were told that there was no heartbeat. We were moved to another room where we asked all the questions that I am sure many ask in this situation. Was there anything we could do? Is there anything we could do differently next time? We were reassured that, actually, it was extremely common, there was nothing we could have done, and that it happens to around one in four or five people. On our journey home, we felt a bit silly for not knowing that fact and for not being prepared for how common that type of miscarriage was. We wondered why we had not been told in our early antenatal appointments that it was a possibility. We also wondered why we had not heard that so much from friends and family, or seen it in conversations on the TV. After that, we pledged that we would talk about it more. After that moment, we were faced with some morbid choices: a natural miscarriage, the opportunity to take some pills, or some sort of surgical procedure. We were given a leaflet to think about it and off we went. We did not actually have the opportunity to make that choice, because
Hansard · 13 Oct 2025 · parliament.uk
CN
Caroline Nokes
I call Andy MacNae, who will speak for about 15 minutes.
AM
Andy MacNae
I beg to move, That this House has considered baby loss. I am deeply privileged to be opening this debate in the middle of national Baby Loss Awareness Week, and in advance of the international “wave of light” on Wednesday. I want to start by welcoming the bereaved families who have joined us in the Galleries, and part…
JH
Jeremy Hunt
It is a great privilege to follow the hon. Member for Rossendale and Darwen (Andy MacNae) . I thank him for working with me and the hon. Member for Sherwood Forest (Michelle Welsh) to secure the debate, and I thank my many colleagues on the all-party parliamentary group on patient safety. I would also like to thank the…
CN
Caroline Nokes
Order. I will now call the next co-sponsor of the debate. After she has spoken, there will be a five-minute time limit.
MW
Michelle Welsh
As a harmed mother from Nottinghamshire, I gave birth to my son by emergency C-section because health professionals treated me with utter contempt, ignored me and did not do as they should, and then said it was all my fault. My son was not put in my arms when he was born; instead, he was rushed over to a consultant to …
Official Secrets Act15 Sep 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
China has broken international agreements with the UK. It has placed bounties on the heads of Hongkongers seeking refuge in this country. Today’s announcement that charges have been dropped will only embolden China in its efforts to interfere with our democracy. The Minister has mentioned the effectiveness of the foreign influence registration scheme, so will… he now assure us that all relevant officials, including those in the Administration of Hong Kong, will be placed in the enhanced tier of the scheme?
Hansard · 15 Sep 2025 · parliament.uk
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Before I call the Minister, I wish to make a brief statement. I found out only this morning that the charges against the two individuals relating to espionage for the Chinese authorities were to be dropped. I do not think that is good. Of course, we do not discuss the detail of security matters relating to Parliament o…
DJ
Dan Jarvis
This morning, the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to proceed with the prosecution of Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry, who had been charged with espionage for China under the Official Secrets Act 1911. Members right across the House will be aware that the charges related to allegations of Chinese espionage …
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Home Secretary.
CP
Chris Philp
Let me start by thanking the Security Minister for the briefing and information he provided ahead of his statement. Let me also join him in paying tribute to the officers in our police force and in the security service. They work so hard and take personal risks to keep us safe. Let us start with Parliament’s Intelligen…
DJ
Dan Jarvis
Let me seek to address the shadow Home Secretary’s points. He raised the question of whether China constitutes a threat or not. I think I was very clear in the language that I used. As the right hon. Gentleman will know, and as the Government set out in the strategic defence review, China presents a “sophisticated and …
Tax Reliefs: Zero-based Review9 Sep 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of undertaking a zero-based review of all tax reliefs before the autumn Budget 2025.
Hansard · 9 Sep 2025 · parliament.uk
DT
Dan Tomlinson
Tax reliefs are an important feature of the UK tax system, and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs has invested significant resources in improving understanding of their cost and effectiveness. Since 2019, it has produced costings for 350 reliefs, including detailed analysis of the 38 largest non-structural reliefs, whic…
DT
Dan Tomlinson
It is worth noting that some 800 of the 1,200 reliefs the hon. Member mentions ensure that the tax system operates as intended by defining the scope of tax correctly and that it operates fairly and simply. I am sorry to disappoint the hon. Member, but I will not be able to comment specifically on any changes that we ma…
BD
Bobby Dean
The Minister detailed that about 350 reliefs have been assessed, but my understanding is that more than 1,200 tax reliefs are on the books, amounting to hundreds of billions of foregone revenue for the Treasury. Given that the Treasury examined the spending of all Departments in detail over the summer, I wondered wheth…
Palestine Action: Proscription and Protests8 Sep 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
I hear the distinction that the Minister is attempting to make, but the fact remains that almost 1,000 largely peaceful protesters were arrested in London this weekend. I am sure that when we look back on this, we are going to conclude that it was not only a huge waste of police resources, but a… chilling moment for free speech in this country. Given that the Government seem so convinced that these people are associated with terrorism, will they commit to publishing data on what proportion of those arrested are actually charged with terrorism-related offences?
Hansard · 8 Sep 2025 · parliament.uk
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Before we come to the urgent question, I should remind hon. Members to avoid referring directly to criminal cases that are currently before the courts. There is also an active application for judicial review relating to the proscription of Palestine Action. I have decided to grant a waiver in relation to that case, as …
SC
Stella Creasy
(Urgent Question): To ask if the Home Secretary will make a statement on the proscription of Palestine Action and public protest.
DJ
Dan Jarvis
Anyone who wishes to demonstrate about the humanitarian situation in Gaza or the actions of any Government, including our own, has the absolute freedom to gather with others and voice their views, provided that they do so within the law, but supporting Palestine and supporting a proscribed terrorist organisation are no…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Order. I do not know who is doing the speeches, but I am going to crack down on Ministers and shadow Ministers if they do not keep to three minutes. I have to get Back Benchers in. Does the Minister agree to stick to the time in the future?
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Thank you—I am glad that there is some acknowledgment.
Topical Questions17 Jul 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
We have just had our fifth consecutive month of job losses announced, and research shows that as many as 17% of companies are considering redundancies. What is the Government’s analysis of why this is happening?
Hansard · 17 Jul 2025 · parliament.uk
MV
Martin Vickers
If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
JR
Jonathan Reynolds
This has been a year of real achievement for the Department for Business and Trade. From holding our record-breaking international investment summit, which saw £63 billion committed to the UK, to intervening decisively to save British Steel’s Scunthorpe site and all the shipyards at Harland and Wolff, we have safeguard…
MV
Martin Vickers
The Secretary of State has tried to paint a glowing picture of what is happening, but I can tell him that in northern Lincolnshire there are growing concerns. There have been a number of business failures in the last few weeks in the Grimsby and Immingham areas, and he will be aware of the threat to hundreds of jobs at…
JR
Jonathan Reynolds
I am always keen to update the hon. Member and colleagues on the situation with British Steel. We have cancelled the redundancy consultation and removed the immediate risk to 2,700 jobs. We have taken on new apprentices and invested significantly in improving health and safety on the site. We have provided significant …
CA
Callum Anderson
The Government’s £500 million investment to support under-represented entrepreneurs was hugely welcomed by business leaders in my constituency, but access to capital is only part of the challenge. Many still face entrenched barriers around networks, mentoring and market access. Will the Minister set out the steps that …
Global Plastics Treaty17 Jul 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
I thank my right hon. Friend the Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) for securing this debate. Let me highlight one point that he made about the circular economy. He said that if we get the regulation and the incentives right, it would be good not only for the environment, but for business and… the economy. That is an important point to keep emphasising. I would like to use the short amount of time that I have to talk about how we can connect this global issue to our local communities. Let me start with the global problem. Every year, more than 12 million tonnes of plastic are dumped in our oceans—I did hear 11 million tonnes from my right hon. Friend. Whichever it is, it is obviously on a huge scale. This is not just a statistic; it represents an utter crisis—one that affects marine life, ecosystems, and, ultimately, us as well. To many people, a UN treaty might seem a bit abstract and remote. Some will even go as far as saying that it is not worth the debate time in this Chamber because it is too hard to imagine the average person bringing it up on the doorstep. However, I do not think that is right, because it matters and the population have shown that they care about this issue. My right hon. Friend mentioned the popularity of Attenborough’s TV documentary and how that has ignited people’s interest. I certainly have this issue raised time and again with me. People have also noticed the impact on their local environment. Unlike my right hon. Friend, I do not have oceans anywhere near my London constituency, but I have a beautiful chalk stream that runs all the way through it. People see the litter and they care about it, and they see the plastic damage in particular. We have introduced new monitoring systems to understand the damage that some of these microplastics can do. People are incredibly proud of their local surroundings, and it is not too big a step for them to think about the oceans across the world when they are thinking about their local area
Hansard · 17 Jul 2025 · parliament.uk
AC
Alistair Carmichael
I beg to move, That this House has considered the Global Plastics Treaty. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for making time available for this debate, and for allocating the debate to the main Chamber. That is an important signal that the House is in political consensus on the issue, and we attach a great deal o…
DC
Deirdre Costigan
I congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on securing this important debate. He has outlined the important global action that we need to take on plastics. Does he agree that this Government’s action to bring forward a deposit return scheme will help address some of these issues? It will ensure that we can recycle plastic…
AC
Alistair Carmichael
Yes, if it is a properly constructed, nationwide deposit return scheme. The experience in Scotland was, shall we say, not everything that it might have been. A properly constructed scheme will be critical. I see the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the hon. Member for Coventry East (Mar…
LI
Leigh Ingham
I thank the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) for securing this debate. I know he is deeply committed to this issue. I want to draw attention to a part of this crisis that is often overlooked but no less urgent: microplastics, which I know the Minister is passionate about too. These tiny fragmen…
SC
Stella Creasy
My hon. Friend is giving an incredibly powerful speech. Microplastics are also part of what we are wearing, and microfibres are a key part of the problem with plastics. I wonder if, like me, she is interested in what the French have done to get companies to disclose when microfibres are part of the material used in clo…
BD
Bobby Dean
I do agree; if we close our ears, we will miss these problems, frustrate the public and lose their support. If we listen hard, we can fix the schemes and rescue the action we want to take in this place to help the whole environment. If we do not do that, the other side will win the argument and shut down the sort of in…
BD
Bobby Dean
The hon. Gentleman is talking well about the general state of plastic in the world, but we are debating the global plastics treaty. Can he confirm whether his party supports the UK being a signatory?
BD
Bobby Dean
The EPR scheme is obviously welcome and Liberal Democrat Members know the intention, but the scheme appears to have some unintended effects. The scheme will not only impact producers but small businesses, hospitality businesses in particular, who have raised their concerns. Will the Minister continue to listen to those…
Financial Services Reform16 Jul 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
The Chancellor announced quite a list of reforms yesterday. I note that many were on the shopping list of industry, so the Committee will examine them closely to make sure they also work for the consumer and for the long-term stability of the economy. One change in particular, on ringfencing, will worry those with strong… memories of the 2008 financial crash. The shadow Economic Secretary indicated that perhaps we need to look at removing the ringfencing entirely. That would be a big step backwards. These reforms were driven by the Liberal Democrat Vince Cable, and the idea was to separate everyday customer deposits from the risks of investment banking. Will the Minister give us assurances that the hard-earned savings of families across the country will not be put at risk by the speculative activity of people playing with other people’s money?
Hansard · 16 Jul 2025 · parliament.uk
ER
Emma Reynolds
With permission, Mr Speaker, I shall update the House on the content of the Leeds reforms. The reforms encompass the Government’s financial services growth and competitiveness strategy, which is our 10-year plan for financial services. This plan will make the UK the global centre of choice for financial services invest…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Economic Secretary.
MG
Mark Garnier
I am very grateful to the Minister for advance sight of her statement. There is much in these Leeds reforms—many of which were formerly known as the Edinburgh reforms—that can be welcomed, and some of the details were laid out by the Chancellor in her Mansion House speech last night. The Conservatives will always suppo…
ER
Emma Reynolds
Well, half of that was all right, I suppose. I do want to start constructively and thank the hon. Member for his welcome for some of the reforms. I will answer some of his specific questions before I come to the wider points. On the Financial Ombudsman Service, we have set out in great detail what we will do. As he wil…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the Chair of the Treasury Committee.
New Clause 1 - Alcohol at football grounds8 Jul 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
Would the shadow Minister mind telling the House what these fashionable causes that football clubs should not speak about are?
Hansard · 8 Jul 2025 · parliament.uk
LF
Louie French
I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
JC
Judith Cummins
With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: New clause 2—Duty not to promote or engage in advertising and sponsorship related to gambling— “A regulated club or English football competition must not promote or engage in advertising or sponsorship related to gambling.” This new clause prevents regulated clu…
LF
Louie French
I also put on record my thanks to Lord Tebbit for his life of service to both our country and our party. He will be dearly missed by us all. In opening today’s proceedings, I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. It is a privilege to speak on Report for the countless fa…
CB
Clive Betts
Would the shadow Minister like to join me in thanking the shadow Secretary of State, his right hon. Friend the Member for Daventry (Stuart Andrew) , for first introducing legislation to this House that promoted an independent football regulator? [Interruption.]
LF
Louie French
As the shadow Secretary of State says from a sedentary position, “You’ve messed it all up”, and I am sure that does not apply just to football. Before I move on to our amendments, it is worth reminding ourselves how we got here. English football was not invented by corporate lawyers or politicians. Its origins are in t…
BD
Bobby Dean
I rise to speak in favour of the amendments tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Cheltenham (Max Wilkinson) , specifically new clauses 3 and 4. I will start by outlining why these fan-centric measures are important to this particular fan and why football is important to me. Football has been the most constant thing …
Government Performance against Fiscal Rules7 Jul 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
The Government committed to one fiscal event a year in the name of economic stability, but by having an OBR forecast and these constraints, they had only one lever to pull: spending cuts. This time, disabled people paid the price, and the Government have since had to row back. Does the Government regret placing those… restraints on themselves over tax measures when OBR forecasts are published?
Hansard · 7 Jul 2025 · parliament.uk
MS
Mel Stride
(Urgent Question): To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if she will make a statement on the Government’s performance against the fiscal rules.
DJ
Darren Jones
As the shadow Chancellor knows, it is a long-standing convention of this and previous Governments not to provide a running commentary on a fiscal forecast, and it is for the independent Office for Budget Responsibility to assess performance against the Government’s fiscal rules in its official economic and fiscal forec…
MS
Mel Stride
The Chancellor said that she would not make any commitments that were not “fully funded and fully costed”, but the Chief Secretary to the Treasury has just said that he now expects us to wait until the autumn to hear how the Government intend to cover the £6 billion of unfunded commitments that their U-turns have run u…
CN
Caroline Nokes
Order. The shadow Chancellor will know the time limit. I am sure that this will be his last sentence.
MS
Mel Stride
It certainly is now, Madam Deputy Speaker. If Ministers are to begin putting their house back in order, that must start right now with full transparency and proper answers.
High Net Worth Individuals1 Jul 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the data her Department holds on high net worth individuals.
Hansard · 1 Jul 2025 · parliament.uk
JM
James Murray
His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs uses a range of data sources to monitor the wealthy population. International exchanges of information, including the common reporting standard and US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act data, offer opportunities to develop deeper insight into the international financial affairs of some…
JM
James Murray
When considering fiscal measures or financial changes, the figures that matter are those provided by the Office for Budget Responsibility. The OBR has certified that the non-dom reforms that the Government have implemented will raise £33.8 billion in total revenue, and that figure accounts for some non-doms who are ine…
JS
Jeevun Sandher
Public investment makes us all more prosperous, but clearly that public investment, in our roads, rail and energy infrastructure, needs to be paid for. Will the Minister set out how we are funding that public investment by taxing the very richest people in this country?
JM
James Murray
My hon. Friend is absolutely correct that our changes to the non-dom reporting regime are essential to raise billions of pounds to support the public finances and get our public services back on their feet. I contrast that with some of the proposals set out by opposition parties. Indeed, Reform UK’s plans are for a tax…
MG
Mark Garnier
In her Budget last year, the Chancellor tucked away about £10 billion over the next couple of years from reform to the non-dom tax regime. It is important to remember that the OBR said in its fiscal outlook that that figure was “highly uncertain”, and a high-level survey by Oxford Economics found that fully two thirds …
BD
Bobby Dean
The Minister will no doubt be aware of reports of the so-called exodus of millionaires. Those reports are from “high profile individuals” and city spokespeople, but there are rarely hard numbers behind them. Are Treasury Ministers able to verify the Tax Justice Network’s research that says that just 0.3% of millionaire…
Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill1 Jul 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
I cannot proceed with my speech without putting on record my admiration for the hon. Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge (Dr Tidball) . She made a courageous and passionate speech, and I hope that all Members listened to it very carefully. Let me start on a personal note. My dad is currently receiving PIP. He… has been a proud scaffolder throughout his life, and Members should trust me when I say that he is not happy to be sitting at home. He would much rather be contributing to society, but his hips are giving up on him, and the NHS waiting lists are so long that he has been told he has no choice but to stay at home. Home life is difficult. He does not score four points on any particular measure, but he cannot move around as he used to, and he needs support to manage the basics. PIP does not solve everything, but it gives him dignity and independence, helping him to live his life while he waits for treatment. Cutting his entitlement will not incentivise him back into work. He needs no incentive. He just needs treatment. Following the Government’s recent announcement, I understand that my dad will no longer lose out, but the next person like him will. The Secretary of State talked earlier about a better tomorrow, but her proposals mean discounting the value of tomorrow’s disabled, suggesting they are less worthy of support than today’s. It is for that reason that I still cannot support the Bill. Let me be clear. I agree that the welfare bill is too high, but we have to look at why that is. It is not because we have suddenly become a workshy nation, but because we have become less well. If the Government were serious about reducing the welfare bill, they would focus solely on fixing the root causes: chronic ill health, a broken social care system, and a mental health crisis among young people. While the Bill does good things—and I am sure that the reviews to come will propose more good things—to address the reasons for people being out of work, that is not its prima
Hansard · 1 Jul 2025 · parliament.uk
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
The reasoned amendment in the name of Rachael Maskell has been selected.
LK
Liz Kendall
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. This Bill and our wider welfare reforms seek to fix the broken benefits system that we inherited from the Conservatives and deliver a better life for millions of people across our country. Our plans are rooted in principles and values that I know many in this Hous…
LK
Liz Kendall
Let me make some progress. I do not believe that this is sustainable if we want a welfare state for generations to come that protects people who most need our help. There is nothing compassionate about leaving millions of people who could work without the help they need to build a better life. There is no route to equa…
PH
Paul Holmes
The Secretary of State is absolutely right that any Government that take office should aim to reduce poverty in this country. Why then do her own Government’s figures show that the actions she is taking this afternoon will put an extra 150,000 people into poverty? Does she really think that is what her Back Benchers ex…
LK
Liz Kendall
That is what they call chutzpah, seeing as Conservative Members put an extra 900,000 children into poverty. This Government are determined to tackle child poverty and will take 100,000 children out of poverty through our plans to extend free school meals to every household on universal credit—a downpayment on our child…
BD
Bobby Dean
Will the hon. Member give way?
Business of the House26 Jun 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
I join the Leader of the House in congratulating the Deputy Speakers on their birthdays, and in celebrating our armed forces. Earlier this year, when the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions announced the welfare reforms, her argument to this House was that they were all about getting people back into work. That argument… was undermined somewhat by the timing; in the spring statement the following week, we discovered that the £5 billion saving we achieve from the welfare reforms makes up fully half of the fiscal headroom that the Chancellor is relying on. When we take a closer look at the reforms, we find that most of the savings are generated by changes to the eligibility criteria for the personal independence payment. Entitlement to PIP is given to those in work, those out of work and those unable to work. It follows that many of those who stand to lose out as a result of the reforms will not be incentivised into work, because they will already be in work, or will be unable to join the workforce any time soon. No wonder, then, that when the Bill was published last week, there was condemnation from all sides of the House. If the books need to be balanced, we need to make sure that they are not balanced on the backs of the disabled. The Leader of the House will be well aware of all the rumours circulating around this place that the Government are preparing to make concessions on the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill. What is the procedure for doing that? We understand that a reasoned amendment, if one is tabled, would kill the Bill off entirely. What are the options for the Government to make concessions? Will they have to withdraw the Bill and re-present it, or is there some other mechanism by which they can make compromises with their Back Benchers before next week?
Hansard · 26 Jun 2025 · parliament.uk
JN
Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
LP
Lucy Powell
I shall. The business for the week commencing 30 June includes: Monday 30 June —Second Reading of the Deprivation of Citizenship Orders (Effect during Appeal) Bill. Tuesday 1 July —Second Reading of the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill. Wednesday 2 July —Consideration of Lords message to the Arme…
JN
Jesse Norman
I am afraid to say that the past week has been another horror show for the Government. This is Armed Forces Week, as the House will know. It is a time to celebrate and champion all those who serve and have served in our armed forces, and nowhere more than in my own county of Herefordshire. We must also note that, far f…
JN
Jesse Norman
Ah, okay. I am very sorry to say that the Leader of the House has corrected me. She is, in fact, a union member and therefore fully complicit in the same problem. The Treasury itself is now the only hold-out against union demands. Little wonder the Chancellor has looked so unhappy and out of sorts—and that was before t…
LP
Lucy Powell
May I start by wishing two Deputy Speakers a happy birthday? [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”] As the right hon. Gentleman said, this is Armed Forces Week, when we thank and show our support for the men and women who serve, or who have served, in our armed forces over many years. It is nice to see the right hon. Gentleman …
Spending Review 202511 Jun 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
Last year, during the mayoral election, Sadiq Khan claimed that a Labour mayor working with a Labour Government would be a game changer for the city, but just now he has released a statement criticising the spending review for underfunding the Met police, failing to invest in our transport infrastructure, and potentially making the housing… crisis in our capital worse. Was Sadiq Khan wrong to put his trust in this Labour Government?
Hansard · 11 Jun 2025 · parliament.uk
RR
Rachel Reeves
My driving purpose since I became Chancellor is to make working people in all parts of our country better off, to rebuild our schools and our hospitals, and to invest in our economy so that everyone has the opportunity to succeed after 14 years of mismanagement and decline by the party opposite, culminating in a £22 bi…
MS
Mel Stride
This spending review is not worth the paper it is written on, because the Chancellor has completely lost control. This is the “spend now, tax later” review, because the right hon. Lady knows that she will need to come back here in the autumn with yet more taxes, and a cruel summer of speculation awaits. How can we poss…
RR
Rachel Reeves
I will address the shadow Chancellor’s specific points in a moment, but I want to start by acknowledging the progress he has made. After all, it has been quite a week for him. Last Thursday, he gave a speech saying that it will “take time” for his party to win back trust on the economy. Today he showed us how far he an…
JC
Judith Cummins
Order. I need to be able to hear, and I am sure our constituents also want to hear.
RR
Rachel Reeves
The shadow Chancellor said: “The credibility of the UK’s economic framework was undermined by spending billions…with no proper plan for how this would be paid for.” I could not put it better myself. He could have gone a lot further. For example, he could not even bring himself to mention Liz Truss by name—Stride by nam…
New Clause 69 - Examination of applications for development consent9 Jun 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
The hon. Member has made some excellent points about the need to set a target for social homes. I believe that the destruction of council house stock is one of the most regressive actions that the country has ever taken, and that we need to replenish that stock as a matter of urgency. However, I… fear that 90,000 a year is not enough. Does she agree that we need to aim for 150,000?
Hansard · 9 Jun 2025 · parliament.uk
MP
Matthew Pennycook
I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
NG
Nusrat Ghani
With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: New clause 1—Steps to be taken when exercising functions under Part 3— “When exercising any function or fulfilling any duty under Part 3 of this Act, the Secretary of State and Natural England must take all reasonable steps to— (a) avoid, prevent and reduce any …
MP
Matthew Pennycook
It is a real pleasure to bring this landmark Bill back to the House on Report. Let me begin by thanking hon. Members on both sides of the Chamber for their engagement with the Bill over recent months. In particular, I thank the hon. Members for Hamble Valley (Paul Holmes), for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (David Simmo…
JS
Jim Shannon
I declare an interest as a member of the Ulster Farmers Union, the mother body of which is the National Farmers Union. Others will comment on this, but the UFU has told me that it is concerned about losing farmland for housing. Should it not be the policy of Government to ensure that brownfield sites are used first? If…
MP
Matthew Pennycook
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention—he knows I have great affection for him. He tempts me into a debate that does not directly relate to the Bill, but I can tell him the following: the Government’s position is brownfield-first when it comes to development. He knows that we strengthened the national plannin…
Engagements14 May 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
The plans to upgrade St Helier hospital, including the delivery of a new specialist emergency care building, have been put back by 10 years. I am talking to the trust about a way to bring all or part of those plans forward, but in the meantime there is a very real fear that some of… the buildings on the existing estate are at risk of catastrophic failure before the decade is out. Will the Government reassure me that they will work with the local trust on a plan to maintain and adapt the existing estate to ensure that St Helier hospital can survive all the way through to the completion of the major works?
Hansard · 14 May 2025 · parliament.uk
LB
Lorraine Beavers
If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 14 May.
KS
Keir Starmer
Over the past week, we have secured a historic trade deal with India and a landmark agreement with the United States, protecting and creating British jobs, slashing tariffs and driving economic growth. We have also published a White Paper setting out how this Government will end the open borders experiment of the Conse…
LB
Lorraine Beavers
Fourteen years of Conservative cuts have stripped the Environment Agency of the resources and the staff it needs to properly deal with badly managed landfill sites blighting communities like mine. The Jameson Road landfill site in my constituency of Blackpool North and Fleetwood has been producing toxic stenches for mo…
KS
Keir Starmer
I love the fact that when anyone says 14 years of a Conservative Government, Opposition Members all go, “Oh no.” That is how the country feels. Once again, a hard-working Labour MP is clearing up the mess that was left behind. My hon. Friend’s residents deserve far better, and we expect rapid improvements. We are close…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the Leader of the Opposition.
Topical Questions13 May 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
Nearly every single child is at risk of famine in Gaza as the Israeli Government use starvation as a weapon of war. We have heard from Ministers today about the action that the Government have taken so far, but there are still some actions that they have not taken, including the recognition of Palestine as… a state, individual sanction and a total suspension of arms to Israel. If now is not the time to take those actions, when will that be?
Hansard · 13 May 2025 · parliament.uk
EM
Edward Morello
If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
DL
David Lammy
Through agile diplomacy, the Government are striking new deals in the national interest, with trade agreements with the United States and India, the first ever UK-EU summit next week and intense efforts to deal with conflicts around the world. Yesterday, I hosted the Weimar+ group of European leaders in support of Ukra…
EM
Edward Morello
The Foreign Affairs Committee recently heard from the Falkland Islands Government about the urgent need for the UK Government to use the EU-UK reset as an opportunity to remove the detrimental post-Brexit tariffs on Falklands exports. What discussions has the Secretary of State had with his Department and European coun…
DL
David Lammy
I reassure the hon. Gentleman that we are always seeking to reduce tariff burdens for our overseas territories, and we are in ongoing discussions with the European Union in particular.
BC
Bambos Charalambous
Alawite, Druze and Christian minority communities in Syria are still living in fear of attacks from militiamen. What steps are the Government taking to put pressure on the Syrian Government to prevent any further attacks?
Licences and Licensing30 Apr 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
I speak on behalf of my party when I say that we join everybody in supporting this order, which will provide communities the opportunity to celebrate in many different ways across the country. Whether it be street parties, private gatherings or, indeed, going down the pub, people will want to mark the occasion in their… own way and ultimately honour those who gave such sacrifices towards for our country. They fought for our democracy, our freedom and our way of life 80 years ago, and that should never be forgotten. Of course, the order will also provide a boost to our local hospitality industry. We have many great pubs in Carshalton and Wallington, and I am going to try to name them all, if I can. We have the Butterchurn, the Railway Tavern, the Hope, the Sun, the Racehorse, the Greyhound and the Windsor Castle. We have the Coach and Horses, the Woodman, and the Cryer Arts. We have the Duke’s Head, the Whispering Moon, the Star, and the Harvest Home—I am a hostage to fortune here, I know. We also have the Dog House and the Plough, and we have the Jack & Jill, which is occasionally closed, but we are hoping to keep it open permanently. I will not say I am going to go to all those pubs on VE day, but I do try to go to many of them as often as I can. Finally, I would just like to say a personal thanks because of something else that is happening that day. I am sure the Prime Minister will be particularly pleased to know that Tottenham are playing in Europe that night, and that if we win—if we get victory in Europe of our own—then we will be through to the Europa league final. I am sure many Spurs fans will appreciate the opportunity to stay out a little bit longer that evening, too, so I want to thank the Government for introducing this order. It is utterly appropriate to mark the occasion—it is in the national interest, and it is in my personal interest, too. Question put and agreed to.
Hansard · 30 Apr 2025 · parliament.uk
DJ
Diana R. Johnson
I beg to move, That the draft Licensing Act 2003 (Victory in Europe Day Licensing Hours) Order 2025, which was laid before this House on 23 April , be approved. Next week marks the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, which was of course a hugely significant and consequential moment in our country’s history. Afte…
HC
Harriet Cross
I hope it will be apparent that all Members of the House strongly support this motion. Certainly those of us on the Opposition Benches welcome the opportunity for pubs and other licensed venues across the country to stay open late to commemorate VE day without incurring any cost to extend their licences. As time passes…
JC
Judith Cummins
I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
UK-US Trade and Tariffs3 Apr 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
In answers to questions so far, the Secretary of State seems to have dismissed the threat of the US trade negotiations to the safety of our children. I am sure he has seen the abandonment of content moderation on social media platforms and heard what Trump, J. D. Vance and Musk have said about free… speech in our country: what they mean is the freedom of US social media giants to keep our children addicted to their platforms, no matter how harmful the content. I know the Secretary of State says that he does not want to get into the specifics of the negotiations, but is the Online Safety Act 2023 part of those negotiations, or will he take the opportunity to rule that out?
Hansard · 3 Apr 2025 · parliament.uk
JR
Jonathan Reynolds
With permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like to make a statement on the United Kingdom’s economic relationship with the United States. The UK has a strong and balanced trading relationship with the US worth £315 billion, which supports 2.5 million jobs across both our countries. This is second only to the EU, wh…
NG
Nusrat Ghani
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
AG
Andrew Griffith
I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of his statement. Businesses, workers and their families woke up this morning with greater fear and more uncertainty about their future. Tariffs make us all poorer by pushing up costs, suppressing demand and making the pound in our pocket buy less of the things we need. …
JR
Jonathan Reynolds
I thank the shadow Secretary of State for his response and his tone in responding. I recognise his commitment to free trade and the case he has made for it. I believe it is something we broadly share. He asks for honesty—that is always good in Parliament—but he is a little bit flippant about the position we find oursel…
AD
Anneliese Dodds
Workers at BMW at Cowley are deeply concerned by the recent news. BMW is right that a trade war would have no benefits. The Secretary of State is right to engage calmly with his US counterparts, but what discussions has he had with his EU counterparts, given how integrated our automotive sector is with that of EU count…
UK Democracy: Impact of Digital Platforms3 Apr 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
I thank the hon. Member for Lagan Valley (Sorcha Eastwood) for an excellent opening speech. It almost made me feel like putting down my own speech, because I thought there was nothing more I could contribute. I thank her so much for that introduction. It is worth saying that the people who will be speaking… in this debate are probably not fearful of technology itself. I consider myself a digital native: I grew up with MSM and Myspace, and I enjoy the connectivity that social media brings to us all. It has transformed our society in ways that are for the good, but without a doubt we do have a problem: we have a big problem with content, we have a big problem with addiction, and, as the hon. Lady articulated so clearly, we have a problem with power. I will begin with content. There has been a huge rise in the level of hate, misogyny, violence and pornography we are seeing on our social media feeds. I am certain that I am not imagining that. I am sure that the stuff that pops up on my “For you” feed on X was not there a few years ago, prior to Musk’s ownership. The sorts of things that have been pushed towards me as a youngish man are an absolute disgrace. A few months ago, there was a knife crime incident in my community, just yards away from my office. The footage of it circulated online within minutes. Again, I am sure I am not kidding myself that a handful of years ago that piece of content would eventually have been taken down. Today, Meta-Facebook has shown no interest in taking that down. That shocking footage is still circulating around my community, and shame on them for that. That sort of content rises to the top of algorithms because it is emotionally charged: it disgusts, it enrages and it sparks fear. That works for social media companies, because that is how they generate their profit. When we apply that kind of emotionally charged content to news, it is no longer judged by its veracity or the insight it provides, but by its ability to provoke, with the re
Hansard · 3 Apr 2025 · parliament.uk
SE
Sorcha Eastwood
I beg to move, That this House has considered the impact of digital platforms on UK democracy. I am grateful to the Backbench Business Committee for the opportunity to host this debate today, and I thank the sponsors and Members here present for supporting it. I begin by paying tribute to Jo Cox and Sir David Amess, tw…
LC
Liam Conlon
I congratulate the hon. Member on securing this debate, and on all the campaign work that she is doing. Does she agree that although there are some fantastic examples of social media being used positively to enhance democracy and political participation, this is often reliant on benevolent and honest owners, and that o…
SE
Sorcha Eastwood
Absolutely, and that is a really timely point. We should not outsource our children’s safety to social media companies. Indeed, we heard in a previous statement about the impact of content moderation and how it may or not form part of discussions on trade agreements as we move forward. When I sat in a room with all the…
LS
Lisa Smart
I thank the hon. Lady for the clear way that she is laying out some of the issues that we are talking about today. I am lucky enough to be a vice chair of the all-party parliamentary group for fair elections, and one of our strands of work is on tackling myths and disinformation. One of the calls I have heard is that, …
SE
Sorcha Eastwood
I thank the hon. Member for her comments, and I completely agree that that is the bare minimum that they should do. A report by Hope Not Hate found that almost 90% of boys aged 16 to 18 in the UK have consumed content from Andrew Tate. On Elon Musk’s X, a platform that has dismantled its trust and safety teams, Tate’s …
Adoption Breakdown3 Apr 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way; the number of interventions he has taken shows how important this debate is to the House. I, too, have had adoptive parents come to my surgery who are going through a breakdown, and they have told me that their experience of adoption was better in… the past because they used to have a named person supporting them at the council. That council service has merged with those of eight other boroughs, so it is now a nine-borough service. Adoptive parents no longer have a named contact, and they have to go through a central hotline. Does my hon. Friend agree that the adoption breakdown rate is increasing partly because of the funding environment for local government, and that we need to improve that first to get this service fixed?
Hansard · 3 Apr 2025 · parliament.uk
TG
Tom Gordon
I am pleased to have secured this debate on this important issue, which is rarely discussed, yet profoundly impacts thousands of families across the UK: the crisis of adopted children leaving the family home prematurely. I want to highlight this issue of adoption breakdown, which sometimes might be days, months or even…
SD
Steve Darling
The issues that my hon. Friend raises are spot on. Would he agree that the more trauma-informed training we have within schools, the better these young people will be able to be accepted and supported within schools, rather than potentially demonised?
TG
Tom Gordon
I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention, and I will come on to that important point later in my speech. A major challenge in tackling adoption breakdown is the lack of reliable data. We have little understanding of the true scale of the problem, making it hard to assess the effectiveness of current policies or pla…
LC
Liam Conlon
I have met a number of adoption charities and organisations in Beckenham and Penge, and they have told me that adoption breakdown can lead to significant emotional trauma for children and adoptive parents, and many other implications. Does he agree on the need to bring local authorities, Government and families togethe…
TG
Tom Gordon
The hon. Member raises an excellent point. That is exactly the case, and I have heard exactly those points from many adoption charities across the UK. Our focus must also be on trying to make sure that there are clearer policies and improved support systems, and addressing the gaps is the only way to reduce adoption br…
BD
Bobby Dean
It is great to hear the Minister’s support for the fund, but this year it was allowed to expire before it was renewed. Can we have assurances that we will get much better notice next time about the renewal of the fund?
Croydon Area Remodelling Funding: Brighton Mainline31 Mar 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
The hon. Lady is making an excellent case for solving the Croydon bottleneck, as it is known. As she has outlined, it affects not only her area of Croydon, but my area of Carshalton and Wallington—the hon. Member and I have seen each other on the train on the way into this place. Does she… agree that public transport and train demand in particular can be affected by the frequency and reliability of the services? If we were to fix this problem, that could actually increase the demand for train use in our areas, which would be a good thing not only for the economy, but for the environment.
Hansard · 31 Mar 2025 · parliament.uk
NI
Natasha Irons
I am grateful for the opportunity to raise this important issue in the House. At this time on a Monday night, Members may not find the prospect of discussing the Croydon area remodelling scheme, or CARS, the most exciting way to spend their time, but I can assure them that it is. The scheme is not just about providing …
NG
Nusrat Ghani
I look forward to hearing how Mr Shannon’s intervention relates to the Croydon area remodelling scheme and the Brighton main line.
JS
Jim Shannon
The most important thing, Madam Deputy Speaker, is to congratulate the hon. Lady on securing the debate. I spoke to her beforehand to try to help her in some small way. Does she agree that years of underspending on public transport have left railway and bus services drowning in repair work, and that if the Government w…
NI
Natasha Irons
I agree with the hon. Gentleman: sustainable long-term funding is the only way for any area outside London to grow sustainably. In addition, CARS would see significant improvement to East Croydon station, Britain’s 21st most used station, by adding two new platforms, a larger concourse to improve facilities for passeng…
NI
Natasha Irons
I absolutely agree that once people get into the doom loop of thinking that the train is not going to arrive, they find other routes or stick to their cars. If we can improve rail performance in every region across the country, I am sure we will see passenger numbers also go back up to those pre-pandemic levels, and ev…
Spring Statement26 Mar 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
The OBR said that the information it received on the package of welfare cuts was late, contained insufficient detail and that the estimates are highly uncertain, and it will now have to certify them in the next forecast. Can the Chancellor confirm whether that means the Government will have to go further, with even deeper… cuts to welfare than they have so far announced?
Hansard · 26 Mar 2025 · parliament.uk
RR
Rachel Reeves
This Labour Government were elected to bring change to our country, to provide security for working people and to deliver a decade of national renewal. That work began in July, and I am proud of what we have delivered in just nine months: restoring stability to our public finances, giving the Bank of England the founda…
MS
Mel Stride
At the last Budget, the right hon. Lady said that she would bring stability to the public finances, but this statement, more appropriately referred to as an emergency Budget, has brought her to a cold—[Interruption.]
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Order. Rightly, I wanted to hear the Chancellor, and I now want to hear the shadow Chancellor. [Interruption.] I do not need any help.
MS
Mel Stride
This emergency Budget has brought the right hon. Lady to a cold hard reckoning. She has become fond recently of talking about the world having changed, and indeed it has. This country was growing at the fastest rate in the G7 only about a year ago. Just as the OECD, the Bank of England and other forecasters—including, …
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Order. I am not sure about the language being used. I think there are better and more constructive words that the shadow Chancellor would prefer to use in future.
Topical Questions24 Mar 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
Concerns have been growing over China’s aggression in the Indo-Pacific region. Given the strategic importance of the Taiwan strait to global security, what has been the Department’s response to those rising tensions?
Hansard · 24 Mar 2025 · parliament.uk
GJ
Gurinder Josan
If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
JH
John Healey
A lot has happened since the last defence oral questions six weeks ago. The Prime Minister announced the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the cold war, hitting 2.5% of GDP by 2027 and 3% in the next Parliament. I chaired the Ukraine defence contact group of nearly 50 countries—the first E…
GJ
Gurinder Josan
The Government’s commitment to use defence procurement to strengthen our industrial sector is welcome. Will the Secretary of State please outline how the Government are supporting local manufacturers across the UK and ensuring that defence contracts contribute to long-term industrial growth and job creation? In particu…
JH
John Healey
My hon. Friend is right that SMEs are often the drivers of productivity and innovation. We recently announced that we will be setting targets for an increasing share of defence contracts to go to SMEs, alongside the formation of a new defence innovation office.
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
New Clause 18 - Corporate parenting responsibilities17 Mar 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
I rise to speak in favour of new clause 35 and amendment 174, both in my name, as well as the amendments tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Munira Wilson) . The Corporate Parenting Forum was one of the more enjoyable committees I was on when I was a local councillor. I… agree with the hon. Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) that the forum has quite a cold name, given all the warm work that it does. It shows the dedication of social workers, the compassion of foster carers and adoptive parents, and the resilience and character of the children. However, anyone involved in that forum would also have seen that the hard work of those involved was often undermined by a system that held people back from caring to the best of their ability. I am pleased that the Bill will make significant progress in that regard. However, there are areas where it could go further, and I intend to speak about a couple of them. One area of particular interest to me is the so-called care cliff edge. Those leaving the care system at 18 are forced to grow up so much faster than their peers. I have raised the issue on the Floor of the House before—in particular the age differential for universal credit. That impacts young care leavers far more than any other group. The Bill seeks to lessen the care cliff edge. The “staying close” support requirements are of particular of interest to me, as is strengthening the support provided up to the age of 25. However, there is an anomaly on housing. I understand that the Government may accept that care leavers should not be regarded as becoming homeless intentionally, but my new clause 35 would go a step further and extend priority need status under the homelessness legislation to all care leavers up to the age of 25, regardless of all assessed vulnerabilities. The Bill provides that status to young care leavers aged 18 to 20, but that is out of line with the rest of the support available to young care leavers. Given all we know ab
Hansard · 17 Mar 2025 · parliament.uk
SM
Stephen Morgan
I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
NG
Nusrat Ghani
With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: Government new clause 19—Cases in which duty under section (Corporate parenting responsibilities)(1) does not apply. Government new clause 20—Corporate parenting duty: collaborative working. Government new clause 21—Duty to have regard to guidance. Government ne…
SM
Stephen Morgan
I start by thanking all hon. and right hon. Members for their valuable contributions during the passage of the Bill to date, and in particular, members of the Public Bill Committee for providing substantial debate and scrutiny. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill is a landmark Bill and a key piece of legislation …
JS
Jim Shannon
I welcome what the Minister says. Last week, some of us had the opportunity to attend an event where Jamie Oliver was present. He is dyslexic, and he made a point that I think we need to recognise: those with dyslexia, autism and challenging educational behaviours also need to be helped. Will a section of the populatio…
SM
Stephen Morgan
The hon. Member is a tireless champion for children and young people, and he regularly writes to me even though education is a devolved matter. I will say a bit more later about the support available for children with special educational needs and disabilities. He will know that SEND is at a crisis point, and this Gove…
Prison Leavers: Resettlement11 Mar 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of ensuring that all prison leavers receive resettlement support from mentors.
Hansard · 11 Mar 2025 · parliament.uk
ND
Nicholas Dakin
The Ministry of Justice recognises the benefits of mentoring in resettlement and is currently reviewing our approach to peer mentoring to make sure it is consistent and effective. There are many excellent organisations delivering a range of peer-led rehabilitation support, including Ingeus, Wizer and the Wise Group.
ND
Nicholas Dakin
I applaud the work that the hon. Member describes. It is certainly the sort of work that needs to continue. Overall, the levels of homelessness and rough sleeping that we have inherited are far too high. We are working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to develop a long-term strateg…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the Chair of the Select Committee.
AS
Andrew Slaughter
As part of the Justice Committee’s work on rehabilitation, I have come across some excellent projects on preventing reoffending, such as Revolving Doors, Peer Support and Key4Life, that use reformed ex-offenders as mentors. On a visit to Wormwood Scrubs prison last month, I saw the Right Course restaurant, which gets a…
ND
Nicholas Dakin
I thank the Chair of the Select Committee for his identification of these very good actions that are going on within the prison estate. The Prison Service is keen to encourage all this sort of activity, and I will follow this up with my hon. Friend directly.
BD
Bobby Dean
At my surgery a couple of weeks ago, I had two fantastic volunteers show up from Sutton Night Watch, a local homeless charity. They had been working with prisoners, both before and after they left their cells, to help them reintegrate into the community. They are doing fantastic work, but they now need to expand. They …
Financial Education6 Feb 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
I am not quite sure how I am supposed to follow the hon. Member for Harlow (Chris Vince) . He was extremely entertaining and informative. I wish to thank the hon. Member for Broadland and Fakenham (Jerome Mayhew) for securing this debate. He spoke with passion and empathy for those who are struggling with financial… literacy and made sure that this House knows how important that topic is. All Members in this House have probably at some point come across somebody—perhaps a constituent on a doorstep, a family member or a friend—who says that people just do not get taught what they need to know in life at school. That is overdone slightly; the fundamentals of maths, science and literacy do serve us well in life, but there is truth in that statement. Some of the hard, practical, daily challenges of adulthood are often not addressed properly, at least not in an applied way, during our education. Nowhere is this more apparent than in financial literacy, which is, of course, distinct from numeracy. It is not just about adding and subtracting, or even working out percentages, but budgeting, debt management, saving for the future and investing. These are things that can empower people to make better decisions for their lives and set them up to achieve their goals. But we let people down when we view these skills as specialist rather than essential. Let me focus on two elements in particular: investing and debt. The British seem to have a big problem with investing. There is an assumption that it is for traders or the rich, and our national conversation tends to shy away from it. Pensions is about the only arena in which it is discussed properly, but even then it is kind of pushed to the back of our minds. It is all about auto-enrolment and it is dealt with out of sight by others. I wish to pick up on the point made by the hon. Member for Swindon North (Will Stone) about how few of the self-employed invest in their own pensions. That certainly happened to my parents who were s
Hansard · 6 Feb 2025 · parliament.uk
JM
Jerome Mayhew
I beg to move, That this House has considered financial education. I refer to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests; I am the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on financial education for young people. Many members of that august body are on the Benches today, and it is worth pointing out tha…
JC
Judith Cummins
Order. I will start with an informal five-minute time limit; Members can help each other.
CH
Claire Hazelgrove
I thank the hon. Member for Broadland and Fakenham (Jerome Mayhew) , the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on financial education for young people, for securing this debate. I should first declare not only my interests—I am vice-chair of the APPG, and have been a trustee of Girlguiding Bristol and South Glouce…
PB
Peter Bedford
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Broadland and Fakenham (Jerome Mayhew) for bringing this immensely important debate before the House. I am sure that hon. Members will have seen the Barclays bank television advert explaining how money habits and behaviours are formed in young people by the age of seven, but Govern…
WS
Will Stone
I thank the hon. Member for Broadland and Fakenham (Jerome Mayhew) for bringing forward this important debate on something that we do not discuss enough. I was not hugely knowledgeable on it until my partner became a financial adviser; we have lots of financial discussions now. More often than not, she is telling me th…
Social Security Benefits4 Feb 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
The hon. Gentleman makes an excellent point about the long-term benefits to the economy from treating the benefits system seriously. Does he agree that that applies to the two-child cap as well because if we were to remove that not only would we lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty, which is inherently… a good thing, but we would also improve health and education outcomes and ultimately make a more productive population over the long run?
Hansard · 4 Feb 2025 · parliament.uk
ST
Stephen Timms
I beg to move, That the draft Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 2025, which was laid before this House on 15 January , be approved.
NG
Nusrat Ghani
With this it will be convenient to discuss the following motion: That the draft Guaranteed Minimum Pensions Increase Order 2025, which was laid before this House on 16 January , be approved.
ST
Stephen Timms
In my view, the instruments are compatible with the European convention on human rights. The draft Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 2025 will increase relevant state pension rates by 4.1%, in line with the growth in average earnings in the year to May to July 2024. It will increase most other benefit rates by 1…
LE
Luke Evans
On clarification, can the Minister clarify for how much longer the state pension will be taxed? The Conservative Government stood for election on a commitment to the triple lock plus. We lost the election, but we were going to take out that fiscal drag. Can the Minister explain how long that tax will stay in place?
ST
Stephen Timms
My understanding, from what the Leader of the Opposition has said, is that the Conservative party is no longer committed to the triple lock, let alone the triple lock plus. I can tell the hon. Member that we do not have any plans to do what he suggests.
Growing the UK Economy29 Jan 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
The whole House supports a focus on growth, which is good for our prosperity and key to funding our public services. However, growth has not only a rate but a direction, and how we seek to achieve growth is about choices. If we choose to back measures that undermine our net zero targets, we may… be going for growth today with severe consequences for tomorrow. How do the Government justify their choice to back Heathrow expansion over more sustainable rail transport projects across the country?
Hansard · 29 Jan 2025 · parliament.uk
DJ
Darren Jones
With your permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to update the House on the Government’s work to unlock investment and secure economic growth. That is the No. 1 mission of this Government. Without growth, we cannot deliver on the priorities of the British people, cut NHS waiting lists, rebuild our schools or put more pol…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer.
MS
Mel Stride
The Chief Secretary told us that growth is the No. 1 mission of this Government and added, “Now we must go faster”, which I have to tell him suggests a certain lack of ambition. What we do not need is some hasty mañana moment of unquantified, vague promises of a better tomorrow; we need action now to reverse the grievo…
DJ
Darren Jones
The House is indebted to the shadow Chancellor—Mr Melmentum himself—for his lecture on the need for speed from this Government. Let me tell him that we have done more in the last six or seven months than that lot did in the last 14 years. The shadow Chancellor asked me about our plans to work with business. The comment…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the Chair of the Treasury Committee.
New Clause 18 - Special provision in charges schemes28 Jan 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
I fear that the Government’s drive for growth has meant that they have become fearful of the tough regulation that my hon. Friend suggests. They see it only as an impediment, instead of the basis for a stable economy. Does he agree that weak regulation is not only bad for consumers and for the environment,… but also for investment over the long run?
Hansard · 28 Jan 2025 · parliament.uk
EH
Emma Hardy
I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
NG
Nusrat Ghani
With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: New clause 1—Water Restoration Fund— “(1) No more than 60 days after the day on which this Act is passed, the Secretary of State must by regulations make provision for the establishment, operation and management of a Water Restoration Fund. (2) A Water Restorati…
EH
Emma Hardy
What a delight it is to be back in the Chamber debating this transformational Bill. I will keep my opening comments brief, because I know that many want to speak, and I will respond to amendments tabled by hon. Members when closing this debate after hon. Members have spoken to them, as is established practice. I want t…
JH
John Hayes
I am grateful to the Minister for giving way and for her ongoing discussions about drainage and local authorities and other water-related matters. On the issue of water poverty, can she confirm that, either as part of the Bill or as an adjunct to it, when water companies fail to deliver an adequate service in new build…
EH
Emma Hardy
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his intervention and also for the many times that he has talked to me about internal drainage boards since I became a Minister. On his question, if customers are not getting the service to which they are entitled, that is absolutely something that should be taken through Ofwat and t…
Competition and Markets Authority Chairman22 Jan 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
The power vested in large corporations is greater than ever. Tech giants are exerting monopolistic power over the market, so I am becoming exasperated with the Government’s Thatcherite-like attitude towards deregulation. Do the Government understand the risks involved in going for short-term boosts to growth over long-term stability of the economic market?
Hansard · 22 Jan 2025 · parliament.uk
AG
Andrew Griffith
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade if he will make a statement on the position of the chairman of the Competition and Markets Authority.
JM
Justin Madders
Following the resignation of the chair of the Competition and Markets Authority, Marcus Bokkerink, the Secretary of State has appointed Doug Gurr as the interim chair for a period of up to 18 months while our new permanent chair is appointed. The Secretary of State has expressed his gratitude for Marcus’s leadership of…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
AG
Andrew Griffith
Thank you for granting this important urgent question, Mr Speaker. What a desperate state we are in when the Business Secretary has to phone up the regulators to beg them for ideas to fix the lack of growth that his own Government’s policies have created. I hope that when the regulators attended the roundtable last wee…
JM
Justin Madders
I think there were a couple of questions in there about the role of the CMA chair. Of course, he did not get sacked; he resigned. A new strategic steer for the CMA will be coming out in due course. The hon. Gentleman’s tirade of criticisms of this Government was a bit rich coming from a man who was in the Treasury when…
Supporting SMEs, Retail, and Hospitality and Tourism21 Jan 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
What steps she is taking through the tax system to support SMEs.
Hansard · 21 Jan 2025 · parliament.uk
MW
Michael Wheeler
What steps she is taking through the tax system to support the retail sector.
SD
Steve Darling
What steps she is taking through the tax system to support the hospitality and tourism sectors.
JM
James Murray
The Government announced a range of measures at the autumn Budget to support SMEs, including in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors. They include more than doubling the employment allowance, freezing the small business rates multiplier, extending RHL relief to 40%, maintaining the small profits rate and reducin…
JM
James Murray
I think that retail, hospitality and leisure businesses, which are the backbone of our high street, might object to the idea of permanently lower tax rates as “tinkering around the edges”. That is a fundamental change that we want to bring in from April 2026 to make sure they have stability, certainty and permanently l…
MW
Michael Wheeler
I draw Members’ attention to my declaration in the register of interests. Retail is an important part of the economy in my constituency, which includes many wonderful independent businesses. Will, who runs the excellent Wandering Palate in Monton, wrote to me about the challenges he is facing. Will the Minister outline…
BD
Bobby Dean
The Labour manifesto committed to replacing the business rates system. However, last week at the Treasury Committee, the Minister seemed to rule out the kind of comprehensive reform that the Liberal Democrats and others have been campaigning for, and indicated that there might only be a tinkering around the edges of ra…
Neighbourhood Policing13 Jan 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
What steps she is taking to improve the effectiveness of community policing.
Hansard · 13 Jan 2025 · parliament.uk
SA
Shockat Adam
What steps she is taking to ensure that the police have adequate resources to help tackle neighbourhood crime.
RA
Rosena Allin-Khan
What discussions she has had with the Metropolitan police on the effectiveness of community policing.
PM
Perran Moon
What recent progress her Department has made on improving neighbourhood policing.
YC
Yvette Cooper
Before I respond, I am sure that the whole House will want to remember PC Rosie Prior, who was tragically killed on Saturday while helping at the scene of an accident, and Ryan Welford, who was also killed. PC Prior’s death is a tragic reminder of the dedication and bravery that police officers show every single day to…
SA
Shockat Adam
I refer the House to my registered interests, and I echo the sentiments expressed by the Home Secretary. Last year, the Leicestershire police panel raised serious concerns about being underfunded, having received a real-terms cut of 20% over the past 13 years. Due to this funding crisis, the police simply do not have e…
BD
Bobby Dean
A Carshalton resident had her car stolen from her driveway. There is video footage of it, but the police just gave her a crime reference number and closed the case. Local businesses on Wallington high street tell me that organised shoplifters are acting with impunity. The Home Secretary touched on recruitment being par…
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill8 Jan 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
It is an issue close to my heart as well, as I moved into the care of my grandparents as a young teenager. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is crucial we get this absolutely right first time, because it is such a rare opportunity to address kinship care? Ministers should keep listening to… kinship organisations to fill in the gaps that those organisations see in the Bill, particularly in relation to the definition and to mental health care support.
Hansard · 8 Jan 2025 · parliament.uk
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
The reasoned amendment in the name of the Leader of the Opposition has been selected.
BP
Bridget Phillipson
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. In the week in which we return to this House and our children return to school, I am proud to be the Secretary of State for Education in a truly child-centred Government. The actions I take and the decisions I make are always in pursuit of what is best for the chi…
GS
Graham Stuart
The Secretary of State has mentioned previous generations of politicians, and all of us in this House must recognise that we follow in the footsteps of giants. Tony Blair, Lord Adonis and others created the academy system that was built on under the last Conservative Government and brought about a transformation of Eng…
BP
Bridget Phillipson
That is simply a mischaracterisation, and the right hon. Gentleman knows it. I will come on to the wider schools measures in this Bill later in my speech, but I note that he had nothing to say in his intervention about the safety of children and the measures we are discussing today. The wrecking amendment that the Lead…
CV
Christopher Vince
The right hon. Member for Beverley and Holderness (Graham Stuart) mentioned uniformity, but the only uniform measures I can see in the Bill are about saving parents money on uniform bills, which I think we can all welcome. Does the Secretary of State agree that the fragmentation of the school system created by the last…
Pro-democracy Campaigners: Arrests7 Jan 2025
BD
Bobby Dean
I have listened carefully to the Minister’s answers on the Chancellor’s visit to Beijing, and I believe she has said that concerns will be raised. Concerns have been raised time and again, and it has got us nowhere, so is it not time to draw a line in the sand? Is it not the minimum… we could do to raise our voices a little more loudly, demonstrate our anger a little more publicly and cancel the Chancellor’s visit to Beijing?
Hansard · 7 Jan 2025 · parliament.uk
PP
Priti Patel
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs if he will make a statement on the Hong Kong police offering rewards for the arrest of pro-democracy campaigners, including British nationals overseas resident in the United Kingdom.
CW
Catherine West
I thank the right hon. Lady for her question on this most important matter. I am glad to reassure her that the Foreign Secretary issued a statement on Christmas eve, immediately following the Hong Kong police’s issuing of arrest warrants for the six pro-democracy campaigners. As the Foreign Secretary said, those target…
PP
Priti Patel
I thank Mr Speaker for granting this urgent question. This is an incredibly serious matter. As the Minister and the House know, on Christmas eve we saw the Hong Kong police once again trying to give the national security law extraterritorial reach and threatening people on British soil. We unequivocally reject any atte…
CW
Catherine West
I thank the right hon. Lady for raising a number of concerns. We are as one on the outrageous attempts to reach across the water to try to impose any intimidation on people based here in the UK. She mentions other human rights concerns, such as those in Xinjiang, and says that long-standing policies, such as the nation…
JM
John Martin McDonnell
I will use this opportunity to ask the Minister whether she and the Chancellor on next week’s visit will raise the case of my Unite colleague Carol Ng, who became the general secretary of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, and who became involved in the democracy movement and has been imprisoned for four year…
Topical Questions19 Dec 2024
BD
Bobby Dean
In my constituency we have an incinerator that regularly breaches its air pollution limits, but the Environment Agency does nothing about it. Will the Government tell us what they are doing to give the EA teeth?
Hansard · 19 Dec 2024 · parliament.uk
DB
Danny Beales
If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
SR
Steve Reed
I share customers’ anger about the water bill rises announced by Ofwat this morning. Customers have been left to pay the price of Conservative failure after the previous Government let companies spend millions of pounds on bonuses and shareholder payouts instead of investing in our crumbling sewerage infrastructure—if …
DB
Danny Beales
Recent investigations have shown that a lack of investment in drainage infrastructure has contributed to significant flooding in Uxbridge and South Ruislip. How will water companies including Thames Water be held to account where their lack of investment blights communities through repeated flooding?
SR
Steve Reed
The Government of course recognise the importance of and need for a robust drainage system, but my hon. Friend will be aware that the previous Government failed to ensure adequate investment to maintain and upgrade it. Water companies have a duty to ensure that the area they serve is effectively drained. This includes …
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
Christmas Adjournment19 Dec 2024
BD
Bobby Dean
I thank the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) for opening the debate. He is a fellow Bob and a fellow Spurs fan. I am not sure how much we will agree on in 2025, but something we certainly do agree on is Spurs winning something.
Hansard · 19 Dec 2024 · parliament.uk
BB
Bob Blackman
I beg to move, That this House has considered matters to be raised before the forthcoming adjournment. It seems like only a few days ago that we were having the pre-conference recess debate, yet here we are in the final days of 2024. What a busy year it has been for all of us. We have had general elections, mayoral ele…
JC
Judith Cummins
I ask Members to invoke the spirit of Christmas and help each other out by keeping their contributions to around four minutes so that we can get everybody in.
VV
Valerie Vaz
It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) . Again, in the best traditions of Sir David Amess, I will be going around my constituency. He is sorely missed here, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this difficult time—a time of family. I will raise four local issues, one in…
JL
John Lamont
Ahead of the Christmas break, I am delighted to have this opportunity to recognise and celebrate some of the amazing organisations that serve the Scottish Borders all the year round. These groups, and the volunteers who help keep them running, often do not get the praise they deserve, so I want to mark the excellent wo…
AS
Alan Strickland
I want to highlight a few key issues in my constituency that I have been proud to work on since I was elected in July and flag up some issues that we intend to push in the future. I want to start with the Hitachi train factory in my constituency. I campaigned on it for two and a half years, and it is a source of huge p…
BD
Bobby Dean
Yes. The hon. Gentleman covered lots of local and international issues, which I think demonstrates the breadth of debate in this place. Before I respond to some of the Back-Bench contributions, I will focus a little on my work in Carshalton and Wallington. I made three big promises to my constituents: on the NHS, on th…
Universal Credit16 Dec 2024
BD
Bobby Dean
What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the rates of universal credit.
Hansard · 16 Dec 2024 · parliament.uk
ST
Stephen Timms
No assessment along the lines that the hon. Gentleman asks about has been made. Benefit rates are reviewed each year, increasing by 6.7% last April and by 1.7% from next April, in line with inflation.
ST
Stephen Timms
The hon. Gentleman makes an interesting suggestion. That is not something I am considering at the moment, but as he will have heard me say earlier, we will be reviewing universal credit over the course of the next year or so. We certainly want to support young care leavers—he will know of the recent announcement that w…
BD
Bobby Dean
I thank the Minister for his answer, but I would like to focus on the age differential in the rates. He will be aware that people under 25 receive a different rate of universal credit. The Government announced that they will try to abolish the age differential for the national living wage. If it could also be abolished…
Prison Conditions10 Dec 2024
BD
Bobby Dean
What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the condition of prisons.
Hansard · 10 Dec 2024 · parliament.uk
ND
Nicholas Dakin
The prison estate conditions survey programme is a live assessment of the condition of our estate, but there is still much to do. Approximately 4,000 cells were lost to dilapidation under the last Government. That is why we are investing £220 million in Prison and Probation Service maintenance in 2024-25, and up to £30…
ND
Nicholas Dakin
This Government are determined to ensure the best possible conditions in our prisons. We have inherited a crisis in our prisons, I am afraid, but if the hon. Member wishes to write to me about that particular issue, I will be happy to write back to him.
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the Chair of the Justice Committee.
AS
Andrew Slaughter
The condition of our Victorian prisons in particular is not conducive to rehabilitation or preparation for life on release. The Government are pressing ahead with the construction of 20,000 new prison places, which their predecessors failed to honour. What thought has been given, in the design and operation of these ma…
ND
Nicholas Dakin
These new prisons will be built with all the things my hon. Friend mentions taken fully into account. The Government are determined to put in place 14,000 more prison places.
BD
Bobby Dean
A constituent who is now a prisoner of HMP Coldingley wrote to me recently about the appalling conditions in his prison. He spoke about the prevalence of drugs, violence, discrimination and denial of access to healthcare. In his most recent letter to me, he said that the conditions had got so bad that he made an attemp…
Clause 7 - Main rates of CGT for gains other than carried interest gains10 Dec 2024
BD
Bobby Dean
Before I address capital gains tax directly, I will make a few short remarks about the state of the national conversation about tax more generally, which I think is highly relevant. I note that tax is always something to be “hit by” in politics—it is violent; we are “hammered” by it—so the debate ends up… focusing on who is deserving or undeserving of such punishment. As a result, few organisations are viewed as legitimate targets for taxation. Very rarely do we in politics have the bravery to talk about the virtue of paying tax—what it pays for, how it benefits us all, and why collectively contributing to schools, hospitals and physical infrastructure is sensible investment that we should be proud to make. That is where the political conversation falls slightly out of step with the mood of the public. Believe it or not, I have had conversations about tax on the doorstep, and I mostly meet people who are proud to make that contribution. Let me be clear: this is not some special plea to talk about tax in a warmer, fuzzier way in order to improve the civility of public discourse. Nor should it be confused for advocacy of a high-tax based economy. I raise that point because our distorted public conversation means that we end up with a dysfunctional tax system that is neither efficient nor equitable. Where we are with capital gains tax is a good example of that. Decades of wrangling over whether capital gains tax stifles entrepreneurship or is merely a ruse for the rich often results in a pretty reductive focus on rates. It seems that that happened again in the Budget, and I fear that we have missed an opportunity to make that tax better. As others have explained in putting capital gains tax into context, it is paid by around 350,000 people and raises around 2% of total tax revenue, and 12,000 people account for two thirds of that revenue. That tax does not necessarily affect a broad section of society, but it does play an important role in investment in the economy and
Hansard · 10 Dec 2024 · parliament.uk
NG
Nusrat Ghani
With this it will be convenient to consider the following: Schedule 1. Clauses 8 to 11 stand part. Schedule 2. Clauses 12 stand part. New clause 1—Impact assessment: capital gains tax— “The Chancellor of the Exchequer must, within six months of the passing of this Act, lay before Parliament a review of the impact of th…
TS
Tulip Siddiq
Since 2010, the UK has experienced low productivity, rising debt levels and declining public services. Public sector net debt is at its highest since the early 1960s, at 98.5% of GDP. Per capita, GDP remains lower that before the covid-19 pandemic. In July this year, the Government uncovered a challenging fiscal and sp…
NG
Nusrat Ghani
Just before I call the shadow Minister, I remind Members that, in Committee, I am Madam Chair or Madam Chairman.
GD
Gareth Davies
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. It is always a pleasure to see you in Committee and to serve under your chairmanship. On behalf of the Opposition, I rise to speak to new clauses 4 and 5, which stand in the name of my right hon. Friend, the shadow Chancellor. Before I do so, let me set the scene for clauses 7 to 12. W…
YY
Yuan Yang
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Madam Chair. I will talk mostly about new clause 5 on capital gains tax, but, given the remarks by the shadow Minister, I will make a few points on the broader matter and on incentives to start a new business. My constituency of Earley and Woodley in the Thames Valley is …
“Get Britain Working” White Paper26 Nov 2024
BD
Bobby Dean
A fantastic local social enterprise in my constituency has been helping adults with disabilities back into work. It recently set up a café that is run entirely by adults with learning disabilities. How does the Department plan to take evidence from innovative organisations of that kind, and will the Secretary of State meet members of… this organisation to find out about the work it has been doing?
Hansard · 26 Nov 2024 · parliament.uk
LK
Liz Kendall
With permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I shall make a statement on our “Get Britain Working” White Paper, bringing forward the biggest reforms to employment support in a generation, turning a Department for welfare into a Department for work, and taking the first steps towards delivering our bold ambition of an 80% emp…
CN
Caroline Nokes
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
HW
Helen Whately
I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of her statement. The Conservatives are the party of work and aspiration—[Interruption.] In the decade after we took over from Labour, we drove down unemployment—[Interruption.]
HW
Helen Whately
In the decade after we took over from Labour, we drove down unemployment and economic inactivity year after year, including youth unemployment, which went down by 400,000 after the mess we inherited from the last Labour Government. During the pandemic, we took unprecedented action to protect jobs and livelihoods, but s…
LK
Liz Kendall
May I say gently to the hon. Lady, who I personally like and have a great deal of time for, that the only people who dodge difficult decisions on welfare are the Conservatives? The facts speak for themselves. By the end of this Parliament, the Office for Budget Responsibility says that 420,000 more people will be on he…
Jailing of Hong Kong Pro-democracy Activists19 Nov 2024
BD
Bobby Dean
This is a bad day for human rights, but for the Hongkongers living in my constituency it is a frightening day. Beyond the broad reassurances that the Minister has already given, what specific action will the Government take to protect Hongkongers living in the UK from state surveillance?
Hansard · 19 Nov 2024 · parliament.uk
PP
Priti Patel
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs if he will make a statement on the Government’s response to the jailing of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong.
AD
Anneliese Dodds
I thank the right hon. Member for her question on this important matter, and I welcome her to her new role. It is a real pleasure to be across the Chamber from her this morning. I am glad to reassure the right hon. Lady that my colleague the Minister for the Indo-Pacific, the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commo…
PP
Priti Patel
The jailing of 45 pro-democracy campaigners in Hong Kong under the draconian national security law is appalling. It is a serious blow to freedoms in Hong Kong. The harsh application of this disturbing law to suppress people in Hong Kong cannot go unanswered. In government, my party consistently championed for that law …
AD
Anneliese Dodds
The Government absolutely agree about the historic relationship between the UK and Hong Kong and the current incredibly strong and important relationship. In opposition, my party rightly supported the measures for British nationals overseas. We have been crystal clear in our view on yesterday’s sentencing. I repeat tha…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Children’s Social Care18 Nov 2024
BD
Bobby Dean
In the London borough of Sutton, we started to in-house some children’s care home provision back in 2020, and we now care for six children with complex needs. What assessment has the Department made of the potential scale of local authorities taking on services directly, if given the right support by the Government?
Hansard · 18 Nov 2024 · parliament.uk
BP
Bridget Phillipson
With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a statement about the Government’s plans for children’s social care. I know all Members here today will agree that caring for vulnerable children is among the most vital responsibilities of any Government. This Government treat no issue with more importance than the urg…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
LT
Laura Trott
I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of her statement. I welcome the Government’s focus today on children’s social care, and on the profiteering issues that we identified and set up the market intervention advisory group to look at when we were in government. However, at the heart of the problem is a lack o…
BP
Bridget Phillipson
I can say to the right hon. Lady that we will absolutely do more. We are doing more in four months than the Conservatives did in 14 years. They had 14 years, yet she has the temerity to stand there and carp about the changes that we are bringing in for some of the most vulnerable children in our country. Markets were l…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the Chair of the Education Committee.
Young Carers: School Absence4 Nov 2024
BD
Bobby Dean
What steps her Department is taking to help tackle persistent school absences among young carers.
Hansard · 4 Nov 2024 · parliament.uk
JD
Janet Daby
The Government are committed to breaking down barriers to opportunities for all young people, including young carers who provide a critical role in caring for their loved ones. We now collect specific absence data for young carers through the school census, and our statutory attendance guidance seeks to ensure that the…
JD
Janet Daby
We want to ensure that we support young carers in school, as well as other children who may be suffering from mental health conditions. This Government are entirely committed to supporting young people with mental health conditions, and we are making sure that there will be mental health support in every school up and …
BD
Bobby Dean
One thing that might be driving absences from schools for young carers is long-term mental health conditions. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health says that as many as one in five young carers could be suffering from long-term mental health conditions. Can the Minister explain what measures the Department …
Income tax (charge)31 Oct 2024
BD
Bobby Dean
The first Budget of a new Government is always significant, but one can rarely have been set in such tricky circumstances. This one comes following a series of major shocks—some of them external and unpredictable, as Opposition Members have said, such as the covid pandemic and the energy crisis, but some of them down to… policy decisions, such as the Brexit deal and the mini-Budget. It also sits in the long shadow of the financial crisis and over a decade’s worth of cuts to public services. Growth has been stubbornly sluggish, the cost of living has eroded people’s wages, and as tax as a proportion of our national income has ticked up, the capability of many to contribute more has diminished. The result of all of this is that our public services are under strain, our public finances are under strain and the British public are under strain. It is in that context that I try offer a constructive opposition to the Budget today—pointing out what I agree with, what I do not and where I think it can be better. Healthcare is the biggest issue for my constituents, so I will start there. At first glance it looks like we have a big injection of cash into the NHS. That is a relief. I have previously warned about the counterproductive nature of further austerity, and I am cautiously optimistic that we might escape it in this area. But the rate at which the cash is being injected, alongside the speed at which it drops off, presents questions about how well it can be spent and what the hangover from this sugar rush might be. That requires further scrutiny. On capital expenditure more broadly, I am glad that we are waking up to the real calculation that needs to be made by seeking to borrow to invest in vital infrastructure. I made my maiden speech on Second Reading of the Budget Responsibility Bill, and I took that opportunity to encourage a change to the fiscal rules. That is exactly the kind of geekery that you will get from me, Madam Deputy Speaker, now that I sit on the Treasur
Hansard · 31 Oct 2024 · parliament.uk
JH
Jeremy Hunt
It is a pleasure to open this day of the Budget debate with you in the Chair, Madam Deputy Speaker, for what will be my last contribution as shadow Chancellor. I am aware that may be a relief to Members on the Government Benches, and possibly to those on the Opposition Benches as well. Yesterday’s Budget was the bigges…
JS
Jim Shannon
There is not one person on the Opposition Benches who is not concerned about the inheritance tax changes. If I am honest, I do not think there is one Member on the Government Benches who represents a farming community and is not also worried. The measure has been universally condemned by all the farmers I have spoken t…
NG
Nusrat Ghani
Please stop using “you”, Mr Shannon.
JH
Jeremy Hunt
I thank my hon. Friend—I say “my hon. Friend” because he is a great friend to us—for what he has said and I could not agree with him more. When we talk about stability, anybody who has run a business knows that the most stable businesses in the country are family businesses that are passed from generation to generation…
GC
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown
May I suggest that the difference between my right hon. Friend’s Budget and this one is that, although he gave considerable extra increases to the national health service, he coupled them with a need to increase productivity? There was no word in yesterday’s Budget about increasing productivity in the health service.
Chinese Communist Party: Threat to Democracy22 Oct 2024
BD
Bobby Dean
What recent assessment he has made of the level of threat to UK democracy posed by the Chinese Communist party.
Hansard · 22 Oct 2024 · parliament.uk
SD
Stephen Doughty
As a matter of long-standing policy, which the hon. Gentleman will understand, the Government do not comment on the detail of national security matters, but let me be clear: any attempt by any foreign power to threaten or undermine the UK’s democracy will not be tolerated. The National Security Act 2023 brings together…
SD
Stephen Doughty
The Government will take a consistent long-term and strategic approach to our relations with China, rooted in the UK and global interests, and the Government are deeply committed to supporting all members of the Hong Kong community who have relocated to the UK. I reiterate that any attempts by foreign Governments to co…
BM
Blair McDougall
My constituency is also home to a new and growing population of Hongkongers who, although they are now in a free country, live in fear of the repression that the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Bobby Dean) described. That is not least because of the reported presence until recently of a secret police station…
SD
Stephen Doughty
I have made clear our support to the Hong Kong community in the UK, and we have made clear to Chinese authorities that the existence of undeclared sites in the UK is unacceptable, and their operation must cease. We have been told that they have now closed. The Foreign Secretary was in China on 18 and 19 October , where…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call shadow Minister Alicia Kearns.
BD
Bobby Dean
Thousands of Hongkongers have made my local community their home under the British national overseas visa scheme, but too many of them still face the threat of surveillance, harassment, and intimidation by the Chinese state. Will the Government confirm that they have raised the issue of transnational repression in conv…
Carer’s Allowance16 Oct 2024
BD
Bobby Dean
Colleagues have outlined the scale of the crisis, so I shall focus on a story of one of my constituents in Carshalton and Wallington. She was told that she had to repay more than £2,300 in carer’s allowance over- payments. This constituent already makes huge sacrifices to keep her family afloat, while caring for her… disabled son. She gave up her full-time job to take on caring responsibilities and has limited her part-time hours to ensure that she remains qualified for carer’s allowance. It made me so angry to hear how meticulously she tried to manage her pay cheques each month, only to have it thrown in her face. She turned down pay rises, turned down overtime and turned down Christmas bonuses to ensure that she stayed under the limit. Her employers agreed to keep her on an advance rota to help her plan her earnings. Despite her diligence, she received no notice, no warnings and no forgiveness when one day the payments stopped and the bill came in for over two grand. Here is the bit that really gets me. The repayment demand that she received is for the entire entitlement for each occasion when she earned too much. That means that the smallest indiscretions come with the heaviest of consequences. In one month, it was because she earned £28 too much. In another, it was £20. It gets worse: one November, she was £8 over the limit—not even an hour’s work in London. Finally, and most depressingly, she once dared to earn £2 too much. She owes the whole of the allowance back for each of those periods, and then a £50 fine to boot from the Department for Work and Pensions. This is nothing short of a national scandal, and the DWP should be ashamed of itself. Today, the Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to right this wrong, to stop pursuing hard-working carers for these innocent overpayments, and then to fix the system that let this scandal emerge in the first place. We need to taper the allowance, raise the earning limits and treat carers with the compassion the
Hansard · 16 Oct 2024 · parliament.uk
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I inform the House that I have selected amendment (a) tabled in the name of the Prime Minister. I call Ed Davey.
ED
Edward Davey
I beg to move, That this House recognises the remarkable contributions that the UK’s 5.7 million unpaid carers make to society and the huge financial challenges many face; notes with deep concern that tens of thousands of carers are unfairly punished for overpayments of Carer’s Allowance due to the £151-a-week earnings…
CV
Christopher Vince
I hope that the right hon. Gentleman will take this as a friendly intervention, as he knows what I am going to say. He talks about family carers and mentioned teenagers who support loved ones, which is important, but does he agree that we should recognise the role of young carers? Having worked with them, I know that t…
ED
Edward Davey
The hon. Member is absolutely right. I include young carers; indeed, I am a member of the all-party parliamentary group on young carers and young adult carers, and I invite him to join us. It is chaired by a well-established Labour Member. Young carers are very much part of our thinking, but for some, who will not be y…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Order. May I say to the hon. Member for Reading West and Mid Berkshire (Olivia Bailey) , please do not walk in front of Members when they are intervening? Please, can we think of others?
Sport: Team GB and ParalympicsGB10 Oct 2024
BD
Bobby Dean
I have enjoyed this debate, the maiden speeches and hearing about all the local successes that added up to our national success at this year’s Olympic and Paralympic games. We might be a small island, but we punch above our weight. My hon. Friend the Member for Croydon East (Natasha Irons) talked about the Paralympic… coverage on Channel 4, which was fantastic, but others have mentioned how sport is increasingly going behind paywalls, which will limit people’s opportunity to be inspired. We need to make sure that the crown jewels of British sport, both domestic and international competitions, remain free to air as much as possible, even if only for a single fixture each season or the biggest fixture in that sport. We need to make sure that all sports are available on free-to-air, and we need to make sure that we do not push too many behind paywalls. Grassroots investment is important to making sport, in all of its diversity, available and inclusive for all potential players. I am lucky enough to still play football on Saturdays. At the age of 34, I can find a standard that fits me, but others are not able to find a suitable standard. My wife is looking to play football but she does not have many options; she would have to play at highly competitive level or not at all. Inclusivity in women’s football does not seem to be happening in the right way at the moment. There have been concerns about access to different sports by people from different backgrounds. There has been a worrying trend towards people from privileged backgrounds, who may have been educated at private schools, ending up as our elite athletes. Quite a high proportion of our competitors this year were from such backgrounds. We need to ensure a diversity of people, from all walks of life, get into sport so that everybody has the opportunity to make it at an elite level. Finally, I pay tribute to an athlete who has done more for disability sports than most: I congratulate six-time paralympic gold medallis
Hansard · 10 Oct 2024 · parliament.uk
SP
Stephanie Peacock
I beg to move, That this House has considered sport and the performance of Team GB and ParalympicsGB in 2024. This Government could not be prouder of the performance of our Olympians and Paralympians at the Paris 2024 games. All our British athletes who participated this summer have done something quite amazing on a gl…
TP
Toby Perkins
I absolutely support the work that this Government and previous Governments have done to support elite athletes in the Olympics and in other ways; it is incredibly important. Does my hon. Friend agree that the inspirational work done by our Olympians motivates a whole generation of new people to get into sport, and sup…
SP
Stephanie Peacock
My hon. Friend is absolutely right and I will address that point shortly. Team GB has been in the top seven in the Olympics since 2008, and ParalympicsGB has also achieved top three finishes in every Paralympic games since 2000. It is a remarkable record of achievement, and one that truly cements success into our sport…
NI
Natasha Irons
I could not associate myself more closely with my hon. Friend’s comments. I declare an interest: I had the privilege of working at Channel 4 before joining Parliament. With 7.3 billion minutes viewed, Channel 4’s coverage of the Paralympics was its biggest ever. The growth of para sport is not just an exciting opportun…
SP
Stephanie Peacock
My hon. Friend makes an incredibly important point, which I support. When the Secretary of State was at the Paralympics, shortly after I had attended, she attended an event where she spoke about getting disabled young people more active in sport. The benefits to public health from everyone being active are well known, …
Impact of Energy Costs on Disabled People9 Oct 2024
BD
Bobby Dean
What discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential impact of the cost of energy on disabled people.
Hansard · 9 Oct 2024 · parliament.uk
BP
Bridget Phillipson
We understand that energy bills are a concern for many people. We believe that the only way to protect bill payers permanently, including disabled people, is to accelerate the green transition to home-grown clean energy. We continue to work closely with energy suppliers to ensure that vulnerable customers are supported…
BP
Bridget Phillipson
Equality analysis was released in September, and the Government carried out our statutory duties in doing so, but I recognise the wider concerns that the hon. Member raises, especially around the additional costs faced by many disabled people. That is why the Minister for Energy Consumers, my hon. Friend the Member for…
DA
Debbie Abrahams
Disabled people are also concerned about the use of artificial intelligence in Departments under the previous Government, including within the Department for Work and Pensions. Given the recent United Nations report on AI governance, what discussions has the Minister had with other colleagues across different Departmen…
BP
Bridget Phillipson
Discussions are ongoing across government, including with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology. There are wider opportunities and challenges that technology presents us, and we want to ensure we get the balance right.
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
BD
Bobby Dean
In my constituency of Carshalton and Wallington, Scope research estimates that disabled households face bills of up to £1,500 a month more than the average household. We also know that disabled households are much less likely to claim the benefits that they are entitled to. Has the Government Equalities Office made any…
Rehabilitation of Offenders10 Sep 2024
BD
Bobby Dean
What steps she is taking to support the rehabilitation of offenders.
Hansard · 10 Sep 2024 · parliament.uk
MH
Monica Harding
What steps she is taking to support the rehabilitation of offenders.
PD
Paul Davies
What steps her Department is taking to help reduce levels of reoffending.
ND
Nicholas Dakin
Hon. Members are right to focus on reducing reoffending. Nearly 80% of offending is reoffending, and it has an immense cost to the taxpayer and to communities. As the Lord Chancellor said, we have inherited a difficult situation in relation to prison capacity, which makes it harder to address the rehabilitation needs o…
ND
Nicholas Dakin
We are taking the hard decisions that are necessary to create space and capacity in the Prison Service to address that issue. The hon. Member is right that the report from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons identified the provision of sufficient purposeful activity as its No. 1 issue to address. We know that educati…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Order. You are supposed to sit down, Minister! I know that you are enjoying the Dispatch Box on your return, but please do not over-enjoy it. I call Monica Harding.
BD
Bobby Dean
My point speaks to what the Minister just said. The lack of prison capacity means that some people are locked up in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, and many prisons are ranked insufficient or poor for delivering purposeful activities such as education and training. How does the Minister plan to address that while…
Winter Fuel Payment10 Sep 2024
BD
Bobby Dean
We have spoken a lot about the take-up of pension credit in this debate already, but it is important to say that 800,000 pensioners—I think that is what the Minister said—are still not taking it up. Those people will, by definition, be harder to reach and the most vulnerable. I do not understand how the… Government can, in good conscience, take away this guaranteed benefit at a time where there is no certainty whatsoever about their being able to get the other people signed up to pension credit in time.
Hansard · 10 Sep 2024 · parliament.uk
MS
Mel Stride
I beg to move, That this House regrets that the Government approved the use of the urgency exemption in section 173 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 to make and lay the Social Fund Winter Fuel Payment Regulations 2024 before the Secretary of State had referred the Regulations to the Social Security Adviso…
GS
Graham Stuart
Does my right hon. Friend, like me, find it inexplicable that the Government should fail to go through the proper process when their own research suggested that thousands of people could die as a result of precisely this measure? That is something that the whole House should find deeply uncomfortable.
MS
Mel Stride
My right hon. Friend makes a powerful point. This is a very serious step that the Government are taking. Of all the steps that should be properly scrutinised, surely this is one of them. I remember when I was sitting on the other side of the Chamber, I could barely breathe without the cry going out that an impact asses…
AM
Andrew Murrison
Old people die in cold homes, and they die particularly if they are very old. Does my right hon. Friend think that if the Government are not minded to change their mind entirely, they might look at those aged over 80? Those people are in receipt of the higher rate of winter fuel payment, and paragraph 3 of the regulati…
MS
Mel Stride
I thank my right hon. Friend for his intervention. It has been suggested that the Government are examining ways of ameliorating some of the harshest effects of this policy, and that might be one of the things they consider. On that particular point, we cannot escape the fact that, whatever age people are, over two thir…
Medicines9 Sep 2024
BD
Bobby Dean
It is good to a hear consensus building across the House on naloxone because, as we have heard from other Members, it is a lifesaver. Since its roll-out in the UK, that highly effective antidote to opioid intoxication has doubtlessly saved hundreds of lives and prevented many more harmful overdoses, as organisations working in my… community have known for some time. On the day that my local branch of Cranstoun—the harm reduction charity—received its first supply of naloxone, staff members noticed that someone was overdosing in the reception area. They were still unpacking the pallet, but they were able to get access to the medicine, administer it, bring the person back around, and then help them further. Within an hour after that vital medication was received, it potentially saved a life in my borough. The local staff describe naloxone as a game changer. That is why I and the Liberal Democrats welcome this motion to expand access to that vital treatment. Naloxone is not a difficult drug to administer: just 30 minutes of training can be enough to equip somebody to treat a person in need. Naloxone is also low-risk. The person administering it does not need to know for sure what drug someone is on: if they have taken an opioid, Naloxone will help; if they have taken something else, it will likely do no harm. The combination of it being easy and safe to use, along with its life-saving potential, means that, as long as the correct training is given, it is common sense to get naloxone into as many hands as possible. That is particularly true given the frightening rise of the use of synthetic opioids, such as nitazenes, in our country. Most people are aware of the dangers of one particular opioid—heroin—but the crackdown on supply in Afghanistan means that a new synthetic alternative is rapidly taking its place in the market. Nitazenes are estimated to be anywhere between 30 and 500 times as potent as heroin. That is scary. If we do not act fast, we could be dealing with a
Hansard · 9 Sep 2024 · parliament.uk
KS
Karin Smyth
I beg to move, That the draft Human Medicines (Amendments Relating to Naloxone and Transfers of Functions) Regulations 2024, which were laid before this House on 29 July , be approved. I, too, congratulate you on your election, Madam Deputy Speaker; it really is a pleasure to see you in the Chair. The draft statutory i…
BS
Ben Spencer
It is not often that one speaks in this place on changes to the law that will have the direct result of saving lives, but once the draft regulations pass, as I hope they will this evening, we expect them to save many peoples’ lives. Today is a very special occasion. I do not say this to disparage people who work in the…
JC
Judith Cummins
I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
JS
Jim Shannon
I thank all those who have made maiden speeches and valuable contributions today. As the Democratic Unionist party’s health spokesperson, it is important that I speak on this issue to provide, as I always do, a Northern Ireland perspective for the Minister, the shadow Minister and all others who have spoken. The experi…
SB
Siân Berry
Alongside hon. Members who have spoken on behalf of other parties, I welcome the changes. Naloxone saves lives: it brings people back from one of the most final and, in many cases, fatal mistakes they can make. This is a really important change to make, but I hope that the regulations will be kept more closely and cont…
Budget Responsibility Bill30 Jul 2024
BD
Bobby Dean
I congratulate the hon. Member for East Renfrewshire (Blair McDougall) on that heartfelt speech. It was gracious of him to say that his was not the most beautiful of constituencies, but I think he is at least in the top 600 and possibly even higher after one or two whiskies. I also congratulate the hon.… Member for Glasgow North (Martin Rhodes) on his maiden speech. The points he made about engaging with the public and making sure that we restore trust in this place are really important. I am not going to speak about Scotland in my maiden speech. I am going to start by talking about where I came from. My parents are in the Gallery and I promised to stay grounded, so this is the place I want to start. I grew up on a council estate as the eldest of three boys. My dad worked long hours as a scaffolder and my mum worked two jobs, one in Burton’s by day and one as a cleaner at night. Things were not always easy, and times got so tough at one point that, as a young teenager, I moved into the care of my grandparents. I have found out in recent years that this is called kinship care. It is a pretty formal-sounding name, but it is basically where family agree to take on family. I am very grateful to my Nan and Pops for helping me back on to the right path, and I know that they would have been very proud of me if they had got to see this day. Of course, it was not just family that got me here. I have had encouraging teachers, supportive friends, guiding therapists, a campaigning wife and a totally unreasonable bunch of people called activists who volunteer a silly amount of time to the cause. To all those that have been involved in my messy pathway to now, and especially to the people of Carshalton and Wallington who have put their faith in me: thank you. I am utterly humbled to be here and I do not take this responsibility lightly. I had planned on describing my constituency of Carshalton and Wallington as a hidden gem, but since I started in this place a few weeks ago, I hav
Hansard · 30 Jul 2024 · parliament.uk
DJ
Darren Jones
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. I congratulate you and welcome you to your place in the Chair, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is a privilege to open this debate in my first appearance at the Dispatch Box as a Minister in this new Labour Government. At the general election, the British people voted for…
JS
Jim Shannon
The Minister is setting out the stark realities of where we are financially, which it is important that we all understand. Given that the financial positions of all of us within the United Kingdom could be fairly dramatically changed, regionally, it will be important that discussions with the Northern Ireland Assembly,…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his contribution. As I am sure he knows, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury is traditionally the lead Minister in Government for relationships with the Finance Ministers in the devolved Governments. I have already met a number of times with counterparts in the Northern Ireland Executive,…
GD
Gareth Davies
Madam Deputy Speaker, congratulations on your election. Let me take my first opportunity to congratulate the right hon. and hon. Members in the new Treasury ministerial team, who have taken up some of the best jobs in government. I loved every minute of my time in the Treasury, even when I had to come to this place to …
SC
Stella Creasy
I am genuinely perplexed whether the hon. Gentleman is with the former Member for South West Norfolk, who wanted to see the OBR abolished and not part of any decision making, or feels that the Bill does not go far enough. Either way, does he recognise and accept, as thousands of mortgage payers in this country now do, …
