What assessment the Church of England has made of the potential impact of the conflict in Sudan on the Christian population in that country.
Hansard · 26 Feb 2026 · parliament.uk
MC
Marsha de Cordova
The Anglican communion is deeply alarmed by the worsening humanitarian catastrophe, which has been described by regional bishops as “almost unbearable”. Christian communities are among the hardest hit and are facing mass killings, sexual violence and famine. Millions of people have been displaced, and churches and prop…
MC
Marsha de Cordova
I, too, attended the launch of the Open Doors world watch list last month, and I agree that the testimonies shared by those who have fled persecution were powerful and moving. The Bishop of Leeds, who has visited Sudan extensively, has repeatedly raised the issues facing the Sudanese people in the other place and direc…
WJ
Warinder Juss
Earlier this year I attended the Open Doors world watch list launch, at the request of my Wolverhampton West constituents, who are gravely concerned about the situation in Sudan. The event confirmed the extreme levels of persecution against Christians in that country, with reports of forced conversions, physical punish…
Business of the House26 Feb 2026
WJ
Warinder Juss
Last weekend, the Wolverhampton Wanderers player Tolu Arokodare was subjected to appalling racist abuse on his social media profiles and three other premier league players shared similar experiences. I wrote to the Minister for Online Safety, my hon. Friend the Member for Vale of Glamorgan (Kanishka Narayan) , this week to request a meeting to… discuss what can be done to stop this racist abuse of our black footballers so that the perpetrators are punished for their disgusting behaviour and social media companies take their share of responsibility. Will the Leader of the House please join me in condemning this horrible abuse and expressing full support and solidarity to Tolu? Will he also reach out to the Minister to ensure that the requested meeting is scheduled as soon as possible?
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…
Business of the House12 Feb 2026
WJ
Warinder Juss
This week is Heart Unions Week, hence the badge on my lapel instead of the Wolves badge that I normally wear. Last Saturday, I was with the Wolverhampton, Bilston and District Trades Union Council handing out information about joining a trade union to passers-by in Wolverhampton city centre. Will the Leader of the House please… join me in celebrating the vital work that our unions do in improving the lives of working people across the country, and the work that they did with the Government for us to deliver the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation through the landmark Employment Rights Act 2025? Does he agree that one of the best decisions our constituents can make is to join a trade union, for dignity and security in the workplace?
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…
Great British Energy: Bills10 Feb 2026
WJ
Warinder Juss
What estimate he has made of the potential impact of Great British Energy on energy bills for public services.
Hansard · 10 Feb 2026 · parliament.uk
MM
Martin McCluskey
Great British Energy’s mission is to power Britain with clean, secure and home-grown energy. It has already started that work, with Great British Energy and the Government funding around 250 school and 260 hospital solar installations, including at Rakegate primary school and Ormiston NEW Academy in my hon. Friend’s co…
MM
Martin McCluskey
I thank my hon. Friend for that question. I know that he is focused, as I am, on reducing energy bills for his constituents and people across the country. I have already spoken about the extensive investment in solar not just in his constituency but across the country. People in Wolverhampton and across the country wil…
GC
Gregory Campbell
There have been numerous references to the cost of energy and reducing that cost in the United Kingdom. Has any assessment been made by the Minister or the Department of the comments made by the International Energy Agency in the past few days, which seem to indicate we have one of the highest prices in the western wor…
MM
Martin McCluskey
I think where the IEA and I would agree is that we need to get off the rollercoaster of fossil fuels and ensure we are investing in clean home-grown energy that people across the country can take advantage of to lower their bills.
WJ
Warinder Juss
In my constituency, almost one in five households have been living in fuel poverty, struggling to heat their homes this winter. I welcome the Government’s commitment to lifting 1 million more households out of fuel poverty by 2030, which will have a significant impact on my constituents. Will the Minister please outlin…
Business of the House5 Feb 2026
WJ
Warinder Juss
Last week, at a City of Wolverhampton council meeting in my constituency, when discussing the removal of face coverings under a public space protection order, a Reform councillor asked a hijab-wearing Labour cabinet member, Obaida Ahmed, whether the order extended to the removal of religious garments like burkas for the identification of criminals—comments that clearly… shook Councillor Ahmed. Will the Leader of the House please join me in condemning such disgraceful and divisive questioning, and stand in solidarity with Councillor Ahmed and all those from whichever party who refuse to let prejudice and discrimination undermine efforts to make our communities safer?
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…
Occupied Palestinian Territories: Genocide Risk Assessment5 Feb 2026
WJ
Warinder Juss
What the Palestinian people have endured is cruel, inhumane and completely unacceptable. We know that, last year, it was an Israeli Government blockade that led the United Nations and others to declare a famine in Gaza. We know that the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu for war crimes. We know… that more than 90% of the homes across Gaza have been damaged or destroyed. The UN’s “Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory” concluded that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza strip under the 1948 genocide convention, and human rights organisations such as the International Association of Genocide Scholars—which has already been mentioned—Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Oxfam have expressed the view that genocide has been committed by Israel under international law. Israel has also recently revoked the licences of 37 international NGOs.
Hansard · 5 Feb 2026 · parliament.uk
NG
Nusrat Ghani
I call Brendan O’Hara, who will speak for up to 15 minutes.
BO
Brendan O'Hara
I beg to move, That this House has considered the obligation to assess the risk of genocide under international law in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and may I put on record my thanks to the Speaker’s Office for working so hard to ensure that we have time for the deba…
NG
Nusrat Ghani
Order. Because I want to get everyone in before we finish at 5 pm, all Members are on a three-minute speaking limit.
PP
Peter Prinsley
I thank the hon. Member for Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber (Brendan O’Hara) for bringing forward this most important debate. This is a debate on an obligation to assess the risk of genocide. Who could disagree with that? There has been a terrible war in Gaza, and although there is a ceasefire, loss of life continues. …
GL
Graham Leadbitter
We are witnessing in Gaza a catastrophe that was not only foreseeable but preventable. For over two years, the UK Government have hidden behind legal sleight of hand while a genocide has unfolded in Gaza. The definition of genocide set out in article II of the genocide convention is precise. It involves specific acts “…
WJ
Warinder Juss
I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. It seems quite clear that the reason the licences have been revoked is to prevent aid from going through, which leads to the assumption, at least, that there might be a risk of genocide taking place. The UN genocide convention requires states “to prevent and to punish” genoc…
NHS Dentists5 Feb 2026
WJ
Warinder Juss
Does the hon. Member consider that part of the problem as to why dentists do not offer NHS appointments is because contracts have not been updated and perhaps they feel that when they do NHS work they are not properly paid?
Hansard · 5 Feb 2026 · parliament.uk
AE
Alex Easton
I am grateful for the opportunity to draw the attention of the House to an issue that affects millions of British people and families right across our country: the current state of NHS dental services throughout the UK. Our NHS dentistry, from which I and so many others in North Down have benefited, as have countless p…
AE
Alex Easton
That is certainly one of the major issues that needs to be addressed. Shockingly and frighteningly, people are resorting to DIY dentistry because their pain is so great and they simply cannot afford treatment. No MP can sleep easily in 2026 when British people are pulling out their own teeth at home. Our NHS system is …
LF
Linsey Farnsworth
I commend the hon. Member for securing this important debate. In Amber Valley, recruitment and retention continue to be the main barriers to NHS dental access, despite £240,000 of additional funding that I have managed to secure from Derbyshire locally. Does the hon. Member agree that the Minister should set out how th…
AE
Alex Easton
I congratulate the hon. Member on securing that funding. I totally agree with all her sentiments. Maybe you can give me a clue how to get that funding as well for Northern Ireland.
NG
Nusrat Ghani
Order. Not “you”, Mr Easton—it was not me that you were referring to. You have lots of time, so enjoy it.
Victims of Domestic Abuse: Criminal Justice System3 Feb 2026
WJ
Warinder Juss
I welcome the action that the Government are taking to reduce the court backlogs, especially for cases involving violence against women and girls. What consultation has taken place with victims organisations and charities regarding the plans to restrict jury trials? We must ensure that these victims are kept at the heart of any reforms to… the courts system, so that they can be satisfied that timely justice will be delivered.
Hansard · 3 Feb 2026 · parliament.uk
LS
Lauren Sullivan
What support he is providing to victims of domestic abuse through the criminal justice system.
AD
Alex Davies-Jones
As I have stated, the Ministry of Justice is investing over £550 million in victim support services, the biggest investment in that service to date. In December, we published our violence against women and girls strategy. That strategy sets out how we will achieve our mission to halve these terrible crimes, including d…
LS
Lauren Sullivan
A number of constituents have shared with me the terror of waiting in line to get to court, and then waiting in the waiting room before court, with their accused abuser or perpetrator. On some occasions, special arrangements have been put in place, but this has been very hit and miss. Will the Minister look at how the …
AD
Alex Davies-Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for raising this really important issue. Ensuring that witnesses and victims can give their best evidence in court is vital if we are to achieve prosecution of these awful crimes. We are introducing legislation to improve access to special measures for witnesses and victims, including permitting …
WH
Wera Hobhouse
I recently brought together domestic abuse charities in Bath, such as Developing Health and Independence, Voices, and the Nelson Trust, which provide services including how to navigate the complicated justice system. They all agree it is critical that they all work together and that there are joined-up local services, …
Business of the House22 Jan 2026
WJ
Warinder Juss
For the past nine years, the church of St Chad and St Mark in my Wolverhampton West constituency has welcomed Iranian refugees into its congregation who have fled the persecution of the oppressive Iranian regime. Last week, we heard the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister speak about the total abhorrence of the killings, the… violence and the repression to which protesters in Iran have recently been subjected. That has mainly been by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, who have also intimidated and harassed dissidents abroad. When will this Government proscribe and ban the IRGC as a terrorist organisation, as other countries have done already?
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…
5G Connectivity: Telford and West Midlands20 Jan 2026
WJ
Warinder Juss
My hon. Friend has made some excellent points. Tettenhall in my constituency is a significantly populated suburb of Wolverhampton, where residents face similar problems to those highlighted by my hon. Friend. Constituents say that they have little or no signal and they struggle to make contact with family and friends. The other day, a constituent… told me that he had difficulty contacting the emergency services because there was no mobile phone connectivity. My hon. Friend is right to say that very often the problem is considered to be in rural areas but that more densely populated areas, such as Tettenhall, have similar problems. Does my hon. Friend agree that in this day and age we need to ensure that there is connectivity everywhere?
Hansard · 20 Jan 2026 · parliament.uk
SD
Shaun Davies
It is good to see the Minister in his place. He is a man with great knowledge of, and passion for, this agenda, and I know he will take it forward in Telford, west midlands and further afield. I also want to place on record my gratitude to the Department for how helpful and proactive it has been with me since I raised …
HM
Helen Morgan
The hon. Gentleman is making an excellent speech and a really good point, which applies equally to urban and rural areas. Mobile network operators do not have minimum standards of coverage and quality of signal. At some places where there was good coverage before, that now no longer appears to be the case because the s…
SD
Shaun Davies
I agree with my Shropshire neighbour. This is a rural issue and an urban one. A mobile signal is very much like a utility; people expect it to work for both their personal life and their work-related life. Telford and Wrekin council kindly shared with me a report containing research by the River Severn Partnership. Bet…
SD
Shaun Davies
I completely agree. My hon. Friend makes the excellent point that this issue is not just about economic growth and access to public services, though that is important; it is also about access to lifesaving services in an emergency. In case I have come across too negative, at this point I would like to acknowledge the p…
JS
John Slinger
My hon. Friend is making a compelling speech. I should declare that in a previous role, I advised a mobile phone company on communications. There have been occasions in the past when mobile phone companies and other digital companies have made very grand promises about things like video calling, as happened when they r…
Justice Committee15 Jan 2026
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. Does my hon. Friend agree that the… Government’s decision to consolidate these living units, instead of expanding them, is a missed opportunity to improve safety and rehabilitation?
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…
AS
Andrew Slaughter
Like the hon. Member for Solihull West and Shirley (Dr Shastri-Hurst) , my hon. Friend is a very active member of the Committee, and I thank him for making that point. A lot of people would say, “Why do you have drug-free wings? Shouldn’t prisons be drug free per se?” However, that ignores the reality of the situation.…
West Midlands Police14 Jan 2026
WJ
Warinder Juss
Although I am a proud Wolverhampton Wanderers fan and, as a season ticket holder, regularly go to football games, for much of my life I was prevented and discouraged from going to a football game. I was told that because I wore a turban and because of the colour of my skin, I would be… attacked. Can the Home Secretary assure the House that we will never again have a situation in this country where football fans cannot go to a game because their safety cannot be guaranteed?
Hansard · 14 Jan 2026 · parliament.uk
SM
Shabana Mahmood
With permission, I will make a statement on the decision to ban the travelling fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv from attending a game at Villa Park in November last year. The decision was taken by Birmingham city council, following the advice of the safety advisory group, which acted on a recommendation by West Midlands police…
JC
Judith Cummins
I call the shadow Home Secretary.
CP
Chris Philp
This is a shameful episode. West Midlands police had evidence that Islamist extremists based in Birmingham planned to attack Maccabi Tel Aviv fans. Let us call that what it is: vicious antisemitism. We cannot allow violent Islamists to impose their will on our country, yet that is exactly what West Midlands police, thr…
SM
Shabana Mahmood
Let me first say to the shadow Home Secretary that I have long and very personal experience of standing up to extremists in Birmingham, not least in the last general election campaign. I think my track record speaks for itself, and I am a woman who knows of what she speaks—clearly unlike him. He appears to be unfamilia…
CP
Chris Philp
I am talking about section 40.
Jury Trials7 Jan 2026
WJ
Warinder Juss
The Opposition are keen to rely on Magna Carta to defend jury trials, but Magna Carta also states that justice should not be delayed. Sir Brian Leveson reported that jury trials are taking twice as long as they did in 2000 because criminal cases are now much more complex and can involve thousands of pages… of electronic evidence. We are putting more pressure—financial and otherwise—on jurors, and it is now much more difficult to support and guide them. There is clearly a case for reform. I understand that one recommendation made by Sir Brian Leveson was to have jury trials replaced by a judge and two magistrates, so could that be a possible compromise to reduce the delays?
Hansard · 7 Jan 2026 · parliament.uk
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I inform the House that I have selected the amendment tabled in the name of the Prime Minister. I call the shadow Secretary of State.
RJ
Robert Jenrick
I beg to move, That this House believes that it is wrong to abolish jury trials for crimes with anticipated sentences of three years or less because jury trials are a fundamental part of the UK constitution and democracy; acknowledges the scale of the courts backlog and the necessity of reducing it to ensure justice fo…
CV
Christopher Vince
I thank the shadow Secretary of State for giving way; he is always generous with his time. He talks about the length of time it takes for victims to get justice. I speak to police officers in my constituency all the time who say that one of the issues with the backlog, this waiting list, is that people who have been po…
RJ
Robert Jenrick
I do. The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. It is shameful to our country that victims of serious crimes like rape will have to wait until 2028 or 2029. In fact, I believe the longest listing hence today is 2030. No one in this Chamber could possibly defend that for one moment, but will this policy make a material di…
DS
Desmond Swayne
As my right hon. Friend squares up to lead civil society in a battle against this monstrous measure, may I ask him to have some sympathy for Labour Members, who are about to be led to the top of the hill once again, as they were with the farm tax and the winter fuel allowance, on a measure that simply will not deliver …
HMP Leyhill: Offender Abscondments5 Jan 2026
WJ
Warinder Juss
Any prisoner absconding is, of course, bad news and something that should not happen, but does the Minister agree that it is a symptom of the broken-down prison system that we inherited from the previous Government and something that we are now trying to sort out? Can she confirm that the rate of prisoners absconding… is lower under this Government than it was under the previous Government?
Hansard · 5 Jan 2026 · parliament.uk
NG
Nusrat Ghani
Order. Before we come to the urgent question on absconded prisoners, I should inform the House that one of the prisoners has been charged with escaping from lawful custody and the matter is now sub judice. Members should therefore avoid references to the specific circumstances of the individual case. Questions on the b…
RJ
Robert Jenrick
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will make a statement on the implications for public safety following the admission that two dangerous offenders, including a convicted murderer, absconded from HMP Leyhill on new year’s day.
AD
Alex Davies-Jones
A happy new year to you and to all in the House, Madam Deputy Speaker. On 1 January 2026 , three prisoners absconded from HMP Leyhill, an open prison: Mr Thomas, Mr Washbourne and Mr Armstrong. This was discovered during routine roll checks, and their absence was followed up immediately. On 3 January , the police issue…
RJ
Robert Jenrick
So a murderer is on the loose—a murderer and a violent offender. Once again, the Justice Secretary’s strongest ever checks have been a resounding failure, and once again there is a manhunt under way. Precious police resources are being wasted to fix Calamity’s latest cock-up. And where is the Justice Secretary? The Min…
AD
Alex Davies-Jones
I am afraid that it is a new year but the same sad, old Jenrick. The right hon. Gentleman clearly has not done his homework. He does not seem to know the difference between releases in error and absconds. This is a Member who wants to be the Lord Chancellor and the next Leader of the Opposition, and he is deliberately …
Venezuela5 Jan 2026
WJ
Warinder Juss
I welcome the confirmation that the Government support international law and now want to see a safe and peaceful transition to a legitimate Government that reflects the will of the people in Venezuela, but does the Foreign Secretary at least agree that if Donald Trump’s unilateral action was in breach of international law and the… UN charter, it has created a very dangerous precedent?
Hansard · 5 Jan 2026 · parliament.uk
YC
Yvette Cooper
I want to begin by expressing my condolences to all those affected by the terrible tragedy in Crans-Montana, and my support for the Swiss authorities. The British embassy has been supporting the family of Charlotte Niddam, who was educated in Hertfordshire and in north-west London. I can confirm that yesterday Charlott…
NG
Nusrat Ghani
I call the Leader of the Opposition.
KB
Kemi Badenoch
I would like to start by associating myself with the condolences expressed by the Foreign Secretary about the awful tragedy in Crans-Montana. I also thank her for her statement on Venezuela, although I am disappointed that it was not the Prime Minister who delivered the statement, because many of us in this House and b…
YC
Yvette Cooper
I must just say to the Leader of the Opposition that, while I obviously welcome her support on Switzerland, Greenland and Denmark and so on, it felt like the tone of her response was very poorly judged. It was really all over the place. Many times when we were in opposition, we set out our agreement with the Government…
CN
Caroline Nokes
I call the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Middle East and North Africa5 Jan 2026
WJ
Warinder Juss
I thank the Minister for his statement and for all the work that he has been doing on these issues. What reason has the Israeli Government given for stopping NGOs operating in Gaza? If it is clear, as has been mentioned by other Members, that it is a deliberate act of cruelty to prevent healthcare… and aid going into Gaza and to defeat the peace plan, what actions are we taking as a UK Government against Israel and to reinstate those NGOs?
Hansard · 5 Jan 2026 · parliament.uk
HF
Hamish Falconer
Madam Deputy Speaker, there have been a number of developments in the middle east that I would like to update the House on, including in Gaza, Iran, Yemen and Syria. I would also like to take the opportunity to provide an update on the case of Alaa Abd el-Fattah, which has been a subject of debate during the parliament…
JC
Judith Cummins
I call the shadow Foreign Secretary.
PP
Priti Patel
Britain’s place in the world matters, and the Opposition are clear about the fact that our influence should be used to its fullest effect to support efforts to combat the complex and dangerous conflicts and tensions in the middle east about which we speak all too often in the House. From Israel to Gaza, Iran, Syria and…
HF
Hamish Falconer
I can confirm that I have been in touch with my counterparts in both the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and indeed that I spoke to the Yemeni Foreign Minister this morning. We are in intensive discussions with all our partners in the region on the questions on Yemen, which are very significant. I did not speak about the Houthis…
PF
Patricia Ferguson
I thank my hon. Friend for his statement. I entirely agree with him that, at a time when the humanitarian crisis in Gaza remains so desperately urgent, the decision by the Israeli Government to withdraw accreditation from 37 extremely credible aid agencies, such as Caritas Internationalis, ActionAid and the Internation…
Court Backlogs16 Dec 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
What steps he is taking to tackle backlogs in the courts.
Hansard · 16 Dec 2025 · parliament.uk
DA
Debbie Abrahams
What steps he is taking to tackle backlogs in the courts.
SS
Sarah Sackman
The Government inherited a justice system in crisis. Whether for a family experiencing family breakdown, small business owners trying to resolve contractual disputes or victims of crime, we inherited a system in crisis in every jurisdiction. We are beginning to turn that oil tanker around. We are sitting at maximum or …
DA
Debbie Abrahams
The Minister will recall that last week I mentioned two cases in my constituency involving juveniles and child sexual abuse. Those cases of alleged sexual abuse have been adjourned a number of times and, as I explained to her, the damage done to the lives of those children cannot be underestimated. I appreciate that re…
SS
Sarah Sackman
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this shocking case. I am aware of it and I will be writing to her on the particulars of it. It graphically demonstrates precisely why we need reform of our criminal courts. As the Deputy Prime Minister has just explained, that will take three things: investment in sitting day…
SS
Sarah Sackman
My hon. Friend raises a number of incredibly important points. Behind each and every one of those 80,000 cases in the backlog is a victim, as well as someone who is accused who may be trying to clear their name. As the backlog heads in the wrong direction, with agonising delays for all participants, we will not sit idl…
WJ
Warinder Juss
Justice delayed is justice denied is the harsh reality for the nearly 80,000 cases that are currently waiting to be heard in the Crown court. I am pleased that the Government are taking action to modernise our justice system and to be reassured that the sanctity of jury trials will be preserved. Considering that only 3…
Business of the House11 Dec 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Last month was National Care Leavers’ Month. I had the pleasure of attending a question time event in my constituency, where I was interviewed by some incredible young people, including care leavers from across Wolverhampton. Will the Leader of the House first please join me in congratulating those young people on putting forward such excellent… questions? Secondly, considering that care-experienced people are more than twice as likely to die prematurely, that they have a life expectancy of almost 20 years less than the national average, and that almost half have a diagnosed mental health condition, will the Leader of the House please agree to a debate in Government time to discuss making care experience a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010—a change that has already been adopted by almost 130 councils across the country?
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…
Criminal Court Reform2 Dec 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
I welcome the proposals to tackle the court backlogs and delays, which the previous Government did nothing to address. Will the Secretary of State please confirm that this Government will preserve the sanctity of jury trials, and that the proposed changes relate only to some either-way offences—those that are considered to be less serious and… can therefore be properly dealt with by magistrates, who already deal with 90% of criminal cases?
Hansard · 2 Dec 2025 · parliament.uk
DL
David Lammy
With your permission, Mr Speaker I will make a statement on criminal court reform. As the House is aware, the first part of the independent review of criminal courts was published in July. I am grateful to its chair, Sir Brian Leveson—one of the foremost judges of his generation—and to his expert advisers, Professor Da…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Justice Secretary.
RJ
Robert Jenrick
I am glad to see that the Justice Secretary has finally come into work today. When 12 prisoners were mistakenly released after the introduction of his brilliant new checks, he did not bother to come to Parliament to inform the country; then, when I asked his Department whether it is paying compensation to terrorists in…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Order. I wanted, quite rightly, the Justice Secretary to be heard without comment from Opposition Front Benchers, and I certainly expect the same from Government Front Benchers in return.
RJ
Robert Jenrick
Thank you, Mr Speaker. This morning, more than 50 Crown courtrooms sit empty in England alone. In fact, over 21,000 court days have gone unused this year. Why? Not because there are too many juries, but because the Justice Secretary will not fund the sitting days. Had he done so, the backlog would have shrunk by up to …
Income tax (charge)2 Dec 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Last week’s Budget marked a clear turn away from the damage and austerity of the previous Government towards a fairer, stronger country that will deliver on the public’s priorities. People in my constituency have already expressed their appreciation at having a Labour Budget built from Labour values to overturn 15 years of cuts and chaos.… As an OnSide youth champion and a frequent visitor to the Way Youth Zone, as well as schools, the City of Wolverhampton college, the University of Wolverhampton, Juniper Training and the Wolves Foundation in my constituency, I welcome the increased support for young people. Lifting the two-child benefit cap, paid for by a tax on gambling companies, will lift 450,000 children out of poverty, including more than 3,000 children in Wolverhampton West, and expanding free breakfast clubs, including at Penn Fields school in my constituency, as well as free school meals, will mean that children do not go to school hungry. This is what the NHS wants—to remove child poverty—and it will also help the rest of society, and if these children can learn and then earn when older, they will go on to contribute to our economy. Looking after our children therefore also makes economic sense. A child growing up in poverty is less likely to work as an adult, and earns 25% less aged 30. The youth guarantee means that every young person who has been on universal credit for 18 months without earning or learning will be offered a guaranteed paid work placement, with the Government investing an additional £725 million to help support apprenticeships, enabling small and medium-sized businesses to offer apprenticeships to our young people at no cost to them.
Hansard · 2 Dec 2025 · parliament.uk
JC
Judith Cummins
I draw the House’s attention to two minor corrections that have been made to the text of resolution 59 and the title of resolution 98. A revised version of the resolutions paper is available in the Vote Office and online. It includes a note setting out the corrections that have been made. With the exception of Front Be…
WS
Wes Streeting
I begin by addressing the British Medical Association’s reckless call for resident doctors to strike in the run-up to Christmas. That is a cynical choice, coming as flu cases surge and we enter the most dangerous time of year for hospitals, and it is completely unjustified. After a 28.9% pay rise, the Government offere…
FE
Florence Eshalomi
Does the Secretary of State agree that the hard-working staff at St Thomas’ hospital across the bridge, who deal with patients from right across the country, including many who have had surgeries and operations booked for many months, still kept the show going during the last rounds of strikes? Will he please do everyt…
WS
Wes Streeting
I can certainly give my hon. Friend that assurance, and I absolutely endorse what she says about our local hospital, which I know very well. I genuinely thank frontline NHS staff, without whom the performance and improvements we are seeing simply would not be possible. Let me turn to the substance of this debate. There…
CM
Calum Miller
The Secretary of State knows, because his Department shares responsibility for special educational needs and disabilities education, that that is a major challenge facing the young people whose opportunity he so rightly champions. How will the announcement that the Government will take responsibility for that from 2028…
WJ
Warinder Juss
I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. Not only is that very good for our young people—they will have apprenticeships—but for our SMEs, as they will be able to offer those apprenticeships without the cost. Raising the minimum wage and the living wage will also help to increase the spending power of young people to contr…
Separation Centres: Terrorist Offenders20 Nov 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
The European convention on human rights has safeguarded the lives and rights of many people. Will the Minister please tell the House what the Law Society of England and Wales thinks about the Conservatives’ plans to leave the ECHR?
Hansard · 20 Nov 2025 · parliament.uk
RJ
Robert Jenrick
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will make a statement on the implications for national security and the management of terrorist offenders following disruption to the separation centre regime.
AD
Alex Davies-Jones
The right hon. Gentleman raises a very important question. Separation centres are a vital part of our strategy to manage those who pose the most significant terrorist risk. Following the horrific attack at HMP Frankland in April this year, we took immediate action to ensure safety in our separation centres. Today, ever…
CN
Caroline Nokes
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
RJ
Robert Jenrick
Sahayb Abu is a danger to this country. This is an ISIS fanatic who bought a combat vest and a sword so that he could, in his own words, “shoot up a crowd”, yet this week the High Court ruled that keeping him apart from other prisoners to prevent him from radicalising them was a breach of his human rights. We have reac…
AD
Alex Davies-Jones
The right hon. Gentleman will be well aware that I am unable to pre-empt decisions that are yet to be taken by the courts. The Government will always ensure that taxpayer money is used responsibly and effectively. On the most recent judicial review, announced just yesterday, the Government are considering all the avail…
Business of the House20 Nov 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Last weekend I attended the annual conference of Interfaith Wolverhampton in my constituency, which has done much to bring different faith communities together, including those of no faith, and to celebrate diversity, which is so needed at a time when we face division and hate crime. The Conservative Government withdrew all funding from the national… Inter Faith Network charity, forcing it to shut down. Will the Leader of the House meet me and the relevant Minister to discuss restoration of the national Inter Faith Network, so that it can again provide support for interfaith organisations across the country?
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
WJ
Warinder Juss
I ask, as someone who was not born in this country, whether the Home Secretary agrees that we should not stop talking about the benefits of immigration while managing migration. As she has already acknowledged, will she confirm that we will always offer sanctuary to those truly fleeing peril? Does she accept that for those… people, we should be making settlement and integration into British society quicker and easier, not more difficult?
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 …
Justice Committee20 Nov 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
I thank my hon. Friend for his statement. Does he agree that reducing reoffending through rehabilitation is the key to reducing not only prison overcrowding, but the court backlog? It is unacceptable that prisoners very often have to make the choice between engaging in work or education and accessing their basic needs, such as time… out in the fresh air, a shower or a hot meal.
Hansard · 20 Nov 2025 · parliament.uk
JC
Judith Cummins
We now come to the Select Committee statement on behalf of the Justice Committee. 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 the statement. These should be brief questions, no…
AS
Andrew Slaughter
I thank the Backbench Business Committee for allocating time for me to make a statement on behalf of the Justice Committee. This is the seventh report of the Committee and its subject is rehabilitation in prisons. This time last year, the Justice Committee began its principal inquiry to look at the crisis of reoffendin…
TM
Tessa Munt
I thank the hon. Gentleman for presenting the Committee’s statement. With the chief inspector of prisons recently concluding that the outcomes for children in custody are not improving and the urgent notification issued to Oakhill secure training centre, and given that it is children we are discussing, does the hon. Ge…
AS
Andrew Slaughter
I thank the hon. Member, who is an effective and active member of the Committee, for her question. We should not ignore the fact that youth custody is one of the successes of the prison system in the sense that over the past few decades, the number of young people in custody has gone down from over 3,000, I think, to a…
AS
Andrew Slaughter
It is certainly true that there is a close relationship between the crisis in the courts and the crisis in prisons. A good example is that, as I mentioned in my statement, the number of people on remand is at a 50-year high, with remand prisoners occupying prison places for far longer than they should be. It is also tr…
International Men’s Day20 Nov 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
My hon. Friend is making an excellent contribution. On men not expressing their feelings, I had a constituent at my last surgery who told me about the domestic abuse he had suffered. As a man, he felt that he could not express that because of the idea that men do not get beaten up by… women. Does my hon. Friend agree that domestic abuse is an evil and that, although it largely affects women, men can also be affected?
Hansard · 20 Nov 2025 · parliament.uk
JC
Judith Cummins
I call Josh Newbury, who will speak for around 15 minutes.
JN
Josh Newbury
I beg to move, That this House has considered International Men’s Day, the issues affecting, and contributions made by, men and boys, and what it means to be a man in Britain today. It is an honour to lead this debate, and I am grateful to the Backbench Business Committee for granting time for the House to consider thi…
JC
Judith Cummins
Order. I will impose an immediate four-minute time limit.
CJ
Clive Jones
As we mark International Men’s Day, we have an opportunity to address the biggest inequality in men’s health: prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, yet it is the only major cancer without a screening programme. Hopefully, the Secretary of State will ensure that that changes in the national cancer plan. We a…
DB
David Burton-Sampson
Madam Deputy Speaker, you may or may not have noticed the unusual growth appearing between my nose and top lip. Yes, it is Movember, and for the first time I have had the opportunity to prove to everyone that I can grow facial hair—if that is what you can call it. My Mo is becoming the subject of much contention, with …
Topical Questions17 Nov 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Crimes committed by grooming gangs are among the most horrific imaginable; victims feel the devastating impact for the rest of their life. Does the Minister therefore agree that the findings of the national inquiry into grooming gangs should be implemented without delay, that the victims must be kept at the heart of our response, and… that their voices and experiences must lead the inquiry, so that some justice can finally be delivered for those impacted?
Hansard · 17 Nov 2025 · parliament.uk
SL
Seamus Logan
If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.
SM
Shabana Mahmood
I am pleased to start with some very good news indeed: one of the heroes of the Huntingdon attack, Samir Zitouni, the member of the train’s crew who risked his own life to save others, has been discharged from hospital. There is a long road ahead of him and his family have asked for privacy, but I am sure the whole Hou…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Order. The answer is far too long. I still have to get other people in. Please can we have shorter answers.
SL
Seamus Logan
The Muscatelli report, commissioned by the Labour party in Scotland, recommended that the Scottish Government push for a bespoke immigration approach that tackles the unique issues faced by Scotland and its economy. While the leader of the Labour party in Scotland, Anas Sarwar, may be a bit confused about what is devol…
SM
Shabana Mahmood
No, I will not, because immigration is a reserved matter. Trying to devolve this matter would create perverse pull factors all across the United Kingdom, which would be deeply inappropriate.
Illegal Waste: Organised Crime17 Nov 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Penn cricket club in my constituency allegedly had contaminated soil illegally deposited on its grounds. That not only caused an eyesore, but prevented the club from playing cricket on its grounds. The EA put a stop notice on the club in July 2022. Despite investigations continuing, there is no end or resolution in sight. What… support can the Government give to prevent such delays in the EA pursuing its investigations?
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…
Prisoner Releases in Error11 Nov 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Does my right hon. Friend agree that wrongful releases of prisoners will have caused a lot of distress and anxiety to the victims, their families and others? Does he also agree that we inherited a prison system that was in complete chaos and in such major breakdown that, although we are now taking the appropriate… action to sort out the prison system and to prevent wrongful releases, this is going to take some time?
Hansard · 11 Nov 2025 · parliament.uk
DL
David Lammy
With permission, Mr Speaker, I shall make a statement on releases in error from prison. On Armistice Day, let me begin by paying tribute to those we honour: Members of both Houses and parliamentary staff who gave their tomorrow for our today. Whatever divides our politics, today we remember what binds us together: our …
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Can I just clear something up, which does not have to happen? First of all, I was told that the Justice Secretary needed 13 minutes. [Interruption.] Bear with me. I said, “You will need to ask,” and in the end, the Department came back and said, “Oh no, it’s 10 minutes.” That statement was not 10 minutes; it was almost…
RJ
Robert Jenrick
So we are back here again. At least the Justice Secretary is getting some use out of his new suit. But where has Wednesday’s bombast and bravado gone? “Get a grip, man!”, he thundered last week, without even a hint of irony. There was none of that today, was there? Why is that? It is because, like increasing numbers of…
DL
David Lammy
This is a crisis that we inherited in our prison system. [Interruption.] That is worthy of sober reflection, because the shadow Justice Secretary knows that when the Conservatives were in government, 17 prisoners were released in error every month. He knows that. A former Conservative Justice Secretary said in respect …
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the Chair of the Justice Committee.
Violence against Women and Girls5 Nov 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle violence against women and girls.
Hansard · 5 Nov 2025 · parliament.uk
IC
Irene Campbell
What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle violence against women and girls.
JM
Julie Minns
What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle violence against women and girls.
SW
Steve Witherden
What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle violence against women and girls.
SO
Simon Opher
What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle violence against women and girls.
BO
Ben Obese-Jecty
Whether she has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on reviewing the strategy entitled “Tackling violence against women and girls.”
WJ
Warinder Juss
In the last couple of months the west midlands has seen a spate of racially motivated attacks on women of colour, including rapes of Sikh women, who now tell me that they are scared to walk on our streets or use public transport to go to work. Does the Minister agree that there is no place in Britain for any kind of ra…
Sudan: Government Support4 Nov 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Over 30 million people now need humanitarian aid in Sudan, and millions more have been displaced, with countless others living in fear, hunger and deprivation. Does the hon. Member agree that this crisis has been overlooked for far too long and that, for the sake of humanity, we need to turn our attention to Sudan… and do what we can to provide aid and support to those who so desperately need it?
Hansard · 4 Nov 2025 · parliament.uk
BM
Brian Mathew
We are in Remembrance Week, when we remember the dead of past wars. Right now in Sudan, a war as murderous and horrible as anything the world has faced is shattering the lives of civilians, of children, of women and of men, in ways we can scarcely countenance. I have secured this debate because what is going on in Suda…
JS
Jim Shannon
I commend the hon. Gentleman for securing the debate and for all his work across Africa before coming to this place. I respect him greatly for his desire for human betterment. As the chair of the all-party parliamentary group for international freedom of religion or belief, I have spoken and asked questions about Sudan…
BM
Brian Mathew
I thank the hon. Member for his kind comments. I agree with him, and I hope to put forward some ideas that may prove useful. There are no United Nations peacekeepers on hand even to witness the killings. Current events are a continuation of a calculated political strategy to destroy and ethnically cleanse a province th…
BM
Brian Mathew
I heartily agree with the hon. Member. Humanitarian workers are also under threat, and I commend the work being done as we speak by groups like Doctors without Borders—MSF—and the International Committee of the Red Cross. MSF has been treating hundreds fleeing El Fasher over the last week, including men, women and chil…
IR
Ian Roome
I thank my hon. Friend for securing this debate. Does he agree that part of the great tragedy of Sudan has been the way it is unfairly overshadowed by conflicts happening elsewhere in the world, and we should be less squeamish about pointing that out to the public here in the United Kingdom and the rest of the world?
Care Leavers3 Nov 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
I thank my hon. Friend for bringing forward this debate. We know that care-experienced people face distinct discrimination and challenges throughout their lives. As of September, 125 local authorities have passed motions to recognise care experience as a protect characteristic, which is an important step towards tackling inequality. Does my hon. Friend think that this… might be an appropriate time for the Government to follow suit and recognise care experience as a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010?
Hansard · 3 Nov 2025 · parliament.uk
SJ
Sally Jameson
Today marks the first sitting day of National Care Leavers Month, and what a way to begin. I am grateful for the opportunity to come to the Chamber and talk about the challenges facing young people once they have left children’s social care, and I very much hope that this month Members from across the House can join to…
HH
Helen Hayes
I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate. Care leavers need support; they need the state to deliver for them when family is sometimes not there in the way that it is for many young people. Does she agree with me and my Select Committee that we need to iron out the differences in support for care …
SJ
Sally Jameson
I completely agree. As we move through this debate today, I think a theme that will shine through is the need to get rid of what is often a postcode lottery for care leavers. I want to recognise some of the good work that the Government have already done in this area. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill marks an …
JS
Jim Shannon
I commend the hon. Lady for bringing this debate forward; I spoke to her beforehand. Does she agree that those leaving care may not have had the financial advice and instruction that they should have had and that many of us take for granted? It is imperative that they are taught how to be self-reliant and are able to m…
SJ
Sally Jameson
I agree. I think it comes back to the fact that the offer is very different in different areas, and that is something we all want to address.
Business of the House30 Oct 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
I am very grateful, Madam Deputy Speaker. Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the national curry awards here in Parliament. Penn Tandoori, which is just down the road from where I live in my constituency, was named Wolverhampton restaurant of the year. Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating Penn… Tandoori for its well-deserved win, and does he agree that it is crucial that the Government invest in and support our local hospitality businesses so that they can continue to grow and thrive?
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…
Gaza Peace Plan28 Oct 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
What steps her Department is taking to support the Gaza peace plan.
Hansard · 28 Oct 2025 · parliament.uk
JC
Jacob Collier
What steps her Department is taking to support the Gaza peace plan.
NW
Nadia Whittome
What steps she is taking to help secure a just and lasting peace in Gaza.
YC
Yvette Cooper
The ceasefire agreement in Gaza, as a result of President Trump’s peace initiative, is a profound moment of peace and hope, but it needs to hold and to become a lasting peace, after two years of the most horrendous suffering. Our immediate priority is ensuring that unconditional humanitarian aid is flooded into Gaza, w…
JC
Jacob Collier
We are grateful to the United States for its co-ordination. This must not be a temporary peace that fades away. As the Foreign Secretary says, the ceasefire remains fragile, with both sides accused of violations, and fighting on the occupied west bank continues. Will my right hon. Friend assure the House that the UK wi…
YC
Yvette Cooper
My hon. Friend is right. Given the horrendous suffering that we have seen over the last two years, we need to ensure that the ceasefire holds. Part of that involves getting the humanitarian aid into Gaza. We are urging for more crossings to be opened and for restrictions on humanitarian aid to be lifted, and we are wor…
WJ
Warinder Juss
Despite the most welcome peace plan, we have already seen breaches in the form of Israeli air strikes, with the restriction of lifesaving supplies entering Gaza. What are we doing to ensure that sufficient humanitarian aid can get through to end the famine swiftly, and that the Israeli leadership is held accountable fo…
Prisoner Release Checks27 Oct 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
It is deeply concerning that a dangerous criminal was released on to the streets—that should not have happened—but I thank the Deputy Prime Minister for his honest assessment of what happened and for acknowledging that it was wrong. Does he agree that we are dealing with 14 years of Tory neglect with overcrowded and understaffed… prisons, and that when things go wrong—as they have done—it is essential that we take swift and decisive action so that the public’s trust in the justice system is maintained, and that that is exactly what we are doing now?
Hansard · 27 Oct 2025 · parliament.uk
DL
David Lammy
I would like to make a statement on the release in error of Hadush Kebatu from HMP Chelmsford last Friday morning. As the House will be aware, Mr Kebatu was apprehended by the Metropolitan police on Sunday morning in the Finsbury Park area of my constituency. He is back where he belongs: behind bars. I thank the Metrop…
JC
Judith Cummins
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
RJ
Robert Jenrick
Dear, oh dear, where to begin? This Justice Secretary could not deport the only small boat migrant who wanted—no, who tried—to be deported. Having been mistakenly released, Hadush Kebatu came back to prison asking to be deported not once, not twice, but five times, but he was turned away. The only illegal migrants this…
DL
David Lammy
This is a serious issue and that is why there will be a full independent investigation. The shadow Justice Secretary—I will give him this—is smooth. But as my mother would have said, if he was chocolate he would lick himself. He should hang his head in shame. The crisis in our prisons that we face today is because of 1…
JC
Judith Cummins
I call the Chair of the Justice Committee.
Business of the House23 Oct 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Dementia is the leading cause of death in this country, and my constituents tell me of not only the mental decline but the physical conditions, poor mobility, infections and increased pain levels that sufferers experience. Does the Leader of the House agree that it is crucial to improve co-ordination between social care, community care and… hospital services? Will he please consider asking the Department of Health and Social Care to treat dementia as a physical health condition so that sufferers and their families can receive the appropriate support they need?
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…
Black History Month23 Oct 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
My hon. Friend is making a powerful speech. He has mentioned people who have come to this country and contributed greatly. As he and other Members have said, the problems we face are ones that we did not think we would see in this day and age. Only last week, I posted a photograph of… myself out door-knocking and speaking to constituents, and somebody posted, “Another foreigner representing Wolverhampton.” I grew up being racially attacked, including physically, because I wore a turban and because of the colour of my skin, but even so, the comment shocked me, because I did not expect to hear it in present times. When I was thinking of how I would respond to that person, I wondered whether I should point out that 60% of NHS workers were not born in this country. As I was formulating a response, somebody responded, “Well, why don’t you stand at the next general election?”. I thought that that was a really good way of countering the comment. Does my hon. Friend agree that we have to face these issues, and that we need allies—people who are not black —to take part in Black History Month? That is how we will tackle the racism that people like me still feel. Anybody in public service will feel vulnerable, so we need as many people as possible to take part in this movement, and in the celebration of Black History Month.
Hansard · 23 Oct 2025 · parliament.uk
SM
Seema Malhotra
I beg to move, That this House has considered Black History Month. I am honoured to open this debate on Black History Month, which, for the second year running, is being held in Government time. It is a chance to honour those who came before us, to celebrate their lives and their courage, and to recognise the huge cont…
JS
Jim Shannon
I commend the Minister and the Government for bringing us this debate. What the Minister said applies to my constituency of Strangford. People from Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Egypt, Pakistan and India contribute to the work-life and economy of Strangford, as well its culture, religion and history. I think we all recognise…
SM
Seema Malhotra
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his comments. He describes powerfully the contribution to his community and our country of those from all backgrounds and nations.
PP
Peter Prinsley
This week, it was reported that the hon. Member for Weald of Kent (Katie Lam) , who is herself a descendant of Dutch Jews, and whose family lost members during the Holocaust, spoke about the desirability of creating a “culturally coherent” society, and her plan to return many UK residents to their “home”. Such rhetoric…
SM
Seema Malhotra
I thank my hon. Friend for his comments. I think we are all shocked by such sentiments. I am the daughter of two people who came to the UK in the 1960s, and I think that the intervention from the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) better reflects the contribution made by immigrants to this country. People must re…
Mental Health and Hoarding22 Oct 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
My hon. Friend speaks very effectively about hoarding disorder. As she has explained, it is a mental health condition in its own right, although it is often confused with obsessive-compulsive disorder. One of my constituents spoke to me about her husband, who has completely filled the living room with items that he just cannot discard.… Does my hon. Friend agree that whether it is related to OCD or to another condition, hoarding not only disrupts the lives of the individual who goes through the anxiety and trauma of the condition, but affects others around that individual? During Prime Minister’s questions this morning, we heard that one in four of us will suffer from a mental health condition. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need to increase mental health support to make it easily accessible and enable it to provide effective treatment, and that such earlier intervention can avoid the deterioration of the condition?
Hansard · 22 Oct 2025 · parliament.uk
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Paulette Hamilton
I am grateful for the opportunity to lead this debate on a subject that, to the best of my knowledge, has never been discussed on the Floor of the House before. I often speak of my 25 years as an NHS nurse because that experience has fundamentally shaped my understanding of the hidden struggles within our communities, …
PH
Paulette Hamilton
My hon. Friend raises a valuable point. I will come on to that later in my speech, but I absolutely agree that hoarding disrupts people’s lives.
JS
Jim Shannon
I congratulate the hon. Lady for bringing forward this issue. She is a dear friend of mine, and I always look forward to her contributions to this Chamber and Westminster Hall. I often think of a TV programme on this subject. Perhaps I did not always understand the obsessive behaviour of hoarding, but that TV programme…
PH
Paulette Hamilton
The hon. Member is right, but this is not just about a solution. A number of people in our society are living with a mental health condition, and it needs to be treated. At the moment, there are no strategies in place, but I will answer his question as I go on. I thank him for his contribution.
RM
Rachael Maskell
I am really grateful to my hon. Friend for securing tonight’s debate. I have met York’s Community Bees, who have developed strategies for supporting people in the community. They dearly need money, because they are not only addressing mental health needs but de-risking a situation. Hoarding risks infection, infestation…
“Part 12a - GAMBLING TREATMENT REQUIREMENT21 Oct 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
I understand and appreciate the effects of knife crime; we have all had cases in our constituencies that demonstrate the devastation that it causes. Does the right hon. Member agree that we should focus on rehabilitation, and on preventing people from carrying knives? Education on this issue is important. It is the way forward in… ensuring that knife crime is decreased.
Hansard · 21 Oct 2025 · parliament.uk
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Esther McVey
I oppose the whole idea of forcing courts to give suspended sentences when they should be sending offenders to prison. We all know that it is hard to get sent to prison in the first place, and judges and magistrates do not send people to prison lightly. In fact, they do not send people to prison enough, as far as I can…
SJ
Sally Jameson
The right hon. Lady suggests that the Bill will bring law and order into question, but as a former prison officer I would say it was the previous Government running our prison system to a boiling point that nearly brought law and order crashing down, with fewer than 100 bed spaces available last summer. It might be poi…
EM
Esther McVey
I thank the hon. Lady for making that point, although I would point out that under the last Government three prisons were built—HMP Five Wells, HMP Fosse Way and HMP Millsike—which added an extra 8,500 places. Three further prisons will also be built.
DS
Desmond Swayne
The active management of the prison service at those levels of occupation was of course hard work, but that hard work was absolutely necessary, and far preferable to simply taking a view that we will not have all those criminals in prison at all. The reality is that what we are doing now is much worse.
EM
Esther McVey
I agree with my right hon. Friend. This disgrace of a Bill will not be sending people to prison, and at the same time it will be letting people out of prison. Amendments 46, 47, 51 and 52 would change the length of sentences that qualify for the “get out of jail free” suspended sentences to those of less than 12 months…
WJ
Warinder Juss
As a member of the Justice Committee, it is a privilege to speak in support of the Bill. I welcome the much-needed reform that it will bring to our courts and prisons system. I wish to speak in support of clause 1 and amendment 36, relating to sentences of 12 months or less, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Colc…
WJ
Warinder Juss
I have visited Snaresbrook Crown court and I understand exactly what my hon. Friend is saying. He makes a valid point. The pressures on our courts system and our prison system are all interlinked. It is important that victims get the justice they deserve, that the courts are able to deliver it and that offender rehabil…
Business of the House16 Oct 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Penn cricket club in my constituency has been under an Environment Agency stop notice since July 2022, after soil was wrongly imported on to its grounds, and nothing much has happened since. Will the Leader of the House support my attempt to encourage the Environment Agency to complete its investigations so that my constituents can… get their cricket club back?
Hansard · 16 Oct 2025 · parliament.uk
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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…
Work for Serving Prisoners15 Oct 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
The issue of work in prison is something we have considered on the Justice Committee. Separately, I have recently visited prisons, where I had the opportunity to talk to prisoners. Does my hon. Friend agree that meaningful work in prisons can not only erase the boredom that can lead to drug use but give prisoners… skills that they can use to find employment when they are released from prison? It enables them to reintegrate into society, thereby reducing the risk of reoffending.
Hansard · 15 Oct 2025 · parliament.uk
CA
Catherine Atkinson
In my early years as a barrister, I sometimes came across defendants who knew the criminal justice system better than me. Their antecedents—their list of previous convictions—was pages long, showing multiple stints in prison. I used to do both prosecution and defence, and I remember some defendants even sharing with me…
PD
Paul Davies
I compliment my hon. Friend on her excellent speech. Does she agree that improving literacy in prisons is a powerful tool for rehabilitation and reintegration? Literacy equips prisoners with essential communication and comprehension skills, laying the foundation for further education and vocational training. By fosteri…
CA
Catherine Atkinson
My hon. Friend makes a powerful point. Investing in education and work is a key part of preventing reoffending. Frustratingly, without rehabilitation the alternative is a return to the easiest path—one of crime. We then see the revolving door of prison take another turn. Without intervention, one in two prison leavers …
JS
Jim Shannon
I commend the hon. Lady on bringing forward this debate. When I heard what she was going to speak about, I wanted to intervene: first, because it is an admirable subject, and secondly, because I fully support what she is trying to achieve. I hope that the Minister will come back to her along those lines. Does the hon. …
CA
Catherine Atkinson
It is not a bona fide Adjournment debate unless the hon. Member has intervened, so I thank him for his intervention and his insight. I fully agree with him. As well as having seen countless examples of prison having not worked, I have met former offenders who have escaped the revolving door, often through work. Many ha…
Tackling Climate Change: International Co-operation14 Oct 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
What discussions he has had with his international counterparts on tackling climate change.
Hansard · 14 Oct 2025 · parliament.uk
TH
Tom Hayes
What steps he is taking to increase co-operation with other countries to tackle climate change.
EM
Ed Miliband
In the best traditions of the UK, we see it as our duty to work with other countries to tackle the climate crisis and protect future generations. It was British leadership that saw the Climate Change Act 2008 emulated in 60 countries across the world, and it was the leadership of the UK at COP26 that now sees 80% of gl…
TH
Tom Hayes
The Amazon rainforest is the lungs of the earth, but it is gasping for breath. I am pleased that COP30 will be in the heart of the Amazon. Ella, a school student from my constituency, would like to know what steps the Government will be taking to stop deforestation and back nature-based solutions. On behalf of Ella, ma…
EM
Ed Miliband
I thank my hon. Friend for his question, and Ella for her interest in and enthusiasm for this incredibly important issue. Deforestation is a terrible thing for the planet, but it is also terrible for the people who are affected—the indigenous people who live in the forest. Nature-based solutions and solutions that put …
EM
Ed Miliband
Plastic waste is something that my colleagues in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs work on. I think my hon. Friend’s wider point is important. There is a global context to this—and sometimes that context might not actually be as it appears—which is that, when we look across the world, we see that c…
WJ
Warinder Juss
Young people in my constituency of Wolverhampton West are particularly concerned about protecting the environment and the future of our planet. I have been contacted by students at Wolverhampton girls’ high school and St Edmund’s Catholic academy, and recently I was proud to attend a climate justice art exhibition prep…
Provision of Council Housing15 Sep 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
According to the charity Crisis, only 1.4% of one to three-bedroom properties in my constituency are affordable to renters who need housing benefits, while the number of people on the social housing waiting list in Wolverhampton has nearly tripled in three years and rents have surged by over 35% in the last five years. Does… my hon. Friend agree that the housing emergency demands urgent and sustained action, and does he therefore welcome, as I do, this Government’s commitment to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable house building in a generation?
Hansard · 15 Sep 2025 · parliament.uk
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Chris Hinchliff
Council housing is the first, most important and only viable solution to the housing crisis and to creating a society that matches the hopes of both the Labour movement and the wider public. Not long ago, under the leadership of the current Prime Minister, Labour Front Benchers now sitting in Cabinet declared that hous…
CH
Chris Hinchliff
I fully agree with my hon. Friend. The points he raises perfectly exemplify why the provision of council housing is so important. England has seen 724,000 more net additional dwellings than new households since 2015, yet in the same period the number of households in England on local authority housing waiting lists ros…
EC
Ellie Chowns
Given that 1.3 million households are on council housing waiting lists, and given the previous Labour commitments to tackling the social housing crisis that he presented, does the hon. Member agree that it is extraordinary that the Minister has repeatedly refused to set a target for social housing? The Government think…
CH
Chris Hinchliff
I fully agree that council housing is essential to meeting the housing crisis that we face, and I hope that we will hear ambitious remarks from the Minister. The question is not simply how much housing is built, but the type of housing built and for whom. As has been referenced, more than 1.3 million households in Engl…
JS
Jim Shannon
I commend the hon. Member for securing the debate. In my office, as I suspect in everybody else’s, benefits are the first issue of importance and housing is the second. One possible solution—I want to be constructive, and I showed him this suggestion—is to focus on building smaller social housing units, enabling older …
Palestine Action: Proscription and Protests8 Sep 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Many of those arrested over the weekend for simply holding placards were older and disabled citizens and human rights activists, who can hardly be described as terrorists. Considering that the UN human rights chief has warned that proscription dangerously conflates protest with terrorism, does the Minister accept that we at least run some risk of… suppressing protest and dissent, through which we obtained many of the freedoms that we enjoy today?
Hansard · 8 Sep 2025 · parliament.uk
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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.
People Smuggling4 Sep 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
What steps she is taking to help ensure the effective prosecution of people smugglers.
Hansard · 4 Sep 2025 · parliament.uk
AS
Alan Strickland
What steps she is taking to help ensure the effective prosecution of people smugglers.
AB
Alex Ballinger
What steps she is taking to help ensure the effective prosecution of people smugglers.
LR
Lucy Rigby
Anyone involved in the vile trade of people smuggling will be met with the full force of the law. This year, 67% more offences for facilitating illegal entry into the UK were prosecuted. I am pleased to tell my hon. Friend that the Government’s Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill will allow for more prosecutio…
LR
Lucy Rigby
Developing controlled and managed routes for genuine refugees is important. This is one of a host of robust, concrete and practical measures that the Government are taking to crack down on the vile activities of people smuggling gangs. I contrast our approach with that of the Conservative party, which left us with this…
AS
Alan Strickland
To stop the small boats, it is crucial that the Labour Government provide global leadership to smash the criminal gangs. Can the Solicitor General set out the work that we are doing with other countries to secure our borders and end this appalling trade in human life?
WJ
Warinder Juss
I welcome the Government’s steps to deter people smuggling and end the exploitation of vulnerable people. I also want to highlight the work that Wolverhampton City of Sanctuary does in my constituency to help refugees rebuild their lives. As the Home Secretary confirmed only this week, one of the Government’s major ref…
Business of the House4 Sep 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Over the summer recess, two older Sikh taxi drivers were attacked outside Wolverhampton train station, one of whom is a constituent of mine. Although I commend British Transport police for making arrests quickly, meeting me and acknowledging that the attacks were racially motivated, many people, including me, were shocked and horrified by the nature of… the attacks, which have made the local community feel vulnerable, particularly in light of the far-right rhetoric that has recently been spreading. Will the Leader of the House arrange a meeting with the relevant Minister so that I can reassure my constituents that the Government treat hate crime with the utmost seriousness and will do all in their power to tackle racial prejudice and discrimination?
Hansard · 4 Sep 2025 · parliament.uk
JN
Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House give the forthcoming business?
LP
Lucy Powell
The business for the week commencing 8 September will include: Monday 8 September —Consideration of Lords amendments to the Renters’ Rights Bill. Tuesday 9 September —Second Reading of the Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill. Wednesday 10 September —Remaining stages of the Bus Services (N…
NG
Nusrat Ghani
I call the shadow Leader of the House.
JN
Jesse Norman
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I hope you and everyone in this Chamber had a very good summer break, with just the right proportions of sun, sleep and family. If I may, let me start with a double round of congratulations: first, to the Prime Minister on his 63rd birthday this week, putting him squarely in the prime o…
NG
Nusrat Ghani
I call the Leader of the House.
Borders and Asylum1 Sep 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
I am very glad the Home Secretary has acknowledged that, like other countries, we have a duty to safeguard those fleeing persecution and seeking sanctuary in Britain. The reason we had 400 asylum hotels back in 2023, at a cost of £9 million a day, and we now have just over 200 asylum hotels, is… that the Conservative party failed to deal with asylum claim applications, which this country and this Government are now doing. If there is any Government who will end the use of hotels for asylum seekers, it is this Labour Government.
Hansard · 1 Sep 2025 · parliament.uk
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Before we come to the statement by the Home Secretary, I should like to say something about the House’s sub judice resolution. The case of Epping Forest district council v. Somani Hotels is still active and before the courts, but because the case concerns wider issues relating to the planning consent required for hotel…
YC
Yvette Cooper
With permission, I will update the House on the actions we are taking with France to strengthen our border security and the next steps in our reforms to the asylum system. The House will be aware that when we came into government, we found an asylum and immigration system in chaos: for seven years, small boat gangs had…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Home Secretary.
CP
Chris Philp
I thank the Home Secretary for advance sight of her statement. The Government have now been in office for well over a year, and I think it is fair to say that not even their kindest friends would say they think it has gone well, but listening to her statement, it sounds like she thinks everything is fine and that if th…
YC
Yvette Cooper
I worry about the shadow Home Secretary’s amnesia. In the 14 years that the Conservatives were in government, they never managed to do any of the fantasy things that he claims they did. Let us come back to reality from his fantasy rhetoric. The shadow Home Secretary talked about the approach that his Government were ta…
Middle East1 Sep 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Instead of taking substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza and agreeing to an immediate ceasefire and long-term sustainable peace, the Israeli Government have ignored us. They have failed to let aid go through, and created a man-made famine. It appears to me that the Israeli Government will only listen to Donald Trump… and the United States, so can the Foreign Secretary please confirm what discussions he has had with Donald Trump to take action against the Israeli Government?
Hansard · 1 Sep 2025 · parliament.uk
DL
David Lammy
With permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I shall make a statement on the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Iran. In Gaza, the situation on the ground is unimaginably bleak. Horrifying images and accounts will be seared into the minds of colleagues across this House. They are almost impossible to put i…
JC
Judith Cummins
I call the shadow Foreign Secretary, who can speak for up to six and a half minutes.
PP
Priti Patel
I thank the Foreign Secretary for advance sight of his statement. Let me also express my sympathy for the people of Afghanistan who are suffering as a result of last night’s major earthquake. Since the House last met, the awful conflict in the middle east has continued to see lives lost, with intolerable suffering. Ham…
DL
David Lammy
I am grateful to the shadow Foreign Secretary for the tone of her remarks. I am pleased that she agrees with me and, indeed, shares the sentiment of the entire House on the dire—as she described it— humanitarian situation in Gaza and the inhumanity that she also described. She will recognise that even before we came to…
JC
Judith Cummins
I call the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Orgreave Inquiry22 Jul 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
I remember clearly the miners’ strike of 1984 and, in particular, what happened at Orgreave, and I know that it has many painful memories for a lot of people, so let me first thank and commend the Government for holding this statutory public inquiry. It appears that after four decades we will finally secure some… truth and justice in relation to what happened on 18 June 1984 , and also what happened to the 95 miners and how they were treated. Will the Minister please assure the House that if the inquiry does reveal evidence of misconduct and wrongdoing, the necessary action will be taken, and that we will learn lessons to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again?
Hansard · 22 Jul 2025 · parliament.uk
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Diana R. Johnson
With permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will make a statement regarding this Government’s commitment to establishing the truth about events at Orgreave in 1984. The clashes at Orgreave coking plant in 1984 are etched indelibly into our nation’s memory. The clash marked a pivotal moment in the nationwide miners’ strike…
MV
Matt Vickers
I thank the Minister for advance sight of her statement. Growing up in the north-east, I know the emotions stirred by the miners’ strike; decades after the events, they continue to cause significant division and disagreement in our communities. Regardless of people’s views on the rights and wrongs of the incident, hist…
DJ
Diana R. Johnson
I was going to start by saying that I welcomed the shadow Minister’s initial comments, in which he recognised how the situation at Orgreave all those years ago still casts a shadow over communities in Yorkshire, the north-east and other parts of the country. I must say that I was surprised by some of his comments, beca…
JT
Jon Trickett
I very much welcome the Policing Minister announcing to the House the actions that the Government will be taking. I was active at the time of the miners’ strike, and I now represent 23 former mining villages. Many of the men I represent were at Orgreave, and if we were to take even a small sample of opinion as to what …
DJ
Diana R. Johnson
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his question; I know that he has a great deal of experience and knowledge in this area. As I said in my statement, the terms of reference are currently being discussed with the chair, but it is very clear that the inquiry should look at the evidence, and should hear testimony if that…
Civil Service Relocation10 Jul 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
What steps he is taking to relocate civil service roles to locations outside London.
Hansard · 10 Jul 2025 · parliament.uk
PM
Pat McFadden
My hon. Friend and parliamentary neighbour is absolutely right to raise the importance of having a civil service presence around the country. He will know the importance of the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government presence in Wolverhampton to the local area. We want to see half of our UK-based senior …
PM
Pat McFadden
My hon. Friend raises some good points. We do not just want to see buildings with no connection to the local community; it is important that they have that connection. I also want to ensure good career progression in civil service buildings outside London. I recently announced a new civil service apprenticeship scheme …
GW
Gavin Williamson
The last Government saw civil servant jobs relocated not just to Wolverhampton, but to Stoke-on-Trent. It is important that the very top level of the civil service is also located outside of London, so will the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster set out how many permanent secretaries are currently located permanently…
PM
Pat McFadden
We do not have a permanent secretary in Wolverhampton, but it is important that there is career progression and that there are senior roles outside London. That should include permanent secretaries, and that should all come within our target of half of UK-based senior civil servants being located outside London by 2030…
RH
Richard Holden
Heads of Departments have said that 60% attendance in the office is the best balance for civil servants working in Government Departments, but in an answer to a recent written parliamentary question from my hon. Friend the Member for Kingswinford and South Staffordshire (Mike Wood) , the Cabinet Office said that no dat…
WJ
Warinder Juss
I thank my right hon. Friend for his answer. I do indeed feel blessed to have the dual head- quarters of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, which employs more than 250 people, right next to my constituency office in Wolverhampton West. I welcome the Government’s plans to move civil servant roles…
Business of the House10 Jul 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Tea is the most popular beverage in the world next to water, providing work for about 13 million people worldwide, but half of young Kenyan tea pickers surveyed by Fairtrade said that the impact of climate change on tea production was the biggest challenge, and only one in five tea farmers and workers surveyed earned… enough money to support their families. Will the Leader of the House agree to a debate in Government time about introducing a UK law on human rights and environmental due diligence centring on the needs of overseas farmers and workers so that they can have a living wage, as well ensuring we address the unsustainable purchasing practices and business models that undermine progress?
Hansard · 10 Jul 2025 · parliament.uk
JN
Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House give the House the forthcoming business?
LP
Lucy Powell
The business for the week commencing 14 July includes: Monday 14 July —Committee of the whole House and remaining stages of the Deprivation of Citizenship Orders (Effect during Appeal) Bill, following which the Chairman of Ways and Means is expected to name opposed private business for consideration. Tuesday 15 July —O…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Leader of the House.
JN
Jesse Norman
I am not going to let this moment pass—I am sure no colleague would wish me to—without again reminding everyone present that this week marks the 20th anniversary of the 7/7 bombings. On 7 July 2005 , 52 people were killed in four separate attacks and 700 more were injured, many of them grievously. I know that the whole…
LP
Lucy Powell
May I join the shadow Leader of the House in marking the 20th anniversary of the 7/7 bombings? We all remember that day well, and I am sure that the whole House will want to remember all those who died and those who were affected by it. May I also take this opportunity to welcome the newly announced new director of the…
Resident Doctors: Industrial Action10 Jul 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Does my right hon. Friend agree that we were right to settle the strikes last year, for the sake of ensuring the future of the NHS, protecting the interests of the public and showing our doctors that they are valued, that that will always be his position, and that it is therefore somewhat surprising that… resident doctors have decided to call this strike?
Hansard · 10 Jul 2025 · parliament.uk
WS
Wes Streeting
With your permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will make a statement on planned industrial action by resident doctors. Today’s waiting list figures show that after 14 years of decline, the NHS is finally moving in the right direction. Since July, we have cut waiting lists by 260,000. We promised to deliver an extra 2 mi…
CN
Caroline Nokes
Order. May I suggest to the Secretary of State that his statement has already taken 10 minutes and he has not asked for additional time? Does he wish to consider whether his statement is to the House, or to those outside the House? He might like to make a few closing remarks.
WS
Wes Streeting
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I will move to closing. I did share the statement in advance, including with Opposition parties and the Speaker’s Office. I just say to resident doctors, and it is important that the House knows what we are saying to them, that they should carefully consider the consequences of their ac…
CN
Caroline Nokes
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
EA
Edward Argar
I am grateful to the Secretary of State for his typical courtesy and advance sight of his statement. I also note that he is among the most assiduous of Ministers in volunteering himself to this House to be questioned on issues of importance. I am, however, afraid it comes as no surprise that we are here today discussin…
Trial by Jury: Proposed Restrictions9 Jul 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Does my hon. and learned Friend agree that trial by jury is, and will always remain, a fundamental concept of our British justice system, but we also need to ensure that we restore victims’ faith in the system, and do what we can to ensure justice is not denied by justice being delayed?
Hansard · 9 Jul 2025 · parliament.uk
RJ
Robert Jenrick
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if she will make a statement on her plans to restrict trial by jury through the creation of a Crown court bench division and related sentencing changes.
SS
Sarah Sackman
This Government inherited a justice system in crisis, with record and rising backlogs in our criminal courts, leaving victims in limbo as they wait to see justice done. For that reason, the Lord Chancellor commissioned Sir Brian Leveson to undertake a once-in-a-generation review of the criminal courts. We are grateful …
RJ
Robert Jenrick
All of us agree that justice delayed is justice denied. That is why it is so important to get control of the court backlog. No one pretends that this is straightforward, but the Government have made the crisis worse. The backlog is at a record high, and accelerating, with 750 cases being added every month. Sir Brian Le…
SS
Sarah Sackman
What I did not hear in any of that was an apology. It is extraordinary to hear that the shadow Justice Secretary has suddenly discovered a sense of urgency, but where was that sense of urgency in the past 14 years? The so-called party of law of order allowed two things to happen. First, it took our prison system to the…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the Chair of the Justice Committee.
Probation Officers8 Jul 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
What steps she is taking to support probation officers.
Hansard · 8 Jul 2025 · parliament.uk
ND
Nicholas Dakin
Me again, Mr Speaker. We are determined to back our hard-working probation staff by investing up to £700 million, which is a 45% increase in funding. We have already exceeded this year’s target by recruiting over 1,000 trainees. We will recruit another 1,300 more probation officers in 2025-26.
ND
Nicholas Dakin
My hon. Friend is right that we need to ensure that prison officers have the time to do the job they came in to do, which is to spend time with offenders and turn their lives around. In addition, we have invested an initial £8 million in technology and launched a new programme to develop a sustainable work process that…
JS
Jim Shannon
I thank the Minister very much for that answer. I had the opportunity a few months ago to visit the probation office in Newtownards to get an idea of what it does. I was very impressed, first, by the quality of the staff; secondly, by the fact that they are involved in restorative justice issues relating to perpetrator…
ND
Nicholas Dakin
I thank the hon. Member for his question. As he knows, we have regular discussions in the five nations group to ensure that good practice is shared, issues are addressed together and we learn from each other.
WJ
Warinder Juss
An effective Probation Service is crucial for the rehabilitation and resettlement of prisoners to reduce reoffending. Although I welcome the number of new probation officers to be recruited, Napo reports that probation workloads are unmanageable, staff turnover and sickness are high, and probation officers are often ma…
Government Performance against Fiscal Rules7 Jul 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Does the Chief Secretary agree that this Government have had the courage to make the difficult but necessary decisions in an effort to ensure sound public finances and improve the economy, while the Opposition have hid behind their mistakes and have no credible economic plan of their own?
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.
Business of the House3 Jul 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Last week at a council meeting, when medical dispensation was being sought for Labour councillor Carol Hyatt in the Merry Hill ward of my constituency so that she could undergo cancer treatment, a Reform UK councillor said that was not fair on taxpayers. Will the Leader of the House first please join me in wishing… Councillor Hyatt, who is an excellent councillor for her ward, a speedy recovery? Secondly, considering that one in two of us will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in our lives, will she please reassure the House that the Government will always support cancer sufferers at work?
Hansard · 3 Jul 2025 · parliament.uk
JN
Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House give the House the forthcoming business?
LP
Lucy Powell
The business for the week commencing 7 July is as follows: Monday 7 July —Second Reading of the Pension Schemes Bill. Tuesday 8 July —Remaining stages of the Football Governance Bill [Lords]. Wednesday 9 July —Committee of the whole House and remaining stages of the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bi…
JN
Jesse Norman
I am sure the Leader of the House and all Members will want to join me in recognising this year as the 81st anniversary of the announcement by the Government of a national health service, by Sir Henry Willink in 1944. Most of us wishing to celebrate an anniversary would probably have a bit of a party—maybe get a few fr…
LP
Lucy Powell
I start by sending all our condolences to the friends and family of Liverpool football club star, Diogo Jota, following the shocking news of his and his brother’s death in a tragic car accident. It came only two weeks after his wedding and after winning last season’s premier league. I am sure the thoughts of the whole …
SR
Sarah Russell
My constituency has a fantastic group of volunteers and sponsors for Congleton Pride, but they have had to show extraordinary resilience after multiple attacks on their banners for Pride month and our major Pride event. I know that the Leader of the House will want to thank all the volunteers and sponsors who have prov…
Access to GPs23 Jun 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Does the hon. Member agree that we need to address the disparity he mentioned—the inequality in GP funding allocations—across the United Kingdom? Despite having some of the most deprived areas with a higher demand, the funding Wolverhampton receives is, on average, 10% less than more affluent areas. The ratio of GPs to patients is therefore… lower, which increases the length of time people have to wait to get an appointment with the GP. Does he also agree that the experiences of patients differ? When I speak to my constituents in Wolverhampton West, they give me different accounts of the experiences they have had and the level of service they have received from their GP, depending on the surgery that they use. We need to achieve greater consistency in access to GP surgeries.
Hansard · 23 Jun 2025 · parliament.uk
AE
Alex Easton
The ability to access GPs and maintain face-to-face appointments is a pressing issue that affects not just my constituency of North Down but constituencies across the UK. Across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, considerable inequalities exist in access to GP services. Evidence indicates that Northern Irel…
AE
Alex Easton
Although the figure in Northern Ireland has recently increased to 57%, the disparity remains worrying. I am confident that every MP aspires to see good access to GP services throughout the UK and to preserve the essential interactions within GP care that are vital to the health and wellbeing of our nation. GPs are ofte…
JS
Jim Shannon
I commend the hon. Member for North Down (Alex Easton) . He is my neighbour and has been my friend for many years. We served in the Assembly before we ever came here. It is a pleasure to see him secure what I understand is his first Adjournment debate; it will be the first of many, no doubt. Does the hon. Gentleman agr…
AE
Alex Easton
I thank the hon. Member for his intervention and I totally agree with everything he said. People across Northern Ireland are not able to see their GP as much as those in other parts of the UK. That is leading to big frustrations for our constituents. The lack of support and funding for GPs is adding to the frustration …
RS
Robin Swann
This is a debate about GP access across the United Kingdom, but one issue in Northern Ireland is GPs’ ability to access indemnity insurance, whereas in England and Wales there is a Government-provided scheme. Does the hon. Member agree that if the Government worked with the Department of Health in Northern Ireland to a…
Business of the House19 Jun 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Last Saturday, I was at the first ever national care leavers’ championship cup competition, which was held at Molineux, the home of Wolverhampton Wanderers football club in my constituency of Wolverhampton West. Care-experienced young people from all over the country came to play football. Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating those… young people, as well as EFL in the Community, City of Wolverhampton council, the Wolves Foundation and Spectra, a multidisciplinary social impact company in my constituency, all of which sponsored the event? Does she agree that recognising and celebrating the potential of our young people in that way, many of whom got up at 4 o’clock in the morning to come to the event, can empower them to thrive for themselves and our communities?
Hansard · 19 Jun 2025 · 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?
LP
Lucy Powell
The business for the week commencing 23 June includes: Monday 23 June —General debate on Pride Month. Tuesday 24 June —Estimates day (2nd allotted day). There will be debates on estimates relating to the Department for Education; the Department of Health and Social Care; and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Loc…
JM
Joy Morrissey
I would like to start by congratulating the right hon. Lady. This is the third time I have had the pleasure of responding to her at business questions, and they have proved to be remarkably fruitful encounters. At our first encounter, I asked her to press the Chancellor to U-turn on winter fuel payments. The Leader of …
LP
Lucy Powell
I know the whole House will be following the unfolding events in the middle east carefully and with a great deal of concern. I assure the House that the Government are working with our partners to urge de-escalation and diplomacy, as well as continuing to engage very closely on the situation in Gaza, for aid to get in …
Incontinence19 Jun 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
I thank my constituency neighbour, hon. Friend the Member for Dudley (Sonia Kumar) , for securing this important debate, and for attempting to remove the stigma and silence that too often surrounds this key area of healthcare. As has been mentioned, in the UK over 14 million people experience bladder leakage and more than 6.5… million people—around one in 10—struggle with bowel control. However, those figures are probably not a true reflection of the reality, as many individuals choose not to disclose their symptoms, often because of embarrassment or in the mistaken belief that incontinence is simply an inevitable part of ageing. I want to talk about how women suffering from incontinence have been treated in the past, because we need to focus on the availability of proper treatment options for the future. For far too long, vaginal mesh surgery was widely accepted as the so-called gold standard to treat stress urinary incontinence in women. Between its introduction in 2008 and when its use was paused in 2018, it is believed that over 100,000 women in the UK underwent mesh implant procedures. Sadly, many of them were not properly advised about the alternative options available to treat stress urinary incontinence, such as the physiotherapist-supervised pelvic floor exercises that my hon. Friend mentioned, nor about the risks associated with using vaginal mesh, and some of them sustained life-changing injuries. Before I became an MP, I worked as a solicitor specialising in representing women who had been affected by vaginal mesh implants and pursuing claims for compensation for them based on clinical negligence. I came across women who were left in constant pain, unable to work or participate in daily aspects of life. Their personal relationships were affected and their lives were changed forever by a treatment that was supposed to help them. I commend the work of Baroness Cumberlege in her landmark July 2020 report “First Do No Harm”, which recommended that the Governm
Hansard · 19 Jun 2025 · parliament.uk
SK
Sonia Kumar
I beg to move, That this House has considered the matter of incontinence. I thank the Backbench Business Committee and its Chair, the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) , who helped secure this debate. I am delighted that we are debating this vital but often ignored issue during World Continence Week. The defin…
IC
Irene Campbell
Many years ago, when I worked in the NHS, the board tried to save money by changing the incontinence products that people used. The products were not quite the same, which caused a lot of distress for the people who used them, as well as a lot of inconvenience for the health professionals working with patients, particu…
SK
Sonia Kumar
I agree that products need to be readily available, and that is one of my recommendations. Secondly, beyond awareness is prevention. We need real understanding, and I want bladder and bowel health to form part of the school syllabus, enmeshed into the curriculum. That is a recommendation from surgeon Dr Robinson from t…
JC
John Cooper
Incontinence is no respecter of person, and no respecter of sex, and it is male incontinence that I rise to speak about. The wry old joke is that men do not know they have a prostate until their other half reads about it in the Daily Mail. Campaigning newspapers, such as the Daily Mail, and charity groups like Prostate…
BC
Ben Coleman
A big thank you to my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley (Sonia Kumar) for securing this extremely important debate. I was fascinated and not a little shocked to hear that this is the first full debate in the Chamber on this subject, and it is absolutely tremendous that we are talking about it, because we need to. As ev…
Child Sexual Exploitation: Casey Report16 Jun 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Does my right hon. Friend agree that there has been no vote on whether to have a national inquiry into grooming gangs—the vote was about the safeguards of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill—and that following the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse and the 200 pages that dealt specifically with grooming gangs, the Government… were right to have the local inquiries and the rapid national audit? Now that Baroness Casey has recommended a national inquiry into grooming gangs, the Conservative party should be working with us for the sake of the victims rather than attempting to score political points, as the Leader of the Opposition did.
Hansard · 16 Jun 2025 · parliament.uk
YC
Yvette Cooper
With permission, I will update the House on the audit the Government commissioned from Baroness Casey on child sexual exploitation and grooming gangs, and on the action we are taking to tackle this vile crime—to put perpetrators behind bars and to provide the innocent victims of those crimes with support and justice. T…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Hopefully the report will be available in the Table Office for those Members who wish to see it. The Home Secretary quite rightly took longer than expected, and I have no problem with that. I say to the Leader of the Opposition, and to the Lib Dems, that it is available to them to do the same.
KB
Kemi Badenoch
I thank the Home Secretary for advance sight of the statement, although when I listened to it, I could not believe my ears. It was as if this was the Government’s plan all along, when we all know it is another U-turn. After months of pressure, the Prime Minister has finally accepted our call for a full, statutory, nati…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Order. Mr Swallow, I want you to set a good example. This is a very serious statement, and tempers are running high, but I certainly do not want to see you pointing, shouting and bawling in that way.
KB
Kemi Badenoch
Mr Speaker, they can point and shout as much as they like; they know the truth, just as we on the Conservative Benches do. Three times—[Interruption.] I will repeat myself: Labour MPs voted against the reasoned amendment to the children’s Bill; in Committee, they voted against that Bill; and they voted against the Crim…
Business of the House12 Jun 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating the Woodlands Quaker care home, in my constituency of Wolverhampton West, on its work? It is an excellent non-profit residential care home, providing accommodation for older people so that they can live as well as possible. As a charity, it prides itself on having a… high staff ratio, with 70 members of staff, many of whom work part time, for 36 residents. However, even with the increased employment allowance, it now faces a significantly higher employer national insurance liability, adversely affecting its operating costs. Will the Leader of the House agree to a debate in Government time on how we can support adult social care providers, which in turn will ease pressure on the NHS?
Hansard · 12 Jun 2025 · parliament.uk
JN
Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
LP
Lucy Powell
The business for next week is as follows: Monday 16 June —Motion relating to the House of Commons independent complaints and grievance scheme, followed by a general debate on Windrush Day 2025. The subject for this debate was determined by the Backbench Business Committee. Tuesday 17 June —Remaining stages of the Crime…
JN
Jesse Norman
As the House will know, we have incoming news of a terrible disaster involving a flight out of Ahmedabad in India. I know that the Leader of the House will want to say a few words, but, from the Conservative Benches—I am sure that I speak for the whole House—let me wish everyone involved and their families the very bes…
LP
Lucy Powell
I start by saying that the thoughts of the whole House and the Government will be with the families of those travelling on flight AI171 from Ahmedabad in India to London Gatwick, which has reportedly crashed. This is an unfolding story, and it will undoubtedly be causing a huge amount of worry and concern to the many f…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
To follow on from what the Leader of the House and the shadow Leader of the House have said, all our prayers and thoughts go to the families of the London-bound aircraft that has crashed. Let us hope there is better news to come on that. I was tempted by the Leader of the House when she talked about the knighthood for …
Spending Review: Health and Social Care12 Jun 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
I thank the Minister for her statement and the excellent work that this Government are doing in bringing additional investment in the NHS and bringing waiting lists down. We have had to make really difficult decisions to clear up the mess left by the previous Government, and I am sure we all agree that we… need to protect our charitable adult social care providers. Will the Minister facilitate a meeting with myself and Woodlands Quaker Home in my constituency, which provides non-profit residential social care for older people so that they are able to carry on in the best way possible?
Hansard · 12 Jun 2025 · parliament.uk
KS
Karin Smyth
With permission, I would like to make a statement on the outcome of the spending review for the Department of Health and Social Care. This Government were elected on a manifesto to fix our broken NHS and make it fit for the future. Our job is twofold: first, to get the NHS back on its feet and treating patients on time…
CN
Caroline Nokes
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
EA
Edward Argar
Yesterday, yet again, we saw the Chancellor do what the Labour party always does: default to high spending, more borrowing and higher taxes, leaving the public finances vulnerable. The Minister has spoken of additional funding for the NHS. To use the same comparison as the NHS England chief executive, the NHS budget wi…
KS
Karin Smyth
I am entirely unclear, after that run-through of a number of different issues, whether the Conservatives welcome the extra investment in the NHS or oppose it. We know they oppose the means of funding it, but after that, I have no idea. At some point, they have to make up their mind whether they support that extra inves…
AM
Alex McIntyre
I welcome my hon. Friend’s statement about the record funding going into our NHS. We are already seeing the benefit in my constituency, with millions of pounds going into investment in our hospital; that is so desperately needed to get waiting lists down. People were left behind by the Conservative party, and I note th…
SEND Funding12 Jun 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Over the past decade we have seen a 140% increase in the number of children identified as requiring an education, health and care plan. Today we have nearly 2 million pupils in England who are identified as having special educational needs. Unfortunately, the rise in demand has not been matched by a corresponding increase in… funding. As of October last year, the Department for Education projected a cumulative deficit of £4.6 billion in the dedicated schools grant by the end of 2025-26, alongside a £3.4 billion gap by 2027-28 between high-needs costs and current funding levels. Our children have for too long been let down by previous Governments, and we have had 14 years of Conservative austerity. We must urgently re-examine the structure and long-term sustainability of our SEND provision. In my constituency, the pressure is all too evident. Nearly 9,000 pupils are currently receiving either special educational needs support or have an EHCP—around 18% of the total pupil population. If we look at the data more closely, a stark pattern emerges. There is a clear correlation between the level of special educational needs and the index of multiple deprivation, which means that children in our most deprived areas are significantly more likely to require additional support than their peers living in more affluent neighbourhoods. This is not just a matter of education but a matter of social justice. We must invest in early years intervention and deliver a holistic programme of support. Wolverhampton West is home to five state-funded special schools: Tettenhall Wood school, Broadmeadow special school, Penn Fields school, Penn Hall school—close to where I live—and Pine Green Academy. I am proud of all of them, as they have dedicated staff and specialists educating over 650 pupils. However, even with the tireless efforts of our dedicated school staff, our state special schools are under strain and operating beyond capacity. I am proud that this Government have put forward £740
Hansard · 12 Jun 2025 · parliament.uk
GS
Graham Stuart
I beg to move, That this House has considered the distribution of SEND funding. I am delighted to have secured this debate, as it gives us an opportunity to highlight the situation we are facing in England, where children with special educational needs and disabilities are being left behind due to the inherent regional…
PS
Peter Swallow
The right hon. Gentleman makes a profoundly important point. There is a real and urgent need to reform the SEND system, and that of course includes how it is funded. Does he welcome the £750 million ringfenced in yesterday’s spring statement for exactly that: to transform our SEND system to make it fairer for parents, …
GS
Graham Stuart
The hon. Gentleman takes me to a point further on in my speech, but he is absolutely right. He makes the case to the Minister, exactly as I intend to: given that we have a broken distribution system and given the severity of its impact on so many children and families, will she ensure that the money in the spending rev…
GM
Gagan Mohindra
I commend my right hon. Friend on his length of service to this House.
GS
Graham Stuart
My hon. Friend, the Opposition Deputy Chief Whip—and indeed my Whip—is very welcome. Thanks very much; I am grateful for that. We have this issue of how we fix a broken and clearly unfair system. Newer colleagues, and there are many of them in the House, might think, “Well, surely people would want to fix it. There is …
WJ
Warinder Juss
My point is that we have not had sufficient funding to provide our special educational needs children with the support they require. The National Audit Office has warned that without significant change, the current system is financially unsustainable. The evidence is damning. Since 2019, we have seen no consistent impr…
WJ
Warinder Juss
In 2023, the Department for Education said that demand for special school places nationally outstripped available places by at least 4,000, so does my hon. Friend agree that we need more special school places?
Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories10 Jun 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
I thank the Minister for his statement and hard work, and I believe he is genuinely concerned about what is happening in Gaza. We all want a two-state solution, a safe and secure Israel, and a sovereign state of Palestine, and we have already said that the illegal settlements of Israel are something that we… condemn. We recognise the state of Israel. Can the Minister please give an explanation as to why we cannot now recognise the state of Palestine?
Hansard · 10 Jun 2025 · parliament.uk
HF
Hamish Falconer
With permission, Mr Speaker, I will make a statement on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The two-state solution is in peril. There is catastrophic conflict in Gaza and a shocking deterioration in the west bank. This is an affront to the rights of Palestinians, but it is also against the interests of Isr…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
PP
Priti Patel
I am grateful to the Minister for advance sight of his statement. As he said, the situation in the middle east and the suffering we see is serious and completely intolerable, and I reiterate what I said in response to the statement last week about this desperation and suffering being completely unacceptable. We continu…
HF
Hamish Falconer
I thank the right hon. Lady for her questions. She raises important points about work with allies. Let me address what she said about Egypt, which is vital. The Egyptians have conducted important work, and I am pleased that I will be with them next week at the two-state solution conference to discuss the reconstruction…
RB
Richard Burgon
I have long called for comprehensive sanctions on Israel in response to its crimes against the Palestinian people, so the sanctions against two far-right Ministers are a step in the right direction, but Israel’s war crimes are about far more than a couple of bad apples, so much, much more needs to be done. When Russia …
Winter Fuel Payment9 Jun 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Does the Minister agree that, given that ours is now the fastest growing economy in the G7 and interest rates have been cut four times, now is the time to ensure that our public services will be protected and that pensioners who do not need the winter fuel payment to heat their homes will not… receive it, while those who do need it to heat their homes will receive it?
Hansard · 9 Jun 2025 · parliament.uk
TB
Torsten Bell
On 21 May , the Prime Minister told this House that the Government wanted to extend eligibility for winter fuel payments to a wider range of pensioners in England and Wales. Today we are setting out how this will happen for the coming winter and the years ahead. This will provide certainty for pensioners and ensure tha…
NG
Nusrat Ghani
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
HW
Helen Whately
I feel for the Minister, sent here by his bosses to complete what must be the most humiliating climbdown a Government have ever faced in their first year in office. For nearly a year, the Conservatives have campaigned against this cut, and for nearly a year, the Government have tried to hold out. Just four weeks ago, I…
TB
Torsten Bell
I will deal directly with two of the questions raised because it is important to provide reassurance. The right hon. Lady asks what will happen with the estate of someone who is deceased. I want to be clear that His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs will never pursue any estate for the winter fuel payment alone. She also a…
NM
Navendu Mishra
Members on both sides of the House will have had a large volume of correspondence on this matter, so I thank the Minister for his statement. This fair policy change saves our public services £450 million by ensuring that the wealthiest pensioners do not continue to receive the winter fuel payment. Does he agree?
Business of the House5 Jun 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
I was in the House during business questions on 9 January when my hon. Friend the Member for Slough (Mr Dhesi) , Chair of the Defence Committee, referred to the storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar in June 1984, ordered by the then Indian Government. Documents revealed in 2014 showed that the Thatcher Government… had helped their Indian counterpart by providing advice for Operation Blue Star. Since 2014 there have been many calls to establish the extent of the British Government’s involvement, and many assurances have been given. Will the Leader of the House give a statement to the House announcing an independent, judge-led public inquiry to, in her own words, get to the bottom of what happened?
Hansard · 5 Jun 2025 · parliament.uk
JN
Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House give us the business for next week?
LP
Lucy Powell
I shall. The business for the week commencing 9 June includes: Monday 9 June —Remaining stages of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill (day one). Tuesday 10 June —Consideration of a Lords message to the Data (Use and Access) Bill [Lords], followed by remaining stages of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill (day two). W…
JN
Jesse Norman
Today has a great double significance. As the House may know, it is World Environment Day, when we celebrate the natural world and recommit ourselves as a Parliament to seek to protect it; and it is also the putative date of birth of Adam Smith, one of my great heroes, who did as much as anyone has ever done to explain…
LP
Lucy Powell
Mr Speaker, I understand that today is Press Association parliamentary editor Richard Wheeler’s last day in the Gallery. He has covered our proceedings for 12 years, and I am sure we can all agree that that is quite a shift, with Brexit, covid, six Prime Ministers and many interventions from the hon. Member for Strangf…
SK
Satvir Kaur
As it is World Environment Day, does the Leader of the House agree that while the UK has beautiful national parks, local parks and green spaces in urban cities such as Southampton are just as treasured and as valuable in bringing communities together and improving health and wellbeing, making such cities the great plac…
Reoffending on Probation3 Jun 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
What steps her Department is taking to help to reduce reoffending by people on probation.
Hansard · 3 Jun 2025 · parliament.uk
SM
Shabana Mahmood
We inherited a justice system in crisis, with prisons churning out better criminals, not better citizens, and we know that 80% of offenders are reoffenders. Last week, I announced measures to toughen up community punishment, which results in lower reoffending rates than short custodial sentences. We will also increase …
SM
Shabana Mahmood
We are investing in probation. Funding will increase by £700 million by the final year of the spending review. That is a 45% increase in annual budgets, which will fund further recruitment on top of the 1,300 officers we will recruit this year and the 1,000 officers we recruited in the previous year. That will support …
RH
Richard Holden
The Lord Chancellor admitted in a recent interview with The Times that her sentencing reforms will create “inevitable tensions” with the Government’s efforts to halve knife crime and rates of violence against women and girls. It sounds like she does not really believe in these reforms, which have been trotted out by Da…
SM
Shabana Mahmood
I think the country will hold to account those responsible for the absolute mess that this Government inherited. Nowhere in the right hon. Gentleman’s question did he acknowledge that under the Government of which he was a member and for which he campaigned, prisons were brought to the brink of collapse. These reforms …
WJ
Warinder Juss
Will the Lord Chancellor outline the steps being taken to recruit and retain probation officers, and to ensure that they have manageable caseloads and that their morale is improved? What programmes or partnerships are in place to help those on probation to access stable accommodation, and employment, training or educat…
Dementia Care3 Jun 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
One in four hospital beds are occupied by someone living with dementia, and there is a 50% higher hospital readmissions rate for those who have dementia than the general population, with one in three people living with the condition never receiving a diagnosis. Does the hon. Member agree that the key is to get that… early diagnosis, so that help and support can come in early, which will have better prospects for the individual and their families?
Hansard · 3 Jun 2025 · parliament.uk
CV
Caroline Voaden
I beg to move, That this House has considered dementia care. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting time for this important debate and Members for supporting it, as well as the charities and organisations that have provided material. Dementia is undoubtedly one of the most urgent health and care challeng…
RS
Rebecca Smith
As a fellow South Hams representative, I wonder whether the hon. Lady would agree that the Government’s lack of focus and targets for dementia diagnosis is having a particular impact on rural constituencies such as ours, given that treatment is so dependent on diagnosis. Does she also agree that the work of local group…
CV
Caroline Voaden
I thank the hon. Member for her contribution, and I agree that community groups such as the one around the Yealm are vital in caring for people with dementia. Devon as a whole is falling worryingly behind. As of March 2025, our county’s dementia diagnosis rate stands well below the national average, placing Devon 39th …
LC
Liam Conlon
The hon. Member speaks about community groups and their importance. In recent months I have had the pleasure of joining and supporting lots of dementia support groups, including South East London Mind’s young onset dementia activists group, Beckenham dementia café, and Beckenham and Penge dementia café, and Angela from…
CV
Caroline Voaden
I absolutely commend all those groups—the hon. Member is lucky to have so many in his constituency. Like many other diagnoses that can be equally shocking to receive, dementia has no cure. Approved medications offer limited benefit only in the early stages and not for everyone. For those in the moderate to late stages,…
WJ
Warinder Juss
I thank the hon. Member for South Devon (Caroline Voaden) for securing this important debate. As Members across the House have rightly highlighted, dementia remains one of the most urgent health and social care challenges facing our country. One in two of us will be affected by it in our lifetime, whether through our o…
WJ
Warinder Juss
The hon. Lady is absolutely right: we need to take urgent action, and earlier. There are now cases of people having got dementia even as early as the age of 50 without knowing that they have the condition because there is no diagnosis, so I agree with the hon. Lady.
Arms and Military Cargo Export Controls: Israel2 Jun 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
A report in The Guardian last month suggested that despite the suspension of key arms export licences to Israel back in September, UK firms have exported thousands of military items, including munitions, to Israel. Motion lapsed ( Standing Order No. 9(3) ). Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—(Vicky Foxcroft.)
Hansard · 2 Jun 2025 · parliament.uk
SW
Steve Witherden
I rise to speak about British arms and military cargo export controls—specifically, our exports to Israel amid one of the most devastating conflicts in modern memory. “It’s horrific. Gaza has become a slaughterhouse. That’s what it is: a slaughterhouse.” Those are the words of Tom Potokar, a British doctor working in K…
SW
Steve Witherden
I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention, which is easy for me to respond to—yes, I agree wholeheartedly. Since October 2023 there have been at least 14 shipments of military goods from the UK to Israel. Those include over 8,500 munitions, bombs, grenades, missiles, and 146 armoured vehicle parts. In October 2023 al…
KJ
Kim Johnson
My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. Since October 2023, analysis by Action on Armed Violence identified more than 500 RAF-linked flights from Akrotiri to Israeli airspace. While described as “reconnaissance”, the Ministry of Defence refuses to confirm whether any carried military cargo. Does my hon. Friend agree t…
SW
Steve Witherden
That is something I will touch on later in my speech, but I also hope that we will be getting some answers on those exact points in due course. Between October and December 2024 this Labour Government approved £127.6 million in single-issue arms licences to Israel, which is more than the total approved from 2020 to 202…
RB
Richard Burgon
One horrific example of why we must stop supplying the parts for the F-35 fighter jets is the al-Mawasi attack last July. F-35s dropped 2,000 lb bombs on a designated safe zone in Gaza, killing 90 civilians and injuring 300. The use of such powerful munitions in densely populated areas is clearly a violation of interna…
WJ
Warinder Juss
The exports have included items such as bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, missiles and similar munitions of war. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is completely conceivable that those weapons have been used to kill and maim children in Gaza, and therefore the only humane and reasonable option is for us to suspend all …
Independent Sentencing Review22 May 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
I am grateful to the Lord Chancellor for her statement and for commissioning the sentencing review. Does she agree that this Government are now taking action, whereas this time last year, rather than sorting out the prison crisis—when we had fewer than 90 spaces, with a prison population of 90,000—the Conservatives called a general election… instead? Does she also agree that the present proposals will ensure that dangerous offenders will be locked up and will enable us to rehabilitate others and stop reoffending, which costs us £22 billion a year?
Hansard · 22 May 2025 · parliament.uk
SM
Shabana Mahmood
With your permission, Mr Speaker, I will make a statement on sentencing in England and Wales. As the House will be aware, the independent sentencing review was published today. It was chaired by David Gauke and his panel comprised experts, including a former Lord Chief Justice, and representatives from the police, pris…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Lord Chancellor.
RJ
Robert Jenrick
Today is about one question: should violent and prolific criminals be on the streets or behind bars? I think they should be behind bars. For all the Justice Secretary’s rhetoric, the substance of her statement could not be clearer: she is okay and her party is okay with criminals terrorising our streets and tormenting …
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Order. I thought people had come to listen to the statement and I expect them to listen. I expected the Opposition Front Bench to be quiet; I certainly expect better from the Government Front Bench.
RJ
Robert Jenrick
Mr Speaker, the truth is this: any Government serious about keeping violent criminals behind bars, any Government willing to do whatever it took, could obviously find and build the prison cells required to negate the need for these disastrous changes. What do the changes amount to? [Interruption.]
Victims and Courts Bill20 May 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Only this weekend, I was discussing with a district Crown prosecutor and another Crown prosecutor the backlog in our court system, and they expressed strong concern about the recruitment and retention problem in the Crown Prosecution Service. I welcome this new measure, which will go a long way to ensuring that we have enough Crown… prosecutors, so that the backlog in the court system can be eased.
Hansard · 20 May 2025 · parliament.uk
SM
Shabana Mahmood
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. When the Government took office just 10 months ago, we inherited a justice system in crisis—our prisons were on the point of collapse, and the backlog in our courts was at record levels and rising fast—and victims were all too often paying the price. The Governmen…
CE
Clive Efford
I welcome this section of the Bill. My constituent, Sabina Nessa, was brutally murdered when she was on her way out to meet a friend. Her murderer refused to attend court and participate in his sentencing, and that caused a great deal of distress to her family. I therefore welcome the move not just to force these chara…
SM
Shabana Mahmood
My hon. Friend speaks of one of the tragic cases that has led to these changes in the law and on which, in fairness, the previous Government were also seeking to act before the election was called. We are pleased to go further on sanctions. I know that some of the families we are talking about are here and I will pay t…
RM
Rachael Maskell
My hon. and learned Friend is making an excellent presentation to the House. My constituent Kevin Curran has campaigned all his life in memory of his brother Declan, who tragically took his own life. He was a victim of child sexual abuse. The ability to access therapeutic services is one issue, but another is that many…
SM
Shabana Mahmood
My hon. Friend raises an important point, and I am sorry about the case of her constituent. She will know that her request is one of the leading recommendations of the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse, and the Department of Health and Social Care has committed to taking it forward. I know that we will see mo…
Pubs and Community Funding19 May 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
The hon. Member has given an account of all the different pubs in her constituency, but these kinds of stories are happening across the country. In my constituency, we have the Royal Oak pub in Chapel Ash, which does great charitable work. It has the Midland Freewheelers Blood Bikes, who provide a courier service to… deliver blood for the NHS. That is all done through volunteers. They are having a charity event next month where motorcyclists, cyclists, runners and walkers will support the city and celebrate the parks, the streets and the people of Wolverhampton. Does she agree that our pubs are not just places where we eat, drink and have a good time, and that they also do a lot of great charitable work, even supporting the NHS, which we need so much?
Hansard · 19 May 2025 · parliament.uk
RP
Rebecca Paul
I am grateful to have the time to debate Government community funding and support for local pubs. We are fortunate to have so many amazing pubs in Reigate, Redhill, Banstead and our villages, and they are far more than just a place to have a pint. They are the heart and soul of our towns and villages, bringing people t…
JS
Jim Shannon
I commend the hon. Lady, who is quickly making a reputation for herself in the House as an assiduous MP, whether it be in Westminster Hall, Adjournment debates or last Friday—well done to her. Every one of her constituents should be proud of all her industrious work here. Strangford and Ards have suffered greatly from …
RP
Rebecca Paul
I agree with the hon. Member. It is really important that we support our pubs. We cannot continue the approach of squeezing them until the pips squeak. We will lose them, and once we do, we will never get them back.
JK
Jayne Kirkham
From next year, the Government will be permanently lowering business rates for retail and hospitality businesses. Does the hon. Member agree that it would be good if the Minister confirmed that that permanent lowering will be in relation to rates as they currently are rather than pre-covid rates or last year’s rates?
RP
Rebecca Paul
I thank the hon. Lady for that contribution. I would welcome any clarity from the Minister about that. In Redhill, we have an amazing pub called the Garibaldi, which is a community pub—a not-for-profit pub—that gives back to the community in so many ways. On walking in, you feel the warmth straightaway from Shiv, Julie…
New Clause 10 - No obligation to provide assistance etc16 May 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Like my hon. Friend, I found the decision to vote for the Bill on Second Reading a difficult choice, as it was for many, but it was to improve the current situation and to have dignity in dying. Does he agree that we should not impose on the Bill significant restrictions that would render it… ineffective if passed?
Hansard · 16 May 2025 · parliament.uk
KL
Kim Leadbeater
I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: Amendment (a) to new clause 10, after subsection 8(b), insert— “(8A) Nothing in Schedule (Protection from Detriment) prevents an employer who has chosen not to participate in the provision of assistance in accordance with this Act from prohibiting their employee…
KL
Kim Leadbeater
It is a privilege to open the debate on this next important stage of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. It seems a long time ago that we held the Second Reading debate in November on what many of us felt was a very proud day for Parliament, when we saw an emotional and passionate but largely respectful debat…
JW
John Whitby
My hon. Friend mentioned many real stories influencing this debate. I will mention one more: my constituent Mick Murray, who is in the Public Gallery today. Mick helped two close friends, Bob and Ann, to make the painful journey to Dignitas. Both simply wanted to die at home with dignity and surrounded by loved ones; i…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Order. We will set the example by following the rules of the House. We will have short interventions, not speeches. There are a load of other Members.
Recalled Offenders: Sentencing Limits15 May 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
On a recent visit to Featherstone prison near Wolverhampton, I came across several prisoners who had been recalled, and who were waiting up to a year to have their cases progressed. Does the Minister agree that limiting the recall sentence, making greater use of technology to punish offenders in the community, and making the Probation… Service more effective will result in better rehabilitation of prisoners, reduce reoffending, and ease the prison overcrowding caused by the previous Government?
Hansard · 15 May 2025 · parliament.uk
RJ
Robert Jenrick
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if she will make a statement on the public safety implications of the Government’s plan to set a 28-day limit on prison sentences for recalled offenders.
ND
Nicholas Dakin
The Lord Chancellor laid a written ministerial statement yesterday, the background to which are the changes around fixed-term recall in the light of the prison capacity challenges that the Government face. When we were elected almost a year ago, we inherited a prison system on the brink of collapse. Although we took im…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
RJ
Robert Jenrick
“Sorry” seems to be the hardest word today. I see that the Justice Secretary has still not come to Parliament to defend her policy. Yesterday she deliberately avoided scrutiny in this House, because she knows that this decision is wildly unpopular and risks the safety of the public. To govern is to choose. There are 10…
ND
Nicholas Dakin
Since taking office, we have deported over 1,800 foreign national offenders in custody, securing their early removal from our prisons—15% higher than in the previous 12 months. We have just announced 110,000 court sitting days, which is the highest level for a very long time. To answer the right hon. Gentleman’s specif…
Business of the House15 May 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
During the previous 10 years or so, one student has died every four days in England and Wales due to suicide. Members of this House have previously put questions to Departments on several occasions on establishing a statutory duty of care on higher education providers towards their students, yet the position remains uncertain for students… who may be very vulnerable but are not diagnosed with a disability. Will the Leader of the House please meet me and the director of student life and designated safeguarding lead at the University of Wolverhampton in my constituency to discuss and clarify what duties and responsibilities universities have towards their students’ health and wellbeing?
Hansard · 15 May 2025 · parliament.uk
JN
Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House give us the future business?
LP
Lucy Powell
I shall. The business for the week commencing 19 May includes: Monday 19 May —Second Reading of the Mental Health Bill [Lords]. Tuesday 20 May —Second Reading of the Victims and Courts Bill. Wednesday 21 May —Opposition day (8th allotted day). Debate on a motion in the name of the official Opposition, subject to be ann…
JN
Jesse Norman
I thank the Leader of the House for her remarks. As you will know, Madam Deputy Speaker, this week saw the tragic and untimely death of Sir Roy Stone. We had a brief moment of recognition of him earlier in the week, but I am keenly aware that many Labour colleagues were not in the House at the time of his flourishing. …
LP
Lucy Powell
I will take this opportunity to also pay tribute to Sir Roy Stone, the former principal private secretary to the Government Chief Whip. He was very much known as the “usual channels”, and I think he embodied that with distinction. I did not know him personally, but I know of his reputation and of the love and esteem in…
CB
Christopher Bloore
Astwood Bank is a beautiful village in my constituency of Redditch and the villages. However, despite its aesthetic beauty, it is the people of Astwood Bank who I am most proud of. In the Gallery today are a group representing Astwood Bank’s Royal British Legion, which has been responsible for raising tens of thousands…
Youth Services15 May 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Some 93% of young people who have attended a youth centre say that it has made a positive difference to their lives. They have come away happier, healthier and more confident in themselves and their futures. From reducing levels of knife crime and antisocial behaviour to improving the education attainment levels of our young people,… youth services not only deliver outstanding benefits to our children but provide exceptional value for money. The Way youth zone in my constituency is a clear example of the value of long-term investment in youth services. I have visited the Way many times and seen at first hand the extraordinary impact that the service has had on our young people. They have overcome their fears, discovered their passions and feel ready to make a positive impact on the world. One attendee said that the Way had inspired her to study cyber-security at university, while another confided that the Way was the only place where they could manage to get a hot meal for the day. Those services are too fragile under the current funding system, however. They cannot survive on good will alone; they need consistent long-term funding. Over the past 14 years of Conservative government, when Government funding plummeted by more than 70%, 750 youth clubs have been lost in England. Our young people are paying the price: one in eight young people are not in full-time education or training, one in five have mental health conditions, and one in five are consistently absent from school. We must now make investment in our young people and youth services a priority. The Way youth zone delivers an impressive return of £13 per £1 invested in children’s wellbeing. I support the Government’s plan for change, but I ask them to commit to sustainable, long-term funding for our youth services.
Hansard · 15 May 2025 · parliament.uk
NI
Natasha Irons
I beg to move, That this House has considered the long-term funding of youth services. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for allowing time for this debate, Members for supporting it, and all the organisations that have provided material for today’s contributions. This Government have stated that they are on a mi…
AS
Andrew Slaughter
My hon. Friend is making a powerful case. She points out the extraordinary cuts in the funding for youth services—over 70% under the last Government—with 50% of centres lost. Can I take this opportunity to say that some centres have thrived and that continue, such as the Sulgrave youth club, which has its centenary nex…
CN
Caroline Nokes
Order. The hon. Gentleman is an experienced enough parliamentarian to know that that was a very long intervention.
NI
Natasha Irons
My hon. Friend is quite right: there has been a 73% decline in funding for youth services. I congratulate the organisation in his constituency on its centenary.
CK
Chris Kane
Does my hon. Friend also recognise that there is also a funding crisis in Scotland, with the Scottish Government starving local authorities of the funding they need to provide these vital services? This is not just in England; it is a UK-wide problem, and the SNP Scottish Government are certainly not making it easy.
Coroner Services: West Midlands15 May 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
In May 2024, more than 6,000 inquests in this country had been delayed by more than a year. As the hon. Gentleman appreciates, each of those inquests represents a grieving family unable to find closure, plan funerals or settle estates. Does he agree that this Government should now act to clear the backlog and to… provide extra funding? This situation is nothing short of a crisis.
Hansard · 15 May 2025 · parliament.uk
AK
Ayoub Khan
I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to address an issue that continues to cause deep pain and disruption to our communities across Birmingham and the west midlands, and to speak about an under-appreciated service that we will all turn to at some point in our life. The amount of time that passes between death an…
AK
Ayoub Khan
Every week, I hear from grieving families who are tired, frustrated and often feel helpless. Their stories are heartbreaking. Many do not know where to turn. They call their councillors and their MPs, and they are right to do so. When the system fails them, it is our job to listen, to act and to advocate.
NG
Nusrat Ghani
On coroner services in the west midlands, I call Jim Shannon.
JS
Jim Shannon
I spoke to the hon. Member for Birmingham Perry Barr (Ayoub Khan) before the debate, Madam Deputy Speaker; he and I were in a debate in Westminster Hall just this afternoon. Coroner services, whether it be in the west midlands or anywhere else in the United Kingdom, are an issue. I told the hon. Gentleman what my inter…
AK
Ayoub Khan
I really appreciate the intervention from the hon. Gentleman, who makes a poignant point. The service does require modernisation. In Birmingham and Solihull we have one senior coroner, two area coroners and seven assistant coroners to look after a population of approximately 1.5 million, according to the 2021 census. I…
WJ
Warinder Juss
I am grateful to the hon. Member for allowing me to intervene again. Apart from him, I think I am the only Member from the west midlands in the Chamber; my constituency is Wolverhampton West. Does he agree that there appears to be a postcode lottery, as the time it takes to process an inquest ranges from 10 weeks to 76…
Gaza: UK Assessment14 May 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
I am sure that I am not the only Member of this House who is getting increasingly frustrated by the number of discussions that we have where we say the same things over and over again while the horrific situation for the Palestinian people in Gaza worsens day by day. Does the Minister agree that… for us to send a clear message to Israel, we need to do three things: suspend all arms licences to Israel, including the F-35 licences; impose sanctions against Israel; and recognise the state of Palestine?
Hansard · 14 May 2025 · parliament.uk
AR
Adrian Ramsay
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs if he will make a statement on the UK’s assessment of the likelihood of genocide in Gaza.
HF
Hamish Falconer
Yesterday, alongside partners, the UK convened a meeting of the UN Security Council in response to the intolerable civilian suffering and humanitarian need in Gaza. As I told the House yesterday, Israel’s denial of aid is appalling. Tonnes of food are currently sitting rotting at the Gaza-Israel border, blocked from re…
AR
Adrian Ramsay
Overnight, the UN’s emergency relief co-ordinator, Tom Fletcher, warned that a genocide was possible in Gaza. One in five people face starvation. The entire population is facing high levels of acute food insecurity. In Gaza, Gaza North, Deir al-Balah, Khan Yunis and Rafah, there is a risk of famine. There is one primar…
HF
Hamish Falconer
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for asking those important questions. The testimony of the emergency relief co-ordinator, the very most senior official in the world’s entire humanitarian system, given last night at the UN Security Council meeting that we called with our allies, is clearly incredibly important. I ca…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Order. May I remind Members not to use the word “you”, because I am not responsible for some of those statements?
Topical Questions12 May 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
What analysis has been done of how the changes proposed in the “Pathways to Work” Green Paper will affect those who rely on PIP not just for employment support, but for their daily living and mobility needs? Can my right hon. Friend please assure my constituents in Wolverhampton West who are disabled and will never… be able to work that their financial support will not be restricted in a way that affects their quality of life, so that they can live with independence, and the dignity that they deserve?
Hansard · 12 May 2025 · parliament.uk
GS
Greg Smith
If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.
LK
Liz Kendall
Since our last Question Time, Work and Pensions Ministers and local leaders have launched eight of our 17 Get Britain Working trailblazer programmes across the UK, backed by £240 million of additional investment. These include South Yorkshire’s brilliant plans to get people back to health and back to work; five trailbl…
GS
Greg Smith
One of my constituents is experiencing severe delays in getting Access to Work scheme payments, dating back to February. In correspondence with the Department, a letter openly says there is no long-term solution to that, so when will the Secretary of State come forward with a long-term solution to speed up these paymen…
LK
Liz Kendall
I really thank the hon. Gentleman for his question, and we do actually have a plan right now. It was announced in our Green Paper that we are going to reform Access to Work. It is a brilliant support, with a grant or money to help people with physical aids and adaptations, and other support, to get work and to stay in …
SC
Sam Carling
According to Sense, there are over 2,500 people with complex needs in North West Cambridgeshire, many of whom will never be able to work because of their conditions. Does the Minister agree that dignity for severely disabled people needs to be a priority for the welfare system, and can he update the House on progress t…
Protection of Prison Staff12 May 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
I confirm my interest as a member of the Justice Committee. Does the Minister agree that overcrowding in prisons is a cause of increased violence towards our prison officers and that that is a direct result of how the previous Government dealt with our prisons system? Will he please outline what steps are being taken… to reduce overcrowding in our prisons?
Hansard · 12 May 2025 · parliament.uk
RJ
Robert Jenrick
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if she will make a statement on the failure of the prison estate to protect staff from serious and sustained violence by high-risk inmates.
ND
Nicholas Dakin
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his question. I am shocked and saddened to hear about the serious assault against a prison officer that took place on Thursday 8 May at HMP Belmarsh. My thoughts are with the family and colleagues of the brave, hard-working prison officer at this time. We will not tolerate any viole…
RJ
Robert Jenrick
Let me place on record our sympathies to the prison officer injured at HMP Belmarsh. We wish them a full recovery and thank all prison officers for their courage in the face of growing danger. Let us be clear about what is happening in our prisons. Violence against officers has spiralled out of control. In just the pas…
ND
Nicholas Dakin
We are managing the most complex people in the most complex system. Our prison staff have to manage extremely dangerous people, and they do it with real bravery. We will do whatever it takes to keep them safe. That is why we have already taken the actions that we have. All prisons carry out regular risk assessments and…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the Chair of the Justice Committee.
Occupied Palestinian Territories30 Apr 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
I have to intervene, because my hon. Friend’s experiences are the same as those I am having with my constituents. They are continuously asking me what we are doing to stop this bloodshed—the killing of women and children that is carrying on. When our diplomacy and negotiations are not having any effect on Israel and,… I have to say, the United States, who our allies, for how long are we going to continue to wait for Israel to act to stop the bloodshed before we take further action that can have some effect?
Hansard · 30 Apr 2025 · parliament.uk
CO
Chi Onwurah
It is a great privilege to have secured this Adjournment debate on Government support for the people in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, but I regret immensely the need to do so. I, like most of the world, was horrified by Hamas’s attack on Israel and Hamas’s killing and kidnapping of Israeli citizens. I supported…
CO
Chi Onwurah
I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. I am pleased, though not surprised, to hear that the people of Wolverhampton West and the people of Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West, as well as people across our country, have a similar response to the horrific acts and suffering they are seeing. As I will set out in my…
NG
Nusrat Ghani
We have three colleagues who also wish to contribute. I turn to Andy Slaughter first.
AS
Andrew Slaughter
I rise only briefly, principally to congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (Chi Onwurah) on her tour de force of a speech and the pertinent questions she put to the Minister. Her comprehensiveness means that I can be brief. I want to say just two or three things. I agree from th…
OR
Oliver Ryan
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (Chi Onwurah) on securing this important debate to talk about the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the people of Palestine. Much like my hon. Friend the Members for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West and for Hammersmith and Chiswick…
WJ
Warinder Juss
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (Chi Onwurah) for securing this debate and for the solutions that she has put forward. I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Hammersmith and Chiswick (Andy Slaughter) that the time for us to recognise the state of Palestine is now. That wou…
WJ
Warinder Juss
Can my hon. Friend give any indication of what response we have received suggesting that Israel might change its course of action?
Climate Change: International Leadership29 Apr 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
What steps he is taking to establish international leadership on climate change.
Hansard · 29 Apr 2025 · parliament.uk
RB
Richard Burgon
What steps he is taking to establish international leadership on climate change.
KM
Kerry McCarthy
International leadership on climate change is critical for this Government, which is why we announced a world-leading nationally determined contribution at COP29 and were at the heart of negotiations during the summit. I have been working extensively with international counterparts to ensure maximum ambition from count…
KM
Kerry McCarthy
I am glad to hear that the children at SS Peter and Paul primary school are taking such an interest in this issue. I can assure them that we are doing all we can to make Britain a clean energy superpower, such as lifting the onshore wind ban and setting up Great British Energy, and we are protecting nature too. We are …
RB
Richard Burgon
It is welcome indeed to see the Government now playing a leading role internationally on climate action through the global clean power alliance, especially after a decade of failure that left us exposed to soaring gas prices. It is also great to see the Secretary of State standing up to climate deniers in this House, w…
KM
Kerry McCarthy
I welcome my hon. Friend’s support for the Government’s climate leadership. We are doing all we can to mobilise climate financing in support of the new collective goal agreed at COP29. I would be more than happy to meet him and campaigners to discuss his Bill when he is ready to do so.
WJ
Warinder Juss
I recently received letters from year 4 children at SS Peter and Paul primary school expressing concern over the impact of climate change on their futures, mentioning the extreme weather and the destruction of our natural habitats for our wildlife. The UK’s 10 warmest years on record have all occurred since 2002, and 2…
Topical Questions22 Apr 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
On a recent visit to Featherstone Prison near Wolverhampton, I came across a number of recalled prisoners who were there for minor technical breaches of their probation—sometimes for up to a year. Can the Secretary of State please outline what data is collected on the reasons for prison recalls and how that data then informs… policy decisions aimed at reducing unnecessary returns to custody?
Hansard · 22 Apr 2025 · parliament.uk
GS
Gregory Stafford
If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.
SM
Shabana Mahmood
The House will be aware of the attack at HMP Frankland on 12 April . The bravery of the officers involved undoubtedly saved lives, and my thoughts are with them as they recover. I think also of the victims of the Manchester arena bombing and their families, who are understandably outraged. Since the attack, I have susp…
GS
Gregory Stafford
I associate myself with the Lord Chancellor’s comments and extend my sympathies to the families of those who were attacked. In Bordon, the release of a sex offender to a property near the Hogmoor inclosure—frequently used by young people, families and children—has caused consternation in my constituency. What is the Lo…
SM
Shabana Mahmood
We have robust processes in place to ensure that those offenders can be monitored effectively at both national and local levels and that those monitoring mechanisms are as robust as possible. I will happily look into the case that the hon. Gentleman raises and ensure that he gets a ministerial response.
AJ
Adam Jogee
The Conservatives presided over 14 years of total failure in our justice system. Let me be topical. To restore justice in this country and keep my constituents safe, we cannot just do more of the same; we need more transparency about the time criminals spend in jail, and common-sense sentencing must mean exactly that. …
Hospice Funding8 Apr 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Will the hon. Lady join me in commending Compton Care hospice in my constituency? The hospice, which I visited recently, does great work raising funds, and it really welcomed the £100 million support provided by this Government. However, the hospice emphasised to me that if it was not there to provide social care, therapy and… respite care for patients and their families, the NHS would need an extra 100 beds. Hospices provide invaluable services to our communities, which makes it so important for us to continue to support them as much as we can.
Hansard · 8 Apr 2025 · parliament.uk
JM
Joy Morrissey
May I start by wishing you a very happy Easter, Madam Deputy Speaker, and by thanking the Clerks, the Doorkeepers and the House staff who have drawn the short straw and have to be here for the Adjournment debate at the end of the day? I am pleased to have secured this debate on hospice funding, a topic that I know is o…
JS
Jim Shannon
First, I commend the hon. Lady for bringing this debate forward. She is absolutely right to highlight the work of hospices, but also all those groups that raise money for hospices, so that they can do their work. For instance, the Elim church, which has a cancer group that holds a dinner or breakfast every month, recen…
JM
Joy Morrissey
I thank the hon. Member for that intervention, and I pay tribute to all the volunteers who organise the fun runs, and to volunteers in my constituency, such as Sharon Williams, who does the Thames hospice walk in Denham village every year. These are the people who support our local hospices, and we should all pay tribu…
JM
Joy Morrissey
The hon. Gentleman makes an excellent point about the pressure that hospices take off the NHS. The wonderful work of the hospice the hon. Gentleman mentions is the reason the NHS can function in the way it does. The cost savings on palliative care—both in hospital and out-of-hospital care settings—are invaluable. The h…
BJ
Bernard Jenkin
I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate. We should not just complain about this terrible new tax that is being applied to hospices, but point out to the Minister that the return on taxpayers’ investment in what hospices spend on the dying is very great indeed. If a little bit of the big increase in fundin…
Israel: Refusal of Entry for UK Parliamentarians7 Apr 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Israel is supposed to be an ally of ours. Does the Minister agree that its treatment of our hon. Friends is not only an affront but a further indication of the Israeli Government’s desire to show no transparency in respect of their actions, and not to respect human rights?
Hansard · 7 Apr 2025 · parliament.uk
HF
Hamish Falconer
Over the weekend, two Members of this House—my hon. Friends the Members for Earley and Woodley (Yuan Yang) and for Sheffield Central (Abtisam Mohamed)—on a parliamentary delegation to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories were detained and refused entry by the authorities. They had both been granted entry cle…
WM
Wendy Morton
I am grateful to the Minister for advance sight of his statement. It is important that we put this all within the context of Britain’s relationship with Israel. Israel is a key security and defence partner for the United Kingdom, and it is the only democracy in the middle east. Its security matters and helps to keep us…
NG
Nusrat Ghani
Order. We have to be able to hear the shadow Minister. I understand that emotions are high. We have to make sure that we temper the debate.
WM
Wendy Morton
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is important and right that we ask some questions. Will the Minister update the House on the UK Government’s latest engagement with key interlocutors on efforts to find a way through the current, extremely difficult moment in the conflict? [Interruption.] There is chuntering from the…
NG
Nusrat Ghani
Order. That is for the Chair to decide. Please continue.
Road Maintenance7 Apr 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
I thank my right hon. Friend for giving way. I want to raise a question that I am often asked. We have spoken about quick fixes. The problem is that we fix a few potholes, but the disrepair reappears. Does she agree that we should focus on resurfacing our roads?
Hansard · 7 Apr 2025 · parliament.uk
HA
Heidi Alexander
I beg to move, That this House has considered road maintenance. For too long, Britain has been plagued by potholes. Too many people in too many parts of the country have had their everyday journeys turned into frustrating obstacle courses by our pockmarked roads. It is worse than that, however, because cratered roads c…
CV
Christopher Vince
My right hon. Friend reminds me of the road on which I live, where drivers trying to avoid a pothole in the road went on to the pavement, which led to the pavement being damaged. Does she agree that fixing potholes quickly wills save pavements as well?
HA
Heidi Alexander
My hon. Friend describes a win-win situation.
MO
Melanie Onn
At my constituency surgery on Friday, my constituent Helen came to see me because she has had a terrible fall on a badly maintained pavement, and she has really been struggling to find out who is responsible for maintaining the pavement. Does anything in the funding brought forward by this Government enable quick and e…
HA
Heidi Alexander
Local authorities are free to use the money as they see fit, as long as they are using it in a way that represents value for money for the taxpayer. The money can be used for work on roads, pavements or structures. On the issue of responsibility raised by my hon. Friend’s constituent, that will be for the local highway…
Sentencing Council Guidelines1 Apr 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Does the Lord Chancellor agree that the previous Government were consulted on and, indeed, welcomed the Sentencing Council’s new guidelines, and therefore it is totally unfair of Conservative Members to accuse this Government of having a two-tier system? Does she agree that it is yet another example of this Government having to clear up the… previous Government’s mess?
Hansard · 1 Apr 2025 · parliament.uk
SM
Shabana Mahmood
With your permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will make a statement on sentencing in England and Wales. As the House will be aware, new guidelines from the Sentencing Council on pre-sentence reports have come under scrutiny in recent weeks, specifically on whether an offender’s faith or the colour of their skin should …
RJ
Robert Jenrick
The Lord Chancellor must be living in a parallel universe if she is giving herself a pat on the back today. The truth is she has completely lost control of the justice system. She sat on her hands for weeks and took seven days to gather her thoughts and put her views in writing to the Sentencing Council. Her incompeten…
SM
Shabana Mahmood
Dear, dear, dear me. It seems that the right hon. Gentleman’s amnesia is as bad as ever: 14 whole years appear to have disappeared entirely from his memory. He talks about parliamentary sovereignty, but when his party was in government and he was a Secretary of State or a Minister, he appeared never to know what on ear…
CN
Caroline Nokes
I call the Mother of the House.
DA
Diane Abbott
I realise that this is not a popular view in the House, but the Justice Secretary will be aware that some of us are astonished that she thinks our judges are so weak-minded as to be affected by what are guidelines in relation to how they sentence black and brown defendants. The Justice Secretary will be aware that repo…
Business of the House27 Mar 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Last week and at the weekend, the opening ceremony, group games, semi-finals and finals of the kabaddi world cup were played at WV Active Aldersley in my constituency of Wolverhampton West. The rest of the games were played at other venues in the west midlands. This is the first time ever that the kabaddi world… cup has been held outside Asia. Will the Leader of the House please join me, my hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton North East (Mrs Brackenridge) , who attended matches with me, and my right hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton South East (Pat McFadden) in congratulating all the organisers and the England team, who finished runners-up to India, on a wonderful, successful tournament? It was testament to the rich cultural and sporting diversity that we have in Wolverhampton and the west midlands.
Hansard · 27 Mar 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 31 March includes: Monday 31 March —Consideration of Lords message on the Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill, followed by remaining stages of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [Lords]. Tuesday …
JN
Jesse Norman
May I start by thanking the whole House for their wonderful messages of condolence during last week’s business questions? I could not be more grateful. I single out, in particular, the Leader of the House for her very gracious remarks. I turn from fathers to mothers, as this Sunday, of course, is Mother’s Day. The infa…
LP
Lucy Powell
I join the right hon. Gentleman in saying that it was really heartwarming to hear so many tributes paid to his father at last week’s business questions. Such moments show the House at its best, and I thank him for bringing his eulogy to the Floor of the House. I also join him in looking forward to Mothering Sunday—mayb…
DT
Derek Twigg
I refer the Leader of the House to the public office standards Bill, better known as the Hillsborough law, which is how I would like to refer to it. She will know my history in what happened at Hillsborough and, subsequently, with the independent panel report, and the involvement I had in the negotiations between Minis…
Fly-tipping20 Mar 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
What steps he is taking to tackle fly-tipping.
Hansard · 20 Mar 2025 · parliament.uk
PW
Paul Waugh
What steps he is taking to help tackle fly-tipping.
RH
Rachel Hopkins
What steps he is taking to tackle fly-tipping.
DW
David Williams
What steps he is taking to tackle fly-tipping.
WF
Will Forster
What steps he is taking to tackle fly-tipping.
MC
Mary Creagh
Happy spring equinox and happy World Sparrow Day to you, Mr Speaker, and to everyone in the House. Fly-tipping blights communities, harms the environment and places huge costs on taxpayers and businesses. Councils dealt with over 1 million incidents in 2023-24, some 6% more than in the previous year. This Government wi…
WJ
Warinder Juss
Although City of Wolverhampton council is to be congratulated on introducing a range of initiatives to tackle fly-tipping, including deploying drones, raising the fine for fly-tipping to £1,000 and rewarding those who identify culprits with gift cards, fly-tipping in my constituency of Wolverhampton West costs Wolverha…
Conflict in Gaza20 Mar 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
It is obvious that saying that we strongly oppose hostilities and that we are appalled by Israel’s action is having absolutely no effect on Netanyahu, who said of the death of 400 Palestinians—most of whom were women and children—that it was “only the beginning”. It is not right that the ordinary people of Palestine should… suffer because of the actions of Hamas. Does the Foreign Secretary agree that we now need to send a stronger message to Israel and go further, perhaps by suspending all arms licences to Israel and recognising the state of Palestine?
Hansard · 20 Mar 2025 · parliament.uk
DL
David Lammy
With the permission of the House, I shall make a statement about the conflict in Gaza. In January, I outlined to the House the deal agreed between Israel and Hamas. It was a moment of huge hope and relief. In the weeks that followed, hostages cruelly detained by Hamas were reunited with their families, and aid blocked …
NG
Nusrat Ghani
I call the shadow Foreign Secretary.
PP
Priti Patel
I thank the Foreign Secretary for advance sight of his statement. We all mourned the loss of innocent lives in this appalling conflict. The death of the UN aid worker and the injury to a British national are tragic, and our sympathies and thoughts are with their families. Will the Foreign Secretary provide an update on…
DL
David Lammy
I am grateful to the right hon. Lady, and let me make clear regarding the charity worker who was injured, that of course our ambassador and the Foreign Office are in touch with his family. As she would expect, we have made representations to the Israeli Government, and I will be speaking to the Israeli Foreign Minister…
NG
Nusrat Ghani
I call the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Domestic Abuse Offences17 Mar 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
I congratulate the hon. Gentleman, a Justice Committee colleague, on securing this debate. Victims of domestic violence are often women. Does he believe we would likely give domestic violence more attention if it were classified as domestic abuse? Does he think that might make a difference in giving more attention to domestic violence cases?
Hansard · 17 Mar 2025 · parliament.uk
JB
Josh Babarinde
It is an honour to lead this debate on domestic abuse offences, and a particular honour to do so on the very spot from which I saw the most moving speech that I have ever seen in the House of Commons being given. It was in 2016, around November or December time, and it was given by Michelle Thomson, who was then the in…
JS
Jim Shannon
I first commend the hon. Gentleman for his courage in telling his personal story. We are all moved by it—I know I am—and I thank him for that. He has shown himself to be a determined, capable Member of Parliament, and I wish him well. Across Northern Ireland, we witness people being arrested for first-time domestic off…
JB
Josh Babarinde
I thank my friend the hon. Member for his kind words, and I completely agree that all abusers, domestic or not, must face the full force of the law. It is critical that happens for victims and survivors to have confidence in the police and our wider criminal justice system, and that is lacking for many victims and surv…
ED
Emily Darlington
I thank the hon. Member for bringing forward such an important debate. Does he agree that one of the challenges of the current system is that domestic abusers and perpetrators are often convicted of a single act when domestic abuse happens over many years and can vary in the type of attacks and abuse that happen? Convi…
JB
Josh Babarinde
The hon. Member is absolutely right that domestic abuse is more than just an act; it is a campaign—a campaign of abuse, of misery and of an abuse of power by one or more people against another, and that is what makes it so difficult to convict. There are so many areas in which the law could do better, and I was speakin…
Business of the House13 Mar 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Last week I attended the community pub hero awards in Parliament and saw Terry Cole and Keith Fulwood from the Royal Oak pub in Chapel Ash in my constituency receive awards for best community fundraising hero and outstanding contribution for their voluntary work in supporting the NHS by delivering blood and medication on motorbikes, thereby… saving lives. Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating the Royal Oak pub on its achievement and acknowledge the wonderful contribution our local pubs make to our communities? May I also invite her to have a drink in the Royal Oak the next time she finds herself in Wolverhampton?
Hansard · 13 Mar 2025 · parliament.uk
JN
Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
LP
Lucy Powell
I shall. Monday 17 March —Remaining stages of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill (day one). Tuesday 18 March —Remaining stages of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill (day two). Wednesday 19 March —Consideration of Lords amendments to the National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bi…
JN
Jesse Norman
I am sure the whole House will want to join me in recognising and thanking the salvage and nature recovery specialists who are even now scrambling to clear up after the disastrous collision in the North sea. They say a conservative is a socialist who has been mugged by reality. If that is so, we are witnessing the extr…
LP
Lucy Powell
I start by congratulating young carers across the country on their day of action yesterday. I know the whole House will be as hopeful as everybody else in the country about Ukraine, as talks continue this week and over the weekend. I am sure we all welcome the resumption of military aid and intelligence sharing between…
CE
Cat Eccles
I recently met my constituent, Becky, who is profoundly disabled after her mother was given Primodos, a hormone-based pregnancy test that was popular in the ’60s and ’70s and taken by roughly 1.5 million pregnant women. It was directly linked to miscarriages and severe birth defects in a study commissioned by the Unive…
Topical Questions11 Mar 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Last week, at a Justice Committee hearing, it was confirmed that an effective probation service is essential to the rehabilitation of offenders and to prevent reoffending. However, over the years the service has been under immense strain owing to increased demand. What steps is the Secretary of State taking to ensure that probation officers have… manageable caseloads, and that support is provided for their mental health and wellbeing to avoid high levels of stress and burnout, and also to help with the recruitment and retention of staff?
Hansard · 11 Mar 2025 · parliament.uk
GC
Gregory Campbell
If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.
SM
Shabana Mahmood
The Government inherited prisons on the point of collapse and a record and rising backlog in our courts. Eight months into office, the work of restoring justice in this country is well under way. Since the last Justice questions, I have announced record investment in our courts, and next year Crown courts will sit for …
GC
Gregory Campbell
On average, more than 130 people every week across the UK die from drug-related causes. That is more than 6,500 families and homes devasted each year by that tragic loss of life, including more than 200 in Northern Ireland alone. Will the Secretary of State commit to working with each of the devolved Administrations to…
SM
Shabana Mahmood
The hon. Gentleman makes an incredibly important point. Fixing the problems that he notes requires work by not just the Ministry of Justice, but the devolved Administrations and the Home Office. I will ensure that he can engage with the relevant Ministers on the issues he raises.
IL
Ian Lavery
Last year, assaults on prison staff were up by 19% and serious assaults were up by 22%, yet the pensionable age of prison officers is still 68—it is simply too late. Can the Minister update the House on any discussions he may have had with officials regarding that industrial injustice and say when these loyal public se…
“Break Down Barriers to Opportunity” Mission10 Mar 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to implement the plan for change mission entitled “Break Down Barriers to Opportunity”.
Hansard · 10 Mar 2025 · parliament.uk
JD
Josh Dean
What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to implement the plan for change mission entitled “Break Down Barriers to Opportunity”.
BP
Bridget Phillipson
This Labour Government are determined to break the link between background and success, so that where someone is from does not determine where they end up in life. That work starts with the early years, which is when we can make the biggest difference to children’s life chances. Through our plan for change, we will get…
BP
Bridget Phillipson
In Wolverhampton West and across our country, this Labour Government are determined to ensure that background is no barrier to getting on in modern Britain. That is why we will reform the special educational needs and disabilities system to ensure that all our children get the support that they need to thrive. Alongsid…
JD
Josh Dean
Last week, I visited Hertfordshire and Essex high school in Bishop’s Stortford, Sele school in Hertford, and Hertford regional college in Ware. At each one, I met young people with exciting ambitions for the future. I welcome the action that the Government are taking to build our young people’s confidence and open up o…
BP
Bridget Phillipson
My hon. Friend has evidently had a busy week in his constituency, and I know he champions young people and the need to drive up standards in education. Under our plan for change, we are starting learning earlier through accessible and affordable early years education. We are ensuring that all young people will have the…
WJ
Warinder Juss
What specific steps are being taken to ensure that the plan for change will help those in my constituency of Wolverhampton West who have historically faced systemic barriers to opportunity, such as those with special educational needs, those from ethnic minority backgrounds, and those from a background of lower socioec…
Crime and Policing Bill10 Mar 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Last year, only four in 10 knife possessions resulted in any formal criminal justice outcome. Does the Home Secretary agree that by increasing police powers to seize, retain and destroy knives that may be legally owned but may be used in committing a crime, we will reduce the number of people carrying knives?
Hansard · 10 Mar 2025 · parliament.uk
YC
Yvette Cooper
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. The Crime and Policing Bill will make our streets safer, put neighbourhood policing back at the heart of communities after years of neglect, give law enforcement the powers it needs to protect the public and tackle the most serious violence, help communities to ta…
WM
Wendy Morton
The right hon. Lady makes an important point about neighbourhood policing. Does she agree that local police stations should be integral to this plan?
YC
Yvette Cooper
Local police stations are a matter for local forces, but they can be a central part of neighbourhood policing, which, sadly, has been heavily cut back in recent years. In fact, in many areas of the country, neighbourhood policing has been cut by a third or nearly half. At the heart of the Government’s plan is rebuildin…
YC
Yvette Cooper
I will give way first to my hon. Friend and then to the hon. Member for Huntingdon (Ben Obese-Jecty) .
CV
Christopher Vince
A report by Harlow council in 2023 stated that fewer than half of residents in Harlow felt safe going outside after dark. Does my right hon. Friend see the neighbourhood policing guarantee as part of the way of solving that problem?
Business of the House6 Mar 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
The Leader of the House has already mentioned the Equality Act 2010. Back in 2013, Parliament legislated to require a Minister of the Crown to “amend this section so as to provide for caste to be an aspect of race”. However, five years later the Government announced that they would not implement that legislation, arguing… that caste discrimination can be discrimination based on ethnic origins. Does the Leader of the House agree that caste discrimination is as bad as discrimination based on colour, nationality, or ethnic or national origins, and will she agree to a debate in the House on the implementation of section 9(5) of the Equality Act, so that caste discrimination is specified as a form of race discrimination?
Hansard · 6 Mar 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 10 March includes: Monday 10 March —Second Reading of the Crime and Policing Bill. Tuesday 11 March —Remaining stages of the Employment Rights Bill, day one. Wednesday 12 March —Remaining stages of the Employment Rights Bill, day two. Thursday 13 March —General debate on th…
JN
Jesse Norman
Mr Speaker, may I first associate myself very strongly with your kind remarks about Peter Hipkins and his service to this House? We join all colleagues in celebration of International Women’s Day this Saturday. I am sure the whole House will also share my deep concern at the latest news in relation to Ukraine and will …
LP
Lucy Powell
I join you, Mr Speaker, in passing on our condolences to the family of Peter Hipkins, who gave long service in this House. I also wish peace and blessings to those observing Ramadan and those marking Lent. Today is also World Book Day, a day to celebrate our favourite books and authors—and, I have to say, every working…
MT
Marie Tidball
Flooding has caused heartache for families and communities in my constituency. In order to be protected from extreme flooding, they desperately need Sheffield city council’s excellent proposals for the upper Don flood alleviation scheme, including work on the Clough Dike culvert and Whitley Brook improvements. Despite …
Courts and Tribunals: Sitting Days5 Mar 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
I thank the Lord Chancellor for her honesty in setting out so clearly the difficult situation that we have inherited from the Conservative party, and I welcome the measures that she has proposed: the record investment in the justice system, and the measures taken to reduce the number of cases going to the Crown courts.
Hansard · 5 Mar 2025 · parliament.uk
SM
Shabana Mahmood
With permission, I will make a statement on capacity in the Crown court. When this Government took office eight months ago, we received an inheritance from the Conservative Government that was little short of disgraceful: our prisons were in crisis, on the edge of collapse, and our courts faced a record and rising back…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I can always help by reopening Chorley court for you. I call the shadow Lord Chancellor.
RJ
Robert Jenrick
It is great to see the Justice Secretary back in the country after her holiday in Texas. If she can find time to travel to America, why can she not find time to travel to the two category A prisons—[Interruption.] I will be pleased to hear from the right hon. Lady if that is the case. That was not the answer to our wri…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Order. Please, I need to be able to hear the shadow Lord Chancellor, and when Government Front Benchers shout for so long, I cannot hear. I will decide whether a statement is in order or not—are we understanding each other?
RJ
Robert Jenrick
I do not pretend that cutting the court backlog is easy, or that it will be quick, but the Justice Secretary owes the country a plan and a timetable for when that backlog is actually going to fall. This morning, she was repeatedly asked that question, but refused to give an answer. Can she tell the country now when the…
WJ
Warinder Juss
It has got worse, because of the Conservative party. Does my right hon. Friend agree that, as well as focusing on the measures that she has already proposed, we should continue to focus on reducing crime in the first place, and pursue our policies for tackling youth crime, knife crime and violence against women and gir…
Football Clubs: Financial Sustainability27 Feb 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
What steps she is taking to help improve the sustainability of lower league football clubs in Wolverhampton West constituency.
Hansard · 27 Feb 2025 · parliament.uk
YY
Yuan Yang
What steps she is taking to help improve the financial sustainability of English football clubs.
LN
Lisa Nandy
We are proud to have introduced the Football Governance Bill, which will establish an independent football regulator to protect the financial sustainability of English football clubs, and we recognise the key role that lower league football clubs play at grassroots level.
LN
Lisa Nandy
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for the work he has done in supporting his local clubs. Across all sports, Sport England invested over £57,000 in Wolverhampton West in 2023-24. The Government are committed to continuing to support local clubs through investment in the multi-sport grassroots facilities programme, as wel…
YY
Yuan Yang
The Sport Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley South (Stephanie Peacock) , was kind enough to meet me and Reading football club fans last year to discuss the urgent need for an independent football regulator. Since then, the legislation has been held up in the other place by Conservative peers, and I was ap…
LN
Lisa Nandy
I would be delighted to support my hon. Friend as she continues to fight the good fight for football fans in her constituency. Like her, I was appalled by the Leader of the Opposition’s comments. The independent football regulator began life under the last Government; it was in the Conservative manifesto, it was in our…
WJ
Warinder Juss
Given the financial challenges faced by lower league football clubs such as AFC Wulfrunians in my constituency of Wolverhampton West, which also has an excellent boxing gym catering to the local community, can the Secretary of State confirm what steps the Government are taking to ensure that clubs such as AFC Wulfrunia…
Business of the House13 Feb 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
I was pleased to support the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill on Monday to deliver on our election promise of implementing the Border Security Command, tackling the organised immigration crime gangs and bringing order to our asylum and immigration system. However, for most people, it is not possible to claim asylum from outside the… UK, which means that any asylum seeker has to make their way to this country first before they can claim asylum. That has led to many calls, including from MPs, to provide safe and legal routes for asylum seekers. Does the Leader of the House agree that after achieving border security, we need to have a debate on providing an alternative way of seeking asylum so that genuine asylum seekers do not feel the need to risk their lives crossing the channel in small, unsafe boats to claim asylum?
Hansard · 13 Feb 2025 · parliament.uk
JN
Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
LP
Lucy Powell
The business for the week commencing 24 February includes: Monday 24 February —Remaining stages of the Crown Estate Bill [Lords]. Tuesday 25 February —Second Reading of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [Lords]. Wednesday 26 February —Opposition day (5th allotted…
JN
Jesse Norman
Like some of our leading podcasters, we love a storm cloud or two in business questions. Sure enough, the poor Government have been desperately hoping that recent events in America would drive the storm clouds away from the UK economy. Even though the news from Washington DC has been startling, to say the least, it has…
LP
Lucy Powell
May I first update the House on the work of the Modernisation Committee, which I chair? We established the Committee to rebuild trust in politics, raise standards, improve culture and make Parliament more effective. In recent years, the role of an MP has changed significantly, with many more demands and expectations in…
NM
Navendu Mishra
Women’s centres provide vital support for women facing issues including isolation, domestic abuse, health problems and navigating the social security system, among a wide range of other support. I recently visited Stockport Women’s Centre and want to place on the record my thanks to all the staff and volunteers there w…
Community and Third Sector Organisations: Employment10 Feb 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
In Wolverhampton, we have the Wolves at Work programme. It is co-ordinated by the City of Wolverhampton council, but involves partnership working with local employers and partner organisations. The programme provides one-to-one support to highly skilled professionals and those with no experience at all, so that they can get jobs or advance their careers. It… also provides assistance to employers. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need collaborative working, with local authorities involved, and with that goes investment for authorities as well?
Hansard · 10 Feb 2025 · parliament.uk
PH
Paulette Hamilton
Before I start the debate, I would like to declare an interest: I chair the organisation in my constituency that I will be talking about, but I get absolutely no remuneration for it. It is a privilege to speak on behalf of my constituents in Erdington, whose communities are filled with untapped potential. My constituen…
JS
Jim Shannon
I spoke to the hon. Lady before the debate, and I commend her initiative. Her constituents can feel immensely proud of her efforts. Scrabo residents’ group has done something similar in an area of disadvantage in my constituency where people do not have opportunities. The group has provided jobs in security and HGV dri…
PH
Paulette Hamilton
I thank the hon. Gentleman for sharing what his constituents are doing. The results speak for themselves. To date, we have secured over £15 million in investment, supported 8,000 residents—two thirds of whom are aged between 24 and 49 —and helped over 1,000 people into work. We have enrolled 1,500 residents in gateway …
DW
David Williams
I am pleased to support this debate on the voluntary sector and its role in supporting people into education, training and employment. We have some good examples in Stoke-on-Trent North and Kidsgrove, with Youth Employment Skills, the Chell Area Family Action Group and the Coalfields Regeneration Trust all playing a vi…
PH
Paulette Hamilton
My hon. Friend makes a valuable point, and I absolutely agree with what he says. The commitment of the partner organisations in my constituency has been the driving force behind our shared vision, and I take this opportunity to pay tribute to them. I am sure the Minister will join me as I extend my heartfelt thanks. Ho…
School Accountability and Intervention3 Feb 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
I associate myself with the Minister’s earlier comments about the tragic events in Sheffield, where another young life has sadly been lost to knife crime. Does the Minister agree that these landmark reforms will not only drive high and rising standards, but help in the recruitment and retention of teachers? Will she also confirm that… we will engage fully with parents and teachers on the development of plans for school report cards?
Hansard · 3 Feb 2025 · parliament.uk
CM
Catherine McKinnell
With permission, Mr Speaker, I will make a statement on this Government’s plans to reform school accountability. Before I begin, I want to say that I am devastated to hear that a boy has died after a stabbing at a school in Sheffield. My heart goes out to his family, friends and the entire school community at this very…
CN
Caroline Nokes
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
LT
Laura Trott
I am grateful to the Schools Minister for advance sight of her statement, and I echo her words: our thoughts and prayers are with the parents of the 15-year-old boy whose life was so tragically cut short, and with the teachers and pupils at All Saints Catholic high school. We are promised today a better and faster appr…
CM
Catherine McKinnell
Perhaps the right hon. Lady would recognise the legacy that her Government left behind: schools crumbling, standards falling, a lose-lose-lose special educational needs and disabilities system, and a generation missing from England’s schools. It is no wonder that a shadow Minister admitted that they should hang their h…
CN
Caroline Nokes
I call the Chair of the Education Committee.
Plan for Change23 Jan 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to implement the Government’s plan for change.
Hansard · 23 Jan 2025 · parliament.uk
MW
Michelle Welsh
What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to implement the Government’s plan for change.
PM
Pat McFadden
Since we launched the plan for change last month, we have published the elective reform plan to get NHS waiting lists down and the AI opportunities plan so that the UK is a great home for AI investment and the Government make the most of this technology. The aim of the plan for change is to increase living standards, c…
PM
Pat McFadden
I thank my hon. Friend and parliamentary neighbour for his question. I know his constituents well in Wolverhampton and he is right that a higher standard of living, lower NHS waiting lists, more housing and children getting a better start in life will be good for his constituents in Wolverhampton and good for constitue…
MW
Michelle Welsh
Vibrant town centres are so important for the health of our local economies. Under the Conservatives, shop lifting was allowed to spiral out of control and we are still dealing with the consequences. Not too long ago, in Hucknall, a shopworker was brutally attacked. When I speak to local residents and businesses across…
PM
Pat McFadden
I am very sorry to hear about the distressing attack on the shopworker in my hon. Friend’s constituency. Everyone should be free to go to work without the fear of being attacked while doing their job. I am pleased to say that, under this Government, assaulting a shopworker will be made a separate criminal offence. My h…
WJ
Warinder Juss
I thank my right hon. Friend for his answer. Does he agree that the Government’s plan for change provides my constituents in Wolverhampton West with clear, measurable metrics against which they can hold the Government to account? This will help to restore faith in politics and politicians, and enable my constituents to…
Attorney General’s Office: Conflicts of Interest23 Jan 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
I declare an interest as a member of the Justice Select Committee. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Opposition’s position fundamentally misunderstands the role of lawyers in our justice system? The Attorney General also represented victims of the tragedy in Grenfell Tower. Does my hon. Friend also agree that the Attorney General has followed… the same processes as his predecessors in managing any potential conflicts, and that what we are faced with is just another example of the Opposition trying to undermine our legal institutions merely for political gain?
Hansard · 23 Jan 2025 · parliament.uk
HG
Helen Grant
(Urgent Question): To ask the Solicitor General if she will make a statement on the management of conflicts of interest in the Attorney General’s Office.
LR
Lucy Rigby
The Attorney General’s Office has an established and rigorous process for identifying and dealing with conflicts, and potential conflicts, that arise from the Law Officers’ past practice. That process predates the appointment of the Attorney General and sits against the backdrop of every lawyer’s professional obligatio…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Solicitor General.
HG
Helen Grant
Thank you for granting this urgent question, Mr Speaker. The Attorney General previously represented former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams in a damages claim brought by victims of IRA bombings. Indeed, we know that he received £30,000 for that representation. The constitutional propriety of our legal system demands absol…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Order. Please, you have two minutes, not three, and we have to stick to the rules. I allowed you to go on, but I was not coughing for my health; it was to give you a hint to come to the end of your question. Have you now finished?
Business of the House23 Jan 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
At the request of several of my constituents in Wolverhampton West, this morning I attended a National Autistic Society event about the constant fight that autistic people face for support across health—including mental health—social care, education and employment. What strikes me is the general ignorance about autism and what autistic people require. Will the Leader… of the House please agree to a general debate in Government time about autism and the inequalities faced by autistic people, to ensure that early diagnosis and support for those who are autistic is a policy priority for the Government?
Hansard · 23 Jan 2025 · parliament.uk
JN
Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
LP
Lucy Powell
The business for the week commencing 27 January includes: Monday 27 January —General debate on the creative industries. Tuesday 28 January —Remaining stages of the Water (Special Measures) Bill [Lords]. Wednesday 29 January —Second Reading of the Arbitration Bill [Lords], followed by motions relating to the charter for…
JN
Jesse Norman
Over the past few months, the Labour party has been generous indeed in offering the people of this country regular evidence of its remarkable incompetence, but even by its formidable standards it has excelled itself this week. The Prime Minister said some time ago in terms that he prefers Davos to Westminster, but this…
LP
Lucy Powell
I am sure that the thoughts of the whole House and the country will again be with the families of Bebe, Elsie and Alice, the two teachers, the neighbour and all the children who attended the Taylor Swift dance class in Southport, after the horrific attack and murders last summer. What they faced is truly unimaginable. …
JF
James Frith
My constituents Mandy and Bernie, along with many other homeowners in Bury North, are facing serious issues with Residential Management Group. Despite dutifully paying their service charges, residents of Wharfside Apartments and Broad Oak have been hit with additional fees and alarming practices that equate to neglect …
Artificial Intelligence Opportunities Action Plan13 Jan 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement. As he said, the AI revolution is taking place now, and it will make significant improvements in the promotion of public services and businesses. However, would he reassure my constituents in Wolverhampton West on what specific steps he will take to ensure that AI is safe in every… possible way?
Hansard · 13 Jan 2025 · parliament.uk
PK
Peter Kyle
With permission, I would like to make a statement about the Government’s AI opportunities action plan. This Government were elected on a programme of change. Today, we are publishing the latest step in delivering our plan for change with the AI opportunities action plan. Our plan for change is clear: we will grow the e…
CN
Caroline Nokes
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
AM
Alan Mak
I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of his statement. Let me begin by thanking Matt Clifford for his work. Having known Matt for many years, I am grateful for his long-standing contribution to the tech sector, including with the last Conservative Government. It was that last Conservative Government who ide…
PK
Peter Kyle
I am kind of grateful for the hon. Member’s comments, but I feel a bit sorry for him. He praised Matt Clifford and his independent report, because Matt Clifford is an astonishing person—as a House we should all give credit to somebody who has been so successful in the tech sector out there in the real economy, while gi…
CN
Caroline Nokes
I call the Chair of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee.
Hospice and Palliative Care13 Jan 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Let me first pay tribute to the hon. Member for Wimbledon (Mr Kohler) for bringing this debate to the House. Hospices such as Compton Care in my constituency provide invaluable palliative care, not only in terms of pain and symptom control but in providing psychological, social and spiritual support, support for people who wish to… die at home, and rehabilitation, financial advice and support for family members, including bereavement support. However, the funding that hospices receive from ICBs across the country is inconsistent, and often does not reflect the cost of the services that they provide. As has already been mentioned, only a third of hospice funding comes from the Government, with the rest coming from charitable donations. As of May last year, at least a fifth of UK hospices had either cut their services in the previous year or were planning to do so. When hospices cut services the need for care is still there, but it has to be met by the NHS. If they are given the long-term support they need, that can ease the pressure on the NHS. Sector leaders estimate that the need for palliative care in the UK will increase by 25% over the next 25 years. However, I welcome the £100 million that the Government have provided, which will improve buildings, equipment, accommodation and digital upgrades, as well as the £26 million revenue funding for children and young people’s hospices that will be provided in 2025-26. There has been a lot of discussion about assisted dying this evening and when we discussed the assisted dying Bill, there was a lot of discussion about palliative care. Now we have an opportunity to take action, and we need to seize it to improve palliative care. If the assisted dying Bill does become law, we need to make sure that people in the future do not have to make a decision between assisted dying and palliative care.
Hansard · 13 Jan 2025 · parliament.uk
PK
Paul Kohler
I beg to move, That this House has considered hospice and palliative care. First, I thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting time to support this important debate, and I thank colleagues from across the House for supporting my application and joining me today to discuss a subject that, to use an old cliché—b…
KL
Kim Leadbeater
Does the hon. Member agree that the renewed focus on the hospice and palliative care sector is extremely welcome and overdue? Does he agree that the extra £100 million of investment shows how seriously this Government are taking the issue, showing that people approaching the end of life are fully supported in whatever …
PK
Paul Kohler
I agree with the hon. Lady, and I will be coming to those points. Today is not about rehashing the arguments made that Friday, but to allow Members time to discuss and reflect on this separate, but inextricably linked subject. It is not the last word on hospice and palliative care, but an important step in forging a co…
JS
Jim Shannon
I commend the hon. Gentleman on setting the scene so well. One of the concerns that I and others in the Chamber have is the impact on the workers in hospices. It is not just about the financial implications, which are all part of the overall issue, but burnout. Staff are working long hours. They are volunteers in many …
PK
Paul Kohler
I agree with the hon. Member. We need more palliative care specialists and we need more training, and there is a real danger of burnout. It is not just hospices that provide palliative care. When talking to specialists within and beyond the hospice sector, I have been struck by their commitment to giving patients a goo…
WJ
Warinder Juss
Money is not always the only solution, so will my hon. Friend confirm how the commission on palliative care that the Government announced last month will improve end of life care?
Road Maintenance9 Jan 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the condition of local roads.
Hansard · 9 Jan 2025 · parliament.uk
JL
John Lamont
What steps her Department is taking to help maintain roads.
LM
Luke Murphy
What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the condition of local roads.
JC
Jennifer Craft
What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the condition of local roads.
EF
Emma Foody
What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the condition of local roads.
HA
Heidi Alexander
The Government are determined to help local authorities in England to tackle the highways maintenance backlog that is the result of a decade of under-investment by the previous Government. We are making an immediate start by providing an extra £500 million next year—an increase of nearly 50% compared with the current f…
WJ
Warinder Juss
I also welcome my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to her place. Many of my constituents in Wolverhampton West complain not only about the number of potholes in our roads but about the standard of repairs, with some potholes reappearing shortly after they have been repaired. While the £1.6 billion of funding fo…
Public Finances: Borrowing Costs9 Jan 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
This Labour Government have been in power for six months, and we are having to deal with 14 years of Conservative chaos. Does the Chief Secretary agree that the Government’s plan for change, which aims to provide a stable economy and raise living standards in every part of the United Kingdom, and has economic growth… as the No. 1 mission, is the right approach to ensure that the United Kingdom can weather the global uncertainty that we face?
Hansard · 9 Jan 2025 · parliament.uk
MS
Mel Stride
(Urgent Question): To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if she will make a statement on the growing pressure of borrowing costs on the public finances.
DJ
Darren Jones
I am always grateful to see Conservative Members welcome me to the House. Financial markets are always evolving, as the shadow Chancellor knows, so there is a long-standing convention that the Government do not comment on specific financial market movements, and I will not break that convention today. Financial market …
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer.
MS
Mel Stride
The performance we have just seen was a slightly anxious and breathless one, which leads me to the question: where is the Chancellor? It is a bitter regret that at this difficult time and given these serious issues, she herself is nowhere to be seen. In the last 48 hours, borrowing costs have reached a 27-year high, an…
DJ
Darren Jones
I am pleased that the right hon. Gentleman enjoyed my performance—I have not even had my first cup of coffee yet this morning. Let me answer some of his questions. [Interruption.] Conservative Members might like to listen, if the questions are so important to them. The right hon. Gentleman asked me about the fiscal rul…
Business of the House9 Jan 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
I have a large Sikh population in my constituency and have received many letters from constituents expressing concerns over transnational repression and political interference by the Indian Government, creating risks to safety and security for Sikhs not only travelling to India, but in this country. They have referred to the mysterious, sudden death of Avtar… Singh Khanda in Birmingham in June 2023, days before the assassination of the Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. Will the Leader of the House ensure that UK Ministers make representations to their Indian counterparts on the need to respect and comply with the rule of law and the UK’s sovereignty, for the safety and security of Sikhs in this country?
Hansard · 9 Jan 2025 · parliament.uk
JN
Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
LP
Lucy Powell
The business for the week commencing 13 January includes: Monday 13 January —General debate on hospice and palliative care, followed by a general debate on the impact of food and diet on obesity. The subjects for these debates were determined by the Backbench Business Committee. Tuesday 14 January —Remaining stages of …
JN
Jesse Norman
Madam Deputy Speaker, may I start by wishing you a very happy new year? I hope that all colleagues in the Chamber had a zestful and restful Christmas. I also pay tribute to those members of the House Service who were honoured in the recent honours list. The new year is always a time for new starts and fresh beginnings;…
LP
Lucy Powell
May I, too, wish you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and the whole House a very happy new year? I send all our sympathies to the residents of Los Angeles who are being hit by wildfires—the situation unfolding there is very concerning indeed. May I also take this opportunity to congratulate a fellow northerner, Luke Littler, on …
NG
Nusrat Ghani
I call the Chair of the Defence Committee.
Violence against Women and Girls9 Jan 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
I commend all the speeches made this afternoon, particularly those made by the hon. Member for Lagan Valley (Sorcha Eastwood) and by my hon. Friends the Members for Luton North (Sarah Owen), for Milton Keynes Central (Emily Darlington) and for Rochdale (Paul Waugh). I have to confess that I felt quite shocked by some of… the statistics and stories I heard, even though this is something I have been involved in for quite some time as a trade unionist. I also find myself warning my daughter to be careful when she goes out in a way that I would not with my son, even though they are of a similar age. That is unacceptable in this day and age. Data published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council in July 2024 found that over 1 million crimes of violence against women and girls were recorded by the police in 2022-23, equating to nearly 3,000 offences every single day, and that violent crime against women and girls increased by 37% during the five-year period between 2018 and 2023. Using data from the crime survey for England and Wales, the Office for National Statistics has found that domestic abuse-related crimes represented 15.8% of all offences recorded by the police last year. Domestic violence is something that affects all cultures and societies, as was acknowledged by the hon. Member for East Grinstead and Uckfield (Mims Davies) . In my constituency of Wolverhampton West, we have the headquarters of the Haven Wolverhampton, a charitable organisation that provides practical and emotional support services to women and children who have suffered domestic violence, abuse and homelessness. The Haven has been established for more than 50 years and is one of the largest refuge providers in the UK, but like other charities it requires financial support to assist these women and children. As a society, we need to maintain and increase such provision throughout the country, and ensure that these organisations get the financial support they need. We also need to safeguard victims
Hansard · 9 Jan 2025 · parliament.uk
AD
Alex Davies-Jones
I beg to move, That this House has considered the matter of tackling violence against women and girls. As things stand today, the scale of violence against women in this country is intolerable and a national emergency, so I welcome the opportunity for the House to unite and debate it. Tackling violence against women an…
SR
Sarah Russell
I understand that there may be some difficulties with the criminal law in relation to people being followed. In the event that they have been actively harassed and threatened, there is a potential crime in the threat, but there may be a gap in the criminal law for those who are simply followed, with that not being part…
AD
Alex Davies-Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. We will happily look at that. We have already done some incredible work on stalking and harassment, but we will look to go further wherever possible. Let us look at the offence of rape. As it stands, about 60% of adult rape complainants, despite bravely coming forward, even…
SR
Steve Race
I welcome the Government’s announcement just before Christmas that spiking will become a specific offence. Will the Minister join me in commending the campaigning work of my constituent Dawn Dines and the organisation Stamp Out Spiking, and will she commit herself to working with Stamp Out Spiking and other organisatio…
AD
Alex Davies-Jones
I will take every opportunity to commend Dawn Dines and the work of Stamp Out Spiking. Both the Safeguarding Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Yardley (Jess Phillips) , and I have met Dawn Dines many times. We will, of course, be working with every single agency to ensure that we crack down on this abh…
Debt Advice Services9 Jan 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
In my constituency, the Whitmore Reans Welfare Centre, a voluntary organisation, signposts individuals to the debt advice that they need. In the past, the centre received funding for a part-time or full-time caseworker, but it is finding it increasingly difficult to provide the kind of one-to-one advice mentioned earlier, which is so useful for residents.… Can the Minister give any advice on how to help organisations of that nature so that constituents can be signposted to, and given, one-to-one advice?
Hansard · 9 Jan 2025 · parliament.uk
SC
Stella Creasy
“Follow that!” is the first thing to say. Let me try. I will start by saying that often the British public would rather talk about sex than debt. Both can equally cause a lot of trouble, though. A 2019 study showed that the majority of people in this country believed it was easier to talk about miscarriages than about …
SR
Sarah Russell
It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Walthamstow (Ms Creasy) , who spoke incredibly passionately about the difficulties of debt. There is a lot of debt in my community, which appears, on the face of it, to be relatively affluent, but one of the problems is that people feel a huge compulsion to maint…
JM
James Murray
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Walthamstow (Ms Creasy) on securing the debate. I very much recognise and have seen the work she has done over the years to raise the profile of responsible consumer credit practices and effective debt advice. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Congleton (Mrs Russell) for…
SC
Stella Creasy
We all value the debt advisers. As my hon. Friend has just said, “buy now, pay later” companies do not yet contribute to the levy that pays for those people, but the companies themselves have said that they would make voluntary contributions. Would the Treasury consider approaching them to get that money ahead of their…
JM
James Murray
I am sure that Treasury officials and the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, my hon. Friend the Member for Hampstead and Highgate (Tulip Siddiq) , will be in close contact with the sector about any proposals they have. It is important to emphasise that because of the regulations we are consulting on for the new regime…
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill8 Jan 2025
WJ
Warinder Juss
Reported figures for 2022 and 2023 show an increase in the proportion of children living in low-income families, and no change in the proportion of children living in absolute low-income families. Does the Secretary of State agree that the Bill will improve the household finances of families and the life chances of children in my… constituency of Wolverhampton West?
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…
Hospice Funding19 Dec 2024
WJ
Warinder Juss
Merry Christmas to you and your team, Mr Speaker. Compton Care hospice in my constituency provides specialist palliative and bereavement care, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Having previously discussed the lack of funding with the hospice, I am sure that it will welcome the extra funding that has been announced today. Will… the Minister please join me in thanking Compton Care hospice and its incredible staff for the care that they will continue to provide throughout the Christmas period?
Hansard · 19 Dec 2024 · parliament.uk
DJ
Dr Caroline Johnson
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care if he will make a statement on hospice funding.
KS
Karin Smyth
I am grateful to the hon. Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Dr Johnson) for asking that important question. This Government want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life. We will shift care out of hospitals into the community to ensure that pa…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Order. I think you might find that I granted the urgent question, but don’t worry, Minister. I call the shadow Minister.
DJ
Dr Caroline Johnson
After the confusion of yesterday, I welcome the fact that further details on hospice funding have been announced, albeit by our dragging them out of the Government on the very last day of Parliament before the recess. On 30 October , the Chancellor decided to break her election promise by increasing employers national …
KS
Karin Smyth
To govern is, indeed, to choose. The Conservative party chose neither this sector nor any other health sector and it refused to govern. Within five months, we have not only increased the funding to the health sector to stabilise it but made today’s announcement. Beneath all that, there might have been a welcome for the…
Business of the House19 Dec 2024
WJ
Warinder Juss
Christmas is the time for musical festivities. One of my constituents in Wolverhampton West runs Revolver Records, which is Europe’s oldest indie rock label, having signed acts such as the Stone Roses, the Scorpions and Tony Hadley. It has released 7,000 albums over the past 42 years. My constituent has highlighted the problem of independent… music publishers not being paid for the use of copyright music material. Does the Leader of the House agree that we need to support our businesses, including those in the music industry, so that they receive the payments that they are due? Will she please make time for a debate in the House about supporting our independent music publishers?
Hansard · 19 Dec 2024 · parliament.uk
JN
Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
LP
Lucy Powell
The business for the week commencing 6 January 2025 includes: Monday 6 January —Debate on a motion on seizing frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine, followed by a general debate on backlogs in the NHS. The subjects for these debates were determined by the Backbench Business Committee. Tuesday 7 January —Second Reading …
JN
Jesse Norman
Mr Speaker, may I associate myself very strongly with the remarks you have just made about hospices? You will recall that St Michael’s hospice was the topic of a recent discussion that we had at the Dispatch Box in business questions. Mr Speaker, I must confess that I feel a slight degree of trepidation and nervousness…
LP
Lucy Powell
Mr Speaker, I too would like to start by wishing you and everybody in the parliamentary community a very merry and restful Christmas. From the Doorkeepers to the cleaners, the police, the Clerks, Hansard and the Lobby, to the hairdressers and the gardeners, there are so many to thank. May I also take this opportunity t…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I thank Members for their comments. I hope that Chorley get promoted—that is the gift we need for the new year. I wish all Members a merry Christmas, and let us hope for a very peaceful year. I thank all the staff of this House for all that they do. They are wonderful; whether they are security or whoever—we can go aro…
Victims of Sexual Violence: Court Delays16 Dec 2024
WJ
Warinder Juss
It is estimated that the number of rape victims who pull out of prosecutions before trial has more than doubled in five years. One reason given is a shortage of lawyers—for both prosecution and defence—willing to take on rape and serious sexual assault cases, because they say that cases are becoming increasingly complex and that… they are poorly paid in comparison with other areas of the law. Does my hon. Friend agree that it may be time for us to look at whether the lawyers doing this kind of work should be properly paid?
Hansard · 16 Dec 2024 · parliament.uk
MG
Mary Glindon
I thank Mr Speaker for granting time for a debate on court delays and victims of sexual violence. I do not underestimate the challenges that the Minister faces. As I will hopefully draw attention to this evening, the task at hand is considerable, but overturning this situation is owed to survivors. This topic is emotiv…
AC
Andrew Cooper
Does my hon. Friend share my concern that too many victims of domestic abuse face years of court delays? It is an issue that constituents have raised with me. Those delays have consequences. One told me that her life is on hold, while her abuser is free to go on with his. She feels afraid to go out in her home town in …
MG
Mary Glindon
My hon. Friend could not have put it better. That is the basis of this whole debate. According to the quarterly statistics published last week, the number of sexual offence cases waiting to go to Crown court stands at 11,574—up 44.5% on the same time in 2022. Just two weeks ago, the Director of Public Prosecutions said…
JS
Jim Shannon
I commend the hon. Lady on concentrating on this issue, and on securing this debate so that we can all support her. Does she agree that while every victim deserves their day in court, some cases should get priority, in deference to the distress and anxiety involved? Sexual violence crimes must have that designation, an…
MG
Mary Glindon
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. I think we will hear something from the Minister on what the Government intend to do and what we will hopefully get somewhere down the road. These are women and girls who are sitting at the feet of trauma. Survivors face the enormous challenge of having to relive their …
Business of the House12 Dec 2024
WJ
Warinder Juss
Dementia is the leading cause of death in the United Kingdom. In my constituency of Wolverhampton West, it is estimated that nearly 30% of dementia cases are undiagnosed. Will the Leader of the House make time for a debate to give dementia the political priority it deserves, so that there is earlier diagnosis, with timely… social, medical and nursing care for sufferers, as well as mental health and other support for carers, and so that positive steps are taken to find a cure for dementia?
Hansard · 12 Dec 2024 · parliament.uk
JN
Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House please give us the forthcoming business?
LP
Lucy Powell
The business for the week commencing 16 December includes: Monday 16 December —Second Reading of the Water (Special Measures) Bill [Lords]. Tuesday 17 December —Committee of the whole House and remaining stages of the National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill. Wednesday 18 December —Commit…
JN
Jesse Norman
What a marvellous time of year it is when I see the Christmas tree in New Palace Yard, and the trilling sounds of the parliamentary and Salvation Army choirs to boot. On a slightly more sober note, you will recall, Mr Speaker, that the story of this Government so far has been one of early scandal, a first reset and a d…
LP
Lucy Powell
May I start by saying how appalled I am—I am sure the whole House is—about the details that have emerged on the murder of Sara Sharif? May I say, on behalf of the Government, that nothing is more important than keeping children safe? We are committed to further reform of children’s social care and much stronger safegua…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
The Leader of the House rightly mentioned a live case. I hope nobody will add to that, because it is in the courts at the moment.
Building Homes12 Dec 2024
WJ
Warinder Juss
I welcome the Minister’s statement. Last week, I met my constituent Mr Anwar Hussain, who lives with his wife and five children in a two-bedroom house. Doctors have told him that his eight-year-old autistic daughter needs her own bedroom. Mr Hussain tells me that he has been on emergency banding for a larger house with… more bedrooms for two years, and he is still waiting. Does my hon. Friend agree that we desperately need to improve our social housing, and can he please confirm that the Government’s plans will help people such as Mr Hussain?
Hansard · 12 Dec 2024 · parliament.uk
MP
Matthew Pennycook
With your permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to update the House on our plan to build the homes our country so desperately needs. This Labour Government were elected five months ago with a mandate to deliver national renewal. Standing on the steps of Downing Street on 5 July , the Prime Minister made it clear that wo…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
KH
Kevin Hollinrake
I thank the Minister for advance sight of his statement. First, I welcome the ambitious target of 1.5 million homes in this Parliament. I think he may have unintentionally misled the House regarding the “dire inheritance” that he claims. Conservative Members are rightly proud of our record on housing delivery. [Interru…
MP
Matthew Pennycook
I thank the hon. Gentleman for some of his responses, and for those questions. I am glad that he broadly supports the Government’s target of 1.5 million homes. As he will know, the previous Government did not achieve their target—300,000 homes a year when disaggregated—once in 14 years. There were so many inaccuracies …
MP
Matthew Pennycook
Because I have outlined my position many, many times before. I objected to a 1,500-home scheme that I thought was poor quality—I thought we could do better. It is very interesting, I note to Opposition Members, that consent for that was given many years ago, but not a spade has been put in the ground. That is the type …
Public Services Reform5 Dec 2024
WJ
Warinder Juss
What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to reform public services.
Hansard · 5 Dec 2024 · parliament.uk
GG
Georgia Gould
As a former council leader, I have seen at first hand the crisis in public services, with people falling between the cracks of systems that are under extreme strain. To reform that, we need to get out of Whitehall and support workers across the public sector to do things differently. From intervening early to support f…
GG
Georgia Gould
I wholeheartedly agree with that. I heard too often from those on the frontline that they are fed up with policy being made in a closed room in Whitehall, and not with those who have real experience of the frontline. The Budget announced the introduction of a public sector reform and innovation fund to support us to te…
GS
Graham Stuart
We all remember that the Secretary of State for Health and Social Centre undertook that there would be no additional money going into the NHS without securing reform. That, like so many other broken promises, was dropped, and £22 billion or £25 billion—whatever it is—of funding was announced. Then afterwards he repeate…
GG
Georgia Gould
I am surprised to hear a Member on the Conservative Benches express concern about money that is desperately needed going into our NHS, when people are waiting for GP appointments and in ambulances. Under the Conservative party, police officers would spend hours sitting with people with mental health concerns. Is that p…
WJ
Warinder Juss
Under the Conservative party, too much taxpayers’ money was wasted on projects and schemes that simply did not work. Does the Minister agree with me that in order to improve healthcare services, including mental health services, educational opportunities and social services, as well as transport provision and public sa…
Plan for Change: Milestones for Mission-led Government5 Dec 2024
WJ
Warinder Juss
The Conservatives have always claimed to be the party of law and order, but they took police officers off the streets. Knife and youth crime, antisocial behaviour and local drug activity are some of the most common complaints in my constituency. I welcome the Labour Government’s urgent action to recruit more neighbourhood police officers. My… right hon. Friend knows my constituency well, because it adjoins his in Wolverhampton. Can he confirm that this action will make a real difference to my constituents?
Hansard · 5 Dec 2024 · parliament.uk
PM
Pat McFadden
With permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will make a statement about the next phase of the Government’s programme. In July we set out our legislative programme, in October we set out our financial plan, and today we are setting out our plan for change. When we were elected, we said that we would have five long-term mis…
AB
Alex Burghart
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for advance sight of his statement. It was very nice to receive it only 12 hours after The Times, although I must say that I received the policy document itself only at 11.05 am, unlike Labour MPs at Pinewood studios who, according to social media, had the document some time before. Whi…
PM
Pat McFadden
I have spent more of my life than I would have liked in opposition, and I learned one thing about being in opposition: one has to decide what one’s attack is. As I listened to the hon. Gentleman, I was not sure whether he supported or opposed the plan. The hon. Gentleman refers to millstones. Let me tell him very clear…
MT
Matt Turmaine
I welcome my right hon. Friend’s plan for change, which will ensure that the Government are focused on delivery, not the dither we have seen for the past 14 years with the Conservatives. I especially welcome the NHS target of 18 weeks; the last Labour Government were able to deliver that target and NHS satisfaction lev…
PM
Pat McFadden
I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. When we came into office in 1997, we were also faced with an NHS that was in severe difficulty. Let me be clear with the House: meeting that target is extremely challenging, but we believe that by setting it and driving the system towards it, we can make real progress towards red…
Detained British Nationals Abroad5 Dec 2024
WJ
Warinder Juss
I thank the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) for bringing the debate to the House. I want to talk about Jagtar Singh Johal, a Sikh activist and blogger from Dumbarton in Scotland. He is not a constituent of mine, but very soon after I was elected as the… MP for Wolverhampton West, I received many emails from my constituents raising concerns about his detention in India, which has been ongoing for seven years. My constituency may have one of largest Sikh populations in the United Kingdom, but a lot of the emails that I received were from non-Sikhs. That shows that people, whoever they are, wherever they are, are concerned about human rights breaches. Jagtar is a British citizen who travelled to India in October 2017 to get married, and it is said that three weeks later he was abducted by plain-clothes police officers, who tortured him with electricity to get a false confession linking him to an alleged conspiracy to murder. Over time, further charges were added, some as lately as 2021. Jagtar continues to be held in a Delhi jail. In November 2021, a United Nations working party stated that Jagtar had been arrested because of his Sikh activism, and in May 2022, a UN working group on arbitrary detention found that Jagtar’s detention was arbitrary under international law and lacked any legal basis, and that his fair trial rights had been gravely violated. UN experts call for Jagtar Johal to be released immediately. The campaign seeking Jagtar’s release has received cross-party support from MPs in this House. In July 2023, 100 parliamentarians wrote to the then Prime Minister, the right hon. Member for Richmond and Northallerton (Rishi Sunak) , asking him to call for Jagtar’s release when he travelled to India for the G20 summit. Leaders of both the Labour and Conservative parties have previously suggested that there is no legal basis for Jagtar’s detention, which is arbitrary, and moreover, that this Government must act decisivel
Hansard · 5 Dec 2024 · parliament.uk
IS
Iain Duncan Smith
I beg to move, That this House is concerned by the number of arbitrarily detained British nationals at risk of human rights abuses abroad and the apparent lack of active support for those detained; and calls on the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to provide regular reports on when it last raised the cases …
CJ
Christine Jardine
The right hon. Member mentioned support from the British Government. Does he agree that that support is not always as consistent across the globe as we might like and as many members of the public would imagine it to be? There is no guarantee or legal right imposed on the UK Government to do it in the way that there is…
IS
Iain Duncan Smith
I completely agree. I have no problem agreeing on this matter. It has been a long-standing issue for families and Members of Parliament that, somehow, the FCDO puts a cloud of obscurity in the way of real knowledge about what is going on. For families, that can be incredibly difficult.
AB
Apsana Begum
The right hon. Member may be aware of the case of Alaa Abd el-Fattah, a British national who remains in an Egyptian prison. Like me, is he very concerned that Mr el-Fattah’s mother, Laila Soueif, who is 68 years old, is now on the 67th day of a hunger strike? As I understand it, the Foreign Secretary last raised the ca…
IS
Iain Duncan Smith
I absolutely agree. That case will be raised today. All of us who want to speak in the debate have agreed that we will make sure that individual cases are raised in detail. I will touch on some to summarise them, and I will detail a couple of them. The hon. Lady is quite right. What has happened is appalling, and we ne…
International Day of Persons with Disabilities3 Dec 2024
WJ
Warinder Juss
I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate on International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Does she agree that a lot of the disabilities that we need to be aware of are hidden disabilities such as autism, depression and other mental conditions? We do not see those disabilities directly, but we need to be… aware of them, and to deal with issues such as unconscious bias that we sometimes come across.
Hansard · 3 Dec 2024 · parliament.uk
DA
Debbie Abrahams
Today marks International Day of Persons with Disabilities—or disabled people, as we often refer to that group. Language is important, so I will use both terms. “Persons with disabilities” is understood internationally, but “disabled people” is often the preferred term in the UK. This year’s theme is “Amplifying the le…
JS
Jim Shannon
I commend the hon. Lady. The word “champion” is often used, but she has been a champion for disabled people. More work must be done to allow those with disabilities to live, work and travel independently, including through enhanced public transport with lifts and ramps for wheelchair users to get on to planes and the t…
DA
Debbie Abrahams
The hon. Member will not be surprised to hear me say that I absolutely agree with him. I will come to the issues on which we need to provide challenge. Since 2010, disability hate crime has increased almost sevenfold—that is absolutely shocking. Not only are such challenges obstacles for individuals but they limit soci…
SD
Steve Darling
I highlight in particular the good work of those at the National Federation of the Blind, who were on the estate today campaigning on floating bus stops. Does the hon. Member agree that the Government need to ban floating bus stops?
DA
Debbie Abrahams
The hon. Member—a fellow member of the Work and Pensions Committee—makes a good point. I am sorry that I was unable to attend that event myself, but I will certainly give that matter some consideration, and I hope that the Government will, too. More than 16 million people in the UK have a disability—nearly one in four …
