Contributions
187 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDStamp Duty Land TaxI wholeheartedly agree with my hon. Friend. I made the point earlier that the welfare bill went up on the Conservative Government’s watch, not least because they cut back NHS…28 Oct 2025HANSARDStamp Duty Land TaxWhen the hon. Gentleman refers to covid, I think he is referring to total debt, which has increased. We are talking specifically about why the civil service has increased in size.…28 Oct 2025HANSARDStamp Duty Land TaxExactly. He obviously was not paying enough attention to our argument. Yes, we did agree with the analysis that stamp duty is a poor tax, but we could not support the motion,…28 Oct 2025HANSARDStamp Duty Land TaxWill the right hon. Gentleman give way?28 Oct 2025HANSARDAccess to Work SchemeA constituent came to my surgery the other week who felt pretty frustrated that the Access to Work scheme, which once supported him, was pulling the rug from beneath his feet as…27 Oct 2025HANSARDAccess to Work Scheme2. What steps his Department is taking to assess the effectiveness of the Access to Work scheme in helping to enable long-term career progression for disabled people.27 Oct 2025HANSARD Business of the HouseFirst, I associate myself with the comments made about Oliver Colvile’s passing and the Aberfan disaster. I wonder if we can have a debate about rhetoric colliding with reality.…23 Oct 2025HANSARD Business of the HouseI thank the Leader of the House for his warm welcome—it is a warmer welcome than I received online, where somebody compared me to a failed contestant on “The Apprentice”, which is…16 Oct 2025HANSARD Security Update: Official Secrets Act CaseI admire the Government’s attempts to pin this on the previous Conservative Government. It is an endeavour in which I would usually join them, but on this occasion I cannot,…13 Oct 2025HANSARDBaby LossI thank the co-sponsors for securing the debate and for all colleagues’ powerful contributions so far tonight. Many of those contributions have focused on preventable baby loss,…13 Oct 2025HANSARD Official Secrets ActChina has broken international agreements with the UK. It has placed bounties on the heads of Hongkongers seeking refuge in this country. Today’s announcement that charges have…15 Sept 2025HANSARDTax Reliefs: Zero-based ReviewThe Minister detailed that about 350 reliefs have been assessed, but my understanding is that more than 1,200 tax reliefs are on the books, amounting to hundreds of billions of…09 Sept 2025HANSARDTax Reliefs: Zero-based Review9. If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of undertaking a zero-based review of all tax reliefs before the autumn Budget 2025.09 Sept 2025HANSARD Palestine Action: Proscription and ProtestsI hear the distinction that the Minister is attempting to make, but the fact remains that almost 1,000 largely peaceful protesters were arrested in London this weekend. I am sure…08 Sept 2025HANSARDIndefinite Leave to RemainThe hon. Member makes an excellent point. It is a moral duty for our country to maintain its promise to those people. To extend the pathway to 10 years would be a betrayal of…08 Sept 2025HANSARDIndefinite Leave to RemainI am grateful for the opportunity to speak in this debate, and to stand alongside other hon. Members in defence of a promise that we made to the people of Hong Kong. Carshalton…08 Sept 2025HANSARDIndefinite Leave to RemainClearly, if there is to be consultation, that will entail a further few months of uncertainty for many people on the scheme. Does the Minister have an ambition for when the…08 Sept 2025HANSARDIndefinite Leave to RemainMy hon. Friend makes an excellent point about this being part of a promise that we made to the people of Hong Kong. When the route was introduced, the Chinese Communist party…08 Sept 2025HANSARDAdoption and Special Guardianship Support FundI absolutely agree, and that was the point that I was about to make. I am sure the Minister will tell me that money is tight, but I ask her over what time horizon she is…04 Sept 2025HANSARDAdoption and Special Guardianship Support FundI thank my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Sussex (Alison Bennett) for her passionate advocacy. There is sometimes a misunderstanding that adoption and kinship care are somehow the…04 Sept 2025