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1. 5 Jan 2026·Parliament·Ben Obese-Jecty

   Topical Questions

   Thank you, Mr Speaker. On 9 February 2020, the Home Secretary co-signed a letter to the then Prime Minister urging him to suspend a deportation flight to Jamaica for foreign national offenders. Fabian Henry, who had been convicted of grooming and raping two young girls, was removed from that flight and is believed still to be living in the UK. Having previously campaigned to keep them in the country—even demanding in this Chamber that the flight be halted—has the right hon. Lady now taken any action as Home Secretary to deport this dangerous child rapist, whom she helped to remain in the country?

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2. 5 Jan 2026·Parliament·Ben Obese-Jecty

   HMP Leyhill: Offender Abscondments

   The Minister is keen to take credit for the reduced rate of absconsions. What specific steps have the Government taken to reduce that rate? Will she reassure the public that every single one of the 57 prisoners who absconded—less the two currently at large—have been re-apprehended?

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3. 5 Jan 2026·Parliament·Ben Obese-Jecty

   Northern Ireland Troubles Bill: Armed Forces Recruitment and Retention

   Given the concerns that have been expressed about this Bill and protections for our veterans, what assessment has the Minister made of the forthcoming Haddon-Cave inquiry and the impact that could have on the retention of personnel, given the cohort of people affected are likely either still serving or are of the same era as veterans in this Chamber?

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4. 5 Jan 2026·Parliament·Ben Obese-Jecty

   Venezuela

   In November, I asked the Government what our position would be if the US took military action in Venezuela, in the light of the new US national security strategy, which clearly outlines the US Administration’s position on the western hemisphere and denial of influence to non-hemispheric competitors. The answer was not clear. Following her discussion with Secretary Rubio, what assessment has the Foreign Secretary made of the risk that Venezuela may be the first domino in a chain across central America, ending with Mexico? If we do not now recognise Delcy Rodríguez as the legitimate President of Venezuela, is it because she is one of the individuals we have already sanctioned?

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5. 5 Jan 2026·Parliament·Aphra Brandreth

   Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief

   The Government have heard from these Benches time and again about the impact the family farm tax has had on food security and the risk to countryside stewardship and our environment and the economic viability of farms, but also, crucially, about the impact on farmers’ mental health. My question to the Minister is simple: on behalf of farmers across Chester South and Eddisbury, why did this decision take so long?

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6. 5 Jan 2026·Parliament·Aphra Brandreth

   Venezuela

   I welcome the removal of Nicolás Maduro, who for too long oppressed the people of Venezuela, but history shows that the aftermath of intervention can be as consequential as the intervention itself. What specific steps is the Foreign Secretary taking to ensure that there is no vacuum for instability or hostile actors to exploit both within Venezuela and across the wider region, particularly hostile state actors such as Russia, China and Iran?

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7. 5 Jan 2026·Parliament·Alison Griffiths

   Topical Questions

   Sussex police is one of the most underfunded forces in England, with the number of officers per resident 27% below the national average. Following the national decrease in police officers during the first year of this Government, will the Home Secretary commit to ensuring that police officer numbers go up in 2026?

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8. 5 Jan 2026·Parliament·Alicia Kearns

   Hate Crime

   Thank you, Mr Speaker, and happy new year. Women are overwhelmingly the victims of hate crimes online, but that is no surprise when companies are promising that the purchase of a self-swab rape kit will deter rapists. That is plainly offensive and shifts the onus on to women and off the cowards who rape them. The kits are also inadmissible in court. We have already had a sexual assault of a child case collapse because of the use of a self-swab kit. For almost a year, rape charities have begged the Government to take action and ban these dangerous kits and their dangerous narratives. Will the Government work with me, support my campaign and commit to protecting women from self-swab rape kits?

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9. 5 Jan 2026·Parliament·Alicia Kearns

   Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief

   This U-turn comes too late for too many. It is extraordinary to hear Labour MPs saying that their farmers are delighted; mine are sick with relief after 14 months. At the Liaison Committee, the Prime Minister accepted that he knew that some farmers had planned to take their lives or had already done so, yet it still took him well over a week to decide that rural lives matter. What was it that suddenly changed after 14 months for him to decide that our farmers should be stood by, and should not be questioning whether or not they were going to be here for next Christmas?

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10. 5 Jan 2026·Parliament·Alicia Kearns

    Venezuela

    Venezuelans are relieved to be free of Maduro’s tyranny. However, Venezuela risks remaining a failed state, rather than being a free state, unless the international community comes together. Oil companies are not state builders, nor are they capable of democratic capacity building or enabling political transitions. I was surprised that there was no mention in the Foreign Secretary’s statement of plans to evacuate British nationals if possible or of how many British nationals are in country. What phone calls has the Foreign Secretary had since this action with the leader of Guyana, a Commonwealth country and nation with whom we have an important relationship? If she has not spoken to that leader, why has she not?

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11. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Victoria Atkins

    Agricultural and Business Property Relief: Food Prices

    On Monday, the Prime Minister admitted that farmers are considering taking their own lives for fear of the family farm tax—a tax that he described as a “sensible reform”. The next day, I was given a letter for the Prime Minister from 90-year-old farmer and grandmother Mrs Denton. It contains one chilling question that I expect the farming Minister to be able to answer. Mrs Denton asks: “My husband and I now need to know as soon as possible the date we need to die by to avoid the totally unfair inheritance tax that will be forcibly put on our offspring to have to sell or split up a food-producing farm—and do what?”

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12. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Victoria Atkins

    Topical Questions

    May I wish you, Mr Speaker, the House staff and Members across the House a very merry Christmas? I thank the farmers, the food producers, and the pubs, restaurants, hotels and others that will look after us all and ensure that we enjoy a very merry Christmas. We are in a food and farming emergency, with rising food prices, record farm closures and two pubs or restaurants closing every single day. A month ago, the Conservatives held an emergency summit to ask farmers, fishermen and food producers for the urgent solutions they need to survive the next 12 months. Those included launching their sustainable farming incentive scheme, rolling over the fruit and veg scheme, and setting up a scheme to ensure that livestock farmers can afford to feed their animals over winter, as well as axing the family farm tax. I sent those solutions to the Secretary of State hoping that she would do something, but I have still heard nothing back a month later. There has been no action or response from her to that letter.

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13. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Victoria Atkins

    Topical Questions

    This is a quick question. Does the Secretary of State think that she is capable of organising a knees-up in a brewery this Christmas?

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14. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Tom Tugendhat

    Ukraine

    May I start by paying tribute and offering thanks to all those on the frontlines in our uniform, guarding our seas, guarding our land and guarding our air? They will be on duty for the next fortnight, when many of us will be celebrating, and will not have the chance to be with their families. May I raise a point that I do not really want to raise, but which I am afraid is fundamentally true? The promises of defence spending are actually on the never-never—they are for after the next election. The reality, as the Minister knows very well, is that the uplift he has spoken about is actually a reallocation of money that was allocated to Ukraine and is still allocated to Ukraine. It was coming out of one budget and it is now under the defence budget. That is Treasury chicanery, not a defence uplift. The reality is that we are not considered serious. We complain, understandably, that we are not part of President Trump’s talks, but we are not willing to put in the money or put a stake in the ground to show that we are a capable and equal player. We see what Poland is doing and what the Baltic states are doing, and we are not doing it ourselves. Until we are willing to do it ourselves, I am afraid that the Minister, and all of us here, are not being serious. We are not truly standing with Ukraine, we are not truly defending the British people, and I am afraid that the promises will come to naught.

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15. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Sir Julian Lewis

    Ukraine

    May I endorse what the hon. Member for Portsmouth North (Amanda Martin) and the Minister have said about Lance Corporal George Hooley, who sounds as if he was a fine individual and a great soldier? On 29 December, it will be the 85th anniversary of President Roosevelt’s famous fireside chat radio broadcast, in which he defined his country, which was not then at war, as the “arsenal of democracy” in support of those countries that were at war. He did not say that Churchill had no cards to play. He did not say that Adolf Hitler should be rewarded with recognition of the countries that had been occupied. By the end of the war, the Americans had seen the importance of standing in alliance with the other democracies, and when Germany was divided, they made certain that the western part of Germany was not a military vacuum. Does the Minister agree that if Ukraine is divided by force, then we democracies must make sure that western, free Ukraine is not a military vacuum either?

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16. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Sir Julian Lewis

    Local Government Reorganisation

    Can I explain to the Minister why this U-turn is worrying? She said that there would have to be strong reasons for elections to be cancelled, and then cancelled them on the basis of not very strong reasons. Her predecessor said that there would have to be very strong reasons why boundary changes might happen during local government reorganisation. We are extremely concerned that Southampton city council wants to split off the sensitive waterside that looks towards the rural New Forest and amalgamate that under its power structure in the future. Can we now be confident that those very strong reasons that would have to be adduced for any boundary changes really amount to any sort of guardianship of the situation at all?

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17. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Sir Julian Lewis

    15th Anniversary

    Has my hon. Friend and his Committee considered whether anything can be done to encourage more media interest in the subject of the debates that his Committee grants? I have in mind a particularly outstanding debate on Ukraine, which was initiated by my hon. Friend the Member for Harwich and North Essex (Sir Bernard Jenkin) on Thursday 4 December. Every speech from every participant —with the possible exception of my own—was outstandingly good, yet afterwards I could detect no coverage whatever. Is there anything that can be done to persuade those whose responsibility it is to report on the proceedings of this House that sometimes it is worth taking note of what Back Benchers have to say?

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18. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Sir John Whittingdale

    Topical Questions

    T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.

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19. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Sir John Whittingdale

    Topical Questions

    While wishing the Minister, and indeed all hon. Members and staff, a very happy Christmas, may I tell her that many of my farming constituents will not be celebrating as they gather with their families, because their hopes of passing on their farms to their children, just as their parents and grandparents did before them, have been made impossible by Labour’s family farm tax? She has already heard from some of them when she and I did “Any Questions?” in Essex a few months ago, but will she now, once again, try to persuade the Chancellor to withdraw this punitive and damaging measure?

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20. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Sir John Hayes

    Business of the House

    Merry Christmas to you, Mr Speaker, to the Leader of the House and to my friends across the House. I also wish a merry Christmas to my constituent in Holbeach, Annette Bramley, although at this time she will be grieving the loss of her daughter Holly, who was brutally murdered by a worthless, wicked husband. We have just debated animal welfare, and this week we have talked about violence against women. This man tortured and brutally killed Holly’s pets before he killed her. So often that is the case: first come God’s creatures, then come men and women. Will the Leader of the House make a statement to support Annette’s campaign for a national register of animal cruelty? That would give some solace and hope to those many women and children—and men, by the way—who face domestic abuse.

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21. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Sir Gavin Williamson

    Business of the House

    I have no doubt that you will be very organised and ready for Christmas, Mr Speaker, with all your presents purchased and wrapped. Some of us are not quite like that and will be making panicked purchases around our constituencies this weekend. If people are parking in Penkridge at Boscomoor retail centre or the Quinton Court shopping centre in Great Wyrley, there is a high chance that the parking operator, ParkMaven, will issue tickets on their cars, totally without justification. What more can be done to stop these rogue operators? May we have a statement from the Government?

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22. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Sir Edward Leigh

    Community Audiology

    I congratulate the hon. Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Danny Beales) on moving this timely motion. I declare an interest: I am someone who suffers from hearing loss—it is good to be honest about these things. I recently found a picture of myself in uniform in the pouring rain, looking very miserable in Germany or on Salisbury plain, leaning against a 25-pounder. I can assure Members that those guns went off next to my ear on many occasions, and it is a very loud bang indeed. I am not alone in suffering from some hearing loss. As the hon. Gentleman made clear, if we group together deafness, hearing loss and tinnitus, some 18 million people in the UK are affected by hearing conditions. Of those among us who are 55 or over, more than half suffer from hearing loss, as he said. Of those of us who are 70 and older—Mr Vickers, you and I were born just weeks apart—over 80% have some form of hearing loss. Some 2.4 million adults across Britain have hearing loss that is severe enough for them to struggle with conversational speech in some situations. We all know that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. That is even more true in medicine than in any other walk of life. I am one of 2 million people in the UK who use a hearing aid. People should not be ashamed of using a hearing aid. People are not ashamed of wearing glasses—the Minister, Mr Vickers, and the distinguished consultant from Suffolk, the hon. Member for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket (Peter Prinsley), are all wearing glasses. It is a fact of life, and we should support people. The British Academy of Audiology estimates that there are 6.7 million people who could benefit from a hearing aid but do not currently use one. The impact is not limited to wives, irritated that we have not heard them—although I must admit that if someone is known in the family to have hearing loss, it is very convenient. I am frequently ticked off by my wife because I am generally completely useless, and sometimes I pretend I have not heard her, so there are some benefits.

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23. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Sir Edward Leigh

    Community Audiology

    At the risk of giving in to economic reductionism, there is a significant impact on the economy. The Royal National Institute for Deaf People has estimated that untreated hearing loss costs the UK economy around £30 billion per year in lost productivity. Adults of working age with hearing loss have an employment rate of 65%, compared with 79% for those without any disabilities. Hearing loss has a social cost as well, as it has an impact on daily life and often increases isolation. Too often, we are embarrassed by hearing loss when we should be tackling it head on. Another problem is a lack of audiologists. Unwisely, the Government have maintained the cap on the number of people allowed to study medicine—a restrictive measure that the doctors’ unions cling to regressively. The first priority should be the health of the public. We should allow anyone who meets the high standards that we expect of those studying medicine to do so. Instead, the doctors’ unions ensure there is a lack of domestic supply to protect their bargaining position, but that means we are forced to make up the shortfall by importing doctors from other countries, often less developed ones. Many countries, not just fully developed ones, have high standards of medical education. It seems to me, and to many others, morally dubious for the NHS to pick the cream of doctors from any developing country and bring them here. Their diligence, training and expertise are much needed in their home countries. Meanwhile, we have excellent people here who cannot get into medical school—not because they are not good enough, but because the numbers are capped. The shortfall in audiology is yet another reason why we need to address this issue. We have over 3,000 registered audiologists working in the UK, across the NHS, the private sector and educational settings. Figures from the British Academy of Audiology show that 48% of services have reported reduced staff, with an overall decline of 8% in the audiology workforce. Nearly one in 10 clinical posts in audiology are currently vacant, and 65% of audiology services have at least one vacancy. Those shortages exist across multiple salary bands, from junior to senior clinicians. I am not blaming this Government, by the way; I am not being party political. This problem is the fault of successive Governments and Health Secretaries, who have failed to address it. Back in 2006, the Royal National Institute for Deaf People pointed out in evidence to the Health Committee: “A recent NHS workforce project has suggested an additional 1,700 qualified audiologists are required to cope with current pressure. This could take between 10 and 15 years to realise under the current training programmes.” That was back in 2006, so what has happened since then? It will not surprise the experienced observer that not enough action was taken. Hearing loss is one of the most prevalent long-term conditions in England, yet it is often treated as a low-priority service. If we treated it as a core part of prevention and independence, the rewards would be innumerable. As I said, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Demand for audiology services is rising, and the International Longevity Centre estimates that by 2031, one in five Britons will have hearing loss. There is at least increasing public awareness, but with an ageing population, the demand for audiology services is rising. That puts additional pressure on the workforce and on service capacity. Community audiology should not be a marginal service. It is a preventive intervention with clear implications for the wellbeing of individuals and families, economic productivity and long-term public spending. Delivering audiology close to home is ideal, particularly for older patients and those managing long-term conditions. The current model relies heavily on local commissioning decisions. There is wide variation in access, as well as in the scope and quality of provision across England. Patients in some areas benefit from straightforward self-referral and timely community services, while others face longer waits or unnecessary hospital referrals. I suspect that the service in London and other big cities is better than that in our home county of Lincolnshire, Mr Vickers. We need to improve the way we collect data on audiology services, so that we can evaluate their impact across the country. Good data will help us to focus on outcomes, as any reform should. National minimum service standards would provide clarity without imposing uniform delivery models. We should preserve local flexibility while ensuring that patients know what level of service they are entitled to expect. Community audiology should be integrated into broader prevention and healthy ageing strategies. Hearing care supports people to remain economically active and socially connected for longer. That is immensely central to maintaining human dignity as we all get older. Early intervention reduces downstream costs in social care and mental health services. The social and economic impact is huge. There is much we can do now that will produce worthwhile results, so we need action from the Minister.

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24. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Sir Edward Leigh

    Community Audiology

    The hon. Gentleman is giving an absolutely brilliant speech. It is such a pleasure to hear a Member of Parliament speaking from direct, personal experience. I want to emphasise one important point that might come out of this debate: a lot of people are paying a lot of money for private hearing aids, but I know from personal experience that, nowadays, NHS hearing aids are perfectly satisfactory.

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25. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Sir Edward Leigh

    Community Audiology

    The hon. Gentleman makes a good point that we often hear about national screening programmes. It has just occurred to me that if everybody over the age of 70 was sent a text message through the NHS, summoning them into a screening programme, we could make huge advances in this area, particularly with things such as dementia—because, as he made clear, many people are either embarrassed by hearing loss, or not aware that they have it.

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26. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Sir Edward Leigh

    Animal Welfare Strategy

    We have some of the best animal welfare standards for farm animals in the world. Of course, we can do much by regulation, but the best way to protect farm animals is to have contented and prosperous family farmers who love their animals and care for them. When I arrived in the House, farmers used to talk in glowing terms about Tom Williams, the Labour Minister for agriculture in the Attlee Government, who started 80 years of prosperity for our farmers. I beg the Secretary of State and the Minister, if they are really concerned about animal welfare and the welfare of our farmers, to drop the absurd family farm tax.

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27. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Sir Edward Leigh

    Business of the House

    May I ask the Leader of the House about the restoration and renewal of the Houses of Parliament, which is fast developing into a major scandal? According to some estimates, up to £800 million may already have been spent, with barely a brick being laid. We need an urgent decision. I served for many years on various bodies concerned with this programme, and the whole debate has been bedevilled by plans for 15-year decants that may never happen and the setting up of a delivery authority, instead of just getting on with the work around us. The Leader of the House may not agree with my particular view, but I am sure he agrees that we need to have a decision, there needs to be clear leadership, and we need to get on with the work.

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28. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Sir Edward Leigh

    Ukraine

    I agree with the Minister that we have to work on a cross-party basis on this issue, because that is how we are strongest, so can we agree on the following two points? First, it would be intolerable if any peace settlement forced Ukraine to give up territory that Russia has not already conquered forcibly and if Ukraine gave up its fortress belt. It would be like stripping Czechoslovakia of Sudetenland and leaving it defenceless. The second point is even more important. We cannot have a peace settlement through warm words alone; we must have a commitment that Ukraine’s defence is protected by the equivalent of an article 5 declaration. The only thing that will deter Putin is knowing that if he invades again, there will be war with the west and we will win. Can we unite on those two powerful points?

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29. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Sir Desmond Swayne

    Farming Profitability

    Sustained profitability requires sustained investment, and investment has collapsed as a consequence of the family farm tax, hasn’t it?

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30. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Sir Bernard Jenkin

    Ukraine

    I thank the Minister for coming to the House today on this last day of Parliament before Christmas, which keeps Ukraine at the top of the political agenda, which is where it must be. I want to endorse thoroughly every word uttered by my right hon. Friend the Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mr Francois) in his response to the Minister’s statement, as well as the words of my right hon. Friend the Member for Tonbridge (Tom Tugendhat). I make no apology for pressuring the Government to spend more on defence, and I know that secretly, in his heart, the Minister agrees with me. Will he think about coming back to the House early in the new year with a debate and a motion on a three-line Whip, so that we can thoroughly debate these matters with a much fuller House than we have this afternoon? That will enable us to lead the conversation that he so ably talks about.

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31. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Sir Bernard Jenkin

    Local Government Reorganisation

    I invite the Minister to be open and candid with the House. Could she tell us what discussions there have been and what views, opinions, advice or instructions have been issued to her, her fellow Ministers or special advisers by the political advisers in No. 10?

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32. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Sir Bernard Jenkin

    Local Government Reorganisation

    On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. This is about the reply I got to my question. I have it on very good authority that these decisions have been taken by political advisers in No. 10, and the Minister did not deny that. Could she clarify whether I am right to take away that impression, or could she be more open and candid with the House?

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33. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Robbie Moore

    Farming Profitability

    Here we are, at the 11th hour, on the very last day before Parliament rises for Christmas, and the Secretary of State has left it until now to publish Baroness Batters’ profitability review —48 days since it was handed to her. She has tactically left it buried in her Department until well after the Budget and purposely until after the crucial Finance Bill vote earlier this week, in which 333 Labour MPs backed the implementation of the family farm tax—all in the knowledge that whatever the recommendations in the profitability review, the Government’s financial assault on our farmers was locked in. What message does that say to our hard-working farmers?

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34. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Robbie Moore

    Violence Against Women and Girls

    Happy Christmas to you and your team, Mr Speaker. Earlier this year, I was successful in my campaign to increase the ridiculously short sentences handed down to three vile grooming gang members in my constituency. However, I spoke to at least one victim in my constituency who has told me that she did not know that the sentences of her abusers could be referred as unduly lenient. As the VAWG strategy is released today, will the Solicitor General meet me to discuss introducing a new statutory duty on authorities, mandating that victims of crimes must be informed about the unduly lenient sentence scheme?

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35. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Robbie Moore

    Business of the House

    Madam Deputy Speaker, may I wish you, and indeed all Members across the House, a very happy Christmas? Like thousands of my constituents, I have recently been sending Christmas cards. May I use this opportunity to congratulate Leo from Oakworth on creating such an excellent design for my Christmas card this year? I am sorry to say that hundreds of my constituents have raised their concerns about continued unacceptable delays in mail deliver. There has been partial or no delivery of mail, particularly in the Worth valley area, for months. It is resulting in missed doctors’ and hospital appointments, as well as in bills and urgent correspondence being missed. Can we have a debate in Government time on the importance of this issue, and ensure that Royal Mail is held to account?

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36. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Robbie Moore

    Violence against Women and Girls Strategy

    I absolutely welcome the strategy published today, and I share the Minister’s ambitions on early intervention. However, in constituencies such as mine, one of the state’s greatest failures has been the historical failure to openly and honestly confront perverse cultural attitudes behind violence and abuse against women and girls. I think of the women in my constituency specifically targeted because they were working-class, white girls. I think of the many women I have met who have poor English and little education, and who do not know about their rights or how to access support. I also think of those many women I have met in my constituency who are too scared to raise those concerns. The Minister rightly speaks of challenging misogynistic attitudes within schools, but can she assure me that the strategy will not stop at the school gate and that the Government will challenge any institution, religious or otherwise, that continues to reinforce harmful attitudes towards women and girls and puts their safety at risk?

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37. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Robbie Moore

    Christmas Adjournment

    The levelling-up agenda is incredibly important for traditionally forgotten-about places like Keighley. That is why, turning back the clock, I was incredibly proud to achieve a drawdown of about £80 million for various levelling-up projects across Keighley, which was delivered through the £33.6 million Keighley towns fund; the long-term plan for towns—rebranded by this Labour Government—that awarded £20 million to Keighley in 2023, to be spent on rejuvenating the town centre and other projects; and the £19 million that we were able to draw down through the levelling-up fund. We are making good progress on many of those projects. The Providence Park project has developed and units can now be rented out, although there are some problems getting them valued through the Valuation Office Agency. I would like to see the Government put pressure on the office to unlock that. We have managed to achieve the manufacturing, engineering and tech hub, money has been spent on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, and toilets and new roofs have been built in many community projects, but we are still finding a roadblock with the accounting body that is Bradford council. Significant projects are at risk, right now, of not being delivered on time: the new stand that we need to see delivered for Keighley Cougars; the new health and wellbeing hub that we want to see built in the centre of Keighley, but which Bradford council is so lethargically slow in getting off the ground; and the money that needs to be spent on the maintenance and rejuvenation of Haworth village hall to get it up and running. I met the new trustees who are forming and driving forward that project, but we need Bradford council to get a move on. The money was allocated way back in 2022 and Bradford council is being so slow. Likewise, we are yet to get the skills hub that will deliver adult learning, and we need to make sure that the money that is due to be drawn down to the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway through the levelling-up fund is spent. My point is that under the last Conservative Government, we managed to achieve a whopping £80 million-odd to spend on Keighley. Bradford council needs to pull its finger out to make sure that those projects are delivered. Before I finish, Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish you and the whole House a very happy Christmas.

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38. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Peter Fortune

    Extended Producer Responsibility: Hospitality Sector

    5. If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the extended producer responsibility scheme on the hospitality sector.

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39. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Peter Fortune

    Extended Producer Responsibility: Hospitality Sector

    Mr Speaker, I would never forget to wish you and your exemplary staff a merry Christmas—I thank the Minister for the reminder. The British Beer and Pub Association has estimated that because of EPR, the cost to brewers just for glass bottles alone is somewhere near £124 million annually. That is the equivalent of a 12% rise in beer duty. This, coupled with the Government’s disastrous jobs tax, is leaving pubs in my constituency in a perilous position, wiping out any profit on a bottle of beer. What will the Minister do to resolve this issue and other issues around EPR, to help protect the nearly 1,000 jobs in the 36 pubs across Bromley and Biggin Hill?

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40. 18 Dec 2025·Parliament·Peter Fortune

    Business of the House

    A merry Christmas to you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Last month, at my surgery in Bromley, I spoke to my constituent Rhonda Josephs, whose 11-year-old son Alexander has been diagnosed with a brain tumour. His ongoing care is currently spread across five hospitals, leading to delays in communication between different teams and increased stress on Alexander and his family. My constituent feels that transferring her son’s care to Great Ormond Street, where everything can happen under one roof, would be the most sensible option. However, that has been rejected. Can we please have a debate on ensuring joined-up care in the NHS so that we do not see more such cases putting undue stress on patients, particularly young children, and their families?

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