Sir John Whittingdale

Party affiliation

Register of interests

Register on Parliament's site

Latest on this tracker 241

1. 29 Oct 2026·Parliament·Sir John Whittingdale

   Local Government Reorganisation

   Six weeks ago, the Government announced that they were scrapping the local government reform proposals for Essex and going back to the drawing board. That announcement created yet more uncertainty and further paralysed decision making, yet the Minister has not even mentioned Essex, and he has provided no additional clarity whatsoever. How can he expect elections to go ahead in 2028, when we will not even know what authorities the candidates will be elected to until next year?

   Hansard source
2. 29 Oct 2026·Parliament·Sir John Whittingdale

   Budget Resolutions

   Before I turn to the Budget, I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to Sue Holt, whose death Mr Speaker announced to the House this morning. I am a member and former leader of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly delegation, and I worked with Sue over quite a long period. She was always immensely cheerful and efficient, and her death came as a real shock to us all. I send my condolences. At least there is one part of the Budget that I welcome: the continuing support being given by this Government to Ukraine. That was initiated under the last Government —indeed, over 10 years ago, long before the full-scale invasion by Russia—and we have continued to maintain it. It is a cross-party matter, so that support is very welcome. One of the reasons it is so important that we support Ukraine is that Ukraine is our frontline, and the threat to Ukraine is not just a threat to that country; it is a threat to all of us. That is why it is essential that we increase our defence expenditure now. The Chancellor has recommitted to spending 3% of GDP on defence by 2030, but that is still some way off, and we have heard from the Secretary of State for Defence about the immediacy of the threat. It is a matter of some concern that while we are still debating how we will get to 3%, allies such as Denmark, Estonia, Lativa, Lithuania, Norway and Poland are already exceeding that level and planning to spend more. Perhaps one of the reasons we have not yet been able to explain how we will meet the target is that the essential measures to fund it—in other words, addressing the welfare budget—have again been ducked by this Government. We await the outcome of the reviews by the Minister and Alan Milburn, but we have reached a position in which 6.7 million people are now claiming out-of-work benefits. That is creating a situation that is not just unaffordable; it is actually immoral that so many people of working age are out of work and living on benefits. The situation in this country is that all the economic signals for the long term are heading in the wrong direction. Borrowing is going up. Our national debt already stands at £3 trillion and is scheduled to increase further. Tax levels are the highest in our history. The Chancellor claims that he wants to cut regulation, but we have heard today from the OBR that the Employment Rights Act 2025 will result in unemployment standing at over 5% next year. That situation destroys incentives to work, drives away investment and causes entrepreneurs to leave the country. It is an unsustainable situation, yet nothing in this Budget does anything to give confidence that those things will be reversed. I will quickly refer to a couple of measures. In the Prime Minister’s first statement to the House, I raised the situation on our high streets, where so many businesses have been hit by not just the increase in business rates, but the increases in national insurance contributions, energy costs and the minimum wage. Although the measure to increase the threshold for business relief is of some small help, it is nothing like sufficient to help those businesses that are struggling to survive. I regret that there was no mention of VAT, a cut to which UKHospitality has identified as a critical measure that could help, because such businesses have to compete with those in countries such as France, Spain and Italy, which levy rates that are half of those here.<span id="519" class="column-number" data-column-number="519"></span> I will quickly mention hair salons, which the Chancellor talked about. They often face unfair competition from identical-looking salons next door, where the chairs are rented out and the staff class themselves as self-employed. That is depriving the Treasury of proper revenue while also creating unfair competition. I hope that is something that the Treasury will listen to. I am sorry that the gambling sector is yet again being used as a cash cow, and I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. By increasing the tax on gambling yet again, the effect will hit our high streets even harder, because a lot of betting shops are going to be driven out of business.

   Hansard source
3. 29 Oct 2026·Parliament·Sir John Whittingdale

   Budget Resolutions

   I am extremely grateful to my constituency neighbour for making an excellent point—and for giving me another minute. He is absolutely right that President Zelensky once again has spoken words for the Government to listen to, if only they would. It is absolutely right that we should increase our support for and expenditure on defence. Finally, my right hon. Friend and I both represent relatively rural constituencies, and I regret that the Budget made no mention of the harm being done to the agriculture sector through the family farming tax, nor did it provide any help to those constituents—I have many, and I know he does as well—who are off the grid and rely on heating oil. They will not benefit from the abolition of the standing charges, yet they have faced huge increases. Perhaps the only thing to celebrate in this Budget is the fact that the Chancellor did not listen to his Back Benchers who wanted him to go even further, with a wealth tax, a mansion tax and an increase in capital gains tax; long may it continue that he listens to us, not to them.

   Hansard source
4. 28 Oct 2026·Parliament·Sir John Whittingdale

   Draft Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026

   I will not detain the Committee for long. I just want to say that my hon. Friend the Member for Orpington has made some excellent points drawing on some of the information supplied by the organisations representing landlords with multiple premises, as has the Liberal Democrat spokesman, the hon. Member for Taunton and Wellington. I would like to declare that I am a landlord of a single small one-bedroom flat in Westminster. It already falls within the Westminster city council selective property licensing scheme, which costs in the order of £1,000 and requires me to upload a great deal of information, all of which, as I understand it, is now going to be duplicated in this system. I would like the Minister to explain how that will provide additional information to tenants in areas where it is already available through the local authority. The Liberal Democrat spokesman referred to the effect of the Renters’ Rights Act, which I think has already increased the disincentives for landlords to go into the private rented sector. I have just listened to the Chancellor explain to us at some length why he is going to bring in better regulation, and at the same time commit to getting rid of homelessness, both of which are admirable objectives that I share, but I am not sure this measure will help deliver either of them.

   Hansard source
5. 22 Oct 2026·Parliament·Sir John Whittingdale

   Wine Production

   <Question HRSContentId="{90BED1BD-7BB0-442B-BBA3-5D2F176E511F}">8. <QuestionText HRSContentId="{832EAB88-9507-4650-AD42-199268DCECB5}">What steps her Department is taking to support the wine production industry.</QuestionText> </Question>

   Hansard source
6. 22 Oct 2026·Parliament·Sir John Whittingdale

   Wine Production

   Is the Minister aware that Essex is now a centre of English wine production, with producers such as Danbury Ridge, Missing Gate, New Hall, Crouch Valley and Crouch Ridge all producing in my constituency? A number of them also offer vineyard tours, which are an important source of revenue. Will he support WineGB’s campaign for a wine tourism relief, to reduce the excise duty on cellar-door sales?

   Hansard source
7. 22 Oct 2026·Parliament·Sir John Whittingdale

   Topical Questions

   <Question HRSContentId="{B9A98BCF-DEBD-4F74-B0EE-1BF265F570DE}">T3. <QuestionText HRSContentId="{86F3C411-97B4-41AC-A8B1-8C1F2884257D}"></QuestionText>As well as producing extremely fine wines, Maldon produces excellent oysters—I would be delighted to welcome any members of the ministerial team to visit. Will the Department do more to promote the shellfish industry? In particular, will it look to introduce a specific aquaculture qualification to try to attract more apprentices into the industry?</Question>

   Hansard source
8. 22 Oct 2026·Parliament·Sir John Whittingdale

   Saudi Arabia: RAF Support

   I support the deployment of British forces in support of our Saudi Arabian allies, but, as has become clear, the distinction between “offensive” and “defensive” support is pretty fuzzy at best. Can the Minister say what assessment has been made of the possible increased threat to British nationals in the region, both civilian and military, and what is being done to meet that threat?

   Hansard source
9. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Sir John Whittingdale

   Engagements

   <Question HRSContentId="{A333C655-2A4B-41D5-B68E-92078B4E5803}">Q13. <QuestionText HRSContentId="{DE5E19DB-D52B-4DD7-B4B9-862D276691DF}"></QuestionText>Unlike the Government’s shameful attempts to hand over the sovereignty of the strategically important <span id="1114" class="column-number" data-column-number="1114"></span>Chagos islands, will the Prime Minister confirm that this time the Government will strongly oppose the case being made by the Government of Argentina to the international tribunal to try to stop the exploitation of oil reserves around the Falkland Islands, which is authorised by the United Kingdom?</Question>

   Hansard source
10. 10 Sep 2026·Parliament·Sir John Whittingdale

    Ukraine and Russia

    I strongly welcome the Secretary of State’s confirmation of our continuing support for Ukraine. He has set out the sustained threat from Russia facing not just Ukraine, but this country and the whole of Europe, yet for too many people, it is still business as usual. First, will he consider a public awareness campaign to raise awareness of the threat, like those in Finland and the Baltic states? Secondly, what message does he have for the companies that continue to trade in Russia and, in doing so, both undermine sanctions and provide funds for Russia’s war machine?

    Hansard source