July 2025

I thank the hon. Lady for raising that important issue, which I know she and many in her party care deeply about, as do most on the Government Benches. As she says—I think it is widely accepted—we inherited a SEND system in crisis; I think any parent or any constituency MP who has been supporting families through this system knows that it is broken and needs addressing. I join her in highlighting the LBC investigation, which has really shone a light on some of these issues. On the process, I rea

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this important constituency case. He is absolutely right that we need more accountability, and we need communities to have more powers over these vital local assets. That is exactly what we will be doing when we introduce the English devolution and community empowerment Bill later.

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 Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme, the highly qualified Miriam Minty, who will be starting in September? As the shadow Leader of the House said, this week we welcomed th

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—Opposition day (9th allotted day). Debate on a motion in the name of the official Opposition. Subject to be announced. Wednesday 16 July—Second Reading of the Property (Digital Assets

I am really pleased to hear about the development of the Tees maritime cluster and all the opportunities it is going to bring for young people, including job opportunities. It will show the strength of my hon. Friend’s constituents in contributing to the maritime industry, and I think it would make a very good topic for a debate.

I will certainly join my hon. Friend in congratulating Cannock Wood and Gentleshaw Gardening Club on its commitment to bringing the community together and raising funds for the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. I am sure there was a real buzz about the place at that event.

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right: access to innovative medicines and treatments still takes far too long, which is why those issues are a core part of our NHS 10-year plan and indeed our cancer plan. We want people to get some of those medicines faster and for the trials to be made easier, and I will ensure that the hon. Gentleman gets a response about that.

Parliamentary appearance by Lucy Powell

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for being such a regular attendee of business questions. I can confirm that it was because of his representations in these sessions that I got the idea of having a VJ Day debate before we break up for the recess. As he says, the VE Day debate was very oversubscribed, so I hope that in the upcoming debate we can look at the very specific lessons of VJ Day too. The right hon. Gentleman raises a really important matter. I join him in congratulating Cam Norrie and al

I am really sorry to hear that the situation at Morecambe football club continues. It sounds like it is getting worse, but I am pleased that the community has rallied round to make sure that some of those leavers’ dos can go ahead. My hon. Friend is right to continue to raise these issues in the House. This is one of the reasons that we introduced the Football Governance Bill, which passed its remaining stages in the House earlier this week. We want to put fans and communities right back at the