March 2026

I am slightly concerned if the hon. Gentleman thinks that people who come as part of economic migration schemes are in some way in the asylum population, as those two things are significantly different. Nevertheless, we have made significant proposals in that space, including increasing the main basis time to settlement to 10 years, with the ability to earn based on working, not committing crimes, and learning the English language—all sensible changes. Our consultation, which closed last month,

The right hon. Gentleman is an old hand in this House. He has also, I think, served in a number of security posts in government. He would be the last person to expect me to speculate on future hypothetical scenarios like that, but the points he made at the start of his question are really important. The opportunity now, based on the President’s declaration this morning and his instruction to his Department of War to hold off further attacks on Iranian power plants and infrastructure for the next

My hon. Friend makes the clearest and strongest possible case for an early end to this conflict and for how imperative it is to embrace this opportunity that President Trump has created. As she rightly says, the impending potential impact on the world economy, and on the lifestyle and costs of all families and businesses in this country, is severe. That is the reason the Prime Minister will be chairing a Cobra meeting this afternoon that will look at the potential economic impacts of the conflic

Under international law, the use of force is permitted for “individual or collective self-defence” against “an armed attack”. Such use of force must satisfy the requirements of proportionality and necessity. In light of the broadening use of British military bases at the request of Donald Trump over the past week, will the Defence Secretary clarify for the British public how this satisfies those requirements? If the lessons of Iraq are to be learned, surely he must understand that the British pu

Parliamentary appearance by Sir Gavin Williamson

I am delighted to lead this debate to enable the House to discuss the need for rail connections between London and rural towns. As the Minister well knows, I represent the beautiful constituency of Shrewsbury, the county town of Shropshire and home to some 70,000 residents. We already have the nation’s favourite market, winning the national award no fewer than three times, but this weekend we were once again named one of Britain’s best places to live, according to The Sunday Times in its annual

The hon. Gentleman makes a powerful point. Public transport must combine both trains and buses to make sure that all communities are well served. As I was saying, Shropshire is the only county in the UK without a direct train to London. We can change at Birmingham, Stafford or Crewe, but that doubles our chances of a delay or a cancellation, creates extra barriers for those with mobility issues, and reduces work productivity for commuters. Not having a direct service is such a missed opportunity