April 2026

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. It has been an interesting debate so far, and I thank the hon. Member for Bridlington and The Wolds (Charlie Dewhirst) for taking so many interventions. It was incredibly interesting to hear the discussion. I come at this issue from a particular point of view. I am a public health consultant and I have spent many years working with my colleagues to understand how big tobacco works—I put that on the record. This debate is both timely and

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Just to clarify, I meant to say that we are one of the most unregulated countries for gambling advertising.

How successful does the hon. Gentleman think voluntary agreements have been? Given that the evidence suggests that we are one of the most unregulated countries in the world for gambling, does he not agree that more should be done through regulations that are not voluntary?

I absolutely hear what the hon. Member is saying and I reiterate that great British sport is incredibly important. In terms of current regulation, does he agree that we are not regulating nearly enough and that we are therefore putting people who watch these sports and see ubiquitous gambling advertising in harm’s way?

I am listening to the hon. Member’s arguments with great interest. I want to be clear about the argument he is making. We all greatly value British sports, but if it is synonymous with issues that are causing harm to our children and our population, should we not move those sports forward without allowing that harm to occur?

In South East Cornwall we are rightly very proud of Cornwall Air Ambulance, which, along with more than 20 air ambulance charities across the UK, carries out vital lifesaving work, responding to over 130 missions daily and attending some of the most serious incidents, from road traffic collisions to cardiac arrests and major trauma. Cornwall Air Ambulance has raised concerns with me about emergency planning, particularly around fuel resilience and rising costs. Will the Leader of the House suppo

We recognise the serious disruption that incidents such as the attack on JLR can cause for supply chains and local economies. We continually assess the resilience of our critical national infrastructure. The proposed cyber-resilience index will support improved accountability, and we are considering appropriate mechanisms to ensure parliamentary scrutiny as it is developed.

My hon. Friend makes an incredibly important point. I will say from the Dispatch Box that we should encourage more participation in UK Biobank. It is a global leader in research and is funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. It also receives significant funding from Cancer Research UK, the British Heart Foundation and the National Institute for Health and Care Research. That shows the breadth of research that it does on all the key diseases that we suffer from in this coun

I thank my hon. Friend for her statement and for her leadership of the Select Committee during this inquiry. I would like to start by commending Cheshire West and Chester council for its efforts to substantially reduce B&B use for temporary accommodation. However, not every local authority is in the same position as mine, and this is a really difficult issue. I join my hon. Friend in thanking the people who attended our roundtable, particularly the families with lived experience of temporary acc

That is absolutely true. Vehicles are registered to Mickey Mouse, or to big organisations’ addresses. There are simply no checks whatsoever on whom people register vehicles to, which means they are doing really dangerous and really antisocial things, and getting away with it. The Labour Party manifesto committed us to taking back our streets, and reforming the DVLA will help us tackle the racers, fraudsters, drug dealers and dodgy number plate sellers who are making our constituents’ lives a mis

I thank the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole (Vikki Slade) for securing this important debate. Roads are the arteries of our nation, keeping us and our economy moving, and the rules governing our roads rely on being able to identify vehicles and their drivers, which is the responsibility of the DVLA. It really matters. It matters to His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs for road tax to pay for upkeep; it matters to those of us who want to walk, drive and cycle safely; and it matters to the

After years of Conservative failures to do so, Liberal Democrat councils across Harpenden and Berkhamsted are working hard to secure a local plan for housing. However, the Government’s work on top-down planning, which gives Dacorum an increase of about 40% in housing numbers and St Albans an increase of almost 90%, and the Government’s grey belt proposals are literally giving developers a field day in Harpenden and Berkhamsted—including in Tring, where we see proposed increases of about 40% acro

If the hon. Member would like to write to me, I would be happy to look at the details of what she has raised. She will understand that I do not want to get into the detail of it now, but I give her an assurance that we look very carefully at all these matters and take decisions in our national security interests.

Clause 13 introduces an important new special measure, which will make a real and tangible difference to vulnerable or intimidated witnesses who come before our courts. It enables them to be accompanied by a supporter when giving evidence to reassure them and help them to give their best evidence. Crucially, it creates a rebuttable presumption that a trained professional such as an IDVA or ISVA will be allowed to accompany the witness. These specialists play a vital role in helping witnesses nav

Parliamentary appearance by Nick Thomas-Symonds

First, I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Easington for tabling the amendment and my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton South and Walkden for moving it today. While I recognise the concern that the amendment is seeking to address—specifically, the transparency about the relationship between complainants and independent supporters—the Government do not consider it necessary to include an express requirement in the legislation to disclose that relationship at the point of application. Witness su

I thank the hon. Member for Chichester for the points she raised. In many respects, they are well made, and they consider people’s choice architecture—for want of a better phrase—their understanding of what they might be entitled to request, and whether we should default to providing all the special measures or maintaining, as we say we should, a tailored case-by-case assessment of the needs of the witness or the complainant. It is a tricky one. We want to make sure that, where there is a proper

Yesterday in this House, when I asked the Minister to include ceramics in the “back British business” procurement strategy, he said that the strategy only covers four sectors that are deemed vital to national security, while acknowledging that he would like to go further. Since then, a further 49 workers have been made redundant at Denby Pottery in my constituency. Ministers across Departments repeat the same message, but the sector cannot wait. More than 50,000 people are backing the #SaveDenby

3. What steps his Department is taking to modernise public procurement.