May 2026

It is obvious that we are now in the legacy-hunting stage of this Government. Less a range of exhausted volcanoes, more a row of trampled molehills, Ministers are desperate to be remembered for something. This morning a word cloud was published by the pollsters at More in Common. The public were asked for the Prime Minister’s greatest achievement, and emblazoned across the page, in huge capital letters, was the sad word “Nothing.” Today’s announcement, however, is a fitting tribute to the Justic

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend—forgive me, I should not call him that; he will be embarrassed. I am grateful to the right hon. Member for his point about the steel industry. Understandably, he has chosen to support one particular aspect of the industry, the steelmaker, but at the expense of and to the cost of every other part of the industry—the steel consumers. How will he balance that and what provision will he make for those who will see steel prices rises because of his intervention?

Does my right hon. Friend not agree that we are seeing not only young people let down, but the deeply immoral act of people being kept on welfare? In five or 10 years’ time, people will have been on welfare for so long that they will not have any options. They will effectively have been left slaves of a state that has no concern for them. Nobody in this Chamber will have any power over how the welfare state will behave then, and those people will have no options. It will be the fault of this Hou

It has been a pleasure to sit here for a number of hours and hear some views that are, frankly, special. Let me start with some of the factors that have been completely missed from not only this debate but the King’s Speech. I do not think the realisation in this place takes the reality of our situation very seriously. We are broke. We owe not only £2 trillion to the debt markets—which, I am afraid, despite orders to foreigners to hand over more money, we do not control—but £10 trillion to peopl

I am delighted to hear that we will be working more closely with the European Union. As the hon. and learned Lady may know, my wife, being French, will be particularly pleased about that, but what will that mean for the agreement we have struck with the Pacific nations in the comprehensive and progressive agreement for trans-Pacific partnership, or the deal that we did with the Australians? Will the hon. and learned Lady be cancelling those deals as she focuses on the European Union, or will she

I welcome the extensive measures that this Government are taking in this King’s Speech to create and enable economic growth across the country, including in my constituency in the north-east. As we know, growth is at the heart of this Government’s agenda, and a good deal of legislation has been proposed to ensure we make the conditions right for it. Bills such as the Government’s new regulating for growth Bill will drive our economic development forward. I am also pleased to see a regulation of

Parliamentary appearance by Daisy Cooper

Parliamentary appearance by Kirsteen Sullivan

Part of the challenge here is that the legislation currently requires us to use earnings information and figures provided by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, and, because redundancy payments of up to £80,000 are exempted from tax, they do not show up in that way… [Official Report, 27 April 2026; Vol. 784, c. 562.] Written correction submitted by the Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston (Andrew Western):

Part of the challenge here is that the legislation currently requires us to use earnings information and figures provided by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, and, because redundancy payments of up to £30,000 are exempted from tax, they do not show up in that way…

I thank my hon. Friend for bringing this debate to the House. It is not just Doncaster that is impacted by this issue, because Doncaster and Bassetlaw teaching hospitals NHS foundation trust stretches right across Bassetlaw. I have had similar experiences with my constituents; in fact, every time I have a meeting or a coffee morning, or am knocking on doors, I will find somebody who has been waiting years for treatment. Today, a coach tour of 50 constituents came to the House, and two of them ha

I am concerned about the link between loss of hearing and dementia. If somebody who is experiencing hearing loss goes down that horrible path of dementia and loss of memory, the lack of communication can spiral and make their condition explode. It becomes much more life-changing, much more quickly. Access to audiology services for people with dementia, or symptoms of dementia, is absolutely imperative, and I am so worried that those people are missing out on this very important course of treatme

On the subject of mistakes made and growth, does the shadow Chancellor accept that the Brexit that he and his party left us has knocked between 4% and 8% off our GDP?

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way on the subject of home affairs. As the Liberal Democrats’ home affairs spokesperson, I too am disappointed that there is not a day for me to have my say on this matter, and I will try to do so in this brief intervention. When I am opposite the Home Secretary, who makes a great play of shouting things at me as if I am a terrible liberal making unreasonable statements, she tends to imply strongly that by moving to the authoritarian right, the Labour party

You’re in a different party.

Since the last King’s Speech, we have seen great steps forward under this Labour Government in their first parliamentary Session: the Employment Rights Act 2025, the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation; the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024, establishing Great British Rail to improve services and keep fares down; the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, providing security and dignity by ending no-fault evictions; and the Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Act

Can I ask the Secretary of State about two things? The first is education, which he has mentioned. It is, of course, important to look at education for young people in a custodial setting, but does he agree that it is also important to consider the link between attendance at education and rehabilitation for those who have received non-custodial disposals, and will he ensure that his proposals make that link clear? Secondly, in relation to advocacy on behalf of young people within the youth justi

Parliamentary appearance by Gill German

Parliamentary appearance by Jayne Kirkham