May 2026

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Furniss. I congratulate the hon. Member for Wokingham (Clive Jones) on securing this important debate and on his excellent opening speech. There are countless amazing organisations across the country that support victims of domestic abuse. I pay tribute to Independent Domestic Abuse Services, the largest specialist charity in Yorkshire, which does sterling work to support my constituents in Scarborough and Whitby. It is clear that our family jus

I call Perran Moon.

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

I call the shadow Minister.

I call the shadow Minister.

Order. I told the Front Benchers, and I am telling the Back Benchers: they have had the courtesy of being able to ask a question; I want them to hear the answer, and I need to hear it as well.

Order. The hon. Member for St Albans (Daisy Cooper) has asked her question and I want respect given to the Minister when she is answering it, please.

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

I call the Chair of the Business and Trade Committee.

Order. The point I was making was that you said you were doing the studios. You are here now, and I think it should have been announced here first. Do we both agree?

Order. I just say to the Minister that if that was being said in the studios, rather than to the House, it is not a good example—it confirms that you somehow think that Sky or BBC are more important than Back Benchers, elected by constituents across this country, who must hear it second-hand. It is not acceptable. Do not think that it is a bonus to tell the House that now.

Order. I cannot hear what the Minister is saying. We have agreed to an urgent question in order to hear from the Minister. I am proud of this Parliament and of this country, so I want to hear what the Minister has to say.

Before we come to the urgent question, let me repeat what I said to the House at the start of this parliamentary Session. The Government’s own ministerial code makes it clear that important policy announcements should be made in the first instance to this House when it is sitting. Some people seem to have very short memories. This announcement has been drip-fed to the media over the past three days. That is not in line with the Government’s own rules, and it is unacceptable. Back Benchers on eit

I call the Chair of the Backbench Business Committee, who was re-elected unopposed.

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

I remind the House that the most important game is being played on Sunday, between Bolton Wanderers and Stockport County. Good luck to Bolton!

T9. Bath has a thriving hospitality sector and many young people who need, rely on and, dare I say, enjoy part-time jobs to support their studies. Of course we Liberal Democrats support measures to tackle exploitative contracts—who wouldn’t?—but will the Government ensure that the reforms retain the genuine flexibility that students and other members of the workforce need for their work-life balance?

If climate breakdown accelerates, many of the international supply chains that we have relied upon for essential goods and resources for far too long will cease to exist. We are sleepwalking towards a situation in which this country can no longer guarantee the basic needs of its people. At that point, no amount of AI slop or casino capitalism will be an alternative to actually making things. Before ecological collapse makes it too late, will Ministers use their industrial strategy to pivot our e

4. What steps he is taking to develop an industrial strategy.

The freeze in fuel duty will be a relief to drivers in North East Hertfordshire, but part of the reason there is such a problem is that the Conservative party’s last stint in government left public transport virtually non-existent in rural communities such as mine. We discussed earlier this week the enormous cost of HS2—more than £100 billion. If we were investing at that scale in bus services, we could provide a vastly improved network across the whole country for decades to come. Will the Gove