Mark Sewards

Defence Readiness

It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for The Wrekin (Mark Pritchard). I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Hemel Hempstead (David Taylor) on his speech; I will touch on some of the same themes. I am only really going to refer to the tackling state threats Bill today. This new legislation honours Labour’s manifesto commitment to follow the Jonathan Hall review and to introduce new powers that allow us to proscribe state threats, specifically the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. M

Getting Britain Working Again

I rise as a former teacher and someone who loves my current job more than that one—although I did love teaching. Does my hon. Friend agree with the Education Committee that FE colleges that are currently not exempt from claiming back VAT are at a disadvantage compared with sixth-form colleges attached to schools that can claim it back, and that there is an argument that FE colleges should also get that advantage?

Business of the House

One of my constituents was diagnosed with breast cancer and subsequently received universal credit and incapacity benefit, but the DWP then stopped these payments due to some confusion over a critical illness cover policy. The facts around it were incorrect. Despite her best efforts and despite my team’s recent best efforts, we have been unable to get a hearing from a DWP caseworker for a mandatory reconsideration claim. That was over six months ago. In the meantime, she has now discovered that

Antisemitic Attacks

Tonight, a “Panorama” documentary will air featuring members of the Jewish community talking about the existential fear that they feel in this country and about wanting to leave. I urge all hon. Members to watch it when they can. We know that an IRGC-linked group has claimed responsibility for some of the recent firebombing attacks. I appreciate that the Minister does not want to comment on active police investigations, but whatever the facts of those cases, we can all agree—I am sure he does to

Business of the House

My constituents have been let down by poor bus services in Leeds South West and Morley for too long, so I am delighted that all buses in Leeds will be brought back under public control next year. Will the Leader of the House join me in encouraging my residents to complete my better buses survey, so that we can make sure that the Weaver Network actually works for us, and will he grant a debate in Government time on the importance of publicly controlled bus networks?