Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
Conservative MP for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston
Local government reform – Neil O'Brien.
The House gave the Government a clear instruction that the only documents that could be redacted were those that might prejudice UK national security or international relations, and all those documents were to be referred to the Intelligence and Security Committee, so for my incredibly respected right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Kenilworth and Southam (Sir Jeremy Wright) to say...
In January, the Chancellor was saying that the student loans system was “fair and reasonable”. She now admits —as of yesterday—that it is broken. In one sense, we have won this debate even before it started. The Government say that they are looking at these issues, but they would not be looking at them if it were not for the Opposition raising them, and I do not find the promise to...
Yes, and I am grateful for that question. Under our proposed reforms, four fifths—80%—of plan 2 graduates would benefit and pay less over their lifetime. The hon. Gentleman can look up all this stuff on the IFS website if he wants to check. There are so many personal stories here. The other day, one doctor was recounting how she graduated with £75,000 of debt, has worked hard for years...
Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will tell me why he thinks that is fair.
If the hon. Gentleman reads to the end of the IFS report, he will see that it costs our proposal in single-digit billions, and we have explained exactly how we will pay for it—I will come to that in a moment—so there is no gaping hole whatsoever. No wonder so many despair, with more broken promises from the Government and ever-rising debt, and no promise of action at any particular time....
Just one moment. Analysis by the IFS found that total returns on going to university will be negative for about 30% of both men and women—and that is based on the cohort from the noughties. The problem now is probably even bigger because the graduate premium has declined further. As a result, many graduates now earn so little that they will never fully repay their student loans, leaving the...
We have already talked about that. If the hon. Gentleman wants a full list, he can go on my Substack and see a whole bunch of different institutions with low returns. He can also do better than that: he can look on the DFE’s website and see that many courses lead to low earnings. [Interruption.] It is not my purpose here to single out individual courses. We have talked quite a lot about...
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much was deducted from payments to claimants in the last year as a result of the social sector under occupancy deduction.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether forensic psychologists employed by HMPPS are categorised under the Government's 'Occupational Psychologist' profession for the purpose of official Civil Service employment statistics.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to table EUSS_D01 published as part of the release entitled Immigration system statistics, year ending March 2026, how many applications to the EU Settlement Scheme made by joining family members were recorded in each year ending March from the year ending March 2022 to the year ending March 2026.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to table EUSS_D01 published as part of the release entitled Immigration system statistics, year ending March 2026, how many applications to the EU Settlement Scheme were made by applicants who did not hold any existing EU Settlement Scheme status at the time of application, in each year ending March from the year ending...
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 19 February 2024 to Question 13523 on Counter-terrorism: Prisoners, how many referrals were made to the Prevent programme by HM Prison and Probation Service in each financial year since 2015/16, broken down by category of extremism.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of Universal Credit claimants awarded limited capability for work and work-related activity in the last 12 months scored more than 8 points in the mental, cognitive and intellectual functions activity of the work capability assessment.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to table 4 of the Restricted Patients Statistics, published on 30 April 2026, how many restricted patients detained in hospital and admitted not from prison, who had previously been discharged into the community, have there been in each year since 2005.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many foreign driving licences were exchanged for GB licences in each of the last five years, broken down by country of origin.
