Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
Conservative MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup
It is, as always, a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Lewell. For full transparency, I refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I am grateful to the hon. Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey (Kevin McKenna) for securing this important debate. The protection of children and young people should unite every Member of this House. We all recognise...
This Labour Government have announced that they intend to remove Sport England—alongside the Gardens Trust and the Theatres Trust—as a statutory consultee in planning decisions, putting playing fields across the country at risk. The Conservatives oppose this move. Can the Minister explain how first scrapping the £57 million opening school facilities fund and now allowing developers to...
Not much of an answer there, but hopefully another U-turn will be coming soon. Over the previous Parliament, the Conservative Government invested more than £1 billion in grassroots and school sports. On this side of the House, we are also absolutely clear that girls’ and women’s sports must be protected to ensure fairness, competition and safety. Will the Sport Minister confirm today...
It is always a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. I thank the hon. Member for Basingstoke (Luke Murphy) for securing this debate on the literary and cultural legacy of Jane Austen. I also thank everyone in the Public Gallery and those around the UK, including my right hon. Friend the Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds), who champion her legacy. Two hundred and fifty...
Given the seriousness of the pending strikes, it is understandable that the Secretary has decided to focus his comments today on the BMA and this upcoming strike. I ask the Health Secretary this question constructively: what assessment has he made of the impact of the giveaways he has just announced on the likelihood of future strikes and on other NHS staff, particularly nurses, who are...
The Minister refers to the accidental or deliberate release of this information, but we know that on 14 November the press were briefed, clearly with incorrect information. Will he confirm to this House today who gave authority for that press briefing to go ahead, which misled not only the press, but the country?
Despite assurances to the contrary, children in my constituency have had their school courses cut and parents across the UK have lost their jobs because of this Government, with over 180,000 jobs lost over the past year. If unemployment and taxes continue to rise, how many more children does the Secretary of State expect to grow up in poverty—or is this just the price that the welfare party...
My hon. Friend is making a fantastic speech. Does he agree that this is just the latest example of this Labour Government trying to push through something that was not in their manifesto, and that this House must therefore do all it can to stop it becoming a reality?
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of Local Authorities commissioning gambling harms prevention; and of their capacity to do so.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of Local Authorities commissioning gambling harms prevention; and of their capacity to do so.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of Local Authorities commissioning gambling harms prevention; and of their capacity to do so.
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what discussions she has had with organisations impacted by the delay in the publication of the EHRC Code of Practice on single-sex spaces.
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2025 to Question 96307 on Emigration, if her Department will make an assessment of of the potential impact of the emigration of people aged (a) 18-25, (b) 26-35, (c) 36-49, and (d) 50+ years old on (i) the levels of revenue raised through taxation and (ii) the sustainability of the public finances.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the £400 million announced for grassroots sports facilities on 19 June 2025 will include Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December to Question 96978 on Sports: Facilities, what data relating to non-pitch-based sports infrastructure her Department holds; and whether it holds datasets on local authority breakdowns.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 December 2025 to Question 96315 on Sports: Finance, how much of the £400 million announced for investment into grassroots sports facilities she anticipates will be spent in 2026, and on which sports will that funding be spent.
