Liberal Democrat Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Liberal Democrat MP for Carshalton and Wallington
I thank the Minister for his comments on the Liberal Democrat amendment that was discussed earlier, and we recognise the arguments that he made in response. I support the Bill. Question put and agreed to. Bill accordingly read the Third time and passed.
The Liberal Democrats support the thrust of the Bill. We understand why the royal household budget has increased and agree that it is right for the grant to be reset now that the Buckingham Palace programme has finished. However, we remain concerned about transparency and have put forward an amendment to that effect. Our amendment would insert a new subsection that would stop the royal...
The Liberal Democrats understand the purposes of this Bill and accept some of the Government’s conclusions about how the grant needs to change, but we continue to be concerned about transparency. It is important to make it clear at the start that the sovereign grant provides no personal income to the King or Queen or any member of the royal family; the funding is tied entirely to the...
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I will move directly on to our amendment, which would insert a new subsection stopping the royal trustees from proposing any future increase to the percentage of Crown Estate profit used in the grant formula unless three conditions are met first: the National Audit Office must be commissioned to carry out a value-for-money assessment of the proposed change—
Clearly, I have been very well briefed. I think my comments at the beginning were probably sufficient. We understand the purpose of the Sovereign Grant Bill. We have some concerns about transparency, but I will return to those later.
Some £7.9 billion a year: that is how much the Chartered Institute of Housing estimates is spent on housing benefit for tenants renting privately. In my local area, a lot of that will be going to people living on the St Helier estate, one of the largest London council estates built during the interwar period, much of which has been sold under right to buy over the past few decades. That...
I am sure the hon. Member is aware that right-to-buy sales were happening throughout the ’90s and under the last Labour Government as well, so there is a stain on all parties from what has happened over the last few decades. The loss of stock has an impact not only on the taxpayer but on our constituents. My inbox is full of people struggling in the housing market. It is by far the biggest...
The Minister spoke about global instability. There is no doubt that energy costs are having an impact on the cost of doing business, but this summer, local businesses told me that domestic Government had raised the cost of doing business, through national insurance and business rates rises. Will the Chancellor do something about that in the next Budget?
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of levels of dependency on foreign-owned AI systems on resilience in the public sector.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report entitled The Tommy’s Graded Model of Miscarriage Care, published by Tommy’s on 29 April 2026, whether his Department plans to roll out the Graded Model of Miscarriage Care nationally.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce will be considering miscarriage care as part of its remit.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve miscarriage care.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of processing times for US tourist and/or business visas of British citizens born in Iran since January 2025.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department holds information on average waiting times for US tourist and business visa applications submitted by dual-British citizens.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what data their Department holds on (a) collisions and (b) injuries involving e-bikes operated through hire schemes in each of the last three years.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions they have had with e-bike hire operators on compliance with minimum age policies and user safety requirements.
