Education is hailed as the cornerstone of meritocracy. For generations, aspiring lawyers, doctors and engineers are promised that no matter their background, higher education can pave the way for a bright future – one where ambition and hard work serve as proxies
When I first entered Parliament, I wasn’t sold on the idea of appointing a Minister for Men and Boys. As a Conservative, I’m instinctively cautious about dividing society into categories. The Government should serve everyone. Creating new labels and offices is rarely
This Eating Disorders Awareness Week, the theme is community. Over the past six years as Chair and Vice-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Eating Disorders, I have witnessed the power of community first-hand. Our APPG has grown into a determined group
As the US and Israel launch a wave of coordinated military strikes on Iran, killing a number of the regime’s leaders, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, trigging immediate retaliatory strikes from Tehran across the region, the political reaction in Westminster has exposed deep
There are no celebrations planned to mark the 10th anniversary of the UK’s European Union Referendum. This is no surprise given a lost decade for the economy, for business, and for our young people, whilst also making us less secure in an
Our foster care system is facing a perfect storm. The number of children entering care continues to rise, but every year, we lose more foster carers in England than we gain. The number of foster carers has fallen by 12% since 2019.
While most people have a basic understanding of the concepts of fostering and adoption, the world of children being looked after by someone other than their birth parents is a complicated one, which few of us would claim to understand. What’s surprising
It was over a decade ago that the automotive industry, and indeed the world, was rocked by Dieselgate, the Volkswagen emissions scandal. The public were horrified to learn about how the trusted German car giant Volkswagen, the one that gave us the
Recently, I brought a debate to the House of Commons on the Government’s response to Storm Chandra. Although this was a welcome opportunity to draw attention in Parliament to the scale of the crisis once again afflicting people across Somerset, I am
In a highly unusual statement this morning, the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, has confirmed that a tip-off to police about Lord Mandelson being a potential flight risk came from him a pre-existing voluntary interview agreement between the
