Sir Oliver Dowden

15 Jul 2026   National Energy System Operator: Blackout Risk

When I was in government we conducted one of the largest exercises, Exercise Mighty Oak, which involved more than 4,000 people testing the effect of a power outage. That exercise demonstrated that it cascaded very rapidly and that it very …

6 Jul 2026   Police Leadership Commission Report

Does the Minister agree that a big part of the leadership malaise outlined in this report can be attributed to the lack of clarity from this place and the Government about what we expect of the police? While this report is welcome, the def…

30 Jun 2026   Support for Victims of Abuse

I recently met a constituent whose child was subject to repeated sexual abuse. She found access to justice very difficult and is still awaiting trial, but now fears that the accuser will not be found fit for trial and will be subject to a …

24 Jun 2026   Media Green Paper

I urge the Secretary of State to keep a genuinely open mind on this consultation, and to be prepared to drop measures if the evidence does not stack up. The concept of prominence in particular will be very difficult to translate from a lin…

22 Jun 2026   G7 Summit

Does the Deputy Prime Minister share my concern, and that of many of my constituents, about elements of the Iran deal, in particular that the early sanctions relief, access to frozen Iranian assets and $300 billion of economic reconstructi…

17 Jun 2026   National Security (State Threats) Bill

I have great respect for Elon Musk’s ingenuity when it comes to trying to send a man to Mars and set up a colony there. I am slightly more dubious about the activities in relation to X, but that platform should be subject to the same legis…

17 Jun 2026   National Security (State Threats) Bill

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. Separatism makes a country weaker, and there is no doubt that our enemies will encourage it. The example that he cited, which I also saw, is very telling of exactly that.

17 Jun 2026   National Security (State Threats) Bill

I totally agree with the hon. Member, and that is why we Opposition Members support the legislation. On AI, we can all see these challenges coming. We need to work cross-party and support the Government in finding ways to address them, bec…

17 Jun 2026   National Security (State Threats) Bill

My right hon. Friend is of course entirely correct. Members on the Labour Back Benches are, given their presence in the Chamber for this debate, at the more hawkish and national security end of the left-wing spectrum, but there are element…

17 Jun 2026   National Security (State Threats) Bill

I totally agree, and it is dangerous for this country that there is a mutuality of interests among extremists who do not share our values and hostile states who are opposed to us. This Bill should seek to deal with that overlap. For exampl…

17 Jun 2026   National Security (State Threats) Bill

I pretty much wholeheartedly endorse everything said by the hon. Member for North Durham (Luke Akehurst). Let me begin by declaring my interests, as set out in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, including those relating to my ro…

8 Jun 2026   Extremism

I am sure the Minister will have seen footage of a recent attack on Helen Mirren, where she was described—excuse my language, Mr Speaker—as a “Zionist bitch”. This is just another example of deliberate extremist intimidation aimed at frigh…

2 Jun 2026   Milburn Review: Interim Report

Many young people take time to adapt to new jobs and simply have not proved themselves after six months, but with the coming into force of the Government’s Employment Rights Act 2025, the period for dismissal without fault will be reduced …

20 May 2026   Artificial Intelligence

Given the recent rapid advances of frontier AI models in areas such as identifying software vulnerabilities, and in rapid testing for those vulnerabilities in a very sophisticated way, what engagement do the Government have with those fron…

20 Apr 2026   Security Vetting

Further to the point made by my right hon. Friend the Member for New Forest East (Sir Julian Lewis), I think the Prime Minister owes it to the House to tell us what Sir Olly Robbins’s response to him was when he said he had overruled that …

20 Apr 2026   Educational Capacity

My constituency has a large and growing Jewish population, but because of Labour’s VAT hike, Immanuel college, a Jewish school in my constituency, announced last week that it was closing. At a time of rising antisemitism, and deep fear amo…

23 Mar 2026   Hatzola Ambulance Attack

Hatzola is an organisation that I know very well; it supports many of my constituents and is supported voluntarily by many of my constituents. It was attacked simply because of its connection to the Jewish community, which is why the commu…

17 Mar 2026   Ministerial Salaries (Amendment) Bill

The Minister has made frequent reference to the figure of 120 Ministers. Further to the intervention by my right hon. Friend the Member for New Forest East (Sir Julian Lewis), why not legislate to make that a fixed cap on the number of Min…

17 Mar 2026   Ministerial Salaries (Amendment) Bill

And on the substance of my question?

17 Mar 2026   Ministerial Salaries (Amendment) Bill

I may be at risk of making myself fantastically unpopular, but I think I can do so having no prospect whatsoever of reaching ministerial office again. Although I am perfectly willing to admit that the previous Government did not do this, d…

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