23/04/2026 | 16:26:38 President, Colleagues, On behalf of our group, I want to thank Ms Valérie PILLER CARRARD for her work on this report. It is thorough, detailed, but it is also quite shocking. Across Europe, workers are being underpaid, threatened, stripped of protections, and in the worst cases, trafficked. Not in spite of our economic model. But, in some cases, because of it. Exploitation is built into subcontracting chains, hidden in shell companies, enabled by gaps in the law that employers know how to... 22/04/2026 | 19:23:31 Thank you Madam President. Colleagues, I’m speaking today in full support of this resolution. This report brings us back to a case that should never have faded from focus. Mr Sergei MAGNITSKY uncovered large scale corruption. He paid for that discovery with his life. And yet, years on, those who benefited from that crime have not been held to account. Significant sums of money linked to that fraud have not been reclaimed. What stands out to me in this report, beyond the original crime, is... 22/04/2026 | 17:43:58 Thank you, Madam President. Thank you to the rapporteur for a report that delivers exactly what it should do, keeping the focus on the universal abolition of the death penalty. I speak with the conviction of a country that abolished the death penalty over half a century ago and has never looked back. We oppose capital punishment in all forms, in all circumstances and in all places, because the death penalty is incompatible with human dignity and the right to life. Madam President, the report... 21/04/2026 | 20:15:18 (Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2) President, Colleagues, The murders of Jo COX and Sir David AMESS serve as permanent reminders that the line between words and violence can, and does, get crossed. The attack on Sir Stephen TIMMS further illustrates that this is not a historical concern but an ongoing reality. Yet what concerns me today is not only those extreme cases, but the normalisation of what sits beneath them. For many in politics and public service, threats and abuse... 29/01/2026 | 17:39:57 Thank you, Chair. I want to remind us all today that we are debating a resolution on practises that cause real and lasting harm to people across Europe: conversion practises have no scientific basis. They have been rejected by every major medical and psychological body. There is clear evidence these practises are increasing depression and mental health conditions. These practises increase serious harm and suicide in our societies. These practises are torture, something this Council of Europe... 27/01/2026 | 20:15:40 (Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2) President, Chair, I want to begin by acknowledging the United Kingdom’s long-standing commitment to peace and stability in the Western Balkans, including the role played by the last Labour government in supporting the post-conflict settlement. That peace was essential. But this report is rightly focused on what must come next. The building of fully functioning, inclusive democratic institutions that command genuine public legitimacy. At the... 27/01/2026 | 17:47:00 Thank you, Mister Vice-President, Colleagues, This report is clear about a simple but vital truth. The security of Ukraine and the security of Europe are indivisible. Russia’s war of aggression shapes our continent’s safety and threatens the international rules-based order. And that matters profoundly today. As negotiations were ongoing over the weekend, in Abu Dhabi, Russia continues to bombard residential areas and power stations, all whilst it escalates its hybrid and military threats all... 03/10/2025 | 11:58:59 Thank you, Mister Chairman. Dear colleagues, I'm going to talk today about access to food and food security. As the chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Food and Drink, this is a topic that's very close to my heart. The Council of Europe exists to uphold shared values: the protection of rights, the defence of democracy and the setting of standards that safeguard people’s dignity. Those standards should extend to the right to access for safe food, fairness of working conditions and... 03/10/2025 | 10:20:05 Thank you, Mister President. Can I just say this report is fantastic. Really well-timed. It's a principled framework for how we deal with what is a real challenge that many governments have now. How do we deploy AI safely in the delivery of public services? And I really like the core message. AI must support. It must be a tool that we use to help decision-making, not replace the human in the loop. We know criminals that profit from illegal migration, profit from human suffering, are using AI... 02/10/2025 | 20:52:38 (Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2) Thank you to our rapporteur for this powerful report on the right to housing. The report reinforces that housing is a human right, and that the right to housing shouldn’t be used as a political football by those who seek to cause division and disruption in our society. The report’s recommendations align very well with the work of the Labour Party in Government in the UK, and with my own personal values. I commend Labour YIMBY, Labour Housing...