Cameron Thomas MP: speeches

Speeches

• 5 Jan 2026 · Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief · Hansard source

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  Farmers are among the most robust members of society, yet since autumn 2024 several have spoken candidly with me about the mental health impact of the family farm tax, in an industry that suffers a rate of suicide four times the national average. The changes to the Government’s family farm tax are welcome, but will the Government take this opportunity to apologise to Gloucestershire farmers for 14 months of torment?

• 17 Dec 2025 · Neurodiversity in the Workplace · Hansard source

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  I have spoken before about how neurodiversity is still an opportunity to be fully exploited by the workplace and that it is significantly inhibited by the education system. Does the hon. Lady agree that the Disabled Children’s Partnership “Fight for Ordinary” campaign presents an opportunity to create educational and working spaces that fully harness diversity?

• 17 Dec 2025 · Neurodiversity in the Workplace · Hansard source

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  Does the hon. Member agree that, in the workplace, the way that neurodiverse traits are observed and received can vary between men and women? Women can suffer the consequences of unconscious bias. As my constituent Zaphira recently explained, decisiveness and spontaneity in men can be viewed as emotional or impulsive in women.

• 17 Dec 2025 · Housing Development: Cumulative Impacts · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister very much for giving way, and I wish him a merry Christmas. Nothing would empower my local authority more than the Government implementing recommendation 89 of the EAC’s report into flood resilience in England. Will his Department do that?

• 17 Dec 2025 · Housing Development: Cumulative Impacts · Hansard source

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  The cumulative impact of development in Tewkesbury is nothing less than a threat to the continuing viability of Tewkesbury as a permanent settlement. The Environmental Audit Committee recently produced a report on flood resilience in England. Would my hon. Friend join me in asking the Government if they will implement recommendation 89 to make water bodies statutory consultees on development?

• 17 Dec 2025 · Housing Development: Cumulative Impacts · Hansard source

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  How many was that?

• 17 Dec 2025 · UK-EU Common Understanding Negotiations · Hansard source

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  This deal will not give back the futures that were stolen from so many young people by Boris Johnson’s Government, but it does offer such futures to people going forward. It is good work. That said, small, medium-sized and large businesses in Tewkesbury and the economy at large need the Government to stop fumbling around the edges. It is time for the Minister to speak to the Government and get us a customs union with the European Union, is it not?

• 9 Dec 2025 · Northern Ireland Troubles: Operation Kenova · Hansard source

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  I apologise, Mr Speaker.

• 8 Dec 2025 · Ajax Armoured Vehicle · Hansard source

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  Under the last Government, the Conservatives signed a contract for £1.5 billion with Boeing to order five E-7 Wedgetail aircraft. The order reportedly circumvented the MOD’s established procurement system, and the RAF is still without an operational platform. The Ajax scandal has dragged on for even longer, and last week a General Dynamics manager used social media to ridicule Army leadership and those personnel who had suffered from excessive noise and vibration while using the Ajax platform. What is the Government’s contingency plan in case this £6.3 billion investment collapses, and, regardless, will they launch an inquiry into both platforms?

• 8 Dec 2025 · Digital ID · Hansard source

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  Does the hon. Gentleman share my concerns that the scheme could put constituents’ most sensitive data into the hands of private, perhaps overseas, individuals who might have neither our constituents’ nor our country’s interests at heart?

• 3 Dec 2025 · Pension Schemes Bill · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend speaks well about what is good in the Bill, but there is room for improvement. A number of my Gloucestershire constituents were employees of Gulf Oil before its merger with Chevron. Following the merger, they were moved on to the Chevron pension scheme. Between them, they have hundreds of years of service, but they are not protected against inflation, and over years of inflation, the value of their pensions has been eroded significantly. Does my hon. Friend agree that his new clause 7 is a genuine opportunity for pension justice—one that we hope the Labour Government support?

• 2 Dec 2025 · Gambling: Regulatory Reform · Hansard source

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  In the absence of my hon. Friend the Member for Newbury (Mr Dillon), I thank you, Sir Desmond. I also thank my hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Charlie Maynard) for securing this important debate. As a teenaged boy, every morning on my way to school I would stop off at the home of my friend M and we would walk the last few hundred metres to school together. We shared a number of classes, and every lunch time we would abscond back to his house to play video games. As we became adults, we enjoyed betting on weekend football accumulators as we watched the live scores come in, at the small cost of a few pounds. As I came to spend fewer weekends with our friendship group, and gradually lost interest in betting, M continued to bet more consistently and with ever greater stakes. The rise in online gambling firms was followed by increasingly invasive advertising campaigns, not only on the shirts of the footballers he watched or on the hoardings of premier league football stadiums, but increasingly in his social media feeds. Everywhere M looked, there was a betting company chipping away at his judgment, enticing him to put money down. Adverts showed groups of young men cheering at TV screens in packed bars. They did not show dark bedrooms dimly illuminated by computer monitors or mobile phones. They did not show vulnerable young men in despair, having lost a pay packet on the first weekend of the month. M was well into his 20s by the time he realised he was a problem gambler. By the time he had reached his 30s, family members were protecting his wages from his addiction. By the time he was 40, he had twice lost deposits he had been saving to buy a home. There is a sensible and nuanced course of action to be charted here. People such as my friend M need action, but establishments such as Cheltenham Racecourse in my constituency of Tewkesbury must not be conflated with online betting companies. Cheltenham Racecourse’s 250,000 annual visitors generate £274 million for the Gloucestershire economy, but the Jockey Club, which operates the racecourse in my Tewkesbury constituency, generates a tiny fraction of the huge profits enjoyed by large online gambling companies. Taxation that fails to discriminate between such vastly different operations risks undermining the viability of horseracing, one of Britain’s oldest and most recognisable national sports, which contributes more than £3 billion annually to the British economy. I welcome the Government’s implementation of a Liberal Democrat policy in its increase to the remote gaming duty, though that money should be ringfenced to treat victims of gambling-related harms. The most crucial action that must be taken, however, as my hon. Friend the Member for Witney said, is to restrict betting advertisement, particularly of the type that bombards sports viewers and seeks to blur the lines between sports and betting. Effective affordability checks could better protect those vulnerable to gambling addiction. I also note the speech by the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith), who said that a betting ombudsman is long overdue. The Government should tackle gambling harms, but they must distinguish between those operations that prey on the vulnerable—at all hours, across all platforms—and those that genuinely contribute to our culture and economy.

• 1 Dec 2025 · SEND Pupils: Suspensions and Exclusions · Hansard source

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  8. What recent assessment she has made of trends in the number of suspensions and exclusions among pupils with SEND.

• 1 Dec 2025 · SEND Pupils: Suspensions and Exclusions · Hansard source

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  While the suspension rate for pupils without identified special educational needs declined by 75% in the 2024 autumn term, suspensions for pupils with an education, health and care plan increased, according to the Department for Education’s own data. I have previously urged the Government to tackle this crisis centrally, as local authorities across the country continue to prove to be unable to manage. With their SEND reforms already delayed until 2026, how will the Government bridge this divide to ensure that every child is able to succeed at school?

• 19 Nov 2025 · Flooding: Monmouthshire · Hansard source

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  There are few around the country better equipped to empathise with the people of Monmouthshire than my people in Tewkesbury in north Gloucestershire. Will the Minister join me in thanking the volunteers of the Severn Area Rescue Association who were called out this weekend, as they so often are? Will she also tell me when her Department will respond to the Environmental Audit Committee’s report into flood resilience in England?

• 19 Nov 2025 · Myalgic Encephalomyelitis · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for giving way, and for securing this important debate. According to at least one survey, about 66% of sufferers require some form of social care and, as is the case for some of my constituents, it is their own families who put their life on hold to provide that care. Will my hon. Friend join me in stating that this is just one example of how the Government must address social care if they are going to get health and social care right?

• 18 Nov 2025 · Northern Ireland Troubles Bill · Hansard source

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  I have the honour of being, in 107 years of the Royal Air Force police, the first of its veterans to be elected to this House. Our armed forces are revered worldwide because they train for and execute one thing to a higher standard than anyone else, namely the moral component—discipline, and the will to fight. Without those two principles, an effective fighting force descends into what we see from the Russian military in Ukraine: the extrajudicial killing of civilians; soldiers motivated not by an objective, but by fear of their own colleagues and commanders; and the routine humiliation, torture and murder of their colleagues. We must hold our armed forces to a higher standard than our adversaries, because they are better than those adversaries. They must be expected to act within the law. When they act outside the law but in good faith, they must be defended, in recognition of the unique pressures under which they operate. If there were no consequences for breaking the law while in uniform, no longer would we pledge to protect our own troops from the retribution of their own commanders, from illegal orders or poor leadership, whether in Northern Ireland or Afghanistan. No longer would we stand by our statement before the world, in Nuremberg 80 years ago, that “just following orders” did not excuse war crimes. Private Bryan Soden from Tewkesbury was only 20 years old when he lost his life, on his third deployment to Northern Ireland. Like so many others, he was murdered in an ambush by cowardly paramilitaries. Those who bravely served in Northern Ireland did so under the constant threat of an enemy, often disguised as a civilian, lurking and awaiting an opportunity to kill them. Our Northern Ireland veterans should be in no doubt that this country will continue to distinguish their noble service from the deceitful and inhumane paramilitary terrorism that they stood and fought against. To do that, we cannot allow the IRA to be the barometer. We cannot resolve to hold our troops to the same standard to which they hold their terrorists. To do so would not only legitimise terrorism, but sell out those who conducted themselves with honour. Those Conservative Members who, last week, hijacked a debate about remembrance to score political points about this Bill neglected to recognise that we are here only because their Northern Ireland troubles Bill was a hash, and satisfied none of the parties to whom it applied. Some of those who spoke in that debate referred to a letter printed in The Times the day before Armistice Day, written by eight retired generals and one retired air chief marshal under whom I taught the law of armed conflict to RAF recruits. The signatories asserted that the Northern Ireland Bill “tears up” our contract with our personnel, and that “Today every…member of the British Armed Forces must consider not only the enemy in front but the lawyer behind.” The letter paints an emotive image, but it is misleading. I served for 23 years, and from the very beginning, and every year thereafter, I was reminded that I had to act within the law, and that if I acted outside the law but in good faith, I would be protected by the law.

• 18 Nov 2025 · Northern Ireland Troubles Bill · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for raising that point, and he is absolutely right. We went to Northern Ireland to secure peace against terrorists, and the law should always recognise the difference between the actions of our soldiers and those of the terrorists they stood against. I always knew that I had to act within the law, but that if I broke the law in good faith, I would be protected by that law. Those who signed the letter may think that the Bill undermines that contract, but they have declined to clearly identify what part of the Bill does that, and I cannot find it. If this wider debate is about supporting our veterans and our armed forces, Members will find an ally in me, but if what they really seek to do is absolve personnel of responsibility for alleged war crimes, including those against United Kingdom citizens, then let them say so aloud. Although I recognise the shortcomings of the legislation that preceded the Bill, the worst that I can say about this Bill is that the Government do not have the support of the Veterans Commissioners. Can the Minister clarify which, if any, veterans’ groups have approved the Bill? Furthermore, by opting to go with convention, rather than taking this Bill to a full Public Bill Committee, the Government have declined an opportunity for full, line-by-line parliamentary oversight and cross-party collaboration. Fiat justitia.

• 12 Nov 2025 · Typhoon Fighter Sovereign Capability · Hansard source

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  It is, as always, an honour to speak under your chairship, Sir Christopher. I thank the hon. Member for Fylde (Mr Snowden) for bringing forward this important debate. I hope the House will join me in recognising my friend Ryan, who is currently coming to the end of his training pipeline, flying solo on Typhoon. That training pipeline included three months sharing a room with me—it has been tough for him. As a product, the Typhoon is the backbone of our ability to project air power, and the sharp end of the United Kingdom’s quick reaction alert. Beneath that product lie desperately stretched engineering forces at RAF Lossiemouth and RAF Coningsby. I owe it to those who, not long ago, confided in me to tell the Government clearly that they must prioritise those who sustain our platforms and aircrew, if they are rightly to expand the RAF as it faces the challenges of the coming decades. Beyond the Royal Air Force, the Typhoon programme has, for decades, sustained UK aerospace engineering, supporting thousands of skilled jobs across the country, including many in Gloucestershire, continuing our rich aerospace heritage. The project, among others, has preserved UK expertise so that we can continue to design, build and upgrade world-leading systems here on our islands. The Liberal Democrats commend the Government on this deal with our Turkish NATO allies. I extend recognition to the previous Government for initiating the deal. It will create jobs and stimulate much-needed economic growth in the UK, while enhancing NATO’s security and deterrence in this crucial region. Turkey plays a crucial role in our collective effort to defend against Putin’s imperial ambitions, serving NATO as a strategic ally on the Black sea. Eurofighter Typhoon is also, of course, a flagship for European co-operation. As my Liberal Democrat colleagues and I have continually raised, it is vital for Britain to have a comprehensive security and defence agreement with our European allies. We are pleased that the Labour Government have taken steps to secure this deal but, to the surprise of nobody, we call on them to go further. Do the Government consider that the Typhoon expansion will play a part in UK economic growth over the coming decade? Will the UK offer Typhoon to our eastern European partners as a means to access the €150 billion Security Action for Europe defence procurement programme? How are the Government working to broaden UK businesses’ access to skilled engineers, manufacturers and technicians? What are the Government doing to shorten the pilot training pipeline for fast jets? Although we recognise our shared security interest with Turkey, we must be mindful of the challenges and complexities in our relationship with Ankara, as well as with other strategic allies. The continued detention of Istanbul’s mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, widely believed to be a politically motivated attack, remains egregious and speaks to an alarming trend of democratic backsliding in Turkey. Will the Government make it clear today whether they raised the issue in negotiations? If they did not, they must raise it with their Turkish counterparts at the earliest opportunity. As I mentioned during the ministerial statement at the end of last month, I express gratitude to my many constituents who work in GE Aerospace in Bishops Cleeve. They have supported the Typhoon programme from its inception, with cockpit displays and fuel system equipment manufactured in my constituency. I also commend the defence industries across the nation whose innovation and endeavour safeguard our country. Large and small businesses have played an integral part in the process, and it is important that we recognise them all. The Liberal Democrats note that only 5% of the procurement budget is allocated to small and medium enterprises, despite a Government drive to integrate them into procurement: 42% of contracts go to the same 10 suppliers. Small and medium enterprises are crucial to the UK defence industry, providing flexibility and innovation, and creating a vast network of high-quality jobs across the UK. However, they face unique challenges that limit their potential to contribute fully to defence capability and UK prosperity. The Liberal Democrats are fighting for a fair deal for small businesses, starting with more support for their energy costs and a complete overhaul of the unfair business rates system. To conclude, the Liberal Democrats support the deal. We continue to press for further collaboration with our democratic European allies. We would strengthen co-operation through security and economic partnerships, and that should include a customs union with the European Union.

• 11 Nov 2025 · Remembrance Day: Armed Forces · Hansard source

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  This Sunday past, remembrance ceremonies and parades were held in Winchcombe and Bishops Cleeve, joined by Scout groups, cadet forces, armed forces personnel, veterans and members of our various branches of the Royal British Legion. It makes me particularly proud to see so many children of all ages marching with our annual parades, just as I once marched, as a cub scout, to a service at St George’s Church at RAF Halton. For the second time as Tewkesbury’s Member of Parliament, I observed a typically moving service at the abbey, led by the great Reverend Nick Davies, before our small but proud town encircled the cross at the top of Church Street and paid its respects, as it always does with such poignance. I am certain that the act of remembrance is important for those of us who recognise that most noble of traits: selflessness for the benefit of others. In the case of remembrance, we recognise immense courage, facing down one’s own mortality, to defend against tyranny. However, not everyone feels the same way. Three years ago, after attending a remembrance event in Tewkesbury, I joined the family of a close friend for a drink in a restaurant beside the cross. Three of the younger members of his family felt opposed to the act of remembrance, as I recall, owing to its increasing politicisation and the misconception that it was a celebration of conflict. My friend George Porter invited me to explain to them what it meant to me. I recall stating that remembrance is not a celebration of war; the opposite is true. I told them that when I stand before the cross in the centre of Tewkesbury, or the Cenotaph in Westminster, I will be thinking of seven-year-old Shirley Trenchard. Shirley was born to Royal Navy Petty Officer (Supply) Charles William Staddon Trenchard in 1935. When war with Germany was declared in 1939, he sailed aboard HMS Illustrious. On 10 January 1941, Illustrious suffered sustained bombardment by German aircraft near Malta, and although she remained afloat, she suffered many casualties. My great-grandfather succumbed to his wounds two days later. I think of his service, and of his sacrifice. I try to imagine his war, and how he might have felt during the bombardment of Illustrious. Mostly, though, I imagine a child learning that her father was not coming home, and I reckon with the cost that that war continues to draw from my grandmother, 84 years later. I think of my own daughter, and I hope that we can spare her that torment. Finally, let me say to this anyone who would heed the words of a washed-up veteran: try not to judge another person for the presence or absence of a poppy, much less for whether the leaf is turned to face 11 o’clock, or to judge a person for whether he or she wears a white poppy. It is the act of remembering itself that is so important. Lest we forget.

• 5 Nov 2025 · Curriculum and Assessment Review · Hansard source

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  The Secretary of State rightly points to the challenge of disinformation—a challenge that democracy is losing. I would welcome her agreement that education is our greatest weapon against disinformation. Which of her changes will ensure that those voting in future general elections are better prepared to vote in their interests than those of us who went before?

• 4 Nov 2025 · Supporting High Streets · Hansard source

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  For 30 years, MJ’s Gym has been central to the Northway and Tewkesbury communities. It is one of those gritty local gyms with a playlist 10,000 songs long, where men and women of all ages train out a hard day’s work. I met Chris for the first time a few months back. He tries to keep MJ’s running in his spare time while he works as an electrician, but because of decisions made by this Government, he is struggling to keep MJ’s solvent. I do not want to lose MJ’s and all its history to another sterile gym chain. Will says that the Cleeve Bookshop is only viable in the current economic climate because it is kept afloat by online sales. I do not want to lose the Cleeve Bookshop to another chain store. Lauren is sustaining Bumpyland Softplay using the wages that she earns from her full-time job. As well as giving our children somewhere to play and build their social skills, she is employing young people in their first jobs. I have already spoken, frequently and at length, in support of my hospitality sector. Needless to say, the businesses in that sector need the Government to change course, too. My high streets in Bishops Cleeve, Tewkesbury and Winchcombe have soul and character, and are worth preserving. However, if the Government do not change course, we will lose them forever. Clearly, support for small businesses should not come at the cost of further cuts to public spending, as proposed in the motion that the Conservatives have tabled today. None of us has any economic lessons to learn from the party that drove our local services to ruin. Therefore, will the Government take reasonable steps, such as increasing the digital services tax and the online gambling tax, so that they can reverse their employer national insurance contributions hike and create a new, lower-rate NIC band to lower the cost of employing part-time staff?

• 29 Oct 2025 · UK-Türkiye Typhoon Export Deal · Hansard source

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  For over 20 years, the Eurofighter Typhoon has showcased the merits of European co-operation and the marvel of UK aerospace engineering. I commend the Government on this deal with our Turkish allies, which will secure British jobs, maintain our expertise in this field and park a squadron of multi-role-capable strike aircraft just south of occupied Crimea. I register my disappointment that the Government’s press release neglected to credit the contribution of many of my constituents who, working with GE Aerospace in Bishops Cleeve, have supported the programme since its inception. Will the Minister take this opportunity to recognise them now?

• 28 Oct 2025 · Support for Disabled Veterans · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for securing this important debate. I recently spoke with Gloucestershire resident and British Army veteran Chris, who has been confined to a wheelchair since a jungle warfare training accident in 1998. He spoke of the obstacle of pride, and of how too many personnel decline to seek help until a point of crisis, if ever. He would have benefited from a regimental or service advocate, who could intervene either early on or post discharge to motivate and support those affected before it was too late. Does my hon. Friend agree that such support could help bridge the feeling of abandonment that injured veterans often feel after discharge?

• 27 Oct 2025 · Statutory Maternity and Paternity Pay · Hansard source

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  I will not be the only parent in this House who regrets every day that they are not going to spend with their children. One of my constituents is a PhD student studying paternity, and she has found that men’s mental health is particularly vulnerable at the point of childbirth and the point of return to work. The two factors that can reduce that are time and control. Will my hon. Friend join in my call to the Government that men should have a statutory right to co-ordinate their return to the workplace with their employers?