Security Update: Official Secrets Act Case

Emily Darlington Excerpts

Monday 13th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Dan Jarvis]

The right hon. Gentleman knows that I always value his sage advice and listen carefully to what he has to say. [Interruption.] It is true. He asked about the embassy. So that we can dispel some of the nonsense that has been spouted about the embassy, we need to provide a Privy Council briefing for him and for other Privy Counsellors, and I am happy to take that away. On his second point, he knows that these are points of law and matters for the CPS and the DPP; they are not matters for Ministers.

[Emily Darlington (Milton Keynes Central) (Lab)]

I welcome the Minister’s clarity on tackling the threats that China poses, including the transnational repression of Hongkongers in the UK. That will be a real reassurance to the many British nationals overseas who live in Milton Keynes. I would like him to go into further detail, particularly in the context of the Intelligence and Security Committee’s report on Russia’s interference in Brexit and the Nathan Gill case that has just completed, with eight counts of bribery coming from Russia. At the time of taking those bribes, he was a close colleague of some MPs on the other side of the House. How will the new elections Bill stop interference through political funding, which we are seeing gaining more and more ground here in the UK, creating a real threat to our democracy?

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

I ask the Minister to be brief and on point regarding what this statement is actually about.

UK-EU Summit

Emily Darlington Excerpts

Tuesday 20th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As the hon. Member knows, we are committed to Horizon. We will retain that commitment to research, because it is so important for our national interest.

[Emily Darlington (Milton Keynes Central) (Lab)]

It never ceases to surprise me how little the Opposition understand about making trade deals. Perhaps that is why they never made a good one. We do not need to explain that to the 19,000 small and medium-sized enterprises in my constituency; they have been choked by the red tape agreed by the Conservatives. Those businesses agree with the Federation of Small Businesses that this deal will finally reduce and get rid of the bottleneck. Can the Prime Minister tell the businesses in my constituency and across the country when we can finally be relieved of the Tories’ red tape that is crushing our small businesses?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the red tape having such an impact on our small businesses. That is why I am pleased that we have made progress. We now need to make further progress as quickly as we can to ensure that businesses thrive in the markets in which they want to trade.

Oral Answers to Questions

Emily Darlington Excerpts

Thursday 23rd January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Emily Darlington (Milton Keynes Central) (Lab)]

T7. Innovation lies at the heart of our five missions. I would like to ask the Minister about her reflections on seeing innovation when she visited Milton Keynes recently and how we can take it forward across the country.

[Georgia Gould]

It was wonderful to visit Milton Keynes and to see the work of a pioneering Labour council. The work the Labour council has led to open up services to the NHS is a real example of the shift to community that the Government are committed to. Milton Keynes shows that when a wonderful MP works with a Labour council and the NHS amazing things can happen.

Oral Answers to Questions

Emily Darlington Excerpts

Thursday 24th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Luke Charters (York Outer) (Lab)]

9. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to implement the Government’s five missions.

[Emily Darlington (Milton Keynes Central) (Lab)]

15. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to implement the Government’s five missions.

[The Minister without Portfolio (Ellie Reeves)]

We were elected on a manifesto with five missions to rebuild Britain and turn the page on 14 years of decline under the Conservative party. Those five missions offer real and tangible benefits to people living in every part of our country: higher living standards, cleaner energy, safer streets, longer and healthier lives, and a renewed confidence that the future will be better for our children. I am delighted to report to the House that we have already begun the change that we set out in our national missions, making our economy stable, launching a new border security command, setting up Great British Energy and setting out ambitious plans for housing.

--- Later in debate ---

[Ellie Reeves]

I thank my hon. Friend for highlighting the work that Brew York and Piglets Adventure Farm do in his constituency. I absolutely agree that engagement and working with business will be key to delivering on all five of our missions.

[Emily Darlington]

I congratulate the Government on trying to use the missions to stop the siloed working between Departments in order to achieve the change that the country needs. On the housing mission, it is important that we link in the Treasury and the Departments for Health and Social Care, for Transport, for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and for Energy Security and Net Zero, to ensure that we build the 1.5 million homes that we need. In Milton Keynes, we have seen how house building can create opportunities, but public support is lost when the necessary vital public services and infra- structure do not come alongside new houses. How is the Cabinet Office bringing together all those Departments so that we can achieve our housing mission?

[Ellie Reeves]

I thank my hon. Friend for highlighting the importance of housing, which is central to what we are doing in government. Each of our five national missions is ambitious and will require input and action from a number of Government Departments. That is precisely why we are running them as missions, and not in the traditional departmental silos. As would be expected, the Cabinet Office is key to supporting that; the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, who is deputy chair on all mission boards, and myself are playing active roles in facilitating that cross-Government working, supported by a specialist mission delivery unit in the Cabinet office.