Business of the House

Harpreet Uppal Excerpts

Thursday 5th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sir Alan Campbell]

The Government are committed to wider reform of the House of Lords and the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill is the first step in that process. We remain committed to that. However, I gently say to the hon. Lady that, to some extent, this is more complex than many people think. There are many priorities for this Government, not least tackling the cost of living and the terrible situation that we found our public services in when we came into office. To spend a great deal of time, at this juncture, talking about House of Lords reform is timely, costly and an extraordinarily difficult thing to achieve—I know that from experience. That does not mean that the Government will not address what we promised in our manifesto and bring about House of Lords reform at some point in the future.

[Harpreet Uppal (Huddersfield) (Lab)]

Last weekend, I joined a thanksgiving service at Huddersfield parish church that paid tribute to local volunteers and residents who organised donations to Jamaica and the Caribbean islands following the devastation of Hurricane Melissa. Will the Leader of the House join me in paying tribute to those residents in Huddersfield? Will he set out how the UK Government are supporting relief efforts in the region?

[Sir Alan Campbell]

My hon. Friend is right to celebrate those local Huddersfield volunteers. I am sure that the whole House will join me in praising their efforts, which remind us of the deep relationship between the United Kingdom and the Caribbean. We have committed up to £2.5 million to support the humanitarian response to devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa. I encourage my hon. Friend to participate in Foreign Office oral questions at the beginning of next month to discuss how we can better support the volunteers going forward.