The Budget debate took place on  26 November and 2 December, at the end of which the House voted on each of the resolutions.

Following the Chancellor’s speech, the Commons agreed to a resolution under the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968, allowing certain tax changes to take place immediately. The Commons authorised immediate changes to stamp duty reserve tax (SDRT) and to the rates of tobacco duty.

On 2 December, the House considered each of the resolutions the Chancellor tabled after the Budget. 









MPs considered the Bill at Second Reading on Tuesday 16 December 2025. The Bill was read a second time: 341 Ayes and 195 Noes. It was agreed that the following shall be committed to a Committee of the whole House which will be held over two subsequent days on Monday 12 and Tuesday 13 January 2026:

(a) Clauses 1 to 8 and Schedules 1 and 2 (income tax charge and rates);

(b) Clauses 9, 10 and 69 (freezing of allowances);

(c) Clause 62 and Schedule 12 (agricultural property relief and business property relief);

(d) Clauses 63 to 68 (inheritance tax on pension interests);

(e) Clauses 83 to 85 and Schedule 13 (gambling duties);

(f) Clause 86 (rates of alcohol duty);

(g) any new Clauses or new Schedules relating to the subject matter of the Clauses and Schedules mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (f).

The remainder of the Bill will be committed to a Public Bill Committee. Proceedings in the Public Bill Committee shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion on Thursday 26 February 2026.

The APPG Writers Group chaired by Chris Evans MP held an event in the Churchill Room On 2 December 2025 to launch their report, "The Impact of Generative AI on the Novel" by Dr Clementine Collett, BRAID UK Research Fellow Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy, University of Cambridge.  I was pleased to attend the launch of the report and to be mentioned as Chair of the APPG on Publishing by the Chair and the other speaker Lord Tim Clement -Jones who is a member of the APPG on Publishing. 

The full report can be accessed at mctd.ac.uk

Here is a brief Summary of the Research:

Over a third (39%) of novelists report that their income has been negatively impacted due to GenAI. Considering that the average salary for a writer in the UK is around 7,000 this is not just disincentivising, but unsustainable for many. 

Concerning the future, over half of novelists (51% ) believe that it is likely AI will displace their work entirely. Amongst other factors, they attributed this largely to their work, and that of millions of other novelists, being pirated and then scraped to train GenAI models without permission or remuneration.

Novelists felt that through this use of their work, Ai models would become increasingly sophisticated, flooding the market with fiction and competing with their own work in the process. 

The report also mentioned Publishing Industry Practice: 

Increase Industry Transparency:

Publishers should be transparent about their in-house use of AI. This should be openly communicated and discussed with literary agents and authors to increase trust, collaboration, and knowledge-sharing within the industry, and to allow for traceability as needed. 

License GenAI Training Rights as Sub-Rights if going through Publishers:

Publishers should recognise and respect that GenAI training rights lie with the author and should license accordingly. The industry should work together to normalise that, if going through publishers, GenAI training rights should be licensed as sub-rights with a fair financial split. 

Support Around AI Use and Contacts:

The industry should increase support and guidance around navigating the implications of AI use and AI training rights in contracts, particularly for self-published and un-agented authors, along with independent publishers. This support could include campaigns to encourage authors and publishers to join memberships societies and trade unions. These bodies should continue guidance for their members on AI use, copyright and contractual clauses. 

I look forward to further debate on this important issue. 

The Food and Drink Wholesale UK (FWD) held a Christmas "drive-through" in Parliament to discuss supporting a fairer business rates system to protect UK's food supply chain on the 2 December 2025.  

The FWD is the member organisation for UK wholesalers operating in the grocery and foodservice markets supplying independent retailers and caterers via cash and carry, delivery, and the internet. As well as supplying the hospitality industry, our members are vital suppliers to key public sector infrastructure including schools, care homes, hospitals and prisons. 

The FWD members supply 330,000 food service businesses and 72,000 retail grocery stores, supporting local high streets and small independent businesse4s across the UK. 

In 2023/2024 alone the wholesale sector directly contributed £3.5 billion to national output in gross value added.

In 2023/2024 the wholesale sector employed 77,000 people across the country. 

Wholesale distributors act as the backbone of the value chain, generating £33.6 billion in turnover, almost 1.5 million jobs and a £57 billion annual contribution to the UK economy. 

Here you can read the eNews for November 2025

I was delighted to receive two awards, recognising Walsall and Bloxwich holding 69 activities to mark UK Parliament Week. Walsall and Bloxwich were top of the West Midlands Region, and second in the UK (just behind Mr Speaker's constituency.)

UK Parliament Week, held this year from 24-30 November 2025 gives young people opportunities to engage with democracy and learn about Parliament through a range of activities including debates or quizzes, discussions with votes following, creating petitions or running a themed assembly.