His Excellency José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, President of the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal, visited Parliament with a delegation on 4-5 November 2025, hosted by his British counterpart, the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP.

The President was accompanied at the meetings by the Ambassador for Portugal to the UK, HE Nuno Brito, and his delegation consisted of Ms Elza Pais, the Vice-President of Parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Portuguese Communities Commission, Mr Ricardo Carvalho MP, the Vice-President of Parliamentary European Affairs Commission,  and Mr Pedro Pessanha MP, the President of Parliamentary National Defence Commission. In attendance were the Deputy HE Matilde Baretto and other members of the President's team and the Embassy.   

As Chair of the APPG on Portugal, I held a meeting with other members of the APPG, Dame Gloria Hooper, Sir Julian Lewis MP and Wendy Chamberlain MP. There was a wide range of issues discussed including trade and post Brexit arrangements. The president said it was important for our young people to be able to exchange visits as they used to with the Erasmus scheme. I raised the suggestion of hosting interns from Portugal to come to the UK and the UK to go to Portugal through the APPG. We agreed to work on this when their equivalent of APPGs, the friendship group was established.    

The delegation also had the opportunity to speak with the Chair of the Defence Select Committee, Tan Dhesi MP.   

Portugal is one of our oldest allies. There are over 400,000 Portuguese citizens living in the UK and approximately 50,000 UK citizens living in Portugal. This visit resets the relationship enabling us to discuss important issues such as defence. Portugal and the UK are members of NATO. 

The APPG hopes to visit the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal soon. 

I planted a Remembrance Cross in the Garden of Remembrance on Wednesday 5 November 2025 on behalf of my constituents in Walsall and Bloxwich. All constituencies are represented.

We will always remember them.

I am the Co Chair of the APPG on Publishing and was delighted by the announcement  by the Chancellor that £10million will be allocated to schools so that every primary school has a library. I have campaigned on this issue and recently conducted a survey of schools in Walsall and Bloxwich to see which schools had a library. I am currently analysing the results. 

The opportunity to ask a question to the Chancellor came last Tuesday 4 November and I was called during Topical Questions at Treasury Questions.

I asked the Chancellor: 

"Will the Chancellor update the House on how and when schools can apply for libraries for primaries funding, which she announced on 29 September?"




Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor responded:


"We have made a commitment that every single primary school in England will have a library by the end of this Parliament. The Department for Education will set out the process in due course, but any primary school without a library can rest assured that it will have one soon."

Here you can read the eNews for October 2025

Hurricane Melissa was the strongest storm ever to reach landfall in Jamaica and my thoughts and prayers are with those families who have lost loved ones and the devastation caused in Jamaica and other countries in the region.  

The UK Government has kept in contact and is working closely with the Jamaican government, partners and agencies to offer assistance and support, including with the Turks and Caicos Islands and other parts of the Caribbean that have been affected.

The FCDO crisis response unit is in operation with support from the MoD and DfT to monitor the storm and coordinate our humanitarian and consular response.

The UK Government immediately released £2.5m in emergency humanitarian funding and this morning and an additional allocation of £5m to further support relief efforts.  Assessment and consular teams are already on route to support the Jamaican authorities in providing disaster relief and expertise in response to this terrible storm.

Emergency relief supplies had already been prepositioned in Antigua & Barbuda – including shelter kits, medical kits and food and water supplies - to ensure they could be rapidly deployed to where they are needed most, and the Government is working with the Jamaican Government and agencies on the ground to start getting support into place.

Given the strong links between the UK and Jamaica, there are also many thousands of British nationals and UK residents who were there during the storm including holiday makers and those visiting family and friends who may be facing difficulties or needing support to return safely home.

If you need advice, the FCDO’s consular team operate 24/7 and British nationals in Jamaica or the wider region requiring urgent consular assistance can contact the local telephone service on +1 876 936 0700.

British nationals in the UK can contact the consular team on +44 (0)20 7008 5000; Travel Advice is being updated regularly to reflect the situation as it evolves.

There is a Register Your Presence portal where British Nationals in Jamaica can provide their details and receive the latest updates.

Travel companies and commercial airlines are working hard to restore flights and routes back to the UK.

The FCDO has published guidance on gov.uk

The UK and Jamaica share a deep and enduring relationship, rooted in our shared history, strong people-to-people ties, and vibrant diaspora communities and in times of crisis, that bond becomes even more important.