Lee Dillon: ...credit to her that the handover to me was as smooth as one could have hoped for. I wish Laura and her family all the best for the future, and I am sure she will continue to make a difference. Richard Benyon, now Lord Benyon, served Newbury from 2005 to 2019 and has always been open and approachable, offering me some early advice when I was first elected. The Liberal Democrat David Rendel...
Clive Jones: Thank you very much for calling me, Madam Chair. I congratulate the hon. Member for Rother Valley (Jake Richards) on his very interesting speech—I learnt an awful lot about his constituency. I have also learnt a lot today about Southend East and Rochford, Portsmouth North and Swindon North, and especially about my colleagues, my hon. Friends the Members for Woking (Mr Forster) and for...
Jim Shannon: ...that as a habit; it is a reminder for those across the world who think that things are getting better in Ukraine. The fact is that they are not. I thank the hon. Member for Honiton and Sidmouth (Richard Foord) for bringing forward the debate. I was happy to be a co-signatory in his request to the Backbench Committee. It is also nice to see a lot of new faces here, as well as those of some...
Richard Holden: ...former Members who were inspirations to her and who have passed away was very moving. I know in what high regard Tessa Jowell was held, particularly by those on the Labour Benches. It was also very nice to hear her tribute to Peter Aldous. He is a calm and quiet man in some ways, but he is also a very kind man who really did stand up for his constituents on many of the important issues...
Dehenna Davison: ...get those commitments honoured, once the election has passed. I thank all the activists and local volunteers who put in so much effort to help me get to this place. I particularly thank Councillor Richard Bell, the Conservative group leader in Durham. He is also now deputy leader of the council, because back in 2021, through a massive effort from all our volunteers and activists, we...
Bob Seely: ...was the week before last, when I needed to get to Carisbrooke castle for the wonderful Walk the Wight event in aid of the Isle of Wight hospice. Being a Minister is often a thankless task, so it is nice to have a Minister who goes the extra mile for Conservative colleagues and, I strongly suspect, Members of Parliament on the other side of the House. I thank him for helping us to get the...
Neil O'Brien: ...is a bizarre way of going about things. The residents of Devana Way in my constituency, who I did not mention yesterday, found that out the hard way. They bought beautiful, expensive homes on a nice tree-lined street, but during the process of haggling with the county council over adoption and who was going to look after the trees, the developer concluded that it would be cheaper to...
Baroness Kramer: ...claims that the national insurance rate is actually a tax cut; it would be recognised as a reduction in a tax increase. In evidence to the Economic Affairs Committee, the OBR’s chief executive, Richard Hughes, pointed to the fictional nature of the forecast headroom that the Government claimed in the Autumn Statement and I fear will claim again in the Budget. He explained that the OBR is...
Lord Russell of Liverpool: ..., there was culture change with teeth—which sounds like a strange creature for well-paid Harley Street specialists to dream up new procedures for. Before I continue with that, it would be nice if we could try to stop in its tracks the growing confusion which has come since the arrival in your Lordships’ House of a brace of Russells. I point out that I am a lowly Baron—the bottom of...
Christine Grahame: I do not like to say it to such a nice man, but Alex Rowley should stop shooting himself in the foot. He knows perfectly well that our capital budget is dictated by what Westminster divvies out to us. He knows it as well as the rest of us and is too clever to pretend otherwise. I know, however, that he has to try to fight the corner for the Labour Party, no matter what. We have a shortage of...
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: Thank you for allowing me to contribute to this debate, Ms Vaz. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Gloucester (Richard Graham), a constituency neighbour, for securing this debate. I am glad to see that Gloucestershire is extremely well represented in this debate—the premier county well represented. The Great Western main line serves two directions in my constituency: it serves...
Kirsten Oswald: It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I am grateful to the hon. Member for West Bromwich East (Nicola Richards) for securing today’s debate. This is obviously an issue of great importance to her, as it is to me and others here. She spoke powerfully about the worldwide phenomenon and about the nature of this concerning upturn in antisemitism. She also spoke powerfully and...
Thomas Tugendhat: It is very nice to be here with you chairing this debate, Mr Efford, particularly after my right hon. Friend the Member for Romsey and Southampton North (Caroline Nokes) was able to start off the process—at least she has also had time to give us her thoughts. It is also a huge pleasure to be here because, as some have noted, this is my second outing speaking about spiking, so it is...
Paul O'Kane: ...—the linkage between poverty and terminal illness. I thank the project team for that work and for the unique method of research. I also thank the University of Glasgow researchers Dr Naomi Richards and Dr Sam Quinn; the University of Auckland researcher Professor Merryn Gott; and Marie Curie head of research and innovation, Dr Emma Carduff. I additionally thank Margaret Mitchell, who...
Christina McKelvie: ...Roosevelt famously said: “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty.” Although I cannot completely agree with that sentiment, it would be nice if some things were easy. I hope that we can all agree that a world that is free of nuclear weapons is worth having and that working towards that is very much worth doing. As I and many...
Helen Morgan: ...Care Excellence guidance. For example, data for England show that 40% of women and birthing people do not attend their antenatal assessment before 10 weeks’ gestation, as is recommended in the NICE guidelines. Research must be the key to improving outcomes and saving more babies’ lives in the future, yet relatively little is invested in pregnancy-related research. For every £1 spent...
Jim Fairlie: ...that it did everything in its power to help us to be as successful as we possibly could be. I have said many times in this chamber that the national food and drink policy, which was introduced by Richard Lochhead in 2008, was a game changer in terms of the relationship with and the confidence that the industry took from Government. Its positivity meant that it was hugely instrumental in...
Richard Holden: ...the expansion of ULEZ to the borders of Greater London. Given how the Labour party has criticised potential misrepresentations by Members on the Government Benches in recent months, it might be a nice idea for the hon. Lady, at some point in the very near future, to apologise for misrepresenting the views of my hon. Friend. The hon. Lady did not do her the courtesy of telling her that she...
Kirsty Blackman: ...employment tribunal or a court; it not just on the basis of one whistleblower whose case may not yet have been proven. Once again, we wholeheartedly support that. The hon. Member for Leeds East (Richard Burgon) is not in his place to talk about the amendments on the real living wage. They are incredibly good and helpful amendments, so I am slightly disappointed that they are not to be...
Richard Fuller: ...and Colesden; Roxton; and Tempsford. Neighbouring parishes will also be affected, including Great Barford, Little Barford and Everton. Many people think that a railway from Oxford to Cambridge is a nice idea. I used to think that too, but as I have got into the details of the railway, and as the performance of East West Rail has rolled out, my confidence and support have been completely...
