Speeches by Thompson.

“23. What steps she is taking to support people with disabilities and long-term health conditions into work.”

“In 2019, my close friend and constituent Jim was at his desk, working as a web developer, when out of the blue he felt a sudden pain. Jim was having a spinal stroke. He has never since been able to walk. The pain medication that Jim must take to manage his condition limits his ability to work, but sometimes he has unpr…”

“Excellent; good stuff. This is the final question from me, which is a little more open than the previous one. Moving forward and talking about the spending review, as we move forward into the next few months, what discussions have you had in your Departments about how R&D spend is going to function within the context o…”

“Good morning, everybody. Thank you for coming here today. The Government Office for Science guidance suggests that a departmental R&D strategy forms the basis of research funding plans broadly. I put this question to each of you: is there an overarching strategy that forms the basis of your department’s R&D spending? W…”

“Great, thank you. That is fascinating. It sounds like you have had some good progress in dealing with that blocking thing that you identified a couple of years ago. To what extent are you working on improving that collaborative nature? Is there anything that you think we as a Committee should be examining in dealing wi…”

“Good morning, Dame Angela. Thank you for joining us today. Shortly after your appointment about two years ago, you talked about meeting the leaders of the 10 strands of science and technology framework, and you made a statement about understanding the blockers to delivery. In the couple of years that you have been in p…”

“Brilliant. Thank you, everybody.”

“These are the last couple of questions from me before we move on. Perhaps you could give a blunt yes/no answer to the first one. Summarising everything that we have just been through, in your respective Departments is science advice informing the budgets?”

“What is your personal role within the spending decisions?”

“Professor Chappell, perhaps we can go back to that “strategy” question.”

“Okay, brilliant. Thank you very much, Dame Angela. That is a wonderful call to action for us.”

“Before I move on to Professor Chappell, what role do you play within your departments’ R&D spending decisions?”

“Perfect; thank you. I turn to your MOD colleagues.”

“Before we move on to colleagues from the MOD, you have talked extensively about the R&D strategy that you are currently developing. To what extent is that going to define DSIT’s spending specifically?”

“I beg to move, That the House sit in private. Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 163). A Division was called.”

“Will the hon. Lady give way?”

“We have heard extensively about the importance of cross-party consensus, and I believe we have been having a fantastic discussion to that end. Does the hon. Member agree that in the name of cross-party consensus we should be working together and not just party political grandstanding in favour of the Green party?”

“Will the hon. Lady give way?”

“Will the hon. Lady give way?”

“Thank you all very much for your candour. Given Kelly’s point about how the Government do not have a huge amount of control over what the social media companies can do, although I completely accept the points you make, Zara and Ravishaan, about not being happy with the Government’s response, what would you have wanted …”