Speeches by Thompson.

“It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. It is also a great pleasure to serve on this Committee. It is rare that a Member has the opportunity to influence legislation that affects their specific area of professional expertise. As the first elected metrologist, I feel deeply honoured to be debating …”

“I appreciate that. I take the hon. Lady’s point and will continue, as I am nearly done. The last point I wished to make was that this amendment, and many of those we have heard today, has no purpose other than to demonstrate that their proposers have broadly failed to maintain the softest grasp of what metrology is, wh…”

“It is important that I describe how standards bodies work. They come together through relationships between experts within an industry, and through mutual recognition of peer-to-peer expertise. That is how standards bodies are formed here and across the world. Inherently, the system that creates those standards bodies …”

“Q14. Whether it is crevasse on the island outside Asda in Long Eaton or the array of tyre poppers on Quarry Hill Road in Ilkeston, every day my inbox is filled with complaints about potholes that Conservative-led Derbyshire county council has failed to fix. Given that the Government have poured £1.6 billion of extra fu…”

“I welcome that the Minister has kindly confirmed today that the Casey review will be published in May. Given that it will explain the next stages of the process, and while she obviously cannot preface the review, could she elaborate on whether she expects the review to include a framework for conducting the local inqui…”

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

“My hon. Friend talks eloquently about how students would be affected if the Bill were passed. It is also important that academic staff can move fluidly between institutions, but that movement should be managed nationally, not locally or regionally. Does she agree?”

“My right hon. Friend talks about the risk of introducing internal borders within the UK. Can he elaborate on whether he thinks it at all possible under our current system of governance and policing to police any such borders?”

“The head of the Innovate UK board is broadly considered independent from Government. How important do you think that independence is, and how would you, in the role, ensure that that independence is maintained?”

“You talked about moving from A to B; it is clear that you are setting goals for this four-year term. How will you make sure that you meet those goals and reach point B? What happens if you do not do that by the end of the term?”

“Good morning, Tom. Thank you for joining us. I understand that you have already said you would not seek re-appointment at the end of the term you are potentially signing up for. Why is that?”

“That is really interesting. Let me move on to impartiality and independence, which are very important in this role. As we have heard, your CV is very impressive. You have quite a lot of different interests and broad areas you are involved in. Do you foresee any conflicts of interest, particularly in relation to some of…”

“A few weeks ago my barber, Ev, sent me a DM. It was a video from three lads in Ilkeston in my constituency, and it was going viral. Owen, Harrison and Roy were talking about how life was for them as teenage boys in 2025. They talked about not having anything to do, about the youth clubs having shut down, and about gett…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for securing this important debate. I was recently in discussion with the managing director of a local small and medium-sized enterprise based on Merlin Way in Ilkeston in my constituency. He expressed great frustration at the barriers to growth that his firm experiences with planning, high build…”

“The Minister talks about the dichotomy between Nottingham and Derby. As the Member of Parliament for Erewash, which sits at the halfway mark between the two, I felt obliged to come in at this point. I have seen at first hand the massive improvements that the Labour administration has made at Erewash borough council in …”

“4. What discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on the development of a new UK industrial strategy.”

“Does the Secretary of State agree that the UK industrial strategy is of deep importance to residents of Northern Ireland, as it is to residents of Erewash, where we are currently in the process of redeveloping New Stanton Park to form a new industrial future from the rubble of our famous former ironworks?”

“I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his intervention, and I am happy to explain. Those particular forms of measurement are not in common use any more, but of course many right hon. and hon. Members of this House will have grown up with them. Broadly, the ones that are still in use are defined in the modern pa…”

“My right hon. Friend is giving an important introduction to the Bill. Does he agree that international alignment in the standards we are discussing on scientific matters is essential for the smooth operation of modern advanced manufacturing?”

“Will the hon. Member give way?”