Speeches by Thompson.

“As the Secretary of State said earlier, I believe I am the first metrologist to be elected to this House in history, so it gives me great pleasure to rise to debate the Bill. I took the liberty of checking Hansard and until the Secretary of State used the word earlier, I was the only Member to have ever used the word “…”

“Certainly. It is not a new word as far as I am concerned; I believe it was brought into common parlance in the Victorian era. I will move on to some more examples. There is the James Webb space telescope—something more modern than the pyramids. It takes images of our universe more than 13 billion light years away that …”

“Do not worry, Madam Deputy Speaker—it is not one for today. I am nearly finished. Each stage of the traceability chain has some discernible uncertainty, which generally increases as we move down that chain and instrument accuracy decreases. Estimation of uncertainty at each link in the chain is essential; it is impossi…”

“That is very kind, and I thank my hon. Friend very much for his intervention. If he wishes, I have a 97-slide lecture that I would be more than happy to deliver afterwards.”

“Like so much of the midlands, Erewash as we know and understand it today was born of the industrial revolution. Ilkeston was transformed from a historic market town to a place of hard, serious industry, and Long Eaton was scarcely a village before the coming of the canals and the railways. While the economy has changed…”

“In Erewash, there are many disabled and sick people who can never work, but who are forced to jump endlessly through hoops for the benefits they need to survive. I welcome the Secretary of State’s plan to switch off reassessments and end the needless stresses that these people must endure. Will she elaborate on those p…”

“Brilliant; thank you, Irene. Duncan, do you want to come in on that?”

“Building on the points you have just made, particularly about the funding pipeline, how do you believe that Government support should be structured so that we can de-risk the private sector investment in long-term innovation?”

“Duncan, do you want to add to that?”

“Thank you, Duncan. That leads well into my next question. You talked about London-centricity. Could I have a very quick, one-word answer from you both? Of companies backed by British Patient Capital, 72.9% are London-based. Do you think that is good enough: yes or no?”

“Thank you, Irene. Duncan—yes or no—is it good enough?”

“Don’t worry. Given that you both said no, and I admit I predicted that you probably both would say no, how do you feel that we should be doing a better job of supporting businesses outside London in that case?”

“Thank you, Irene. Duncan, what are your thoughts on supporting businesses outside London?”

“Thank you both very much. I have a final question. I want to focus again on the British Patient Capital scheme. In your view, do you think it is suitable for the science and technology sector, or do we need some bespoke approach?”

“Thanks, Irene. Duncan?”

“Thank you, Kath. Henri, do you have anything to add on that?”

“I have to shoot off to another event in a minute or two, so I will just ask one question. Regarding the way that you interact with local government, what kind of role do you think local government plays in improving science and innovation infrastructure? How are you both interacting directly with local government?”

“Good morning, Duncan and Irene. It is nice to see you today. We hear a lot, and we have had a lot of discussions in this Committee recently, about the innovation valley of death—the bit in the middle technology readiness level, where good ideas go to die. I am intrigued to hear your thoughts about whether you think the…”

“May I thank the Minister for her answer, and also extend my thoughts to Joanne’s family and friends? In recent years, women and girls have increasingly expressed distrust in the ability of the justice system to resolve cases of violence and sexual harassment, as so few of those events result in prosecution. What steps …”

“11. What steps her Department is taking to help tackle violence against women and girls.”