Speeches by Ramsay.

“I beg to move, That this House has considered preparedness for extreme heat. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Christopher. This issue affects all our constituents, so I will be happy to take interventions. Over recent weeks, Britain has experienced an extraordinary succession of heatwaves that have t…”

“I strongly agree with all the points that the hon. Gentleman made. Food security and water security are absolutely central to this debate, and they are under real threat. I represent a rural area as well, and it is hard to believe that it is so difficult for farmers to get permission to store water on their farms when …”

“I thank the hon. Member for that point. I will come to the question of how we retrofit buildings and how we ensure that new buildings of whatever type, including schools, are fit for purpose for the large numbers of mainly young people who use them. His points are well made. During heatwaves, schools can become unsuita…”

“The hon. Lady makes an extremely important point. Water conservation, like energy conservation, is critical, and there must be measures to help households to do their absolute best on that. My region is one of those with a hosepipe ban in force at the moment. She is absolutely right that data centres pose a real risk b…”

“I thank the hon. Lady for raising that point. It shows the breadth of issues that we need to contend with. Addressing this issue really is a whole-society, whole-Government matter. I very much support raising awareness of her point. It shows the need to review how we can treat people in a way that gives them the suppor…”

“I agree with the hon. Member. I will come on to the impact on schools, and the fact that extreme heat does not affect everyone equally, later in my speech. Some communities and individuals are particularly affected, so I support her call, particularly because it highlights the need for a cross-Government response. The …”

“The hon. Member’s example highlights just how much of a risk wildfires pose. We need to take greater measures as a country to prevent them, including seriously looking at her suggestion.”

“I thank all hon. Members who have come along to take part in today’s debate. It shows how much interest there is across the House in this issue, which affects our constituents’ day-to-day lives now, and that is before the changes that could come in the future. I thank the Minister for that information. She suggested th…”

“I welcome the statement from the Nature Minister, and thank her for recognising the crucial link between nature restoration and tackling climate breakdown. Does she recognise that whatever action is taken—we need to see far more action taken both on nature restoration and on decarbonisation—if large-scale new oilfields…”

“At the Environmental Audit Committee yesterday, the Minister for Nature did not have a clear answer for why the national security assessment on ecosystem collapse has not been released in its full form to MPs. I got the impression that it was not her decision to withhold the full unredacted report from MPs. Whose decis…”

“I have heard from constituents of different ages who are concerned about the planned changes to PIP, and who highlight its importance in enabling them to work and to play a full part in society. I want to ask specifically about young people under the age of 25. What mechanisms are being put in place as part of this rev…”

“I thank the hon. Lady for her powerful speech. She talks about international law; does she agree with me on the importance of applying it consistently? In particular, given that the UK has rightly imposed sanctions and trade restrictions elsewhere—notably on Russia—does she agree that the same measures need to be appli…”

“I accept there is good work being done, and there are some good things in what you have just said.”

“Thank you, Minister, for joining us. The full, unabridged version of the biodiversity national security assessment has been shared with multiple external groups, including media outlets. Why has this Committee repeatedly been denied access?”

“Thank you for that. Just to clarify, the report you are referring to there, which I did ask about in DEFRA orals a couple of weeks ago, was about the DEFRA futures report on the state of our critical systems from 2030 and beyond. That report is equally stark and seems also to have been suppressed, although I am glad th…”

“We will want to scrutinise whether the extent of the response—it is not just about the DEFRA response; it is about the extent of the cross-Government response—is adequate for the scale of the challenge. One of my concerns is that if we look at the issues that arise from this report, they are not just about areas within…”

“Can we just be very clear how the Government are ensuring a cross-Government response to a report of this scale and severity?”

“I am glad you have highlighted the DEFRA futures report. I take what you say—that the Department will need to look back at the evidence it produced. From what I saw, it was deeply worrying, because DEFRA experts were saying that our critical systems could be at threat of collapse potentially as early as 2030, with coll…”

“The hon. Gentleman is clearly passionate about the horseracing sector. Did he see the incident at the Grand National festival earlier this year, when Gold Dancer broke his back during the race and was whipped to continue? As a result, when he got over the finishing line, it was too late for the vets to save him. That i…”

“The Secretary of State has referred to the number of people who are already losing their lives annually due to excess extreme heat, and that number will reach 10,000 by mid-century. The Climate Change Committee has been clear that the costs of putting in place the adaptations that are needed are less than the costs of …”