Speeches by Griffiths.

“Sussex police is one of the most underfunded forces in England, with the number of officers per resident 27% below the national average. Following the national decrease in police officers during the first year of this Government, will the Home Secretary commit to ensuring that police officer numbers go up in 2026?”

“This is a disgraceful decision that damages our democracy and sets a dangerous precedent. To borrow a phrase, is the Minister afraid? Frightened? Frit? What does she say to my constituents whose fundamental right to have their say at the ballot box is now being taken away?”

“May I ask one supplementary, Chair?”

“A very happy Christmas to you, Mr Speaker. More than 5,300 of my constituents have signed a petition opposing digital ID, alongside nearly 3 million people nationally. In my own local survey, two thirds opposed it outright. Digital ID did not appear anywhere in Labour’s manifesto. The Government have no mandate for it …”

“7. What discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on introducing a nationwide digital ID system.”

“The second question that I was interested in also related to the phasing out of peat sales. What is the alternative, if you have one? I am speaking from a position of lack of knowledge on this. Is there a ready-to-go alternative to the use of peat for the horticulture industry?”

“Thank you, Chair. I am a Conservative member of the Committee, so I was very interested in what you had to say about the last Government, who did at least set a time target, and we all know that objectives need to have time integrated in them. What was your analysis of why, apart from the fact that a general election c…”

“Can you put the slide up again?”

“That is most promising. The other thing that is related to the growth in cloud infrastructure, particularly since the pandemic, is part of what has driven this, accelerated by AI. Are the legacy private data centres, legacy structure, pretty much not part of the problem? Is the problem that we are talking about the acc…”

“Thank you so much, Rowena, that was so impressive, it really was. I am sure that I speak for the whole Committee. Two questions from me. The first one is on public versus private data centres, particularly as you mentioned that latency is such an issue in the City of London. So many City organisations have their own da…”

“In the last minute and a half, if I may go back to the ancient woodlands, what would be the first step that you would want to see the Government take to try and make a step change right now?”

“I am fine, thank you.”

“If there really are no other questions, I do have one.”

“Mr Speaker, “The Chancellor’s disastrous budget was the most bitter attack on the pub industry for years.” Those are not my words, but those of Iain Brown, who runs the William Hardwicke pub in Bognor Regis. Charlie Cockaday, landlord of the Fox Inn in Felpham, told me that due to increases in business rates, the minim…”

“T8. Ahead of Small Business Saturday, I visited Armen at Rose Green Hardware. He told me that it has never been as tough to run a small business as it is under this Labour Government. Does the Minister believe that removing business rates relief will make things any easier?”

“13. What steps his Department is taking to support pubs in Bognor Regis and Littlehampton constituency.”

“I am grateful to the Minister for giving way. I invite him to visit the hairdressers in Aldwick, in my constituency of Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, where the owner will tell him that he spends hours upon hours working to ensure that he can even stay profitable. The Government might be withdrawing some aspects of sma…”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“Will the hon. Gentleman give way?”

“Will the Minister give way?”