Speeches by Strathern.

“My hon. Friend is making a powerful argument. Doubters of the net zero agenda often suggest that, because it is an international problem, we should go slower. Does he find it utterly bizarre that some suggest we can get other countries to go faster by going slower and engaging less ourselves? Actually, we need to be le…”

“Will the hon. Gentleman give way on that point?”

“Will the hon. Member give way?”

“I will not claim that the apprenticeship system that the previous Government inherited was perfect, but he is right that at its best it was about getting hard-to-reach young people into skilled jobs that they would not otherwise be able to reach. Countless young people and employers in my constituency, as well as the f…”

“Having grown up in a household that relied on heating oil, I know how overlooked off-grid rural communities can feel. They were overlooked by the previous Government, who did not include them in energy price support for 200 days, and they have been overlooked by a regulatory framework that does not give them the same p…”

“The welcome funding, alongside the contract, to hire 16,000 more GPs will be really encouraging news for my community. However, in high-growth areas such as mine, all too often it is physical space rather than funding for GPs that constrains practices. I am really glad that, after getting involved, we have been able to…”

“I am really proud to represent so many service families, but many of those I have been working with are at the sharp end of failures in the SEND system. Regular moves between postings can exacerbate long waits for assessments and leave them particularly exposed to the postcode lottery in SEND provision. As we drive for…”

“I thank my hon. Friend not just for securing this debate, but for speaking powerfully as a parent about why this is so important. We must be honest: guidance is great, but it can often miss the mark when it comes to answering the questions that parents are actually asking. I am holding a forum later in February to spea…”

“It was fantastic to see GB Energy invest in new, clean, bill-saving technology for the Bedford Road health centre in my constituency last week. That comes on top of the investments already seen at Lister hospital and Bedford hospital, which serve my constituency. Solar is good for the NHS and for the planet, so how can…”

“I completely agree. I know that my hon. Friend is a big champion of some of these issues, for the benefit of Redditch and well beyond. Some of the important steps that he has highlighted are fundamental to tackling some of the challenges that we are looking to address here today. It is clear that there is a case for ac…”

“The hon. Member is spot on in highlighting the fact that, particularly when we are talking about boys’ lack of achievement, ensuring that we identify the full suite of needs they have early and put in place appropriate interventions is vital. It is an often overlooked fact that 70% of young people with education, healt…”

“The hon. Member is absolutely spot on. She highlighted a number of important themes that I hope to touch on later in my remarks.”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered educational outcomes for disadvantaged boys and young men. It is a pleasure as always to serve under your chairship, Sir John. I am pleased to have secured a debate on this important topic today. Last week, I had the pleasure of joining some truly inspiring parliamentary co…”

“The hon. Member is right to draw attention to the particular challenge faced by disadvantaged young men. While there has rightly been a lot of focus on challenges holding back all boys and men across education—the Education Committee was due to hold an inquiry into that during the previous Parliament—the compounding im…”

“The hon. Member is spot on in drawing attention to the fact that a lot of these problems have early roots, and that our interventions must be as focused as the challenges that we are seeking to address. Boys’ Impact found that when looking at early years settings, only 30% of boys on average seem to be making a good le…”

“Absolutely. My hon. Friend makes a really important point. It was a real pleasure to meet Chris, his constituent, at an event as part of the Lost Boys Taskforce work earlier in the year. They are doing really inspiring things. I hope that together we can better showcase those and build on some of the successes we have …”

“The hon. Member puts the point incredibly well, and I hope to be able to touch later on some of the powerful schemes available to already deliver some of these role models. They do not always have to be parents; that is not always going to be available for every child we seek to support. When we consider these vulnerab…”

“T7. When visiting UK service personnel overseas at a NATO airbase, I was appalled to learn that many had been penalised by their home insurers by virtue of being posted abroad, despite the fact that these companies have signed up to the armed forces covenant. That goes against the very principle of the covenant, so I w…”

“This is an historic day for leaseholders, many of whom were let down by a lack of action from the previous Government, which left them on the hook for exploitative levels of ground rent. One 90-year-old constituent of mine was hit with a 9,000% increase in his ground rent—that cannot be right. I am really glad that the…”

“The recent horrific stories about Grok and other AI-enabled abuse have highlighted a trend with which far too many women are very familiar. The online world, for all its benefits, has also brought new opportunities for them to experience exactly the same degrading abuse that they are all too familiar with in day-to-day…”