Speeches by Martin.

“I thank the Secretary of State for his openness and transparency, and for his apology, and I thank Portsmouth city council for its involvement in Afghan resettlement schemes, which have helped many of those who served alongside my Portsmouth North constituents. I welcome today’s decision. The Government rightly took ti…”

“I have an additional question to that. Jill Duffy, the chief executive of OCR, said they are proposing a new short GCSE in maths to be taken by all pupils at the end of year 10 before they go on to the full course at year 11. Have you considered those elements as well?”

“It is year 10. It would be fundamental maths skills like number and data handling, a bit like Darren said, that everyone would need for work and life, that everyone sits it in year 10 and has the option to do the full GCSE in year 11. It is that interim element; if you have passed that and you do not feel able to go on…”

“The re-sits.”

“You have already referred to science with the various elements of the GCSE triple, double or individual. The Royal Society notes that the current curriculum focuses on memorising facts, but it also notes that “Restructuring the science curriculum to provide a single universal and coherent science pathway at GCSE; the u…”

“Just on that social justice point, I was a teacher for 24 years and “social mobility” is not the right phrase; the fact that you are using “social justice” is very welcome.”

“Can I come in on that with a further question? You talked about the importance of oracy. There has been a rumbling debate. How much evidence have you had in terms of requests to look at the balance of practical versus written in GCSE? For example, the speaking and listening element was removed from English GCSE, which …”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Jeremy. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock (Jen Craft) for securing the debate, and for her opening words on Down’s syndrome regression disorder. As we have heard, Down’s syndrome regression disorder is a little known but deeply distressing condition th…”

“Does the Minister agree with me and my hon. Friend the Member for York Outer (Mr Charters) that we do need to look at alcohol sales, but that we need to do it with all stakeholders in the round—not just throw it in as a gimmick to this Bill, which is about finance and governance?”

“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh North and Leith (Tracy Gilbert) for introducing the Bill and welcome the opportunity to raise issues of fairness and equality in the UK’s democracy. We have seen in England that absent voting, by post or proxy, has empowered thousands of people to make their voices heard,…”

“I am proud to speak in this debate as the Member of Parliament for Portsmouth North—a seat I did not hold this time last year, but proudly hold today, although technically not for a year until 4.30 tomorrow morning. I want to speak today in strong support of the Bill. It is a vital step forward in our duty to protect a…”

“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow East (John Grady) for bringing the Bill forward. I also thank the hon. Member for Wyre Forest (Mark Garnier) for chairing the all-party parliamentary group for space and for his promotion of the sector. As the MP for Portsmouth North, I strongly support this pivotal Bill, w…”

“As the Member of Parliament for Portsmouth North, I am proud to speak in support of the Licensing Hours Extensions Bill, which is a sensible and necessary reform to support our struggling hospitality sector and, as we have heard, allow communities to come together during moments of national significance. The Bill gives…”

“I have one final thing. As a former teacher, I am aware that often Education takes the heavy weight of this. Are there any plans for these costs to be shared with the Department of Health and Social Care instead of it just falling in Education, because it often comes from the high-needs budget? Are there any plans to s…”

“Thank you for that. The joint commission relies on robust data and information sharing. You have just highlighted that there are some areas in the country that are doing it well and others that are not. Are you taking steps to improve the data that is collected and do you anticipate the introduction of a unique identif…”

“Minister, you touched on this with the earlier question from Darren, but I just wanted to explore further joint commissioning. The Council for Disabled Children told this Committee it would like joint commissioning to be a requirement rather than an expectation. In three parts, how would you assess the current joint co…”

“I thank the hon. Member for that wonderful intervention and send my best wishes to Jack for his birthday. In remembering that, I would also like to remember John Jenkins—one of our very own veterans from Portsmouth. In Portsmouth, we also proudly celebrated Armed Forces Day last Saturday, honouring the service and sacr…”

“I associate myself with the Minister’s opening words. It is a privilege to speak in this debate as both a member of the armed forces parliamentary scheme and the proud Member of Parliament for Portsmouth North, the home of the Royal Navy and a community with deep historic ties to our armed forces. However, for me, this…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Vickers. I declare my interests as a season ticket holder at Portsmouth football club and as an elected member of the board of Pompey Supporters’ Trust. I thank my hon. Friend for introducing the Bill. I understand the need for it, but members of the public buy tick…”

“The hon. Member for Harrow East made a really good point; there have been some developments on that issue through things such as fan zones. Fans can buy a ticket for such a zone, which is an area outside the stadium, and that allows for dispersal. It also allows fans to watch the game, particularly if they are going to…”