Speeches by Cooper.

“I am Andrew Cooper, Member of Parliament for Mid Cheshire.”

“I just want to pick up on the points that you were making about devolution. In February, the Government announced the devolution priority programme to take forward proposals to create six new mayoral strategic authorities. In July, the then Minister, Jim McMahon, announced the consultation response and confirmed that t…”

“I would like to build on what we were talking about and to look at the potential impact of the new regulatory standards on the private rented market. We have talked a bit about the decent homes standard and about Awaab’s law. We have heard evidence this morning that one in five private rented homes do not currently mee…”

“I am Andrew Cooper, MP for Mid Cheshire.”

“We heard quite some concern this morning from the previous panel over how the tribunal will operate and, following on from that, calls for rent controls or limiting rent increases to CPI or wage growth. To what extent would it have an impact on the supply of privately rented homes if one of those came into effect?”

“Have you seen that effect exacerbated in one part of the country over another particularly?”

“Could the reforms adversely affect supply in particular parts of the country? You talked a bit about how, at the lower end of the market, it might have a bigger impact. Do you want to build on that?”

“5. What recent discussions he has had with allies on military support for Ukraine.”

“I strongly welcome the Defence Secretary’s continued leadership on Ukraine. I visited Estonia in early September, just prior to the incident in which three MiG-31 Russian fighter jets entered Estonian airspace and stayed for 12 minutes, in a further dangerous escalation of tensions in the region. Even before that incid…”

“I thank the Minister for his statement and for his very clear personal commitment on this issue. He will be aware that building and maintaining trust between the affected families and the Government is essential. I am sure he will agree that the Hillsborough law, which comes before the House next week, is one example o…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Lewell. I congratulate the hon. Member for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Moore) on leading this debate and making many a point that I am about to make and agree with. I thank those who created and signed the petition, including 357 of my constituents. I have heard fro…”

“I am sure everybody recognises how important it is to do this once and do it right. Is the Minister able to commit to legislating in this Parliament?”

“Will my hon. Friend give way?”

“I have been contacted by a number of constituents concerned about the requirement to have worked continuously with the same employer to qualify for statutory maternity pay. Women who change jobs shortly before pregnancy are excluded from statutory maternity pay. They miss out on the six weeks at 90% of average weekly e…”

“I am fascinated by the hon. Gentleman’s argument. In many ways, it is the ultimate Conservative argument that the status quo is exactly right and exactly what we need. Has the hon. Gentleman done any research on public opinion of local government reorganisation in London in the 1960s, or the 1974 local government reorg…”

“We have established a principle in this country of changing our electoral system via referendum. We had a referendum on the alternative vote system during the coalition era. The Bill is going to switch the system back to single transferable vote as it was when it was originally envisaged, so I believe that it is fair e…”

“T9. I recently met Estonian MPs to hear about their experience of using digital ID over the last two decades, and particularly about how people’s ability to see who has accessed their data is the cornerstone of the data privacy controls at the heart of their system. They talked about the efficiency gains across the pub…”

“Where in the legislation does it says that mayors will be prohibited from talking to town and parish councils? The way that the hon. Member phrased that implies that something in the Bill stops them from doing so, but I am not clear where that is.”

“My problem with the hon. Lady’s argument is that her amendment states: “Engagement…must include…consulting town and parish councils”— not “can include”, but “must include”. Of 300 parish councils, some might be home to only 150 people and some to 20,000 people, so they are completely different. I do not think that “mus…”

“We are about to embark on a devolution deal for Cheshire and Warrington. The county of Cheshire alone has more than 330 civil parishes. Is the hon. Lady not concerned about the burden that would be placed on a mayor? Her amendment would require the views of all those parishes to be set out, so requiring the mayor in st…”