Speeches by Lewin.

“May I put on record my admiration for the skill and the bravery of our armed forces? We owe them a debt of gratitude now more than ever as they see action. The Prime Minister was right to say that we must learn the lessons from Iraq, and all the other conflicts in which there has not been a viable end plan. Given that,…”

“I will make some progress. All of us in this House deserve the truth. Everyone in this country deserves the truth. Most importantly of all, so does every victim. Mandelson’s time in public life was a very dark chapter. It is the duty of this House to shine a light on it and to give the public the answers that they abso…”

“There are unquestionably things that we did not know. I listened incredibly carefully to the Prime Minister during PMQs today, and he was clear. He made a personal statement that he has felt lied to at every single stage of the process. The precise reason why every Member of this House wants to see every single documen…”

“I wholeheartedly agree with my hon. Friend. That is why I began my remarks by saying that this has been an important day for the House. I sincerely believe that we are collectively in a much better place now than when we started the debate.”

“Let me start by putting on record my horror at the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein, as so many hon. Members have done today. This man was a paedophile and a perpetrator of evil acts. The pain of the victims and their families is unimaginable. I wish to pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Bolsover (Natalie Fleet) for…”

“The only thing that matches his number of interventions in Westminster Hall is his decency as a man and a parliamentarian. The focus today has rightly been on Mandelson. There is unity in contempt for his actions: his scandalous and brazen leaking of Government information, and the way in which he undermined the Govern…”

“Martin, my first question is for you. Thank you for coming back to the Committee and fronting up. That is important. I have to say that I think there is an astonishing mismatch from your opening comments about a service that is improving and doing well for a service business, I think you said at one point, and the stor…”

“Do you publish the questions you ask people to get to a score of customer satisfaction? I am interested in that, just briefly, and I will then move on to the rest of the panel. I did ask whether you would consider asking customers if they consider FirstPort to be good value for money? Do you currently ask them that que…”

“I am conscious that we are running over, so I will put a simple question to Martin and Catherine. At this stage, have you been lobbying the Department to seek any specific policy changes to the draft Bill? Considering the position that both of your companies are in, do you think it is appropriate that you do so at this…”

“Andrew, can I come to you because we might have consensus breaking out here. FirstPort is publishing quarterly data. Catherine has just told the panel that she would be more than happy to do so. In your role, would you consider making it mandatory for members to publish data so that we, as parliamentarians but most imp…”

“I will be quick, but this is really important. The Committee has just learnt that FirstPort have been suspended twice. Martin, a question for you. We are on the record. There is an old saying, “Three strikes and you are out”. Would you take personal responsibility if FirstPort were referred to TPI for a third time? Wou…”

“Good morning. Andrew Lewin, MP for Welwyn Hatfield.”

“Catherine, moving to you. There have been a lot of questions directed to Martin and FirstPort, but they have committed to, and are publishing, quarterly service updates. My understanding is that your business is not doing that, at the moment. Can you talk us through why you have made that decision and are you looking t…”

“I have a brief question on the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill. Martin, first I have to go back to an exchange from five minutes ago. You are effectively coming here to make the case that the problem is with the industry and the complexity with the industry, but not with FirstPort. You may not agree with tha…”

“I thank the Chief Secretary for coming to Parliament at the first opportunity to address this issue. Epstein’s crimes were vile, and I cannot begin to imagine how these latest revelations must have compounded the pain for all the women and girls who were victims. Many in this House have already spoken powerfully about …”

“Speaking of daring, the Leader of the Opposition said today that the Conservatives do not want any more centrist ideas. What does the Minister make of that and their future with young people?”

“I am pleased to have an opportunity to talk about young people, how we invest in their future, extend opportunities and do all in our power to leave nobody behind, but in order to have a serious debate about the prospects of young people in work, we need to look back at the unique set of circumstances that people in th…”

“Matt, I thought your Built for Zero campaign was really compelling. Would you be would willing to write to the Committee with a few more details of that project, what worked, and how you are looking to expand it? That is exactly the role of the Committee: looking at good local best practice and how we can play a part i…”

“Good morning. Andrew Lewin, the Labour MP for Welwyn Hatfield.”

“We have just touched on the importance of new supply, and my question relates to that. The Government in their homelessness strategy say: “We cannot improve the quality of temporary accommodation without also increasing supply.” Then they reference the local authority housing fund, which enables councils to acquire hom…”