Speeches by Midgley.

“You were talking about the reform of the apprenticeship levy. Do you have confidence in Skills England, the body being put into existence to look at apprenticeships and skills?”

“I will focus my remarks on the impact of generative AI on musicians. I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, and I am a member of the Musicians’ Union. With a background in the music industry, sharing friendships with many musicians and as a fan, I have been inundated with concern…”

“Thanks for coming in. I am going to ask a few questions around public perception. You touched on this earlier in the session, going back to what Marcelle was saying about the challenge and opportunity. To start, how do you think making the case for net zero is going out there?”

“Marcelle, you were speaking before about getting support from local communities on these infrastructure projects as well. We have seen that done successfully in the nuclear industry. Do you think that lessons can be learned from that in terms of when quality jobs are prioritised, invested in and committed to through th…”

“What about some of the language used around this, which can feel quite alienating to people and not normal? Net zero itself is seen as something that is not really going down well. What do you think about the way we are talking about this in terms of a transition so people do not feel further alienated from it?”

“Some of the workforce are saying as well that, if they retrain—for example, to fit heat pumps—they are going to get paid less. There are different views on that, but there is a perception that that is what is going to happen, so there is also this to deal with in terms of workforce issues.”

“Alongside that, we have a lot of industrial sectors that are shrinking, and workers and wider communities are afraid. They think that they are going to lose their jobs, their bills are going to go up and they are going to end up skint, and not without cause. We have seen this recently in places such as Port Talbot and …”

“What about some of the language used around this, which can feel quite alienating to people and not normal? Net zero itself is seen as something that is not really going down well. What do you think about the way we are talking about this in terms of a transition so people do not feel further alienated from it?”

“Thanks for coming in. I am going to ask a few questions around public perception. You touched on this earlier in the session, going back to what Marcelle was saying about the challenge and opportunity. To start, how do you think making the case for net zero is going out there?”

“Alongside that, we have a lot of industrial sectors that are shrinking, and workers and wider communities are afraid. They think that they are going to lose their jobs, their bills are going to go up and they are going to end up skint, and not without cause. We have seen this recently in places such as Port Talbot and …”

“Marcelle, you were speaking before about getting support from local communities on these infrastructure projects as well. We have seen that done successfully in the nuclear industry. Do you think that lessons can be learned from that in terms of when quality jobs are prioritised, invested in and committed to through th…”

“Some of the workforce are saying as well that, if they retrain—for example, to fit heat pumps—they are going to get paid less. There are different views on that, but there is a perception that that is what is going to happen, so there is also this to deal with in terms of workforce issues.”

“I welcome the Minister’s statement, but in my constituency GCSE results are among the lowest in the country and a quarter of pupils are classed as persistently absent. What message does the Minister have for children, parents and teachers about plans to drive high and rising standards to provide more and better opportu…”

“AstraZeneca’s decision to pull its £450 million investment in the Speke manufacturing plant is a blow for the creation of jobs across the city region, including in my constituency. I commend my right hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool Garston (Maria Eagle) for her tireless efforts in trying to get this deal over the …”

“I thank the Secretary of State for that positive response, and I thank her and the Prime Minister for meeting me and my constituent Cheryl Korbel, the mother of Olivia Pratt-Korbel, the nine-year-old who was tragically murdered in 2022. Cheryl is pleased that the Government have committed to implementing Olivia’s law w…”

“Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for granting this debate. I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests as a member of Unite the Union. I have spent my life in the trade union movement, so it is no surprise that my first Adjournment debate focuses on the principle of collective bargaini…”

“6. If she will bring forward legislative proposals to enable courts to order the attendance of offenders at sentencing hearings.”

“Recently, I visited the Royal Mail delivery office in Huyton. Posties spoke to me about serious problems with low-level letterboxes, including bad back and joint issues and an increase in bad dog attacks. One postie even showed me scars across his hand from a dog attack. Will the Minister meet me, the Communication Wor…”

“Thank you. You have mentioned the domestic heat workforce in this session, but what is the plan for them? We obviously have an ageing workforce, there is a skills bottleneck and there are fears about future job security as well, given the Government decisions about home heating. Can you briefly set out how your Departm…”

“Thank you, Chair, Secretary of State and Permanent Secretary. I will ask a couple of questions on jobs and workforce. Starting with the warm homes plan, there is obviously an incredible potential to create tens of thousands of jobs with retrofitting our homes, but at the moment those jobs that are insulating our lofts …”