Speeches by Fox.

“I am the Member for Bridgwater. I am a former solicitor, and my interests are on the Register.”

“I want to touch on the impact assessment that the Government have published. I do not know whether you have read it because it is over 100 pages long, but it sets out the scale and timing of any benefits associated with this reform. It says that that remains unclear and that the associated costs are uncertain. In fact,…”

“My hon. Friend will know that the right to guaranteed hours contained in the Employment Rights Act is of great concern to hospitality and leisure businesses. In Burnham-on-Sea in my constituency, they are worried that if they enjoy a period of good weather during which they engage more casual staff, followed by a perio…”

“I thank the Minister for advance sight of her statement, and for our recent conversations about flooding in Somerset. Flooding is a huge challenge for areas across the country. Some 6.3 million properties in England are currently located in areas that are at risk of flooding, including many in my constituency. When flo…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Alec. I thank theright hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) for securing this debate and introducing it so very well. In Burnham-on-Sea, we have a fantastic coastguard team and rescue officers. They are dedicated volunteers who respond to incidents a…”

“I agree with the hon. Lady: I think those volunteers have been poorly treated. The payments were never a salary, but they made it possible for people to continue volunteering. One officer of many years, who shared his thoughts with me, said: “Call Outs never come at a ‘convenient’ time. The money we earn would never re…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Alec. I thank the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) for securing this important debate. Fishing is not just an industry; to many it is a way of life, passed from one generation to the next. It is why so many people in our fishing com…”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“The Minister is drawing to the end of his time allocation, but could he explain to fishermen the benefits, as he sees them, of his Government signing away to the EU 12 years of access to our fishing waters?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Vickers. This statutory instrument amends provisions within the Education and Inspections Act in relation to new schools. Let me start by acknowledging the one positive aspect of these regulations, which is to make it easier to create new pupil referral units. The p…”

“It seems a remarkable coincidence that, with this controversial case, someone forgot to ask the Attorney General in time.”

“Mr Parkinson, there have been many thousands of arrests linked to Palestine Action, but a much smaller proportion resulting in charges. What explains that gap? How confident are you that similar standards are being applied across all offence types? I am talking in particular of antisemitic hatred.”

“Some of the Palestine Action demonstrations have been very large indeed and resulted in thousands of arrests, but apparently very few of those arrests have been referred to the CPS. Would you comment on that? Do you have any explanation for that?”

“You spoke earlier about prosecutors being with the police at the time that they policed certain demonstrations. Are your prosecutors present when there are Palestine Action demonstrations and when there are chants of antisemitic hate? Do you take a similar approach to those demonstrations? Do your prosecutors involve t…”

“Can I stop you there? I would suggest that there have been a great many arrests, and not many of those are being referred to you. You might prosecute the ones that are referred to you but, clearly, if for whatever reason those arrests are not referred, that gives cause for concern that an even-handed approach is not be…”

“As far as you are concerned, there is no difference between the availability of CPS prosecutors to be in a police control room for a Palestine Action demonstration, as they would be for a different demonstration about another subject.”

“Okay.”

“Does the hon. Lady agree that the Government’s failure to publish the impact assessment means that NHS authorities across the country do not know how much this deal will cost them? My constituents in Somerset cannot get a GP appointment or see an NHS dentist. That is far more important to them than this obscure deal.”

“Do you think it was an accident or was it accidentally done on purpose by someone somewhere in the chain who did not want this prosecuted?”

“Does the Minister appreciate that the reason he is commissioning former Army bases and spending millions of pounds on more asylum accommodation is that his Government’s policy of smashing the gangs has completely failed? There have been 76,000 illegal crossings across the channel into our country, and until he accepts …”