Speeches by Gardiner.

“Can I ask for some rapid fire recommendations that we could make. I am trying to summarise some of the things that I have heard you say. First, would you like this Committee to make a recommendation on the way in which we are informing and educating people about standards?”

“Can we bring Dr Sayers in on that? He indicated he wanted to come in.”

“Will the hon. Gentleman give way?”

“I am slightly puzzled. In the Conservative Government’s response to the previous Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee report, they committed to putting these measures in place by 2025. Why have the Conservatives changed their minds so dramatically? Given that it appears that the hon. Gentleman would reject the…”

“The Minister has been most generous in giving way to Members. She mentioned that the scheme will apply to plastic and metal drinks containers. What discussions has she had, or what information have her officials gathered, about the potential for manufacturers to switch their containers to glass and the impact that migh…”

“Will the hon. Gentleman give way?”

“I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way, and commend the excellent work that she did on this subject as Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee. I think another Select Committee then looked at this subject in 2022, and the Government at that stage said that they would implement a deposit return scheme. Does m…”

“I commend the previous Government for much of the work they did. I commend the fact that they put in place the Environment Act 2021. I do so because it is really important that we adopt a bipartisan approach to these matters. When we are talking about the environment and climate change, yes in this Chamber we can have …”

“I applaud any movement in the right direction. The hon. Gentleman compares local authorities, but does he accept that many Labour local authorities have high-rise and tenement buildings, where collection is infinitely more difficult than in leafy suburbs with individual detached houses?”

“The good news is that 185 apartments around Wembley Stadium in my constituency are ready to be occupied. The bad news is that nobody can move into them, because the Building Safety Regulator has sat on its gateway 2 applications for six months and its gateway 3 applications for two months. We have a housing shortage. C…”

“Will the Foreign Secretary confirm that the Government will not lift the limited ban on arms sales to Israel until he or another Minister has come back to this House and explained why the danger of those arms being abused has receded?”

“Secretary of State, you said in your opening remarks that you felt like an old stager; I guess that makes me an ancient stager.”

“Indeed. E3G have said that Drax biomass is not needed to reach clean power by 2030.”

“Thank you for that. Let me try to get us down to more specifics. You have mentioned sustainability. Earlier today, I sent through to you at your Department copies of three letters that I sent. One was to the Financial Conduct Authority asking them to investigate whether KPMG had complied with their reporting and disclo…”

“There isn’t one. I want to ask you, though, to outline for us the process that needs to be gone through before your Department can take a decision about future subsidy to Drax Power Ltd.”

“With age I have learned that you take your opportunities when they present themselves. I want to take the opportunity to thank you for your amazing championing of climate action over the past 20 years. You probably feel a “but” coming.”

“I wanted to get it on the record because I wanted to be sure that you would respond to all of it—perhaps to some of it in writing.”

“The Government have said that by June, they intend to ratify the agreement on biodiversity beyond national jurisdictions, more commonly known as the global oceans treaty. They have also said quite correctly, and highly unusually, that before they do so, they intend to take steps to put in place the measures to implemen…”

“Good. That is what I need. Thank you.”

“They are what most members of the public would consider protected?”