Speeches by Alaba.

“I apologise, but I will not give way, because I am conscious that other Members want to speak. All too often, we hear from SMEs in the defence sector that access to funding is limited, slow-moving and difficult to secure. All too often, we see innovative British companies sell up or even relocate overseas. Take Ballist…”

“My belief in the importance of national defence is rooted in the single, simple idea that the United Kingdom is a nation inherently worth defending—not because of tradition or nostalgia, but because of the values of decency, respect, hard work and community that continue to define our society and can never be taken for…”

“This debate is deeply personal for me, because, in addition to being the Member for Southend East and Rochford, I am a proud former paratrooper. For me and countless others with military backgrounds like my own, the legacy of the troubles is not a distant memory but something that our community continues to carry the w…”

“I welcome the £2.5 million funding boost recently awarded to South Essex college; that will help equip even more residents from Southend and Rochford with the skills needed for fulfilling, lifelong careers. Following my conversations with Louisa Strachan, founder of Song School in Southend, on their desire for greater …”

“As a former Parachute Regiment reservist, I warmly welcome the Government’s clear focus on strengthening our armed forces and their defensive capability. Although the appetite for service remains high, the bureaucracy we inherited is holding back recruitment. Will the Secretary of State outline the steps that his Depar…”

“I am pleased to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool Wavertree (Paula Barker) for securing the debate. I also thank my friend and colleague, my hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme (Lee Pitcher) for his impassioned sharing of his very d…”

“So no autoplay on YouTube Kids?”

“Thank you, Chair. Do you sympathise with parents who navigate the usability of YouTube for young people?”

“Yes.”

“Can I come in there? We have heard from the BBC, and I understand what Alex said about the discoverability aspects. What kind of specific IP protections, prominence and guarantees can you provide in this partnership with the BBC? They are handing over a lot of content. What is that? What does it look like?”

“In your relationship, but yes, let’s go with kids for now.”

“I understand about the supply but what about the actual specific protections, whether it is one, two, five, or a thousand pieces of content? What are the protections? What are the guarantees?”

“Yes, but what about children’s content on the main channel?”

“Thank you for that. When the Committee took some evidence, we spoke to Professor Orben who basically said that for a parent to have high control, they need to be highly educated to navigate the tools on your platform. There was another report in 2024 that found that 16% of parents did not know how to set up parental co…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Vaz. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (Dame Chi Onwurah) for securing this timely and vital debate. In a world that is increasingly reliant on secure and stable access to digital technology, whether that is artificial intell…”

“I do understand that but, Alex, you mentioned that 500 hours of content are uploaded hourly. Mairi, you spoke about how kids access the channels. There are different platforms: phone, laptop, even on TV and things like that. You have all of these different routes into the platform. You also have YouTube Kids, for examp…”

“Okay. Another aspect is obviously the comments section. There are so many ways that our young people are affected, so what are the protections around some of the comments that you find in some of these channels as well?”

“You said January. Has that taken too long to come about? You have been in operation for some time. We have heard about the profits that you make. We understand you are a well-resourced organisation, so why has it taken that long to make those adjustments?”

“I understand that in the United Kingdom, our universities operate as businesses independent from the Government. However, given the unacceptable lack of transparency from the senior leadership team at the University of Essex on the decision to close its Southend campus, can the Leader of the House facilitate a meeting …”

“I thank the Minister for that response. Small businesses are the backbone of our local economies, but in my constituency, sunny Southend East and Rochford, they are held back by traffic congestion on the A127. What steps is the Minister taking to ensure that local infrastructure projects, such as a new link road for so…”