Speeches by Spencer.

“I have to go back to the previous point again. Will cyber-security measures be covered as part of the consultation?”

“Is that a cyber-security vulnerability the Minister has just disclosed to the Committee?”

“I am not convinced that the clause is ambiguous. In the absence of a counter-amendment or a commitment from the Minister to bring something to the Committee to achieve the enhanced security in this area that we all want, we oppose the Government amendment. Question put, That the amendment be made.”

“Notwithstanding the question that the Minister has just posed, we are speaking in parallel lines. The purpose of the provision is to ensure that adequate cyber-security measures are taken up and accessed by parties. Security around the NUAR is one thing; there is also the question of security around the relevant stakeh…”

“I think the Minister entirely appreciates where we are going, why the amendment has been put on the boards and why there is a desire for something like it in the Bill. Will he put forward a counter-amendment to satisfy that desire?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Hobhouse. The national underground asset register is clearly important. The benefits of trusted partners having access to the information held in this critical infrastructure are plain to see, and I am glad that this provision is in the latest iteration of the Bill.…”

“Will the code of practice include information on the proportionate disclosure of data through the DVS scheme?”

“I am not going to rehash the previous debates. Clearly, the Committee has made its decision, no matter how disappointing that is. I just wanted to pick up the Minister’s previous point about the use of common sense in arbitration decisions when it comes to access to protected same-sex spaces. I fully support using comm…”

“What is the point of politics if we do not have a debate? We strongly disagree with the interpretation that the provisions are somehow incompatible with ECHR rights. They totally support people’s privacy rights under article 8 regarding proportionate disclosures. If somebody needs to have someone’s sex data, they need …”

“Amendments 10 and 11 seek to remove certain provisions that were introduced in Committee in the other place. I thank Sex Matters for its work, but also many people in this policy area who have tried to focus on the importance of data accuracy and validity when it is used. I hope we all agree that it is important that d…”

“Digital verification services are important, and will make a big change when rolled out as part of this legislation. The provision is entirely right, particularly on the proportionality of data disclosure. Reading through some of the various reports and briefings we have received, the example used is of someone going i…”

“I apologise, Mr Turner: I misspoke earlier with regard to our position on the Government amendments. Rather than offering positive support, I meant to say that we will not oppose the technical amendments. What does the FCA think about these amendments? Has the Department consulted the FCA?”

“We support technical amendments to the Bill to make sure it works properly, but I am intrigued why these amendments are necessary at such a late stage, bearing in mind the multiple layers of scrutiny that the Bill has gone through. Can he explain where he received the feedback about the necessity of the proposed change…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner, and I thank all hon. Members taking part in the Committee as well as the officials. As the Minister said, this is the third iteration of this Bill and it has been extensively covered in Committee before. We rely on and thank former Members and those in the o…”

“I thank the Minister for giving way. I appreciate that it is a technical question and I hope he is able to give a response. Equally, I appreciate that he may have to write to me in due course. I see that there are papers coming his way.”

“We are dealing with those provisions a bit later on.”

“I will build on the Minister’s last point. I am glad that we have these provisions in the current incarnation of the Bill. One of the things that makes the Bill so interesting is that it contains a panoply of different areas of correction and improvement. On the electronic register of births and deaths, what is perhaps…”

“I thank the Prime Minister for his statement, and for acknowledging that although what has been said today is very important, he and the Government will need to come back to us on getting towards 3%. In response to an earlier question, the Prime Minister said that the peace dividend is gone. Does he agree that we also …”

“Does the Minister not agree that the lesson to draw from this is the importance of military strength, working with all our NATO and European allies, but critically being able to stand on our own two feet militarily? We need to see defence spending as investment, and in that light does she wish we were not giving howeve…”

“Our position is pretty much exactly as I have just set out in my speech. A Government consultation is under way that presents four options, including the Government’s preferred opt-out option. There are challenges with that opt-out approach, as well as with a whole range of different approaches. As I have previously sa…”