Speeches by Jenkin.

“Can I ask the Minister whether I have got this right? The Chancellor made a speech to try to reassure the markets that she was going to plug the enormous black hole in the Government’s finances. It reassured the markets to an extent, and the forecasted borrowing costs fell. The OBR adjusted its forecasts, and then the …”

“I thank my right hon. Friend the shadow Leader of the House and others for pressing the case for a Backbench Business debate on Ukraine. I also thank the Leader of the House for considering the matter favourably. May I just emphasise the importance of having a motion on the Order Paper for such a debate that raises par…”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“My right hon. Friend is making a very able speech explaining why the clean power 2030 action plan is so ruinous for consumers. What she has not mentioned is that trying to connect up this very dispersed array of wind farms across the North sea requires an enormous amount of new infrastructure. We now know that the load…”

“The Minister will let me explain why, in the Alice in Wonderland world of the Government’s net zero policies, it is right to import liquefied natural gas, which for some reason does not count in our carbon footprint, instead of producing our own gas, which would count but which would be cheaper, far easier and more car…”

“On that point, will the hon. Gentleman give way?”

“Thank you very much, indeed. I am most grateful.”

“A number of issues are very current, such as the statement that Ukraine has particularly asked all the national Parliaments to make about the non-recognition of annexed territories; the urgent question of the missing children; the very urgent question of the frozen assets and what the Government are doing to try to rel…”

“I have to wait as long as you want me to. I would say that there is no other issue that is existential for our own and European security and the survival of western democracy. What is at stake over the war in Ukraine is whether Russia is going to emerge ascendant, or whether we are going to demonstrate that we are dete…”

“Three hours would be fantastic.”

“I am quite certain that if you gave us a full six hours, we could fill them. I am also mindful of the Committee’s injunction that people should not support this debate unless they intend to speak. However, a lot of the Members sponsoring this motion are Chairs of Select Committees and are very busy. Depending upon the …”

“Thank you very much; it is good to see you all. The main reason for asking you to give time for this debate is that there has not been a proper debate about Ukraine. There was an Adjournment debate in Government time, I think, in February, but there has not been a debate where a motion was tabled and agreed by the Hous…”

“I rise as Chair of the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee. I am pleased to report that this statutory instrument passed our scrutiny. We checked the legal drafting and whether the instrument is intra vires and going through the proper legislative procedure. We deal with 1,200 or 1,500 instruments a year, but this…”

“She always gets excited when I mention the European Union.”

“I am listening carefully to the right hon. Gentleman, and the whole premise of his case is that it is somehow in the public interest for people in that community to carry on trying to find people to blame and prosecute on both sides of the argument. Is the real case here not that it is not only an extraordinary injusti…”

“Can the Minister describe what he is doing within his own Department so that his own officials actually reward, recognise and engage with innovation? The acquisitions system in the MOD is notoriously bureaucratic, incredibly risk-averse and makes it impossible for small companies, in particular, to engage with innovati…”

“I am most grateful to the hon. Lady. They say that in Parliament you should never ask a question to which you do not know the answer, but I am going to ask one. I notice that the EU is also moving towards this kind of ban, although I do not know whether it is the same. In Wales, the Welsh Labour Government have already…”

“Why does the Minister refuse to issue new licences for the exploitation of new gas fields and new oil fields in the North sea? That is what the industry would like, and that is what the country would like, because we would like a stronger balance of payments, more tax revenues for the Exchequer, and a future for the No…”

“May I first invite the Minister to clarify what he said in response to my question last week? I pointed out that, in his letter to the Select Committee Chairs, the Director of Public Prosecutions was clear that he had asked for a statement that China was a national security threat, and it was not forthcoming. The Minis…”

“Given that the deputy National Security Adviser is a civil servant and therefore accountable, who was holding him to account for the job that he was doing? May I just emphasise that I am sure he was doing his level and honourable best in the circumstances in which he found himself, but it is really beyond belief that—a…”