Speeches by Blackman.

“T7. The current heatwave shows no signs of abating, and during such times the demand for water increases. The water companies are already imposing restrictions on the supply of water, so what assessment has the Secretary of State made of the water supply and when will she consider nationwide restrictions?”

“The flagrant breaches of the ceasefire that have taken place clearly demonstrate that Iran has no interest in anything other than dominating the region. The Minister may call in the chargé d’affaires, and he may call for action, but we want to see some action from the UK Government. Will he undertake to expel those peo…”

“Of course, we do not know whether the Leader of the House will become Prime Minister in a few days’ time, but we do know that either he will continue in his current role or someone will replace him. On behalf of the Backbench Business Committee, I ask that we get early warning of what time we will receive when we retur…”

“T9. In this House, I have long championed rolling out small modular nuclear reactors, so the decision on Wylfa is welcome, despite the fact that we could have a full-scale nuclear power station and an SMR there. Will the Secretary of State announce the sites that will be used in further roll-out, so that is settled in …”

“I have a few questions for the Minister. These are extremely harmful drugs that threaten the people who take them. Can the Minister update the Committee on whether they are arriving in the country in their final form or whether they are synthesised in this country from raw products, and how are they being administered …”

“21. What assessment he has made of trends in the number of people receiving immediate custodial sentences for knife crime offences.”

“The fact is that more and more young people are carrying knives, supposedly to defend themselves. That leads to knife crime on our streets—certainly in my constituency, it is a serious problem, particularly between young people. We have now experienced stabbings in schools, which is disastrous. Those who are caught car…”

“I thank the Leader of the House for announcing the business that we have scheduled. In addition to the business he has announced, on Thursday 9 July there will be a debate on a ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements, followed by a further debate on which we await confirmation from the sponsor. On Thursday 16 Jul…”

“Hostile state actors routinely broadcast misinformation to our young people and radicalise them in their own homes. I agree completely with the Secretary of State that we have to take action; the problem is that primary legislation will never keep up with technology. I urge her to therefore consider a media Bill with w…”

“14. What steps her Department is taking to help tackle antisemitism on university campuses.”

“The fact is that antisemitism and anti-Jewish hatred is rife in campuses across our country. The Secretary of State is right that it is up to vice-chancellors and principals to ensure that Jewish students feel safe on campus, but the sad reality is that a recent survey shows that only 3% of Jewish students feel safe to…”

“Thank you, Mr Speaker, and apologies for not being in the Chamber earlier. The sad reality is that many Christians in the west bank and Gaza face direct challenges for forced conversion to Islam, and in the Holy Lands now there is not an attempt to increase the number of Christians and bear witness. Will the Church rea…”

“In addition to the business that the Leader of the House has announced, next Thursday, in the Chamber, there will be a statement from the Work and Pensions Committee on its recent report. The Backbench Business Committee received eight high-quality bids for estimates day debates, and we had to disappoint two. As the Le…”

“I sat on the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee for 14 years. We saw the first exposé of the scandals of the grooming gangs, particularly in Rochdale and other places in the north of England. Dame Louise Casey came in front of us and made recommendations that have still not been carried out, so full po…”

“It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Stevenage (Kevin Bonavia), who made a thoughtful speech on the threats we all face. I listened carefully to the Home Secretary’s speech and those made by colleagues across the Chamber. I noticed that the Home Secretary was careful not to name any organisations that will be…”

“It is clear that this is one of a series of actions that need to be taken. If we had had the opportunity to give the Bill pre-legislative scrutiny, suggestions could have been made to increase its scope to deal with these issues once and for all. It is pretty clear to me that action needs to be taken to defend our peop…”

“I thank my right hon. Friend for that intervention. Another issue, which the Committee also referred to, was that certain charities in this country are linked to or directed and funded by Tehran. At least 13 charities are under investigation by the Charity Commission. I have asked continually for action from the Govern…”

“In Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Pakistani security forces have fired on peaceful demonstrators who were standing for human rights, and the right to food and proper security in their area. More than 30 people were killed, and more than 200 injured, including British nationals. What action has the Secretary of State taken …”

“The Secretary of State is absolutely right to put customers at the forefront, but the problem, as she said in her statement, is that this will all take rather a long time to unwind. At present, uncertainty is the real concern for customers, especially the uncertainty about whether they will be charged extra on their bi…”

“Finally from me, what experience did you have of people coming to you who maybe had gone to your predecessors and perhaps, shall we say, not got a very satisfactory response? They might have then thought, “Ah, there’s this new MP; I’ll try them and see whether they can actually do something for me.””