Speeches by Thomas.

“Does my right hon. Friend agree that the Government’s devolution proposal is an urban-based model that cannot be applied to rural areas without fundamentally distorting the character of that area?”

“While the current devolution plans in this Bill put politics before people, the Government are pressing ahead with the Bill before the independent adult social care review is published in 2028. I believe that to reorganise local government without first confronting the fundamental crisis in care is to put the cart befo…”

“The Government appear to be conflating the terms “illegal immigrant” and “asylum seeker.” The UK has rightly in the past taken in asylum seekers, including Ukrainians fleeing persecution, but they are different from those who are crossing the channel illegally, the vast majority of whom are men aged 20 to 30 who appear…”

“While the Minister is right to point out that this refinery produces a small amount of the UK’s refined fuel overall, the site does provide around 50% of the fuel into Warwickshire Oil Storage, a key site at Kingsbury in the west midlands that supplies fuel into the west midlands, which is obviously a very large demand…”

“The vast majority of British citizens are law-abiding, and they are concerned about the impact of mass migration on their communities. A deterrent would go some way towards restoring trust that the British people may have in the asylum system. When will the Government implement a deterrent to send those entering the co…”

“Democracy is fragile and, here in the United Kingdom, our democracy is strongly in the crosshairs of nefarious states including Russia and China, which do not share our values. We are seeing increasing activity online, particularly to distort the outcome of elections, via platforms including TikTok, which have links to…”

“indicated assent.”

“When is a trade deal not a trade deal? It has been nine weeks since the Prime Minister announced a deal to protect steel from US tariffs, and 10 weeks since the Secretary of State said that the India deal was “signed, sealed and delivered.” Will the Secretary of State publish the details of these important deals withou…”

“Clearly this is an expensive undertaking, and we are talking tens of billions of pounds over time. Do you think it is right that the cost of that is borne by consumers?”

“Transmission costs in Britain being higher than comparative economies, such as France and Germany, do you think there is a good or compelling reason for that?”

“Do you have any concerns about the readiness of the grid network to cope with and accommodate the energy transitions?”

“My right hon. Friend the Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Sir John Hayes) is absolutely spot on. The message to the Government is clear: they cannot tax their way to prosperity.”

“I have explained that I will not give way any further. The nation deserves better. It deserves a Government who trust enterprise, rein in the bloated state and live within their means. I urge the House to support the motion and send a clear message: scrap the jobs tax, fix the welfare overburden, protect pensioners and…”

“I will not give way; I have been generous in taking interventions. As the Chancellor grows increasingly desperate to save the sinking ship of her fiscal rules, there is now rumour of a wealth tax to compound the Government’s contempt for not only working people, but industry leaders and innovators. That is not conjectu…”

“I will not; I have been generous with interventions. More than half of business owners nationally are planning to, or have made, further cuts to staff numbers in response to increased employer national insurance contributions. In May, 109,000 jobs were lost in a single month. When we tax jobs out of existence, the fisc…”

“I thank my right hon. Friend—that is another failure by Labour.”

“The Government have not seen a success. Where we have seen tariffs imposed on the economy, the Government have not reduced them. There is a competitive disadvantage as a result of what we are seeing in the global economic climate. When Labour governs, Britain suffers.”

“Earlier this month, the House witnessed the Government lose control of swathes of their own party. They have had just more than a year in office, and yet the cracks could not be clearer. In the last year, the country has had to endure U-turns, tax increases and a stagnant economy, and yet the Chancellor and the Prime M…”

“When businesses in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency make people redundant, do those employers explain to his constituents that they have to do that for the good of the NHS?”

“I welcome the increase in defence spending, but how on earth is the Prime Minister going to pay for it when his party cannot agree on a small reduction in the welfare bill?”