Speeches by Thomas.

“I hope my hon. Friend does not mind if I join in on his last point, which adds to the comments made by our hon. Friend the Member for St Ives (Andrew George) about the branding that Lloyds uses to portray itself as “By Your Side”, as though it is a member of the community. It uses the powerful image of the black stalli…”

“Your review highlighted the severe challenges facing touring, such as rising costs, reduced touring capacity, and tax relief structures that no longer reflect the reality of touring. What is the most important intervention needed to ensure that touring remains viable?”

“That was quick. Thank you. For those organisations that are already on the brink of stopping touring altogether, is there anything immediate that you think might—”

“Good answer.”

“Would you be in support of a customs union between the UK and the EU, or do you think there is another measure by which you might—”

“I might have followed up on the same point. It is the same reason I cannot get my schools to come here. It is the cost of coach travel.”

“Yes, I would hope so. There is then the matter of touring in the EU. We recently had a session on performing arts touring in the EU. We heard that changes to orchestra tax relief now block orchestras from claiming key EU touring costs, causing losses of up to £400,000. You highlighted the same issue. What steps should …”

“The hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage) has described a gentleman, George Cottrell, as “like a son” to him, despite that individual being a convicted money launderer. Does my hon. Friend share my suspicion? What does she make of the potential connection between money laundering and cryptocurrency?”

“I absolutely agree, and I look forward to the Rycroft review hopefully making some recommendations along those very lines. The case of Bradshaw and others v. the United Kingdom at the European Court of Human Rights judged in 2025 that the UK’s decision to leave the European Union was subject to Russian interference, bu…”

“It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mr Pritchard. I hope that the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage) enjoyed the email that I sent him this afternoon. Carl von Clausewitz described war as a continuation of politics by other means. In the Kremlin, the reverse is true and every lever of statehood is a mach…”

“I am grateful to you for allowing me to continue, Madam Speaker. The hon. Member for Great Yarmouth declined in his intervention to declare his interest: he is, in fact, bought and paid for by Elon Musk.”

“On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. We have heard this evening from the hon. Member for Great Yarmouth (Rupert Lowe), who celebrated Elon Musk—rather tactlessly, I believe—in this debate. Notwithstanding the fact that like Mandelson, Musk had a relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, and in fact was found to have bee…”

“Madam Deputy Speaker, I withdraw the remark that the hon. Member for Great Yarmouth was bought and paid for. I regret the tone that I used.”

“The hon. Gentleman is probably quite right to note that there were significant failings by the previous provider. Does he accept that there were clear failings by the previous Government?”

“It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. All credit to the hon. Member for Blackpool North and Fleetwood (Lorraine Beavers) for securing this important debate. She can so often be found calling out injustice. As is clearly the case for many MPs, recent weeks have brought forth an abundance of correspon…”

“Tom, what are the financial risks for UK actors working in and touring the EU since Brexit?”

“It sounds as though, particularly if you do not have money to put up front, it is quite a big gamble if you might be looking at seven months to get paid.”

“Euan and Matt, do you have anything to add to that response?”

“Euan or Matt, do you have anything to add to that?”

“During which you might be out of work.”