Speeches by Voaden.

“It is a real pleasure to speak in this King’s Speech debate, which is my first in this Chamber. Last time around, I was sat on my own in a hotel room on the south bank with covid, warmly shared as a welcome gift by a lovely new colleague just after I entered this place. After the local election results last week, it is…”

“What I said is absolutely correct. In my constituency of South Devon, new build homes in developer-led housing estates are selling for £950,000. We are not providing the homes we need—the social homes and the truly affordable homes that young people, young couples, young families and people who want to move out from th…”

“I thank the hon. Member for his intervention. We do not have a mayor in Devon, so we miss out on a lot of that legislation’s benefits. I have loads of villages that do not even have a bus, so talk of bus fares is completely irrelevant when there is literally no service. How are young people supposed to get to college o…”

“I would like to talk about phonics for a moment. We know, and you have said, that consistent early exposure to books rather than infrequent reading is crucial, not just for closing the vocabulary gap but for achieving better at school, and for lifelong upward social mobility. Do you think that the focus in early years …”

“Do you think that is too early?”

“Do you think that having a reading test emphasises the fact that reading is work—it is a subject, it is serious, and we have to pass this test—rather than emphasising reading for pleasure?”

“Professor Eaglestone, you have already referred to the curriculum and assessment review, and there were a number of recommendations relating to the English curriculum in the final report last year, including the grammar content, the oracy framework and the content of the English Language GCSE. What is your response to …”

“Could you tell us what kind of training you think early years practitioners currently receive on reading for pleasure and what more might be needed?”

“Do you think that is too early?”

“I would like to talk about phonics for a moment. We know, and you have said, that consistent early exposure to books rather than infrequent reading is crucial, not just for closing the vocabulary gap but for achieving better at school, and for lifelong upward social mobility. Do you think that the focus in early years …”

“Do you think that having a reading test emphasises the fact that reading is work—it is a subject, it is serious, and we have to pass this test—rather than emphasising reading for pleasure?”

“Could you tell us what kind of training you think early years practitioners currently receive on reading for pleasure and what more might be needed?”

“Professor Eaglestone, you have already referred to the curriculum and assessment review, and there were a number of recommendations relating to the English curriculum in the final report last year, including the grammar content, the oracy framework and the content of the English Language GCSE. What is your response to …”

“I was just about to say: what about the year 8 reading test? What effect will that have on reading for pleasure?”

“I was just about to say: what about the year 8 reading test? What effect will that have on reading for pleasure?”

“I just wanted to make a brief intervention on the issue of entry into farming. Devon county council has several farms and it is very keen to use them as a way to get young people into farming, especially those who do not have a family farm of their own. It is quite worrying what might happen to those county farms if De…”

“A quarter of female teachers have been subjected to misogynistic abuse in the classroom in the last year. They report feeling humiliated and violated, and we know that impressionable young boys are targeted on social media with algorithms that pump misogynistic content to them. Will the Minister push the Government to …”

“Many farmers are relying on SFI, but it closed to new applications in March and is yet to reopen, and there is no clarity about the future budget. Delays in payments to those who have agreements have caused significant concern to many of my constituents who have faced cash-flow issues. Does my hon. Friend agree that gr…”

“I want to go back to what you were saying, Darren, about the guidance becoming statutory. Quite a lot of schools have a “not seen, not heard” policy. That means that you turn it off, put it in your bag, pretend it is not there and do not get distracted by it or look at it in the break or at lunchtime—you just carry it …”

“Do the other witnesses have anything to add?”