Speeches by Maynard.

“Going back to the F-35s used in Gaza, currently I feel the Government are being wilfully ignorant, because the Israeli Air Force itself has tweeted that, since October 2023, the service’s F-35s have flown more than 15,000 operational flight hours, taking part in thousands of sorties in all theatres. I do not understand…”

“Let me put it another way: how can the Government be confident that they are complying with their international obligations if they disapply their own criteria?”

“Why have you disapplied the criteria?”

“Why have the Government exempted their entire criteria for arms controls when considering the F-35 carve-out?”

“Okay, we will come back to you, but can Sir Chris please go first?”

“On the point about upskilling teachers, the Mulberry Bush school in my constituency does a fantastic job with outreach from specialist schools to regular schools. Does my hon. Friend agree that upskilling teachers and using skills inside the SEND schools to teach teachers in the broader environment would be a great thi…”

“There is a lot to welcome in the Bill, and I support the overarching aim. However, there are several important details that very much concern small operators and community transport providers in my Witney constituency, and I shall speak on their behalf. They include West Oxfordshire Community Transport, including Andre…”

“Will the Minister outline what the Government are doing to highlight and explain to the citizens of our country what our obligations are to Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and all our NATO allies under article 5, and the role played by the joint expeditionary force, with the Baltic three, the Nordic five, the Nether…”

“And sea?”

“Given that Israel continues to act with impunity, what new levers will our Government use to take actions that are within its powers, such as restrictions on travel and trade, air and sea delivery of aid—given that land delivery is so appalling—and in relation to the F-35? We are breaching international humanitarian la…”

“The nominal ultimate controllers right now are the shareholders who have taken their board directors off, which is fine; they can stay there because they still officially own those shares, even if those shares are worth nothing. I have no issue with that. What is extraordinary, though, is that in court, Thames’s parent…”

“Could I let it rest and maybe you could dig into that and reply in writing, if that would be possible? It is really important to make this clear: I am not saying that it is instead; it is in addition that the Class A creditors clearly have material influence on Thames Water. If it is in addition to the existing shareho…”

“Ignoring Sir Jon’s recommendations and dealing with the here and now, it says that if you materially influence the company, you are an ultimate controller. Clearly, the class A creditors, as de facto economic owners of the company, are able to materially influence it. So why is Ofwat not accepting this and saying that …”

“Thank you, Chair; it is very good to see you. One question I have is about mutualisation. Following up on your recommendation 46, which I was delighted to hear, if Thames was to go into special administration and there was an offer on the table for a mutualisation of the company, is that something the Government would …”

“My next question is about the definition of ultimate control under Ofwat’s regulations. The Business and Trade Committee received a reply from Ofwat which I forwarded to you this morning. I do not expect you to have read it; I only received it yesterday. It basically says that ultimate control is a defined term under t…”

“Sorry, but the ultimate controller is in fact defined and it is in Ofwat’s power to decide who is an ultimate controller or not. Thames Water’s parent company said in court that it is essentially the economic owner of the company, but Ofwat is currently saying that it does not believe it is able to materially influence…”

“As far as you would like to say, what would be good to see between the police and the CPS for this to change and improve?”

“Could I just follow up on that, Chris? E.ON operates across Europe. I do not expect you necessarily to have a perfect answer on this, but is there a regulatory environment in Europe that you think has got it right, that does not use the marginal price of gas to price electricity and that you have heard of as a sensible…”

“I have just done a PCSO shift in Witney and Carterton. I was impressed by lots that I saw. The CCTV systems are very good. The knowledge of key perpetrators is very good. Where it gets much stickier, to a point of deep depression, is that everybody in town knows that it is this guy or that girl, or whoever it may be, d…”

“I have one question to each of you very quickly, if that is all right. Venus, the Energy Ombudsman does not seem to have enough powers to make changes here. I am wondering whether that is a factor not just in the energy market but across the country. Would we be better off if we had one macro ombudsman with real powers…”