Speeches by Hinchliff.

“Mr Zenghelis, a moment ago you said that growth is at the core of the Treasury’s objectives. Is that compatible with the reality of environmental limits? We have heard a bit about political leadership already today. It seems to me that we are very rarely able to say, “No, that is enough” in the context of growth. There…”

“Will the Secretary of State put an end to this unholy mess and rid us of this frankly parasitic company once and for all?”

“The Secretary of State has made the right decision in seeking to protect billpayers and opposing giving Thames Water a free pass to continue polluting our rivers. The thousands of hours of sewage spills into chalk streams and their tributaries across North East Hertfordshire that Thames Water has continued to oversee a…”

“I am sorry to turn to quite a sombre note at this point, but between 2012 and 2024, more than 2,000 land and environmental defenders were murdered or disappeared globally. I think many of us would feel that cutting our carbon emissions in the UK is frankly by the by if we do not also succeed in protecting forests in th…”

“Minister, you spoke about your approach to achieving carbon budget 7 being focused on avoiding risk by leaning toward technology where possible rather than behaviour change, in order to get where we need to. We have also spoken a lot about electrification, but of course, electrification itself will require behaviour ch…”

“My point was that, in the political and policy space, we often say that electrification is easier than what we traditionally refer to as behaviour change, but some people are starting to dispute that based on the evidence we have seen so far. It is good to hear your positivity, but just to push again, would you not acc…”

“You have mentioned a couple of times a working paper, which I believe was published by your Department last year, about community ownership, community benefit and standardising that. It was going to look at shared ownership as a standard offer to communities hosting renewable energy. As far as I am aware, there has bee…”

“To take a slightly different angle, and again thinking about transport in particular, the Government’s CB7 is predicated very much on reducing emissions in transport through moving people into electric cars, much more so than on modal shift into public transport. Again, that approach, which is reliant on electrificatio…”

“Okay. That brings me on to probably my last question. Obviously, I completely agree that we are only going to reach net zero if we bring the public with us. Do you feel that your approach is doing enough at this stage to make sure that the low-carbon options in all sorts of aspects of our lives are affordable for peopl…”

“This is a very significant piece of legislation. I have tabled a number of amendments that I believe would strengthen it even further, but in the time available I will focus on the issue that is without doubt the top priority for my constituents when it comes to rail reform: cutting fares, through amendment 32. Thirty …”

“This is a very significant piece of legislation. I have tabled a number of amendments that I believe would strengthen it even further, but in the time available I will focus on the issue that is without doubt the top priority for my constituents when it comes to rail reform: cutting fares, through amendment 32. Thirty …”

“We come to the Chamber almost weekly to highlight the failures of the water sector in our constituencies, but I want to highlight a wider point today. For years, economic policy in this country has been based on trying to achieve growth by unlocking private capital, often from abroad. In this essential sector, we are n…”

“It is an honour to serve with you in the Chair, Ms Lewell. I congratulate the hon. Member for Didcot and Wantage (Olly Glover) on securing this important debate. The question of support for our high street businesses cuts to the very core of what economic policy in this country sets out to achieve. For decades, a flawe…”

“Dr Millar, given that you have already spoken today about the possibility of intense heat waves potentially leading to thousands, or even tens of thousands, of excess deaths, do you have particular concerns about adaptation in relation to our country—well, not just our country, but the whole planet—crossing climate tip…”

“Before I turn to some of the specific details, do you think Parliament needs to have more of a role in scrutinising the targets that you spoke about, to see whether we are delivering what we are committing to?”

“Professor Surminski, on a specific point that you have already touched on, how do we adapt to a future when extreme heat and drought lead to regular crop failures in the UK and globally?”

“How do we prevent that coming too late? You talked about the second half of the century, but if we get to the second half of the century and those tipping points are crossed, we need to have been ready for them.”

“Your report says: “Whether or not to prepare for the changing climate is now solely a political choice.” I hope you will forgive me for saying this, but that is rather easy for you to say. I sit here—we all sit here—and I have to answer to the good people of North East Hertfordshire, not just deliver technocratic polic…”

“Alongside the failures in the south-east, during the recent heatwave there was a widespread disruption of water supply across swathes of my constituency, in Buntingford, Cottered, Ardeley and Throcking. In a country as wet as ours it should take a true organising genius to create disruptions in water supply, but we are…”

“Dr Millar, the Climate Change Committee was fairly scathing about the Government’s previous national adaptation programme. You said it fell “far short of what is needed” and that it “fails to set out a compelling vision”. What are your key recommendations for the next programme?”