Speeches by Vince.

“I thank my hon. Friend for his powerful testimony and his tribute to his friend Michael. I do not think I could have put it any better. To finish, we are all aware of the challenges that the NHS, the Department and the Minister and her team face. I recognise that I have made a lot of asks this evening, and I suppose my…”

“I thank the Minister and the shadow Minister for opening the debate and for taking my slightly too long intervention. I also thank Sir Tony Robinson for his visit to Harlow before the general election. He had a cunning plan to get me elected as the MP for Harlow, and with that particular cunning plan, he was successful…”

“Will the hon. Gentleman give way?”

“Conservative Members will know my background and work career, because I mention that I used to be a teacher every time I speak. I ask the hon. Gentleman to consider that many in his party talk about education but have not been teachers. Does he not recognise that, as Members of Parliament, we bring the experience of th…”

“On the topic of the NHS, the point I made in the previous debate is really important. The investment in the NHS is not just an investment in buildings; it is an investment in people, including working people. I have lots of people in my constituency who are self-employed—sole traders, as we call them. Does my right hon…”

“I read the OBR report with interest. One of its recommendations that caught my attention was this: “We recommend that the process for publishing the EFOs…should immediately be removed from the locally managed website and conducted in an environment more appropriate to the nature of the task”. May I ask the Chief Secret…”

“It is a pleasure to speak in this Opposition day debate. I would say that it is the first time I have spoken in a while, but I did so about two hours ago. [Interruption.] I am already getting heckled. I thank both my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and the shadow Chancellor for their different but…”

“I thank my hon. Friend, but I must disagree with him, because my next point was to say, in all sincerity, that I am a little bit disappointed with the Opposition motion, which I feel is particularly targeted at an individual. I recognise that the motion is about the Chancellor’s position and does not name her, so there…”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. I do not think I could ever be accused of being devoid of sympathy. I became an MP because I genuinely and passionately care about making a positive difference to people’s lives. In fact, as Members across the House know, I previously worked in the charity sector and as …”

“The right hon. Gentleman will be aware that the OBR was very confident that the Chancellor did not mislead in the statement she put out, and I am confident about that. The Chancellor was consistent in her priorities for this Budget: tackling the cost of living crisis, bringing down waiting times and cutting borrowing. …”

“Members on the Conservative Benches talk about political choices—they made a political choice to bring in austerity, which meant a lack of funding for the NHS. My constituency of Harlow is full of sole traders who tell me that what really affects their ability to earn money, in order to have money in their pockets to s…”

“A point that all of you have made is that a lot of people go into the early years, childhood sector because they want to support children. Again, declaring my interest as a former teacher, I want to teach children, I do not want to be doing the admin, so there is that side of it.”

“There is the question about whether it wants to release data but there is also a question that even if that data exists, it does not necessarily have that data.”

“We have discussed this briefly, but can you just tell us what the impact has been of the change in required ratios from 1:4 to 1:5 for two-year-olds? What impact has that had on the quality of care but also the staff welfare as well?”

“I am just feeling a bit of parental guilt over here myself. We all know of the different routes in terms of entitlement, and I have a list here that I do not need to go through, but what strikes me is it is complicated. What impact does that complexity have, as to the entitlement to childcare, on all of your settings, …”

“You touched a little bit on the challenges of geographic data, and you made the point about childminding assistants. Is there anything else, if we were in an ideal world—and it sounds like we are far from it—that that data would capture that would be really useful? Is there anything other than the things we spoke about…”

“Thank you, everyone, for coming along and the evidence you have given so far. It has been quite enlightening actually. The National Foundation for Education Research has called DFE workforce data—and we have touched a little bit on data—basic. I am very concerned about that, but do you think the DFE has good enough inf…”

“I thank the Secretary of State for her statements. I particularly welcome the part about closing the loophole on taxi regulations. In my first outing in this place, I spoke about the challenges and problems caused by the loophole for cross-border hiring. Will the Secretary of State work at pace with her colleagues in t…”

“But you would say that we need to do some research into it?”

“Going back to the baby rooms, we have received evidence expressing concerns about the extension entitlement and that leading to over population. Do you agree with these concerns? Would you advocate for regulations to ensure that there is a maximum group size for baby rooms?”