Speeches by Aldridge.

“Do you expect to see any material change from what you have seen?”

“Do you recognise the criticism of support? Seventy-three per cent of exporters feel that they do not have any support to manage these changes. Is that something that you would recognise from a logistics perspective as well?”

“Matt, I am coming to you again. As policymakers, we talk a lot about digital transformation, the power of digital and the power of AI to transform the way we live in a positive way, hopefully. If we look at the UK Government’s AI opportunities action plan, what is your assessment of National Grid’s progress towards its…”

“That would be really helpful.”

“David and Glenys, thank you so much for what you are doing on behalf of all of us who have constituents affected by this. Glenys, what would have happened to you if David had not been told that his conviction had been quashed? What do you think you would be doing now?”

“I am going to ask something slightly different, before we move on to that. I declare an interest as a former employee of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT. The Horizon scandal, for many of us who work in that area of IT professionalism, acted as a bit of a canary in the coalmine, indicating future risks if we do not …”

“The Government agreed with Sir Wyn’s recommendation to implement a redress scheme for close family members of sub-postmasters. This is a general question to all of you. In your view, how will that impact family members? Do you have any concerns around the proposed scheme? Kieran, your hand shot up there.”

“When were those meetings happening? I used to work for the Chartered Institute for IT, and we were banging on the doors of Government before the “Mr Bates vs The Post Office” TV programme, and then all of a sudden, a drama came out and captured the public’s attention and things started to move. It was massively frustra…”

“David, you talked about warning authorities about this issue from the inception. I wonder why, in your opinion, those warnings were not listened to by authorities?”

“A very merry Christmas to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and to everybody in this place. In a historic win against Chelmsford on 6 December—it is another football success story—Weston-super-Mare football club, for the first time in our history, reached the third round of the FA cup. Like many Westonians, I am really excite…”

“In the past month, we have seen in the Financial Times concern about late payment legislation being watered down. I just wondered if you could comment on that.”

“We are blessed in this country to be an island nation, with lots of coastal communities all over the place. I represent Weston-super-Mare. The hospitality and tourism industry are huge for us, but we know that they are struggling, and lots of the small businesses that speak to me talk about the VAT system inhibiting th…”

“A plea from the SMEs that I have spoken to most recently is to bring back some clarity to the system and then iterate from there. They have told us, “Rather than shiny new things, just do one thing, do it well and iterate it”.”

“Considering the need to develop skilled workers across our country, SMEs must now engage with a number of organisations. There are local skills improvement plans, Get Britain Working plans, local growth plans, technical excellence colleges, the Construction Skills Mission Board and the clean energy jobs plan. In your v…”

“I am very aware, in my high streets in Weston-super-Mare and Worle, of the impact of cuts to public services in these areas. One of the things that I see all the time is a kind of whack-a-mole. Whenever a new priority comes in, something else will go. We talk about these local enforcement multi-agency initiatives. Are …”

“Small businesses in Weston-super-Mare and Worle are telling me that they are struggling to maintain their reserve operating costs. They are trying to balance the need to save with the need to invest. It is really harming growth in places such as Weston-super-Mare. They do not know where or how to invest, or even if the…”

“My hon. Friend points to a frustration shared by me and lots of campaigners in Weston-super-Mare, where we have seen missed opportunities over and over again to give people the basic dignity of access in travel. I am pleased that we in Weston join the people of Northwich and Alfreton in trying to get that accessible tr…”

“Manchester has not seen that sort of—”

“This question is for you, Andy. You have recently launched your intellectual property-backed finance product. How successful has it been and what role can it play for UK growth?”

“Is there an appetite for it to gain legs and become a significant driver?”